JPH02164348A - Signal receiver for ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the main delay line for angle deflection by connecting a group adding circuit in the form of a loop, wherein the circuit is formed through dividing of a group of vibrators, performing input and output of the group adding circuit using a switcher in such a way as following a certain order in the form of loop, and conducting phase alignment while specified delay time is given. CONSTITUTION:Output from an A group adding circuit 16 is supplied to a B group adding circuit 16 through a switcher 24-1, and a certain delay time D5 is given by a delay line 12-1, and at the same time, synthesized with a reception signal fed to the B group adding circuit 16. The output from the B group adding circuit 16 is supplied to a C group adding circuit 16 through another switcher 24-2, and a certain delay time D5 is given by another delay line 12-2, and at the same time, synthesized with reception signal fed to the C group adding circuit 16. Reception signals fed to these A, B, C, D group adding circuits 16 are synthesized upon being delayed for the delay time D5, and this synthetic signal is emitted from a switcher 24-4, and thereby synthesization is made, and phase alignment for receiving reflex echo at the focal point F1 is completed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a receiver for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and in particular, to a receiver for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, in particular, a transducer group selected for angular deflection scanning of an ultrasonic beam over a wide area within a subject. The present invention relates to a receiver for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that delays and controls reflected echo signals received by a receiver.

[Prior Art] Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment that emits ultrasonic waves into a subject such as a living body, receives reflected echoes, and displays internal information such as a tomographic image or velocity (Doppler) information as an image is well known. In this ultrasonic diagnostic device, in order to obtain information in a wider range than the transducer width, it is possible to display information in a sector-shaped (fan-shaped) range as an image by controlling the angle of the ultrasound beam. It will be done.

3 and 4 show the relationship between the ultrasonic reflected echo and the transducer in the case of sector scanning. If the ultrasonic beam is emitted at every minute angle, for example, every 0.35 degrees or 0.7 degrees, and the ultrasonic beam is emitted from the scanning line 100-2 to the scanning line 100-3, one screen's worth of The scan will be completed.

When performing deflection scanning in a predetermined angular direction in such sector scanning, as shown in FIG.
However, the times at which the reflected echo waves arrive at each vibrator 10 are different.

That is, in the case shown in the figure, the reflected wave from the focus point F reaches the vibrator 10-1 first, and reaches the vibrator 10-n the latest. Therefore, the vibrator 10-1~
In order to align the phases of the signals received by all of the transducers 10-n, it is necessary to sequentially delay the transducers 10 that arrive earlier by the arrival time difference.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5(a), in the case of the focus point F1 corresponding to FIG. and D2 for the n/2nd oscillator 10.
, the delay time indicated by D3 is given to the n-th vibrator 10.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure (b), when receiving the reflected wave from the focus point F2, the first one is D and n/
The difference in delay time becomes smaller as shown in D for the second and D3 for the nth.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure (C), when receiving the reflected wave from the focus point F3, the relationship is opposite to that in Figure (a), and is shown in D3 for the n-th transducer 10. A large delay time is given.

In this way, the delay time is controlled in order to receive the ultrasonic beam from a predetermined deflection angle direction, but in addition to this, delay time is also controlled to focus in a predetermined distance direction (depth direction). Generally, delay control is performed for beam deflection and focusing. Figure 6 shows a configuration that gives a delay time to the received signal. , vibrator 1
A distribution circuit 14 is provided to connect the oscillator 10 and the delay line 12 to each other. It has a set configuration.

However, this has the problem that the number of wires and switches becomes enormous. In the case of figure (a), the vibrator 10
distribution circuit 1 for 20 taps and 40 taps of delay line 12.
4, so it features a total of 800 (-20x40) switches.In particular, when performing sector scanning, the smaller the angle between scanning lines when performing angular deflection scanning, the better the image quality for diagnosis. An image can be obtained, but if the angle between the scanning lines is made small and the delay control for angular deflection is finely controlled, the number of delay line taps will increase, and the number of wires and switches will increase significantly. Become.

Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6(b), the vibrator 10
The delay line 12 is divided into a group adder circuit 16, which is used to construct a receiver as shown in FIG.

That is, in FIG. 6(b), the oscillators 10 and the delay line 12 are divided into four groups, and five oscillators 10 are divided into four groups.
A matrix-like distribution circuit 14 for the vibrator 10 and the delay line 12 is formed as a 10-tap delay line 12. Therefore, the total number of switches in the distribution circuit 14 is 200 (-5X10X4), which results in a
) can be reduced to 1/4.

