Ultrasonic diagnosis device and ultrasonic probe for use in ultrasonic diagnosis device

Abstract

A structure for adjusting the positional relationship between an ultrasonic transducer and a blood vessel such that an acoustic line from the ultrasonic transducer passes the center of a cross-section of the blood vessel for measuring an elasticity characteristic is provided.—An ultrasonic probe includes a transducer for transmitting an ultrasonic wave and receiving the ultrasonic wave reflected by a biological tissue; and a driving device for physically moving the transducer. For measuring the elasticity characteristic, the driving device moves the transducer based on a control signal to change at least one of a direction and a position at which the ultrasonic wave is to be transmitted. A determination section specifies a position of the transducer at which the reflection intensity is maximum based on intensity information representing an intensity of the reflected wave. A calculation section calculates the elasticity characteristic at the specified position.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus connectable to an ultrasonic probe configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave using a transducer including a plurality of transducer elements arranged in a length direction thereof and to receive the ultrasonic wave reflected by a tissue of a biological body, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:
 a transmission section configured to cause the transducer to transmit an ultrasonic wave in succession from different positions along the length direction;   a receiving section configured to receive the ultrasonic wave reflected by a blood vessel repeatedly using the transducer to generate a plurality of receiving signals;   an intensity information generation section configured to generate intensity information on a distribution of an intensity of the reflected ultrasonic wave based on the plurality of receiving signals; and   a determination section configured to specify a position along the length direction at which the intensity of the reflected ultrasonic wave is maximum, based on the intensity information.   
     
     
         2 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the ultrasonic probe includes a driving device configured to change a position of the transducer within the ultrasonic probe;   the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus further includes a probe control section configured to control the driving device to control a movement of the transducer based on the position specified by the determination section to change a position from which the transducer transmits the ultrasonic wave.   
     
     
         3 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the transmission section causes the post-movement transducer to transmit an ultrasonic wave in succession from different positions along the length direction. 
     
     
         4 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a calculation section configured to transmit the ultrasonic wave at the position specified by the determination section and to calculate one of a property value and a shape value of the blood vessel;
 wherein after the calculation section measures one of the property value and the shape value of the blood vessel at the specified position, the probe control section controls the driving device to move the transducer in a direction which is perpendicular to a direction in which the ultrasonic wave is transmitted and is also perpendicular to the length direction.   
     
     
         5 . An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is connectable to an ultrasonic probe which includes a transducer having a plurality of transducer elements arranged one-dimensionally and which is configured to perform a measurement on a test subject by contacting the ultrasonic probe to the test subject including a blood vessel, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:
 a transmission section configured to drive the transducer of the ultrasonic probe to transmit first and second transmission waves to a measurement area of the test subject, the measurement area including the blood vessel;   a probe control section configured to control a position of the transducer in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the transducer elements are arranged;   a receiving section configured to receive, using the ultrasonic probe, reflected waves respectively obtained by the first and second transmission waves being reflected by the test subject to generate first and second receiving signals;   a measurement position determination section configured to control the probe control section to measure an intensity of the first receiving signal while changing the position of the transducer at each cardiac cycle, to estimate a position change of an axis of the artery during one cardiac cycle based on the intensity, and to control the probe control section such that the position of the transducer changes so as to match the estimated position change; and   a calculation section configured to calculate one of a property value and a shape value of the test subject based on the second receiving signal which is obtained by changing the position of the transducer so as to match the estimated position change.   
     
     
         6 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the transmission section sequentially drives the plurality of transducer elements to transmit one frame of the second receiving signal repeatedly for a plurality of frames in each cardiac cycle each time the measurement area is scanned by the second transmission wave, and transmits the first transmission wave in each frame. 
     
     
         7 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the measurement position determination section determines a position of the transducer at which the first receiving signal has a maximum value in each frame, and controls the probe control section such that the position of the transducer changes to match the determined position. 
     
     
         8 . The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of  claim 7 , further comprising a tomogram generation section configured to generate a signal for B mode image based on amplitude information on the first receiving signal.