# US 2014/0155746 A1 · Ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and method for displaying elasticity image > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0155746 A1 - Document ID: US20140155746A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/086,730 - Filed: 2013-11-21 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2012-11-30 - Assignees: GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC - Applicants: Ge Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC - Inventors: Shunichiro Tanigawa - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140155746A1 ## CPC - A61B 8/485: {involving measuring strain or elastic properties} - A61B 8/02: Measuring pulse or heart rate - A61B 8/461: {Displaying means of special interest} - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) ## Abstract An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is provided. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes a physical quantity data generating unit configured to generate physical quantity data by calculating a physical quantity related to elasticity of parts in a living tissue based on an echo signal obtained by transmission and reception of an ultrasound wave to and from the living tissue, an elasticity image data generating unit configured to generate elasticity image data including information indicative of a display form corresponding to the calculated physical quantity, and a display unit configured to display an elasticity image generated based on the elasticity image data and having a display form corresponding to the physical quantity, wherein the elasticity image is generated based on physical quantity data for a plurality of frames within a predetermined time period having a length that includes a plurality of heartbeats. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising: a physical quantity data generating unit configured to generate physical quantity data by calculating a physical quantity related to elasticity of parts in a living tissue based on an echo signal obtained by transmission and reception of an ultrasound wave to and from the living tissue; an elasticity image data generating unit configured to generate elasticity image data including information indicative of a display form corresponding to the physical quantity calculated by the physical quantity data generating unit; and a display unit configured to display an elasticity image generated based on the elasticity image data and having a display form corresponding to the physical quantity, wherein the elasticity image is generated based on physical quantity data for a plurality of frames within a predetermined time period having a length that includes a plurality of heartbeats. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elasticity image is an image obtained by cumulative addition of physical quantity data for the plurality of frames within the predetermined time period, and wherein the cumulative addition is an operation completed every predetermined time period. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein physical quantity data as an object of the cumulative addition is data satisfying a predetermined reference that is set every predetermined time period. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elasticity image is an image obtained by adding and averaging physical quantity data for the plurality of frames within the predetermined time period. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein physical quantity data as an object of the addition and averaging is data satisfying a predetermined reference that is set every predetermined time period. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined reference is one of a reference related to the physical quantity and a reference related to a quality value indicating a degree of accurate reflection of elasticity of the living tissue in the elasticity image. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined reference is one of a reference related to the physical quantity and a reference related to a quality value indicating a degree of accurate reflection of elasticity of the living tissue in the elasticity image. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elasticity image is an image generated based on physical quantity data selected from the physical quantity data for the plurality of frames within the predetermined time period. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is configured to display an image expressing the predetermined time period. ### Claim 10 (depends on 2) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit is configured to display an image expressing the predetermined time period. ### Claim 11 (depends on 3) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display unit is configured to display an image expressing the predetermined time period. ### Claim 12 (depends on 4) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the display unit is configured to display an image expressing the predetermined time period. ### Claim 13 (depends on 5) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the display unit is configured to display an image expressing the predetermined time period. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is configured to display at least one of a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of physical quantity and a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of a quality value indicating a degree of accurate reflection of elasticity of the living tissue in the elasticity image. ### Claim 15 (depends on 2) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit is configured to display at least one of a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of physical quantity and a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of a quality value indicating a degree of accurate reflection of elasticity of the living tissue in the elasticity image. ### Claim 16 (depends on 3) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display unit is configured to display at least one of a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of physical quantity and a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of a quality value indicating a degree of accurate reflection of elasticity of the living tissue in the elasticity image. ### Claim 17 (depends on 4) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the display unit is configured to display at least one of a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of physical quantity and a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of a quality value indicating a degree of accurate reflection of elasticity of the living tissue in the elasticity image. ### Claim 18 (depends on 5) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the display unit is configured to display at least one of a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of physical quantity and a graph indicating changes over time in a cumulative addition value of a quality value indicating a degree of accurate reflection of elasticity of the living tissue in the elasticity image. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is configured to display at least one of a graph indicating changes over time in the physical quantity and a graph indicating changes over time in a quality value indicating a degree of accurate reflection of elasticity of the living tissue in the elasticity image. ### Claim 20 A method for displaying an elasticity image, the method comprising: generating physical quantity data by calculating a physical quantity related to elasticity of parts in a living tissue based on an echo signal obtained by transmission and reception of an ultrasound wave to and from the living tissue; generating elasticity image data including information indicative of a display form corresponding to the physical quantity; generating an elasticity image based on physical quantity data for a plurality of frames within a predetermined time period having a length that includes a plurality of heartbeats; and displaying the elasticity image based on the elasticity image data.