JP-2026075297-A - Medical image processing equipment, ultrasound diagnostic equipment, method, and program

JP2026075297AJP 2026075297 AJP2026075297 AJP 2026075297AJP-2026075297-A

Abstract

[Challenge] To enable more accurate imaging of thermal properties. [Solution] The medical image processing apparatus of the embodiment comprises a first acquisition unit, a second acquisition unit, and a generation unit. The first acquisition unit acquires the tissue property distribution within the subject. The second acquisition unit acquires the temperature change distribution within the subject, which is obtained by changing the temperature distribution within the subject using a temperature adjustment means that changes the temperature distribution within the subject. The generation unit generates the thermophysical property distribution within the subject based on a plurality of tissue property distributions acquired in a plurality of states in which the temperature distribution has been changed, and the temperature change distribution within the subject corresponding to the plurality of states. [Selection Diagram] Figure 1

Inventors

高橋広樹
奥村貴敏
冨羽貞範

Assignees

キヤノンメディカルシステムズ株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20241022

Claims (14)

A first acquisition unit for acquiring the distribution of tissue physical properties within the subject, A second acquisition unit acquires the temperature change distribution within the subject, which is obtained by changing the temperature distribution within the subject using a temperature adjustment means that changes the temperature distribution within the subject. A generation unit that generates a thermophysical property distribution within a subject based on a plurality of tissue property distributions obtained in a plurality of states in which the temperature distribution is changed, and the temperature change distribution within the subject corresponding to the plurality of states, A medical image processing device equipped with [a specific feature].
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit generates a thermophysical property distribution using the temperature change distribution at each location within the subject.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first acquisition unit acquires a sound velocity distribution indicating the sound velocity at each position within the subject.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the generation unit generates thermophysical property distributions between multiple sound velocity distributions.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tissue properties within the subject are any of the following: sound velocity, CT (Computed Tomography) values, or NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) parameters.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature adjustment means is one of the following: a means for heating by ultrasonic acoustic energy, a means for heating by electromagnetic interference, a means for heating by optical interference, and a means for heating by heat transfer from a heat source.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second acquisition unit acquires the temperature change distribution within the subject by numerical analysis based on electromagnetic field analysis or numerical analysis based on sound field analysis.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second acquisition unit acquires the temperature change distribution for each condition in the temperature adjustment means.
It further includes a memory unit that stores multiple temperature change distributions according to the characteristics of each subject, The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second acquisition unit acquires from the storage unit a temperature change distribution corresponding to the subject from which the tissue property distribution has been acquired.
It also includes a reception area for receiving input operations regarding the subject's information, The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second acquisition unit acquires the temperature change distribution within the subject using the information about the subject input by the input operation.
A medical image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising a display control unit for displaying the thermal property distribution, the tissue property distribution, and the temperature change distribution.
A first acquisition unit for acquiring the distribution of tissue physical properties within the subject, A temperature adjustment unit that changes the temperature distribution within the subject, A second acquisition unit that acquires the temperature change distribution within the subject whose temperature distribution has been changed, A generation unit that generates a thermophysical property distribution within a subject based on a plurality of tissue property distributions obtained in a plurality of states in which the temperature distribution is changed, and the temperature change distribution within the subject corresponding to the plurality of states, An ultrasound diagnostic device equipped with the following features.
Obtain the distribution of tissue properties within the subject, The temperature change distribution within the subject is obtained by changing the temperature distribution using a temperature adjustment means that changes the temperature distribution within the subject. Based on a plurality of tissue property distributions obtained in a plurality of states in which the temperature distribution is changed, and the temperature change distribution within the subject corresponding to the plurality of states, the thermophysical property distribution within the subject is generated. A method that includes doing so.
Obtain the distribution of tissue properties within the subject, The temperature change distribution within the subject is obtained by changing the temperature distribution using a temperature adjustment means that changes the temperature distribution within the subject. Based on a plurality of tissue property distributions obtained in a plurality of states in which the temperature distribution is changed, and the temperature change distribution within the subject corresponding to the plurality of states, the thermophysical property distribution within the subject is generated. A program that instructs a computer to perform various processes.

Description

The embodiments disclosed herein relate to medical image processing equipment, ultrasound diagnostic equipment, methods, and programs. It has been known that the speed of sound in biological tissues is related to the temperature of that tissue. For example, in soft tissues, the speed of sound increases with increasing temperature, while in adipose tissue, the speed of sound decreases with increasing temperature. Furthermore, techniques for determining tissue properties by utilizing these differences in the change of sound speed with temperature (thermophysical properties) are also known. To utilize the differences in sound velocity changes described above, highly accurate sound velocity measurement methods are essential. In recent years, technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) for reconstructing sound velocity distributions and ultrasound CT (Computed Tomography) for imaging local sound velocity within living organisms have been developing. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-22523Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-65799 Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment.Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment.Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the sound velocity distribution according to the first embodiment.Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the temperature change distribution according to the first embodiment.Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the thermophysical property distribution according to the first embodiment.Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment.Figure 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a medical image processing apparatus according to another embodiment. The embodiments of the medical image processing apparatus, ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, method, and program according to this application will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. However, the medical image processing apparatus, ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, method, and program according to this application are not limited to the embodiments described below. (First embodiment) Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 10 according to this embodiment includes an ultrasound probe 1, a display 2, an input interface 3, and a device body 4, and the ultrasound probe 1, the display 2, and the input interface 3 are connected to the device body 4 so as to be able to communicate with each other. In addition, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 10 is connected to a temperature controller 5, as shown in Figure 1. The temperature controller 5 alters the temperature distribution within the subject. For example, the temperature controller 5 may be one of the following: a means of heating using the acoustic energy of ultrasound (e.g., an ultrasonic heater), a means of heating using electromagnetic interference (e.g., an electromagnetic wave heater), a means of heating using optical interference (e.g., an infrared heater), or a means of heating using heat transfer from a heat source (e.g., an electric current heater). It heats the subject under the control of the ultrasound diagnostic device 10. Here, the temperature controller 5 may be formed in a ring shape to surround the part of the subject to be temperature-controlled. If the temperature controller 5 is an ultrasonic heater, it has, for example, an ultrasonic probe and a transmitting circuit, and heats the subject by control based on a heating technology known as HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound). Furthermore, if the temperature controller 5 is an electromagnetic wave heater, it has, for example, an oscillator that emits microwaves, and heats the subject by irradiating microwaves from the oscillator. If the temperature controller 5 is an electric current heater, it has, for example, electrodes facing each other so as to sandwich the subject, and heats the subject by passing an electric current through the electrodes. The example of temperature controller 5 described above is merely one example; other devices may be used. For example, infrared heaters such as halogen heaters or carbon heaters may be used. Furthermore, the temperature controller 5 may be controlled by a device other than the ultrasound diagnostic device 10. Also, the temperature controller 5 may change the temperature from outside the subject's body, or it may change the temperature from inside the subject's body. In such cases, for example, a dialyzer may be used as the temperature controller 5, and the temperature inside the subject may be changed by returning blood, whose temperature ha