JPH02255133A - Ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always display the image information of a satisfactory image quality on a monitor without executing the adjustment of a reception part by detecting the level of a reflection echo, and controlling automatically the adjustment quantity related to the image display of a receiving echo processing means in accordance with the result of this detection. CONSTITUTION:A receiving echo processing part 8 executes the processing of a reflection echo obtained from a live body, is constituted of an amplifiers 15, 18, a log amplifier 16 and a detecting circuit 17 and its output is connected to a DSC 11 through an A/D converting circuit 10, and an image signal converted to a television signal by the DSC 11 is displayed on a monitor 13 through a D/A converting circuit 12. Also, an image adjustment control means 9 detects the level of the reflection echo, derives a dynamic range A being optimum for its level, a gain B, and an offset C(t) in the detecting circuit 17, has an integrator 20 and a C(t) arithmetic part 21, and also, has an integrator 22, a one-frame averaging circuit 23 and a B generating circuit 24 in order to derive B, and moreover, has a peak holding circuit 25, a one-frame averaging circuit 26, an RE arithmetic circuit 27 and an A generating circuit 28 in order to derive A.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] This invention transmits an ultrasonic beam into a living body, receives and processes reflected echoes from the living body, and displays biological information on a monitor. Related to ultrasonic diagnostic equipment.

[Conventional technology]

In the medical field, ultrasonic diagnostic devices are used to observe tomographic images and the like inside a living body. This ultrasonic diagnostic device includes a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves,
It consists of a diagnostic device main body having a monitor on which image information is displayed.

The diagnostic device main body is provided with an ultrasound transmitting section and a receiving section.

In such an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the transducer can be changed depending on various conditions such as the region to be observed. When the transducer is changed, the gain and dynamic range of the receiver's amplifier are appropriately adjusted to suit the transducer, and image adjustment is performed. Further, the gain of the receiving section and the like are adjusted depending on the part to be examined of the patient to be examined and each patient.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The adjustment of the receiving section will be explained in more detail.

Assuming that the dynamic range of the receiving section is A1 gain, the offset in B1 detection circuit is C(t) (corresponding to each gain value of the STC circuit), and the reflected echo is e(1), the reflected echo will reach the display monitor. , undergoes the following transformation:

y(t)=A ・l log(B l e(t) l
+1) l +C(t) Since the image quality on the monitor differs depending on the flights A, B, and c(t), conventional equipment can display these flights A, B, and C(t) depending on the transducer, patient, etc.
t) was adjusted manually. However, this adjustment work is extremely complicated. Therefore, the current situation is that once each flight has been adjusted, no adjustment is made even if the transducer is changed.

An object of the present invention is to obtain an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can always display image information of good image quality on a monitor without adjusting the receiving section.

[Means for Solving the Problems] An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention transmits an ultrasound beam into a living body and displays biological information on a monitor based on information of reflected echoes obtained from within the living body. This is what I did. Then, in order to display an image on the monitor, a receiving echo processing means that receives and processes the reflected echo signal, detects the level of the reflected echo, and automatically adjusts the amount of adjustment regarding the image display of the receiving echo processing means according to the detection result. and an image adjustment control means for controlling the image.

[Effect]

In this invention, the level of the reflected echo signal is detected, and the amount of adjustment regarding the image display of the received echo processing means, such as the gain of the amplifier, the dynamic range, and the offset value of the detection circuit, is automatically optimized according to the detection result. Controlled by value.

As a result, a good image can always be displayed on the monitor without complicated adjustment work.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 shows an overall configuration diagram of an electronic scanning type ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The transducer 1 is detachable from the diagnostic device main body 2.

The transmitting section of the diagnostic device main body 2 includes a transmitting drive circuit 3 for driving each vibrator of the transducer 1, and a transmitting delay circuit 4 for delay-controlling each circuit of the transmitting driving circuit 3. There is. Further, the receiving section has a reception delay circuit 5, and the delay amount of this reception delay circuit 5 is determined by a reception delay control circuit 6.
It is now controlled by. Reception delay circuit 5
A filter 7 for removing clutter components is applied to the output of
is provided, and its output is connected to the reception echo processing section 8 and the image adjustment control means 9.

The output of the reception echo processing unit 8 is converted to DSC (Dig'1tal 5can Con) via the A/D conversion circuit 10.
verter) 11. DSCII has a digital memory and is used to convert image signals into television signals. The image signal converted into a television signal by this DSCII is
It is converted into an analog signal via the A conversion circuit 12 and displayed on the monitor 13.

FIG. 1 shows details of the received echo processing section 8 and image adjustment control means 9 in FIG. 2. This received echo processing unit 8 processes the reflected echo e(1) as follows: y(t)=A −l 1og(B ・l e(t)
l +1) I +C(t) However, A: dynamic range B gain C(t): for processing offset in the detection circuit, first amplifier 15 and log amplifier 16 for logarithmic amplification and a detection circuit 1 having an STC function.
7 and a second amplifier 18.

Further, the image adjustment control means 9 is for detecting the level of the reflected echo and determining the optimum dynamic range A1 gain B1 and offset C(t) in the detection circuit 17 for the level of the reflected echo. And C(
In order to obtain C(t), a C(t) calculation section 21 including an integrator 20 and a CPU is provided. Further, in order to obtain B, an integrator 22, a 1-frame averaging circuit 23, and a B generation circuit 24 are provided, and in order to obtain A, a peak-hold circuit 25, a 1-frame averaging circuit 26, and an RE
It has an arithmetic circuit 27 and an A generation circuit 28.

Furthermore, each circuit of the image adjustment control means 9 is synchronized by a timing generation circuit and a clock generation circuit 29.

Next, the operation will be explained.

The operations of the parts other than the reception echo processing section 8 and the image adjustment control means 9 are the same as those of the conventional apparatus, and will not be described here.

First, the calculation operation of C(t) will be explained.

The reflected echo e(t) is input to an integrator 20, where it is time-integrated. That is, where: e(t): A periodic signal ΔT of t=O to about 300 μ5 (=T): T/K k=1 to K (about 10) is obtained. This δa is the reflected echo e(
t) to obtain the general characteristics Pi (indicated by the broken line in the figure).

Next, in order to obtain the characteristic P1 for the entire frame, the C(t) calculation unit 21 calculates C(t) = C(EO
, El, ..., EK ) However, EK −Σek(
i) N: Find the number of beams in one frame. This calculation is performed by the CPU according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step S1, the ultrasonic beam number i is set to i = 1, and in step S2, is set to = 1, and in step S3
Then, i obtained by the integrator 20 is stored in the RAM of the CPU.
Incorporate into. Next, in step S4, H(i,k)-dl
After incrementing the value of k in step S5, the process moves to step S6. In step S6, it is determined whether k is less than or equal to k, and steps 33 to S6 are repeated until k exceeds K. Next, step S7
It is determined whether or not i is less than or equal to N. If i has not reached N, the value of i is incremented in step S8, and steps 82 to S7 are repeated.

In this way, for all beams in one frame, the values in FIG. 4 are set to =1.2. . . , for each of the 10 blocks. As a result, as shown in FIG.
The characteristics of l are found. In order to make this the characteristic shown by the dashed line in FIG. 5, the following C(k) is obtained and outputted to the memory as an offset value of the detection circuit 17, in other words, as gain data of the STC circuit.

That is, in step S9, set to =1, and in step 3
10, calculate C(k) = 1/, ΣH(i,k)/N. This value of C(k) is stored in the RAM of the CPU. Next, in step Sll, the value of k is incremented,
In step S12, it is determined whether k is less than or equal to k. k is K
Steps 33 to S12 are repeated until the value exceeds . C(k) for each block obtained in this way
is output to the memory of the STC circuit in step S13.

Next, the calculation operation of B will be explained.

The reflected echo e(t) is input to the integrator 22, where it is time-integrated to obtain @= S" 1e(t)ldt. Then, in the one-frame averaging circuit 23, i is added for all beams and averaged. That is, E−Σe
(i) Find /N 4φ. In the B generation circuit 24, one frame averaging circuit 2
B=D/E, where D=1, is calculated for the output E of 3, and the first amplifier 15 of the reception echo processing section 8
output as the gain.

Next, the calculation operation of A will be explained.

The reflected echo e(t) is input to a peak hold circuit 25, where the maximum value e□8 for each beam is determined. Then, in the 1-frame averaging circuit 26, i' 1Iax-Σ
emaX (i) /N is calculated and the average of ellm one frame is determined.

Next, the RE arithmetic circuit 27 calculates RE ``''61&lIX/E, the A generation circuit 28 calculates A=F/RE, where F-2, and this A is sent to the second amplifier 18 of the reception processing section 8. output as the gain.

In this embodiment, the values of each gain etc. are automatically adjusted according to the level of the reflected echo e (t) so as to obtain the optimum image quality. Therefore, it is possible to easily always display a good image on the monitor.

[Other Examples]

(a) In the above embodiment, in each calculation section, D=1. Although F=2 is set, these values may be set as appropriate depending on the monitor and the like.

(b) In the embodiment described above, the hardware circuit was used to obtain the values of A and B, but the components other than the integrator and peak hold circuit may be constructed using an A/D conversion circuit and a CPU.

(C) In the above embodiment, when calculating δ, the integrator 22
However, since δ-Σ5 is used, the output of the integrator 20 may be added by an adder to obtain the value.

(d) In the embodiment described above, the gains of the amplifiers 15 and 18 and the offset value of the detection circuit 17 are controlled, but the circuits and values to be controlled are not limited thereto.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the present invention as described above, the level of the reflected echo signal is detected and the gain, dynamic range, etc. of the receiving section are automatically adjusted according to the detection result, thereby eliminating the need for complicated adjustment work. A good image can always be displayed on the monitor without any problems. Further, various devices for adjusting image quality can be omitted from the control panel.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a reception processing section and image adjustment control means of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus equipped with these means.
FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram of reflected echoes, FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining the operation of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a flowchart of the C(t) calculation performed by the apparatus of the embodiment. 8... Reception echo processing unit, 9... Image adjustment control means, 15.16... Amplifier, 16... Log amplifier, 1
7...Detection circuit, 20,2.2...Integrator, 21.
...C(t) calculation unit, 23...1 frame average circuit,
24...B generation circuit, 25...Peak hold circuit, 26...1 frame average circuit, 27...RE calculation circuit, 28...A generation circuit. figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that transmits an ultrasound beam into a living body and displays biological information on a monitor based on information on reflected echoes obtained from the living body, in order to display an image on the monitor, the a receiving echo processing means for receiving and processing a reflected echo signal; and an image adjustment control means for detecting the level of the reflected echo and automatically controlling an adjustment amount regarding the image display of the receiving echo processing means according to the detection result. Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment equipped with .