JP6299194B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and ultrasonic image display method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an ultrasonic image display method. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for simultaneously displaying a tomographic image of a subject and an image showing the function of a biological tissue of the subject based on reflected ultrasound acquired from the subject by an ultrasonic probe.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus transmits an ultrasonic wave inside a subject using an ultrasonic probe (hereinafter referred to as a “probe”), and receives an ultrasonic reflected wave caused by a difference in acoustic impedance of the subject tissue. Further, based on this received signal, an ultrasonic tomographic image (hereinafter referred to as “tomographic image”) showing the structure of the internal tissue of the subject is generated and displayed on a monitor (hereinafter referred to as “display means”). To do. Since there is little invasion to a subject and the state of a body tissue can be observed as a tomographic image in real time, it is widely used for morphological diagnosis of living bodies.

  In recent years, functional information and tissue properties in the body are observed and diagnosed by analyzing not only morphological information in the body based on tomographic images but also reflected ultrasound signals. For example, blood flow information is obtained by detecting a Doppler shift that occurs when ultrasound is reflected by red blood cells in a blood vessel. In addition, it is possible to obtain an elastic image representing the hardness of the living tissue by measuring the reflected ultrasound signal while compressing the subject with the ultrasound probe and calculating the distortion of each part of the living body caused by the pressing. It has been broken.

  On the other hand, in the display of the obtained function information and tissue properties, the superimposed display with the tomographic image is generally performed. For example, Patent Document 1 describes an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that provides hue information of red and blue according to blood flow volume and elastic modulus, and superimposes and displays it on a tomographic image expressed in gray scale. . FIG. 6 is an example of an image display in which hardness information is superimposed on a tomographic image in a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. On the display screen, for example, a region A shown in green is superimposed and displayed as a region having an average hardness, and a region B shown in blue on the display screen is a relatively hard region. In this way, by superimposing color display as additional information on tomographic images conventionally used for diagnosis, both form information and function information can be observed, and more accurate diagnosis can be performed. Can do. However, when the additional information is superimposed and displayed on the tomographic image, the additional information covers the tomographic image of the superimposed portion, and the information originally possessed by the tomographic image is hidden. In FIG. 6, it can be seen that the region B shown in blue is hard, but the gradation of the tomographic image is unclear. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 7, it has been common to display a tomographic image and a superimposed image side by side on two screens and present them together. FIG. 7 shows an example in which an image obtained by superimposing hardness information on a tomographic image and a tomographic image are displayed side by side in a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

  Patent Document 2 proposes a technique using a three-dimensional graph display of function information as another method for displaying function information. In this case, the state of blood flow can be observed three-dimensionally by performing pseudo three-dimensional display in which blood flow rate information is expressed in height. However, morphological information could not be observed in the pseudo three-dimensional display. Therefore, in order to observe the morphological information, it is necessary to display the corresponding tomographic images separately, such as displaying on two screens.

Japanese Patent No. 3932482 Japanese Patent No. 3946815

  In comparative observation using two-screen display, both the tomographic image and the superimposed image cannot be observed simultaneously. That is, when performing comparative observation, line-of-sight movement for alternately viewing each image occurs. By moving the line of sight, it is difficult to compare exactly the same position. For this reason, it was difficult to compare the morphological information and additional information (functional information and property information) of the in-vivo tissue in detail. .

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of seamlessly observing a tomographic image indicating morphological information of tissue in a subject and additional information (functional information and property information).

In order to solve the above-described problem, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is configured so that a display unit can be connected, and a probe is operated on the body surface of the subject. An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus that performs in-vivo observation of the subject based on the acquired reflected ultrasound, a tomographic image generation unit that generates a tomographic image of the subject based on the reflected ultrasound, and the reflected ultrasound Based on the function information of each pixel position output by the received signal analysis unit that analyzes the received signal based on the sound wave and outputs the function information at each pixel position of the tomographic image of the subject, A pseudo three-dimensional image generation unit that generates a pseudo three-dimensional image in which depth information is given to each pixel of the tomographic image; and a projection unit that performs projective conversion of the pseudo three-dimensional image into a two-dimensional image; Projective transformation And to display the two-dimensional image, further, when the operation means for changing a position corresponding to a viewpoint for observing the pseudo 3-dimensional image is configured to be connectable, the viewpoint position is changed, the projection parts are by projective transformation based on the changed viewpoint position the pseudo 3-dimensional image, and wherein the you to view the two-dimensional image projection transformation based on the changed viewpoint position on the display means.

  The above-described ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention can seamlessly observe a tomographic image indicating morphological information of tissue in a subject and additional information (functional information and property information), and finely display both of them. Since comparison is possible, comprehensive diagnosis can be performed with higher accuracy.

1 is a block diagram showing a main part 151 of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to Embodiment 1. 6 is an image obtained by displaying the same hardness information as that in FIG. 6 as a pseudo three-dimensional image projection image in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to Embodiment 1, and (a) is a front view of a pseudo three-dimensional image. A projected image when the position is set, (b) is a projected image when the viewpoint is set at a position to be viewed from the lower side with respect to the pseudo three-dimensional image. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 152 according to Embodiment 2. FIG. In the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, it is an example of the image display which superimposed and showed the hardness information with respect to the tomographic image. In the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an image in which hardness information is superimposed on a tomographic image and the tomographic image are displayed side by side.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described.
<< Outline of Embodiment for Implementing the Present Invention >>
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment is configured such that a display unit is connectable, and the probe is operated on the body surface of the subject, based on the reflected ultrasound acquired from the body of the subject. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for performing in-vivo observation of the subject, analyzing a tomographic image generation unit that generates a tomographic image of the subject based on the reflected ultrasound, and a received signal based on the reflected ultrasound, Based on the function information of each pixel position output by the reception signal analysis unit that outputs function information at each pixel position of the tomographic image of the subject, depth information is provided to each pixel of the tomographic image. A pseudo three-dimensional image generating unit that generates the assigned pseudo three-dimensional image; and a projecting unit that performs projective conversion of the pseudo three-dimensional image into a two-dimensional image, and displays the two-dimensional image subjected to the projective conversion on the display unit To do The features.

In another aspect, the projecting unit may perform parallel projective transformation on the pseudo three-dimensional image.
In another aspect, the projection unit performs vertical projection conversion when the viewpoint position is in an initial state, and the display image subjected to the vertical projection conversion is a display image when the tomographic image is two-dimensionally displayed. The structure which is equivalent to may be sufficient.

Further, in another aspect, an operation means for changing a position corresponding to a viewpoint for observing the pseudo three-dimensional image is configured to be connectable, and when the viewpoint position is changed, the projection unit The pseudo-three-dimensional image may be projectively converted based on the changed viewpoint position, and the display unit may display the two-dimensional image subjected to the projective conversion based on the changed viewpoint position.
Further, in another aspect, an imaging means for imaging the inspector is configured to be connectable, and a viewpoint position for analyzing the image of the inspector imaged by the imaging means and observing the pseudo 3D image is determined. An image analyzing unit for determining, and the projecting unit performs projective transformation of the pseudo three-dimensional image based on the viewpoint position, and displays the two-dimensional image subjected to the projective transformation based on the changed viewpoint position on the display means It may be.

In another aspect, the reception signal analysis unit may output blood flow information as the function information.
In another aspect, the received signal analysis unit may output hardness information as the function information.
In another aspect, the reception signal analysis unit may output contrast information as the function information.

In another aspect, the received signal analysis unit may output tissue motion information as the function information.
The image display method according to the present embodiment is a method of displaying an image on a display unit based on reflected ultrasound acquired from the body of the subject by operating a probe on the body surface of the subject. And generating a tomographic image of the subject based on the reflected ultrasound, analyzing a received signal based on the reflected ultrasound, and outputting functional information at each pixel position of the tomographic image of the subject. , Based on the functional information at each pixel position of the tomographic image, generating a pseudo 3D image with depth information added to each pixel of the tomographic image, projecting the pseudo 3D image into a 2D image, The projecting transformed two-dimensional image is displayed on the display means.

In another aspect, the pseudo three-dimensional image may be obliquely transformed based on a position corresponding to the viewpoint to be observed.
<< Embodiment 1 >>
Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Main part>
A schematic configuration of a main part of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to Embodiment 1 will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part 151 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to the first embodiment. The main part 151 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 includes a tomographic image generation unit 105, a reception signal analysis unit 106, a pseudo 3D image generation unit 107, and a projection unit 108. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 acquires morphological information in the subject based on the reflected ultrasound acquired from the subject by the probe, and further acquires functional information or property information of the tissue in the subject.

The tomographic image generation unit 105 generates a tomographic image (B-mode image) based on the reflected ultrasonic wave acquired from the subject by the ultrasonic probe.
The received signal analysis unit 106 performs signal analysis based on the reflected ultrasound or tomographic image, and calculates functional information or property information on the in-vivo tissue. Here, a case where the elasticity information of the tissue is calculated will be described as an example. However, the information obtained by analysis is not limited to elasticity information.

  The pseudo three-dimensional image generation unit 107 combines the tomographic image and the additional information to generate a pseudo three-dimensional image. A three-dimensional image is an image in which each pixel has three-dimensional position information and a luminance value. The pseudo three-dimensional image here is referred to in contrast to an image showing a three-dimensional shape of an object. In general, a three-dimensional image used in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is an image having three-dimensional information corresponding to a three-dimensional shape of a tissue in a subject. In contrast, in the present embodiment, an image having three-dimensional information that does not correspond to the three-dimensional shape of the in-vivo tissue is referred to as a pseudo three-dimensional image.

The projecting unit 108 performs projective conversion of the pseudo 3D image generated by the pseudo 3D image generating unit into a 2D image.
<About the overall configuration>
Next, the overall configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 150 according to Embodiment 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 includes a control unit 103, a transmission / reception unit 104, a tomographic image generation unit 105, a received signal analysis unit 106, a pseudo 3D image generation unit 107, and a projection unit 108. And a data storage unit 109. In addition, the probe 101, the operation unit 102, and the display unit 110 are provided outside the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150, and are connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150, respectively. Note that the probe 101, the operation unit 102, and the display unit 110 may be inside the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150. Further, the probe 101, the operation unit 102, and the display unit 110 may not be provided.

<About each component configuration>
(Probe 101)
The probe 101 is an ultrasonic probe including an ultrasonic transducer that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves. The probe 101 transmits and receives ultrasonic waves according to instructions from the transmission / reception unit 104. Further, the probe 101 receives reflected ultrasonic waves (ultrasound reflected signals) from the subject as echo signals and outputs received signals. The probe 101 may be a probe in which ultrasonic transducers are arranged in a one-dimensional direction, or may be a two-dimensional array probe in which ultrasonic transducers are arranged in a matrix.

(Operating means 102)
The operation means 102 transmits an operator instruction to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150. Keyboard, trackball, mouse, etc. In particular, it is used for instructing the position of the viewpoint with respect to a projection unit 108 that performs projection conversion of a pseudo three-dimensional image described later into a two-dimensional image. If the display unit 110 described later includes a touch interface, a button on the display unit may be used as the operation unit.

(Control unit 103)
The control unit 103 controls each processing unit included in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150. Thereafter, although not particularly specified, the control unit 103 controls the operation of each processing unit. For example, the control unit 103 causes each processing unit to execute processing while controlling operation timing and the like.
(Transceiver 104)
The transmission / reception unit 104 drives the ultrasonic transducer of the probe 101 to generate ultrasonic waves. Further, the transmission / reception unit 104 receives a reception signal based on the reflected ultrasonic wave received by the probe 101 from the subject.

