JPH0576532A - Ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simultaneously display an image and an enlarged image at real time on two screens by providing a position setter for designating the position of the image on one screen and a scale setter for setting an enlarged display area, and controlling the read addresses of signals stored in a frame memory. CONSTITUTION:Ultrasonic video signals reflected from a reagent are stored at designated addresses in a frame memory 2. When a position setter 5 and a scale setter 6 are operated, signals in set areas are passed through a control circuit 7 and a cursor generator 8 and displayed while being superimposed to display images on a first screen 13. The signals in the set areas read from the frame memory 2 are passed through an interpolator 12, D/A conversion circuit 9 and video mixer 10 and displayed fully on a second screen 14 while enlarging picture element spaces. Thus, a cursor displayed on the first screen 13 can arbitrarily be set by operating the position setter 5 and the scale setter 6, and images can be simultaneously displayed at real time on both screens 13 and 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention, for example, reads a signal stored in a frame memory and displays one of them in an enlarged manner.
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that displays images on a display having three screens, and particularly to simultaneous and real-time image display of two screens.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows an example of image display in a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, 11 is a display, 13 is a first screen on the display 11 , 14 is a second screen adjacent to the first screen 13, In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, ultrasonic diagnostic information regarding a subject is stored in a frame memory, and a signal read from the frame memory is a display device 1 in a raster scanning TV display format.
The image is displayed at 1 .

For medical diagnosis of the details of the abnormal part in the subject, the display screen of the display 11 is divided into a first screen 13 and a second screen 14 which are adjacent to each other, and the abnormal parts and organs related to each other are individually separated. Is displayed. When necessary, the movement of the image may be temporarily frozen and freeze-displayed. The display images on the first screen 13 and the second screen 14 are compared and collated to detect an abnormal part, measure the abnormal part, observe the movement of the organ, and the like, and are used for medical diagnosis.

[0004]

In the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as described above, regarding the first screen 13 and the second screen 14 which are adjacent to each other in the display unit 11 for performing TV display, raster scanning lines or frames are used. Since the read address generators stored in the memory and used for reading the ultrasonic video signal are commonly used, the display images are of the same display type and only one image cannot be enlarged and displayed.

Therefore, it is not possible to enlarge one image and display both screens simultaneously and in real time for the same abnormal site or organ. As a result, there has been a problem that medical diagnosis such as detection of a minute abnormal portion or detection of a minute movement of an organ cannot be performed accurately.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an image on one screen and an enlarged image at a designated position on the image can be displayed simultaneously and in real time. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of sharpening the image quality of a magnified display image by independently performing density interpolation and performing more accurate medical diagnosis in detail.

[0007]

In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, a position setter for designating a predetermined position on an image of one screen, and a magnification setter for setting a display area related to the designated position. , The density of the display image by the control circuit for controlling the address for reading the video signal stored in the frame memory corresponding to the area set by the magnification setting device and the signal read from the frame memory in response to the command from the control circuit. And an interpolator for performing interpolation.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is provided with display devices which are adjacent to each other and in which images are displayed individually, a position setting device for designating a predetermined position on the image displayed on the first screen, and the above-mentioned designation. A magnification setting device that sets an enlarged display area related to the position is provided, and the read address of the signal stored in the frame memory is controlled via the control circuit according to the setting area.

The signal read out corresponding to the set area in the frame memory is subjected to the density interpolation through the interpolator for each pixel of the screen to be enlarged, so that the image quality of the enlarged display image can be sharpened. Furthermore, both images are displayed simultaneously and in real time, and the position and magnification of the magnified image can be selected arbitrarily, so that it is possible to easily detect minute abnormal areas and detect minute movements of organs. Can greatly contribute to

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 11 is the same as the conventional device and 1 is A-D.
A conversion circuit, 2 is a frame memory for storing an ultrasonic video signal, 3 is a write address generator, 4 is a read address generator, 5 is a position setter for designating an enlarged display position on an image, and 6 is an enlarged display area. Magnification setter for setting, 7
Is a control circuit for outputting a control signal to the read address generator 4 corresponding to the enlarged display area, 8 is a cursor generator for outputting a cursor signal indicating the enlarged display area, and 9 is DA.
A conversion circuit, 10 indicates a video mixer for superimposing an image signal and a cursor signal.

In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus constructed as described above, the ultrasonic video signals sequentially reflected from the subject are quantized by the AD conversion circuit 1 and the write address generator 3 causes the frame memory to be quantized. Ultrasonic video signals by the acoustic ray of ultrasonic waves are sequentially stored in a designated address in 2 with sufficient fineness.

In the ultrasonic video signal stored in the frame memory 2, necessary data is read by address control from the read address generator 4 according to the display type of the first screen 13 and the number of scanning lines. The signal from the frame memory 2 is converted into an analog signal by the D-A conversion circuit 9 and is transferred to the first screen 13 of the display 11 via the video mixer 10.
V is displayed.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the display on the display,
13 and 14 are the same as those of the above conventional device, and the first screen 13
The TV display type and the display size of the second screen 14 are the same, is a marker indicating the setting position, is a cursor controlled by the magnification setting device 6 and is from the cursor generator 8. When the position setter 5 using a trackball or the like and the magnification setter 6 including the enlargement key and the reduction key are respectively operated, the signal of the setting area is displayed on the first screen 13 via the control circuit 7 and the cursor generator 8. For example, a rectangular cursor is displayed so as to be superimposed on the image.

The signal read out from the frame memory 2 in the set area by the cursor is the image signal (ultrasonic coordinate system) based on the sound ray by the scanning of the ultrasonic probe, and the image signal of the TV display by the raster scanning. 2 coordinates of screen 14 (u ₀ ,
v ₀ ) corresponding to the lattice point, that is, the pixel position. The pixel density is obtained from the densities of four grid points on the sound ray surrounding this point. The signal from the interpolator 12 is passed through the D-A conversion circuit 9 and the video mixer 10, and the pixel interval is enlarged, so that the second screen 1 is displayed.
4 Fully displayed.

The position and area of the cursor displayed on the first screen 13 are determined by the position setting device 5 and the magnification setting device 6.
Can be arbitrarily set by the operation of, and since the first screen 13 and the second screen 14 use the TV display by the common scanning line,
Images are displayed simultaneously and in real time. Therefore, the enlarged display image of the second screen 14 can detect a minute abnormal portion and detect a fine movement of an organ, which can contribute to medical diagnosis.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Is the same as the above embodiment, 18 is an array vibrator in which a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators are arranged on a plane, 19 is a front end portion, 20 is a timing circuit, 21 is a pulse circuit, 22
Is a preamplifier, 23 is a reception delay circuit, 24 is an adder circuit,
Reference numeral 25 indicates a detection circuit.

The plurality of pulse circuits 21 are respectively operated by the timing signal from the timing circuit 20, the plurality of piezoelectric vibrators in the array vibrator 18 are sequentially energized, and ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the subject. Reflected signals from the subject are added through the array transducer 18, the preamplifier 22, and the reception delay circuit 23 to which the delay is individually applied, and the detection circuit 2
An ultrasonic video signal is output from 5.

FIG. 4 shows an example of interpolation when an array transducer is used. An array transducer 18 in which piezoelectric transducers which are sequentially selected and which transmit and receive ultrasonic waves are arranged at equal intervals on a plane is shown in FIG. , For example, B-mode images based on sound lines at equal intervals are displayed on the raster scan TV type display 11 .

In the signal (ultrasonic coordinate system) read out from the frame memory 2, since the coordinates (u ₀ , v ₀ ) on the second screen 14 do not coincide with the grid point, that is, the pixel position before the coordinate conversion, for example, The pixel density at the coordinates (u ₀ , v ₀ ) is obtained by performing linear interpolation by coordinate conversion using the densities at four lattice points on the surrounding sound ray surrounding the pixel density. The density at the coordinates (u ₀ , v ₀ ) obtained by the interpolation is used as the grid point (x ₀ , y ₀ ) of the coordinate system in the TV display, that is, the value of the pixel position. The above interpolation is carried out over all the grid points on the second screen 14 of the TV display.

As a result, all lattice points, that is, pixel densities of the enlarged image displayed on the second screen 14 by TV are obtained, and the enlarged display image is sharpened to improve the image quality. First screen 13
Then, the second screen 14 has the same pixel configuration and both are simultaneously displayed in real time. Therefore, it is possible to detect minute abnormal areas and detect minute movements of organs using a sharp enlarged display image, which contributes to accurate medical diagnosis.

FIG. 5 shows an example of interpolation when a convex array transducer is used. The acoustic ray emitted from the convex array transducer 18 in which piezoelectric transducers are arranged on a curved surface at equal intervals is It is formed in a direction perpendicular to the curved surface and used for TV display.

Similarly to the above, the pixel density of the coordinates (u ₀ , v ₀ ) on the second screen 14 before the coordinate conversion is calculated by using the densities at four lattice points on the surrounding sound ray surrounding T
The grid point (x ₀ , y ₀ ) of the coordinate system in V display, that is, the pixel density is obtained. Therefore, the convex array transducer 18
The enlarged image when is used is fully displayed on the second screen 14, and the first screen 13 and the second screen 14 are displayed simultaneously and in real time.

The present application can be used for medical diagnosis of various TV display formats other than the B mode.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, a position setting device and a magnification setting device for setting a position and a region on an image enlarged and displayed on one screen of a display device having two adjacent screens, and a read-out device. With a simple structure in which a control circuit for controlling the address and an interpolator for interpolating the pixel density of the enlarged display image are provided, both screens in which one is enlarged are displayed simultaneously and in real time. The position, area and magnification of the enlarged display image can be set arbitrarily. The pixels of the enlarged display image are density-interpolated, so that the image quality can be sharpened and improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[FIG. 2] Example of display on display

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of interpolation when a linear oscillator is used.

FIG. 5 shows an example of interpolation when a convex type oscillator is used.

FIG. 6 shows an example of image display in a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Frame memory 4 Read address generator 5 Position setting device 6 Magnification setting device 7 Control circuit 8 Cursor generator 12 Interpolator

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic diagnostic system in which a signal read from a frame memory storing an ultrasonic video signal is image-displayed on a display device having two display screens adjacent to each other and having a common scanning line for medical diagnosis. In the device, a position setter for designating a predetermined position on an image displayed on one screen, and a magnification setter for setting a display area related to the designated position,
A control circuit for controlling an address for reading out a video signal stored in the frame memory corresponding to a setting area by the magnification setting device, and a display image by a signal read out from the frame memory according to a command from the control circuit. And an interpolator for performing the density interpolation of 1., and an image of the setting area can be displayed on the other screen. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein two adjacent screens perform TV display using a common scanning line. 3. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting area is displayed as a cursor on one screen. 4. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the density interpolation is performed on a pixel-by-pixel basis on an enlarged screen.