JP3251099B2 - 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, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus connected to an image processing apparatus or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus captures echo data by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a living body, and based on the echo data, a tomographic image or a blood flow image (Doppler image) in the living body.
Is displayed. In recent years, a three-dimensional image display device and various image processing devices (for example, a computer system) have been proposed in response to requests for three-dimensional tissue image display and special image processing.

[0003] These image processing apparatuses are incorporated in the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and are connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as external apparatuses. Conventionally, when an external device related to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is connected, a display (C) of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is used.
RT) was used. That is, the video signal from the video signal output terminal is branched and supplied to an external device.

[0004]

However, in the processing of ultrasonic images, it is strongly desired to transmit a large amount of data to an external processing device at high speed. However, the transmission of echo information to an external device by a conventional video signal is strongly desired. In such a case, such a demand could not be met, and high-speed transmission of a large amount of data could not be realized. Also, since tomographic image information and Doppler image information overlap in a video signal, it is difficult to separate these signals and process them individually, and image processing is limited.

Therefore, a conventional system cannot meet the demand for performing image processing with a high-speed processing type computer apparatus whose performance has been remarkably improved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a dedicated port capable of continuously transmitting tomographic image information and Doppler image information at high speed without affecting the main body of the apparatus. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus provided with:

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first processing unit for inputting a received signal and outputting a tomographic image signal, inputting the received signal, and converting a Doppler image signal. A second processing unit to be output, an image synthesizing unit that receives the tomographic image signal and the Doppler image signal, and forms an ultrasonic image obtained by synthesizing the tomographic image and the Doppler image, and a signal from the image synthesizing unit And a display for displaying the ultrasonic image, and a means for outputting the tomographic image signal and the Doppler image signal in parallel in synchronization with each other,
An external interface including a tomographic image signal output port connected to the output terminal of the first processing unit and a Doppler image signal output port connected to the output terminal of the second processing unit. And

[0008]

According to the above arrangement, an external interface is mounted on the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and an external apparatus is connected using the signal output port. In that case, since the tomographic image information and the Doppler image information can be separated and transmitted simultaneously, high-speed transmission can be realized.

On the other hand, in an external device, for example, after performing A / D conversion on two input signals,
Data is stored in the memory using the data bus, and then image processing is performed. Further, by providing an A / D converter in the external interface of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, digital signals can be stored directly in the memory via the data bus of the external apparatus.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 according to the present invention.
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 is connected to an external device 12 for performing image processing, and these two apparatuses constitute an ultrasonic measurement system.

In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10, the three-dimensional probe 14 is used, for example, in contact with the surface of a living body, and transmits an ultrasonic wave to a three-dimensional region in the living body, It takes in the echo data obtained from.

The timing signal generator 16 generates a transmission timing signal 100, and the signal 100 is input to the ultrasonic trigger generator 18 and is transmitted to the ultrasonic trigger generator 1.
From 8, an ultrasonic trigger signal is supplied to the three-dimensional probe 14.

On the other hand, the received signal output from the three-dimensional probe 14 is amplified by an amplifier
And the second processing unit 24.

The first processing section 22 is for processing a signal relating to tomographic image formation, and in the present embodiment is constituted by a detection section 26.

On the other hand, the second processing section 24 is for processing a Doppler signal to form a Doppler image signal, and comprises a quadrature detection section 28 for performing quadrature detection and a color calculation section 30 for performing autocorrelation calculation and the like. Have been. The tomographic image signal 102 output from the first processing unit 22 is supplied to a digital scan converter (hereinafter, referred to as a DSC) 32, and the tomographic image and the Doppler image are combined by the DSC to form an ultrasonic image, and the display unit becomes 34.

The above configuration is substantially the same as that of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Hereinafter, a characteristic configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

The tomographic image signal 102 output from the first processing unit 22 is branched and supplied to the external interface 36. The Doppler image signal 104 output from the second processing unit 24 is also branched and supplied to the external interface 36. Further, the timing signal generator 1
6 sends a predetermined timing signal 106 to the external interface 36.

The external interface 36 includes an output terminal 200 provided in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and a drive circuit and the like are provided therein.

Each signal 102, 104, 106 output from the external interface 36 is transmitted to the external device 12 via the cable 40. As illustrated, the tomographic image signal 102 and the Doppler image signal 104 are transmitted simultaneously by analog signals, and can achieve higher speed transmission than conventional transmission. Even if such transmission is performed, there is no effect on the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 as shown in the figure, and each signal can be output separately from the processing of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

The tomographic image signal 1 input to the external device 12
02 and the Doppler image signal 104 are converted into digital signals by A / D converters 44 and 42, respectively, and then input to the data buffer unit 46. Then, the DMA transfer is executed, and each data is stored in the three-dimensional data memory unit 52 via the bus 50.

The CPU 48 executes image processing. After reading and processing data stored in the three-dimensional data memory unit 52, the CPU 48 supplies image information to the frame buffer memory 53. For example, an ultrasonic three-dimensional image is displayed.

A storage device 56 for storing a large amount of image data is connected to the external device 12 via a control unit 58.

The probe control unit 60 controls the mechanical operation of the three-dimensional probe 14, and is connected to the three-dimensional probe 14 by a cable 70. Further, a three-dimensional address signal is supplied from the three-dimensional probe 14 to the probe control unit 60, and the CPU 48 executes data storage in the three-dimensional data memory unit 52 based on the supplied address signal.

As described above, according to the ultrasonic measurement system, the external interface 3 is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10.
6 is provided, and the ultrasonic image signal and the Doppler image signal can be transmitted at the same time, so that the image signal can be transmitted to the external device 12 at high speed without interrupting the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body. .

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
High-speed transmission of tomographic image information and Doppler image information to an external device can be performed without affecting the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body. Therefore, it is possible to effectively utilize the data processing capability of the external device to perform processing of an ultrasonic image and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an ultrasonic measurement system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 Ultrasound diagnostic device 12 External device (image processing device) 36 External interface

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 8/00-8/15

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first processing unit that receives a received signal and outputs a tomographic image signal, and a second processing unit that receives the received signal and outputs a Doppler image signal
A processing unit, inputting the tomographic image signal and the Doppler image signal,
An image combining unit that forms an ultrasonic image obtained by combining a tomographic image and a Doppler image; a display that receives a signal from the image combining unit and displays the ultrasonic image; and the tomographic image signal and the Doppler image signal Means for outputting the tomographic image signal output port connected to the output terminal of the first processing unit, and the Doppler image connected to the output terminal of the second processing unit. And an external interface including a signal output port; and wherein the tomographic image signal and the Doppler image signal can be transmitted in parallel to an external device.