Patent ID: 11931202
Assignee: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 13:
14. An ultrasound scanning support apparatus, comprising:
processing circuitry configured to
acquire a first distance between a body surface of a subject and an ultrasonic-wave transmission-reception surface of an ultrasound probe configured to transmit and receive an ultrasonic wave based on a first distance measurement method, and compare the first distance with a first threshold, the ultrasound probe being moved by a mechanical mechanism including a motor configured to move the ultrasound probe while the ultrasonic-wave transmission-reception surface of the ultrasound probe is pointed to the subject,
acquire a second distance between a body surface of the subject and the ultrasonic-wave transmission-reception surface of the ultrasound probe based on a second distance measurement method different from the first distance measurement method, and compare the second distance with a second threshold,
calculate, based on at least one of the first distance that is determined to be less than or equal to the first threshold and the second distance that is determined to be less than or equal to the second threshold, a coordinate of a position that is a predetermined distance from the body surface and between the body surface of the subject and the ultrasonic-wave transmission-reception surface of the ultrasound probe, for each position along a moving direction of the ultrasound probe, and
connect the calculated coordinates along the moving direction of the ultrasound probe to generate locus information of movement of the ultrasound probe when ultrasound scanning is executed on the subject.