Abstract: An electrode lead, which is used as an implantable electrode lead and a symptom of disconnection of which can be found and detected at an early stage before complete disconnection. Also, an implantable medical instrument which uses this electrode lead safely is provided. More specifically, in an implantable electrode lead obtained by connecting conductor wires 23 and 27 with large electrical resistances and conductor wires 20 and 26 with small electrical resistances parallel to each other, when one of the low-strength conductor wires 20 and 26 is disconnected, a change in electrical resistance of the implantable electrode lead can be detected and informed. Hence, a symptom before total disconnection of the implantable electrode lead can be detected.

Abstract: An electrode lead, which is used as an implantable electrode lead and a symptom of disconnection of which can be found and detected at an early stage before complete disconnection. Also, an implantable medical instrument which uses this electrode lead safely is provided. More specifically, in an implantable electrode lead obtained by connecting conductor wires 23 and 27 with large electrical resistances and conductor wires 20 and 26 with small electrical resistances parallel to each other, when one of the low-strength conductor wires 20 and 26 is disconnected, a change in electrical resistance of the implantable electrode lead can be detected and informed. Hence, a symptom before total disconnection of the implantable electrode lead can be detected.

Abstract: An ultrasonographic apparatus for diagnosis which produces a sectional image of an object by a shifting focus system or a variable aperture system from echoes which are obtained from ultrasonic waves radiated to the object. The echoes from the object are transformed into echo signals based on their intensity (100, 102). The echo signals are individually delayed by different periods of time to form signals associated with different depths of the object (110, 112). Among the delayed echo signals, those associated with a particular depth are combined (108, 113A, 113B, 114A, 114B, 116A, 116B, 118A, 118B, 120, 122A, 122B, 124) with the result that a sectional echo image of the object is displayed (126, 128, 130).

Abstract: In a method and apparatus for ultrasonic measurement, an ultrasonic pulse is transmitted into a object and received as an echo signal following reflection within the object, and the acoustic characteristic of the object is measured based on object position and frequency information contained in the echo signal. The measured acoustic characteristic is representative of information relating to degree of attenuation and frequency dependence thereof inside the object and obtained from the position and frequency information contained in the echo signal. The apparatus according to this invention displays an image of the distribution of the object acoustic characteristic obtained from the measured acoustic characteristic.