Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation

Canon Medical Systems Corporation

Eiichi Shiki

Yoshitaka Mine

Shinichi Hashimoto

Itsuki Kuga

Ryoichi Kanda

Kenji Hamada

Hiroyuki Tsujino

Yoshihito Abe

Tomohiko Kihara

Hironobu Hongo

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a present embodiment includes: a transmitting and receiving circuit configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave to an ultrasonic probe and receive a signal based on the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe; a generation circuit configured to generate multiple 2D image data in a chronological order based on the signal; an acquisition circuit configured to acquire multiple positional data of the ultrasonic probe; a memory circuit; a processing circuit configured to perform processing in such a manner that the multiple 2D image data arranged in the memory circuit according to the multiple positional data fit inside a memory space of the memory circuit; and a volume generation circuit configured to generate volume data in the memory space based on the processed multiple 2D image data.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and medical image processing apparatus

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a present embodiment includes: a transmitting and receiving circuit configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave to an ultrasonic probe and receive a signal based on the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe; a generation circuit configured to generate multiple 2D image data in a chronological order based on the signal; an acquisition circuit configured to acquire three-dimensional multiple position data of the ultrasonic probe; an associating circuit configured to associate the multiple position data with the respective multiple 2D image data; and a correction circuit configured to correct the multiple position data associated by the associating circuit.

An ultrasound diagnosis system, a medical image display apparatus and displaying method that simultaneously acquires virtual endoscopy image data and multi-planar-reconstruction (MPR) image data of a diagnosing target region based on the volume data acquired from an object. Virtual endoscopy image data is generated by setting up a viewing point and a viewing direction on a volume data acquired from the object. A marker is provided on a target region of a lumen organ shown in the virtual endoscopy image data for setting up an observing direction. A reference line started from the volume data is set up along an observing direction. By comparing a voxel value of the volume data that is crossing to the reference line with a prescribed threshold value, a reference point where a surface of the diagnosing target region crosses the reference line is set up to the volume data. MPR image data is generated by extracting each voxel of the volume data corresponded to each of three MPR cross-sectional planes that are mutually orthogonally crossing at the reference point and displayed with the virtual endoscopy image data.

Ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, medical image display apparatus and medical image displaying method

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus including an ultrasound probe configured to transmit toward and receive from a three-dimensional region of a subject, a transmitting and receiving unit configured to acquire ultrasound data by a plurality of executions of multibeam forming, comprising forming a plurality of sets of ultrasound data along a plurality of directions by a one-time transmitting and receiving operation of the ultrasound probe, a data synthesizing unit configured to synthesize a plurality of sets of data relating to the ultrasound data acquired during each of said executions, the sets being acquired along a respective plurality of different receiving directions with respect to a transmitting direction, to generate synthesized ultrasound data, and an image data generation unit configured to generate image data on the basis of the synthesized ultrasound data.

Ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and method for acquiring ultrasound data

An ultrasonic diagnosis system that generates virtual endoscopic image data on a lumen of an organ of an object based on volume data acquired by three-dimensional scanning of the object, includes: a unit that sets a three-dimensional region of interest for the volume data; a unit that sets a center line of the lumen of the organ in the volume data based on the acquired volume data; a unit that detects a reference point at which a reference plane of the three-dimensional region of interest and the center line intersect with each other; a unit that sets a viewpoint and a view direction based on the reference point; a virtual endoscopic image data generating unit that processes the volume data based on the viewpoint and the view direction to generate the virtual endoscopic image data; and a display unit that displays the generated virtual endoscopic image data.

Ultrasonic diagnosis system and image data display control program

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is configured as follows. Namely, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is provided with a control unit which collets a heart synchronized signal, etc. synchronizing with workings of a heart of a patient, etc., and an image processing unit which detects an overlapped area of the three-dimensional data acquired by ultrasonic scanning from different echo windows, for the three dimensional image data group acquired in the same time phase in synchronization with the heart synchronized signal or aspiration synchronized signal, combines the three-dimensional image data, and generates a panorama three-dimensional image data group consisting of panorama three-dimensional image data which are continued in time and have a display area larger than each of the three-dimensional image data.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, diagnostic imaging apparatus, and program

According to one embodiment, a gain adjustment unit executes gain adjustment for 3D B-mode data using gain adjustment values respectively decided for the depth on each scanning line, azimuth direction and elevation direction in a scanned region. A threshold decision unit decides a threshold used for discriminating lumen and non-lumen regions in the scanned region using the gain-adjustment-executed 3D B-mode data. A threshold processing unit executes threshold processing to discriminate data concerning the non-lumen region from the gain-adjustment-executed 3D B-mode data, using the threshold. An image generation unit generates an ultrasonic image concerning the lumen region based on the threshold-processing-executed 3D B-mode data.

A transmitter/receiver transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from a desired region of a subject via an ultrasonic probe. A signal processor obtains a plurality of physical quantities from signals outputted by the transmitter/receiver having received ultrasonic echoes from the subject. A voxel-value generator generates a voxel value containing the plurality of physical quantities. An image generator generates a three-dimensional image by using the plurality of physical quantities including any of the rate, power value or dispersion of a blood flow contained in the voxel value and sequentially executing a rendering process on each voxel. A display controller controls a display to display the generated three-dimensional image.

