Ultrasound diagnostic equipment, program, and ultrasound diagnostic method

Abstract

The present invention provides an ultrasound diagnostic device that can efficiently reduce power consumption without burdening the user, even when an ultrasound probe is not being used. [Solution] The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprises a receiving unit that generates a received signal based on an echo signal received from an ultrasound probe, a determination unit that determines whether or not the ultrasound probe is in an airborne emission state using the received signal generated by the receiving unit, and a control unit that executes a low-power mode when the determination unit determines that the ultrasound probe is in an airborne emission state. In the low-power mode, the control unit stops or reduces the functionality of the image preprocessing before imaging the received signal into an ultrasound image.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a program, and an ultrasonic diagnostic method.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses capable of reducing power consumption have been developed. In particular, for portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses equipped with a built-in battery, reduction of power consumption is important from the perspective of continuous usage time. Incidentally, in general ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses, even when no examination is being performed, as long as the power is on, ultrasonic waves are emitted from the ultrasonic probe, and the reflected waves thereof are received by the ultrasonic probe. In this case, there is a problem that the power of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is wasted.

[0003] The documents listed below describe ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses capable of reducing power consumption. Specifically, Patent Document 1 describes that a power saving mode that reduces the power consumption of the apparatus main body and the like can be selected based on the determination result of whether the ultrasonic probe is in use and the presence or absence of operation on the operation panel detected by a touch sensor.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, with conventional technology, power-saving mode is selected when the ultrasound probe is not in use and there is no operation on the control panel. Therefore, there is a problem that the power-saving mode cannot be switched on when the control panel is being operated, even when the ultrasound probe is not in use. In addition, with conventional technology, it is necessary to use the image data after it has been processed to determine whether or not the ultrasound probe is being used, which results in a time-consuming determination process.

[0006] Therefore, the purpose of this disclosure is to provide an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, program, and ultrasound diagnostic method that can efficiently reduce power consumption without burdening the user when an ultrasound probe is not being used. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The ultrasound diagnostic device related to this disclosure is A receiving unit that generates a received signal based on the echo signal received from an ultrasonic probe, A determination unit that determines whether or not the ultrasonic probe is in an aerial emission state using the received signal generated by the receiving unit, The system includes a control unit that executes a low-power mode when the determination unit determines that the ultrasonic probe is in an airborne emission state, In the low-power mode, the control unit stops or reduces the functionality of the image preprocessing before the received signal is converted into an ultrasonic image.

[0008] The program related to this disclosure is Computers, A determination unit determines whether the ultrasonic probe is in an airborne emission state using a received signal generated by a receiving unit that receives reflected waves received from the ultrasonic probe. The control unit, which executes a low-power mode when the determination unit determines that it is in an aerial radiation state, In the low-power mode, the control unit stops or reduces the functionality of the image preprocessing before the received signal is converted into an ultrasonic image.

[0009] The ultrasound diagnostic method relating to this disclosure is: A receiving step that generates a received signal based on the reflected wave received from the ultrasonic probe, A determination step of determining whether the ultrasonic probe is in an airborne emission state using the generated received signal, The control step includes executing a low-power mode when it is determined that the device is in an aerial radiation state, In the control step, in the low power consumption mode, the image preprocessing before imaging the received signal into an ultrasonic image is stopped or the function of the image preprocessing is reduced. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to this disclosure, when an ultrasonic probe is not being used, a low-power mode is activated, thereby reducing power consumption. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an ultrasound diagnostic device according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the waveform of a received signal when the ultrasonic probe according to this embodiment is in an airborne emission state. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of the waveform of the received signal when the ultrasonic probe according to this embodiment is not in an airborne emission state. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of the input and output data for the radiation determination learning model according to this embodiment. [Figure 5] This flowchart shows an example of the operation of the ultrasound diagnostic device when it executes a low-power mode based on information determining whether the ultrasound probe according to this embodiment is in an airborne emission state. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] A preferred embodiment of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, program, and ultrasound diagnostic method of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings.

[0013] [Example configuration of ultrasound diagnostic device 1] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic device 1 according to this embodiment. The ultrasound diagnostic device 1 visualizes tomographic images of organs, tissues, and other examination sites within a patient as ultrasound images. As shown in Figure 1, the ultrasound diagnostic device 1 comprises a device body 10, an operation unit 20, a display unit 30, and an ultrasound probe 40. The device body 10 and the ultrasound probe 40 are electrically connected via a cable 50. The device body 10 comprises a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a transmission circuit 13, a receiving circuit 14, a beamformer 15, an image generation unit 16, an airborne radiation determination unit 17, an output control unit 18, and a communication unit 19. In this embodiment, an example in which the operation unit 20 and the display unit 30 are configured separately from the device body 10 has been described, but the operation unit 20 and the display unit 30 may be configured integrally with the device body 10.

[0014] The control unit 11 controls the entire ultrasound diagnostic device 1 by controlling each component within the main body 10, the operation unit 20, the display unit 30, etc., according to their respective functions. The control unit 11 functions as a computer and has a processor such as a CPU and memory such as RAM. CPU is an abbreviation for Central Processing Unit. RAM is an abbreviation for Random Access Memory. For example, the processor of the control unit 11 realizes various processes related to ultrasound examination by executing a program 12a stored in the memory unit 12, etc.

[0015] Further, the control unit 11 executes the low power consumption mode when the aerial radiation determination unit 17 determines that the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an aerial radiation state. In this case, the control unit 11 switches the operation mode from the normal mode to the low power consumption mode. Specifically, in the low power consumption mode, the control unit 11 stops pre-imaging processing before converting received signals into ultrasonic images or degrades the function of the pre-imaging processing. Examples of the pre-imaging processing include a first process of stopping transmission of transmission signals by the transmission circuit 13, a second process of stopping the voltage of the transmission signals from the transmission circuit 13 by setting it to 0V or the like, and a third process of stopping signal processing of echo signals by the reception circuit 14. Furthermore, examples of the pre-imaging processing include a fourth process of stopping signal processing of received signals by the image generation unit 16, a fifth process of stopping image generation by the image generation unit 16, and a sixth process of lowering the operating frequency of the reception circuit 14. Note that in the low power consumption mode, the control unit 11 executes at least one or more of these first to sixth processes. At this time, the control unit 11 may execute all of the first to sixth processes. In the low power consumption mode, the more processes that are executed, the more the power consumption can be reduced. In addition, apart from the control unit 11, a transmission power supply control unit, a transmission / reception control unit, etc. for executing the low power consumption mode may be separately provided, and each of the transmission power supply control unit and the like may perform any one of the first to sixth processes.

[0016] Further, the control unit 11 causes the display unit 30 to display a dummy image when executing, for example, the fifth process for stopping image generation during execution of the low power consumption mode. This is because, in the low power consumption mode, when executing, for example, the fifth process of stopping image generation by the image generation unit 16, no ultrasound image is displayed on the display unit 30. The dummy image may be, for example, an ultrasound image prepared in advance, or an ultrasound image immediately before shifting from the normal mode to the low power consumption mode. Further, the control unit 11 may cause the display unit 30 to display a message or icon indicating that the apparatus is in the low power consumption mode, together with the display of the dummy image. Thereby, a user such as a doctor can be notified that the operation mode of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1 is the low power consumption mode. The dummy image may be stored in the storage unit 12, or may be generated by the image generation unit 16.

[0017] The storage unit 12 includes, for example, at least one storage module among an HDD, an SSD, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. HDD is an abbreviation for Hard Disk Drive. SSD is an abbreviation for Solid State Drive. ROM is an abbreviation for Read Only Memory. The storage unit 12 stores, for example, programs 12a related to the execution of ultrasound examinations such as system programs and application programs, and various data received by the communication unit 19. Further, the storage unit 12 may store a dummy image to be used in the low power consumption mode.

[0018] The transmitting circuit 13 outputs a voltage pulse as a transmission (drive) signal to the ultrasonic probe 40 according to the instructions of the control unit 11. The transmitting circuit 13 includes, for example, a high-frequency pulse oscillator and a pulse setting unit. The transmitting circuit 13 adjusts the voltage pulse generated by the high-frequency pulse oscillator to the voltage amplitude, pulse width, and transmission timing set by the pulse setting unit and transmits it to each channel of the ultrasonic probe 40. The transmitting circuit 13 has a pulse setting unit for each of the multiple channels of the ultrasonic probe 40, and the voltage amplitude, pulse width, and transmission timing of the voltage pulse can be set for each of the multiple channels. For example, the transmitting circuit 13 can change the target depth and generate different pulse waveforms by setting an appropriate delay time for multiple channels.

[0019] The receiving circuit 14 obtains a received signal by receiving and processing an electrical signal corresponding to the ultrasonic echo generated by the ultrasonic probe 40, in accordance with the instructions of the control unit 11. For example, the receiving circuit 14 has a preamplifier and an AD conversion unit. The preamplifier amplifies the received signal related to the weak ultrasonic echo for each channel. The AD conversion unit converts the received signal into a digital signal.

[0020] The beamformer 15 performs phase-correction summation of the received signals from each channel output from the receiving circuit 14, combining the received signals from multiple channels into one to obtain acoustic line data. The beamformer 15 outputs the processed acoustic line data, which is the received signal, to the image generation unit 16 and the airborne radiation determination unit 17, respectively. In this embodiment, the received signal after processing by the beamformer 15 is used to determine whether or not the ultrasonic probe 40 is emitting into the air. This is because the closer the signal is to the receiving circuit 14, the less it depends on the parameters of the various filters. Therefore, the signal used to determine whether or not the ultrasonic probe 40 is emitting into the air may be, for example, the received signal output from the receiving circuit 14.

[0021] The aerial radiation determination unit 17 acquires the received signal from the beamformer 15 after processing by the beamformer 15. The aerial radiation determination unit 17 uses the acquired received signal to determine whether or not the ultrasonic probe 40 is emitting into the air. The aerial radiation determination unit 17 infers whether or not the ultrasonic probe 40 is emitting into the air using a learning model created by unsupervised learning described later, and outputs the inference result, which is the determination information, to the control unit 11. The aerial radiation determination unit 17 has a processor such as a CPU or GPU that performs calculations and control. GPU is an abbreviation for Graphics Processing Unit. The aerial radiation determination unit 17 may also be composed of something other than a processor, and may include electronic circuits such as FPGA or ASIC. FPGA is an abbreviation for Field Programmable Gate Array. ASIC is an abbreviation for Application Specific Integrated Circuit. In this embodiment, the aerial radiation determination unit 17 and the control unit 11 are configured separately. However, the control unit 11 and the aerial radiation determination unit 17 may be combined, for example, so that the control unit 11 performs the functions of the aerial radiation determination unit 17.

[0022] The image generation unit 16 acquires a received signal, which is acoustic line data, from the receiving circuit 14 and generates an ultrasound image, which is a tomographic image of the inside of the subject. For example, when the ultrasound probe 40 transmits a pulsed ultrasound beam in the depth direction, the image generation unit 16 continuously stores the signal intensity of the ultrasound echo detected thereafter in line memory over time. As the ultrasound beam from the ultrasound probe 40 scans inside the subject, the image generation unit 16 sequentially stores the signal intensity of the ultrasound echo at each scanning position in line memory and generates two-dimensional data in frame units. The image generation unit 16 converts the signal intensity of the generated two-dimensional data into brightness values ​​to generate an ultrasound image that represents the two-dimensional structure in the cross-section, including the ultrasound transmission direction and the ultrasound scanning direction.

[0023] The image generation unit 16 may also include an envelope detection circuit, a logarithmic compression circuit, and a dynamic filter. The envelope detection circuit performs envelope detection on the received signal acquired from the receiving circuit 14. The logarithmic compression circuit performs logarithmic compression on the signal intensity of the received signal detected by the envelope detection circuit. The dynamic filter is a bandpass filter with frequency characteristics that change according to depth, and removes noise components contained in the received signal. The image generation unit 16 may, as necessary, generate ultrasound image data in other image modes besides B-mode, such as color Doppler mode, M-mode, and pulsed Doppler mode. B-mode is a mode that generates cross-sectional images in which the received ultrasound signal intensity of the subject is represented by brightness. The image generation unit 16 may also output a dummy image to the output control unit 18 while executing the low-power mode, according to the instructions of the control unit 11. For example, the image generation unit 16 can acquire past ultrasound images as dummy images from memory or the like and output them to the output control unit 18.

[0024] The output control unit 18 generates an ultrasound image based on the ultrasound image data generated by the image generation unit 16. The output control unit 18 outputs the generated ultrasound image to the display unit 30. The output control unit 18 may sequentially update the display image each time it acquires a new ultrasound image from the image generation unit 16, and may display the ultrasound image on the display unit 30 in video format. The output control unit 18 may also generate an ultrasound image after applying predetermined image processing, such as coordinate transformation processing and data interpolation processing, to the ultrasound image output from the image generation unit 16.

[0025] The communication unit 19 includes, for example, a communication module including a NIC, a LAN adapter, a receiver, and a transmitter. NIC is an abbreviation for Network Interface Card. The communication unit 19 communicates various data, signals, etc., with external devices via a network, for example.

[0026] The control unit 20 has an operation panel that includes, for example, at least one of the following: switches, buttons, trackpads, drag balls, etc. The control unit 20 also has a touch panel that is integrally assembled with the display unit 30. The control unit 20 receives, for example, commands to instruct the operation of the ultrasound diagnostic device 1, input of information about the patient, and so on.

[0027] The display unit 30 is, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The display unit 30 acquires ultrasound image data from the output control unit 18 in accordance with the instructions of the control unit 11 and displays the acquired ultrasound image on the inspection screen. When the low power consumption mode is running, the display unit 30 displays a dummy image, a message or icon indicating that the low power consumption mode is running, etc.

[0028] The ultrasound probe 40 transmits an ultrasound beam to the subject and functions as an acoustic sensor that receives reflected waves, so-called ultrasound echoes, of the transmitted ultrasound beam that are reflected within the subject's body and converts them into electrical signals. The ultrasound probe 40 is used by bringing the transmitting and receiving surface of the ultrasound beam into contact with the body surface of the area to be examined. The ultrasound probe 40 can be a convex probe, linear probe, sector probe, or three-dimensional probe, among others.

[0029] The ultrasonic probe 40 includes, for example, a plurality of transducers arranged in an array, and a channel switching device for individually or in block units to switch the on / off state of the plurality of transducers. The transducers are, for example, piezoelectric elements. The channel switching device is, for example, a multiplexer. Each transducer of the ultrasonic probe 40 converts a voltage pulse generated by the transmitting circuit 13 of the device body 10 into an ultrasonic beam and transmits it to the subject. In addition, each transducer of the ultrasonic probe 40 receives ultrasonic echoes reflected within the subject, converts them into electrical signals, and outputs them to the receiving circuit 14 of the device body 10.

[0030] In this embodiment, the transmitting circuit 13, receiving circuit 14, image generation unit 16, airborne radiation determination unit 17, and output control unit 18 may each have a processor such as the CPU described above. Furthermore, the processing unit including the processor such as the control unit 11, transmitting circuit 13, receiving circuit 14, image generation unit 16, airborne radiation determination unit 17, and output control unit 18 may be configured as a single circuit or as a plurality of independent circuits.

[0031] [Regarding the relationship between the received signal and the airborne radiation state of the ultrasonic probe 40] Figure 2 shows an example of the waveform W1 of the received signal when the ultrasonic probe 40 according to this embodiment is in an airborne emission state. Figure 3 shows an example of the waveform W2 of the received signal when the ultrasonic probe 40 according to this embodiment is not in an airborne emission state. In Figures 2 and 3, the vertical axis shows the amplitude of the received signal. The horizontal axis shows the time from the generation of the transmitted signal (pulse) and reflects the depth. The received signal is the signal after predetermined processing by the beamformer 15. The depth of the received signal used may be set to cover the deepest part, or the depth may be set to be shallow to shorten the processing time.

[0032] When the ultrasound probe 40 is not in contact with the body surface of the examination site, the ultrasound emitted from the ultrasound probe 40 is hardly reflected. Therefore, after the amplitude due to reverberation noise that occurs after the start of the transmitted signal, the amplitude of the received signal is attenuated and becomes smaller. Reverberation noise is noise that occurs when ultrasound irradiated onto the glass, case, etc., provided at the tip of the ultrasound probe 40 is reflected. In this case, the waveform W1 of the received signal shown in Figure 2 indicates that the ultrasound probe 40 is not being used for the examination of the subject and the ultrasound probe 40 is in an airborne emission state. In contrast, when the ultrasound probe 40 is in contact with the body surface of the examination site of the subject and ultrasound is being irradiated onto the examination site, after the amplitude due to reverberation noise, the amplitude of the reflected wave reflected by structures such as organs and tissues occurs at a predetermined depth. In this case, the waveform W2 of the received signal shown in Figure 3 indicates that the ultrasound probe 40 is being used for the examination of the subject and the ultrasound probe 40 is not in an airborne emission state. Therefore, in this embodiment, the received signal after processing by the beamformer 15 is used to determine whether or not the ultrasound probe 40 is in an airborne emission state.

[0033] [About the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a] Figure 4 shows an example of input and output data for the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a according to this embodiment. The airborne radiation determination unit 17 has the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a. The airborne radiation determination learning model 17a is a model that has been trained to output determination information indicating whether the ultrasound probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state or not when a received signal that has undergone predetermined processing by the beamformer 15 is input. Unsupervised learning can be used to create the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a. As training data, for example, the waveform W1 of the received signal when the ultrasound probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state as shown in Figure 2 is used. Alternatively, as training data, a received signal based on an ultrasound echo received by the ultrasound probe 40 when gel is applied to the tip surface of the ultrasound probe 40 may be used. According to the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a, it is possible to detect when the ultrasound probe 40 is in a state other than an airborne radiation state, that is, when the ultrasound probe 40 is in contact with the body surface of the examination site of the subject.

[0034] The learning models described above may be generated by algorithms that implement machine learning, such as neural networks, support vector machines, and decision trees. Neural networks include, for example, convolutional neural networks (CNNs), recurrent neural networks (RNNs), and autoencoders. CNN is an abbreviation for Convolutional Neural Network. RNN is an abbreviation for Recurrent Neural Network. In this embodiment, an example in which the airborne radiation detection learning model 17a is provided in the airborne radiation detection unit 17 has been described, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, each learning model may be stored in the memory unit 12 of the ultrasound diagnostic device 1, stored in an external device connected via a network, or stored across multiple such devices.

[0035] Furthermore, although this embodiment describes an example in which the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a was created by unsupervised learning, it is not limited to this. For example, if a large dataset of normal data and fault data indicating the presence or absence of airborne radiation from the ultrasonic probe 40 can be prepared, the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a may be created by supervised learning. In addition, it is also possible to determine whether or not the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state without using a learning model. For example, it may be possible to determine whether or not the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state using an algorithm that determines the similarity between the waveform of the current received signal and the waveform of the airborne radiation state in past received signals.

[0036] [Example of operation of ultrasound diagnostic device 1] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the ultrasound diagnostic device 1 when determining whether or not the ultrasound probe 40 according to this embodiment is in an airborne emission state. The ultrasound diagnostic device 1 implements each process, including the receiving step, the determination step, and the control step, by executing the program 12a, etc.

[0037] When the power to the ultrasound diagnostic device 1 is turned on, the control unit 11 executes normal mode and controls the transmission circuit 13 to transmit a normal transmission signal (step S1). The transmission circuit 13 generates a transmission signal for each channel by adjusting, for example, the voltage amplitude of the transmission signal, and outputs the generated transmission signal to the ultrasound probe 40. The receiving circuit 14 receives an ultrasound echo from the ultrasound probe 40 and generates a received signal by performing predetermined processing on the ultrasound echo. The beamformer 15 performs processing such as phase addition on the received signal from the receiving circuit 14 and outputs the received signal to the airborne radiation determination unit 17.

[0038] Next, the airborne radiation determination unit 17 uses the received signal acquired from the beamformer 15 to determine whether or not the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state (step S2). Specifically, as shown in Figure 4, the airborne radiation determination unit 17 inputs the received signal output from the beamformer 15 to the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a and acquires determination information output from the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a. The determination information indicates whether or not the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state. If the airborne radiation determination unit 17 acquires determination information indicating that the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state, it proceeds to step S3. For example, when the received signal is waveform W1 as shown in Figure 2, the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state.

[0039] On the other hand, if the airborne radiation determination unit 17 acquires determination information indicating that the ultrasonic probe 40 is not in an airborne radiation state, it outputs the determination information to the control unit 11. For example, if the received signal has the waveform shape W2 shown in Figure 3, the ultrasonic probe 40 is not in an airborne radiation state. Based on the acquired determination information, the control unit 11 determines that the ultrasonic probe 40 is being used for the examination of the subject and proceeds to step S1. In this case, the control unit 11 controls the transmission circuit 13 to continue in normal mode and continue transmitting the transmission signal.

