JPH0319365Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a sector-scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that facilitates association between simultaneously displayed sector images and M-mode images.

(B) Prior Art In general, sector-scanning ultrasonic diagnostic devices are widely used in cardiac diagnosis because they can obtain internal diagnostic information by reducing the influence of artifacts caused by, for example, ribs within the subject. In such a conventional sector scanning type ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a first
As shown in the figure, there is an apparatus in which a sector image b ₀ and an M-mode image m ₀ are simultaneously displayed so that they can be observed in comparison. By the way, when transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic beam at a certain predetermined angle θ ₀ from the sector scanning center position o on the sector image b ₀ and displaying the M-mode image m ₀ based on this, conventionally, the M-mode image m ₀ is The vertical direction is displayed as the transmission and reception direction of the ultrasonic beam, and therefore it is displayed differently from the transmission and reception direction of the ultrasound beam on the sector image _b0 . Therefore, it becomes difficult to associate the sector image b ₀ with the M mode image m ₀ and there is a possibility that an incorrect diagnosis may be performed.

(c) Purpose The present invention solves these conventional problems and allows more accurate diagnosis to be made by displaying the correspondence between the transmission/reception direction of the ultrasound beam on the sector image and the M-mode image in an easy-to-understand manner. The purpose is to ensure that

(d) Configuration In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention inputs M-mode angle setting data for setting the sector angle of the ultrasonic beam in order to obtain an M-mode image, and generates data for sector image rotation based on this input data. A rotation data generation circuit is provided, and this rotation data generation circuit is connected to a write/read control circuit that controls writing and reading of the image memory, and data for sector image rotation outputted from the rotation data generation circuit is used to write data. The image memory address designation signal output of the read control circuit is controlled so that the sector image can be displayed rotated by a predetermined angle.

(E) Embodiment Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main parts of the sector scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of this embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a sector-scanning ultrasonic diagnostic device, and 2 an A/D converter that digitizes each echo data for sector images and M-mode images obtained by a transducer (not shown). , 4 is a line buffer memory in which echo data for one scanning line of the digitized echo data for the sector image is stored, and 6 is a line buffer memory for the M mode image digitized by the A/D converter 2. An M-mode image processing circuit 8 performs M-mode image display processing such as averaging processing and peak detection processing on the echo data; This is an image memory that stores echo data for sector images and M-mode images. Reference numeral 10 denotes a write/read control circuit for controlling writing and reading of data in the line buffer memory 4 and image memory 8. Reference numeral 12 denotes a rotation data generation circuit which inputs M mode angle setting data for setting the sector angle θ ₁ of the ultrasonic beam in order to obtain an M mode image, and generates sector image rotation data based on this input data. The data generation circuit 12 is connected to the write/read control circuit 10.

In the above configuration, the sector image echo data obtained by the transducer is digitized by the A/D converter 2. The digitized echo data for the sector image is stored in the line buffer memory 4 at the next stage for each scanning line based on the control signal from the write/read control circuit 10, and is successively read from the memory 4. The image data is output and sent to the image memory 8 at the next stage. Also, the M obtained with the transducer
After the mode image echo data is digitized by the A/D converter 2, it is input to the M mode image processing circuit 6, where it is subjected to processing such as averaging or peak detection. The M-mode image echo data that has passed through the M-mode image processing circuit 6 is also sent to the image memory 8. To obtain an M-mode image, a sector angle θ ₁ for transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic beam is set in advance, and echo data is always collected at this sector angle θ ₁ . Therefore, the above sector angle θ ₁
The M-mode angle setting data for setting the M-mode angle is also input to the rotation data generation circuit 12, and the rotation data generation circuit 12 generates data for sector image rotation based on the M-mode angle setting data. This sector image rotation data is input to the next stage write/read control circuit 10 as an address control signal. This address control signal controls the address designation signal for writing to the image memory 8 output from the write/read control circuit 10. Therefore, when the sector image echo data sent from the line buffer memory 4 is written into the image memory 8, the rotation data generation circuit 12
The address designation signal output of the write/read control circuit 10 is controlled based on the sector image rotation data output from the sector image rotation data, and as a result, the echo data for the sector image is stored in the image memory 8 at the address position rotated by the sector angle θ ₁ . are written sequentially. The sector image echo data written in the image memory 8 in this manner is read out by the write/read control circuit 10 in accordance with the TV synchronization signal and output to a CRT (not shown). On the other hand, when writing M-mode image echo data to the image memory 8, the write/read control circuit 10 specifies the write address without being controlled by the rotation data generation circuit 12, so that the M-mode image echo data is written to a predetermined location in the image memory 8, and read out in the same way as the sector image echo data.
Sent to CRT. Therefore, the sector image b ₁ and M mode image m ₁ displayed simultaneously on the CRT are as shown in FIG. That is, in the M-mode image _m1 , the vertical direction r is the transmission/reception direction of the ultrasound beam, as in the conventional case, and the displacement within the subject is displayed in time series in the horizontal direction t. On the other hand, the sector image b ₁ is displayed with the entire sector rotated by the sector angle θ ₁ set to obtain the M-mode image from the center position o of sector scanning of the ultrasonic beam. As a result, M on sector image b ₁
The transmission and reception direction of the mode image ultrasonic beam is the same vertical direction r as the M mode image _m1 , and the relationship between the movement of the sector image _b1 and the M mode image _m1 can be immediately read.

In addition to the embodiments described above, the sector image may be displayed as is, and only the vertical component of the M-mode ultrasound beam may be extracted and a sector image based on this echo data may be displayed. In this case, instead of the rotational data generation circuit 12, it is necessary to provide a multiplication circuit that multiplies the address designation signal of the image memory by the value of cos θ.

(F) Effect As described above, according to the present invention, the sector image can be rotated by a predetermined angle and displayed, so that the ultrasound beam transmission and reception direction for the M-mode image in the sector image and the ultrasonic wave in the sector image can be adjusted. The beam transmission and reception directions match. Therefore, it is easy to associate the sector image with the M-mode image, and a more accurate diagnosis can be performed, which is an excellent practical effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of simultaneous display of a sector image and an M-mode image in a conventional sector scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, FIGS. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main parts of the sector scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and is an explanatory diagram showing an example of simultaneous display of a sector image and an M-mode image. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Sector scanning ultrasonic diagnostic device, 8...Image memory, 10...Writing/reading control circuit, 12...
Rotation data generation circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a sector-scanning ultrasound diagnostic device that displays sector images and M-mode images simultaneously, M-mode angle setting data for setting the sector angle of the ultrasound beam is input to obtain the M-mode image. A rotation data generation circuit that generates data for sector image rotation based on the rotation data generation circuit is provided, and this rotation data generation circuit is connected to a write/read control circuit that controls writing and reading of the image memory. A sector scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized in that image rotation data is used to control image memory address designation signal output of a write/read control circuit.