JP2792892B2 - Ultrasound diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Overview] Regarding an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a color Doppler function capable of displaying diagnostic information in a plurality of colors, a liquid flow identification in a subject is always easily and accurately grasped. Means for obtaining the degree of turbulence of the liquid flowing inside the subject from the ultrasonic reception signal, and means for obtaining the power of the ultrasonic reception signal reflected from the liquid. Means for generating an amount correlated to the degree of turbulence and power; means for obtaining the flow velocity of the liquid from an ultrasonic reception signal; and means for obtaining the luminance of a predetermined primary color from the amount and the flow velocity. , Is constituted by.

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a color Doppler function.

This type of device can display the dynamics of the fluid flowing through the subject in color, and is therefore used for diagnosis of a heart where the dynamics of blood flow is complicated.

[Related Art] In this type of ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the turbulence (dispersion component), power component (flow rate), and flow velocity (frequency component) of a liquid flowing inside a subject are obtained from an ultrasonic reception signal.

These are supplied to the color palette shown in FIG. 7, and the frequency component and the power component obtained from the ultrasonic reception signal are input to the mode switch 70, and the dispersion component is input to the mode switch 72.

The mode changeover switches 70 and 72 are operated as shown in FIG. 8, and both the flow velocity / dispersion mode is set to the UP side input, the flow velocity mode is set to the UP side input and the DOWN input side, and the power mode is set to both the DOWN side input. Is switched to (see FIG. 7).

Further, the switching outputs of the mode changeover switches 70 and 72 are given to the ROM 74, where the first primary color RED, the second primary color GREEN,
The luminance of the third primary color BLUE is determined based on the outputs of the mode changeover switches 70 and 72.

The luminance of each primary color obtained in this way is given to a color image display (color display), and as a result, the dynamics of the liquid flowing through the subject is displayed in color in the flow velocity / dispersion mode, flow velocity mode or power mode. Is done.

Here, when a heart is diagnosed with a complicated blood flow dynamics, the flow velocity / dispersion mode (see FIG. 8) is used, and the ROM 74 determines each primary color RE based on the frequency and dispersion components.
D, GREEN, and BLUE luminances are required.

As a result, many blood flows can be identified, and thus the dynamics of the blood flow in the heart can be accurately grasped to make an accurate diagnosis.

However, when the frequency and the variance of the liquid flowing through the subject are substantially equal, the primary colors RED, GREEN, BL
Since the luminance of the UE is required, it is difficult to identify the liquid flow.

For example, when there is another blood flow at a position slightly offset from the scan plane in addition to the blood flow centered on the ultrasonic scan plane, these blood flows are likely to be mistaken as one.

Therefore, the gain of the color Doppler is adjusted, or the scanning surface of the ultrasonic wave is moved.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when the frequency and the variance of the liquid flowing in the subject are almost equal and the identification of the liquid flow is difficult, the gain adjustment of the color Doppler and the movement of the ultrasonic scanning plane are delicate. Since the operation becomes complicated, a lot of time and effort has been conventionally spent to obtain an accurate diagnosis result without errors.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can always easily and accurately grasp a liquid flow identification in a subject. is there.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus according to the present invention is configured as shown in FIG.

In the figure, means 10 determines the turbulence of the liquid flowing inside the subject from the ultrasonic reception signal, and means 12 obtains the power from the liquid from the ultrasonic reception signal.

The means 14 generates an amount correlated with the degree of turbulence and the power, and the means 16 determines the flow velocity of the liquid from the ultrasonic reception signal.

Then, in the means 18, the luminance of the predetermined primary color is obtained from the amount and the flow velocity.

Here, the predetermined primary color refers to all of the primary colors RED, GREEN, and BLUE.

The power is a parameter indicating the amount of liquid to be put into the ultrasonic beam, and has a great relationship with the flow rate.

[Action] In the present invention, an amount correlated with the turbulence degree and power of the liquid is generated, and the primary colors RED, GREEN, BLUE are generated by the amount and the velocity component.
Is determined, the luminance varies not only with the turbulence and flow velocity of the liquid but also with the power.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of the embodiment. The transmission and reception (scanning) of ultrasonic waves to and from the heart (subject) is performed by the ultrasonic transducer 20 and the transmission / reception beamformer 22.

The ultrasonic reception signal of the transmission / reception beamformer 22 is supplied to a B-mode data detector 24, and the tomographic image data obtained by the B-mode data detector 24 is temporarily stored in a monochrome image memory 26. ing.

The tomographic image data read from the black-and-white image memory 26 is given to a color image display (display) 30 via a black-and-white palette 28, and as a result, the tomographic image of the ultrasonic scanning plane is converted into an image. It is displayed in monochrome on the display.

The ultrasonic reception signal of the transmission / reception beamformer 22 is also supplied to a color Doppler analyzer 32, which analyzes the dispersion component, power component, and frequency component of the blood flowing inside the heart (subject). It has been demanded.

The variance component, the power component, and the frequency component are temporarily stored in the color image memory 34, read out from the memory 34, and provided to the color palette 36.

In the color palette 36, a color image signal is generated, and as a result, the dynamics of the blood in the heart are displayed in a color superimposed on a monochrome tomography screen.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the color Doppler analyzer 32, and the ultrasonic reception signal of the transmission / reception beamformer 22 is given to the quadrature detector 38.

The quadrature detector 38 has a center frequency of ultrasonic waves of 2.5M
A sine wave and a cosine wave of Hz are also given, and these are multiplied by the ultrasonic wave detection signal by the quadrature detector 38.

The detection output of the quadrature detector 38 is supplied to an amplifier 40, and the amplifier 40 controls the amplification degree of the detection output according to an external operation.

As a result, the gain of the color Doppler is adjusted, and the amplified output is supplied to a frequency detector 46, a dispersion detector 48, and a power detector 50 via an A / D converter 42 and a high-pass filter (MTI filter) 44.

In the frequency detector 46, dispersion detector 48, and power detector 50, blood flow velocity (frequency), degree of dispersion (dispersion), and flow rate (power)
Are detected from the filter output, and the frequency and variance are detected by the autocorrelation method (pulse pair method). FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the color pallet 36, and the detection output of the frequency detector 46 is given to the UP-side input of the mode changeover switch 52 in FIG.

The detection output of the power detector 50 is given to the DOWN input of the mode changeover switch 52 and the ROM 54.

Further, the detection output of the dispersion detector 48 is given to the ROM 54 and the DOWN side input of the mode changeover switch 56, and the output of the ROM 54 is given to the UP side input of the mode changeover switch 56.

The changeover output of the mode changeover switch 56 is given to the UP-side input of the mode changeover switch 58, and the DOWN-side input of the mode changeover switch 58 is grounded.

The changeover output of the mode changeover switch 58 is given to the ROM 60 together with the changeover output of the mode changeover switch 52.
The OM 60 outputs the luminance of the three primary colors RED, BLUE, and GREEN obtained from these.

FIG. 5 illustrates the switch operation at the time of mode switching. When the flow velocity / dispersion mode, the flow velocity mode, or the power mode is selected, the switches 52 and 58 are switched to the seventh state while the switch 56 is switched to the DOWN input side. Switches 70 and 72 in the figure
Is switched in the same manner as.

The ROM 60 to which the switching outputs of the switches 52 and 58 are given stores the characteristics 600, 602 and 604 for the flow velocity / dispersion mode shown in FIGS. 6 (A), (B) and (C).
Is obtained from the characteristic 600 using the blood flow velocity indicated by the detection output of the frequency detector 46.

The luminance of the primary color BLUE is also obtained from the characteristic 602 using the blood flow velocity indicated by the detection output of the frequency detector 46.

Further, the luminance of the primary color GREEN is also obtained from the characteristic 604 using the blood flow velocity indicated by the detection output of the frequency detector 46, and the slope of the characteristic 604 is the slope of the blood flow indicated by the detection output of the dispersion detector 48. It changes according to the variance (a plurality of characteristics are prepared in advance, and one of them is selected).

When luminance signals of these three primary colors RED, BLUE, and GREEN are given from the color palette 36 to the image display 30, the image display 30
In this case, the dynamics of the blood in the heart are displayed in color, so that it is possible to identify many blood flows.

Here, in the present embodiment, flow velocity / dispersion / power modes are prepared as shown in FIG. 5, and in this mode, the characteristics of the flow velocity / dispersion mode are used as they are,
Further, only the mode switch 56 is switched to the UP-side input.

In that case, the output of the ROM 54 is supplied to the ROM 60 instead of the detection output of the dispersion detector 48.

A plurality of characteristics 606 are prepared in advance in the ROM 54 as shown in FIG.
From the slope corresponding to the blood flow rate indicated by the detection output, the amount of ROM output is obtained from the degree of blood dispersion indicated by the detection output of the dispersion detector 48.

Therefore, the output of the ROM 54 is correlated with the blood flow rate indicated by the detection output of the power detector 50 and the blood dispersion indicated by the detection output of the dispersion detector 48.

For this reason, in addition to the blood whose scanning surface of the ultrasonic wave is located at the center, even if another blood flow exists at a position slightly offset from the scanning surface, the flow rates of both blood flows are different, The luminance of the primary color GREEN used for those displays is also different.

As a result, both blood flows can be clearly identified as they are, and these blood flows are not mistaken as one, and the gain adjustment of the color Doppler and the movement of the scanning plane of the ultrasonic wave become unnecessary.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, even when the frequency and variance of blood are almost equal and it is difficult to identify the blood flow, both blood flows can be clearly identified as they are, and the gain of the color Doppler can be reduced. Since a complicated operation of adjusting or moving the scanning surface of the ultrasonic wave is not required, an accurate diagnosis result without error and a short time can be easily obtained.

By controlling the upper address of the ROMs 54 and 60 to realize the switch function, the mode switching switches 52 and 5 are controlled.
It is also preferable to use a circuit configuration that does not use 6,58.

In addition, a RAM can be used instead of the ROMs 54 and 60, in which case the stored contents are rewritten as needed.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, an amount correlated with the turbulence degree of the liquid and the power (flow rate) is generated, and any of the primary colors RED, GREEN, and BLUE is generated based on the amount and the velocity component. Since the brightness is determined, the brightness varies not only with the turbulence and flow velocity of the liquid, but also with the power (flow rate). Therefore, the frequency and dispersion of the liquid flowing in the sample are almost equal, and the In the case where the identification becomes difficult, the two liquid streams can be clearly identified as they are.

Therefore, it is not necessary to adjust the gain of the color Doppler or to perform a complicated operation of moving the ultrasonic scanning surface.

As a result, it is possible to easily obtain an accurate diagnosis result without errors in a short time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a color Doppler analyzer in the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a color palette in the embodiment. FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a mode switching operation by operating a color palette switch in the embodiment, FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram for explaining the contents of each ROM in the embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a view for explaining a mode switching operation by operating a color pallet switch in a conventional apparatus. 20 ultrasonic transducer 22 transmit / receive beamformer 24 B-mode data detector 26 black-and-white image memory 28 black-and-white palette 30 image display 32 color Doppler analyzer 34 color image Memory 36 Color palette 38 Quadrature detector 40 Amplifier 46 Frequency detector 48 Dispersion detector 50 Power detector 52 Mode switch 54 ROM 56, 58 Mode Changeover switch 60 ROM

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for displaying diagnostic information in a plurality of colors, means for obtaining a degree of turbulence of a liquid flowing inside a subject from an ultrasonic reception signal, and receiving ultrasonic waves reflected from the liquid. Means for determining the power of the signal; means for generating an amount correlated to the degree of turbulence and the power; means for determining the flow rate of the liquid from the ultrasonic reception signal; and determining the luminance of a predetermined primary color by the amount and the flow rate. Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: