JP3455131B2 - Mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, internal processing method of mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and ultrasonic image generating method of mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized by a received data transfer portion between a transmission / reception unit and a computer, and the mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The present invention relates to an internal processing method of an apparatus and an ultrasonic image generation method of the mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which receives a reflected wave reflected from a living tissue by irradiating the living body with an ultrasonic pulse to obtain a tomographic image of the living body. This is because the in-vivo diagnosis can be performed non-invasively,
Widely used for medical examinations such as obstetrics and gynecology.

A conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the motor drive circuit 102 is controlled by the timing signal from the controller 101, and the motor 103 is rotationally driven by the motor drive signal from the motor drive circuit 102. The ultrasonic transducer 104 attached as described above is rotated.

The ultrasonic transducer 104 emits ultrasonic pulses into a living body by a transmission signal generator 105 and a transmission amplifier 106 in synchronization with a timing signal from the controller 101 via a signal line.

The echo of the ultrasonic pulse from the inside of the living body is received by the ultrasonic transducer 104, and the received signal is received by the receiving amplifier 107 and the band pass filter (BPF) 108.
Thus, unnecessary signal components are removed, detected by the detection circuit 109, and amplified by GAIN / STC 110 to a predetermined size. The reception signal output from the GAIN / STC 110 passes through a low pass filter (LPF) 111, is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter 112, and is
It is stored in the IFO 113. Where GAIN / STC
110 is a GAIN / STC buffer 122 and D / A
The amplification amount can be set by the controller 101 via the converter 123.

The data stored in the FIFO 113 is coordinate-converted by the address controller 114 and the coordinate conversion look-up table (LUT) 115, and stored in a predetermined position of the memory 116. Here, the controller 101 and the address controller 114 are the CPU 11
It is controlled by 7.

These operations are performed by the controller 101 at regular intervals until the ultrasonic transducer 104 makes one revolution. After the received data for one round is stored in the memory 116, the interpolation circuit 118 uses L for interpolation processing.
Interpolation processing is performed by the UT 119, and the video processing circuit 1
Through 20, the ultrasonic tomographic image is displayed on the monitor 121.

[0008]

However, in the conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, the A / D
A FIFO 113, an address controller 114, a coordinate conversion LUT 115, a memory 11 for coordinate conversion of the reception data converted into digital data by the converter 112.
Need 6 Further, the interpolation circuit 118 and the interpolation processing LUT 119 are required to perform the interpolation processing. Further, a CPU 117 that controls the address controller 114 and the controller 101 is also required.

As described above, the conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus requires a dedicated coordinate conversion circuit and interpolation circuit, and since these processing circuits are high-speed arithmetic processing, the circuit becomes complicated. There is.

In addition, when changing the timing of receiving the received data and changing the control of the transmission / reception unit by adding a function, the controller 101 needs to be replaced and modified, which makes it difficult to add the function. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is relatively small and inexpensive, and whose functions can be easily added, and the mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Internal processing method of device and ultrasonic image of mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic device

