CN112274175A

CN112274175A - Ultrasonic probe

Info

Publication number: CN112274175A
Application number: CN201910670233.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 符多喜; 唐明; 吴飞; 白乐云
Original assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-07-24
Filing date: 2019-07-24
Publication date: 2021-01-29

Abstract

An ultrasonic probe comprises an elastic shaft, a main shaft section and an inclination angle shaft section, wherein the main shaft section and the inclination angle shaft section are connected into a whole. The main shaft section and the tilt shaft section have different minimum bending radii, and particularly, the minimum bending radius of the tilt shaft section is smaller than that of the main shaft section, which can be realized by setting the main shaft section and the tilt shaft section to different structures, materials or processes. The minimum bending radius of the main shaft section is larger, so that the main shaft section can be used for ensuring higher transmission precision in long-distance rotary transmission and can meet the bending requirement of the main shaft section. And because the rotation transmission of the whole elastic shaft mainly takes the main shaft section as the main part, the inclination angle shaft section has smaller minimum bending radius but does not have overlarge influence on the transmission precision of the whole elastic shaft. On the contrary, the minimum bending radius of the inclination angle shaft section is smaller, so that the requirement of smaller bending radius can be realized, and the bending requirement of the inclination angle pipe can be better met.

Description

Ultrasonic probe

Technical Field

The application relates to a medical instrument, in particular to an elastic shaft structure of an ultrasonic probe.

Background

The ultrasonic probe is an important part of ultrasonic equipment (such as ultrasonic diagnosis imaging equipment), and the working principle of the ultrasonic probe is that an excitation electric pulse signal of an ultrasonic complete machine is converted into an ultrasonic signal by utilizing a piezoelectric effect to enter a patient body, and then an ultrasonic echo signal reflected by a tissue is converted into an electric signal, so that the detection of the tissue is realized.

Among them, an ultrasonic probe which can be inserted into a lumen of a human or animal body for use, for example, a transesophageal ultrasonic probe, and the like, mainly includes a handle assembly, an insertion tube assembly, and a head assembly. The insertion tube assembly is connected between the handle assembly and the sound head assembly for transmitting the rotational motion generated by the drive means in the handle assembly to the sound head assembly for controlling the sound head to rotate. For the convenience of diagnostic operation, it is required that the end of the insertion tube assembly to which the sound head assembly is connected can be bent to a large extent during clinical operation so that the sound head assembly can change its position over a larger area, but too much bending capability will result in a reduction in the efficiency of transmission of the rotational movement by the insertion tube assembly, and therefore, it is very important for this type of ultrasonic probe to employ an appropriate insertion tube assembly.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a novel ultrasonic probe for improve transmission efficiency and precision to sound head rotary motion.

According to an aspect of the present application, there is provided in an embodiment an ultrasound probe including:

a sound head assembly including a sound head for emitting and receiving ultrasonic signals

The insertion tube assembly comprises a tube sleeve used for being inserted into a human body or animal cavity and an elastic shaft arranged in the tube sleeve, the tube sleeve is provided with a main tube body and an inclination tube connected with the main tube body, the part of the elastic shaft in the main tube body is a main shaft section, the part of the elastic shaft in the inclination tube is an inclination shaft section, the main shaft section and the inclination shaft section are connected into a whole, and the minimum bending radius of the inclination shaft section is smaller than the minimum bending radius of the main shaft section;

and the handle assembly is provided with a driving device and an operation and control device, the driving device is in transmission connection with the main shaft section and used for driving the elastic shaft to rotate, the inclination angle shaft section is in transmission connection with the sound head assembly and used for driving the sound head assembly to rotate, and the operation and control device is connected with the driving device and used for controlling the driving device.

In one embodiment, the tilt shaft section is a first bowden cable having at least one layer of wire windings.

In one embodiment, the first steel wire flexible shaft is provided with more than two layers of steel wire rings which are distributed in a concentric circle mode, and the steel wire ring positioned on the outer layer is wound on the outer side of the steel wire ring positioned on the inner layer.

In one embodiment, the main shaft section is a second steel wire flexible shaft, the second steel wire flexible shaft is provided with at least two layers of steel wire rings, and the number of steel wire turns of the second steel wire flexible shaft is greater than that of the first steel wire flexible shaft in every two adjacent layers of steel wire rings.

In one embodiment, the steel wire rings of the second steel wire flexible shaft are distributed in a concentric circle mode, and the steel wire ring positioned on the outer layer is wound on the outer side of the steel wire ring positioned on the inner layer.

In one embodiment, the spindle section has a core wire, the core wire is located in the middle of the innermost bead of the second bowden cable, and the innermost bead is wound around the core wire.

In one embodiment, the traveler is formed by spirally winding at least one steel wire.

In one embodiment, the outer peripheral surface of at least one of the pitch shaft segment and the main shaft segment is coated with an outer coating.

In one embodiment, the outer coating is a self-lubricating material.

In one embodiment, the outer coating is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the pitch shaft segment and/or the main shaft segment by extrusion, plastic spraying or plastic coating.

In one embodiment, the main shaft section is a solid elastic shaft.

In one embodiment, the main shaft section is a solid elastic shaft, and the tilt shaft section is a solid elastic shaft having a minimum bending radius smaller than that of the main shaft section.

In one embodiment, the main shaft section and the tilt shaft section are fixedly connected by at least one of welding, bonding and riveting.

According to the ultrasonic probe of the above embodiment, the elastic shaft includes the main shaft section and the tilt shaft section, which are integrally connected. The main shaft section and the tilt shaft section have different minimum bending radii, and particularly, the minimum bending radius of the tilt shaft section is smaller than that of the main shaft section, which can be realized by setting the main shaft section and the tilt shaft section to different structures, materials or processes. The minimum bending radius of the main shaft section is larger, so that the main shaft section can be used for ensuring higher transmission precision in long-distance rotary transmission and can meet the bending requirement of the main shaft section. And because the rotation transmission of the whole elastic shaft mainly takes the main shaft section as the main part, the inclination angle shaft section has smaller minimum bending radius but does not have overlarge influence on the transmission precision of the whole elastic shaft. On the contrary, the minimum bending radius of the inclination angle shaft section is smaller, so that the requirement of smaller bending radius can be realized, and the bending requirement of the inclination angle pipe can be better met.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of an ultrasound probe according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the connection of the two ends of the elastic shaft to the corresponding transmission mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIGS. 3a and 3b are schematic views illustrating a bent state of a dip tube according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the structure of a spindle section and a pitch axis section in one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a spindle section and a pitch axis section in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of the structure of a spindle section and a pitch axis section in another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the motor coupled to the flexible shaft via a gear assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of a pitch axis segment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of a main shaft segment in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged partial view of the cross-sectional view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a main tube body and an angled tube of a tube sleeve according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of an inner structure of an inclined tube according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic view of an internal structure of a main pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. Wherein like elements in different embodiments are numbered with like associated elements. In the following description, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a better understanding of the present application. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that some of the features may be omitted or replaced with other elements, materials, methods in different instances. In some instances, certain operations related to the present application have not been shown or described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the core of the present application from excessive description, and it is not necessary for those skilled in the art to describe these operations in detail, so that they may be fully understood from the description in the specification and the general knowledge in the art.

Furthermore, the features, operations, or characteristics described in the specification may be combined in any suitable manner to form various embodiments. Also, the various steps or actions in the method descriptions may be transposed or transposed in order, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the various sequences in the specification and drawings are for the purpose of describing certain embodiments only and are not intended to imply a required sequence unless otherwise indicated where such sequence must be followed.

The numbering of the components as such, e.g., "first", "second", etc., is used herein only to distinguish the objects as described, and does not have any sequential or technical meaning. The term "connected" and "coupled" when used in this application, unless otherwise indicated, includes both direct and indirect connections (couplings).

The present embodiment provides an ultrasound probe that is used as a component of an ultrasound apparatus. The ultrasonic probe is a probe which can be inserted into a cavity of a human body or an animal for use, such as a transesophageal ultrasonic probe.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 1, the ultrasound probe includes a sound head assembly 100, an insertion tube assembly 200, and a handle assembly 300. The applicator assembly 100 includes an applicator for emitting and receiving ultrasonic signals. Of course, the sound head assembly 100 may also include other related components, such as a sound head rotation function module, to enable rotation of the sound head. These structures can be implemented by using the existing structures or other modified structures, and the embodiment is not described and limited in detail.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the insertion tube assembly 200 includes a tube housing 210 for insertion into a human or animal lumen and an elastic shaft 220 (the tube housing 210 is omitted in fig. 2) provided in the tube housing 210. The handle assembly 300 has a drive means 310 and a steering means 320. The driving device 310 may generally have a motor to provide driving power. The elastic shaft 220 is connected between the driving device 310 and the sound head assembly 100, and transmits the rotational motion output by the driving device 310 to the sound head, so as to drive the sound head to rotate. The elastic shaft 220, the driving device 310 and the sound head can be respectively connected in a transmission manner through corresponding transmission mechanisms (e.g., the gear transmission mechanism 311 and the sound head reduction transmission mechanism 110), and these transmission mechanisms can also be implemented by using the existing structure or other modified structures, which are not described or limited in detail in this embodiment.

