JPH04236949A - Ultrasonic observing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To output an image signal suitable to signal analysis with respect to gain, contrast, and STC to perform image analysis by ultrasonic observed image data. CONSTITUTION:The observed output of an endoscope is inputted to a gain, contrast, and STC regulating circuit 3 regulated by an observer through a transmitter-receiver circuit 2. The output is processed by a wave detecting circuit 4 and an A/D converter 5, and then stored in a frame memory 6. At the time of observing the image, the stored data is outputted to a monitor 14. On the other hand, at the time of image analysis, the image data in the frame memory 6 is subjected to data converting processing in which the amount regulated and changed in the regulating circuit 3 is returned to the original value in a data converting circuit 9. The converted output is outputted to an output terminal part 15 for external image analyzing device.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic observation apparatus, and more particularly, to an ultrasonic observation apparatus that obtains image information of an observation site by scanning with an ultrasonic probe.

0002

[Prior Art] In recent years, texture analysis has been used for quantitative diagnosis of lesions using image analysis equipment based on image information from an ultrasound observation device of an ultrasound endoscope that uses a probe, which is an ultrasound transducer. Attempts are being made to use it. For example, the literature “
Quantitative diagnosis using texture analysis of endoscopic ultrasound images (
1st report)” (Gastroenterol. Endo
sc. 32:1363-1368, 1990) reported that they attempted quantitative diagnosis by importing cross-sectional images of lesions into a computer using an ultrasound probe at the tip of an endoscope, and performing texture analysis based on that data. This is what I did.

[0003] The texture analysis applied in the above report is based on the input image plane Ge (640 x 512 pixels) of the observation site.
For example, a 9x9 pixel region of interest (Region
of Interest) Re (see Figure 8),
A run-length matrix is determined from the shading of each pixel in each region of interest, and various parameters obtained from the run-length matrix are used as features for diagnosis to determine the properties and tissue structure of the observed site. .

[0004] The above texture analysis method is described in the document "Basics of Image Recognition [II]" (Ohmsha Publishing, P195-P2).
As described in 00), there are well-known methods such as a concentration co-occurrence matrix method, a concentration level difference method, a concentration level run length method, and a power spectrum method.

[0005] The above method of texture analysis using the concentration co-occurrence matrix basically uses a two-dimensional joint probability density function f(i,
It is based on the evaluation of (jId, θ), and (i, jI
d, θ) is a probability density function indicating the possibility that a pixel that is a distance d in the θ direction from a pixel having a density value i has a density value j. That is, for each (d, θ), f(i, jI
d, θ) expressed as a matrix is the concentration co-occurrence matrix, and i
, j indicate the row and column positions, respectively. Usually, the following parameters are used as effective features.

(1) Energy

[
Formula 1]

[0007]

(2) Entropy
)

[Formula 2]

[0009]

(3) Correlation
)

[Formula 3]

[0011]

(4) Local uniformity (local ho
mogeneity)

[Formula 4]

[0013]

(5) Inertia

[Formula 5
]

[0015]

Here, Sθ(i,jId) is Sθ(d)
It is the i-th row and j-column element of the matrix, and NG is the number of density levels of the image. Further, the average density Vx, Vy and the fractions σx, σy are given by the following equation 6.

[0017]

[Formula 6]

[0018]

[0019] Furthermore, the above concentration level run length method is as follows:
For example, this method is effectively used for objects for which run-length coding is effective, such as striped patterns. A density label run is a collection of linearly adjacent pixels with the same density value. is the number of pixels included in the density level run. Then, calculate the number of runs of density value i and length j in the θ direction on the target image, and express it in the form of a matrix for each θ, which is called the density level run matrix R(θ ), then r(i, jIθ
) as its matrix element, R(θ)=[r(i,jIθ)]. Then, as before, the following feature amounts are defined as parameters.

(6) Short run emphasis (short run emphasis)
n emphasis)

[Formula 7]

[0021]

(7) Long run emphasis
(emphasis)

[Formula 8]

[0023]

(8) Concentration level distribution (gray l
distribution)

[Formula 9]

[0025]

(9) Run length distribution (run l
length distribution)

[Formula 10]

[0027]

(10) Run percentage (run
percentage)

[Formula 11]

[0029]

[0030] Here, NG is the number of concentration levels,
NR is the number of run lengths in matrix R(θ). TR is the length in the θ direction, and is the total number of runs regardless of the density value.

The above is the texture analysis method. Then, the value calculated by the above parameters is compared with the "thresholds" α and β set in the processing unit, and if the calculated value is between the "thresholds" α and β, the corresponding interest is The values of the above parameters are employed as the feature amounts of the region. Note that the region of interest is moved up, down, left and right, and the entire screen is processed.

[0032]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In an ultrasonic observation device such as an ultrasonic endoscope used for detecting image information in the above image analysis device, an observer obtains a tomographic image of an observed region prior to image analysis processing. Observe using a monitor. then,
The viewer adjusts the shading, sharpness, brightness, etc. of the image to make it easier to see. This adjustment is performed by a gain, contrast, and sensitivity time control (hereinafter referred to as STC) adjustment circuit for the transmission and reception output of the endoscope built into the observation device.

However, since the image adjustment described above is adjusted based on a personal feeling, it cannot be said that the above-mentioned image adjustment condition is necessarily suitable for image processing such as texture analysis that will be performed later.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when performing computer image processing, at least gain, contrast, and S
An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic observation device capable of outputting an image signal suitable for signal analysis that does not change due to TC adjustment.

[0035]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The ultrasonic image analysis device of the present invention is an ultrasonic observation device having gain, contrast, and STC adjustment functions. A feature of the present invention is that an image signal output means for analysis is provided.

[0036]

[Operation] For image analysis, it is possible to output an image signal that has not been subjected to any defective adjustments to image processing.

[0037]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained below based on embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an ultrasonic observation apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This observation device captures the tomographic image observation output of the ultrasound endoscope 1 into a frame memory and outputs the image information to the video monitor 14 during observation and further to the image data output terminal 15 during image observation.

That is, in the ultrasonic observation apparatus described above, an excitation voltage is applied from the transmitting/receiving circuit 2 to the probe consisting of an ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic endoscope 1 to generate an ultrasonic beam. The beam is irradiated onto the subject. The reflected wave from the subject is received by the probe. The tomographic image observation output is inputted via the transmitter/receiver circuit 2 to a gain, contrast, and STC adjustment circuit 3 controlled by a control circuit 13. In the adjustment circuit 3, the front panel 1 is
The above gain, contrast, ST indicated via 6
The adjustment of C is performed by the control circuit 13. Then, the output is detected by the detection circuit 4, and the A/D converter 5
After being A/D converted and subjected to processing such as interpolation, it is stored in the frame memory 6. During image observation, the image data in the frame memory 6 is D/A converted by the D/A converter 7, mixed with the output of the video synchronization signal generation circuit 11 by the mixing circuit 8, and outputted to the external video monitor 14.

On the other hand, during tomographic image analysis, the image data in the frame memory 6 is converted into the gain, contrast, ST
A data conversion process for returning the amount adjusted by the C adjustment circuit 3 to its original value is performed based on instructions from the control circuit 13. Therefore, this output is the same as the image data before being adjusted by the adjustment circuit 3. Note that this processing is performed using digital signals.

[0040] Then, the D/A converter 10
The signal is A-converted and mixed with a synchronizing signal by the mixing circuit 12. The image signal is output to an output terminal unit 15 for an external image analysis device that performs the texture analysis, for example. The image signal whose gain, contrast, and STC have been adjusted by the adjustment circuit 3 is simultaneously outputted to an external video monitor for observation via the D/A converter 7 and the mixing circuit 8.

As described above, in this embodiment,
Observation image output gain, contrast, S
Even if the TC signal is changed, when outputting image data to the image analysis processing device, image data equivalent to the data before the change will always be obtained at the output terminal section 15, resulting in high accuracy. Furthermore, it is possible to provide an ultrasonic observation device for image analysis that can output image data with good reproducibility.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an ultrasonic observation apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The first part of this observation device
The difference from the example is gain, contrast, and S.
Frame memory 6 in which TC changes are stored
The image data is D/A converted by the D/A converter 10, and the analog signal is converted to gain, contrast, and STC.
In the correction circuit 21, the amount changed by the gain, contrast, and STC adjustment circuit 3 is corrected to the original value based on the instruction from the control circuit 20. The other circuit configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. In this example,
Since both the gain, contrast, and STC adjustment circuit 3 and the correction circuit 21 perform analog processing, correction errors are less likely to occur.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an ultrasonic observation apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The first part of this observation device
The difference from the embodiment is that an image display processing line and an analysis image processing line are provided independently. The image display line is the same as in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the analytical image processing line processes the tomographic image data of the transmitter/receiver circuit 2 by adjusting the gain, which cannot be adjusted by the observer.
It is processed by the contrast and STC adjustment circuit 31. Then, similarly to the display line, the output is detected by the detection circuit 33, A/D converted by the A/D converter 33, subjected to processing such as interpolation, and then stored in the frame memory 34. During image processing, the image data in the frame memory 34 is D/A converted by the D/A converter 10, mixed with the output of the video synchronization signal generation circuit 11 by the mixing circuit 12, and then sent to the output terminal section 15 for an external image analysis device. is output to.

According to this embodiment, since a dedicated analytical image processing line is provided, it is possible to obtain highly accurate reproduction output.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an ultrasonic observation apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The first part of this observation device
The difference from the embodiment is that an interface circuit 44 with the image analysis device is provided, and control signals for gain, contrast, and STC are taken in from the image analysis device into the control circuit 40, and the gain, contrast, and , the STC adjustment circuit 3 is operated. In this embodiment, an ultrasonic scope 46 is used as the observation section. Further, the video output from the mixing circuit 12 is provided by an amplifier circuit 42,
43 and output to the monitor 14 and image analysis output terminal section 15, respectively. Interface circuit 44
can communicate with an external image analysis device via the input/output circuit 45.

According to this embodiment, signals for image analysis are always managed by the image analysis device, so that highly accurate image analysis can be performed. Note that the interface circuit 44 may be provided within the image analysis device.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an ultrasonic observation apparatus showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The fourth observation device
The difference from the embodiment is that a frame memory interface circuit 51 for the image analysis device is provided, and image data for image analysis is transmitted directly from the frame memory 6 as a digital signal. Furthermore, 52
is an input/output circuit of the frame memory interface circuit 51. Gain, contrast, and S suitable for image analysis
TC control signals and the like are taken into the control circuit 50 from the image analysis device via the interface circuit 44,
The gain, contrast, and STC adjustment circuit 3 is operated based on the signal. Further, the data input/output and address input of the frame memory 6 are managed by the control circuit 50. According to this embodiment, the image data in the frame memory 6 can be output to the image analysis device as a digital signal, so there is no signal deterioration and more accurate analysis can be performed. In each of the above embodiments, the applied data in the frame memory 6 was image information for analysis, but the present invention is of course applicable not only to image information but also to digital information within a frame. .

[0048]

As described above, the ultrasonic observation apparatus of the present invention is provided with an image signal output means for signal analysis that does not change due to adjustment of gain, contrast, and STC. According to the above, even if the observed image output is changed by the observer, when outputting the image data to the image analysis processing device, image data equivalent to the unaltered original data will always be obtained, with high accuracy and It is possible to provide an ultrasonic observation device that has remarkable effects such as being able to output image data with good reproducibility accuracy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an ultrasonic observation device showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of an ultrasonic observation device showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of an ultrasonic observation device showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block configuration diagram of an ultrasonic observation device showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block configuration diagram of an ultrasonic observation device showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

3……………………Gain, contrast, STC contact adjustment record 9……………………Data conversion record (image signal output means for signal analysis)

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claims: 1. An ultrasonic observation device having gain, contrast, and sensitivity time control adjustment functions, comprising at least image signal output means for signal analysis that does not change due to gain, contrast, and sensitivity time control adjustment. An ultrasonic observation device characterized by: