JPH1099325A - Ultrasonic diagnostic system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain cost down by reducing physical quantity by sharing a display memory or a memory control circuit concerning an ultrasonic diagnostic system for simultaneously displaying an M mode image and a biological signal. SOLUTION: The storage space of a display memory 26 is roughly divided into an M mode image data storage area 200 and a biological signal waveform data storage area 202. The biological signal waveform data storage area 202 is further divided into a 6th bit storage plane 204 and a 7th bit storage plane 206, 1st biological signal waveform data 208 are stored in the first plane and 2nd biological signal waveform data 210 and 3rd signal waveform data 212 are stored in the latter plane. Thus, the vacant area of a memory can be effectively utilized.

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 displaying an M-mode image and a biological signal simultaneously.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of medicine and the like, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for displaying an ultrasonic image based on a reception signal obtained by transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic wave is used. As an ultrasonic image, a B-mode tomographic image (two-dimensional tomographic image), a two-dimensional Doppler image, an M-mode image, and the like are known, and a display mode is selected according to a diagnosis purpose. Here, the M mode image displays, for example, echo data on one ultrasonic beam set in a predetermined direction as a sequence of bright spots on one vertical line, and sequentially shifts it in the horizontal axis direction. The vertical axis of this image corresponds to the depth axis (echo reception time), and the horizontal axis thereof corresponds to the time axis. According to the M-mode image, the motion status of each part existing on the ultrasonic beam can be observed with time, and is particularly used for ultrasonic diagnosis of the heart.

A conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has a function of measuring a biological signal. Here, the biological signal is an electrocardiogram signal, a pulse wave signal, a heart sound signal, or the like, and the waveforms of these signals can be displayed simultaneously with the ultrasonic image. For example, when performing a heart disease diagnosis, generally, an M-mode image and one or more biological signals are simultaneously displayed. The reason is that the horizontal axis of the M-mode image is the time axis, and if the waveform of the biological signal is displayed in synchronization with the sweep of the M-mode image, any time phase (for example, cardiac expansion) This is because it is possible to easily understand what kind of movement each part (for example, a heart valve) is performing during the period (systole, systole).

In a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, M-mode image data obtained by sampling a received signal is temporarily stored in a first display memory for M-mode images, and thereafter, from the first display memory at a predetermined timing. The read image data was sent to the display, and the image was displayed.
On the other hand, the biological signal waveform data obtained by sampling the biological signal is also temporarily stored in the second display memory for the biological signal, and thereafter, the waveform data read from the second display memory at a predetermined timing is displayed on the display. Was sent to and displayed as an image. That is, separate display memories are prepared for the M-mode image and the biological signal. In addition, the M-mode image and the biological signal are originally data that are temporally synchronized, but their writing and reading are controlled by another circuit.

[0005]

Therefore, in the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which the M-mode image and the biological signal are displayed simultaneously, the separate display for the M-mode image and the biological signal is performed as described above. Since the memories were used, and the write control and the read control for them were performed separately, it was not reasonable. Therefore, efficient use of each component has been desired in order to reduce the amount of material and cost of the apparatus.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to share a display memory and a memory control circuit in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that simultaneously displays an M-mode image and a biological signal. Accordingly, the object is to reduce the amount of material and to reduce the cost of the apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to efficiently use a free area of a display memory for an M-mode image as a storage area for a biological signal.

Another object of the present invention is to store and control data rationally on the premise of a synchronous relationship between an M-mode image and a biological signal.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(1) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an M-mode image in which an X axis is a time axis and a Y axis is a depth axis, and at least an X mode is a time axis and a Y axis is an amplitude axis. In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which the waveform of one kind of biological signal and the waveform of one type of biological signal are displayed synchronously on the same screen, a reception signal obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is sampled and M-mode image data having j bits as a gradation A biological signal sampling means for sampling the detected biological signal and generating biological signal waveform data; an R bit in the X-axis direction; an S bit in the Y-axis direction; A memory having T bits (where T> j) in the keying direction, wherein a storage space for the M-mode image data is constructed in a storage space of [R bits × S bits × j bits], and the remaining [ R bit x S bit × (T−j) bits] in a storage space in which a storage space for the biological signal waveform data is constructed, and means for controlling writing and reading of data to and from the display memory according to the division of the storage space. And memory control means for writing the M-mode image data and the biological signal waveform data at the same time phase to the same address on the X-axis.

According to the above configuration, the M-mode image data and the biological signal waveform data are stored in the same display memory (shared memory). That is, when the entire area of the display memory is [R bits × S bits × T bits], all or a specific part of the storage space of [R bits × S bits × j bits] is used for the M mode image data. And [R bits × S bits × (T−
j) bits] is used as the storage space for the biological signal waveform data. Thereby, efficient storage can be performed by effectively using the free area of the display memory. Normally, the X-axis direction (X address) of the display memory corresponds to the horizontal scanning direction on the display screen, and the Y-axis direction (Y address) of the memory corresponds to the vertical direction on the display screen. Here, the vertical direction of the M-mode image is the depth direction, the vertical direction of the waveform of the biological signal is the amplitude direction, and although both have different significance in the vertical direction, both have the same coordinate axis in the horizontal direction. Therefore, regarding the X coordinate, the M mode image data and the biological signal waveform data are stored in the same X coordinate. Incidentally, the gradation direction of the memory corresponds to the luminance value of each pixel of the M-mode image, but the remaining (Tj) bits are used for storing a bitmap image (ON / OFF data) of the biological signal. .

Therefore, according to the present invention, the configuration of the device can be simplified by sharing the memory and the memory control circuit, and the cost can be reduced. The biological signal is at least one of an electrocardiographic signal, a pulse wave signal, and a heart sound signal.

(2) In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the storage space for the biological signal waveform data is [R bits × S bits ×
[1 bit] storage surface, and the biological signal waveform is stored as a bitmap image in each storage surface. According to the above configuration, each storage surface is configured by [R bits × S bits × 1 bit],
The storage surface stores a bitmap image of a biological signal. That is, the biological signal waveform is stored on the storage surface as, for example, a row of ON pixels. Prior to the storage, the biological signal waveform data may be subjected to, for example, an interpolation process.

(3) In a preferred aspect of the present invention, a plurality of types of biological signal waveforms are stored in at least one of the storage surfaces as bitmap images. That is, when the above (T-j) bits are smaller than the number of the biological signals,
A plurality of signal waveforms are stored in any one of the storage surfaces. The plurality of signal waveforms are handled integrally when selecting a biological signal to be displayed. Of course, any one of the storage surfaces can be divided into a plurality in the Y-axis direction, and each signal waveform can be stored in each divided region.

(4) In a preferred aspect of the present invention, there is provided a selection means for selecting display or non-display of a bitmap image for each of the storage surfaces. That is, on the memory,
Each biological signal is individually managed on a memory surface basis,
By using the selection means, a desired biological signal can be displayed on the screen by the user.

(5) In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the M-mode image data and the biological signal waveform data are shared between the reception signal sampling means and the biological signal sampling means and the display memory. A buffer is provided.

[0016]

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 a main configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment has a function of displaying an M-mode image based on a reception signal obtained by transmission and reception of an ultrasonic wave, a function of detecting a plurality of (for example, three) biological signals, and a method of detecting the M-mode image. And a function of displaying the waveform of the biological signal on the same screen. Prior to the description of each configuration shown in FIG. 1, the concept of storage in the display memory 26 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 shows a storage space in the display memory 26 as a conceptual diagram in three dimensions. The display memory 26 in the present embodiment stores [512
Pixels × 512 pixels × 8 bits]. That is, the X address of the display memory 26 is 0 to 5
11 and the Y address ranges from 0 to 511. Then, 8-bit data can be stored in the address specified by X and Y. Incidentally, the X address in the display memory 26 corresponds to the horizontal address in the display, and similarly, the Y address in the display memory 26 corresponds to the vertical address in the display.

In this embodiment, the display memory 26
Is roughly divided into two storage spaces. That is, the Z direction is divided into a storage space of 0 to 5 bits and a storage space of the remaining 6 to 7 bits. Of the former storage space, in the present embodiment, particularly in the Y direction, 0 to 481
Are used as the M-mode image data storage area 200. This corresponds to the number of pixels in the X and Y directions on the actual display screen. Of course, all the addresses in the Y direction may be used as the M-mode image data storage area 200. In any case, in the present embodiment, such a free area other than the M-mode image data storage area 200 is used as a storage space for the biological signal waveform data. In FIG. 2, the sixth-bit storage plane 204 and the seventh-bit storage plane 206 in the Z direction are used as storage areas for the biological signal waveform data. That is, since the M-mode image data has a 6-bit gradation and only 6 bits out of 8 bits are used in the Z direction, waveform data of a biological signal is stored using the remaining 2 bits. .

FIG. 2 shows the concept, and FIG.
The first biological signal waveform data 208 is stored in the bit storage plane 204, and the seventh bit storage plane 20
6 stores second biological signal waveform data 210 and third biological signal waveform data 212. These biological signal waveform data are constituted by columns of ON pixels, and do not have the concept of gradation as in the M-mode image, in other words, are data of one gradation.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, 2
Since three storage planes are formed, when storing three biological signal waveform data in such two planes, two biological signal waveform data are stored in one storage plane, that is, the seventh bit storage plane 206. 210 and 212 are stored. If a plurality of biological signal waveform data are stored in one storage plane as described above, the storage area in the display memory 26 can be used more efficiently. By the way, a plurality of biological signal waveform data stored on the same storage plane is handled as one when displaying. That is, selection of the waveform display of the biological signal is basically performed for each storage plane.

As described above, the horizontal axis of the M-mode image and the horizontal axis of the biological signal waveform are both time axes, and they are synchronized with respect to the horizontal axis. Is controlled to write data of the same time phase to the same X coordinate. The same is true for reading, and M-mode image data and biological signal waveform data of the same time phase are read substantially simultaneously. According to such control of writing and reading, it is not necessary to provide a separate memory control circuit as in the related art, and there is an advantage that writing and reading of each data can be controlled by a single memory control circuit.

FIG. 3 shows a display example in which data is read from the storage space of the display memory 26 as shown in FIG. 2 and an image is displayed. As shown, an M-mode image 300 is displayed on the display screen, and a first biological signal 302, a second biological signal 304, and a third biological signal 306 are further superimposed on the M-mode image 300. It is possible to Of course, the presence or absence of the display of these biological signals can be switched by the user's selection. However, the display ON / OFF control is performed integrally for the second biological signal and the third biological signal stored on the same storage plane.
The display position of each biosignal on the display screen, specifically, the display position in the Y direction (vertical direction) is, as is clear from the conceptual diagram shown in FIG. 2, the write position of the waveform data on the storage plane. Can be adjusted by appropriately setting. Therefore, if the storage plane is divided into a plurality of sections in the Y direction and one piece of biosignal waveform data is written in each section, it is possible to select and display a plurality of biosignals even on the same storage plane.

When the storage capacity of the display memory 26 is [R bits × S bits × T bits], in this embodiment, R = 9, S = 9, and T = 8. It is not limited to the embodiment. However, at least when the gradation of the M mode image data is j bits, it is necessary to satisfy the relationship of T> j. That is,
At least one storage plane needs to be reserved.

Returning to FIG. 1, each component will be described in detail. The received signal 100 is echo data, and the A / D converter 10 converts the received signal 100 into a digital signal. In this case, the sampling clock 110 is, for example, a 12 MHz clock signal. On the other hand, the first biological signal 102, the second biological signal 104, and the third biological signal 106 are converted into digital signals by the A / D converters 12, 14, and 16, respectively, and are converted into biological signal waveform data. . A sampling clock 112 is supplied to each of the A / D converters 12, 14, and 16, and the sampling clock 112 is, for example, a 1 kHz sampling signal. While the received signal 100 is a broadband signal, the biological signal does not have a high frequency component, so that sampling is performed at a relatively low frequency as described above.

M sampled by the A / D converter
The mode image data is sent to the buffer 20 as 6-bit data in the present embodiment, and once stored,
The data is written to the display memory 26. In this case, the writing is controlled by the memory control circuit 30.
M-mode image data storage area 200 as shown in FIG.
The data is written to the corresponding address in the data.

On the other hand, the 8-bit biological signal waveform data output from the A / D converters 12, 14, 16 are stored in the buffer 22 and then sent to the biological signal processing circuit 24. The biological signal processing circuit 24 is a circuit for generating the biological signal waveform data on each storage plane shown in FIG. 2, and by associating the data value (amplitude value) of the biological signal waveform data with the Y coordinate. The biological signal waveform data on each storage plane is generated. The biological signal processing circuit 24 and the memory control circuit 30 are controlled by a control unit (not shown). Note that the biological signal processing circuit 24 may be further provided with an interpolation function.

Therefore, under the control of the memory control circuit 30, one address specified by X and Y contains M-mode image data of 6 bits and biological signal waveform data of 2 bits as shown in FIG. Will be written to. In this case, the X address is common to both the M-mode image data and the biological signal waveform data, and the Y address corresponds to the depth axis for the M-mode image data and the amplitude axis for the biological signal waveform data. Will be.

Writing of data to the display memory 26 as described above is performed by the memory control circuit 30 as described above.
Also performs read control on the display memory 26.

In the above-described biological signal processing circuit 24,
Display memory 2 for 8 bit biological signal waveform data
A compression process and an interpolation process for associating with the Y address of No. 6 are also performed.

When the X and Y addresses of the display memory 26 are specified under the control of the memory control circuit 30, the 6-bit M-mode image data and the 2-bit biological signal waveform data are obtained from the specified memory address. Will be output. Here, the 2-bit biological signal waveform data substantially corresponds to the waveform data on two storage planes as shown in FIG. 2, in other words, the waveform data of the three biological signals. It is equivalent.

The post-processing circuit 32 is a circuit for performing post-processing such as contrast adjustment and color tone adjustment on the image. Thereafter, it is output as a TV video signal 120 to a display (not shown). Thereby, as shown in FIG. 3, the M-mode image 300 and one or more biological signals 3 are displayed on the screen of the display.
02, 304, and 306 are combined and displayed. Although not shown in FIG. 1,
An input device for selecting a biological signal to be displayed is provided, and an image of a desired biological signal can be displayed using such an apparatus. Of course, the selection is made for each storage plane as shown in FIG.
In the present embodiment, the second biological signal and the third biological signal are integrally selected or non-selected. Of course, such a combination of each plane and each biological signal can be appropriately changed according to a user's request.

The display memory 26 shown in FIG. 1 is a general-purpose frame memory as is apparent from FIG. 2, and it is possible to use a memory similar to that of the conventional apparatus and eliminate a memory dedicated to a biological signal. is there. Therefore, there is an advantage that the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

In FIG. 1, separate buffers 20, 20 are used for the received signal 100 and each of the biological signals 102, 104, 106.
22 is provided, but as shown by the buffer unit 18 in FIG.
These buffers may be integrally configured. An example is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, a buffer 40 includes a reception signal 100, a first biological signal 102, and a second biological signal 10
4, the third biological signal 106 is input,
Thus, after the data sequence is arranged, three biometric signals are added to the head as shown in FIG. 4, and the data sequence followed by the received signal is output to the display memory and the biosignal processing circuit. Here, the first three biological signals are branched and
And the subsequent received signal, that is, M-mode image data, is output to the display memory 26 via the timing adjustment circuit 42. The timing adjustment circuit 42 is a circuit for adjusting the write timing by absorbing the processing time in the biological signal processing circuit 24. According to the configuration shown in FIG. 4, there is an advantage that the data bus can be shared and the device configuration can be further simplified.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which an M-mode image and a biological signal are simultaneously displayed, a display memory and a memory control circuit are shared,
As a result, the amount of material can be reduced and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. Further, according to the present invention, the empty area of the display memory for the M-mode image can be efficiently used as the storage area of the biological signal. Furthermore, according to the present invention,
There is an advantage that data storage and control can be performed rationally on the premise of the synchronous relationship between the M-mode image and the biological signal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a storage space of a display memory.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an apparatus for sharing a buffer.

[Description of References] 10, 12, 14, 16 A / D converter, 24 biological signal processing circuit, 26 display memory, 30 memory control circuit, 32 post-processing circuit, 34 D / A converter,
100 received signal, 102 first biological signal, 104
Second biological signal, 106 Third biological signal, 200 M
Mode image data storage area, 202 Biosignal waveform data storage area, 204 6th bit storage plane, 20
6 seventh bit storage plane, 208 first biological signal waveform data, 210 second biological signal waveform data, 2
12 Third biological signal waveform data.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An X-axis is a time axis and a Y-axis is a depth axis.
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which a mode image and at least one type of biological signal waveform in which the X axis is a time axis and the Y axis is an amplitude axis is synchronously displayed on the same screen. Reception signal sampling means for sampling the received reception signal and generating M-mode image data having j bits as a gradation, biological signal sampling means for sampling a detected biological signal and generating biological signal waveform data, A memory having R bits in the direction of the X axis, S bits in the direction of the Y axis, and T bits (where T> j) in the gradation direction, and a storage space of [R bits × S bits × j bits] The storage space for the M-mode image data is constructed in the storage space, and the storage space for the biological signal waveform data is constructed in the remaining storage space of [R bits × S bits × (T−j) bits]. A display memory that, the display and means for controlling the writing and reading of data to the memory in accordance with classification of the storage space,
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: memory control means for writing the M-mode image data and the biological signal waveform data in the same temporary phase to the same address on the X-axis. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage space for the biological signal waveform data is [R bits × S
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is divided into storage units of [1 bit × 1 bit], and the storage surface stores the biological signal waveform as a bitmap image. 3. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of types of biological signal waveforms are stored as bitmap images in at least one of the storage surfaces. 4. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a selection unit that selects display or non-display of a bitmap image for each of the storage surfaces. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the M-mode image data and the biological signal waveform data are shared between the reception signal sampling unit and the biological signal sampling unit, and the display memory. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, wherein a buffer is provided. 6. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the biological signal is at least one of an electrocardiographic signal, a pulse wave signal, and a heart sound signal.