ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND MEDIUM

1 . An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising:

a probe including an acoustic emission portion sealed in a liquid and a stirring mechanism which stirs the liquid; and

processing circuitry configured to:

determine a time to stir the liquid, and

drive the stirring mechanism at the determined time to stir the liquid.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

detect a time interval during diagnosis, and

determine the detected time interval as the time to stir the liquid.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to detect, as the time interval, a predetermined time which is immediately after the apparatus is turned on.

4 . The apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a motion sensor configured to detect a motion of the probe,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to detect, as the time interval, a predetermined time which is after a given length of time during which a stationary state of the probe is kept sensed by the motion sensor.

5 . The apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a user interface configured to accept a user operation,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to detect, as the time interval, a predetermined time which is after a given length of time during which no user operation is entered to the user interface.

6 . The apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a user interface configured to accept a user operation,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to detect, as the time interval, a predetermined time which is after an instruction for switching the apparatus to a freeze state is entered from the user interface.

7 . The apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising:

an image generator configured to process acoustic data obtained by the probe and generate an ultrasonic image,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

detect whether the probe is left exposed to the air based on a feature of the ultrasonic image, and

detect, as the time interval, a predetermined time which is after a given length of time during which the probe is left exposed to the air.

8 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the probe,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to determine the time to stir the liquid, based on the detected temperature of the probe.

9 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

notification means for notifying a user that the stirring mechanism is being driven.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the stirring mechanism is a mechanical scan mechanism which mechanically swings the acoustic emission portion.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to maximize at least one of a swing angle and a swing speed of the acoustic emission portion when the liquid is stirred.

12 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to swing the acoustic emission portion at such an angle as enables an area different from a diagnosis target area to be scanned.

13 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to swing the acoustic emission portion at a higher speed in an angular range which enables an area different from a diagnosis target area to be scanned than in an angular range which enables the diagnosis target area to be scanned.

14 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the stirring mechanism is a non-contact stirring mechanism wherein a magnetized stirrer is movable in response to variations in an electromagnetic field in a non-contact manner.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program executed by a computer, the program comprising:

determining a time to stir a liquid of a probe, the probe including an acoustic emission portion sealed in the liquid and a stirring mechanism which stirs the liquid; and

driving the stirring mechanism at the determined time to stir the liquid.

16 . The medium of claim 15 , wherein the program further comprising:

detecting a time interval during diagnosis, and

the determining comprises determining the detected time interval as the time.

17 . The medium of claim 16 , wherein the program further comprising:

processing acoustic data obtained by the probe and generating an ultrasonic image,

detecting whether the probe is left exposed to the air based on a feature of the ultrasonic image, and

the detecting comprising detecting, as the time interval, a predetermined time which is after a given length of time during which the probe is left exposed to the air.