Ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device and ultrasound diagnostic imaging system

Abstract

The present invention provides an ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device that reliably reduces power consumption using analog circuits, while improving image quality by performing signal processing such as reception apodization, and displaying the results on a display device. [Solution] In an ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device that uses analog circuits to perform signal processing such as received apodization, when a selector including a multiplexer selects and outputs a selected signal from each channel corresponding to each of the multiple transducer elements constituting the transducer array, or from the received signals output from the multiple transducer elements, an analog variable gain amplifier is provided for each channel provided for each selector or selected signal. By controlling the gain of this analog variable gain amplifier, the received signals or selected signals corresponding to each channel are weighted, and TGC or received apodization is performed by the analog circuit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic image processing probe device and an ultrasonic image diagnostic system, and particularly relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic image processing probe device that constitutes an ultrasonic image diagnostic system used in fields such as medicine and generates ultrasonic diagnostic image data with a single probe device, etc.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in fields such as medicine, ultrasonic image diagnostic systems are widely used to non-invasively diagnose the conditions of various subjects including the human body. This type of ultrasonic image diagnostic system generally includes an ultrasonic probe device (for example, a linear probe using a transducer array in which a plurality of transducer elements are arranged linearly, a convex probe using a transducer array in which transducer elements are arranged on a curve, etc.) and a main body device. The ultrasonic probe device irradiates a subject with sound waves (also referred to as "ultrasound") in a predetermined frequency band while electronically or mechanically scanning the subject using a transducer array provided in the device itself, and receives the sound waves (i.e., echoes) reflected by the subject. The main body device generates ultrasonic diagnostic image data composed of a plurality of ultrasonic diagnostic image frames (for example, tomographic images such as B-mode images) obtained by imaging the subject based on a received signal generated based on the echoes received by the ultrasonic probe device, and displays an ultrasonic diagnostic image based on the generated data.

[0003] In this type of ultrasound imaging system, various signal processing techniques are employed to improve image quality by applying them to the received signal output from the ultrasound probe device to generate image data. For example, in the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a main beamformer and a sub-beamformer are used to perform receiving focus (dynamic focus), and a configuration is employed to improve image quality by reducing the effect of phase difference (corresponding to delay time) that occurs in the received signal output from each transducer element due to the distance difference from each transducer element constituting the transducer array to the focus point. Furthermore, ultrasound transmitted to a subject is attenuated within the subject. Therefore, the signal intensity of echoes reflected from deeper parts of the subject (further from the body surface) becomes smaller than the signal intensity of echoes reflected from shallower parts. As a result, in B-mode images, the brightness of pixels at deeper depths becomes smaller than the brightness of pixels at shallower depths. For this reason, time gain control (hereinafter referred to as "TGC (Time Gain Control)") is implemented to correct the signal intensity of echoes according to the depth of the subject (for example, Patent Document 2). Furthermore, because the signal strength of echoes from such depths is weakened, in order to improve the receiving sensitivity of the ultrasound imaging system by changing the strength of the focus and narrowing the received signal path, (a1) when imaging deep areas, the receiving aperture width (i.e., the aperture width defined by the number of transducer elements used to receive the echo) is widened to receive the echo, while (a2) for echoes from shallow depths, there is little attenuation and no need to improve sensitivity, and widening the receiving aperture width would introduce unnecessary noise into the received signal, so receiving aperture control is also implemented to improve image quality by narrowing the receiving aperture width (for example, Patent Document 3). Note that this type of aperture width control can be set individually for both transmission and reception.Furthermore, receiving apodization is also implemented to improve image quality by reducing the influence of the aperture edges and improving the receiving focus (reducing side lobes) by setting the gain of the receiving channel corresponding to each transducer element within the receiving aperture to be highest at the center of the aperture and lowering the gain of the receiving channel corresponding to the transducer elements at the aperture edges (for example, Patent Document 4).

[0004] Furthermore, in recent years, ultrasound diagnostic systems have been put into practical use that integrate the function of generating ultrasound diagnostic image data into a portable ultrasound probe device. The ultrasound diagnostic image data generated by the ultrasound probe device alone is transmitted to a general image display device such as a smartphone, tablet-type information and communication terminal device, PC (personal computer), or PC monitor (hereinafter referred to as "display device"), and displayed on the display device, enabling ultrasound image diagnosis to be performed at low cost without being limited to a specific location (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Such an ultrasound probe device with a built-in ultrasound diagnostic image data generation function (hereinafter referred to as an "ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device" to distinguish it from a general ultrasound probe) generates ultrasound diagnostic image data on the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device alone based on the echo reception results received from the subject, and transmits the generated ultrasound diagnostic image data to the display device via wired or wireless connection. The display device, on the other hand, is configured to display ultrasound diagnostic images based on the ultrasound diagnostic image data received from the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device. This type of ultrasound diagnostic system makes it possible to easily acquire and check ultrasound diagnostic images of subjects even in settings such as home medical care.

[0005] These ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe devices are powered by a built-in battery to ensure portability and ease of use, and low power consumption is key to ensuring sufficient diagnostic time (hereinafter referred to as "diagnostic time"). For this reason, in order to reduce power consumption through the use of analog-to-digital converters (hereinafter referred to as "ADCs") and the reduction of signal lines, the transmitting and receiving apertures are divided into multiple blocks and phase addition is performed. Figure 13 shows an example of the configuration of a phase addition circuit that performs phase addition. Although not shown in Figure 13, the AFE (Analogue Front End), which is composed of an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), is usually equipped with an LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) ​​to amplify the received signals output from each transducer element EL, and is configured so that the subsequent circuit can properly perform phase addition processing.

[0006] In such phase-correcting summing circuits, partial phase-correcting summing is performed within each block, followed by phase-correcting summing between blocks. When performing such phase-correcting summing, it is advantageous to reduce power consumption by minimizing the number of subsequent phase-correcting summing circuits and increasing the number of sums (size of each block) in the preceding stage. For the preceding phase-correcting summing, an analog delay circuit (ADL: Analogue Delay Line) as shown in Figure 14 is used. In an analog delay circuit, the required number of taps (size of the delay circuit) is determined by the maximum delay amount and resolution. Therefore, increasing the analog delay increases the circuit size of the analog delay circuit. To address this, a method is adopted in which analog delay is applied to vibration elements in nearby regions with small delay differences in the probe, and digital delay, which allows for easy increase in delay between blocks, is applied. If all functions are kept active at all times, battery power consumption increases, limiting the diagnostic time. One way to extend the diagnostic time is to increase the battery capacity installed in the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device, but this increases the size and weight of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device itself, reducing its convenience. Thus, there is a trade-off between the diagnostic time available and the convenience of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device, making it difficult to secure a long diagnostic time without sacrificing convenience.

[0007] In linear or convex probes, as shown in Figure 15, the transducer elements used are scanned within the probe's transducer array according to the beam position. The range of these vibrating elements used is called the "aperture." Apertures can be set independently for transmission and reception. An image is then generated by combining the signals obtained from each of the apertures (aperture 1, aperture 2, ..., aperture n). For both transmission and reception, focusing is performed by applying a delay to the channels of each vibrating element within each aperture (Patent Document 5). In this case, a delay circuit for each aperture is provided, and the vibrating elements constituting each aperture are switched according to the scanning and connected to the delay circuit. At this time, in order to connect the vibrating elements to the delay circuit corresponding to each aperture, a selector (MUX) is used to select the vibrating elements to be connected to the delay circuit, as shown in Figure 16. In the example in Figure 16, for a transducer array consisting of 128 transducer elements, 32 selectors (MUX) are provided, each selecting and outputting one signal from four input signals, and the signals output from each selector (MUX) are combined and input to the delay circuit.

[0008] For example, by selecting and outputting the signal from the first vibrating element in selector (MUX1), the signal from the second vibrating element in selector (MUX2), and so on, in selector (MUX32) for the signal from the 32nd vibrating element, the first to 32nd vibrating elements that are adjacent to each other on the probe can be treated as a single aperture, and the signals output from these elements can be input to the delay circuit for processing. Next, by selecting and outputting the signal from the 33rd vibrating element in selector (MUX1), the signal from the second vibrating element in selector (MUX2), and so on, in selector (MUX32) for the signal from the 32nd vibrating element, the second to 33rd vibrating elements that are adjacent to each other on the probe can be treated as a single aperture, and the signals output from these elements can be input to the delay circuit for processing. In this way, by scanning while switching the vibrating elements included in each aperture, and shifting the delay information used in the delay circuit in accordance with the physical switching of the aperture channel, a delay processing corresponding to each aperture is applied. This type of processing is called channel rotation.

