JPH02177942A - Sampling point controller for ultrasonic diagnosing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display image data which are not displayed on a display picture by providing a write address changing means to store the image data into a storing means with a new write address changed based on the designation of a sampling point. CONSTITUTION:An echo signal is sampled by a sampling clock at a prescribed frequency, and it is outputted as image data I in which the position in a subject 3 is specified by polar coordinates Di (ri,thetai) to make the surface of a probe 2 into an origin. A digital scanning converter 5 converts the image data I in which the position in the subject 3 is specified by the polar coordinates Di (ri, thetai) to a write address Wi (xi,Yi), namely, the orthogonal coordinates of a television format, and it is stored into a frame memory 6. A CRT display 13 reads and displays the image data in the prescribed part of the frame memory 6 according to a read address Rj (xj,yj) to be set beforehand.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a sampling point control device for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can display image data outside the display area by operating a sampling cursor. [Prior art] An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus performs a CR scan on image data corresponding to echo signals obtained by sector-scanning a subject.
Display B mode on the T-display. In this case, multiple scans may be performed to diagnose a predetermined position within the subject in more detail. For example, by performing a composite scan such as B-mode scanning and M-mode scanning or B-mode scanning and Doppler mode scanning (hereinafter referred to as D-mode scanning), B-mode scanning and M-mode scanning or B-mode scanning can be displayed on one display screen of a CRT display. Displays the results of mode scanning and D mode scanning. However, since the display area of a CRT display is limited, it may not be possible to display all of the image data obtained by B-mode operation. For example, if the image data is spread over a fan-shaped area as shown in FIG. 5, the image data at both ends indicated by the diagonal lines cannot be displayed. [Problem to be solved by the invention] Conventionally, a sampling cursor that indicates which point of image data is displayed on the display screen was achieved by fixing the image that is the scan result and moving a reference marker using an overlay. It was common to do so. Therefore, the conventional sampling cursor is effective only for the scan result (image) displayed on the display screen of the CRT display, and due to problems such as display area limitations, it is difficult to move the sampling cursor to areas that are not displayed. First, there was a problem that this part could not be displayed. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a sampling point control device for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can display image data that is not displayed on a display screen. [Means for Solving the Problems] As a first invention, a sampling point control device for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention specifies a change in a sampling point indicating an area where the display means is displaying image data. The apparatus includes sampling point designation means and write address changing means for storing image data in the storage means using a new write address changed based on the designation of the sampling point. Further, as a second invention, the display means includes a sampling point specifying means for specifying a change in the sampling point indicating the area in which the image data is displayed, and a new read address changed based on the specification of the sampling point. and read address changing means for causing the means to read the image data stored in the storage means. [Function] In the first invention having the above configuration, when a sampling point is specified by the sampling point specifying means, the write address changing means changes the write address based on the sampling point, and the storage means changes the write address based on the sampling point. The image data is stored using the input address, and the display means reads and displays the image data using the preset read address. Further, in the second invention having the above configuration, when a sampling point is specified by the sampling point specifying means, the read address changing means changes the read address based on the sampling point, and the display means changes the memory according to the new read address. The image data stored in the means is read out and displayed.

【Example】

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a sampling point control device for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a master controller that controls the entire operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and 2 is an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving unit that transmits waves into a subject 3 and receives echo signals reflected from the subject 3. The probe 4 operates under the control of the master controller 1, detects the received signal from the subject 3, and generates image data corresponding to the echo signal! and an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving unit which outputs the result of frequency analysis of the Doppler signal obtained from the echo signal, and 5 coordinates converts the time series image data I output by the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving unit 4 and stores it in the frame memory 6. Digital scan converter (hereinafter referred to as DSC), 7 is an address generation circuit that outputs the write address W (x, yl) of the frame memory 6 into which image data l is written, 8 is a track that specifies the position of the sampling cursor as a sampling point ball,
9 is the write address W(x
Add the moving position S (ΔX. Δy) (displacement amount) of the sampling cursor that the track pole 8 is output to
Output as (x 1 + Δx, y, 10 Δy)! 10 is a master processor (not shown)
11 is an overlay memory that stores drawing data created by the graphics controller; 12 is an overlay memory that outputs video data obtained by superimposing image data 1 and drawing data in overlay memory 0; The video data generation circuit 13 is a CRT display that displays images corresponding to video data. The ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 4 is a logarithmic amplification circuit that logarithmically amplifies the echo signal, and divides the echo signal into two channels with a phase of 90'''.
A Doppler demodulation circuit that detects Doppler signals by multiplying them by different reference waves, a range gate that applies a gate to the Doppler signals and extracts the Doppler signal at a predetermined depth of the subject 3, and a Fourier transform that performs frequency analysis of the Doppler signals. Contains circuits, etc. Further, the echo signals are sampled by a sampling clock of a predetermined frequency, and are output as image data I whose position within the subject 3 is specified by polar coordinates D (', θ) with the surface of the probe 2 as the origin. Note that the subscript i is l, 2, . . . when the number of data is n.
It is n. The position of the DSC 5 within the subject 3 is polar coordinates D1 (r
1, θ1) is converted into a write address W (x, y), that is, the orthogonal coordinates of the television format, and is stored in the frame memory 6. As shown in FIG. 2, the frame memory 6 has a storage capacity equal to or larger than a storage area ea corresponding to the display screen of the CRT display 13. The CRT display 13 reads image data in a predetermined portion of the frame memory 6 at a preset readout address R1.
Read out according to (x, y) and display. Note that the subscript j is 1. assuming that the number of data is m (m<n).
