Medical processing apparatus, medical processing method, and medical processing program

Abstract

To provide a medical processing apparatus capable of displaying analysis results related to multiple parts of the heart in a desired layout, with a simple operation.SOLUTION: A medical processing apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment includes an attendant part and a display control unit. The attendant part attaches attendant information including information on the type of multiple parts in the heart that is obtained by the analysis of medical data to the analysis result of each of the parts. The display control unit determines a display position of the analysis result of each of the multiple parts on the basis of the attendant information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a medical treatment device, a medical treatment method, and a medical treatment program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has a function of analyzing local wall motion for a single cardiac chamber and displaying the analysis result. Conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses do not have a function of analyzing local wall motion for each of a plurality of cardiac chambers and uniformly displaying the analysis results thereof.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] An object is to provide a medical treatment device, a medical treatment method, and a medical treatment program that can display analysis results regarding a plurality of sites in the heart in a desired layout with a simple operation.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The medical treatment device according to the present embodiment includes an attached part and a display control part. The attached part attaches attached information including information regarding the type of site to the analysis result of each of a plurality of sites in the heart obtained by analyzing medical data. The display control part determines the display position of the analysis result of each of the plurality of sites based on the attached information.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0006]

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Hereinafter, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having substantially the same configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be made only when necessary.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 includes an ultrasonic probe 11, an input interface circuit (input unit) 13, a display (display unit) 15, an electrocardiograph 17, and an apparatus main body 19.

[0009] The ultrasonic probe 11 includes a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators, a matching layer provided on the ultrasonic radiation surface side of the piezoelectric vibrators, a backing material provided on the back side of the piezoelectric vibrators, and the like. Each of the plurality of piezoelectric vibrators generates ultrasonic waves in response to a drive signal supplied from a transmission / reception circuit 23 described later. The ultrasonic probe 11 is, for example, a two-dimensional array probe in which a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators are arranged along azimuth and elevation directions orthogonal to each other. The two-dimensional array probe is, for example, a two-dimensional sector probe. Note that the ultrasonic probe 11 is not limited to a two-dimensional array probe capable of three-dimensional scanning, and may be a mechanical four-dimensional probe. Further, when the ultrasonic probe 11 is a one-dimensional array probe capable of two-dimensional scanning, a three-dimensional echo signal is acquired by an operation of an operator who swings the ultrasonic probe 11 in the elevation direction.

[0010] The input interface circuit 13 takes in various instructions, commands, information, selections, and settings from the operator into the present ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1. The input interface circuit 13 is realized by a trackball, a switch button, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch pad that performs an input operation by touching an operation surface, a touch panel display in which a display screen and the touch pad are integrated, and the like. The input interface circuit 13 converts an input operation received from the operator into an electrical signal. Note that in this specification, the input interface circuit 13 is not limited to those provided with physical operation components such as a mouse and a keyboard. For example, an electrical signal processing circuit that receives an electrical signal corresponding to an input operation from an external input device provided separately from the present ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and outputs the received electrical signal to the apparatus main body 19 is also included in the example of the input interface circuit 13.

[0011] The display 15 displays various images generated by an image generation circuit 29 and the like, which will be described later. The display 15 has a display circuit for realizing the display of various images. Further, the display 15 displays a graphical user interface (GUI) for an operator to input various setting requests. Note that a plurality of displays may be connected to the apparatus main body 19 of the present ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1.

[0012] The electrocardiograph 17 is connected to the apparatus main body 19 via a communication interface circuit 31. The electrocardiograph 17 acquires an electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform of the subject P as a biological signal of the subject P to be ultrasonically scanned. The electrocardiograph 17 outputs the acquired electrocardiogram waveform to the apparatus main body 19.

[0013] The apparatus main body 19 includes a transmission / reception circuit (transmission / reception unit) 23, a B-mode data generation circuit (B-mode data generation unit) 25, a Doppler data generation circuit (Doppler data generation unit) 27, an image generation circuit (image generation unit) 29, a communication interface circuit 31, a storage circuit (storage unit) 33, a control circuit (control unit) 35, and a processing circuit (processing unit) 37.

[0014] The transmission / reception circuit 23 includes a pulse generator, a transmission delay circuit, and a pulsar circuit, and supplies a drive signal to each of a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators in the ultrasonic probe 11. The pulse generator repeatedly generates rate pulses for forming transmission ultrasonic waves at a predetermined rate frequency fr Hz (period: 1 / fr seconds). The transmission delay circuit applies a delay time necessary for converging the transmission ultrasonic waves into a beam shape and determining the transmission directivity to each rate pulse. The pulsar circuit applies a voltage pulse as a drive signal to each piezoelectric vibrator of the ultrasonic probe 11 at a timing based on the rate pulse. Thereby, the ultrasonic beam is transmitted to the subject P.

[0015] The transmission / reception circuit 23 further includes a preamplifier, an analog-to-digital (hereinafter referred to as A / D) converter, a reception delay circuit, and an adder. The transmission / reception circuit 23 generates a reception signal based on the reception echo signals generated by each piezoelectric vibrator. The preamplifier amplifies the echo signals from the subject P captured via the ultrasonic probe 11 for each channel. The A / D converter converts the amplified reception echo signals into digital signals. The reception delay circuit gives the reception echo signals converted into digital signals a delay time necessary to determine the reception directivity. The adder adds a plurality of echo signals given the delay time. By this addition, the transmission / reception circuit 23 generates a reception signal that emphasizes the reflection component from the direction corresponding to the reception directivity. The overall directivity of ultrasonic transmission and reception is determined by this transmission directivity and reception directivity. This overall directivity determines the ultrasonic beam (so-called "ultrasonic scanning line").

[0016] Note that the transmission / reception circuit 23 may scan a plurality of sites with ultrasonic waves in accordance with, for example, a scan order set for each of a plurality of sites in the heart. The plurality of sites are, for example, various heart cavities such as the left ventricle, left atrium, right ventricle, and right atrium, and various valves such as the Mitral Valve (MV), Aortic Valve (AV), Tricuspid Valve (TV), and Pulmonary Valve (PV). Hereinafter, for simplicity of explanation, the site will be described as a heart cavity. The scan order is, for example, an order in which scanning is performed in the order of the left ventricle, left atrium, right ventricle, and right atrium, and is associated with the site. The scan order is stored in, for example, the memory circuit 33. The transmission / reception circuit 23 generates reception signals corresponding to a plurality of sites in time series.

[0017] The B-mode data generation circuit 25 has an envelope detector and a logarithmic converter, and generates B-mode data based on the received signal. The envelope detector performs envelope detection on the received signal. The logarithmic converter performs logarithmic conversion on the envelope-detected signal to relatively emphasize weak signals in the envelope-detected signal. The B-mode data generation circuit 25 generates signal values for each depth on each scan line (referred to as B-mode data) based on the signal emphasized by the logarithmic converter. The B-mode data generation circuit 25 generates volume data corresponding to three-dimensional B-mode data based on two-dimensional B-mode data obtained by two-dimensional scanning or the received signal obtained by three-dimensional scanning. Hereinafter, for ease of understanding, it is assumed that the volume data is generated by three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning for each of a plurality of heart cavities in the subject P. At this time, the generated volume data corresponds to each of the plurality of heart cavities. The plurality of heart cavities are at least two of the four cavities. The four cavities are the left atrium (LA), the left ventricle (LV), the right atrium (RA), and the right ventricle (RV). Note that the volume data may be generated by ultrasonic scanning of the four cavities of the heart in the subject P.

[0018] The Doppler data generation circuit 27 has a mixer, a low pass filter (hereinafter referred to as LPF), etc., and generates Doppler data based on the received signal. The mixer multiplies the received signal by a reference signal having the transmission ultrasonic frequency f0 to generate a signal having a component of the Doppler shift frequency fd and a signal having a frequency component of (2f0 + fd). The LPF removes the signal having a high frequency component (2f0 + fd) from the signals output from the mixer. Thereby, the Doppler data generation circuit 27 generates Doppler data having a component of the Doppler shift frequency fd in the received signal.

[0019] The image generation circuit 29 all has a digital scan converter (hereinafter referred to as DSC), an image memory, etc., which are not shown in the figure. The DSC converts the scan line signal sequence of the ultrasonic scan composed of B-mode data and Doppler data into a scan line signal sequence in the video format (scan conversion). The image generation circuit 29 synthesizes character information, memory, etc. of various parameters for the scan-converted B-mode data and Doppler data to generate ultrasonic image data. The ultrasonic image data is display data. The ultrasonic image is an example of a medical image. Also, the ultrasonic image data is an example of medical data. On the other hand, B-mode data, volume data, and Doppler data are also called raw data. The image memory stores a plurality of ultrasonic images corresponding to a series of frames immediately before the input of the freeze operation. The plurality of ultrasonic images stored in the image memory are used for cine display.

[0020] The communication interface circuit 31 is connected to an external device such as a medical image storage device via a network. The communication interface circuit 31 receives volume data, etc. of the subject P from the medical image storage device and outputs it to the storage circuit 33. The communication interface circuit 31 transfers various data output from the image generation circuit 29, the processing circuit 37, etc. to the external device.

