WO2007003069A1

WO2007003069A1 - Medical ultrasonic diagnostic device

Info

Publication number: WO2007003069A1
Application number: PCT/CN2005/000966
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pychnyi Mikhail; Papine Igor; Songgen Zhang; Guanzhong Ye; Qiang Zhou
Original assignee: Teknova Medical Systems Limited
Priority date: 2005-07-04
Filing date: 2005-07-04
Publication date: 2007-01-11

Abstract

A medical ultrasonic diagnostic device is consisted of at least a computer and an ultrasonic detecting apparatus. Local interfaces used for connecting to and communicating with the computer are provided on the ultrasonic detecting apparatus, and the computer transmits control signals to the ultrasonic detecting apparatus and executes data exchange by means of its standard interfaces

Description

Medical ultrasound diagnostic equipment

Technical field

The present invention relates to a diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a standard bus interface, which can be easily connected to a computer, and which can flexibly set parameters and change the number of probes. Background technique

Acoustic imaging in ultrasound diagnostic equipment is based on the use of focused ultrasound pulses to detect areas of the human body that are being studied. In order to be able to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, a dedicated ultrasonic probe is required which can simultaneously focus the transmitted and received ultrasonic signals. The area of the human body being studied is scanned in the focus area of the probe. In this case, the ultrasonic beams are located in the same plane, either forming a set of parallel straight lines or forming a fan plane.

During the detection process, in the gap of the detection pulse emission, since the internal structure of the studied human body is not uniform, the reflected ultrasonic echo signals are recorded. The position of these non-uniformities along the line of the acoustic beam can be determined based on the time at which the echo signal arrives. Since the velocity of sound waves propagating in the soft tissue of the human body can be basically assumed to be constant, the time from the probe to the reflection point of the reflection point can be determined according to the formula T=2 xLxC; where T is the propagation time and L is the probe. The distance to the reflection point, C is the propagation velocity of the sound wave in the soft tissue of the human body (about l Om / s). Therefore, it can be determined that: L = T / (2 xC). The brightness of the corresponding point on the acoustic image is proportional to the amplitude value of the echo signal. Typically, the echo signal modulates the radiance of the electron picture tube in a manner similar to the logarithmic transformation.

See Figure 1 ~ Figure 3, which is the three directions of the simplest appearance of the linear array probe, including three planes: ΧΥ, ΥΖ and ΖΧ. An ultrasonic probe that can perform electronic scanning includes a multi-element electroacoustic transducer (EAT) having a grid structure. Each of the array elements 101 of the probe 100 is composed of a narrow strip of piezoelectric material with two electrodes 102, 103. Usually one of these electrodes is shared, Such as 103. These array elements 101 are located on the surface of the relatively ultrasonically transparent film material, and the propagation speed of the ultrasonic waves in this material is less than that in the human body (about 1540 m / s). On the other side of the EAT film material is a raised cylindrical shape 104. This portion is in contact with the soft tissue of the human body. This film acts as a small-aperture cylindrical acoustic convex mirror that focuses the acoustic emission onto the XY plane. If the electronic pulse reaches all of the elements of the electroacoustic transducer at the same time, the probe 100 will excite the cylindrical focus pulse. Since a small aperture lens is used in the probe 100, the length of the cylindrical focus area can be compared to the lens focus length.

Referring to Figure 4, in order to focus the ultrasonic pulse at a point on the XY plane, a method of delaying the transmission and reception signals can be used. In order for the F-point to become the focus of the probe 100 when the acoustic pulse is transmitted, it is necessary that the pulses excited from all the elements of the piezoelectric transducer can reach this point simultaneously. Therefore, for the probe 100 or 100, the array elements farther away from the focus (for example: ^/^ or 17 /τ _Ν , ) should emit pulses earlier than the nearest array elements (for example: τυ τ ₂ , /Τ _Μ ' ) . To achieve this, an electronic delay line can be used to delay the time that the excited electron pulse reaches the array element for a certain time interval. During the reception of the echo signal, the electronic signals of the individual elements of the piezoelectric transducer are first delayed and then summed. In this case, the selection principle of the delay amount is that the signal reflected at the focus F can be simultaneously reached at the entrance of the adder 202.

