JP4790384B2 - Ultrasound diagnostic treatment device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus.

  The ultrasonic therapy apparatus is configured to treat a lesioned part by radiating ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer into the body.

  An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that operates separately from the ultrasonic treatment apparatus is provided, and a diagnostic image including the lesion is displayed in advance by the display unit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

  The surgeon who handles the ultrasonic treatment apparatus refers to the diagnostic image displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and irradiates the ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic transducer to a position corresponding to a lesioned part (treatment site) of the diagnostic image. I am letting.

  For this reason, the ultrasonic transducer is usually configured to include a diagnostic ultrasonic transducer in addition to a therapeutic ultrasonic transducer. The beam from the ultrasonic transducer for diagnosis (beam for diagnosis) and the beam from the ultrasonic transducer for diagnosis (diagnostic beam) are irradiated in the same plane.

  In the treatment, it is necessary to set the ultrasonic irradiation angle, the focal depth, the ultrasonic intensity, etc. required for the treatment. The settings are set on the display unit (monitor) in the ultrasonic treatment apparatus. It was done by letting you enter numbers.

Note that these techniques are described in detail, for example, in Patent Document 1 below.
JP 2004-24668 A

  However, in the conventional technique described above, an operator who handles an ultrasonic therapy apparatus refers to a diagnostic image displayed on the display unit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and determines an ultrasonic irradiation angle, a focal depth, and an ultrasonic wave. Since the ultrasonic therapy apparatus is driven by setting the intensity or the like, the operator needs considerable skill to perform the setting accurately.

  And the said patent document 1 does not reflect these circumstances, Therefore, it takes comparatively time for appropriate settings, such as an ultrasonic irradiation angle, a focal depth, and an ultrasonic intensity | strength. It was pointed out that even patients suffered some mental distress.

  The present invention has been made based on such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus that can easily perform settings related to ultrasonic waves required for treatment.

   Of the inventions disclosed in this application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

(1) The ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes, for example, a monitor capable of displaying a reference image obtained from volume data,
Means for displaying a treatment beam pattern superimposed on the position of the ultrasound beam to be irradiated on the reference image and showing the distribution of ultrasound intensity by inputting treatment ultrasound setting conditions;
Means capable of displaying the reference image together with the therapeutic beam pattern by rotating it around an arbitrary axis of the volume data;
Means for displaying an ultrasound image and calculating a reference image having the same scan plane as the scan plane of the ultrasound image from the volume data;
Means for calculating the position of the therapeutic beam pattern in the coordinates of the volume data from the position of the therapeutic beam pattern to be displayed on the ultrasonic image;
It is characterized by providing.

(2) The ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus according to the present invention is premised on the configuration of (1), for example, and the volume data is three-dimensional image information obtained from a medical image diagnostic apparatus.

(3) ultrasonic diagnosis and treatment system according to the present invention based on the configuration of (1), wherein the ultrasonic image is characterized to be displayed is the reference image and juxtaposed in the monitor surface .

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the above structure, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the technical idea of this invention.

  The therapeutic beam pattern and its surrounding image can be grasped three-dimensionally, and it can be accurately determined whether or not the therapeutic beam pattern is positioned at an appropriate position.

  In addition, the position of the treatment beam pattern can be easily calculated on the coordinates of the volume data to be displayed on the reference image.

  Embodiments of an ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, the ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus is roughly divided into an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1, an ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus 2, a therapeutic probe 3, and a medical image diagnostic apparatus 4 including, for example, an X-ray CT apparatus and an MRI apparatus. And a monitor 5 for displaying an image.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 is configured as an apparatus for obtaining an ultrasonic image of a tomographic image including an affected part of a subject 6 using ultrasonic waves.

  First, the treatment probe 3 used by being connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 includes a diagnostic probe 31, and the diagnostic probe 31 transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from the subject 6. It has become. The therapeutic probe 3 is also provided with a therapeutic transducer 32 driven by the ultrasonic therapy apparatus 2.

