WO2022044403A1 - 超音波診断装置および超音波診断装置の制御方法 - Google Patents

超音波診断装置および超音波診断装置の制御方法 Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2022044403A1
WO2022044403A1 PCT/JP2021/011369 JP2021011369W WO2022044403A1 WO 2022044403 A1 WO2022044403 A1 WO 2022044403A1 JP 2021011369 W JP2021011369 W JP 2021011369W WO 2022044403 A1 WO2022044403 A1 WO 2022044403A1
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Prior art keywords
ultrasonic probe
ultrasonic
control unit
scanned
unit
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Ceased
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PCT/JP2021/011369
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English (en)
French (fr)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
樹彦 苅部
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Fujifilm Corp
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Fujifilm Corp
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Priority to JP2022545293A priority Critical patent/JP7500739B2/ja
Publication of WO2022044403A1 publication Critical patent/WO2022044403A1/ja
Priority to US18/160,942 priority patent/US12268553B2/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Priority to JP2024089894A priority patent/JP7730955B2/ja
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/08—Clinical applications
    • A61B8/0833—Clinical applications involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures
    • A61B8/085—Clinical applications involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures for locating body or organic structures, e.g. tumours, calculi, blood vessels, nodules
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/42—Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient
    • A61B8/4245—Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient involving determining the position of the probe, e.g. with respect to an external reference frame or to the patient
    • A61B8/4254—Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient involving determining the position of the probe, e.g. with respect to an external reference frame or to the patient using sensors mounted on the probe
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/08—Clinical applications
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/44—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
    • A61B8/4427—Device being portable or laptop-like
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/44—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
    • A61B8/4444—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device related to the probe
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/46—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient
    • A61B8/461—Displaying means of special interest
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/46—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient
    • A61B8/467—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient characterised by special input means
    • A61B8/469—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient characterised by special input means for selection of a region of interest
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/52—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/5207—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/52—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/5215—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data
    • A61B8/5223—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/54—Control of the diagnostic device
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/13—Tomography
    • A61B8/14—Echo-tomography
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/46—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient
    • A61B8/461—Displaying means of special interest
    • A61B8/463—Displaying means of special interest characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/46—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient
    • A61B8/467—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient characterised by special input means

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and a control method of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for observing an abnormal portion of a subject.
  • Patent Document 1 supports the user's ultrasonic diagnosis by storing the position information of the region scanned by the ultrasonic probe in the site of the subject and displaying the region that has not been inspected yet.
  • An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is disclosed.
  • an ultrasonic diagnostic device may be used to inspect abnormal parts such as pressure ulcers and edema, which is a type of phlebitis, that occur in the subject. Since such an abnormal portion generally has a three-dimensional spread in the subject, it is difficult for the user to determine to what extent the abnormal portion has spread at first glance. Therefore, for example, even if the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, it is difficult to grasp the boundary between the abnormal portion and the normal portion, and the abnormal portion that has already been scanned many times is scanned. In some cases, the abnormal part was not sufficiently and efficiently inspected, for example, the wide area could not be scanned all over, and not only the abnormal part but also the normal part was carefully inspected.
  • the present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and provides an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and a control method for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of sufficiently and efficiently inspecting an abnormal portion.
  • the purpose is to do.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus uses an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic probe to scan an ultrasonic beam on an abnormal part of a subject to obtain an ultrasonic image.
  • the image generator that generates the ultrasonic image
  • the monitor that displays the ultrasonic image
  • the position sensor that is attached to the ultrasonic probe and acquires the position information of the ultrasonic probe, and the user is instructed in the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe.
  • the scanning direction indicator for this purpose, the boundary recognition unit that recognizes the boundary between the normal part and the abnormal part of the subject by analyzing the ultrasonic image, and the position information and boundary of the ultrasonic probe acquired by the position sensor. It is characterized by having an instruction control unit that specifies the direction in which the ultrasonic probe should be scanned based on the boundary recognized by the recognition unit and instructs the user in the specified scanning direction by the scanning direction instruction unit. And.
  • the scanning direction indicating unit is formed by an LED lamp attached to the ultrasonic probe, and the instruction control unit can indicate the direction to be scanned by the emission color or blinking of the LED lamp.
  • the scanning direction indicating unit is formed by the monitor, and the instruction control unit can display the direction to be scanned on the monitor.
  • the ultrasonic probe includes a vibration mechanism
  • the scanning direction indicating unit is formed by the vibration mechanism
  • the instruction control unit can indicate the direction to be scanned by the vibration pattern of the vibration mechanism.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a tablet terminal connected to an ultrasonic probe, the tablet terminal includes a vibration mechanism, a scanning direction indicating unit is formed by a vibration mechanism, and an instruction control unit is a vibration pattern of the vibration mechanism. Can indicate the direction to be scanned.
  • the instruction control unit can specify the scanning direction to reduce the overlap with the scanned area based on the position information of the ultrasonic probe acquired by the position sensor. Further, the instruction control unit determines the scanning direction to approach the scanned area when there is a gap between the ultrasonic probe and the scanned area based on the position information of the ultrasonic probe acquired by the position sensor. Can be identified. Further, the instruction control unit can specify the scanning direction passing through the boundary recognized by the boundary recognition unit based on the position information of the ultrasonic probe acquired by the position sensor.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic device Based on the ultrasonic image and the position information of the ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic diagnostic device identifies the part that is not visualized by the ultrasonic image and monitors it by moving the ultrasonic probe away from the body surface of the subject.
  • An undrawn part extraction unit to be displayed can be provided.
  • the instruction control unit operates in two directions. The scanning direction indicating unit can instruct the user to shift to scanning in the other direction.
  • the instruction control unit estimates the remaining boundary between the normal part and the abnormal part of the subject based on the boundary recognized by the boundary recognition unit, and the direction to be scanned based on the estimated remaining boundary. To identify.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment includes a memory that stores ultrasonic images in correspondence with the position information of the ultrasonic probe acquired by the position sensor, and a trajectory calculation unit that calculates the scanning trajectory of the ultrasonic probe and displays it on the monitor.
  • a memory that stores ultrasonic images in correspondence with the position information of the ultrasonic probe acquired by the position sensor
  • a trajectory calculation unit that calculates the scanning trajectory of the ultrasonic probe and displays it on the monitor.
  • an ultrasonic image is generated by scanning an ultrasonic beam on an abnormal part of a subject using an ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic image is attached to the ultrasonic probe.
  • the boundary between the normal part and the abnormal part of the subject was recognized, and it was recognized as the position information of the acquired ultrasonic probe. It is characterized in that the direction in which the ultrasonic probe should be scanned is specified based on the boundary and the specified direction in which the ultrasonic probe should be scanned is instructed to the user.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is attached to the ultrasonic probe and acquires the position information of the ultrasonic probe, and the scanning direction instruction for instructing the user of the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe. It is recognized by the boundary recognition unit that recognizes the boundary between the normal part and the abnormal part of the subject by analyzing the ultrasonic image, and the position information and boundary recognition unit of the ultrasonic probe acquired by the position sensor. Since the ultrasonic probe is provided with an instruction control unit that specifies the direction in which the ultrasonic probe should be scanned based on the boundary and indicates the specified direction to be scanned to the user by the scanning direction instruction unit, the abnormal portion is sufficiently and efficiently. Can be inspected.
  • Embodiment 1 It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the transmission / reception circuit in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the example of the LED lamp of the ultrasonic probe in Embodiment 1.
  • FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the image generation part in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the unclear layer structure schematically. It is a figure which shows typically the Cobblestone-like pattern. It is a figure which shows the Cloud-like pattern schematically. It is a figure which shows typically the pattern which the accumulation of a liquid is observed.
  • FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the locus of one scan of an ultrasonic probe with respect to an abnormality part. It is a figure which shows typically the locus of two scans of an ultrasonic probe with respect to an abnormality part. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1.
  • FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the locus of three scans of an ultrasonic probe with respect to an abnormality part. It is a figure which shows typically the locus of four scans of an ultrasonic probe with respect to an abnormality part. It is a figure which shows the other example of the LED lamp of the ultrasonic probe in Embodiment 1 schematically. It is a figure which shows typically the blinking example of the LED lamp.
  • FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 includes an ultrasonic probe 2 and a diagnostic apparatus main body 3.
  • the ultrasonic probe 2 and the diagnostic device main body 3 are connected to each other by wireless communication.
  • the ultrasonic probe 2 includes an oscillator array 11, and a transmission / reception circuit 12 and a probe-side wireless communication unit 13 are sequentially connected to the oscillator array 11. Further, a position sensor 14 and an LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamp 15 are attached to the ultrasonic probe 2, and the position sensor 14 and the LED lamp 15 are connected to the probe-side wireless communication unit 13, respectively. There is. Further, the transmission / reception circuit 12 and the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 are connected to the probe control unit 16.
  • the diagnostic device main body 3 has a main body side wireless communication unit 21, and an image generation unit 22, a display control unit 23, and a monitor 24 are sequentially connected to the main body side wireless communication unit 21. Further, the diagnostic device main body 3 has a memory 25, and the memory control unit 26 is connected to the memory 25. Further, the memory control unit 26 is connected to the image generation unit 22 and the display control unit 23. Further, the boundary recognition unit 27 is connected to the image generation unit 22, and the instruction control unit 28 is connected to the boundary recognition unit 27. The instruction control unit 28 is connected to the main body side wireless communication unit 21.
  • main body control unit 29 is connected to the main body side wireless communication unit 21, the image generation unit 22, the display control unit 23, the memory control unit 26, the boundary recognition unit 27, and the instruction control unit 28.
  • the input device 30 is connected to the main body control unit 29.
  • the main body side processor 31 is composed of an image generation unit 22, a display control unit 23, a memory control unit 26, a boundary recognition unit 27, an instruction control unit 28, and a main body control unit 29.
  • the oscillator array 11 of the ultrasonic probe 2 shown in FIG. 1 has a plurality of oscillators arranged one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally. Each of these oscillators transmits ultrasonic waves according to the drive signal supplied from the transmission / reception circuit 12, receives ultrasonic echoes from the subject, and outputs a signal based on the ultrasonic echoes.
  • Each oscillator includes, for example, a piezoelectric ceramic represented by PZT (Lead Zirconate Titanate), a polymer piezoelectric element represented by PVDF (Poly Vinylidene Di Fluoride), and PMN-PT (PMN-PT).
  • Lead Magnesium Niobate-Lead Titanate It is composed by forming electrodes at both ends of a piezoelectric body made of a piezoelectric single crystal represented by (lead magnesiumidene fluoride-lead titanate solid solution).
  • the transmission / reception circuit 12 transmits ultrasonic waves from the vibrator array 11 under the control of the probe control unit 16 and generates a sound line signal based on the received signal acquired by the vibrator array 11.
  • the transmission / reception circuit 12 includes a pulser 32 connected to the oscillator array 11, an amplification unit 33 sequentially connected in series from the oscillator array 11, an AD (Analog Digital) conversion unit 34, and a beam former. Has 35.
  • the pulser 32 includes, for example, a plurality of pulse generators, and is transmitted from the plurality of oscillators of the oscillator array 11 based on the transmission delay pattern selected according to the control signal from the probe control unit 16.
  • Each drive signal is supplied to a plurality of oscillators by adjusting the delay amount so that the ultrasonic waves form an ultrasonic beam.
  • a pulsed or continuous wave voltage is applied to the electrodes of the vibrator of the vibrator array 11
  • the piezoelectric body expands and contracts, and pulsed or continuous wave ultrasonic waves are generated from each vibrator.
  • An ultrasonic beam is formed from the combined waves of those ultrasonic waves.
  • the transmitted ultrasonic beam is reflected by, for example, a target such as a site of a subject, and propagates toward the vibrator array 11 of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the ultrasonic echo propagating toward the oscillator array 11 in this way is received by each oscillator constituting the oscillator array 11.
  • each oscillator constituting the oscillator array 11 expands and contracts by receiving the propagating ultrasonic echo to generate a received signal which is an electric signal, and these received signals are transmitted to the amplification unit 33. Output.
  • the amplification unit 33 amplifies the signal input from each of the oscillators constituting the oscillator array 11, and transmits the amplified signal to the AD conversion unit 34.
  • the AD conversion unit 34 converts the signal transmitted from the amplification unit 33 into digital reception data, and transmits these reception data to the beam former 35.
  • the beam former 35 follows the sound velocity or sound velocity distribution set based on the reception delay pattern selected according to the control signal from the probe control unit 16, and is used for each reception data converted by the AD conversion unit 34, respectively.
  • the so-called reception focus processing is performed by giving a delay of and adding. By this reception focus processing, each received data converted by the AD conversion unit 34 is phase-adjusted and added, and a sound line signal in which the focus of the ultrasonic echo is narrowed down is acquired.
  • the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 is composed of a circuit or the like including an antenna for transmitting and receiving radio waves, and under the control of the probe control unit 16, the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 and the main body-side wireless communication unit 21 of the diagnostic device main body 3 Perform wireless communication. At this time, the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 generates a transmission signal representing the sound line signal by modulating the carrier based on the sound line signal generated by the transmission / reception circuit 12, and diagnoses the generated transmission signal. Wireless transmission is performed to the main body side wireless communication unit 21 of the main body 3. Further, the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 also generates a transmission signal for the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 acquired by the position sensor 14, and wirelessly transmits the generated transmission signal to the main body-side wireless communication unit 21. do.
  • ASK Amplitude Shift Keying: quadrature shift keying
  • PSK Phase Shift Keying: phase shift keying
  • QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying: quadrature shift keying
  • 16QAM 16 quadrature phase shift modulation
  • the position sensor 14 is a sensor for detecting the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the position sensor 14 is composed of, for example, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a magnetic sensor, and the like.
  • the LED lamp 15 is attached to the ultrasonic probe 2 so as to be visible to the user, and is used as a scanning direction indicating unit for instructing the user of the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the LED lamp 15 is composed of a right lamp 15A and a left lamp 15B, and both the right lamp 15A and the left lamp 15B emit light to the outside of the housing H of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the parts are arranged so that they are located. In this case, for example, by turning on the right lamp 15A or the left lamp 15B, it is possible to instruct to move the ultrasonic probe 2 to the right lamp 15A side or to move the ultrasonic probe 2 to the left lamp 15B side. be.
  • the probe control unit 16 controls each unit of the ultrasonic probe 2 based on a program stored in advance. Further, although not shown, the ultrasonic probe 2 has a built-in battery that supplies electric power to each part of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the main body side wireless communication unit 21 of the diagnostic apparatus main body 3 is configured by a circuit or the like including an antenna for transmitting and receiving radio waves like the probe side wireless communication unit 13, and is under the control of the main body control unit 29. Then, wireless communication is performed with the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 of the ultrasonic probe 2. At this time, the main body side wireless communication unit 21 demodulates the transmission signal wirelessly transmitted from the probe side wireless communication unit 13 to obtain the sound line signal and the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2. The main body side wireless communication unit 21 sends the obtained sound line signal to the image generation unit 22, and sends the obtained position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 to the memory 25 via the image generation unit 22 and the memory control unit 26. do.
  • the main body side wireless communication unit 21 generates a transmission signal representing a sound line signal by modulating the carrier based on the instruction information transmitted from the instruction control unit 28, and the generated transmission signal is used for probe side wireless communication. Wireless transmission is performed to unit 13.
  • the carrier modulation method for example, ASK, PSK, QPSK, 16QAM, or the like is used in the same manner as the modulation method used by the probe-side wireless communication unit 13.
  • the image generation unit 22 has a configuration in which a signal processing unit 36, a DSC (Digital Scan Converter) 37, and an image processing unit 38 are sequentially connected in series.
  • the signal processing unit 36 corrects the attenuation of the sound line signal transmitted from the main body side wireless communication unit 21 by the distance according to the depth of the ultrasonic reflection position, and then performs the envelope detection process.
  • the DSC 37 converts the B-mode image signal generated by the signal processing unit 36 into an image signal according to a normal television signal scanning method (raster conversion).
  • the image processing unit 38 performs various necessary image processing such as gradation processing on the B mode image signal input from the DSC 37, and then sends the B mode image signal to the display control unit 23 and the memory control unit 26. Is sent to the memory 25 via.
  • the B-mode image signal that has been image-processed by the image processing unit 38 is simply referred to as an ultrasonic image.
  • the memory 25 is a memory for storing a series of plurality of frames of ultrasonic images generated for each diagnosis by the image generation unit 22 and the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the memory 25 includes a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), an FD (Flexible Disc), and an MO disk (Magneto-Optical disc).
  • MT Magnetic Tape: Magnetic Tape
  • RAM Random Access Memory
  • CD Compact Disc
  • DVD Digital Versatile Disc
  • SD Card Secure Digital card: Secure Digital
  • a recording medium such as a card), a USB memory (Universal Serial Bus memory), a server, or the like can be used.
  • the memory control unit 26 controls the storage and reading of data in the memory 25. Specifically, the memory control unit 26 associates the ultrasonic image generated by the image generation unit 22 with the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 when the ultrasonic image is taken, and the memory 25. Save to. Further, the memory control unit 26 reads out the ultrasonic image stored in the memory 25 and the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 according to the instruction of the main body control unit 29, and displays and controls the read ultrasonic image and the position information. It is sent to the unit 23 or sent to the boundary recognition unit 27 via the image generation unit 22.
  • the boundary recognition unit 27 analyzes the ultrasonic image to obtain a normal part of the subject and an abnormal part of the subject. Recognize the boundaries of.
  • the abnormal part in the present invention is, for example, a place where a so-called pressure ulcer is generated, a place where edema occurs around the pressure ulcer, a place where edema which is a kind of phlebitis occurs, and a region around them. Point to.
  • Examples of the structure showing the abnormal portion in the ultrasonic image include, for example, the indistinct layer structure A1 shown in FIG. 5, the Cobblestone-like pattern A2 shown in FIG. 6, and the Cloud-like (cloud) shown in FIG. Shape) Pattern A3 and pattern A4 with low brightness and liquid storage as shown in FIG. 8 can be mentioned.
  • the obscure layered structure A1 shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to weak edema
  • the Cobblestone-like pattern A2 shown in FIG. 6 corresponds to strong edema
  • the Cloud-like pattern A3 shown in FIG. 7 corresponds to suspected necrosis.
  • the pattern A4 with retention shown in FIG. 8 corresponds to suspected abscess, hematoma or edema.
  • the boundary recognition unit 27 recognizes, for example, a region having a structure as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 as an abnormal part of the subject, and recognizes the boundary between the normal part and the abnormal part.
  • the boundary recognition unit 27 has, as a method of recognizing a normal part and an abnormal part, for example, a deep learning method such as so-called U-net, a so-called template matching method, SVM (Support vector machine) and adaboost (adaboost). Machine learning methods using, etc., Csurka et al .: Visual Categorization with Bags of Keypoints, Proc. Of ECCV Workshop on Statistical Learning in Computer Vision, pp.59-74 (2004) Can be used.
  • the boundary recognition portion 27 scans.
  • the boundaries B1 and B2 between the abnormal portion J and the normal portion N are recognized.
  • the instruction control unit 28 superimposes based on the current position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 acquired by the position sensor 14 and the boundary between the normal part N and the abnormal part J of the subject recognized by the boundary recognition unit 27.
  • the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned is specified with respect to the current position of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the instruction control unit 28 further instructs the user in the specified scanning direction by using the LED lamp 15 of the ultrasonic probe 2. At this time, the instruction control unit 28 generates instruction information indicating an instruction to the user, and the generated instruction information is transmitted to the probe side wireless communication unit 13 of the ultrasonic probe 2 via the main body side wireless communication unit 21. Wireless communication. The instruction information received by the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 is sent to the LED lamp 15, and the LED lamp 15 blinks according to the instruction information.
  • the ultrasonic probe 2 is scanned so as to cross the abnormal portion J along the first direction D1, and then the second direction orthogonal to the first direction D1.
  • the instruction control unit 28 specifies the direction that passes through the boundary B1 or B2 of the abnormal portion J recognized in the first scan as the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned in the second scan. ..
  • the instruction control unit 28 specifies the left direction with the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 as the front as the scanning direction so as to pass through the boundary B1.
  • the instruction control unit 28 generates instruction information indicating that the ultrasonic probe 2 is scanned to the left, and the generated instruction information is used as the probe of the main body side wireless communication unit 21 and the ultrasonic probe 2. It transmits to the LED lamp 15 via the side wireless communication unit 13.
  • the instruction control unit 28 is located on the left side of the right lamp 15A and the left lamp 15B constituting the LED lamp 15 with the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 as the front.
  • the lamp 15A is turned on to instruct the user in the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned.
  • the user scans the ultrasonic probe 2 along the locus C2 shown in FIG. 10, for example, by moving the ultrasonic probe 2 according to the blinking of the LED lamp 15 without changing the direction of the ultrasonic probe 2. be able to.
  • the main body control unit 29 controls each part of the diagnostic apparatus main body 3 based on a control program or the like stored in advance.
  • the input device 30 is for the user to perform an input operation, and can be configured to include a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a touch pad, a touch panel, and the like.
  • the display control unit 23 Under the control of the main body control unit 29, the display control unit 23 performs predetermined processing on the ultrasonic image or the like generated by the image generation unit 22 and displays it on the monitor 24.
  • the monitor 24 performs various displays under the control of the display control unit 23.
  • the monitor 24 includes, for example, a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and an organic EL display (Organic Electroluminescence Display).
  • the main body side processor 31 having the image generation unit 22, the display control unit 23, the memory control unit 26, the boundary recognition unit 27, the instruction control unit 28, and the main body control unit 29 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit). It consists of a control program for causing the CPU to perform various processes, such as FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). : Application specific integrated circuit), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), and other ICs (Integrated Circuit) may be used, or they may be combined.
  • FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array
  • DSP Digital Signal Processor
  • ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit
  • GPU Graphics Processing Unit
  • other ICs Integrated Circuit
  • the image generation unit 22, the display control unit 23, the memory control unit 26, the boundary recognition unit 27, the instruction control unit 28, and the main body control unit 29 of the main body side processor 31 are partially or wholly integrated into one CPU or the like. It can also be integrated and configured.
  • step S1 the ultrasonic probe 2 is arranged by the user on the body surface of the subject in order to take an ultrasonic image of the abnormal portion J. From this state, as shown in FIG. 9, an ultrasonic image is taken while the ultrasonic probe 2 is moved along the first direction D1.
  • an ultrasonic beam is transmitted into the subject from a plurality of oscillators of the oscillator array 11 according to a drive signal from the pulsar 32 of the transmission / reception circuit 12, and each oscillator that receives the ultrasonic echo from the subject.
  • the received signal is output to the amplification unit 33 of the transmission / reception circuit 12.
  • the received signal is amplified by the amplification unit 33, AD-converted by the AD conversion unit 34, and then phase-adjusted and added by the beam former 35 to generate a sound line signal.
  • This sound line signal is wirelessly transmitted from the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 to the main body-side wireless communication unit 21 and transmitted to the image generation unit 22.
  • the sound line signal is subjected to envelope detection processing in the signal processing unit 36 of the image generation unit 22 to become a B mode image signal, which is output to the display control unit 23 via the DSC 37 and the image processing unit 38 and displayed.
  • An ultrasonic image is displayed on the monitor 24 under the control of the control unit 23. Further, the ultrasonic image generated in this way is stored in the memory 25 via the memory control unit 26.
  • step S2 the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 is acquired by the position sensor 14.
  • the acquired position information is associated with the ultrasonic image generated in step S1 by the memory control unit 26 and stored in the memory 25.
  • step S3 it is determined whether or not the scanning of the ultrasonic probe 2 along the first direction D1 shown in FIG. 9 is completed. For example, although not shown, when the user inputs an instruction to end the scanning via the input device 30, it is determined that the scanning of the ultrasonic probe 2 has been completed, and the instruction to end the scanning is not input. , It is determined that the scanning of the ultrasonic probe 2 is continued.
  • step S3 If it is determined in step S3 that the scanning of the ultrasonic probe 2 along the first direction D1 is not completed and is continued, the process returns to step S1 and a new ultrasonic image is generated, and this ultrasonic wave is generated.
  • the image is saved in the memory 25, the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 is newly acquired in the subsequent step S2, and this position information is associated with the ultrasonic image generated in the immediately preceding step S1 and saved in the memory 25. Will be done. In this way, as long as it is determined in step S3 that the scanning of the ultrasonic probe 2 is continued, the processes of steps S1 to S3 are repeated. If it is determined in step S3 that the scanning of the ultrasonic probe 2 along the first direction D1 is completed, the process proceeds to step S4.
  • step S4 the boundary recognition unit 27 and the normal unit N of the subject are analyzed as shown in FIG. 9 by analyzing the ultrasonic images of a plurality of frames stored in the memory 25 by repeating steps S1 to S3.
  • the boundaries B1 and B2 with the abnormal portion J are recognized.
  • step S5 it is determined whether or not the next scan, that is, the second scan of the ultrasonic probe 2 is performed. For example, when the user inputs an instruction to perform the next scan via the input device 30, it is determined that the next scan will be performed, and when an instruction not to perform the next scan is input, the next scan is performed. Is determined not to be performed. If it is determined in step S5 that the next scan will be performed, the process proceeds to step S6, and the second scan is started.
  • step S6 the user uses the ultrasonic probe 2 at the position P1 on the body surface of the subject in order to scan while moving the ultrasonic probe 2 along the second direction D2, for example, as shown in FIG. To place.
  • an ultrasonic image is generated while the ultrasonic probe 2 is moved.
  • the generated ultrasonic image is stored in the memory 25.
  • step S7 the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 is acquired by the position sensor 14.
  • the acquired position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 is associated with the ultrasonic image generated in step S6 by the memory control unit 26 and stored in the memory 25.
  • step S8 the instruction control unit 28 provides the boundaries B1 and B2 between the normal part N and the abnormal part J of the subject recognized in step S4, and the current position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 acquired in step S7. Based on the above, the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned is specified.
  • the boundary B1 or B2 recognized in the first scan is used.
  • the instruction control unit 28 of the ultrasonic probe 2 passes through the boundary B1 of the two boundaries B1 and B2 recognized in the first scan, which is closer to the position P1 of the current ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the left direction with the second direction D2 as the traveling direction as the front is specified as the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned.
  • step S9 the instruction control unit 28 instructs the user in the specified scanning direction by blinking the LED lamp 15 attached to the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the instruction control unit 28 since the left direction with the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 as the front is specified as the direction to be scanned, the instruction control unit 28 indicates the instruction information indicating that the ultrasonic probe 2 is moved to the left direction. Is generated, and the generated instruction information is transmitted to the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 of the ultrasonic probe 2 via the main body-side wireless communication unit 21. Further, the instruction information transmitted to the probe-side wireless communication unit 13 is transmitted to the LED lamp 15.
  • the instruction control unit 28 is located on the left side of the right lamp 15A and the left lamp 15B constituting the LED lamp 15 with the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 as the front.
  • the lamp 15A is turned on to instruct the user in the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned.
  • the user was recognized in step S4, for example, along the locus C2 shown in FIG. 10 by moving the ultrasonic probe 2 according to the blinking of the LED lamp 15 without changing the orientation of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the ultrasonic probe 2 can be scanned so as to pass through the boundary B1.
  • step S10 it is determined whether or not the second scan is completed in the same manner as in step S3. If it is determined in step S10 that the second scan is not completed and is continued, the process returns to step S6.
  • a new ultrasonic image is generated in step S6, the ultrasonic image is stored in the memory 25, and the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 is newly acquired in the following step S7, and this position information is immediately before step S6. It is associated with the ultrasonic image generated in 1 and stored in the memory 25.
  • step S8 based on the boundaries B1 and B2 between the normal part N and the abnormal part J of the subject recognized in step S4 and the current position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 newly acquired in step S7. Therefore, the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned is newly specified.
  • step S9 the LED lamp 15 is used to indicate to the user the direction to be scanned newly specified in step S8.
  • step S10 As long as it is determined in step S10 that the second scan is continued without being completed, the processes of steps S6 to S10 are repeated.
  • step S9 the instruction control unit 28 turns off or turns on all the right lamp 15A and the left lamp 15B of the LED lamp 15, so that the direction to be scanned is the second direction D2. Can be instructed to the user.
  • step S10 If it is determined in step S10 that the second scan is completed, the process returns to step S4.
  • step S4 the boundary recognition unit 27 is located on the locus C2 shown in FIG. 10 by analyzing the ultrasonic images of a plurality of frames stored in the memory 25 by repeating steps S6 to S10. Recognize the boundary between and the abnormal part J.
  • step S5 it is determined whether or not the next scan, that is, the third scan is performed. If it is determined in step S5 that the next scan will be performed, the process proceeds to step S6, and the third scan is started.
  • step S6 the user uses the ultrasonic probe 2 at the position P2 on the body surface of the subject in order to scan while moving the ultrasonic probe 2 along the first direction D1, for example, as shown in FIG. To place.
  • an ultrasonic image is generated while the ultrasonic probe 2 is moved.
  • the generated ultrasonic image is stored in the memory 25.
  • step S7 the position sensor 14 acquires the current position information of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the acquired position information is associated with the ultrasonic image generated in step S6 and stored in the memory 25.
  • step S8 the instruction control unit 28 has the boundary between the normal part N and the abnormal part J recognized in step S4 after the end of the first scan and the end of the second scan, respectively, and in the immediately preceding step S7. Based on the acquired current position information of the ultrasonic probe 2, the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned is specified.
  • the current position P2 of the ultrasonic probe 2 is in the vicinity of the position where the ultrasonic probe 2 is placed at the start of the first scan, and is tentatively scanned straight from the position P2 along the first direction D1. If so, it is inefficient as an inspection because it scans on the same locus as the locus C1 of the first scan. Therefore, the instruction control unit 28 specifies the scanning direction in which the overlap with the locus C1 of the first scan is reduced as the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned. In the example of FIG. 12, the instruction control unit 28 specifies the left direction with the first direction D1, which is the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2, as the front direction, as the direction to be scanned.
  • step S9 the instruction control unit 28 blinks the LED lamp 15 in the direction to be scanned specified in step S8, that is, the left direction with the first direction D1, which is the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2, as the front. Instructs the user. As a result, the user moves the ultrasonic probe 2 according to the blinking of the LED lamp 15 without changing the direction of the ultrasonic probe 2, so that, for example, the ultrasonic probe 2 follows the trajectory C3 shown in FIG. Can be scanned.
  • the user can scan the ultrasonic probe 2 so as to reduce the overlap with the already scanned locus C1, so that the same spot as the already scanned spot is scanned many times. This is prevented, and the efficiency of inspection can be improved while sufficiently scanning the abnormal portion J.
  • step S9 the process proceeds to step S10, and it is determined whether or not the third scan is completed. If it is determined in step S10 that the third scan is not completed and is continued, the process returns to step S6. In this way, steps S6 to S10 are repeated as long as it is determined in step S10 that the third scan is not completed and is continued. If it is determined in step S3 that the third scan is completed, the process returns to step S4.
  • step S4 the boundary recognition unit 27 is located on the locus C3 shown in FIG. 12 by analyzing the ultrasonic images of a plurality of frames stored in the memory 25 by repeating steps S6 to S10 in the third scan. Recognize the boundary between the normal part N and the abnormal part J.
  • step S5 it is determined whether or not the next scan, that is, the fourth scan is performed. If it is determined in step S5 that the next scan will be performed, the process proceeds to step S6, and the fourth scan is started.
  • step S6 the user uses the ultrasonic probe 2 at the position P3 on the body surface of the subject in order to scan while moving the ultrasonic probe 2 along the second direction D2, for example, as shown in FIG. To place.
  • an ultrasonic image is generated while the ultrasonic probe 2 is moved.
  • the generated ultrasonic image is stored in the memory 25.
  • step S7 the position sensor 14 acquires the current position information of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the acquired position information is associated with the ultrasonic image generated in step S6 and stored in the memory 25.
  • step S8 the instruction control unit 28 has the boundary between the normal part N and the abnormal part J recognized in step S4 after the completion of the first to third scans, and the ultrasonic wave acquired in the immediately preceding step S7. Based on the current position information of the probe 2, the scanning direction passing through the already recognized boundary between the normal portion N and the abnormal portion J is specified as the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned. In the example of FIG. 13, the instruction control unit 28 specifies the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2, that is, the right direction with the second direction D2 as the front, as the direction to be scanned.
  • step S9 the instruction control unit 28 blinks the LED lamp 15 in the direction to be scanned specified in step S8, that is, in the right direction with the second direction D2, which is the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2, as the front. Instructs the user. For example, the instruction control unit 28 turns on the left lamp 15B located on the right side of the right lamp 15A and the left lamp 15B shown in FIG. 3 with the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 facing the front, in the right direction. Instruct the user to move the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the user moves the ultrasonic probe 2 according to the blinking of the LED lamp 15 without changing the direction of the ultrasonic probe 2, so that the ultrasonic probe 2 can be moved along the trajectory C4 shown in FIG. 13, for example. Can be scanned.
  • step S9 the process proceeds to step S10, and it is determined whether or not the fourth scan is completed. If it is determined in step S10 that the fourth scan is not completed and is continued, the process returns to step S6. In this way, steps S6 to S10 are repeated as long as it is determined in step S10 that the fourth scan is not completed and is continued. If it is determined in step S3 that the fourth scan is completed, the process returns to step S4.
  • step S4 the boundary recognition unit 27 is located on the locus C4 shown in FIG. 13 by analyzing the ultrasonic images of a plurality of frames stored in the memory 25 by repeating steps S6 to S10 in the fourth scan. Recognize the boundary between the normal part N and the abnormal part J.
  • step S5 it is determined whether or not the next scan, that is, the fifth scan is performed. If it is determined in step S5 that the next scan will be performed, the process proceeds to step S6, and the fifth scan is started.
  • the user determines that the abnormality portion J has been sufficiently inspected and the user inputs an instruction not to perform the next scan via the input device 30, it is determined that the next scan is not performed. To. In that case, the operation of inspecting the abnormal portion J using the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 is completed.
  • the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 by the user is guided so as to scan the unscanned region of the abnormal portion J, so that the abnormal portion The efficiency of the inspection can be improved while sufficiently scanning J.
  • the image generation unit 22 is provided in the diagnostic device main body 3 in the first embodiment, it may be provided in the ultrasonic probe 2 instead of being provided in the diagnostic device main body 3.
  • the ultrasonic image generated by the image generation unit 22 is wirelessly transmitted from the probe side wireless communication unit 13 to the main body side wireless communication unit 21, and further from the main body side wireless communication unit 21 to the display control unit 23 and the memory. It is sent to the control unit 26 and the boundary recognition unit 27.
  • the LED lamp 15 is composed of the right lamp 15A and the left lamp 15B, but the configuration of the LED lamp 15 is not limited to this. ..
  • the LED lamp 15 is arranged on the surface of the housing H on the traveling direction side of the ultrasonic probe 2, and has a plurality of light emitting regions R1 in the left-right direction with the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 as the front surface. It may be composed of one light source having ⁇ R5. In the example of FIG. 14, the LED lamp 15 has five light emitting regions R1 to R5. In this case, as shown in FIG. 15, for example, the instruction control unit 28 sequentially shifts the five light emitting regions R1 to R5 one by one along the right or left direction with the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 as the front. It is possible to instruct the user in the direction to be scanned by causing the light to be emitted.
  • the method of instructing the user in the direction to be scanned is not limited to the blinking of the LED lamp 15.
  • the LED lamp 15 may be composed of light sources of a plurality of colors, and the instruction control unit 28 may instruct the user in the direction to be scanned by changing the emission color of the LED lamp 15.
  • the scanning of the ultrasonic probe 2 along the first direction D1 and the scanning of the ultrasonic probe 2 along the second direction D2 are alternately performed, and the scanning method of the ultrasonic probe 2 is particularly suitable for this. Not limited. For example, after the scan along the first direction D1 is completed, the scan along the first direction D1 may be performed as the next scan, and after the scan along the second direction D2 is completed, the next scan may be performed. As the scanning, scanning along the second direction D2 may be performed.
  • the instruction control unit 28 can also instruct the user to shift to scanning along the second direction D2 by, for example, blinking the LED lamp 15 for a certain period of time.
  • the scanning is shifted to the scanning along the direction orthogonal to the certain direction.
  • the instruction control unit 28 estimates the remaining boundary between the normal part N and the abnormal part J of the subject, that is, the unscanned boundary, based on the boundary recognized by the boundary recognition unit 27, and the estimated remaining boundary. It is also possible to specify the direction to be scanned based on the boundary. At this time, the instruction control unit 28 can specify, for example, the direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 approaches the estimated remaining boundary as the direction to be scanned. As a result, the ultrasonic probe 2 is guided to the unscanned region of the abnormal portion J, so that the inspection efficiency can be improved while sufficiently scanning the abnormal portion J.
  • the instruction control unit 28 determines that there is a gap between the current position of the ultrasonic probe 2 and the scanned area based on the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 acquired by the position sensor 14.
  • the scanning direction that brings the ultrasonic probe 2 closer to the scanned region can also be specified as the scanning direction. As a result, it is possible to prevent an unscanned region from being generated, so that the abnormal portion J can be efficiently scanned without omission.
  • step S1 the ultrasonic image is generated in step S1 and the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 is acquired in step S2, but the ultrasonic image and the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 correspond to each other and are stored in the memory 25. If so, step S1 may be performed after step S2 is performed, and step S1 and step S2 may be performed in parallel.
  • the instruction control unit 28 can notify the user to that effect by using the LED lamp 15, for example, when all the boundaries of the abnormal unit J are recognized by the boundary recognition unit 27. At this time, the instruction control unit 28 can notify the user, for example, by blinking the LED lamp 15 in a constant blinking pattern. As a result, the user can grasp that the abnormal portion J has been sufficiently scanned, so that it is possible to prevent the ultrasonic probe 2 from being scanned more than necessary, and the abnormal portion J can be inspected more efficiently. It can be carried out.
  • Embodiment 2 In the first embodiment, the instruction control unit 28 instructs the user in the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2 by using the LED lamp 15, but the method of instructing the scanning direction is not limited to this. ..
  • FIG. 16 shows the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1A according to the second embodiment.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1A has an ultrasonic probe 2A and a diagnostic apparatus main body 3A.
  • the ultrasonic probe 2A is the ultrasonic probe 2 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in which the LED lamp 15 is removed and the probe control unit 16A is provided instead of the probe control unit 16.
  • the diagnostic device main body 3 according to the first embodiment the diagnostic device main body 3A includes a main body control unit 29A instead of the main body control unit 29, and the instruction control unit 28 replaces the main body side wireless communication unit 21 with a display control unit 23. It is connected to.
  • the monitor 24 of the diagnostic apparatus main body 3A is used as a scanning direction indicating unit for instructing the user of the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the instruction control unit 28 contains the current position information of the ultrasonic probe 2A acquired by the position sensor 14 and the normal part N and the abnormal part J of the subject recognized by the boundary recognition unit 27. Based on the boundary, instruction information for instructing the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2A is generated, and the generated instruction information is transmitted to the display control unit 23.
  • the display control unit 23 displays the direction to be scanned on the monitor 24 according to the instruction information from the instruction control unit 28.
  • the instruction control unit 28 together with the ultrasonic image U displayed on the monitor 24, together with the right-hand manicule M1 for instructing the user of the direction to be scanned.
  • the left direction instruction mark M2 is displayed.
  • the instruction control unit 28 emphasizes the right side direction instruction mark M1 and displays the ultrasonic probe.
  • the left side direction instruction mark M2 is highlighted and displayed.
  • the right side direction instruction mark M1 or the left side direction instruction mark M2 means to change the display color of the right side direction instruction mark M1 or the left side direction instruction mark M2, to blink the display, and the like.
  • the display mode of the direction instruction mark M1 or the left side direction instruction mark M2 is different from the normal display mode.
  • the abnormal portion J is not scanned as in the case of instructing the user using the LED lamp 15 in the first embodiment. Since the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2A can be guided to the region in the direction to be scanned, the abnormal portion J can be sufficiently and efficiently inspected.
  • the instruction control unit 28 uses the unscanned portion K based on the boundary already recognized by the boundary recognition unit 27. It is also possible to detect the portion K and identify the scanning line L to be scanned by the ultrasonic probe 2 so as to pass through the detected unscanned portion K and display it on the monitor 24. As a result, it is possible to prevent omission of inspection of the abnormal portion J and improve the efficiency of inspection.
  • Embodiment 3 The direction in which the ultrasonic probe 2 should be scanned can also be instructed to the user by, for example, vibrating the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • FIG. 19 shows the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1B according to the third embodiment.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1B is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in which the ultrasonic probe 2B is provided instead of the ultrasonic probe 2.
  • the ultrasonic probe 2B includes the vibration mechanism 39 instead of the LED lamp 15 and the probe control unit 16B instead of the probe control unit 16 in the ultrasonic probe 2 according to the first embodiment.
  • the vibration mechanism 39 is composed of a small so-called vibration motor or the like, and slightly vibrates the ultrasonic probe 2B based on the instruction information generated by the instruction control unit 28.
  • the instruction control unit 28 uses the vibration mechanism 39 to move the ultrasonic probe 2B within a certain period of time, for example, in order to indicate to the user that the ultrasonic probe 2B is moved to the left with the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2B as the front.
  • the vibration mechanism 39 causes the ultrasonic probe 2B to be moved within a certain period of time. It can be vibrated twice in a row. In this way, the instruction control unit 28 can instruct the user in the direction to be scanned by vibrating the ultrasonic probe 2B with a vibration pattern determined according to the direction to be scanned.
  • the abnormality portion J is instructed to the user by using the LED lamp 15 in the first embodiment. Since the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 2A can be guided to the unscanned region in the direction to be scanned, the abnormal portion J can be sufficiently and efficiently inspected.
  • FIG. 20 shows the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1C according to the modified example of the third embodiment.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1C has an ultrasonic probe 2C and a diagnostic apparatus main body 3C.
  • the ultrasonic probe 2C is the ultrasonic probe 2 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in which the LED lamp 15 is removed and the probe control unit 16C is provided instead of the probe control unit 16.
  • the diagnostic device main body 3C is the diagnostic device main body 3 of the first embodiment, in which the vibration mechanism 40 is added and the main body control unit 29C is provided instead of the main body control unit 29. Further, instead of the main body side processor 31, the main body side processor 31C including the main body control unit 29C is configured. Further, the instruction control unit 28 is connected to the vibration mechanism 40 instead of being connected to the main body side wireless communication unit 21.
  • the vibration mechanism 40 is composed of a small vibration motor or the like, and slightly vibrates the diagnostic device main body 3B based on the instruction information generated by the instruction control unit 28.
  • the instruction control unit 28 uses the vibration mechanism 40 to move the diagnostic apparatus main body 3B within a certain period of time, for example, in order to indicate to the user that the ultrasonic probe 2B is moved to the left with the traveling direction of the ultrasonic probe 2B as the front.
  • the vibration mechanism 40 causes the diagnostic device main body 3B to be moved within a certain period of time. It can be vibrated twice in a row. In this way, the instruction control unit 28 can instruct the user in the direction to be scanned by vibrating the diagnostic apparatus main body 3B with a vibration pattern determined according to the direction to be scanned.
  • the diagnostic device main body 3C is provided with the vibration mechanism 40, but also the ultrasonic probe 2C may be provided with the vibration mechanism 39.
  • the instruction control unit 28 can vibrate either the ultrasonic probe 2C or the diagnostic apparatus main body 3C according to the direction to be scanned, for example.
  • the instruction control unit 28 holds the correspondence between the vibration of the ultrasonic probe 2C or the diagnostic device main body 3C and the direction to be scanned, for example, with either the user's right hand or the left hand of the ultrasonic probe 2C or the diagnostic device main body 3C. It can be determined by the device holding information indicating the above. The device holding information can be input by the user, for example, via the input device 30.
  • the instruction control unit 28 may determine the correspondence relationship between the vibration of the ultrasonic probe 2C or the diagnostic device main body 3C and the direction to be scanned based on the recognition result of the holding hand recognition unit. can.
  • Embodiment 4 During the inspection of the abnormal portion J, for example, the ultrasonic probe 2 may be separated from the body surface of the subject, so that the tomographic surface inside the subject may not be visualized in the ultrasonic image. In this case, it is possible to prevent omission of inspection by notifying the user of the portion that is not visualized by the ultrasonic image.
  • FIG. 21 shows the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1D according to the fourth embodiment.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1D is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in which the diagnostic apparatus main body 3D is provided instead of the diagnostic apparatus main body 3. Further, instead of the main body side processor 31, the main body side processor 31D including the main body control unit 29D and the non-drawing portion extraction unit 41 is configured.
  • the diagnostic device main body 3D is the diagnostic device main body 3 according to the first embodiment, in which the non-depicted portion extraction unit 41 is added and the main body control unit 29D is provided instead of the main body control unit 29.
  • the non-depicted portion extraction unit 41 is connected to the image generation unit 22, and the display control unit 23 is connected to the non-depicted portion extraction unit 41.
  • the ultrasonic probe 2 is the body of the subject based on the ultrasonic image U generated by the image generation unit 22 and the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 acquired by the position sensor 14. By moving away from the table, a portion not depicted in the ultrasonic image U is identified, and the identified portion is displayed on the monitor 24.
  • the non-depicted portion extraction unit 41 analyzes the ultrasonic image U of a plurality of frames generated by the image generation unit 22, and identifies the ultrasonic image U in which the tomographic surface inside the subject is not visualized. Then, based on the position information of the ultrasonic probe 2 corresponding to the ultrasonic image U, the tomographic surface of the subject is visualized on the ultrasonic image U in the region on the body surface of the subject that has already been scanned. You can identify the missing parts. Further, as shown in FIG. 22, for example, the non-depicted portion extraction unit 41 emphasizes the non-depicted portion F in which the tomographic surface of the subject is not visualized on the ultrasonic image U with respect to other portions, and monitors 24. Can be displayed on.
  • the non-depicted portion F in which the tomographic surface of the subject is not visualized in the ultrasonic image U is displayed on the monitor 24, so that the user cannot see it.
  • the position of the drawn portion F can be grasped, and the user can determine whether or not the position of the non-drawn portion F needs to be rescanned. Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the inspection while preventing the inspection of the abnormal portion J from being overlooked.
  • the instruction control unit 28 uses ultrasonic waves so as to pass through the non-drawing portion F selected by the user.
  • the direction in which the probe 2 should be scanned can be specified. As a result, the position of the non-depicted portion F can be reliably scanned, and omission of inspection can be prevented.
  • Embodiment 5 It is also possible to display the scanning trajectory of the ultrasonic probe 2 by the user on the monitor 24 so that the user can visually grasp the already scanned area.
  • FIG. 23 shows the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1E according to the fifth embodiment.
  • the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1E is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in which the diagnostic apparatus main body 3E is provided instead of the diagnostic apparatus main body 3.
  • the diagnostic device main body 3E is the diagnostic device main body 3 in the first embodiment, in which the locus calculation unit 42 is added and the main body control unit 29E is provided instead of the main body control unit 29. Further, instead of the main body side processor 31, the main body side processor 31E including the main body control unit 29E and the locus calculation unit 42 is configured. In the diagnostic apparatus main body 3E, the locus calculation unit 42 is connected to the image generation unit 22, and the display control unit 23 is connected to the locus calculation unit 42.
  • the locus calculation unit 42 calculates the scan loci C1 to C4 of the ultrasonic probe 2 as shown in FIG. 13, and displays the calculated loci C1 to C4 on the monitor 24. As a result, the user can inspect the abnormal portion J while easily grasping the region on the body surface of the already scanned subject.
  • the main body control unit 29E controls the memory control unit 26 to control the user.
  • the ultrasonic image U corresponding to the position specified in 1 can be read from the memory 25 and displayed on the monitor 24. The user can proceed with the inspection of the abnormal portion J while checking the ultrasonic image U displayed on the monitor 24 in this way.
  • the scanning trajectories C1 to C4 of the ultrasonic probe 2 are displayed on the monitor 24 and correspond to the positions on the trajectories C1 to C4 designated by the user. Since the ultrasonic image U to be performed is read from the memory 25 and displayed on the monitor 24, the user can efficiently perform the inspection while easily grasping the inspection status.

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