JPH0763470B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that performs various measurements based on a freeze image of a reproduced image.

(Prior Art) Echo data obtained by transmitting an ultrasonic beam to a subject in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is once stored in an external recording device, for example, a video tape (VTR), and if necessary, offline, for example. Then (after the beam scanning of the subject), the echo data is read from this recording device, the reproduced image is displayed on the monitor, and various measurements such as the distance between two points, the area, and the perimeter are performed while the image is frozen. To obtain diagnostic information.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus used for such an application. Reference numeral 1 is an ultrasonic wave that transmits an ultrasonic beam to a subject and receives echo data. A probe 2 is a transmission / reception circuit that transmits a drive signal to the probe 1 and receives echo data. Reference numeral 3 is the depth, gain, dynamic range, etc. of the ultrasonic beam transmitted from the probe 1. An image preprocessing circuit 4 for setting conditions or performing a filtering process on the received echo data is a buffer memory circuit for temporarily storing the received echo data. Further, 5 is a switch for switching to pass either raw echo data or echo data from the buffer memory circuit 4, 6 is an image memory circuit for storing the input echo data for one frame, and 7 is an external recording device. 11 A video freeze circuit for sequentially storing the echo data read from the VTR for one frame by overwriting. Further, 8 is an image post-processing circuit for performing color processing or the like on the echo data for one frame inputted from the image memory circuit 6 or the video freeze circuit 7, and 9 is a display such as a CRT monitor for displaying the inputted image. Circuit, 10 is C
It is a control circuit composed of a PU (Central Processing Unit) and responsible for overall control. Incidentally, it is assumed that arbitrary echo data is stored in the recording device 11 in a similar manner.

When measuring a reproduced image based on arbitrary echo data in the external recording device 11 with such an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a switch on the console (not shown) is operated to output the echo data from the image memory circuit 6. In the state in which is stopped, the echo data from the recording device 11 overwritten in the video freeze circuit 7 is displayed on the display circuit 9 through the image post-processing circuit 8 one frame at a time, and the image to be measured is displayed. In this case, a freeze switch (not shown) is operated to freeze the corresponding image. In this case, the images displayed on the display circuit 9 are sequentially displayed on the video freeze circuit by overwriting one frame at a time, and the image freeze is performed by the operator at an arbitrary timing.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, however, echo data overwritten for each frame is sequentially read out in the video freeze circuit and displayed as an image, so any image is frozen. The problem is that timing is difficult. Since the freeze timing is usually delayed in many cases, an image actually delayed is selected as an image delayed from the measurement target image. Therefore, in this case, after releasing the freeze of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, it is necessary to rewind the tape of the VTR, which is an external recording device, and replay the corresponding image to perform the freeze. , The operation is very complicated.

The present invention has been made in response to the above circumstances,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can freeze an arbitrary image without requiring a complicated operation.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention stores echo data in an external recording device, and reads the echo data from this recording device and displays it when necessary. In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that performs various measurements based on a freeze image of a reproduced image, a large-capacity storage unit capable of storing a plurality of frames of a reproduced image read from an external recording device and an ultrasonic beam transmitted to an object. Receiving means for receiving the echo data, switching means for switching the echo data from the receiving means for display and the reproduced image from the large capacity storage means, and the storage for the large capacity storage means In addition, when the switching means switches to the reproduced image from the mass storage means, the reproduced images before and after the arbitrary time point are read out based on various reproduction operations. It is characterized in that a control means to be subjected to.

(Operation) By providing a large-capacity memory that can store multiple frames in the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, echo data read from an external recording device can store multiple consecutive frames instead of one frame. it can. Even if the freeze timing is delayed when freezing a reproduced image, the use of the playback function of the large-capacity memory eliminates the need for complicated operations such as repeating the rewinding operation of an external recording device. A necessary reproduced image can be easily displayed only by operating the sound diagnostic apparatus. Therefore, even if the timing of freezing an arbitrary image is delayed, the image can be easily reproduced. Further, the raw echo data and the reproduced image can be easily compared only by performing the switching operation by the switching means.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention. 1 is an ultrasonic probe, 2 is a transmitting / receiving circuit, 3 is an image preprocessing circuit, 5 is a switch, 6 is an image memory circuit, 8 Is an image post-processing circuit, 9 is a display circuit, 10 is a control circuit, and 11 is a VTR.
An external recording device such as the above has the same configuration as the conventional example.

A large-capacity memory circuit 12 stores echo data output from the image pre-processing circuit 3 in real time for a plurality of frames, and continuously stores echo data for a plurality of frames read from the recording device 11 when measurement is performed. It has a large capacity to store. This large capacity memory circuit 12 is the second
As shown in the figure, it is divided into an area A for storing real-time echo data and an area B for storing echo data read from the recording device. The area B is, for example, a 512-pixel image for 64 continuous frames. It has a capacity to store it. It goes without saying that such data storage is performed under the control of the control circuit 10 (control means).

As a result, when the switch 5 is switched to the large-capacity memory circuit 12 side and the reproduced image from the recording device 11 is displayed on the display circuit 9 to freeze an arbitrary image, a maximum of 64 images can be displayed. Therefore, even if the freeze timing is delayed, the corresponding image can be easily displayed again. Further, when the reproduced image is displayed again as described above, not only the reverse frame advance reproduction operation for returning the delayed image but also the frame advance reproduction as shown in FIG. 3 can be performed. ROI (region of interest) on the image
It is also possible to set and to perform a review by repeatedly playing back only this ROI (loop playback). Needless to say, the readout of the reproduced image and the display control are also performed by the control circuit 10.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step A, it is judged whether or not the operation to be performed is the operation of the reproduction frame. If NO, the operation is out of the purpose of this embodiment, and the flow jumps after step I described later. If YES, the flow proceeds to step B, where it is determined whether or not reverse reproduction is being performed. If NO, the flow proceeds to step D described later, and if YES, the flow proceeds to step C. In step C, it is determined whether or not the oldest frame is displayed. If NO, the flow is step F described later.
If YES, the flow proceeds to step E.

In step D, it is determined whether the latest frame is displayed,
If NO, the flow proceeds to step H described later, and if YES, the flow proceeds to step G.

In step E, since the oldest frame is displayed in step C, an operation for updating this to the latest frame is performed. For example, if the first frame is displayed in step C, the operation of sending to the 64th frame is performed. Further, in step F, since the oldest frame is not displayed in step C, if the 64th frame is displayed in step C, an operation of decrementing to the 63rd frame is performed.

Since the latest frame is displayed in step D in step G, for example, if the 64th frame is displayed in step D, an operation of sending this to the first frame, which is the oldest frame, is performed. . Further, in step H, since the latest frame is not displayed in step D, if the first frame is displayed in step D, for example, an operation of incrementing to the second frame is performed.

When the desired operation is performed in steps E to H in this way, each step proceeds to step I, where the data setting corresponding to each is performed. As a result, the required frame advance reproduction is performed by the apparatus main body, so that the operator can perform desired image freeze.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the freeze timing of the reproduced image to be measured is delayed, it is possible to easily display an arbitrary reproduced image by performing the reverse frame forward reproduction or the forward frame forward reproduction of the reproduced image. Freeze can be easily redone. Therefore, it is possible to measure a desired reproduced image without performing a complicated operation such as repeating the rewinding operation of the external recording device.

Further, according to the present embodiment, in addition to simple frame-by-frame playback, it is possible to perform loop playback for repeatedly playing back only the ROI of the playback image and reviewing it, so that the diagnostic range can be expanded. Further, even if an external recording device that does not have a frame advance function is used, frame advance reproduction can be realized, so that measurement can be easily performed. Furthermore, since it becomes possible to read the freeze image of the reproduced image, edit it, and record it in a photograph, it becomes possible to make an appropriate diagnosis just by looking at the photograph.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a large-capacity memory capable of storing a plurality of reproduced images read from an external recording device is provided. Therefore, any operation can be performed without complicated operations. The playback image can be easily frozen. Further, the raw echo data and the reproduced image can be easily compared only by performing the switching operation by the switching means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a large capacity memory of this embodiment apparatus,
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of frame advance when an image is reproduced by the apparatus of the present embodiment, FIG. 4 is a flow chart explaining the operation of the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional example. 9 ... Display circuit, 10 ... Control circuit, 11 ... External recording device, 12 ... Large-capacity memory circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that stores echo data in an external recording device, reads the echo data from the recording device as needed, and performs various measurements based on a freeze image of a reproduced image displayed, A large-capacity storage means capable of storing a plurality of frames of reproduced images read from the recording device of
Receiving means for transmitting an ultrasonic beam to the subject to receive echo data, switching means for switching between the echo data from the receiving means for display and the reproduced image from the large capacity storage means, and the large scale In addition to controlling the storage in the capacity storage means, when the switching means switches to the reproduction image from the large capacity storage means, the reproduction images before and after are read and displayed from an arbitrary time point based on various reproduction operations. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a control unit for providing the ultrasonic wave.