JP4064517B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a three-dimensional display function of an ultrasonic image, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can easily recognize the line-of-sight direction of a three-dimensionally displayed ultrasonic image.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, by collecting a plurality of two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic images while moving the ultrasonic probe, three-dimensional data that is a collection of spatially continuous two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic images is obtained. 2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a three-dimensional display function of an ultrasonic image that generates an image of a projection plane corresponding to a predetermined line-of-sight direction based on the dimensional data and displays the image of the projection plane is known.
[0003]
Conventionally, a body mark representing a human body is displayed on a display device together with an ultrasound image, and a probe mark indicating the position and scanning direction of the ultrasound probe is displayed on the body mark. Yes.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, although the position and scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe can be immediately recognized by the probe mark, when the ultrasonic image is displayed three-dimensionally, the diagnostic region is viewed from which line-of-sight direction in the ultrasonic image at that time. It may not be possible to recognize whether the image is a current image, and there is a possibility that the diagnostic efficiency and diagnostic accuracy based on the three-dimensionally displayed ultrasonic image may be reduced.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve diagnostic efficiency and diagnostic accuracy by easily recognizing the line-of-sight direction when an ultrasonic image is displayed three-dimensionally.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention scans a tomographic plane in a fan shape by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves from an ultrasonic probe to a diagnostic site in a subject, and obtained by the scanning. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a function of generating a three-dimensional image based on a plurality of two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic images and displaying the three-dimensional ultrasonic image on a display device. When displaying a sound image, a body mark indicating the subject is displayed, and a probe mark indicating the position, scanning direction, and movement direction of the ultrasonic probe is displayed on the body mark, and the base of the probe mark is displayed. It is composed of a square mark and eye mark representing the mark and line-of-sight direction is displayed on the base end side of the mark of the line of the straight line that intersects the mark of the square that appears at the end portion, the probe Is obtained so as to display the visual line mark indicating the viewing direction of the ultrasound image the cross direction of the straight line of the mark against the proximal end portion of the over-click is displayed three-dimensionally.
The line-of-sight mark is displayed by displaying all of the plurality of line-of-sight marks indicating the line-of-sight direction of the ultrasonic image displayed in three dimensions, and selecting one of these line-of-sight marks. A three-dimensional image in the line-of-sight direction indicated by the line-of-sight mark may be displayed together with the line-of-sight mark.
Furthermore, the display of the line-of-sight mark may be such that the direction of the line-of-sight mark can be changed to an arbitrary angle, and a three-dimensional image of the line-of-sight direction indicated by the line-of-sight mark changed to an arbitrary angle may be generated.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment. This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus uses a diagnostic probe in which a plurality of transducers are arranged in a line to form a diagnostic part in a subject. The tomographic plane is scanned in a fan shape by transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to the display, and an ultrasonic tomographic image obtained by the scanning is displayed on the display device.
[0008]
Specifically, the ultrasonic probe 2 is driven by the transmission / reception unit 1, and ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received from the ultrasonic probe 2 toward the diagnosis site in the subject to scan the tomographic plane. The obtained reflected echo signal is subjected to various processing such as phasing, detection, and compression by the signal processing unit 3, and then converted to a digital signal by the A / D converter 4, and the echo obtained by the A / D conversion. Signal data (luminance value) is written to a predetermined address of the image memory 5. In the image memory 5, echo signal data obtained by changing the transmission / reception direction is sequentially written to each predetermined address to form image data. The formed image data is scan-converted and read out in response to a synchronization signal separate from the ultrasonic scan, and subjected to orthogonal coordinate system-polar coordinate system conversion and spatial interpolation calculation, and then a D / A converter 6 is converted to an analog signal. The analog signal obtained by the D / A converter 6 is output to a display device (CRT) 7 where an ultrasonic tomographic image is displayed.