[0021] The storage circuit 33 is composed of various memories, HDD (hard disk drive), SSD (solid state drive), magnetic disks (floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, etc.), optical disks (CD-ROM, DVD, etc.), semiconductor memories, etc. The storage circuit 33 stores programs related to ultrasonic transmission and reception, programs corresponding to various processes executed by the control circuit 35 and the processing circuit 37, etc. The storage circuit 33 stores raw data, ultrasonic image data, various data generated and processed by the processing circuit 37, the scan order, etc.

[0022] The control circuit 35 includes, for example, a processor and a memory as hardware resources. The control circuit 35 functions as the center of the present ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1. Specifically, the control circuit 35 reads out the control program stored in the storage circuit 33 and expands it in the memory, and controls various circuits of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 according to the expanded control program.

[0023] The processing circuit 37 includes, for example, a processor and a memory as hardware resources. Specifically, the processing circuit 37 reads out the program stored in the storage circuit 33 and expands it in the memory, and realizes various functions according to the expanded program.

[0024] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the image processing function 371 executes an image processing program corresponding to various image processes. Specifically, the processing circuit 37 generates a rendering image by performing a rendering process on the volume data. The rendering image is a three-dimensional image such as a surface rendering image or a volume rendering image. The processing circuit 37 generates an MPR image as a two-dimensional image by performing a cross-sectional conversion (Multi planar reconstruction: MPR) process on the volume data. When the volume data has a plurality of heart cavities, the processing circuit 37 divides the volume data into volume data for each heart cavity by a predetermined method such as threshold processing. At this time, the processing circuit 37 generates a three-dimensional image for each heart cavity based on the divided volume data. The processing circuit 37 that realizes the image processing function 371 corresponds to the image processing unit.

[0025] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the analysis function 373 acquires an analysis result by analyzing medical images (hereinafter referred to as a medical image group) along a time series for each cardiac chamber. The medical image group is, for example, a three-dimensional image of the cardiac chamber along a time series or a two-dimensional image of the cardiac chamber along a time series. Specifically, the processing circuit 37 analyzes the wall motion of each cardiac chamber by applying a predetermined wall motion analysis to the medical image group for each cardiac chamber. The predetermined wall motion analysis is, for example, two-dimensional wall motion tracking (WMT) or three-dimensional WMT, but is not limited thereto. By executing an analysis program related to the analysis function 373, the processing circuit 37 sets, as an initial contour, a plurality of constituent points indicating the contour of the endocardium of the heart wall and a plurality of constituent points indicating the contour of the epicardium of the heart wall on the medical image corresponding to a predetermined cardiac phase among the medical image group. The initial contour may be automatically set by a predetermined image process or may be set according to an instruction from an operator via the input interface circuit 13. Further, the initial contour can be appropriately adjusted according to an instruction from the operator via the input interface circuit 13. Next, the processing circuit 37 that realizes the analysis function 373 tracks the positions of the constituent points in other medical images included in the medical image group along the time series from the medical image in which the initial contour is set.

[0026] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the analysis function 373 calculates the values of various analysis parameters regarding the wall motion of the heart cavity based on the result of the above tracking. The analysis parameters are, for example, various strains such as longitudinal strain, and the time to reach a predetermined threshold value such as the increase rate of the inner wall thickness of the heart cavity (radial strain) (hereinafter referred to as the peak arrival time). The processing circuit 37 generates a segmented surface rendering image, an MPR image, a polar map, etc., in which a hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped. A segment is a divided region of the heart wall recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography and the American Heart Association. The processing circuit 37 acquires the images generated by these mappings as the analysis results of the wall motion of each heart cavity. Also, the processing circuit 37 may generate, for example, a graph showing the time change of the value of the analysis parameter in each of a plurality of segments as the analysis result. The processing circuit 37 stores the generated analysis results in the storage circuit 33. When medical data is collected in the scan order, the processing circuit 37 analyzes the medical data in the scan order to obtain the analysis results in the scan order. The processing circuit 37 that realizes the analysis function 373 corresponds to the analysis unit.

[0027] The term "processor" used in the above description means, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (graphics processing unit), or a circuit such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (for example, a simple programmable logic device (SPLD), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA)).

[0028] The processor realizes various functions by reading and executing the programs stored in the memory circuit 33. Instead of storing various programs in the memory circuit 33, the various programs may be directly incorporated into the circuit of the processor in the control circuit 35 or the processing circuit 37. In this case, the processor realizes various functions by reading and executing the various programs incorporated into the circuit.

[0029] The overall configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 in the present embodiment has been described above. When various functions in this ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus are realized by a medical treatment apparatus, the medical treatment apparatus 20 has the components within the dotted frame in FIG. 1. Under such a configuration, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 of the present embodiment are configured such that the additional function 375 and the display control function 377 described below can display the analysis result of the wall motion of the heart cavity in a desired layout with a simple operation. Hereinafter, the additional function 375 will be described, and then the display control function 377 will be described.

[0030] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the additional function 375 attaches additional information including information regarding the type of site to the analysis result of each of a plurality of sites in the heart obtained by analyzing medical data. For example, the processing circuit 37 generates additional information based on various information regarding the wall motion analysis of the heart cavity. The additional information is information indicating the attribute of the analysis result and includes information such as the information input and selected during the analysis of the wall motion. The processing circuit 37 attaches additional information including information regarding the type of heart cavity to the analysis result of each of the plurality of heart cavities obtained by analyzing the medical image. The processing circuit 37 stores the analysis result with the attached additional information in the memory circuit 33. The processing circuit 37 that realizes the additional function 375 by executing the program regarding the additional function 375 corresponds to the additional unit. When the medical data is collected according to the scanning order, the processing circuit 37 includes the scanning order in the additional information as the information of the scanning order associated with the site as the information of the type of site. At this time, the setting of the type of site becomes unnecessary.

[0031] Hereinafter, the processing related to the additional function 375 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail using a flowchart. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing related to the additional function 375. In FIG. 2, the processing corresponding to the additional function 375 is the processing of step Sa4 and step Sa5.

[0032] By transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves over a period of one or more heartbeats for each of a plurality of heart cavities, medical images along the time series are generated (step Sa1). Prior to the execution of the analysis function 373, the patient ID, the type of heart cavity, the image mode, the analysis parameter name, etc. are set. The type of heart cavity is the name of the heart cavity to be analyzed. The image mode is the type of image to which the hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped, such as a surface rendering image, an MPR image, a polar map, etc.

[0033] In the medical image of a predetermined cardiac phase among the medical images along the time series, a plurality of configuration points indicating the initial contour are set by the processing circuit 37 that realizes the analysis function 373 (step Sa2). Here, the predetermined cardiac phase is, for example, the end-diastolic phase. A plurality of configuration points are tracked over a plurality of medical images, and the values of the set analysis parameters are calculated.

[0034] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the analysis function 373 acquires the analysis result of the wall motion of the heart cavity based on the set image mode and the calculated value of the analysis parameter (step Sa3). The analysis result is acquired for each heart cavity. For example, when the analysis targets are two types of heart cavities, the first heart cavity and the second heart cavity, the analysis results acquired in step Sa3 are the first analysis result related to the first heart cavity and the second analysis result related to the second heart cavity. That is, the first analysis result is acquired by analyzing the first medical image along the time series related to the first heart cavity among the plurality of sites, and the second analysis result is acquired by analyzing the second medical image along the time series related to the second heart cavity among the plurality of sites. When medical images (volume data) along the time series having the first heart cavity and the second heart cavity are collected, the first analysis result and the second analysis result are acquired by analyzing this volume data.

[0035] Using various information related to the wall motion analysis of the heart cavity, additional information attached to each analysis result is generated (step Sa4). The additional information, as information indicating the attributes of the analysis result, includes, for example, information regarding the type of heart cavity, information regarding the cardiac phase, information regarding the collection date and time of the medical image, information regarding the phase of the stress echo in which the medical image was collected, information regarding the progress of treatment for at least one of the plurality of heart cavities, information regarding the image mode of the analysis result, and the like. For example, when the analysis target is two types of heart cavities, namely the first heart cavity and the second heart cavity, first additional information attached to the first analysis result and second additional information attached to the second analysis result are generated.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the additional information generated by the processing circuit 37. As shown in FIG. 3, the attributes included in the additional information are patient ID, type of heart cavity, collection date and time, phase of stress echo, progress of treatment, image mode, analysis parameter name, and the like. The collection date and time is the date and time when the volume data of the analysis target was collected. The phase of the stress echo is the time point when the volume data was collected during the implementation of the stress echo, for example, before stress, during stress, or after stress. The progress of treatment is, for example, information indicating before and after the treatment of the heart cavity by Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT). In the column of the type of heart cavity in FIG. 3, generally, it is the type of site.

[0037] The generated attached information is attached to the analysis result and stored in the memory circuit 33 together with the analysis result (step Sa5). For example, the processing circuit 37 that realizes the attached function 375 attaches attached information including information on the type of site to each analysis result of a plurality of sites in the heart obtained by analyzing medical data. Specifically, the processing circuit 37 attaches first attached information including information specifying the first site to the first analysis result corresponding to the first site among the plurality of sites, and attaches second attached information including information specifying the second site to the second analysis result corresponding to the second site among the plurality of sites. Various attributes of the attached information in FIG. 3 may be managed by, for example, private tags, standard tags, etc. of DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medecine). Note that the processing circuit 37 may generate a management table for uniformly managing the created attached information based on the attached information. The management table associates the attached information attached to the analysis result according to various attributes included in the attached information.

[0038] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the display control function 377 determines the display positions of the plurality of analysis results for each of the plurality of sites based on the additional information. For example, based on the first piece of additional information, the processing circuit 37 causes the first analysis result to be displayed in the first section among the plurality of sections on the screen of the display 15, and based on the second piece of additional information, causes the second analysis result to be displayed in the second section among the plurality of sections. Specifically, the processing circuit 37 determines the display position (section) of the analysis result to be displayed in the display area of the display 15 based on the type of heart chamber in the additional information and the anatomical positional relationship of the plurality of heart chambers. At this time, the display position of the analysis result corresponds to the anatomical position of the heart chamber. Note that the processing circuit 37 may further determine the display position using at least one of the order in which the analysis results are selected by the operator, the storage date of the analysis results, the storage date of the volume data, and the acquisition date and time of the volume data. Further, the processing circuit 37 may further use attributes such as before and after the load in the stress echo in the additional information, before and after treatment, etc., to determine the display position so that the analysis results at different times (phases) are displayed in parallel on the left and right of the display area. Note that the processing circuit 37 may determine the display position within the display area of each of the plurality of displays. For example, when four displays are adjacent in a grid pattern, the processing circuit 37 determines which analysis result to arrange in the display area of each display based on the additional information. Note that when the scan order is included in the additional information, the processing circuit 37 determines the display position of the analysis result according to the anatomical positional relationship of the sites based on the scan order in the additional information. At this time, the analysis results are sequentially displayed at the display positions while synchronizing the cardiac phases according to the scan order, that is, the generation order of the analysis results.

[0039] Hereinafter, the processing related to the display control function 377 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail using a flowchart. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the processing related to the display control function 377.

[0040] Upon the operator's instruction, the analysis result comparison mode is activated (step Sb1). The analysis result comparison mode is a mode in which a plurality of analysis results are displayed in the display area of the display 15 in order to compare the plurality of analysis results. In the process of step Sb1, a program corresponding to the display control function 377 is read from the storage circuit 33 and executed. At this time, the processing circuit 37 functions as a display control unit.

[0041] The layout of the analysis results in the display area of the display 15 is determined based on the attached information (step Sb2). The layout of the analysis results corresponds to a template indicating, for example, which analysis result is to be arranged at which position in the display area and in what size. As shown in FIG. 3, the attributes of the attached information related to the determination of the layout are analysis parameters related to the analysis results, image modes, time information, space information, patient information, and the like. Specifically, the processing circuit 37 uses a plurality of attributes included in the attached information for each of the plurality of analysis results to perform spatial comparison based on the anatomical positional relationship of the cardiac chambers, temporal comparison, comparison of stress echo phases, comparison before and after treatment, comparison of different image modes, comparison of different analysis parameters, etc. According to the purpose of comparing the analysis results, a plurality of layouts are determined. The plurality of layouts correspond to all combinations of analysis results useful for various comparisons of the analysis results. Note that the layout may be an arrangement of a plurality of analysis results with different collection dates and times in one cardiac chamber, an arrangement of a plurality of analysis results with different image modes in one cardiac chamber, and the like. Further, the layout may be determined using the attached information and a management table.

[0042] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the display control function 377 generates a thumbnail image (hereinafter referred to as a layout image) in which the analysis results are arranged according to the determined layout, and causes the display 15 to display the layout images in a list (step Sb3). Note that the content of the layout image is not limited to the thumbnail of the analysis result, and may be character information indicating the attributes of the analysis result. Further, instead of the layout image, the processing circuit 37 may cause the display 15 to display a user interface such as a dialog box for inputting the attributes of the analysis results related to various comparisons. At this time, the operator can input, for example, an image mode including at least one of a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image as the image modes of a plurality of analysis results.

[0043] When a layout image is selected (step Sb4), the processing circuit 37 that realizes the display control function 377 determines the layout corresponding to the selected layout image. Note that when the attributes of the analysis results related to various comparisons are input instead of the selection of the layout image, the processing circuit 37 may determine a layout that matches the input attributes from a plurality of layouts. The processing circuit 37 causes the analysis results to be displayed in the determined layout (step Sb5). The processing circuit 37 synchronously displays moving images of the analysis results of a plurality of heart chambers based on the cardiac phase in the attached information. At this time, when the image mode is a surface rendering image, the processing circuit 37 may control the display 15 to rotate the analysis results according to an instruction from the operator. Hereinafter, a display example and a layout of a plurality of analysis results in step Sb5 will be described.

[0044] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of display of analysis results (tile display) when the cardiac chamber to be analyzed has four chambers and the image mode is a surface rendering image. 5RA shown in FIG. 5 indicates a surface rendering image of the right atrium with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter of the right atrium. 5RV shown in FIG. 5 indicates a surface rendering image of the right ventricle with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter of the right ventricle. 5LA shown in FIG. 5 indicates a rendering image of the left atrium with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter of the left atrium. 5LV shown in FIG. 5 indicates a rendering image of the left ventricle with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter of the left ventricle. Curves indicating the boundaries of the segments are displayed in the four rendering images showing the analysis results. The display positions of the analysis results 5RV, 5RA, 5LV, and 5LA maintain the anatomical positional relationship. Note that the display positions of the analysis results 5RV, 5RA, 5LV, and 5LA are not limited to FIG. 5, and may be associated with, for example, the position of the ultrasonic probe. At this time, the analysis result of RV is displayed in the upper left column of the display area 5DA in FIG. 5, the analysis result of RA is displayed in the lower left column of the display area 5DA, the analysis result of LV is displayed in the upper middle column of the display area 5DA, and the analysis result of LA is displayed in the lower middle column of the display area 5DA. The analysis results 5RV, 5RA, 5LV, and 5LA are reproduced synchronously as moving images based on the cardiac phase in the attached information.

[0045] Graphs 5G1 and 5G2 in FIG. 5 show the time changes in the values of the analysis parameters for each segment. 5PT in FIG. 5 is a bar indicating the cardiac phase of the analysis results 5RV, 5RA, 5LV, and 5LA. The bar 5PT moves along the time axis of the graphs 5G1 and 5G2 and the electrocardiogram waveform 5ECG according to the cardiac phase of the analysis results in the video display of the analysis results. Also, when the bar 5PT is moved along the horizontal axis of the graph or the electrocardiogram waveform according to the operator's instruction, the analysis results 5RV, 5RA, 5LV, and 5LA are displayed as the analysis results corresponding to the position of the bar after movement based on the cardiac phase in the attached information and the cardiac phase indicated by the bar after movement.

[0046] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of display (tile display) of the analysis result when the heart cavity to be analyzed has four chambers and the image mode is a polar map. The difference between FIG. 6 and FIG. 5 lies in that the image modes are different between the three-dimensional image and the polar map. In the polar map, curves and straight lines indicating the segmentation of segments are displayed.

[0047] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the layout of the analysis result when the heart cavity to be analyzed has four chambers and the image mode is a short-axis tomogram (two-dimensional image). SAX-B shown in FIG. 7 indicates the display position of a short-axis tomogram (SAX) of the base of the heart where the hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped. Also, SAX-M shown in FIG. 7 indicates the display position of a short-axis tomogram of the mid cavity where the hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped. SAX-A shown in FIG. 7 indicates the display position of a short-axis tomogram of the apical part where the hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped. For example, the additional information described in FIG. 3(a) is attached to the analysis result of SAX-A shown in FIG. 7. In the blank region 7BK of the display area 7DA in FIG. 7, a graph showing the change over time of the value of the analysis parameter in the analysis results SAX-B, SAX-A, and SAX-M, an electrocardiogram waveform, a rendering image showing the cross-sectional position of the short-axis tomogram related to the analysis result, etc. are displayed.

[0048] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the layout of the analysis result when the heart cavity to be analyzed has four chambers and the image modes of the analysis results are a mixture of three-dimensional images and two-dimensional images. RV3D in FIG. 8 indicates the display position of a rendering image of the right ventricle where the hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped. RA2D in FIG. 8 indicates the display position of a cross-sectional image of the right atrium where the hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped. LV3D in FIG. 8 indicates the display position of a rendering image of the left ventricle where the hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped. LA2D in FIG. 8 indicates the display position of a cross-sectional image of the left atrium where the hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped.

[0049] Figures 5 to 8 are used when making a spatial comparison of the analysis results. Figures 5 to 8 are an example of the layout of the analysis results regarding the spatial comparison of the analysis results, but are not limited thereto. For example, a layout beneficial for the spatial comparison of the analysis results may be determined based on additional information, a management table, etc. according to a combination of other heart cavities, other image modes, etc. Also, the number of analysis results displayed in one display area is not limited to four.

[0050] Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of the layout of four analysis results with different collection dates and times in one heart cavity (left ventricle LV). At this time, the layout of the analysis results is determined based on the collection date and time of the medical image used for the analysis of the wall motion of the heart cavity. Figure 9 is used when making a temporal comparison of the analysis results.

[0051] Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of the layout of the analysis results for the comparison of the phases (before and after drug loading) of a stress echo in two heart cavities (left ventricle LV and left atrium LA). As shown in Figure 10, the display position of the analysis results regarding the left ventricle LV is determined at the lower part of the display area 10DA. The display position of the analysis results regarding the left atrium LA is determined at the upper part of the display area 10DA. The display position of the analysis results related to before drug loading is determined on the left side of the display area 10DA. The display position of the analysis results related to after drug loading is determined on the right side of the display area 10DA. Thereby, the layout of the analysis results becomes an arrangement as shown in Figure 10. Note that for one heart cavity such as the left ventricle LV, four analysis results corresponding to four phases of the stress echo (before loading, two time phases during loading, after loading, etc.) may be tiled and displayed.

[0052] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the layout of analysis results for comparison before and after CRT treatment in two cardiac chambers (left ventricle LV and right ventricle RV). As shown in FIG. 11, the display position of the analysis results regarding the left ventricle LV is determined on the right side of the display area 11DA. The display position of the analysis results regarding the right ventricle RV is determined on the left side of the display area 11DA. The display position of the analysis results regarding before CRT treatment is determined in the upper part of the display area 11DA. The display position of the analysis results regarding after CRT treatment is determined in the lower part of the display area 11DA. Thereby, the layout of the analysis results becomes an arrangement as shown in FIG. 11.

[0053] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the layout of analysis results for comparison of different image modes in two cardiac chambers (left ventricle LV and left atrium LA). As shown in FIG. 12, the display position of the analysis results regarding the left ventricle LV is determined in the lower part of the display area 12DA. The display position of the analysis results regarding the left atrium LA is determined in the upper part of the display area 12DA. The display position of the analysis results using a surface rendering image as the image mode is determined on the left side of the display area 12DA. The display position of the analysis results using a polar map as the image mode is determined on the right side of the display area 12DA. For example, the additional information shown in FIG. 3(b) is attached to the analysis result in the lower right of FIG. 12. Thereby, the layout of the analysis results becomes an arrangement as shown in FIG. 12. Note that the combination of image modes is not limited to the rendering image and the polar map, and other combinations of image modes may also be used.

[0054] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the layout of analysis results for comparison of different analysis parameters in two heart chambers (left ventricle LV and left atrium LA). As shown in FIG. 13, the display position of the analysis results regarding the left ventricle LV is determined at the lower part of the display area 13DA. The display position of the analysis results regarding the left atrium LA is determined at the upper part of the display area 13DA. The display position of the analysis results showing the long-axis strain is determined on the left side of the display area 13DA. The display position of the analysis results showing the peak arrival time is determined on the right side of the display area 13DA. For example, the additional information shown in FIG. 3(c) is attached to the analysis results in the upper right of FIG. 13. As a result, the layout of the analysis results becomes an array as shown in FIG. 13.

[0055] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the layout of four analysis results with different image modes in one heart chamber (left ventricle LV). LV 2D 4chView (apical four-chamber cross-sectional image), LV 2D 3chView (apical left ventricular long-axis cross-sectional image), and LV 2D 2chView (apical two-chamber cross-sectional image) in FIG. 14 show the display positions of the analysis results corresponding to the basic three cross-sections of the left ventricle LV. LV 3D in FIG. 14 is a three-dimensional analysis result of the left ventricle corresponding to 4LV in FIG. 5, and for example, the cross-sectional positions corresponding to the basic three cross-sections are superimposed.

[0056] Note that the layouts of the analysis results shown in FIGS. 5 to 14 are examples and are not limited thereto. The thumbnails in FIGS. 5 to 14 correspond to the layout images. When a further selection of the layout image is input (Yes in step Sb6), the process of step Sb5 is executed. The analysis results are displayed until the analysis result comparison mode ends (step Sb7).

[0057] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 in the present embodiment, additional information including information regarding the type of cardiac chamber is attached to the analysis results of each of the plurality of cardiac chambers obtained by analyzing medical images, and the display position of the analysis results can be determined based on the additional information. Further, according to the present embodiment, the display position can be determined within the display area of the screen of one display 15 or within the display areas of the screens of a plurality of displays.

[0058] For example, when the analysis results are a first analysis result regarding a first cardiac chamber and a second analysis result regarding a second cardiac chamber, the first analysis result can be obtained by analyzing a first time-series image (first volume data), and the second analysis result can be obtained by analyzing a second time-series image (second volume data) different from the first time-series image. Alternatively, the first analysis result and the second analysis result can be obtained by analyzing a common time-series image (volume data) regarding the first cardiac chamber and the second cardiac chamber. Thereby, the analysis results can be analyzed for each cardiac chamber according to the acquisition of the volume data. Next, by attaching first additional information to the first analysis result and attaching second additional information to the second analysis result, the display position of the first analysis result can be determined based on the first additional information, and the display position of the second analysis result can be determined based on the second additional information. Thereby, according to the type of cardiac chamber, that is, the anatomical positional relationship of the plurality of cardiac chambers, the plurality of analysis results can be arranged and displayed in the display area of the screen of the display 15.

[0059] Further, according to the present embodiment, the additional information can include cardiac phase information, and the analysis results of a plurality of cardiac chambers can be synchronously displayed based on the additional information. Thereby, the plurality of analysis results can be synchronously displayed as a moving image according to the instruction of the operator, and the diagnostic efficiency can be improved.

[0060] Further, according to the present embodiment, the additional information includes information on the scanning order associated with the part as information on the type of the part, and the analysis result is obtained according to the scanning order by analyzing the medical data collected according to the scanning order, and based on the scanning order in the additional information, the display position of the analysis result can be determined along the anatomical positional relationship of the part. As a result, it is not necessary to set (input) the type of the part, the convenience of the analysis result comparison mode is improved, and the diagnostic efficiency can be improved.

[0061] From the above, according to the present embodiment, by the unified processing using the additional information of the analysis result, that is, the processing related to the function of uniformly displaying the analysis result, the analysis result of the wall motion of the heart cavity can be displayed in a desired layout with a simple operation. That is, in the display of the analysis result of the wall motion, various inputs such as an input for selecting analysis results having different anatomical positional relationships and the same other attributes, and an input for selecting analysis results having different time relationships and the same other attributes are not required, and the complexity and burden of the setting for the comparative display of the analysis results can be reduced. In addition, the two-dimensional analysis result and the three-dimensional analysis result can be displayed in combination without complicated input. From these, according to the present embodiment, the local wall motion analysis is simplified, and the diagnostic efficiency can be improved.

[0062] (First Modification Example) The difference from the above-described embodiment is that when the analysis result includes an image showing the outer shape of the part to be analyzed, these images corresponding to each of the plurality of parts are merged by the processing circuit 37 that realizes the image processing function 371 based on the additional information. Specifically, when an image showing the outer shape of the heart cavity (for example, a surface rendering image) in which a hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter indicating the motion of the heart cavity is mapped is the analysis result, a composite image is generated by merging the analysis results of the plurality of heart cavities based on the anatomical positional relationship of the heart cavity.

[0063] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the image processing function 371 generates a composite image by merging the analysis results of a plurality of heart cavities based on the anatomical positional relationship of the heart cavities. The generation of the composite image is executed, for example, in response to an operator's instruction. Specifically, the processing circuit 37 acquires the coordinates of each of a plurality of segments of a plurality of surface rendering images respectively corresponding to a plurality of heart cavities. The processing circuit 37 aligns the plurality of surface rendering images with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter indicating the movement of the heart cavity based on the coordinates of the segments. The alignment of the plurality of surface rendering images can be adjusted as appropriate according to the operator's instruction. In addition, when volume data including a plurality of heart cavities is generated, the processing circuit 37 may align the plurality of rendering images based on the position of each heart cavity in this volume data. The processing circuit 37 causes the generated composite image to be displayed on the display 15. The processing circuit 37 may control the display 15 to rotate the composite image around an arbitrary rotation axis in response to an operator's instruction.

[0064] Further, the processing circuit 37 may synthesize a plurality of graphs corresponding to a plurality of analysis results based on the additional information. Specifically, the processing circuit 37 generates a composite graph by synthesizing the time change curve of the global strain indicating the average strain of the entire myocardium and the time change curve of the volume of each heart cavity with the cardiac phases matched.

[0065] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the additional function 375 generates composite additional information by synthesizing the additional information attached to a plurality of analysis results regarding the composite image after the generation of the composite image. The processing circuit 37 attaches the composite additional information to the composite image and stores it in the storage circuit 33.

