Contrast enhanced ultrasonography with superimposing different phases

摘要

When an image creating unit creates a three-dimensional ultrasound image of a blood-vessel early phase, an operator presses an image selecting button, and selects an area to be displayed as superimposed by using an image-selecting Graphical User Interface (GUI) displayed by an image-selecting GUI display-control unit. After the image creating unit start creation of a three-dimensional ultrasound image in a late phase, when the operator presses a composition display button, the movement-distance calculating unit calculates a movement distance between a three-dimensional tissue image at the moment of the press of the composition display button and each of three-dimensional tissue images in the area to be displayed as superimposed, and an image correcting unit corrects each of three-dimensional contrast enhanced images corresponding the three-dimensional tissue images of the blood-vessel early phase by using the movement distance. An animated-image compositing unit creates a group of images for animation that the corrected three-dimensional contrast enhanced images of the blood-vessel early phase are each combined with a three-dimensional contrast enhanced image of the late phase, and a monitor displays the group of the images for animation in animation.

主权项

1. An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus comprising:
a processor connected to a memory, wherein the processor is configured to: calculate a movement distance between a tissue image in a first phase appearing after an ultrasound contrast agent is given to a subject, and a tissue image in a second phase that is a phase later than the first phase; create a corrected image from a contrast enhanced image in the first phase by matching the contrast enhanced image in the first phase in position with a contrast enhanced image in the second phase based on the movement distance; create a composite image by combining the corrected image and the contrast enhanced image in the second phase; and control a display unit to display the composite image, wherein the tissue image in the first phase is an ultrasound image created by separating a fundamental wave corresponding to a transmission frequency of ultrasound waves transmitted from an ultrasound probe onto the subject in the first phase from reflected waves of the ultrasound waves in the first phase, the tissue image in the second phase is an ultrasound image created by separating the fundamental wave corresponding to the transmission frequency of ultrasound waves transmitted from the ultrasound probe onto the subject in the second phase from reflected waves of the ultrasound waves in the second phase, the contrast enhanced image in the first phase is an ultrasound image created by separating a subharmonic wave or a higher harmonic wave of the transmission frequency from the reflected waves used for creating the tissue image in the first phase, and the contrast enhanced image in the second phase is an ultrasound image created by separating the subharmonic wave or the higher harmonic wave of the transmission frequency separated from the reflected waves used for creating the tissue image in the second phase.