JP2002186616A - Ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic diagnostic device which saves energy loss in obtaining ultrasonic images with less noise. SOLUTION: A contact discrimination circuit 40 determines the contact status of ultrasonic sending and receiving conditions of an ultrasonic probe 20 and a living body based on the development of artifacts, and stops transmission works of a transmission control circuit 30 or limits transmitting acoustic power when the above contact status is not favorable. The receiving work of a receiving control circuit 32 is also stopped or controlled when necessary. When the above contact status is not favorable or when the formation of ultrasonic images are adversely affected in consequence. The deterioration of ultrasonic images can be prevented by reducing the noise due to contact failure or by controlling the transmission or receiving of ultrasonic waves. Energy loss can be inhibited and useless heating can be prevented as well by controlling the transmission at the time of contact failure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus,
In particular, the present invention relates to an improvement in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of obtaining an ultrasonic image with less noise and improving energy loss.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ultrasonic wave is radiated to a living body and an ultrasonic wave reflected from the surface of the living body or the inside of the living body is received, thereby obtaining image information and forming an ultrasonic image of the living body. 2. Description of the Related Art Ultrasound diagnostic apparatuses for observation and observation are widely used. An ultrasonic probe including an ultrasonic transducer for actually transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and this ultrasonic probe has various forms and shapes depending on a part to be diagnosed. It is properly used. For example, when observing the internal state from the surface of the body surface or internal organs,
An ultrasonic image showing the internal state can be obtained by supporting the ultrasonic probe with a hand or a dedicated instrument and performing linear scanning or sector scanning at a desired position. In addition, for example, when inserting into the trachea and observing the tracheal wall, the inside of the wall and the outside of the wall, a catheter-like ultrasonic probe is inserted into a desired position in the trachea, and radial scanning is performed there. By performing the transmission and reception of the ultrasonic waves, an ultrasonic image of the tracheal wall and its surroundings can be obtained.

[0003] When an ultrasonic probe is used to transmit and receive an ultrasonic wave, the traveling ultrasonic beam travels as it travels through a medium having acoustically the same characteristics. If there is something that is physically different, reflection occurs on the surface. An air layer that may be present in front of the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface causes reflection when transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Normally, the ultrasonic probe is gripped by the operator's hand and pressed against the living body, and a liquid (eg, jelly-like) acoustic matching material is applied to the surface of the ultrasonic probe to ensure higher adhesion. are doing. And, in the state where the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface of the ultrasonic probe and the living body are in close contact, that is, in a range where the acoustic contact is good,
An effective ultrasonic image can be obtained.

[0004]

However, in order to obtain an ultrasonic image of the tracheal wall and its surroundings as described above,
When radial scanning is performed by inserting an ultrasonic probe into the trachea, an effective ultrasonic image cannot be obtained over the entire circumference in many cases. This is because, for example, it is difficult to press the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface against the wall surface in the trachea or to use an ultrasonic matching material. When the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface of the ultrasonic probe is partially in contact with the tracheal wall, a partial area of radial scanning (the area where the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface is in contact with the wall)
In the above, an effective ultrasonic image is obtained as described above, but in an area where contact with the wall surface is poor, for example, in an invalid area where an air layer is interposed between the ultrasonic probe and the wall surface, an effective ultrasonic image is obtained. In addition to not being able to obtain a proper ultrasonic image, the transmitted ultrasonic waves are violently reflected on the surface of the vibrator, causing artifacts due to multiple reflections. Due to the remaining ultrasonic artifact in the invalid area, there is a problem that acoustic or electric noise is mixed at the time of reception in the valid area, which causes deterioration of the ultrasonic image.

Further, transmission of ultrasonic waves in a portion where an effective ultrasonic image cannot be obtained is irradiation of unnecessary ultrasonic waves having no meaning, and also causes unnecessary heat generation, thereby causing energy loss. There is a problem that.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of obtaining an ultrasonic image with less noise and improving energy loss. And

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic probe transmits / receives ultrasonic waves to / from a living body and forms an ultrasonic image based on a reception signal obtained at that time. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that performs contact determination means for determining a contact state of an ultrasonic transmission / reception surface of an ultrasonic probe with a living body based on a reception signal, and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus based on a determination result of the contact determination means. Ultrasonic control means for controlling at least one of a transmission operation and a reception operation of a sound wave.

According to this configuration, at least one of the transmitting operation and the receiving operation of the ultrasonic wave for forming the ultrasonic image is controlled based on the quality of the contact state of the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface with the living body. For example, when the contact state is not good and adversely affects the ultrasonic image formation, the transmission and reception of the ultrasonic waves are suppressed to reduce or prevent the occurrence of noise in that portion, and to perform other operations. Also reduces or prevents noise effects on parts. In that case, if the transmission of the ultrasonic waves is suppressed or stopped, energy loss can be prevented, and
Heat generation due to unnecessary transmission of ultrasonic waves can be prevented.

In order to achieve the above object, the above structure is characterized in that the contact determination means determines a biological contact state of the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface based on an artifact included in a received signal.

[0010] Here, the artifact is a noise or a spurious signal at the time of obtaining an ultrasonic image, and is imaged with a signal similar to that of a real entity. According to this configuration, based on the occurrence of an artifact that is a cause of deterioration of the ultrasonic image, the state of contact with the living body is recognized, and the transmission and reception of the ultrasonic wave are controlled so as to suppress the artifact. Image degradation can be suppressed.

In order to achieve the above object, in the above configuration, the contact determination means determines whether or not the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface is in contact with the living body for each ultrasonic beam transmitted and received by the ultrasonic probe. The determination is performed.

According to this configuration, the contact state of the ultrasonic probe can be recognized in detail, and the ultrasonic control can be appropriately performed.

[0013] In order to achieve the above object, in the above configuration, the contact determination means divides the ultrasonic transmission / reception area into predetermined blocks and determines whether the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface is in contact with a living body for each block. Is determined.

According to this configuration, since an ultrasonic image can be formed for each predetermined block, it is possible to prevent the formed ultrasonic image from being partially omitted.

In order to achieve the above object, in the above configuration, the ultrasonic control means controls the transmission acoustic power of the ultrasonic wave when it is determined that the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface is not in contact with the living body. It is characterized by the following.

According to this configuration, transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves which are inappropriate for forming an ultrasonic image generated due to a poor contact state of the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface are adjusted, so that image deterioration can be effectively suppressed. it can.

In order to achieve the above object, in the above-mentioned configuration, the ultrasonic control means determines that at least the transmission and reception of the ultrasonic wave is controlled when it is determined that the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface is not in contact with the living body. One of them is stopped.

According to this configuration, transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves inappropriate for forming an ultrasonic image generated due to a poor contact state of the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface are stopped, so that image deterioration is more effectively and easily eliminated. However, image degradation can be suppressed.

In order to achieve the above object, in the above-described configuration, the ultrasonic probe for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves includes:
It is a radial scanning type that can be inserted into a body cavity.

According to this configuration, even in the case of a radial scanning type ultrasonic probe in which it is difficult to bring the entire circumference of the ultrasonic probe into contact with the living body, the contact state between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface and the living body can be improved. It is possible to efficiently acquire an ultrasonic image of a portion in a good contact state while eliminating the influence of a poor portion.

[0021] In order to achieve the above object, in the above-mentioned configuration, the ultrasonic probe is characterized by being used for tracheal insertion.

According to this configuration, air is present in the surroundings, an air layer is easily formed, and good contact is made between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface of the ultrasonic probe and the living body. Even in a trachea where it is difficult to make a judgment, it is possible to obtain an appropriate ultrasonic image by making an appropriate contact judgment.

[0023]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a scanner unit 12 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, controls the scanner unit 12, and forms an image based on an acquired ultrasonic reception signal. An observation control unit 14 for performing processing and the like; an observation monitor 16 for displaying a formed ultrasonic image and an operation state of the scanner unit 12 and the observation control unit 14;
Operation panel 1 for inputting operations to observation control unit 14 and the like
8 and the like.

In the present embodiment, the scanner section 12 has an ultrasonic probe 20 for actually transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves.
In the present embodiment, the ultrasonic probe 20 is, for example, a small-diameter intra-body-cavity ultrasonic probe capable of obtaining an ultrasonic image of the trachea wall, the inside thereof, and the trachea outer wall. Take. In this type of ultrasonic probe inserted into a body cavity, an ultrasonic transducer having an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface is arranged at the tip of a flexible and bendable small-diameter catheter, and inserted into a tubular tissue such as a trachea. Then, at a desired insertion position, by rotating the ultrasonic transducer disposed at the distal end along a plane substantially orthogonal to the axis of the catheter, it is possible to obtain a tomographic image around the ultrasonic transducer. It is of the so-called radial scanning type.

Accordingly, the ultrasonic probe 20, for example, a motor 22 arranged as a driving means for radial scanning is connected to the ultrasonic probe 20 via a rotary shaft, preferably a torque wire 24 or the like. The motor 22 includes the motor 2
An encoder 26 is connected as position detecting means for detecting the rotation state of the ultrasonic transducer 2, that is, the direction in which the ultrasonic transducer faces. In the present embodiment, the ultrasonic transducers of the ultrasonic probe 20 transmit and receive ultrasonic waves by the same ultrasonic transducer.

On the other hand, the observation controller 14 includes the motor 2
2, a scanner control circuit 28 for controlling the rotation, a transmission control circuit 30 for controlling the transmission of ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 20, and a reflection transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer and returned to the living body or the like. A reception control circuit 32 for performing reception control such as amplification and detection of received ultrasonic waves, a digital scan converter 34 for converting a reception signal supplied from the reception control circuit 32 into a scanning line, and an image formed by the digital scan converter 34. And a beam address circuit 38 for providing a beam position signal of an ultrasonic beam necessary for performing a scan line conversion by the digital scan converter 34. I have.

A characteristic feature of the present embodiment is that when the ultrasonic probe 20 performs radial scanning, the state of contact between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface and the living body (in the present embodiment, tracheal wall) is determined. There is a contact determination circuit (contact determination means) 40 for controlling at least one of the transmission operation and the reception operation of the sound wave, and the contact determination circuit 40 is to obtain an ultrasonic image with less noise and energy loss.

First, a series of operations of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 will be described.

A motor drive voltage is supplied from the scanner control circuit 28 to the motor 22, and the motor 22 rotates at a predetermined speed. The rotation of the motor 22 causes the ultrasonic vibrator in the ultrasonic probe 20 to radially rotate via the torque wire 24 to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves. Since the rotation of the ultrasonic vibrator is the rotation of the motor 22, it is possible to detect the radial scanning state of the ultrasonic vibrator by detecting the rotation of the motor 22 by the encoder 26, and the observation control unit 14 The rotation angle of the ultrasonic transducer can be accurately recognized. Here, the encoder 26 outputs an A pulse and a B pulse having different phases (for example, having a phase difference of 90 °) and a Z pulse (forming an ultrasonic image) output every one rotation of the motor 22 (ultrasonic transducer). (A marker-like pulse indicating the beginning of the frame), and is provided to the contact determination circuit 40. The contact determination circuit 40 outputs the rotation information (angle and speed) acquired from the encoder 26 to the scanner control circuit 28, and uses it for feedback control of the motor 22.

The contact determination circuit 40 includes the encoder 2
The rotation information (angle and speed) obtained from 6 is supplied to the beam address circuit 38 and used as the original information of the beam position signal.
The ultrasonic waves received by the ultrasonic probe 20 are amplified and detected by the reception control circuit 32 and input to the digital scan converter 34. The digital scan converter 34 forms an ultrasonic image based on the amplified and detected reception signal and the beam position signal (beam address) supplied from the beam address circuit 38. Further, the graphic addition circuit 36 superimposes various character information (setting conditions of ultrasonic waves, various measurement data, and the like) and various graphic information (arrows indicating positions, reception information in the form of graphs, and the like), and displays them on the monitor 16 for observation. Let it.

The transmission control circuit 30 can control the ultrasonic transmission signal, specifically, control ON / OFF of the transmission, limit the transmission acoustic power, and the like. In addition, control of the reception amplification factor, filter control, and the like can be performed.

As described above, the contact determination circuit 40 determines the contact state between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface and the living body when the ultrasonic probe 20 performs the radial scanning, and performs at least one of the transmitting operation and the receiving operation of the ultrasonic wave. Control one. In the present embodiment, an example in which the contact state is performed by detecting an occurrence state of an artifact will be described. Then, the contact determination circuit 40 determines the transmission control circuit 30 based on the contact state.
, And controls transmission of ultrasonic waves so as to suppress artifacts. Here, the artifact is a noise or a spurious signal at the time of obtaining an ultrasonic image, and is imaged with a signal similar to that of a true entity. It is a cause of deterioration of the ultrasonic image, for example, if there is an acoustically high reflector such as an air layer in front of the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface, the transmitted ultrasonic wave exits the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface And multiple reflections occur there.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the contact determination circuit 40. This contact determination circuit 40
For example, a high-pass filter 42, a multiplex artifact peak position detector 44, a multiplex artifact peak interval measuring device 46, a multiplex artifact peak interval range setting device 48, a multiplex artifact peak interval discriminator 50, a multiplex artifact counter 52, a multiplex artifact count number It comprises a range setting unit 54, a multiplex artifact count number comparator 56, a contact determination unit 58 and the like.

First, the ultrasonic reception signal supplied from the reception control circuit 32 shown in FIG. 1 is processed so that the low-frequency component is removed by the high-pass filter 42 and the peak of the multiplex artifact is easily detected. A multiplex artifact peak position detector 44 connected to the high-pass filter 42 detects the peak position of the waveform and outputs the detected peak position as a trigger signal. The trigger signal is input to the multiplex artifact counter 52 to count the number of peaks in one beam. Also, the peak position detected by the multiplex artifact peak position detector 44 is
It is also supplied to a multiple artifact peak interval measurer 46, where the multiple artifact interval τ is measured. Further, in the multiplex artifact peak interval range setting unit 48, the width of the peak interval used for discriminating whether or not the waveform is a repetitive waveform caused by the occurrence of an artifact is set as a minimum value α and a maximum value β. ing.

As described above, the artifacts are generated by the reflection of the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transducer on the inner side of the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface. , A peak value appears in the reflected signal. Therefore, the predetermined interval may be set in advance as the minimum value α and the maximum value β depending on the distance between the surface of the ultrasonic transducer and the inner surface side of the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface and the occurrence state of the artifact at that time. it can.

Then, the multiple artifact peak interval discriminator 50 determines whether or not the interval τ measured by the multiple artifact peak interval measuring device 46 is within the range of (minimum value α) − (maximum value β). . When included within the range, the ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasonic transducer does not come out of the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface to the surface side, and it can be determined that multiple reflections are repeated. Therefore, the multiple artifact peak interval discriminator 50 is It is determined whether or not the detected peak value is caused by multiple artifacts. And if it is determined to be a multiple artifact, based on that determination,
Turn on gate input of multiple artifact counter 52
I do.

Therefore, the multiple artifact counter 5
If the count value あ る, which is the output of 2, is large, it means that there is a large number of multiple artifacts, that is, the air contact state where an air layer exists between the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface and the living body and multiple reflection occurs. is expected.

The minimum value γ determined based on past data and the like is input from the multiple artifact count number range setting unit 54 to the multiple artifact peak count number comparator 56 to which the count value か ら from the multiple artifact counter 52 is input. Is done. Since it is known that a plurality of reflections will occur if the multiple reflection starts to occur also for the minimum value γ, the minimum value of the number of occurrences can be determined in advance.

Then, in the multiple artifact peak count number comparator 56, the count value ζ is compared with the minimum value γ.
In the case of ζ, the contact determination circuit 40 determines that the air is in the air contact state with respect to the current ultrasonic transmission / reception state (the transmission / reception state at the current radial scanning position), and in the case of γ ≧ ζ, the contact determination circuit 40 determines the current ultrasonic transmission / reception state. It is determined that the sound wave transmission / reception state is the normal contact state.

When the contact determination circuit 40 determines that the current ultrasonic transmission / reception is being performed in a normal contact state, the transmission control circuit 30 performs control based on the ultrasonic transmission / reception conditions set on the operation panel 18. And issues an instruction to the reception control circuit 32. On the other hand, if the contact determination circuit 40 determines that the current ultrasonic transmission / reception is being performed in the air contact state, regardless of the ultrasonic transmission / reception conditions set on the operation panel 18, for example, The transmission is stopped or the transmission acoustic power is suppressed, and control is performed in such a direction that artifacts are suppressed. Also, the reception control circuit 32 may stop the reception operation or perform suppression control of the reception operation. As described above, by stopping or suppressing the transmission operation and the reception operation, the occurrence of artifacts is suppressed. As a result, efficient transmission / reception of ultrasonic waves is executed only at positions where good ultrasonic images are obtained. In addition, since the occurrence of residual ultrasonic artifacts in a range where ultrasonic image formation is invalid due to the suppression of artifacts is eliminated, acoustic or electrical noise is mixed in reception in a range where ultrasonic image formation is valid, and ultrasonic image Can be prevented from being deteriorated. Further, by suppressing artifacts, that is, by suppressing multiple reflections, it is possible to prevent the ultrasonic probe 20 from generating heat more than necessary, thereby reducing damage to a living body and preventing deterioration of the ultrasonic probe. It can be carried out.

The determination by the contact determination circuit 40 may be performed for each ultrasonic beam, or when a plurality of ultrasonic beams are
The determination may be made for each block, for example, every 10 lines. When the determination is made for each ultrasonic beam, it is possible to detect the contact state between the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface and the living body in detail, but there is a possibility that the formed ultrasonic image may be in a discrete state. Although the image quality is improved, the visibility of the entire image may be reduced. On the other hand, when the determination is performed for each block, it is possible to obtain an ultrasonic image with improved visibility as an entire ultrasonic image while minimizing deterioration of image quality. The same effect can be obtained even if this blocking is performed at the rotation angle of the ultrasonic transducer, for example, 3 °, 5 °, 7 °, or the like.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an ultrasonic image obtained by stopping at least one of the transmitting operation and the receiving operation of the ultrasonic wave based on the judgment of the contact judging circuit 40. The observation monitor 16 shows an ultrasonic image displayed when the ultrasonic probe 20 is inserted into the trachea 60 and radial scanning is performed at a desired position. The portion indicated by the solid line is the portion displayed as a result of the ultrasonic transmission / reception control being performed normally as the contact between the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface and the living body is favorably performed at the time of ultrasonic transmission / reception. In FIG. 3, for reference, a portion where at least one of the transmission operation and the reception operation of the ultrasonic wave is stopped based on the determination of the contact determination circuit 40 and a portion where the formation of the ultrasonic image is prohibited is indicated by a broken line. ing. In FIG. 3, a tracheal wall 60a and a tumor 60b that has developed on the tracheal wall 60a are indicated by solid lines.

As described above, in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to form an ultrasonic image which is not affected by artifacts, so that an ultrasonic image of a desired portion can be obtained with low noise. And the loss of ultrasonic energy can be minimized, and the accompanying heat generation can be suppressed.

In the present embodiment, at least one of the transmission operation and the reception operation is controlled based on the determination of the contact state. However, the suppression of only the transmission of the ultrasonic wave or the control of the stop can suppress the artifact. In addition, since only the transmission control circuit 30 needs to be controlled, the control itself is facilitated. Further, unnecessary heat generation can be suppressed as described above. In addition, although it is not expected to take measures to prevent heat generation, it is possible to suppress artifacts only by controlling or stopping the reception of ultrasonic waves and to control only the reception control circuit 32. Becomes easier. Furthermore, in the case where the suppression and stop control of transmission and reception are performed together, it is possible to suppress artifacts and prevent heat generation, and further minimize the energy loss by completely suppressing or stopping transmission and reception operations.