[0009] However, if such a configuration is adopted in an ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device, when the ultrasound beam of the probe is tilted, the vibrator elements selected as a single block at both ends of the aperture become discontinuous, requiring a large difference in delay amount. Therefore, the circuit must be configured so that a large delay amount can be provided in each block of the analog delay circuit. Consequently, in the analog delay circuit configuration shown in Figure 14, it is necessary to increase the number of combinations of capacitors and selector switches, which increases the circuit size of the analog delay circuit in each block, and the integrated circuit (IC) including the analog delay circuit itself becomes larger.

[0010] Therefore, conventionally, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has been proposed that includes multiple selectors that select one transducer element from a combination of transducer elements (also called vibrating elements) included in a transducer array, an aperture for transmitting or receiving an ultrasonic beam is formed by the transducer element selected by the multiple selectors, and multiple blocks are formed by combining the multiple selectors, and the selectors included in each block are configured to select a transducer element so that the delay difference in each block does not change (for example, Patent Document 6). [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0011] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-154977 [Patent Document 2] Special Publication No. 2022-517774 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2015-164515 [Patent Document 4] Special Publication No. 2013-544622 [Patent Document 5] Special Publication No. 2018-503459 [Patent Document 6] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-166941 [Non-patent literature]

[0012] [Non-Patent Document 1] Nikkei Shimbun Online, "Terumo develops wireless ultrasound diagnostic device to support intravenous drips and other medical needs," December 8, 2020.<URL:https: / / www.nikkei.com / article / DGXZQODZ079PC0X01C20A2000000 / > [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0013] However, while analog delay offers advantages in miniaturization and low power consumption compared to digital delay, controlling the IC is difficult. Digital circuits have extremely fine circuit configurations, allowing for the inclusion of many digital control circuits. On the other hand, implementing digital control circuits in analog circuits is difficult. In particular, ICs for ultrasonic applications need to operate at high voltages (e.g., around 40-100 volts), requiring specialized manufacturing processes that make it extremely difficult to combine with delicate digital circuits. Therefore, when adopting configurations that use analog delay circuits to reduce power consumption, such as those described in Patent Documents 5 and 6, it becomes difficult to perform received apodization without modification.

[0014] This invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device and an ultrasound diagnostic system that can reliably reduce power consumption using analog circuits, improve image quality by performing signal processing such as reception apodization, and display the results on a display device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0015] (1) The ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device according to the present invention transmits a sound wave beam in a predetermined frequency band to a subject and receives echoes of the sound wave beam in the subject to generate ultrasound diagnostic image data consisting of a plurality of ultrasound diagnostic image frames of the subject, and transmits the generated ultrasound diagnostic image data to an external display device by wire or wireless, Sound wave transmitting and receiving means comprising a vibrator array in which multiple vibrator elements are arranged, which receives echoes obtained by directing the sound wave beam generated based on an input drive signal onto the subject, and outputs a corresponding received signal, A plurality of analog variable gain amplifiers are provided for each channel corresponding to each of the plurality of transducer elements, or when the received signals output from each of a predetermined number of transducer elements used for receiving the echo are selected by a selector including a multiplexer and output as a single selected signal, and a plurality of analog variable gain amplifiers are provided for each channel corresponding to each selector or each selected signal, and amplify the received signal or the selected signal corresponding to the channel with a controlled gain. A plurality of analog delay circuits are provided for each channel, which delay the amplified received signal or the selected signal for a time period corresponding to the position of the corresponding oscillator element in the oscillator array. An analog summing circuit that generates an added received signal by adding the delayed received signals or selected signals corresponding to multiple channels, A set of analog-to-digital converters is provided for each of the aforementioned analog summing circuits, which sequentially samples and quantizes the generated summing received signal to generate a digital data stream corresponding to the summing received signal, Image generation means that applies predetermined signal processing to the digital data stream to generate the ultrasound diagnostic image data of the subject, A transmission means for transmitting the generated ultrasound diagnostic image data to the display device by wire or wireless means, A transmitting and receiving aperture control means that controls the sound wave transmitting and receiving means to (A) control the transmitting aperture width of the transmitting aperture, which is determined by the number of transducer elements used for transmitting the sound wave beam, and (B) gradually increase the receiving aperture width of the receiving aperture, which is determined by the number of transducer elements used for receiving the echo, according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam to the corresponding receiving timing of the echo, and (C) cause the sound wave transmitting and receiving means to receive the echo from a shallow depth region in the subject with a narrow receiving aperture width, while (D) causes the transmitting and receiving aperture control means to receive the echo from a deep depth region in the subject with a wide receiving aperture width. The analog variable gain amplifier has a gain control means for controlling the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier, The gain control means, The gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for the channel corresponding to the oscillator element is controlled according to (a) the elapsed time from the transmission timing to the output timing of the received signal that substantially coincides with the reception timing of the echo, and (b) the distance from the center of the reception aperture to each of the oscillator elements included in the reception aperture. The gain of the analog variable gain amplifier is increased linearly or non-linearly based on a first function corresponding to the attenuation characteristics of the subject according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing to the output timing of the received signal, and the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for each channel is changed linearly or non-linearly according to the distance from the center of the reception aperture. The gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for the channel corresponding to the oscillator element installed at a position distant from the center of the reception aperture is set to be smaller than the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for the channel corresponding to the oscillator element installed at a position closer to the center of the aperture, and is characterized by having such a configuration.

[0016] With this configuration, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device according to the present invention can transmit a sound wave beam using a transducer array with an appropriately set transmit aperture width, scan a subject with the sound wave beam, and receive echoes from the subject using a transducer array with an appropriately set receive aperture width. Generally, in ultrasound diagnostic devices, transmit aperture control is performed as part of transmit beamforming to control the focus and directivity of the sound wave beam and reduce the effect of propagation distance to the focal point, thereby improving image quality. In addition, receive aperture control is performed as part of receive beamforming to focus and adjust the received signal, reduce the effects of attenuation and noise within the subject, and improve image quality (see, for example, Patent Document 3). Furthermore, generally in ultrasound diagnostic devices, TGC is performed as described above to reduce the effect of depth in the subject. Furthermore, in ultrasound diagnostic equipment, in order to reduce the influence of the aperture edges of the receiving aperture and improve the receiving focus, weighting based on an apodization function (e.g., a window function such as a Hamming window or a cosine window) is performed within the receiving aperture, and the gain of the receiving channel corresponding to the transducer element at the edge of the receiving aperture is set to be smaller than the gain of the channel at the center of the receiving aperture. (See, for example, Patent Document 4.) Generally, this type of processing is performed by digital signal processing that allows for fine control (see Patent Document 4, etc.).

[0017] On the other hand, in the case of a handheld ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device, power consumption is a problem, so providing an ADC for all receiving channels and digitally processing the signal of each channel is not a desirable method because it leads to increased power consumption and a decrease in the number of diagnostic hours. In this regard, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device according to the present invention, when a selector including a multiplexer selects the received signals output from each of the multiple transducer elements constituting the transducer array, or the received signals output from the multiple transducer elements, and outputs them as selected signals, an analog variable gain amplifier is provided for each channel provided for each selector or selected signal, and by controlling the gain of this analog variable gain amplifier, weighting can be applied to the received signals or selected signals corresponding to each channel, and TGC or received apodization can be performed by an analog circuit. Specifically, the gain control means performs TGC by controlling the amplification factor of the analog variable gain amplifier linearly or nonlinearly according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam to the output timing of the received signal which substantially coincides with the reception timing of the echo, based on a first function corresponding to the attenuation characteristics of the subject. Furthermore, the gain control means performs receive apodization by linearly or nonlinearly changing the amplification factor of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for each channel (B) according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture, and setting the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for channels corresponding to oscillator elements located at a distance from the center of the receiving aperture to be smaller than the amplification factor of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for channels corresponding to oscillator elements located at a distance closer to the center of the aperture. At this time, by controlling the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier corresponding to each channel in the form of a nonlinear window function or apodization function, such as a Hamming window or cosine window, according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture, side lobes can be reduced. The specific methods and gain control forms used by the gain control means to control the amplification factor of the analog variable gain amplifier for each channel to realize TGC and receive apodization will be described in detail later.

[0018] As a result, the ultrasonic diagnostic image processing probe device according to the present invention can generate high-quality ultrasonic diagnostic image data with low power consumption by performing TGC and reception apodization while achieving low power consumption using an analog circuit, and can display the data on a display device.

[0019] (2) In the ultrasonic diagnostic image processing probe device of (1) above, the gain control means may be configured to smoothly change the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for each channel in a sinusoidal manner according to the distance from the center of the reception aperture.

[0020] With this configuration, for example, a window function such as a Hamming window is used as an apodization function, and the gain is smoothly decreased from the central part to the end part of the reception aperture to suppress side lobes, improve the main lobe, and ensure data continuity.

[0021] (3) In the ultrasonic diagnostic image processing probe device of (1) or (2) above, the aperture control means may be configured to control the sound wave transmitting and receiving means to (A) control the transmission aperture width and (B) increase the reception aperture width linearly or non-linearly according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing.

[0022] With this configuration, the reception aperture width can be increased linearly or non-linearly according to the depth, improving the reception sensitivity of echoes and reducing noise to improve the image quality.

[0023] (4) In the ultrasonic diagnostic image processing probe device of (3) above, the aperture control means may be configured to control the sound wave transmitting and receiving means to (A) control the transmission aperture width and (B) increase the reception aperture width used for receiving the echoes in a sinusoidal manner according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing.

[0024] With this configuration, smooth gain control can be achieved, side lobes can be reduced, and an appropriate reception focus can be realized to improve the image quality of the ultrasonic diagnostic image.

[0025] (5) The ultrasound diagnostic system according to the present invention is characterized by comprising one of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe devices described in (1) to (4) above, and a display device that receives the ultrasound diagnostic image data transmitted by the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device via wired or wireless connection and displays an ultrasound diagnostic image of the subject based on the ultrasound diagnostic image data.

[0026] With this configuration, the ultrasound diagnostic system according to the present invention can capture images of a subject using any one of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe devices described in (1) to (4) above, and display the ultrasound diagnostic images of the subject on a display device based on the generated ultrasound diagnostic image data. The ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device can generate high-quality ultrasound diagnostic image data with low power consumption, as described above, and the display device only needs to perform display processing based on the ultrasound diagnostic image data generated by the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device. Therefore, ultrasound diagnostic images can be displayed and used for diagnosis using a general tablet-type information and communication terminal device such as an iPad® or a smartphone. [Effects of the Invention]

[0027] The ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe and ultrasound diagnostic system according to the present invention reliably reduce power consumption using analog circuits, improve image quality by performing signal processing such as reception apodization, and display the results on a display device, thereby ensuring a long diagnostic time without compromising the convenience of a portable ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0028] [Figure 1] This is a system configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration in one embodiment of the ultrasound imaging diagnostic system according to the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing an example configuration of an ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device according to one embodiment. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of the circuit configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device according to this embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of the circuit configuration of the AFE of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device of this embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows a conventional method of receiving aperture control in a conventional ultrasound imaging system, in which the system control unit controls the ON / OFF state of each analog variable gain amplifier in the TGC processing unit in conjunction with the signal processing unit and the timing control unit of the AFE. [Figure 6] This figure shows the results obtained using the control means shown in Figure 5. [Figure 7] This figure shows a TGC control method in a conventional ultrasound imaging system described in Patent Document 6. [Figure 8] Figure 7 shows the result of applying TGC in accordance with the receiving aperture control in the control means. [Figure 9] This figure shows the gain control results when performing TGC and receive apodization while linearly controlling the receiving aperture width, similar to Figure 7. [Figure 10] This figure shows a control method in the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device of this embodiment, in which the gain is controlled non-linearly by introducing a curve to the start of aperture in the receiving aperture control. [Figure 11] This figure shows the gain control results when performing TGC and receive apodization while controlling the receiving aperture using the method shown in Figure 10. [Figure 12] This is an explanatory diagram of the gain values ​​at each depth. [Figure 13] This figure shows an example of the configuration of a conventional phase-correcting adder. [Figure 14] This figure shows an example of a conventional analog delay circuit configuration. [Figure 15] This diagram illustrates the scanning process in the vibration element of a conventional probe. [Figure 16] This is a diagram showing the configuration of the transmitting and receiving unit described in Patent Document 6. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0029] Embodiments of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device and ultrasound diagnostic system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are examples in which the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device and ultrasound diagnostic system according to the present invention are applied to an ultrasound diagnostic system that transmits sound waves (ultrasound) of a predetermined frequency band to a part of the human body as a subject, receives echoes of the sound waves in the subject, and generates and displays ultrasound diagnostic image data consisting of multiple ultrasound diagnostic image frames of the subject. However, the embodiments described below are not intended to unduly limit the content of the present invention as described in the claims, and not all of the configurations described in these embodiments are necessarily essential components of the present invention.

[0030] [1] Configuration and Overview of Ultrasound Imaging System 1 The configuration and overview of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging system 1 in one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figure 1. In Figure 1, only some of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe devices 10 are shown in order to prevent the drawing from becoming cluttered. Furthermore, the number of ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe devices 10 constituting the ultrasound diagnostic imaging system 1 is arbitrary; there may be one or multiple devices. However, in this embodiment, in order to facilitate understanding of the explanation, the ultrasound diagnostic imaging system 1 will be described as being composed of one ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 and one display device 20.

[0031] As shown in Figure 1, the ultrasound imaging diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment is portable by the operator and consists of an ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 that transmits sound waves (also called "ultrasound beams") having a predetermined frequency band (for example, any frequency band from 1 MHz to 10 MHz) and receives echoes of the sound waves from a subject, and generates (i.e., captures) ultrasound diagnostic image data of the subject based on the received echoes, and a display device 20 such as a smartphone or tablet-type information and communication terminal device. The ultrasound diagnostic image data generated by the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 is transmitted wirelessly to the display device 20, and the display device 20 displays the ultrasound diagnostic image (moving image) of the subject. The frequency band of the sound waves transmitted by the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 and the shape of the device are arbitrary, and various device configurations such as linear, convex, and sector types that transmit and receive sound waves in any frequency band from 1 to 10 MHz can be adopted. However, in this embodiment, in order to make the explanation more concrete and to facilitate understanding of the invention, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 will be described as a linear type probe device configured using a transducer array 11, which will be described later, in which a plurality of transducer elements are arranged in a substantially straight line.

[0032] In conventional ultrasound imaging devices or systems, the main unit and probe device use power supplied from the commercial power supply, so power saving has not been a major issue. For this reason, in this type of ultrasound imaging device, the digital data stream obtained by analog / digital conversion (hereinafter referred to as "A / D conversion"), which samples and quantizes the analog received signal output from each transducer element (corresponding to "EL" in Figure 13 and Figure 3 described later; hereinafter also referred to as "transducer element EL") of the transducer array 11 that constitutes the probe device based on the echo received by each transducer element, is subjected to digital signal processing to improve image quality, such as received focus, TGC, received apodization, and transmitted / received beamforming. In addition, signal processing such as brightness adjustment and display depth adjustment is performed to display the image intended by the operator. On the other hand, as mentioned above, the handy type ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 that can be carried by the operator is powered by a built-in battery to ensure portability and convenience. Therefore, in order to ensure a sufficient number of diagnostic hours, it is essential to reduce the power consumption of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 6).

[0033] Furthermore, in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging system described in Patent Document 6, a plurality of selectors are provided to select one transducer element from a combination of transducer elements included in the transducer array of a portable ultrasound diagnostic imaging probe device. An aperture for transmitting or receiving an ultrasound beam is formed by the transducer element selected by the plurality of selectors. Multiple blocks are formed by combining the plurality of selectors, and the device is configured such that the selector included in each block selects a transducer element so that the delay difference in each block does not change. This configuration reduces the number of power-hungry ADCs and analog delay circuits, thereby reducing power consumption and preventing an increase in circuit size. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the signal strength of echoes from deep depths weakens. Therefore, in the ultrasound imaging system described in Patent Document 6, in order to improve the receiving sensitivity of the ultrasound imaging system by narrowing the received signal path by changing the strength of the focus, (a1) when imaging deep depth regions, the receiving aperture width (i.e., the aperture width defined by the number of transducer elements used to receive echoes) is widened to receive echoes, while (a2) for echoes from shallow depths, there is little attenuation and no need to improve sensitivity, and widening the receiving aperture width would introduce unnecessary noise into the received signal. Therefore, receiving aperture control is implemented to narrow the receiving aperture width to improve image quality. In addition, (b1) regarding the transmission of the sound wave beam, when imaging deep depth regions in the subject, the transmitting aperture width is widened to improve sensitivity, and (b2) when imaging shallow depth regions, transmitting aperture control is also implemented to increase resolution and improve the image quality of the ultrasound diagnostic image (see, for example, Patent Documents 3 and 5). However, the device configuration described in Patent Document 6 does not disclose a configuration for implementing processing for received apodization. As such, it was difficult to achieve low power consumption while simultaneously applying processing for received apodization to the received signal to reduce side lobes and improve image quality.

[0034] Furthermore, in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging system described in Patent Document 6, a plurality of selectors are provided to select one transducer element from a combination of transducer elements included in the transducer array of a portable ultrasound diagnostic imaging probe device. An aperture for transmitting or receiving an ultrasound beam is formed by the transducer element selected by the plurality of selectors. Multiple blocks are formed by combining the plurality of selectors, and the device is configured such that the selector included in each block selects a transducer element so that the delay difference in each block does not change. This configuration reduces the number of power-hungry ADCs and analog delay circuits, thereby reducing power consumption and preventing an increase in circuit size. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the signal strength of echoes from deep depths weakens. Therefore, in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging system described in Patent Document 6, in order to improve the receiving sensitivity of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging system, (a1) when imaging deep depth regions, the receiving aperture width (i.e., the aperture width defined by the number of transducer elements used to receive echoes) is widened to receive echoes, while (a2) for echoes from shallow depths, there is little attenuation and no need to improve sensitivity, and widening the receiving aperture width would introduce unnecessary noise into the received signal. Therefore, receiving aperture control is implemented to narrow the receiving aperture width to improve image quality. In addition, (b1) regarding the transmission of the sound wave beam, when imaging deep depth regions in the subject, the transmitting aperture width is widened to improve sensitivity, and (b2) when imaging shallow depth regions, transmitting aperture control is also implemented to increase resolution and improve the image quality of the ultrasound diagnostic image (see, for example, Patent Documents 3 and 5). However, the device configuration described in Patent Document 6 does not disclose a configuration for implementing processing for received apodization. As such, it was difficult to achieve low power consumption while simultaneously applying processing for received apodization to the received signal to reduce side lobes and improve image quality.

[0035] Therefore, in the ultrasound imaging diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment, the analog front end 12 (hereinafter referred to as "AFE12") of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10, described later, is equipped with a TGC processing unit 126 for applying TGC to the received signal (analog signal) corresponding to the received echo output from each transducer element EL constituting the transducer array 11. This TGC processing unit 126 is equipped with a plurality of analog variable gain amplifiers (also called "analog variable gain amplifiers," corresponding to "gain126-11~48" in Figure 3, described later) to adjust the gain of the input received signal (see Figure 3), and is configured to amplify the received signal with a gain controlled by weighting according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam corresponding to the received echo to the output timing of the received signal corresponding to the received echo (hereinafter also called "RTT: Round Trip Time"). Furthermore, the sound wave beam transmitted from each transducer element of the transducer array 11 propagates through the subject's body at a predetermined propagation speed from the contact point on the body surface, is reflected at a reflection point (for example, a point of change in acoustic impedance such as a tissue change region), and is received as an echo by the transducer array 11. Therefore, the round-trip time (RTT) is proportional to the distance (i.e., depth) from the body surface to the reflection point, and is approximately equal to the value obtained by dividing twice this distance (i.e., round-trip distance) by the propagation speed. Thus, by measuring the RTT, the distance "L" from the contact point of the transducer array 11 on the body surface to the reflection point can be easily calculated from the following (Equation 1).

[0036] Distance L = (RTT / 2) × Speed ​​of sound wave transmission within the body ... (Equation 1)

[0037] Furthermore, measuring RTT during TGC is optional. For example, the system control unit 16, described later, can count the elapsed time using a timer or clock counter (not shown), and the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n of the TGC processing unit 126 can be controlled based on the counted elapsed time and a weight determined by a weighting function.

[0038] According to this method, TGC can be performed solely by gain control (also called "gain control") of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n without performing digital signal processing for TGC, thereby reducing the power consumption of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 and ensuring a sufficient number of diagnostic hours (see, for example, Patent Document 6).

[0039] On the other hand, in the case of the ultrasound imaging diagnostic system described in Patent Document 6, which achieves low power consumption while performing TGC processing using such methods, the gain set according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam to the output timing of the received signal is set to the same value uniformly for all transducer elements EL included in the receiving aperture (see Figure 8 below). As a result, even if receiving aperture control is performed according to the depth by receiving aperture control, it is difficult to perform receiving apodization by weighting according to the position of each transducer element EL within the receiving aperture.

[0040] Therefore, in the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment, when adjusting the gain of the received signal in the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n that constitutes the TGC processing unit 126, a configuration is adopted in which the gain setting value of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n, which is provided in correspondence with the received signal output from each transducer element EL included in the set receiving aperture, is changed according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture. Specifically, the gain for the received signal output from each transducer element EL is adjusted according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture, and a configuration is adopted in which the gain of the received signal output from the transducer element EL provided in the receiving aperture is made the largest, while the gain of the transducer element EL provided at the end of the aperture is made the smallest. With this configuration, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment can perform received apodization by analog signal processing in the AFE 12 without performing received apodization by digital signal processing. As a result, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment can reduce side lobes generated in the received signal and improve image quality while achieving low power consumption and ensuring a sufficient number of diagnostic hours. The specific gain control methods for each analog variable gain amplifier constituting the TGC processing unit 126, and the differences from gain control methods in conventional ultrasound imaging systems, will be described in detail later with reference to diagrams.

[0041] Furthermore, as will be described later, in the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment, the output signals from a group of transducer elements EL consisting of multiple transducer elements EL are selected by the 4to1RXMux125 (see Figure 4) described later to output a single selected signal, and for each selected signal, an analog variable gain amplifier 126-n and an analog delay circuit 127-n (see Figures 3 and 4) of the TGC processing unit 126 are provided, thereby achieving a reduction in circuit size and low power consumption. Moreover, in the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment, the output signals from each analog delay circuit 127-n are added together every 8 channels by the 8-channel analog adder circuits 1281 to 1284 included in the 8-channel analog adder circuit unit 128, and the received signals from all transducer elements EL are converted into a digital data stream by the 4-channel ADCs 131 to 134. As described above, the power consumption in the ADC is greater than that in the circuit on the AFE12 side. Therefore, with this configuration, for example, four ADCs can appropriately convert the received signal from the transducer array 11, which consists of 128 transducer elements EL, into a digital data stream and supply it to the signal processing unit 14, thereby enabling the generation of high-resolution ultrasound diagnostic image data with low power consumption. This point will be explained in more detail later.

[0042] In this embodiment, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 performs A / D conversion on the received signal corresponding to the echo received by each transducer element EL set as a receiving aperture by receiving aperture control, while applying (1) TGC, (2) receiving apodization, and (3) receiving focus in the AFE 12, thereby generating a digital data stream corresponding to the received signal. Then, by applying predetermined digital signal processing to the digital data stream, it generates ultrasound diagnostic image data consisting of multiple ultrasound diagnostic image frames of the subject. The generated ultrasound diagnostic image data is transmitted to the display device 20 by wire or wireless connection, and the display device 20 displays an ultrasound diagnostic image consisting of multiple ultrasound diagnostic image frames of the subject based on the ultrasound diagnostic image data.

[0043] The display device 20 is a general information and communication terminal device such as a tablet, smartphone, laptop, or desktop PC. For example, an iPad® or iPad mini® can be used.

[0044] This display device 20 has a display unit (not shown) consisting of a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display and a display drive circuit, a speaker, and an operation unit (not shown) provided on the display screen, such as a touch panel and a home button, and is configured to execute various processes in response to the operator's input. The operation unit may also be configured to allow connection of external input devices such as a mouse or keyboard.

[0045] Furthermore, the display device 20 has a communication function that communicates with the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 via wired or wireless connection in accordance with the same communication protocol as the communication interface unit 17 (see Figure 2) mounted on the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10. The specific communication method used for communication between the display device 20 and the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 is arbitrary. For example, a wired communication method such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) may be adopted, or a wireless communication method such as a communication method conforming to the so-called wireless LAN (Local Area Network) protocol defined by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11a, b, g, n, ac, ae, or a wireless communication method conforming to the Bluetooth® communication protocol defined by IEEE 802.15.1 may be adopted.

[0046] A feature of this embodiment is that the display device 20 of this embodiment is equipped with an application program (hereinafter also referred to as the "display app") for acquiring data corresponding to ultrasound diagnostic image data (which may include ultrasound diagnostic image frames as still images extracted from the ultrasound diagnostic image data as moving images by a freeze operation, etc., and audio data) from the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10, and for displaying the ultrasound diagnostic image based on the said ultrasound diagnostic image data. By executing processing according to this display app, the display device 20 acquires the ultrasound diagnostic image data generated by the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 and realizes the function of displaying the ultrasound diagnostic image based on the acquired ultrasound diagnostic image data. Note that the display app does not need to be pre-installed on the display device 20; it is sufficient if it can be downloaded in advance and made executable before use. Furthermore, the display format when the display device 20 displays the ultrasound diagnostic image according to the display app is arbitrary. For example, it may be configured to display the ultrasound diagnostic image as a moving image in one area and the ultrasound diagnostic image frames extracted by a screen capture function using freeze, and to display the moving image and the extracted ultrasound diagnostic image frames simultaneously in each area. Alternatively, it may be configured to switch between displaying the moving image and the extracted ultrasound diagnostic image frames in response to input operations on the control unit. Furthermore, the system may be configured to enlarge or reduce a portion of an image by performing pinch-in or pinch-out operations within the display area of ​​a moving image or extracted ultrasound diagnostic image frame. Alternatively, a method may be adopted in which the extracted ultrasound diagnostic image frame is switched to the next extracted ultrasound diagnostic image frame in response to a flick operation. Each input operation can, of course, be replaced by input operations using a keyboard or mouse.

[0047] [2] Configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 Next, the configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment will be described using Figures 2 to 4. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment, Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment, and Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the AFE12 of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment.

[0048] As shown in Figure 2, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment comprises (1) a transducer array 11, (2) an AFE 12, (3) a 4-channel ADC 13, (4) a signal processing unit 14, (5) a user interface unit 15 which consists of an operation switch, a simple display, an LED for status indication, etc., which informs the operator of the status of the device and accepts input operations from the operator, (6) a system control unit 16, and (7) a communication interface unit 17. Each unit is supplied with the power necessary for operation from a built-in battery (not shown). For example, the transducer array 11 of this embodiment works in conjunction with the AFE 12 to constitute the "sound wave transmission and reception means" of the present invention, and the signal processing unit 14 works in conjunction with the system control unit 16 and the AFE 12 to constitute the "transmission and reception aperture control means," "gain control means," "driving means," and "image generation means" of the present invention. Furthermore, the communication interface unit 17 of this embodiment constitutes the "transmission means" of the present invention.

[0049] The transducer array 11 consists of multiple transducer elements EL (see Figure 3), each composed of elements such as piezoelectric elements, arranged in a substantially linear fashion, allowing the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 to function as a linear probe. In this embodiment, for the sake of easier understanding, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 is described as a linear probe using a transducer array 11 in which the transducer elements EL are arranged in a substantially linear fashion. However, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 can also be configured as a convex probe by arranging the multiple transducer elements EL in a curved fashion. Furthermore, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 can be configured as a sector-type probe by changing the arrangement of the transducer elements EL. Here, an AFE 12 is electrically connected to each transducer element EL constituting the transducer array 11. Under the control of the signal processing unit 14 and the system control unit 16, each transducer element EL transmits a sound wave beam based on a drive signal supplied from the AFE 12, receives the echo of the sound wave beam in the subject, and outputs a received signal corresponding to the received echo to the AFE 12. The number of oscillator elements EL constituting the oscillator array 11 is arbitrary; for example, the oscillator array 11 may be constructed by arranging 128 oscillator elements EL in a substantially linear fashion.

[0050] The AFE12 is an analog circuit electrically connected to each transducer element EL of the transducer array 11, and is configured, for example, as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The AFE12 (1) generates a drive signal to drive the transducer array 11 under the control of the signal processing unit 14 and the system control unit 16 and supplies it to the transducer array 11, causing each transducer element EL to transmit a sound wave beam, and (2) when a received signal corresponding to an echo received by each transducer element EL constituting the transducer array 11 is output, it performs analog signal processing on the received signal and sequentially outputs the received signal after analog signal processing to the 4ch ADC13.

[0051] (1) Configuration of AFE12 Next, the configuration of the AFE12 provided in the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

[0052] As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the AFE12 of this embodiment includes (a) a trigger generator 120 as a transmission waveform generation circuit that generates a transmission wave and an ultrasonic beam that transmits with individual delays applied to the transmission waves of each channel in order to generate a drive signal for the transducer array 11, (a1) a trigger generator 120 as a transmission waveform generation circuit that creates a transmission wave and transmits an ultrasonic beam that transmits with individual delays applied to the transmission waves of each channel, (a2) 32 1to4TX multiplexers 121 (hereinafter, "multiplexer" is referred to as "Mux") which have one input port and four output ports, and which select an output port to which the signal input to the input port will be output based on a 2-bit control signal and output to the selected output port, and (a3) ​​a TX pulser 122 which generates a drive signal to supply to each transducer element EL and supplies it to the transducer array 11. Figure 4 illustrates an example configuration in which, in order to make the explanation more concrete and easier to understand, (i) 32 ON / OFF control signals and (ii) 32 input signals (2 bits) for controlling the ON or OFF state of each of the 32 1to4TXMux121 are input from the trigger generator 120, and drive signals are output to the 128 output channels (4 × 32 channels) as needed to drive the 128 oscillator elements EL as required, thereby transmitting a sound wave beam from each oscillator element EL.

[0053] Furthermore, to elaborate on the explanation, in the AFE12 shown in Figure 4, in order to control the ON / OFF status of the drive signal for each of the 128 output channels, ON / OFF control signals for 128 channels are input from the timing control unit 130 to the TXpulser 122 via the 1to4TXMux121. The TXpulser 122 controls the ON / OFF status of the drive signal for the channel corresponding to each transducer element EL according to these ON / OFF control signals, thereby performing transmit aperture control. In this embodiment, the timing control unit 130 supplies transmit / receive timing control signals (not shown in Figure 4) to each part of the AFE12 to control the output timing of the drive signal corresponding to each channel. This adjusts the transmission timing and phase of the sound wave beam transmitted from each transducer element EL to achieve transmit beamforming. The timing control unit 130 supplies the above control signals to each part based on control signals, including transmit / receive timing control, supplied from the signal processing unit 14 which is linked to the system control unit 16 as shown in Figure 2, thereby achieving transmit aperture control and transmit beamforming.

[0054] With the configuration described above, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment appropriately drives 128 transducer elements EL using 32 1to4TXMux121s, transmitting an appropriate sound wave beam to the subject while achieving a wide field of view and high resolution with low power consumption. Furthermore, when transmitting such a sound wave beam, the TXpulser122 controls the ON / OFF supply of drive signals to each transducer element EL based on the ON / OFF control signal supplied from the 1to4TXMux121, thereby performing transmit aperture control. At the same time, the TXpulser122 changes the timing of the drive signal supply to each transducer element EL based on the timing control signal, and also performs phase control of the sound wave beam transmitted from each transducer element EL, thereby performing transmit beamforming. With this configuration, the sound wave beam transmitted from each transducer element EL converges near the focus point set by the operator, irradiates the subject, is reflected at points where the acoustic impedance changes, such as tissue changes in the subject, and is received as an echo by the transducer element EL set as the receiving aperture. As a result, each transducer element EL outputs a received signal corresponding to the received echo and supplies it to the AFE12.

[0055] Furthermore, the AFE12 is equipped with (b1) a transmit / receive selector switch 123 (hereinafter referred to as "TRSW123") and (b2) 128 LNAs (Low Noise Amplifiers) 124 that amplify the received signals output from each of the 128 transducer elements EL via the TRSW123. It is also equipped with 32 4to1RXMux125 units, each having four input ports and one output port, which select and output one signal from the four input signals input to the four input ports. The configuration selects and integrates the 128 channels of received signals output from each of the 128 transducer elements EL to output 32 channels of selected signals to the TGC processing unit 126. In this embodiment, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 is configured to reduce circuit size and achieve low power consumption by providing 32 4to1RXMux125s in the AFE12. This configuration selects 32 signals from the 128 received signals output from the 128 transducer elements EL, and performs gain control and phase control on these 32 selected signals. However, it is also possible to configure the device to perform gain control and phase control on each of the 128 transducer elements EL. In this case, an LNA124, an analog variable gain amplifier 126-n (described later), and an analog delay circuit 127-n should be provided for each transducer element EL. While this method increases power consumption, it allows for very fine control of each receiving channel corresponding to each transducer element EL, thereby improving the image quality of the generated ultrasound diagnostic image. Furthermore, various modifications are possible, such as using 16 8to1RXMuxs to output 16 selected signals from the 128 received signals. Regardless of the method used, low power consumption can be achieved, ensuring sufficient diagnostic time.

[0056] (TGC Processing Unit 126) As shown in Figure 3, the TGC processing unit 126 has 32 analog variable gain amplifiers 126-11 to 48 (specifically, 32 amplification circuits 126-11 to 48 indicated as "gain" in Figure 3; hereafter, when it is not necessary to specify each analog variable gain amplifier, they will be referred to as "analog variable gain amplifier 126-n") that adjust the gain of the 32 channels of selection signals output from the 4to1RXMux125. Each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n is configured to receive the selection signal output from the 4to1RXMux125 connected to its own circuit. Furthermore, in this embodiment, each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n constituting the TGC processing unit 126 is configured to have its gain and ON / OFF state controlled by the signal processing unit 14 and the system control unit 16. The signal processing unit 14 and the system control unit 16 control the ON / OFF state of each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n to perform receiving aperture control, and by adjusting the gain of each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n, they amplify the received signal of the receiving channel corresponding to each transducer element EL or a selected signal chosen from the received signals corresponding to multiple receiving channels, thereby performing TGC and receiving apodization to improve the image quality of the ultrasound diagnostic image. The analog variable gain amplifier 126-n then inputs the amplified signal to the analog delay circuit 127.

[0057] With this configuration, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment can appropriately process the received signals corresponding to the echoes received by the 128 transducer elements EL using 32 analog variable gain amplifiers 126-n provided in the TGC processing unit 126. This reduces the number of analog variable gain amplifiers 126-n built into the AFE 12 for TGC and received apodization, thereby preventing an increase in the size of the AFE 12 and achieving low power consumption. In this embodiment, the specific adjustment method for adjusting the gain of each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n that constitutes the TGC processing unit 126 in conjunction with the signal processing unit 14 will be described in detail later. Furthermore, in Figure 3, to prevent the drawing from becoming cluttered, the 4to1RXMux125, which is placed between each oscillator element EL and the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n, is omitted from the drawing. However, if a configuration is adopted in which the received signals output from each oscillator element EL are selected or combined and integrated using the 4to1RXMux125, then a 4to1RXMux125 will be placed between the oscillator array 11 and the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n for every multiple oscillator elements EL (for example, every four elements). For example, if 4to1RXMux125 is used for 128 oscillator elements EL, then 32 4to1RXMux125s will be placed between them. On the other hand, if 8to1RXMux is used instead of 4to1RXMux125, then 16 8to1RXMux will be placed between them. Furthermore, if a Mux is not provided between the two, the TGC processing unit 126 can be provided with the same number of analog variable gain amplifiers 126-n as the number of oscillator elements EL. However, in order to reduce the circuit of AFE12 and achieve lower power consumption, it is desirable to provide, for example, 32 4to1RXMux125s.

[0058] (Analog delay circuit 127) As shown in Figure 3, the analog delay circuit 127 is electrically connected to each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n that constitutes the TGC processing unit 126, and has 32 analog delay circuits (ADL: Analogue Delay Line) 127-11 to 48 (hereinafter, when there is no need to specifically identify each analog delay circuit 127, it will be referred to as "analog delay circuit 127-n") that perform analog delay processing on the amplified received signal or selected signal supplied from the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n of the receiving channel corresponding to its own circuit. Each analog delay circuit 127-n performs analog delay processing on the received signal or selected signal of the receiving channel corresponding to its own circuit based on a control signal supplied in conjunction by the signal processing unit 14 and the system control unit 16, and adjusts the phase difference of the signals of each receiving channel. Here, as described above, since the distance from the focus point differs depending on the position of each transducer element EL included in the receiving aperture, a shift occurs in the timing of the arrival of the echo from the focus point depending on the installation position. As a result, a phase difference occurs in the received signal output from each transducer element EL. Therefore, in this embodiment, the analog delay circuit 127-n is configured to reduce the effect of phase difference by delaying the received signal or selection signal according to the position of the oscillator element EL of the receiving channel corresponding to the circuit within the receiving aperture, thereby performing reception focusing. The specific configuration of each analog delay circuit 127-n is the same as in Figure 14 above, so the details are omitted. Furthermore, the method of performing reception focusing using the analog delay circuit 127 is the same as in Patent Document 6.

[0059] As shown in Figure 3, the 8-channel analog summing circuit section 128 is composed of four analog summing circuits 1281 to 1284. It adds the delayed received or selected signals output from 32 analog delay circuits 127-n for every eight channels, generating four summed signals. These signals are then filtered for noise via an HPF / LPF (High Pass Filter / Low Pass Filter) 129 before being input to the 4-channel ADC 13.

[0060] The 4chADC13 includes four ADCs 131 to 134 (shown as "ADC1" to "ADC4" in Figure 3) that sample and quantize each of the four summing signals supplied from the AFE12 to generate a digital data stream corresponding to the summing signal. It then performs A / D conversion on the summing signal corresponding to its own circuit and outputs the corresponding digital data stream to the signal processing unit 14.

[0061] As described above, even when the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment uses a transducer array 11 equipped with 128 transducer elements EL to achieve a wide field of view and high resolution, the 4to1RXMux125 and the 8ch analog summing circuit unit 128 can process the signal by integrating it into a 4ch summing signal. Therefore, only an ADC that supports 4 channels is needed, enabling miniaturization of the circuit, low power consumption, and securing a long diagnostic time.

[0062] (Signal processing unit 14) The signal processing unit 14 is composed of an ultrasonic processing LSI (Large Scale Integration) and an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), etc. The signal processing unit 14 also has FIFO (Fast In Fast Out) memories 141 to 144 corresponding to each ADC 131 to 134 included in the 4ch ADC 13, and sequentially buffers the digital data streams output from the corresponding ADCs 131 to 134 using the corresponding FIFO memories 141 to 144, and outputs them sequentially to the digital summing circuit 145 in FIFO format. The digital summing circuit 145 performs digital summing on the digital data streams supplied from each FIFO memory 141 to 144, and then performs processing pre-programmed on the circuit to generate luminance data, flow velocity data and dispersion data while performing various digital signal processing including received beamforming, received focus and adaptive beamforming using beam processing and color processing, and then compresses the data to generate ultrasonic diagnostic image data, which is then supplied to the system control unit 16. The method for generating ultrasound diagnostic image data in the signal processing unit 14 is the same as in the conventional method, so details are omitted. In addition, the signal processing unit 14 may be implemented by an FPGA or the like, or it may be implemented by an MPU (Microprocessing Unit) or CPU (Central Processing Unit) that constitutes the system control unit 16 and a program recorded in memory (not shown).

[0063] Furthermore, the signal processing unit 14, in conjunction with the system control unit 16, supplies transmission and reception timing signals and control signals to the AFE 12 based on operation commands supplied from the user interface unit 15, to start or stop the supply of drive signals from the AFE 12 to the transducer array 11, or to control the ON / OFF of the supply of drive signals to each transducer element EL for transmission aperture control or transmission beamforming, and to perform control for transmission aperture control.

[0064] (System Control Unit 16) The system control unit 16 is composed of an MPU and a CPU, and comprehensively controls each part of the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 by executing a program stored in memory (not shown). The system control unit 16 also works in conjunction with the signal processing unit 14 and supplies control signals, including control of transmission and reception timing, to the AFE 12 in response to the operator's input to the user interface unit 15. (A) When transmitting an acoustic beam, it controls the transmission timing of the acoustic beam and the aperture used for transmission, and outputs an ON / OFF control signal from the trigger generator 120 so that a drive signal for the transducer element EL used as the aperture is input from the TXpulser 122 to the corresponding transducer element EL. (B1) When receiving an echo, it outputs a control signal to control the aperture used for reception (i.e., the receiving aperture), and (B2) executes processing to control the delay amount in each analog delay circuit 127-n as needed. The transmission and reception aperture control method and delay amount control method are the same as those of conventional ultrasound diagnostic imaging devices such as those described in Patent Document 6, so details are omitted.

[0065] Furthermore, a characteristic feature of this embodiment is that the system control unit 16 of this embodiment controls the gain of each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n included in the TGC processing unit 126 when amplifying the selection signal output from the 4to1RXMux125 corresponding to its own circuit, amplifies the selection signal output from each 4to1RXMux125 with the said gain, and appropriately applies TGC to the selection signal corresponding to each receiving channel, and also implements the function of appropriately performing receiving apodization by controlling the gain according to the position of the transducer element EL in the receiving aperture. To realize these functions, in this embodiment the system control unit 16 has a timer and a clock counter (not shown) and has the function of counting the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam and controlling the gain and receiving aperture according to the elapsed time until the output timing of the selection signal. This point will be described next. In addition, the system control unit 16 buffers the ultrasound diagnostic image data generated by the signal processing unit 14 and supplied sequentially from the signal processing unit 14 in a memory (not shown), and transmits it to the display device 20 via the communication interface unit 17, so that the corresponding ultrasound diagnostic image is displayed on the display device 20. Furthermore, when the operator performs an input operation to the user interface unit 15 to freeze and record a still image based on the ultrasound diagnostic image displayed on the display device 20, it is desirable that the system control unit 16 extracts the ultrasound diagnostic image frame captured at that timing and transmits it to the display device 20 together with the ultrasound diagnostic image data, or as part of the ultrasound diagnostic image data, so that the display device 20 can display it together with the moving image corresponding to the ultrasound diagnostic image data.

[0066] (Communication interface section 17) The communication interface unit 17 is configured as a wired interface such as USB or a wireless communication interface such as wireless LAN or Bluetooth®. Under the control of the system control unit 16, it transmits ultrasound diagnostic image data generated by the signal processing unit 14 to the connected display device 20 via wired or wireless connection, and displays the corresponding ultrasound diagnostic image. It is necessary that the communication interface unit 17 be capable of communicating according to the same communication protocol as the communication interface built into the display device 20.

[0067] [3] Gain control method in ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 Next, the gain control of the TGC processing unit 126 performed by the system control unit 16 in the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment will be explained using Figures 5 to 12. Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating a conventional method of controlling the receiving aperture in a conventional ultrasound diagnostic imaging system, in which the system control unit 16 controls the ON / OFF state of each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n in the TGC processing unit 126 in conjunction with the signal processing unit and the timing control unit 130 of the AFE 12. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the results of the control means in Figure 5. Figure 7 is a diagram showing a conventional TGC control method in an ultrasound diagnostic imaging system (a receiving aperture control method in which the system control unit 16 controls the ON / OFF state of each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n in the TGC processing unit 126 in conjunction with the signal processing unit 14 and the timing control unit 130 of the AFE 12). Figure 8 is a diagram showing the results of TGC being applied in accordance with the receiving aperture control in the control means in Figure 7. Figure 9 is a diagram showing the results of gain control in accordance with the receiving aperture control in the control means in Figure 7. Figure 10 shows a control method in the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 of this embodiment, in which a curve is applied to the start of aperture in the receiving aperture control before gain control. Figure 11 shows the result of the control in Figure 10. Figure 12 is an explanatory diagram of the gain values ​​at each depth.

[0068] (1) Conventional example 1 First, Figures 5 and 6 will be used to explain the gain control method of the TGC in a conventional ultrasound imaging system. In Figure 5, the horizontal axis represents the elapsed time from the start of reception, and the vertical axis represents the gain value, illustrating the gain control method over time. In Figure 6, the horizontal axis shows the channel numbers "0 to 31" assigned to each of the 32 receiving channels, assuming that all transducer elements EL constituting the transducer array 11 are set as receiving apertures. The vertical axis shows the distance (depth) from the contact point of the transducer array 11 to the target point in the subject, indicated by the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam to the echo reception timing, and shows what gain value is set for each receiving channel as time progresses (i.e., as depth changes).

[0069] As shown in Figure 5, in conventional ultrasound imaging systems, the gain amount is controlled for each receiving channel according to the elapsed time since the start of reception. Specifically, when the start time for gain control of the receiving channel to be adjusted arrives, control is performed to linearly increase the gain from a preset start gain value (e.g., -30 dB (decibels)) according to the elapsed time. At this time, the gain is increased linearly according to the elapsed time at a preset gain slope value, and when the gain reaches a preset stop gain value (e.g., 0 dB (decibels)), the gain control is stopped, and thereafter the control is maintained at the stop gain value.

[0070] This control is determined by setting predetermined StartGgain, StopGgain, and GainSlope values ​​after controlling the gain. An example of setting the gain amount is shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 shows the result of conventional receiver aperture control, in which the signal processing unit and the component corresponding to the timing control unit of the AFE work in conjunction with the component corresponding to the system control unit control the ON / OFF of the components corresponding to each analog variable gain amplifier 126-n of the TGC processing unit 126. Before the gain control start time, the input signal is turned OFF. From the gain control start time, the gain is increased from the StartGain value by the GainSlope value and stops at the StopGain value. Sequentially, the gain for each receiver channel is linearly increased from the start gain to the stop gain at a predetermined gain slope. Note that, as a specific example of start gain and stop gain, in Figure 5, in order to prevent the diagram from becoming complicated, only predetermined receiver channels (4 channels) included in the 32 receiver channels provided in the AFE 12 are shown as an example of the gain control form, but in reality, similar gain control is performed for each receiver channel. In other words, in the actual ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10, the same control as shown in Figure 5 is performed for each of the 32 channels, and the graph shown in Figure 5 will have 32 lines drawn instead of 4. As a result, in this conventional example 1, gain control as shown in Figure 6 is performed, and the same gain value is set for all receiving channels corresponding to transducer elements EL according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam.

[0071] In the gain control shown in Figures 5 and 6, (1) an AFE 12 is electrically connected to each oscillator element EL constituting the oscillator array 11, and drives the oscillator array 11 by supplying a drive signal to the oscillator array 11 to transmit a sound wave beam, and when a received signal corresponding to the received echo is output from each oscillator element EL constituting the oscillator array 11, analog signal processing is performed on the received signal and the received signal after analog signal processing is output sequentially to 4 channels ADC 13, and (2) A / D conversion is performed to sample and quantize the analog received signal supplied from the AFE 12, and the digital signal corresponding to the received signal is... (3) Based on the input operations of the user (operator) to the user interface unit 15, the 4ch ADC 13 generates a digital data stream and outputs it to the signal processing unit 14. Based on the control commands (MCU control and MCU communication in Figure 2) supplied from the system control unit 16, the digital data stream supplied from the 4ch ADC 13 is subjected to filtering and other processing to generate ultrasound diagnostic image data of the subject, which is temporarily recorded in a memory (not shown). Based on the control commands, a control signal is supplied to the AFE 12 to start or stop the supply of drive signals from the AFE 12 to the transducer array 11.

[0072] (2) Conventional example 2 Next, we will explain a conventional control method for performing TGC control in accordance with the receiving aperture control in an ultrasound imaging system. Figure 7 is a diagram showing a conventional receiving aperture control method in an ultrasound imaging system. Figure 8 is a diagram showing the result of applying TGC in accordance with the receiving aperture control in the control means of Figure 7. In the conventional example 1 described above, the gain set according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam to the output timing of the received signal is set to the same value uniformly for all transducer elements EL included in the receiving aperture. As a result, even if receiving aperture control is performed according to the depth by receiving aperture control, it is difficult to perform receiving apodization by weighting according to the position of each transducer element EL within the receiving aperture.

[0073] In this conventional example 2, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device is configured such that, when adjusting the gain of the received signal of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n which constitutes the TGC processing unit that performs TGC processing, the gain value of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n, which is provided in accordance with the received signal or selection signal output from each transducer element EL included in the set receiving aperture, is uniformly changed. Specifically, in this conventional example 2, the receiving channels corresponding to each transducer element EL included in the same receiving aperture are all set to the same gain, as shown in Figure 8. For this reason, as with conventional example 1, it was not possible to properly apply received apodization with this method, and it was difficult to reduce side lobes and improve image quality.

[0074] (3) Example 1 Next, the ultrasound imaging diagnostic system according to the present invention will be described. The ultrasound imaging diagnostic system according to the present invention employs a control method that controls the gain in accordance with the receiving aperture control, or a control method that applies a curve to the start of aperture in the receiving aperture control before applying the gain control. Figure 9 shows the results obtained using the method of controlling the gain in accordance with the receiving aperture control in the control means of Figure 7. Figure 10 shows the control method that applies a curve to the start of aperture in the receiving aperture control before applying the gain control, and Figure 11 shows the results.

[0075] The ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device 10 according to the present invention includes, as described above, sound wave transmitting and receiving means, analog variable gain amplifier 126-n, analog delay circuit 127-n, 8-channel analog summing circuit unit 128, 4-channel ADC 13, image generation means, transmission means, transmitting and receiving aperture control means, and gain control means. These configurations are as described above.

[0076] The present invention is particularly characterized in that, regarding the transmitting and receiving aperture control means, the sound wave transmitting and receiving means is controlled to (A) control the transmitting aperture width, which is determined by the number of transducer element ELs used for transmitting the sound wave beam, and (B) gradually increase the receiving aperture width, which is determined by the number of transducer element ELs used for receiving echoes, according to the elapsed time from the ultrasonic beam transmission timing to the corresponding echo reception timing, and (C) cause the sound wave transmitting and receiving means to receive echoes from shallow depth regions in the subject with a narrow receiving aperture width, while (D) cause echoes from deep depth regions in the subject to be received with a wide receiving aperture width.

[0077] Furthermore, with such transmit / receive aperture control means in place, the gain control means for controlling the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n controls the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n provided for the channel corresponding to the oscillator element according to (a) the elapsed time from the transmission timing to the output timing of the received signal which approximately coincides with the echo reception timing, and (b) the distance from the center of the receiving aperture to each oscillator element included in the receiving aperture, and adjusts the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing to the output timing of the received signal to match the attenuation characteristics of the subject. A key feature is that, based on a corresponding first function, the gain is increased linearly or nonlinearly, and the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n provided for each channel is changed linearly (see Figure 9) or nonlinearly (see Figure 11) according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture. Furthermore, the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n provided for channels corresponding to oscillator elements EL located at a distance from the center of the receiving aperture is set to be smaller than the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n provided for channels corresponding to oscillator elements EL located at a distance closer to the center of the aperture.

[0078] Specifically, the gain control means performs TGC by (A) controlling the amplification factor of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n linearly or nonlinearly based on a first function corresponding to the attenuation characteristics of the subject, according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam to the output timing of the received signal which approximately coincides with the reception timing of the echo. In addition, the gain control means performs receive apodization by (B) changing the amplification factor of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for each channel linearly (see Figure 9) or nonlinearly (see Figure 11) according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture, and setting the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n provided for channels corresponding to oscillator elements EL located at a distance from the center of the receiving aperture to be smaller than the amplification factor of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n provided for channels corresponding to oscillator elements EL located at a distance closer to the center of the aperture. In this case, side lobes can be reduced by controlling the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier corresponding to each channel in the form of a nonlinear window function or apodization function, such as a Hamming window or cosine window, depending on the distance from the center of the receiving aperture.

[0079] With this configuration, when a selector including a multiplexer selects and outputs a selected signal from each of the multiple oscillator elements EL constituting the oscillator array 11, or from each of the multiple oscillator elements EL, an analog variable gain amplifier 126-n is provided for each selector or selected signal, and by controlling the gain of this analog variable gain amplifier 126-n, weighting can be applied to the received signal or selected signal corresponding to each channel, and TGC or received apodization can be performed by an analog circuit.

[0080] Regarding the gain control means, the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier 126-n provided for each channel may be configured to smoothly change sinusoidally according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture, as shown in Figures 10 and 11. With this configuration, for example, a window function such as a Hamming window can be used as the apodization function to smoothly reduce the gain from the center to the edge of the receiving aperture, thereby suppressing side lobes, improving the main lobe, and ensuring data continuity.

[0081] The aperture control means may be configured to control the sound wave transmitting and receiving means to (A) control the transmitting aperture width and (B) increase the receiving aperture width linearly (Figure 7) or nonlinearly (Figure 10) according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing. With this configuration, the receiving aperture width can be increased linearly or nonlinearly according to the depth, improving the reception sensitivity of echoes and reducing noise, thereby improving image quality.

[0082] The aperture control means may be configured to control the sound wave transmission and reception means to (A) control the transmission aperture width and (B) increase the reception aperture width used for echo reception sinusoidally according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing. This configuration enables smooth gain control, reduces side lobes, and achieves appropriate reception focus, thereby improving the image quality of ultrasound diagnostic images.

[0083] Figure 12 is an explanatory diagram of the gain values ​​at each depth. In Figure 12, each line shows the gain when the depth is changed, the horizontal direction is the aperture channel (the center is the aperture center), and the vertical direction is the gain. As shown in Figure 12, by setting the apodization function appropriately for each depth, it is possible to improve the image quality of ultrasound diagnostic images while appropriately suppressing the generation of side lobes.

[0084] [Appendix] The ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device described above can be described as follows. That is, the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device according to the present invention is an ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device that transmits a sound wave beam of a predetermined frequency band to a subject, receives echoes of the sound wave beam in the subject, generates ultrasound diagnostic image data of the subject, and supplies the ultrasound diagnostic image data to an external display device, Sound wave transmitting and receiving means configured with a vibrator array in which multiple vibrator elements are arranged, which receives echoes obtained by directing the sound wave beam generated based on a drive signal onto the subject and outputs a corresponding received signal; a plurality of analog variable gain amplifiers provided for each channel corresponding to each of the plurality of vibrator elements, or, when the received signals output from each of a predetermined number of groups of vibrator elements used to receive the echo are selected by a selector and output as a single selected signal, a plurality of analog variable gain amplifiers provided for each selector or for each channel corresponding to each selected signal, which amplify the received signal or selected signal corresponding to the channel; a plurality of analog delay circuits provided for each channel, which delay the amplified received signal or selected signal by a time corresponding to the position of the corresponding vibrator element in the vibrator array; and a plurality of the channel The system includes: an analog summing circuit that adds the delayed received signal or the selection signal corresponding to the Nell to generate an added received signal; an analog-to-digital converter provided for each analog summing circuit that generates a digital data stream corresponding to the generated added received signal; generation means for generating the ultrasound diagnostic image data based on the digital data stream; supply means for supplying the generated ultrasound diagnostic image data to the display device; aperture control means for controlling the aperture widths of the transmitting and receiving apertures, which are determined by the number of transducer elements used to transmit the sound wave beam, so that (B1) the sound wave transmitting and receiving means receive the echoes from shallow depth regions in the subject with a narrow aperture width, and (B2) the echoes from deep depth regions in the subject with a wide aperture width; and gain control means for controlling the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier. The gain control means controls the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for the channel corresponding to the transducer element according to (a) the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam to the output timing of the received signal and (b) the distance from the center of the receiving aperture to each of the transducer elements included in the receiving aperture, and increases the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier linearly or nonlinearly according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing to the output timing of the received signal, and changes the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for each channel linearly or nonlinearly according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture, and sets the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for the channel corresponding to the transducer element located at a distance from the center of the receiving aperture to be smaller than the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for the channel corresponding to the transducer element located at a distance closer to the center of the aperture. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0085] 1… Ultrasound imaging system 10, 10A, 10B... Ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe devices 11…Oscillator array EL...Oscillator element 12…AFE 120... Trigger Generator 121…1to4TXMux 122...TXpulser 123…TRSW 124…LNA 125…4to1RXMux 126...TGC Processing Unit 126-n…Analog Variable Gain Amplifier 127, 127-11~48, 127-n... Analog delay circuits 128...8ch Analog Adding Circuit Section 1281~1284…8-channel analog summing circuit 13...4ch ADC 130... Timing generation unit 131-134...ADC 14…Signal Processing Unit 141~144...FIFO 145…Digital Adding Circuit 15…User Interface Section 16... System Control Unit 17…Communication Interface Section

Claims

1. An ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device that transmits a sound wave beam in a predetermined frequency band to a subject, receives echoes of the sound wave beam in the subject to generate ultrasound diagnostic image data of the subject, and supplies the ultrasound diagnostic image data to an external display device, Sound wave transmitting and receiving means comprising a vibrator array in which multiple vibrator elements are arranged, which receives echoes obtained by directing the sound wave beam generated based on a drive signal onto the subject and outputs a corresponding received signal, When the received signals output from each of the predetermined number of oscillator elements used for receiving the echo are selected by a selector and output as a single selected signal, each selector or each selected signal is provided for each channel, and a plurality of analog variable gain amplifiers are provided to amplify the received signal or the selected signal corresponding to the channel, A plurality of analog delay circuits are provided for each channel, which delay the amplified received signal or the selected signal for a time period corresponding to the position of the corresponding oscillator element in the oscillator array. An analog summing circuit that adds the delayed received signals or selected signals corresponding to multiple channels to generate an added received signal, A set of analog-to-digital converters is provided for each of the aforementioned analog summing circuits, which generates a digital data stream corresponding to the generated summing received signal, A generation means for generating ultrasound diagnostic image data based on the digital data stream, A supply means for supplying the generated ultrasound diagnostic image data to the display device, (A) An aperture control means that controls the aperture width of the transmitting aperture and receiving aperture, which is determined by the number of transducer elements used to transmit the sound wave beam, so that (B1) the sound wave transmitting and receiving means receives the echo from a shallow depth region in the subject with a narrow aperture width, and (B2) the echo from a deep depth region in the subject with a wide aperture width. A gain control means for controlling the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier, It has, The gain control means, Ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device characterized by: (a) the elapsed time from the transmission timing of the sound wave beam to the output timing of the received signal, and (b) the distance from the center of the receiving aperture to each of the transducer elements included in the receiving aperture, controlling the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for the channel corresponding to the transducer element, increasing the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier linearly or nonlinearly according to the elapsed time from the transmission timing to the output timing of the received signal, changing the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for each channel linearly or nonlinearly according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture, and setting the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for the channel corresponding to the transducer element located at a distance from the center of the receiving aperture to be smaller than the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for the channel corresponding to the transducer element located at a distance closer to the center of the aperture.

2. The ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gain control means smoothly changes the gain of the analog variable gain amplifier provided for each channel in a sinusoidal manner according to the distance from the center of the receiving aperture.

3. The ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the aperture control means controls the sound wave transmitting and receiving means to (A) control the transmitting aperture width and (B) increase the receiving aperture width linearly or nonlinearly in accordance with the elapsed time from the transmission timing.

4. The ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the aperture control means controls the sound wave transmitting and receiving means to (A) control the transmitting aperture width and (B) increase the receiving aperture width used for receiving the echo sinusoidally in accordance with the elapsed time from the transmission timing.

5. The ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device according to claim 1, A display device that receives the ultrasound diagnostic image data transmitted by the ultrasound diagnostic image processing probe device via wired or wireless connection and displays the ultrasound diagnostic image of the subject based on the ultrasound diagnostic image data, An ultrasound diagnostic system characterized by having the following features.

Images