Granted Patent B2

US 12,599,359 · App. 17/589,076 · Granted Apr 14, 2026

Inventor: Tsuyoshi Matsumoto (Kanagawa, JP)

Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation

A61B8/0891A61B8/0841A61B8/4494A61B8/461A61B8/469A61B8/54A61B8/565

Abstract

Claims (85)

1 . An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus that displays a blood vessel of a subject in an ultrasound image, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising:

a transducer array;

a processor; and

a display device,

wherein the processor is configured to:

cause the transducer array to transmit an ultrasound beam toward the subject,

receive an ultrasound echo by the subject to acquire an ultrasound image,

display on the display device the ultrasound image,

detect a target blood vessel in the ultrasound image and an insert puncturing the subject by analyzing the ultrasound image,

determine at least one of presence or absence of the insert and the target blood vessel in the ultrasound image, a position of each of the target blood vessel and the insert in the ultrasound image, or an observation direction of the target blood vessel and the insert, by analyzing the ultrasound image,

based on the at least one, determine a scene in a case where the ultrasound image is acquired,

detect a region of interest to be noticed other than the target blood vessel in the ultrasound image, the region of interest corresponding to the determined scene,

acquire blood vessel information including at least one of a diameter or a depth of the detected target blood vessel, and

display the acquired blood vessel information within a display range of the ultrasound image in the display device, and

wherein in a case where the target blood vessel is an entire blood vessel and the region of interest is detected, the processor is configured to decide a display region of the blood vessel information in the display range based on a position of the region of interest and to display the blood vessel information in the decided display region,

in a case where the scene is a search scene where the target blood vessel is searched, the region of interest is a lesion portion inside the subject or a blood vessel other than the target blood vessel,

in a case where the scene is an insertion scene where the insert punctures and is inserted toward the target blood vessel, the region of interest is at least one of a distal end of the insert or a tissue positioned near the distal end of the insert inside the subject, and

in a case where the scene is a placement scene where a distal end part of the insert is within the target blood vessel, the region of interest is the distal end part of the insert or a lesion portion inside the subject.

2 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor extracts a display candidate region avoiding the target blood vessel and the region of interest within the display range and decides the display region from the extracted display candidate region.

3 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2 ,

wherein the processor decides the display region such that at least a part of the blood vessel information overlaps the region of interest in a case where the display candidate region is not extracted within the display range.

4 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3 ,

wherein, in a case where the processor detects a plurality of the regions of interest, the processor sets priority to each of the plurality of the regions of interest and decides the display region such that at least a part of the blood vessel information overlaps the region of interest with a lower priority selected from the plurality of the regions in a case where the display candidate region is not extracted within the display range.

5 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 4 ,

wherein the processor sets the priority of each of the plurality of the regions of interest based on the position of each of the plurality of the regions of interest in the display range.

6 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein, in a case where the determined scene is a search scene where the target blood vessel is searched, the processor detects a lesion portion inside the subject or a blood vessel other than the target blood vessel as the region of interest.

7 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6 ,

wherein a blood vessel into which an insert puncturing the subject is inserted, among blood vessels of the subject corresponds to the target blood vessel, and

the processor determines that the scene is the search scene in a case where the blood vessel of the subject is detected in the ultrasound image and the insert is not detected by analyzing the ultrasound image.

8 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6 ,

wherein the processor continuously acquires the ultrasound images at a given frame rate, and

the processor analyzes the ultrasound images of a plurality of frames continuously acquired and determines that the scene is the search scene in a case where appearance and disappearance of the blood vessel are repeated in the ultrasound images of the plurality of frames and in a case where a position of the blood vessel is changed in the ultrasound images of the plurality of frames.

9 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein a blood vessel into which an insert puncturing the subject is inserted, among blood vessels of the subject corresponds to the target blood vessel, and

in a case where the determined scene is an insertion scene where the insert punctures and is moving toward the target blood vessel, the processor detects at least one of a distal end of the insert or a tissue positioned near the distal end of the insert inside the subject as the region of interest.

