JP3221676B2 - Ultrasound diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a digital scan converter.

[Prior art]

This type of conventional device, when the image is frozen (freeze), in the digital scan converter,
It worked as follows. That is, the data in the frame memory is read out in accordance with the raster scanning, and is passed through a coordinate conversion circuit, an interpolation circuit, and the like, and the graphic data and the data are read out.
It is mixed with a TV synchronizing signal, converted into a digital composite video signal by a gamma conversion circuit, and then input to a D / A converter to create an analog composite video signal.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional apparatus, even when the image is still, most of the frame memory, coordinate conversion circuit, interpolation circuit, graphic data storage memory, TV synchronization signal generation circuit, γ conversion circuit, D / A converter, etc. There is a problem that the circuit always operates at a high speed and thus consumes a large amount of power. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which the number of circuit parts that always operate in a still image state is reduced and the power consumption of the apparatus is reduced.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

An object of the present invention is to provide an analog-to-digital converter for converting a received signal from a probe from analog to digital via an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving device, a storage unit for storing the digital received signal, and an A scan conversion unit that converts the ultrasound image signal into a sound image signal, a FIFO memory that stores the ultrasound image signal continuously during a moving image display operation, and stores at least one frame during a still image display operation, and the stored ultrasound image signal. A scan converter having a digital-to-analog conversion unit for converting a signal from digital to analog, a display unit for displaying the analog ultrasonic image signal as an ultrasonic image, the digital-to-analog conversion unit of the scan converter, and the FIFO
A control unit for stopping supply of power to other image signal circuits except the memory during the still image display operation.

[Action]

