Patent ID: 8672847
Filing Date: 2014-03-18
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising: an ultrasound probe; a transmitter/receiver for transmitting a first ultrasonic beam to a subject through the ultrasound probe and transmitting a second ultrasonic beam to the subject through the ultrasound probe, and receiving ultrasonic echoes arising from the first ultrasonic beam and ultrasonic echoes arising from the second ultrasonic beam; an image producer for producing an ultrasound image based on reception signals outputted from the ultrasound probe; a vascular wall expansion/contraction direction detector for detecting a direction of radial expansion/contraction of a vascular wall associated with a heartbeat in a long-axis image of the vascular wall based on amplitude information of the reception signals obtained by receiving the ultrasonic echoes reflected by a blood vessel of the subject when the first ultrasonic beam is transmitted through the ultrasound probe; a transmission/reception controller for controlling the transmitter/receiver so as to transmit the first ultrasonic beam in a first direction so that the first ultrasonic beam enters the blood vessel and receive the ultrasonic echoes arising from the first ultrasonic beam and to transmit the second ultrasonic beam in a second direction parallel to the vascular wall expansion/contraction direction detected by the vascular wall expansion/contraction direction detector through the ultrasound probe and receive the ultrasonic echoes arising from the second ultrasonic beam; a vascular wall tracker for tracking a movement of the vascular wall using amplitude information and phase information of the reception signals obtained by receiving the ultrasonic echoes arising from the second ultrasonic beam transmitted in the second direction; and a vascular wall elastic characteristics calculator for calculating elastic characteristics of the vascular wall based on the vascular wall movement tracked by the vascular wall tracker.