Ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, method of controlling ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing therein computer-readable program for controlling ultrasound diagnostic apparatus

1. An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus for generating a tomographic image of a subject by transmitting and receiving an ultrasound, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising:

a hardware processor that:

detects a blood vessel imaged in the tomographic image;

determines whether a view of the blood vessel which has been detected is either a short axis view or a long axis view by an image analysis of the tomographic image;

sets a steering angle of an ultrasound beam used in measuring conditions of the detected blood vessel or a blood flow velocity in the detected blood vessel,

the steering angle of the ultrasound beam being set to zero relative to a depth direction when the view of the detected blood vessel is the short-axis view, and

the steering angle of the ultrasound beam being set so that a crossing angle, between a beam direction of the ultrasound beam and an extending direction of the detected blood vessel, is at a predetermined value when the view of the detected blood vessel is the long-axis view;

automatically selectively drives transducers of an ultrasound probe to generate the ultrasound beam at the steering angle; and

automatically sets a measurement item to be measured related to determining a condition of the detected blood vessel, the measurement item being a parameter to be measured, and changes the parameter to be measured for determining the condition of the detected blood vessel, depending on whether the view of the detected blood vessel falls under either the short axis view or the long axis view.

2. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the hardware processor determines whether the view of the detected blood vessel falls under either the short axis view or the long axis view, based on a distribution of a matching degree of template matching using a blood vessel template image at a position where the blood vessel has been detected and a periphery of the position.

3. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the hardware processor determines whether the view of the blood vessel which has been detected is either the short axis view or the long axis view by calculating the matching degree of template matching using the blood vessel template image that is moves at positions within predetermined left and right ranges based on the position where the blood vessel has been detected.

4. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein

the hardware processor calculates a long axis degree of the image of the detected blood vessel at the position where the blood vessel has been detected and the periphery of the position, and determines whether the view of the detected blood vessel falls under either the short axis view or the long axis view, based on an evaluation of the long axis degree and the matching degree at the position where the detected blood vessel has been detected.

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

the hardware processor generates a display image including the tomographic image and displays, in the display image, a determination result of whether the view of the blood vessel falls under either the short axis view or the long axis view.

6. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the hardware generates a display image including the tomographic image, and displays while superimposing, on the tomographic image, a guide image indicating a position of the detected blood vessel, and changes an image type of the guide image depending on whether the view of the detected blood vessel falls under either the short axis view or the long axis view.

7. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the guide image is a short axis guide image having a shape that identifies a center position of a lateral cross-section of the detected blood vessel when the view of the detected blood vessel is the short axis view and the guide image is a long axis guide image having a shape that indicates an extending direction of a center of a longitudinal cross-section of the detected blood vessel when the view of the detected blood vessel is the long axis view.

8. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the hardware processor stores, in a memory, a determination result of whether the view of the detected blood vessel falls under either the short axis view or the long axis view in association with the tomographic image.

9. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor:

monitors a temporal variation in determination results of whether the view of the detected blood vessel falls under either the short axis view or the long axis view,

compares, when the determination result varies, blood vessel sizes of the blood vessel related to the short axis view and long axis view each detected before and after the temporal variation, and

notifies a user of a comparison result.

10. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the measurement item is for measuring a narrowing rate of the blood vessel from the detected blood vessel.

11. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the ultrasound beam is an ultrasound beam used in generating a Doppler image related to at least one of a B mode image, a color Doppler mode, a power Doppler mode, and/or PW Doppler mode.

12. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising the ultrasound probe that transmits the ultrasound beam toward the subject and receives an ultrasound echo of the ultrasound beam from an inside of the subject.

13. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the measurement item to be measured is a blood vessel width when the view of the detected blood vessel is the long-axis view and the measurement item to be measured is a blood vessel region area when the view of the detected blood vessel is the short-axis view.

14. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein

the measurement item is for measuring a narrowing rate of the blood vessel from the detected blood vessel.

15. A method of controlling an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus for generating a tomographic image of a subject by transmitting and receiving an ultrasound, the method comprising:

detecting a blood vessel imaged in the tomographic image;

determining whether a view of the blood vessel which has been detected falls under either a short axis view or a long axis view by an image analysis of the tomographic image; and

setting a steering angle of an ultrasound beam used in measuring conditions of the detected blood vessel or a blood flow velocity in the detected blood vessel,

the steering angle of the ultrasound beam being set to zero relative to a depth direction when the view of the detected blood vessel is the short-axis view, and

the steering angle of the ultrasound beam being set so that a crossing angle, between a beam direction of the ultrasound beam and an extending direction of the detected blood vessel, is at a predetermined value when the view of the detected blood vessel is the long-axis view;

automatically selectively driving transducers of an ultrasound probe to generate the ultrasound beam at the steering angle; and

automatically setting a measurement item to be measured related to determining a condition of the detected blood vessel, the measurement item being a parameter to be measured, and changing the parameter to be measured for determining the condition of the detected blood vessel, depending on whether the view of the detected blood vessel falls under either the short axis view or the long axis view.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing therein a computer readable program for controlling an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus for generating a tomographic image of a subject by transmitting and receiving an ultrasound, the program causing a computer to perform processing comprising:

detecting a blood vessel imaged in the tomographic image;

determining whether a view of the blood vessel which has been detected falls under either a short axis view or a long axis view by an image analysis of the tomographic image; and

setting a steering angle of an ultrasound beam used in measuring conditions of the detected blood vessel or a blood flow velocity in the detected blood vessel,

the steering angle of the ultrasound beam being set to zero relative to a depth direction when the view of the detected blood vessel is the short-axis view, and

the steering angle of the ultrasound beam being set so that a crossing angle, between a beam direction of the ultrasound beam and an extending direction of the detected blood vessel, is at a predetermined value when the view of the detected blood vessel is the long-axis view; and

automatically selectively driving transducers of an ultrasound probe to generate the ultrasound beam at the steering angle; and

automatically setting a measurement item to be measured related to determining a condition of the detected blood vessel, the measurement item being a parameter to be measured, and changing the parameter to be measured for determining the condition of the detected blood vessel, depending on whether the view of the detected blood vessel falls under either the short axis view or the long axis view.