IP Library Granted Patent US 10,722,217
Granted Patent B2
US 10,722,217 · App. 15/592,235 · Granted Jul 28, 2020

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and medical image processing apparatus

Inventors: Eiichi Shiki (Otawara, JP); Yoshitaka Mine (Nasushiobara, JP)
Assignee: Canon Medical Systems Corporation
A61B8/5207A61B8/4263A61B8/469A61B8/483A61B8/5253A61B8/461
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,722,217
App. No.
15/592,235
Granted
Jul 28, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a present embodiment includes: a transmitting and receiving circuit configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave to an ultrasonic probe and receive a signal based on the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe; a generation circuit configured to generate multiple 2D image data in a chronological order based on the signal; an acquisition circuit configured to acquire three-dimensional multiple position data of the ultrasonic probe; an associating circuit configured to associate the multiple position data with the respective multiple 2D image data; and a correction circuit configured to correct the multiple position data associated by the associating circuit.

Claims (49)

1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:

a transmitting and receiving circuit configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave to an ultrasonic probe and receive a signal based on the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe;

a generation circuit configured to generate multiple 2D image data in a chronological order based on the signal;

an acquisition circuit configured to acquire three-dimensional multiple position data of the ultrasonic probe;

an associating circuit configured to associate the multiple position data with the respective multiple 2D image data; and

a correction circuit configured to correct the multiple position data associated by the associating circuit, wherein the correction circuit is configured to

set a projection plane between two pieces of the multiple 2D image data,

arrange the two pieces in accordance with the respective multiple position data,

project the two pieces onto the projection plane, and

perform position adjustment processing of the two pieces using the projected two pieces.

2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a position adjustment circuit configured to perform the position adjustment processing on the multiple 2D image data arranged in accordance with the respective multiple position data and to calculate multiple position correction data, wherein

the correction circuit is configured to correct the multiple position data associated with the multiple 2D image data using corresponding position correction data of the multiple position correction data.

3. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the associating circuit is configured to attach each of the multiple position data to each of the multiple 2D image data so as to associate each of the multiple position data with each of the multiple 2D image data.

4. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a volume generation circuit configured to generate volume data by arranging the multiple 2D image data based on the position data corrected by the correction circuit; and

a 3D image generation circuit configured to generate 3D image data based on the volume data.

5. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the correction circuit is configured to set one or more ROIs (Regions of Interest) in the two pieces of 2D image data, and to perform the position adjustment processing based on the data in the ROIs.

6. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising the ultrasonic probe including a 1D array including multiple oscillators one-dimensionally arranged.

7. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising the ultrasonic probe including a 1D array including multiple oscillators one-dimensionally arranged, the 1D array being caused to mechanically oscillate.

8. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising the ultrasonic probe including a 2D array including multiple oscillators two-dimensionally arranged.

9. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an image processing circuit configured to perform image processing for converting a histogram of each of the multiple 2D image data, wherein

the correction circuit is configured to correct the position data based on the multiple 2D image data subjected to the image processing.

10. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein

the image processing circuit is configured to enlarge a width of a pixel value in which a frequency of the histogram is present, or to convert the histogram into a designated distribution.

11. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an image processing circuit configured to perform image processing for reducing a speckle on the multiple 2D image data, wherein

the correction circuit is configured to correct the position data based on the multiple 2D image data subjected to the image processing.

12. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an image processing circuit configured to perform image processing for emphasizing a structure on the multiple 2D image data, wherein

the correction circuit is configured to correct the position data based on the multiple 2D image data subjected to the image processing.

13. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein

the image processing circuit is configured to perform, as the image processing, non-linear anisotropic diffusion filter processing, multiresolution decomposition/composition processing, high-frequency component control processing, or a combination thereof.

14. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the multiple 2D image data is B-mode image data.

15. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a switch configured to switch whether or not to correct the position data.

16. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

a part or whole of processing by the correction circuit is performed in parallel with processing by each of the transmitting and receiving circuit, the generation circuit, the acquisition circuit, and the associating circuit.

17. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the correction circuit is configured to correct the position data and to perform a distortion correction for the multiple 2D image data.

18. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the correction circuit is configured to use a linear conversion as the distortion correction for the multiple 2D image data.

19. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the correction circuit is configured to use a distortion correction vector as the distortion correction for the multiple 2D image data.

20. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the correction circuit is configured to use an image mosaicing as the distortion correction for the multiple 2D image data.

21. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the acquisition circuit is configured to acquire the three-dimensional position data from a sensor attached to the ultrasonic probe.

22. A medical image processing apparatus that processes multiple 2D image data associated with respective three-dimensional multiple position data based on transmission and reception of an ultrasonic wave, the apparatus comprising:

a correction circuit configured to correct the multiple position data associated with the respective multiple 2D image data by performing position adjustment processing on the multiple 2D image data arranged in accordance with the respective multiple position data, wherein the correction circuit is configured to

set a projection plane between two pieces of the multiple 2D image data,

arrange the two pieces in accordance with the respective multiple position data,

project the two pieces onto the projection plane, and

perform position adjustment processing of the two pieces using the projected two pieces.

23. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the correction circuit is configured to select the two pieces as a reference piece and a piece to be corrected from the multiple 2D image data, the reference piece corresponding to corrected position data, and the piece to be corrected corresponding to non-corrected position data.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jul 26, 2019
From: TOSHIBA MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
To: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 049879/0342 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 11, 2017
From: SHIKI, EIICHI; MINE, YOSHITAKA
To: TOSHIBA MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 042333/0876 →
Priority Claims (2)
JP 2016-105401 · May 26, 2016 · national
JP 2017-084445 · Apr 21, 2017 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20170340311A1 · Nov 30, 2017