JPH11221220A - Ultrasonic three-dimensional image display - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display only a targeted internal organ, without being hidden by other organs, in an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display which acquires and displays three-dimensional data inside a living body by an ultrasonic wave. SOLUTION: A front image 30 is a tomogram image obtained by probe scanning, and a side image 31 is a cross-sectional image passing a graphic line 32 on the front image 30. The front image 30 and the side image 31 are cross sections orthogonal to each other. The graphic line 33 on the side image 31 shows the position of the cross section displayed in the front image 30. An effective data region indicating curve 34 is displayed on the side image 31, and an effective region boundary indicating curve 34 by a curve of the second order is set, whereby a data region including only a targeted organ 35 is extracted as an effective region to constitute a three-dimensional image by using the effective region only.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device which converts three-dimensional data of a subject obtained by scanning an ultrasonic wave into image data and displays an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic three-dimensional image display apparatus transmits and receives an ultrasonic pulse to and from a subject in a three-dimensional space, acquires three-dimensional data in the subject, and performs rendering processing such as a projection method. The three-dimensional data is converted into a two-dimensional image and displayed on a monitor screen.

A method of rendering three-dimensional data into a two-dimensional image in a conventional ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-245146. This apparatus visualizes three-dimensional data only in a desired range by setting a start position and an end position of an integration range by using an integration process for a rendering process. In this case, the start position and the end position are parallel to the integrated image, that is, a plane perpendicular to the line of sight. FIG. 8 shows a method of setting the start position and the end position of the integration range in the conventional example. A tomographic image 80 parallel to the direction of the line of sight is displayed, a start position straight line 81 and an end position straight line 82 are displayed on the tomographic image 80, and only the fetus 84 is included without the uterine wall 83 while referring to the tomographic image 80. Thus, the start position straight line 81 and the end position straight line 82 are determined.

[0004]

However, the above conventional example has the following problems. When displaying only three-dimensional internal organs, especially the fetus inside the uterus, the external shape of the fetus is roughly ellipsoidal. As shown in FIG. 9, unnecessary internal tissues such as the uterine wall 83 are also displayed in the rendered image 90, and it is difficult to clearly display an image of only the fetus 84.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problem and to clearly display a three-dimensional image of a body organ having a shape close to an ellipsoid without mixing it with other adjacent organs. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device capable of performing the above-described operation.

[0006]

An ultrasonic three-dimensional image display apparatus according to the present invention comprises an effective area designating means for designating an effective area of three-dimensional echo data used for projection processing. Display the cross-sectional image of the echo data,
An effective area boundary is specified by a quadratic curve on the cross-sectional image, and a spatial area formed by moving the effective area boundary in parallel with the cross-sectional image is defined as an effective area.
According to the present invention, the ultrasonic wave 3 capable of clearly displaying only the target organ without mixing with the adjacent unnecessary organ.
A three-dimensional image display device is obtained.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the first aspect of the present invention, an ultrasonic three-dimensional image for transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic wave to a living body to a three-dimensional area and displaying the obtained three-dimensional echo data as an image. The display device includes projection processing means for projecting only an effective area in the three-dimensional echo data to generate an image, and effective area designating means for designating an effective area used for the projection processing. One cross-sectional image of the two-dimensional echo data is displayed, an effective area boundary is designated by a quadratic curve on the cross-sectional image, and a spatial area formed by moving the effective area boundary in parallel with the cross-sectional image is an effective area. An ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device characterized in that it can clearly display a three-dimensional image without mixing unnecessary internal tissues even with internal organs whose external shape is curved. To.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display apparatus for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic wave to / from a living body to a three-dimensional area and displaying the obtained three-dimensional echo data as an image. The image processing apparatus includes projection processing means for projecting only an effective area in the three-dimensional echo data to generate an image, and effective area designating means for designating an effective area used for the projection processing. Displaying two or more cross-sectional images parallel to each other, specifying an effective area boundary by a quadratic curve on the plurality of cross-sectional images, generating a space area having the plurality of effective area boundaries as cross sections, and Ultrasonic wave 3 characterized as an effective area
It is a three-dimensional image display device, even for internal organs whose external shape is composed of complicated curved surfaces, without mixing unnecessary internal tissues,
This has the effect that a three-dimensional image can be clearly displayed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the effective area designating means, the quadratic curve used to designate an effective area boundary is an ellipse, and the rotation angle, curvature, and translation distance of the ellipse are determined. 2. The ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device according to claim 1, wherein an effective area boundary is designated by adjusting the effective area boundary along the outer shape of the internal organ, and unnecessary internal tissues are not required. Has the effect that a clear three-dimensional image can be easily displayed without mixing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the effective area designating means, the quadratic curve used to designate the effective area boundary is an ellipse, and the rotation angle, curvature, and translation distance of the ellipse are determined. 3. The ultrasonic three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an effective area boundary is designated by adjusting the effective area boundaries, and an effective area space is formed from the effective area boundaries by linearly interpolating the plurality of effective area boundaries. Yes, even when the internal organs are composed of complex curved surfaces, the effective area boundaries along the external shape of the internal organs can be easily set, and clear 3D images can be displayed easily without mixing unnecessary internal tissues. It has the effect that it can be performed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of each embodiment, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The transmission / reception unit 1 transmits / receives an ultrasonic pulse to / from a living body via the probe 2 and outputs ultrasonic echo data. The ultrasonic echo data is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 3 and then stored in the three-dimensional data memory 4, and at the same time, a digital scan converter (DSC) 5 generates a real-time tomographic image. The image generated by the DSC 5 is converted into a video signal by the D / A converter 6 and displayed on the monitor 7. The probe 2 performs ultrasonic scanning in a three-dimensional region in a living body by manual scanning or mechanical scanning, and the data is stored in a three-dimensional data memory 4.

A three-dimensional data memory 4, a central processing unit (CPU) 9, a rendering operation unit 1 via a bus 8.
0 and DSC5 are connected. The CPU 9 determines a line-of-sight direction and an effective data area used for rendering based on data from the switch group 11 and the movement amount input device group 12. The method for determining the valid data area will be described later in detail. The CPU 9, the switch group 11, and the movement amount input device group 12 constitute an effective area designating unit 13. The CPU 9 also controls the operation of all components in FIG.

Rendering operation unit 1 as projection processing means
0 denotes rendering processing such as ray casting along the specified line-of-sight direction using three-dimensional data belonging to the effective data area specified by the CPU 9 among the three-dimensional data stored in the three-dimensional data memory 4. Is performed to generate a three-dimensional image, and the three-dimensional image is displayed on the monitor 7 via the DSC 5.

Switch group 11 and movement amount input device group 1
Numeral 2 is composed of a plurality of switches and movement amount input devices, each of which is used to indicate a valid data area.
It is connected to PU9. The movement amount input device is a device capable of detecting the sign of the direction and the movement amount, and is preferably, for example, a rotary encoder or a trackball.

Next, the manner of manually acquiring three-dimensional data will be described with reference to FIG. By using a probe capable of acquiring a two-dimensional tomographic image and manually moving the probe in a direction perpendicular to the tomographic image as shown in FIG.
It is possible to acquire three-dimensional echo data in the range shown in FIG. The coordinate system used in the following description is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a scanning section by the probe is defined as an xy plane, and a manual movement direction is defined as a z-axis.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen displayed on the monitor 7 and explains a method for determining a valid data area.
The front image 30 is a tomographic image obtained by scanning the probe, and is an xy cross-sectional image in FIG. Side image 3
1 is an xz cross-sectional image in FIG. 2B passing through the graphic line 32 on the front image 30. The front image 30 and the side image 31 are cross sections orthogonal to each other. Side image 31
The upper graphic line 33 indicates the position of the cross section displayed in the front image 30. Graphic lines 32, 3
3 is cut at the center of the image, in order not to hide the center of the front image 30 and the side image 31 with graphic lines. Graphic line 32
Can be freely moved by the movement amount input device of the movement amount input device group 12, and the side image 31 is updated and displayed in real time in accordance with the movement. Graphic line 3
The position of No. 3 can also be freely moved by the movement amount input device of the movement amount input device group 12, and accordingly, the front image 30 is updated and displayed in real time. In this way, the operator selects and displays the front image 30 and the side image 31 suitable for the method of specifying the valid data area. In the first embodiment, the front image 30 is used only for reference, and the display of the front image 30 is not necessarily required. Subsequently, the effective data area indicating curve 34 is displayed on the side image 31 by the switches of the switch group 11. The effective data area indicating curve 43 is an ellipse, and the side image area 31
Only the parts that exist within are displayed. The effective data area indicating curve 34 is set so as to surround the organ 35 to be three-dimensionally displayed.

Hereinafter, a method of specifying the valid data area will be described in detail. FIG. 4 shows the effective data area indicating curve 34 of FIG.
Only the extraction method is shown to show the deformation method. 4A, 4B, and 4C are adjusted so that the effective data region indicating curve 34 includes only the region where the three-dimensional display is desired. FIG. 4A shows the rotation, and the direction and amount are designated by the movement amount input devices of the movement amount input device group 12. The rotation is performed about a point on the elliptical arc near the center of the screen. FIG. 4B shows the translation.
As the movement amount input device of the movement amount input device group 12 for specifying the parallel movement amount, a device that can specify two-dimensional coordinates such as a trackball is preferable. FIG. 4C shows a change in curvature.

First, in order to simplify the description of the method of changing the curvature, consider the case where the major axis and the minor axis of the ellipse coincide with the x-axis and the z-axis. The ellipse in this case is represented by the following equation. (X / a) ² + (z / b) ² = c ² (1) In the moving amount input device of the moving amount input device group 12, b of the formula (1) is used.
Is increased or decreased, and the values of a and c in Expression (1) are changed so that a + b = k1 (k1 is a constant) (2) b * c = k2 (k2 is a constant) (3) To change the curvature of the ellipse. However,
When b = 0, it is a straight line z = k2 (4), and when b <0, the equation (1) is an ellipse symmetrically moved with respect to the straight line z = k2. In this way, the curvature of the ellipse is changed. When the formula of the basic ellipse is determined, the specified rotation and translation are applied to the ellipse.
Thus, the curvature can be changed as shown in FIG.

The constants k1 and k2 in the equations (2) and (3) are
It is preferable to set such that 2/3 to 1/4 of the ellipse is displayed. For example, assuming that the width of the image display area in the x direction is xw and the width in the z direction is zw, it is preferable that k1 = xw + zw k2 = (xw + zw) / 2.

Next, the valid data area indicating curves 34 to 3
A method for determining the dimension valid data area will be described. The effective data area is an area surrounded by the effective data area indicating curve 34 and the side image area 36 as shown by the oblique lines in FIG. In addition, the switches in the switch group 11 are used in FIG.
As shown in (b), the current valid data area and the other area can be inverted. The valid data area in the xz plane is designated by the above method, and the valid data area in the xz plane is moved in parallel in the y-axis direction perpendicular to all the xz planes. The valid data area 60 is configured as described above, and the valid data area in the data space of the three-dimensional data memory 4 is specified.

In the first embodiment, the effective data area indicating curve 34 is specified by the side image 31 on the xz plane. However, the effective data area indicating curve 34 can be obtained on an arbitrary cross section. Also in this case, the effective data area designating curve is moved in the direction perpendicular to the section in which the valid data area designating curve is designated to form the effective data area.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 7 is an example of a screen displayed on a monitor 7 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Hereinafter, each image will be described with reference to FIG. Front image 7
Reference numeral 0 denotes a B-mode image obtained by scanning with the probe, which is an xy cross-sectional image in FIG. The first side image 71 is
2 is an xz cross-sectional image in FIG. 2 passing through a graphic line 73 on the front image 70, and the second side image 72 is a front image 7
FIG. 3 is an xz cross-sectional image in FIG. 2 passing through a graphic line 74 on 0. The front image 70 and the side images 71 and 72 are cross sections orthogonal to each other. The graphic line 75 on the side images 71 and 72 indicates the position of the cross section displayed in the front image 70. The positions of the graphic lines 73 and 74 can be freely moved by the moving amount input devices of the moving amount input device group 12, and the side images 71 and 72 are updated and displayed in real time accordingly. Similarly, side images 71 and 7
The position of the graphic line 75 on the second is also the movement amount input device group 1
The front image 70 can be freely moved by the second movement amount input device, and the front image 70 is updated and displayed in real time.
In this way, the operator selects the front image 70 and the side images 71 and 72 suitable for the method of specifying the valid data area,
indicate. In the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the front image 70 is used only for reference, and the display of the front image 70 is not necessarily required. Subsequently, the effective data area indicating curve 76 is set on the side image 71 and the effective data area indicating curve 77 is set on the side image 72 by the switches of the switch group 11. The method of setting the effective data area indicating curves 76 and 77 is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

The valid data area indicating curves 76 and 77 will be described below.
The method of determining the three-dimensional effective data area will be described. A parameter for determining the effective data area indicating curve 76 is: rotation angle: w1 curvature: b1 parallel movement distance: (x1, z1), and a parameter for determining the effective data area indicating curve 77 is: rotation angle: w2 curvature: b2 parallel Moving distance: (x2, z2). The y-coordinate values of the side images 71 and 72 are respectively y
1, y2. At this time, x where the y coordinate is Y
The parameter for determining the effective data area indicating curve in the z section is obtained by the following equation by linear interpolation. Rotation angle: (w2-w1) / (y2-y1) * (Y-y
1) + w1 Curvature: (b2-b1) / (y2-y1) * (Y-y1)
+ B1 Parallel movement distance: ((x2-x1) / (y2-y1) *
(Y-y1) + x1, (z2-z1) / (y2-y1)
* (Y-y1) + z1) Thus, an effective data area indicating curve in an xz section at an arbitrary y coordinate can be generated, and a three-dimensional effective data area can be determined.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, an area including a body tissue to be three-dimensionally displayed is designated as an effective area by a curve corresponding to the shape, and the three-dimensional area is designated using only the effective area. Since the display is performed, an advantageous effect that a clear three-dimensional image can be displayed without mixing with other adjacent organs can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating three-dimensional scanning and acquired three-dimensional data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a screen display according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for setting an effective area boundary according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for selecting a two-dimensional effective area from an effective area boundary according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a three-dimensional effective area in the first embodiment;
Schematic diagram explaining how to select the effective area of a dimension

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a screen display according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an effective area boundary setting method in a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a three-dimensional display screen in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transmission / reception part 2 Probe 3 A / D conversion part 4 Three-dimensional data memory 5 Digital scan converter 6 D / A conversion part 7 Monitor 8 Bus 9 CPU 10 Rendering calculation part (projection processing means) 11 Switch group 12 Moving amount input device group 13 Effective area designation means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a living body with respect to a three-dimensional area and displaying the obtained three-dimensional echo data as an image. Projection processing means for generating an image by performing projection processing, and effective area designating means for designating an effective area used for the projection processing, wherein the effective area designating means displays one cross-sectional image of the three-dimensional echo data, An ultrasonic three-dimensional image display apparatus characterized in that an effective area boundary is specified by a quadratic curve on an image, and a spatial area formed by moving the effective area boundary in parallel with the cross-sectional image is an effective area. . 2. An ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic wave to / from a living body with respect to a three-dimensional area and displaying the obtained three-dimensional echo data as an image. Projection processing means for generating an image by performing projection processing, and effective area designating means for designating an effective area used for the projection processing, wherein the effective area designating means displays two or more cross-sectional images of the three-dimensional echo data parallel to each other. And
Ultrasound 3 characterized by specifying an effective area boundary by a quadratic curve on the plurality of cross-sectional images, generating a spatial area having the plurality of effective area boundaries as cross sections, and using the spatial area as an effective area. Dimensional image display device. 3. The effective area specifying means specifies an effective area boundary by adjusting a rotation angle, a curvature, and a translation distance of the ellipse, wherein the quadratic curve used to specify the effective area boundary is an ellipse. The ultrasonic wave according to claim 1, wherein
Dimensional image display device. 4. The effective area designating means designates an effective area boundary by adjusting a rotation angle, a curvature, and a translation distance of the ellipse. The ultrasonic three-dimensional image display device according to claim 2, wherein an effective area space is formed from the effective area boundaries by linearly interpolating a plurality of effective area boundaries.