Ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and method

Abstract

Provided is an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus with which elastic modulus can be safely measured with high accuracy over a wide area when measuring elastic modulus using shear wave generation. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprises: an ultrasound probe (1) that sends and receives echo signals from inside a living body; a strain-computing unit (24) that receives an echo signal from the body by radiating a first displacement-detecting beam and computes strain information in a Region 1; a measurement position-selecting unit (40) that selects a Region 2, which is contained within Region 1 and is smaller than Region 1, as the elastic modulus-measurement position on the basis of the strain information; a displacement-generating unit (10) that radiates a focused beam that is the displacement-generating transmission beam into the body and displaces the tissue; an elastic modulus-computing unit (34) that receives an echo signal from the body by radiating a second displacement-detecting beam, detects the shear wave displacement that results from the focused beam, and computes the elastic modulus in Region 2; and a display unit (7) that displays the strain image that is based on the strain information in Region 1 and the elastic modulus. The display unit (7) also displays a color scale that represents the elastic modulus in the display area of the displayed strain image.

Description

[0001] technology area [0002] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for diagnosing a subject by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic technique for detecting differences in hardness inside a subject. Background technique [0003] As a method for diagnosing breast cancer, liver cirrhosis, and vascular diseases in a living body, there is a method of diagnosing the hardness (deformation, elastic coefficient, etc.) method (elastography: elastography). In the hardness diagnosis based on the elastography technique, the researcher pushes the ultrasonic probe to the surface of the subject and compresses it to displace the tissue inside the living body (hereinafter, this method will be referred to as a conventional method). Estimate the displacement in the compression direction based on the echo signals of the biological tissue before and after compression caused by compression, calculate the spat...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In this method, as the imaging target, although it is extremely effective for organs (such as breasts, etc.) that exist in parts that are relatively easy to be compressed from the body surface, it may not be effective for all imaging targets.

For example, as an intermediate layer between the body surface and the liver, it is difficult to generate sufficient displacement such compression due to the presence of sliding surfaces

In addition, in the conventional method, when it is desired to estimate the elastic rate, boundary conditions are necessary, but if there is a sliding surface, the boundary conditions become complicated and it is difficult to estimate the elastic rate

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