  The reflected echo signal obtained by the diagnostic probe 31 is input to the ultrasound calculation unit 11, and the reflected echo signal is converted into a digital signal by the ultrasound calculation unit 11, for example, from a tomographic image (B mode image). An ultrasonic image is generated.

  The information of the ultrasonic image is input to the cine memory 12, and the cine memory 12 stores the ultrasonic image for each of a plurality of frames.

  The ultrasonic image stored in the cine memory 12 is input to the adder 13, and the ultrasonic image and a reference image to be described later are combined on the image by the adder 13 and displayed on the monitor 5. ing.

  On the other hand, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 is provided with a volume data storage unit 14, and the volume data storage unit 14 stores volume image data related to the subject 6 captured by the medical image diagnostic apparatus 4. The data is taken in via a network or a portable storage medium such as a magneto-optical disk (MO). Here, the volume image data refers to multi-slice image data obtained by imaging the inside of a subject with a plurality of slice planes.

  In the volume image data, the reference image calculation unit 15 calculates a reference image on the same scan plane as the ultrasonic image created by the ultrasonic image calculation unit 11.

  In this case, the scan plane of the ultrasonic image created by the ultrasonic image calculation unit 11 is calculated as follows. That is, a position sensor 33 is attached to the treatment probe 3, and a coordinate system source 34 including the subject 6 is installed near a bed (not shown) on which the subject 6 lies. Then, when the position sensor 33 detects a magnetic signal generated in the three-dimensional space from the source 34, the three-dimensional position and inclination of the treatment probe 3 in the reference coordinate system formed by the source 34, that is, the A scan plane will be detected. The position sensor system including the position sensor and the source is not limited to the magnet type, and a known position sensor system such as a system using light can be used.

  The detection of the scan plane is performed by calculating scan plane coordinates by the scan plane coordinate calculation unit 16, and the scan plane coordinates are stored in the scan plane coordinate storage unit 17, and then scanned plane coordinates in the coordinate system of the reference image. Is calculated. In other words, in the coordinate system of the volume image data, the coordinate data of the scan plane, which is composed of, for example, x, y, z coordinate data of one corner of the scan plane and the rotation angle about the x, y, z axis of the scan plane, is calculated. It has become. The scan plane coordinate storage unit 17 inputs the scan plane coordinate data calculated by the scan plane coordinate calculation unit 16 and stores scan plane coordinates for a plurality of frames. Here, it is preferable that the number of frames of the scan plane coordinates to be stored is equal to the number of frames of the ultrasonic image captured in real time and stored in the cine memory 12. This is because the reference image calculation unit 15 inputs the scan plane coordinate data and reconstructs a reference image having the same cross section as the ultrasonic scan plane from the volume image data.

  After the desired reference image is calculated by the reference image calculation unit 15 in this way, the reference image is input to the adder 13 and is synthesized on the ultrasonic image and displayed on the monitor 5. It has become so.

  Moreover, the ultrasonic treatment apparatus 2 is configured as an apparatus for performing treatment by irradiating an affected part with ultrasonic waves.

  Here, the operator observes the ultrasonic image (and the reference image) displayed on the monitor 5, while observing the intensity, focal depth, Each information (ultrasonic irradiation condition) such as an irradiation angle is input.

  In this case, the operator first inputs the ultrasonic irradiation conditions to the operation device 21 while observing the ultrasonic image 5U displayed on the monitor 5 as shown in FIG. Yes. As a result, the therapeutic beam pattern BPU that matches the ultrasonic irradiation condition is displayed in the ultrasonic image 5U, and the therapeutic beam pattern BPU becomes a graphic image that resembles an actual ultrasonic beam to be irradiated. Yes. Note that the input of such ultrasonic irradiation conditions will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

  After the input of the ultrasonic irradiation conditions is completed, the display content of the monitor 5 can be switched, and the reference image 5R can be displayed side by side on the ultrasonic image 5U as shown in FIG. . The reference image 5R that is displayed first has the same scan plane as that of the ultrasound image 5U, and is displayed in the same place and in the same pattern as the therapeutic beam pattern BPU displayed in the ultrasound image 5U. The therapeutic beam pattern BPR is displayed.

  Further, with respect to the reference image 5R, the reference image 5R that changes sequentially can be imaged by arbitrarily rotating around the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis of the volume data serving as the base information. It has become. In this case, the therapeutic beam pattern BPU in the reference image 5R is also moved on the screen with the rotation.

  If it is necessary to review the input of the ultrasonic irradiation conditions as a result of observation while changing the reference image 5R, the image is returned to the image shown in FIG. 3 again, and the newly set ultrasonic irradiation conditions are changed to the above operation. It can be input via the device 21. The determination as to whether or not the input of the ultrasonic irradiation conditions set in this way is correct will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

  As described above, the therapeutic beam patterns BPU and BPR are displayed in the ultrasonic image 5U and the reference image R, respectively. These therapeutic beam patterns BPU and BPR are the same, for example, A pattern selection unit 18 selects a plurality of ones that are preliminarily created by the pattern selection unit 18 in accordance with the ultrasonic irradiation conditions input from the operation device 21.

  The therapeutic beam patterns BPU and BPR selected in this way are determined by the pattern coordinate position setting unit 19 at positions on the scan plane calculated by the scan plane coordinate calculation unit 16, and an ultrasonic image is added by the adder 13. In addition, it is displayed so as to overlap with the reference image.

  Further, the treatment position control unit 22 operated by the operation device 21 controls the treatment pulse generation circuit 23 and the treatment ultrasonic delay circuit 24 in order to irradiate ultrasonic waves under the determined ultrasonic irradiation conditions. It has become. The therapeutic pulse generation circuit 23 is for generating therapeutic ultrasonic pulses, and the therapeutic ultrasonic delay circuit 24 is for adjusting the timing of irradiation of ultrasonic waves for irradiation. .

  After the signal from the ultrasonic delay circuit 24 is amplified by the amplifier 25, the treatment transducer 32 in the treatment probe 3 is operated, and the treatment transducer 32 irradiates the affected part of the subject 6 with the ultrasound beam. It has become so.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the operator inputs the ultrasonic irradiation condition to the operation device 21, the ultrasonic image 5U displayed on the monitor 5 and the display related thereto are displayed with the ultrasonic intensity display ( Hereinafter, an ultrasonic intensity display 5A) and a display indicating the relationship between the diagnostic beam and the therapeutic beam (hereinafter referred to as a diagnostic beam-therapy beam relationship display 5C) are provided.

  The ultrasonic image 5C shows an ultrasonic imaging range IR that expands in a fan shape with the position CN of the ultrasonic probe as the center, and the affected part DP and surrounding organs are imaged at locations located within the ultrasonic imaging range IR. Has been.

  In addition, an elongated therapeutic beam pattern BPU that is superimposed and displayed on a virtual line connecting the position CN of the ultrasound probe and the affected part DP is shown. This therapeutic beam pattern BPU is shown corresponding to the ultrasonic beam to be irradiated on the affected part DP from now on, and the longitudinal direction of the therapeutic beam pattern BPU is shown to coincide with the direction of the ultrasonic beam. Has been.

  The therapeutic beam pattern BPU is divided into a plurality of relatively fine regions from the front end side corresponding to the position CN of the ultrasonic probe to the end serving as the opposite end in the longitudinal direction. Each area is displayed with a color.

These colors are predetermined in correspondence with the intensity of the ultrasonic wave to be irradiated from now on, and the ultrasonic wave at the position overlapping the area is set in each divided area of the therapeutic beam pattern BPU. The color corresponding to the intensity of is attached. Thereby, the intensity of the ultrasonic wave on the ultrasonic beam to be irradiated from now on can be determined by the color assigned to each divided area of the therapeutic beam pattern BPU. In the case of FIG. 3, blue → red → blue sequentially changes from the distal end side to the distal end, and the red portion overlaps a part of the affected part DP. As will be apparent from the following explanation, the red part is represented as the part having the highest ultrasonic intensity on the treatment beam pattern BPU. Each region has a length in the longitudinal direction that is not necessarily uniform and may be different for each region. This is because each region is determined so as to be classified according to the intensity of the ultrasonic beam within a certain range. This relationship is different from the case of the ultrasonic intensity display 5A described later.

  As described above, the therapeutic beam pattern BPU having such a pattern has different lengths in the longitudinal direction of the regions divided in the longitudinal direction or colors assigned to the regions. Are prepared in advance, for example, by inputting information on the intensity and depth of focus of an ultrasonic beam for treatment, one of them is selected, and the irradiation angle of the ultrasonic beam to be irradiated from now on The selected therapeutic beam pattern BPU is displayed on the surface of the ultrasonic image 5U with an inclination corresponding to the angle. This operation will be described with reference to FIG. 2. As the information on the ultrasonic beam is input via the operation device 21, the treatment beam pattern BPU corresponding to the information is selected by the pattern selection unit 18, and the pattern coordinates are further selected. The position setting unit 19 determines the position of the therapeutic beam pattern BPU on the scan plane coordinates input from the scan plane coordinate storage unit 17 to the pattern coordinate position setting unit 19.

The therapeutic beam pattern BPU is superimposed on the ultrasonic image 5U from the cine memory 12 input to the adder 13 by the adder 13 and displayed.

  The ultrasonic intensity display 5A is shown as an elongated display extending from left to right, and this display is divided into a plurality of relatively fine regions in the longitudinal direction. The lengths of the respective regions divided in the longitudinal direction of the ultrasonic intensity display 5A are equal in length in the longitudinal direction, and different colors are given to the respective regions.

  The left end side of the ultrasonic intensity display 5A indicates that the intensity of the ultrasonic beam is low, and the right end side indicates that the intensity is high, and each color of each region has a hue corresponding to the intensity of the ultrasonic beam. Is set. In the case of FIG. 3, for example, the left end region of the ultrasonic intensity display 5A is set to a blue color and the right end region is set to a red color, and blueness is gradually reduced and redness is greatly changed from the left end side to the right end side. Thus, the arrangement of colors is sensuously adapted to the intensity of the ultrasonic beam.

  By providing such an ultrasonic intensity display 5A, when it is desired to grasp the intensity of the ultrasonic beam in a predetermined area in the therapeutic beam pattern BPU of the ultrasonic image 5U, the same color as the color of the area By knowing the position on the ultrasonic intensity display 5A, there is an effect that it can be easily grasped.

  Furthermore, this ultrasonic intensity display 5A is provided with an ultrasonic intensity setting means 5D having a movement index MI that can indicate each area.

  When one region of the ultrasonic intensity display B is designated by the movement index MI, the intensity of the ultrasonic beam in that region is, for example, 0.5 W (not necessarily limited to this value). In addition, while maintaining the relationship that the intensity of the ultrasonic beam shifts from the lower end to the right end from the left end side to the right end side of the ultrasonic intensity display 5A, the intensity of the ultrasonic beam in other regions is relatively It is going to change.

  By being configured in this manner, the intensity of the ultrasonic beam for treatment to be irradiated from now on is appropriately determined according to the state and position of the affected part DP displayed in the ultrasonic image 5U during the treatment. Can be set.

  The relationship display C between the diagnostic beam and the therapeutic beam indicates that when irradiating a therapeutic ultrasonic beam and observing an ultrasonic image of the diagnostic ultrasonic beam during the irradiation, those beams are irradiated. It shows the temporal relationship of.

  In the above description, the therapeutic beam pattern BPU has regions divided into a plurality from the distal end side to the distal end in the longitudinal direction, and each region is colored. That is, it is created as a pattern representing the distribution of the intensity of ultrasonic waves only in the irradiation direction of the ultrasonic beam.

  However, it goes without saying that the therapeutic beam pattern BPU is not limited to the irradiation direction of the ultrasonic beam, but can also be a pattern representing the ultrasonic intensity distribution in a direction orthogonal thereto. FIG. 4 shows a case where the therapeutic beam pattern BPU 'having such a configuration is displayed on the ultrasonic image 5U.

  By using such a therapeutic beam pattern BPU ′, the distribution of ultrasonic intensity is shown not only in the longitudinal direction but also in the width direction. It will be known in detail whether or not is irradiated.

  This therapeutic beam pattern BPU ′ is designed to change the pattern according to the irradiation conditions (depth of focus, irradiation angle, etc.) of the ultrasonic beam, as with the therapeutic beam pattern BPU. The pattern to be obtained is previously obtained by a hydrophone or the like, and created by a BMP image or the like.

  In FIG. 4, when the ultrasonic irradiation conditions are, for example, when the focal depth is 20 mm and the focal angle is 0 °, the therapeutic beam pattern BPU ′ is positioned substantially in the middle of the ultrasonic imaging range IR, and The intensity distribution is displayed as shown in FIG. When the depth of focus is 30 mm and the focus angle is 0 °, the therapeutic beam pattern BPU ′ is positioned substantially in the middle of the ultrasonic imaging range IR as in FIG. The intensity distribution is displayed as shown in FIG. Further, when the depth of focus is 20 mm and the focus angle is 15 °, the therapeutic beam pattern BPU ′ is inclined by 15 ° from a substantially middle position with respect to the ultrasonic imaging range IR, as shown in FIG. 4C. The intensity distribution is displayed in the same manner as shown in FIG.

  1 (a) and 1 (b) show an embodiment of a display mode obtained by switching the display content (display mode shown in FIG. 3) of the monitor 5 after inputting ultrasonic irradiation conditions as described above. It is a figure which shows an example.

  First, as shown in FIG. 1A, on the display surface of the monitor 5, an ultrasonic image 5U is displayed on the right side, and a reference image 5R is displayed on the left side. The ultrasonic image 5U and the reference image 5R are displayed, for example, at the same magnification. This is because the correspondence between both images can be easily grasped.

  The ultrasonic image 5U is the same as the ultrasonic image 5U shown in FIG. 3, and the therapeutic beam pattern BPU is displayed in an overlapping manner. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, it is clarified that a blood vessel BV which is an attention site is displayed in addition to the organ in the subject 6.

  The reference image 5R is a reference image on the same scan plane as the scan plane of the ultrasonic image 5U. When creating the ultrasonic image 5U, the scan plane coordinates of the ultrasonic image 5U are calculated based on the information from the position sensor 33 provided in the treatment probe 3, and correspond to the scan plane coordinates from the volume data storage unit 14. This is because the reference image to be calculated is calculated.

  Here, in this reference image 5R, a therapeutic beam pattern BPR composed of the same pattern as the therapeutic beam pattern BPU displayed in the ultrasonic image 5U is displayed.

  In the stage of the treatment plan shown in FIG. 3, in the memory space of the volume data storage unit 14 of the treatment beam pattern BPR by inputting information on the intensity, the focal depth, and the irradiation angle regarding the ultrasonic beam to be irradiated from now on. The position (coordinates) is calculated, and the treatment beam pattern BPR is displayed at the position on the reference image 5R by displaying the reference image 5R on the monitor 5. That is, FIG. 5 shows the therapeutic beam pattern BPU on the scan plane SF in (a), and this therapeutic beam pattern BPU is represented by the coordinates (xyz coordinates) of the scan plane SF as shown in (b). FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to the therapeutic beam pattern BPR shown in the volume data image VD on the coordinates corresponding to (xyz coordinates). This therapeutic beam pattern BPR is the same as the therapeutic beam pattern BPU. In FIG. 2, the pattern selecting unit 18 selects the position and the pattern coordinate position setting unit 19 determines the position thereof as described above. However, it is distinguished from the treatment beam pattern BPU with respect to being displayed by being superimposed on the reference image 5R from the reference image calculation unit 15 input to the adder 13 by the adder 13.

