JPH04367656A - Ultrasonic diagnosing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that digitizes a received signal using an AD converter and performs signal processing on the digital data. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized in that when an abnormality in a response signal is detected, the abnormality is recovered by software processing on memory data.

0002

[Prior Art] In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the reception signal of each element is converted into an AD signal and is once written into a digital memory.
It has been reported that the method of performing phasing addition on memory data can accurately obtain a large delay time, and also allows dynamic focus (multi-step focus) reception to be performed freely, making it possible to realize an imaging system with high spatial resolution. (Nichicho Medical Review Collection 41, 581 (1982)). An example of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that digitizes a received signal using an AD converter and performs phasing and addition processing on the digital data is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 57-204477. In addition, as an example of an ultrasonic diagnostic device that AD converts the received signal after phasing and addition and inspects the converted data,
No. 27631 is mentioned.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 57-20
In No. 4477, there is no means to inspect the response of each element after AD conversion, so even if an abnormality occurs during the process of storing the received signal in memory and the tomographic image deteriorates as a result, any element I don't know if the response is the cause. Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-27631, since AD conversion is performed on the signal after phasing and addition, it is not possible to perform phasing and addition on digital data, and furthermore, the result of inspecting the response signal is only the adjustment of the TGC amplifier. It is used for.

An object of the present invention is to convert the received signal of each element into an AD
It is possible to convert the data and write it into digital memory once, and then perform phasing and addition on the memory data.In addition, if there is an abnormality in the response signal of each element and the tomographic image deteriorates, the abnormal response can be detected. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can perform abnormality recovery through software processing.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] An object of the present invention is to provide a probe, a transmitting section that provides a transmitting pulse to each element of the probe, and a transmitter that transmits a received signal of each element of the probe. a parallel TGC amplifier for amplifying and time gain compensation of the signal; a parallel AD converter for AD converting the output of the parallel TGC amplifier;
A parallel memory that stores D converter output, a CPU that performs signal processing on data in the parallel memory and controls the parallel AD converter, and an image display device that displays image data generated by the CPU. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes an element response inspection unit that inspects the response of each element stored in the parallel memory for each element, and an element response inspection unit that inspects the response of each element stored in the parallel memory, and a This is achieved by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus equipped with an abnormal response recovery section that performs abnormality recovery through software processing.

[0006]

[Operation] In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, the received signals are analog-to-digital converted in parallel and stored in the memory, and the CPU performs phasing and addition processing on the data in the memory, so that a large delay time can be accurately obtained. Therefore, it is possible to realize an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus with high spatial resolution and which can freely perform dynamic focus reception. Furthermore, the response of each element in memory can be inspected, and if an abnormality is detected, recovery processing can be performed by software, making it possible to prevent tomographic image deterioration due to abnormal element response with simple work. An ultrasonic diagnostic device can be realized.

[0007]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a transmitter, 2 is a probe, 3 is a parallel TGC amplifier, and 4 is a parallel AD
Converter, 5 is a parallel memory, 6 is a CPU, 7 is an image display device, 8 is an element response inspection section, and 9 is an abnormal response recovery section.

[0009] Probe 2 receiving pulses from transmitter 1
sends ultrasonic waves into the subject, and the same probe 2 receives reflected waves from within the subject. The received signal is amplified by the parallel TGC amplifier 3, the output of the parallel TGC amplifier 3 is AD converted by the parallel AD converter 4, and the output of the parallel AD converter 4 is stored in the parallel memory 5. The CPU 6 performs signal processing such as phasing and addition on the data in the parallel memory 5. CPU6
As a result of signal processing, image data is generated, and the image data is transferred to the image display device 7. At this time, the CPU
6 controls the parallel AD converter 4, the parallel memory 5, and the image display device 7.

[0010] At this time, it is conceivable that an abnormality may occur in the response of a specific element due to a failure of the device. For example, this may occur if a specific element of the probe 2 fails, or if a specific channel of the parallel TGC amplifier 3 fails. In a device that performs phasing and addition processing on data in memory, each part of the device has a multi-channel configuration because the response signal of each element is individually AD converted, so the probability of the above failure occurring is considered to be high. It will be done. Furthermore, due to the large number of channels, variations in characteristics occur between channels. If there is an element that exhibits an abnormal response compared to other elements during phased addition, the signal after phased addition will be affected, leading to deterioration of the tomographic image. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the response signal indicating the abnormal response before the phasing and addition.

Therefore, the element response testing section 8 tests the response signals in the memory for each element. As an inspection method in this case, a method of showing the response of each element on the image display device 7 can be considered. This will be explained using FIG. 2. In the figure, 10,1
1 and 12 are elements of the probe 2, 13 is a reflector in the object,
14 is an ultrasonic beam. It is assumed that the element 10 has poor sensitivity and a weak response, and that the corresponding channel of the parallel TGC amplifier 3 of the element 12 is defective and its response contains noise. It is assumed that the response of element 11 is normal. Elements 10, 11
, 12 transmit and receive ultrasonic waves to the reflector 13. As a result, 15 is displayed as the response of element 10, 16 is displayed as the response of element 11, and 17 is displayed as the response of element 12 on the image display device 7. No. 16 has a normal response, but No. 15 has a poor element sensitivity, so the outline of the reflector is blurred, and No. 17 has noise in the parallel TGC amplifier 3 appearing as a striped pattern on the screen. When the user of the device views these images,
It can be seen that the responses of elements 10 and 12 are abnormal for some reason.

When the number of elements is large, it may not be possible to display the response of each element in all scanning lines as shown in FIG. 2 on one screen. In this case, it is possible to sequentially display response screens for all scanning lines of all elements, or it is also possible to display response screens for specified scanning lines of all elements at once.

In addition, instead of displaying the response signals of each element on a screen and having the user of the device judge the abnormality by looking at the screen, the element response testing section 8 automatically detects abnormalities in the elements 10 and 12. It is also possible to detect from the response signal and display the element number in which the abnormality occurred and the details of the abnormality on the image display device 7 as shown in FIG. Note that the display content is not limited to the content shown in FIG. 3, and may be any content as long as it notifies the user of an abnormality.

Next, the abnormal response recovery section 9 corrects the abnormality detected by the element response inspection section 8. At this time, the abnormal response recovery unit 9 performs abnormality recovery by software processing on the memory data. At this time, even if a hardware failure is the cause of the abnormality, the abnormality can be recovered by software processing of the memory data. This is because when a response screen like 15 is displayed, even if the real cause of the blurred response screen is the element sensitivity, it is difficult to determine which part of the device is malfunctioning from the screen alone. It is. Furthermore, even if the location of the failure can be determined, for example, if the cause of the failure is in an element of the probe 2, correction of the failed element requires hardware work and requires a lot of time and effort. Furthermore, in diagnostic equipment that performs phasing and addition using digital signal processing, failures are expected to occur frequently due to the large number of channels in each part of the equipment, and in order to save time and effort, it is often necessary to compensate for hardware failures with software. It is thought that this will occur.

The following methods can be considered as software processing performed by the abnormal response recovery unit 9 at this time. First, when the outline of the reflector is blurred due to poor element sensitivity as shown in the response screen 15, sensitivity correction may be performed by emphasizing edges or increasing the value of memory data. Also, if the element is disconnected and there is no response at all,
It is also possible to substitute the response signals of adjacent elements in the phasing and addition program. Alternatively, if noise from the transmitting/receiving circuit is mixed into the response signal as shown in the response screen 17, it may be possible to remove the noise by applying a software filter. Furthermore, if an offset voltage is added to the response signal due to a failure in the transmitter/receiver circuit, adjustment may be performed by subtracting the value of the offset from the memory data. The effects of channel variations in each part of the device described above can also be resolved in a similar manner.

It should be noted that the signal processing performed by the abnormal response recovery section 9 is not limited to the above-mentioned processing, and may be any calculation as long as it can be programmed. In addition, the above-mentioned abnormality recovery processing may be performed by the user selecting the processing method, or by instructing the element response inspection section 8 to the abnormal response recovery section 9 on the optimum processing method for the detected abnormality, and responding to the abnormality according to the instruction. It is also possible to adopt a form in which the element response inspection section 8 controls the abnormal response recovery section 9, such that the recovery section 9 performs the processing. Further, it is also possible to control the element response testing section 8 and the abnormal response recovery section 9 by the CPU 6. Furthermore, the CPU 6 can also function as the element response testing section 8 and the abnormal response recovery section 9.

In the embodiment, the response of each element of the probe was amplified by the parallel TGC amplifier 3, and the output was AD converted.
If the CPU 6 performs a time gain compensation calculation on the data in the memory, the parallel TGC amplifier 3 is unnecessary.

Furthermore, the tomographic image construction by digital signal processing in the apparatus may be performed in real time or offline.

[0019]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the reception signal of each element is AD converted and once written into a digital memory, the memory data is subjected to phasing and addition, and the response signal of each element is It is possible to realize an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can detect an abnormality when the tomographic image deteriorates due to an abnormality, and can recover from the abnormality through software processing. This has the remarkable effect of providing an ultrasonic diagnostic device that has high spatial resolution and can recover from deterioration of tomographic images caused by hardware failures or variations in various parts of the hardware with simple operations. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a display example when the element response testing section displays the response of each element in the configuration of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an example of a display when the element response testing section displays the details of an element abnormality in the configuration of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1... Transmitter, 2... Probe, 3... Parallel TGC amplifier, 4...
Parallel AD converter, 5... Parallel memory, 6... CPU, 7... Image display device, 8... Element response inspection section, 9... Abnormal response recovery section, 10... Element, 11... Element, 12... Element, 13... Reflector , 14... Ultrasonic beam, 15... Response signal display screen of element 10, 16... Response signal display screen of element 11, 17... Response signal display screen of element 12.

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A probe, a transmitter that provides a transmitting pulse to each element of the probe, and amplifies a received signal of each element of the probe and performs time gain compensation of the signal. A parallel TGC amplifier and a parallel AD that AD converts the output of the parallel TGC amplifier.
a converter, a parallel memory that stores the output of the parallel AD converter, a CPU that performs signal processing on data in the parallel memory, and controls the parallel AD converter;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising an image display device that displays image data generated by an element response testing section that tests the response of each element stored in the parallel memory for each element, and an element response testing section that tests the response of each element stored in the parallel memory, An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: an abnormal response recovery unit that performs abnormality recovery through software processing on memory data when an abnormality in element response is recognized. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the element response testing section and the abnormal response recovery section are controlled by the CPU. 3. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abnormal response recovery section is controlled by the element response inspection section. 4. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the CPU also functions as the element response testing section and the abnormal response recovery section.