JP4795655B2 - Ultrasound imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention particularly relates to a display device that displays a plurality of thumbnail images obtained by reducing ultrasonic images and an ultrasonic imaging apparatus that includes the display device.

  In the ultrasonic imaging apparatus, ultrasonic images generated one after another by scanning the subject with ultrasonic waves are displayed in real time. At this time, images are successively stored in the cine memory. When the ultrasonic image including the still image and the moving image reaches the capacity of the cine memory, the cine memory overwrites the latest image on the stored oldest image. Therefore, when the operator wants to save the ultrasonic image, the operator stores the ultrasonic image stored in the cine memory in a main storage device such as a hard disk.

The above-described ultrasonic imaging apparatus also has a function of displaying thumbnail images that are reduced in size by thinning out pixels or the like in time series after ultrasonic imaging stored in the hard disk after the imaging is completed (for example, Patent Document 1). The thumbnail images are simultaneously displayed on a plurality of display devices and used for searching for a desired ultrasonic image.
JP 2004-57356 A

  However, when performing ultrasonic imaging a plurality of times a day on the same subject, it is difficult to determine where and from which thumbnail images were obtained by a series of ultrasonic imaging. For example, in contrast examination, contrast medium administration and ultrasonic imaging may be performed a plurality of times, and it is difficult to determine the number of contrast examinations by simply looking at thumbnail images.

  In addition to the contrast examination, for example, ultrasonic imaging may be performed on the subject before and after treatment. In this case as well, if the thumbnail image is viewed to determine which range is the thumbnail image before or after treatment, the use of the thumbnail image as a search application increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to make it possible to grasp a series of related thumbnail images from a whole thumbnail image at a glance, and to search for an ultrasonic image after shooting. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic imaging apparatus that can facilitate the above.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a display device capable of grasping a series of related thumbnail images from a whole thumbnail image.

  In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic imaging apparatus of the present invention includes an ultrasonic image generating unit that generates an ultrasonic image related to the subject based on an ultrasonic echo signal received from the subject, and the ultrasonic wave Thumbnail image generating means for generating thumbnail images with reduced images, editing means for grouping the plurality of generated thumbnail images, and groups arranged by the editing means for arranging the plurality of thumbnail images Display means for displaying the thumbnail images included in the screen in association with each other according to a display form.

  In the above-described ultrasonic imaging apparatus of the present invention, thumbnail images obtained by reducing the ultrasonic images are generated by the thumbnail image generating means, and a series of related thumbnail images among the entire thumbnail images are automatically or automatically generated by the editing means. Manually grouped. A plurality of thumbnail images are arranged and displayed by the display means, and thumbnail images included in each grouped group are displayed in association with each other according to the display form.

  In order to achieve the above object, a display device of the present invention is a display device that displays a plurality of thumbnail images obtained by reducing an ultrasonic image of a subject on a single screen, and displays the plurality of thumbnail images arranged and displayed. Among the thumbnail images, a plurality of the thumbnail images included in a series of ultrasonic imaging are displayed in association with each other according to a display form.

  In the display device of the present invention described above, a plurality of thumbnail images included in a series of ultrasonic imaging among a plurality of thumbnail images displayed in an array are displayed in association with each other according to a display form. At a glance.

According to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus of the present invention, a series of related thumbnail images can be grasped at a glance from the entire thumbnail image, and the search of the ultrasonic image after imaging can be facilitated.
According to the display device of the present invention, it is possible to grasp a series of related thumbnail images at a glance from the entire thumbnail images.

  Embodiments of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus and a display apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.

  An ultrasonic imaging apparatus 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an ultrasonic probe 2, a transmission / reception unit 3, an ultrasonic image generation unit 4, a time measurement unit 5, a cine memory 6, a display device 7, and a main storage unit 8. A thumbnail image generation unit 9, an editing unit 10, a control unit 11, and an operation unit 12.

  The ultrasonic probe 2 is a generation source of ultrasonic waves and includes a vibrator that receives reflected waves. The ultrasonic probe 2 transmits ultrasonic waves to a diagnostic site in the subject and receives reflected waves from the subject.

  The transmission / reception unit 3 generates an electrical signal for controlling the transducer of the ultrasonic probe 2 and receives a reflected wave. Although not shown, the transmission / reception unit 3 has a reception system including a preamplifier, an A / D converter, a reception delay circuit, and an adder. The echo signal output for each element from the ultrasonic probe 2 is amplified by a preamplifier for each channel, given a delay time necessary for determining reception directivity by a reception delay circuit after A / D conversion, and an adder Is added. The signal added by the transmission / reception unit 3 is referred to as RF data.

  Although not shown, the ultrasonic image generation unit 4 includes, for example, a B-mode processing system (logarithmic compression, envelope detection, dynamic range adjustment, luminance modulation, etc.), Doppler processing system (orthogonal detection, Doppler shift frequency component) And a color Doppler processing system (perform quadrature detection, filter processing, autocorrelation calculation processing, flow velocity / dispersion calculation processing, etc.), and the like. The RF data input to the ultrasonic image generation unit 4 is subjected to predetermined processing in any of the processing systems, and is output to the cine memory 6 as an ultrasonic image (live image).

  The time measuring unit 5 is used, for example, at the time of contrast examination. The time measuring unit 5 is turned on and off in response to an input from the operation unit 12, and measures the time from the on state to the off state.

  The cine memory 6 stores the ultrasonic images generated by the ultrasonic image generation unit 4 one after another in time series. For example, when the time measuring unit 5 is in the on state, the cine memory 6 stores information on the measurement time in association with the ultrasonic image. When the ultrasonic image including the still image and the moving image reaches the capacity of the cine memory 6, the cine memory 6 overwrites the latest image on the stored oldest image.

  The display device 7 is composed of, for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display, and displays an ultrasonic image stored in the cine memory 6 in real time. Further, the display device 7 displays an ultrasonic image included in the saved file stored in the main storage unit 8 and displays a plurality of thumbnail images.

  The main storage unit 8 is composed of, for example, a hard disk, and is used to store an ultrasonic image stored in the cine memory 6. For example, among the ultrasonic images stored in the cine memory 6 and displayed on the display device 7 in real time, when an ultrasonic image that the operator wants to save is displayed, the operation is performed by the operation unit 12 and stored in the cine memory 6. The latest ultrasonic still image is stored in the main storage unit 8. Alternatively, when it is necessary to save a series of ultrasonic images (moving images) as in a contrast examination, the ultrasonic moving images stored in the cine memory 6 are stored as moving image files in the main storage unit 8 such as a hard disk. The

  Upon receiving an instruction to display thumbnails from the control unit 11, the thumbnail image generation unit 9 selects a still image or moving image ultrasonic image storage file stored in the main storage unit 8 in time series. Then, an ultrasonic image included in the selected storage file is extracted based on a predetermined setting condition, and a plurality of thumbnail images are generated in time series by performing pixel thinning and reduction processing of the extracted ultrasonic image. The conditions for generating thumbnails here, for example, how many thumbnail images are generated from one moving image file, are set in advance. The generated thumbnail image is associated with the ultrasonic image in the main storage unit 8.

  The editing unit 10 groups the plurality of generated thumbnail images. For example, in the case of ultrasonic imaging in which the time measuring unit 5 is used as in contrast examination, thumbnails corresponding to ultrasonic images captured while the time measuring unit 5 is in the on state to the off state are used. Group images as a group.

  The thumbnail images are displayed in time series by the display device 7. Further, thumbnail images included in each group grouped by the editing unit 10 are displayed in association with each other according to the display form. The display device 7 displays the thumbnail images belonging to the same group so that each group can be visually recognized, for example, by attaching the same color frame. In addition to the color frame, a bar of a desired color may be attached on the thumbnail image, a frame with the same hatching may be attached to the thumbnail images belonging to the same group, or the same mark may be attached. These display forms are set by the control unit 11 that has received an operation from the operation unit 12.

  The thumbnail image is used as an index for search. That is, the thumbnail image displayed on the display device 7 is associated with the full-data ultrasonic image stored in the main storage unit 8, and a desired thumbnail image is selected by the operator via the operation unit 12. Then, a corresponding full data ultrasonic image is read from the main storage unit 8 and displayed.

  The control unit 11 controls the overall operation including the transmission / reception unit 3, the ultrasonic image generation unit 4, the time measurement unit 5, the cine memory 6, the main storage unit 8, the thumbnail image generation unit 9, and the editing unit 10.

  The operation unit 12 is a device for inputting instruction information from the operator to the control unit 11, and is capable of controlling the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 1 and setting various conditions. A button, a keyboard, a trackball, Such as a mouse.

