Patent ID: 7946987
Filing Date: 2011-05-24
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for diagnosing a blood vessel by an ultrasonic wave, comprising: a transmission section for driving an ultrasonic probe for transmitting an ultrasonic transmission wave to the blood vessel, wherein the ultrasonic probe is a body surface scanning probe; a receiving section which amplifies a reflected ultrasonic wave acquired as a result of reflection of the ultrasonic transmission wave from the blood vessel and received by the ultrasonic probe, to thus generate a received signal; a phase detection section for subjecting the received signal to phase detection; a computing section which determines amounts of change in thicknesses, due to pulse pressure from a cardiac cycle, respectively arising at a plurality of positions within a wall of the blood vessel from a phase detection signal acquired from the phase detection section and which computes a relative elastic characteristic, which is a normalized elastic characteristic, from a value determined by dividing a maximum amount of change in thickness, due to the pulse pressure from the cardiac cycle, acquired from an arbitrary reference area in the wall of the blood vessel by a maximum amount of change in thickness, due to the pulse pressure from the cardiac cycle, acquired from another area in the wall of the blood vessel and outside of the arbitrary reference area; and a display section for displaying a distribution of the relative elastic characteristics computed by the computing section, wherein the maximum amount of change in thickness acquired from the arbitrary reference area in the wall of the blood vessel is selectable from a maximum amount of change in thickness acquired from an area of an adventitia in the blood vessel or a maximum amount of change in thickness acquired from a healthy vessel tissue reference area from the past.