JPH01274745A - Supersonic wave diagnosing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve frame rate and resolving power by controlling the operation of a switch circuit by a received wave phase rectifying control circuit and selecting the combination of a plurality of received wave phase rectifying circuits in a supersonic wave receiving and transmission part, thus selecting the circuit constitution between the simultaneous parallel receiving system and received wave dynamic focus system. CONSTITUTION:The ROMs 14a and 14b for controlling focus are installed inside the focus control circuits 11a and 11b of the first and second received wave phase rectifying circuits 7a and 7b. These ROMs 14a and 14b outputs the data in the focus control in the focus control circuits 11a and 11b, and the data in the focus control in the both of the simultaneous parallel receiving system and received wave dynamic focus system are stored. Further, a switch circuit 15 is installed between the first and second received wave phase rectifying circuits 7a and 7b and the first and second signal processing circuits 9a and 9b, and the circuit configuration can be selected between the simultaneous parallel receiving system and the received wave dynamic focus system by selecting the combination of the first and second received waved phase rectifying circuits 7a and 7b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that electronically scans an ultrasonic beam to obtain an ultrasonic image of a diagnostic region of a subject, and in particular, The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can switch between a simultaneous parallel reception method and a receiving dynamic focus method, thereby improving the frame rate and resolution of ultrasound images.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional ultrasonic diagnostic device consists of a probe in which a plurality of transducer elements are arranged and transmits and receives ultrasonic waves, a wave transmitting circuit that drives each of the transducer elements to transmit the ultrasonic waves, and each transducer element. Ultrasonic waves that have a receiving phasing circuit that applies a predetermined delay to received signals to align the phases and synthesize them, as well as a receiving phasing control circuit that controls these receiving phasing circuits, and output reflected echo signals. It includes a transmitter/receiver, a digital scan converter that digitizes the echo signal from the ultrasound transmitter/receiver and writes and reads it in a storage device, and a display device that inputs the output signal from the digital scan converter and displays an ultrasound image. It consisted of

Conventionally, in order to improve the frame rate of obtained ultrasound images, a simultaneous parallel reception method has been used in linear scanning or convex scanning. This method, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-20017, provides two receiving phasing circuits in parallel inside the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver, and transmits two ultrasonic beams by - times of ultrasonic beam transmission. This device obtains echo signals on different scanning lines, and compared to a device that has only one receiving phasing circuit and can only obtain echo signals on one scanning line with one ultrasound beam transmission, Image frame rate can be doubled. Furthermore, if the frame rate is made the same between the two, an ultrasound image with twice the scanning line density can be obtained in the simultaneous parallel reception method. In this way, according to the simultaneous parallel reception system, it is possible to improve the frame rate,
Since the scanning line density could be improved, it was effective in improving the image quality of ultrasound images.

Furthermore, conventionally, a receiving dynamic focus method has been used to improve the resolution of the obtained ultrasound image. As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-4982, this method involves providing two receiving phasing circuits in parallel inside the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver section, and during the period of receiving reflected echoes, the two receiving phasing circuits are arranged in parallel. The wave phasing circuits are alternately selected and selected by the changeover switch to output echo signals, and each reception phasing circuit sequentially switches the focus of each reception wave during the time when the wave phasing circuit is not selected, thereby outputting reflected echoes. The focus is changed in multiple stages during the reception period. Therefore, it is possible to obtain uniform beam characteristics from the shallow part to the deep part of the diagnostic site of the subject, and the receiving dynamic focus type apparatus is effective in improving the resolution of ultrasound images.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in conventional ultrasound diagnostic equipment, when trying to simultaneously perform the above-mentioned simultaneous parallel reception method and reception dynamic focus method in order to improve the frame rate and resolution of the obtained ultrasound images, the ultrasonic Since a total of four receiving phasing circuits are required inside the transmitting/receiving section, the entire device becomes large and expensive. In particular, in a phased array type device, the ultrasonic beam is electronically scanned in sectors, so the delay line in the receiving phasing circuit becomes long, and each receiving phasing circuit itself becomes large. At the same time, since the delay line is expensive, each receiving phasing circuit is also expensive, and if four such receiving phasing circuits are provided, the phased array system as a whole becomes very large and bulky. This would have been expensive.

In addition, in the above case, the four receiving phasing circuits must have the same electrical characteristics, such as the amplification factor, frequency characteristics, delay amount, etc.; It is extremely difficult to adjust all the physical characteristics to be the same, and it requires a lot of adjustment time.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can solve these problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above purpose is to provide a probe in which a plurality of transducer elements are arranged to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, a transmitting circuit that activates each of the transducer elements to transmit ultrasonic waves, and a probe that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves with each transducer element. Ultrasonic waves that have multiple receiving phasing circuits that apply a predetermined delay to the received signals, align the phases, and synthesize them, as well as a receiving phasing control circuit that controls these receiving phasing circuits, and output reflected echo signals. It has a transmitter/receiver, a digital scan converter that digitizes the echo signal from the ultrasound transmitter/receiver, writes and reads it in a storage device, and a display device that inputs the output signal from the digital scan converter and displays an ultrasound image. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the plurality of receiving phasing circuits in the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving section include a focus control circuit having a memory storing data for performing focus control in both a simultaneous parallel reception method and a receiving dynamic focus method. This is achieved by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus provided with a switch circuit that switches between the simultaneous parallel reception method and the reception dynamic focus method by switching the combination of the plurality of reception phasing circuits.

[For production]

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured in this way controls the operation of the switch circuit by a receiving phasing control circuit, and this switch circuit switches the combination of multiple receiving phasing circuits in the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving section. By switching the circuit configuration between the parallel reception method and the reception dynamic focus method, it becomes necessary to perform focus control for both the simultaneous parallel reception method and the reception dynamic focus method using the focus control circuits provided in each of the plurality of reception phasing circuits. It is executed by switching accordingly. Thereby, ultrasonic images can be obtained by switching between the simultaneous parallel reception method and the wave receiving dynamic focus method with the same device.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus obtains an ultrasonic image of a diagnostic region of a subject by electronically scanning an ultrasonic beam, and as shown in FIG. 2, a digital scan converter (hereinafter abbreviated as rDscJ) 3, and a display device 4.
It consists of

The probe 1 transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from a diagnostic site of a subject by electronic scanning, and includes a large number of transducer elements formed in, for example, strip shapes arranged in a row at regular intervals. . The ultrasonic transmitting/receiving unit 2 drives each transducer element of the probe 1 to transmit ultrasonic waves, and also adds a predetermined delay to the received signals received by each transducer element to align the phases and synthesize them. It outputs a reflected echo signal, and includes a wave transmitting circuit 5, a first stage amplifier circuit 6, and a first receiving phasing circuit 7a.
, a second receiving phasing circuit 7b, a receiving phasing control circuit 8, a first signal processing circuit 9a, and a second signal processing circuit 9b.
It has The wave transmitting circuit 5 applies a wave transmitting pulse to each transducer element of the probe 1 to drive it and transmit an ultrasonic wave. The first stage amplifier circuit 6 amplifies the signal of the reflected echo from the subject received by each transducer element of the probe 1. - and second receiving wave phasing circuit? a.

7b inputs the output signal from the first stage amplifier circuit 6, gives a predetermined delay to the received signal received by each of the transducer elements, aligns the phases, and synthesizes the received signal. are installed in parallel. And these receiving wave phasing circuits 7a.

7b have the same circuit configuration, and include focus circuits 10a and 10b that focus the received wave, and focus control circuits 11a and llb that control the focus of the received wave by controlling these focus circuits 10a and 10b. Consists of. The reception phasing control circuit 8 adjusts the reception focus in each reception phasing circuit 7a, 7b by sending control signals S+SZ to the - and second reception phasing circuits 7a, 7b, respectively. It is controlled independently and consists of, for example, a microcomputer. The first and second signal processing circuits 9a and 9b receive the output signals from the first and second receiving phasing circuits 7a and 7b, respectively, and perform processes such as logarithmic compression and detection. be.

Further, the DSC 3 digitizes and stores the echo signal output from the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 2 and reads it out, and performs first and second A/D conversion to input the echo signal and convert it into a digital signal. A/D converters 12a and 12b, and a storage device 13 into which digital signals outputted from these A/D converters 12a and 12b are input and written.

Further, a display device 4 inputs the output (= sign) from the DSC 3, converts it into a video signal, and displays the ultrasonic image, and is composed of, for example, a television monitor.

Here, in the present invention, a ROM (read-only memory) 14a, 14b for focus control is provided inside each focus control circuit 11a, llb of the first and second receiving wave phasing circuits 7a, 7b, respectively. ing. These ROMs 14a and 14b are the respective focus control circuits 11a.

It outputs data for focus control in 11b, and stores data for performing focus control in both the simultaneous parallel reception method and the reception dynamic focus method. Moreover, the above-mentioned first and second wave receiving phasing circuits 7a
, 7b and the first and second signal processing circuits 9a and 9b, a switch circuit 15 is provided. This switch circuit 15 includes the first and second receiving phasing circuits 7a,
By switching the combination of 7b, the circuit configurations of the simultaneous parallel reception method and the reception dynamic focus method are switched. A second signal line that has a first signal line 16a that sends to the signal processing circuit 9a and also sends the output signal S4 from the focus circuit 10b in the second wave receiving phasing circuit 7b to the second signal processing circuit 9b. 16b, and a changeover switch 17 is provided in the middle of the first signal line 16a, one contact 18a of this changeover switch 17 is connected to the first signal line 16a, and the other contact 18b is connected. is the second signal line 1
A branch line 19 from 6b is connected. Furthermore, a signal line 20 from the wave reception phasing control circuit 8 is connected to this switch circuit 15 . The switching operation of the changeover switch 17 of the switch circuit 15 is controlled by a control signal S5 outputted from the reception phasing control circuit 8 via the signal line 20.

Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured as described above will be explained. First, in order to select the circuit configuration of the simultaneous parallel reception method and perform reception phasing using the simultaneous parallel reception method, the reception phasing control circuit 8 inputs a control command from a console, etc. not shown. - and second receiving phasing circuits 7a, 7b
control signals S1. to S1. S2 is transmitted to each receiving wave phasing circuit 7a.

A focus control circuit 11a provided within 7b.

Out of the data stored in the respective ROMs 14a and 14b of the ROM 11b, data for performing focus control in the simultaneous parallel reception method is set to be output, and a control signal S5 is sent to the switch circuit 15 to switch the switch. 17 to one contact 18a side. At this time, the focus circuit 1 in the first receiving phasing circuit 7a
0a is connected to the first signal processing circuit 9a via the first signal line 16a, and the focus circuit 10b in the second wave receiving phasing circuit 7b is connected to the second signal processing circuit 9a via the second signal line 16b. The signal processing circuit 9b is connected to the signal processing circuit 9b to form a circuit for simultaneous parallel reception. In this state, the first receiving phasing circuit 7
The focus circuit 10a in a and the second wave receiving phasing circuit 7
The focus circuit 10b in b is each ROM14
Based on the data from a and 14b, slightly different reception focuses can be set, and echo signals on two different scanning lines can be obtained by transmitting the ultrasonic beam - times. As a result, the first and second wave receiving phasing circuits 7a,
At step 7b, received wave phasing is performed using the simultaneous parallel reception method, and an ultrasound image is obtained.

Next, in order to select the circuit configuration of the reception dynamic focus method and perform reception phasing using the reception dynamic focus method, the reception phasing control circuit is input by inputting a control command from a console, etc. not shown. Control signals Sl and S2 are sent from 8 to the second and second receiving phasing circuits 7a and 7b, respectively, and the focus control circuits 11a and llb provided in each receiving phasing circuit 7a and 7b respectively ROM14 of
a.

Among the data stored in 14b, the data for performing focus control in the reception dynamic focus method is set to be output, and a control signal S is sent to the switch circuit 15 to control the control signal S during the period of receiving reflected echoes. Switch 17 between one contact 18a side and the other contact 1
The 8b side and the 8b side are switched alternately. At this time, at a certain timing, the focus circuit 10a in the first wave receiving phasing circuit 7a is connected to the first signal processing circuit via the first signal line 16a, the negative contact 18a, and the changeover switch 17. 9a, and at other timings, the focus circuit 10b in the second wave receiving phasing circuit 7b.
is connected to the first signal processing circuit 9a via the second signal line 16b, the branch line 19, the other contact 18b, and the changeover switch 17, thereby forming a receiving dynamic focus circuit. In this condition.

A focus circuit 10a in the first receiving phasing circuit 7a,
The focus circuit 10b in the second receiving wave phasing circuit 7b uses the data from the respective ROMs 14a and 14b to set the respective receiving focuses during the time when it is not selected by the switching operation of the changeover switch 17. By switching Jl [next, it is possible to obtain an echo signal by changing the reception focus in multiple stages during the reception period of one reflected echo. Thereby, the first and second receiving phasing circuits 7a and 7b perform receiving phasing using the receiving dynamic focus method to obtain an ultrasound image.

Note that the switch circuit 15 is not limited to the one shown in FIG. 1, but may include a changeover switch 17 as shown in FIG.
are provided in the middle of the second signal line L6b, and in the reception phasing of the reception dynamic focus method, the output signals S3 . S, respectively, may be sent to the second signal processing circuit 9b.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, a first changeover switch 17 is provided in the middle of the first signal line 16a, and a second changeover switch 17' is provided in the middle of the second signal line 16b, so that the wave receiving dynamic focus can be adjusted. In the received wave phasing method, the output signals S3. S4 may be sent to either the first signal processing circuit 9a or the second signal processing circuit 9b.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the switch circuit 15 is connected to the first and second signal processing circuits 9a, 9b and the first and second A/C circuits of the DSC 3.
It is provided between the D converters 12a and 12b. The configuration and operation of this switch circuit 15 are shown in FIGS.
This is the same as the case shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment.

In this embodiment, a switch circuit 15 is provided within the DSC 3 between the first and second A/D converters 12a, 12b and the storage device 13. In this case, the switch circuit 15 is a digital switch that inputs digital signals from the A/D converters 12a and 12b and performs predetermined switching, and is controlled by the DSC 3. The operation is similar to the switching shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the switch circuit 1
5, a plurality of receiving phasing circuits 7a in the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 2
, 7b, the circuit configurations of the simultaneous parallel reception method and the reception dynamic focus method are switched, and the simultaneous parallel reception is performed by the focus control circuits 11a and llb provided in the plurality of reception phasing circuits 7a and 7b, respectively. It is possible to switch and execute focus control for both the dynamic focus method and the reception dynamic focus method as needed. Therefore, ultrasonic images can be obtained by switching between the simultaneous parallel reception method and the wave receiving dynamic focus method using the same number of devices.

Therefore, only two wave receiving phasing circuits are required to be provided inside the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving section 2, making it possible to downsize the entire device and suppress an increase in cost. In addition, although a sufficient frame rate has conventionally been obtained for black-and-white tomographic images using the phased array method, in order to meet the demand for improved resolution, it is possible to achieve this by selecting the receiving wave phasing of the receiving dynamic focus method. Able to meet requests. On the other hand, since the frame rate of color Doppler images is generally low, there is a strong demand for improving the frame rate.
This requirement can be met by selecting the reception phasing of the simultaneous parallel reception method. Sunaochi,
By selecting each reception method in accordance with the difference in the display method of ultrasound images, the entire apparatus can be made compact and inexpensive, and the frame rate and resolution can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are circuit diagrams showing modifications of the switch circuit, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment. 1... Probe, 2... Ultrasonic transmitter/receiver, 3...
・DSCl 4... Display device, 5... Wave transmitting circuit,
7a. 7b... Receiving phasing circuit, 8... Receiving phasing control circuit, 9a, 9b-signal processing circuit, 10a, 10b=-focus circuit, lla, llb... focus control circuit, 12a, 12b・-A/D converter 1, 13
--Storage device, 14a, 14b-ROM. 15...Switch circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A probe in which a plurality of transducer elements are arranged and transmits and receives ultrasonic waves, a wave transmitting circuit that drives each of the transducer elements to transmit ultrasonic waves, and a predetermined delay in the received signal received by each transducer element. an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving section that outputs a reflected echo signal, which has a plurality of receiving phasing circuits that align and synthesize the phases by giving a received phasing circuit, and a receiving phasing control circuit that controls these receiving phasing circuits, and outputs reflected echo signals; An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus that includes a digital scan converter that digitizes echo signals from a sound wave transmitter/receiver and writes and reads the digitized data in a storage device, and a display device that inputs an output signal from the digital scan converter and displays an ultrasound image, Each of the plurality of reception phasing circuits in the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving section is provided with a focus control circuit having a memory storing data for performing focus control in both the simultaneous parallel reception method and the reception dynamic focus method, and What is claimed is: 1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising a switch circuit for switching between a simultaneous parallel reception method and a reception dynamic focus method by switching a combination of reception phasing circuits.