10 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 9 ,

wherein the insert is a catheter with a puncture needle, and

the processor determines that the scene is the insertion scene in a case where the blood vessel of the subject and a distal end of the puncture needle are detected in the ultrasound image by analyzing the ultrasound image.

11 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 9 ,

wherein the processor continuously acquires the ultrasound images at a given frame rate, and

the processor analyzes the ultrasound images of a plurality of frames continuously acquired and determines that the scene is the insertion scene in a case where a position of the insert is changed to approach the target blood vessel in the ultrasound images of the plurality of frames and in a case where an observation direction of the blood vessel and the insert is switched in the ultrasound images of the plurality of frames.

12 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein a blood vessel into which an insert puncturing the subject is inserted, among blood vessels of the subject corresponds to the target blood vessel, and

in a case where the determined scene is a placement scene where a distal end part of the insert is placed inside the target blood vessel, the processor detects the distal end part of the insert or a lesion portion inside the subject as the region of interest.

13 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 12 ,

wherein the insert is a catheter with a puncture needle, and

the processor determines that the scene is the placement scene in a case where a distal end part of the catheter present inside the blood vessel in a state in which the puncture needle is no longer present inside the distal end part of the catheter is detected in the ultrasound image by analyzing the ultrasound image.

14 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 12 ,

wherein the processor continuously acquires the ultrasound images at a given frame rate, and

the processor analyzes the ultrasound images of a plurality of frames continuously acquired and determines that the scene is the placement scene in a case where appearance and disappearance of the distal end part of the insert are repeated in the ultrasound images of the plurality of frames and in a case where appearance and disappearance of the lesion portion inside the subject are repeated in the ultrasound images of the plurality of frames.

15 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein, in a case where a plurality of the target blood vessels in the ultrasound image are detected, the processor acquires the blood vessel information on each of the plurality of the detected target blood vessels,

the processor simultaneously displays the blood vessel information of each of the acquired plurality of the target blood vessels within the display range, and

in a case where the region of interest is detected, the processor decides the display region for each target blood vessel based on the position of the region of interest such that the blood vessel information of each of the plurality of the target blood vessels is displayed separately.

16 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor detects the target blood vessel in the ultrasound image by analyzing the ultrasound image and fills the detected target blood vessel with a highlight color to highlight the target blood vessel, and

the processor sets a color of the display region of the blood vessel information and the highlight color in highlighting the target blood vessel to the same color.

17 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

an ultrasound probe having the transducer array,

wherein the ultrasound probe is connected to the processor,

the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes a transmission circuit that causes the transducer array to transmit the ultrasound beam toward the subject, and a reception circuit that processes a signal output from the transducer array having received the ultrasound echo generated inside the subject to generate a sound ray signal,

the processor generates the ultrasound image based on the sound ray signal generated by the reception circuit, and

each of the transmission circuit and the reception circuit is provided in the ultrasound probe or the processor.

18 . An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus that displays a blood vessel of a subject in an ultrasound image, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising:

a transducer array;

a processor; and

a display device,

wherein the processor is configured to:

cause the transducer array to transmit an ultrasound beam toward the subject,

receive an ultrasound echo by the subject to acquire an ultrasound image,

detect a blood vessel region including a target blood vessel in the ultrasound image,

acquire blood vessel information including at least one of a diameter or a depth of the detected target blood vessel,

further detect an insert in the ultrasound image,

in a case where a distal end of the insert is detected to be within the target blood vessel, determine a display region excluding both the blood vessel region and the insert in the ultrasound image, and

display the ultrasound image and the acquired blood vessel information within the display region in the display device.

19 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 18 ,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

analyze the ultrasound image to determine whether a distal end of the insert is within the target blood vessel or out of the target blood vessel,

further detect, in a case that the distal end is within the blood vessel, a lesion portion in the ultrasound image, and

determine the display region excluding the blood vessel region, the insert and the lesion portion.

20 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 18 ,

wherein, in a case where a plurality of the target blood vessels in the ultrasound image are detected, the processor acquires the blood vessel information on each of the plurality of the detected target blood vessels,

the processor simultaneously displays the blood vessel information of each of the acquired plurality of the target blood vessels within a display range of the ultrasound image in the display device.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (27)