[0066] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a composite image 15CI obtained by synthesizing surface rendering images in the four-chamber analysis result as shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 15, the four surface rendering images corresponding to the four chambers are aligned and synthesized, and are displayed as the composite image 15CI. At this time, the composite image 15CI is displayed as a moving image according to an operator's instruction. Also, a composite graph may be displayed next to the composite image 15CI. Note that various graphs and electrocardiogram waveforms may be displayed together with the composite image 15CI.

[0067] Further, as shown in FIGS. 10, 11, and 13, a composite image may be generated for the two-chamber analysis result. At this time, in FIG. 10, a pre-drug-loading composite image obtained by synthesizing LV and LA is displayed in the left half of the display area, and a post-drug-loading composite image obtained by synthesizing LV and LA is displayed in the right half of the display area. Also, in FIG. 11, a pre-CRT-treatment composite image obtained by synthesizing RV and LV is displayed in the lower half of the display area, and a post-CRT-treatment composite image obtained by synthesizing RV and LV is displayed in the upper half of the display area. In FIG. 13, a composite image of the long-axis strain obtained by synthesizing LV and LA is displayed in the left half of the display area, and a composite image of the peak arrival time obtained by synthesizing LV and LA is displayed in the right half of the display area.

[0068] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 in this modification example, when an image (for example, a surface rendering image) showing the outer shape of the cardiac chamber with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter indicating the movement of the cardiac chamber is the analysis result, a composite image as the analysis result can be generated by merging the analysis results of a plurality of cardiac chambers based on the anatomical positional relationship of the cardiac chambers. Thereby, since the composite image can be rotated and displayed around an arbitrary axis according to the operator's instruction, the operator can grasp the analysis results of a plurality of cardiac chambers as a whole. Further, a composite graph can be generated by merging a plurality of graphs corresponding to the plurality of analysis results. From these facts, according to this modification example, with a simple operation, an overall image of a plurality of analysis results by analyzing the wall motion of the cardiac chamber can be displayed, reducing the burden on the operator and improving the diagnostic efficiency.

[0069] (Second Modification Example) The difference from the above-described embodiment is to control the display 15 so that the display positions determined based on the type of cardiac chamber and the collection date and time, the display positions determined based on the type of cardiac chamber and the phase of the stress echo, the display positions determined based on the type of cardiac chamber and the progress of the treatment, and the display positions determined based on the type of cardiac chamber and the image mode of the analysis result can be switched.

[0070] The processing circuit 37 that implements the display control function 377 switches between a display position determined based on the type of heart chamber and the collection date and time, a display position determined based on the type of heart chamber and the phase of the stress echo, a display position determined based on the type of heart chamber and the progress of treatment, and a display position determined based on the type of heart chamber and the image mode of the analysis result. That is, the processing circuit 37 controls the display 15 so as to be able to execute the above switching. Specifically, the processing circuit 37 generates a plurality of tabs corresponding to the type of layout of the analysis result determined based on the attached information. The plurality of tabs are, for example, Tile that tile-displays the analysis results corresponding to a plurality of heart chambers according to the anatomical positional relationship as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 and FIG. 14, Comp that displays a time comparison of the analysis results in a plurality of heart chambers as shown in FIGS. 9 to 13, Merge that displays a composite image of the analysis result, and the like. Further, the plurality of tabs may include a tab (referred to as a re-analysis tab) that displays a screen for re-executing wall motion analysis on the volume data of each of the plurality of heart chambers by resetting the initial contour or the like. Instead of displaying the re-analysis tab, a screen for re-executing wall motion analysis may be displayed in response to a double-click operation on the displayed analysis result. Further, when there are a large number of combinations (layouts) of the display positions of the analysis results corresponding to the above tabs, the processing circuit 37 may hierarchically associate and generate a plurality of tabs according to the combination of various attributes included in the attached information. At this time, the processing circuit 37 hierarchically manages the layout according to various attributes included in the attached information.

[0071] The processing circuit 37 switches the display position of the analysis result according to the selection of the tab and displays a plurality of analysis results on the display 15. That is, the processing circuit 37 controls the display 15 so as to switch the layout of the analysis result before the tab selection to the layout of the analysis result corresponding to the selected tab.

[0072] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a display example in which the tabs of the Tile are selected, and the analyzed results of the four chambers and the graph displayed as tiles are displayed together with a plurality of tabs. The tabs LV, LA, RV, and RA in FIG. 16 indicate tabs for displaying a screen related to re-execution of the wall motion analysis. For example, in FIG. 16, when the tab of Merge is selected, a composite image as shown in FIG. 15 is displayed. At this time, the tab of Merge is highlighted, and the tab of Tile is normally displayed.

[0073] Note that the processing circuit 37 may display a plurality of layout images together with the analysis results instead of generating tabs. At this time, the analysis result corresponding to the selected layout image is displayed on the display 15.

[0074] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a display example in which a plurality of layout images are displayed together with the analysis results. LV Comp in FIG. 17 is a layout image corresponding to, for example, a time comparison of the analysis results of the left ventricle LV as shown in FIG. 9. Also, LV-LA Comp in FIG. 17 is a layout image corresponding to, for example, a time comparison of the analysis results of the left ventricle LV and the left atrium LA as shown in FIGS. 10, 12, and 13. LV 3D-2D in FIG. 17 is a layout image corresponding to, for example, a mixed display of a three-dimensional image and a two-dimensional image related to the analysis results of the left ventricle LV as shown in FIG. 14.

[0075] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 in this modification example, information regarding the collection date and time of a medical image, information regarding the phase of the stress echo in which the medical image was collected, information regarding the progress of treatment for at least one of a plurality of heart cavities, and information regarding the image mode of the analysis result can be further included in the attached information. As a result, the display position determined based on the type of heart cavity and the collection date and time, the display position determined based on the type of heart cavity and the phase of the stress echo, the display position determined based on the type of heart cavity and the progress of treatment, and the display position determined based on the type of heart cavity and the image mode of the analysis result can be switched, and the display 15 can be controlled. For example, the display form of the analysis result can be switched according to the selection of a tab or a layout image displayed together with a plurality of analysis results. Thereby, a plurality of analysis results by analyzing the wall motion of the heart cavity can be displayed by a simple operation of selecting a tab or a layout image. Also, the wall motion analysis of the heart cavity can be executed again when the analysis result is displayed. Thereby, at the time of displaying the analysis result, the wall motion analysis can be easily executed again.

[0076] From the above, according to this modification example, it is possible to reduce the burden on the operator when displaying the analysis result of the wall motion in a desired layout and improve the diagnostic efficiency.

[0077] (Third Modification Example) This modification example is to apply the processing of the second modification example to the composite image. Since each process executed by the processing circuit 37 in this modification example can be understood by appropriately replacing the analysis result in the second modification example with the composite image, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0078] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a comparative display of a synthetic image (anatomical-merge) obtained by synthesizing analysis results of four chambers. As shown in FIG. 18, the tab 1, the Comp tab, and the Merge tab are highlighted. When the Tile tab is selected, the non-merged analysis results are displayed in a tiled manner. Also, tab 1 is a tab showing a comparative display of a synthetic image obtained by synthesizing four chambers. Tab 2 is a tab showing a comparative display of, for example, a left ventricular and left atrial synthetic image obtained by synthesizing the left ventricle and the left atrium. Tab 3 is a tab showing a comparative display of, for example, a left and right ventricular synthetic image obtained by synthesizing the left ventricle and the right ventricle. Tab 4 is a tab showing a comparative display of, for example, a three-chamber synthetic image obtained by synthesizing the left ventricle, the left atrium, and the right ventricle. As shown in FIG. 18, depending on the selection of the tab, tiled display, comparative display, etc. regarding the synthetic image after merging are switched.

[0079] For example, the processing circuit 37 generates a two-chamber synthetic image (left ventricular and left atrial synthetic image, left and right ventricular synthetic image) obtained by synthesizing two of the four chambers. Next, the processing circuit 37 controls the display 15 in order to perform a comparative display such as before and after loading, before and after treatment, etc. regarding the two-chamber synthetic image according to an instruction from the operator. Since the tiled display and the comparative display according to this modification are attached to various synthetic images, unlike the tiled display and the comparative display in the present embodiment, they have a nested configuration included in the category of the synthetic image.

[0080] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 in this modification, regarding the synthetic image, the effects of the present embodiment and the second modification can be obtained respectively. That is, since it is possible to display a tiled display and a comparative display of a synthetic image obtained by synthesizing a plurality of analysis results regarding a plurality of heart chambers with a simple operation, wall motion analysis becomes easier, the burden on the operator is reduced, and the diagnostic efficiency of the analysis results can be improved.

[0081] (Fourth Modification) The difference from the above-described embodiments and modified examples lies in that, as the analysis target, a plurality of sites in the heart include at least one valve among the tricuspid valve, the pulmonary valve, the mitral valve, and the aortic valve.

[0082] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the auxiliary function 375 sets, prior to the execution of the analysis function 373, the patient ID, the type of the valve to be analyzed, the image mode, the analysis parameter name, etc. The type of the valve is, for example, the valve name and is input according to an instruction from an operator via the input interface circuit 13. The processing circuit 37 includes the set valve information in the auxiliary information. The type of the valve is described in the column of the type of the site corresponding to the column of the type of the heart cavity in the auxiliary information in FIG. 3.

