JP4851288B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic beam scanning technique.

  Ultrasound diagnosis that acquires multiple echo data by scanning an ultrasonic beam in a three-dimensional space including the target tissue, and forms a three-dimensional image that three-dimensionally represents the target tissue from the acquired multiple echo data The device is known. When forming a three-dimensional image, it is necessary to acquire a plurality of echo data three-dimensionally, and the ultrasonic beam is scanned three-dimensionally. Therefore, when a three-dimensional image is formed as compared with a two-dimensional image, it is difficult to maintain a high volume rate (an index value related to the number of images per unit time) due to an increase in the number of ultrasonic beams.

  When displaying a target tissue with movement, for example, a beating heart as a moving image, a particularly high volume rate is required. It is possible to increase the volume rate by reducing the number of ultrasonic beams per temporary phase. However, when the number of ultrasonic beams per temporary phase is simply reduced, the spatial resolution is lowered. That is, the volume rate and the spatial resolution are in a trade-off relationship with each other.

  Against this background, several attempts have been made to achieve both high volume rate and high spatial resolution. For example, in Patent Document 1, an ultrasonic beam is roughly transmitted and received over a wide range to acquire echo data, and then an ultrasonic beam is densely transmitted and received in a narrow range to acquire echo data. And a narrow range image are disclosed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228561 discloses a technique for increasing the beam density for a region that should be particularly noted and reducing the beam density for other regions.

  Incidentally, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for obtaining high-resolution data in a region of interest set in an image in an apparatus that displays a Doppler image based on a color Doppler imaging method, for example.

JP 2005-152346 A JP 2004-275223 A JP-A-10-33535

  As described above, it is possible to realize a high volume rate while maintaining a high spatial resolution for a region to be noted by the techniques described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, in particular. The inventor of the present application has conducted research on a new ultrasonic beam scanning technique that is a further improvement on the groundbreaking techniques described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

  The present invention has been made in the course of its research, and an object thereof is to provide an improved technique related to scanning of an ultrasonic beam that realizes a high spatial resolution and a high volume rate.

  In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a target tissue by sequentially selecting a plurality of beam scanning patterns and performing scanning control according to each beam scanning pattern. Based on a plurality of echo data obtained from the three-dimensional space via the ultrasonic beam and the transmission / reception means for scanning the ultrasonic beam in the three-dimensional space, an ultrasonic image representing the target tissue three-dimensionally Image forming means for forming image data, and each of the beam scanning patterns includes a high density region having a high beam density and a low density region having a low beam density.

  In the above configuration, a plurality of beam scanning patterns are sequentially selected, and scanning control is performed according to each beam scanning pattern. In the scanning control, each beam scanning pattern has a high-density region and a low-density region, so that, for example, an image portion corresponding to the high-density region and an image portion corresponding to the low-density region are obtained in the same phase. Is possible.

  In a preferred embodiment, each of the beam scanning patterns includes a high-density region and a low-density region, and a blank region where the ultrasonic beam is not scanned, and the plurality of beam scanning patterns are sequentially selected to blank each beam scanning pattern. The region is filled with a low-density region of another beam scanning pattern, so that the ultrasonic beam is scanned over the entire three-dimensional space including the space portion corresponding to the blank region.

  In the above configuration, since each beam scanning pattern includes a blank area where the ultrasonic beam is not scanned, for example, the time required for scanning according to each beam scanning pattern is shortened, and the volume rate can be further increased. In addition, since each beam scanning pattern includes a high-density region, for example, it is possible to maintain high spatial resolution in an image portion corresponding to the high-density region.

  In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of beam scanning patterns are sequentially selected and the high-density regions of the plurality of beam scanning patterns are overlapped with each other, so that the ultrasonic beam is scanned at a high density in a space corresponding to the high-density region. It is characterized by that. In a desirable mode, in forming image data, an interpolation process is performed to compensate for a beam density difference between an image portion corresponding to a high density region and an image portion corresponding to a low density region.

  As described above, the preferred embodiments of the present invention provide an improved technique for scanning an ultrasonic beam that achieves a high spatial resolution and a high volume rate. Thereby, for example, it is possible to obtain an image portion corresponding to the high density region and an image portion corresponding to the low density region in the simultaneous phase. Further, for example, by including a blank area in each beam scanning pattern, the volume rate can be further increased. In addition, since each beam scanning pattern includes a high-density region, for example, it is possible to maintain high spatial resolution in an image portion corresponding to the high-density region.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the overall configuration thereof.

  The probe 10 includes a plurality of vibration elements (not shown), and scans an ultrasonic beam in a three-dimensional space including a target tissue such as a heart. A three-dimensional space (transmission / reception space) in which the ultrasonic beam is scanned is defined by, for example, three coordinates (rθφ polar coordinate system) of r, θ, and φ. For example, a scanning plane is formed by scanning an ultrasonic beam formed along the depth r direction in the θ direction. By scanning this scanning plane in the φ direction (elevation direction), a three-dimensional transmission / reception space is formed. Composed.

  The probe 10 may be a combination of electronic scanning and mechanical scanning, but is preferably one that two-dimensionally electronically scans an ultrasonic beam. In the latter case, a known 2D array transducer is used.

  The transmission / reception unit 12 functions as a transmission beamformer and a reception beamformer. That is, the transmission / reception unit 12 forms a transmission beam by supplying a transmission signal corresponding to the vibration element to each vibration element included in the probe 10, and phasing received signals obtained from the plurality of vibration elements. Addition processing is performed to form a reception beam. Thereby, a plurality of echo data are acquired from within the transmission / reception space.

  In the present embodiment, the scanning of the ultrasonic beam is controlled based on a plurality of beam scanning patterns. Each beam scanning pattern causes an ultrasonic beam to partially scan in the transmission / reception space. A plurality of beam scanning patterns are sequentially selected and scanning control corresponding to each beam scanning pattern is executed, so that the partial scanning space is synthesized and the ultrasonic beam is scanned over the entire area of the transmission / reception space. The

  The volume synthesizer 14 acquires a plurality of echo data partially acquired from within the transmission / reception space by each beam scanning pattern, and combines the plurality of echo data acquired from the plurality of beam scanning patterns within the transmission / reception space. A plurality of echo data obtained from the entire area is generated. Further, when combining the echo data, the volume synthesizer 14 may perform an interpolation process for compensating for the beam density difference in the vicinity of the boundary of the echo data having different beam densities obtained from the respective beam scanning patterns. .

  If a plurality of echo data having different beam densities are simply overlapped, an unnatural image with the boundary of the data emerging may be formed. For this reason, by performing interpolation processing on the vicinity of the boundary of echo data having a low beam density, an image near the boundary of echo data having a different beam density can be smoothed, and an image close to the properties of the tissue can be obtained.

  As an example of the interpolation processing, it is assumed that a virtual beam is scanned between adjacent actual beams near the boundary of echo data having a low beam density, and the echo data of the virtual beam is converted into echo data of a nearby beam. The method of calculating based on this is mentioned. Of course, the interpolation process may be performed using other methods. In addition, it is desirable that the number of virtual beams to be set and the area to be subjected to interpolation processing can be arbitrarily set.

  The three-dimensional image forming unit 16 executes image forming processing based on a plurality of echo data obtained from the entire area in the transmission / reception space. In the present embodiment, a volume rendering image is formed as an ultrasonic image that three-dimensionally displays the target tissue. A well-known technique is used for forming the volume rendering image. For example, the technique described in Japanese Patent No. 2883584 is suitable.

  The display processing unit 18 forms a display image based on the image data obtained by the image forming process of the three-dimensional image forming unit 16, and the formed display image is displayed on the monitor 20. In this way, an ultrasonic image (volume rendering image) formed by the three-dimensional image forming unit 16 is displayed on the monitor 20.

  The control unit 22 is constituted by a CPU and an operation program therefor, and performs operation control of each component shown in FIG. An operation device 24 is connected to the control unit 22. The operation device 24 is a user interface such as a touch panel, a keyboard, or a mouse. The user can use the operation device 24 to perform various input operations such as selection of an operation mode of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and specification of parameters. The user can also set the viewpoint in volume rendering to a desired position using the operation device 24.

  The outline of the present embodiment is as described above. Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in FIG. 1 will be described in detail. In addition, about the part (each structure) already shown in FIG. 1, the code | symbol of FIG. 1 is utilized also in the following description.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a three-dimensional space in which an ultrasonic beam is scanned. The probe 10 scans an ultrasonic beam in a three-dimensional space including a target tissue. A three-dimensional space (transmission / reception space) in which the ultrasonic beam is scanned is defined by, for example, an rθφ polar coordinate system. That is, a scanning plane is formed by scanning an ultrasonic beam formed along the depth r direction in the θ direction, and a three-dimensional transmission / reception space is configured by scanning the scanning plane in the φ direction.

  In the present embodiment, the three-dimensional transmission / reception space is divided into a plurality of regions, and an ultrasonic beam is scanned with a beam density corresponding to each region. In FIG. 2, the transmission / reception space is divided into three regions, region 1 to region 3. Then, the ultrasonic beam is scanned at a high density in the region 1 located at the center, and the ultrasonic beam is scanned at a low density in the regions 2 and 3. In realizing this scanning, in this embodiment, a plurality of beam scanning patterns are used.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a beam scanning pattern. FIG. 3 shows two beam scanning patterns. That is, FIG. 3A shows the pattern of the area 1-2, and FIG. 3B shows the pattern of the area 1-3.

  In FIG. 3, in each beam scanning pattern, the horizontal axis indicates the frame address φ and the vertical axis indicates the line address θ. Note that φ and θ in FIG. 3 correspond to φ and θ shown in FIG. 2, respectively. And the dot (black dot) in each beam scanning pattern shown in FIG. 3 has shown the address where an ultrasonic beam is formed.

  The pattern of the area 1-2 in FIG. 3A has a high dot density in the area 1. Then, the density of dots is low in the area 2, and no dots exist in the area 3. That is, in the pattern of the area 1-2, the area 1 is a high-density area where the ultrasonic beam is scanned with high density, and the area 2 is a low-density area where the ultrasonic beam is scanned with low density. Is a blank area where the ultrasonic beam is not scanned. Incidentally, in FIG. 3A, the density of dots in region 1 is four times the density of dots in region 2.

  In contrast, the pattern of the area 1-3 in FIG. 3B has a high dot density in the area 1, a low dot density in the area 3, and no dots in the area 2. That is, in the pattern of the area 1-3, the area 1 is a high-density area where the ultrasonic beam is scanned with high density, the area 2 is a blank area where the ultrasonic beam is not scanned, and the area 3 is where the ultrasonic beam is scanned. It is a low density area scanned at a low density.

  In the present embodiment, these beam scanning patterns are alternately selected and scanning control is performed in accordance with each beam scanning pattern, whereby a three-dimensional space (in a transmission / reception space) including a space portion corresponding to a blank area is performed. The ultrasonic beam is scanned over the entire area. Then, an image forming process is executed based on a plurality of echo data obtained from the entire area in the transmission / reception space.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining processing from scanning of an ultrasonic beam to formation of data for image processing. In FIG. 4, the horizontal direction corresponds to the passage of time. That is, time t, time t + 1, time t + 2,. In FIG. 4, the contents of processing corresponding to each time are shown in the vertical direction. Note that FIG. 4 is merely a diagram showing a correspondence relationship between a plurality of processing contents. For example, a plurality of processing contents corresponding to the same time does not always proceed at the same time.

  First, at time t, the pattern of the area 1-2 is selected as the beam scanning pattern. That is, the control unit 22 selects, for example, the pattern of the area 1-2 registered in advance in the device (FIG. 3A). Then, according to the pattern, the transmission / reception unit 12 scans the ultrasonic beam. As a result, high-density echo data “region 1 (t)” is acquired from region 1, and low-density echo data “region 2 (t)” is acquired from region 2. Region 1 (t) and region 2 (t) are supplied to the volume composition unit 14.

  The volume composition unit 14 includes three volume buffers. That is, buffer 1 to buffer 3 are provided. Then, the area 1 (t) and the area 2 (t), which are data corresponding to the time t, are written into the respective storage areas in the buffer 1. Since there is no echo data corresponding to the area 3 at time t, data is not written to the area 3 in the buffer 1. At time t, data is not written to the buffer 2 and the buffer 3.

