JP4331462B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Technical field to which the invention belongs]
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that improves the connection between a start-point image and an end-point image when performing loop playback and smoothly performs loop playback.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus selects an image of only a time phase of interest on a set biological waveform in a plurality of image memories recorded by an image storage unit once a time phase of interest of a moving image is set. , Loop playback. Accordingly, since the moving image of only the time phase of interest can be loop-reproduced without the user's setting every time during the loop reproduction of the image memory, only the moving image of the time phase to be observed can be observed (for example, patent Reference 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-8-238242 [0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this case, there is an image discontinuity when returning from the end point image to the start point image, and smooth continuous reproduction may not be obtained. In addition, when the operator manually designates the range of loop playback (start point and end point), the loop playback desired by the operator can be performed, but there is a problem that the operation procedure increases.
As described above, the object is to optimize the continuity of the start point and the end point in loop reproduction without imposing a burden on the operator.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes ultrasonic transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from a subject, and tomographic data in the subject using a reflected echo signal from the ultrasonic transmission / reception means at a predetermined cycle. And a tomographic scanning means for repeatedly obtaining a plurality of time-series images, an image storage means for storing the obtained time-series images, and an image reproducing means for reproducing and displaying the plurality of images on a display means. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: an end point image setting unit that sets one of the plurality of images as an end point image; and a difference between a pixel value of the end point image and a pixel value of each image of the plurality of images A starting point image calculating unit that calculates an image having a small difference as a starting point image; and the image reproducing unit that causes the display unit to loop display the plurality of images between the starting point image and the end point image. And a control means for controlling the said source image calculating means calculates the density value of the vertical direction to the destination image in the image region M × N pixel matrix and the sum of the difference between the density values of the plurality of images, The sum of the differences between the density values of the end point image and the density values of the plurality of images is calculated in the horizontal direction, and the smallest sum is obtained as a feature amount in the image area . The image processing apparatus further includes means for setting a search time phase range of the start point image for the plurality of images in the start point image calculating unit. Moreover, the source image calculating means, the difference value of the density value of the density value and the destination image for each image of the multiple images is to operation for each coordinate.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an ultrasonic apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is an ultrasonic probe, 2 is an ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit, 3 is an A / D converter, 4 is a buffer memory, 5 is an image memory, 6 is an electrocardiogram detection circuit, and 7 is an R-wave trigger signal memory. , 8 is a D / A converter, 9 is an image display, 10 is an operation panel, 11 is a main controller, 12 is a subject, and 13 is a time phase section loop reproduction controller of interest.
[0007]
The probe 1 transmits / receives ultrasonic waves to / from the subject 12, and includes a plurality of transducers. The ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 2 includes a pulser for forming an ultrasonic beam transmitted from the transducer provided in the probe 1 to the subject 12, a transmission delay circuit, and a reflection (reception) echo signal from within the subject 12. An amplifier that amplifies an electrical signal obtained by receiving and converting the probe 1 by a probe 1, a phasing circuit that adds a received signal having a predetermined delay time to the received signal and aligns the phase, and outputs this signal, It comprises a detector for detecting a signal phased and added by a phase adjusting circuit. The probe 1 and the ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 2 constitute an ultrasonic transmission / reception means, and the probe 1 scans an ultrasonic beam in the body of the subject 12 in a certain direction, so that one tomographic image is obtained. Get.
[0008]
The A / D converter 3 inputs the reflected echo signal from the ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 2 and converts it into a digital signal. The buffer memory 4 has two line memories inside, and the digital signal output from the A / D converter 3 is alternately written to the two line memories for each scanning line or a plurality of scanning lines of the ultrasonic beam. Are read out and sent to the image memory 5 described later. The A / D converter 3, the buffer memory 4, and the main coin controller 11 described later constitute a tomographic scanning means.
[0009]
The image memory 5 serves as an image storage unit that sequentially stores the time-series image data output from the buffer memory 4 to form a tomographic image, and has a storage capacity capable of storing images of a plurality of frames, for example. It consists of semiconductor memory.
[0010]
The electrocardiogram detection circuit 6 is a biosignal detection unit that detects an electrocardiogram waveform of the subject 12. Although not shown in the figure, an isolation amplifier that insulates and amplifies an electrocardiogram signal obtained from an electrode attached to the subject 12 and a reference R-wave time phase from the waveform of the obtained electrocardiogram signal. An R wave timing detection circuit that detects and generates an R wave trigger signal is incorporated.
[0011]
The R wave trigger signal memory 7 is a biological signal storage means for storing the R wave trigger signal output from the electrocardiogram detection circuit 6 in a certain order. Like the image memory 5, it consists of a semiconductor memory.
[0012]
The D / A converter 8 converts the image data output from the image memory 5 into an analog video signal. The image display 9 receives an analog video signal from the D / A converter 8 and a biological waveform from the electrocardiogram detection circuit 6, and displays it as an image by a television display method, for example, a television monitor. . The D / A converter 8 and the image display 9 constitute image display means for displaying the image data output from the image memory 5.
[0013]
The operation panel 10 is an apparatus condition setting means for setting various conditions (mode, freeze, etc.) of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus from the outside, and includes, for example, various switches and knobs, a trackball, a touch panel, and the like.
[0014]
The main controller 11 is a device control means for controlling the operation of each component based on various condition setting information sent from the operation panel 10, for example, from a central processing unit (CPU) and a memory for storing various information. It is configured.
[0015]
FIG. 5 shows an operation of converting an electrocardiogram waveform obtained from the subject 12 ((a) in FIG. 5) into an R-wave trigger signal ((b) in FIG. 5) in the electrocardiogram detection circuit 6. It is. A steep rise to the R wave, which is the peak of the electrocardiogram waveform, is detected and converted to a rectangular pulse. The signal level changes from low (L) to high (H) at the rise of the R wave, and returns to low (L) after a certain time. That is, the electrocardiogram detection circuit 6 creates an R wave trigger signal that is high (H) at the timing of the R wave and low (L) otherwise. The R wave trigger signal is sequentially stored in the R wave trigger signal memory 7.
[0016]
Then, after storing a plurality of tomographic images in the image memory 5, the time phase section loop reproduction controller 13 of interest stores in the R wave trigger signal memory 7 so as to correspond to the time phase section of interest specified in advance on the operation panel 10. The loop playback section of the image memory 5 is calculated on the basis of the R-wave trigger signal, and the loop playback of the image memory 5 is performed based on the calculated playback section.
[0017]
FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of an ultrasonic apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. 14 is a search range setting unit, 15 is an end point image reading unit, 16 is an end point image preprocessing filter, 17 is a search image reading unit, 18 is a search image preprocessing filter, 19 is an image difference calculation unit, and 20 is a loop playback start point image. The determination unit is linked to the image memory 5 and the interested time phase section loop reproduction controller 13 shown in FIG.
[0018]
The search range setting unit 14 sets a search range based on a signal from the main controller 11 as to whether all stored images are to be searched or whether a desired range is designated among stored images. When all the stored images are used as search targets, the start point image and the end point image are set using the ultrasonic moving image of the entire range, whereas when the desired range is specified, for example, the time phase of interest along the heartbeat is determined. The start point image and end point image of the ultrasonic moving image are set within the range.
[0019]
First, an end point image of an ultrasonic moving image is arbitrarily set within a desired range. The end point image reading unit 15 reads the end point image set as the end point of the ultrasonic moving image, reduces noise by a low pass filter included in the end point image preprocessing filter 16, and improves the image comparison accuracy with the search image.
Then, the search image reading unit 17 reads a plurality of search images for setting the start point image with the ultrasonic moving image, and performs noise reduction by a low-pass filter provided in the search image preprocessing filter 18.
[0020]
The image difference calculation unit 19 calculates the image difference ΣAxy−Bxy between the end point image B and the search image A. The image difference includes a visual difference due to a difference in image position, image density, reproducibility of the edge portion, and the like, but mainly calculates a pixel density difference value between images of the search image and calculates it for each coordinate.
[0021]
Calculate the sum of the density differences between the end point image and the search image in the vertical direction within the image area M × N pixel matrix, and calculate the sum of the density differences between the end point image and the search image in the horizontal direction within the image area. Among them, the smallest sum is acquired as a feature amount in the image area.
[0022]
The loop reproduction starting point image determining unit 20 compares the pixel density difference sum value obtained by the image difference calculating unit 19, and selects the search image with the smallest image difference between the end point image B and the searching image A in the search range image. And Then, an instruction to perform continuous playback from the determined start point image to end point image is issued by the time phase section loop playback controller 13 of interest, and this is associated with the image memory 5 to perform continuous loop playback.
[0023]
Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
First, the search range is set by the main controller 11 as to whether all stored images are to be searched or whether a desired range is specified among the stored images. (step 1)
[0024]
Set the end point image arbitrarily within the desired range, read this end point image for comparison with the search image to set the start point image, reduce the noise by the low-pass filter provided in the end point image preprocessing filter 16, and search image And improve the image comparison accuracy. (Step 2)
[0025]
A plurality of search images for searching for an ultrasonic moving image are read within a desired range, noise is reduced by a low-pass filter provided in the search image preprocessing filter 26, and image comparison accuracy with the end point image is improved. (Step 3)
[0026]
The sum of the density differences between the end point image and the search image is calculated in the vertical direction within the image area, the sum of the density differences between the end point image and the search image is calculated in the horizontal direction within the image area, and the smallest of these sums is calculated. Is obtained as a feature amount in the image area. (Step 4)
[0027]
Here, when the sum of the density differences between the end point image and the search image is larger than a certain threshold value, the search image is read again and the image difference calculation is performed. If this does not solve the problem, change the search range setting from step 1 and perform a series of operations.
[0028]
Next, the search image having the smallest image difference between the end point image B and the search image A in the search range image is set as the start point image. Then, continuous loop reproduction is performed from the determined start point image to the end point image. (Step 5)
[0029]
As described above, by using the present invention, it is possible to improve the connection between the start-point image and the end-point image when performing loop playback, and to smoothly perform loop playback, improving the accuracy of diagnosis related to heartbeats, etc. can do.
[0030]
Although the present invention has been specifically described based on examples, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the examples and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the apparatus can search / set an end point image and a start point image that are optimal for loop playback, and can easily perform smooth loop playback with little discontinuity between the start point and the end point.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing a detailed configuration of an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a time phase interval loop regeneration controller of interest according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a signal processing procedure according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an operation of converting an electrocardiographic waveform into an R-wave trigger signal according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ultrasonic probe 2 Ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 3 A / D converter 4 Buffer memory 5 Image memory 6 Electrocardiogram detection circuit 7 R wave trigger signal memory 8 D / A converter 9 Image display 10 Operation panel 11 Main controller 12 Subject 13 Time of Interest Section Loop Playback Controller 14 Search Range Setting Unit 15 End Point Image Reading Unit 16 End Point Image Preprocessing Filter 17 Search Image Reading Unit 18 Search Image Preprocessing Filter 19 Image Difference Calculation Unit 20 Loop Playback Start Point Image Determination Part

Claims (3)

Ultrasound transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving ultrasound to and from the subject;
A tomographic scanning unit that obtains a plurality of time-series images by repeating the tomographic data in the subject at a predetermined cycle using a reflected echo signal from the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving unit;
Image storage means for storing the obtained time-series images;
Image reproducing means for reproducing and displaying the plurality of images on a display means;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:
End point image setting means for setting one of the plurality of images as an end point image;
Start point image calculating means for calculating, as a start point image, an image which is the smallest difference between the pixel values of the end point image and the pixel values of the images of the plurality of images;
Control means for controlling the image reproduction means so as to cause the display means to reproduce and display the plurality of images between the start point image and the end point image ;
The start point image calculation means calculates the sum of the differences between the density values of the end point image and the plurality of images in the vertical direction within the image area M × N pixel matrix, and sets the density value of the end point image in the horizontal direction. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized in that the sum of differences between the density values of the plurality of images and the density value of the plurality of images is calculated, and the smallest sum is obtained as a feature amount in the image region .   2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting a search time phase range of the start point image for the plurality of images in the start point image calculating means. The source image calculating means, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the difference value of the density values of the destination image and the density value of each image is intended for calculating each coordinate of the plurality of images.

Images