Patent Application
20130165782
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-283377 filed Dec. 26, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus capable of performing a measurement in an ultrasonic image and a control program of the same.
An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus capable of measuring the size of a tumor mass, the size of a fetus, and the like is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-284263. At the time of performing a measurement, for example, the operator makes a cursor displayed on an ultrasonic image, places the cursor on an object to be measured, and performs a measurement. In some cases, an obtained measurement value is used for a report.
To assure accuracy of a measurement value, the measurement is often performed a plurality of times. In this case, an average value may be calculated from measurement values obtained by the plurality of times of measurements. In the case of performing a statistical process for obtaining an average value or the like from results of the plurality of times of measurements, a statistical value such as the average value may be displayed on a display unit of the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus. However, when only a numerical value is displayed, in some cases, it is difficult to easily grasp the object of the measurement from the displayed average value. Therefore, it is preferable for the operator that not only a statistical value but also an ultrasonic image in which the measurement is performed are displayed.
An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is provided. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus includes a measuring unit which performs a measurement on an indicated part in an ultrasonic image, a storing unit which stores the ultrasonic image on which the measurement is performed, a statistical processing unit which performs a statistical process on results of measurements of a plurality of times performed on the same object in the same subject by the measuring unit and an image display control unit which reads an ultrasonic image stored in the storing unit and displays it together with a statistical value obtained by the statistical processing unit.
According to the above-described apparatus, since a statistical value obtained by the statistical processing unit is displayed together with the ultrasonic image on which the measurement is performed, it is convenient for the operator.
Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. As illustrated in
The ultrasonic probe 2 has a plurality of ultrasonic transducers (not illustrated) disposed in an array, transmits an ultrasonic wave to a subject by the ultrasonic transducers, and receives an echo signal of the ultrasonic wave.
The transmitting/receiving unit 3 supplies an electric signal, which is for transmitting an ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic probe 2 under predetermined scan conditions, to the ultrasonic probe 2 on the basis of a control signal from the control unit 8. The transmitting/receiving unit 3 performs signal processes such as A/D conversion, phasing/adding process, and the like on an echo signal received by the ultrasonic probe 2, and outputs the echo data subjected to the signal processes to the echo data processing unit 4.
The echo data processing unit 4 performs processes for generating an ultrasonic image on the echo data outputted from the transmitting/receiving unit 3. For example, the echo data processing unit 4 performs a B-mode process including a logarithmic compression process and an envelope detecting process to generate B-mode data. The echo data processing unit 4 may perform another process for generating an ultrasonic image other than the B-mode process.
As illustrated in
For example, the display control unit 5 performs scan conversion to the B-mode data to generate B-mode image data and displays a B-mode image on the basis of the B-mode image data.
Data such as B-mode data before a scan conversion to ultrasonic image data by the scan converter is also referred to herein as raw data.
As will be described later, the ultrasonic image display control unit 51 reads an ultrasonic image stored in the memory 9 and displays the image together with an average value of measurement values obtained by a measuring unit 81 (refer to
The cursor setting unit 52 sets a measurement cursor C (refer to
The display unit 6 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or the like. The operation unit 7 includes a keyboard and a pointing device (not illustrated) used by the operator to enter an instruction and information.
The control unit 8 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and has, as illustrated in
For example, by the measuring unit 81, the size of a tumor mass, the size of a fetus, and the like are measured. The measurement is performed a plurality of times on the same object in the same subject. In the case where an object to be measured is a moving object such as the heart, a measurement under the same condition (the same time phase in the case of the heart) is counted as one measurement, and the measurement is performed a plurality of times.
The statistical processing unit 82 performs statistical process on results of the measurements of the plurality of times performed on the same object in the same subject by the measuring unit 81. For example, the statistical processing unit 82 calculates an average value of results of measurements of a plurality of times. The statistical processing unit 82 is an example of the embodiment of a statistical processing unit.
A statistical process is performed on a plurality of measurement values. A statistical process includes processes such as calculation of an average value of the plurality of measurement values, specification of a maximum value and a minimum value in the plurality of measurement values, or calculation of a variance and a standard deviation of the plurality of measurement values. The statistical processing unit 82 may specify the maximum value and the minimum value and calculate a variance and a standard deviation.
The storage control unit 83 stores an ultrasonic image into the memory 9. The details will be described later. The storage control unit 83 is an example of an embodiment of a storage control unit.
The control unit 8 reads a control program stored in the memory 9 to execute other functions in units in the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus 1.
The memory 9 is, for example, a semiconductor memory such as an RAM (Random Access Memory). In the memory 9, for example, a result of a measurement performed by the measuring unit 81, an ultrasonic image on which a measurement is performed, and the like are stored. The memory 9 is an example of an embodiment of a storing unit.
The operation of the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus 1 of the embodiment will be described. First, an ultrasonic wave is transmitted/received by the ultrasonic probe 2 to make the ultrasonic image UG displayed on the display unit 6 as illustrated in
In the ultrasonic image UG, the tumor mass X is seen. In the example, the diameter of the tumor mass X is measured. More specifically, when the operator enters an input to display the cursor C in the operation unit 7, the cursor setting unit 52 displays the cursor C on the display unit 6, as illustrated in
The storage control unit 83 stores at least one of the frozen ultrasonic images UG used in the measurements of a plurality of times into the memory 9. The ultrasonic image UG stored in the memory 9 is an ultrasonic image in which the cursor C is displayed.
The storage control unit 83 may store the ultrasonic image UG into the memory 9 on the basis of an input of the operation unit 7 entered by the operator. The storage control unit 83 may automatically store the ultrasonic image UG into the memory 9 at a preset predetermined measurement timing (for example, a first measurement and a last measurement). The ultrasonic image UG may be stored in the form of ultrasonic image data or in the form of raw data.
After completion of the measurements of the plurality of times, the statistical processing unit 82 calculates the average value Av of measurement values in a series of measurements stored in the memory 9. The ultrasonic image display control unit 51 reads the ultrasonic image UG stored in the memory 9 and displays it together with the average value Av on the display unit 6, as illustrated in
The ultrasonic image display control unit 51 may display the maximum value and the minimum value or the variance and standard deviation together with the ultrasonic image UG. Those values may be displayed together with the average value Av.
In the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus 1 of the embodiment, the average value Av is displayed together with the ultrasonic image UG stored in the memory 9. Therefore, it is convenient for the operator.
Although exemplary embodiments are described herein, the invention can be modified without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. For example, the object to be measured in the foregoing embodiment is an example object, and the object is not limited to the above-described object.
In the case where a variance and a standard deviation are large, there is the possibility that the measurement values are various and accurate measurements were not performed. Consequently, in the case where a variance or a standard deviation exceeds a predetermined threshold, the fact may be notified by displaying the message or generating a warning sound. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus 1 may have a notifying unit performing the notification.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-283377 | Dec 2011 | JP | national |
