JPH0622958A - Ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an ultrasonic diagnostic device which can realize the phase wave detection with high sensitivity and high precision. CONSTITUTION:The synthesis of the reception directivity is carried out by digital-converting the signals received from arrangement vibrator elements T-1 - T-4 with a digital beam synthesizing part 4. The output of the digital beam synthesizing part 4 and the digital orthogonal signal outputted from an orthogonal signal generation part 5 are multiplied by a digital mixer 6 and it is phase wave-detected. The reception signal supplied from a single vibrator element or the reception signals supplied from the arrangement vibrator elements T-3 and T-4 through an analogue beam synthesizing part 12 is multiplied with the orthogonal signal obtained from the output signal supplied from the orthogonal signal generation part 5 by an analogue mixer 14, and phase wave-detected. The output of the orthogonal signal generating part 5 is controlled so as to be commonly used in the digital mixer 6 and the analogue mixer 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a digital beam combiner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, there has been known an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for A / D (analog / digital) converting an ultrasonic wave reception signal to synthesize reception directivity. This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-8039, and its operation principle will be described below with reference to the schematic block diagram shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, four vibrators T-1 to T
An example using -4 is shown. As shown in FIG. 5, the pulser trigger signal from the control unit 51 is input to the four pulser receivers 52-1 to 52-4. The pulser trigger signal is phase controlled for electronic focusing and sector scanning. Four pulser receivers 52-1 to 52-4
Outputs a drive pulse for driving the vibrators T-1 to T-4 by the pulser trigger signal. The oscillators T1 to T4 are
The ultrasonic wave is transmitted in the direction set by the drive pulse. The ultrasonic waves reflected inside the subject are the same transducers T-1 to T-1.
The signal is received at T-4 and converted into an electric signal. This electric signal is amplified by each pulser receiver 52-1 to 52-4 and sent to the A / D converters 53-1 to 53-4. Each A / D
The reception signals converted into digital signals by the converters 53-1 to 53-4 are phase-controlled so that the reception sensitivity becomes maximum in the directions in which the ultrasonic waves are transmitted in the phase shifters 54-1 to 54-4, respectively. Are added by the adder 55, and the scan converter 5 is added.
Sent to 6. Inside the scan converter 56, the digital signal from the adding section 55 is detected and displayed on the display section 57 as a tomographic image.

[0004]

However, in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having the above-mentioned conventional digital beam synthesizing unit, when the dynamic range of the received signal is extremely large such as CW Doppler mode, it is highly accurate and extremely expensive. There is a problem that it is necessary to use a simple A / D converter.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem and has a high sensitivity even in a CW Doppler mode while having a digital beam synthesizing section composed of a low resolution A / D converter. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of performing phase detection.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a digital beam synthesizing section for digitally converting a received signal obtained from an array transducer and synthesizing receiving directivity, and an orthogonal method. A quadrature signal generator that outputs data, a digital mixer that multiplies the output of the digital beam combiner and the quadrature data output from the quadrature signal generator, an analog reception signal obtained from a single oscillator, and the quadrature signal And an analog mixer for multiplying a quadrature signal obtained from output data of the generator.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 2 digitally combines a reception signal obtained from an array transducer to combine reception directivity, and an orthogonal signal which outputs orthogonal data. From a generator, a digital mixer that multiplies the output of the digital beam combiner and the orthogonal data output from the orthogonal signal generator, an analog received signal obtained from a single oscillator and the output data of the orthogonal signal generator. An analog mixer for multiplying the obtained quadrature signal, an A / D converter for converting the output of the analog mixer into digital data, and a selector for selecting the output of the A / D converter and the output of the digital mixer are provided. Be prepared.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 3 comprises the analog beam synthesizing section for synthesizing the reception directivity of the received signal obtained by the array transducer according to the invention of claim 1 or 2, The output of the analog beam combiner is configured to be added to the analog mixer.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 4 is the same as that of any one of claims 1 to 3,
The output of the digital mixer and the output of the quadrature signal generator are configured to be obtained via a common data bus.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 5 relates to the invention of any one of claims 1 to 4,
A D / A converter for the output data of the quadrature signal generator is provided, and the output of the D / A converter is added to the analog mixer.

[0011]

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the invention, the received signal in the B mode or the pulse Doppler mode from the array oscillator is phase-detected by the digital mixer via the digital beam synthesizing unit, and the single oscillator is obtained. The received signal in the pulse Doppler or CW Doppler mode from is subjected to phase detection by an analog mixer via an analog receiving circuit. Then, since the quadrature signal inputs of the digital mixer and the analog mixer are commonly controlled,
Highly sensitive phase detection can be realized.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the received signal in the B mode or the pulse Doppler mode from the array oscillator is subjected to digital phase detection via the digital beam combiner, and pulse Doppler from the single oscillator, Alternatively, the reception signal in the CW Doppler mode is phase-detected via the analog reception circuit, and the outputs of the digital mixer and the analog mixer are selected by the selector and processed by the common circuit, so that the phase detection with high sensitivity is performed. It can be realized with a small signal processing circuit.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the received signal in the B mode or the pulse Doppler mode from the array oscillator is phase-detected by the digital mixer via the digital beam synthesizing unit, and the received signal from the single oscillator is transmitted. The received signal in the pulse Doppler or CW Doppler mode passes through the analog receiving circuit, and the CW from the array transducer
Since the Doppler mode received signal is phase-detected by the analog mixer via the analog beam combiner, high-sensitivity phase detection can be realized.

According to the invention of claim 4, the output of the digital mixer section and the output of the quadrature signal generating section are obtained via the common data bus, and the circuit can be miniaturized.

According to the invention of claim 5, a D / A converter for the output data of the quadrature signal generator is provided, and the D / A converter is provided.
Since the output of the converter is input to the analog mixer, highly accurate analog phase detection can be realized with a small circuit.

[0016]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an array type ultrasonic probe, which is composed of N transducers T-1 to TN. In this embodiment, N = 4 is set to simplify the description. 2-
1 to 2-4 are pulse generators (hereinafter referred to as pulsers) connected to the oscillators T-1 to T-4, and 3-1 to 3-4 are connected to outputs of the pulsers 2-1 to 2-4. The amplifier 4 is a digital beam combiner connected to the outputs of the amplifiers 3-1 to 3-4, 5 is an orthogonal signal (orthogonal data) generator, 6 is a digital mixer, and multipliers 7-1 and 7 are provided. -2 and is connected to the output of the digital beam combiner 4 and the output data of the orthogonal signal generator 5 is added. 8-1, 8
Reference numeral -2 is a low-pass filter connected to the outputs of the multipliers 7-1 and 7-2, and 9 is an ultrasonic probe, and in this case, it is composed of a single element type transducer. Reference numeral 10 is a pulser connected to the oscillator 9, 11 is an amplifier connected to the output of the pulser 10, 12 is an analog beam combiner connected to the outputs of the amplifiers 3-3 and 3-4, and 13 is an amplifier 11 and analog. A switch for selecting the output of the beam combiner 12, 1
Reference numeral 4 is an analog mixer, and multipliers 15-1 and 15-2
COS / SI obtained from the output data of the quadrature signal generator 5 and connected to the output of the amplifier 11 or the analog beam synthesizer 12 via the switch 13.
N signal is added. 16-1 and 16-2 are multipliers 15
-1, 15-2 low-pass filter connected to the output,
17-1 and 17-2 are low-pass filters 16-1 and 16
-2 is connected to the output of the A / D converter (hereinafter referred to as A / D), 18 is a low-pass filter 8-1, 8-2, A / D
Selectors connected to the outputs of D17-1, 17-2, 1
9 is a signal processing unit connected to the output of the selector 18, 20
Is a scan converter connected to the output of the signal processing unit 19, 21
Is a display unit connected to the output of the scan converter 20, and 22 is a control unit for controlling the pulsers 2-1 to 2-4, 10, the digital beam combining unit 4, and the orthogonal signal generating unit 5.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the digital beam combiner 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the digital beam combiner 4 includes A / D converters (hereinafter referred to as A / D) 23-1 to 23-4 and a first-in first-out memory (hereinafter referred to as FIFO) 24-. 1-24
-4 and an adder 25 are provided.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the analog beam combiner 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the analog beam combiner 12 is provided with a crosspoint switch 26 and a tapped delay line 27.

The above structure will be described in more detail below together with the operation thereof. First, the trigger signal from the control unit 22 is input to the four pulsers 2-1 to 2-4.
The trigger signal is phase controlled to provide electron focusing and sector scanning. The four pulsers 2-1 to 2-4 generate drive pulses by the trigger signal, and the oscillator T-
1 to T-4 are driven. The oscillators T-1 to T-4 are driven by the pulsers 2-1 to 2-4 and transmit ultrasonic waves in the set direction. The ultrasonic waves reflected in the subject are received by the same transducers T-1 to T-4 and converted into electric signals.
The electric signal is amplified by the amplifiers 3-1 to 3-4 and sent to the A / Ds 23-1 to 23-4 of the digital beam combining unit 4. The received signals converted into digital signals by the A / Ds 23-1 to 23-4 are FIFOs 24-1 to 24-24.
-4 is written. The data written in the FIFOs 24-1 to 24-4 are read with the timing thereof controlled so that the receiving sensitivity becomes maximum in the direction in which the ultrasonic waves are transmitted. It can be used as a variable delay element by shifting the read and write timings of the FIFOs 24-1 to 24-4. The read data is added to the adder 25.
Is added in. The output of the adder 25 thus obtained is the multipliers 7-1 and 7 of the digital mixer 6.
At -2, the digital quadrature signal from the quadrature signal generator 5, that is, COS / SIN data is multiplied. The outputs of the multipliers 7-1 and 7-2 are low-pass filters 8
-1, 8-2 to become I and Q signals, selector 1
It is input to the signal processing unit 19 through 8-1 and 18-2. In the signal processing unit 19, the I and Q signals are in B mode,
Signal processing according to each scanning mode of pulse Doppler and color flow is performed. The output of each scan mode processed by the signal processing unit 19 is converted into a TV signal by the scan converter 20 and displayed on the display unit 21.

On the other hand, as another scanning mode, there is a steerable CW Doppler (hereinafter referred to as SCW) mode. Next, the operation of the SCW mode will be described. In the SCW mode, the control unit 22 sends a continuous clock signal to the two pulsers 2-1 and 2-2. This continuous clock signal is
Phase controlled for electron focusing and sector scanning. The two pulsers 2-1 and 2-2 generate a continuous wave drive signal by the continuous wave clock signal, and the oscillators T-1 and T-
Drive 2 Transducers T-1 and T-2 are pulsers 2-1 and
Driven by 2-2, ultrasonic waves are transmitted in the set direction. The ultrasonic wave reflected in the subject is separated by another transducer T-
3, received at T-4 and converted into an electrical signal. This electric signal is amplified by the amplifiers 3-3 and 3-4 and input to the analog beam combiner 12. The signals from the amplifiers 3-3 and 3-4 are input to predetermined taps of the tapped delay line 27 by the crosspoint switch 26 of the analog beam combiner 12 in accordance with the reception directivity. The output of the analog beam combiner 12 is selected by the switch 13,
It is input to the multipliers 15-1 and 15-2 of the analog mixer 14, and the quadrature signal from the quadrature signal generator 5, that is, C
It is analog-multiplied with the OS / SIN signal. This COS /
The SIN signal is the COS / SIN for the multipliers 7-1 and 7-2.
The data can be obtained by a method such as D / A conversion or a method of substituting the signal of the most significant bit of the COS / SIN data. The output of the analog mixer 14 obtained as described above is the low-pass filters 16-1, 16
-2, is converted into digital data by A / D converters 17-1 and 17-2, and selectors 18-1 and 18-2
Is selected, and frequency analysis is performed by the signal processing unit 19, and S
The data is sent to the scan converter 20 as CW mode data and displayed on the display unit 21.

On the other hand, when obtaining a signal from the ultrasonic probe 9, a trigger signal from the control unit 22 is input to the pulsar 10. The pulsar 10 generates a drive pulse by the trigger signal and drives the ultrasonic probe 9. Ultrasonic probe 9
Is driven by the pulsar 10 and transmits ultrasonic waves. The ultrasonic waves reflected in the subject are received by the ultrasonic probe 9,
It is converted into an electric signal. This electric signal is amplified by the amplifier 11, selected by the switch 13, and input to the multipliers 15-1 and 15-2 of the analog mixer 14. The outputs of the multipliers 15-1 and 15-2 are low-pass filters 16-
1, 16-2, and A / D converters 17-1, 17-
2 is converted into digital data and the selector 18-1,
18-2, the signal processing unit 19 selects the B mode,
Signal processing according to each scanning mode such as pulse Doppler, CW Doppler, and color flow is performed. The output of each scan mode processed by the signal processing unit 19 is output to the scan converter 20.
Is converted into a TV signal and displayed on the display unit 21.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the received signals from the array transducers T-1 to T-4 in the B mode, the pulse Doppler mode, etc. are passed through the digital beam synthesizing section 4 to the digital mixer 6. Phase detection,
The received signal in the pulse Doppler or CW Doppler mode from the single oscillator 9 is phase-detected by the analog mixer 14 via the analog receiving circuit, and the orthogonal signals of the digital mixer 6 and the analog mixer 14 are commonly controlled. Therefore, there is an advantage that high-sensitivity and high-accuracy phase detection can be realized.

B from the array transducers T-1 to T-4
The received signal in the mode or pulse Doppler mode is phase-detected by the digital mixer 6 via the digital beam combiner 4, and the received signal in the pulse Doppler or CW Doppler mode from the single oscillator 9 passes through the analog receiving circuit. Then, the analog mixer 14 performs phase detection, and the outputs of the digital mixer 6 and the analog mixer 14 are selected by the selectors 18-1 and 18-2, and signal processing is performed by a common circuit. It has an advantage that it can be realized by the signal processing circuit of.

Further, B from the array transducers T-1 to T-4
The received signal in the mode or pulse Doppler mode is phase-detected by the digital mixer 6 via the digital beam combiner 4, and the received signal in the pulse Doppler or CW Doppler mode from the single oscillator 9 passes through the analog receiving circuit. Array transducers T3, T4
The received signal of the steerable CW Doppler mode from (1) is subjected to the phase detection circuit by the analog mixer 14 via the analog beam combining section 12, so that there is an advantage that high-sensitivity phase detection can be realized.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention and is a schematic block diagram of the peripheral portion of the digital mixer. In FIG. 4, 28 is a multiplier 7-1, 7-2 of the digital beam combiner 4 and the digital mixer 6.
Selectors 29-1 and 29-2 connected between and are connected between the multipliers 7-1 and 7-2 of the digital mixer 6 and the multipliers 15-1 and 15-2 of the analog mixer 14, respectively. D / A converter (hereinafter referred to as D / A). The output buses B1 and B2 of the multipliers 7-1 and 7-2 are called a common data bus. The other structure is similar to that of the first embodiment.

The above configuration will be described in more detail below along with the operation thereof. Digital beam combiner 4
, The selector 28 selects the output of the digital beam combiner 4, the output of the selector 28 is input to the multipliers 7-1 and 7-2 of the digital mixer 6, and the quadrature signal generator It is multiplied with the COS / SIN output of 5. The outputs of the multipliers 7-1 and 7-2 pass through the common data buses B1 and B2, pass through the low pass filters 8-1 and 8-2, and undergo signal processing in the same manner as above. On the other hand, when operating the analog mixer 14, the selector 28 selects the data “1” and outputs the data “1”. Multiplier 7
At -1, the COS data of the quadrature signal generator 5 is multiplied by the data "1", and the COS data is output. The multiplier 7-2 multiplies the SIN data of the quadrature signal generator 5 by the data “1” and outputs the SIN data. The COS data output from the multiplier 7-1 is the common data bus B
The SIN data output from the multiplier 7-2 is input to the D / A 29-1 via the common data bus B2. The COS signal output from the D / A 29-1 is output from the multiplier 19 of the analog mixer 18.
The SIN signal which is input to −1 and which is the output of the D / A 29-2 is input to the multiplier 19-2 of the analog mixer 18. The outputs of the multipliers 19-1 and 19-2 are signal-processed in the same manner as above via the low-pass filters 20-1 and 20-2.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the output of the digital mixer 6 and the output of the quadrature signal generator 5 are obtained via the common data buses B1 and B2, and the number of data buses can be reduced. Have advantages. In particular, when the quadrature signal generator 5 and the multipliers 7-1 and 7-2 are integrated into one integrated circuit, the effect of reducing the number of pins of the integrated circuit by reducing the data bus is great.

Further, it has D / A converters 29-1 and 29-2 for the output data of the quadrature signal generator 5, and these D / A converters 29-1 and 29-2 are provided.
The outputs of the A converters 29-1 and 29-2 are analog mixers 1.
4 has the advantage that high-precision analog phase detection can be realized with a small circuit.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the received signal in the B mode or the pulsed Doppler mode from the array transducer is phase-detected by the digital mixer via the digital beam combining section. The received signal in the pulse Doppler or CW Doppler mode from the single oscillator is phase-detected by the analog mixer via the analog receiving circuit. Since the quadrature signal inputs of the digital mixer and the analog mixer are controlled in common, it is possible to realize highly sensitive and highly accurate phase detection.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the received signal in the B mode or the pulsed Doppler mode from the array oscillator is phase-detected by the digital mixer via the digital beam synthesizing unit, and the received signal from the single oscillator is transmitted. The received signal in the pulse Doppler or CW Doppler mode is phase-detected by the analog mixer via the analog receiving circuit, and the outputs of the digital mixer and the analog mixer are selected by the selector and processed by the common circuit. The phase detection of sensitivity can be realized by a small signal processing circuit.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the received signal in the B mode or the pulse Doppler mode from the array oscillator is phase-detected by the digital mixer via the digital beam synthesizing unit, and the received signal from the single oscillator is transmitted. The received signal in pulse Doppler or CW Doppler mode passes through the analog receiving circuit, and the steerable CW Doppler mode received signal from the array transducer is phase-detected by the analog mixer through the analog beam synthesizing unit, so high sensitivity is achieved. The phase detection of can be realized.

According to the invention of claim 4, in addition to being able to perform high-sensitivity phase detection, the output of the digital mixer and the output of the quadrature signal generator can be obtained via the common data bus. The number can be reduced.

According to the invention of claim 5, a D / A converter for the output data of the quadrature signal generator is provided, and the D / A converter is provided.
Since the output of the converter is input to the analog mixer, highly accurate analog phase detection can be realized with a small circuit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a digital beam combining unit of the same apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing an analog beam combining unit of the same apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a digital mixer peripheral portion showing an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 ultrasonic probe T1 to T4 transducer 4 digital beam synthesizing unit 5 orthogonal signal generating unit 6 digital mixer 9 ultrasonic probe 12 analog beam synthesizing unit 14 analog mixer 18-1 selector 18-2 selector

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A digital beam combiner for digitally converting a received signal obtained from an array transducer to combine reception directivity, and an orthogonal signal generator for outputting orthogonal data.
A digital mixer that multiplies the output of the digital beam combiner and the orthogonal data output from the orthogonal signal generator, an analog received signal obtained from a single oscillator, and an orthogonal obtained from the output data of the orthogonal signal generator. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: an analog mixer that multiplies signals. 2. A digital beam combiner for digitally converting a received signal obtained from the array transducer to combine reception directivity, and an orthogonal signal generator for outputting orthogonal data.
A digital mixer that multiplies the output of the digital beam combiner and the orthogonal data output from the orthogonal signal generator, an analog received signal obtained from a single oscillator, and an orthogonal obtained from the output data of the orthogonal signal generator. An analog mixer that multiplies signals, an A / D converter that converts the output of this analog mixer into digital data, and this A / D converter
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising an output of a D converter and a selector for selecting the output of the digital mixer. 3. The ultrasonic wave according to claim 1, further comprising an analog beam synthesizing unit for synthesizing the reception directivity of the reception signals obtained by the array transducer, and the output of the analog beam synthesizing unit is added to the analog mixer. Diagnostic device. 4. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output of the digital mixer and the output of the quadrature signal generator are obtained via a common data bus. 5. D for output data of the quadrature signal generator
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an A / A converter, and an output of the D / A converter is added to an analog mixer.