CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-040210, filed on Mar. 6, 2019, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-040211, filed on Mar. 6, 2019, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

An embodiment as an aspect of the present invention relates to a medical image processing apparatus.

BACKGROUND

In the medical field, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is used for imaging the inside of a subject using ultrasonic waves generated by multiple transducers (piezoelectric vibrators) of an ultrasonic probe. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus causes the ultrasonic probe, which is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, to transmit ultrasonic waves into the subject, generates a reception signal based on a reflected wave, and acquires a desired ultrasonic image by image processing.

In a contrast examination using the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, after injection of a contrast agent, it is classified into multiple time phases according to the degree of contrast of a tumor with the contrast agent. For example, when the liver is imaged, it is classified into a time phase such as an early vascular phase, an arterial predominant phase, a portal predominant phase, or a post vascular phase based on an elapsed time from the start of the injection of the contrast agent. The time phase means a classification based on a contrast state of a lesion area with a contrast agent included in contrast image data. A definite diagnosis of the tumor is performed in real time based on the contrast image data acquired in any of these time phases, or the multiple contrast image data acquired in the respective multiple different time phases.

