JPS63186634A - 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] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention utilizes ultrasound to obtain a tomographic image of a diagnostic region of a subject and displays color blood flow information superimposed on this tomographic image. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can display changes in blood flow over time in detail in accordance with the movement of the heart.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, ultrasonic diagnostic equipment has added a two-dimensional color Doppler blood flow detection unit to perform color flow mapping of information such as blood flow velocity, dispersion, and reflection intensity at the diagnostic site of the subject in real time. It is now possible to visually follow and diagnose the flow condition. In this case, one ultrasonic tomographic image is scanned by rewriting the image in synchronization with an electrocardiographic signal detected from the subject, and the next tomographic image is rewritten in synchronization with the next electrocardiographic signal. Conventionally, the number of electrocardiographic synchronization points was limited to two. That is, in FIG. 4(a), within one period of a biological wave such as a heartbeat detected from a subject, two points, for example, the rising part (R wave) and the falling part, are used as electrocardiographic synchronization points. . This is done by creating an R-wave trigger signal T as shown in Figure 4(b) by what is called a biological fluid detection part, and by creating an R-wave trigger signal T as shown in Figure 4(c) by what is called a delayed trigger signal creation part. The above two points were achieved by creating a delayed trigger signal delayed by a predetermined time with respect to the R-wave trigger signal T as a reference. Then, using the two electrocardiographic synchronization points given in this way, as shown in Fig. 5, the two image writing start positions P and P2 on one screen S are drawn in a fan shape. It was displayed.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in such conventional ultrasound diagnostic equipment,
There are only two electrocardiographic synchronization points, and the image that superimposes color blood flow information on the tomographic image is only a bilateral image, so displaying this bilateral image alone is not enough to accurately assess the state of blood flow. It was impossible to guess. In particular, in the case of color display, it takes time to draw one image, and since the blood flow is moving faster, the image is drawn by following the flow of blood flow. When two electrocardiographic synchronization points are used to alternately draw images, the displayed images do not appear in the order of the time course of the blood flow state, and may be reversed in the middle. Therefore, if you look at the two images I, I2 shown in Fig. 5 alternately, images with different time lapses will be displayed, and it is difficult to view the changes in blood flow over time in the correct order. It was difficult.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can solve these problems.

[Means for solving problems]

Means of the present invention for solving the above problems includes an ultrasound transmitting/receiving section, a tomographic image storage section, a blood flow information storage section, a display circuit section, a biological fluid detection section, a delay trigger signal generation section, In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having an operation panel, a central processing unit, and a one-image writing position control circuit, the delay trigger signal generation section is multichanneled so that three or more delay trigger signals can be generated, and the operation panel It is multi-channeled so that three ECG synchronization points can be set.

Further, an interrupt control circuit for creating interrupt signals using a large number of delayed trigger signals is provided between the delayed trigger signal generating section and the central processing unit, and the image writing position control circuit is capable of controlling the writing start position of multiple images. 7ヱ by the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus uses ultrasonic waves to obtain a tomographic image of a diagnostic region of a subject and displays color blood flow information superimposed on this tomographic image. A tomographic image storage section 2, a blood flow information storage section 3, a display circuit section 4, a biological fluid detection section 5, a delay trigger signal generation section 6, an operation panel 7, and a central processing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as rMPUJ). ) 8 and an image writing position control circuit 9. In FIG. 1, numeral 10 is an A/D converter, numeral 11 is a two-dimensional color Doppler blood flow detection section, numeral 12 is a write address generation circuit,
Reference numeral 13 is a read address generation circuit, and reference numeral 14 is a selection circuit.

The ultrasound transmitting/receiving unit 1 emits an ultrasound beam toward a diagnostic site of a subject 17 using a probe 16 connected to a signal line 15, and receives reflected waves from the diagnostic site to obtain an echo signal. Something.

