JPS632614B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic device, and more particularly, it transmits and receives ultrasonic beams from multiple directions simultaneously using a sector scan method, synthesizes the received wave signals, and displays them on a display or stores them in a memory. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to store information.

2. Description of the Related Art Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses that scan a human body, metal, or the like with an ultrasonic beam to obtain a tomographic image of a predetermined cross section are generally known.

In addition, in such ultrasound diagnostic equipment, a large number of ultrasound beam sectors are scanned from different directions for a specimen, and the obtained tomographic images are combined according to the relative position of the receiving point of each ultrasound beam, and a tomographic image is created. A method to make this more clear has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 11027-1983, which we, the inventors, filed for an invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of such a conventionally proposed ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

In the figure, 1 is a specimen, 2 is a probe device (hereinafter referred to as a probe device), 3 is a display control circuit, and 4 is a display device.

Further, the probe device 2 includes ultrasonic probes 2a and 2b that transmit and receive ultrasonic signals, two probes 2a,
Arms 20, 21, 22, 23 that fix 2b,
and potentiometers 2c, 2c', 2c'' which output signals that allow the relative positions of the probes 2a, 2b to be determined from the angle between the respective arms.

Further, ultrasonic beams of the same or different frequencies are transmitted from each probe 2a, 2b simultaneously or alternately in a time-division manner, and the transmission direction is sequentially deflected to perform sector scanning to create fan-shaped scanning areas S2a, S2b. . Next, the operation will be explained.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of this example will be described assuming that ultrasonic beams are transmitted simultaneously.

First, a doctor or an operator who desires to obtain a tomographic image of a predetermined part of the specimen 1, for example, the heart, moves the probes 2a and 2a fixed to the arms 20 and 23, respectively.
2b is placed toward the predetermined region 1' of the specimen, and then the control device 3 is activated by a switch or the like.

The control device 3 supplies signals of different center frequencies to each probe 2a, 2b in a pulsed manner for a certain period of time. Probes 2a and 2b detect sample 1 by this signal.
Send ultrasound beams at multiple angles.

After that, the ultrasound signals reflected at each biological tissue tomographic position in the specimen 1 separate the received signals received by the probes 2a and 2b into each transmitted signal using the difference in frequency components of the received signals. do.

The separated signals are transmitted to each detector 2c, 2c', 2
It is displayed at the corresponding position on the display 4 determined by the detection output of c'' and the transmission direction signal of the ultrasonic beam, and the received signal modulates the brightness of the scanning electron beam of the cathode ray tube and stores it in the memory. do.

This allows the display screen of the display device 4 to display the tomography existing within the fan-shaped scanning areas S2b, S2b' of the specimen 1.

Such ultrasonic diagnostic equipment has multiple probes, so if the received signal is displayed on the display or stored in memory, ignoring the positional relationship of the probes, multiple probes will be displayed. There was a drawback that the touchpads could not be displayed or memorized in a satisfactory positional relationship, making it impossible to display or memorize them.

Therefore, the present invention aims to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a completely new ultrasonic diagnostic device. A plurality of sector scan type probes are provided that emit ultrasonic waves and receive acoustic signals from the specimen as received wave signals, and the received wave signals of each probe are combined and displayed on a display or stored in memory. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the received wave signal from a predetermined specific probe among the above-mentioned probes is displayed or stored in a specific position of the display or memory, and the other The received wave signal of the probe may be displayed or stored at a position corresponding to the relative position and angular displacement with respect to the position of a specific probe, or the received wave signal may be displayed or stored at a position corresponding to the relative position and angular displacement amount to the position of a specific probe. In an ultrasonic diagnostic device that displays the received wave signal on the display or stores it in the memory, the angle corresponding to the sector number is calculated, and the relative angle difference between the specific probe and the probe is calculated. This can be achieved by determining in advance the display angle of the probe on the display or the position to be stored in the memory from the angle corresponding to the sector number and the relative angle difference.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the probe device shown in FIG. 1 according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a model diagram of FIG. 2. In the figure, the same symbols as in Figure 1 indicate the same things, and α, β, and γ are for each arm 2.
Indicates the inner and outer angles formed by 0, 21, 22, and 23.

Now, to simplify the explanation, arms 20 and 23
The explanation will proceed assuming that the length of the arm 21 and the length of the arms 21 and 22 are equal to each other.

Further, the center line of the sector scan range of the probe 2b is taken as the vertical direction, the point of this fan-shaped sector scan range is taken as the origin, the horizontal direction of the drawing is taken as the x axis, and the vertical direction is taken as the y axis.

Now, if the point of the sector scan range of the probe 2b is taken as the origin, the point of the sector scan range of the probe 2a is △x, as shown in the figure.
Probe 2 relative to probe 2b, indicated by Δy
The inclination of a is indicated by the inclination Δθ of the center line as shown in the figure.

Note that the angles α, β, and γ are the angles α, β, and γ of the potesciometer 2.
c, 2c', 2c''. Now arm 20
When the length of arm 21 is l ₄ , the length of arm 21 is l _{3 ,} the length of arm 22 is l ₂ , and the length of arm 24 is l ₁ , each △
_x , △y, △ _θ are, △x=l ₂ sinα ₋ l ₂ (sinα−β) −l ₁ sin(α−β+γ) ... ) −l ₁ cos(α−B+γ) …… △θ=α−β+γ …… It can be shown by the formula.

In other words, when the point of the fan-shaped scanning area of one probe is taken as the origin, the coordinate displacement of the key point of the sector-shaped scanning area of the other probe and the angular displacement difference between the center line of the sector-shaped scanning area are the relative displacements △x, △y, All you have to do is calculate △θ.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which the received signals from each probe 2a, 2b are displayed on a display or stored in a memory using these devices.

In FIG. 4, 5 is an angle reading unit, 6 is a circuit for calculating origin deviations △x, △y and angular deviation △θ signals, and 7
Reference numeral 8 indicates a memory address/deflection signal generation section, 8 a scanning line number A generation section, 9 a scanning line number B generation section, 10 a reset signal, 11 a switching signal, and 12 a display/memory.

The displacement amounts from the potentiometers 2c, 2c', 2c'' shown in FIG. 2 are input to the angle reading section 5, and the angles α, β, γ shown in FIG. 2 are read.

In the origin deviation △x, △y and angular deviation △θ calculation circuit 6, the arm lengths l ₁ , l ₂ , l ₃ , l which are previously known as α, β, γ from the angle reading section 5 are used. From ₄ , perform the calculations shown in the above formulas to obtain △
Calculate x, △y, △θ.

In the memory address/deflection signal generation section 7, the sector number corresponding to the received signal from the probe is inputted from the scanning line number generation sections 8 and 9, which generate the sector number corresponding to each probe, and also resets each sector number. A signal is input as a reset signal 10, and a switching signal 11 for switching the signals from the scanning line number generators 8 and 9 and the signal from the origin deviation and angular deviation calculation circuit 6 is input, and the memory for the display/memory 12 is input. Generates address and deflection signals.

12 is a display or memory.

The memory address/deflection signal generation section 7 is a deflection signal generation section when the object is the display 12, and is a memory address generation section when the object is the memory 12.

Next, the operation will be explained.

The angle reading unit 5 reads each potentiometer 2c, 2
c', 2c'' is read and α, β, and γ are calculated as shown in Fig. 2.This potentiometer 2
c, 2c', and 2c'' are voltages that are generated depending on the angle, and the angle reading section 5 may be any voltage that converts this voltage into an angle.

The origin deviation Δx, Δy and angular deviation Δθ signal calculation circuit 6 has a circuit configuration as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7.

In the figures, FIG. 5 shows an origin deviation Δx calculation circuit, FIG. 6 shows an origin deviation Δy calculation circuit, and FIG. 7 shows an angular deviation Δθ calculation circuit.

In the figure, 13 is an adder circuit, 14 is a sine function generator, 15 is a cos function generator, 16 is an _l2 multiplier,
17 indicates _l1 multipliers, respectively.

In FIG. 5, the origin deviation △x is the angle α, β, γ from the angle reading unit 5 as shown in the above formula.
△x can be easily calculated using the circuit configuration shown in the figure and arm lengths l ₁ and l ₂ respectively.

That is, each sin function generator 14 is inputted with angles α and α−β added together via the addition circuit 13, and angles α−β+γ added together via the addition circuit 13, each of which is measured in advance. The arm lengths l ₂ and l ₁ thus obtained are multiplied by multipliers 16 and 17, and the outputs of each multiplier 16 and 17 are added to adder 13.
By adding , the origin deviation △x is obtained.

Similarly, in FIG. 6, the origin deviation Δy can also be calculated. However, as is clear from the above equation, the signals obtained from the multipliers 16 and 17 are transferred to the adder circuit 13.
When adding , l ₁ must be added together.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the angular deviation Δθ can be obtained from the angles α, β, and γ from the angle reading unit 5 using the addition circuit 13 as α+γ−β.

As described above, the origin deviations Δx, Δy and the angular deviation Δθ are calculated by the calculation circuit 6 and input to the memory address/deflection signal generation section 7.

The address/deflection signal generating section 7 operates with a configuration as shown in FIG.

Further, the address/deflection signal generating section 7 is also a main circuit of the present invention.

First, the probe 2b predetermined according to the present invention is always displayed or stored at a specific position on the display or memory, for example, in the center. Therefore, the ultrasonic emission position of the probe 2b, that is, the key point of the fan-shaped sector scan range is set as the origin. Therefore, the received signal of the probe 2b to be displayed or stored at this specific position is processed as follows.

When the switching signal instructs reading from the probe 2b, the switching signal 11 is switched to the 9 side for SW1 to SW4, and the other switches S2 to S4 are switched to the signal "0" side, and a predetermined display is displayed. Alternatively, display or storage from the origin on the memory is instructed.

A synchronization signal is sent from the switch S1 to the scanning line number B generating section 9 in order to generate a sector number in synchronization with which sector the probe 2b is currently emitting ultrasonic waves corresponding to. The sector number corresponding to which sector the received wave signal from the probe 2b corresponds to is input.

This sector number is input to the angle converter 18,
θi is generated for a sector number determined in advance according to the characteristics of the probe. (The angle indicated by θi from the center line of the sector shown in FIG. 3).

This angle θi is input to an adder 13, and an angular deviation is added thereto. However, since the probe 2b is at the origin, the angular deviation is "0", so only the angle corresponding to the sector number is the sine function and the cosine function.
It is input to the function generators 14 and 15 and is further input to the integrator 19.
and 20 to obtain ∫sinθidt and −∫cosθidt, which are respectively input to the adder 13.

Since the origin deviation is naturally "0" in the adder 13, it is output as is and used as a memory address and deflection signal.

For example, when displaying on the display 12, these signals are applied to the x-axis and y-axis as deflection signals of a cathode ray tube to draw a scanning line.

Further, the integrating circuits 19 and 20 are reset when the time elapses from when the probe 2b emits an ultrasonic wave until a received wave signal is obtained.

In addition, when storing on memory, the integrator 19
The signals received from the probe 2b may be stored by associating the signals 20 and 20 with the addresses in the x and y directions of the memory 12.

In addition, in the case of a received wave signal from the probe probe 2b, the switch S1 is set to 8 by the switching signal 11.
side, S2 to Δθ, S3 to Δx, and S4 to Δy.

By doing this, the sector number indicating which sector the received wave signal corresponds to is inputted from the scanning line number generating section 8 via the switch S1 in the same way as described above.

This sector number is input to the angle converter 18, which generates θj corresponding to the sector number predetermined according to the characteristics of the probe. (The angle indicated by θj from the center line of the fan shape shown in FIG. 3) This angle θj is input to the adder 13, and Δθ is added thereto from the angular deviation calculating section 6 shown in FIG. As described above, probe 2b is
This shows that b is sector scanned with an angle of △θ.

Similarly, the sine function generator 14 and cos function generator 15 and the outputs of these generators are connected to the integrator 1.
By inputting to 9 and 20, ∫sin(θj+
Δθ)dt and −∫cos(θj+Δθ)dt can be obtained, and each is input to the adder 13.

An adder 13 gives the origin deviation of the probe 2a with respect to the probe 2b to change the scanning base point. That is, since the probe 2b is currently displayed and stored as the origin, the positional deviation from this origin, that is, the origin deviation, is added as Δx and Δy, respectively.

By doing this, the output of the adder 13 is
DEFX=∫sin(θj+△θ)dt+△x, DEFY=-
∫cos(θj+Δθ)dt+Δy is obtained.

Therefore, if this signal is used to control the deflection of the display, the received signal from the probe 2a will be displayed on the display according to the origin deviation Δx from the probe 2b.
It is displayed tilted by an angular deviation Δθ from the position shifted by Δy.

By displaying the received signals from the probes 2b and 2a in real time on the display or storing them in the memory in this manner, the received signals from a plurality of probes can be combined and displayed and stored.

In this way, among the received signals from multiple probes, the received signal from a specific probe is displayed or stored in a fixed position on the display or memory, and the received signals from other probes are displayed or stored in a fixed position on the display or memory. Since the origin deviation and angular deviation are determined and displayed or stored at positions corresponding to each deviation, display control and storage control are simplified.

Another feature of the present invention is that a sector number-angle converter 18 is provided as shown in FIG. That is, the inventors used a circuit as shown in FIG. 9 instead of the conventional circuit shown in FIG.

In other words, since the format of the sectors of each probe is often the same, the sine and cos functions are generated directly from the sector number, and when reading probe 2a as shown in Figure 8, the angular deviation △θ is calculated as described above. I had to add it up. Therefore, as a memory address/deflection signal generator, sin
In order to obtain the integral values of (θj+Δθ) and cos(θj+Δθ), it was necessary to calculate using the following expansion formula.

That is, sin(θj+△θ)=sinθjcos△θ+cosθjsin△θ cos(θj+△θ)=cosθjcos△θ−sinθjsin△θ Therefore, as shown in Fig. 9, sin△
Although a sin/cos function generator and four multipliers for θ and cos△θ were additionally required, in the present invention, the angle corresponding to the sector number is determined in advance and the angle deviation △
Since this is performed after adding θ, the circuit is greatly simplified as shown in FIG. The operation shown in FIG. 9 is the same as the operation shown in FIG. 8, so a description thereof will be omitted. Note that 21 indicates a multiplier.

As described above, the present invention provides an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a plurality of probes, and in which the received wave signals of each probe are synthesized and displayed on a display or stored in a memory. By displaying the received wave signal from a predetermined specific probe at a specific position on the display or memory, other probes can check the position (origin) deviation with respect to the specific probe. All you need to do is find the angle deviation, and the corresponding information can be easily displayed on the display or in the memory.
In addition to making it possible to store data, it also reduces the possibility that part of the received signal from each probe cannot be displayed/stored on the display or in the memory.

In addition, when displaying the received signal from each probe on a display or storing it in memory, the sector number is converted into an angle, and the probe is displayed and stored at a predetermined specific position. By calculating the angular deviation between the angle and the probe and adding both angles, it became possible to generate a memory address/deflection signal using an extremely simple circuit.

Note that the probe of the present invention may be moved to a plurality of positions and receive wave signals may be obtained at a plurality of locations using one probe. Further, the sector scan may be electrical or mechanical.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an example of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention.
Fig. 2 shows one embodiment of the probe device of the present invention;
The figure is a model diagram of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a control circuit for displaying on a display or storing data in a memory according to the present invention, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are a model diagram of the present invention. Example of coordinate deviation calculation circuit, 7th
The figure shows an embodiment of the angular deviation calculation circuit of the present invention, FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the memory address/deflection signal generator of the present invention, and FIG. 9 shows a conventional memory address/deflection signal generator of the present invention. An example is shown, and in the figure, 1 is a specimen, 2 is a probe device, 3 is a display control circuit, 4 is a display, 5 is an angle reading section, 6 is an origin deviation Δx,
Δy and angular deviation Δθ signal calculation circuit, 7 is a memory address/deflection signal generation section, 8 is a scanning line number A generation section, 9 is a scanning line number B generation section, 10 is a reset signal, 11 is a switching signal, 12 is a display/memory, 13 is an addition circuit, 14 is a sine function generator,
15 is a cos function generator, 16, 17, 21 are multipliers, 18 is a sector number-angle converter, 19, 2
0 indicates an integrating circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of sector scan type probes are provided, each of which emits ultrasonic waves at a predetermined angle to a specimen and receives acoustic signals from the specimen as received wave signals. In an ultrasonic diagnostic device in which the received wave signals of the probes are synthesized and displayed on a display or stored in a memory, The received wave signals of the probes are displayed or stored at a specific position on the display or memory, and the received wave signals of other probes are displayed or stored at positions corresponding to the relative position and angular displacement with respect to the position of the specific probe. An ultrasonic diagnostic device characterized by: 2. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that displays received wave signals from a plurality of sector scan type probes on a display or stores them in memory, the angle corresponding to the sector scan line number is calculated and The relative angle difference between the sensor and the probe is calculated, and the angle corresponding to the scanning line number of the sector and the relative angle difference are used to determine the display angle on the display of the probe or the position to be stored in the memory in advance. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is configured to determine: