Patent ID: 8641623

Claim:
Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment configured to automatically determine a start depth of three-dimensional picture generation and to start three-dimensional picture generation, the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment comprising: a transmission/reception controller configured to control transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic signal through an ultrasonic probe; a divider configured to cumulate brightness values in a depth direction of an ultrasonic received signal based on the ultrasonic signal to thereby divide the depth direction of said ultrasonic received signal into a plurality of depth zones such that respective cumulative addition brightness values, respectively associated with respective depth zones, are approximately equal to a predetermined value, each depth zone of the plurality of depth zone having a zone length, along the depth direction, corresponding to a number of brightness values, which are accumulated by the divider to establish the depth zone; a start depth determiner configured to: select a user-configurable number of three-dimensional picture generation start candidate zones having the longest zone lengths among the plurality of depth zones, select a three-dimensional picture generation start candidate, from the user-configurable number of three-dimensional picture generation start candidate zones, having a shallowest depth along the depth direction of the received ultrasound signal, as a three-dimensional picture generation start zone, and determine a predetermined depth inside said three-dimensional picture generation start zone as the start depth of said three-dimensional picture generation; and a three-dimensional picture generator configured to start three-dimensional picture generation from the start depth of said three-dimensional picture generation start zone determined by said start depth determiner and to generate a three-dimensional picture of said ultrasonic received signal.