  The editing unit 10 performs automatic editing. For example, when adding or correcting a group of thumbnail images grouped by the editing unit 10, the operation unit 12 and the control unit 11 are included in the present invention. It becomes an editing means. Alternatively, only the manual editing may be performed by the operation unit 12 and the control unit 11 without providing the editing unit 10.

  When performing manual editing, for example, an operator observes a display screen that is generated by the thumbnail image generation unit 9 and displayed on the display device 7 by arranging a plurality of thumbnail images in time series. Are designated via the operation unit 12. More specifically, the storage file to be grouped is selected from the storage files of still image or moving image ultrasonic image corresponding to the thumbnail image, and the grouping button is pressed. Thereby, the storage files of the ultrasonic images are grouped. The grouping information is stored in the main storage unit 8. In the next thumbnail display, thumbnail images for each storage file are created by the thumbnail image generation unit 9 and thumbnail images corresponding to the storage files grouped by the display device 7 are displayed in groups.

  FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of thumbnail display displayed by the display device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of conventional thumbnail display.

  2A and 2B are examples in which a plurality of thumbnail images 20a to 20p are arranged and displayed in time series from the left side to the right side of the upper stage and further from the left side to the right side of the next stage. .

  In the display example of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 2A, among the entire thumbnail images 20a to 20p, thumbnail images 20c to 20g, thumbnail images 20h to 20l, and thumbnail images 20o to 20p are displayed in groups. Yes. For example, the thumbnail images 20c to 20g are displayed surrounded by a red frame, the thumbnail images 20h to 20l are surrounded by a green frame, and the thumbnail images 20o to 20p are surrounded by a blue frame.

  On the other hand, in the conventional display example shown in FIG. 2B, the entire thumbnail images 20a to 20p are not grouped. Even in the display of the conventional example shown in FIG. 2, for example, whether the mode is B mode, color Doppler, or contrasting can be determined only by a small thumbnail image 20. However, in contrast examinations that are performed multiple times a day, it is possible to determine which thumbnail image corresponds to what number of contrast examinations, where are the breaks in the first and second contrast examinations, etc. It cannot be determined by the display shown in 2 (b).

  In this embodiment, the grouping display is made as shown in FIG. 2 (a), so that, for example, it is possible to grasp how many contrast examinations and how far are the same examination items. The retrieval of the ultrasonic image using the thumbnail image later becomes easy.

  Next, a series of flow from ultrasonic inspection to image search using the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  Ultrasonic imaging is performed by contacting the ultrasonic probe 2 with the subject and transmitting ultrasonic waves (step ST1), and ultrasonic images are generated one after another based on the reflected wave from the subject (step ST2). ) And displayed on the display device 7.

  During or after ultrasonic imaging, an ultrasonic image including still images and moving images stored in the cine memory 6 is stored in the main storage unit 8 (step ST3). In contrast examination, contrast medium administration and ultrasonic imaging are performed a plurality of times a day. In addition, even when a treatment is performed, ultrasonic imaging is performed before and after the treatment. Therefore, the number of files saved in the main storage unit 8 in step ST3 is very large.

  After the end of the ultrasound imaging for the subject (step ST4), the operator wants to review the ultrasound image later for diagnosis of the subject, and the operator uses the operation unit 12 to display the ultrasound image on the display device 7. Are displayed (step ST5).

  In the thumbnail display, as described above, the thumbnail image group corresponding to the ultrasonic image obtained from the on state to the off state of the time measuring unit 5 is automatically displayed as a group. By the grouped display, for example, it becomes easy to find a thumbnail image obtained by a specific contrast examination from the entire ultrasonic examination.

  The operator selects a desired thumbnail image via the operation unit 12 to display a corresponding full-data ultrasonic image on the display device 7 for use in diagnosis or the like (step ST8).

  For example, when it is desired to correct and add a grouping to the thumbnail display (step ST6), the operator selects a desired thumbnail image group via the operation unit 12 to perform grouping ( Step ST7). Information relating to grouping is stored in the main storage unit 8, and in the next thumbnail display, thumbnail display with new grouping added is performed.

  As described above, according to the display device 7 according to the present embodiment, among the thumbnail images displayed in a plurality of arrangements, a plurality of thumbnail images included in a series of ultrasonic imaging are displayed in association with each other according to the display form. Therefore, a series of related thumbnail images can be grasped at a glance from the entire thumbnail images.

  Therefore, according to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus provided with the display device 7 described above, since a series of related thumbnail images can be grasped at a glance from the entire thumbnail image, the ultrasonic image search after the imaging can be performed. Can be easily.

The present invention is not limited to the description of the above embodiment.
For example, even if the time measurement unit is not provided, the editing unit 10 can automatically perform grouping by inputting instructions for starting and ending ultrasonic imaging using the operation unit 12. In this case, the editing unit 10 may group a plurality of thumbnail images corresponding to the ultrasonic images included in the time between the start instruction and the end instruction input by the operation unit 12 as one group. Good.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the contrast inspection is described as an example, but there is no limitation on the inspection items to be manually grouped. For example, when ultrasonic imaging is performed before and after treatment, before treatment and after treatment may be displayed in groups. In addition, in the case of a stress echo examination of the heart, thumbnail images corresponding to ultrasonic images after returning to a steady state after applying stress, after applying stress, may be manually displayed in a group. Good.

Even in the case of manual grouping, for example, an operator who is involved in ultrasonic imaging manually edits after the inspection, so that the same or another operator passes ultrasonic waves using the thumbnail image after a period of time from the inspection. It becomes easy to search for images.
In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the ultrasonic imaging device which concerns on this embodiment. (A) is a schematic diagram of thumbnail display displayed by the display device according to the present embodiment, and (b) is a schematic diagram of conventional thumbnail display. It is a flowchart which shows a series of flows from an ultrasonic test | inspection to an image search using the ultrasonic imaging device which concerns on this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasonic imaging device, 2 ... Ultrasonic probe, 3 ... Transmission / reception part, 4 ... Ultrasound image generation part, 5 ... Time measurement part, 6 ... Cine memory, 7 ... Display apparatus, 8 ... Main memory part, 9 ... Thumbnail Image generation unit, 10 ... editing unit, 11 ... control unit, 12 ... operation unit, 20 ... thumbnail image

Claims (9)

Ultrasonic image generating means for generating an ultrasonic image of the subject based on an ultrasonic echo signal received from the subject by ultrasonic imaging;
A cine memory for storing the ultrasonic images generated by the ultrasonic image generating means in the order of generation;
Thumbnail image generating means for generating a thumbnail image by reducing a predetermined ultrasonic image stored in the cine memory;
Editing means for grouping the plurality of thumbnail images obtained by reducing the plurality of ultrasonic images continuously generated by instructing the start and end of the ultrasonic imaging;
Display means for arranging a plurality of thumbnail images and displaying the thumbnail images included in each group grouped by the editing means in association with each other according to a display form;
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus in which a thumbnail image displayed in association with the display mode based on the grouping and a thumbnail image not grouped are displayed on the display means. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1,
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus having time measuring means for measuring a time from an on state to an off state in an on state and an off state in response to an input to an operation unit by an operator . The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The ultrasonic imaging apparatus, wherein the display means arranges and displays a plurality of the thumbnail images in the order in which the ultrasonic images are generated. In the ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
After the thumbnail image displayed in association with the display mode by the grouping and the thumbnail image not grouped are displayed on the display means,
The ultrasonic imaging apparatus, wherein the editing unit adds a thumbnail image to the group or corrects the group with respect to the grouped thumbnail images by an operator's operation on an operation unit. In the ultrasonic imaging device in any one of Claims 1-4,
The ultrasonic imaging apparatus, wherein the display means displays a plurality of the thumbnail images included in each group surrounded by a color frame. In the ultrasonic imaging device in any one of Claims 1-4,
The ultrasonic imaging apparatus, wherein the display means surrounds and displays a plurality of the thumbnail images included in each group by a hatched frame. In the ultrasonic imaging device in any one of Claims 1-4,
The ultrasonic imaging apparatus, wherein the display unit displays a bar of a predetermined color or a predetermined mark on all the thumbnail images included in one group. In the ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The ultrasound imaging apparatus, wherein the thumbnail images grouped by the editing unit are thumbnail images generated by contrast examination. In the ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The thumbnail image grouped by the editing means is a thumbnail image obtained by grouping a thumbnail image of the subject before treatment and a thumbnail image of the subject after treatment, or a stress echo examination of the heart The ultrasonic imaging apparatus is a thumbnail image obtained by grouping a thumbnail image of the subject before applying stress and a thumbnail image of the subject after applying stress in FIG.

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