Although not shown, it has a control circuit, a pulse generator, a receiving amplifier, etc. inside. The tomographic image storage unit 2 is
The echo signal obtained by the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 1 is digitized by the A/D converter 10 and stored as a black and white tomographic image, and consists of an image memory with an appropriate data capacity. The blood flow information storage section 3 includes the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving section 1
Using the echo signals output from the two-dimensional color Doppler blood flow detection unit 11, the blood flow velocity, dispersion,
Blood flow specifications such as reflection intensity are calculated, and each signal is converted into a digital quantity and stored as color blood flow information. have.

The display circuit section 4 displays the black and white tomographic image read out from the tomographic image storage section 2 and the color blood flow information read out from the blood flow information storage section 3 on the television monitor in an overlapping manner. A mixing circuit 18 that mixes an image and color blood flow information, a D/A converter 19 that converts a digital signal into an analog video signal, and a color television monitor 2o that displays this analog video signal as an image.
It consists of

The biological wave detection unit 5 detects biological waves such as heartbeats from the subject 17, converts them into electrical signals, and creates trigger signals from them.The electrocardiograph 21 is attached to the limbs of the subject 17, and this An R-wave trigger signal T shown in FIG. 2(b) is generated from the biological waves shown in FIG. 2(a) detected by the electrocardiograph 21.
is designed to be created. The delayed trigger signal generating section 6 uses the R wave trigger signal T output from the biological wave detecting section 5 to generate a delayed trigger signal that can be sent for a predetermined period of time using this as a reference.

The operation panel 7 is used to set an electrocardiographic synchronization point for the delayed trigger signal generating section 6 in order to generate the delayed trigger signal, and is provided with appropriate setting keys or switches. The MPU 8 controls the generation of an image synchronized with the delay trigger signal output from the delay trigger signal generation section 6 and controls the ultrasound transmitting/receiving section 1 . The image writing position control circuit 9 controls the image writing start position when creating write addresses for data in the tomographic image storage unit 2 and blood flow information storage unit 3 under the control of the MPU 8, The data of the write start position is stored in advance.

The write address creation circuit 12 creates and outputs addresses for writing data into the tomographic image storage section 2 and blood flow information storage section 3, respectively. Also,
The read address creation circuit 13 creates and outputs addresses for reading data from the tomographic image storage section 2 and blood flow information storage section 3, respectively. Further, the 1 selection circuit 14 selects either the address output from the write address generation circuit 12 or the read address generation circuit 13, sends it to the tomographic image storage section 2 and the blood flow information storage section 3, and writes the data. Or read it.

Here, in one aspect of the present invention, the delay trigger signal generating section 6 is multi-channeled so as to be able to generate three or more delay trigger signals. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, sections for setting appropriate delay amounts for the R-wave trigger signal T output from the biological wave detection section 5 are provided in parallel with eight channels, for example, 01 to CI1. ing. and.

The part for setting these delay amounts is, for example, a counter. Further, the operation panel 7 is multi-channeled so that three or more electrocardiographic synchronization points can be set. That is, the electrocardiogram synchronization point setting keys are provided for, for example, eight channels, and different delay amounts are output to each of the channels C1 to C, l of the delay trigger signal generating section 6.

As a result, the R wave trigger signal T as shown in FIG. 2(b) is generated from the R wave of the biological wave shown in FIG. Different delay amounts d are set for each channel C□ to C11 of the delay trigger signal generation section 6 by inputting signals of eight electrocardiographic synchronization points. ? By di~d7,
As shown in FIGS. 2(b) to 2(i), each delay amount d0. d engineering ~ d
7 is given to the first delayed trigger signal D, the second delayed trigger signal D2. . . , a delayed trigger signal is created. Note that the delay amount d0 set in the first channel C□ of the delayed trigger signal generation section 6 is 110'', and in FIG. 2, the R wave trigger signal T itself is the first delayed trigger signal D. This is the result.

As shown in FIG. 2(a), eight electrocardiographic synchronization points are set within one period of the biological wave of the subject 17.

Further, an interrupt control circuit 22 is provided between the delay trigger signal generation section 6 and the MPU 8. This interrupt control circuit 22 receives the 8-level delay trigger signal output from the delay trigger signal generator 6.
An interrupt signal is generated by Ds, and one generated interrupt signal is sent to the MPU 8.

Furthermore, the image writing position control circuit 9.

The writing start position of multiple images can be controlled.

That is, the pre-stored image writing start position data is, for example, 8 different points, and as shown in FIG. 3, the 8 image writing start positions p1 on the screen S are
．． p, ..., eight images 11+I2 in P8
It is possible to control so that t...+ (2) is displayed in a fan shape.

Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured as described above will be explained. First, by controlling the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 1,
The probe 16 emits an ultrasonic beam to the diagnostic site of the subject 17 and receives the reflected wave. At this time, −
The scanning of the ultrasonic beam is performed in a fan-like manner by the MPU 8 changing the scanning address. Next, the echo signals obtained by the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 1 are input to an A/D converter 10 and a two-dimensional color Doppler blood flow detector 11, respectively. The echo signal input to the A/D converter 10 is digitized and stored in the tomographic image storage section 2 as a black and white tomographic image. At the same time, the color Doppler blood flow detection unit 11 inputs the echo signal and detects the blood flow velocity at the diagnostic site of the subject 17.

Calculate blood flow specifications such as variance 1 reflection intensity. Then, each signal of the above blood flow specifications is converted into a digital quantity,
The blood flow information is stored in the blood flow information storage unit 3 as color blood flow information.

On the other hand, the biological wave detection unit 5 detects biological waves such as heartbeat from the subject 17, converts them into electrical signals, and converts them into electrical signals as shown in FIG.
) is created. This R-wave trigger signal T is input to the next delayed trigger signal generation section 6. Here, the delayed trigger signal generating section 6 has, for example, eight electrocardiographic synchronization points each having a different delay amount set by the operation panel 7, so that
), the first delay trigger signal D□ to the second delay trigger signal D□ are created. Next, these 8-level delayed trigger signals D-D8 are input to the interrupt control circuit 22, and this interrupt control circuit 22 creates an interrupt signal to be output to the MPU 8. and,
When the MPU 8 recognizes the interrupt from the output interrupt signal, it scans the ultrasonic beam scanning address for one scan. At the same time, the above 8-level delay trigger signal D is sent to the image writing position control circuit 9.
It is notified which level of the interrupt signals among the interrupt signals from D8 to D8 should be used to write the image. Then, the image writing position control circuit 9 outputs any of the data of the image writing start positions UP□ to P8 stored in advance, depending on the level of the interrupt signal received from the MPU 8.

Then, the data at the write start positions P□ to P6 of the image is input to the write address generation circuit 12, and the write address generation circuit 12 writes the data at the above positions as the write start position to the tomographic image storage unit 2 and the blood flow. An address for writing each data to the information storage unit 3 is created. Meanwhile, at a different time from this writing,
The read address generation circuit 13 causes the tomographic image storage unit 2 to
and an address for reading each data from the blood flow information storage section 3. Then, each address outputted from the write address generation circuit 12 or the read address generation circuit 13 is input to the selection circuit 14, and one of them is selected depending on the write or read timing, and the tomographic image storage unit 2 and blood flow information are inputted into the selection circuit 14. Input into the storage section 3.

As a result, the tomographic image storage section 2 and the blood flow information storage section 3
The data written to the designated addresses are respectively read out in the television scanning direction and input to the mixing circuit 18 of the display circuit section 4, where the black and white tomographic image and color blood flow information are mixed. Next, the data mixed in this way is input to the D/A converter 19 and converted into an analog video signal, and this analog video signal is input to the television monitor 20, and as shown in FIG. Image processing □〜
is displayed. Here, the image processing 1 to 1 of the above,
is 8 corresponding to the first delay trigger signal D1 to the second delay trigger signal D6 shown in FIGS. 2(b) to 2(i).
The image writing start position [P engineering, P2. ...IPIs are lined up, and the status at each electrocardiographic synchronization point is displayed.