The focusing method of the present invention works in virtually the same way as a conventional acoustic convex mirror, and is therefore also referred to as an electronic convex mirror. Due to the fluctuating nature of the ultrasonic radiation, the focus of the electron convex mirror is not a point, but like a spotlight beam, its diameter increases as the focus moves away. The transverse structure of the ultrasonic beam is similar to that of a conventional convex mirror, that is, the beam has a maximum at the center (main lobe) and a series of submaximum values (side lobes) on both sides. These side lobes seriously affect acoustics. The quality of the image. Similar to the case of a conventional convex mirror, the value of the side lobes can be attenuated by apodization. Specifically, it is implemented by multiplying the signals of the respective array elements by corresponding coefficients. An important advantage of an electronic convex mirror is that the basic parameters can be changed easily and quickly without any mechanical movement of the probe element. The electronic convex mirror can change the emission direction of the detection pulse and the focus area of the probe during the real-time operation of the instrument. In addition, with the detection signal pulse to the human body The depth of the measurement area propagates, and accordingly the echo source area is far from the probe. The parameters of the convex mirror (focus position, aperture and apodization) can be changed in real time during echo signal reception. The method of adjusting parameters in real time during the receiving process is called dynamic focus, dynamic aperture and dynamic apodization.

Referring to Figure 5, an existing ultrasound scanner typically includes five basic modules: a transmitter 301, a receiver 302, a control unit 303, a user interface unit 304, and a probe electronic multiplexer 305. In addition to the electronic hardware, the scanner also includes a probe 100 (typically 1-6 probes).

The probe electronic multiplexer 305 ensures that different probes switch between the transmit circuit output and the receive circuit input. Transmitter 301 is a unit that excites electronic detection pulses that pass through to the respective probe array elements and form an ultrasonic probe pulse. Receiver 302 ensures amplification, discretization, digital filtering of the weak echo signals arriving from probe 100, and other processing required to form a focused beam in the receiving system. Control unit 303 forms a set of signals for controlling all other modules to operate in accordance with a prescribed procedure. The user interface unit 304 is for displaying the acoustic image on the screen of the monitor while receiving input from the control panel, the control unit 303 interpreting the instructions and converting them into control signals.

The probe electronic multiplexer 305 includes a set of electronic switches with control circuitry. The array element currently using the probe is coupled to the output of the transmitter 301 and the input of the receiver 302 by a control signal from the control unit 303. Transmitter 301 includes a multi-channel programmable digital pulse synthesizer having an output coupled to the control terminal of the output high voltage amplifier (one amplifier per array element) and an output formed at the output of transmitter 301. The pulse synthesizer includes a set of identical probe pulse forming units, one for each array element. The same number of digital-to-analog converters as the channel have their inputs connected to the output of the sense pulse forming unit, and the output of the digital-to-analog converter forms the output of the synthesizer. The enable input of the probe pulse forming unit is coupled to the universal input of the pulse synthesizer and forms the input of the transmitter 301. The transmitter 301 operates as follows: When the pulse wave reaches the start input of the probe pulse forming unit, the digital signal formed is amplified by the high voltage amplifier and finally reaches the output of the transmitter 301.

Receiver 302 includes a set of low noise variable gain amplifiers, the same number of analog to digital converters And a dedicated processor. The input of the low noise amplifier forms the input of the receiver 302, the output of which is connected to the input of the analog to digital converter. The output of the analog-to-digital converter is coupled to the data input of the dedicated processor, and the data output of the processor forms the output of the receiver. Receiver 302 operates in the following manner: The analog signal entering from the input of receiver 30 ² is amplified by a low noise amplifier, discretized by an analog to digital converter, and placed in the memory of the dedicated processor. The dedicated processor extracts data from the memory with a certain time delay, multiplies it by an apodization function, and adds the focus signal of the electron lens in this form. Further, the dedicated processor digitally filters, digitally detects the signal and then transmits the data to the output of the receiver 302.

Control unit 303 is a digital circuit that generates a clock synchronization signal for controlling other units of the device. It periodically transmits a signal that activates the transmitter 301, a signal that allows recording of the receiver 302 echo, and a signal that is ready for the user interface unit 304 data.

• User interface unit 304 includes data post-processing nodes, information display devices that are sequentially connected; and a control panel with buttons and indicators. The input of the data post-processing node forms the input of the data unit, while the input/output of the control panel 303 forms the input/output of the data control unit 304. User interface unit 304 operates in the following form: The data post-processing node converts the output digital signal of receiver 302 into a two-dimensional grayscale image, displayed on a rectangular grating plane. The process of this transformation consists of at least two parts: First, the input signal is nonlinearly transformed point by point according to the law of logarithm or near logarithm (commonly referred to as Y-transformation). The purpose of this conversion is to shift the dynamic range of the wide echo signal to the dynamic range that the monitor can display. After that, the digital signal formed corresponding to the sectoral ultrasound scan will be converted into a rectangular plane raster display (ie, digital scan conversion). After post processing, the image is displayed on the display. In addition to this, the user operation interface unit 304 transfers the status information of the control panel to the control unit ³ 0 ³ and turns the indicator light on or off according to a command arriving from the control panel. Closest in U.S. Patent No. ^5,685,308 describes a device in the present invention.

