U.S. patent number RE33,672 [Application Number 07/044,066] was granted by the patent office on 1991-08-27 for method for measuring characteristics of living tissue by ultrasonic waves.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Fujitsu Limited. Invention is credited to Hirohide Miwa.
United States Patent |
RE33,672 |
Miwa |
August 27, 1991 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Method for measuring characteristics of living tissue by ultrasonic
waves
Abstract
Ultrasonic waves of at least three independent frequency bands
having different center frequencies are transmitted into a living
body from its skin surface and reflected waves are analyzed, by
which living tissue characteristics are measured. The reflected
waves from various depths in the living body are received, their
frequency components are separately extracted and energies of the
received reflected waves are obtained, thereby obtaining an
attenuation coefficient inclination and a space inclination of a
frequency power exponent of a reflection coefficient of the living
body.
Inventors: |
Miwa; Hirohide (Kawasaki,
JP) |
Assignee: |
Fujitsu Limited (Kawasaki,
JP)
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Family
ID: |
13059585 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/044,066 |
Filed: |
April 29, 1987 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
480589 |
Mar 30, 1983 |
04564019 |
Jan 14, 1986 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Apr 7, 1982 [JP] |
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57-57573 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
600/442; 73/599;
73/602 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61B
8/08 (20130101); G01S 7/52036 (20130101); G01S
15/895 (20130101); G01N 2291/02475 (20130101); G01N
2291/02872 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61B
8/08 (20060101); G01S 7/52 (20060101); G01S
15/89 (20060101); G01S 15/00 (20060101); A61B
008/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/660.06
;73/599,602,607,625-626 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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0041403 |
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Dec 1981 |
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EP |
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0077585 |
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Apr 1983 |
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EP |
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Other References
Kak, A. C. et al., "Signal Processing of Broadband Pulsed
Ultrasound: Measurement of Attenuation of Soft Biological Tissues",
IEEE Trans. vol. BME 25, No. 4, 7/1978. .
Kuc, R. et al., "Estimating the Acoustic Attenuation Coefficient
Slope for Lines from Reflected UTS Signals", IEEE Trans. SIUS vol.
SU-26, Sep. 1979, pp. 353-362. .
Lizzi, F. L. et al., "Tissue Signature Characterization Utilizing
Freq. Domain Analysis", 1976 UTS Symp. Proc., IEEE Cat. No.
76-CH1120-5SU. .
Hayakawa, Y. et al., "Multi-Frequency Echoscopy for Quantitative
Acoustical Characterization of Living Tissues", Jrnl. Ac. Soc. Am.
69(6) Jun. 1981, pp. 1838-1839. .
Dines, K. A. et al., "UTS Attenuation Tomography of Soft Tissue",
UTS Imaging vol. 1, #1, 1979..
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Primary Examiner: Jaworski; Francis
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Staas & Halsey
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for measuring the internal characteristics of a body,
comprising:
transmitting pulses of ultrasound pressure waves into said body,
each said pulse comprising ultrasound pressure waves of at least
three frequencies;
selectively receiving as different respective return signals the
corresponding ultrasound pressure waves reflected from different
ranges of depths in said body;
determining values corresponding to the relative energy of
respective frequency components in each said return signal
corresponding to said at least three frequencies; and
processing said values to determine information on spatial
variation of the reflection coefficient at different depths in said
body.Iadd., wherein said processing includes effectively forming
ratios of said relative energy of said frequency components in each
said return signal for respective different pairs of said at least
three frequencies.Iaddend..
2. The method of claim 1, said processing involving forming the
differences in time in numbers corresponding to said values for
adjacent ranges of depth for each respective return signal, and
between numbers corresponding to said values for pairs of said
frequency components for each respective return signal.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the reflection coefficient is
given by .delta.=bf.sup.n, and the determining of the variation in
the reflection coefficient is in terms of the spatial variation of
the frequency power exponent n, b being a constant and f the
frequency of the respective ultrasonic waves.
4. The method of claim 2, said processing providing also
information on spatial variation of the frequency inclination
.beta. of the attenuation coefficient .alpha.=.beta.f in said body,
f being the frequency of the respective ultrasonic waves.
5. The method of claim 2 or 4, said processing comprising taking
.[.the.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.logarithm of each said value of each
respective return signal, prior to forming said differences, and
subsequently, after forming said differences, solving algebraically
between .[.the.]. respective differences, .[.or.]. .Iadd.of
.Iaddend.selected pairs of said frequency components, to provide
.[.the.]. respective information.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein said at least three frequencies
define a geometric progression.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein said at least three frequencies
define an arithmetic progression.