  The reference image 5R displayed in this way has the same viewing angle as the viewing angle of the ultrasonic image 5U at the beginning of the display switching shown in FIG. For example, the volume data can be observed from an arbitrary viewpoint by operating a trackball (not shown) (for example, provided in the operation device 21). That is, as shown in FIG. 1B, the display angle can be changed by changing the viewpoint angle with respect to the reference image 5R displayed so far. This operation will be described with reference to FIG. 2. When the trackball (operator 21) is operated, the volume data in the volume data storage unit 14 is converted into at least one of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis that is its coordinate axis. A reference image viewed from the same viewing angle as that of the reference image before the rotation is performed is calculated as an image in which the viewpoint angle is changed. Note that the rotation of the volume data is not necessarily limited to the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis, and may be performed around an arbitrarily selected axis. In the rotated reference image, the coordinate position of the therapeutic beam pattern BPR is input from the operating device 21 to the pattern coordinate position setting unit 19. Then, the treatment beam pattern BPR is superimposed and displayed at the appropriate position on the rotated reference image by the adder 13. That is, when the reference image 5R is displayed by changing the viewpoint angle, the therapeutic beam pattern BPR is also moved and displayed accordingly.

  Therefore, by observing the reference image 5R in which the viewpoint is sequentially changed, it is possible to obtain a great effect that the three-dimensional positional relationship between, for example, the blood vessel BV that is the target site and the treatment beam pattern BPR can be clearly understood. become.

  6 (a) and 6 (b) are diagrams showing examples of other display modes obtained by switching the display contents of the monitor 5 after inputting ultrasonic irradiation conditions, and correspond to FIG. 1 described above. It has become the figure.

  1 is different from the case of FIG. 1 in that, in the reference image 5R, for example, a blood vessel BV that is an attention site is highlighted and displayed. From the information stored in the volume data storage unit 14, the brightness of other parts excluding the blood vessel BV is reduced and processed into information with relatively improved brightness of the blood vessel BV. The reference image 5R is obtained. For this reason, the blood vessel BV is clearly displayed in the reference image 5R and can be observed three-dimensionally.

  In addition, at the beginning of the display switching (the stage before the rotation display change of the reference image 5R), only the image related to the blood vessel BV in the reference image 5R is superimposed on the ultrasonic image 5U. This is because the arrangement state of the blood vessel BV, which is the site of interest, in the ultrasonic image 5U is clarified and treatment planning is performed with high accuracy.

  The therapeutic beam pattern BPR displayed in the reference image 5R is created as a three-dimensional display having a depth in the memory space of the volume data storage unit 14. That is, the beam bundle can be easily imaged like an actual ultrasonic beam. In this case, when the display is changed by changing the viewpoint angle with respect to the reference image 5R displayed so far, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the therapeutic beam pattern BPR has a three-dimensional shape. And the positional relationship between the therapeutic beam pattern BPR and the blood vessel BV having a complicated arrangement in the vicinity of the therapeutic beam pattern BPR can be clearly recognized and grasped. Further, as can be seen from the treatment beam pattern BPR in the reference image of FIG. 6B, each end face of the beam pattern can also be visually observed. Therefore, the directivity direction of the beam pattern can be easily estimated, and the blood vessel BV can be estimated. There is an effect that the positional relationship of the beam pattern can be clearly understood.

  Although the same applies to the case of FIG. 1, in this embodiment, in addition to the ultrasonic image 5U and the reference image 5R, the image shown in FIG. 7 is also displayed.

  The display image shown in FIG. 7 has an organ image 5I that allows three-dimensional observation of information stored in the volume data storage unit 14 (volume data) from a relatively long distance. The organ image 5I also displays a treatment beam pattern BPR arranged at a predetermined position of the volume data. Further, a slice plane SS displayed across the organ image 5I is displayed.

  The slice surface SS is a surface that coincides with the display surface of the reference image 5R. In other words, the organ image 5I has a cross section taken along the slice plane SS, and the organ image 5I viewed from the cross section side has a relationship corresponding to the reference image 5R.

  In the case of such a configuration, at the stage of displaying the reference image 5R with the viewpoint angle changed, the display image shown in FIG. 5 has, for example, the position of the slice plane SS with respect to the organ image 5I and the treatment beam pattern BPR. Change and move. Alternatively, the organ image 5I and the treatment beam pattern BPR move with their positions changed with respect to the slice plane SS.

  From this, there is an effect that it is possible to grasp at a glance which part of the reference image 5R is relative to the image 5I.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of another display mode obtained by switching the display contents of the monitor 5 after inputting the ultrasonic irradiation conditions.
In the reference image 5R displayed together with the ultrasonic image 5U, the region of interest WP can be identified in a region of interest, for example, the blood vessel BV, and the region of interest WP is more conspicuous than the surrounding blood vessel BV. Thus, for example, the luminance of blood vessels BV other than the target site WP is reduced.

  In this case, for example, the region of interest WP can be specified by a mouse or the like. At this time, the coordinates of the region of interest WP are detected and displayed in the coordinates in the volume data storage unit 14. In the reference image 5R, the luminance of the blood vessel BV other than the portion corresponding to the coordinates is reduced. Further, also in the ultrasonic image 5U, the luminance of the blood vessel BV other than the target site WP ′ corresponding to the target site WP is reduced. This is because the correspondence relationship of the attention site WP in the ultrasonic image 5U and the reference image 5R is clearly clarified.

  In the description of this embodiment, the brightness of the attention site WP is lowered so that it is conspicuous, and as a result, the brightness of the attention site WP is improved. As another example, For example, it goes without saying that the attention site WP may be colored.

  In this embodiment, it goes without saying that the attention site direction indication mark DM is displayed in both the ultrasonic image 5U and the reference image 5R, and may be configured in this manner.

  In the embodiment described above, the source 34 paired with the position sensor 33 provided in the treatment probe 3 is attached to the bed on which the subject 6 lies, as will be apparent from the description of FIG. .

  However, for example, when the head of the subject 6 is to be diagnosed, the head is easy to move as compared with other parts. Therefore, by providing the source 34 on the head of the subject 6, Since it is possible to eliminate the deviation between the ultrasonic image and the reference image, it goes without saying that this may be done.

  FIG. 9A is an explanatory diagram in the case where the source 34 is arranged on a part of the head 6H of the subject 6 as described above. The position sensor 33 provided in the treatment probe 3 used in contact with the head 6H can detect a three-dimensional position and inclination in a reference coordinate system formed by the source 34. ing. And even if this head 6H moves slightly as shown in FIG.9 (b), this detection will be performed without being influenced by it.

  For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9C, an ultrasonic image 5U created from a reflected echo signal from a diagnostic probe (not shown) built in the treatment probe 3 is scanned. The coordinates of the surface can be accurately calculated, and the reference image 5R having the same scan plane as the scan plane can be displayed. Therefore, the ultrasonic image 5U and the reference image 5R can be observed without any deviation. The diagram shown in FIG. 9C corresponds to the diagram shown in FIG.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the display at the time of inputting the ultrasonic irradiation condition (display corresponding to FIG. 3) and the display obtained by switching after the input of the ultrasonic irradiation condition (display corresponding to FIG. 1) are as follows: Each is displayed on the monitor 5. However, although not shown in FIG. 2, when the ultrasonic therapy apparatus 2 is provided with a touch panel monitor or the like, it is needless to say that the information may be displayed on the touch panel monitor or the like.