In summary: The existing medical ultrasonic diagnostic equipment has the following disadvantages:

1. Both have a control unit integrated with the detection device, since the control unit is only described The design of medical ultrasound diagnostic equipment is usually dedicated and fixed; therefore, the number of probes that can be connected is also fixed.

2. When the connected probe changes, the delay parameters of the transmitter and receiver should also be changed accordingly; while the parameters of the transmitter, receiver and other parameters of the existing detection device are fixed and cannot be changed; Transmitter, receiver - corresponding to a fixed multi-circuit, the probe can not adapt once it changes.

3. The data interface of the existing ultrasonic testing equipment is usually designed in parallel. Therefore, when the probe is added, the corresponding circuit is greatly changed, and the flexible configuration of the probe cannot be realized. Summary of the invention

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the present invention is to provide a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is controlled by a computer as its main control unit through a standard interface of a computer and an ultrasonic detecting device to realize high performance calculation and convenient parameter configuration.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which parameters of a transmitter, a receiver, and the like can be flexibly set or changed, and adapted to accommodate any change in probe replacement.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which the data interface is serially designed to realize flexible configuration of the probe.

The object of the invention is achieved in this way:

In order to achieve the object of the present invention, the medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention is composed of at least a computer as a main control unit and an ultrasonic detecting device; the computer is connected and interacted with the ultrasonic detecting device through its standard interface, and the computer passes Its standard interface transmits control signals to the ultrasonic detecting device and exchanges data for high performance calculation and convenient parameter configuration.

Specifically, the ultrasonic detecting device further includes at least a controller, a transmitter, a receiver, and a probe; the local interface of the ultrasonic detecting device is respectively connected to the transmitter, the receiver, and the controller through a bus connection, and is used for controlling the computer. Signal transmission to the transmitter, receiver and control And causing the computer to perform number interaction with the transmitter, the receiver, and the controller; the probe is connected between the transmitter and the receiver, and receives the ultrasonic probe signal transmitted by the transmitter, and receives the detected object The probe returns a signal and transmits the probe return signal to the receiver.

The above transmitter is composed of an excitation pulse generator, a transmission data memory and a high voltage amplifier, wherein the excitation pulse generator is connected to the local interface through the bus, receives the control signal from the computer, and simultaneously takes out the storage delay from the transmission data memory. The parameter controls the low-voltage transmitting pulse signal; the high-voltage amplifier receives the low-voltage transmitting pulse signal generated by the excitation pulse generator, amplifies it, and transmits it to the probe.

The receiver is composed of a preamplifier, a multi-channel analog switch, a variable gain amplifier, an analog-to-digital converter, and a data interface;

The preamplifier receives the return detection signal of the probe and amplifies it to a multi-channel analog switch. The multi-channel analog switch outputs the signal to the variable gain amplifier for further amplification, and performs attenuation compensation, and then transmits it to the analog-to-digital converter. Performing analog-to-digital conversion; the digital signal subjected to analog-to-digital conversion is received and saved by the data interface;

The data interface is connected to the local interface through a bus, and the computer accesses and controls the data interface through the local interface.

When there are more than one data interface, they are connected by serial connection, that is, the digital output signal of the pre-stage data interface is connected to the digital signal input end of the current level, and the digital output of the current stage is connected to the lower level. Digital signal input, and so on until the last level. As a result of such a connection, the number of probes and receivers of the present invention can be arbitrarily expanded without being worried.

A receive data memory is provided on the data interface for storing time delay parameters of the received data. When receiving the signal from the probe, the receiver obtains the time delay parameter from the data memory to delay the corresponding signal. At the same time, the above computer can also set and/or modify the data in the data memory through the data interface.

The above controller is a synchronous controller, which is connected through a bus and a local interface for receiving The control signal of the computer, and under the action of the control signal, generates a synchronous control signal to control the clock and synchronization of the transmitter and the receiver, respectively. The synchronization controller is also connected to a synchronous data memory for storing synchronization control parameters. At the same time, the above computer can also set and/or modify the data in the synchronous data storage by the controller.

