JPS63318931A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To properly deal with an increase in the number of ultrasonic probes, by providing a data reading memory means, which reads the address data of an address data memory part to read the corresponding data of the data memory part shown by the read address data and subjects said data to the operation of this apparatus, as a separate unit. CONSTITUTION:In the scanning of an ultrasonic probe P, text parts 3, 4, 6 respectively read the address data alpha of an address X1, the address data beta of an address X2 and the address data gamma of an address X3. The text part 3 reads the data A stored in address a1-an on the basis of the read address data alphaand sends said data to a CPU part 30 through a ROM 40 to subject the same to the operation of this apparatus. In the same way, the text parts 4, 6 read the data B stored in an address b1-bn and the data C stored in an address c1-cn on the basis of the respective address data beta, gamma and these data are also sent to the CPU part 30 through the ROM 40 to be subjected to the operation of this apparatus.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly, to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can appropriately cope with the connection of various types of ultrasonic probes.

(Prior art) In recent years, the types of ultrasound probes used in ultrasound diagnostic equipment have increased, including standard cardiac and abdominal probes.

In addition to ultrasound probes for obstetrics, special ultrasound probes for intraoperative use, snack use, prostate use, transluminal use, etc. are increasing.

In particular, there is an increasing demand for connecting the above-mentioned special ultrasound probes to the ultrasonic diagnostic devices that are already on the market, thereby increasing the versatility of the ultrasonic diagnostic devices for subjects.

A conventional example of such an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 50 shown in the figure includes an 020 unit 30 that controls the entire apparatus, an ultrasonic probe P that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves, and a transmitter and receiver that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from the ultrasonic probe P under the control of the CPU unit 30. A transmitting/receiving section 31 that performs wave driving;
A DSC (digital scan converter) 32 performs A/D conversion on the ultrasonic echo signal sent from the transmitting/receiving section 31 under the control of the CPU section 30 and processes the converted digital signal; A display unit (e.g. CRT) that captures signals and displays ultrasound images
33, and a software package 34 connected to the CPU section 30. This software package 34 includes four R
It is configured using OM (One-Domain Memory).

That is, the software package 34 includes a ROM 40 that stores the main program of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 50;
A ROM 41 that stores a scanning method program for the ultrasonic probe P in this device 50, and a ROM that stores data on the optimum system for the transmission and reception system in this device 50.
42, and a ROM 43 that stores a program related to displaying accompanying information regarding the ultrasound probe P.

The ROMs 41, 42, 434t, data sections 41a, 4 that store necessary data for each program.
2a, 43a, and each data section 41a.

Text portions 41b and 42b that store reading programs for reading the respective data stored in 42a and 43a.
, 43b.

The scanning method program for the ultrasound probe P described above is, for example, a linear scanning program for scanning each transducer so that parallel ultrasound waves are transmitted from the ultrasound probe P.

In addition, the data of the optimal system for the transmission and reception system mentioned above is
These are the transmission voltage, filter coefficient, etc. of each vibrator.

The program related to the display of accompanying information regarding the ultrasonic probe P described briefly above is related to, for example, a graphic marker indicating the position of the focus point of the ultrasonic probe P.

By the way, in the case of the conventional device 50 described above, for example, the ROM
The data storage method of the data section 41a of 41 initially stores only the data necessary for scanning with the ultrasound probe P, and when a new ultrasound probe (for example, for intraoperative use) is stored in such an apparatus 50.

When a special ultrasonic probe (for snacks, etc.) is additionally connected, this new ultrasonic probe will contain not only the data of the ultrasonic probe P as shown in Figure 6, but also the data of the new ultrasonic probe itself. Since it is stored, this RO
It is necessary to change the software of M41, and ROM41
must be replaced with another ROM compatible with the ultrasound probe P and the new ultrasound probe.

This also applies to the ROMs 42 and 43.

As a result, the number of ROMs to be replaced increases, and since these are configured separately, the following problems occur.

(b) As software becomes more complex and requires a lot of time to develop, it is not possible to immediately respond to indentation.

(b) As software becomes more complex, bugs are more likely to occur;
Reliability decreases.

c) Since the number of ROMs to be replaced is large, the price of the device increases.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the conventional apparatus has poor adaptability to the increase in the number of ultrasonic probes, and has drawbacks in terms of reliability and price.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can appropriately cope with the increase in the number of ultrasonic probes, has excellent reliability, and does not cause an increase in price.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention continuously stores a plurality of types of data related to ultrasonic diagnosis, and stores the plurality of types of data as an ultrasonic probe is added. When some or all of the data is added, each additional data is stored after the corresponding existing data, and the storage area of the subsequent different type of data is shifted according to the difference between the data storage unit and the storage area. data storage means comprising an address data storage section for changing the contents of address data indicating an area;
reading address data in the address data storage section;
It has a separate data reading storage means for reading the corresponding data in the data storage section indicated by the read address data and providing it for the operation of this device.

(for production) The operation of the apparatus having the above configuration will be explained below.

The data reading storage means of this device first reads address data among multiple types of data related to ultrasonic diagnosis stored in the address data storage section, and based on this, further stores the data indicated by the read address data. The corresponding data of the unit is read and the read data is provided to the operation of this device.

Due to the operation of the data reading storage means, the data storage means is replaced with the addition of an ultrasound probe, the address of the stored data in the data storage section is changed, and the content of the address data in the address data storage section is changed accordingly. Even if the data reading storage means is changed, it can be used as is without replacing it.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, parts having the same functions as those of the conventional apparatus shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The difference between the device 1 shown in FIG. 1 and the conventional device 50 is that, in place of the software package 34, a software package 2 is provided in which a data section and a text section are configured in separate ROMs.

That is, the software package 2 is
0, a text part 3b of the program for the scanning method of the ultrasound probe P, and a text part 4b for the data program of the optimum system for the transmission and reception system.
M5 and a second ROM having a text part 6 of a program related to displaying accompanying information regarding the ultrasound probe.
7, a data section 8a of the scanning method program of the ultrasound probe P, a data section 8b of the data program regarding data of the optimum system of the transmitting/receiving system, and a data section 8C of the program regarding the display of incidental information regarding the ultrasound probe. A third ROM 9 is provided separately.

And the above-mentioned 1. The second ROM 5.7 constitutes a data reading storage means, and the third ROM 9 constitutes a data storage means.

The third ROM 9 as a data storage means is shown in FIG.
) As shown in the enlarged view, an address data storage section 10,
The data storage section 11 is also provided. In this data storage unit 11, program data A related to the scanning method of the ultrasound probe P is stored from addresses a1 to an.
Data B regarding the optimal system for transmitting/receiving is continuously stored from addresses b1 to bn, and data C regarding the display of incidental information regarding the ultrasound probe is stored from addresses C1 to an.

Further, in the area of address x 1 in the address data storage section 10, address data α indicating addresses a1 to an of the data A is stored, and in the area of address X2, address data β indicating addresses b1 to bn of the data B is stored. However, address data γ indicating addresses C1 to ICn of the data C are respectively stored in the address×3 area.

As shown in FIG. 2(b), this third ROM 9 is additionally connected with the special ultrasonic probe described above, and additional data A' and B' are added to the data A, data B, and data C, respectively. , C', when the address of each data storage area changes due to an increase, each address data is automatically changed to the corresponding address data corresponding to the address change of each data storage area. Connected in advance.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and (b), data A
When additional data A' is added to address data α in the address C1 area of address data storage section 10, the addresses of data A and additional data A' are changed from al to an'
In response to this, the address data α' is changed to indicate this.

Similarly, the address data β in the address x 2 area is such that the addresses of data B and additional data B' are from b1' to bn'.
The address data β' in the address x 3 area indicates this in response to the fact that the addresses of data C and additional data C' change from C1 to Cn'. The address data γ' are respectively changed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the text part 3 constituting the data reading storage means first reads address data α or α' in the address>h6jf area, and then reads these data based on the read address data α or α'. Reads data A or data A and additional data A' at addresses C1 to an or addresses C1 to an' indicated by , and stores the read data in the ROM.
40,010 section 30 for use in the operation of this device.

The text sections 4 and 6 also perform the same operations as the text section 3, respectively.

Next, the operation of the apparatus having the above configuration will be explained.

When scanning the ultrasonic probe P in this device 1, the text section 3 receives address data α of address x 1, the text section 4 receives 7 trace data β of address X2, and the text section 6 receives address data γ of address X3. Read each.

Then, the text section 3 reads data A stored in addresses C1 to an based on the read address data α and sends it to the 010 section 30 via the ROM 40 for use in the operation of the device 1.

Similarly, the text sections 4 and 6 read data B stored in addresses b1 to bn and data C stored in addresses C1 to Cn based on the read address data β and γ, respectively, and these data are also stored in the ROM 40. It is then sent to the 010 section 30 and used for the operation of this device 1.

As a result, under the control of the 010 section 30, the transmitting/receiving section 3"l and the DSC 32 of this apparatus 1 operate based on the program stored in the software package 2, and a desired ultrasound image is obtained on the display section 33.

Next, a special ultrasonic probe P written in the transmitting/receiving section 31 is
is connected to each data A, B, C, and additional data A', B
When ' and C' are added, additional data A' is entered immediately after data A as shown in FIG. 2(b), and the addresses of data A and additional data A' change from al to an'. The start address of data B is shifted from the original b to b', and the end address of additional data B' added to this data B becomes bn'. Roughly speaking, the start address of data C following additional data B is 01', and the end address of additional data C' for this data C is C.
It becomes n'.

With such address changes of each data in the data storage section 10, each address X1 . Address data α, β, γ in X2 and X3
(Y, address data α' indicating the addresses C1 to an', b1' to bn'+ci' to Cn', respectively)
, β′, γ′ automatically.

ROM with such address data and each data changed
The reading operation of the text portions 3, 4.6 for 9 is also performed in the same manner as described above, but the ROM shown in FIG. 2(a)
9 and the ROM 9 shown in FIG. 2(b), the atto Lz, Xt, X2, and X3 in the address data storage section 10 are unchanged, so the text sections 3, 4, . The ROM 5 having the text section 6 can be used as is.

In other words, even if the third ROM 9 having the address data storage section 10 and the data storage section 11 is replaced when the special ultrasonic probe 7 is added, the first. 2nd ROM5
．． 7 can be used as is.

This makes it possible to simplify the software,
Immediate response to indentation can be improved, and the occurrence of bugs that occur in conventional devices can be reduced, and reliability can be improved.

In addition, RO to be replaced when adding a special ultrasound probe.
Since the number of M is small, the cost of the device can be reduced compared to conventional devices.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various changes can be made within the scope of the invention.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a case was explained in which a software package that stores three types of programs is used, but the software package is not limited to this. can also be implemented.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention described in detail above, even when the number of ultrasound probes increases, it is possible to cope with the increase in the number of ultrasonic probes by simply replacing only the data recording means, which improves reliability and avoids incurring an increase in cost. It is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic device that is not available.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2(a) shows the first software package in the device.
．． Second. An enlarged explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the third ROM, Fig. 2(b) is an enlarged explanatory diagram when additional data is stored in the same third ROM, and Fig. 3 is the reading order by the text section of the device. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the conventional device, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the software package of the conventional device, and FIG. 6 is a software configuration diagram of the conventional device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Ultrasonic diagnostic device, 2... Software package, 5... First ROM, 7... Second ROM. 9...Third ROM. Figure 2 (b) Figure 2 Figure 8 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] When multiple types of data related to ultrasound diagnosis are stored continuously, and when some or all of the multiple types of data are added due to the addition of an ultrasound probe, each additional data is stored after the corresponding existing data. a data storage unit that stores and shifts storage areas of subsequent different types of data; and an address data storage unit that changes the content of address data indicating each storage area in accordance with the deviation of the storage areas; Ultrasonic diagnosis characterized by having a separate data reading storage means for reading address data in a data storage unit and reading corresponding data in the data storage unit indicated by the read address data to provide for the operation of the device. Device.