JPH0738855B2 - Ultrasonic 3D image display - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device for displaying a three-dimensional image of a subject diagnostic region.

[Prior Art] A conventional ultrasonic three-dimensional imaging apparatus is used, for example, in a medical diagnostic apparatus, and makes it possible to visualize pathological changes in human tissue, moving organs, and blood flow. In such a medical diagnostic device, the ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device can obtain not only a two-dimensional planar tomographic image but also a three-dimensional stereoscopic image having a depth.

For this reason, the display device is provided with a receiving circuit that receives echo information of the subject obtained while moving the ultrasonic transducer, and a transducer position detection circuit that detects the moving position of the ultrasonic transducer. ing. Then, the echo information is stored in the three-dimensional echo information memory in association with the transducer position. The three-dimensional echo information is converted into three-dimensional image display data by the arithmetic processing processor and is image-displayed on the display unit such as CRT.

In such a three-dimensional image, various tomographic images can be displayed by changing the viewing direction and the setting of the cutting plane. Therefore, the observer can easily understand the state of the diagnosis point based on the shape and the brightness distribution as the three-dimensional information.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device as described above, one point in the Cartesian coordinate system is designated so that the normal vector is directed toward the center of the three-dimensional image. I had decided on the cutting surface. When setting a cutting plane in such a rectangular coordinate system, the setting operation is complicated in the following points.

(1) As shown in FIG. 4 (a), changing only one component, for example, the x coordinate, changes the normal angles α and β of the cut planes A and B in the three-dimensional image, resulting in both cuts. The inclinations of the surfaces A and B change.

(2) That is, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), in order to move the cut surface from A to C without changing the normal angle γ of the cut surface, three components of the Cartesian coordinate system, that is, x, y, z
I had to reset each coordinate value.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional art, and an object thereof is an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device capable of setting cut surfaces having a constant inclination and different positions by a simple operation. To provide.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device according to the present invention is arranged such that the position of a desired cutting plane in a three-dimensional image is expressed by polar coordinates designated by an observer. A cutting plane setting unit that sets a polar coordinate system from the radius vector, elevation angle, and azimuth angle, and a cutting plane in the polar coordinate system set by the cutting plane setting unit by the arithmetic processing processor in correspondence with the three-dimensional echo information in a rectangular coordinate system. And a replacement unit that replaces the cut surface in (3), and displays a three-dimensional image located deeper than the replaced cut surface.

A plane whose normal is a straight line passing through the polar coordinate origin is defined as a section plane of the three-dimensional image.

[Operation] In the ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device of the present invention having the above configuration, it is possible to easily set cutting planes having the same inclination by changing only the moving system in the polar coordinate system.

It should be noted that the cut surface at the polar coordinate set point is defined by defining the normal line of the cut surface so as to pass through the polar coordinate origin.

[Embodiment] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 is a probe as an ultrasonic transducer, which radiates ultrasonic waves to a subject according to a pulse wave input from a transmission circuit 12. Reference numeral 14 is a receiving circuit, which receives echo information returned from the inside of the subject by emitting ultrasonic waves from the probe 10. The received echo information is digitized by the A / D converter 16 and stored in the three-dimensional echo information memory 18.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a vibrator moving device that moves the position of the vibrator with respect to the subject. Reference numeral 22 denotes a vibrator position detection circuit, which detects the moving position of the vibrator. This position information is sent to the three-dimensional echo information memory 18, and the echo information is stored in association with the position information.

A central control unit 24 reads the information stored in the three-dimensional echo information memory 18 and executes the arithmetic processing processor 26.
Transfer to. The arithmetic processing processor 26 calculates the three-dimensional image display data based on the three-dimensional echo information.

28 is a frame buffer memory, which is a processor 26
The three-dimensional image display data calculated by is stored. A D / A converter 32 converts the display data input from the frame buffer memory 28 into an analog signal. A CRT 34 as a display unit displays a three-dimensional image according to the display data converted into an analog signal.

