JPS63267342A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform the scroll display of a desired area along an ultrasonic beam scanning direction without changing the relative positions of a linear probe and an object to be examined or lowering the magnifying power, by constituting a sampling effective region in a movable manner corresponding to the scroll indication data from a lateral direction scroll switch. CONSTITUTION:The display of the whole image 2A of an object 2, whose image must be picked up, no an CRT picture 7' is performed by using all of ultrasonic beams n1-m and sampling the reflected beams thereof. When it is assumed that the core parts desired to be displayed in a magnified state are present on the left and right sides of a partial image 2B, an operator uses a lateral direction scroll switch 10 to send out the scroll indication data in left and right directions to a controller 8. If the lateral direction scroll switch 10 is operated in the left direction when the core parts are present on the left side, a region Lm is continuously shifted by the lateral direction region change quantity lcorresponding to the operation of the lateral direction scroll switch 10 in the left direction through an A/D converter and probe control part 3 while the same magnifying power is held in the controller 8 and the partial image scrolled in the left direction can be obtained.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of horizontally scrolling and displaying tomographic images of a subject such as a human body.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of ultrasonic diagnostic equipment usually emits an ultrasonic pulse beam while a linear scanning ultrasonic probe (hereinafter referred to as a linear probe) is in contact with the subject.
After converting the reflected beam into an analog electrical signal, the A/
It is known that a so-called B-mode image is displayed on a CRT screen by D-converting the image, storing it in a memory, and sequentially scanning an ultrasonic pulse beam line in a fixed direction. Generally, several types of linear probes with different ultrasonic pulse frequencies are prepared, and each linear probe is configured so that the tomographic image can be switched to several types of magnification. has been done. With this configuration of the linear probe, the ψ range inside the subject depicted as a tomographic image can be changed, while CR7
Since the size of the screen is constant, there are cases where the display range of the CRT is insufficient compared to the drawing range capability of the linear probe. For this reason, for example, a deep part in a plane perpendicular to the surface of the subject can be visualized at a high magnification (by scrolling the tomographic screen vertically using a joystick, etc., the display range of the CRT screen can be substantially expanded). Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment has been provided that is capable of enlarging the area.This scrolling function uses vertical scrolling instruction data using a joystick or the like to set the sampling starting point of the reflected beam from the subject to a point deep from the surface of the subject. However, in recent years, in order to improve the convenience and accuracy of ultrasound diagnosis, two or more images of the same object are displayed on the CRT screen. A diagnostic device that simultaneously displays tomographic images has been proposed.As an example of the display, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the left display section 2 of the CR7 screen 21
1A displays the entire image 22 of the imaging target as a still image, and the other right display section 21B displays a moving image of a partial image 23 obtained by enlarging the core part of the entire image 22 at an arbitrary magnification. There is. Note that FIG. 4(a) shows the case where the enlargement factor of the partial image 23 is 1, that is, the same magnification, and FIG. 4(b) shows the case where the enlargement factor is larger than 1. Here, the whole image 22 and the partial images 23 at various magnification ratios are
The principle for obtaining the following will be briefly described based on FIG. In the figure, assuming that ultrasonic beams n, to n, are emitted from the linear probe 24 to the imaging target 25 of the subject, the fourth
When drawing the entire image 22 or the same-sized partial image 23 in the figure, all the ultrasound beams n, to n, are sequentially scanned, and the reflected beams are converted into electrical signals, which are A/D converted and then stored in the image memory. is stored as image information. Such image information is converted into a video signal by well-known means such as D/A conversion, and is displayed on the left display section 21A of the CR7 screen 21.
etc. will be displayed. That is, in this case, the image information based on the reflected beam sampled within the area shown in FIG. On the other hand, in order to obtain a partial image 23 with an enlargement factor of 1 or more as shown in FIG. 4(b), for example, the reflected beams of the ultrasound beams n1 to nt within the area 1 in FIG. 5 are sampled, The image information obtained from these is displayed on the CR7 screen 21.
At this time, reflected beams from the ultrasonic beams nl""nl-1 and nl+1 to nl+1 outside the above range are not sampled.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Therefore, even if the imaging ability in the scanning direction of the ultrasound beam, that is, in the horizontal direction in FIG. Overall image 2 due to limitations
This causes the inconvenience that only a portion of 2 can be enlarged and displayed. In this case, if there is a core part other than the enlarged display area, the core part can be solved by shifting the position of the linear probe 24 in the lateral direction with respect to the imaging target 25, or by increasing the beam used (effective sampling area). The partial image 23 cannot be displayed unless the partial image 23 is enlarged by a means such as lowering its magnification. In other words, it cannot be handled by a method such as shifting the sampling start point of the reflected beam, such as a scroll function in the depth direction of the object. Therefore, it is extremely inconvenient to operate the diagnostic device, and
This also seriously impeded the accuracy of diagnosis. The present invention was proposed to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to change the relative position between the linear probe and the subject and to adjust the magnification even when the display range is insufficient. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can scroll display a desired region along the scanning direction of an ultrasonic beam without lowering the area.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention linearly scans an ultrasound beam transmitted and received from a probe through a subject in a fixed direction, and obtains a tomographic image of the subject from the received wave of the ultrasound beam. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a part of the tomographic image can be enlarged and visualized by changing the effective sampling area along the scanning direction of the ultrasound beam, and the sampling The present invention is characterized in that the effective area is configured to be movable in response to scroll instruction data from a horizontal scroll switch or the like.

[For use]

In the present invention, a portion of the entire image is enlarged and displayed at a predetermined magnification by changing the effective sampling area along the scanning direction of the ultrasound beam. In this state, scroll instruction data is sent to the controller by the operator's operation of the horizontal scroll switch. The controller moves the sampling effective area according to the scroll instruction data while maintaining the above magnification ratio, and enlarges a partial image other than the previously enlarged display portion and depicts it on the display screen.

【Example】

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a linear probe, and this linear probe 1 directs an ultrasonic beam toward an imaging target 2 of a subject. The reflected beam B is received and converted into an analog electrical signal. This analog signal is converted into a digital signal by the A/D conversion and probe control section 3, and is recorded in the image memory 4 as image information. That is, by sequentially scanning the reflected beam B in the linear probe 1, image information corresponding to the cross section of the imaging target 2 is accumulated in the image memory 4. This image information is converted into an analog signal by the D/A converter 5, converted into a video signal via the next stage video circuit 6, and displayed as a tomographic image on the screen of the CRT 7. These series of operations are performed under the control of the controller 8 based on operation commands from the operation switch 9. The controller 8 is used to partially enlarge and display the entire image as described later. , the effective sampling area of the ultrasonic beam in the linear probe 1 can also be controlled in accordance with the desired magnification ratio instructed by the operation switch 9. However, in this embodiment, a horizontal scroll switch 10 is connected to the controller 8, and this horizontal scroll switch IO outputs scroll instruction data for horizontally scrolling the screen along the operating direction of the ultrasound beam. For example, it is made up of a joystick or the like. Note that the horizontal scroll switch 10 may be included in the operation switch 9. Next, the scrolling function of the horizontal scroll switch 10 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Now, as shown in FIG. 2(A), the entire CRT screen 7° is displayed with the entire image 2A of the imaging target 2 due to the display operation described above.
Suppose that is displayed. At this time, assuming that the positional relationship between the ultrasound beam emitted from the linear probe l and whose reflected beam is sampled and the imaging target 2 is as shown in FIG. 3, the display of the entire image 2A is the ultrasound beam n,
-n, and by sampling its reflected beam. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7B, the CR7 screen 7' is partially formed to form a left display section 7A and a right display section 7B, and the entire image 2A is displayed as a still image on the left display section 7A.
Assuming that the right display section 7B displays a moving image of a partial image 2B obtained by enlarging the whole image 2A by several times, the enlargement ratio in FIG. (c)
is the case when the enlargement ratio is greater than 1. Setting of this magnification rate is performed by operating the operation switch 9, and the usage range of the ultrasound beams n, to n, within the sampling effective area corresponding to each magnification rate is stored in advance in the internal memory of the controller 8. ing. That is, when the magnification factor is 1, all ultrasonic beams n, ~nm within the effective sampling area (hereinafter simply referred to as "area") L in FIG. 3 are used, and when the magnification factor k (k> In case 1), for example, the ultrasonic beams n3 to n within the region Lm are each stored as the beam to be used. Therefore, operate the operation switch 9 to
Assuming that the magnification of the image 2B is set to k, the controller 8. Area L via A/D conversion and probe control unit 3
The reflected beams within m are sampled and displayed as a partial image 2B on the entire surface of the right display section 7B as shown in FIG. 2(c). That is, the image information from the reflected beam within the region L+++ is associated with the pixels on the entire surface of the right display section 7B, and the tomographic image is displayed in an enlarged manner. At this time, the ultrasonic beam n,
~n, -1 and nL+I~n are not used. Next, assuming that the core portion to be enlarged and displayed is on the left and right sides of the partial image 2B in FIG. If the core part is on the left side, the horizontal scroll switch 10
This allows the controller 8 to maintain the same enlargement ratio (width of the effective sampling area) and move the area Lm through the A/D conversion and probe control unit 3 to the horizontal scroll switch. The horizontal area is shifted to the left by the amount of change l in the lateral direction corresponding to the operation No. 10. For example, when the horizontal scroll switch 10 is a joystick, the leftward area change amount l continues to be sent to the controller 8 by tilting and holding the joystick to the left. If f=1, the ultrasonic beam from which the reflected beam is sampled is: Initial display: n~nt (region Lm in Figure 3). Next display: n, -, ~n 1-1゜Next display: n5-Z~nL-2+n l-3"" n L
-3+n s-,1"+n L-11 (area L1 in Figure 3). Leftmost display: n, -n, (area in Figure 3, . . .) Continuously changed. In this case, instead of always changing the left end to n, for example, n3 in the middle
If you return the joystick to the upright position with -4~nL-d,
At this point, the leftward movement of the area Lm is stopped, the controller 8 stores nsa to nt, and thereafter repeats the sampling display of this range. By doing this, a partial image scrolled to the left can be obtained. 2B in Figure 2 (d) moves as far as possible to the left (the reflected beam to be sampled is n
1 to n, ) are displayed. Conversely, by tilting and holding the joystick to the right, you can scroll the image to the right in the same way, and
As shown in the figure, Ill→---I Lag, -1+
You can select the area to be displayed, such as La4. 2B in Fig. 2 (e) is a partial image that is displayed when the reflected beam is moved as far as possible to the right (the reflected beam to be sampled is n, ... nJ). Then, the ultrasound beam from which the reflected beam is sampled is shown at the beginning: nl
~nL+ Next display: n5-2~n

[-2・n m-4"n L-4+ Leftmost display section n+"-n. It is moved discontinuously at twice the speed when f=1. This is done, for example, by changing the tilt of the joystick. Note that the present invention is not limited to the case where 7° of the CR7 screen is divided and the partial image 2B is enlarged and displayed on one side, as in this embodiment, but the case where the partial image 2B is enlarged and displayed on the entire screen is not limited. Of course, this method can also be applied when scrolling partial images. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied not only to so-called B-mode images (but also to tomographic images (C-mode images) parallel to the body surface of the subject. [Effects of the Invention] As described above in detail According to the present invention, the effective sampling area along the scanning direction of the ultrasonic beam can be moved by operating the scroll switch, making it possible to easily scroll the display screen in the horizontal direction. There is no need to change the relative position between the linear probe and the subject or to reduce the magnification of partial images, resulting in complicated operations, insufficient diagnostic range, and inaccurate diagnosis. can all be resolved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the general configuration, Figure 2 (a)
~(E) is an explanatory diagram of a CRT screen for explaining the scroll function, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the sampling effective area, and FIGS. 4 (A) and (B) are screens for explaining the drawbacks of the conventional example. FIG. 5, a diagram showing a display example, is an explanatory diagram of a conventional sampling effective area. l... Linear probe, 2... Imaging target, 28.
...Whole image, 2B...Partial image, 3...
A/D conversion and probe control section, 4... image memory, 5... D/A conversion section, 6... video circuit, 7... CRT. 7°...CRT screen 7A...Left display section, 7B
...Right display section, 8...Controller, 9
...Operation switch, 10...Horizontal scroll switch, L m, L
@In L 1112+ L Ill:l+ L 11
14 ”'Sampling effective area L'J, light 2 freeze 3 Kinuta s

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ultrasound beam transmitted and received from a probe through a subject is scanned linearly along a certain direction, and a tomographic image of the subject is reproduced from the received waves of the ultrasound beam and depicted on a display screen, In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is capable of enlarging and depicting a part of the tomographic image by changing the effective sampling area along the scanning direction of the ultrasound beam, the effective sampling area is movable in accordance with scroll instruction data. An ultrasonic diagnostic device characterized by having the following configuration: