JPH03149038A - Supersonic diagnosing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize the transmission of supersonic in case of a large number of waves by delaying the operation of each vibrator element according to the cycle of the driving frequency and driving the vibrator element in the delayed timing according to the quantumized delayed time. CONSTITUTION:A pulser 2 and a preamplifier in a receiving system are connected with N-pieces of supersonic vibrator elements 1 (CH1-CHN), and trigger pulses are inputted into each pulser 2 from each trigger controller 3, and each supersonic vibrator element 1 is pulse-driven in the timing of the trigger pulse by the pulser 2, and performs oscillation, and transmits the supersonic wave. Into the trigger controller 3, the PRF signals, clock signals phi0-phi15, quantumized data MD0-MD5 for delayed time control, SD0-SD3, and wave quantity data W0, W7, etc., are transmitted from a main control circuit 4. The channel address sent out from the main control circuit 4 is sent into a decoder 5, and the LOAD signal is sent into the trigger controller 3 from the decoder 5, and the quantumized data for delayed time control and the wave quantity data are individually loaded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that obtains in-vivo image information using ultrasonic waves, and particularly relates to an electronic scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[Conventional technology]

In an electronic scanning ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, the delay time of a pulse that drives each transducer of an ultrasound probe is usually controlled by quantizing it. That is, control is performed using data obtained by dividing the delay time of each vibrator necessary for deflection and focusing by the quantization delay time τ. Usually, this quantization delay time τ is unique to each device, and several types of ultrasound probes with different drive frequencies are connected to it. On the other hand, especially in the Dobra mode, it is necessary to emit deflected and focused ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic probe in series of several waves or tens of waves.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, conventionally, the quantization delay time τ
The delay time of each transducer of the ultrasound probe is controlled individually, and this quantization delay time τ has no relation to the driving frequency of the connected ultrasound probe (in other words, as mentioned above, the Although one type of delay time τ is fixed for each device, the frequencies of the probes attached to it vary, and there is no relationship between them in terms of multiples or frequency division. Alternatively, when emitting ultrasonic waves in a series of several tens of waves, there is a problem in that it is impossible to oscillate each vibrator of the probe by increasing the number of waves at a frequency corresponding to the frequency of the probe. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic scanning type ultrasonic diagnostic device that can perform quantization delay time control according to the frequency of a probe and emit ultrasonic waves with a large number of waves with a simple circuit configuration. purpose.

[Means to solve the problem]

To achieve the above object, the present invention includes a variable oscillator that generates a signal of the same frequency as the driving frequency of an ultrasound probe, and a variable oscillator that delays the oscillation signal and shifts it by a quantization delay time. A delay circuit that obtains a clock signal for one period, first data consisting of the integer part of the value obtained by dividing the necessary delay time by the period of the drive frequency of the ultrasonic probe, and a quantized delay time for the remainder of the division. a control circuit that obtains second data that is an integer from the value divided by , and selects one of the above clock signals based on the second data, and selects the selected clock signal as indicated by the first data. The ultrasonic probe is characterized by being equipped with a trigger controller that delays the ultrasonic probe by a period and supplies it as a trigger pulse to a drive circuit for driving each vibrator of the ultrasonic probe.

[For production]

The first data is obtained by dividing the required delay time by the period of the drive frequency of the ultrasound probe and taking the integer part of the value. Further, the second data is an integer obtained from the value obtained by dividing the remainder of the above division by the quantization delay time. The variable oscillator generates a signal with the same frequency as the driving frequency of the ultrasound probe. This oscillation signal is delayed by a delay circuit to obtain a clock signal corresponding to one cycle of the oscillator, which is shifted by the quantization delay time. One of the clock signals is selected depending on the second data. Further, the selected clock signal is delayed by a period corresponding to the first data. The clock signal thus obtained is given as a trigger signal to a drive circuit for driving each vibrator of the ultrasound probe. Therefore, each vibrator is delayed according to the period of its driving frequency, and is driven at a timing that is further delayed according to the quantization delay time, realizing ultrasonic emission when the number of waves is large. can.

【Example】

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In an electronic scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. Trigger pulses are given to each pulser 2 from each trigger controller 3, and each ultrasonic transducer 1 is pulse-driven by the pulser 2 and oscillates at the timing of this trigger pulse. , is designed to emit ultrasonic waves. Each of these trigger controllers 3 receives a PRF signal and a clock signal φ0 to φ15 from the main control circuit 4.
, quantized data for delay time control MDO to MD5, SD
O to SD3, wave number data WO to W7, etc. are being sent. Also, the channel address output from the main control circuit 4 is sent to the decoder 5, and the LOA
The D signal is sent to the trigger controller 3 of each channel, and the quantized data MDO to MD5 and SDO to S for delay time control are sent to the trigger controller 3 of each channel.
D3 and wave number data WO to W7 are individually loaded. The main control circuit 4 includes a variable oscillator 41 as shown in FIG.
, a Doppler PRF generation circuit 42 , an AND circuit 43 , and a delay line 44 . variable oscillator 4
1 has a variable frequency so as to generate a clock signal having the same frequency as the drive frequency of the connected probe. Doppler PRF generation circuit 42 generates a PRF signal in synchronization with this clock signal, and the clock signal is sent to delay line 44 through AND circuit 43 only while this PRF signal is being generated. The delay line 44 has a large number of delay taps with different delay times for each quantized delay time τ, and a large number of clock signals φO that are shifted by τ from these delay taps.
~φ15 is obtained. That is, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the clock signal φ0 to φ15 for at least one cycle of the oscillation cycle of the clock signal (oscillation cycle of the ultrasonic probe) T
is obtained. Furthermore, this main control circuit 4 is equipped with a data processing circuit (not shown), and the period of the driving frequency of the transducer 1 is T, and the delay time required for a certain transducer 1 to deflect and focus the ultrasonic wave is set as T. When Td, calculate MD=INT(Td/T) SD=INT(MOD(Td/T)/τ10,5), and apply the obtained MD-SD value to the trigger controller for each bit. Send to 3. Here, INT represents only the integer of the operation result in (), and MOD represents the remainder of the division in (). For example, if the probe driving frequency is 3.0 MH
z, the delay rtlTd of a certain resonator l is 2.135μ
When sec is required, the quantization delay time τ is 25 nsec
, then MD=INT((2,135X10
-)/(1/[3-9X10l))SD=INT(([
0,135x 10-]/ [25x 10″″])+
0.5), and with this MD and SD, Td= (1/ [3, OX 10l) x 6+25
A delay time Td of x 10 - x 5 = 2.125 μsec is set. Moreover, the wave number can be set in the main control circuit 4, and data W indicating the set wave number is output to the trigger controller 3. In this example, W has an 8-bit configuration (WO-
W7), it is possible to set from 0 wave series to 255 wave series. The trigger controller 3 includes a selection circuit 3 as shown in FIG.
1, the latch circuit 32, the counters 33 and 34, and the D
It includes a flip-flop 35- and an AND circuit 36. As shown in FIG. 5, first, data MD, SD, W
The latch circuit 32, counter 33 .
34. The selection circuit 31 selects one of the clock signals 41 to -15 φ according to the data SD latched by the latch circuit 32.
Select X. This selected clock signal φX is sent to counters 33 and 34. Counters 33 and 34 are down counters that count down the clock signal φX from count values set according to data MD and W, respectively. When the PRF signal from the main control circuit 4 is input, the counter 33 becomes ready for counting, and as shown in FIG. 5, the counter 33 counts down in response to the clock signal φX. In this example, if "3" is set by MD, a ripple carry (RC) is generated from this counter 33 when three φXs are input. This 1-recarry presets the D flip-flop 35, and the outputs of its non-inverting output terminal and inverting output terminal are respectively inverted. The output signal from the non-inverting output terminal of the D flip-flop 35 causes the AND circuit 36 to start transferring the glock signal φX. On the other hand, due to the inversion of the signal generated at the inverting output terminal of the D flip-flop 35, the counter 34 becomes operational, and if "4" is set by the data W, then when φX is counted 4 times. A ripple carry occurs and the D flip-flop 35 is cleared. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, four φX are outputted to the pulser 2 as trigger pulses. Incidentally, if the OR circuit 37 is used to supply the CW signal to the AND circuit 36 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3, the selected one clock signal φX is It can output continuously for each cycle of the probe drive frequency, and can continuously emit ultrasonic waves in CW Doppler mode.

【Effect of the invention】

According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, a driving pulse delayed according to the quantization delay time can be generated for each period of the driving frequency of the probe with a relatively simple circuit configuration, and the wave number can be changed. It becomes possible to emit a large number of ultrasonic waves.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of the circuit in the main control circuit in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit in the trigger controller in FIG. 1. In the block diagram, FIGS. 4A and 4B are time charts showing waveforms of clock signals, and FIG. 5 is a time chart for explaining the operation of FIG. 3. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Ultrasonic transducer, 2...Pulser, 3--Trigger controller, 4--Main control circuit, 5--Decoder, 31--Selection circuit, 32--Latch circuit, 3
3.34...Counter, 35...D flip-flop, 36...AND circuit, 3hoo...OR circuit, 41
-Variable oscillator, 42... Doppler PRF generation circuit, 4
3--AND circuit, 44--delay line.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A variable oscillator that generates a signal with the same frequency as the driving frequency of the ultrasound probe, and a delay circuit that delays the oscillation signal to obtain a clock signal for one cycle of the oscillator, shifted by the quantization delay time. and a first data consisting of an integer part of the value obtained by dividing the necessary delay time by the period of the driving frequency of the ultrasound probe, and a second data which is an integer part from the value obtained by dividing the remainder of the division by the quantization delay time. a control circuit that obtains data;
a drive circuit for selecting one of the clock signals according to the second data, delaying the selected clock signal by a period indicated by the first data, and driving each transducer of the ultrasound probe; 1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a trigger controller that provides a trigger pulse to a trigger pulse.