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WO2013150917A1 - Dispositif de diagnostic ultrasonore et procédé de génération d'image à super-résolution d'image ultrasonore - Google Patents

Dispositif de diagnostic ultrasonore et procédé de génération d'image à super-résolution d'image ultrasonore Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2013150917A1
WO2013150917A1 PCT/JP2013/058732 JP2013058732W WO2013150917A1 WO 2013150917 A1 WO2013150917 A1 WO 2013150917A1 JP 2013058732 W JP2013058732 W JP 2013058732W WO 2013150917 A1 WO2013150917 A1 WO 2013150917A1
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frame data
pixel
super
resolution
displacement
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Japanese (ja)
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馬場　博隆
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Hitachi Ltd
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Hitachi Aloka Medical Ltd
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/52—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/5215—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data
    • A61B8/5238—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data for combining image data of patient, e.g. merging several images from different acquisition modes into one image
    • A61B8/5246—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data for combining image data of patient, e.g. merging several images from different acquisition modes into one image combining images from the same or different imaging techniques, e.g. color Doppler and B-mode
    • A61B8/5253—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data for combining image data of patient, e.g. merging several images from different acquisition modes into one image combining images from the same or different imaging techniques, e.g. color Doppler and B-mode combining overlapping images, e.g. spatial compounding

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and a method for generating super-resolution of an ultrasonic image.
  • Ultrasonic images are required to have high temporal resolution and spatial resolution so that lesions can be accurately captured.
  • it is known to increase the spatial resolution by increasing the scanning line density of the frame by reducing the feed pitch of the direction of the transmitted and received beam scanned by the ultrasonic probe.
  • Patent Document 1 proposes a technique for rendering a fine ultrasonic image by improving the temporal resolution and spatial resolution of the ultrasonic image by a technique called super-resolution. According to this, a process of performing a position shift action on a high-resolution estimated ultrasonic image is repeatedly performed by using a position shift (displacement) amount between frames of ultrasonic images that are continuously generated, and a plurality of frames It has been proposed to generate a single high-resolution ultrasonic image from the ultrasonic image.
  • Patent Document 1 since the displacement of the living tissue between the frames of a pair of ultrasonic images is calculated based on the entire region of the ultrasonic image, it takes a processing time to calculate the super-resolution. There is a risk of it.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an ultrasonic image super-resolution generation method capable of reducing the time of super-resolution processing using an ultrasonic image.
  • an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus transmits an ultrasonic beam to a subject and receives a received beam signal from the subject, and transmits the ultrasonic beam.
  • a transmitter / receiver that drives the ultrasonic probe and performs signal processing on the received beam signal, a scan converter that converts the received beam signal processed into an ultrasonic image, and a predetermined time
  • the accumulated beam data is generated by accumulatively adding the overlapping area of each area of the frame data of the received beam signal subjected to the signal processing of the phase and the frame data obtained in the time phase before the frame data of the predetermined time phase.
  • a super-resolution generation unit that generates super-resolution with improved spatial resolution using the generated cumulative addition frame data, and a display unit that displays the generated super-resolution.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to Embodiment 1 that directly implements an ultrasonic image super-resolution generation method of the present invention.
  • Detailed block configuration diagram of a super-resolution generation unit that directly implements the super-resolution generation method of the first embodiment.
  • the flowchart which shows the process sequence of Example 1 of the super-resolution production
  • the figure explaining the processing operation of the super-resolution generation method of Example 1 The figure explaining the processing operation of the super-resolution generation method of Example 1
  • FIG. 1 shows a block configuration diagram of an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention.
  • the beam scanning instructing unit 1 instructs scanning start and beam direction of an ultrasonic transmission / reception beam when acquiring an ultrasonic image. Then, when the scanning of a sufficient number of beams for constructing one frame of the ultrasonic image is completed, the operation for instructing the end of scanning of the transmission / reception beam is repeated.
  • Such a beam scanning instruction is given to the transmission / reception unit 2, the scan conversion unit 4, and the super-resolution generation unit 500.