Therefore, the receiver shown in FIG. 7 is provided with four group adder circuits 16 that divide the transducer group provided in the sector scanning probe into four groups. 16 gives a delay time for focusing to the reflected echo waves obtained by the vibrator 10, thereby obtaining information on a plurality of focal points F set in the distance direction.

Further, a main addition circuit 22 consisting of a main delay line 18 and a main distribution circuit 20 is connected to the group addition circuit 16, and this main addition circuit 22 provides a delay time for determining the deflection angle of the ultrasound beam. The main delay line 18 plays a role separate from the delay line 14 in the group adder circuit 16.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, in the past, the circuit that provides the delay time for focusing could be simplified, but the delay line 18 and distribution circuit 20 for angular deflection could be simplified. has a problem in that it cannot be simplified using a method similar to the above-mentioned group calculation circuit 16.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic wave generator that can simplify a circuit that provides a delay time for angular deflection to a received signal. An object of the present invention is to provide a receiver for a diagnostic device.

[Means for Solving Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the receiver for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention is capable of transmitting ultrasonic waves emitted into a subject in order to display information inside the subject as an image. In a receiver for an ultrasonic diagnostic device that receives reflected echoes for each group of a predetermined number of transducers, a delay line that divides the group of transducers that receive a received signal from a predetermined point into multiple groups and delays the output of the transducer for each group. This delay line has a plurality of group calculation circuits each having a distribution circuit for distributing the oscillator output, and these group calculation circuits are connected in a loop via a switch, and the input/output of the group calculation circuits is The angle deflection control is performed by repeating the steps in a loop-like predetermined order every predetermined delay time.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the received signal of the group calculation circuit given a delay time for focus control is sequentially supplied to other group calculation circuits according to a predetermined order in a loop, and is further supplied with a predetermined delay time. It is given time and combined with the received signals of other group calculation circuits. Therefore, by the delay line of the group calculation circuit, a delay time for angular deflection control is also given to the received signal input to the divided group calculation circuit.

In this way, the present invention makes it possible to omit the conventionally used main delay line by connecting the group calculation circuits via the switch.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment has a transducer group consisting of 20 transducers 10, and this transducer group performs sector scanning. There is. The transducer group is divided into four groups, and four group calculation circuits 16 (A-D) are provided. Therefore, the group calculation circuit 16 receives reflected echo signals from five (-=m/4) transducers 10.

The characteristic feature of the present invention is that in order to completely eliminate the delay line of the main adder circuit used in the past, the group arithmetic circuit
The sixth delay line 14 also provides a delay time for angular deflection control, and the delay line 14 is used twice.

That is, in the embodiment, four group calculation circuits 16 A to D are used.
A switch 24-1.24-2.24-3.
24-4 is provided, and by this switch 24, the group calculation circuit 1
The output of No. 6 can be supplied to two other adjacent group calculation circuits 16, and the four group calculation circuits 16 are connected in a loop.

Therefore, in the group calculation circuit 24, for example, A→B-C-
D in the order of D, B→C→D→A, or D in the opposite direction
By inputting the respective outputs in the order of -C-B→A, etc., it is possible to repeat input and output in a loop while giving a predetermined delay time using any group calculation circuit 16 as a starting point.

The manually input signals from the other group calculation circuits 16 are supplied to the delay line 12 by the distribution circuit 14 and given a predetermined delay time. This delay time is changed and set depending on the deflection angle of the received ultrasonic beam, and is approximately the same time for the four group calculation circuits 16.

For example, focus point F shown in FIG.
The following describes the case of angular deflection scanning for 1. That is, FIG. 6(a) shows delay control in the conventional circuit of FIG.
, D2. D3. D4, and this delay time is given by the main delay line 18 in FIG. On the other hand, in the case of the embodiment, it is understood that the delay time D5 can be given by the arithmetic circuit 16 for each group, as shown in FIG. Ru.

As described above, since the delay time of the present invention uses the delay line 12 of the mixed adder circuit 16, the main delay line 18 provided in FIG. 6 can be omitted, and the delay time is reduced to 1/2 compared to the conventional one. It turns out.

In the above embodiment, the case where the number of mixed adder circuits 16 is four is explained, but by setting the number of mixed adder circuits 16 to about four to eight, delay control for receiving the deflected beam can be performed well. be able to. Furthermore, if the number of transducers 10 that perform sector scanning increases, it is preferable to increase the number of mixed adder circuits 16 in accordance with the number.

The embodiment has the above configuration, and the overall operation from transmission to reception of ultrasonic waves will be explained below based on FIGS. 1 and 2.

First, an excitation signal is supplied to the transducer 10 by a transmission circuit (not shown), and an ultrasonic wave is generated by this excitation signal, and an ultrasonic beam is emitted in a predetermined direction by the transducer group. . Even during this transmission, delay control is performed to radiate the ultrasonic beam in a predetermined direction.
The time during which the excitation signal is applied to each vibrator 10 is controlled.

Next, reflect the reflected echo in the direction of the emitted ultrasound beam at a predetermined distance! ,, (depth) is received in order, and this is performed by focus control to focus on a predetermined distance.

That is, in FIG. 1, the received signal received by each vibrator 10 is input to all the mixer circuits 16-1 to 16-4, and then the received signal is input to the distribution circuits 14-1 to 14-4.
4, the signal is supplied to delay lines 12-1 to 12-4, and a delay time corresponding to the focus point is given.

When receiving the reflected echo from the four force point F1 in FIG.
They will be received in the order of C-4D.

The output of the mixed adder circuit 16 of A is the switch 24-
1 to the mixed adder circuit 16 of B, and the delay line 12
-1 gives a predetermined delay time D5, and at the same time,
It is combined with the received signal input to the B mix-adder circuit 16.

Also, the output of the mixed addition circuit 16 of B is the output of the mixed addition circuit 16 of C.
is supplied to the delay line 12-2 via the switch 24-2.
At the same time, a predetermined delay time D5 is given, and at the same time, the signal is combined with the received signal input to the C mix-adder circuit 16.

In this way, the received signals A, B, C, and D input into the mixer circuit 16 are delayed by the delay time D5 and combined, and this combined signal is sent to the switch 24-
4, and this results in the output as shown in Figure 2(b).
are synthesized, and phase matching for receiving the reflected echo of the focus point F1 is completed.

The input/output order of the mixed addition circuit 16 changes depending on the angular deflection of scanning. For example, when receiving the reflected echo of the focus point F2 shown in FIG. 5, B→
If the process is performed in the order of C-D-A and the reflected echo of the focus point F3 is to be received, the process may be performed in the order of D-C-B→A. Of course, the delay time in the mixed addition circuit 16 also changes depending on the deflection angle, so it is necessary to distribute the delay time according to the deflection angle.

In the embodiment, a transducer group that performs sector scanning has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where angular deflection control is performed using a transducer group that performs linear scanning or convex scanning.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the mixed adder circuits provided by dividing the vibrator group are connected in a loop, and the input and output of the mixed adder circuits are connected in a loop using a switch. Since the phase adjustment is performed in accordance with the predetermined order of the equations and the phase adjustment is performed while giving a predetermined delay time, the delay time for controlling the angular deflection can also be given by the mixed addition circuit. Therefore, there is an effect that the main delay line for angular deflection that has been used in the past can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a receiver for ultrasound diagnostic equipment according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing delay time when controlling angle deflection, and Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing sector scanning. , Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the difference in time for reflected echoes to reach the transducer group, Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the difference in delay time when controlling angle deflection, and Fig. 6 is a circuit for performing delay control. FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a conventional receiver with a simplified circuit configuration for performing delay control. 10... Oscillator 12... Delay line 14... Distribution circuit 16... Group subtraction circuit 18... Main delay line 20... Main distribution circuit 22... Main addition circuit. (b) Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Receiving from a predetermined point in a receiver for an ultrasonic diagnostic device that receives reflected echoes of ultrasound emitted into the patient's body for each group of a predetermined number of transducers in order to display information inside the patient's body as an image. A group adder circuit is provided, which divides a group of transducers from which a signal is obtained into a plurality of groups, and includes a delay line that delays the transducer output for each group, and a distribution circuit that distributes the transducer output to this delay line. A receiver for an ultrasonic diagnostic device, which performs angular deflection control by connecting the circuits in a loop through a switch and repeating the input and output of the group adder circuit in a loop-shaped predetermined order at predetermined delay time intervals. .