In the moving image state, in the digital scan converter, the data of the frame memory passes through a coordinate conversion circuit, an interpolation circuit and a γ conversion circuit, and can store a composite video signal for a still image, that is, a digital format for one frame or more. Input to a first-in first-out memory (hereinafter abbreviated as FIFO memory). The FIFO memory performs a read operation at the same time, and its output is input to a D / A converter to create a composite video signal for displaying a video on a display. In the still image state, at least the D / A converter and the FIFO of the digital scan converter are controlled by a power saving control circuit during image still state (hereinafter, simply referred to as a control circuit).
Other image signal circuits except memory, for example, A / D converter (first stage circuit of digital scan converter), frame memory, coordinate conversion circuit, interpolation circuit, graphic data storage memory, TV synchronization signal generation circuit, gamma conversion circuit, etc. Operation or power supply is stopped. Here, as means for stopping the operation, the input signal of the A / D converter is turned off.
And a method of turning off the synchronization signal to each circuit. As a result, the number of circuit parts that always operate in the still image state is reduced, and the power consumption of the apparatus is reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, wherein 1 is a probe, and 2 is an ultrasonic transmitting and receiving apparatus for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic transmitting and receiving signals to and from the probe 1. is there. Reference numeral 3 denotes a digital scan converter to which a reception signal from the ultrasonic transmission / reception device 2 is given, and an A / D converter 4
(First stage circuit of digital scan converter 3), frame memory 5, coordinate conversion circuit 6, interpolation circuit 7, gamma conversion circuit 8, graphic data storage memory (hereinafter referred to as graphic memory) 9, TV synchronization signal generation circuit 11, and D / D A
A converter 12 is provided. The above-described digital scan converter circuit configuration is not particularly different from the conventional device, and the present invention includes a FIFO memory 13 for storing a still image and a control circuit 14 in addition to the above. Here, the FIFO memory 13 has a capacity to store one frame of the digital composite video signal, and is provided immediately before the D / A converter 12 for generating a video output, which is the last stage of the digital scan converter 3.
Further, the control circuit 14 operates only the D / A converter 12 and the FIFO memory 13 when the image is still, and stops the operation of the remaining image signal system circuit of the digital scan converter 3 and the ultrasonic transmission / reception device 2. Reference numeral 15 denotes a monitor TV for displaying an ultrasonic image. Next, the operation will be described. First, the echo obtained by the probe 1 is converted into an electric signal by the ultrasonic transmission / reception device 2, and the data converted into the digital format by the A / D converter 4 of the digital scan converter 3 is sent to the frame memory 5. . The frame memory 5 stores one frame of image data. The data in the frame memory 5 is read out according to the television scanning, subjected to coordinate conversion by the coordinate conversion circuit 6, added with interpolation data by the interpolation circuit 7, and sent to the γ conversion circuit 8. On the other hand, in the graphic memory 9, various graphic data such as a scale mark and an ID number are written by the CPU 10, read out in accordance with television scanning in the same manner as the frame memory 5, and sent to the γ conversion circuit 8. The TV synchronizing signal generating circuit 11 generates a vertical synchronizing signal and a horizontal synchronizing signal, and sends them to the γ conversion circuit 8. The γ conversion circuit 8 receives the various data described above and creates a composite video signal in a digital format. The FIFO memory 13 has a capacity for one frame of television scanning, and data from the γ conversion circuit 8 is continuously written. At the same time, reading is performed continuously and sent to the D / A converter 12. The D / A converter 12 converts digital data into analog data to create a television signal. This television signal is supplied to the monitor TV 15 and displayed as an ultrasonic image. The control circuit 14 generates a control signal in accordance with a command from the CPU 10 so that all of the circuit units 4 to 9 and 11 to 13 operate when a moving image display operation is performed. Then, when the still image display operation is started, the control signal (here, the operation of the ultrasonic transmission / reception device 2 and the image signal system circuit except the D / A converter 12 and the FIFO memory 13 of the digital scan converter 3 is stopped). , A control signal for turning off the synchronization signal to the ultrasonic transmission / reception device 2 and the image signal system circuit). The D / A of the digital scan converter 3
Here, the image signal system circuit except for the converter 12 and the FIFO memory 13 includes the A / D converter 4, the frame memory 5,
A coordinate conversion circuit 6, an interpolation circuit 7, a γ conversion circuit 8, a graphic memory 9, and a TV synchronization signal generation circuit 11. As described above, at the time of the still image display operation, only the FIFO memory 13 and the D / A converter 12 are operating as the image signal circuits, and the number of operating circuits is very small as compared with the moving image display operation. Therefore, power consumption is also reduced. At the time of the still image display operation, the CPU 10 and the control circuit 14 are operating for the control signal system, but the CPU 10 is the same as the conventional one. Therefore, the power consumption of the control circuit 14 becomes a problem. However, in view of the power consumption reduction due to the stoppage of the operation of the image signal system circuit, the adverse effect thereof can be ignored. Further, the FIFO memory 13 has a built-in circuit for generating a read / write address, and can be controlled only by a synchronizing signal for advancing the address, does not require a complicated peripheral circuit, and consumes less power. Few. In the above-described embodiment, the reduction of the power consumption when the image is stationary is determined by at least the D / A of the digital scan converter 3.
This is achieved by stopping the operation of the image signal circuits except the converter 12 and the FIFO memory 13, but may be achieved by stopping the operation power supply of the image signal circuits in the same manner. In the above-described embodiment, the operation is stopped by turning off the synchronizing signal to the image signal circuits as the means for stopping the operation of the image signal circuits, but the input signal of the digital scan converter 3 (the input signal of the A / D converter 4) is achieved. May be achieved by turning OFF.

【The invention's effect】

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the power consumption in an image stationary state can be reduced very much, and it has a great effect especially when it applies to an apparatus used with a battery power supply.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. 1 ... probe, 2 ... ultrasonic transmitting and receiving device, 3 ... digital scan converter, 12 ... D / A converter, 13 ...
… First-in first-out memory (FIFO memory), 14… Power-saving control circuit for image stationary, 15… Monitor TV.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An analog-to-digital converter for converting a signal received from a probe from analog to digital via an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving device; a storage for storing the digital received signal; A scan conversion unit that converts the ultrasound image signal into an ultrasound image signal, and a FIFO memory that stores the ultrasound image signal continuously during a moving image display operation and stores at least one frame during a still image display operation.
A scan converter having a digital-to-analog conversion unit for converting the stored ultrasonic image signal from digital to analog, a display unit for displaying the analog ultrasonic image signal as an ultrasonic image, and the scan converter An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a digital-to-analog conversion unit; and a control unit that stops power supply to image signal circuits other than the FIFO memory during the still image display operation.