  • this embodiment will be described as an example of reconstructing a super-resolution ultrasonic image without reducing the frame rate.
  • the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 2, the frame data in which the received beam signal of the RF signal converted by the scan converter 4 is stored in the frame data storage medium 7, It can be read out in time and input to the super-resolution generation unit 500 to perform super-resolution processing.
  • the beam scanning instruction is not given from the beam scanning instruction unit 1 to the super-resolution generation unit 500, it is necessary to include the signal included in the beam scanning instruction in the frame data.
  • the transmission / reception unit 2 forms a transmission beam in the beam direction instructed by the ultrasonic probe 3 and transmits it to the living tissue of the subject, and receives the reflected echo signal from the biological tissue by the ultrasonic probe 3.
  • the received RF signal is received and processed, and phased and added to form a received beam signal.
  • the transmission / reception unit 2 includes an ultrasonic transmission circuit, a transmission delay circuit, a reception circuit, a reception delay addition circuit, and the like.
  • the scan conversion unit 4 arranges the reception beam signal input from the transmission / reception unit 2 in the same direction as the reception beam direction set in the coordinate space (orthogonal two-dimensional coordinates) to generate frame data. Also, received beam signals adjacent to each other in the scanning direction are generated by interpolation, and frame data with a higher signal density in the scanning direction is generated.
  • This orthogonal two-dimensional coordinate is a coordinate system set with reference to the ultrasound probe 3. The horizontal axis corresponds to the scanning interval (pitch) of the received beam line, and the vertical axis corresponds to the depth of the subject. It is a coordinate system.
  • the frame data including the reception beam signal is data including a pixel corresponding to a pixel of the ultrasonic image and a pixel value (RF signal intensity).
  • the received beam signal of the RF signal is output to the super-resolution generation unit 500 in accordance with the scanning of the transmission / reception beam of the ultrasonic probe 3.
  • the scan conversion unit 4 outputs frame information indicating the start and end of scanning of one frame to the super-resolution generation unit 500.
  • the super-resolution generation unit 500 is a feature of the present invention, and generates high-resolution frame data based on a plurality of continuous frame data input.
  • the frame data of high-resolution orthogonal two-dimensional coordinates is converted into a polar coordinate system to generate a fan-shaped ultrasonic image and output it to the display unit 6.
  • the beam scanning instruction unit 1 starts scanning.
  • a signal is given to the transmission / reception unit 2, the scan conversion unit 4, and the super-resolution generation unit 500, and the processing operation of each unit is started.
  • the transmission / reception unit 2 drives the ultrasonic probe 3 so as to form a transmission / reception beam in the beam direction given from the beam scanning instruction unit 1.
  • the transmitter / receiver 2 receives and processes the RF signal reflected from the living tissue and received and converted by the ultrasound probe 3, and further performs phasing and addition to generate a received beam signal to the scan converter 4. give.
  • the scan conversion unit 4 generates frame data in which received beam signals are arranged in an orthogonal coordinate space in accordance with the beam direction given from the beam scan instruction unit 1.
  • the frame data generated by the scan conversion unit 4 is output to the super-resolution generation unit 500 together with the scanning start and end signals output from the beam scanning instruction unit 1.
  • FIG. 2 shows a detailed block configuration diagram of the first embodiment of the super-resolution generation unit 500
  • FIG. 3 shows a processing procedure of the super-resolution generation method of the first embodiment.
  • the frame data composed of the received beam signal continuously output from the scan conversion unit 4 is input to the envelope detection unit 501, and the received beam signal of the RF signal is detected and the envelope is detected.
  • a signal is output.
  • the envelope signal output from the envelope detector 501 is input to the frame data buffer A 502a and the displacement calculator 503, respectively.
  • the frame data buffer A502a is used for inputting and temporarily storing frame data composed of an envelope signal of reception beam data continuously output from the scan conversion unit 4.
  • a frame data buffer B502b is provided in connection with the frame data buffer A502a.
  • These two frame data buffers A502a and B502b are formed of a FIFO memory. Therefore, the frame data previously input from the scan conversion unit 4 is accumulated in the frame data buffer A502a. When the next frame data is input, the contents of the frame data buffer A502a are overwritten in the frame data buffer B502b.
  • the latest frame data is accumulated in the frame data buffer A502a, and the immediately preceding frame data is accumulated in the frame data buffer B502b (S1). That is, time-series frame data composed of reception beam signals acquired by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus are sequentially stored in the pair of frame data buffers A502a and B502b.
  • the displacement calculation unit 503 searches for the pixel of the immediately previous frame data corresponding to the pixel of the latest frame data stored in the pair of frame frame data buffers A502a and B502b, and updates the latest frame data pixel to the latest frame data pixel.
  • the displacement of the pixel of the frame data is calculated.
  • the pixel movement destination is searched based on the cross-correlation between the envelope signal of the latest frame data and the envelope signal of the immediately previous frame data.
  • a search pixel group consisting of a plurality of pixels centered on the target pixel of the latest frame data is set, the search pixel group is moved with respect to the immediately preceding frame data, and matching with the search pixel group is performed. It is possible to apply a block matching method for searching for a position where is strong as a pixel movement destination.
  • the pixel of the latest frame data is incremented, and the process returns to step S3 (S16 ). If the pixel can be searched, the two-dimensional displacement of the pixel of the latest frame data with respect to the searched image is calculated (S5).
  • the living tissue in the visual field region of the ultrasonic probe 3 is displaced by the moving operation of the ultrasonic probe 3 or the body movement of the subject. If the ultrasonic image of the displaced biological tissue is constructed and displayed as it is, the resolution of the moving image is deteriorated. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the processes of steps S3 to S5, the displacement of the living tissue is calculated for each pixel position to correct the frame data. That is, since the field-of-view areas of consecutive different frame data do not necessarily match, the corresponding pixel in the area where the field-of-view areas of the latest and previous two frame data overlap is searched, and the displacement of the pixel is calculated (S3, S5).
  • the immediately preceding frame data coordinate changing unit 504 reads the immediately preceding frame data from the frame data buffer B502b according to the displacement calculated by the displacement calculating unit 503, rewrites the corresponding pixel coordinates to the latest frame data coordinates, Store in the internal buffer (S6).
  • the frame data adding unit 506 adds the pixel values of the corresponding coordinates of the latest frame data stored in the frame data buffer A502a and the frame data immediately before being rewritten by the frame data coordinate changing unit 504, to obtain the latest Write to the pixel of the added frame data having the same coordinates as the frame data (S7).
  • the pixel value is received beam data.
  • “1” is added to the accumulated count value N of the pixel area of the accumulated counter map 508 corresponding to each added pixel and rewritten (S8).
  • This accumulation counter map 508 has the latest frame data coordinates, that is, the same coordinates as the field of view of the ultrasound probe 3. Next, it is determined whether or not the processing of steps S3 to S8 has been completed for all the pixels of the latest frame data (S9), and the processing of steps S3 to S8 is repeated until all of the pixels are completed (S16).
  • the display image scan conversion unit 510 converts the average frame data generated by the pixel average processing unit 509 from orthogonal coordinates to polar coordinates, generates a fan-shaped ultrasonic image, and outputs it as a display image to the display unit 6 ( S13).
  • the display image scanning conversion unit 510 interpolates data between the reception signal line wrapping signals when converting the average frame data into a fan-shaped ultrasonic image, thereby forming a fan-shaped ultrasonic image. Convert. If the frame data input to the displacement calculation unit 503 is the first, the processing of steps S10 to S13 is performed via steps S2 and S15. However, the input frame data is substantially received as it is. Data is interpolated between the line enveloping signals, converted into a fan-shaped ultrasonic image, and output to the display unit 6 as a display image.
  • the features of the present embodiment are the displacement calculation unit 503, the frame data coordinate change unit 504, and the frame data addition unit 506 in FIG. 2, and the processing operations correspond to steps S3 to S10 in FIG. To do. That is, the displacement calculation of the latest and immediately preceding ultrasound images is changed to the displacement calculation of the pixel of the frame data consisting of the latest and immediately preceding received beam signals, so that redundant calculations as in the prior art can be avoided and the time The displacement between images can be obtained with A specific example of this will be described with reference to FIGS.
  • the number of data on the reception beam line along the depth direction of the subject which is the traveling direction of the ultrasonic transmission / reception beam of the ultrasonic probe 3 is sufficiently dense compared to the interval between the display pixels of the ultrasonic image. Can be set.
  • the interval between the reception beam lines arranged in the azimuth direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the transmission / reception beam is the interval between the display pixels. Therefore, in scan conversion that converts rectangular frame data into polar fan-shaped ultrasound images, the average amount of received beam data adjacent in the azimuth direction is interpolated to increase the amount of pixel data. Yes. For this reason, in the process for obtaining the displacement from the image after the scan conversion, the amount of interpolated data is greatly increased and the data is redundant, and therefore the displacement calculation process is wasted.
  • the pixel R of the immediately preceding frame data i-1 corresponding to one pixel Q of the latest frame data i is searched, and the coordinate difference between the pixel R and the pixel Q is searched.
  • the displacement xi of the pixel R is obtained.
  • the coordinates of the pixel R in the previous frame data i-1 are rewritten to the coordinates of the pixel Q.
  • the pixel value Si-1 of the pixel R of the frame data i-1 is added to the pixel value Si of the pixel Q of the latest frame data i, and the frame data i is converted into polar coordinates of a sector-shaped display image.
  • the added pixel value ⁇ (Si-1) + Si ⁇ is written in the pixel P at the coordinated position.
  • the displacement is calculated on the basis of one pixel Q of the latest frame data i.
  • the same processing may be performed by calculating the coordinates of the pixel Q of the latest frame data i.
  • a known method can be applied.
  • any method may be used as long as the displacement finer than the beam interval can be calculated.
  • the pixel position of the past frame data is aligned with the pixel position of the latest frame data, it is possible to generate a time-series super-resolution ultrasonic image without any sense of incongruity.
  • FIG. The figure shows three time-series images that are continuous among time-series images in the scanning range (field-of-view range) in which fine movement is performed, and all the images are after the scan conversion.
  • Fig. 5 (b) shows that the past time-series images are overlaid on the position of the latest image, and the overlap of the images has changed.
  • the super-resolution generation method of the ultrasonic image of the first embodiment will be described according to an arithmetic expression.
  • the ultrasound probe is brought into contact with the body surface of the subject so that the target region of the subject falls within the field of view of the ultrasound image.
  • Operate the ultrasound probe as follows.
  • an ultrasonic beam is transmitted into the subject, and the received beam data obtained by convolution of the point scatterer in the living tissue and the point spread function of the beam is scan-converted to obtain an ultrasonic image.
  • the expression for forming the display image is the following expression (1).
  • Yi DHFiX + Vi (1)
  • D A well-known scan conversion formula that arranges received beam data in a fan-shaped display image
  • H A matrix of known point spread functions of an ultrasonic beam
  • Fi Displacement of relative position between the ultrasound probe and biological tissue in the i-th ultrasonic image
  • X Ideal biological tissue image that cannot be observed directly
  • Vi Electroacoustic noise that appears in the display image, noise dispersion It has a normal distribution with ⁇ and mean 0.
  • Equation (2) it is necessary to prepare k frame buffers, so that a simpler mounting is preferable for an inexpensive device.
  • the fact that the equation (2) is similar to the persistence processing of the finite impulse response may be used to obtain an infinite impulse response equation.
  • Equation (2) is a recurrence formula for obtaining the latest HX from the immediately preceding HX and the latest time-series image Yn.
  • the processing procedure will be described.
  • the latest time-series image is obtained as Y1, HX1 becomes Y1.
  • the numerator of formula (3) is Y2 + F1HX1
  • the denominator is the display pixel position where F1HX1 and Y2 overlap with the value “2”. The part that does not become the value "1".
  • the numerator of formula (3) is Y3 + F2HX2
  • the denominator is the display pixel position where F2HX2 and Y3 overlap, and the value is ⁇ 2 '' The part that does not overlap is the value “1”.
  • FT is a matrix that moves the image in the direction opposite to the displacement F.
  • the numerator on the right side is the sum of the pixel values arranged at the same display pixel position after returning the movement of the angle of view due to the probe displacement.
  • the denominator on the right side is the number of times arranged at the same display pixel position. Therefore, the left side represents the average of the pixel values arranged at the same pixel position.
  • the displacement of the image in which the beam data obtained by the conventional apparatus is arranged at the display position is obtained, the image position is returned by the amount of the displacement, the restored image is set as the display pixel, and the set pixel value is set. Average.
  • FIG. 6 shows an image obtained by scanning and converting the ideal image X with the RF received beam signal, as a solid black ellipse.
  • the dotted rectangle at the top of the figure represents the ultrasound probe 3
  • the white arrow to the right of the ultrasound probe 3 represents the state in which the ultrasound probe 3 is finely moved sideways. Since it is an ultrasonic image after scan conversion, it should be displayed without showing a beam as shown in FIG. 6 (b).
  • FIG. 6A In order to show the relationship between the biological tissue image and the beam, in FIG. 6A, the beam line is intentionally superimposed with a dotted line on the ultrasonic image after the scan conversion. Accordingly, FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are the same.
  • a dotted straight line extending downward from the ultrasound probe 3 represents the position of the beam line
  • an indefinite shape and a circular dotted line represent the impedance boundary of the living tissue.
  • This state is an image HX of Expression (4).
  • the beam interval is narrower than in the conventional super-resolution, the major axis of the horizontally long ellipse indicated by the black-painted ellipse is shortened, and noise can be eliminated.
  • the disappearance of the noise can also be seen from the fact that when there is no displacement F in equation (4), it is the same as the conventional interframe averaging, so-called persistence processing.
  • the beam interval is narrowed because the position of the beam line changes each time scanning is performed in the ultrasonic probe 3 that finely moves horizontally, and the display image is configured according to the position of the beam line. This effect is obtained by the displacement F. Further, the major axis of the horizontally long ellipse is shortened and the noise disappears because it is averaged for each pixel. In this way, since the ultrasound beam passes through the tumor indicated by the small circle, a tumor image is obtained, and it can be determined that the tissue indicated by the large circle is circular, and the boundary of the surface tissue is separated from the contact. Although it is not clear whether it is, it is easy to grasp the shape.
  • a subject to be observed with an ultrasound image is often deformed into an indefinite shape because the living tissue is an elastic body.
  • the living tissue under the ultrasonic probe 3 is compressed and deformed, or it is deformed minutely by breathing or pulsation of the subject.
  • the displacement of the living tissue is obtained at every part of the image, and the ultrasonic image is deformed according to the displacement, and then the above equation (4) is used.
  • FIG. 7 shows the correction of the tissue deformation, and the ultrasonic probe 3 and the biological tissue image are represented by dotted lines as in FIG. Then, the displacement is obtained at the intersection of the lattices indicated by the solid line, and the deformation of the living tissue is obtained.
  • the rectangle represented by the dotted line at the top of the figure is the ultrasound probe 3
  • the irregular dotted line at the bottom of the ultrasound probe 3 is the biological tissue of the body surface
  • the small dotted circle is the tumor
  • the large dotted line A circle is an organ.
  • FIG. 7 (a) shows a case where the ultrasound probe 3 is lightly brought into contact with the subject, and shows a state where the tissue including the organ is not deformed.
  • Fig. 7 (b) shows the case where the ultrasound probe 3 has moved slightly to the subject side, and shows that the skin surface directly under the ultrasound probe 3 and the organ indicated by a large ellipse are deformed. ing.
  • the deformation is performed so as to match the lattice intersection of FIG. 7 (b) corresponding to the lattice intersection of FIG. 7 (a). Is possible. If the displacement is calculated for all pixels by further narrowing the lattice interval in FIG. 7 (a), the deformation of the lattice becomes unnecessary, and if the pixel position is moved to the corresponding pixel in FIG. 7 (b), it corresponds to the biological tissue deformation. The displacement can be corrected.
  • FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method of eliminating displacement error accumulation.
  • time-series RF signal frame data is first to third frames in order from left to right, and an arrow indicates that a displacement is obtained between temporally adjacent frames, indicating the displacement of the frame.
  • the deformation of the lattice is shown by a solid line.
  • FIG. 8 (a) shows a state in which the displacement is obtained one after another from the deformed lattice intersection with respect to the first frame, and the deformed lattice is based on the displacement from the first frame to the second frame.
  • the frame shows further deformation.
  • the displacement of each pixel of the latest frame data adjacent in time is calculated with reference to the immediately preceding frame data.
  • the position on the image of the living tissue Even if the position of the ultrasound probe 3 changes or the position of the living tissue on the image fluctuates, an ultrasound image with corrected displacement can be constructed, reducing resolution. Can be improved.
  • the displacement of the field of view of the ultrasonic image is calculated based on the frame data composed of the received beam signal composed of the RF signal, the displacement is compared with the case of calculating based on the ultrasonic image of the conventional display image. Calculation time for calculation can be shortened.
  • the present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to sequentially read out frame data composed of received beam signals acquired by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and stored in a storage medium, and perform super-resolution processing. According to this, it is possible to reproduce the frame data composed of the received beam signal of the region of interest in the biological tissue at any time after the imaging and to observe the super-resolution ultrasonic moving image many times. Is good.
  • the first embodiment has been described using an impedance boundary image of a living tissue, a so-called B-mode image, a harmonic image that visualizes harmonics and subharmonics generated as ultrasonic waves propagate through the living tissue.
  • the present invention can be similarly applied to a color Doppler image for visualizing blood flow, a tissue Doppler image for visualizing tissue displacement, and an elastomer image for visualizing tissue distortion.
  • the ultrasonic image super-resolution generation method of the present invention sequentially inputs the frame data corresponding to the ultrasonic image of the subject composed of the received beam signal acquired by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.
  • step S13 in which the average frame data is scan-converted into a polar coordinate ultrasonic image and output to the display unit 6 as a display image.
  • steps S2 and S16 in FIG. 3 are omitted, and steps S3 to S12 are repeatedly executed from when frame data buffer A502a and frame data buffer B502b have the latest and latest frame data. Then, a super-resolution ultrasonic image can be generated and displayed.
  • a plurality of frame data composed of received beam signals are sequentially input, a field of view (image) area where the latest frame data and the immediately preceding frame data overlap is searched, and an area where two frame data overlap Are sequentially generated and accumulated in the addition frame data memory.
  • the accumulation count value which is the number of times the pixel value is added (the number of frames) is written in the memory area corresponding to the pixel in the accumulation counter map.
  • the memory area of the accumulation counter map is associated with the coordinates of the latest frame data each time, that is, the same coordinates as the visual field region of the ultrasonic probe.
  • the added frame data of the set number created in the past is cumulatively added to the generated added frame data for each pixel, and the pixel value of the cumulative added frame data is stored as the accumulated count value. Divide and average to generate average frame data.
  • the average frame data is scan-converted to generate and display a super-resolution fan-shaped ultrasonic image.
  • the displacement of the biological tissue of the ultrasonic images acquired continuously in other words, the displacement of the relative position between the ultrasonic probe and the biological tissue is configured from the received beam signal. It is calculated from the displacement (positional deviation) of the corresponding pixel in the frame data. Therefore, the displacement of the two input ultrasonic images can be calculated in a short time.
  • the frame data is a received beam signal consisting of an RF signal received and processed by the ultrasound probe and placed in the same direction as the transmitted / received beam propagating through the living tissue in the frame region of the two-dimensional orthogonal coordinates. Formed. Therefore, compared with the fan-shaped ultrasonic image obtained by converting the frame data of the received beam signal from the orthogonal coordinate to the polar coordinate by scanning conversion, the measurement point of the received beam signal corresponding to the pixel of the ultrasonic image is independent of the depth position. The same. Therefore, since it is not necessary to increase the interpolation of data between the received beam signals as much as the fan-shaped ultrasonic image, it is possible to shorten the calculation time for the displacement calculation.
  • the super-resolution generation method of the ultrasonic image of the present invention is not limited to the first embodiment.
  • the displacement of the pixel is calculated between a pair of frame data composed of ultrasonic reception beam signals, According to the calculated displacement, the coordinates of the pixels of one frame data and the coordinates of the pixels of the other frame data are matched and added, so that the displacement of the two images can be calculated in a short time, improving the spatial resolution.
  • the time required for super-resolution processing can be shortened.
  • FIG. 9 shows the configuration of Embodiment 2 of the super-resolution generation unit 500 of the present invention.
  • This embodiment automatically determines the contact of the ultrasonic probe 3, and automatically determines whether the ultrasonic probe 3 is moved large or in the short axis direction, thereby generating an uncomfortable ultrasonic image. It is characterized by doing.
  • the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a displacement determination unit 511 is provided between the pixel average processing unit 509 and the display image scanning conversion unit 510, and other points are the same as in the first embodiment. Therefore, the description is omitted.
  • the displacement determination unit 511 selectively switches between the frame data input from the envelope detection unit 501 and the average frame data input from the pixel average processing unit 509, and outputs the result to the display image scan conversion unit 510. It has become.
  • the displacement determination unit 511 determines the displacement input from the displacement calculation unit 503 and controls switching. That is, when the variation in displacement is large, the displacement determination unit 511 determines that the ultrasonic probe 3 has been moved in the short axis direction, or that the ultrasonic probe 3 has not contacted the subject. In the case of this determination, the frame data of the envelope signal output from the envelope detector 501 is input to the display image scan converter 510 to generate and display an ultrasonic image that has not been subjected to super-resolution processing. Output to part 6.
  • the displacement determination unit 511 determines that the region of interest is searched by moving the ultrasonic probe 3 greatly, and the envelope signal output from the envelope detection unit 501
  • the frame data is input to the display image scan conversion unit 510, an ultrasonic image that has not been subjected to super-resolution processing is generated and output to the display unit 6.
  • the average frame data output from the pixel average processing unit 509 is input to the display image scan conversion unit 510, and an ultrasonic image subjected to super-resolution processing is generated and output to the display unit 6. .
  • FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the third embodiment of the super-resolution generation unit 500 of the present invention.
  • the present embodiment is characterized in that a finer ultrasonic image is generated and displayed by adding the effect of aperture synthesis to the first embodiment.
  • the third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the envelope detection unit 501 is not placed in front of the displacement calculation unit 503 and the frame data buffer A502a, and the pixel average processing unit 509 and the display image scan conversion unit 510 are arranged. Is in between.
  • the envelope signal obtained by envelope detection of the RF signal of the received beam signal constituting the average frame data generated in the tenth step (S12) is scan-converted into a polar coordinate ultrasound image. This includes the twelfth step of outputting to the eleventh step (S13).

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PCT/JP2013/058732 2012-04-02 2013-03-26 Dispositif de diagnostic ultrasonore et procédé de génération d'image à super-résolution d'image ultrasonore Ceased WO2013150917A1 (fr)

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WO2018042191A1 (fr) * 2016-09-02 2018-03-08 Norwegian University Of Science And Technology (Ntnu) Imagerie par ultrasons à résolution améliorée de trajets de fluide
JP2020039604A (ja) * 2018-09-11 2020-03-19 コニカミノルタ株式会社 超音波信号処理装置、超音波診断装置、および、超音波信号処理方法
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CN109803588A (zh) * 2016-09-02 2019-05-24 挪威科技大学 流体路径的增强分辨率超声成像
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JP2020039604A (ja) * 2018-09-11 2020-03-19 コニカミノルタ株式会社 超音波信号処理装置、超音波診断装置、および、超音波信号処理方法
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