US 12,433,568 B2
Ultrasonic image processing device
Shin-ichiro Umemura, Sendai (JP); Shin Yoshizawa, Sendai (JP); and Ikumi Shiozaki, Sendai (JP)
Assigned to Sonire Therapeutics Inc., Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 18/559,649
Filed by SONIRE THERAPEUTICS INC., Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Mar. 11, 2022, PCT No. PCT/JP2022/010971
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 8, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2023/132088, PCT Pub. Date Jul. 13, 2023.
Claims priority of application No. 2022-000213 (JP), filed on Jan. 4, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2024/0225593 A1, Jul. 11, 2024
Int. Cl. A61B 8/14 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); A61N 7/00 (2006.01); A61N 7/02 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 8/14 (2013.01) [A61B 8/4444 (2013.01); A61B 8/4483 (2013.01); A61B 8/461 (2013.01); A61B 8/52 (2013.01); A61N 7/00 (2013.01); A61N 7/02 (2013.01); A61N 2007/0052 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasonic image processing device comprising a controller that executes:
reception processing for acquiring a plurality of received signals based on a plurality of ultrasonic waves transmitted from an ultrasonic probe at different phases and timings, reflected from body tissue, and received by the ultrasonic probe;
combining processing for generating a higher harmonic received signal by combining the plurality of received signals; and
comparison processing for finding a comparison value representing a difference between a value of the higher harmonic received signal and a value of a fundamental wave received signal that is one of the plurality of received signals, wherein the controller executes
determination processing for determining, based on the comparison value, whether an ultrasound pixel indicated by the higher harmonic received signal or the fundamental wave received signal indicates a cavitation region or a normal region, and
generation processing for generating, based on the higher harmonic received signal or the fundamental wave received signal, image data for displaying the cavitation region and the normal region in different manners, and
the determination processing includes processing for determining that the ultrasound pixel indicates the cavitation region based on a comparison between the comparison value and a predetermined threshold, wherein
the predetermined threshold is a value obtained based on (a) the value of the fundamental wave received signal which is obtained when therapeutic ultrasound is not transmitted to the body tissue by a high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) irradiation device and on (b) the value of the higher harmonic received signal.