8. The method of claim 5, comprising averaging the respective
results of said solving for said information for different
respective pairs of said frequency components.
9. The method of claim 5, comprising performing said processing of
said return signals for a plurality of adjacent depths, in said
body, and averaging the respective results thus obtained for said
information.
10. The method of claim 1 or 4, said processing occurring on a real
time basis.
11. The method of claim 1, comprising providing said pulses of
ultrasound pressure waves for transmission into said body as
broadband pulses including said at least three frequencies, and
performing Fourier transformation of each of said return signals
for said determining of said values corresponding to the energy of
the respective frequency components.
12. A device comprising:
means for transmitting pulses of ultrasonic waves of at least three
frequencies into a body under test, and for determining values
corresponding to the energies of respective frequency components of
corresponding ultrasonic waves reflected from selected ranges of
depths in the interior of said body;
means for processing said values to provide information on spatial
variation of the reflection coefficient .delta.=bf.sup.n within
said body, wherein b is a constant, f is the frequency of the
respective ultrasonic waves and n is a number.
13. The device of claim 12, said means for processing
comprising:
a plurality of calculating units for processing respective ones of
said values corresponding to energy of the respective frequency
components;
a plurality of subtractors having as inputs the outputs of
respective pairs of said calculation units,
a plurality of algebraic units having as inputs the respective
outputs of two of said subtractors, and
an arithmetic mean circuit having as inputs the outputs of said
algebraic units.
14. The device of claim 13, comprising:
a register for storing in successive stages the successive outputs
of said arithmetic means circuit, each said stage providing a
respective output of the content stored therein; and
an averaging circuit for averaging the respective outputs of the
stages of said register.
15. The device of claim 12, comprising means for providing said
values as the logarithm of said energies.
16. The device of claim 12, said processing means including means
for providing information on spatial variation of the frequency
inclination .beta. of the attenuation coefficient .alpha.=.beta.f,
where f is the frequency of the respective ultrasonic waves.
.Iadd.
17. A method for determining internal characteristics of a body
from ultrasonic pulses transmitted into the body, each ultrasonic
pulse including pressure waves having at least three frequencies,
the ultrasonic pulses reflected with a reflection coefficient from
a range of depths and received as reflected signals, said method
comprising the steps of:
(a) determining energy values corresponding to energies in the
reflected signals, each energy value corresponding to one of the
frequencies in one of the ultrasonic pulses; and
(b) identifying a spatial variation of the reflection coefficient
using relationships of the energy values corresponding to different
frequencies of the ultrasonic pulses reflected from substantially
identical depths. .Iaddend. .Iadd.
18. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the relationships of
the energy values correspond to ratios of the energy values of
adjacent frequencies in the reflected signals received
simultaneously. .Iaddend. .Iadd.19. A method as recited in claim
18, wherein said identifying in step (b) comprises the steps
of:
(b1) calculating logarithms of energy values determined in step (a)
for adjacent depths and adjacent frequencies;
(b2) generating corrected energy logarithms from the logarithms of
the energy values in dependence upon respective ones of the
adjacent depths;
(b3) calculating a number representing differences between the
corrected energy logarithms of the adjacent frequencies and
adjacent depths;
(b4) repeating steps (b1)-(b3) for all sets of the adjacent
frequencies and all of the adjacent depths within the range of
depths; and
(b5) determining the spatial variation of the reflection
coefficient using the number calculated in step (b3) for each of
the sets of the adjacent frequencies. .Iaddend. .Iadd.20. A method
as recited in claim 19, wherein step (b) further comprises the step
of (b6) averaging the spatial variation of the reflection
coefficient over the at least three frequencies and the range of
depths. .Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for measuring
characteristic parameters of living tissues by transmitting
ultrasonic waves into a living body and analyzing reflected waves
therefrom. More particularly, the invention pertains to a method
for measuring the frequency dependency of the reflection
coefficient and that of the attenuation coefficient of the living
tissue separately of each other.
Conventional systems for obtaining tissue characteristics by
analyzing reflected ultrasonic waves of plural frequencies have
been proposed by Iinuma (Japanese Patent "Kokai" No. 38490/74) and
Nakagawa (Japanese Patent Publication No. 24798/77). With these
systems, however, their operations are based on sound pressure
waveforms, so that when the ultrasonic waves have a wide frequency
band, like pulses, accurate measurements are impossible under the
influence of the phase relationships of respective frequency
components, pulse overlapping of continuous reflected waves and
phase cancellation in a receiving sensor.
The abovesaid prior art systems can be employed in the case where
the living body is composed of several kinds of tissues, an
ultrasonic reflector of a definite, approximately smooth surface
exists at the boundary between adjacent tissues and the reflection
factor and the transmission factor of the ultrasonic reflector have
no frequency dependence. Such reflection is called specular
reflection.
With recent technological progress, however, it has become possible
to measure a weak reflection from the tissue between boundaries. In
general, the tissue has such a microstructure that cells, capillary
vessels, lymphatic vessels, muscular fibers and so forth intertwine
complicatedly. A typical size of such a tissue is nearly equal to
or smaller than the wavelength of ultrasonic waves. On account of
this, reflected waves from the microstructure are accompanied by
complex interference owing to phase dispersion and pulse
overlapping, introducing in a B-mode tomogram a speckled pattern
commonly referred to as "speckle". It has been proven
experimentally that reflection from the tissue (backward
scattering) has a frequency characteristic such that its power
reflection coefficient is proportional to the nth power of the
frequency, and that the value of n is a characteristic value (a
parameter) representing the tissue. It has been reported that n=2.2
in the liver and n=3.3 in the myocardium.
Systems for obtaining the tissue characteristics in such a case
have been proposed by Hayakawa in references 1* and 2* and by
others. *1. "Theory of Reflecting Ultrasonic Computer Tomograph
Using Plural Frequencies", Proceedings of the 37th meeting of Japan
Society of Ultrasonics in Medicine, in Japanese *2. "Multifrequency
echoscopy for quantitative acoustical characterization of living
tissues", J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 96 (6), June 1981.
Noting the energy value of ultrasonic waves, the system *1 conducts
a second order differentiation of an attenuation coefficient by the
natural logarithm of the frequency (.delta..sup.2
.alpha./.delta..sub.(lnf).sup.2) and a first order differentiation
in the direction of depth, by which "a second order differentiated
value of the attenuation coefficient of the ultrasonic waves by the
natural logarithms of their frequencies" is obtained as a tissue
characteristic parameter. According to the system *2, energy (or
power) values of the ultrasonic waves are obtained through
utilization of three frequencies f.sub.1, f.sub.2 and f.sub.3 and,
as a difference value, "the second order differentiated value of
the attenuation coefficient of the ultrasonic waves by the natural
logarithm of their frequencies" is obtained in the form of a
parameter. As experimentally ascertained, it is indicated that,
when the attenuation coefficient is proportional to the first power
of the frequency, as experimentally ascertained, the abovesaid
parameter ##EQU1## becomes proportional to the attenuation constant
.alpha..
The abovesaid Hayakawa system requires complex processing
corresponding to the second order differentiation by the natural
logarithm of the frequencies, and hence is difficult .Iadd.in
.Iaddend.realtime processing and poor in SN ratio; further, tissue
information on the reflection (backward scattering) is entirely
lost. Moreover, the parameters thus obtained are insignificant from
a physical viewpoint.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method which
enables separate measurement of tissue characteristic information
on the attenuation and reflection coefficients of a living tissue
to thereby permit non-invasive measurement of accurate internal
living tissue information from the skin surface and which is
therefore of great utility when employed for a medical diagnosis, a
medical checkup for geriatric diseases and so forth.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for
obtaining tissue information on not only attenuation but also
reflection (backward scattering) coefficients of a living tissue
through simple processing which can be executed on a real-time
basis and does not introduce much noise.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method
which obtains energy (or power) values of the reflection from a
living tissue of ultrasonic waves of at least three frequency bands
(or components), and which performs arithmetic processing of the
energy values to thereby obtain living tissue characteristic values
(parameters) of clear physical meaning, such as a frequency
inclination of an attenuation coefficient of a living tissue and a
space inclination of a frequency power exponent of its reflection
coefficient, through simple processing which can be performed on a
real-time basis and does not introduce much noise.
The present invention provides a method in which energies of
ultrasonic waves of at least three frequency bands (or components)
reflected from a living tissue are obtained, and differences among
their logarithms are obtained and then an attenuation inclination
and/or reflection power exponent inclination of the living tissue
are obtained from at least two equations obtained by
differentiating the differences in terms of the depth of
measurement.
The "power" mentioned herein is energy per unit time but, in this
specification, it is also referred to as the "energy".
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be more readily understood by reference
to the following detailed description, when considered in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional model
illustrating the manner of actual measurement, explanatory of the
principle of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a one-dimensional model
obtained by a correction of the model of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3a is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the
present invention with the components identified in FIG. 3b;
and
FIG. 4 is a time domain diagram of a received reflected signal.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A description will be given first, with reference to FIG. 1, of the
principle of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the manner in
which an ultrasonic transducer 11 formed by a piezoelectric
element, for example, PZT sold by Clevite Inc., held in contact
with the skin surface 0 of a living body, transmits thereinto and
receives therefrom ultrasonic pulses in a direction Z. Reference
numerals 0, 1, 2, . . . i, i+1, . . . and m indicate boundaries of
body tissues crossing the Z-axis. Intermediate portions between
adjacent boundaries, for instance, 0-1, 1-2, 2-3, . . . i-(i+1), .
. . show, for instance, the outer skin, fat, muscles, . . . the
liver, . . . and so forth. Reference numeral 51 designates a
focused sound field that is determined by the radius of curvature
of a concave aperture of the transducer 11 and the frequency of the
ultrasonic waves used.
The intensity of received waves reflected from a depth z varies as
a function of the depth z with a factor determined by
three-dimensional geometric conditions which are dependent on the
convergence of a beam both to and from the reflecting portion and
the wavelength, such as the degree of focusing, even if the subject
under test is not a living body but water or the like which does
not attenuate ultrasonic waves. The ratio of the received wave
power from the depth z to the same from z=0 is defined as G.sub.1
(z). This ratio can be measured by disposing a perfect reflector,
such as a metal plate, at the arbitrary depth z and at z=0 in water
or the like.
Transmitted ultrasonic waves having reached the boundary i are
reflected back or scattered (reflected, refracted) aside
three-dimensionally since the living tissues on both sides of the
boundary i have different acoustic impedances or the boundary i has
irregularities; however, since the acoustic impedance and the speed
of sound in the living body do not widely differ with tissues, the
transmitted ultrasonic waves mostly pass through the boundary i.
Letting the power transmission factor, power reflection factor and
power scattering factor of the boundary i with respect to the
incident wave power thereon be represented by .tau.i, .gamma.i and
.delta.i, respectively, they bear the following relationships:
Therefore, even if .gamma.i and .delta.i have some frequency
dependence, .tau.i can be regarded as having no frequency
dependence.
Through using corrections by the abovesaid G.sub.1 (z) and .tau.i,
such a three-dimensional model as shown in FIG. 1 can be converted
into such a one-dimensional model as shown in FIG. 2. The following
description will be given of the one-dimensional model. In FIG. 2
the transducer has indefinite expanses in the X and Y directions
normal to the ultrasonic transmission direction Z.
The voluminal tissue sandwiched between the boundaries i and i+1
has a microstructure of a typical size nearly equal to or smaller
than the wavelength of the ultrasonic waves and having cells,
capillary vessels, fibers, nerves and so forth intertwined
complicatedly. The microstructure cannot theoretically be measured
because of its size relative to the wavelength of the ultrasonic
waves and only a spatial mean value of the microstructure can be
measured. It has been proven experimentally that ultrasonic waves
transmitted into a living body are subjected to attenuation which
varies exponentially as the depth (z) increases, and that its
pressure attenuation constant .alpha. is proportional to the
frequency f of the ultrasonic waves. That is,
where .beta. is a proportional constant. The proportional constant
.beta. is a frequency inclination of the attenuation constant, it
is referred to as an attenuation inclination and it is a
characteristic value of the tissue.
A reflection from a voluminal tissue is statistically a speckled
reflection commonly referred to as "speckle" and a power reflection
coefficient .gamma. is given experimentally as follows:
where b and n are constants. The constant n is a frequency power
exponent of the reflection coefficient and a characteristic value
of the tissue.
In FIG. 2, let it be assumed that ultrasonic waves of a frequency
f.sub.1 (frequency band 2.OMEGA., where .OMEGA. is a half-width)
are transmitted and corresponding ultrasonic waves are received.
Alternatively, it may also be assumed that pulses of a wide
frequency band are transmitted, the amplitude of a component of the
frequency f.sub.1 is Q.sub.1 (0) and the component of the frequency
f.sub.1 of reflected waves is observed. Letting the time gain
control amplification degree (TGC) of the received signal and the
apparent energy observed including the time gain control
amplification degree (TGC) be represented by A.sub.1 (z) and
E.sub.1 (z), respectively, E.sub.1 (z) is given by the following
equation. For convenience of description, the following expression
is a computational expression obtained from sound pressure
measurement but, if the power of the waves can be directly
measured, a direct representing expression can be used. ##EQU2##
where F(f.sub.1 .multidot.z) is a correcting term obtained by
integrating frequency dependent components of reflection and
attenuation in connection with a frequency variation from f.sub.1
in the band 2.OMEGA.. When .OMEGA.<<f.sub.1, F(f.sub.1, z)
can be regarded as invariable at the frequency f.sub.1. .tau..sub.i
' is the transmission factor of the reflected waves at the boundary
i. .pi. indicates multiplications of .tau..sub.i .tau..sub.i ' from
i=0 to i=j. The upper limit .[.J oni is a maximum number.]. .Iadd.j
on i corresponds to the number of boundaries .Iaddend.from the skin
surface to the depth z.
Apparent energy E.sub.2 similarly observed in respect of a sound
frequency f.sub.2 is as follows: ##EQU3## When .OMEGA..sub.1
<<f.sub.1 and .OMEGA..sub.2 <<f.sub.2, it can be
regarded that F(f.sub.1, z)=F(f.sub.2, z), where .OMEGA..sub.1 and
.OMEGA..sub.2 are half-widths.
The difference between the natural logarithms of Eqs. (1) .[.so
that.]. .Iadd.and .Iaddend.(2) is as follows: ##EQU4##
Differentiating (or differencing) Eq. (3) with respect to the depth
z (in a reflected signal train, z=ct, where c is the sound speed,
and Eq. (3) may also be differentiated with respect to time t), it
follows that ##EQU5##
Similarly setting up the equation corresponding to Eq. (4) with
respect of f.sub.2 and f.sub.3 by introducing a third frequency
f.sub.3, it follows that ##EQU6##
In Eqs. (4) and (5), E.sub.1, E.sub.2 and E.sub.3 are measured as
functions of the depth z.
Accordingly, the left sides of Eqs. (4) and (5) are both measured
values.
The left sides of Eqs. (4) and (5) can be transformed as follows:
##EQU7## where ##EQU8## corresponds to true energy obtained by
correcting the apparent observed energy E.sub.i.
On the right sides of Eqs. (4) and (5), ##EQU9## and .beta.(z) are
unknown and f.sub.1, f.sub.2 and f.sub.3 in the coefficients are
known. Accordingly, from the simultaneous algebraic equations of
Eqs. (4) and (5), .[.namely: the two unknowns.]. .Iadd.the two
unknowns namely: .Iaddend.
.beta.(z): frequency inclination of attenuation coefficient, and
##EQU10## space inclination of frequency power exponent of
reflection coefficient, can be obtained as functions of the depth
z.
The above is a description of the principle of the present
invention. The present invention is free from the influence of the
boundary transmission factors .[..tau.i.]. .Iadd..tau..sub.i
.Iaddend.and .[..tau.'i.]..Iadd..tau..sub.i '.Iaddend., the
constant (b)z of the reflection coefficient and the absolute values
Q.sub.1, Q.sub.2 and Q.sub.3 of the amplitudes of respective
frequency components. While in the foregoing Eq. (5) is set up
using f.sub.2 and f.sub.3, it may also be set up using f.sub.3 and
f.sub.4. Furthermore, if the value A of the time gain control
amplification degree (TGC) is held constant with respect to all
frequencies, then ##EQU11## and ##EQU12## become zero, making
compensation unnecessary.
Eq. (1) and so on can be represented using the amplitude absolute
value Q.sub.i (z) of the sound pressure but, in order to avoid a
bad influence of the phase term, it is necessary to obtain E.sub.i
first and then Q.sub.i from ##EQU13## This is not so significant,
and hence is not described in this specification.
By putting the three frequencies f.sub.1, f.sub.2 and f.sub.3 into
a geometric progression, the subsequent calculations are
simplified. Letting ##EQU14## the right sides of Eqs. (4) and (5)
respectively become as follows: ##EQU15## Furthermore, obtaining a
difference between Eqs. (4) and (5), the term ##EQU16## is
eliminated as will be seen from Eqs. (8) and (9). That is,
##EQU17## Thus the calculation for obtaining .beta.(z) is
simplified.
Also the calculation is simplified by putting the frequencies
f.sub.1, f.sub.2 and f.sub.3 into an arithmetic progression, that
is,
In this case, when obtaining the difference between Eqs. (4) and
(5), .beta.(z) is eliminated and ##EQU18## can be obtained
easily.
Since the pulse length of reflected waves from the depth z usually
has a finite value that is not 0, the reflected waves are
superimposed on reflected waves from irregular tissues before and
after the depth z.Iadd., .Iaddend.and certain frequency components
may sometimes be irregularly added to or subtracted from each other
due to interference, leading to a noticeable error. This is called
spectrum scalloping. To avoid this, it is preferable that N
different values for .beta.(z) and ##EQU19## obtained by the
above-described method be subjected to statistical processing
through utilization of as many combinations of frequency components
as possible in a utilizable frequency band, for example, for N
frequency components f.sub.j1, f.sub.j2, and .[.f.sub.3 .].
.Iadd.f.sub.j3 .Iaddend.(for each j=0 to N) thereby .[.obtain.].
.Iadd.obtaining .Iaddend.their mean values for the respective
frequency band.
It is needless to say that the calculations for obtaining .beta.(z)
and ##EQU20## can be simplified by using the frequencies in the
form of a geometric or arithmetic progression.
For improving the statistical precision, it is also possible to
transmit and receive pulses and to measure them M times for the
same scanning line and to perform statistical processing of the
measured values, of various quantities during computation and of
the final computed values. For instance, even if an examinee holds
his breath during measurement, tissues on the scanning line wobble
three-dimensionally owing to pulsation of the heart, small changes
in his posture and so forth. Accordingly, observed values at the
depth z in the M-times measurement are distributed in a specific
space domain around a mean center X.multidot.Y.multidot.Z and the
M-times statistical processing bears the same meaning as
statistical processing of measured values at M measuring points in
a certain space domain. By conducting the statistical processing in
connection with L points before and after the depth z for each
scanning, the statistical accuracy is further improved.
By this, a maximum of L.times.M.times.N samples can be
obtained.
If the tissue characteristic value thus obtained as a function of
the depth z on a certain scanning line is displayed on the
corresponding scanning line on a CRT or the like as in the case of
a B-mode graph, a two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally
distributed image can be obtained. This is useful for finding out
an abnormality, such as a cancer or the like, by visual
examination.
A description will be given of the method of the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of apparatus suitable for carrying
the present invention into practice. In FIG. 3 reference numeral 11
indicates a wide-band transducer, which is formed by piezoelectric
elements of the aforementioned PZT or PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride
sold by Kureha Kogyo of Japan). The transducer 11 is shown to be a
compound transducer which comprises a PZT transducer 11' and PVDF
transducer 11" covering different frequency bands. It is also
possible to employ such a system in which the transducer is formed
by three layers of center frequencies f.sub.1, f.sub.2 and f.sub.3
for covering frequency bands 2.OMEGA..sub.1, 2.OMEGA..sub.2 and
2.OMEGA..sub.3 (where .OMEGA..sub.1, .OMEGA..sub.2 and
.OMEGA..sub.3 are half-widths), respectively, and received waves
are separated by filters to obtain energies E.sub.1, E.sub.2 and
E.sub.3. In this illustrated example, however, pulses of wide band
are transmitted and the DFFT (Digital Fast Fourier Transformation)
is used. Reference numeral 12 designates a driver, which may be
arranged to drive the transducers 11' and 11" by impulses or in
separately specified frequency bands. Reference numeral 13
identifies a wide-band amplifier for amplifying signals of received
reflected waves. The received signal varies with time as shown in
FIG. 4 with the time of transmission of pulses represented by t=0,
and signals are reflected back from deeper positions in a living
body with the lapse of time. The reflected wave from a depth zi
appears at such a time as follows:
where C is the sound speed in the living body. A signal from a
tissue between the depth zi and zi+.DELTA.z appears in the
following time interval: ##EQU21## Accordingly, the tissue
characteristic between the depths zi and zi+.DELTA.z can be
obtained by analyzing the signal received in the time interval
.DELTA.t.
Since the reflected signal decreases exponentially with an increase
in the depth z by virtue of attenuation on forward and backward
paths, the amplification degree A of the amplifier 13 is varied
with an increase in the depth z or with the lapse of time t. This
is called time-gain control or sensitivity-time control. This
control is needed for retaining excellent SN ratio in subsequent
signal processing.
Reference numeral 14 denotes a gate, which is opened in the time
phase of Eq. (12) and closed after the lapse of time given by Eq.
(13). Reference numeral 15 represents an A/D converter, which is
required to have a sampling speed of about 20 MHz for signals of 1
to 10 MHz band. Assuming that .DELTA.z=1.5 mm, then C=1500 m/s, so
that .DELTA.t=2 .mu.s and, if sampling is carried out at 20 MHz,
about .[.40.]. .Iadd.20 .Iaddend.samples (2 .mu.s/(1/20 MHz).Iadd.)
.Iaddend.for each measuring point can be obtained. A plurality of
such measuring points is provided along each scanning line.
Reference numeral 16 shows a DFFT (Digital Fast Fourier
Transformation) circuit, which analyzes the abovesaid 40 data to
output real parts and imaginary parts of about .[.50.]. .Iadd.20
.Iaddend.frequency components. For instance, in the case of the
frequency f.sub.1, a component in-phase with cos 2.pi.f.sub.1 t is
a real part R.sub.1 and a component in-phase with sin 2.pi.f.sub.1
t is an imaginary part I.sub.1.
Reference numerals 17-1, 17-2, . . . refer to calculating units,
which are supplied with the real parts and the imaginary parts of
components of the frequencies f.sub.1, f.sub.2, f.sub.3, f.sub.4, .
. . from the DFFT circuit 16. Since the calculating units 17-1,
17-2, . . . are identical in construction and in operation, a
detailed description will be given of the calculating unit 17-1
alone.
The calculating unit 17-1 receives the real part R.sub.1 and the
imaginary part I.sub.1 of the frequency f.sub.1 from the DFFT
circuit 16. The real part R.sub.1 and the imaginary part I.sub.1
are squared by square circuits 171 and 172 to obtain R.sub.1.sup.2
and I.sub.1.sup.2, which are added by an adder 173, obtaining the
sum R.sub.1.sup.2 +I.sub.1.sup.2. This sum is equal to E.sub.1.
Next, lnE.sub.1 is obtained by a logarithmic amplifier 74. Further,
lnG.sub.1 .multidot.A.sub.1.sup.2 is obtained as a function of the
depth z (or the time t) and prestored in the form of a table in a
ROM 178, from which is read out a value for the corresponding z (or
t). The output lnE.sub.1 of the logarithmic amplifier 174 and the
output .[.lnF.sub.1.sup.2 .multidot.A.sub.1.sup.2 .]. .Iadd.ln
G.sub.1 .multidot.A.sub.1.sup.2 .Iaddend.of the ROM 178 are applied
to a subtractor 175, wherein a subtraction lnE.sub.1 -lnG.sub.1
.multidot.A.sub.1.sup.2 is carried out to output ##EQU22## which is
stored in a memory 176.
Similar processing is performed for the reflected signal received
at a time ti+1 after .DELTA.t to obtain ##EQU23## and a difference
between this and ##EQU24## at the time ti stored in the memory 176
is obtained by a subtractor 177. The difference thus obtained is a
differentiated (differenced) value at .DELTA.z. This becomes the
output of the calculating unit 17-1 and represents the following
quantity: ##EQU25## Likewise, the calculating unit 17-2 provides
the following output: ##EQU26##
Reference numerals 18-1, 18-2, 18-3, . . . signify subtractors. The
subtractor 18-1 subtracts the output of the calculating unit 17-2
from the output of the calculating unit 17-1. The subtractor 18-2
subtracts the output of the calculating unit 17-3 from the output
of the calculating unit 17-2. The other subtractors operate in a
similar manner. .[.In a similar manner, the following subtractors
operate..].
Thus the output of the subtractor 18-1 provides the difference
between Eqs. (14) and (15): ##EQU27## This is the left side of Eq.
(4) as shown in Eq. (6). The order of calculation by the
calculating units 17-1 and 17-2 and the calculation by the
subtractor 18-1 is reverse from the order of calculations described
previously but, in this case, it does not matter
mathematically.
The output of the subtractor 18-2 similarly provides the left side
of Eq. (5).
Reference numeral 19-1 indicates an algebraic calculator which
receives the outputs of the subtractors 18-1 and 18-2 and solves
from Eqs. (4) and (5) a simultaneous equation with .beta.(z) and
##EQU28## as the unknowns. Certain constants .alpha..sub.11 and
.alpha..sub.12 determined by the frequencies f.sub.1 and f.sub.2
are multiplied by the outputs of the subtractors 18-1 and 18-2 and
then added together to obtain .beta.(z). Other constants
.alpha..sub.21 and .alpha..sub.22 are likewise multiplied by the
outputs of the subtractors 18-1 and 18-2 and then added together to
obtain ##EQU29## It is convenient to calculate the constants
.alpha..sub.11, .alpha..sub.12, .alpha..sub.21 and .alpha..sub.22
from the frequencies f.sub.1 and f.sub.2 in advance and to prestore
them in the algebraic calculator 19-1.
Reference numeral 20 designates an arithmetic mean circuit which
comprises an adder 21 for adding the outputs of the algebraic
calculators 19-1, 19-2, . . . and a divider 22 for dividing the
output of the adder 21 by the number N of inputs to the adder 22.
The arithmetic mean circuit 20 obtains an arithmetic mean value of
the N .beta.(z) or ##EQU30## values respectfully obtained from all
the frequency components of the output from the DFFT circuit
16.
Reference numeral 23 identifies a shift register which comprises L
stacked registers 23-1, 23-2, . . . 23-L for storing the output of
the arithmetic mean circuit 20. At first, the output of the
arithmetic mean circuit 20 for the depth i is written into the
register 23-1 and when the output of the arithmetic mean circuit 20
for the next depth goes into the register 23-1, the content of the
register 23-1 is shifted to the register 23-2. In this way, upon
each occurrence of inputting new data into the register 23-1,
previous data are shifted upward through successive registers in
the shift register 23. In consequence, L data are stored in the
shift register 23, with the oldest data in the register 23-L and
the latest one in the register 23-1.
Reference numeral 24 denotes an arithmetic mean circuit for
obtaining an arithmetic mean value of L data. The arithmetic mean
circuit 24 is also comprised of an adder 25 for adding L outputs
from the registers 23-1 to 23-L and a divider 26 for dividing the
output of the adder 25 by L. The outputs of the registers 23-1 to
23-L are added together by the adder 25 and its output is applied
to the divider 26, wherein it is divided by L to obtain the
arithmetic mean.
The output of the arithmetic mean circuit 24 provides, for each
scanning, a mean value of
(L.times..[.Z.]..Iadd.N.Iaddend.).beta.(z)'s or ##EQU31## over the
depths z.sub.1, z.sub.2, z.sub.3, . . . Z.sub.L is obtained, and
the mean value is stored in a memory. By scanning the same tissue M
times at certain time intervals, obtaining a measured value for
each scanning, storing it and averaging the values for the same
depth z.sub.i in all the measurements, it is possible to obtain a
mean value of L.times.M.times.N samples for each depth z.sub.i.
While the above description has been given of a method for
executing statistical processing with the last calculated value
.beta.(z) or ##EQU32## the statistical processing can be applied to
intermediate results and this may sometimes make the subsequent
calculations easy. This can be achieved, for example, by executing
statistical processing of the outputs of the DFFT circuit 16 in
connection with frequency for M-time scanning of L points to remove
the influence of the spectrum scalloping and executing again
statistical processing with a last calculated value.
In the foregoing embodiment the frequency components f.sub.1,
f.sub.2, f.sub.3, . . . correspond to the outputs of the DFFT
circuit 16 in a sequential order but, by a suitable selection of
the outputs of the DFFT circuit 16 in a manner to form a geometric
or arithmetic progression as described previously, the calculating
circuits of the algebraic calculators 19-1, 19-2, . . . can be
simplified although the number of N's decreases.
By scanning one sectional area of a living body in successive
scanning directions so that, for instance, .beta.(z) may be
obtained as a function of each of the depths z.sub.1, z.sub.2, . .
. z.sub.i and z.sub.i+1 as a mean value of the L.times.M.times.N
measured values for each scanning direction, and then displaying
the resulting values on the corresponding scanning lines of a CRT,
it is possible to obtain a distribution diagram of .beta.(z) or
##EQU33## on the sectional area of the living body. This is very
useful for detecting an abnormal tissue as of a cancer.
It will be apparent that many modifications and variations may be
effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of
the present invention.
* * * * *