Patent ID: 8814797
Filing Date: 2014-08-26
Classification: A61B,G01S

Abstract:
1. An ultrasound diagnostic device comprising: an ultrasound probe which includes n pieces of transducers being arranged in parallel, n satisfying n>1, the transducers outputting transmitted ultrasound waves toward a test body by a drive signal, and outputting received signals by receiving reflected ultrasound waves from the test body; a transmitter unit which supplies the drive signal to selected transducers from among the n pieces of transducers; a receiver unit which receives received signals to be outputted from the selected transducers; a control unit which sequentially selects the transducers to be supplied with the drive signal from among the n pieces of transducers, wherein the control unit shifts the transducers to be selected by a predetermined number in an array direction every time when each of the transmitted ultrasound waves is outputted; and an image processing unit which creates image data of an inside of the test body for each of a plurality frames based on the received signals sequentially received by the receiver unit, wherein the control unit switches a number of the transducers which are sequentially selected to be supplied with the drive signal for consecutive frames, by executing sequential selection of m pieces of the transducers arranged consecutively for a first frame and executing sequential selection of m+1 pieces of the transducers arranged consecutively for a second frame which is consecutive to the first frame, m satisfying m<n, and wherein every time when the image data of each frame is created, the control unit creates synthetic image data obtained by synthesizing image data of at least two consecutive frames with each other.