Ultrasound probe and ultrasound elasticity imaging apparatus

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising:

• an ultrasound probe which transmits/receives an ultrasound wave with respect to a subject to be diagnosed;
• an ultrasound wave transmit section which transmits an ultrasound wave for driving the ultrasound probe;
• a displacement measuring section which obtains two tomographic image data different in time series from a reflected echo signal received from the ultrasound probe, measures a displacement of each part in the subject based on the two tomographic image data, and generates displacement data for each part of the subject;
• an image generating section which generates an elastic image from elasticity information based on the displacement of each part measured by the displacement measuring section;
• a display section which displays the generated elastic image;
• a pressing decision section which analyzes the displacement data generated by the displacement measuring section, obtains a degree of lateral displacement in the tomographic image data based on the displacement, and decides whether the pressing operation is proper based on whether or not the degree of lateral displacement is within a predetermined range;
• and
• a decision output device which outputs a pressing state by the pressing decision section to the display section,
• wherein the display section displays the pressing state outputted from the image generating section.

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising:

• an ultrasound probe which transmits/receives an ultrasound wave with respect to a subject to be diagnosed, said ultrasound probe including a pressing section for performing a pressing operation;
• an ultrasound wave transmit section which transmits an ultrasound wave for driving the ultrasound probe;
• an image generating section which generates an elastic image from elasticity information based on a reflected echo signal received from the ultrasound probe during pressing operations;
• a calculating means which calculates an evaluation level of a pressing state based on the reflected echo signal, and determines whether the pressing state is within a proper range of upper and lower limit values of pressing operations;
• a display section which displays the generated elastic image and the evaluation level.

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising:

• an ultrasound probe which transmits/receives an ultrasound wave with respect to a subject to be diagnosed;
• an ultrasound wave transmit section which transmits and ultrasound wave for driving the ultrasound probe;
• a displacement measuring section which obtains two tomographic image data different in time series from a reflected echo signal received from the ultrasound probe and measures a displacement of at least one part in the subject caused by application of an external pressure based on the two tomographic image data;
• an image generating section which generates an elastic image from elasticity information based on the displacement;
• a display section which displays the generated elastic image;
• a calculating means which calculates an evaluation level of a pressing state based on the reflected echo signal, and decides the presence or absence of lateral displacement;
• a pressing decision section which obtains a degree of lateral displacement in the tomographic image data based on the displacement, and decides whether or not the lateral displacement is within a proper range;
• and
• a decision output device which outputs a decision result by the pressing decision section to the display section.