  Next, at time t + 1, the pattern of region 1-3 (FIG. 3B) is selected as the beam scanning pattern, and the transmission / reception unit 12 scans the ultrasonic beam according to the pattern. As a result, high-density echo data “area 1 (t + 1)” is acquired from area 1, and low-density echo data “area 3 (t + 1)” is acquired from area 3. Then, the area 1 (t + 1) and the area 3 (t + 1), which are data corresponding to the time t + 1, are supplied to the volume composition unit 14 and written into the buffer 1 and the buffer 2.

  That is, region 1 (t + 1) and region 3 (t + 1) are written in the storage regions of region 1 and region 3 in buffer 1, respectively. However, since the echo data of the area 2 corresponding to the time t + 1 is not acquired, the data is not written into the storage area of the area 2 in the buffer 1. Therefore, the data in the area 2 in the buffer 1 is maintained in the area 2 (t). In addition, region 1 (t + 1) and region 3 (t + 1) are also written in the storage regions of region 1 and region 3 in buffer 2, respectively. At time t + 1, no data is written to the buffer 3.

  Next, at time t + 2, the pattern of the region 1-2 is selected as the beam scanning pattern, and the transmission / reception unit 12 scans the ultrasonic beam according to the pattern. As a result, high-density echo data “region 1 (t + 2)” is acquired from region 1, and low-density echo data “region 2 (t + 2)” is acquired from region 2. Then, the area 1 (t + 2) and the area 2 (t + 2) are supplied to the volume composition unit 14 and written into the buffer 2 and the buffer 3.

  At time t + 2, the buffer 1 functions as a read buffer. That is, the echo data “area 1 (t + 1)”, “area 2 (t)”, and “area 3 (t + 1)” stored in the buffer 1 are used as image processing data (image processing data). Is read by. Thus, the three-dimensional image forming unit 16 executes the image forming process based on the echo data obtained from all three regions.

  Next, at time t + 3, the pattern of the area 1-3 is selected as the beam scanning pattern, and the transmission / reception unit 12 scans the ultrasonic beam according to the pattern. As a result, high-density echo data “region 1 (t + 3)” is acquired from region 1, and low-density echo data “region 3 (t + 3)” is acquired from region 3. Then, the area 1 (t + 3) and the area 3 (t + 3) are supplied to the volume composition unit 14 and written into the buffer 3 and the buffer 1.

  At time t + 3, the buffer 2 functions as a read buffer. That is, the echo data “area 1 (t + 2)”, “area 2 (t + 2)”, and “area 3 (t + 1)” stored in the buffer 2 are read as image processing data.

  Further, after time t + 4, two beam scanning patterns are alternately used, and echo data obtained in accordance with each beam scanning pattern is written into two buffers that are cyclically selected from the three buffers. . Further, data is read from the remaining one buffer that is not written. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the image processing data is read at each time.

  As shown in the image processing data from time t + 2 to time t + 5 in FIG. 4, the data in the high-density area 1 is rewritten with new data every time. In addition, since the data of the low-density areas 2 and 3 are acquired only once every two times, the scan time required for collecting the echo data of the areas 2 and 3 is reduced. Can do. That is, in the present embodiment, it is possible to achieve high spatial resolution by scanning ultrasonic waves at high density in the region 1, and to maintain a high frame rate by reducing the scanning time in the regions 2 and 3. Become. In addition, data in one of the area 2 and the area 3 has the same time as the data in the area 1. That is, in the present embodiment, it is possible to obtain an image portion corresponding to a high density region and an image portion corresponding to a low density region within the same phase.

  Next, an ultrasonic beam scanning procedure in this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a beam delay table used in the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a beam sequence table used in the present embodiment.

  In the beam delay table shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal axis represents the line address θ and the vertical axis represents the frame address φ. On the beam delay table, the delay data of the ultrasonic beams # 1 to # 1600 are specified by the value of the line address θ and the value of the frame address φ. The delay data of each ultrasonic beam includes data such as the amount of delay given to each of the plurality of vibration elements when the ultrasonic beam is formed.

  The beam delay table includes, for example, a control unit based on parameters such as a scanning angle in the θ direction, a scanning angle in the φ direction, the maximum number of frames that can be configured in one volume, the maximum number of lines that can be configured in one frame, and the diagnostic range 22 and is set in the memory in the transmission / reception unit 12 from the control unit 22 at the time of initialization of the apparatus.

  Furthermore, the control unit 22 sets a beam number or a beam address in the beam sequence table according to the order in which the ultrasonic beams are transmitted and received. In the beam sequence table shown in FIG. 6, the order of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic beams is set by beam numbers (# 1 to # 1600). The beam sequence table is set based on the beam scanning pattern described above.

  For example, when the beam scanning pattern shown in FIG. 3 is used, first, a beam sequence corresponding to the pattern of the region 1-2 is set. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of ultrasonic beams (# 601 to # 1000) in the region 1 are set in the beam sequence table, and subsequently, a plurality of ultrasonic beams (# 1001 to # 1600) in the region 2 are set. ) Is set in the beam sequence table.

  When the beam sequence corresponding to the pattern of the area 1-2 is set, subsequently, the beam sequence corresponding to the pattern of the area 1-3 is set. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, following the beam sequence related to the region 2, a plurality of ultrasonic beams (# 601 to # 1000) in the region 1 are set in the beam sequence table, and subsequently, a plurality of ultrasonic beams in the region 3 are set. Ultrasonic beams (# 1 to # 600) are set in the beam sequence table.

  Since region 1 is a high-density region, all beam numbers corresponding to region 1 in the beam delay table of FIG. 5 are set in the beam sequence table of FIG. On the other hand, since the region 2 and the region 3 are low density regions, only the selected beam number among the plurality of beam numbers corresponding to the region 2 and the region 3 in the beam sequence table of FIG. Set in the beam sequence table. For example, only one of the four adjacent beams is selected.

  When transmission / reception of an ultrasonic wave is started, the control unit 22 starts a beam counter. The beam counter counts up the count value one by one. Then, in accordance with the count value of the beam counter, the beam numbers are successively transmitted from the head of the beam sequence table to the transmitting / receiving unit 12. That is, in the example of the beam sequence table shown in FIG. 6, the beam numbers # 601, # 602, # 603,...

  Then, the transmission / reception unit 12 refers to the beam numbers successively transmitted according to the beam sequence table, reads the delay data of the beam number from the beam delay table, and executes the transmission / reception process of the ultrasonic beam according to the delay data To do. Thus, the ultrasonic beam is scanned from the probe 10 into the transmission / reception space.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, by performing scanning control according to each beam scanning pattern using a plurality of beam scanning patterns, an ultrasonic beam is scanned in a three-dimensional space (in a transmission / reception space). I am letting. Accordingly, various ultrasonic beam scanning modes can be realized by changing the beam scanning pattern. 7 to 11 show various modes of a beam scanning pattern set that is a plurality of beam scanning patterns.

  FIG. 7 shows beam scanning pattern sets 1 to 3. Each beam scanning pattern set is composed of two patterns, a beam scanning pattern A and a beam scanning pattern B, and scanning according to the beam scanning pattern A and scanning according to the beam scanning pattern B are executed alternately and repeatedly. The

  In each of the beam scanning patterns shown in each of the beam scanning pattern sets of FIGS. 7 to 11, the lattice fringes indicate regions where ultrasonic beams are formed, and the dense portions of the lattice fringes are high-density regions. The rough portion of the checkered pattern is a low density region. In addition, a blank portion where no checkered stripe exists is a blank region.

  The beam scanning pattern set 1 corresponds to the beam scanning pattern of FIG. 3 described above. Further, the beam scanning pattern sets 2 and 3 are patterns in which a high density region formed in the center is surrounded by an annular low density region.

  FIG. 8 shows beam scanning pattern sets 4 to 7. Each beam scanning pattern set shown in FIG. 8 is composed of two beam scanning patterns, similarly to the beam scanning pattern sets 1 to 3 in FIG. 7, and scanning corresponding to each of the two beam scanning patterns is alternately performed. It is executed repeatedly.

  FIG. 9 shows beam scanning pattern sets 8 to 10. Each beam scanning pattern set is composed of three patterns: a beam scanning pattern A, a beam scanning pattern B, and a beam scanning pattern C. Beam scanning pattern A → beam scanning pattern B → beam scanning pattern C → beam scanning pattern A Three patterns are sequentially selected in the order of... And scanning corresponding to each pattern is sequentially executed.