2,..., m. Next, the operation of the sampling point control device of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be explained. First, ultrasonic waves are transmitted into the subject 3 from two probes at predetermined timings, and the subject 3 is sector-scanned. The probe 2 outputs the echo signal reflected within the subject 3 to the ultrasound transmitting/receiving section 4 . The ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 4 converts the echo signal into polar coordinates D(r, θ) for the position within the subject 3.
It is output to the DSC 5 as image date 1 shown in . Further, the ultrasound transmitting/receiving section 4 performs Doppler demodulation on the echo signal to obtain a Doppler signal, further performs frequency analysis on the Doppler signal, and outputs the analysis result to the DSC 5 as well. The DSC 5 has a position within the subject 3 in polar coordinates D(r,
The image data ll11 represented by θ1) is subjected to coordinate transformation and is stored in the frame memory 6. The position of the coordinate-transformed image data 11 within the subject 3 is represented by a write address W (x, y). 1 l l The video data generation circuit 12 reads the image data l from the frame memory 6 using a preset read address Rj, reads out the result of the frequency analysis of the Doppler signal, and further reads out the result of the frequency analysis of this image data 11. and the drawing data stored in the overlay memory 10, and outputs the video data to the CRT display 13. CRT display 13 displays this video data. When trackball 8 is at home position, C
As shown in FIG. 3(a), the RT display 13 displays image data by B-mode imaging on the left side of the display screen, and displays the frequency analysis results of the Doppler signal on the right side of the display screen. Furthermore, the drawing data is displayed at a predetermined position. When the trackball 8 is moved, the trackball 8 outputs an interrupt request to the mask controller. In response to an interrupt request from the trackball 8, the mask controller executes processing to move the sampling cursor position as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The mask controller calculates a displacement EilS (ΔX, Δy) corresponding to the amount of movement of the trackball 8 (step S1) and outputs it to the addition circuit 9. The adder circuit 9 receives the write address W(x, yI) sequentially output by the address generation circuit 7.
, the displacement ff1sI (Δx9 Δy) is added or subtracted to the new write address W, (x, +Δx+Y'+Δy) (step S2), and this new write address W, (x +
Check the limit of ΔX + yl + Δy) and
Step 83), output to DSC5 (Step S4)
. The DSC 5 writes the image data I indicated by polar coordinates D(r, θ1) to a new write address W. The coordinates are transformed into (x, +Δx, y, +Δy) and stored in the frame memory 6. Therefore, the write address W1 of the image data I stored in the frame memory 6 is shifted by the displacement ff1s (ΔX, Δy), and the CRT display 13 is not displayed as shown in FIG. 3(b). The selected part will be displayed. In other words, this is the same as moving the cursor outside the display area. In this case, the graphics controller IO does not perform any processing on the sampling cursor. As shown in Figure 3, when displaying the results of B-mode scanning and D-mode scanning on the same screen, conventionally the display area corresponding to B-mode scanning is removed to reserve the display area corresponding to D-mode scanning. However, according to this embodiment, since the non-displayed portion can be displayed, the display area in the D mode can be further expanded. This also applies when displaying the results of B-mode scanning and M-mode scanning. Furthermore, in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that has a so-called zoom function that can enlarge and display a predetermined portion of the display area during B-mode scanning, the B-mode display area may be made smaller. Note that in this embodiment, the write address W1 when storing the image data I in the frame memory 6 is changed in accordance with the movement of the trackball 8, but the write address W1
is left as is, and a new read address R-( xj+Δx, yj+Δy) may be output to the video data generation circuit 12, and image data ① may be read out at this read address R, (x, +Δx, y, +Δy). [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the first invention, the write address changing means changes the write address based on the sampling point specified by the sampling point specifying means, and the storage means changes. According to the second invention, the image data is stored using a new write address, and the image data is read out using a read address and displayed on the display means. The readout address changing means changes the readout address based on the sampled sampling point, and the display means reads out and displays the changed readout address based on the new readout address. This has the effect of providing a sampling point control device for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can display portions that are not displayed on the screen with a simple operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a sampling point control device of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the frame memory shown in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the coordinate transformation of the display area, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the conventional display screen of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. 1...Mask controller, 2...Probe, 3.
...Object, 4...Ultrasonic transmitter/receiver, 5...DSC,
6... Frame memory, 7... Address generation circuit,
8... Addition circuit, 9... Addition circuit, 10... Graphic controller, ll... Overlay memory, 12... Video data generation circuit, 13... CRT
Display.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Image data output means that outputs image data corresponding to echo signals reflected from within the subject by scanning the subject, and storage means that has a predetermined storage capacity and stores the image data. an address setting means for outputting a write address that is set corresponding to a position within the subject and at which the image data should be stored in the storage means; A sampling point control device for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: a display screen and a display means for reading and displaying image data of a predetermined portion according to a read address set for the predetermined portion; A sampling point specifying means for specifying a change in a sampling point indicating an area in which image data is displayed, and a writing method for storing image data in a storage means using a new write address changed based on the specification of the sampling point. A sampling point control device for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: address changing means. (2) Image data output means that outputs image data corresponding to echo signals reflected from within the subject by scanning the subject, and storage means that has a predetermined storage capacity and stores the image data. an address setting means for outputting a write address that is set corresponding to a position within the subject and at which the image data should be stored in the storage means; A sampling point control device for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: a display screen and a display means for reading and displaying image data of a predetermined portion according to a read address set for the predetermined portion; The image stored in the storage means is displayed in the display means by a sampling point designation means for designating a change in the sampling point indicating the area in which image data is displayed, and a new read address changed based on the designation of the sampling point. 1. A sampling point control device for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: readout address changing means for reading data.