[0083] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the analysis function 373 analyzes the movement of each valve by applying a predetermined valve movement analysis to the medical image group for each of the set valves. The predetermined valve movement analysis is, for example, 2D WMT or 3D WMT. Note that the predetermined valve movement analysis is not limited to WMT, and various methods such as tissue Doppler imaging may be used.

[0084] By executing the analysis program related to the analysis function 373, the processing circuit 37 sets, for example, on the medical image corresponding to a predetermined cardiac phase among the medical image group, a plurality of constituent points indicating the inner contour of the valve and a plurality of constituent points indicating the outer contour of the valve as the initial contour. The processing circuit 37 tracks the positions of the constituent points in other medical images included in the medical image group in time series from the medical image with the initial contour set. The processing circuit 37 calculates the values of various analysis parameters related to the movement of the valve based on the result of the above tracking. The analysis parameters are, for example, for the mitral valve, the diastolic descent rate, the systolic anterior movement, etc. The processing circuit 37 generates a surface rendering image, an MPR image, etc. in which a hue corresponding to the value of the analysis parameter is mapped as an image showing the analysis result of the valve movement.

[0085] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the control function 377 determines, as a layout, the display position (section) of the analysis result displayed in the display area of the display 15 based on the type of the part (type of heart chamber and type of valve) in the attached information and the anatomical positional relationship of the plurality of parts (heart chamber and valve). Specifically, the display position of the analysis result in the layout corresponds to the anatomical positions of the heart chamber and the valve. The processing circuit 37 displays the analysis result of the valve according to the determined layout.

[0086] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a display example (tile display) of the analysis result when the analysis target is four heart chambers and four valves and the image mode is a surface rendering image. Note that the number of valves is not limited to four. 19MV shown in FIG. 19 shows a surface rendering image of the mitral valve with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter of the mitral valve. 19AV shown in FIG. 19 shows a rendering image of the aortic valve with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter of the aortic valve. 19PV shown in FIG. 19 shows a rendering image of the pulmonary valve with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter of the pulmonary valve. 19TV shown in FIG. 19 shows a rendering image of the tricuspid valve with a hue mapped according to the value of the analysis parameter of the tricuspid valve. FIG. 19 has a layout in which the analysis results of the four valves are added to the display example of the four-chamber analysis shown in FIG. 5 according to the anatomical positional relationship between the four chambers and the four valves.

[0087] Note that, as an application example of this modification example, it is also possible to apply the processing of the first modification example to this modification example. For example, when the display example shown in FIG. 19 is displayed on the display 15, the processing circuit 37 that realizes the image processing function 371 generates a composite image, for example, in response to an instruction from an operator.

[0088] FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a composite image obtained by synthesizing surface rendering images showing the analysis results of a four-chamber and four valves as shown in FIG. 19. As shown in FIG. 20, images of eight analysis results corresponding to the four-chambers (left ventricle LV, right ventricle RV, left atrium LA, right atrium RA) and the four valves (mitral valve MV, aortic valve AV, pulmonary valve PV, tricuspid valve TV) are aligned at the same cardiac phase. The composite image generated for each cardiac phase by this alignment is displayed on the display 15. Although there is a gap between the four-chambers and the four valves in FIG. 20, the four-chambers and the four valves may be adjacent to each other according to the anatomical positional relationship. At this time, the transparency (or opacity), luminance value, etc. of each of the four-chambers and the four valves may be adjusted, for example, according to an instruction from the operator to a scroll bar provided at the lower end of the composite image. In FIG. 20, four valves are described as an example, but the number of valves to be displayed is not limited to four.

[0089] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 in this modification example, the analysis results of at least one of the tricuspid valve, pulmonary valve, mitral valve, and aortic valve at a plurality of sites can be displayed on the display 15 together with the analysis results of the cardiac chambers according to the anatomical positional relationship based on the attached information. Further, according to this modification example, the composite image can be displayed such that the transparency and luminance values of the four-chambers and the four valves can be adjusted.

[0090] From the above, according to this modification example, by performing unified processing using the attached information attached to the analysis results, that is, processing related to the function of uniformly displaying the analysis results, the analysis results of a plurality of sites including a plurality of cardiac chambers and a plurality of valves in the heart can be displayed while maintaining the anatomical positional relationship with a simple operation. As a result, according to this modification example, the diagnosis of local wall motion analysis of the cardiac chambers and the diagnosis of valve motion analysis are simplified, and the diagnostic efficiency can be improved.

[0091] (Fifth Modification Example) The difference from the above-described embodiments and modifications is that an integrated analysis result is obtained by integrating and analyzing medical data corresponding to adjacent sites selected by an operator among a plurality of sites, and the display position of the integrated analysis result is determined based on the supplementary information including information integrating the adjacent sites.

[0092] The input interface circuit 13 inputs adjacent sites (hereinafter referred to as adjacent sites) among a plurality of sites according to a selection instruction of the operator. The input of adjacent sites corresponds to the grouping of sites among a plurality of sites. The input of the selection instruction may be at any time, for example, before the process of step Sb1 in the flowchart of FIG. 4. For example, when the operator desires an integrated analysis result of integrating the left ventricle and the right ventricle for diagnosing malformations such as ventricular septal defect and single ventricle, the left ventricle and the right ventricle among a plurality of sites are selected. Further, for example, when the operator desires an integrated analysis result of integrating the left ventricle and the left atrium for diagnosing valvular disease related to the mitral valve, the left ventricle and the left atrium among a plurality of sites are selected. Note that the selection of sites is not limited to the above description and can be arbitrarily selected according to the desire of the operator.

[0093] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the supplementary function 375 includes information integrating adjacent sites (hereinafter referred to as site integration information) in the supplementary information. When the left ventricle and the right ventricle are selected, the column of the type of cardiac chamber in the supplementary information of FIG. 3 becomes, for example, both ventricles. Further, when the left ventricle and the left atrium are selected, the column of the type of cardiac chamber in the supplementary information of FIG. 3 becomes, for example, the left-sided cardiac chamber.

[0094] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the analysis function 373 integrates medical images of the same cardiac phase in a group of medical images corresponding to adjacent parts into one piece of medical data. The processing circuit 37 sets an initial contour for the adjacent parts. The processing circuit 37 obtains an integrated analysis result by analyzing the integrated medical data using the initial contour. For example, when the left ventricle and the right ventricle are selected, an analysis result for the entire combined left and right ventricles is generated as the integrated analysis result. Also, for example, when the left ventricle and the left atrium are selected, an analysis result for the entire left cardiac cavity formed by integrating the left ventricle and the left atrium is generated as the integrated analysis result.

[0095] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the display control function 377 determines the display position (section) of the integrated analysis result on the display 15 based on the part integration information in the attached information. The processing circuit 37 causes the integrated analysis result to be displayed at the determined display position.

[0096] FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the integrated analysis result LRV when the left ventricle and the right ventricle are selected. As shown in FIG. 21, when the left ventricle and the right ventricle are selected by the operator, the integrated analysis result LRV for the entire combined left and right ventricles is displayed. In FIG. 21, in addition to the integrated analysis result LRV, analysis results of the right atrium RA, the left atrium LA, etc. are shown, but only the integrated analysis result LRV may be displayed. Also, the parts to be integrated and analyzed are not limited to two as shown in FIG. 21. For example, the adjacent parts may be a cardiac cavity and a valve such as the left ventricle, the mitral valve, and the aortic valve.

[0097] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 in this modification example, an integrated analysis result is obtained by integrating and analyzing medical data corresponding to adjacent sites selected by an operator among a plurality of sites, and the display position of the integrated analysis result can be determined based on the supplementary information including information integrating the adjacent sites. Thus, according to this modification example, not only the malformations of the heart, but also the sites selected by the selection of sites according to the operator's desire can be integrated and analyzed.

[0098] From the above, according to this modification example, even if there is a malformation in at least one of a plurality of sites, the integrated analysis result can be displayed while maintaining the anatomical positional relationship with a simple operation. Thus, according to this modification example, the diagnosis of the motion analysis in a plurality of sites of the heart and the like becomes simple, and the diagnostic efficiency can be improved.

[0099] (Sixth modification example) The difference from the above-described embodiments and modification examples is to identify a site designated by an operator among a plurality of sites and a site adjacent to the designated site, and merge images showing the analysis results corresponding to the identified sites.

[0100] The input interface circuit 13 designates one site among a plurality of sites according to an instruction of the operator. The input of the site designation by the operator may be at any time, for example, before the process of step Sb1 in the flowchart of FIG. 4.

[0101] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the image processing function 371 identifies a designated site (hereinafter referred to as a designated site) and a site adjacent to the designated site. The processing circuit 37 generates a composite image by merging images showing the analysis results corresponding to the identified sites. The processing circuit 37 causes the display 15 to display the composite image.

[0102] For example, when the left ventricle is specified, the composite image includes the analysis result of the left ventricle, the analysis result of the right ventricle, the analysis result of the mitral valve, and the analysis result of the aortic valve. At this time, the composite image is, for example, an image in which the analysis results of the mitral valve and the aortic valve are combined with the LRV in FIG. 21.