[0040] Next, when the airborne radiation determination unit 17 obtains determination information indicating that the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state, it determines whether the determination that the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state has occurred N times in a row (step S3). If the determination that the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state occurs N times in a row, it is highly likely that the ultrasonic probe 40 is not being used for the examination of the subject. N times can be set by the user to any value, for example, or it may be set in advance according to the frequency of the output pulse of the transmitted signal, the frame rate, etc. The airborne radiation determination unit 17 executes the determination process of step S2 described above and determines whether the ultrasonic probe 40 has been in an airborne radiation state for N times in a row. If the airborne radiation determination unit 17 determines that the determination that the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state occurs N times in a row, it outputs airborne radiation information indicating that the airborne radiation state has occurred N times in a row to the control unit 11 and proceeds to step S4.

[0041] On the other hand, if the airborne radiation determination unit 17 determines that the ultrasonic probe 40 is not in an airborne radiation state for N consecutive times, it outputs airborne radiation information to the control unit 11 indicating that the airborne radiation state is not N consecutive times. For example, this occurs when the waveform of the received signal changes from waveform W1 shown in Figure 2 to waveform W2 shown in Figure 3. Based on the acquired airborne radiation information, the control unit 11 determines that the ultrasonic probe 40 is being used for the examination of the subject and proceeds to step S1. In this case, the control unit 11 controls the transmission circuit 13 to continue in normal mode and continue transmitting the transmission signal.

[0042] Next, when the control unit 11 obtains airborne emission information from the airborne emission determination unit 17 indicating that the airborne emission state of the ultrasonic probe 40 has occurred N times consecutively, it switches the operating mode from normal mode to low power consumption mode (step S4). For example, in low power consumption mode, the control unit 11 executes the first to fourth processes related to stopping signal processing, the fifth process related to stopping image generation, and the sixth process that reduces the signal generation function. In low power consumption mode, the control unit 11 may also execute at least one of these first to sixth processes. In addition, in low power consumption mode, the control unit 11 displays a dummy image, a message indicating that low power consumption mode is in operation, or an icon on the display unit 30.

[0043] Next, the control unit 11 determines whether M seconds, or a certain period of time, has elapsed since the low-power mode was executed (step S5). This is because if M seconds have elapsed since the low-power mode was executed, a doctor or other medical professional may have started the examination of the subject. Therefore, the control unit 11 performs polling to periodically check whether the examination is being conducted. M seconds may be set by the user to any value, or it may be pre-set at the time of shipment, etc. If the control unit 11 determines that M seconds have elapsed since the low-power mode was executed, it proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, if the control unit 11 determines that M seconds have not elapsed since the low-power mode was executed, it returns to step S4 and continues to execute the low-power mode.

[0044] Next, if M seconds have elapsed since the low-power mode was executed, the control unit 11 controls the transmission circuit 13 to cause the ultrasonic probe 40 to transmit a normal transmission signal (step S6). In other words, the control unit 11 monitors changes in the airborne radiation state of the ultrasonic probe 40 by polling and periodically transmitting a transmission signal. In this case, the receiving circuit 14 receives an ultrasonic echo from the ultrasonic probe 40 and generates a received signal by performing predetermined processing on the ultrasonic echo. The beamformer 15 performs processing such as phase addition on the received signal from the receiving circuit 14 and outputs the received signal to the airborne radiation determination unit 17.

[0045] Next, the airborne radiation determination unit 17 uses the received signal acquired from the beamformer 15 to determine whether or not the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state (step S7). Specifically, the airborne radiation determination unit 17 inputs the received signal output from the beamformer 15 to the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a and acquires determination information output from the airborne radiation determination learning model 17a. If the airborne radiation determination unit 17 acquires determination information indicating that the ultrasonic probe 40 is in an airborne radiation state, it determines that the ultrasonic probe 40 is not being used for the examination of the subject and proceeds to step S4. In this case, the control unit 11 maintains the low-power mode that is currently running.

[0046] On the other hand, if the airborne radiation determination unit 17 obtains determination information indicating that the ultrasonic probe 40 is not in an airborne radiation state, it proceeds to step S1. In this case, the control unit 11 determines that the ultrasonic probe 40 is being used for a patient examination and switches the operating mode from low power consumption mode to normal mode. Specifically, the control unit 11 controls the transmission circuit 13 to cause the ultrasonic probe 40 to transmit a normal transmission signal. In this embodiment, the above-described process is repeatedly executed.

[0047] In this embodiment, the received signal processed by the beamformer 15 is used to determine whether the ultrasound probe 40 is in an aerial emission state. If the ultrasound probe 40 is in an aerial emission state, it is determined that the ultrasound probe 40 is not being used for the examination of the patient, and the low power consumption mode is activated. In other words, according to this embodiment, the switch to the low power consumption mode can be performed before imaging, without considering whether or not there is any user operation, and solely based on the result of determining the aerial emission state using the received signal. As a result, the low power consumption mode can be implemented when the ultrasound probe 40 is not in contact with the body surface of the examination site of the patient, thus efficiently reducing the power consumption of the ultrasound diagnostic device 1. Furthermore, since no user operation is required to switch to the low power consumption mode, the power consumption of the ultrasound diagnostic device 1 can be reduced without increasing the effort and stress on the user.

[0048] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, when determining whether the ultrasonic probe 40 is emitting into the air, the received signal before imaging is used. Therefore, the determination process can be executed without waiting for the processing time during imaging, thus speeding up the determination process. Also, according to this embodiment, the received signal after processing by the beamformer 15, which is close to the receiving circuit 14, is used to determine whether the ultrasonic probe 40 is emitting into the air. Therefore, since the received signal has little dependence on various filter parameters, it is possible to determine whether the ultrasonic probe 40 is emitting into the air, and thus obtain highly accurate determination results. In addition, according to this embodiment, when training the airborne emission determination learning model 17a using unsupervised learning, it is not necessary to prepare a large number of failure patterns, normal data, etc., so the learning cost can be reduced.

[0049] Although preferred embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the attached drawings, the technical scope of this disclosure is not limited to these examples. Furthermore, various modifications and improvements naturally fall within the technical scope of this disclosure, within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims for those skilled in the art. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0050] 1. Ultrasound diagnostic equipment 11 Control Unit 12a Program 13. Transmitter Circuit (Transmitter Section) 14. Receiving circuit (receiving section) 15 Beamformer 17 Airborne radiation determination section 17a Aerial radiation determination learning model 30 Display section 40 Ultrasound probes

Claims

1. A receiving unit that generates a received signal based on the echo signal received from an ultrasonic probe, A determination unit that determines whether or not the ultrasonic probe is in an aerial emission state using the received signal generated by the receiving unit, The system includes a control unit that executes a low-power mode when the determination unit determines that the ultrasonic probe is in an airborne emission state, The control unit, in the low power consumption mode, stops or reduces the function of the image preprocessing before imaging the received signal into an ultrasonic image. Ultrasound diagnostic equipment.

2. The control unit performs at least one of the following as pre-image processing: stopping the transmission voltage in the transmission signal, stopping transmission in the transmission signal, stopping signal processing in the reception signal, stopping image generation based on the reception signal, and reducing the operating frequency in the reception unit. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The determination unit uses a learning model that has been trained to output determination information indicating whether the ultrasonic probe is in an airborne emission state as input to the received signal, and uses the received signal to infer whether the ultrasonic probe is in an airborne emission state. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1.

4. The aforementioned learning model is created by unsupervised learning. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3.

5. The beamformer includes a beamformer that performs at least phase-correction summing on the received signal output from the receiving unit, The determination unit determines whether the ultrasonic probe is in an airborne emission state with respect to the received signal processed by the beamformer. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1.

6. It includes a transmitting unit that transmits a transmission signal to the ultrasonic probe, The control unit, when a certain period of time has elapsed during the execution of the low-power mode, controls the transmission unit to transmit the transmission signal used in normal mode. The determination unit determines whether the ultrasonic probe is in an aerial emission state using the received signal corresponding to the transmitted signal. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1.

7. The control unit causes the display unit to display a dummy image while the low power consumption mode is running. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1.

8. Computers, A determination unit determines whether the ultrasonic probe is in an airborne emission state using a received signal generated by a receiving unit that receives reflected waves received from the ultrasonic probe. The control unit, which executes a low-power mode when the determination unit determines that it is in an aerial radiation state, The control unit, in the low power consumption mode, stops or reduces the function of the image preprocessing before imaging the received signal into an ultrasonic image. program.

9. A receiving step that generates a received signal based on the reflected wave received from the ultrasonic probe, A determination step of determining whether the ultrasonic probe is in an airborne emission state using the generated received signal, The control step includes executing a low-power mode when it is determined that the device is in an aerial radiation state, In the control step, in the low power consumption mode, the pre-imaging processing before imaging the received signal into an ultrasonic image is stopped or the pre-imaging processing function is reduced. Ultrasound diagnostic methods.

Images