JPS59146646A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus used in the field of medical electronic equipment to examine tomographic images of a living body using ultrasonic waves.

Conventional configuration and its problems In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that sequentially scans and transmits ultrasound signals into the subject and receives reflected signals from within the subject to obtain a tomographic image of the subject, Scan converters for converting a tomographic image into a standard TV scan are already well known. Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional example of this scanning converter.
7. This is a diagram. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a scanning converter, which transmits ultrasonic pulses into the subject using an ultrasonic probe 2 and a transceiver 3, and receives reflected signals 5, -(-.

This received signal is converted by the code converter 4 into a code corresponding to the received signal strength, and is stored in a predetermined code in the storage section 6.
/ write to , - are controlled by the write/read controller 6 of the storage unit 6. Furthermore, the address of the storage unit 5 is
In accordance with the scanning of the TV display, a matrix structure is used in which rows and columns are allocated to correspond to horizontal scanning lines and vertical scanning, respectively. All the contents of this storage unit 5 are initialized in advance to a code corresponding to a blank, for example.

The stored contents of the storage unit 6 are sequentially read out in the horizontal scanning line direction in accordance with the scanning of the TV display. If this read signal is not a blank code, it is temporarily stored in the FIFO memory 7. On the other hand, if the read signal is blank, the counter 8 calculates the number of consecutive blanks (L-L=) and temporarily stores this number in the FIFO memory 9.

The signal strength output from the FIFO memory 7 is not shown, and the signal strength is output from the FIFO memory 7 to the hoop 10.
Directly input the output of , and refer to one art showing two adjacent signal strengths at the same time. On the other hand, the FIFO memory completion and 10O output timings change depending on the number of blanks to be output from the FIFO memory. Furthermore, if the number of blanks is O, R'0M11 is the input goal.
The ROM 12 outputs O regardless of the input code, and the adder 12 adds the signal strength to the D/
'A converter 14 converts it into an analog +1 signal and displays it on the display section 15.
Display in . If the number of blanks is n, ROM11
is 1 times the signal strength according to the input go 1・゛, n
/(n+1) times.

(Ill)/(n+1) times,...-,1/(n-H)
Output the multiplication n+-1 times as llliI. At this time, the ROM 12 simultaneously adjusts the signal strength C) according to the input signal by 0 times, 1/'(n+1) times, 2/(n+1) times, etc.

Sequentially output n/(n+1') times. This weighted signal strength is added to the adder 1 in the same way as when the number of blanks is 0.
3 and 9, and the D/A converter 14 converts it into an analog signal and displays it. - The scan conversion device described above can be applied to a wide range of scanning type ultrasound diagnostic equipment, such as one that scans ultrasound beams in a fan shape, but depending on the number of consecutive blanks, It has the disadvantage that the timing of the end, 10, etc. changes and requires complicated control.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention eliminates the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional examples, has a simple structure,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is compatible with a wide range of ultrasonic beam scanning methods using a simple control method.

Structure of the Invention The present invention has been made to achieve the objects stated below.
A storage means having an arrangement corresponding to the display stores the reception signal received by the northern sonic probe and interpolation data indicating a method of interpolating the reception signal, and an identification for identifying the reception signal and the interpolation data. It is equipped with a scan conversion device that stores data and controls the output of the received signal based on the identification data, the interpolation of the received signal by interpolation tail, and the output of the interpolated signal obtained by this interpolation.

Description of examples An embodiment of the present invention will be explained using drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the scan conversion device in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention. The received signal of the M sonic wave transmitter/receiver is converted into a digital signal by the A/T converter 16, and is written into the storage units 1-tl. Writing to this storage unit 1γ.

Reading is controlled by the control unit 18. -pl f(
7. Addresses of the storage unit 1 are assigned to correspond to horizontal scanning lines and vertical scanning of the TV display. Furthermore, data indicating the interpolation method is written in advance by the control unit 18 in the portions where no digital signals are written. In addition, the storage unit 1 adds control bits to each memory element. The control bits indicate whether each element is a digital signal or the interpolation method. Or data of 1 is written by the control unit 18.

The storage elements of the storage unit 1 are read out sequentially in the horizontal scanning line direction in synchronization with the reference clock of the reference clock generator 19 and in accordance with TV scanning. If the read control bit indicates a digital signal, the reference clock clears the latch 20, the latch 21 receives the new input digital signal, and the latch 22 receives the previous digital signal received by the latch 21. Incorporate. If the read control bit indicates the interpolation method, the reference clock causes latch 20 to receive data indicating the input interpolation method, and latches 21 and 22 retain their previous values.

The outputs of the latch 21 and the latch 22 are weighted by weighting circuits 23 and 24, respectively, with reference to the interpolation method output by the launch 20, and the digital signals are weighted and output. This weighting is performed by adding the outputs of circuits 23 and 24 to adder 25.
The signals are added together, converted into an analog signal by the D/A converter 26, and output to the display section.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention using the scan converter shown in FIG. 2. The ultrasound probe 29 also emits an ultrasound pulse beam into the subject based on the transmission pulses generated by the transmission circuit 28 of the ultrasound transceiver 27 .

The reflected echo signal returning from within the subject is converted into an electrical signal by the same ultrasonic probe 29, and is input to the receiving circuit 30 of the transceiver 27. This receiving circuit 30 amplifies the input signal and outputs the intensity change of the reflected echo signal depending on the depth of the subject in the pulse beam direction as a received signal. This received signal is input to the scan conversion device 31 explained in FIG. 2, and an analog signal converted to TV scanning is output,
The information is displayed on the display unit 32 according to the method.

In addition, in FIG. 3, the ultrasonic pulse beams emitted from the ultrasonic probe 29 are the ultrasonic pulse beams a1, a2, a3, etc. shown in FIG. Scanning is performed sequentially in a fan shape.This scanning is performed by mechanically moving the direction of the ultrasonic transducer in the ultrasonic probe 29, but a phased array may also be used.Furthermore, the ultrasonic probe It is also possible to use a device that performs linear scanning or trapezoidal scanning as shown in FIG.
...and cl, c2. c3... is scanned.

Next, the ultrasonic scanning lines 2Ll, 2 shown in FIG. 4(a)
The relationship between L2 and TV display is shown in FIG. The straight line in the horizontal direction indicates the horizontal scanning line of the TV, and the intersection with the straight line in the vertical direction corresponds to the memory element of the storage unit 17 of the scan conversion device shown in FIG. A, l are integers, A
idTV vertical scanning direction, l specifies the position in the TV horizontal scanning direction. Table 1 shows the contents of the storage unit 17 in the case of such a scanning line relationship. The control bit is
0 indicates the interpolation method and 1 indicates a digital signal. Furthermore, L, , L2, and L3 are ultrasonic scanning line 2, respectively.
Ll, iL2.

This is a digital signal obtained by A/D converting the received signal by the A/I converter 16 at a timing corresponding to the position where the target cuts the horizontal scanning line of the TV. Horizontal Table 1 Upper row: Data Lower row: Control bits Taking the scanning line (6, A) as an example, when reading l-0, 1, the control bit is 0, so the interpolation method is shown to the latch 20. Interpolation data completed is set. At this time, both latches 21 and 22 are cleared. When l=2 is read, since the control bit is 1, the latch 2o is set to O, the latch 21 is set to Ll, and the notch 22 is set to O.

When the interpolation data indicating the interpolation method is O, weighting is performed by the circuit 23.
outputs 0, and the weighting circuit 24 outputs the input signal as it is, but in this case, the output of the latch 22 is 0'l! i:
Therefore, Q is output, and the output of the adder 25 also becomes ○. β=3
Then, latch 2Q is 0. Latch 21 is L2. latch 22
becomes Ll, the weighting circuit 23 outputs ◯, the weighting circuit 24 outputs Ll, and the output of the adder 26 reaches Ll. l, = 4, the latch 2o is 3. Latch 21,2
2 are L2 and Ll respectively, and the weighting is the circuit 23.2
4 outputs L2/2 and L1/2, respectively, and the adder 25
outputs (L++L2)/2. Similarly, in β-5, latch 20 is Q, latch 21 is L3. Latch 22 becomes L2, and adder 26 outputs L2. Note that, when interpolation data indicating the interpolation method is m, the weighting circuit 23 outputs 76 times the input signal m, and the weighting circuit 24 outputs (6-m)/6 times the input signal.

Furthermore, the weighting circuits 23 and 24 can use read-only memories, and can also be configured by integrator and adder. Also, the ratio of input and output can be changed arbitrarily. Further, it is also easy to configure a configuration in which interpolation is performed using three or more pieces of interpolation data. The control unit 18 can also be an array processor.

Further, the position at which the received signal is written to the storage section is not the position where the received signal should be displayed as in the above embodiment, but may be the received signal writing position shifted by one position in the opposite direction to the order in which it is read from the storage section. good.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As described above, in the present invention, a received signal received by an ultrasonic probe and interpolation data indicating a method of interpolating the received signal are stored in a position corresponding to the display, and A storage means for storing identification data for identifying a received signal and interpolated data at a position, and an output control means for controlling output of the received signal and an interpolated signal obtained by interpolating the received signal based on the identification data. However, the operations subsequent to the storage means can be executed with the same clock, and therefore can be controlled very easily, simplifying the circuit configuration. Moreover, the ultrasound scanning method is no different from the conventional one.
Easily applicable to a wide range of schemes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional scan conversion device, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the scan conversion device in an ultrasound diagnostic device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a scan conversion device in an ultrasound diagnostic device of the present invention. 5 diagrams showing the example, Figure 4 (al, (b)
l, (C1 is a diagram explaining the scanning of an ultrasound beam, and FIG. 6 is a diagram explaining the relationship between ultrasound and TV scanning lines. 1.31... Scan converter, 16... A/D Converter, 17... Storage section, 18... Control section,
19... Reference clock generator, 20, 21.22.
... Latch, 23, 24 ... Weighting is circuit -
->b... Adder, 26... D/A converter,
27... Ultrasonic transmitter/receiver, 28... Transmitting circuit, 29... Ultrasonic probe, 30... Receiving circuit, 32... Display unit. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 82 Figure 3 tn) rb)
(C)\239- Figure 5 (Sound, O)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A received signal received by an ultrasound probe and interpolation data indicating a method of interpolating the received signal are stored at a position corresponding to the display, and the received signal and the interpolated data are stored at a position corresponding to the display. a storage means in which an identification data for identifying interpolated data is stored, a position of the storage means corresponding to the display, and reading out the identification data and the received signal, or the identification data and the interpolated data; , outputting the received signal based on the read identification data;
and output control means for controlling interpolation of the received signal using the interpolation data and output of an interpolation signal that is advantageous to the interpolation, and display means for displaying υ based on the signal output from the output control means. An ultrasonic diagnostic device. (2) The output control means includes a first latch circuit that launches interpolated data, a second latch circuit that latches the received signal, and a third launch circuit that is connected in series to the second latch circuit; a first weighted circuit into which data of the second launch circuit is input; a second weighted circuit into which data of the third latch circuit is input; and the first and second weighted circuits. and an adder circuit for adding the outputs of the circuits; Second. The operation of the third launch circuit is controlled by identification data, and the operation of the first and second weighting circuits is controlled by the output of the first latch circuit. The ultrasonic diagnostic device described in Section 1.