In addition, in the above description, the number of channels of the delayed trigger signal generation unit 6 is 8 channels 01 to C5 as shown in FIG. 1, and the electrocardiogram synchronization points are 8 points as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
Any number may be used as long as it is an electrocardiogram synchronization point on more than one channel, more than three channels, and an image on three channels.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, a large number of electrocardiogram synchronization points are set, and color blood flow information is superimposed on a tomographic image of a diagnostic site at each electrocardiogram synchronization point in accordance with the order of the electrocardiogram synchronization points. It is possible to display a large number of image works. Therefore, the state of blood flow can be observed in detail from the large number of displayed images 11 to 12 described above. In addition, especially in the case of color display, the image writing position can be controlled by interrupt control using a large number of ECG synchronization points, and images at each of the above ECG synchronization points can be displayed in the order of the ECG synchronization points. The images are displayed in order of the time course of the blood flow state. Therefore, changes in blood flow over time can be observed in detail in the correct order according to the movement of the heart. Furthermore, according to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, changes in the blood flow state at each electrocardiographic synchronization point can be individually detected by a
can provide new diagnostic information,
The clinical value of the device can be increased.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of creation of a delayed trigger signal, and Fig. 3 shows the state of image display on the screen of a television monitor. An explanatory diagram, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of creation of a delay trigger signal in a conventional ultrasound diagnostic apparatus,
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing the state of image display on the screen of a television monitor in a conventional device.
...Blood flow information storage section, 4.Display circuit section, 5.
...Biowave detection section, 6.Delay trigger signal creation section, 7.Operation panel, 8.Central processing unit (M
PU), 9... Image writing position control circuit, 10...
・A/D converter, 11... Color Doppler blood flow detection unit, 16... Probe, 18... Mixing circuit,
19...D/A converter, 20...TV monitor, 22...Interrupt control circuit, T...R wave trigger signal, D-D. ...Delay trigger signal, P1-Ps...Image writing start position, ~1. ···image.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ultrasound transmitter/receiver unit that uses a probe to emit an ultrasound beam to the diagnostic site of the subject and receives the reflected waves, and digitizes the echo signals obtained by this ultrasound transmitter/receiver unit to store a black and white tomographic image. Blood flow information that stores color blood flow information obtained by calculating blood flow specifications of a diagnostic region in a color Doppler blood flow detection unit using echo signals from a tomographic image storage unit and the ultrasound transmitting and receiving unit. a storage unit, a display circuit unit that superimposes and displays tomographic images and blood flow information read from the tomographic image storage unit and blood flow information storage unit on a television monitor, and generates a trigger signal by detecting biological waves of the subject. a biological wave detection unit that generates a delayed trigger signal using a trigger signal from the biological wave detection unit;
An operation panel that sets an electrocardiogram synchronization point for the delayed trigger signal generation section to generate the delayed trigger signal, and a central processing that controls the generation of images synchronized with the delayed trigger signal from the delayed trigger signal generation section. and an image write position control circuit that controls an image write start position when creating write addresses to the tomographic image storage unit and blood flow information storage unit under the control of the central processing unit. The above-mentioned delayed trigger signal generation section is multi-channeled so that three or more delayed trigger signals can be created, and the operation panel is multi-channeled so that three or more electrocardiographic synchronization points can be set, and the delayed trigger signal is created. The present invention is characterized in that an interrupt control circuit for generating interrupt signals using a large number of delayed trigger signals is provided between the unit and the central processing unit, and the image writing position control circuit is capable of controlling the writing start position of multiple images. Ultrasound diagnostic equipment.