JPH0648608U - Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide an ultrasonic probe for detecting a posture and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for displaying an image according to the posture of the ultrasonic probe. [Structure] The ultrasonic probe 2 has a built-in gravity sensor 3 for sensing a posture in a two-dimensional plane. The control circuit 6 determines the attitude of the ultrasonic probe 2 based on the output signal of the gravity sensor 3. The affine transformation circuit 7
Affine transformation is applied to the data image-processed by the DSC 5 according to the determination result, and the data is written in the frame memory 8. Therefore, an image of an angle corresponding to the posture of the ultrasonic probe 2 is displayed on the display screen of the CRT 9. [Effect] The posture of the ultrasonic probe can be detected. An image corresponding to the posture of the ultrasonic probe is displayed, and the operation of the ultrasonic probe becomes accurate.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic probe that senses an angle of a slice plane and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that displays an image according to the angle of the slice plane.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a main part of an example of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. In this ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 51, ultrasonic echo signals are obtained by the ultrasonic probe 52 and the transmission / reception circuit 4, the DSC 5 forms an image, the image is written in the frame memory 8 for each frame, and displayed on the CRT 9. .

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship among the ultrasonic probe 52, the slice plane g 1, and the image g 2 on the display screen H of the CRT 9. FIG. 10 is a view corresponding to FIG. 9 when the ultrasonic probe 52 is tilted. The ultrasonic probe 52 is inclined in the α direction from the gravity direction. An image g2 is displayed on the display screen H of the CRT 9 based on the ultrasonic echo signal from the slice plane g1.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 51, the image g2 is displayed at a predetermined position on the display screen H of the CRT 9, and the angle of the image g2 does not change even if the ultrasonic probe 52 is tilted. For this reason, the doctor has to associate the image g2 with the diagnosis region in his / her head, which causes a problem of extra burden on the doctor.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which the posture of the ultrasonic probe is reflected in the image on the display screen.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In a first aspect, the present invention provides an ultrasonic probe including a two-dimensional gravity sensor for sensing the attitude of the ultrasonic probe in a two-dimensional surface.

[0007] In a second aspect, the present invention provides an ultrasonic probe including a three-dimensional gravity sensor for sensing the posture of the ultrasonic probe in a three-dimensional space.

According to a third aspect, the present invention provides an ultrasonic probe having the above-mentioned configuration, and an attitude determination unit that determines the attitude of the ultrasonic probe based on an output signal of a two-dimensional gravity sensor or a three-dimensional gravity sensor. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: an image rotating unit that rotates an image on a display screen according to the determination result of the posture determining unit.

[0009]

[Action]

 The ultrasonic probe of the present invention has a built-in two-dimensional gravity sensor or three-dimensional gravity sensor, and thus can detect a posture in a two-dimensional surface or a three-dimensional space.

In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, the attitude determination means determines the attitude of the ultrasonic probe based on the output signal of the two-dimensional gravity sensor or the three-dimensional gravity sensor incorporated in the ultrasonic probe. The image rotation means rotates the image on the display screen according to the determination result of the posture determination means. Therefore, an image corresponding to the posture of the ultrasonic probe is displayed on the display screen.

[0011]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. However, this does not limit the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of essential parts of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The transmitting / receiving circuit 4, the DSC 5, the frame memory 8 and the CRT 9 are the same components as the conventional device 51 shown in FIG. 8 and are designated by the same reference numerals.

The ultrasonic probe 2 has the same function as the ultrasonic probe 52 of the conventional device 51, but has a built-in gravity sensor 3 for detecting the posture of the ultrasonic probe 2 in a two-dimensional plane. It's different.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gravity sensor 3 has a structure in which a steel ball 11 moves in an insulating cylindrical container 10 substantially filled with silicon oil. Four electrodes 12 are provided on the upper, lower, left and right sides of the circumference of the cylindrical container 10. Each electrode 12 is connected to the control circuit 6 via a lead wire 13.

The gravity sensor 3 is built in the ultrasonic probe 2 with the circular surface of the cylindrical container 10 parallel to the slice plane G as shown in FIG.

When the ultrasonic probe 2 is tilted in the α direction, the steel ball 11 of the gravity sensor 3 moves to the lowest position along the peripheral surface of the cylindrical container 10.

When the ultrasonic probe 2 is tilted in the β direction, the steel ball 11 does not move unless the tilt from the gravity direction exceeds ± 90 °, but when it exceeds ± 90 °, the steel ball 11 moves to the peripheral surface. Move to the opposite position.