Specifically, referring to fig. 1, the pipe sleeve 210 has a main pipe body 211 and an inclined pipe 212 connected to the main pipe body 211. The angled tube 212 is a section that can be bent in multiple directions, for example, four directions, as shown in fig. 3a and 3 b. As shown in FIG. 1, the main tube 211 is connected between the handle assembly 300 and the angled tube 212, and mainly serves to assist in operation. The main tube 211 may be a flexible tube, including but not limited to a hose or a memory tube. The elastic shaft 220 is disposed axially along the pipe sleeve 210, wherein, referring to fig. 4-6, a portion of the elastic shaft 220 located inside the main pipe body 211 is a main shaft section 221, and a portion of the elastic shaft 220 located inside the tilt pipe 212 is a tilt shaft section 222. The main shaft section 221 may be bent together with the main pipe body 211, and the pitch shaft section 222 may be bent together with the pitch pipe 212 of the pipe housing 210. The main shaft section 221 and the tilt shaft section 222 are connected as a whole, and both can transmit the rotation motion, which includes that both are manufactured separately and fixedly connected, and also includes that both are manufactured as a whole.

The main shaft section 221 and the tilt shaft section 222 have different minimum bending radii, and particularly, the minimum bending radius of the tilt shaft section 222 is smaller than the minimum bending radius of the main shaft section 221, which can be realized by arranging the main shaft section 221 and the tilt shaft section 222 in different structures, materials or processes.

The minimum bending radius of the main shaft section 221 is large, so that high transmission precision can be ensured during long-distance rotation transmission, and the bending requirement of the main shaft section 221 can be met. Since the rotation transmission of the entire elastic shaft 220 is mainly performed by the main shaft section 221, the minimum bending radius of the tilt shaft section 222 is small, but the transmission accuracy of the entire elastic shaft 220 is not greatly affected. Instead, because the minimum bend radius of the pitch axis segment 222 is smaller, it can achieve the requirement of smaller bend radius, and can better meet the bending requirement of the pitch tube 212.

Of course, in the insertion tube assembly 200, the final bending capability of the main tube segment (including the main tube 211, the main shaft segment 221 and other components installed in the main tube 211) and the tilt angle segment (including the tilt angle tube 212, the tilt angle shaft segment 222 and other components installed in the tilt angle tube 212, such as a snake bone tube) is related to the whole structure, and the structure of the main shaft segment 221 and the tilt angle shaft segment 222 provided in the present embodiment not only enables the main shaft segment 221 and the tilt angle shaft segment 222 to satisfy the bending requirements of the corresponding main tube segment and tilt angle segment, but also ensures the transmission requirement of the rotation motion of the whole insertion tube assembly 200.

The driving device 310 is in transmission connection with the main shaft section 221 for driving the elastic shaft 220 to rotate. As shown in fig. 2 and 7, the driving device 310 may be in driving connection with the elastic shaft 220 through a corresponding transmission mechanism, such as a gear transmission mechanism 311. The pitch axis segment 222 is in transmission connection with the sound head assembly 100 for driving the sound head assembly 100 to rotate. For example, as shown in fig. 2, the pitch axis segment 222 may be connected to the sound head deceleration transmission mechanism 110, and then connected to the sound head through the sound head deceleration transmission mechanism.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the control device 320 is connected to the driving device 310 for controlling the driving device 310. The control device 320 may have various command input modules such as keys and a touch screen to control the driving device 310, for example, a motor, so as to control the rotation of the sound head. In addition, the manipulating device 320 can also be used to control the bending angle of the front end of the insertion tube, so that the bending angle control device is not required, i.e., the control of the rotation of the sound head and the control of the front end of the insertion tube (e.g., the tilt tube 212) are integrated into the same manipulating device 320. Of course, in some embodiments, the control of the rotation of the sound head and the control of the front end of the insertion tube (e.g., the angled tube 212) may be implemented by using different manipulating devices 320.

In order to make the minimum bending radii of the main shaft section 221 and the tilt shaft section 222 different, the main shaft section 221 and the tilt shaft section 222 can be implemented by different structures, materials or processes.

Referring to fig. 4-6 and 8, in one embodiment, the angled shaft section 222 is a first bowden cable having at least one layer of wire-loop 2221. The first bowden cable formed by at least one layer of wire-rings 2221 has good flexibility, and especially when the wire-rings 2221 are one layer, the minimum bending radius of the angular shaft section 222 can be made relatively small so as to meet the bending requirements of the insertion tube front end (angular tube 212).

For the tilt shaft section 222 of the first bowden cable structure, the main shaft section 221 is a structure with less bending capability, for example, referring to fig. 4 and 5, the main shaft section 221 can also be a second bowden cable having at least two layers of steel wire rings 2211. The number of the steel wire rings 2211 of the main shaft section 221 is larger than that of the steel wire rings 2221 of the tilt shaft, so that the torsion resistance of the second bowden cable is improved, and the minimum bending radius of the tilt shaft section 222 is ensured to be smaller than that of the main shaft section 221.

Referring to fig. 5, 9 and 10, in one embodiment, the steel wire rings 2211 of the second bowden cable are concentrically arranged, and the steel wire ring 2211 at the outer layer is wound on the outer side of the steel wire ring 2211 at the inner layer. Wherein, outer steel wire ring 2211 can be attached to inner steel wire ring 2211. In addition, in other embodiments, the layers of wire-rings 2211 of the second bowden cable can be assembled in other manners without being limited to the concentric arrangement.

Further, to increase the bending resistance of the spindle section 221, referring to fig. 9 and 10, in one embodiment, the spindle section 221 has a core wire 2212, and the core wire 2212 is located in the middle of the innermost wire ring 2211 in the second wire flexible shaft. The innermost wire ring 2211 is wound around the core wire 2212.

Of course, in an embodiment, the first bowden cable may also have more than two layers of the traveler 2221, in which case, the traveler 2221 is concentrically distributed (as shown in the above-mentioned second bowden cable), and the traveler 2221 on the outer layer is wound on the outer side of the traveler 2221 on the inner layer.

In both the first and second bowden cables, referring to fig. 8 and 9, each layer of the

bead

2211, 2221 may be formed by spirally winding at least one steel wire, thereby forming a cylindrical bead 2211 structure. This manner of forming traveler 2211 is simple and inexpensive.

When the bead rings 2211, 2221 are two or more layers, the bead rings 2211, 2221 of adjacent layers may be spirally disposed in opposite directions. As shown in fig. 9, the wire coils 2211 of adjacent layers may be arranged one clockwise and one counterclockwise.

Of course, this is not the only way to form the wire rings 2211, 2221, for example, the wire rings may also be formed by weaving a fishing net to form a steel wire mesh, and then bending the steel wire mesh into a cylindrical shape to form the wire rings.

Further, in one embodiment, the outer circumferential surface of at least one of the pitch shaft segment 222 and the main shaft segment 221 is coated with an outer coating. Referring to fig. 8-10, especially, when at least one of the pitch axis segment 222 and the main axis segment 221 adopts a flexible steel cable shaft structure, the flexible steel cable shaft not sprayed will compensate the inner steel cable gap before the forward and backward rotation starts, and then the flexible shaft will start to transmit torque and displacement, which will cause the phenomena of bounce of the flexible shaft due to the forward and backward return difference (i.e. the transmission synchronization accuracy is not high). After the outer coating 223 is arranged, the outer coating 223 can penetrate into gaps among the steel wires, gaps inside the steel wires can be filled, return difference can be reduced, and transmission synchronization precision is improved.

In addition, outer coating 223 may also function to protect pitch shaft segment 222 and spindle shaft segment 221. Further, in an embodiment, the outer coating 223 is a self-lubricating material, for example, POM or nylon can be used as the self-lubricating material. At the moment, the flexible shaft can play a role in reducing friction lubrication and reducing the rotation resistance in the forward and reverse directions.

In one embodiment, the outer coating 223 is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the pitch shaft segment 222 and/or the main shaft segment 221 by extrusion, injection molding, or plastic coating.

In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 6, when the first bowden cable is used as the tilt shaft section 222, the main shaft section 221 can also be a solid flexible shaft having a minimum bending radius larger than the minimum bending radius of the tilt shaft section 222. Moreover, compared with the multilayer first steel wire flexible shaft, the solid shaft has better rigidity and better torsion resistance, and can further improve the transmission precision during long-distance rotary transmission.

In addition, in one embodiment, the main shaft section 221 and the tilt shaft section 222 may both be solid elastic shafts. However, the solid elastomeric shafts of the two may be made of different materials or structures, such that the main shaft section 221 and the pitch shaft section 222 have different minimum bend radii.

Alternatively, in one embodiment, the elastic shaft 220 is a solid elastic shaft. However, material properties may be changed from a process point of view to achieve differences in stiffness and torsional accuracy of the spindle section 221 and the pitch section 222.

