JPS6244934B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] This invention emits ultrasonic waves from a probe scanned by a scanner, and sequentially uses the ultrasonic waves reflected by a person to be diagnosed as diagnostic image signals. The diagnostic image signal at the scanning speed of the scanner obtained by reception is converted into a signal at the scanning speed of the television receiver, and the converted signal is used to display the diagnostic image on the screen. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that performs memory storage.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has been generally configured as shown in FIG. At the same time, the ultrasonic waves reflected by the person to be diagnosed 3 are sequentially received, and a diagnostic image signal obtained by the reception at the scanning speed of the scanner 1 is outputted via the scanner 1.

Note that the area scanned by scanner 1 is
By moving the probe 2 manually or by an automatic mechanism, it is possible to arbitrarily select.

Then, the diagnostic image signal of the probe 2 via the scanner 1 is converted into the scanning speed of, for example, an NTSC television receiver by a scanning converter 4 that converts the scanning speed.

In other words, while the horizontal scanning frequency of an NTSC television receiver is 15.75KHz, the horizontal scanning frequency of Scanner 1 is at most 5Hz.
Since the scanning speed of the scanner 1 is slower than that of the television receiver, it is not possible to directly supply the diagnostic image signal output from the scanner 1 to the NTSC monitor television receiver 5 and the file video recorder 6. , diagnostic images cannot be displayed on screen or stored in memory.

Therefore, the scan converter 4 converts the diagnostic image signal output from the scanner 1 into a signal corresponding to the scanning speed of the television receiver, for example, by one horizontal scan, and also converts the diagnostic image signal outputted from the scanner 1 into a signal corresponding to the scanning speed of the television receiver by one horizontal scan. The scan converter 4 then supplies the scan-converted one field or one frame diagnostic image signal to the monitor television receiver 5 and file video recorder 6, and displays the diagnostic image on the screen. and memory preservation.

Note that the frequency band of the ultrasonic signal reflected by the person to be diagnosed 3 and received by the probe 2 is determined by the scanning speed of the scanner 1, but is generally several KHz at most.

In addition, 7 in FIG. 1 is an X-axis/Y-axis address detection circuit, which detects which position in the horizontal and vertical directions the diagnostic image signal output from the scanner 1 was obtained by scanning. The address signal shown in FIG. 1 is supplied to the scan converter 4 to control the conversion of the converter 4.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Incidentally, in the case of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the scan converter 4 that performs scanning speed conversion is required to include, for example, a memory with a capacity for one horizontal scan and a field memory or frame memory as memory for scan conversion. In this case, the converter 4 becomes complicated and expensive because the field memory or frame memory has a large capacity and is expensive.

In order to display the diagnostic image on the screen and store it in memory, the apparatus must be equipped with a monitor receiver 5 and a file video recorder 6 in addition to the scan converter 4, resulting in a problem that the apparatus becomes extremely expensive.

[Means for Solving the Problems] This invention has been made with the above-mentioned points in mind, and includes scanning by a scanner, emitting ultrasonic waves, and receiving the ultrasonic waves reflected by the person being diagnosed. and a probe that outputs a diagnostic image signal at a scanning speed of the scanner via the scanner, and an analog probe that converts the diagnostic image signal into digital.
Output data for one horizontal scan of each of the digital conversion circuit and the analog/digital conversion circuit is written with a clock pulse for writing at the speed of the digital conversion, and the written data is K times the writing speed [K is (television)]. a digital memory for scanning speed conversion with a capacity for one horizontal scan read out using a clock pulse for reading out (scanning speed of the receiver)/(scanning speed of the scanner); a digital/analog conversion circuit that performs analog conversion at the speed of the reading clock pulse; and output signals of each horizontal scan of the digital/analog conversion circuit are recorded in the scanning order of the receiver,
A rotary magnetic recording medium for storing and storing the diagnostic image signal converted to the scanning speed of the television receiver and for supplying a reproduction signal to the television receiver for monitoring. This is an ultrasonic diagnostic device.

[Effect]

Therefore, the analog/digital conversion circuit, digital memory, and digital/analog conversion circuit transmit the diagnostic image signal of the scanning speed of the scanner obtained by the reception of the probe to the television receiver for one horizontal scan. is converted to a scanning speed of
A rotating magnetic recording medium is used both as a field memory or frame memory of a conventional scan converter and a file video recorder, and the converted diagnostic image signal is recorded and stored on the recording medium,
Further, the reproduction signal of the recording medium is supplied to a monitor television receiver, and the diagnostic image is displayed on the screen.

Since the rotating magnetic recording medium is used both as a field memory or frame memory for scan conversion in a conventional scan converter and as a file recorder, a digital memory with a capacity of one horizontal scan is used, and a rotating magnetic recording medium is also used. With this simple configuration, the device is formed without the conventional expensive scan converter and file video recorder.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 showing one embodiment thereof.

In FIG. 2, a probe 2 scanned by a scanner 1 emits ultrasonic waves of several MHz toward a patient 3 and sequentially receives ultrasound reflected by the patient 3. It has the function of
Same as before.

Then, the diagnostic image signal of the scanning speed of the scanner 1 obtained by reception is inputted to the analog/digital conversion circuit 8 via the scanner 1, and is digitally converted.

Now, the frequency band fo of the diagnostic image signal is
Assuming that the scanning speed S of the scanner 1 is 2KHz and the scanning speed S = 5Hz, the frequency of the clock pulse that determines the digital conversion speed of the conversion circuit 8 is based on the sampling theorem.
2fo=4KHz, and this clock pulse is generated by the first clock pulse generation circuit 9.

Further, the diagnostic image signal digitally converted by the conversion circuit 8 is converted to a scanning speed of one horizontal scan capacity based on a 4KHz clock pulse of the generation circuit 9, that is, a clock pulse for writing the digital conversion speed of the conversion circuit 8. are sequentially written into the digital memory 10.

By the way, in order to prevent the image quality of the diagnostic image from deteriorating due to the above-mentioned digital conversion, the conversion circuit 8 quantizes the input diagnostic image signal into 8-bit digital data, and therefore the memory 10 stores 8-bit parallel data. things are used.

Also, the period of one horizontal scanning period of scanner 1 is 1/
Since S is 1/5 second and sampling is performed at 4KHz, the number of samples per horizontal scanning period is
It becomes 800.

Therefore, the number of bits of digital data for one horizontal scanning period output from the conversion circuit 8 is 8×
That's 800 bits, or 6.4K bits.

Since the memory 10 sequentially converts the scanning speed of the diagnostic image signals for each horizontal scanning period output from the scanner 1, the capacity of the memory 10 is
It is set to 6.4K bits.

On the other hand, by scanning speed conversion in the memory 10, the scanning speed S of the diagnostic image signal output from the scanner 1 is
(=5Hz) is the scanning speed of the NTSC television receiver, that is, the horizontal scanning frequency f _H (=
15.75KHz) memory 10
The clock pulse for reading is K times (K is f _H /S) the frequency of the clock pulse for writing 2fo (=4 KHz), that is, 2fo・f _H /S = 4 × 15.750/5 (KHz) = 12.6 MHz. It is set.

Then, a 12.6 MHz reading clock pulse is generated by the second clock pulse generation circuit 11, and the memory 10 is generated by this clock pulse.
The digital data written in the memory 10 is read out, and at this time, based on the ratio of the writing clock pulse to the reading clock pulse, the digital data written in the memory 10 is read out at K times the writing speed. Sukiyana 1
The digital data for each horizontal scan of the diagnostic image signal output from the NTSC television receiver is read out as digital data of the scanning speed signal of the NTSC television receiver, and the scanning speed is converted by the memory 10.

Furthermore, the digital data read from the memory 10 is input to the digital/analog conversion circuit 12, and at this time, the conversion circuit 1
2 operates, the digital data read from the memory 10 is converted into analog data at the speed (frequency) of the reading clock pulse, and the conversion circuit 12 converts it to the scanning speed of the NTSC television receiver. In addition, diagnostic image signals for one horizontal scanning period are output.

The output signal of the conversion circuit 12 is inputted to the FM modulation circuit 14 via the low-pass filter circuit 13.
FM modulated.

On the other hand, the horizontal synchronization signal H and the vertical synchronization signal V output from the synchronization signal generation circuit 15 are supplied to the servo circuit 16 that controls the rotational speed of the magnetic disk 17, which is a rotating magnetic recording medium. Under the control, the motor that rotationally drives the magnetic disk 17 is phase-controlled by the horizontal synchronization signal H and the vertical synchronization signal V, and the magnetic disk 17 rotates every vertical scanning period (262H: H is the horizontal scanning period). At the same time, the 262 rotation detection pulses generated during one rotation of the magnetic disk 17 are synchronized with the horizontal synchronization signal H, and the motor rotates at a constant speed of approximately 3600 rpm.

Further, the Y-direction address detection circuit 18 detects which horizontal scanning line of the monitor television receiver 5 the scanning position of the scanner 1 corresponds to, and outputs the address signal of the detected horizontal scanning line. It is output to the timing signal generation circuit 19.

Furthermore, the generating circuit 19 corresponds to the scanning period of the receiver 5 of the detected horizontal scanning line, for example, the n-th horizontal scanning line, based on the vertical synchronization signal from the generating circuit 15 and the address signal from the detection circuit 18. A timing signal is generated and outputted to a generation circuit 11 and a one horizontal scanning period gate circuit (hereinafter referred to as 1H gate circuit) 20.

Then, while the timing signal is output from the generation circuit 15, the above-mentioned reading based on the timing signal of the generation circuit 11 is performed, and the 1H
The gate circuit 20 opens and the output signal of the modulation circuit 14, that is, the FM-modulated diagnostic image signal for one horizontal scanning period after conversion, is transferred to the recording position of the detected horizontal scanning line on the magnetic disk 17, that is, the third It is recorded at the position #n indicated by hatching in the figure.

Note that when the scanner 1 is moved in the Y direction in FIG. , magnetic disk 1
7, a diagnostic image signal for one screen (one field) is recorded.

Next, when the magnetic disk 17 is reproduced, the reproduced signal of the magnetic disk 17 is demodulated by the FM demodulation circuit 21, and then mixed with the composite synchronization signal of the generation circuit 15 by the mixer circuit 22. The diagnostic image recorded on the magnetic disk 17 is displayed on the screen of the image receiver 5.

Therefore, in the case of the above embodiment, the conversion circuit 8, memory 10, and conversion circuit 12 change the scanning speed of the diagnostic image signal output from the scanner 1 by one horizontal scan of the NTSC television receiver. As well as being converted to a scanning speed, the magnetic disk 1
7 is also used as a field memory for scan conversion of a conventional scan converter and a file video recorder, and the diagnostic image signal after conversion is transferred to a magnetic disk 17.
The signals recorded on the magnetic disk 17 are recorded and stored in memory, and the reproduced signals from the magnetic disk 17 are transmitted to the monitor television receiver 5.
Since the diagnostic image is displayed on the screen, the conventional expensive scan converter and file video recorder are omitted, resulting in a significant cost reduction, and only the memory 10 with a capacity of one horizontal scan is used as the memory for scan conversion. Equipped with magnetic disk 1
It is possible to provide a simple and inexpensive ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using 7.

In addition, random access to the magnetic disk 17 is easier than with a video tape recorder, so
By using the magnetic disk 17, it is possible to provide an apparatus having a more convenient file function than when using a conventional file video tape recorder.

Furthermore, the composite synchronization signal is not recorded on the magnetic disk 17, and the reproduction signal of the magnetic disk 17 and the composite synchronization signal are mixed and supplied to the receiver 5 to display the diagnostic image on the screen.
It also has the advantage that even when one field of the diagnostic image signal is not completely recorded, the diagnostic image can be displayed on the receiver 5 without synchronization disturbance.

Incidentally, since the digital conversion in the conversion circuit 8 is performed at a place where the conversion time is slow, there is a significant cost reduction effect in this respect.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, the scanning speed of the diagnostic image signal output from the scanner is changed using the analog/digital conversion circuit, the digital memory for scanning speed conversion, and the digital/analog conversion circuit. In addition to converting one horizontal scan at a time to the scanning speed of a television receiver, the rotating magnetic recording medium is also used as the field memory or frame memory of a conventional scan converter and a file video recorder, and the converted diagnostic image signal is rotated. By recording and storing data on a magnetic recording medium, and supplying the reproduction signal of the recording medium to a television receiver for monitoring and displaying the image, an expensive scan converter using conventional field memory or frame memory can be realized. It is a simple and inexpensive configuration that uses a rotating magnetic recording medium, omits a file video recorder, has only a memory with a capacity for one horizontal scan as a scan conversion memory, and is based on a diagnostic image signal after scanning speed conversion. It is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can display diagnostic images on a screen and store them in memory.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a conventional ultrasound diagnostic device.
2 to 4 show one embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram, FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining recording of a magnetic disk, and FIG. 4 is a monitor TV. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the relationship between the screen surface of the digital receiver and horizontal scanning lines. 1...Scanner, 2...Probe, 3...Diagnosed person, 5
...Television receiver for monitor, 8...Analog/
Digital conversion circuit, 10...Digital memory, 12
...Digital/analog conversion circuit, 15...Synchronization signal generation circuit, 17...Magnetic disk, 19...Timing pulse generation circuit, 20...1H gate circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Scanned by a scanner, emits ultrasonic waves, and receives ultrasonic waves reflected by the person being diagnosed;
a probe that outputs a diagnostic image signal at a scanning speed of the scanner via the scanner; and an analog probe that converts the diagnostic image signal into digital.
Output data for one horizontal scan of each of the digital conversion circuit and the analog/digital conversion circuit is written with a clock pulse for writing at the speed of the digital conversion, and the written data is K times the writing speed [K is (television)]. a digital memory for scanning speed conversion with a capacity for one horizontal scan read out using a clock pulse for reading (scanning speed of the receiver)/(scanning speed of the scanner); and a digital memory for converting the scanning speed of each horizontal scan read from the memory. a digital/analog conversion circuit that performs analog conversion at the speed of the reading clock pulse; and output signals of each horizontal scan of the digital/analog conversion circuit are recorded in the scanning order of the receiver;
It is characterized by comprising a rotating magnetic recording medium for storing and storing the diagnostic image signal converted to the scanning speed of the television receiver, and for scanning and converting the diagnostic image and for supplying a reproduced signal to the television receiver for monitoring. Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment.