# US 7,608,044 B2 · Ultrasonic image display method and ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,608,044 B2 - Document ID: US7608044B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 11/200,813 - Filed: 2005-08-10 - Published: 2006-03-16 - Granted: 2009-10-27 - Earliest claimed: 2004-08-18 - Assignees: GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC - Inventors: Shunichiro Tanigawa - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7608044B2 ## CPC - G01S 7/52053: {Display arrangements} - A61B 8/488: {involving Doppler signals} - G01S 7/52071: {Multicolour displays; using colour coding; Optimising colour or information content in displays, e.g. parametric imaging} - G01S 15/8979: {Combined Doppler and pulse-echo imaging systems} - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) ## Abstract An ultrasonic image display method for displaying a composite image made from a B mode image and a tissue velocity image of an object taken by means of ultrasound. The method includes decreasing the weight of the B mode image while increasing the weight of the tissue velocity image, in response to increase of brightness of the B mode image, adding thus weighted B mode image and tissue velocity image, and displaying an image obtained by the addition. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An ultrasonic image display method for displaying a composite image made from a B mode image and a tissue velocity image of an object taken by means of an ultrasonic imaging system, said method comprising: receiving an echo receiver signal using a transceiver unit in response to ultrasound waves transmitted into the object by an ultrasonic probe, the echo receiver signal including a Doppler signal and a signal indicative of an intensity of echo at each reflection point on a sonic scan line; processing a tissue velocity data component of the Doppler signal using a Doppler processing unit in order to generate the tissue velocity image; decreasing a weight of the B mode image using a B mode processing unit while increasing a weight of the tissue velocity image in response to an increase of a brightness of the B mode image, the weight of the B mode image decreased based on a linear function when the brightness of the B mode image is less than a threshold and decreased based on at least one linear function when the brightness of the B mode image is greater than or equal to the threshold; adding the weighted B mode image and the tissue velocity image using an image processing unit coupled to the Doppler processing unit and the B mode processing unit in order to form a composite image that is expressed by RGB_Transparent=a—Ib*RGB—B+(1.0−a—Ib)*RGB_Color; and displaying the composite image using a composite image display unit coupled to the image processing unit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) An ultrasonic image display method according to claim 1, wherein the linear function is a polygonal line function. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) An ultrasonic image display method according to claim 2, wherein the polygonal line function is made of a concatenation of a plurality of linear functions. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) An ultrasonic image display method according to claim 3, wherein a joint of the plurality of linear functions is variable. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) An ultrasonic image display method according to claim 3, wherein a slope of each linear function of the plurality of linear functions is variable. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) An ultrasonic image display method according to claim 1, wherein in a black section where the brightness of the B mode image is less than the threshold, the B mode image and the tissue velocity image are nullified. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) An ultrasonic image display method according to claim 6, wherein the threshold is variable. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) An ultrasonic image display method according to claim 1, wherein processing a tissue velocity component of a Doppler signal comprises extracting the tissue velocity data component from a Doppler signal that includes the tissue velocity data component and a blood velocity data component. ### Claim 9 An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus for taking a B mode image and a tissue velocity image of an object by means of ultrasound to display a composite image of a weighted B mode image and the tissue velocity image, said ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprising: a Doppler processing unit configured to process a tissue velocity data component of a Doppler signal and to generate the tissue velocity image based on the tissue velocity data component; a weight adjustor device configured to decrease a weight of the B mode image in response to an increase of a brightness of the B mode image, while increasing a weight of the tissue velocity image, the weight of the B mode image decreased based on a linear function when the brightness of the B mode image is less than a threshold and decreased based on at least one linear function when the brightness of the B mode image is greater than or equal to the threshold; an adder device configured to add the weighted B mode image and the tissue velocity image to obtain the composite image based on the equation RGB_Transparent=a—Ib*RGB—B+(1.0−a—Ib)*RGB_Color; and a display device configured to display the composite image obtained from the addition. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the linear function is a polygonal linear function. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the polygonal linear function is made of a concatenation of a plurality of linear functions. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a joint of the plurality of liner functions is variable. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a slope of each linear function of the plurality of linear functions is variable. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: a black nullifying device configured to nullify the B mode image and the tissue velocity image for a black section in which the brightness of the B mode image is less than the threshold. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the threshold is variable. ### Claim 16 (depends on 9) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said Doppler processing unit is configured to extract the tissue velocity data component from a Doppler signal that includes the tissue velocity data component and a blood velocity data component. ### Claim 17 An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprising: an ultrasonic probe; a transceiver coupled in signal communication to said ultrasonic probe, said transceiver configured to transmit driving signals to said ultrasonic probe to generate ultrasound waves and to receive echo signals from said ultrasonic probe, the echo signals generated in response to the driving signals; a B mode processing unit coupled in signal communication to said transceiver, said B mode processing unit configured to generate a B mode image based on the echo signals received by said transceiver from said ultrasonic probe and transmitted by said transceiver to said B mode processing unit; a Doppler processing unit coupled in signal communication to said transceiver, said Doppler processing unit configured to generate a tissue velocity image based on the echo signals received by said transceiver from said ultrasonic probe and transmitted by said transceiver to said Doppler processing unit, said Doppler processing unit further configured to generate the tissue velocity image by processing a tissue velocity data component of the received echo signals; and an image processing unit coupled in signal communication to said B mode processing unit, said Doppler processing unit, and a display device, said image processing unit configured to: decrease a weight of the B mode image in response to an increase of a brightness of the B mode image, while increasing a weight of the tissue velocity image, the weight of the B mode image decreased based on a linear function when the brightness of the B mode image is less than a threshold and decreased based on a plurality of linear functions when the brightness of the B mode image is greater than or equal to the threshold; add a weighted B mode image and a weighted tissue velocity image using the equation RGB_Transparent=a—Ib*RGB—B+(1.0−a—Ib)*RGB_Color; and transmit a composite image obtained from the addition to said display device. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the linear function is a polygonal linear function. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the polygonal linear function is made of a concatenation of a plurality of linear functions. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to claim 19, wherein a joint of the plurality of liner functions is variable.