Ultrasonic picture processing method and ultrasonic picture processing apparatus

• US 6,859,548 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2001
• Issued: 02/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Yuasa, Mayumi, Nishiura, Masahide, Watanabe, Mutsumi, Yoshioka, Hideki
• Primary Examiner(s): AHMED, SAMIR ANWAR
• Application Number:
  US09/778,097
• Publication Number:
  US 20010024516A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,476 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/128, 382/131, 382/132, 128/922, 128/200.16, 128/916, 250/455, 348/699, 600/407, 600/437, 600/449, 600/443, 600/453
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/503 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/08 Detecting organic movements or changes, e.g. tumours, cysts, swellings A61B8/02 - A61B8/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0883 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/485 involving measuring strain or elastic properties
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8979 Combined Doppler and pulse-echo imaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52036 using analysis of echo signal for target characterisation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52066 Time-position or time-motion displays
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52071 Multicolour displays; using colour coding; Optimising colour or information content in displays, e.g. parametric imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52073 Production of cursor lines, markers or indicia by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/922 including image analysis

Abstract

An ultrasonic picture processing method comprising the steps of extracting contour information of a target from respective frame pictures of an ultrasonic moving image, dividing the extracted contour information into a plurality of regions at a preset interval, comparing the divided contour information parts with one another and making a predetermined determination of the ultrasonic moving pictures based on the comparison results.

Claims

1. A heart function analysis apparatus comprising:

an extraction section configured to extract a cardiac wall contour from each of a plurality of heart images generated in a time-series;

a division unit configured to divide the cardiac wall contour of each of the heart images into a plurality of cardiac wall contour divisions at a plurality of division points, using a point having a structural feature of the heart as a reference; and

a division point corresponding unit configured to correspond first division points of the cardiac wall contour of one of the heart images to second division points of the cardiac wall contour of the other of the heart images between a plurality of time phases.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the point having a structural feature corresponds to at least one of a cardiac apex, an annulus valva and a papillary muscle.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the division point corresponding unit comprises:

means for classifying the cardiac wall contour divisions of the cardiac wall contour to display at least the adjacent contour divisions with different colors or different luminance.

4. A heart function analysis apparatus comprising:

an extraction unit configured to extract a cardiac wall contour of a cardiac wall for each of a plurality of heart images generated in a time-series;

a division unit configured to divide the cardiac wall contour of each of the heart images into a plurality of cardiac wall contour divisions at a plurality of division points, using a point having a structural feature of the heart as a reference;

a reference determination unit configured to determine one of the heart images as a reference image corresponding to a reference time;

a division point corresponding unit configured to correspond first division points of the cardiac wall contour divisions of the reference image to second division points of the cardiac wall contour divisions of another of the heart images; and

a display device configured to display a movement distance between corresponding two of the first division points and the second division points corresponded to each other together with the cardiac wall.

5. A heart function analysis apparatus comprising:

an input unit configured to input heart images generated in a time-series;

an extraction unit configured to extract a cardiac wall contour for each of the heart images;

a division unit configured to divide the cardiac wall contour into a plurality of cardiac wall contour divisions at a plurality of division points, using a point having a structural feature of the heart as a reference;

a division point corresponding unit configured to correspond first division points of the cardiac wall contour divisions of one of the heart images to second division points of the cardiac wall contour divisions of another of the heart images between a plurality of time phases;

a velocity detection unit configured to detect velocity information of heart tissues;

a classification unit configured to classify the velocity information for each of the cardiac wall contour divisions corresponding to the first division points and the second division points;

a display device configured to display the velocity information with at least one of a numerical display, a graph display and a color display of a cardiac wall.

6. A heart function analysis apparatus comprising:

an input unit configured to input heart images generated in a time-series;

an extraction unit configured to extract a cardiac wall contour from each of the heart images;

a division unit configured to divide the cardiac wall contour into a plurality of cardiac wall contour divisions at a plurality of division points, using a point having a structural feature of the heart as a reference point;

a reference determination unit configured to determine one of the heart images as a reference image corresponding to a reference time;

a division point corresponding unit configured to correspond first division points of the cardiac wall contour divisions of the reference image to second division points of the cardiac wall contour divisions of another of the heart images;

a calculation unit configured to calculate a movement distance between corresponding two of the first division points and the second division points for each of the contour divisions to obtain a plurality of movement distances; and

a display device configured to display the contour divisions with different display states according to the movement distances.

