Patent ID: 8852102
Filing Date: 2014-10-07
Classification: A61B,G16H

Abstract:
1. An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus which is configured to determine reliability of an elasticity index of a blood vessel of a subject by transmitting ultrasonic beams toward the blood vessel of the subject and receiving ultrasonic echoes reflected by the blood vessel of the subject using an ultrasound probe pushed and abutted on an outer surface of the subject, comprising: a controller which controls transmission and reception of the ultrasonic beams; a tracking unit configured to track displacements in a transmission direction of a plurality of points of the blood vessel in the transmission direction of the ultrasonic beams; a calculator which calculates the elasticity index of the blood vessel based on the tracking result of the tracking unit; an acquisition unit configured to acquire the direction of a displacement and/or the amount of the displacement in the transmission direction of one or more specific points being on a posterior vascular wall of the blood vessel among the plurality of points; and a determination unit configured to determine the reliability of the elasticity index based on the direction of the displacement and/or the amount of displacement of the one or more specific points acquired by the acquisition unit, wherein, when the posterior vascular wall is displaced toward outside of the blood vessel in a heart contraction phase, the determination unit is configured to determine that the reliability of the elasticity index is high based on the direction of the displacement of the one or more specific points being on the posterior vascular wall.