Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, image processing apparatus, and image processing method

• US 10,182,793 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2014
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Satoh, Shunsuke, Kobayashi, Yutaka, Fujii, Tomokazu, Ogasawara, Masaru, Fukuda, Shogo
• Primary Examiner(s): Brutus, Joel F
• Application Number:
  US14/481,414
• Publication Number:
  US 20140378835A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,596 Days
• Field of Search: 600441
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/504 for diagnosis of blood vessels, e.g. by angiography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5247 combining images from an ionising-radiation diagnostic technique and a non-ionising radiation diagnostic technique, e.g. X-ray and ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/02 Measuring pulse or heart rate
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/04 Measuring blood pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/06 Measuring blood flow measuring volume flow in general G01F, e.g. G01F1/66, G01F1/72; measuring speed of fluids in general G01P5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0833 involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0883 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0891 for diagnosis of blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4254 using sensors mounted on the probe
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/463 characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display composite display in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S7/52074
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/466 adapted to display 3D data 3D imaging and stereoscopic displays in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S15/8993 and G01S7/52068, respectively; 3D image rendering G06T15/00; manipulating 3D models for computer graphics G06T19/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/483 involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/486 involving arbitrary m-mode
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/488 involving Doppler signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5207 involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image reconstruction G06T11/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5223 for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/523 for generating planar views from image data in a user selectable plane not corresponding to the acquisition plane
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5246 combining images from the same or different imaging techniques, e.g. color Doppler and B-mode
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5261 combining images from different diagnostic modalities, e.g. ultrasound and X-ray
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/543 involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8988 : Colour Doppler imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8993 : Three dimensional imaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52074 : Composite displays, e.g. split-screen displays; Combination of multiple images or of images and alphanumeric tabular information
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52087 : using synchronization techniques control of medical diagnostic ultrasound devices involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal A61B8/543
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 : for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment includes an acquiring unit and a detecting unit. The acquiring unit acquires fluid volume data representing fluid information related to a fluid flowing through a scan region that is a region three-dimensionally scanned by ultrasonic. The detecting unit detects a region that is a fluid existing region in the scanned region using the fluid information, and detects an inner cavity region of a lumen in volume data to be applied with image processing using the region thus detected.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

acquire fluid volume data representing fluid information related to a fluid flowing through a scan region that is a region three-dimensionally scanned by ultrasonic waves;

acquire tissue volume data representing a tissue form in the scan region;

detect a fluid existing region in which fluid is flowing in the scan region using the fluid information, and detect an inner cavity region of a lumen included in the tissue volume data using the detected fluid existing region;

generate a projected image in which the tissue volume data is projected from a viewpoint position set inside of the lumen, based on the detected inner cavity region, as image data to be displayed on a display;

calculate an area of the inner cavity region in each of a plurality of cross sections perpendicularly intersecting with a center line of the inner cavity region; and

detect a cross section having a calculated area deviating from those calculated for nearby cross sections as an abnormal cross section.

2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the processing circuitry is further configured to extract a center line of the lumen from data in which the inner cavity region is removed from the tissue volume data, and generate a plurality of projected images by shifting a viewpoint position along the center line as an image data group to be displayed as dynamic images on the display.

3. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to,

when the tissue volume data and the fluid volume data are collected separately and sequentially at different times, acquire tissue volume data and fluid volume data from a same temporal phase using a biological signal of a subject from whom the tissue volume data and the fluid volume data are collected, and

detect the inner cavity region using the tissue volume data and the fluid volume data from the same temporal phase.

4. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to acquire volume data generated by three-dimensional ultrasonic-scanning of the scan region as the tissue volume data.

5. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

acquire volume data generated by three-dimensionally capturing the scan region with a medical image diagnostic apparatus of a type different from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as the tissue volume data, and

detect the inner cavity region of the lumen included in the tissue volume data after registering the fluid volume data and the tissue volume data.

6. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to generate image data to be displayed on the display from the tissue volume data, using the abnormal cross section.

7. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an ultrasonic probe configured to scan the region with the ultrasonic waves.

8. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to acquire power volume data as the fluid volume data in which the fluid information is power, and detect the fluid existing region as being those voxels having a power value exceeding a threshold.

9. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fluid volume data is obtained from a Doppler mode scan and the tissue volume data is obtained from a B-mode scan.

10. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

acquire fluid volume data representing fluid information related to a fluid flowing through a scan region that is a region three-dimensionally scanned by ultrasonic waves,

detect a fluid existing region in the scan region as an inner cavity region of a lumen in the fluid volume data using the fluid information, remove the detected inner cavity region, assign a given luminance at least to an inner wall of the lumen based on the detected inner cavity region, and generate simulated volume data from the fluid volume data, and

generate a projected image in which the simulated volume data is projected from a viewpoint position set inside of the lumen as image data to be displayed on a display.

11. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

extract a center line of the lumen from the simulated volume data, and

generate a plurality of projected images by shifting the viewpoint position along the center line as an image data group to be displayed as dynamic images on the display.

12. An image processing apparatus, comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

acquire fluid volume data representing fluid information related to a fluid flowing through a scan region that is a region three-dimensionally scanned by ultrasonic waves;

acquire tissue volume data representing a tissue form in the scan region;

detect a fluid existing region in which fluid is flowing in the scan region using the fluid information, and detect an inner cavity region of a lumen included in volume data using the detected fluid existing region;

generate a projected image in which the tissue volume data is projected from a viewpoint position set inside of the lumen, based on the detected inner cavity region, as image data to be displayed on a display;

calculate an area of the inner cavity region in each of a plurality of cross sections perpendicularly intersecting with a center line of the inner cavity region; and

detect a cross section having a calculated area deviating from those calculated for nearby cross sections as an abnormal cross section.

13. An image processing method, comprising:

acquiring, by processing circuitry, fluid volume data representing fluid information related to a fluid flowing through a scan region that is a region three-dimensionally scanned by ultrasonic;

acquiring, by the processing circuitry, tissue volume data representing a tissue form in the scan region;

detecting, by the processing circuitry, a fluid existing region in which fluid is flowing in the scanned region using the fluid information, and an inner cavity region of a lumen included in the tissue volume data using the detected fluid existing region;

generating a projected image in which the tissue volume data is projected from a viewpoint position set inside of the lumen, based on the inner cavity region, as image data to be displayed on a display;

calculating an area of the inner cavity region in each of a plurality of cross sections perpendicularly intersecting with a center line of the inner cavity region; and

detecting a cross section having a calculated area deviating from those calculated for nearby cross sections as an abnormal cross section.

14. An image processing apparatus, comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

acquire fluid volume data representing fluid information related to a fluid flowing through a scan region that is a region three-dimensionally scanned by ultrasonic waves,

detect a fluid existing region in the scan region as an inner cavity region of a lumen in the fluid volume data using the fluid information,

remove the detected inner cavity region, assign a given luminance at least to an inner wall of the lumen based on the detected inner cavity region, and generate simulated volume data from the fluid volume data, and

generate a projected image in which the simulated volume data is projected from a viewpoint position set inside of the lumen as image data to be displayed on a display.

15. An image processing method, comprising:

acquiring fluid volume data representing fluid information related to a fluid flowing through a scan region that is a region three-dimensionally scanned by ultrasonic waves;

detecting a fluid existing region in the scan region as an inner cavity region of a lumen in the fluid volume data using the fluid information;

removing the detected inner cavity region, assigning a given luminance at least to an inner wall of the lumen based on the detected inner cavity region, and generating a simulated volume data from the fluid volume data; and

generating a projected image in which the simulated volume data is projected from a viewpoint position set inside of the lumen as image data to be displayed on a display.