The invention is implemented by a computer as its main control unit, and is connected with an ultrasonic detecting device through a standard interface of the computer, thereby realizing high performance calculation and convenient parameter configuration. The transmitter, the receiver and the like of the present invention are respectively provided with corresponding data memories for storing their setting parameters. Once the parameters need to be changed, the corresponding settings can be made by the computer, and the setting or changing of the parameters is more flexible, and , adapted to any changes in the probe. The data interface of the present invention adopts a serial design, and the increase in the number of probes does not cause a change in the entire device, thereby realizing flexible configuration of the probe. DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a linear probe barrel diagram of an electroacoustic transducer array on a ZX plane;

Figure 2 is a simplified diagram of a linear probe of an electroacoustic transducer array on a YX plane;

Figure 3 is a linear probe barrel diagram of an electroacoustic transducer array on the YZ plane;

Figure 4 is the simplest functional diagram of the test pulse transmitting and receiving ultrasonic beam electronic focusing; Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram of the existing product;

Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram of a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention;

7 is a schematic diagram of a circuit principle of a detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 8 is a circuit schematic diagram of a high voltage pulse amplifier in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. detailed description

The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the present invention is composed of a computer 400 and an ultrasonic detecting device 500. The computer 400 and the ultrasonic detecting device pass through a PCI interface (Per i phera l Component Interconnec ti on, peripheral component expansion interface) 600 connection communication, to achieve excitation pulse The field programmable gate array (FPGA) device such as the data processor CTRL1, the data memory RM1 ... RM (K), the data processor RS, and the like, and loads the data stored in each.

After receiving the work instruction issued by the computer 406 through the PCI interface 407, the data processor RS automatically completes the work of the excitation pulse generator PCTRL, the data interface unit RBI... RB (K), and the multi-channel analog switch array IPS circuit. State control. The data interface unit RBI-RB(K) is composed of an FPGA, and all time delay control data of the received data are stored in the data memories RM1...RM(K), respectively. The excitation pulse generator PCTRL generates the front end of the excitation probe. The low-voltage pulse is amplified by high-voltage amplification HA1-HA(N), and the excitation element array elements El-E(N) (the number of array elements is N).

Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a high-voltage pulse amplifier. The high-voltage amplifier consists of a P-type MOS transistor VT1 and an N-type MOS transistor VT2. Their drains are connected as high-voltage outputs, P-type MOS transistors VT1 and N-type MOS transistors VT2. The sources are connected to positive and negative high voltage power supplies, and their gates are connected to the pulse excitation generator PCTRL through capacitors C1 and C2, respectively. The array elements of the high-voltage generator circuit and the probe are - corresponding, but when a certain scan line of the image is formed, only some of the relevant excitation circuits participate in the work, and the remaining circuits are in an idle state, which is easily changed by a programming method. The number of incentive circuits involved in the work.

The ultrasonic echo signal reflected by the human body induces a weak electric signal on the array element El-E(N), which is transmitted to the preamplifier PA1...PA(N) for preamplification. The number of preamplifiers and the number of probe elements are also—correspondingly. Not all echo signals are necessary when forming a certain scan line of the image. Generally, the nearest scan line is selected. The echo signal is used to synthesize the signal of a certain scanning line. We can simply understand that the number of channels of the echo signal used to form a scanning line is the number of receiving channels. (Set the number of channels to M) Obviously, The number of accepted channels is smaller than the number of probe arrays, and the preamplified signal is passed through the multi-channel analog switch IPS, so that the required signals are connected to the back-end circuit for further processing, and the remaining preamplifiers that are temporarily unused are disconnected, and all are completed. The transformation of the receive channel of the signal. When changing the position of the scan line, multi-way The analog switch is switched accordingly to change the access distribution of the preamplifier.

The input of the variable gain amplifier VA1...VA (M) is the output of the multi-channel analog switch, which further amplifies the signal and compensates for the attenuation of the ultrasonic wave as a function of depth. The amplified analog signal is then digitally converted by an analog-to-digital converter ADC1...ADC (M). The converted digital signal enters the data interface unit RB1...RBU) for serial addition of a certain delay law, and the delay amount of the added data is controlled by the data stored by the data memory leg 1...RM(K) The control data in the data memory RM1 ... RMU) can be loaded by the computer 406, and the data interface units RB1 ... RB (K) are serially coupled, and the data is added. The last added data enters the data processor RS, completes post-processing of the received data, and is stored in the data memory RMS. After the scanning of one frame of image is completed, a ready response is generated by the data processor RS to the PCI interface 407, and the computer receives the image data through the PCI interface 407, and further processes the obtained data, and then displays.

The computer 406 performs data loading on the excitation pulse generator (PCTRL) 501, the data memory RB1 ... RB (K), and the data processor RS circuit through the interface circuit, and the computer 406 does not process during the transmission and data reception of the formed image. Participating, and the data processor RS completes the control of the excitation pulse generator (PCTRL) 501, the data memory RB1 ... RB (K), and the data processor RS first sends a start pulse to the excitation pulse generator (PCTRL) 501 circuit. The excitation pulse generator (PCTRL) 501 automatically generates an excitation pulse, and the correlation element emits only a single or several excitation pulses for one scan line instead of continuously operating. After the completion of the transmission of all the relevant array elements, the data processor RS issues a start pulse to the data memories RB1...RB (K), and the receiving circuit starts receiving the echo signals. After receiving a scan line, the data processor RS repeats the above control, and the transmit and receive circuits automatically change the parameters used for the next scan line according to the configuration. After all the scan lines have been received, one frame of image data is obtained, and the data processor RS sends a work end signal to the computer 400 through the interface, requesting the computer 400 to read the data. When the computer 400 reads the data, it writes an instruction to continue processing to the data processor RS, and the data processor RS issues a reset signal to the excitation pulse generator PCTRL, the data memory RBI... RB (K), causing them to return From the beginning state, then to the excitation pulse generator PCTRL, data memory RBI... RB (K) The work signal is output, and new image data is reformed. At this time, the computer 400 further processes the read data to form a visible image, and waits for the signal of the end of the work issued by the data processor RS. The present invention has been described in detail with reference to the various embodiments described above, but those skilled in the art will understand that the invention may be modified or equivalently substituted; The technical solutions and improvements thereof that are within the spirit and scope of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

Rights request

A medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, characterized in that it is at least composed of a computer and an ultrasonic detecting device; the ultrasonic detecting device is provided with a local interface for connecting and interacting with a computer, and the computer passes through its standard interface The ultrasonic detecting device transmits a control signal and performs data exchange.

2. The medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the ultrasonic detecting device further comprises at least a controller, a transmitter, a receiver and a probe; and the local interface of the ultrasonic detecting device is respectively connected through a bus a transmitter, a receiver, a controller connection, configured to transmit a control signal of the computer to the transmitter, the receiver, and the controller, and cause the computer to perform data interaction with the transmitter, the receiver, and the controller; The probe is connected between the transmitter and the receiver, receives the ultrasonic detection signal transmitted by the transmitter, and receives the detection return signal from the detected object and transmits the detection return signal to the receiver.

3. The medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: the transmitter is composed of an excitation pulse generator, a transmission data memory, and a high voltage amplifier, wherein the excitation pulse generator is connected to the local interface through the bus. Receiving a control signal from the computer, and simultaneously taking out the stored delay parameter from the transmit data memory to control the low-voltage transmit pulse signal; the high-voltage amplifier receives the low-voltage transmit pulse signal generated by the excitation pulse generator, and amplifies it, and then transmits it to Probe.

4. The medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: the high voltage amplifier in the transmitter is composed of a P-type high voltage MOS transistor and an N-type high voltage MOS transistor, and their drains are connected as an output terminal, P type The source of the MOS transistor is connected to a positive high voltage. The source of the N-type MOS transistor is connected to a negative high voltage, and their gates are respectively capacitively coupled to an excitation pulse generator that controls their switching.

5. The medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: said receiver comprises a preamplifier, a plurality of analog switches, a variable gain amplifier, an analog to digital converter, and Data interface composition;

The medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: when the data interfaces are more than one, they are connected to each other by a serial connection, that is, the data interface of the pre-stage The digital output signal is connected to the digital signal input of this stage, the digital output of this stage is connected to the digital signal input of the lower stage, and so on until the last stage.

The medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the data interface is provided with a receiving data memory for storing a time delay parameter of the received data.

8. The medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: said controller is a synchronous controller, which is connected to a local interface via a bus, and is configured to receive a control signal of the computer, and at the control signal The synchronous control signal is generated to control the clock and synchronization of the transmitter and the receiver, respectively.

9. The medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein: the synchronization controller is further connected with a synchronous data memory for storing synchronization control parameters.