ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ULTRASONIC IMAGE DISPLAY METHOD

1 . An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:

an ultrasonic probe provided with transducers that transmit/receive ultrasonic waves;

a transmission unit configured to transmit ultrasonic waves to an object via the ultrasonic probe;

a reception unit configured to receive the reflected echo signals from the object;

a volume data storing unit configured to store tomographic volume data and elastic volume data created by processing the reflected echo signals;

an operation unit configured to arbitrarily specify a cross-section;

a specified cross-section tomographic image constructing unit configured to cut out and construct a tomographic image of the specified cross-section which is specified by the operation unit from the tomographic volume data stored in the volume data storing unit;

a specified cross-section elastic image constructing unit configured to cut out and construct an elastic image of the specified cross-section which is specified by the operation unit from the elastic volume data stored in the volume data storing unit; and

a display unit configured to juxtapose and display the tomographic image and the elastic image that are constructed by the specified cross-section tomographic image constructing unit and the specified cross-section elastic image constructing unit.

2 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the tomographic image and the elastic image that are cut out in the specified cross-section are of the same cross-section.

3 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a synthesis processing unit configured to create a synthetic image by synthesizing the tomographic image and the elastic image, wherein the display unit displays the tomographic image and the synthetic image in parallel.

4 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a specified cross-section control unit configured to output a control signal in accordance with the 3-dimensional positional information to the specified cross-section tomographic image constructing unit and the specified cross-section elastic image constructing unit using the 3-dimensional positional information of the specified cross-section which is specified by the operation unit.

5 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the 3-dimensional positional information includes the 3-dimensional position and the direction of the specified cross-section.

6 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the specified cross-section tomographic image constructing unit associates the spatial 3-dimensional position and the direction of the specified cross-section with the tomographic volume data stored in the volume data storing unit, cuts out the tomographic image which is associated with the specified cross-section from the tomographic volume data, and constructs the tomographic image in the specified cross-section.

7 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the specified cross-section elastic image constructing unit associates the special 3-dimensional position and the direction of the specified cross-section with the elastic volume data stored in the volume data storing unit, cuts out the elastic image which is associated with the specified cross-section from the elastic volume data, and constructs the elastic image in the specified cross-section.

8 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit displays the elastic image and the tomographic image in synchronization with the same scale of enlargement or reduction.

9 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit displays the elastic image and the tomographic image in synchronization with the same rotation angle.

10 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit, when the elastic image or the synthetic image is specified by the operation unit, displays in parallel the tomographic image in the same cross-section as that of the specified elastic image or the synthetic image.

11 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit displays the positional information of a specified cross-section which is specified by the operation unit.

12 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit, when the specified cross-section is reset by the operation unit, displays in parallel the tomographic image and the elastic image in the reset cross-section.

13 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit, when plural cross-sections are set by the operation unit, displays in parallel tomographic images and elastic images of the plural cross-sections.

14 . An ultrasonic image display method including steps of:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to an object via an ultrasonic probe;

receiving the reflected echo signals from the object;

storing tomographic volume data and elastic volume data created by processing the reflected echo signals;

arbitrarily specifying a cross-section;

cutting out and constructing a tomographic image of the cross-section specified from the tomographic volume data cutting out and constructing an elastic image of the cross-section specified from the elastic volume data; and

displaying the constructed tomographic image and the elastic image in parallel to each other.