7. A heart function analysis apparatus comprising:

means for extracting a plurality of cardiac wall contours from a plurality of heart images generated in a time-series;

means for dividing each of the cardiac wall contours into a plurality of cardiac wall contour divisions at a plurality of division points, using a point having a structural feature of the heart as a reference; and

means for corresponding first division points of the cardiac wall contour divisions of the reference image to second division points of the cardiac wall contour divisions of another of the heart images;

means for calculating a movement distance between corresponding two of the first division points and the second division points.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the point having a structural feature corresponds to at least one of a cardiac apex, an annulus valve and a papillary muscle.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7, which further comprises:

means for classifying the cardiac wall contour divisions for each of the cardiac wall contours; and

a display device which displays at least adjacent contour divisions with different colors or different luminance.

10. A heart function analysis apparatus comprising:

means for extracting a plurality of cardiac wall contours from a plurality of heart images generated in a time-series, respectively;

means for dividing each of the cardiac wall contours of each of the heart images into a plurality of cardiac wall contour divisions at a plurality of division points, using point having a structural feature of the heart as a reference;

means for determining one of the heart images as a reference image corresponding to a reference time;

means for corresponding first division points of the cardiac wall contour divisions of the reference image to second division points of the cardiac wall contour division of another of the heart images;

means for calculating a movement distance between corresponding two of the first division points and the second division points for each of the contour divisions; and

a display device configured to display the movement distance with one of a numerical display, a graphical display and a color display of the cardiac wall.

11. A heart function analysis apparatus comprising:

means for inputting a plurality of heart images generated in a time-series and velocity information of heart tissues;

means for extracting a plurality of cardiac wall contours from the heart images, respectively;

means for dividing each of the cardiac wall contours of each of the heart images into a plurality of cardiac wall contour divisions at a plurality of division points, using a point having a structural feature of the heart as a reference;

means for corresponding first division points of one of the cardiac wall contours to second division points of another of the cardiac wall contours between a plurality of time phases;

means for classifying the velocity information for each of the division points;

a display device configured to display the velocity information with at least one of a numerical display, a graph display and a color display of a cardiac wall.

12. A heart function analysis apparatus comprising:

means for inputting a plurality of heart images generated in a time-series;

means for extracting a plurality of cardiac wall contours from the heart images, respectively;

means for dividing each of the cardiac wall contours into a plurality of cardiac wall contour divisions at a plurality of division points, using a point having a structure feature of the heart as a reference point;

means for corresponding first division points of one of the cardiac wall contours to second division points of another of the cardiac wall contours between a plurality of time phases;

means for calculating a movement distance between corresponding two of the first division points and the second division points for each of the contour divisions to obtain a plurality of movement distances relative to the first division points and the second division points;

means for allocating a display colors to the contour divisions according to the movement distances; and

a display device configured to display the contour divisions according to the allocated colors.

13. A heart function analysis method comprising:

extracting a cardiac wall contour from each of heart images generated in a time-series;

dividing the cardiac wall contour of each of the heart images into a plurality of cardiac wall contour divisions at a plurality of division points, using a point having a structural feature of the heart as a reference;

corresponding first division points of the cardiac wall contour of one of the heart images to second division points of the cardiac wall contour of the other of the heart images between a plurality of time phases; and

calculating a movement distance between corresponding two of the first division points and the second division points for each of the contour divisions to obtain plurality of movement distances relative to the first division points and the second division points.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the point having a structural feature corresponds to at least one of a cardiac apex, an annulus valva and a papillary muscle.

15. The method according to claim 13, which comprises:

classifying the cardiac wall contour divisions according to the movement distances to display at least the adjacent contour divisions with different colors or different luminance.

16. The method according to claim 13, which further comprises:

determining as a reference image corresponding to a reference time point the one of the heart images generated in a time series.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising:

displaying at least the contour divisions with different colors or different luminance according to the movement distances.

18. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

generating velocity information of heart tissues;

classifying the velocity information for each of the cardiac wall contour divisions; and

displaying the velocity information with at least one of a numerical display, a graph display and a color display of the cardiac wall.

19. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

detecting a dynamic range of velocity information of each of the cardiac wall contour divisions or each of the division points; and

displaying the velocity information on a display screen as changing a display color in the dynamic range.