JPH09266907A - Ultrasonic diagnosis device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To emphasize the contrast of an M mode image to make a tissue boundary clear, by providing a contrast emphasizing means to emphasize the contrast of the M mode image. SOLUTION: An M mode image formed in an M mode image forming part is transmitted to a selector 22 and a picture element extraction part 24, and picture elements in an area set by an emphasizing area setting part 26 are extracted. An average calculating part 30 calculates an average I by averaging each picture element values in the area and a difference value Δi is calculated by subtracting each picture element value i from the average value I at a difference calculating part 30. A weighing part 32 multiplies a prescribed coefficient αto the difference value Δi, the result is sent to an adding circuit 34 to add a value aΔi after weighing to the average value I, and a new picture element value i' is outputted to the selector 22. When the inside of the set area is to be displayed, the picture element value i' with emphasized contrast is outputted at the selector 22 and when the out side of the set area is to be displayed, the picture element value i of inputted M mode image is outputted as it is.

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, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for forming M-mode images.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ultrasonic images include M-mode images and B-mode images.
Various images such as mode images are known. The B-mode image is an image in which the size of each echo data in the scanning plane formed by scanning the ultrasonic beam is associated with the brightness value, and is known as a two-dimensional tomographic image. The M-mode image is an image in which one axis is the depth axis along the ultrasonic beam in the predetermined direction and the other axis is the time axis, and is a one-dimensional image developed in time. That is, the M-mode image is obtained by aligning a large number of independent beam data in the time axis direction.

[0003]

By the way, from the past,
M-mode images are used, for example, in diagnosis of heart disease. In that case, for example, an ultrasonic beam is first set at the center of the left ventricle, and an M-mode image is displayed on the display. Next, the end-diastolic diameter (Dd) and the end-systolic diameter (Ds) are obtained on the M-mode image of the left ventricle, and the systolic capacity and the left ventricular volume of the left ventricle are calculated based on the difference. It

However, there are innumerable folds in the myocardium, and the boundary between the heart chamber and the myocardium becomes unclear on the M-mode image depending on the subject, and it is difficult to distinguish the boundary. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and an object thereof is to clarify a tissue boundary in an M mode image.

A further object of the present invention is to perform tissue boundary enhancement processing on a desired region.

Another object of the present invention is to perform contrast enhancement with a simple circuit.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic wave, and one axis in a predetermined direction based on a received signal from the transmitting and receiving means. The M-mode image forming means for forming an M-mode image with the depth axis along the ultrasonic beam and the other axis along the time axis, and a contrast enhancing means for performing contrast enhancement on the M-mode image. Characterize.

According to the above construction, the M mode image formed by the M mode image forming means is contrast enhanced by the contrast enhancing means. Therefore, on the M-mode image, for example, the boundary between the heart chamber and the myocardium is clarified, and the end-diastolic diameter (Dd) and the end-systolic diameter (Ds) can be accurately obtained.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, there is provided an emphasis area setting means for setting an emphasis area for performing contrast emphasis on the M-mode image. That is, since the contrast enhancement processing is performed only on the area specified by the enhancement area setting means, the processing time can be shortened.

Further, in a preferred aspect of the present invention, the contrast emphasizing means is means for calculating an average pixel value in the emphasizing area, each pixel value in the emphasizing area and the average pixel value. And a pixel value comparison unit that compares the pixel value with a pixel value larger than the average pixel value, and a pixel value with a pixel value smaller than the average pixel value. And correction means.

According to the above configuration, the contrast enhancement can be easily performed by obtaining the average pixel value and comparing each pixel value with the average pixel value, and the device configuration can be simplified and the rapid processing can be realized. it can.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. Probe 10
Is used by being in contact with, for example, the surface of a living body to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves. When a transmission pulse is supplied from the transmission unit 12 to the probe 10, an ultrasonic pulse is radiated into the living body from the probe 10 and a reflected wave from the living body is transmitted to the probe 1.
Received at 0. In forming the M-mode image, the ultrasonic beam is set in a predetermined direction inside the living body.

The received signal output from the probe 10 is subjected to processing such as amplification and detection in the receiving section 14,
The image is sent to the M-mode image forming unit 16. The M-mode image forming unit 16 forms the M-mode image 100 as shown in FIG. 3 later. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of this embodiment is also provided with a circuit for forming a B-mode image and a Doppler image, but it is omitted in the drawing.

The M-mode image 100 is an ultrasonic image in which the depth axis along the ultrasonic beam is set as the vertical axis, and the horizontal axis is the time axis showing the temporal expansion of the beam data. The size of the echo data corresponds to the brightness value, that is, the pixel value.

In FIG. 1, the formed M-mode image is sent to the contrast emphasizing section 18, where the contrast emphasizing process is performed on the M-mode image. And
The M-mode image with contrast enhancement is displayed on the display unit 20.
Will be displayed.

FIG. 2 shows a specific structure of the contrast emphasizing section 18 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the formed M mode image is sent to the selector 22 as it is, and is also sent to the pixel extraction unit 24. The pixel extraction unit 24 extracts pixels (data) in the area set by the area setting unit 26. The average value calculator 28 calculates the average value I by averaging the pixel values in the area. Difference calculator 3
0 is for calculating the difference value Δi by subtracting the pixel value i of each pixel from the calculated average value I.

The weighting section 32 multiplies the difference value Δi by a predetermined coefficient α, and the weighting result is sent to the adding circuit 34. The adder circuit 34 adds the weighted value αΔi to the average value I to obtain a new pixel value i.
′ Is output to the selector 22. The selector 22 outputs the pixel value i ′ with contrast enhancement when displaying in the area set by the area setting unit 26,
When displaying outside the area, the pixel value i of the input M-mode image is output as it is. Note that, in FIG. 2, the data buffer, the timing adjusting unit, and the like are omitted from the drawing.

FIG. 3 shows an area 102 set by the area setting unit 26. As shown in FIG. 3, the contrast enhancement processing is performed only in the area 102 set by the area setting unit 26 in the M-mode image 100.

FIG. 4 shows a pixel value histogram of the M mode image. Here, the solid line is the M-mode image before contrast enhancement, and the broken line is the M-mode image after contrast enhancement. The histogram shown in FIG. 4 is for the case where no region is set.

The average value I is specified by the average value calculator 28 shown in FIG. 2, and the difference value Δi between the pixel value i of a pixel and the average value I is calculated by the difference calculator 30 as described above. The difference value Δi is weighted and then added to the average value I to obtain a new pixel value i.
´ is decided. The new pixel value i ′ is set such that a pixel having a pixel value larger than the average value has a larger pixel value, as is clear from the comparison between the solid line and the broken line, while the pixel value i ′ is larger than the average value. Pixels with smaller values are set to have smaller pixel values.

In the conventional apparatus, contrast enhancement is also performed on the B-mode image. But,
In the conventional device, the contrast enhancement for the M mode is not performed. Although each beam data is independent data in the M-mode image, each echo data tends to be continuous in the time axis direction as shown in FIG. It is possible to make the boundaries of the image clear and provide information useful for diagnosis of heart disease, for example.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The tissue boundary can be clarified in the M-mode image, and according to the present invention, the enhancement process can be performed on a desired region. Further, according to the present invention, there is an advantage that contrast enhancement can be realized by a simple circuit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a contrast enhancing section shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an M-mode image and a region set on the M-mode image.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a histogram for explaining the operation of a contrast enhancing section.

[Explanation of symbols]

16 M mode image forming unit, 18 contrast enhancing unit, 20 display unit 22 selector, 24 pixel extracting unit,
26 area setting part, 28 average value calculating part, 30 difference calculating part, 32 weighting part, 34 adder circuit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves, and based on a received signal from the transmitting / receiving means, one axis is a depth axis along an ultrasonic beam in a predetermined direction and the other axis is a time axis. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: an M-mode image forming unit that forms the M-mode image, and a contrast enhancing unit that enhances the contrast of the M-mode image. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising enhancement region setting means for setting a enhancement region for performing contrast enhancement on the M-mode image. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the contrast emphasizing unit calculates an average pixel value in the emphasizing region, each pixel value in the emphasizing region and the average pixel value. And a pixel value comparing unit that compares the pixel value with a pixel value larger than the average pixel value, and a pixel value with a pixel value smaller than the average pixel value. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a correction unit.