JPS58121940A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - 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] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic device fK.

In recent years, so-called ultrasonic diagnostic devices have become widely used in the medical field, which scan ultrasonic beams emitted into the inside of a patient's body to obtain tomographic images of organs.

Diagnosis using ultrasound diagnostic equipment does not cause pain to the patient.
It has the great advantage of being able to diagnose the inside of the body from outside the body, and has recently come into the spotlight rapidly, with various devices being developed.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. In the figure, a control signal from a control circuit 1 causes a pulse generator 2 to generate a transmission pulse whose amplitude is controlled by nine phases, thereby driving a probe 3 having an array of ultrasonic vibration elements. As a result, ultrasonic waves are irradiated in a specific direction of the living body (for example, the abdomen) 8, and the probe 3 receives a reflected signal caused by the mismatch of acoustic impedance. This received signal is input to a phase shifter 5 via a preamplifier 4, and is phased by a control circuit so that they are in the same phase to obtain a summed signal. Since the ultrasonic frequency component of this added signal is amplitude-modulated, the envelope signal is obtained by the detector 6 and displayed on the display (for example, CW).
T) 7 luminance signal (Z signal). - Since the direction of the ultrasonic beam is determined by the control circuit, an XY-fold signal is obtained from the control circuit 1 and input to the display 7.

In this way, a super chopstick wave image of a biological organ can be displayed on the display 7. 9. In the above description, the so-called sector type has been described, but the so-called linear type has almost the same configuration except that it includes a selection switch for selecting the arrayed ultrasonic imaging elements.

CR of the f-elephant obtained using the diagnostic device configured as described above
Due to the signal processing system, the method of displaying T on the screen is as shown in Figure 2 (18). There are many methods to do this, such as placing the probe on the side and displaying it in such a way that the ultrasonic waves are radiated laterally, as shown in FIG. 2(b).

However, in actual ultrasound diagnosis, the direction in which the probe is applied to the body is not constant.

For example, when diagnosing the abdomen, there are two methods: one method is to place the probe 3 on the front of the abdomen 8 to obtain an image, and the other method is to place the probe 3 on the side of the abdomen 8 to obtain an image, as shown in FIG.

In this way, even if the direction in which the probe is applied is different, the method of displaying the image can be as shown in FIG. 2(a), for example.
In the image display where probe 3 is always at the top, as in
From the obtained image, it may be difficult to determine in which direction of the abdomen 8 the probe 3 is applied for diagnosis.

Diagnosis is relatively easy if the body has internal organs with a distinctive structure, but otherwise it is extremely difficult and may lead to misdiagnosis.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized in that the shape of the body surface at the time of diagnosis is superimposed on an ultrasonic emission surface and displayed at the same time.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail using figures.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the structure of a probe capable of measuring the shape of the body surface. In this case, the shape of the body surface can be determined mechanically by using a plurality of stylus 9 provided on both sides of the probe 3. You can ask for it.

This structure is shown in FIG. 4. An angle detector 11 for detecting the movement angle of the stylus 9 is attached to a fixed portion 10 of the stylus 9. Although not shown in the figure, the fixing part 10 is pressed against a spring 12 by an L force such that the tip of the stylus 9 is constantly in contact with the body surface.

When the probe 3 having such a structure is applied to the body surface, the tip of each stylus 9 comes into contact with the shape of the body surface, and the inclination of the stylus 9 is determined as an angle.

In addition, if the length from the fixed point of each stylus 9 to the tip 4 is determined in advance, then depending on how much the stylus 9 is tilted along the body surface, the body surface will be on the reference plane (the probe 3 It can be quickly determined how far the ultrasonic radiation surface is below the ultrasonic radiation surface. This can be obtained for each stylus 9 and displayed on the CRT screen.

In other words, if the center of the array element of the probe 3 is set as the origin (0,0) and the X-y coordinates are taken as shown in FIG. Coordinates of the tip of the needle (
Xl, yt) is just a reminder, t is the total length of the probe LL is the obliquely shaded length of the stylus θl is the rotation angle of the stylus.

In this way, the rotation angle of the stylus is measured 't'L'i''L
For example, the coordinates of the tip can be found by simple calculations.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, three stylus needles are placed on each end of the probe 30, and the rotation angle θ1 (i=1 to 6) is set at each end of the probe 30.
is input to the digital scan converter 12.

In addition, the X, Y control signals and brightness variation signal Z of the ultrasound image are stored in advance in the frame memory 15 of the scan converter 12.
Store the ultrasound image on top and freeze it. In this state, turn on the switch 13 and turn the stylus rotation angle θI (
j = 1 to 6), and use equation (1) to calculate the position in front of the tip seat (X+
.

It is clear that the curve obtained in this manner is the curve of the desired body surface, and is stored superimposed on the ultrasound emission surface of the frame memory 15.

Here, 16 is a control circuit, and the switch 13 on the probe
When turned ON, the calculation of the calculator 17 is started, and after the required calculation time, a control signal for writing the body surface curve in the frame memory 15 is generated.

After that, if the frame memory 15 is read out and displayed on the CRT, the ultrasonic wave surface and the body surface curve at that time will be displayed at the same time, thus achieving the purpose.

In FIG. 7, if the stylus is not needed, the other switch 14
By turning ON, the force of the spring is released and the winding is made to the side opposite to the body surface, making the operation easier.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a detailed structure of an example of the angle detection section. An angle detector 72 is attached to each of the mounting shafts 71. This angle detector is of a sliding resistance type, and the resistance value varies depending on the rotation angle of the stylus. Therefore, if the relationship between the rotation angle and the resistance value is determined in advance, then the rotation angle of the stylus can be determined from only the resistance value. Here, the spring 73 is the ninth spring that constantly presses down the stylus 9 so that the tip of the stylus comes into close contact with the body surface.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional ultrasound diagnostic device, Figure 2 is a diagram showing how to display an ultrasound diagnostic image, Figure 3 is a diagram explaining an example of how the probe is used, and Figure 4 is a diagram showing a method of displaying an ultrasound diagnostic image. A diagram showing a probe to which a stylus of the present invention is attached, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for determining coordinates using the stylus, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the main part of the present invention. , 7th wealth 1 Figure 7 WZ / VJz diagram (phantom Cb) * Ta diagram vib diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The above f is displayed on the image display screen obtained from the ultrasound diagnostic device.
An ultrasonic diagnostic device characterized by comprising means for displaying a shape signal of an elephant's body surface.