Ultrasonic bloodstream imaging apparatus

• US 5,105,817 A
• Filed: 06/06/1989
• Issued: 04/21/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Kojima, Mitsuhiro, Uchibori, Takanobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Jaworski, Francis
• Application Number:
  US07/362,292
• Time in Patent Office: 1,050 Days
• Field of Search: 128/660.01, 128/661.07-661.10, 358/78, 358/87, 358/112
• US Class Current: 600/454
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8979 Combined Doppler and pulse-echo imaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52071 Multicolour displays; using colour coding; Optimising colour or information content in displays, e.g. parametric imaging

Abstract

In the ultrasonic bloodstream imaging apparatus of the present invention, an ultrasonic wave is propagated into a subject, and a tomographic image of the subject is obtained. Then, a bloodstream data image is superimposed on the tomographic image and is displayed with color. A monochrome threshold value is set for tomographic image data obtained from an echo level of the ultrasonic wave. A color threshold value is set for bloodstream data obtained from the ultrasonic wave which has been affected by the Doppler effect. The echo level of the ultrasonic wave and the bloodstream data are compared with the monochrome threshold value and the color threshold value, respectively, and either a monochrome display mode or color display mode is selected based on the comparison result.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising:

ultrasonic transmitting and receiving means for transmitting an ultrasonic wave to a subject and receiving reflection echo of the ultrasonic wave from the subject;

means for obtaining monochrome tomographic image information of the subject on the basis of the reflection echo from the subject;

means for obtaining bloodstream velocity information from a Doppler shift signal obtained from the reflection echo of the subject;

means for setting a monochrome threshold value according to said tomographic image information;

means for setting a color threshold value according to said bloodstream image information;

control means for selecting either a monochrome display mode of the tomographic image information or a color display mode of the bloodstream information, based on the comparison result of said tomographic image information and the monochrome threshold value and on the comparison result of said bloodstream velocity information and the color threshold value; and

display means for displaying the display information in the mode selected by said control means.

2. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means monochromically displays the tomographic image when the bloodstream velocity data is higher than said set color threshold value and the value of the tomographic image information is higher than said set monochrome threshold value, said display control means displays said bloodstream data in color when said bloodstream velocity data is higher than the color threshold value and the value of the tomographic image information is lower than the monochrome threshold value, and said display control means monochromically displays the tomographic image when said bloodstream velocity value is lower than said color threshold value.

3. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said monochrome threshold value and said color threshold value is variable.

4. An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising:

means for causing an ultrasonic wave to propagate through a subject;

means for displaying a monochrome tomographic data image of the subject; and

means for displaying a bloodstream data image in color;

means for setting a monochrome threshold value according to the tomographic data;

means for setting a maximum and a minimum color threshold value according to the bloodstream data; and

display control means for displaying the bloodstream data in color only if the bloodstream data is greater than the minimum color threshold value, if the bloodstream data is less than the maximum color threshold value, and if the tomographic data is less than the monochrome threshold value.

5. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said maximum and minimum color threshold values are variable, and said display control means displays in color only a desired range of bloodstream having a given bloodstream velocity.