JPH067344A - Medical image diagnostic system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain clear display images by increasing pixel data with the prescribed magnification corresponding to the display magnification or visual field of image data and performing smoothing processing by using these increased plural adjacent pixel data. CONSTITUTION:An ultrasonic tomographic system is provided with a probe 1, ultrasonic reception circuit 2, digital scan converter (DSC) 3 and display device 4. The DSC 3 is provided with a front step image memory 5 to temporarily write image data digitized by the A/D converter, arithmetic circuit 6 to perform required operation processing concerning the read image data, and rear step image memory 7 to store the image data after the operation processing. In this case, the arithmetic circuit 6 increases the pixel data with the prescribed magnification such as double, for example, corresponding to the display magnification or visual field of the image data and performs smoothing processing by using these increased plural adjacent pixel data, and the processed data are displayed on the display device 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains to an information carrier such as an X-ray or an ultrasonic wave which penetrates into a subject and detects a change in the information carrier to obtain a medical image of a diagnosis site, for example, an ultrasonic tomography apparatus or The present invention relates to a medical image diagnostic apparatus such as an X-ray CT apparatus or a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, and more particularly, to a medical image diagnostic apparatus capable of providing a display image that is easy to see even if the display magnification of the obtained image is increased. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional medical image diagnostic apparatus of this type is spatially or spatially dependent on an information carrier generating section for generating an information carrier to be penetrated into a subject and a state of a substance at a diagnostic site in the subject. A detection unit that detects an information carrier that has undergone a temporal change, an image processing unit that processes an image using a detection signal from this detection unit, and the image data obtained by this image processing unit are input. And an image display section for displaying. Then, the information carrier is penetrated into the subject from the information carrier generation unit, the detection unit detects the information carrier that has been changed by the state of the substance of the diagnostic site in the subject, and the image processing unit detects the information carrier. An image is configured to be processed using the detection signal output from the unit, and further, the image display unit inputs and displays the image data obtained by the image processing unit.

Then, in order to increase the display magnification of the image in the image display section and to display it by a factor of 2, for example, an arithmetic circuit provided in the image processing section performs arithmetic processing as shown in FIG. . First, the image data in which the detection signal is input from the detection unit and the image is generated by the image processing unit is configured as shown in FIG. Here, the case where the number of pixel data is four is shown,
The data are arranged like a, b, c, d. Next, with respect to the above-mentioned four pixel data, smoothing processing is performed for every two adjacent data. That is, FIG.
As shown in (b), first, the average of the first data “a” and the previous data “0” shown in FIG.
Then, the average of the first data a and the second data b is calculated to be (a + b) / 2, and then the average of the second data b and the third data c is calculated (( b +
c) / 2, then the average of the third data c and the fourth data d is calculated to be (c + d) / 2, and the fourth data d and the next data “0” are The average is taken as d / 2. Thereafter, in order to display the image twice, the smoothed pixel data is increased to 10 at a magnification of 2 as shown in FIG. As a result, FIG.
As shown in (c), two pieces of each pixel data are arranged side by side to form double-display image data. Then, by sending the image data processed in this way to the image display unit, a double-display image can be obtained.

[0004]

However, in the calculation processing and the image display of the double display in such a conventional device, smoothing processing is performed as shown in FIG. 3B, and then, FIG. As shown in, each pixel data is doubled and displayed twice.
The same data was to be arranged two by two in a row. When the arrangement of pixel data at this time is schematically expressed in a stepwise manner, it becomes as shown in FIG. 3D, and the same continuous two data shown in FIG. However, the images are spread out in a stepwise manner and exist in one step, and the images are spread out and become rough, resulting in poor image connection. Further, the data for display shown in FIG. 3 (c) is just twice as large as the data subjected to the smoothing processing shown in FIG. 3 (b), and the error in the size of the display image is large. Met. For these reasons, the obtained medical image may be difficult to see.

Therefore, the present invention addresses such a problem, and provides a medical image diagnostic apparatus capable of providing a display image that is easy to see even if the obtained medical image has a large display magnification even if the display magnification is large. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the medical image diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention penetrates an information carrier into a subject and obtains information according to the state of the substance at the diagnostic site in the subject. In a medical image diagnostic apparatus that detects a spatial or temporal change of a carrier, processes an image using this detection signal, and displays the obtained image data,
The pixel data obtained above is increased at a predetermined magnification according to the display magnification or the field of view, smoothing processing is performed using the increased plurality of adjacent pixel data, and the data after this processing is displayed. It is something that is done.

[0007]

According to the medical image diagnostic apparatus constructed as described above, the image data obtained in the portion for constructing an image is increased in pixel data at a predetermined magnification in accordance with the display magnification or the visual field, and the increased plurality The smoothing process is performed using the adjacent pixel data, and the data after this process is displayed. As a result, even when the display magnification is increased, it is possible to eliminate the state in which one piece of data is spread over two pixels or more, and it is possible to obtain a display image in which the images are well connected and easy to see.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an ultrasonic tomography apparatus as an example of a medical image diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. This ultrasonic tomography apparatus uses ultrasonic waves as an information carrier to form and display a tomographic image of a diagnosis site in a subject. As shown in the figure, the probe 1 and the ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 2 are used. A digital scan converter (hereinafter abbreviated as "DSC") 3 and a display device 4.

The probe 1 transmits an ultrasonic wave as an information carrier toward a diagnosis site in the subject and receives a reflection echo signal from the diagnosis site, and ultrasonic vibration is generated inside the probe. Have a child The probe 1 serves as an information carrier generation unit and an information carrier detection unit. Then, the ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 2
Controls the transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves from the probe 1, and amplifies the received echo signal and performs various processes.

The DSC 3 inputs the echo signal output from the ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 2 and digitizes it, writes the image data in an internal image memory, performs a required calculation, and further reads the image data. An analog-to-analog output is provided, and an A / D converter (not shown),
A pre-stage image memory 5 for temporarily writing the image data digitized by the A / D converter, and the pre-stage image memory 5
The arithmetic circuit 6 that performs a required arithmetic process on the image data read from the image data, the rear-stage image memory 7 that stores the image data that is arithmetic-processed by the arithmetic circuit 6, and the image data read from the rear-stage image memory 7 It is composed of a D / A converter (not shown) for analogization. In addition, this DSC
Reference numeral 3 is an image processing unit that configures an image using a detection signal from the information carrier detection unit.

The display device 4 receives the analog image signal output from the DSC 3 and displays it as an ultrasonic image, and is composed of, for example, a television monitor.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the operation of the arithmetic processing in the DSC 3 when the display magnification of the image on the display device 4 is increased and the image is displayed, for example, twice in the ultrasonic tomography apparatus configured as described above. And explain. First, the image data for which an echo signal is input from the ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 2 and an image is created in the DSC 3 is stored in the front image memory 5
Is written in as shown in FIG. This is data that is used for displaying an image that is one time the normal size, and here shows the case where there are four pixel data, for example, and the data are arranged as a, b, c, d. Next, the image data shown in FIG. 2A is read from the preceding image memory 5 and sent to the arithmetic circuit 6. In this arithmetic circuit 6, the image is
For double display, the pixel data arranged as shown in FIG. 2 (a) is increased to eight at a double magnification. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2B, two pieces of each pixel data are arranged side by side to form image data for double display.

Thereafter, the arithmetic circuit 6 causes the above-mentioned 8
For each pixel data, smoothing processing is performed for every two adjacent data. That is, as shown in FIG. 2C, the average of the first data “a” shown in FIG. 2B and the previous data “0” is taken as a / 2, and then the first data “a” shown in FIG. The data a and the second data a are averaged to obtain (a + a) / 2 = a, and then the second data a and the third data b are averaged to obtain (a + b) /
2 and then the above third data b and fourth data b
And (b + b) / 2 = b, and so on. Similarly, the eighth data d and the next data "0" are averaged to obtain d / 2. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2C, image data obtained by smoothing the image data for double display (see FIG. 2B) is created. The image data processed in this way is output from the arithmetic circuit 6 and stored in the subsequent post-stage image memory 7. After that, the image data is read from the latter-stage image memory 7 and sent to the display device 4, and the double-display image is displayed on the screen.

Here, when the arrangement of the pixel data resulting from the arithmetic processing as described above is schematically represented in a stepwise manner, it becomes as shown in FIG. 2 (d). That is, the data after the smoothing processing shown in FIG. 2C is in a state where the data is different for each pixel.
As shown in FIG. 2C, two identical data are not consecutively arranged. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2D, one data exists for each pixel in one step and has a fine staircase pattern. Therefore, the images are connected to each other without any gap between the images. Further, the data for display after the smoothing process shown in FIG. 2C is only slightly larger than the data doubled as shown in FIG.
The error in the size of the display image can be reduced. Further, the display data shown in FIG. 2 (c) is smaller than the conventional display data shown in FIG. 3 (c).

In FIG. 1, an ultrasonic tomography apparatus has been described as an example of the medical image diagnostic apparatus.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be similarly applied to, for example, an X-ray CT apparatus or a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus. In this case, in the X-ray CT apparatus, the information carrier is an X-ray, the information carrier generating section is an X-ray tube apparatus, and the detecting section is a multi-element X-ray detector. Further, in the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, the information carrier is magnetic, the information carrier generating unit is a magnet and an irradiation coil, and the detecting unit is a detecting coil.

In FIG. 2, the case where the display magnification of the image is set to, for example, double and the smoothing process is performed for every two adjacent pixel data has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the display magnification may be 3 times or more, or the smoothing processing may be performed for every 3 or more pixel data.

[0017]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above,
The image data obtained in the part that processes the image is increased in accordance with the display magnification or the field of view by increasing the pixel data by a predetermined magnification, and the smoothing processing is performed using the increased plurality of adjacent pixel data. Operates to display the processed data. As a result, even when the display magnification is increased, it is possible to eliminate the state in which one piece of data is spread over two pixels or more, and it is possible to obtain a display image in which the images are well connected and easy to see. Further, the error in the size of the display image can be reduced. For these reasons, the obtained medical image is easier to see than before, and the efficiency of image diagnosis can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an ultrasonic tomography apparatus as an example of a medical image diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a timing diagram showing the operation of the arithmetic processing when the display magnification of an image is, for example, double display.

FIG. 3 shows an image display magnification of 2 in a conventional device.
The timing diagram which shows the operation | movement of the arithmetic processing at the time of displaying double.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Probe, 2 ... Ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving circuit, 3 ... DSC,
4 ... Display device, 5 ... Pre-stage image memory, 6 ... Arithmetic circuit, 7 ... Post-stage image memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An information carrier is penetrated into a subject, a spatial or temporal change of the information carrier due to the state of a substance at a diagnostic site in the subject is detected, and an image is constructed using this detection signal. In the medical image diagnostic apparatus that processes and displays the obtained image data, the obtained image data is increased in pixel data at a predetermined magnification according to the display magnification or the visual field, and the increased plurality of adjacent pixels are processed. The medical image diagnostic apparatus is characterized in that smoothing processing is performed using the pixel data to be displayed, and the data after this processing is displayed.