Ultrasonic imaging apparatus

A reference condition generation unit of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus generates a reference delay condition and a reference amplitude condition for determining delay time and amplitude of a driving pulse to be supplied to a transducer element at the time of non-simultaneous and parallel reception. A transmission condition generation unit generates a transmission delay condition and a transmission amplitude condition for determining delay time and amplitude of a driving pulse to be supplied to a transducer element at the time of simultaneous and parallel reception, on the basis of the reference delay condition and the reference amplitude condition. A transmission unit sets the delay time and the driving amplitude of the driving pulse to be supplied to a plurality of adjacent transducer elements selected by an element selection unit among the transducer elements arranged in an ultrasonic probe, on the basis of the transmission delay condition and the transmission amplitude condition.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and ultrasonic transmission method

An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprises an ultrasound probe, a transmitter (including a transmitting pulse generator and a transmitting beamformer), a receiver (including a preamplifier and a receiving beamformer), a CFM processor (including a moving-element signal extractor and a velocity corrector), a tomographic image processor, and a display unit. The apparatus scans a desired section of a subject by transmitting and receiving an ultrasound pulse to and from the subject, and displays images obtained by the scanning. The velocity corrector comprises a pulsation-characterizing-velocity (velocities of a moving element) calculator, a representative velocity (reference velocity) calculator, and a corrector to correct the velocities of the moving element based on the standard velocity. The corrected velocity data is visualized on display unit. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus makes it possible to display the pulsatility of blood vessels in an easier and useful way.

Ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus

A diagnostic ultrasound apparatus is provided for obtaining an image of an object into which an ultrasound contrast agent is injected. The apparatus has a transducer for transmitting and receiving an ultrasound wave to and from the object and transmitting means ( ) transmitting an ultrasound pulse into the object by driving the transducer under a first transmitting condition exerting a given destruction capability on the ultrasound contrast agent and a second transmitting condition having a destruction capability lower than that of the first condition. First image producing ( ) receive an ultrasound echo of the ultrasound pulse transmitted under the first transmitting condition and produce a first color-displayed image based on phase displacement information about the ultrasound echo. Additionally, second image producing means ( ) receive an ultrasound echo of the transmitted ultrasound pulse and produce a second image based on amplitude information about the ultrasound echo. The first and second images are displayed by display means ( ). According to this diagnostic ultrasound apparatus, for imaging a CFM image based on a flash echo phenomenon caused in an object in which a contrast agent injected, one interval during which the phenomenon will be caused and the other interval during which it will not be caused can be determined appropriately and images can be displayed effectively over those intervals.

Ultrasound imaging using flash echo imaging technique

In a high-resolution flow mode, a diagnostic ultrasound apparatus and a diagnostic ultrasound method that provide an image of blood flow or perfusion is provided with higher sensitivity and high resolution, which makes it possible to precisely observe the presence of fine blood vessels. In this apparatus, by scanning means ( to ), with a ultrasound pulse having a wideband frequency characteristic transmitting at least two times in the same direction within an object, a cross section to be imaged therein is scanned to obtain an echo signal at each time of transmission. By processing means highpass filtering or differential processing is performed with rows of data in the time axis direction of an echo signal acquired at each sample location in the cross section, so that signals from blood flow are extracted. By producing means the processed signals are produced into data of luminance or power. This data is displayed by displaying means as a high-resolution color (flow) image or grayscale flow image indicative of blood flow or perfusion.

High resolution flow imaging for ultrasound diagnosis

An ultrasound imaging apparatus and method in which an ultrasound signal is transmitted a plurality of times in each scanning direction and its echo is received. A Doppler signal detected from a group of echo signals consisting of a train of sequential Doppler data for each spatial sample position in each scanning direction. The amount of instantaneous changes in a phase of a clutter component included in the Doppler signal is estimated, the clutter component occurring due to reflection of the ultrasound signal from an organ. A phase of the Doppler signal is corrected using the estimated amount of instantaneous changes in the phase. A constant value corresponding to the clutter component is subtracted from the Doppler signal of which phase is corrected, information representing a blood flow is extracted based on the Doppler signal of which clutter component is removed and the extracted information is displayed in color.

Removal of clutter components in ultrasound color-doppler imaging

A bloodstream velocity image is formed by scanning a two-dimensional region including a blood vessel in a body to be examined with an ultrasonic wave. A velocity profile is formed by distributing either one of average velocities and maximum velocities of bloodstream velocities at a plurality of positions arranged along a first direction, along a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction and extending across the blood vessel. A bloodstream volume is calculated from the velocity profile and a blood vessel diameter. Thus, an error caused by movement of a blood vessel accompanying pulsation can be decreased.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus including a probe which transmits a burst wave of ultrasonic pulses into a target in a body and receives reflected echo signals, a transmission unit which drives the probe, a receiver which delays the echo signals from the probe by delay times substantially equal to the delay times in the transmission unit, 2D image processing unit which performs predetermined processing on the output signals from the receiver in order to indicate a tomographic image, a Doppler-mode processing unit which performs predetermined processing on the output signals from the receiver in order to indicate the frequency spectrum of the received signals, a display unit which displays each processed result from the a 2D image processing unit and the Doppler-mode processing unit, a sample volume setting device which designates an observation region (sample volume) such as observation length (spatial length of the sample volume) and observation location (sample volume depth) to obtain a Doppler shift frequency, and a control unit which controls the transmission unit and the Doppler processing unit so that a width of a range gate is smaller than the width of an observation region designated by the sample volume setting device.

Growing community of inventors

Otawara, Japan

Eiichi Shiki