(Tomographic image generation unit 105)
The tomographic image generation unit 105 generates a tomographic image based on the reflected ultrasound received by the transmission / reception unit 104. The tomographic image is a so-called B-mode image. Specifically, the tomographic image generation unit 105 performs envelope detection after filtering the reflected ultrasound. Further, the tomographic image generation unit 105 generates a B-mode image (tomographic image) by performing logarithmic conversion and gain adjustment on the signal acquired by envelope detection.

(Received signal analysis unit 106)
The reception signal analysis unit 106 performs signal analysis based on the reception signal based on the reflected ultrasound, and measures functional information or property information of the in-vivo tissue. This measurement is performed by comparing and analyzing at least two reflected ultrasonic waves obtained at different times, and an existing technique can be applied. For example, color flow imaging by Doppler measurement and elastic imaging by strain elastography can be used.

(Pseudo three-dimensional image generation unit 107)
The pseudo 3D image generation unit 107 generates a pseudo 3D image from the tomographic image and the additional information. The pseudo three-dimensional image generation is performed by assigning a numerical value of each corresponding additional information as depth information to each pixel of the tomographic image. For example, when elastic information is used as the additional information, the pseudo three-dimensional image is an image whose depth changes according to the hardness. In this case, the pseudo three-dimensional image has, for example, a three-dimensional structure in which a region calculated to be a hard tissue has a deep depth, and a region calculated to be a soft tissue has a shallow depth. As described above, the depth information here is information unrelated to the three-dimensional structure of the in-vivo tissue, and thus the obtained three-dimensional image is referred to as a “pseudo three-dimensional image”.

Here, the elastic information is used as the additional information, but the additional information to be used is not limited to the elastic information. Any information may be used as long as it represents information corresponding to each pixel position of the tomographic image. For example, velocity information corresponding to blood flow, harmonic component information from a group of microbubbles in contrast imaging, and the like can be applied.
(Projection unit 108)
The projection unit 108 performs projection conversion processing to a two-dimensional image in order to display the pseudo three-dimensional image on the display unit 110 that is a two-dimensional display. Here, a two-dimensional image obtained by projective transformation of a pseudo three-dimensional image is defined as a “pseudo three-dimensional image projected image”. As the projective transformation process, for example, parallel projective transformation is performed. According to the parallel projective transformation, projection is performed so that the line of sight from the three-dimensional image to the viewpoint is parallel. Since each pixel of the pseudo three-dimensional image projection image has the same luminance value as the tomographic image, a two-dimensional image equivalent to the tomographic image can be obtained by placing the viewpoint at an appropriate position in front of the pseudo three-dimensional image. Can do. Further, by shifting the viewpoint from the front, a projected image reflecting the three-dimensional structure of the pseudo three-dimensional image can be obtained.

  Note that the projection method is not limited to parallel projection display. Any projection method that can obtain a projection image equivalent to a tomographic image at an initial viewpoint position may be used. For example, a configuration that performs vertical projection conversion may be used. Further, when an instruction to change the position of the viewpoint is given by the operation means 102 used to instruct the position of the viewpoint, the projective transformation reflecting the change of the viewpoint position operated from the operation means 102 is performed.

(Data storage unit 109)
The data storage unit 109 is generated by the tomographic image generated by the tomographic image generation unit 105, the analysis information generated by the reception signal analysis unit 106, the pseudo three-dimensional image generated by the pseudo three-dimensional image generation unit 107, and the projection unit 108. Stores a projected image.
(Display means 110)
The display unit 110 displays a tomographic image, analysis information, a pseudo three-dimensional image projection image, and the like. The display means 110 is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid crystal display). The present embodiment is characterized by a display method for displaying form information and additional information as a pseudo three-dimensional image projection image. Therefore, whether or not the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 includes the data storage unit 109 is arbitrary.