[0009]
In addition, a three-dimensional image generation unit 8 is provided. The three-dimensional image generation unit 8 includes a plurality of spatially continuous two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic images stored in the image memory 5 and a specified line of sight. Based on the direction, a three-dimensional image is generated and temporarily stored in the image memory 5. The three-dimensional image stored in the image memory 5 as described above is scan-converted in the same manner as a normal two-dimensional tomographic image and displayed on the display device 7 via the D / A converter 6.
[0010]
The three-dimensional image, the body mark, the probe mark, and the line-of-sight mark stored in the image memory 5 are synthesized by the image synthesizer 9.
[0011]
The body mark display system corresponds to a body mark selector 10a that outputs an address of the body mark memory 10b to select a desired body mark by an operating device (not shown) operated by an operator, and an address output of the body mark selector 10a. A body mark memory 10b for outputting body mark pattern data to be output, and a body mark position setting unit 10c for setting the position of the body mark pattern data on the image synthesizer 9 (corresponding to the display position on the display device 7). Is done.
[0012]
The probe mark display system includes a probe mark selector 11a that outputs an address of the probe mark memory 11b to select a desired probe mark by an operator operated by the operator, and a probe mark corresponding to the address output of the probe mark selector 11a. It comprises a probe mark memory 11b for outputting pattern data and a probe mark position setting unit 11c for setting the position of the probe mark pattern data on the image synthesizer 9 (corresponding to the display position on the display device 7).
[0013]
The line-of-sight mark display system includes a line-of-sight mark selector 12a that outputs an address of the line-of-sight mark memory 12b to select a desired line-of-sight mark by an operator operated by an operator, and a line-of-sight mark corresponding to the address output of the line-of-sight mark selector 12a. A line-of-sight mark memory 12b for outputting pattern data, and a line-of-sight mark position setting unit 12c for setting the position of the line-of-sight mark pattern data on the image synthesizer 9 (corresponding to the display position on the display device 7).
[0014]
Next, generation of the three-dimensional image will be described in detail.
FIG. 2 shows a state of scanning of the ultrasonic probe 2 for obtaining a three-dimensional image. The subject 10 is scanned by moving the ultrasonic probe 2 while moving in the moving direction 11. In the three-dimensional space 16, two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic images 12 on the tomographic plane orthogonal to the moving direction 11 are collected spatially continuously. By the above scanning, as shown in FIG. 3, three-dimensional data 13 that is a collection of a plurality of two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic images 12 collected along the moving direction 11 is obtained. Stored in the image memory 5. 2 and 3, the structure inside the subject 10 is simply shown as a large and small cylindrical object.
[0015]
Generation of a three-dimensional image in the three-dimensional image generation unit 8 based on the three-dimensional data 13 is performed by an integration method as shown in FIG. 4, for example. Assuming that images from a plurality of line-of-sight directions are respectively displayed, as shown in FIG. 4, the Z axis among the X, Y, and Z axes fixed in the three-dimensional space to be diagnosed is a rotation axis, The line-of-sight direction w is designated by an angle θ from the X axis around the Z axis. FIG. 4 shows a case where the angle θ is 180 °.
[0016]
A viewpoint v is placed on a straight line from the line-of-sight direction w toward the Z axis, and a projection plane 21 that passes through the viewpoint v and is orthogonal to the line-of-sight direction w is defined. Next, the three-dimensional data 13 is searched from the pixel p on the projection plane 21 in parallel with the line-of-sight direction w, and the luminance value for each of the plurality of ultrasonic tomographic images located in the search direction in the three-dimensional data 13, that is, The luminance values in the integrated range 18 shown in FIG. 4 are added, and the addition result is stored in the image memory 5 as the pixel value at the pixel p on the projection plane 21. By performing this process for all the pixels on the projection surface 21, one integrated image (three-dimensional image) with respect to the line-of-sight direction w is generated.
[0017]
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, these series of processes are also performed on the projection planes 22 and 23 having a different line-of-sight direction w from the projection plane 21, thereby making the three-dimensional data different from each other as shown in FIG. A three-dimensional image 30 is obtained for each of the three projection planes 21 to 23 viewed from the line-of-sight direction w.
