Ge Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC

General Electric Company

Ge Precision Healthcare LLC

Ge Medical Systems Global Technology, LLC

Shunichiro Tanigawa

Masatake Nukui

Koji Miyama

Eigil Samset

Sotaro Kawae

Seiji Funaya

Naohisa Kamiyama

Michael Charles MacDonald

Takuma Oguri

Various ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses and method are provided for calculating a velocity of propagation of shear waves. In one example, a method includes applying mechanical vibrations to a patient to generate shear waves, receiving first echo signals based on first ultrasonic pulses transmitted at a first pulse repetition frequency, creating data for an image based on the first echo signals, and calculating at least one frequency component of the mechanical vibrations. The method includes calculating a second pulse repetition frequency that is different from the first pulse repetition frequency, based on the at least one frequency component of the mechanical vibrations. The method include receiving second echo signals based on second ultrasonic pulses transmitted at the second pulse repetition frequency and calculating a velocity of propagation of said shear waves based on the second echo signals transmitted at the second pulse repetition frequency.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, ultrasonic diagnostic system, and method for use with the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus

To set parameters according to a body part of interest serving as a target for producing a color Doppler image, a processor in an ultrasonic image display system identifies a body part of interest serving as a target for producing a color Doppler image of a patient based on data for a B-mode image, and determines parameters regarding acquisition of data for the color Doppler image according to the body part of interest. The processor then controls an ultrasonic probe to perform a color Doppler scan for a color Doppler image on the patient using the determined parameters, and creates data for a color Doppler image based on echo data obtained by the color Doppler scan.

Ultrasonic image display system and program for color doppler imaging

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and a method for controlling the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes: a processor for executing by a program: a first calculating function of, based on a first echo signal of first ultrasound transmitted to biological tissue in a subject to be examined, calculating a value relating to elasticity of said biological tissue; and a second calculating function of calculating a value of attenuation of ultrasound in said biological tissue; and a display device on which a first image produced based on a first two-dimensional (2D) color map CMis displayed, wherein said color map CMdefines a display mode according to the value relating to elasticity of said biological tissue and the value of attenuation in said biological tissue.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and method

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus including an elastic image data generating unit which generates elastic image data having color information corresponding to strain calculated by a physical quantity data generating unit, and a displayer which causes an elastic image having a color corresponding to the strain to be displayed on an ultrasound image of the biological tissue, based on the elastic image data. The elastic image data generating unit generates the elastic image data, based on a color conversion table which is indicative of information of association of strain and the color information with each other and in which the color information changes depending on strain in a predetermined range of strain set in advance. The displayer displays an elasticity index image indicating an elasticity index indicative of a relative relationship of an average value of strain in a region set to the ultrasound image and the predetermined range of strain.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and control program thereof

An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is provided. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe configured to transmit ultrasonic push pulses to a biological tissue of a test object and further configured to transmit measuring ultrasonic pulses to the biological tissue subjected to the transmitted push pulses in order to measure an elasticity of the biological tissue, a respiration detection part configured to detect respiration of the test object, and a notification part which, based on the detection by the respiration detection part, is configured to give notification allowing a transmission timing of the push pulses to be recognized.

Ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is provided. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes a physical quantity data generating unit configured to generate physical quantity data by calculating a physical quantity related to elasticity of parts in a living tissue based on an echo signal obtained by transmission and reception of an ultrasound wave to and from the living tissue, an elasticity image data generating unit configured to generate elasticity image data including information indicative of a display form corresponding to the calculated physical quantity, and a display unit configured to display an elasticity image generated based on the elasticity image data and having a display form corresponding to the physical quantity, wherein the elasticity image is generated based on physical quantity data for a plurality of frames within a predetermined time period having a length that includes a plurality of heartbeats.

Ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and method for displaying elasticity image

A medical image display apparatus for displaying medical images of a biological tissue includes a physical quantity calculator that calculates a first physical quantity related to elasticity of the biological tissue, and a display image control unit that displays a first elastic image having a display form corresponding to the first physical quantity calculated by the physical quantity calculator and a second elastic image having a display form corresponding to a second physical quantity related to elasticity of the biological tissue calculated by other another medical image display apparatus as the medical images. The display image control unit displays images in which portions having a same elasticity in the biological tissue in a same display form as the first and second elastic images.

Medical image display apparatus and method for displaying medical images

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a physical quantity calculator for setting correlation windows to two echo signals obtained by transmission/reception of ultrasound to and from a biological tissue and different in time on the same sound rays and performing a correlation arithmetic operation between the correlation windows to thereby calculate physical quantities related to elasticity of respective regions in the biological tissue, an elastic image data generator for generating elastic image data of the biological tissue with respect to an elastic image forming region of a transmission/reception surface of the ultrasound, based on the physical quantities, a physical quantity average unit for calculating an average of the physical quantities in the elastic image forming region for every frame, a comparator for comparing a value calculated by the physical quantity average unit and a preset average value of the physical quantities, and a notification unit for notifying a result of comparison by the comparator.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for elasticity imaging

An image processing apparatus includes a random processing device which adds independent random components to a pixel value of a pixel point on each actual frame corresponding to a given time and a pixel value of a pixel point on each actual frame corresponding to a time subsequent to the time respectively thereby to obtain random-processed pixel values and a weighting/adding device which weights/adds the random-processed pixel values thereby to obtain a pixel value of a pixel point on each interpolation frame corresponding to an intermediate time.

Image processing apparatus and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus

The invention provides an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an ultrasonic diagnostic image generating method realizing improvement in picture quality to thereby improve diagnosis efficiency in a diagnosis using images. An extracting process of extracting a sound ray vector image extending in a sound ray direction in which an ultrasonic beam is transmitted in an ultrasonic diagnosis image from the ultrasonic diagnosis image is performed. After that, a correcting process is performed so as to eliminate the sound ray vector image extracted by the extracting process from the ultrasonic diagnosis image.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and ultrasonic diagnostic image generating method

An ultrasonic image display method for displaying a composite image made from a B mode image and a tissue velocity image of an object taken by means of ultrasound. The method includes decreasing the weight of the B mode image while increasing the weight of the tissue velocity image, in response to increase of brightness of the B mode image, adding thus weighted B mode image and tissue velocity image, and displaying an image obtained by the addition.

Ultrasonic image display method and ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus

An object of the present invention is to calculate a more accurate beam-hardening correction coefficient. A phantom having an oblong section or a phantom having an annular (sector) section and a uniform thickness is positioned in an X-ray CT system, and scanned from plural directions in order to acquire a plurality of views. The results of the scan are used to calculate a correction coefficient that is used to correct projection information to be acquired from a subject.

Correction coefficient calculating method for X-ray CT systems, beam hardening post-processing method therefor, and X-ray CT system

An X-ray computed tomographic (CT) system includes: a beam-hardening correction block that corrects first projection information in terms of the beam-hardening effect so as to produce second projection information; a first fitting block that fits a first function to the second projection information so as to produce third projection information; a second fitting block that fits a second function to the third projection information values that are provided as functions having as independent variables the second projection information values sampled in relation to all the views and each of the channels of an X-ray detector; and a correction coefficient modification block that modifies a second correction coefficient, which is calculated using a second phantom larger in dimensions than a first phantom, using a first correction coefficient calculated using the first phantom.

X-ray CT system and beam-hardening post-processing method

A beam hardening post-processing method that can improve the accuracy of channel-by-channel correction on a BH effect easily and yet taking a non-linear effect into account, phantoms of different diameters are disposed at a position offset from an imaging center to acquire projection information having a transmission length of an X-ray beam varying from view to view, hence, acquire projection information having a projection information value varying from view to view, for each channel, correction factors are determined, and a corrective function containing even a non-linear effect is determined by higher-order function fitting from the correction factors; and therefore, correction with high accuracy can be achieved in the channel-by-channel correction on the projection information values conducted after BH correction, and moreover, correction with high accuracy can be achieved using a smaller amount of phantom projection information, thus reducing the time for calibration work.

Beam hardening post-processing method and X-ray CT apparatus

In order to efficiently obtain projection data having a variety of slice widths (slice patterns) in one scan, an X-ray CT apparatus is provided in which an X-ray tube and an X-ray detector are opposed to each other interposing a subject in which detector a multiplicity of X-ray detector elements are linearly arranged in the channel arrangement direction to form a plurality of rows in the subject body axis direction, for reconstructing a CT tomographic image of the subject based on detected signals from the X-ray detector, wherein the X-ray CT apparatus comprises signal duplicating means for duplicating channel detected signals of the X-ray detector and distributing the duplicated signals to a plurality of groups a, b, etc.; and signal combining means that can combine the distributed duplicated signals in each group in an arbitrary pattern across the detector rows for each channel.

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Tokyo, Japan

Shunichiro Tanigawa