<About operation>
Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to Embodiment 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a flowchart of ultrasonic image display processing of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 in the present embodiment.

(Step S201)
In step S201, the tomographic image generation unit 105 generates a tomographic image. Specifically, the transmission / reception unit 104 transmits an ultrasonic wave to the subject through the probe 101, receives the reflected ultrasonic wave through the probe 101, and outputs a reception signal. The tomographic image generation unit 105 generates a tomographic image by processing a reception signal based on the reflected ultrasound received by the transmission / reception unit 104, and stores the generated tomographic image in the data storage unit 109. In addition, the generated tomographic image is displayed by the display means 110. It should be noted that the tomographic image generation may be performed continuously in time series (for the sake of convenience, one generation unit of the tomographic image will be referred to as a frame).

(Step S202)
In step S202, the reception signal analysis unit 106 performs signal analysis based on the reception signal based on the reflected ultrasound, and calculates elasticity information of the in-vivo tissue. More specifically, while applying pressure with an ultrasonic probe, obtaining reflected ultrasound data of two frames with different measurement times, obtaining displacement information of each part of the body tissue of the subject from these two frame data, Strain information is calculated from the displacement information, and elasticity information of each tissue is calculated based on the magnitude of the strain.

The calculated elasticity information is stored in the data storage unit 109. Here, the elasticity image is stored based on the elasticity information of each part of the tissue in the subject.
(Step S203)
In step S203, the pseudo three-dimensional image generation unit combines the tomographic image and the elasticity information to generate a pseudo three-dimensional image. Here, the elasticity information obtained from the corresponding pixel position of the elasticity image is given to each pixel of the tomographic image as depth information. The pseudo three-dimensional image obtained in this way is an image whose depth changes according to the hardness. For example, a region calculated as a hard tissue has a three-dimensional structure with a deep depth, and a region calculated as a soft tissue has a three-dimensional structure with a shallow depth.

(Step S204)
In step S <b> 204, the projecting unit 108 performs projective conversion of the pseudo three-dimensional image generated in step S <b> 203 into a two-dimensional image and displays it on the display unit 110. Here, projective transformation is performed that reflects a change in the viewpoint position operated from the operation means 102.
Since the luminance value of each pixel of the pseudo three-dimensional image projection image has the same luminance value as that of the tomographic image, the shape information can be grasped by observing the display of the pseudo three-dimensional image projection image. In addition, since each pixel of the pseudo three-dimensional image projection image is given depth information reflecting the elasticity information of each position, the difference in elasticity information of each part is observed by observing the display change due to the change of the viewpoint position. Can be grasped.

<Effect>
FIG. 4 illustrates the effect of displaying the pseudo three-dimensional image projection image in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is an example of an image in which the same hardness information as that in FIG. 6 is displayed as a pseudo three-dimensional image projection image in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 according to Embodiment 1, and (a) illustrates a pseudo three-dimensional viewpoint. A projected image when the front position is set with respect to the image, (b) is a projected image when the viewpoint is set at a position to be viewed from below with respect to the pseudo three-dimensional image. As shown in FIG. 4B, the hard region indicated by the region B displayed in blue in FIG. 6 by the pseudo three-dimensional image projection image given depth information according to the hardness is shown in FIG. It is displayed in a raised state as in part C. Thereby, the inspector can observe the hardness. In the pseudo three-dimensional image projection image, since the hardness information does not affect the luminance value, the gradation information by the tomographic image is not lost, and the morphological information can be observed at the same time. Furthermore, by continuously moving the viewpoint position, the display can be configured to change smoothly from FIG. 4A to FIG. 4B, which is continuous with the conventional tomographic image display method. Sex can also be maintained.

In the present embodiment, projective transformation reflecting the viewpoint position is performed. For example, the same display effect can be obtained by rotating and moving a pseudo three-dimensional image. Any method that can present a difference in depth information may be used.
As described above, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 150 according to the present embodiment displays the tomographic image as the morphological information and the additional information (functional information and property information) as a pseudo three-dimensional image projection image. Thereby, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 can observe the tomographic image as the morphological information and the elasticity information as the additional information almost simultaneously. Since the morphological information and the additional information (functional information and property information) can be observed seamlessly and the two can be compared with each other in detail, comprehensive diagnosis can be performed with higher accuracy.

<< Embodiment 2 >>
The second embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<Overall configuration>
The overall configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 152 according to Embodiment 2 will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 152 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 5, the same components as those in FIG.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 152 shown in FIG. 5 adopts a configuration including an imaging unit 111 and an image analysis unit 112 in addition to the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 150 shown in FIG.
In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 152 according to the second embodiment, the imaging unit 111 images the examiner's face. In order to determine the viewpoint when observing the pseudo three-dimensional image, it is desirable to install the display unit on the upper or lower part of the display unit toward the examiner.

The image analysis unit 112 analyzes the image acquired by the imaging unit 111 and determines the viewpoint position.
In the first embodiment, the viewpoint position is changed under the control of the inspector. However, operating the operation unit such as a mouse or a trackball is not intuitive and has a problem that it cannot be changed as intended. Therefore, in order to control the viewpoint position more intuitively, means for identifying the viewpoint position of the examiner is provided.

A known technique can be used to identify the viewpoint position. For example, face detection processing is first performed, and the position of the black eye is specified. The viewpoint can be determined from the inclination of the face and the position of the black eye.
More simply, the face detection result may be used as it is as the viewpoint position. The examiner can grasp the three-dimensional structure of the pseudo three-dimensional image by observing the image while moving the face itself.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to identify how the tomographic image is observed, and to easily refer to the pseudo three-dimensional image in the corresponding direction. Since the viewpoint position can be changed intuitively, the three-dimensional structure of the pseudo three-dimensional image can be easily grasped, and as a result, accurate diagnosis can be performed by comparing the shape information and the function information in detail. .
≪Modification≫
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to each embodiment has been described above.

The present invention is not limited to each embodiment. For example, a part or all of the processing units included in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in each embodiment may be included in the probe 101.
Each processing unit included in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to each embodiment is typically realized as an LSI that is an integrated circuit. These may be individually made into one chip, or may be made into one chip so as to include a part or all of them.

Further, the circuit integration is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. An FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed after manufacturing the LSI or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connection and setting of circuit cells inside the LSI may be used.
Moreover, you may implement | achieve part or all of the function of the ultrasound diagnosing device based on each embodiment, when processors, such as CPU, run a program.

Furthermore, the present invention may be the above program or a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which the above program is recorded. Needless to say, the program can be distributed via a transmission medium such as the Internet.
In addition, division of functional blocks in the block diagram is an example, and a plurality of functional blocks can be realized as one functional block, a single functional block can be divided into a plurality of functions, or some functions can be transferred to other functional blocks. May be. In addition, functions of a plurality of functional blocks having similar functions may be processed in parallel or time-division by a single hardware or software.

In addition, the order in which the above steps are executed is for illustration in order to specifically describe the present invention, and may be in an order other than the above. Also, some of the above steps may be executed simultaneously (in parallel) with other steps.
Moreover, you may combine at least one part among the functions of the ultrasound diagnosing device which concerns on each embodiment, and its modification.

Further, various modifications in which the present embodiment is modified within the scope conceived by those skilled in the art are also included in the present invention without departing from the gist of the present invention.
<Supplement>
Each of the embodiments described above shows a preferred specific example of the present invention. The numerical values, shapes, materials, constituent elements, arrangement positions and connection forms of the constituent elements, steps, order of steps, and the like shown in the embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The numbers used above are all exemplified to specifically describe the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the illustrated numbers.

Further, for easy understanding of the invention, the scales of the components shown in the above-described embodiments may be different from actual ones. The present invention is not limited by the description of each of the above embodiments, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.
Furthermore, in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, there are members such as circuit parts and lead wires on the substrate, but various aspects are implemented based on ordinary knowledge in the technical field such as an image diagnostic apparatus for electrical wiring and electric circuits. The description is omitted because it is possible and is not directly relevant to the description of the present invention. In addition, each figure shown above is a schematic diagram, and is not necessarily exactly illustrated.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention makes it possible to precisely compare morphological information and additional information (functional information and property information), and to perform comprehensive diagnosis with higher accuracy. Can be widely used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Probe 102 Operation part 103 Control part 104 Transmission / reception part 105 Tomographic image generation part 106 Reception signal analysis part 107 Pseudo three-dimensional image generation part 108 Projection part 109 Data storage part 110 Display means 111 Imaging means 112 Image analysis part 150,152 Ultrasound Diagnostic equipment

Claims (10)

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus configured to connect a display unit and to observe the in-vivo of the subject based on reflected ultrasound acquired from the inside of the subject by operating a probe on the body surface of the subject Because
A tomographic image generator for generating a tomographic image of the subject based on the reflected ultrasound;
A received signal analysis unit that analyzes the received signal based on the reflected ultrasound and outputs function information at each pixel position of the tomographic image of the subject;
A pseudo three-dimensional image generation unit that generates a pseudo three-dimensional image in which depth information is given to each pixel of the tomographic image based on the function information of each pixel position output by the reception signal analysis unit;
A projection unit for projectively converting the pseudo 3D image into a 2D image;
Displaying the projected and transformed two-dimensional image on the display means ;
Furthermore, an operation means for changing a position corresponding to a viewpoint for observing the pseudo three-dimensional image is configured to be connectable,
When the viewpoint position is changed, the projection unit performs projective transformation on the pseudo three-dimensional image based on the changed viewpoint position,
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for displaying a two-dimensional image obtained by projective transformation based on the changed viewpoint position on the display means . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the projection unit performs parallel projective transformation on the pseudo three-dimensional image. The projection unit performs vertical projection conversion when the viewpoint position is in an initial state,
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display image subjected to the vertical projective transformation is equivalent to a display image when the tomographic image is displayed two-dimensionally. Furthermore, an imaging means for imaging the inspector is configured to be connectable,
And an image analysis unit that analyzes an image of the inspector imaged by the imaging unit and determines a viewpoint position for observing the pseudo three-dimensional image,
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the projection unit performs a projective transformation on the pseudo three-dimensional image based on the viewpoint position, and displays a two-dimensional image obtained by the projective transformation based on the changed viewpoint position on the display unit. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reception signal analysis unit outputs blood flow information as the function information. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reception signal analysis unit outputs hardness information as the function information. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reception signal analysis unit outputs contrast information as the function information. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reception signal analysis unit outputs tissue motion information as the function information. A method of displaying an image on a display means based on reflected ultrasound acquired from the body of the subject by operating a probe on the body surface of the subject,
Generating a tomographic image of the subject based on the reflected ultrasound;
Analyzing the received signal based on the reflected ultrasound, outputting functional information at each pixel position of the tomographic image of the subject,
Based on the functional information of each pixel position of the tomographic image, generate a pseudo three-dimensional image with depth information added to each pixel of the tomographic image,
Projectively transforming the pseudo 3D image into a 2D image,
Displaying the projected and transformed two-dimensional image on the display means ;
Furthermore, an operation means for changing a position corresponding to a viewpoint for observing the pseudo three-dimensional image is configured to be connectable,
When the viewpoint position is changed, the projection unit performs projective transformation on the pseudo three-dimensional image based on the changed viewpoint position,
An image display method for displaying a two-dimensional image subjected to projective transformation based on the changed viewpoint position on the display means. The image display method according to claim 9 , wherein the pseudo three-dimensional image is obliquely transformed based on a position corresponding to a viewpoint to be observed.