| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a blood vessel that is difficult to be turned into an image to be easily turned into an image more efficiently in generating a photoacoustic image.SOLUTION: In generating a photoacoustic image, a signal of a photoacoustic wave generated in a subject to be examined M is detected by a probe 11, and based on the detected signal of a photoacoustic wave, a photoacoustic image is generated. Based on the signal of a photoacoustic wave, a blood vessel region 53 in the subject to be examined M which is a blood vessel region of a blood vessel 58a whose angle formed with a scan line 6 specified by the probe 11 is a threshold angle or less is extracted, and a region Sa that includes the extracted blood vessel region 53 and is part of an imageable range 4 specified by the probe 11 is set as a Doppler measurement object region. Power Doppler measurement is performed only for the set Doppler measurement object region, and based on a Doppler shift acquired as a result of the power Doppler measurement, a Doppler image is generated and the Doppler image is superimposed on the photoacoustic image. |