[0018]
These three-dimensional images 30 are sequentially displayed on the display device 7 at regular intervals by automatic switching control, or are displayed on the display device 7 according to the selection of the interpreter and are used for diagnosis. Obviously, the line-of-sight direction w and the number of projection planes are not limited to those described above.
[0019]
By the way, in displaying an ultrasonic tomographic image, a body mark representing a human body (subject) is displayed on the display device 7 together with the tomographic image, and a probe indicating the position and scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 on the body mark. In general, the mark is displayed, but in the present embodiment, when the three-dimensional image 30 is displayed, as shown in FIG. A line-of-sight mark 43 indicating the line-of-sight direction w of the three-dimensional image 30 displayed at that time is displayed on the body mark 41.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 7A, the display of FIG. 7B is a spatially continuous two-dimensional ultrasonic wave by moving the ultrasonic probe 2 in the moving direction 11 with respect to the subject 10. When the three-dimensional data 13 composed of tomographic images is obtained, the three-dimensional image 30 of the projection surface 22 based on the line-of-sight direction w is displayed.
[0021]
In the arrow-shaped probe mark 42, the direction of the arrow indicates the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2, and the position of the ultrasonic probe 2 is indicated by the position of the arrow on the body mark 41. The line-of-sight mark 43 includes a square mark 43a displayed at the base end of the arrow-shaped probe mark 42, a straight mark 43b whose crossing direction with respect to the square mark 43a indicates the line-of-sight direction w, and the straight line 43b. The mark 43b is displayed on the base end side of the mark 43b, and the straight mark 43b indicates an eye mark 43c indicating the line-of-sight direction w of the three-dimensional image. Note that the example shown in FIG. 7B shows a case where the line-of-sight direction w is designated toward the upper left in the figure.
[0022]
If the probe mark 42 and the line-of-sight mark 43 are displayed on the body mark 41 displayed together with the three-dimensional image 30, the line-of-sight direction w can be instantly recognized, so that the diagnosis using the three-dimensional image 30 can be performed efficiently and with high accuracy. Will be able to do it.
[0023]
In the above description, the mark 43 indicating the line-of-sight direction w is composed of squares, straight lines, and eye marks 43a, 43b, 43c as shown in FIG. 7B. It may be indicated by only the mark, or the line-of-sight direction w may be represented indirectly by displaying the projection plane. Marks having shapes and configurations other than those described above can be used as long as they can recognize the line-of-sight direction w.
[0024]
Further, by displaying all of the plurality of line-of-sight marks 43 indicating the plurality of line-of-sight directions w that generated the three-dimensional image, and selecting one of these line-of-sight marks 43, the selected line-of-sight direction w The three-dimensional image 30 may be displayed together with the corresponding line-of-sight mark 43. Further, the mark 43 indicating the line-of-sight direction w can be changed to an arbitrary angle, and the arbitrary angle is changed to the line-of-sight direction w. The three-dimensional image 30 can be generated.
[0025]
Further, a display indicating the moving direction 11 of the ultrasonic probe 2 together with the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 may be displayed on the probe mark 42. For example, the three-dimensional data 13 stored in the image memory 5 shown in FIG. 1 is read and a plurality of two-dimensional ultrasonic waves collected along the moving direction 11 of the ultrasonic probe 2 as shown in FIG. the arrangement direction of the plurality of two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image 12 in a three-dimensional data 13 is a collection of tomographic image 12 to obtain the movement direction 11 of the ultrasonic probe 2, the moving direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 11 may be displayed on the probe mark 42 . Further, instead of the ultrasonic probe 2 in which the transducers are arranged on a line, the ultrasonic probe 2 in which the transducers are arranged two-dimensionally is used to obtain three-dimensional data. good.
[0026]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration has been described in which the mark indicating the line-of-sight direction is displayed together with the probe mark. However, it is preferable to display each mark simultaneously, but an example in which each mark is switched and displayed is blinking. Examples in which the images are displayed in combination, and an embodiment implemented by a combination of simultaneous display, switching display, blinking display, and the like are also included in the present invention.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
Since the present invention is configured as described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when displaying a three-dimensional ultrasonic image on the display device, the probe mark displayed on the body mark indicating the subject. Indicates the position, scanning direction and moving direction of the ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic image displayed in three dimensions by the crossing direction of the straight marks in the line-of- sight mark displayed with respect to the proximal end portion of the probe mark Can be shown. As a result, when a three-dimensional ultrasonic image is displayed on the display device, the line-of-sight direction of the three-dimensional image can be instantly recognized, thereby improving diagnostic efficiency and diagnostic accuracy based on the three-dimensional image. There is an effect that can be done.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, all of the plurality of line-of-sight marks indicating the line-of-sight direction of the ultrasonic image displayed in three dimensions are displayed, and any one of these line-of-sight marks is selected. The three-dimensional image in the line-of-sight direction indicated by the selected line-of-sight mark is displayed together with the line-of-sight mark.
Further, according to the invention of claim 3 , the direction of the displayed line-of-sight mark can be changed to an arbitrary angle, and a three-dimensional image of the line-of-sight direction indicated by the line-of-sight mark changed to an arbitrary angle can be generated. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration in an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a scanning state of an ultrasound probe when generating a three-dimensional image.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of three-dimensional data obtained by scanning with an ultrasonic probe.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a line-of-sight direction, a luminance value integration range, and a projection plane in a three-dimensional image.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a setting state of a plurality of projection planes for three-dimensional data.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a three-dimensional image obtained for each of three projection planes.
7A is a diagram showing the moving direction, projection plane, and line-of-sight direction of an ultrasonic probe in an actual human body, and FIG. 7B displays a three-dimensional image obtained by the setting of (A). It is a figure which shows the example of the mark which shows the gaze direction at the time.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Transmission / reception part 2 ... Ultrasonic probe 3 ... Signal processing part 4 ... A / D converter 5 ... Image memory 6 ... D / A converter 7 ... Display apparatus 8 ... Three-dimensional image generation part 9 ... Image synthesizer
10 ... Subject
11 ... Moving direction
12 ... Ultrasonic tomogram
13… 3D data
21-23 ... Projection surface
30… 3D image
41 ... Body Mark
42… Probe mark
43 ... Gaze mark w ... Gaze direction

Claims (3)

An ultrasonic probe transmits / receives ultrasonic waves to / from a diagnostic region in the subject, scans the tomographic plane in a fan shape, and generates a three-dimensional image based on a plurality of two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic images obtained by the scanning. In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a function of generating and displaying this three-dimensional ultrasonic image on a display device,
When displaying a three-dimensional ultrasonic image on the display device, a body mark indicating the subject is displayed, and a probe mark indicating the position, scanning direction, and moving direction of the ultrasonic probe is displayed on the body mark. In addition, a square mark displayed at the base end of the probe mark, a straight mark intersecting the square mark, and an eye mark displayed on the base end side of the straight mark and indicating the line of sight It consists ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is characterized in that so as to display the visual line mark indicating the viewing direction of the ultrasound image the cross direction of the mark of a straight line is displayed three-dimensionally against the proximal end of the probe mark .   The line-of-sight mark is displayed by displaying all of the plurality of line-of-sight marks indicating the line-of-sight direction of the ultrasonic image displayed in three dimensions, and selecting one of these line-of-sight marks. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a three-dimensional image in the line-of-sight direction indicated by the line-of-sight mark is displayed together with the line-of-sight mark.   The display of the line-of-sight mark is such that the direction of the line-of-sight mark can be changed to an arbitrary angle, and a three-dimensional image of the line-of-sight direction indicated by the line-of-sight mark changed to an arbitrary angle is generated. Item 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to Item 1.

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