  FIG. 10 shows beam scanning pattern sets 11 and 12. Each beam scanning pattern set is composed of four beam scanning patterns. For example, the beam scanning pattern set 11 includes four patterns of a beam scanning pattern A to a beam scanning pattern D. The beam scanning pattern A → beam scanning pattern B → beam scanning pattern C → beam scanning pattern D → beam scanning. Four patterns are sequentially selected in the order of pattern A →... And scanning corresponding to each pattern is sequentially executed. For the beam scanning pattern set 12, four patterns included in the beam scanning pattern set 12 are sequentially selected, and scanning corresponding to each pattern is sequentially executed.

  Further, FIG. 11 shows beam scanning pattern sets 13 and 14. Each beam scanning pattern set is composed of four beam scanning patterns. Similarly to the beam scanning pattern sets 11 and 12 shown in FIG. 10, in the beam scanning pattern sets 13 and 14, four patterns are sequentially selected, and scanning corresponding to each pattern is sequentially executed.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 to 11, there are various modes in the beam scanning pattern set. In any of the illustrated beam scanning pattern sets 1 to 14, a blank area of one beam scanning pattern included in each set is filled with a low-density area of another beam scanning pattern. Therefore, by sequentially executing scanning corresponding to each pattern, the ultrasonic beam is scanned over the entire area in the three-dimensional space including the space portion corresponding to the blank area.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described, embodiment mentioned above has the following effects, for example. In the present embodiment, it is possible to form an image with high spatial resolution in the region 1 as a region of interest while observing the entire transmission / reception space constituted by the region 1 to the region 3.

  Further, in this embodiment, the areas 2 and 3 other than the area 1 to be noticed are collected at a low density and once every two volumes, so that the scan spent for collecting the echo data in the areas 2 and 3 is performed. It is possible to reduce the time, and it is possible to observe a wide range of images formed by the regions 1 to 3 while maintaining the time resolution in the region 1.

  In addition, embodiment mentioned above and its effect are only illustrations in all the points, and do not limit the scope of the present invention. The present invention includes various modifications without departing from the essence thereof.

1 is a functional block diagram showing an overall configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the three-dimensional space by which an ultrasonic beam is scanned. It is a figure for demonstrating a beam scanning pattern. It is a figure for demonstrating the process until the data for image processing are formed from the scanning of an ultrasonic beam. It is explanatory drawing of the beam delay table utilized by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the beam sequence table utilized in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the beam scanning pattern sets 1-3. It is a figure which shows the beam scanning pattern sets 4-7. It is a figure which shows the beam scanning pattern sets 8-10. It is a figure which shows the beam scanning pattern sets 11 and 12. FIG. It is a figure which shows the beam scanning pattern sets 13 and 14. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  12 transmission / reception unit, 14 volume composition unit, 16 three-dimensional image forming unit, 22 control unit.

Claims (4)

A transmission / reception unit that scans an ultrasonic beam in a three-dimensional space including the target tissue by sequentially selecting a plurality of beam scanning patterns and performing scanning control according to each beam scanning pattern;
Image forming means for forming image data of an ultrasonic image representing the target tissue three-dimensionally based on a plurality of echo data obtained from the three-dimensional space via an ultrasonic beam;
Have
Each of the beam scanning patterns includes a high density region having a high beam density and a low density region having a low beam density.
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1,
Each of the beam scanning patterns includes a high-density region and a low-density region, and a blank region where the ultrasonic beam is not scanned,
The plurality of beam scanning patterns are sequentially selected, and blank areas of each beam scanning pattern are filled with low-density areas of other beam scanning patterns, so that the entire area in the three-dimensional space including a spatial portion corresponding to the blank area An ultrasonic beam is scanned over
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2,
The plurality of beam scanning patterns are sequentially selected and the high-density regions of the plurality of beam scanning patterns are overlapped with each other, so that the high-density scanning of the ultrasonic beam is maintained over time in the space corresponding to the high-density region. To be
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1,
In forming the image data, an interpolation process is performed to compensate for the beam density difference between the image portion corresponding to the high density region and the image portion corresponding to the low density region.
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

Images