Reference numeral 36 is an external input device as a cutting plane setting unit which is the first characteristic component of the present invention, and sets the position of the cutting plane of the three-dimensional image by the coordinate points of the polar coordinate system. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the position of the cutting plane D is set by the radius vector r, the elevation angle θ, and the azimuth angle φ.

In the above configuration, the external input device 36 has an input section composed of, for example, a dial or the like corresponding to the radius vector r, the elevation angle θ, and the azimuth angle φ, and the input data is the central control unit 24. Transferred to. The central control unit 24
It has a replacement unit which is a second characteristic component of the present invention, recognizes a cutting plane based on three input data in the polar coordinate system, and uses the arithmetic processor 26 to find the cutting plane in the rectangular coordinate system. Calculate

That is, the central control unit 24 reads the information stored in the three-dimensional echo information memory 18 and transfers it to the arithmetic processing processor 26. The arithmetic processing processor 26 calculates, based on the cutting plane data of the polar coordinate system, the corresponding cutting plane coordinate value of the rectangular coordinate system. Subsequently, the arithmetic processor 26 is a three-dimensional image obtained by cutting a portion close to the observer by the cutting surface based on the three-dimensional echo information while referring to the coordinate values of the cutting surface, that is, a position deeper than the cutting surface. To calculate a three-dimensional image.

The central control unit 24 transfers the calculation result to the frame buffer memory 28. The three-dimensional image stored in the frame buffer memory 28 is converted into an analog signal via the D / A converter 32, and the CRT 34 displays the image.

In the three-dimensional image calculated in this way, as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to easily set parallel cut planes E and F by changing the radius vector r of the polar coordinate system. For this reason, the operation of inputting the cutting surface when changing the position of the cutting surface to the front side or the back side of the observer can be simplified, and operability can be improved.

As shown in FIG. 3, the normal 40 of the cutting planes E and F passes through the origin of the polar coordinate system and is defined so as to match the radius vector r at that time. Setting input can be omitted, and operability can be further improved.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device of the present invention, the cutting plane can be set by the polar coordinate system, and by changing only the radius vector in the polar coordinate system, the inclinations are equal. Parallel cutting planes can be easily set.

By defining the normal line of the cutting plane so as to pass through the polar coordinate origin, the cutting plane at the polar coordinate setting point is defined, and the inclination setting input of the cutting plane is omitted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a polar coordinate conceptual diagram showing cutting plane setting data in the present invention, and FIG. 3 is the cutting of FIG. FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) are diagrams for explaining a conventional cutting plane setting operation. 10 …… Probe (ultrasonic transducer) 14 …… Reception circuit 18 …… Three-dimensional echo information memory 22 …… Transducer position detection circuit 24 …… Central control unit (replacement section) 26 …… Computational processor 34 …… CRT (display section) 36 …… External input device (cutting plane setting section)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A receiving circuit for receiving echo information of a subject obtained while moving an ultrasonic transducer, a transducer position detecting circuit for detecting a moving position of the ultrasonic transducer by a rectangular coordinate system, and a rectangular coordinate. A three-dimensional echo information memory that stores the echo information in correspondence with position information in the system, and an arithmetic process that calculates three-dimensional image display data based on the three-dimensional echo information stored in the three-dimensional echo information memory In an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device including a processor and a display unit that displays an image in accordance with the three-dimensional image display data, a position of a desired cutting plane in a three-dimensional image is displayed in polar coordinates specified by an observer. The cutting plane setting unit for setting the polar coordinate system from the radius vector, the elevation angle, and the azimuth angle, and the cutting plane for the polar coordinate system set by the cutting plane setting unit are set by the arithmetic processing processor. And a replacement unit that replaces the cut surface in a rectangular coordinate system in correspondence with the three-dimensional echo information, and displays a three-dimensional image located deeper than the replaced cut surface. Original image display device. 2. The ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device according to claim 1, wherein the normal line of the cut surface of the three-dimensional image passes through the polar coordinate origin and coincides with the radial axis. Ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device.