Ultrasonic imaging device and image processing device

1. An ultrasonic imaging device, comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory storing instructions that when executed configure the processor to:

transmit an ultrasonic wave from one or more transducers to a subject by outputting a transmission signal to the one or more transducers, at the same time receive a reception signal output by the plurality of transducers that received an echo generated in the subject and perform a predetermined processing;

generate a first ultrasonic image and a second ultrasonic image using the processed reception signal;

generate and output an output image using the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image,

generate the second ultrasonic image which is smoother than the first ultrasonic image,

generate the output image by calculating filter coefficients using pixel values of corresponding pixels of the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image, and

process one of the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image by the filter coefficients,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

use a coefficient a and a constant b as the filter coefficients,

calculate the coefficient a and the constant b, with which a difference between a value obtained by multiplying a pixel value of a pixel of the first ultrasonic image by the coefficient a and adding the constant b and the pixel value of the corresponding pixel of the second ultrasound image is minimum, using the pixel values of a plurality of pixels in a window set for the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image, and

calculate a pixel value of the output image by multiplying the pixel value of the pixel in the window of the first ultrasonic image by the calculated coefficient a and the constant b.

2. The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate the first ultrasonic image such that a boundary of a tissue structure of the subject is enhanced, and

generate the second ultrasonic image such that a speckle noise is reduced.

3. The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to process the first ultrasonic image by the filter coefficients.

4. The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to set a plurality of windows in the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image, and calculate the filter coefficients for each window.

5. The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to set the plurality of windows so as to partially overlap with each other, and calculate a pixel value of the output image using a value obtained by combining the coefficient a and the constant b obtained for the overlapping windows for the pixels located in the region where the windows overlap.

6. The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein at least one pair of the plurality of transducers are disposed at positions facing each other across the subject, and may receive a transmitted wave of the ultrasonic wave transmitted to the subject, and

wherein the processor is further configured to generate a transmitted wave image of the subject using the reception signal of the transmitted wave.

7. The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the plurality of transducers are arranged in an array,

wherein the processor is further configured to generate the first ultrasonic image by delaying and adding the reception signals output from the plurality of transducers in the reception aperture set in advance, and

wherein the processor is further configured to divide the reception aperture into a plurality of sub reception apertures, and delay and add the reception signals output from the plurality of transducers in the sub reception aperture, for each sub reception aperture, thereby generating the second ultrasonic image by obtaining ultrasonic images for each sub reception aperture and combining the obtained ultrasonic images for each sub reception aperture.

8. An image processing device, comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory storing instructions that when executed configure the processor to:

generate a first ultrasonic image and a second ultrasonic image by receiving a reception signal output by a plurality of transducers that received an echo generated in a subject transmitted with an ultrasonic wave, or an ultrasonic image generated from the reception signal;

generate and output an output image using the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image,

generate the second ultrasonic image which is smoother than the first ultrasonic image, and

generate the output image by calculating filter coefficients using pixel values of corresponding pixels of the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image, and

process one of the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image by the filter coefficients,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

use a coefficient a and a constant b as the filter coefficients,

calculate the coefficient a and the constant b, with which a difference between a value obtained by multiplying a pixel value of a pixel of the first ultrasonic image by the coefficient a and adding the constant b and the pixel value of the corresponding pixel of the second ultrasound image is minimum, using the pixel values of a plurality of pixels in a window set for the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image, and

calculate a pixel value of the output image by multiplying the pixel value of the pixel in the window of the first ultrasonic image by the calculated coefficient a and the constant b.