JPH04250150A - Ophthalmologic ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To immediately use a new program or data necessary for diagnosis, when developed, without reforming a device, easily reproduce the data of a patient to enable the diagnosis by the new program or data, and efficiently diagnose a number of patients. CONSTITUTION:In an ophthalmologic ultrasonic diagnostic device, a card connector possible to get a memory card in and out and a card interface possible to exchange the information between a built-in microcomputer and the memory card are provided, and the diagnostic information is obtained on the basis of information of the memory card and the microcomputer.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ophthalmic ultrasonic diagnostic device, and more specifically, to a diagnostic device using ultrasonic waves suitable for measuring the axial length of the eye and diagnosing ocular tissues. be.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Diagnostic devices that use ultrasound to obtain information about the interior of the eyeball have rapidly become popular. Rapid advances in image processing technology have made it possible to use ultrasound for diagnostic purposes, which has superior properties compared to existing ones, such as being less invasive and less expensive. By the way, when comparing ophthalmological ultrasound diagnostic equipment with other medical ultrasound diagnostic equipment,
Ophthalmological equipment requires an ultrasonic probe to be brought into contact with the eye, so although various improvements have been made to the structure or composition of the probe, there are no special features in the transmission and reception of ultrasound waves themselves. . However, ophthalmological equipment receives ultrasound waves reflected from various tissues within the eye, processes the received signals using general processing technology, and monitors them as A-mode and B-mode images. It is not very meaningful just to display it on the screen. The information obtained in this way can only be useful for ophthalmological diagnosis by adding and processing the ophthalmologist's empirical information. For example, one of the purposes for which an ophthalmologist uses an ultrasound diagnostic device is to calculate the power of an IOL inserted after cataract surgery. The power of the IOL is calculated by substituting the so-called axial length obtained from the ultrasound device into the power calculation formula. This IOL power calculation formula has been formulated based on the many years of experience of ophthalmologists, and there are currently more than five representative formulas. Each of these power calculation formulas has advantages and disadvantages, and no power calculation formula has been found that everyone agrees with and is satisfied with. Existing calculation formulas have been established based on experience, so they change as experience accumulates.

[0003] Also, the present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 63-41434.
In this issue, we proposed a device suitable for differential diagnosis. This device has means for storing reflection echo images with a larger dynamic range than the displayed image, and by extracting images under arbitrary conditions, it attempts to obtain an image equivalent to the image obtained by changing the dynamic range. It is something to do. In this device as well, it is not univocally determined under what conditions it is appropriate to take out an image. An ophthalmologist's continuous clinical experience matters. In conventional devices, information necessary to perform various processes such as the IOL power calculation formula is stored only in a memory built into the device body. Therefore, with such devices, new programs and data necessary for diagnosis, such as IOL power
Every time a calculation formula is announced, we modify the inside of the device.
It was changing.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned devices, the lifespan of the device was integrated with the lifespan of the programs and data contained in the device, but with the presence of a large number of researchers and In this era of active publication of research results, it is inconvenient to be directly affected by the lifespan of programs and data contained in devices.

[0005] Furthermore, because conventional devices cannot store measurement and diagnosis results, they cannot measure the next patient until a series of processing and diagnosis has been completed for each patient, and other patients must be kept waiting. There was an inconvenience that it was not possible. This also leads to the drawback that the patient's past measurement and diagnosis results cannot be reproduced on the device, making it impossible to easily examine the patient's course of events. Once the diagnosis is completed, the results are saved only on printed paper, so when trying to use a new program or data, the test has to be restarted from the beginning. Furthermore, even if the device is configured to be able to store diagnostic results to a certain extent,
There is a limit to the internal storage capacity, and it is not desirable to incorporate a storage device such as a disk or a large-capacity memory into the device because it leads to an increase in the size and price of the device.

The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and its first purpose is to immediately update new programs and data necessary for diagnosis without modifying the equipment. An object of the present invention is to provide an ophthalmic ultrasound diagnostic device that can be used.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus in which patient data can be easily reproduced and diagnosis can be performed using new programs and data.

A third object is to provide an apparatus that can efficiently diagnose a large number of patients.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following features. (1) An ophthalmological ultrasound diagnostic device that can obtain information inside the eyeball by receiving reflected waves of ultrasound that enters the eyeball, has a card connector that allows a memory card to be inserted and taken out, and a built-in device. and a card interface capable of exchanging information between a microcomputer and the memory card, and obtain diagnostic information based on information from both the memory card and the microcomputer. It is characterized by

(2) The memory card information in (1) refers to new programs and processing data necessary for diagnosis.
It is characterized by being ta.

(3) The ophthalmic ultrasound diagnostic apparatus of (2) is characterized in that the information on the memory card is temporarily or permanently stored in the microcomputer.

(4) The information on the memory card in (3) is temporarily stored in the microcomputer, and when stored, information on other memory cards can be read and/or written. It is characterized by the fact that

(5) The information on the memory card in (1) is characterized in that it is measurement data unique to each patient.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an external view of an ophthalmic ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes the main body of the device, in which a control circuit, a processing circuit, etc. are built-in. 2 is the power switch of the device,
3 is a display for displaying measurement and diagnosis results, and 4 is a knob for adjusting the volume of the amplifier. 5 is a connector for the measurement probe 6, and 7 is a card for inserting a ROM or RAM card.
It is a connector. 8 is a printer for printing measurement and diagnosis results on paper. 9 is a keyboard for operating the controls of the main body 1, inputting data regarding the patient, etc.
It is de.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the entire device. 10
is a microcomputer built into the device body,
Control the entire device. The inspector operates a keyboard 9 connected to the outside of the apparatus body to instruct the microcomputer 10 on the contents of the control commands. microcomputer
The controller 10 controls the probe driver 11 to vibrate the transducer in the probe 6 to emit ultrasonic waves. Ultrasonic waves reflected by various tissues within the eyeball are received by a receiver within the probe 6, converted into time-series electrical signals, and sent to the main body 1 of the apparatus. Information from the receiver is amplified by an amplifier 12 and then processed by a sample and measurement circuit 13. The information processed by the sample and measurement circuit 13 is sent to the waveform and image display circuit 14 and displayed on the display 3 as an A-mode waveform and a B-mode image. The information processed by the sample and measurement circuit 13 is also sent to the microcomputer 10, and necessary characters and graphs are displayed on the display 3 via the graphic display circuit 15.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a card interface connected to the microcomputer 10, which allows the microcomputer 10 and the memory card 17 to exchange information via the card connector 7. It has become. The memory card 17 refers to a card-sized device with memory arranged inside, and in this embodiment, it includes a RAM card whose contents can be freely rewritten by the user, and a ROM card whose contents cannot be rewritten by the user. I have a card ready. R.O.
The M card stores changes such as the IOL power calculation formula and new programs and data to be added.
The AM card stores patient-specific data obtained through measurements.

Next, the exchange of information between the memory card 17 and the microcomputer 10 will be explained based on a flowchart. First, the case of a ROM card will be explained. As shown in FIG. 3, the power is turned on and the presence or absence of a ROM card is first determined (step 30). If there is no ROM card, the program inside the main unit will start as is. If a ROM card is available, the contents of the ROM card are loaded into the memory within the main body, and after conversion processing of the program and data within the main body is performed (step 31), the program is started.

The presence or absence of a ROM card is also determined during program execution (step 32). If there is no ROM card, the program will be executed as is. If there is a ROM card, the process proceeds to step 33, where it is determined whether or not to set the program on the ROM card. If not set, the program will run as is. When setting, step 3
Proceed to step 1 and load the contents of the ROM card into the internal memory of the main unit.
AD and converts programs and data inside the main unit. LOs all contents of ROM card to internal memory
The reason for AD is to remove the ROM card after LOAD and leave the RAM card in a usable state.

Note that in this embodiment, each time the power is turned on, R
The reason why the OM card is inserted and loaded into the device is to simplify the device and prevent it from becoming expensive. Therefore, it is clear that by providing a backup circuit or the like, it is possible to use new programs and data that have been changed or added without having to insert a ROM card each time the power is turned on.

Next, the case of a RAM card will be explained. The RAM cards are filed together for each patient, but since one RAM card can contain files for several patients, they are distinguished by file name. When loading a file, as shown in FIG. 4, first a list of file names is displayed (step 40). Then select the file you want to load from among these file names (step 41),
LOAD is executed (step 42). In this manner, by reading past patient data from the RAM card, diagnosis can be immediately performed using new programs and data that have been changed or added. It can also be used as follows. For example, only outpatient measurements are performed in the morning, and the results are stored in a RAM card. In the afternoon, when outpatient measurements are completed, the data can be read out from the RAM card and processed and diagnosed all at once.

SAVE of patient data is performed according to FIG. First, display a list of file names (step 50).
, the presence or absence of the same file is determined (step 51). If the same file does not exist, the process advances to step 54, where a file name is given and a new SAVE is executed. If the same file exists, the process advances to step 52, where it is determined whether to overwrite it. If not overwritten, proceed to step 54 and write a new S
Execute AVE. If the data is to be overwritten, the process advances to step 53 and an overwrite SAVE is executed.

[0022]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the ultrasonic diagnostic device of the present invention, even for post-processing sequences that are being announced one after another, it is possible to simply add a ROM card without increasing the size of the device. This makes it easier to use the latest programs and data.

Furthermore, since the patient's past measurement results can be reproduced on the device, it is possible to support a series of patient progress, and it is also easy to re-diagnose using the latest programs and data.

Furthermore, since the apparatus can be used efficiently, the burden on both the examiner and the patient is reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an ophthalmological ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ophthalmological ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing how a ROM card is loaded.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing how a RAM card is loaded.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing how a RAM card is saved.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Microcomputer 16 Card interface 17 Memory card

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ophthalmological ultrasound diagnostic apparatus capable of obtaining information inside the eyeball by receiving reflected waves of ultrasound incident on the eyeball, comprising: a card connector into which a memory card can be inserted and taken out; The device has a card interface that allows information to be exchanged between a microcomputer built into the device and the memory card, and diagnostic information is generated based on information from both the memory card and the microcomputer. An ophthalmological ultrasound diagnostic device characterized in that: [Claim 2] The information on the memory card of Claim 1 is as follows:
An ophthalmological ultrasound diagnostic device characterized by a new program and processing data necessary for diagnosis. 3. The ophthalmological ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information on the memory card is temporarily or permanently stored in the microcomputer. . 4. The information on the memory card according to claim 3 is temporarily stored in the microcomputer, and
An ophthalmological ultrasound diagnostic apparatus characterized in that when information is stored, it is possible to read and/or write information on other memory cards. [Claim 5] The information on the memory card according to claim 1 is as follows:
2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measurement data is unique to each patient.