JP3158211B2 - Ultrasound diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for obtaining an ultrasonic image of a diagnostic part of a subject using ultrasonic waves, and in particular, to record digital data before processing for image display as it is. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of efficiently recording even with a small storage capacity without image degradation and reading digital data to reproduce an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of this type is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a probe 1 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a subject
A reflection echo detector 2 for detecting a reflection echo signal from a signal of the reflection wave received by the probe 1, and storing several lines of digitized data of the reflection echo signal from the reflection echo detector 2. A line memory 3, a cine memory 4 for storing data read from the line memory 3, a frame memory 5 for temporarily storing data read from the cine memory 4 for display, and memories 3, 4, 5 Memory control unit 6 for controlling the operation of
And a display unit 7 for displaying the data read from the frame memory 5. In this case, as the recording means of the obtained ultrasonic image, the cine memory 4 is used to temporarily record the image data. A video tape recorder (VTR) 8 is often connected to the display unit 7 to record an image as an analog video signal for a long time.

[0003]

However, the cine memory 4 in such a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has a limited storage capacity and cannot record images for a long time. On the other hand, a plurality of cine memories 4 may be provided to increase the storage capacity, but in this case, the size of the entire apparatus is increased. Further, the cine memory 4 has a problem that stored image data is erased when the power of the apparatus is turned off. Further, when recording is performed by the VTR 8 connected to the display unit 7, the image to be recorded / reproduced is in a state where the image quality is deteriorated due to the process for displaying the image, or the recording data amount is reduced by the storage capacity of the VTR 8. The total was limited to 30 frames per second.

Accordingly, the present invention addresses such a problem, and by recording digital data before processing for displaying an image as it is, it is possible to efficiently record even a small storage capacity without image deterioration, It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of reading data and reproducing an image.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention comprises a probe for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from a subject and an echo signal from the probe.
A detector that outputs and digitizes the data,
These digital echo signals are stored for multiple lines.
1 storage unit and data read from the first storage unit
And a second storage unit for storing a large amount of
The data read from the memory is temporarily stored and the stored data is stored.
Image processing for processing digital echo signals into ultrasonic images
And parts, in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and a display unit for displaying the ultrasonic image from the image processing unit, the first memory
Data transmission section that is connected to the section and inputs and outputs digital signals
And connected to this data transmission section to store digital signals
And a third storage unit for reproducing or reproducing data from the third storage unit
The reproduced digital signal is transmitted to the
A control unit for controlling writing and reading to and from the first storage unit
Those were.

Further, a Doppler detection unit for detecting a Doppler signal from the bloodstream information within a subject by scanning the probe, various blood flow from the digitized signal and inputs the Doppler signal from the Doppler detection unit various A color operation unit for calculating the original color Doppler amount, and a color Doppler from the color operation unit
Means for outputting the amount to the first storage unit .

[0007]

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured as described above has a first
Digital transmission by the data transmission unit connected to the
Signal input / output, and the third key connected to this data transmission unit.
The digital signal is stored or reproduced by the storage unit,
The digital signal reproduced from the third storage unit by the control
Signal to the first storage unit via the data transmission unit.
And read out . Therefore, the third description above
The storage unit processes the echo signal into an ultrasonic image in the image processing unit.
Digital data before physical together as it can be recorded, it is possible to image reading and reproducing the digital data.

In the case where a Doppler detector and a color calculator are provided, the scanning of the probe is performed by the Doppler detector.
The Doppler signal is detected from the blood flow information in the subject by
The Doppler signal from the above Doppler detector is calculated by the
Color of various blood flow parameters from input and digitized signals
By calculating the Doppler amount, color blood flow information data is obtained together with the black-and-white ultrasonic tomographic image and can be directly recorded in the third storage unit , and the digital data is read out to reproduce the image.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus obtains and displays, for example, a B-mode tomographic image of a diagnostic part of a subject using ultrasonic waves. As shown in FIG. 1, a probe 1 and a reflected echo detecting unit 2 are provided. , A line memory 3, a cine memory 4, a frame memory 5, a memory control unit 6, and a display unit 7. The input / output interface 9 and the digital data recording device 10 are further provided.

The probe 1 transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from the subject by mechanically or electronically scanning. Although not shown, the probe 1 is a source of ultrasonic waves and also includes a reflected wave. A built-in receiving transducer is provided. The reflected echo detector 2 controls the probe 1 to generate an ultrasonic wave, amplifies the received reflected wave electric signal, and returns the echo signal.
Although not shown in the figure, it has a pulse generator, a receiving amplifier, and a control circuit therefor. In addition, this reflection echo detection unit 2
An A / D converter is built in the output end of the device, and converts the reflected echo signal output from the reflected echo detection unit 2 into a digital signal.

The line memory 3 serves as a first storage unit for inputting and temporarily storing a digitized echo signal output from the reflection echo detection unit 2 as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, data for several lines in the scanning direction of the ultrasonic beam are stored for several lines. Also,
The cine memory 4 serves as a second storage unit for storing a large amount of line data read from the line memory 3. For example, a large-capacity memory (RA)
M). Further, the frame memory 5, the cine
Image for processing the echo signal from the memory 4 into an ultrasonic image
The data read from the cine memory 4 is temporarily stored for display .
In other words , data in the ultrasonic scanning direction as shown in FIG. 2 is written and read so as to conform to a display method of a television monitor in the display unit 7 described later. And
The memory controller 6 controls the data write and read operations of the memories 3, 4, and 5, respectively.

The display unit 7 is provided with a
A D / A converter for displaying an ultrasonic image, which converts image data output from the frame memory 5 into an analog video signal, and for inputting a video signal from the D / A converter to a television. A TV signal converter for the signal of
And a television monitor for inputting the television signal and displaying an image.

Here, in the present invention, an input / output interface 9 is connected to the line memory 3 and a digital data recording device 10 is connected to the input / output interface 9. The input / output interface 9 is connected to the line memory 3 and connected to a digital
In which a data transmission unit for inputting and outputting Le signal, is adapted to transfer the digital data recording apparatus 10 will be described later fetches the digital echo signal stored in the line memory 3, as shown in FIG. 2 The line data of the ultrasonic echo is temporarily stored in synchronization with the scanning of the ultrasonic beam, and is operated so as to be output in synchronization with the writing cycle of the digital data recording device 10. The digital data recording device 10 is provided with the input / output interface.
9 for storing or reproducing digital signals connected to
In which a storage unit, adapted to store the line data transferred via the output interface 9 are read from the line memory 3, for example, a magnetic disk or optical disk, or a digital video tape and digital audio The digital line data is written on a recording medium such as a tape. Soshi
The digital data is stored in the memory control unit 6.
The digital signal reproduced from the recording device 10
Write to and read from line memory 3 via interface 9
It controls the delivery.

Next, the operation of the thus constructed ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus will be described. First, by normal operation,
Ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received from the probe 1 to a diagnostic site of a subject (not shown), and the reflected echo detector 2 detects the ultrasound 1
The reflected echo signal is detected from the reflected wave signal obtained by the scanning of the ultrasonic beam. The reflected echo signal is digitized by a built-in A / D converter, and the data is stored in the line memory 3. Thereafter, the line data read from the line memory 3 is subjected to a process for image display via a cine memory 4 and a frame memory 5, input to the display unit 7, converted into an analog video signal, and And displayed on a screen of a television monitor as a black-and-white ultrasonic tomographic image.

Here, in order to record the data of the ultrasonic tomographic image obtained as described above, the input / output interface 9 converts the line data stored in the line memory 3 into an ultrasonic beam scan. The data is temporarily stored in synchronization with the data, and is output in synchronization with the writing cycle of the digital data recording device 10. This output line data is
Thereafter, the data is input to the digital data recording device 10 and recorded in a predetermined area. As a result, the line data (raw data) of the line memory 3 that has not been processed for image display is recorded in the digital data recording device 10 as it is. Therefore, it is possible to record data without image quality deterioration due to image processing, and since unnecessary data is not recorded in a margin portion of image display, digital image data can be recorded efficiently.

In this regard, in the recording by the conventional VTR 8 shown in FIG. 4 , since the recording capacity is limited to 30 frames per second, the image data having a higher frame rate than that is recorded with appropriate thinning. . However, according to the present invention, the digital data
Even if a recording device having a recording performance of 512 × 512 bytes and 30 frames / sec is used, the fan-shaped scanning range of the ultrasonic beam shown in FIG. 2 is, for example, 30 degrees, and 180 frames per second in 40 scannings. Probe 1 and reflected echo detector 2 capable of detecting
Can also be recorded without thinning out the data.

Next, in order to reproduce the image data recorded in the digital data recording device 10 as described above,
The input / output interface 9 temporarily stores data read from the digital data recording device 10 in a form synchronized with its data output, and outputs the data in synchronization with a write cycle of the line memory 3. The output data is input to the line memory 3 and stored.
Thereafter, the line data read from the line memory 3 is processed for image display via the cine memory 4 and the frame memory 5 in the same manner as in a normal operation, and is input to the display unit 7 to be analogized. It is converted into a video signal and displayed on the screen of the television monitor as an ultrasonic tomographic image. Therefore, it is possible to easily use the cine memory 4 to repeatedly view only an arbitrary data portion.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is provided with a Doppler detector 11 and a color calculator 12 connected in series in parallel with the reflection echo detector 2. Doppler detector 11
Is to detect a Doppler signal from the blood flow information in the subject by scanning of the probe 1 using the Doppler effect. Further, the color calculation unit 12 is provided with the Doppler detection unit 11.
A Doppler signal detected by the above is input as a digital signal by a built-in A / D converter, and a blood flow velocity,
It calculates the color Doppler amount of blood flow parameters such as velocity variance and reflection intensity. Inside it, a speed calculation unit that calculates blood flow velocity, a dispersion calculation unit that calculates velocity variance, and a reflection intensity are calculated. And a reflection intensity calculator . And this
The amount of color Doppler output from the color calculation unit 12 is
The data is input to the line memory 3 via a data line as a force means . The display unit 7 in this embodiment includes a color television monitor. In this case, the black-and-white ultrasonic tomographic image obtained by the reflection echo detecting unit 2 and the Doppler detecting unit 11 and the color calculating unit 12 obtain the same.
The color blood flow information data can be recorded in the digital data recording device 10 as it is, and the digital data can be read out to reproduce the image.

[0019]

Although FIGS. 1 to 3 show that the digital data recording device 10 is mainly provided outside the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the present invention is not limited to this. Is also good.

[0021]

The present invention has been configured as described above.
According to the invention according to claim 1, the first storage unit is connected to the first storage unit.
Digital signal is input and output by the
A third storage unit connected to the data transmission unit,
The signal is stored or reproduced, and the third signal is controlled by the control unit.
The digital signal reproduced from the memory of the
Writing and reading to and from the first storage unit can be performed via the unit . Therefore, image processing is performed by the third storage unit.
The digital data (raw data) before the echo signal is processed into an ultrasonic image by the unit can be recorded as it is, and the digital data can be read out to reproduce the image. Therefore, the third storage unit, the processing the raw data irrelevant for image display, faithfully record the image data without image quality degradation, it is possible to reproduce, the required ultrasound image data Is recorded, and recording can be performed efficiently with a small storage capacity as compared with recording image data of the entire display screen. In addition, the third note
The storage unit has a high frame rate when recording with a conventional VTR.
Image data was thinned out and recorded.
Recording of ultrasound images at the same rate without thinning
can do. Further, under the control of the control unit,
Normal operation of the digital signal reproduced from the third storage unit
Write and read a large amount to and from the second storage unit in the same manner as
Data can be stored in the second storage unit.
It is also possible to repeatedly use only a part.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the
Blood flow information in the subject by scanning the probe with the laser detector
The Doppler signal is detected from the
Digitalized Doppler signal from the
Calculate the color Doppler amount of various blood flow parameters from the
Obtain color blood flow information data together with the ultrasonic tomographic image of
This can be recorded in the third storage unit as it is, and the digital data can be read out to reproduce the image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing line data obtained by scanning an ultrasonic beam,

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Probe, 2 ... Reflection echo detection part, 3 ... Line memory, 4 ... Cine memory, 5 ... Frame memory, 6
... memory control unit, 7 ... display unit, 9 ... input / output interface, 10 ... digital data recording device, 11
... Doppler detector 12 ... Color calculator

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Ken Ishihara 15-1, 1-1-1, Chikusa, Takarazuka-shi, Hyogo (72) Inventor Toshihiko Kawano 2-1 Shinju-yoyo, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba Hitachi Medico Osaka Co., Ltd. In the factory Kashiwa branch factory (72) Inventor Shinji Kishimoto 2-1 Shinjyuyo, Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture Inside Hitachi Medical Research Institute, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-61-213040 (JP, A) 2-120981 (JP, A) JP-A-60-80439 (JP, A) JP-A-57-164047 (JP, A) JP-A-59-20156 (JP, A) JP-A-57-197911 (JP, A) U)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A probe for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic wave to / from a subject;
Detects echo signals from this probe and
And the digital ecosystem from this detector
A first storage unit for storing signals for a plurality of lines;
A second memory for storing a large amount of data read from the first storage unit
And the data read from the second storage unit
Digital echo signal temporarily stored and stored
Processing unit for processing the image into an ultrasonic image, and the image processing unit
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a display unit for displaying an ultrasonic image from the first storage unit.
Data transmission unit for inputting / outputting a video signal, and the data transmission unit
To store or reproduce digital signals
A storage unit, and a digital signal reproduced from the third storage unit.
Write and read a signal to the first storage unit via the data transmission unit.
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: a control unit that controls output . 2. A Doppler detection unit for detecting a Doppler signal from the bloodstream information in the subject by the scanning of the probe, various blood flow from the digitized signal and inputs the Doppler signal from the Doppler detection unit various The color calculation unit that calculates the original color Doppler amount, and the color Doppler amount from this color calculation unit
2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for outputting to said first storage unit .