In the present embodiment, the state of contact between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface and the living body is determined based on artifacts, and at least one of the ultrasonic wave transmitting operation and the ultrasonic wave receiving operation is automatically controlled. If necessary, the transmission / reception control range of the ultrasonic wave can be manually set. The setting of the transmission / reception control range in this case is performed by operating the operation panel 18 while the operator views the observation monitor 16. At this time, the graphics addition circuit 36 displays the added markers 62a and 62b on the screen of the observation monitor 16.
Is superimposed and displayed, and any control position information (invalid area due to artifacts) 62 can be set by operating the operation panel 18. The control position information is also supplied to the contact determination circuit 40. And
Comparing the rotation to which ultrasonic control position information angular position and set the probe 20, and supplies the area information to the transmission control circuit 30 and the reception control circuit 32 corresponding to the control area.
As a result, the transmission control circuit 30 stops the transmission operation of the ultrasonic wave and controls the transmission acoustic power based on the control position information. Similarly, the reception control circuit 32 performs the stop of the reception operation, the control of the reception amplification factor, the filter control, and the like based on the control position information. As a result, as in the case of automatically performing transmission / reception control of ultrasonic waves based on artifacts, it is possible to suppress artifacts, reduce noise,
Also, an ultrasonic image with little energy loss can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, the radial scanning ultrasonic probe for tracheal insertion has been described as an example. However, there is a possibility that contact between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface and the living body may not be performed well. The same effect can be obtained by performing the same control as that of the present embodiment as long as the ultrasonic probe is used for. That is, the same effect can be obtained even when applied to an ultrasonic probe that performs linear scanning or convex scanning, a large ultrasonic probe, or the like.

The configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an example, and detects the contact state between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface and the living body, and performs at least one of the transmitting operation and the receiving operation of the ultrasonic wave based on the result. Any configuration can be arbitrarily changed as long as the configuration is controlled and the image quality deterioration of the formed ultrasonic image is suppressed, and the same effect can be obtained.

[0049]

According to the present invention, at least one of the transmitting operation and the receiving operation of the ultrasonic wave for forming the ultrasonic image is controlled based on the quality of the contact state of the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface with the living body. Is not good and adversely affects ultrasonic image formation, suppress transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves, reduce or prevent the occurrence of noise in that part, and reduce noise to other parts. The effects can also be reduced or prevented. In this case, by suppressing or stopping transmission of ultrasonic waves, energy loss can be prevented, and heat generation of the ultrasonic transducer due to unnecessary transmission of ultrasonic waves can be prevented. As a result, an ultrasonic image with less noise can be obtained, and energy loss can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a contact determination circuit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an ultrasonic image that can be acquired by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a setting screen when manually controlling the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, 12 scanner unit, 14 observation control unit, 16 observation monitor, 18 operation panel, 20
Ultrasonic probe, 22 motor, 24 torque wire,
26 encoder, 28 scanner control circuit, 30 transmission control circuit, 32 reception control circuit, 34 digital scan converter, 36 graphic addition circuit, 38
Beam address circuit, 40 contact determination circuit.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Yoshikawa 6-22-1, Mure, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo Aloka F-term (reference) 4C301 BB03 EE04 EE18 GD20 HH02 JB38

Claims (8)

[Claims] An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from a living body using an ultrasonic probe and forms an ultrasonic image based on received signals obtained at that time. Contact determining means for determining a contact state of the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface of the ultrasonic probe on the living body, and an ultrasonic wave for controlling at least one of an ultrasonic transmitting operation and a receiving operation based on the determination result of the contact determining means An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: control means; 2. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said contact determining means determines a biological contact state of the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface based on an artifact included in a received signal. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact determination unit determines whether the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface is in contact with a living body for each ultrasonic beam transmitted and received by the ultrasonic probe. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized by performing: 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact determination unit divides the ultrasonic transmission / reception area into predetermined blocks and determines whether the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface is in contact with a living body for each block. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized in that: 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic control unit determines that an ultrasonic transmission / reception surface is not in contact with a living body when the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface is not in contact with the living body. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that performs control. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic control unit transmits and receives an ultrasonic wave when determining that the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface is not in contact with a living body. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus wherein at least one of the controls is stopped. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic probe that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves is of a radial scanning type that can be inserted into a body cavity. Ultrasound diagnostic equipment. 8. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the ultrasonic probe is for tracheal insertion.