Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment and method of controlling ultrasonic diagnostic equipment

• US 20050148875A1
• Filed: 12/16/2004
• Published: 07/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.), Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Sato, Takeshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,713,198 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/453
• 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 8/13 Tomography A61B8/10, A61B8/12 take precedence; tomography for radiation diagnosis A61B6/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/14 Echo-tomography
• 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 8/488 involving Doppler signals
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8979 Combined Doppler and pulse-echo imaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8981 Discriminating between fixed and moving objects or between objects moving at different speeds, e.g. wall clutter filter
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8988 Colour Doppler imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52085 Details related to the ultrasound signal acquisition, e.g. scan sequences control of medical diagnostic ultrasound devices A61B8/54
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/523 Details of pulse systems short-range imaging G01S7/52017; methods or devices for transmitting, conducting or directing sound G10K11/18

Abstract

An ultrasonic Doppler diagnostic equipment according to the present invention is characterized by including a Doppler signal detection device which executes a filtering process for a plurality of reception signals obtained in time series at unequal intervals from a predetermined position within a patient by a transmission/reception device, thereby to detect Doppler signals based on a mobile object; a velocity calculation device which selects Doppler signals obtained at a predetermined time interval, from among the plurality of Doppler signals obtained at the unequal intervals by the Doppler signal detection device, and which calculates a velocity of the mobile object on the basis of the selected Doppler signals; and an image data generation device which generates velocity image data on the basis of the velocity of the mobile object as calculated by the velocity calculation device.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment comprising:

an ultrasonic probe which includes piezoelectric transducers for -transmitting/receiving ultrasounds to and from a mobile object within a patient;

a transmission/reception device which drives the piezoelectric transducers so as to transmit/receive the ultrasounds at unequal intervals in a predetermined scan direction within the patient;

a Doppler signal detection device which executes a filtering process for a plurality of reception signals obtained in time series at the unequal intervals from a predetermined position within the patient by said transmission/reception device, thereby to detect Doppler signals based on the mobile object;

a velocity calculation device which selects Doppler signals obtained at a predetermined time interval, from among the plurality of Doppler signals obtained at the unequal intervals by said Doppler signal detection device, and which calculates a velocity of the mobile object on the basis of the selected Doppler signals; and

an image data generation device which generates velocity image data on the basis of the velocity of the mobile object as calculated-by said velocity calculation device.

3. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 1, wherein said Doppler signal detection device executes the process based on fitting, for the plurality of reception signals obtained in time series at the unequal intervals, thereby to extract reception signals from either of a stationary object and a mobile object of low moving velocity, and it subtracts the reception signals after the process, from the reception signals before the process, thereby to detect the Doppler signals based on the mobile object.

4. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 3, wherein the process based on the fitting is a process based on polynomial least-squares fitting.

5. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 1, wherein said Doppler signal detection device removes reception signals from either of a stationary object and a mobile object of low moving velocity by employing a matrix which utilizes one member selected from the group consisting of a least squares method, singular-value decomposition and orthonormal expansion.

6. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 1, wherein said velocity calculation device selects the Doppler signals adjacent at a least interval, from among the Doppler signals at the unequal intervals, and it calculates the velocity of the mobile object on the basis of the selected Doppler signals.

7. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 1, wherein said velocity calculation device calculates the velocity of the mobile object by detecting a phase difference between the Doppler signals which are adjacent at the first interval.

8. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 7, wherein said velocity calculation device selects a plurality of pairs of Doppler signals adjacent at the first interval, from among the Doppler signals at the unequal intervals, and it calculates the velocity of the mobile object by taking a sum-square mean value of phase differences in the respective Doppler signal pairs.

9. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 8, wherein said transmission/reception device lowers frequence in the ultrasonic transmissions/receptions adjacent at the first interval, at an initial stage and a terminal stage of the ultrasonic transmissions/receptions at the unequal intervals.

10. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 1, wherein said velocity calculation device calculates the velocity of the mobile object by executing a cross-correlation process in the ultrasonic transmission/reception direction, for the Doppler signals adjacent at the first interval.

11. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 1, further comprising a power calculation device which calculates power on-the basis of signal intensities of the plurality of Doppler signals detected at the unequal intervals by said Doppler signal detection device.

12. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 11, wherein said power calculation device calculates the power by using all of the plurality of Doppler signals detected at the unequal intervals by said Doppler signal detection device.

13. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 11, wherein said image data generation device generates power image data on the basis of the power calculated by said power calculation device, in addition to the generation of the velocity image data.

2. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment comprising:

an ultrasonic probe which includes piezoelectric transducers for transmitting/receiving ultrasounds to and from a mobile object within a patient;

a transmission/reception device which drives the piezoelectric transducers so as to transmit/receive the ultrasounds at unequal intervals having a first interval and a second interval longer than the first interval, in a first scan direction and a second scan direction within the patient, respectively;

a Doppler signal detection device which executes a filtering process for a plurality of reception signals obtained in time series at the unequal intervals from a predetermined position within the patient by said transmission/reception device, thereby to detect Doppler signals based on the mobile object;

a velocity calculation device which selects Doppler signals adjacent at the first interval, from among the plurality of Doppler signals obtained at the unequal intervals by said Doppler signal detection device, and which calculates a velocity of the mobile object on the basis of the selected Doppler signals;

a scan control device which performs ultrasonic scans within the patient while the first scan direction and the second scan direction are being successively altered;

an image data generation device which generates velocity image data on the basis of the velocities of the mobile object as calculated by said velocity calculation device, in the ultrasonic transmissions/receptions at the unequal intervals in the respective scan directions of the ultrasonic scans; and

a display device which displays the generated image data;

wherein the ultrasonic transmissions/receptions in the second scan direction are performed at the second interval of the ultrasonic transmissions/receptions in the first scan direction.

14. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment according to claim 2, wherein said scan control device sets the second scan direction to be adjacent to the first scan direction.

15. An ultrasonic diagnostic equipment comprising:

an ultrasonic probe which includes piezoelectric transducers for transmitting/receiving ultrasounds to and from a mobile object within a patient;

a transmission/reception device which drives the piezoelectric transducers so as to perform interleave scan at unequal intervals in a predetermined scan-direction within the patient;

a device which executes a filtering process for a plurality of reception signals obtained in time series at the unequal intervals from a predetermined position within the patient by said transmission/reception device, thereby to measure a velocity of the mobile object; and

an image data generation device which generates velocity image data on the basis of the velocity of the mobile object.

16. A method of controlling an ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, comprising:

a transmission/reception step of driving piezoelectric transducers of an ultrasonic probe which includes the piezoelectric transducers for transmitting/receiving ultrasounds to and from a mobile object within a patient, so as to transmit/receive the ultrasounds at unequal intervals in a predetermined scan direction within a patient;

a Doppler signal detection step of executing a filtering process for a plurality of reception signals obtained in time series at the unequal intervals from a predetermined position within the patient by said transmission/reception step, thereby to detect Doppler signals based on the mobile object;

a velocity calculation step of selecting Doppler signals obtained at a predetermined time interval, from among the plurality of Doppler signals obtained at the unequal intervals by said Doppler signal detection step/and then calculating a velocity of the mobile object on the basis of the selected Doppler signals; and

an image data generation step of generating velocity image data on the basis of the velocity of the mobile object as calculated by said velocity calculation step.

17. A method of controlling an ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, comprising:

a transmission/reception step of driving piezoelectric transducers of an ultrasonic probe which includes the piezoelectric transducers for transmitting/receiving ultrasounds to and from a mobile object within a patient, so as to transmit/receive the ultrasounds at unequal intervals having a first interval and a second interval longer than the first interval, in a first scan direction and a second scan direction within the patient, respectively;

a Doppler signal detection step of executing a filtering process for a plurality of reception signals obtained in time series at the unequal intervals from a predetermined position within the patient by said transmission/reception step, thereby to detect Doppler signals based on the mobile object;

a velocity calculation step of selecting Doppler signals adjacent at the first interval, from among the plurality of Doppler signals obtained at the unequal intervals by said Doppler signal detection step, and then calculating a velocity of the mobile object on the basis of the selected Doppler signals;

a scan control step of performing ultrasonic scans within the patient while the first scan direction and the second scan direction are being successively altered;

an image data generation step of generating velocity image data on the basis of the velocities of the mobile object as calculated by said velocity calculation step, in the ultrasonic transmissions/receptions at the unequal intervals in the respective scan directions of the ultrasonic scans; and

a display step of displaying the generated image data;

wherein the ultrasonic transmissions/receptions in the second scan direction are performed at the second interval of the ultrasonic transmissions/receptions in the first scan direction.

18. A method of controlling an ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, comprising:

a transmission/reception step of driving piezoelectric transducers of an ultrasonic probe which includes the piezoelectric transducers for transmitting/receiving ultrasounds to and from a mobile object within a patient, so as to perform interleave scan at unequal intervals in a predetermined scan direction within the patient;

a step of executing a filtering process for a plurality of reception signals obtained in time series at the unequal intervals from a predetermined position within the patient by said transmission/reception step, thereby to measure a velocity of the mobile object; and

an image data generation step of generating velocity image data on the basis of the velocity of the mobile object.