Ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus and ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus control method
First Claim
1. An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus which acquires an ultrasonic image by scanning a scan plane in a subject administered with bubbles of a contrast medium by an ultrasonic wave, said ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprising:
- an ultrasonic probe configured to transmit the ultrasonic wave to the subject and to receive an echo signal from the subject;
a drive signal generating unit configured to generate a drive signal for driving the ultrasonic probe; and
a control unit configured to control the drive signal generating unit to temporally and continuously repeat, for a predetermined period of time, first transmissions to the scan plane to destroy a part of the bubbles of the contrast medium at part of a desired blood vessel and to restrain the contrast medium from flowing into the desired blood vessel in the scan plane, the first transmissions including transmissions of a first ultrasonic wave and transmissions of a second ultrasonic wave, the first ultrasonic wave being transmitted to at least one first predetermined area in the scan plane and having a sound pressure to a degree of not substantially destroying the bubbles of the contrast medium for acquiring a circulation image of a blood stream with regard to the at least one first predetermined area, the second ultrasonic wave being transmitted to a second predetermined area, which does not overlap the at least one first predetermined area in the scan plane, and having a sound pressure to a degree of destroying a part of the bubbles of the contrast medium at part of the desired blood vessel and restraining the contrast medium from flowing into the desired blood vessel during the predetermined period of time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
After executing a second transmission constituting an ultrasonic wave of an amount of one frame from an ultrasonic wave having a high sound pressure of destructing bubbles in a predetermined section for making a blood stream image or a tissue image in a circulation image of a blood stream disappear by making the bubbles in the predetermined section disappear, there is carried out a third transmission by an ultrasonic wave having a low sound pressure of not substantially destructing the bubbles for acquiring the circulation image of the blood stream with regard to the predetermined section. The first transmission is executed by the ultrasonic wave for making a portion of the blood stream image in the circulation image disappear by making the bubbles at the predetermined region present in the predetermined section disappear as necessary while executing the third transmission.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus which acquires an ultrasonic image by scanning a scan plane in a subject administered with bubbles of a contrast medium by an ultrasonic wave, said ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprising:
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an ultrasonic probe configured to transmit the ultrasonic wave to the subject and to receive an echo signal from the subject; a drive signal generating unit configured to generate a drive signal for driving the ultrasonic probe; and a control unit configured to control the drive signal generating unit to temporally and continuously repeat, for a predetermined period of time, first transmissions to the scan plane to destroy a part of the bubbles of the contrast medium at part of a desired blood vessel and to restrain the contrast medium from flowing into the desired blood vessel in the scan plane, the first transmissions including transmissions of a first ultrasonic wave and transmissions of a second ultrasonic wave, the first ultrasonic wave being transmitted to at least one first predetermined area in the scan plane and having a sound pressure to a degree of not substantially destroying the bubbles of the contrast medium for acquiring a circulation image of a blood stream with regard to the at least one first predetermined area, the second ultrasonic wave being transmitted to a second predetermined area, which does not overlap the at least one first predetermined area in the scan plane, and having a sound pressure to a degree of destroying a part of the bubbles of the contrast medium at part of the desired blood vessel and restraining the contrast medium from flowing into the desired blood vessel during the predetermined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of controlling an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus for acquiring an ultrasonic image by scanning a predetermined area in a subject administered with bubbles of a contrast medium by an ultrasonic wave, said method comprising:
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generating drive signals for driving an ultrasonic probe for transmitting the ultrasonic wave to the subject and receiving an echo signal from the subject; and controlling the drive signal generating unit to temporally and continuously repeat, for a predetermined period of time, first transmissions to the scan plane to destroy a part of the bubbles of the contrast medium at part of a desired blood vessel and to restrain the contrast medium from flowing into the desired blood vessel in the scan plane, the first transmissions including transmissions of a first ultrasonic wave and transmissions of a second ultrasonic wave, the first ultrasonic wave being transmitted to at least one first predetermined area in the scan plane and having a sound pressure to a degree of not substantially destroying the bubbles of the contrast medium for acquiring a circulation image of a blood stream with regard to the at least one first predetermined area, the second ultrasonic wave being transmitted to a second predetermined area, which does not overlap the at least one first predetermined area, in the scan plane and having a sound pressure to a degree of destroying a part of the bubbles of the contrast medium at part of a desired blood vessel and restraining the contrast medium from flowing into the desired blood vessel during the predetermined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus which acquires an ultrasonic image by scanning a scan plane in a subject administered with bubbles of a contrast medium by an ultrasonic wave, said ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprising:
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an ultrasonic probe configured to transmit the ultrasonic wave to the subject and to receive an echo signal from the subject; a drive signal generating unit configured to generate a drive signal for driving the ultrasonic probe; and a control unit configured to control the drive signal generating unit to repeat first transmissions to the scan plane to destroy a part of the bubbles of the contrast medium at part of a desired blood vessel and to restrain the contrast medium from flowing into the desired blood vessel in the scan plane, the first transmissions including transmissions of a first ultrasonic wave and transmissions of a second ultrasonic wave, the first ultrasonic wave being transmitted to at least one first predetermined area in the scan plane and having a sound pressure to a degree of not substantially destroying the bubbles of the contrast medium for acquiring a circulation image of a blood stream with regard to the at least one first predetermined area, the second ultrasonic wave being transmitted to a second predetermined area, which does not overlap the at least one first predetermined area in the scan plane, and having a sound pressure to a degree of destroying a part of the bubbles of the contrast medium at part of the desired blood vessel and restraining the contrast medium from flowing into the desired blood vessel, wherein the control unit is configured to control the drive signal generating unit to execute third transmissions to the scan plane, the third transmissions including transmissions of an ultrasonic wave having a sound pressure to a degree of not substantially destroying the bubbles of the contrast medium for acquiring a circulation image of a blood stream in the scan plane, the ultrasonic wave diagnosis apparatus further including an image generating unit configured to generate a difference image or a superposed image of a first ultrasonic wave image provided by the first transmissions and a second ultrasonic wave image provided by the third transmissions.
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Specification