For the spindle section 221 and the pitch axis section 222, they may be separately manufactured and fixed, and this fixed connection may be realized by various fixing methods capable of realizing the transmission of the rotational motion, for example, in an embodiment, as shown in fig. 10, the spindle section 221 and the pitch axis section 222 are fixed by at least one of welding, bonding and riveting, and the reference numeral 240 is a connection point of the two.

Further, referring to fig. 11-13, a specific structure of the pipe sleeve 210 is shown in an embodiment, wherein fig. 12 and 13 are shown as being cut in a step-like manner to show the respective layers. The tilt shaft 212 of the tube housing 210 includes a rubber tube 2121, a tilt shaft 222 is disposed in the rubber tube 2121, a snake tube 2123 is sleeved on the tilt shaft 222, and a braided mesh 2122 is sleeved on the snake tube 2123. The serpentine tube 2123 is bendable in a set direction by pulling on a pull wire (e.g., a steel cable) to bend the pitch shaft segment 222 along with the sonic head assembly 100. the bend radius of the pitch portion of the stinger assembly 200 (including the pitch tube 212 and the pitch shaft 222) is primarily affected by the pitch configuration of the serpentine tube 2123.

Referring to fig. 11 and 13, the main tube 211 includes a mesh grid 2111, an outer coating 2112 is provided on the outer side of the mesh grid 2111, and an inner coating 2113 is provided on the inner side of the mesh grid 2111. The inner coating 2113 is provided with a spring tube 2114 inside, and the spring tube 2114 houses various contaminants, such as the main shaft section 221 of the flexible shaft 220, cables, and traction wires (e.g., steel wire) for manipulating the snake tube 2123.

The present invention has been described in terms of specific examples, which are provided to aid understanding of the invention and are not intended to be limiting. For a person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, several simple deductions, modifications or substitutions may be made according to the idea of the invention.

Claims

1. An ultrasound probe, comprising:

a sonotrode assembly comprising a sonotrode to emit and receive ultrasonic signals;

the insertion tube assembly comprises a tube sleeve used for being inserted into a human or animal cavity and an elastic shaft arranged in the tube sleeve, the tube sleeve is provided with a main tube body and an inclination tube connected with the main tube body, the part of the elastic shaft positioned in the main tube body is a main shaft section, the part of the elastic shaft positioned in the inclination tube is an inclination shaft section, the main shaft section and the inclination shaft section are connected into a whole, and the minimum bending radius of the inclination shaft section is smaller than that of the main shaft section;

and the handle assembly is provided with a driving device and an operation and control device, the driving device is in transmission connection with the main shaft section and is used for driving the elastic shaft to rotate, the inclination shaft section is in transmission connection with the sound head assembly and is used for driving the sound head assembly to rotate, and the operation and control device is connected with the driving device and is used for controlling the driving device.

2. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein the angled shaft section is a first bowden cable having at least one layer of wire turns.

3. The ultrasonic probe of claim 2, wherein the first bowden cable has two or more layers of wire windings, the wire windings are concentrically arranged, and the wire winding at the outer layer is wound around the wire winding at the inner layer.

4. The ultrasonic probe of claim 2 or 3, wherein the main shaft section is a second bowden cable having at least two layers of wire turns, and the number of wire turns of the second bowden cable is greater than the number of wire turns of the first bowden cable.

5. The ultrasonic probe of claim 4, wherein the wire loops of the second steel wire flexible shaft are concentrically distributed, and in two adjacent layers of wire loops, the wire loop at the outer layer is wound outside the wire loop at the inner layer.

6. The ultrasonic probe of claim 4 or 5, wherein the spindle section has a core wire positioned intermediate an innermost wire turn in the second bowden cable, the innermost wire turn being wound around the core wire.

7. The ultrasound probe of any of claims 2 to 6, wherein the traveler is formed by helically winding at least one steel wire.

8. The ultrasonic probe of any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the outer peripheral surface of at least one of the angled shaft section and the main shaft section is coated with an outer coating.

9. The ultrasound probe of claim 8, wherein the outer coating is a self-lubricating material.

10. The ultrasound probe of claim 8 or 9, wherein the outer coating is applied to the outer circumferential surface of the angled shaft section and/or the main shaft section by extrusion, injection molding or plastic coating.

11. The ultrasound probe of any of claims 1-3, wherein the main shaft section is a solid flexible shaft.

12. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein the main shaft section is a solid flexible shaft and the angled shaft section is a solid flexible shaft having a minimum bend radius less than the minimum bend radius of the main shaft section.

13. The ultrasound probe of any of claims 1-12, wherein the main shaft section and the angled shaft section are fixedly attached using at least one of welding, gluing, and riveting.