Ultrasonic Diagnostic Apparatus, Method Of Controlling Ultrasonic Diagnostic Apparatus, And Program

• US 20170245834A1
• Filed: 02/21/2017
• Published: 08/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2016
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Inc.
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Inc.
• Inventors: TAKEDA, Yoshihiro
• Application Number:
  US15/438,206
• Publication Number:
  US 20170245834A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4444 related to the probe
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/461 Displaying means of special interest
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/485 involving measuring strain or elastic properties
• 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 8/5246 combining images from the same or different imaging techniques, e.g. color Doppler and B-mode
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/54 Control of the diagnostic device
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes: an ultrasonic probe which transmits an ultrasonic wave to a subject and receives a reflected wave of the transmitted ultrasonic wave; a transmission/reception control unit which allows the ultrasonic probe to transmit the ultrasonic wave and acquires a reception signal relating to the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe on the basis of predetermined transmission/reception setting; a calculation parameter acquisition unit which acquires a calculation parameter which is used for generation of elasticity information in the subject based on the reception signal and is determined in correspondence with the transmission/reception setting; an elasticity information generation unit which generates the elasticity information by using the reception signal on the basis of the acquired calculation parameter; and a display control unit which allows the display unit to display the elasticity information.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:

an ultrasonic probe which transmits an ultrasonic wave to a subject and receives a reflected wave of the transmitted ultrasonic wave;

a transmission circuit which allows the ultrasonic probe to transmit the ultrasonic wave and a reception circuit which acquires a reception signal relating to the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe on the basis of predetermined transmission/reception setting; and

a processor;

wherein the processor acquires a calculation parameter which is used for generation of elasticity information in the subject based on the reception signal and is determined in correspondence with the transmission/reception setting;

wherein the processor generates the elasticity information by using the reception signal on the basis of the acquired calculation parameter; and

wherein the processor allows a display to display the elasticity information.

2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

a memory which stores a plurality of the calculation parameters determined in advance in association with a plurality of different transmission/reception settings,

wherein the processor acquires the calculation parameter from the memory.

3. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the processor generates the elasticity information by calculating distortion of the subject for each correlation calculation region corresponding to a predetermined time range between a first reception signal relating to the ultrasonic wave reflected by the subject in a first pressurized state and a second reception signal relating to the ultrasonic wave reflected by the subject in a second pressurized state by using the first reception signal and the second reception signal, and

the processor acquires the calculation parameter indicating a size of the correlation calculation region.

4. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processor extracts a phase difference component at each time in a time range corresponding to the correlation calculation region between the first reception signal and the second reception signal and calculates the distortion of the subject in the correlation calculation region from the phase difference component and a center frequency of the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic probe.

5. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the transmission circuit allows the ultrasonic probe to transmit an ultrasonic wave while scanning the ultrasonic wave in a predetermined scan direction and the reception circuit acquires two-dimensional data of the reception signal relating to the scanned ultrasonic wave every scanning,

the processor generates the elasticity information by detecting a shift at each position of the subject between a first pressurized state and a second pressurized state by using first two-dimensional data relating to the ultrasonic wave reflected by the subject in the first pressurized state and second two-dimensional data relating to the ultrasonic wave reflected by the subject in the second pressurized state,

the detection of the shift is performed by specifying the shift in a predetermined search region including the correlation calculation region for each of two-dimensional predetermined correlation calculation regions in the two-dimensional data, and

the processor acquires the calculation parameter indicating at least one of a size of the correlation calculation region and a size of the search region.

6. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission/reception setting includes setting of a center frequency of an ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic probe.

7. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the reception circuit acquires the reception signal relating to the reflected wave of which reflection position on the subject is equal to or less than a predetermined maximum depth among the ultrasonic waves transmitted to the subject, and

the transmission/reception setting includes setting of the maximum depth.

8. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the reception circuit acquires the reception signal at a sampling frequency that is lower as the set maximum depth is larger.

9. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the transmission circuit allows the ultrasonic probe to transmit while scanning the ultrasonic wave in a predetermined scan direction and the reception circuit acquires two-dimensional data of the reception signal relating to the scanned ultrasonic wave every scanning, and

the transmission/reception setting includes setting of a frame frequency indicating a frequency of the scanning.

10. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an input device which receives an input operation for determining the transmission/reception setting; and

the processor determines the transmission/reception setting on the basis of the input operation.

11. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elasticity information is an elastic image representing a distribution of values relating to distortion in the subject.

12. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the processor generates an ultrasonic image representing an internal structure of the subject by using the reception signal,

wherein the processor allows the display to display the ultrasonic image and the elastic image.

13. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processor allows the display to display the ultrasonic image and the elastic image in a superimposed manner.

14. A method of controlling an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus including an ultrasonic probe which transmits an ultrasonic wave to a subject and receives a reflected wave of the transmitted ultrasonic wave, the method comprising:

allowing the ultrasonic probe to transmit an ultrasonic wave and acquiring a reception signal relating to the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe on the basis of predetermined transmission/reception setting;

acquiring a calculation parameter which is used for generation of elasticity information in the subject based on the reception signal and is determined in correspondence with the transmission/reception setting;

generating the elasticity information by using the reception signal on the basis of the acquired calculation parameter; and

allowing a display to display the elasticity information.

15. A non-transitory recording medium storing a computer readable program, the program causing a computer to function as:

a transmission circuit which allows an ultrasonic probe to transmit an ultrasonic wave to a subject and a reception circuit which acquires a reception signal relating to a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe on the basis of predetermined transmission/reception setting;

a processor acquires a calculation parameter which is used for generation of elasticity information in the subject based on the reception signal and is determined in correspondence with the transmission/reception setting;

wherein the processor generates the elasticity information by using the reception signal on the basis of the acquired calculation parameter; and

wherein the processor allows a display to display the elasticity information.