JPS6176139A - 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 [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that employs a trapezoidal scanning method.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems] Conventionally, ultrasonic diagnostic equipment using a linear scanning method has been used to diagnose the abdomen of a living body, but the linear scanning method has the disadvantage of a narrow field of view. However, the disadvantage is that the number of transducers increases and the size of the ultrasonic probe increases.

Therefore, in recent years, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a trapezoidal scanning type ultrasonic probe 12 as shown in FIG. 5 has appeared, and it has become possible to obtain a considerably large field of view even with a small device.

However, when attempting to construct a trapezoidal screen using a conventional device, it is necessary to superimpose diagonal scans, use linear scanning and sector scanning together, or use linear compound scanning (multi-sector scanning) (U.S. Patent No. 4 ,159
, No. 462), but these scanning methods have the problem that it takes a long time to construct one screen and lacks real-time performance.

In addition, a scanning method that simply combines linear scanning at the center of the scanning surface of the ultrasound probe and sector scanning at both ends can be considered, but in the case of this scanning method, the boundary between the linear scanning section and the sector scanning section There is a problem in that because the scanning line density becomes non-uniform in some areas, the connection between ultrasound images deteriorates, making it impossible to obtain ultrasound images with excellent diagnostic performance.

[Purpose of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of obtaining ultrasonic images with excellent real-time performance, a wide field of view, and excellent diagnostic ability. The purpose is to

[Summary of the Invention] A summary of the present invention for achieving the above object includes an ultrasonic probe having a plurality of transducers arranged in an array; By applying a predetermined delay time to drive control and sequentially shifting the camera element, sector scanning is performed while performing linear scanning.
This is an ultrasonic diagnostic device that constructs an ultrasound image for diagnosis based on the obtained scanning line, and the sensor is shifted by one element and has different delay times when transmitting and receiving ultrasound waves. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a transmission/reception control means that can multiply the number of scanning lines by adding the number of scanning lines.

[Embodiments of the invention] Examples of the present invention will be described below.

First, the principle of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the present invention in detail,
PL in the figure shows a plurality of camera elements (Pl, R2.

R3...Pn) are arranged in an array. For convenience of explanation, the transducer group PLI%
: The maximum number of drive oscillators is 8 elements.

By using the transducers P1 to P8 as shown by T1 and R1 and transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves with a delay time t1,
A scanning line B1 is obtained by deflecting the ultrasound beam by an angle θ1. In addition, as shown by T3 and R3, the camera elements R2 to P3
By transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves at a delay time t3, a scanning line B3 is obtained in which the ultrasonic beam is deflected at an angle of 03.

By the way, as shown by T2, ultrasonic waves are transmitted using the transducers Pl to Pθ with a delay time tl, and R2
The oscillators R2 to P3 are used as shown in , and the delay time t
When ultrasonic waves are received at step 3, the ultrasonic beam is rotated at an angle of θ2.
A deflected scan IBz is obtained. Since this scanning line B2 is located between scanning line B1 and scanning line B2,
By obtaining scan line B2, the scan line density is substantially increased.

In this way, the scanning line 81.83 is obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves using the same transducer, and in addition, the camera element is shifted by one element and the delay time is also different between transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. If scanning line B2 is thereby obtained, the number of scanning lines is uniformly multiplied, and the obtained ultrasound image has improved image quality and excellent diagnostic ability.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention based on the above principle will be described with reference to FIG.

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

In the figure, reference numeral 1a denotes a storage means, which stores late signal data, driving nest data and delay data for each scanning line of transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves. The above-mentioned data in the storage means 1a are read and controlled by the transmission/reception control means 1b and transferred to each part of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. This transmission/reception control means 1b performs control for linear sector scanning, shifts the transducer by one element, and provides different delay times between transmission and reception.

2-1 to 2-111 are transmission delay units, 31 to 3-n are balsa, 4 is a high voltage switch group, and the late signal data and delay data in the storage means 1a are controlled by the transmission/reception control means 1b to delay the transmission. The late signal data and drive element data are transferred to the high voltage switch group 4.

12a is an ultrasonic probe formed by arranging a plurality of transducers 5-1 to 5-N in an array;
5-N is driven by an excitation signal sent from the pulsers 3-1 to 3-n via the high voltage switch group 4.

6-1 to 5-n are preamplifiers that amplify ultrasonic echo signals inputted from the transducers 5-1 to 5-n via the high-voltage switch group 4, and 7-1 to 7-n are reception delay units. Then, the delay data transferred from the transmission/reception control means 1b is inputted, and a predetermined delay time is added to the output signals of the preamplifiers 6-1 to 5-n before being sent to the adder 8.

The output of the adder 8 is input to an echo signal processing circuit 9 controlled by the transmission/reception control means 1b, where the echo signal is filtered and logarithmically transformed.

Detection, 5TC (Sensitive Time C)
After signal processing such as correction (ontrol) is performed, the ultrasound image is input to display means 11 via a digital scan converter (DSC) 10, and the ultrasound image is displayed on display means 11.

In the device configured as described above, when transmitting ultrasonic pulses into a living body (not shown), late signal data and delay data for transmission are transferred from the transmission/reception control means 1b to the transmission delay units 2-1 to 2-n. be done. Transmission delay section 2-1~2
-n provides delay time signals for force and deflection to the balsers 3-1 to 3-n to drive them based on these data.

The output signals of the pulsers 3-1 to 3-n are applied to the vibrators 5-1 to 5-N via the high-voltage switch group 4, but at this time, the high-voltage switch 4 receives the drive signal transferred from the transmission/reception control means 1b. Only the channel corresponding to the vibrator to be excited is kept in the on state based on the element data. As a result, an arbitrary number of vibrators are excited, and ultrasonic waves are transmitted into the living body.

Ultrasonic echoes from within the body will be received by the transducers 5-1 to 5-N, but only the channels that are kept in the on state in the high-voltage switch group 4 will be received by the preamplifiers 6-1 to 5-n. are transferred to the corresponding preamplifier. The outputs of the preamplifiers 6-1 to 5-n are inputted to reception delay units 7-1 to 7-n, which are processed by delay data, and are subjected to delays for focus and deflection.

Here, the transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves in the device of this embodiment is controlled by the transmission and reception control means 1b, and the details of this control are as already explained based on FIG. The scanning line B1 is
and a case where a scanning line corresponding to B3 is obtained, and a case where a scanning line corresponding to scanning line B2 is obtained by shifting the transducer by one element and giving different delay times when transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. There is. In the device of this embodiment, the high voltage switch group 4 is controlled by drive element data from the transmission/reception control means 1b, and the transmission delay units 2-1 to 2-n and the reception are controlled by delay data from the transmission/reception control means 1b. Delay section 7
-1 to 7-n, the scanning lines B1.
Scanning lines corresponding to B2 and B3 are obtained.

Incidentally, the outputs of the reception delay sections 7-1 to 7-n are sent to an adder 8, an echo signal processing circuit 9. Digital scan converter 10
After the above-described signal processing is performed in sequence, the resulting signal is displayed on the display means 11 as a trapezoidal ultrasound image.

In this way, according to the device of this embodiment, the transmission/reception control means 1
b, the number of scanning lines is uniformly multiplied by shifting the transducer by one element and varying the delay time between transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, so that the trapezoid displayed on the display means 11 Type ultrasound images have improved image quality and superior diagnostic ability. Furthermore, the scanning method using the apparatus of this embodiment has excellent real-time performance because the time required to construct one screen of an ultrasound image is short.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the gist of the present invention. 3 and 4 for other embodiments of the present invention.
This will be explained with reference to the figures.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are block diagrams showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Note that in the locations i shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, those having the same functions as the device shown in FIG.

The device shown in FIG. 3 differs from the device shown in FIG. 1 in that it includes a transducer 5-N+1, a switch 12.13 that opens and closes under the control of the transmission/reception control means 1a, and a set of reception system, i.e., a preamplifier 6-n+1. A reception delay unit 7-n+1 is additionally provided, and when the switch 12 is on (closed state), the ultrasonic echo from the transducer 5-1 is transmitted to the high-pressure switch group 4.
and is input to the preamplifier 6-1 via the switch 12, and when the switch 13 is on, the camera element 5
-N+1 is configured so that the ultrasonic echo from -N+1 is input to the preamplifier 6-n+1 via the high voltage switch 4 and the switch 13.

With this configuration, and scanning lines B1 and B3 in FIG.
To obtain a scanning line corresponding to , the switch 12 is turned on and the switch 13 is
is turned off (open state), and when obtaining a scanning line corresponding to scanning line B2, the switch 12 is turned off and the switch 13 is turned on, thereby increasing the number of scanning lines as in the above embodiment. can do.

In the above embodiment (Fig. 1), the high voltage switch group 4 was set so that the transducer was shifted by one element immediately after transmitting the ultrasonic wave, and the ultrasonic echo was received. Although there is a risk that the image quality of the ultrasound image may be impaired, in the embodiment shown in FIG. Since the two elements are shifted by one element, the quality of the ultrasound image is not impaired even at extremely close distances.

The device shown in FIG. 4 is different from the device shown in FIG. 1 in that it includes switches 14 and 15 that open and close under the control of the transducer 5-N+1 and the transmission/reception control means 1a, and a set of transmission systems, that is, a transmission delay section. 2-n+1 and a pulser 3-n+1 are additionally provided, and when the switch 14 is on, the output of the pulser 3-1 is transmitted to the vibrator 5-1 via the high voltage switch group 4.
Furthermore, when the switch 15 is on, the output of the pulser 3-n+1 is applied to the camera element 5-N+1 via the high-voltage switch group 4.

With this configuration, and scanning lines B1 and B3 in FIG.
1. : When obtaining the corresponding scanning line, transmit/receive control means 1
The switch 14 is turned on and the switch 15 is turned off by the control of the switch 1.
By turning on 5, the same effect as the device shown in FIG. 3 can be achieved.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is excellent in real-time performance, has a wide field of view, and can obtain ultrasonic images with excellent diagnostic performance. can.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the present invention in detail, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively diagrams of the present invention. Block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as another embodiment, No. 5
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing a trapezoidal scanning type ultrasound probe. 1a... Transmission/reception control means, 5-1 to 5-N, 5-N+1...- vibrator, B1.8
2.83...Scanning line.

Claims (1)

[Claims] The ultrasonic probe includes a plurality of transducers arranged in an array, and drives and controls an arbitrary number of transducers by giving a predetermined delay time to each transducer, and sequentially moves the transducers. An ultrasonic diagnostic device that performs sector scanning while performing linear scanning by shifting the position, and constructs an ultrasonic image for diagnosis based on the obtained scanning line. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising a transmission/reception control means capable of multiplying the number of scanning lines by shifting the transducer by one element and giving different delay times.