JPH04174655A - Blood flow image projection display device using ultrasonic pulse doppler method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form the projection image of the blood flow in the three-dimensional region in a living body by installing a projection image forming circuit which forms the projection image of the blood flow in the three-dimension region by using the read-out doppler information, and a display device for displaying the formed projection image of the blood. CONSTITUTION:In a three-dimensional data memory 20, the doppler information extracted by a doppler analyzing circuit 18 is memorized. Memory operation is carried out in correspondence with the three-dimensional region in a living body which is taken in by a receiving transmitter 10, and the address of the memory 20 corresponds to each position in a living body. A projection image path calculation part 30 calculates each address of the three-dimensional data memory 20 corresponding to the image projection path. In a projection image processing part 26, the doppler information which is read out in succession along the image projection path from the three- dimensional data memory 20 is added, and sends out the doppler information to a prescribed address in a frame memory 24. Since each doppler information is memorized, including the three-dimensional position information, in the image projection path, a variety of projection images can be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a blood flow image projection display device, particularly a blood flow image projection display device that displays a projected image of blood flow in a three-dimensional region within a living body using an ultrasonic pulsed Doppler method. The present invention relates to an image projection display device.

[Background Art] When diagnosing diseases of the circulatory system, angiography is performed to determine the state of blood flow.

In this angiography, for example, an angiographic contrast agent that absorbs X-rays is injected into the blood, and the living body is irradiated with X-rays, thereby obtaining a projected image of blood vessels (blood flow) in a desired area within the living body. be. Based on the X-ray photographs obtained by this angiography, diseases such as aneurysms and vascular stenosis are diagnosed.

By the way, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using the ultrasonic Doppler method is known as an apparatus that can image the running state of blood flow in a living body without causing pain to the living body. As is well known, this ultrasonic diagnostic device transmits continuous wave or pulsed wave ultrasound from outside the body into the body, receives the reflected wave after receiving a wave wave inside the body, and receives the reflected wave. Doppler information (for example, blood flow velocity information) is extracted from the received signal and converted into an image.

In recent years, ultrasonic diagnostic equipment that can display Doppler information in real time using the autocorrelation method has been put into practical use (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-44494
(see publication).

Therefore, if such an ultrasonic diagnostic device is used, it is possible to diagnose the above-mentioned state of blood flow, and it is possible to obtain blood flow images without causing any pain or discomfort to the living body. ing.

In recent years, ultrasonic probes for capturing three-dimensional data have been developed to capture data in the three-dimensional region within the living body. It is now possible to obtain Doppler information including its three-dimensional position information with high accuracy (for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 1-64328 and Japanese Patent Application No. 1-3 proposed earlier by the present applicant).
24957)).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus using the ultrasound Doppler method described above, the displayed image is a two-dimensional cross-section inside the living body, and therefore the three-dimensional inside the living body is There was a problem in that it was not possible to grasp the running state of blood flow within the area.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to provide ultrasonic diagnosis using the ultrasonic pulsed Doppler method that can form a projected image of blood flow in a three-dimensional region within a living body. The goal is to provide equipment.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using the ultrasonic pulse Doppler method according to the present invention has a method of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic pulses in a three-dimensional region within a living body. a Doppler analysis circuit that extracts Doppler information from a received signal from the transducer, a three-dimensional data memory that stores the Doppler information in a three-dimensional region within the living body, and a three-dimensional data memory that stores information from the three-dimensional data memory. a projection image forming circuit that reads out Doppler information and forms a projected image of the blood flow in the three-dimensional region using the read Doppler information; and a display that displays the formed projected image of the blood flow. It is characterized by having a container.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, ultrasonic pulses are transmitted and received by the transducer, and Doppler information is extracted from the received signal by the Doppler analysis circuit and stored in the three-dimensional data memory.

The stored Doppler information is then formed into a projection image corresponding to a three-dimensional region within the living body by a projection image forming circuit.

Therefore, a blood flow image can be formed into a two-dimensional image regardless of the running direction of the blood vessel.

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

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using the ultrasonic pulsed Doppler method according to the present invention.

As is well known, the ultrasound pulsed Doppler method transmits periodic ultrasound pulses into a living body and determines the flow velocity of, for example, blood flow, from the Doppler shift, which is the difference between the transmitting frequency and the receiving frequency. be. The advantage is that it has distance resolution because it uses periodic ultrasonic pulses.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a transducer, and in this embodiment, an ultrasonic probe for capturing three-dimensional data is used, which has an angle detector for detecting the transmission angle of the ultrasonic beam into the living body. It is being

This transducer 10 is supplied with a transmission signal having a predetermined repetition period from a transmission circuit 12.

These transmitting circuit 12 and transducer 10 are controlled by a three-dimensional scanning control circuit 14.

A received signal from the transducer 10 is sent to a receiving circuit 16.

This receiving circuit 16 includes a high frequency amplifier, a wave detector, and an A/D
In this embodiment, the received signals are subjected to quadrature detection using reference signals having a phase difference of 90'' from each other.

The received signal from the receiving circuit 16 is sent to a Doppler analysis circuit 18, where Doppler information is extracted. here,
In this embodiment, the Doppler analysis circuit 18 performs Doppler analysis based on the above-mentioned autocorrelation method, thereby determining blood flow velocity and the like.

In the figure, 20 is a three-dimensional data memory, which stores Doppler information extracted by the Doppler analysis circuit 18. The storage is performed corresponding to the three-dimensional region inside the living body taken in by the transducer 10, and in this embodiment, the address of the memory 20 corresponds to each position inside the living body.

FIG. 3 shows the concept of the three-dimensional region V in the living body that is stored in the three-dimensional data memory 20, that is, taken in by the transducer 10.

Here, (A) shows, for example, a region captured by electronic scanning of two-dimensionally arranged vibrators, and (
In B), the area is acquired by sector scanning with linearly arranged transducers, and in (C), the area is captured by sector scanning with one transducer two-dimensionally, or in two-dimensionally arrayed area. A fan-shaped cross-sectional area is shown captured by electronic sector scanning of the transducer. In l) and (C), since they are fan-shaped scans, distortion occurs when they are simply made into two-dimensional projected images, so they are automatically corrected in the three-dimensional data memory 20 to be equivalent to (A). .

In FIG. 1, Doppler information stored in the three-dimensional data memory 20 is read out and sent to the projection image forming circuit 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, this projection image forming circuit 22 includes a projection processing section 26, a projection path calculation section 30, and a projection point calculation section 3.
and a projection calculation section 28 consisting of two parts.

The principle of forming a projection image in this projection image forming circuit 22 will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4(A), a data capture area (2) captured by the transducer 14 is shown. (B) is a projection of this data capture area V from a predetermined direction.
This is the projected image shown in . That is, for example, the projection point P in the projection image is projected along a path along the direction of the ultrasonic beam from the projection start point S, and the distance between P and S is the projection path.

The projection path calculating section 30 shown in FIG. 2 calculates each address of the three-dimensional data memory 20 corresponding to the projection path. The projection point calculation unit 32 also includes a frame memory 24 (described later) corresponding to the position of the projection point P.
This is to calculate the address of .

Then, the projection processing unit 26 adds Doppler information sequentially read out along the projection route from the three-dimensional data memory 20 and sends the result to a predetermined address in the frame memory 24. Here, the projection processing unit 26 performs scalar addition of Doppler information as described above in order to perform brightness modulation or color display according to the speed of blood flow, but the projection processing is of course not limited to this. For example, it is preferable to determine whether there is a blood flow having a velocity equal to or higher than a predetermined value on the projection path, and this type of processing allows for even faster processing.

Therefore, the three-dimensional data memory 20 shown in FIG.
Each piece of Doppler information in the data acquisition area V in FIG. 4(A) is stored, and this information is formed into a projection image shown in FIG. 4(B) in the projection image forming circuit 22, and this projection image is further It will be stored in the frame memory 24.

The projected image stored in the frame memory 24 is then displayed on the display 34. An example of this display is shown in FIG.

As mentioned above, it is preferable to display the projected image in a way that makes it easy to recognize, such as by changing the brightness or changing the hue depending on the blood flow velocity. , the brightness or hue may change as described above depending on the length of the projection path. In the present invention, since the pulsed Doppler method is used, it has distance resolution, and display according to such depth is possible.

In addition, since each Doppler information is stored including its three-dimensional position information, the projection path mentioned above can be calculated from a desired direction at a desired angle, and various projection images can be obtained. is possible.

Therefore, it is possible to obtain a blood flow projection image from an angle that cannot be obtained conventionally using X-ray photography, for example, and has the effect of significantly improving diagnostic accuracy in medical treatment.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using the ultrasonic pulsed Doppler method according to the present invention, a projected image of blood flow can be quickly and easily obtained without placing any burden on the living body. This has the effect of significantly improving diagnostic accuracy in medical care.

In addition, by performing projection image formation from a desired angle to a desired range, it is possible to form a variety of blood flow projection images, making it possible to discover, for example, thrombi and blood circulation disorders that could not be discovered conventionally. It has the beneficial effect of being possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using the ultrasound pulsed Doppler method according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a projection image forming circuit, and FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a data acquisition area; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the data acquisition area and a projected image; and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a blood flow projection image. 10... Transmitter/receiver 16... Receiving circuit 18... Doppler analysis circuit 20... Three-dimensional data memory 22... Projection image forming circuit 24... Frame memory 26... Projection processing unit 28 ... Projection calculation section 30 ... Projection path calculation section 32 ... Projection point calculation section 34 ... Display example 5th factor in Figure 4 of the display

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A transducer that transmits ultrasonic pulses to a three-dimensional region within a living body and receives reflected waves from within the living body, and extracts Doppler information from the received signal from the transducer. a Doppler analysis circuit; a three-dimensional data memory that stores the Doppler information in the three-dimensional region within the living body; reading the Doppler information stored from the three-dimensional data memory, and using the read Doppler information. A projection image forming circuit that forms a projected image of the blood flow in the three-dimensional region; and a display that displays the formed projected image of the blood flow. Blood flow image projection display device.