[0103] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 in this modification example, among a plurality of sites, the site designated by the operator and the site adjacent to the designated site can be specified, and images showing the analysis results corresponding to the specified sites can be merged. Thus, according to this modification example, the analysis result of the site that the operator pays attention to (hereinafter referred to as the attention site) and the analysis result of the site adjacent to the attention site can be merged and displayed on the display 15. From the above, according to this modification example, the diagnosis of motion analysis centered on the attention site becomes simple, and the diagnostic efficiency can be improved.

[0104] (Seventh modification example) The difference from the above-described embodiments and modification examples is that, since the additional information includes information related to the disease name, based on the additional information, from a plurality of sites, the site related to the disease name and the site adjacent to the site related to the disease name are specified, and images showing the analysis results corresponding to the specified sites are merged.

[0105] The input interface circuit 13 inputs the disease name according to the instruction of the operator. The input of the disease name may be at any time, for example, before the process of step Sa5 in the flowchart of FIG. 2.

[0106] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the additional function 375 includes the information of the input disease name in the additional information. The processing circuit 37 incorporates information (hereinafter referred to as disease name-related site information) that associates the site related to the disease name and the site adjacent to the site related to the disease name into the additional information. The information of the disease name and the disease name-related site information are added as new attributes, for example, to the additional information in FIG. 3.

[0107] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the display control function 377 controls the display 15 to, for example, display the disease name in a dialog box in response to the activation of the analysis result comparison mode. When the disease name is specified via the input interface circuit 13, the processing circuit 37 specifies, based on the attached information, from a plurality of sites, the site related to the disease name and the site adjacent to the site related to the disease name. The processing circuit 37 merges the images showing the analysis results corresponding to the specified sites. Note that, in this modification example, when the disease name is input before the processing of step Sb1, medical data regarding the specified site may be integrated to obtain an integrated analysis result as in the fifth modification example.

[0108] For example, when the disease name is ventricular septal defect, when the disease name is specified via the input interface circuit 13, the processing circuit 37 that realizes the display control function 377 specifies the left ventricle and the right ventricle. Next, the processing circuit 37 generates a composite image by aligning, at the same cardiac phase, the image showing the analysis result of the specified left ventricle and the image showing the analysis result of the specified right ventricle. The composite image corresponds to, for example, LRV in FIG. 21.

[0109] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical processing apparatus 20 in this modification example, since the attached information includes information regarding the disease name, based on the attached information, from a plurality of sites, the site related to the disease name and the site adjacent to the site related to the disease name can be specified, and the images showing the analysis results corresponding to the specified sites can be merged. Thereby, according to this modification example, the analysis results of the sites specified according to the disease name related to the heart can be merged and displayed on the display 15. From the above, according to this modification example, the diagnosis of the motion analysis for the disease name of the heart becomes simple, and the diagnostic efficiency can be improved.

[0110] (Eighth Modification Example) The difference from the above-described embodiments and modifications is that, since the additional information includes a plurality of measurement values measured at the site, based on the additional information, from a plurality of sites, the site corresponding to the measurement value outside the reference range among the plurality of measurement values and the site adjacent to the site corresponding to the measurement value outside the reference range are specified, and an image showing the analysis result corresponding to the specified site is merged.

[0111] The input interface circuit 13 inputs a plurality of measurements for a plurality of sites of the heart in the ultrasonic image in the measurement items in the echocardiogram according to an instruction from the operator. The plurality of measurements are, for example, the orifice areas of various valves, the diameters of various heart cavities, the wall thicknesses of various heart cavities, various blood flow velocity waveforms in Doppler data, and the like.

[0112] The memory circuit 33 stores a reference range for each of the plurality of measurement values obtained by the plurality of measurements. The reference range corresponds to, for example, the range in which the measured measurement value is determined to be normal, and is preset for each of the plurality of measurements.

[0113] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the additional function 375 includes the measured measurement value and the name of the measurement item in the additional information corresponding to the measured site. The measurement value is added as a new attribute, for example, in the additional information in FIG. 3. With this additional information, the measurement value and the site are associated with each other.

[0114] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the image processing function 371 specifies the measurement values outside the reference range among the plurality of measurement values. The processing circuit 37 specifies the site corresponding to the specified measurement value and the site adjacent to the site corresponding to the specified measurement value based on the additional information. The processing circuit 37 generates a composite image by merging an image showing the analysis result corresponding to the specified site (hereinafter referred to as the specified site). The processing circuit 37 causes the composite image to be displayed on the display 15.

[0115] For example, when the measurement item corresponding to the measurement value outside the reference range is the valve orifice area of the aortic valve and this valve orifice area is outside the reference range, the processing circuit 37 that realizes the image processing function 371 identifies the aortic valve among a plurality of parts based on the attached information. Next, the processing circuit 37 identifies the left ventricle and the left atrium as the parts adjacent to the aortic valve. The processing circuit 37 generates a composite image by merging an image showing the analysis result of the aortic valve, an image showing the analysis result of the left ventricle, and an image showing the analysis result of the left atrium. The processing circuit 37 causes the composite image to be displayed on the display 15. In this modification, when a measurement value outside the reference range is identified before the processing of step Sb1, medical data related to the identified part may be integrated to obtain an integrated analysis result as in the fifth modification.

[0116] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 in this modification, since the attached information includes a plurality of measurement values measured at the part, based on the attached information, the part corresponding to the measurement value outside the reference range among the plurality of measurement values and the part adjacent to the part corresponding to the measurement value outside the reference range are identified, and images showing the analysis results corresponding to the identified parts can be merged. Thus, according to this modification, the analysis result of the part corresponding to the measurement value outside the reference range and the analysis result of the part adjacent to this part can be merged and displayed on the display 15. From the above, according to this modification, the diagnosis of the motion analysis for the measurement value in the heart becomes simple, and the diagnostic efficiency can be improved.

[0117] (The ninth modification) The difference from the above-described embodiments and modified examples is that the display position of medical data (hereinafter referred to as other medical data) of a heart part collected by another modality different from the present ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 (such as an X-ray diagnostic apparatus, an X-ray computed tomography apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, a nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatus, etc.) is determined based on the attached information, and an image of the other medical data is displayed on the display 15 together with the analysis results shown in the present embodiment and the fourth modified example, etc. Hereinafter, for simplicity of explanation, it is assumed that the other medical data is data of a coronary artery image. Note that the other medical data is not limited to the medical data of the coronary artery, and may be any data showing morphological information of other parts of the heart, for example, papillary muscles, chordae tendineae, and conduction systems. Further, in addition to or instead of the other medical data, an analysis result of the other medical data (hereinafter referred to as other analysis result) may be used. The other analysis result is, for example, a fractional flow reserve (FFR). Note that the other analysis result is not limited to the FFR, and may be any data showing functional information of the heart such as myocardial scintigraphy.

[0118] The communication interface circuit 31 receives coronary artery data from another modality or an image storage device via a network. Note that the communication interface circuit 31 may receive the FFR regarding the heart of the subject P from another modality or an image storage device via a network. Note that analysis parameters such as the FFR may be analyzed using other medical data such as coronary artery data by the processing circuit 37 that realizes the analysis function 373.

[0119] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the additional function 375 sets a patient ID, the type of coronary artery to be analyzed, an image mode, an analysis parameter name, etc. The type of coronary artery is, for example, a coronary artery name, and is set by an operator's input via the input interface circuit 13 or tag information regarding the coronary artery data. The processing circuit 37 includes the set coronary artery information in the attached information. The coronary artery name is, for example, the right coronary artery (RCA), the left coronary artery (LCA), etc.

[0120] The processing circuit 37 that realizes the display control function 377 determines, as a layout, the display position (section) of the analysis result displayed in the display area of the display 15 based on the anatomical positional relationship between the section corresponding to the coronary artery name in the type of the attached information part and the section related to the analysis result. Specifically, the display position of the analysis result in the layout corresponds to the anatomical position of the coronary artery. The processing circuit 37 displays the morphological image of the coronary artery, the analysis result of the coronary artery, etc. together with the analysis results shown in the present embodiment and the fourth modification example, etc. according to the determined layout.

[0121] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a display example (tile display) of the analysis result of four chambers and the coronary artery image (morphological information) when the analysis target is four chambers and the image mode is a surface rendering image. The RCA shown in FIG. 22 is an image of the right coronary artery. The LCA shown in FIG. 22 is an image of the left coronary artery. The images of the right coronary artery and the left coronary artery are displayed in synchronization with the cardiac phases in the analysis results RA of the right atrium, 22RV of the right ventricle, LA of the left atrium, and 22LV of the left ventricle by the processing circuit 37 that realizes the display control function 377. Note that instead of the image RCA of the right coronary artery, a surface rendering image (functional information) of the right coronary artery in which a hue corresponding to the FFR value is mapped along the right coronary artery may be used. Also, instead of the image LCA of the left coronary artery, a surface rendering image (functional information) of the left coronary artery in which a hue corresponding to the FFR value is mapped along the left coronary artery may be used. FIG. 22 has a layout in which the morphological information of the coronary artery is added to the analysis result of the four chambers shown in FIG. 5 according to the anatomical positional relationship between the four chambers and the coronary artery.

[0122] Note that as an application example of this modification example, it is also possible to apply the processing of the first modification example to this modification example. For example, when the display example shown in FIG. 22 is displayed on the display 15, the processing circuit 37 that realizes the image processing function 371 generates a composite image, for example, in response to an instruction from an operator.

[0123] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a composite image in which the morphological information of the coronary arteries is combined with the analysis results of the left ventricle 22LV and the analysis results of the right ventricle 22RV as shown in FIG. 22. As shown in FIG. 23, the analysis result 23LV of the left ventricle and the image of the left coronary artery LCA, and the analysis result 23RV of the right ventricle and the image of the right coronary artery RCA are aligned in the same cardiac phase. The composite image generated for each cardiac phase by this alignment is displayed on the display 15. At this time, the transparency, luminance value, etc. of each of the analysis result 23LV of the left ventricle, the image of the left coronary artery LCA, the analysis result 23RV of the right ventricle, and the image of the right coronary artery RCA are adjusted according to the operator's instructions for the scroll bars SBR and SBL provided at the lower ends of the composite images 23R and 23L in FIG. 23.

[0124] According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 in this modification example, the display position of other medical data of the heart collected by other modalities is determined based on the attached information, and the image of other medical data can be displayed on the display 15 together with the analysis results shown in the present embodiment and the fourth modification example, etc. Further, according to this modification example, a composite image combining the four valves can be displayed with the transparency and luminance values desired by the operator.

[0125] From the above, according to this modification example, by means of a unified process using the attached information attached to the analysis result, that is, a process related to the function of uniformly displaying the analysis result, with a simple operation, the analysis results of a plurality of parts in the heart can be displayed together with the morphological information or functional information of other parts while maintaining the anatomical positional relationship. As a result, according to this modification example, by taking into account the morphological information or functional information of other parts, for example, the diagnosis of local wall motion analysis of the cardiac chamber becomes simple, and the diagnostic efficiency can be improved.

[0126] Also, as a modification of the present embodiment, when the technical idea of the present ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 is realized by the medical treatment apparatus 20, the process of step Sa1 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 2 becomes "reading a medical image along the time series from the memory circuit 33". Note that the process of step Sa1 may be a process of "acquiring a medical image along the time series from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 or the medical image storage apparatus via the communication interface circuit 31". Further, the above-described medical image may be an image collected by other modalities such as an X-ray computed tomography apparatus or a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus. In addition, the analysis result may be an analysis result implemented by other modalities or the like.

[0127] In addition, the image processing function 371, the analysis function 373, the auxiliary function 375, and the display control function 377 in the present embodiment can also be realized as a medical treatment method by installing a program (medical treatment program) for executing the function in a computer such as a workstation and expanding them in the memory. At this time, the medical treatment program causes the computer to attach, to the analysis result of each of a plurality of cardiac cavities obtained by analyzing a medical image, auxiliary information including information regarding the type of cardiac cavity, and determine the display position of the analysis result based on the auxiliary information. Further, a program capable of causing the computer to execute the above method can also be stored and distributed in various portable storage media such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and a semiconductor memory.

[0128] According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 and the medical treatment apparatus 20 of the above-described embodiment and at least one modification, etc., it is possible to display the analysis results regarding a plurality of sites in the heart in a desired layout with a simple operation.

[0129] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0130] 1... Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, 11... Ultrasonic probe, 13... Input interface circuit, 15... Display, 17... Electrocardiograph, 19... Apparatus main body, 20... Medical treatment apparatus, 23... Transmission / reception circuit, 25... B-mode data generation circuit, 27... Doppler data generation circuit, 29... Image generation circuit, 31... Communication interface circuit, 33... Memory circuit, 35... Control circuit, 37... Processing circuit, 371... Image processing function, 373... Analysis function, 375... Auxiliary function, 377... Display control function.

Claims

1. a processing unit that associates analysis results of each of a plurality of parts of the heart obtained by analyzing the medical data with supplementary information including information about the parts; the processing unit acquires a first analysis result corresponding to a first part of the plurality of parts, first incidental information including information specifying the first part, a second analysis result corresponding to a second part of the plurality of parts that is anatomically adjacent to the first part, and second incidental information including information specifying the second part, each of the first analysis result and the second analysis result includes a three-dimensional image of a region to be analyzed; an image processing unit that merges the three-dimensional images corresponding to the first region and the second region, which are anatomically adjacent to each other, based on the first auxiliary information and the second auxiliary information to generate a composite image of the heart; a display control unit that displays the composite image as a moving image based on the first incidental information and the second incidental information; A medical processing device comprising:

2. the processing unit associates the first analysis result with the first accompanying information and associates the second analysis result with the second accompanying information; The medical processing device of claim 1 .

3. a storage unit for storing the three-dimensional image and the additional information attached to the three-dimensional image together; Further comprising: The medical processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The image processing unit determining a display position of the first analysis result based on the first incidental information; determining a display position of the second analysis result based on the second incidental information; merging the three-dimensional images corresponding to the first region and the second region so that the three-dimensional images are adjacent to each other; The medical processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. the image processing unit aligns and synthesizes the three-dimensional images corresponding to the first region and the second region, respectively; The medical processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. the display control unit synchronizes the composite image and displays it as a moving image based on cardiac phases in the first auxiliary information and the second auxiliary information, respectively; The medical processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. the supplementary information includes a plurality of measurement values ​​measured at the site, The image processing unit Identifying a region corresponding to a measurement value outside a reference range among the plurality of measurement values ​​and a region adjacent to the region corresponding to the measurement value outside the reference range based on the accompanying information; merging the three-dimensional images corresponding to the identified region; 7. The medical processing device of claim 1.

8. The apparatus further includes an analysis unit that acquires the three-dimensional images of the first and second regions of the heart by performing motion analysis on the time-series images of the first and second regions of the heart. The medical processing device of any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The method further includes an analysis unit that acquires the three-dimensional images of the first region and the second region by performing motion analysis on the time-series images of the heart. The medical processing device of any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. The supplementary information includes information regarding an image aspect of the three-dimensional image.

10. The medical processing device of claim 1.

11. the three-dimensional image is an image showing the outline of the part, onto which a hue corresponding to a value of an analysis parameter indicating the movement of the part is mapped; 11. The medical processing device of any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. the display control unit displays the merged three-dimensional image and another merged three-dimensional image side by side; 12. Medical processing equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. the motion analysis is a wall motion analysis that analyzes wall motion of each of a plurality of heart chambers in the heart; 13. Medical processing device according to any one of claims 8 to 12, which directly or indirectly derives from claim 8.

14. The display control unit: the wall motion analysis further obtains values ​​of wall motion analysis parameters for each of the cardiac regions; displaying a graph showing the change over time in the value of the analysis parameter and an electrocardiogram waveform of the heart; The medical processing device of claim 13.

15. The display control unit displays the graph and a bar that moves along the time axis of the electrocardiogram waveform according to the cardiac phase of the analysis result. The medical processing device of claim 14.

16. the image processing unit merges the three-dimensional images corresponding to each of a plurality of cardiac chambers in the heart so that the three-dimensional images are anatomically adjacent to each other at the same cardiac phase; 16. The medical processing device of any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. The plurality of regions includes a cardiac chamber.

17. The medical processing device of any one of claims 1 to 16.

18. the plurality of sites include the left ventricle, the left atrium, the right ventricle, and the right atrium; 18. The medical processing device of any one of claims 1 to 17.

19. Associating analysis results of each of a plurality of parts of the heart obtained by analyzing the medical data with supplementary information including information about the parts; acquiring a first analysis result corresponding to a first region among the plurality of regions and first incidental information including information specifying the first region, a second analysis result corresponding to a second region among the plurality of regions that is anatomically adjacent to the first region and second incidental information including information specifying the second region; each of the first analysis result and the second analysis result includes a three-dimensional image of a region to be analyzed; merging the three-dimensional images corresponding to the first region and the second region, which are anatomically adjacent to each other, based on the first auxiliary information and the second auxiliary information to generate a composite image of the heart; displaying the composite image as a moving image based on the first incidental information and the second incidental information; A medical treatment method comprising:

20. Computer, a means for associating analysis results of each of a plurality of parts of the heart obtained by analyzing medical data with supplementary information including information about the parts; a means for acquiring a first analysis result corresponding to a first region among the plurality of regions and first incidental information including information specifying the first region, a second analysis result corresponding to a second region among the plurality of regions that is anatomically adjacent to the first region and second incidental information including information specifying the second region; each of the first analysis result and the second analysis result includes a three-dimensional image of a region to be analyzed; a means for merging the three-dimensional images corresponding to the first region and the second region, which are anatomically adjacent to each other, based on the first auxiliary information and the second auxiliary information, to generate a composite image of the heart; a means for displaying the composite image as a moving image based on the first incidental information and the second incidental information; A medical processing program that functions as a

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