  In the above-described embodiment, in order to calculate the position of the therapeutic beam pattern BPR on the reference image 5R (volume data VD), first, the ultrasonic image 5U is displayed, and the therapeutic image is displayed on the surface of the ultrasonic image 5U. The beam pattern BPU is displayed. Since the therapeutic ultrasonic beam to be irradiated can be set within the scan plane of the ultrasonic image 5U, a reference image 5R having this scan plane is calculated from the volume data VD, and the reference image 5R By performing correspondence with the position of the therapeutic beam pattern BPU displayed on the ultrasonic image 5R, the position of the therapeutic beam pattern BPR can be easily calculated on the coordinates of the volume data VD to be displayed on the reference image 5R. This is because of the effect.

  However, if the position of the therapeutic beam pattern BPR on the reference image 5R (volume data VD) is calculated and the therapeutic beam pattern can be displayed without necessarily following such a procedure, the therapeutic beam pattern can be displayed. Needless to say, it is not necessary to display the ultrasonic image 5U in advance because the positional relationship between the beam pattern BPR and the surrounding organs can be grasped three-dimensionally and an effective diagnosis can be made.

  Each of the embodiments described above may be used alone or in combination. This is because the effects of the respective embodiments can be achieved independently or synergistically.

It is explanatory drawing which shows one Example of the display mode in the monitor in the case of the judgment of the right or wrong of the ultrasonic condition setting of the ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus by this invention. It is a block block diagram which shows one Example of the ultrasonic diagnosing treatment apparatus by this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows one Example of the display mode in the monitor at the time of the ultrasonic condition setting of the ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus by this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other Example of the beam pattern for a treatment displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus by this invention. It is the figure which matched the treatment beam pattern on a scan surface with the treatment beam pattern shown in the reference image on the coordinate corresponding to the coordinate of this scan surface. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other Example of the display mode in the monitor at the time of the judgment of the right or wrong of the ultrasonic condition setting of the ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus by this invention. It is explanatory drawing which is an image displayed on a monitor, and shows the image displayed with an ultrasonic image and a reference image. It is explanatory drawing which shows one Example of the display mode in the monitor in the case of the judgment of the right or wrong of the ultrasonic condition setting of the ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other Example of the position sensor system of the ultrasonic diagnosing treatment apparatus by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, 2 ... Ultrasound treatment apparatus, 3 ... Treatment probe, 4 ... Medical diagnostic imaging apparatus, 5 ... Monitor, 5U ... Ultrasound image, 5R ... Reference image, BPU, BPR, BPR '... therapeutic beam pattern, BV ... blood vessel, SF ... scan plane, VD ... volume data image,
6 ... Subject, 11 ... Ultrasonic image calculation unit, 12 ... Cine memory, 13 ... Adder, 14 ... Volume data storage unit, 15 ... Reference image calculation unit, 16 ... Scan plane coordinate calculation unit , 17... Scan plane coordinate storage unit, 18... Pattern selection unit, 19... Pattern coordinate position setting unit, 21. …… Ultrasonic delay circuit. 31 ... Diagnostic probe, 32 ... Treatment transducer, 33 ... Position sensor, 34 ... Source.

Claims (3)

It has a monitor that can display a reference image obtained from volume data.
Means for displaying a treatment beam pattern superimposed on the position of the ultrasound beam to be irradiated on the reference image and showing the distribution of ultrasound intensity by inputting treatment ultrasound setting conditions;
Means capable of displaying the reference image together with the therapeutic beam pattern by rotating it around an arbitrary axis of the volume data;
Means for displaying an ultrasound image and calculating a reference image having the same scan plane as the scan plane of the ultrasound image from the volume data;
Means for calculating the position of the therapeutic beam pattern in the coordinates of the volume data from the position of the therapeutic beam pattern to be displayed on the ultrasonic image;
An ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus comprising: The ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the volume data is three-dimensional image information obtained from a medical image diagnostic apparatus. The ultrasonic diagnostic treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic image is displayed side by side with a reference image on the monitor surface .

Images