JPH07116165A - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In an ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, a sound field with a realistic sensation can be created from the obtained Doppler sound, and the movement of blood flow can be sensed by sound. To make it discoverable. [Structure] An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus transmits and receives an ultrasonic beam into a living body 2 and receives an ultrasonic echo signal reflected in the living body 2, and a Doppler signal indicating blood flow information from the ultrasonic echo signal. Doppler signal detecting means for detecting, a signal processing circuit 9 for extracting only a blood flow component from the Doppler signal and outputting it as sound field-controlled sound data, and a plurality of speakers 15A, 15 for producing sound based on the sound data.
B, 15C, and 15D.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for diagnosing blood flow information obtained by ultrasonic Doppler method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the medical field such as heart and circulatory organ, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is used for observing blood flow dynamics in a living body such as inside the heart. This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus generally has a probe (probe) having a transducer for transmitting and receiving waves, an oscillator, a Doppler signal detecting means, a computing means, and the like, and a diagnostic apparatus main body to which the probe is connected, It is composed of a CRT which displays a diagnosis result. here,
An ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the probe into the living body, a Doppler signal of an ultrasonic wave echo reflected from the living body is obtained, and a fast Fourier transform (FFT) operation is performed to observe the blood flow direction and the flow velocity distribution.

When determining the presence or absence of blood flow abnormality, it is possible to make a determination by listening to the Doppler sound for a change in blood flow velocity in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. For example, in the case where the heart valve is not completely closed, blood flows through the gap, so that the flow velocity becomes very high and the Doppler sound becomes high. Also in the diagnosis of other parts, if there is abnormal blood flow, the Doppler sound becomes low tone or treble sound compared to the normal case, so abnormal blood flow is caused by this change in Doppler sound. It becomes possible to judge.

Conventionally, in order to listen to this Doppler sound, a single speaker is connected and the blood flow velocity is confirmed by the pitch of the sound. Further, two speakers are connected to each other, and the blood flow approaching the probe and the blood flow moving away from the probe are produced by different speakers to confirm the direction of the blood flow.

[0005]

When a Doppler sound is produced by a single speaker, the blood flow velocity can be confirmed by the pitch of the sound, but it is difficult to determine the blood flow direction. When two speakers are used, the blood flow velocity can be confirmed by the pitch of the sound, and the direction of the blood flow can be determined by which speaker produces the sound, but it is difficult to grasp the actual movement of the blood flow. Is.

An object of the present invention is to create a sound field with a realistic sensation from the obtained Doppler sound in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, to experience the movement of blood flow by sound, and to easily perform when blood flow is abnormal. To make it discoverable.

[0007]

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention has a wave transmitting / receiving means, a Doppler signal detecting means, a signal processing circuit, and a plurality of speakers. The transmitting and receiving means is
The ultrasonic beam is transmitted into the living body and the ultrasonic echo signal reflected in the living body is received. The Doppler signal detecting means detects a Doppler signal indicating blood flow information from the signal obtained by the transmitting / receiving means. The signal processing circuit extracts only the blood flow component from the Doppler signal and outputs it as sound field-controlled sound data. The speaker produces a sound based on the sound data output from the signal processing circuit.

[0008]

In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, the ultrasonic wave echo signal reflected in the living body is received by the transmitting / receiving means, and the Doppler signal detecting means detects the Doppler signal indicating the blood flow based on the ultrasonic echo signal. It In the signal processing circuit, only the blood flow component is extracted from the obtained Doppler signal and converted into sound field-controlled sound data. Therefore, a sound field like a living body is formed by the sounds generated from the plurality of speakers, and it becomes possible to experience the movement of the blood flow by the sounds.

[0009]

1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the probe 1 is brought into contact with the surface of the living body 2 to transmit an ultrasonic beam into the living body 2, and
The ultrasonic echo signal reflected in the living body 2 is received. The probe 1 has a plurality of transducers, and a high frequency pulse is applied by the drive pulse generation circuit 3 to generate an ultrasonic beam.

The ultrasonic echo signal received by the probe 1 is amplified by the amplifier circuit 4. The amplifier circuit 4 is connected to the waveform processing circuit 5. The waveform processing circuit 5 is for processing the signal from the amplifier circuit 4 into a signal that can be stored in a digital scan coverter (hereinafter referred to as DSC) 6. The output signal of the amplifier circuit 4 is input to the mixer waveform processing circuit 7.

The mixer waveform processing circuit 7 mixes the received ultrasonic echo signal and the reference signal from the transmission system. The output of the mixer waveform processing circuit 7 is input to the A / D conversion circuit 8. The A / D conversion circuit 8 is connected to the signal processing circuit 9 and the Doppler arithmetic circuit 10. The Doppler arithmetic circuit 10 is for calculating the blood flow velocity distribution by fast Fourier transform of the Doppler signal A / D converted by the A / D conversion circuit 8 or for calculating the average blood flow value etc. by the correlation calculation. is there. Doppler arithmetic circuit 10 is DSC6
It is connected to the. The DSC 6 is connected to the CRT 11 and outputs image information according to each mode.

Drive pulse generation circuit 3, waveform processing circuit 5,
DSC 6, mixer waveform processing circuit 7, Doppler arithmetic circuit 1
0 and the CRT 11 are controlled by the control circuit 12. The control circuit 12 is composed of a microprocessor having a storage means such as a RAM or a ROM. The signal processing circuit 9 outputs sound field-controlled sound data based on the Doppler signal from the mixer waveform processing circuit 7. The signal processing circuit 9 is composed of, for example, a digital signal processor (hereinafter referred to as DSP). The signal processing circuit 9 includes D / A conversion circuits 13A, 13B, 13
It is connected to C and 13D. D / A conversion circuit 13A,
The outputs of 13B, 13C and 13D are the amplifier 14 respectively.
It is connected to A, 14B, 14C, and 14D. The outputs of the amplifiers 14A, 14B, 14C and 14D are connected to the speakers 15A, 15B, 15C and 15D, respectively.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The probe 1 transmits an ultrasonic beam into the living body 2 based on the output of the drive pulse generating circuit 3 and receives an ultrasonic echo signal reflected in the living body 2. The ultrasonic echo signal received by the probe 1 is amplified by the amplifier circuit 4 and mixed with the reference signal by the mixer waveform processing circuit 7. The output of the mixer waveform processing circuit 7 is input to the signal processing circuit 9 as a so-called Doppler signal. The signal processing circuit 9 creates a digital signal in real time based on the input Doppler signal.

Consider a case where the phase difference between the ultrasonic echo signal and the reference signal shows a temporal change as shown in FIG. At time t ₀ , blood flow is forward. In t ₀ ≦ t ≦ t ₁ , the blood flow approaches the probe from the front. t ₁ <t ≦
At t ₂ , the blood flow moves backward from the probe 1. When t ₂ <t ≦ t ₃ , the blood flow approaches the rear side of the probe 1 again, and when t ₃ <t ≦ t ₄ , the blood flow moves forward. Accordingly, the signal processing circuit 9
The reflected sound analyzed by the three elements of volume and phase is added to the Doppler signal, and a signal corresponding to each speaker is created and output. The signal output from the signal processing circuit 9 is transferred to the D / A conversion circuit 13
A, 13B, 13C, and 13D convert into analog signals, and amplifiers 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D, respectively.
Is amplified by.

Speakers 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D
Are arranged so as to surround the operator. For example, the speakers 15A, 15B, 15C, and 15D are installed in the front right, front left, rear right, and rear left in order. In response to this, the sound data output from the signal processing circuit 9 is t ₀ <t ≦ t _{1 in} FIG.
Then, the sound field control is performed so that the sound is closer to the front, the sound is farther to the rear when t ₁ <t ≦ t ₂ , and the sound is closer to the front and farther when t ₂ <t ≦ t _4. To be done.

Therefore, the operator is
By the sounds of A, 15B, 15C, and 15D, the conductor of blood flow can be experienced and blood flow abnormality can be easily detected. The signal processing circuit 9 can also control the sound field of the speakers 15A, 15B, 15C, and 15D so that the blood flow moves in the left-right direction, and the blood flow moves in the up-down direction depending on the position of the speaker. It is possible to control it as it is.

Furthermore, it is also possible to create a sound field with two speakers, and by using a DSP or the like as the signal processing circuit 9, a reflected sound based on time, volume and phase is added to control the sound field. Can be achieved with.

[0018]

According to the present invention, the sound produced by a plurality of speakers is based on sound field-controlled sound data, and produces a sound field like that in a living body. Therefore,
You can experience the movement of blood flow by sound, and you can easily detect when there is an abnormality in blood flow.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a time chart showing a time change of a Doppler signal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 probe 2 living body 9 signal processing circuit 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D speaker

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transmitting / receiving means for transmitting an ultrasonic beam into a living body and receiving an ultrasonic echo signal reflected in the living body, and a Doppler signal indicating blood flow information from the signal obtained by the transmitting / receiving means. Doppler signal detection means for detecting, a signal processing circuit for extracting only a blood flow component from the Doppler signal and outputting it as sound field-controlled sound data, a plurality of speakers that emit sound based on the sound data, An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a.