JP2015128474A - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide ultrasonic diagnostic equipment capable of managing a state of an ultrasonic probe after use.SOLUTION: An acceleration sensor 12 outputs a sensor signal showing a motion and attitude of a probe 10. A probe use completion determination part 30 determines use completion of the probe 10 based on the sensor signal. An improper attitude determination part 32 determines whether or not the attitude of the probe 10 is improper based on the sensor signal. When the probe 10 is determined to be in a use completion state and in an improper attitude, that is, when the probe is determined not to be returned to a holder properly after use, an alarm control part 34 outputs to an operator an alarm to call for measures to correct the probe 10 to a proper attitude.

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for managing an ultrasonic probe after use.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves. The ultrasonic probe is held (stored) in a probe holder provided in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus after use. However, an engineer or the like who has finished the inspection may forget to store the ultrasonic probe in the probe holder and leave it on the bed or leave it on the operation unit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. It can be said that the ultrasonic probe left in this way is in a state where there is a high possibility that it will fall and be damaged thereafter.

  In Patent Literature 1, an acceleration sensor is provided in the ultrasonic probe, the movement of the ultrasonic probe is detected by the acceleration sensor, it is determined that the use of the ultrasonic probe is started with the detection signal, and the start of use is determined. Activating an ultrasonic probe is described.

  In Patent Document 2, an acceleration sensor is provided in an ultrasonic probe, and when the acceleration signal output from the acceleration sensor continuously falls below a certain value, it is determined that the ultrasonic probe has been left, and the LNA and the subarray beamformer. It is described that the operation is stopped.

JP-A-7-328000 JP 2009-148424 A

  However, the patent document does not describe a technique for determining that the used ultrasonic probe is not properly held by the probe holder. When the used probe is left in a place other than the probe holder, or when the probe holder is in an inappropriate posture, a problem of dropping the probe occurs. There is a demand to prevent it.

  An object of the present invention is to manage the state of an ultrasonic probe after use in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Alternatively, when a situation occurs in which the probe after use is not correctly held in the probe holder, it is possible to prompt a countermeasure. Alternatively, it is to prevent or reduce the occurrence of a situation where the probe falls.

  (1) The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves, a state information acquisition unit that acquires probe state information about the ultrasonic probe, and the use of the ultrasonic probe based on the probe state information. First determination means for determining completion, second determination means for determining whether or not the ultrasonic probe is in an inappropriate posture based on the probe state information, determination of completion of use, and And an ultrasonic diagnostic device that outputs an alarm for requesting an operator to take measures for optimizing the current state of the ultrasonic probe when the inappropriate posture is determined. It concerns the device.

  According to the above configuration, the first determination unit is configured to use the ultrasonic probe based on the probe state information about the ultrasonic probe acquired by the state information acquisition unit, that is, a state in which the ultrasonic probe is to be returned to the probe holder. Judge that it has reached. The second determination unit determines whether or not the ultrasonic probe is in an inappropriate posture based on the probe state information. That is, the state is evaluated from the viewpoint of the posture of the ultrasonic probe. In that case, it is desirable that the ultrasonic probe is determined to be in the proper posture when the ultrasonic probe is properly held by the probe holder, while the ultrasonic probe is not suitable when the ultrasonic probe is in any other state. It is determined that the posture is appropriate. The control means outputs an alarm to the operator when use completion is determined and an inappropriate posture is determined. The alarm allows the operator to recognize that the ultrasonic probe is not correctly returned to the probe holder. Since the necessity of the alarm is determined based on both the determination of completion of use and the determination of the inappropriate posture, no alarm is generated even if an inappropriate posture occurs during use.

  The use completion determination and the inappropriate posture determination may be performed at the same time, but the inappropriate posture may be determined after the use completion determination. The ultrasonic probe is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body via a cable or by wireless communication. In the latter case, since the probe after use is easily left on the bed and is liable to drop, it is highly necessary to adopt the above configuration. As an alarm mode, display, sound, light, etc., or a combination thereof can be considered. An alarm may be generated in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, or an alarm may be generated with an ultrasonic probe or the like. In any case, it is desirable to employ a configuration that can reliably notify the user of the ultrasonic probe of the probe leaving state.

  (2) In the above configuration, it is preferable that the probe state information includes information indicating a motion and a posture of the ultrasonic probe. For example, it is possible to identify that the ultrasonic probe is stationary from information indicating the motion of the ultrasonic probe. And it can be considered that the ultrasonic probe is in a state after completion of use when it is in a stationary state. In addition, it is possible to identify whether or not the ultrasonic probe is in an inappropriate posture from the information indicating the posture of the ultrasonic probe.

  (3) In the above-described configuration, preferably, the first determination unit is configured so that the ultrasonic probe is based on the fact that the ultrasonic probe is continuously stationary (once use is determined). It determines with being in the said use completion state. Even when the ultrasonic probe is in use, there may be a case where the ultrasonic probe is temporarily stopped by being temporarily placed on a desk or the like. In such a case, if it is determined that the use of the ultrasonic probe has been completed and an alarm is output, the usability of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is deteriorated. When the ultrasonic probe is in a stationary state continuously, for example, when it is determined that the ultrasonic probe is in a stationary state for a predetermined time, the convenience of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is impaired by determining that the ultrasonic probe is in a use-completed state. Therefore, it is possible to determine the inappropriate posture of the ultrasonic probe in the use completed state.

  (4) In the above configuration, the inappropriate posture is preferably a posture other than a proper posture when the ultrasonic probe is properly held by a probe holder.

  (5) In the above configuration, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a plurality of types of ultrasonic probes, and a plurality of probe holders to which the plurality of types of ultrasonic probes are connected and hold the plurality of types of ultrasonic probes. In addition, it is preferable that the second determination unit determines the inappropriate posture in accordance with an inappropriate posture determination condition corresponding to each type of the ultrasonic probe.

  Various types of ultrasonic probes exist in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and the proper posture in the use completed state may vary depending on the type of probe. For example, the proper posture in the use completed state is different between the convex probe and the transvaginal probe. By determining the inappropriate posture according to the inappropriate posture determination condition corresponding to each ultrasonic probe, it is possible to determine the inappropriate posture according to various ultrasonic probes.

  (6) It further includes transmission / reception stop control means for stopping the ultrasonic transmission / reception of the ultrasonic probe when it is determined that the use is completed and the ultrasonic probe is not in an inappropriate posture. Is desirable. Thereby, it is possible to stop the transmission / reception of the ultrasonic probe that is in the use completed state and is not in an inappropriate posture (that is, in an appropriate posture), and it is possible to prevent deterioration of the transducer of the ultrasonic probe.

  (7) In the above configuration, it is preferable that the control unit stops the output of the alarm when the second determination unit determines an appropriate posture after the output of the alarm.

  According to the present invention, the state of the ultrasonic probe after use can be managed.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment. 1 is an external view of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is a front view of the probe currently hold | maintained with a proper attitude | position. It is a figure which shows the output of an acceleration sensor when a probe is the appropriate attitude | position shown in FIG. It is a front view of the probe currently hold | maintained with an improper posture. It is a figure which shows the output of an acceleration sensor when a probe is the improper attitude | position shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement order of the control part 26 of the ultrasound diagnosing device which concerns on this embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention will be described. In addition, this invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment. An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is generally a medical device installed in a medical institution such as a hospital.

  The probe 10 is an ultrasonic probe that is in contact with the surface of a subject and transmits / receives ultrasonic waves. The probe 10 includes a probe head including an ultrasonic transducer, a cable drawn from the probe head, and a connector provided at the end of the cable. The connector is detachably connected to the connector on the apparatus main body side. In the following description, the probe head is expressed as the probe 10 for convenience.

  The probe 10 is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body via a cable. It may be connected wirelessly. When connected wirelessly, a transmitter / receiver for wireless communication is provided on each of the ultrasonic probe side and the apparatus main body side. The probe 10 may be any type of probe. For example, a sector type, convex type, or linear type probe may be used, or a special probe such as a transvaginal probe may be used. Further, it may be a 2D image probe or a 3D image probe. One or a plurality of probes 10 are connected to one ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. When multiple types of probes 10 are connected, the probe to be used is selected according to the subject, application, purpose, and the like.

  The probe 10 has, for example, an array transducer composed of a plurality of transducer elements, and an ultrasonic beam B is formed by the array transducer. Further, the scanning surface S is formed by electronic scanning of the ultrasonic beam B. The electronic scanning method may be, for example, an electronic sector scanning method or an electronic linear scanning method depending on the type of the probe 10. The probe 10 outputs image forming data by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves.

  The probe 10 is provided with an acceleration sensor 12 as means for acquiring probe state information that is information indicating the motion and posture of the probe 10. The acceleration sensor 12 may employ, for example, a mechanical displacement measurement method, and measures and outputs an acceleration applied to the probe 10 by capturing a change in the position of a weight connected to an elastic body such as a spring. The acceleration sensor 12 is a three-axis acceleration sensor, and measures the acceleration of each component of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis that are orthogonal to each other. Note that a magnetic sensor may be used in place of the acceleration sensor 12 as the probe state information acquisition means. The magnetic sensor is attached to the probe 10 and measures the motion and posture of the probe 10 by measuring the intensity of the magnetic field emitted from a magnetic field generator fixedly installed at a predetermined position.

  In order to obtain posture information in the state information of the probe 10, a gyro sensor may be provided instead of the acceleration sensor 12. The gyro sensor may be, for example, a vibration type gyro sensor, and measures the angular velocity of the probe from the Coriolis force applied to the vibrator and outputs it in the acquired order (in time series order). Like the acceleration sensor 12, the gyro sensor is also a three-axis gyro sensor, and preferably measures the angular velocities of the components of the x axis, the y axis, and the z axis that are orthogonal to each other.

  The probe holder 14 is provided in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and is for holding the probe 10. The probe 10 is held by being hooked to the probe holder 14. However, the probe holder 14 may have any form as long as it can stably hold the probe 10. Here, stable holding means holding the probe 10 so that it does not fall when a certain amount of impact or vibration is applied to the probe 10, for example, when the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is moved on a rough road. It means to do. A plurality of probe holders 14 are provided, and the shape of each probe holder 14 may vary depending on the type of the probe 10 in order to stably hold the various probes 10.

  The exercise posture information calculation unit 16 calculates a signal indicating the movement and posture of the probe 10 based on the signal output from the acceleration sensor 12. The motion posture information calculation unit 16 integrates the acceleration of each axis obtained from the acceleration sensor 12 to obtain the velocity (velocity vector) of the probe 10 with respect to each axis. The speed of the probe 10 is information indicating the movement of the probe 10. In addition, the exercise posture information calculation unit 16 calculates information indicating the posture of the probe 10 based on a signal from the acceleration sensor 12. In particular, posture information when the probe 10 is stationary is calculated. When the probe 10 is in a stationary state, only the gravitational acceleration is applied to the probe 10, so that the posture of the probe 10 can be obtained by detecting the direction of gravity with respect to the probe 10. The detection of the direction of gravity with respect to the probe 10 is performed based on each component of acceleration in three axes (x axis, y axis, z axis) preset in a predetermined direction of the probe 10. For example, when the vertical direction when the probe 10 is in an appropriate posture is the x-axis, and an acceleration component other than the x-axis is generated, it is determined that the probe 10 is not in an appropriate posture, that is, in an inappropriate posture. Is possible.

  The transmission unit 18 functions as a transmission beam former. That is, under the control of a transmission / reception control unit 28 described later, the transmission unit 18 supplies a plurality of transmission signals with a predetermined delay relationship to the plurality of transducers of the probe 10. Thereby, ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the array transducer into the living body. At that time, a transmission beam is formed.

  The reflected wave from the living body is received by the array transducer of the probe 10, whereby a plurality of reception signals are sent from the array transducer to the receiving unit 20. The reception unit 20 functions as a reception beam former, and performs so-called phasing addition processing on a plurality of reception signals output from a plurality of transducers of the probe 10 under the control of the transmission / reception wave control unit 28. . The receiving unit 20 performs processing such as detection and logarithmic compression on the received signal (beam data) after the phasing addition.

  The cine memory 22 is a memory for storing image data for a plurality of frames input in time series order. In the present embodiment, one image data corresponds to one received frame. One reception frame corresponds to one scanning plane, which is composed of, for example, 100 beam data. Each beam data is composed of a large number of echo data arranged in the depth direction. The cine memory 22 has a structure such as a ring buffer, for example, and always stores an image data string from the latest to a predetermined period.

  The ultrasonic image forming unit 24 is a digital scan converter (DSC), for example, and configures an ultrasonic image as a living body image based on the image data. In the present embodiment, a two-dimensional ultrasonic image (tomographic image) is configured, but a three-dimensional ultrasonic image may be configured. The biological image may be a color flow mapping image in which a two-dimensional blood flow image is superimposed on a two-dimensional tissue image.

  The control unit 26 includes a central processing unit (CPU) and an operation program, and performs operation control of each component of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The control unit 26 includes a transmission / reception control unit 28, a probe use completion determination unit 30, an inappropriate posture determination unit 32, and an alarm control unit 34. In the present embodiment, they are realized as software functions.

  The transmission / reception control unit 28 controls the transmission unit 18 to start or stop supplying the transmission signal to the probe 10 by the transmission unit 18. Similarly, the transmission / reception control unit 28 controls the reception unit 20 to start or stop processing on the reception signal supplied from the probe 10. The transmission / reception control unit 28 controls the transmission unit 18 and the reception unit 20 based on a signal from the probe use completion determination unit 30 or the inappropriate posture determination unit 32. For example, when the probe use completion determination unit 30 determines the use completion of the probe 10 and when the improper posture determination unit 32 determines that the probe 10 is not in an improper posture, that is, in a proper posture, transmission / reception control is performed. The unit 28 performs control to stop the transmission unit 18 from supplying a transmission signal to the probe 10 and control the reception unit 20 to stop processing.

  The probe use completion determination unit 30 determines whether or not the use of the probe 10 has been completed based on the signal from the motion posture information calculation unit 16, that is, whether or not the probe 10 is in use or in a use complete state. Determine. The probe use completion determination unit 30 determines the use state of the probe 10 based on the signal from the exercise posture information calculation unit 16.

  For example, when a signal indicating that the velocity of the probe 10 is 0 is continuously output from the acceleration sensor 12 for a certain period, the probe 10 has not been moved for a certain period, so that the use of the probe 10 has been completed. Can be determined. Here, the speed of 0 means that the combined speed of the three axes in the coordinate system of the acceleration sensor 12 is 0. Alternatively, when the acceleration sensor 12 continuously outputs a signal indicating that the speed of the probe 10 is equal to or less than a predetermined value near 0, it is determined that the use of the probe 10 is completed. Good. In addition, when the probe 10 is in a use completed state, the acceleration related to the probe 10 is only gravitational acceleration. Therefore, when the three-axis composite acceleration output from the acceleration sensor 12 matches the gravitational acceleration, the probe 10 is used. It can be determined that the state is completed.

  The probe use completion determination unit 30 may perform the use completion determination based on the reception signal from the reception unit 20. When the probe 10 is separated from the subject, the brightness of the received signal of the probe 10 decreases. Therefore, when the luminance of the received signal of the probe 10 is not more than a predetermined value for a certain period, it can be determined that the probe 10 is in a use complete state.

  Note that the probe use completion determination unit 30 may determine the use state of the probe 10 in consideration of information obtained from another acceleration sensor (not shown). For example, another acceleration sensor is attached to the hand or wrist of the operator who holds the probe 10. By doing so, even if a signal indicating that the speed of the probe 10 is 0 is continuously output from the acceleration sensor 12 for a certain period, the speed of the operator's hand is 0 from other acceleration sensors. When a signal indicating that the signal is present is continuously output for the same period, this is not a use completion state, but the operator is merely holding the probe 10 in his / her hand and is in use. Can be determined. Further, when the acceleration or velocity output from the acceleration sensor 12 and the other acceleration sensor is the same, it can be said that there is a higher possibility that the probe 10 is in use.

  The improper posture determination unit 32 determines whether or not the probe 10 is in an improper posture. Here, the improper posture refers to a posture other than the proper posture when the probe 10 is properly held by the probe holder 14. The proper posture may vary depending on the type of probe or the type of probe holder.

  Whether or not the probe 10 is in an inappropriate posture is determined based on a signal from the motion posture information calculation unit 16. The improper posture determination unit 32 determines an improper posture according to the type of the probe 10 or the probe holder 14 based on an improper posture determination condition stored in an improper posture determination condition storage unit 36 described later. The determination of the posture of the probe 10 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The alarm control unit 34 outputs an alarm for allowing the operator to recognize that the posture of the probe 10 is an inappropriate posture. The alarm control unit 34 outputs an alarm based on signals from the probe use completion determination unit 30 and the inappropriate posture determination unit 32. When the probe use completion determination unit 30 determines that the probe 10 has been used, that is, the probe 10 is in a use completed state, and the inappropriate posture determination unit determines that the probe 10 is in an inappropriate posture It is preferable to output an alarm. This is because if the alarm is output when the probe 10 is in an inappropriate posture without determining the completion of use, an alarm is generated during use, which is complicated.

  As an alarm, a message requesting that the probe 10 be corrected to an appropriate posture may be displayed on the display unit 40, or a message or alarm sound having the same content may be displayed from a voice output unit (not shown). Etc. may be output. When a plurality of probes 10 are provided, it is preferable that information indicating which probe is in an inappropriate posture is included in the alarm message. Identification of which probe is in an inappropriate posture is performed by identifying a signal from the acceleration sensor 12 provided in each of the plurality of probes 10.

  The improper posture determination condition storage unit 36 stores an improper posture determination condition that is information indicating that the probe 10 indicates an improper posture. The inappropriate posture determination condition may be an acceleration applied to the probe 10, for example, or may be an angle of the probe 10 when a gyro sensor is provided. For example, when the x axis of the acceleration sensor 12 is set so as to face downward in the vertical direction when the probe 10 is in the proper posture, the inappropriate posture determination condition of the probe 10 is the y axis of the acceleration applied to the probe 10. The component and the z-axis component can be not more than a predetermined value (0 is preferable). Thus, the inappropriate posture determination condition is determined according to the three-axis setting direction of the acceleration sensor 12 with respect to the proper posture of the probe. A plurality of inappropriate posture determination conditions may be provided according to the type of the probe 10 or the type of the probe holder 14. When a plurality of improper posture determination conditions are prepared, an inappropriate improper posture determination condition is selected and selected by the improper posture determination unit 32 according to, for example, the type of the probe 10 or the type of the probe holder 14. Whether or not the probe 10 is in an inappropriate posture is determined based on the inappropriate posture determination condition.

  The display processing unit 38 processes the image data output from the ultrasonic image forming unit 24 and outputs the processed data. When the alarm control unit 34 generates an alarm to be displayed on the display unit 40, the alarm control unit 34 performs processing on the image data of the alarm.

  The display unit 40 receives data from the display processing unit 38 and displays an ultrasonic image, an alarm, and the like.

  The operation panel 42 has various switches and buttons and is a means for the operator to perform various settings and inputs. The operation panel 42 may be a touch panel or may be integrated with the display unit 40.

  In the present embodiment, all the above functions are included in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, but some of the functions may be included in another computer or the like. For example, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus may include only the probe 10, the acceleration sensor 12, the probe holder 14, the motion posture information calculation unit 16, the transmission unit 18, and the reception unit 20, and may include other functions in the computer. . In this case, the computer receives the exercise posture information from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by a program corresponding to the other functions, and the computer performs the use completion determination of the probe 10, the determination of the inappropriate posture, the alarm control, the display, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is an external view of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment. 2A shows an outline view of the entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2B shows an enlarged view of a portion X in FIG. 2A. ing. In FIG. 2, the probe 10 is omitted. As shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment includes six probe holders 14 a to 14 f. The probe holders 14a to 14f may all be the same type or may include different types.

  FIG. 3 is a front view of the probe held in an appropriate posture. In the example of FIG. 3, the probe 10 is a linear probe. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment, the probe 10 assumes an appropriate posture when the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 60 is held by the probe holder 14 so as to face upward in the vertical direction. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the probe and the holder. In the figure, the probe is drawn slightly above the normal holding position by the holder. In the normal holding state by the holder, the probe is dropped into the holder and stably held in the upward vertical posture.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an output of the acceleration sensor when the probe is in the proper posture shown in FIG. The x axis of the acceleration sensor 12 is parallel to the vertical direction when the probe 10 is in the proper posture, and the downward direction in the vertical direction is the positive direction of the x axis. The y axis is parallel to the horizontal direction, and the z axis is set to be orthogonal to the x axis and the y axis. Therefore, when the probe 10 is held by the probe holder 14 in an appropriate posture, the acceleration applied to the probe 10 has only the x-axis component 70. Of course, even if the y-axis component and the z-axis component of acceleration exist below a certain threshold value, the posture may be determined as appropriate, and the setting of the threshold value may be arbitrarily determined by an operator or the like. .

  FIG. 5 is a front view of the probe held in an inappropriate posture. As shown in FIG. 5, when the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 60 is not directed upward in the vertical direction because the probe 10 is held obliquely by the probe holder 14, the probe 10 is in an inappropriate posture.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an output of the acceleration sensor when the probe is in the inappropriate posture illustrated in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, when the probe 10 is in an inappropriate posture, the acceleration applied to the acceleration sensor 12 includes not only the x-axis component 80 but also the y-axis component 82 and the z-axis component 84. Therefore, when the y-axis component 82 or the z-axis component 84 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value in the output of the acceleration sensor 12, it can be determined that the probe 10 is in an inappropriate posture.

  Hereinafter, a processing flow of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence of the control unit 26 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In step S10, the probe use completion determination unit 30 determines whether or not the speed of the probe 10 is zero for a certain time. Whether or not the velocity of the probe 10 is 0 is determined based on the signal from the acceleration sensor 12 as described above. If the speed of the probe 10 is not more than a predetermined value near 0, it may be determined that the speed of the probe 10 is 0 in step S10.

  In step S12, the inappropriate posture determination unit 34 determines whether the posture of the probe 10 is an inappropriate posture. As described above, the improper posture determination unit 34 determines whether or not the probe 10 is in an improper posture based on the signal from the acceleration sensor 12 and the improper posture determination condition read from the improper posture determination condition storage unit 36. Determine. When the posture of the probe 10 is not an improper posture, that is, when it is determined that the probe 10 is in an appropriate posture, the process proceeds to step S14, and when it is determined that the probe 10 is in an improper posture, the process proceeds to step S16.

  In step S <b> 14, the transmission / reception control unit 28 receives a signal indicating that the probe 10 is in the use completion state from the probe use completion determination unit 30, and further confirms that the probe 10 is in the proper posture from the inappropriate posture determination unit 32. The ultrasonic wave transmission / reception of the probe 10 is stopped using the reception of the indicated signal as a trigger. In step S14, since the probe 10 is in a use-completed state and in an appropriate posture, it can be determined that the probe 10 is correctly stored in the probe holder 14. In this case, deterioration of the transducer of the probe 10 is prevented by stopping transmission / reception of ultrasonic waves.

  In step S <b> 16, the alarm control unit 34 receives a signal indicating that the probe 10 is in a use completion state from the probe use completion determination unit 30, and further confirms that the probe 10 is in an inappropriate posture from the inappropriate posture determination unit 32. Control that outputs an alarm for requesting the operator to take a measure to correct the probe 10 to the proper posture is performed by receiving a signal indicating the trigger. The alarm may be displayed on the display unit 40 with characters or the like, or may be output as an audio signal.

  After outputting the alarm in step S16, the inappropriate posture determination unit 32 continues to monitor the posture of the probe 10. In step S18, the improper posture determination unit 32 determines whether or not the probe 10 is in the proper posture. When the probe 10 is corrected to an appropriate posture by the operator or the like (“Yes” in step S18), the alarm output is stopped in step S20. Further, in step S22, the transmission / reception control unit 28 stops ultrasonic transmission / reception of the probe 10 by the same control as in step S14.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Probe, 12 Acceleration sensor, 14, 14a-14f Probe holder, 16 Movement posture information calculating part, 18 Transmission part, 20 Receiving part, 22 Cine memory, 24 Ultrasonic image formation part, 26 Control part, 28 Transmission / reception control part, 30 probe use completion determination unit, 32 improper posture determination unit, 34 alarm control unit, 36 improper posture determination condition storage unit, 38 display processing unit, 40 display unit, 42 operation panel, 60 ultrasonic transmission / reception surface, 70, 80 x-axis component, 82 y-axis component, 84 z-axis component.

Claims (8)

An ultrasonic probe for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves;
State information acquisition means for acquiring probe state information about the ultrasonic probe;
First determination means for determining completion of use of the ultrasonic probe based on the probe state information;
Second determination means for determining whether or not the ultrasonic probe is in an inappropriate posture based on the probe state information;
Control means for outputting an alarm for requesting a measure for optimizing the current state of the ultrasonic probe to an operator when the use completion is determined and the inappropriate posture is determined;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: The probe state information includes information indicating the motion and posture of the ultrasonic probe,
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1. The first determination unit determines that the ultrasonic probe is in the use completion state based on the ultrasonic probe being in a stationary state continuously.
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2. The improper posture is a posture other than the proper posture when the ultrasonic probe is properly held by a probe holder.
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus
Multiple types of ultrasonic probes,
A plurality of probe holders connected to the plurality of types of ultrasonic probes, and holding the plurality of types of ultrasonic probes;
Including
The second determination unit determines the inappropriate posture according to an inappropriate posture determination condition corresponding to each type of the ultrasonic probe,
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3. A transmission / reception stop control means for stopping the transmission / reception of the ultrasonic wave of the ultrasonic probe when it is determined that the use is completed and the ultrasonic probe is not in an inappropriate posture;
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The control means stops the alarm output when the second determination means determines an appropriate posture after the output of the alarm;
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1. An information processing apparatus that processes probe state information about an ultrasonic probe,
First determination means for determining completion of use of the ultrasonic probe based on the probe state information;
Second determination means for determining whether or not the ultrasonic probe is in an inappropriate posture based on the probe state information;
Control means for outputting an alarm for requesting a measure for optimizing the current state of the ultrasonic probe to the operator when the end of use is determined and the inappropriate posture is determined;
Program to function as.

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