JPH04218142A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the preparation of a body mark pattern data of an optional part at an object to be inspected by assigning a range from a body mark pattern containing a part to be diagnosed to deliver a corresponding data even when none of the body mark pattern data corresponding to the part to be diagnosed is prepared in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. CONSTITUTION:This apparatus is provided with a memory 34 to store a body mark pattern data, a display 16 to read and display a body mark pattern data from the memory 34, a pattern assigning circuit 38 to assign an optional range of the body mark pattern data shown on the display 16, a pattern delivery circuit 40 which is adapted to recognize the body mark data corresponding to a body mark pattern corresponding to the body mark pattern in the range assigned by the pattern assigning circuit 38 as new body mark pattern data and a pattern expanding/reducing circuit 42.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Purpose of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of displaying a body mark pattern along with an ultrasonic image on the same screen.

0002

[Prior Art] When making a diagnosis by displaying an ultrasound image obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasound waves to and from a subject on a screen such as a CRT display, it is easy to see at a glance what kind of part the ultrasound image represents. Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment is known that can display a body mark pattern indicating a diagnostic region on the same screen so that the patient can make a diagnosis.

[0003] Such body mark patterns are used to mark the abdomen,
Data on major parts of the body, such as the chest, are stored in advance in the memory of the ultrasound diagnostic device, and when diagnosing a subject, an operator such as a doctor uses a body mark pattern that corresponds to the diagnosis area. Data can be read from this memory and displayed on the screen.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, there are limits to the types of body mark patterns prepared in the memory of an ultrasound diagnostic device, and when diagnosing a special part, it is necessary to use a body mark pattern corresponding to that part. Pattern data often does not exist. In such cases, with conventional ultrasound diagnostic equipment, the operator must operate the keyboard, trackball, etc. to modify and redraw the body mark pattern data prepared in the equipment on the display screen, or the operator must use the keyboard, trackball, etc. By drawing a new body mark pattern on the display screen, body mark pattern data corresponding to the diagnosed area was created. However, creating body mark pattern data using such a conventional method is a very labor-intensive task and reduces diagnostic efficiency, which is a big problem for the operator.

The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned problems with conventional ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, and even when body mark pattern data corresponding to the diagnostic region is not prepared, the operator can save time and effort. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can easily create necessary body mark pattern data without having to spend much time.

[Configuration of the invention]

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a body mark pattern that indicates the ultrasound image display area of the subject along with an ultrasound image obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasound waves to and from the subject. In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that displays body mark pattern data on a screen, a storage means for storing body mark pattern data, a means for reading body mark pattern data from the storage means and displaying it on a screen, and a body mark pattern displayed on the screen. and a means for recognizing body mark pattern data corresponding to the range of body mark patterns specified by the specifying means as new body mark pattern data. It is something to do.

[0008]

[Operation] By displaying the body mark pattern data stored in the storage means on the display screen and specifying an arbitrary range of this body mark pattern, a body mark pattern corresponding to the body mark pattern in the specified range can be created. Recognize the data as new body mark pattern data. As a result, if body mark pattern data corresponding to the diagnosed region is not prepared in the device, body mark pattern data including the diagnosed region already stored in the storage means is displayed on the display screen,
New body mark pattern data can be created by specifying a range corresponding to the diagnostic site of this body mark pattern and cutting out the data of that part. Therefore, if the device does not have body mark pattern data that corresponds to the diagnosis area, operators such as doctors no longer need to create body mark pattern data by drawing it on the screen as in the past, so they can save time and effort. It is possible to easily create the necessary body mark pattern data.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention.

The ultrasonic probe 2 is constituted by an ultrasonic transducer that transmits and receives ultrasonic pulses to and from the subject, and is connected to a transmitting/receiving circuit 4. The transmitting/receiving circuit 4 supplies a drive signal to the ultrasound probe 2 to generate ultrasound toward the subject, and processes the echo signal from the ultrasound probe 2. A phase detection circuit 6 connected to the transmitter/receiver circuit 4 performs phase detection on the received signal from the transmitter/receiver circuit 4 and outputs a Doppler shift signal. The B-mode processing circuit 8 obtains a tomographic image signal from the received signal from the transmitting/receiving circuit 4, and converts it into a DS
C (digital scan convert
r) Output to 14. MTI (moving ta)
rget indicator) 10 filters the signal from the phase detection circuit 6 to extract only the Doppler signal, and also calculates the average velocity, dispersion, and power of blood flow. FFT (fast fouriertrans)
former) 12 performs frequency analysis of the blood flow signal from the phase detection circuit 6. The DSC 14 receives and stores signals from the B-mode processing circuit 8, MTI 10, and FFT 12,
The signal is converted into a TV scan signal and output to the display 16.

The control system 17 includes a transmission/reception system control means 20, a video system control means 22, a main control means 18, and a console 24. A control signal corresponding to an operation command from the operation console 24 is given.

The transmitting/receiving system control means 20 provides a drive control signal to the transmitting/receiving circuit 4 based on information from the ultrasonic probe 2.
It controls the transmission timing and reception timing for setting the deflection angle and focus depth in the drive signal supplied to the ultrasound probe 2.

The video system control means 22 also transmits control signals to the ultrasound video system 5 and the body mark pattern video system 30.
It also provides data write/read control signals to the DSC 14.

The body mark pattern image system 30 includes memories 34 and 36 for storing body mark pattern data.
, 44, the memory 34 stores body mark pattern data representing the whole body, the memory 36 stores body mark pattern data often used for diagnosis of the abdomen, chest, etc., and the memory 44 stores body mark pattern data representing the whole body. Mark pattern data is stored. The body mark pattern data of the whole body stored in the memory 34 is, for example, the data of the body mark pattern shown in FIG. 2, but not only the body mark pattern shown in FIG. It is also possible to prepare multiple types of data. Alternatively, data of a body mark pattern representing the inside of a body cavity may be used. Note that the body mark pattern may be applied not only to humans but also to animals such as dogs and cats.

The pattern display circuit 32 controls the memory 34, 36, 44 based on the control signal from the video system control means 22.
Read body mark pattern data from DSC1
4 on the display 16.

The pattern cutout circuit 40 extracts the body mark pattern specified by the pattern designation circuit 38 while the whole body mark pattern data read out from the memory 34 by the pattern display circuit 32 is displayed on the display 16. This is for cutting out an arbitrary part of the image and reading out the data of that part. This pattern designation circuit 38 is a system that uses the keyboard, trackball, etc. of the console 24 to move the cursor to an arbitrary position of the whole body mark pattern in FIG. 2 on the display as shown in FIG. An end point is specified, and a region within a rectangular range with the start point and end point at diagonal positions is specified as another body mark pattern. Data corresponding to a portion within a quadrilateral range with the starting point and ending point as diagonal positions becomes new body mark pattern data. Note that the pattern designation method of the pattern designation circuit 38 is as follows.
A method using a rectangular cursor that expands and contracts as shown in FIG. 3(b) may be used, or any method may be used as long as it can specify the data of the part to be cut out on the body mark pattern. The pattern enlargement/reduction circuit 42 compares the range of the region specified by the pattern specification circuit 38 with the size of a predetermined body mark pattern, and if it is smaller than this, it is enlarged, and if it is larger, it is reduced to a predetermined size. body mark pattern data. Here, the data of the body mark pattern that has reached a predetermined size is stored (registered) in the memory 44. This stored data is displayed on display 1 with the same size and same magnification.
6. FIG. 2 shows, as an example, a case where four types of parts A to D are specified from the whole body mark pattern, and each of these parts is set as a new body mark pattern as shown in FIG. 4. Note that Figure 4 (A) shows the head and jaw, Figure 4 (B) shows the chest, Figure 4 (C) shows the abdomen, and Figure 4 (D) shows the thighs. The size of the mark pattern is determined by the pattern enlargement/reduction circuit 42.
It has a predetermined size.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

When an operator such as a doctor diagnoses a subject, if body mark pattern data corresponding to the diagnosis area is prepared in advance in the apparatus, the operator such as a doctor operates the console 24 and displays the pattern data in the memory using the pattern display circuit 32. DS the body mark pattern data corresponding to the diagnosis site from 36.
The data is read out to C14 and displayed on the display 16 together with the ultrasound image from the ultrasound imaging system 5.

If the body mark pattern data corresponding to the diagnosis part is not prepared in advance in the apparatus, new body mark pattern data corresponding to the diagnosis part is created, and the ultrasound image of the ultrasound imaging system 5 is created. It is also displayed on the display 16. To create new body mark pattern data, first operate the console 24, read the whole body mark pattern data from the memory 34 to the DSC 14 using the pattern display circuit 32, and display it on the display 16. Next, by moving the cursor on the display 16, the pattern specifying circuit 38 specifies the area corresponding to the diagnostic site in the displayed whole body mark pattern. Data corresponding to the region designated by the pattern designation circuit 38 is read out by a pattern cutout circuit 40, converted into body mark pattern data of a predetermined size by a pattern enlargement/reduction circuit 42, and stored in a memory 44. In addition, parts necessary for diagnosis as body mark pattern data are stored in the memory 4 by specifying them in the pattern specifying circuit 38 each time.
4 can be stored.

Therefore, according to this embodiment,
If the body mark pattern data corresponding to the diagnosis part is not prepared in advance in the device and new body mark pattern data must be created and registered, the range of any part can be selected from the body mark pattern of the whole body image. New body mark pattern data can be easily created by specifying and cutting out data, so the operator does not have to take the time and effort to draw patterns on the display using a keyboard, trackball, etc., unlike in conventional ultrasound diagnostic equipment. No need to draw and create. Therefore, necessary body mark pattern data can be created without much effort.

[0022] Accordingly, when performing ultrasonic diagnosis, the necessary body mark pattern can be easily displayed on the display screen together with the ultrasonic image, so that the diagnostic efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, since there is no need to store data of many types of body mark patterns in advance in the memory within the device, an increase in the cost of the device can be avoided.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. In this embodiment, when creating new body mark pattern data, a pattern was cut out by specifying a part from the body mark pattern of a full-body image, but if the body mark pattern data is stored in the memory in the device, For example, pattern data may be extracted by specifying a region from any body mark pattern, such as body mark pattern data created in the past by an operator. Further, when storing (registering) data of the created body mark pattern in the memory, it may be stored as data of a body mark pattern of an arbitrary size.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, when necessary body mark pattern data is not prepared in the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, an operator such as a doctor can display the body mark pattern on the screen as in the conventional method. There is no need to create body mark pattern data by drawing on the body mark pattern data, and it becomes possible to easily create body mark pattern data for any part of the subject without much effort.

[0025] This also improves diagnostic efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of an embodiment of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a body mark pattern representing the whole body of the subject in this example.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a pattern designation method for designating a range of an arbitrary part of a body mark pattern displayed on a screen in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a newly created body mark pattern in this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Ultrasonic probe 4 Transmission/reception circuit 5 Ultrasound imaging system 6 Phase detection circuit 8 B mode processing circuit 10 MTI 12 FFT 14 DSC 16 Display 17 Control system 18 Main control means 20 Transmission/reception system control means 22 Video system control means 24 Operation console 30 Body mark pattern video system 32 Pattern readout circuit 34 Memory 36 Memory 38 Pattern specification circuit 40 Pattern cutting circuit 42 Pattern enlargement/reduction circuit 44 Memory

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1. An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus that displays on a screen a body mark pattern indicating the ultrasonic image display area of the subject along with an ultrasound image obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasound waves to and from the subject. a storage means for storing data; a means for reading body mark pattern data from the storage means and displaying it on a screen; a designation means for designating an arbitrary range of the body mark pattern displayed on the screen; 1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: means for recognizing body mark pattern data corresponding to a range of body mark patterns specified by a body mark pattern as new body mark pattern data. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage means stores body mark pattern data representing the whole body of the subject. 3. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage means stores body mark pattern data recognized as the new body mark pattern data.