Returning to FIG. 1, the control circuit 6 takes in an output signal from each electrode 12 every scan of one frame, detects the position of the steel ball 11 based on the capacity between each electrode. , The orientation of the ultrasonic probe 2 in the same plane as the slice plane G is determined.

The affine transformation circuit 7 affine-transforms the data image-processed by the DSC 5 for each frame according to the above determination result, and writes the data in the frame memory.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the ultrasonic probe 2 is tilted in the α direction, the image G2 based on the slice plane G1 is displayed tilted on the display screen H of the CRT 9. (Corresponds to the rotation direction identification display a shown in FIG. 3.) When the ultrasonic probe 2 is tilted in the β direction and the angle from the gravity direction is θ, as shown in FIG. The image G 3 is displayed on the display screen H when 90 ° ≦ θ ≦ 90 °, and the image G 4 is displayed on the display screen H when θ <−90 ° or 90 ° <θ. (This corresponds to the rotation direction identification display b shown in FIG. 3.) As described above, according to the ultrasonic probe 2 and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 of the present invention, the angle of the image according to the posture of the ultrasonic probe 2 Therefore, the correspondence between the diagnosis region and the image becomes clear and the doctor is not overloaded. In another embodiment of the present invention, the gravity sensor 3 is used instead, as shown in FIG. The ultrasonic probe may include the three-dimensional gravity sensor 23. The three-dimensional gravity sensor 23 has a structure in which a steel ball 31 moves in an insulating spherical container 30 almost filled with silicon oil. Four electrodes 32 are provided on the equator of the spherical container 30 at equal intervals, and a total of six electrodes 32 are provided for each of the north pole and the south pole.

In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the control circuit detects the position of the steel ball 31 based on the capacity between the electrodes to detect the posture of the ultrasonic probe in the three-dimensional space, that is, FIG. The inclination in the α direction and the inclination in the β direction are determined. Therefore, the same effect as the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 can be obtained by the information of the inclination in the α direction.

Further, since the tilt angle of the slice plane G can be known from the information on the inclination in the β direction as shown in FIG. 7, the coordinates in the three-dimensional space for the sound ray data can be determined. Therefore, it is possible to reconstruct an image of a surface sliced in any direction other than the direction sliced by the ultrasonic probe. Further, it becomes possible to display a three-dimensional image.

Even in the ultrasonic probe 2 of FIG. 3, the same effect can be obtained by using the gravity sensor 3 for detecting the inclination in the β direction.

As still another embodiment of the present invention, there is one in which the CRT is mechanically moved according to the output of the gravity sensor incorporated in the ultrasonic probe so that the displayed image matches the posture of the ultrasonic probe. To be

[0024]

[Effect of device]

 According to the ultrasonic probe of the present invention, the attitude of the ultrasonic probe can be sensed in a two-dimensional surface or a three-dimensional space.

Further, according to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to display an image according to the posture of the ultrasonic probe. Therefore, the correspondence between the image and the diagnostic region becomes easy to understand, and the ultrasonic probe can be operated accurately. Also, the diagnosis becomes easier.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of essential parts of an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a gravity sensor related to the ultrasonic probe of the apparatus of FIG.

3 is an external view of the ultrasonic probe of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between an ultrasonic probe and a display image of the apparatus of FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between the ultrasonic probe of the apparatus of FIG. 1 and a display image.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a gravity sensor according to another embodiment of the ultrasonic probe of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an external view of an ultrasonic probe according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a main part of an example of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

9 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between an ultrasonic probe and a display image of the apparatus of FIG.

10 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between an ultrasonic probe and a display image of the apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ultrasonic diagnostic device 2 ultrasonic probe 3 gravity sensor 6 control circuit 7 affine conversion circuit H display screen.

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An ultrasonic probe including a two-dimensional gravity sensor for sensing the posture of the ultrasonic probe within a two-dimensional surface. 2. An ultrasonic probe including a three-dimensional gravity sensor for sensing the attitude of the ultrasonic probe in a three-dimensional space. 3. An ultrasonic probe according to claim 1 or 2, an attitude determining means for determining the attitude of the ultrasonic probe based on an output signal of the two-dimensional gravity sensor or the three-dimensional gravity sensor, and the attitude determining means. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: an image rotating unit that rotates an image on a display screen according to the determination result of 1.