# US 12,594,060 B2 · Ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, control method of ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, and processor for ultrasound diagnostic apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,594,060 B2 - Document ID: US12594060B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/499,539 - Filed: 2021-10-12 - Published: 2022-02-03 - Granted: 2026-04-07 - Earliest claimed: 2019-04-26 - Assignees: FUJIFILM Corporation - Applicants: FUJIFILM Corporation - Inventors: Katsuya Yamamoto - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12594060B2 ## CPC - A61B 8/54: {Control of the diagnostic device} - A61B 8/06: Measuring blood flow - A61B 8/085: {for locating body or organic structures, e.g. tumours, calculi, blood vessels, nodules} - A61B 8/0891: {for diagnosis of blood vessels} - A61B 8/463: {characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display} - A61B 8/467: {characterised by special input means} - A61B 8/488: {involving Doppler signals} - A61B 8/5223: {for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data (for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012)} - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) ## Abstract An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus (1) includes a B-mode processing unit (6) that generates a B-mode image in which at least a blood vessel is imaged based on a reception signal obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a subject; a display device (9) that displays the B-mode image; a vascular wall detection unit (10) that detects a vascular wall based on the B-mode image; a gate setting unit (11) that sets a Doppler gate in the blood vessel on the B-mode image; a Doppler processing unit (7) that acquires Doppler data in the Doppler gate; a blood flow velocity calculation unit (13) that calculates a blood flow velocity based on the Doppler data; and a blood flow rate measurement unit (12) that measures a blood flow rate based on the detected vascular wall and the calculated blood flow velocity, in which the blood flow rate is automatically measured based on a fixed start trigger. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising: a display device; a transducer configured to obtain a reception signal by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a subject and converting the received ultrasonic waves to the reception signal; and a processor configured to sequentially generate a plurality of B-mode images in which at least a blood vessel is imaged based on the reception signal obtained by the transducer, where the plurality of B-mode images represent a longitudinal cross section along a traveling direction of the blood vessel, calculate a change amount of a position of the blood vessel within a predetermined time on the plurality of B-mode images, and upon determining that the position of the blood vessel is stable due to the change amount being equal to or less than a fixed value, automatically perform a process including: detecting a vascular wall by analyzing at least one of the plurality of B-mode images; setting a Doppler gate in the blood vessel on the plurality of B-mode images; acquiring Doppler data in the Doppler gate; calculating a blood flow velocity based on the Doppler data; and measuring a blood flow rate based on the vascular wall and the blood flow velocity, wherein the processor is further configured to search for an anterior vascular wall in a shallow direction and search for a posterior vascular wall in a deep direction, at a plurality of positions separated in an orientation direction from a center position decided based on coordinates of the anterior vascular wall and the posterior vascular wall, estimate a blood vessel traveling angle, and set a Doppler steer angle such that an angle correction value for the blood vessel traveling angle is within 60 degrees. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a cross-sectional area of the blood vessel based on the detected vascular wall, and measure the blood flow rate by the product of the cross-sectional area and the blood flow velocity. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to generate a Doppler waveform image based on the Doppler data, and the display device is configured to display both the B-mode image and the Doppler waveform image. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to generate a Doppler waveform image in parallel with the generation of the B-mode image, and measure the blood flow rate with both the B-mode image and the Doppler waveform image being frozen. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to acquire the Doppler data in the Doppler gate and generate a Doppler waveform image after the B-mode image is frozen, and measure the blood flow rate with the Doppler waveform image being frozen. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to set a search line for searching for the vascular wall on the B-mode image, and detect the anterior vascular wall and the posterior vascular wall as the vascular wall based on a brightness profile of the B-mode image on the set search line. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to set the Doppler gate having a size and a center position decided based on coordinates of the anterior vascular wall and the posterior vascular wall. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a cross-sectional area of the blood vessel based on the detected vascular wall, and measure the blood flow rate by the product of the cross-sectional area and the blood flow velocity. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to set a detection point marker on each of the detected anterior vascular wall and the detected posterior vascular wall, and cause the display device to display the detection point marker. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a cross-sectional area of the blood vessel based on the detected vascular wall, and measure the blood flow rate by the product of the cross-sectional area and the blood flow velocity. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to set the Doppler gate having a size and a center position decided based on coordinates of the anterior vascular wall and the posterior vascular wall. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to generate the plurality of B-mode images based on a B-mode steer angle set according to a blood vessel traveling angle. ### Claim 13 A control method of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, the control method comprising: obtaining a reception signal from a transducer configured to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves to and from a subject and convert the received ultrasonic waves to the reception signal; sequentially generating a plurality of B-mode images in which at least a blood vessel is imaged based on the reception signal obtained by the transducer, where the plurality of B-mode images represent a longitudinal cross section along a traveling direction of the blood vessel; sequentially displaying each of the plurality of B-mode images; calculating a change amount of a position of the blood vessel within a predetermined time on the plurality of B-mode images; and upon determining that the position of the blood vessel is stable due to the change amount being equal to or less than a fixed value, automatically perform a process including: detecting a vascular wall by analyzing at least one of the plurality of B-mode images; setting a Doppler gate in the blood vessel on the plurality of B-mode images; acquiring Doppler data in the Doppler gate; calculating a blood flow velocity based on the Doppler data; and measuring a blood flow rate based on the detected vascular wall and the calculated blood flow velocity, wherein the control method further comprises searching for an anterior vascular wall in a shallow direction and searching for a posterior vascular wall in a deep direction, at a plurality of positions separated in an orientation direction from a center position decided based on coordinates of the anterior vascular wall and the posterior vascular wall, estimating a blood vessel traveling angle, and setting a Doppler steer angle such that an angle correction value for the blood vessel traveling angle is within 60 degrees.