Three-dimensional ultrasound diagnosis based on contrast echo technique
First Claim
1. A diagnostic ultrasound apparatus comprising:
- signal acquiring means for acquiring an echo signal by scanning a three-dimensional region of an object with an ultrasound beam;
data producing means for producing three-dimensional image data based on the echo signal;
displaying means for displaying the three-dimensional image data;
specifying means for specifying a timing at which injecting an ultrasound contrast agent into the object is started; and
display switchover means for switching over at the specified timing a display state of the three-dimensional image data displayed by the displaying means, wherein the specifying means is composed of means for automatically specifying the injection timing as the ultrasound contrast agent is injected, the specifying means has setting means for setting the injection timing from the echo signal itself, and the displaying means is means for displaying projection data obtained by projecting two-dimensionally the three-dimensional image data with a desired projection technique and the display switchover means is means for switching over the projection technique at the projection timing specified by the specifying means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In ultrasound diagnosis, a contrast echo technique on three-dimensional scanning is used with a contrast agent injected into an object. Before injecting the contrast agent and under the injection thereof, a blood vessel is continuously and securely targeted and depicted in displayed images. To realize this, a diagnostic ultrasound apparatus has means for acquiring an echo signal by scanning a three-dimensional region of an object with an ultrasound beam, means for producing three-dimensional image data based on the echo signal, means for displaying the three-dimensional image data, means for specifying, for example, from the echo signal, a timing at which injecting an ultrasound contrast agent into a region to be scanned of the object is started, and means for switching over at the specified timing display states of the three-dimensional image data to be displayed by the displaying means. By way of example, the switchovers are carried out such that data produced by projecting the three-dimensional image data on a minimum intensity projection technique are displayed before injecting the contrast agent, while data produced by projecting them on a maximum intensity projection technique are displayed after the start of injecting the contrast agent.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A diagnostic ultrasound apparatus comprising:
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signal acquiring means for acquiring an echo signal by scanning a three-dimensional region of an object with an ultrasound beam;
data producing means for producing three-dimensional image data based on the echo signal;
displaying means for displaying the three-dimensional image data;
specifying means for specifying a timing at which injecting an ultrasound contrast agent into the object is started; and
display switchover means for switching over at the specified timing a display state of the three-dimensional image data displayed by the displaying means, wherein the specifying means is composed of means for automatically specifying the injection timing as the ultrasound contrast agent is injected, the specifying means has setting means for setting the injection timing from the echo signal itself, and the displaying means is means for displaying projection data obtained by projecting two-dimensionally the three-dimensional image data with a desired projection technique and the display switchover means is means for switching over the projection technique at the projection timing specified by the specifying means.
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2. A diagnostic ultrasound apparatus comprising:
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an acquisition unit configured to acquire an echo signal by scanning a specified three-dimensional region of an object with an ultrasound beam;
a data production unit configured to produce three-dimensional image data based an the echo signal;
a processing unit configured to produce two-dimensional image data from the three-dimensional image data using a specified processing technique;
a display unit configured to display the two-dimensional image data;
a specifying unit configured to specify a timing when an ultrasound contrast agent that has been injected into the object begins to arrive at the three-dimensional region; and
a switchover unit configured to switch the processing technique at the specified injection timing. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of switching display of ultrasound images, comprising the steps of:
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acquiring an echo signal by scanning a three-dimensional region of an object with an ultrasound beam;
producing three-dimensional image data based on the echo signal;
producing two-dimensional image data from the three-dimensional image data using a specified processing technique;
displaying the two-dimensional image data;
specifying a timing at which an ultrasound contrast agent that has been injected into the object begins to arrive at the three-dimensional region; and
switching the processing technique at the specified timing. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A diagnostic ultrasound apparatus comprising:
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a probe configured to transmit and receive an ultrasound beam;
a transmitter configured to transmit the ultrasound beam to scan a specified three-dimensional region of an object;
a receiver configured to receive an echo signal, emanated from the object in response to the transmission of the ultrasound beam;
a production unit configured to produce three-dimensional image data based on the echo signal and to produce two-dimensional image data from the three-dimensional image data using a specified processing technique;
a display unit configured to display the two-dimensional image data;
a detector configured to specify a timing when an ultrasound contrast agent that has been injected into the object begins to arrive at the three-dimensional region; and
a switchover unit configured to switch the processing technique at the specified injection timing. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification