CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 2019-0017988, filed on Feb. 15, 2019 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The disclosure relates to an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus for acquiring an image of an internal state of an object using ultrasound, and a method of controlling the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

Ultrasound diagnostic apparatuses operate to irradiate an ultrasound signal generated from a transducer of a probe to an object and receive an echo signal reflected from the object to acquire an image of the internal site of the object.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus has advantages in that it is inexpensive and moveable, is displayable in real time, and has high safety compared to X-ray diagnostic devices due to having no risk of exposure to X-rays or the like, and thus are widely used in a variety of fields, such as medical fields and the like.

Such a trend has led the ultrasound diagnostic apparatuses to be variously advanced, and increased the weight of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and thus when a user moves the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a great amount of strength is required.

In order to remove such a limitation, various efforts have been conducted to minimize the force that the user takes to move the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by providing all canisters for movement of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus to be independently moveable or replacing all the canisters with electric casters.

However, as the degree of freedom of movement of a control panel of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus increases, the electric caster operates with a high sensitivity, and thus even when a user desires to use the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus may be moved regardless of the user's intention.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is an object of the disclosure to provide an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus capable of minimizing unneeded movement of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus or preventing an accident due to an undesired movement of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus by detecting a motion or input of a user and determining whether the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of the detected motion or input and automatically locking casters of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus.

Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

Therefore, it is an aspect of the disclosure to provide an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus including: a plurality of casters allowing the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus to be moved according to a control signal; a detection sensor configured to detect a motion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus; an input configured to receive a control command of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus from a user; and a controller configured to determine whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of at least one of the detected motion or the received control command, and upon determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, transmit a control signal for locking at least one of the plurality of casters.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus may include: a probe configured to radiate an ultrasound signal to an object and receive an ultrasound signal that is the ultrasound signal being radiated to the object, reflected from the object, wherein the controller may determine that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the probe.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus may further include: a monitor, wherein the controller may determine that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the monitor.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus may further include a control panel configured to control the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, wherein the controller may determine that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the control panel.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus may further include a keyboard, wherein the controller may determine that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the keyboard.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus may further include a footrest on which a foot of the user is rested, wherein the controller may determine that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the footrest.

The controller may determine that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to receiving at least one of a unlock command for changing a position of a monitor or a diagnosis start command of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus from the user.

The input may include a display provided in a monitor, wherein the controller may determine that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to the display receiving the control command from the user.

The input may include a trackball provided in a control panel, wherein the controller may determine that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to the trackball receiving the control command from the user.

The input may receive a unlock command for unlocking the plurality of casters from the user, wherein the controller may transmit a control signal for unlocking the plurality of casters in response to the input receiving the unlock command for the plurality of casters from the user.

The input may receive a command for activating or deactivating an auto lock function of the caster from the user, and in response to receiving the command for deactivating the auto lock function of the cast, the controller may prevent the control signal for locking the at least one of the plurality of casters even when it is determined that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus

The detection sensor may include at least one of a current sensor for detecting current generated by at least one of the detected motion or the received control command, or an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or a motion sensor for detecting a movement generated by a motion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus.

It is another aspect of the disclosure to provide a method of controlling an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, the method including: detecting a motion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus; receiving a control command of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus from a user; determining whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of at least one of the detected motion or the received control command; and upon determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, transmitting a control signal for locking at least one of the plurality of casters.

The determining of whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of the detected motion may include determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the probe.

The determining of whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of the detected motion may include determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the monitor.

The determining of whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of the detected motion may include determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the control panel.

The determining of whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of the detected motion may include determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the keyboard.

The determining of whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of the detected motion may include determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to detecting a position change of the footrest.

The determining of whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of the received control command may include determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to receiving at least one of a unlock command for changing a position of the monitor or a diagnosis start command of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus from the user.

The determining of whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of the received control command may include determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to the display receiving the control command from the user.

The determining of whether a user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the basis of the received control command may include determining that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus in response to the trackball receiving the control command from the user.

The method may further include receiving a unlock command for unlocking the plurality of casters from the user, and in response to receiving the unlock command, transmitting a control signal to unlock the plurality of casters.

The method may further include receiving a command for activating or deactivating an auto lock function of the caster from the user, and in response to receiving the command for deactivating the auto lock function of the cast, preventing the control signal for locking the at least one of the plurality of casters even when it is determined that the user desires to use the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus.

The detecting of the motion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and the receiving of the control command of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus from the user may include detecting current generated by at least one of the detected motion or the received control command.

The detecting of the motion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus may include detecting a change position of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus that is generated by a motion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus.

