Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and image processing apparatus

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:

• processing circuitry configured to
• control a probe to perform ultrasonic scanning on a subject injected with contrast agent to generate a plurality of pieces of reflected wave data in time series,
• generate, in accordance with the plurality of pieces of reflected wave data in time series, a plurality of pieces of fundamental wave data in time series in which tissue in the subject functions as a reflection source and a plurality of pieces of harmonic data in time series in which microbubbles included in the contrast agent function as a reflection source,
• generate a plurality of fundamental images based on the plurality of pieces of fundamental wave data in time series and a plurality of harmonic images based on the plurality of pieces of harmonic data in time series,
• set, in accordance with a position of a first region of interest in a fundamental image of a first time phase among the plurality of fundamental images, a plurality of sub regions in a fundamental image of a second time phase among the plurality of fundamental images,
• compare the first region of interest in the fundamental image of the first time phase with each of the plurality of sub regions in the fundamental image of the second time phase, respectively, and extract a sub region of the plurality of sub regions in the fundamental image, as a first candidate position for a second region of interest in an ultrasonic image based on reflected wave data of the second time phase among the plurality of pieces of reflected wave data,
• set, in accordance with a position of a first region of interest in a harmonic image of the first time phase among the plurality of harmonic images, a plurality of sub regions in a harmonic image of the second time phase among the plurality of harmonic images,
• compare the first region of interest in the harmonic image of the first time phase with each of the plurality of sub regions in the harmonic image of the second time phase, respectively, and extract a sub region of the plurality of sub regions in the harmonic image, as a second candidate position for the second region of interest in the ultrasonic image based on reflected wave data of the second time phase among the plurality of pieces of reflected wave data,
• compare a first similarity between the sub region corresponding to the first candidate position and the first region of interest in the fundamental image with a second similarity between the sub region corresponding to the second candidate position and the first region of interest in the harmonic image, and
• set the sub region having a higher similarity between the first similarity and the second similarity, as the second region of interest in the ultrasonic image of the second dine phase, wherein
• the second region of interest is an analysis region in which Time Curve Analysis (TCA) relating to administration of the contrast agent is performed.