A first mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention is an ultrasonic probe having a mechanism for mechanically scanning an ultrasonic transducer, and an arbitrary ultrasonic probe while mechanically scanning the ultrasonic transducer. A transmission / reception unit that is driven at each timing to transmit an ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic transducer, receives the obtained echo signal, detects it, and outputs it as reception data of an analog signal; and the analog output from the transmission / reception unit. A computer for processing signal reception data, the computer converting reception data of the analog signal output from the transmission / reception unit into a digital signal, and transferring the digital signal to a computer internal bus, The ultrasonic transducer is driven at every arbitrary timing while being mechanically scanned to generate ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer. It generates a timing signal for signal, characterized in that it comprises a computer board for transmitting the timing signal to the transceiver unit. A second mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention is
In the first mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the computer board includes an A / D converter that converts received data of the analog signal into a digital signal, and received data digitally converted by the A / D converter. And a data width controller for controlling a plurality of received data stored in the memory so as to be arranged in the data bus width of the computer internal bus, and the data width controller stored in the memory by the data width controller. The computer internal bus controller for transferring the plurality of received data to the computer internal bus at one time. Furthermore, a third mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention is the same as the second mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, wherein the computer board controls the transmitting / receiving unit and a circuit on the computer board. The computer further includes a timing controller whose specifications can be changed by rewriting wiring data when the computer is started up, and a wiring data memory which stores wiring data of the timing controller. The controller is further characterized by controlling the wiring data of the front-back timing controller to be stored in the wiring data memory by an instruction. An internal processing method for a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention includes an ultrasonic probe having a mechanism for mechanically scanning an ultrasonic transducer, and an arbitrary timing while mechanically scanning the ultrasonic transducer. A transmitting / receiving unit that drives the ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic transducer, receives the obtained echo signal, detects it, and outputs it as reception data of an analog signal; and a computer board that controls the transmitting / receiving unit. In the internal processing method of a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: a computer that performs signal processing of reception data of the analog signal output from the transmission / reception unit, the computer board includes:
A digital conversion step of converting received data of the analog signal output from the transmission / reception unit into a digital signal, a transfer step of transferring the digital signal to a computer internal bus, and mechanically scanning the ultrasonic transducer. A timing signal transmitting step of generating a timing signal for transmitting ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer by driving at every arbitrary timing and transmitting the timing signal to the transmitting / receiving unit. . An ultrasonic image generation method for a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention includes an ultrasonic probe having a mechanism for mechanically scanning an ultrasonic transducer and an arbitrary ultrasonic probe while mechanically scanning the ultrasonic transducer. A transmission / reception unit that drives at each timing to transmit an ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic transducer, receives the obtained echo signal, detects it, and outputs it as reception data of an analog signal, and the ultrasonic transducer mechanically. From the transmission / reception unit, the computer has a computer board that drives at every arbitrary timing while scanning to generate a timing signal for transmitting ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer and sends the timing signal to the transmission / reception unit. An ultrasonic image generation method for a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: a computer that processes received data of the output analog signal. , In the computer board <br/>, the ultrasonic signal transfer step of the reception data of the analog signal outputted from the transmitting and receiving unit into a digital signal, and transfers the digital signal to the computer's internal bus, said ultrasonic An ultrasonic image generation step of generating an ultrasonic image based on the digital signal transferred in the signal transfer step.

[0013]

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 6 relate to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a more detailed configuration of the timing controller of FIG. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a specific configuration of the reception data memory of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram explaining data storage in the reception data memory of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is of FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the principal part of the 1st modification of a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, FIG. 6: the structure which shows the structure of the principal part of the 2nd modification of the mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic device of FIG. It is a figure.

(Structure) As shown in FIG. 1, a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a transmitting / receiving unit 4 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from an ultrasonic transducer 2, and a personal computer (hereinafter , PC) 10.

The PC 10 controls the motor drive circuit 5 via the transmission / reception unit 4 and the motor 6 is driven by the motor drive signal.
The ultrasonic transducer 2 attached to the rotation axis of the motor 6 so as to be the center of the rotation is rotated and the transmission / reception unit 4 is controlled to rotate the transmission / reception unit 4
A PC board 8 that is detachably mounted to perform predetermined digital signal processing on the ultrasonic echo signal from the PC, and a PC internal memory 9 that stores the digital signal from the PC board 8.
a and a general-purpose CPU 9 and the like.

The transmission / reception unit 4 is a transmission signal generator 11 for causing an ultrasonic wave oscillator 2 to emit an ultrasonic wave pulse into a living body.
And a transmission amplifier 12, a reception amplifier 13 and a bandpass filter (BPF) 14 for receiving an ultrasonic echo signal of an ultrasonic pulse from the living body by the ultrasonic transducer 2 and removing unnecessary signal components, and a reception amplifier 13 And a detection circuit 15 for detecting the received signal via the BPF 14, and a low-pass filter (LPF) 1 for amplifying the detected signal to a predetermined size.
GAIN to output to PC board 8 of PC 10 via 6
/ STC17.

The PC board 8 of the PC 10 has a timing controller 21 for controlling the motor drive circuit 5 by a timing signal and an A / D converter 22 for A / D converting the output of the GAIN / STC 17 via the LPF 16 of the transmitting / receiving unit 4. A reception data memory 23 for storing the digital data converted by the A / D converter 22, and GAIN /
GAIN / STC memory 24 that stores the amplified data of STC 17 as digital data and outputs it in synchronization with the timing signal of timing controller 21;
And a D / A converter 25 for changing the amplification amount of the GAIN / STC 17 according to the amplitude of the analog signal by outputting the analog signal obtained by D / A converting the output of the / STC memory 24 to the GAIN / STC 17. , PC internal bus 2
6 and a local bus 27 of the PC board 8 are connected to each other and a PC internal bus controller 28 for connecting the PC internal memory 9 and the PC board 8 is configured.

The data in the GAIN / STC memory 24 is transferred to the PC via the PC internal bus controller 28.
It can be changed from 10. In addition, the transmission signal generator 11 of the transmission / reception unit 4 includes the timing controller 2
1 timing signal.

The timing controller 21 is, for example, F
As shown in FIG. 2, the PGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) is provided, and the local bus 27 of the PC board 8 is provided with a wiring data memory 31 storing wiring data of the timing controller.

When an arbitrary instruction is given to the timing controller 21 from the PC 10 via the PC internal bus 26 and the PC internal bus controller 28 of the PC board 8, the PC 10 sends a local bus 27 to the wiring data memory 31. The wiring data of the timing controller 21 that is transferred via is stored. Then, when the PC 10 is started up again, the timing controller 21 reads the wiring data from the wiring data memory 31,
The specifications of the timing controller 21 can be changed.

(Operation) Next, the operation of the mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

The motor drive circuit 5 is controlled by the timing signal of the timing controller 21, the motor 6 is driven by the motor drive signal from the motor drive circuit 5, and the ultrasonic transducer 2 is rotated. The ultrasonic transducer 2 transmits the ultrasonic pulse in the living body by the ultrasonic transducer 2 by the transmission signal generator 11 and the transmission amplifier 12 in synchronization with the timing signal of the timing controller 21.

Then, the ultrasonic echo signal of the ultrasonic pulse from the inside of the living body is received by the ultrasonic transducer 2, and the received signal is amplified by the receiving amplifier 13 to a predetermined size.
The BPF 14 removes unnecessary noise components from the amplified received signal, and the detection circuit 15 performs detection processing. The received signal subjected to the detection processing is based on the amplified data of the digital data stored in the GAIN / STC memory 24, and the GAI
The received signal that is amplified to a predetermined magnitude by the N / STC 17 and becomes smaller as the distance becomes longer is corrected so as to become larger with time. The output of the reception signal from the GAIN / STC 17 is transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 4 to the PC through the LPF 16.
It is output to 10.

The received signal output from the transmission / reception unit 4 is sent to the PC attached to the PC internal bus 26 of the PC 10.
It is input to the board 8. The reception signal input to the PC board 8 is converted into digital data by the A / D converter 22 and stored in the reception data memory 23.

FIG. 3 shows how received data is stored in the received data memory 23.

As shown in FIG. 3, the A / D converter 22 has eight
In the case of the resolution of bits, the reception data memory 23 includes, for example, four 8-bit memories, a first reception data memory 23a, a second reception data memory 23b, a third reception data memory 23c, and a fourth reception data memory 23a. The first reception data memory 23a includes a data memory 23d,
A second received data memory 23b, a third received data memory 23c, and a fourth received data memory 23d are provided in parallel with the output of the A / D converter 22.
The data bus width of the PC internal bus 26 is set to 32 bits.

With the above structure, the received data output from the A / D converter 22 is sampled for each sample by the first received data memory 23a, the second received data memory 23b, the third received data memory 23c, and the fourth received data. Received data memory 23d
Switch and store. For example, the sample No. of the nth sound ray. The received data of 0 is the first received data memory 23.
a, sample No. The received data of No. 1 is stored in the second received data memory 23b as sample No. The received data of No. 2 is stored in the third received data memory 23c as the sample No. The received data of Sample No. 3 is stored in the fourth received data memory 23d. The reception data of No. 4 is again the first reception data memory 2
The received data is stored in 3a, and so on.

According to this method, the received data is the first received data memory 23a, the second received data memory 23b,
FIG. 4 shows a state of being stored in the third reception data memory 23c and the fourth reception data memory 23d. In FIG. 4, 1
The case where the number of samples of the sound ray reception data is 512 is shown.

As shown in FIG. 4, the sound ray No. is stored in the first received data memory 23a. n samples 0, 4, ... 50
8, the sound ray No. is stored in the second received data memory 23b. n samples 1, 5, ... 509, third reception data memory 2
The sound ray No. n of samples 2, 6, ... 510, and the sound ray No. n samples 3, 7, ... 511 are stored. The received data stored in this way is transferred to the PC internal bus 26 with the horizontal row of data in FIG. 4 as one data. Specifically, the sound ray No. A block 0 composed of n samples 0, 1, 2, and 3 is collectively transferred as 32 bit data to the PC internal bus 26.

In other words, when the received data collected as 32 bit data is stored in the received data memory 23 for one frame, the PC internal bus controller connected to the received data memory 23 by the local bus 27 of the PC board 8. PC via PC internal bus 26 via 28
Transferred to 10.

Then, the received data stored in the received data memory 23 for one frame is input via the PC internal bus 26, and the PC 10 performs coordinate conversion processing and the like to display an ultrasonic image on a monitor (not shown).

(Effect) As described above, in the present embodiment, 3
The received data collected as 2-bit data is stored in the received data memory 23 for one frame and then transferred to the PC 10 through the PC internal bus 26. Therefore, the PC 10 can perform sufficient processing such as coordinate conversion processing. It is not necessary to use a dedicated and complicated circuit for conversion processing or the like, and it is possible to obtain a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus with reduced cost.

Further, the PC internal bus controller 28 is set to P
The number of data transferred to the PC internal memory 9 of the PC 10 through the C internal bus 26 is reduced, and the data transfer time can be shortened.

Further, by using DMA (Direct Memory Access) for transferring data without passing through the general-purpose CPU of the PC 10, the received data is transferred to the PC 10 at a time, thereby shortening the data transfer time and transferring the data. The load on the PC 10 at that time can be reduced.

When an arbitrary instruction is given to the timing controller 21, the wiring data memory 31 is connected to the PC.
Wiring data of the timing controller 21 transferred from the PC 10 via the local bus 27 is stored,
Since the timing controller 21 can change the specification of the timing controller 21 by reading the wiring data from the wiring data memory 31 when 10 is started up, the function can be easily added.

In this embodiment, the PC internal bus 2
Although the data bus width of 6 has been described as 32 bits,
It is not limited to this. For example, PC internal bus 2
When the data bus width of 6 is 64 bits, the number of 8 bit memories of the reception data memory 23 of the PC board 8 is 8 bits.
If the number is set, the data transfer time can be further shortened.

The quantization number of the A / D converter 22 is set to 8b.
Although it is set to it, it is not limited to this. For example, in the case of a 12-bit A / D converter, the configuration of FIG.
The first reception data memory 23a and the second reception data memory 23b, the third reception data memory 23c and the fourth reception data memory 23d, such as two 8-bit memories are combined to store one 12-bit data. By using it as a memory, the transfer time can be shortened as compared with transferring 12-bit data one by one.

In this embodiment, the reception signal output from the transmission / reception unit 4 is an analog signal and is a PC signal.
Although it is supposed that the A / D converter 22 on the board 8 side converts the signal into a digital signal, as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, the A / D converter 22 may be mounted on, and converted into a digital signal and output to the reception data memory 23 of the PC board 8.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the transmitting / receiving unit 4 is provided with the A / D converter 22, and the digital data output by the A / D converter 22 is stored in the reception data memory 23 of the PC board 8. , It is necessary to transfer this received data at high speed.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the reception data FIFO is output to the output of the A / D converter 22 of the transmission / reception unit 4.
A circuit that includes 51, temporarily stores received data, and transfers the received data to the received data memory 23 of the PC board 8 at a relatively low speed by the data output controller 52 provided in the transmission / reception unit 4. It may be configured.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the present onset Akira,
The computer board converts the received data of the analog signal output from the transceiver unit into a digital signal, transfers the digital signal to the computer internal bus, and controls the transceiver unit, so it is relatively small and inexpensive, and easy. There is an effect that a function can be added.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a more detailed configuration of the timing controller of FIG.

3 is a configuration diagram showing a specific configuration of a reception data memory shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating data storage in a reception data memory of FIG.

5 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a first modification of the mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of FIG.

6 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a second modification of the mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic equipment 2 ... Ultrasonic transducer 4 ... Transmit / receive unit 5 ... Motor drive circuit 6 ... Motor 8 ... PC board 9 ... General-purpose CPU 9a ... PC internal memory 10 ... PC 11 ... Transmission signal generator 12 ... Transmission amplifier 13 ... Reception amplifier 14 ... BPF 15… Detection circuit 16 ... LPF 17 ... GAIN / STC 21 ... Timing controller 22 ... A / D converter 23 ... Received data memory 24 ... AIN / STC memory 25 ... D / A converter 26 ... PC internal bus 27 ... Local bus 28 ... PC internal bus controller

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ultrasonic probe having a mechanism for mechanically scanning an ultrasonic transducer, and an ultrasonic probe which is driven at an arbitrary timing while mechanically scanning the ultrasonic transducer A transmission / reception unit that transmits a sound wave, receives the obtained echo signal, detects it, and outputs it as reception data of an analog signal; and a computer that performs signal processing on the reception data of the analog signal output from the transmission / reception unit. The computer optionally converts the received data of the analog signal output from the transmitting / receiving unit into a digital signal, transfers the digital signal to a computer internal bus, and mechanically scans the ultrasonic transducer. The timing signal for transmitting ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer is generated by driving the ultrasonic transducer at each timing. Mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized by comprising a computer board that sends a timing signal to the transceiver unit. 2. The computer board, an A / D converter that converts the reception data of the analog signal into a digital signal, a memory that stores the reception data digitally converted by the A / D converter, and the memory A data width controller for controlling a plurality of received data stored in the computer to be arranged in a data bus width of the computer internal bus; and a plurality of the received data stored in the memory by the data width controller in the computer. The mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a computer internal bus controller that transfers to a bus at a time. 3. The timing controller, wherein the computer board controls the transmission / reception unit and circuit control on the computer board, and can change specifications by rewriting wiring data when the computer is started up. And a wiring data memory for storing the wiring data of the timing controller, and the computer internal bus controller further controls to store the wiring data of the front and rear timing controllers in the wiring data memory by an instruction. The mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein 4. An ultrasonic probe having a mechanism for mechanically scanning an ultrasonic transducer, and an ultrasonic probe which is driven at arbitrary timing while mechanically scanning the ultrasonic transducer The analog signal output from the transmission / reception unit, which has a transmission / reception unit that transmits a sound wave, receives the obtained echo signal, detects it, and outputs it as reception data of an analog signal, and a computer board that controls the transmission / reception unit. In the internal processing method of a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus including a computer for signal processing the received data, the computer board is a digital device for converting the received data of the analog signal output from the transmitting / receiving unit into a digital signal. A converting step, a transferring step for transferring the digital signal to a computer internal bus, Timing of generating a timing signal for transmitting ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic oscillator by driving the ultrasonic oscillator at every arbitrary timing while mechanically scanning and transmitting the timing signal to the transmitting / receiving unit A signal transmitting step, and an internal processing method for a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: 5. An ultrasonic probe having a mechanism for mechanically scanning an ultrasonic oscillator, and an ultrasonic probe which is driven at arbitrary timing while mechanically scanning the ultrasonic oscillator A transmission / reception unit that transmits a sound wave, receives the obtained echo signal, detects the echo signal, and outputs it as reception data of an analog signal; and The computer includes a computer board that generates a timing signal for transmitting an ultrasonic wave from a sound wave oscillator and sends the timing signal to the transmission / reception unit, and performs signal processing on reception data of the analog signal output from the transmission / reception unit. An ultrasonic image generation method for a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus including a computer , comprising: An ultrasonic signal transfer step of converting received data of the analog signal output from the unit into a digital signal and transferring the digital signal to a computer internal bus; and a base of the digital signal transferred in the ultrasonic signal transfer step. An ultrasonic image generating step for generating an ultrasonic image, and an ultrasonic image generating method for a mechanical scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: