Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus

Claim 2

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: an ultrasonic transducer (10) for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a body to be examined; and control means (26,28,30) for automatically determining the optimum image conditions on the basis of echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10) based on the received ultrasonic waves.

Claim 3

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 1, wherein said control means (26,28,30) for automatically determining the optimum image conditions comprises: histogram forming means (34,104,206,304) for forming histogram information on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10), in which a histogram represented by the histogram information being formed by taking brightness values of an image to be displayed on an abscissa as gradations and taking the numbers of pixels having the respective corresponding brightness values on an ordinate as frequencies; and echo signal control means (38,110,232,338) for comparing a value obtained on the basis of the histogram information with a predetermined reference value corresponding to an optimum image and for controlling the echo signals so as to eliminate the difference between the compared value and the reference value.

Claim 4

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 1, further comprises: echo signal amplifying means (12) for amplifying the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); wherein said control means for automatically determining the optimum image conditions comprises echo signal amplification factor control means (26) for automatically controlling an amplification factor of said echo signal amplifying means (12) on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10).

Claim 5

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 3, wherein said echo signal amplification factor control means (26) comprises: histogram forming means (34,104) for forming histogram information on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10), in which a histogram represented by the histogram information being formed by taking brightness values of an image to be displayed on an abscissa as gradations and taking the numbers of pixels having the respective corresponding brightness values on an ordinate as frequencies; compared value detecting means (36,108) for detecting a compared value on the basis of the histogram information; and amplification factor determining means (38,110) for comparing the compared value obtained by said compared value detecting means (36,108) with a predetermined reference value and for determining the echo signal amplification factor so as to eliminate the difference between the compared value and the reference value, wherein the echo signals being amplified by said echo signal amplifying means (12) on the basis of the determined echo signal amplification factor.

Claim 6

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 4, wherein said compared value detecting means comprises means (36) for detecting a brightness value of gradations to which a median value of the histogram related to the histogram information belongs on the basis of the histogram information.

Claim 7

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 4, wherein said compared value detecting means comprises means (108) for detecting a brightness value of gradations to which a peak value of the histogram related to the histogram information belongs on the basis of the histogram information.

Claim 8

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 4, wherein said echo signal amplification factor control means (26) further comprises means (31,100) for determining a reference area from which the echo signals are extracted to form the histogram information.

Claim 9

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 7, wherein said compared value detecting means comprises means (108) for detecting a brightness value of gradations to which a peak value of the histogram belongs on the basis of the histogram information.

Claim 10

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 4, wherein said echo signal amplification factor control means (26) comprises means (106) for smoothing the formed histogram information.

Claim 11

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 9, wherein said compared value detecting means comprises means (108) for detecting a brightness value of gradations to which a peak value of the histogram belongs on the basis of the smoothed histogram information.

Claim 12

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 10, wherein the formation of the histogram information, the smoothing of the histogram information, the detection of the brightness value of gradations to which the peak value of the histogram belongs, and the comparison of the brightness value of gradations to which the peak value of the histogram belongs with the reference value are all executed in pipe-line processing.

Claim 13

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 1, further comprises: individual echo signal amplifying means (14) for amplifying an echo signal individually for each visual field depth on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); wherein said control means for automatically determining the optimum image conditions comprises individual echo signal amplification factor control means (28) for automatically controlling amplification factors of said individual echo signal amplifying means (14) for the respective visual field depths in an ultrasonic beam direction on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10).

Claim 14

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 12, wherein said individual echo signal amplification factor control means (28) comprises: means (202) for extracting a plurality of reference areas including the echo signals at the respective visual field depths in the ultrasonic beam direction on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); histogram forming means (26) for forming histogram information on the basis of the echo signal in each of the extracted reference areas, in which a histogram represented by the histogram information being formed by taking brightness values of an image to be displayed on an abscissa as gradations and taking the numbers of pixels having the respective corresponding brightness values on an ordinate as frequencies; compared value detecting means (218) for detecting compared values on the basis of the histogram information; and amplification factor determining means (232) for comparing each of the compared values obtained by said compared value detecting means (218) with a predetermined reference value and for determining the echo signal amplification factors so as to eliminate the respective differences between each of the compared values and the reference value, respectively, wherein the echo signals for the respective visual field depths being amplified by said individual echo signal amplifying means (14) on the basis of the determined echo signal amplification factors, respectively.

Claim 15

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 13, wherein said compared value detecting means comprises means (218) for obtaining a brightness value of gradations to which a peak value of the histogram belongs on the basis of the histogram information of each reference area.

Claim 16

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 13, wherein said echo signal amplification factor control means (28) comprises means (216) for smoothing the formed histogram information.

Claim 17

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 15, wherein said compared value detecting means comprises means (218) for detecting a brightness value of gradations to which a peak value of the histogram belongs on the basis of the smoothed histogram information.

Claim 18

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 16, wherein the formation of the histogram information, the smoothing of the histogram information, the detection of the brightness value of gradations to which the peak value of the histogram belongs, and the comparison of the brightness value of gradations to which the peak value of the histogram belongs with the reference value are all executed in pipe-line processing.

Claim 19

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 1, further comprises: contrast adjusting means (18) for adjusting contrast level of an image to be displayed on the basis of the echo signal obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); wherein said control means for automatically determining the optimum image conditions comprises contrast control means for automatically controlling the contrast level adjusted by said contrast adjusting means (18) on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10).

Claim 20

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 17, wherein said contrast control means (30) comprises: histogram forming means (304) for forming histogram information on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10), in which a histogram represented by the histogram information being formed by taking brightness values of an image to be displayed on an abscissa as gradations and taking the numbers of pixels having the respective corresponding brightness values on an ordinate as frequencies; compared value detecting means (316) for detecting a compared value on the basis of the histogram information; and contrast level determining means (338) for comparing the compared value obtained by said compared value detecting means (316) with a predetermined reference value and for determining the contrast adjustment level so as to eliminate the difference between the compared value and the reference value, wherein the contrast level being adjusted by amplifying the echo signals through said contrast adjusting means (18) on the basis of the determined contrast adjustment level.

Claim 21

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 18, wherein said compared value detecting means comprises means (316) for detecting a predetermined width value at a constant height of a histogram formed from the histogram information.

Claim 22

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 20, wherein said contrast control means (30) further comprises means (301) for determining a reference area from which the echo signals are extracted to form the histogram information.

Claim 23

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 18, wherein said contrast control means (30) comprises means (314) for smoothing the formed histogram information.

Claim 24

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 20, wherein said compared value detecting means comprises means (316) for detecting a predetermined width at a constant height of the histogram on the basis of the smoothed histogram information.

Claim 25

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 23, wherein the formation of the histogram information, the smoothing of the histogram information, the detection of the predetermined width value at the constant height of the histogram, and the comparison of the width value with the reference value are all executed in pipe-line processing.

Claim 26

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: an ultrasonic transducer (10) for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a body to be examined; echo signal amplifying means (12) for amplifying echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10) based on the received ultrasonic waves; echo signal amplification factor control means (26) for automatically controlling amplification factor of said echo signal amplifying means (12) on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); individual echo signal amplifying means (14) for amplifying an echo signal individually for each visual field depth on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); individual echo signal amplification factor control means (28) for automatically controlling the amplification factors of said individual echo signal amplifying means (14) for the respective visual field depths in an ultrasonic beam direction on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); contrast adjusting means (18) for adjusting contrast level of image displayed on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); and contrast control means (30) for automatically controlling the contrast level adjusted by said contrast adjusting means (18) on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10).

Claim 27

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: an ultrasonic transducer (10) for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a body to be examined; echo signal amplifying means (12) for amplifying echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10) based on the received ultrasonic waves; echo signal amplification factor control means (26) for automatically controlling amplification factor of said echo signal amplifying means (12) on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); individual echo signal amplifying means (14) for amplifying an echo signal individually for each visual field depth on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); individual echo signal amplification factor control means (28) for automatically controlling the amplification factors of said individual echo signal amplifying means (14) for the respective visual field depths in an ultrasonic beam direction on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); contrast adjusting means (18) for adjusting contrast level of image displayed on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); and contrast control means (30) for automatically controlling the contrast level adjusted by said contrast adjusting means (18) on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10).

Claim 28

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 25, wherein: said echo signal amplification factor control means (26) comprises: histogram forming means (34,104) for forming histogram information on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10), in which a histogram based on the histogram information being formed by taking brightness values of an image to be displayed on an abscissa as gradations and taking the numbers of pixels having the respective corresponding brightness values on an ordinate as frequencies; compared value detecting means (36,108) for detecting a compared value on the basis of the histogram information; and amplification factor determining means (38,110) for comparing the compared value obtained by said compared value detecting means (36,108) with a predetermined reference value and for determining the echo signal amplification factor so as to eliminate a difference between the compared value and the reference value, wherein the echo signal being amplified by said echo signal amplifying means (12) on the basis of the determined echo signal amplification factor; said individual echo signal amplification factor control means (28) comprises: means (202) for extracting a plurality of reference areas including the echo signals at the respective visual field depths in the ultrasonic beam direction on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10); histogram forming means (206) for forming histogram information on the basis of the echo signal in the extracted reference areas, in which a histogram based on the histogram information being formed by taking brightness values of an image to be displayed on an abscissa as gradations and taking the numbers of pixels having the respective corresponding brightness values on an ordinate as frequencies; compared value detecting means (218) for detecting compared values on the basis of the histogram information; and amplification factor determining means (232) for comparing the compared values obtained by said compared value detecting means (218) with predetermined reference values and for determining the echo signal amplification factors so as to eliminate the differences between each of the compared values and the reference value, respectively, wherein the echo signals for the respective visual field depths being amplified by said individual echo signal amplifying means (14) on the basis of the determined echo signal amplification factors; and said contrast control means (30) comprises: histogram forming means (304) for forming histogram information on the basis of the echo signals obtained by said ultrasonic transducer (10), in which a histogram based on the histogram information being formed by taking brightness values of image to be displayed on an abscissa as gradations and taking the numbers of pixels having the respective corresponding brightness values on an ordinate as frequencies; compared value detecting means (316) for detecting a compared value on the basis of the histogram information; and contrast level determining means (338) for comparing the compared value obtained by said compared value detecting means (316) with a predetermined reference value and for determining the contrast adjustment level so as to eliminate the difference between the compared value and the reference value, wherein the contrast level being adjusted by amplifying the echo signals through said contrast adjusting means (18) on the basis of the determined contrast adjustment level.

Claim 31

The method of diagnosing a living body by ultrasonic waves of claim 27, wherein the index value of the formed histogram is a brightness value of gradations to which a median value of the formed histogram belongs.

Claim 32

The method of diagnosing a living body by ultrasonic waves of claim 27, wherein the index value of the formed histogram is a brightness value of gradations to which a peak value of the formed histogram belongs.

Claim 33

The method of diagnosing a living body by ultrasonic waves of claim 27, further comprises a step of adjusting image contrast level of the amplified echo signals, and wherein the index value of the formed histogram is a histogram width at a predetermined histogram height of the histogram, the ultrasonic image being displayed on the basis of the echo signals whose contrast level is adjusted at the determined contrast level amplification factor under the optimum contrast condition.

Claim 34

The method of diagnosing a living body by ultrasonic waves of claim 27, wherein the steps of amplifying the echo signals, producing histogram information, detecting an index value, comparing the detected index value with a reference index value, and determining the echo signal amplification factor are all implemented for each data extracted from a plurality of visual field depths in a tomographic ultrasonic image, respectively.

Claim 35

The method of diagnosing a living body by an ultrasonic wave of claim 27, which further comprises a step of smoothing the formed histogram.

Claim 36

The method of diagnosing a living body by ultrasonic waves of claim 27, wherein the steps of producing histogram information, detecting an index value, comparing the detected index value with a reference value, and determining the echo signal amplification factor are all executed in pipe-line processing.