JP2664562B2 - Ultrasonic probe device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe device, and more particularly to an improvement in an ultrasonic probe device for holding a probe in close contact with the surface of a subject.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which emits an ultrasonic beam into a subject and displays reflected echoes obtained from portions having different acoustic impedances on a cathode ray tube or the like. According to such an apparatus, a living tissue can be observed by displaying various tomographic images or drawing a movement curve such as UCG (observation of heart movement using ultrasonic waves).

In order to observe an appropriate tomographic image in a subject in a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, first, an operator grasps an ultrasonic probe and brings it into contact with the surface of a portion to be inspected. . Then, in order to obtain a desired ultrasonic tomographic image or the like,
The optimum tomographic plane is selected by changing the contact angle or position of the probe while observing the display screen.

However, in the above-mentioned UCG image observation, for example, the movement of the heart must be observed for a relatively long time, and if the operator is only holding the probe, the tomographic plane is not observed during the observation. Has changed and the correct U
There is a problem that a CG image cannot be obtained. In order to solve such a problem, there has been proposed an apparatus for fixing and holding an ultrasonic probe on the surface of a subject.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-64.
It is a figure which shows the conventional ultrasonic probe apparatus shown by the 2005 patent publication.

[0006] The ultrasonic probe device has an ultrasonic probe 12 having an ultrasonic vibrator 10 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and the ultrasonic probe 12 includes the ultrasonic vibrator 10. A cable 14 for transmitting an excitation signal is connected to a male connector 16 connected to a female connector of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus at the end of the cable 14.

[0007] Then, the ultrasonic probe 12 has a holding portion 18.
, And is rotatably and swingably held, and the holding portion 18 includes a first holder 20 and a second holder 22. Further, the first holder 20 has three holding legs 24a, 2
4b and 24c are provided, and the holding legs 24a and 24c are provided.
The ultrasonic probe 12 is fixed to the subject by attaching b and 24c to the subject with an adhesive tape or the like.

[0008] A rotation holding portion 26 having a spherical inner surface is formed substantially at the center of the first holder 20, and the spherical rotation portion 28 of the second holder 22 is rotatable by the rotation holding portion 26. Is held in.

The first holder 20 is provided with a slit 30 along the holding leg surface.
The lock screw 32 is screwed to the first holder 20 through the first holder 20.
The adjustment positions 0 and 22 are fixedly locked.

Further, the second holder 22 holds the ultrasonic probe 12 therein, and the ultrasonic probe 12 is positioned by a lock screw 34 provided on the second holder 22 and has a lock screw By loosening 34, it can be taken out of the second holder 22 and used for normal diagnosis.

Next, the operation will be described.

The position of the ultrasonic probe 12 is fixed in the second holder 22 in advance, and the first holder 20 in which the second holder 22 is positioned has three holding legs 24.
a, 24b, and 24c are adhered to the subject, and in this state, an ultrasonic beam is transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer 10 to a desired in-vivo tissue through the surface of the object to which the ultrasonic transducer 10 is in close contact. The signal reflected from the tissue is received.

Therefore, even during a relatively long time UCG examination or the like, the ultrasonic beam is accurately superimposed on a predetermined diagnostic region of the living tissue by the ultrasonic probe 12 directly fixed to the surface of the subject. Transmission and reception of a sound wave beam can be performed, and an accurate UCG image can be obtained. Then, even when the subject moves on a bed during such a diagnosis, for example, the ultrasonic probe 12 is kept in contact with the subject, so that a diagnosis failure does not occur. There are advantages.

[0014]

However, since the conventional ultrasonic probe device is constructed as described above, the holding legs are not flexible, and are held by individual differences such as differences in the size of the subject. In some cases, the legs 24a, 24b, and 24c do not come into contact with the body surface of the subject, or may force the subject into an unreasonable posture, and there has been a problem that it is difficult to hold the ultrasonic probe device at the same position for a long time. In particular, in recent years,
When performing an ultrasonic diagnosis of a heart disease, a diagnosis with a load applied to a subject has been generally performed.
That is, this diagnosis is performed by causing the subject to use a treadmill or the like and applying a load to the heart while observing the movement of the heart at this time with an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. According to this diagnosis, abnormal modes of the heart that cannot be obtained in a resting state of the subject are easily observed or discovered, which is extremely useful for early detection of heart disease.

However, when performing a diagnosis with such a load, as described above, the subject must walk or run on a treadmill unlike the resting state of lying on a conventional bed. But for this,
There has been a demand for an ultrasonic probe device that it is necessary to accurately position and hold the ultrasonic probe at a predetermined position with respect to such a moving and upright subject. However, in the above-described conventional apparatus, it was not possible to perform such a firm holding and a necessary angle / position adjustment without causing a position shift during exercise. In particular, in order to obtain a tomographic image on the short axis side of the heart, the ultrasonic probe device must be positioned upward from below the left rib, and the ultrasonic probe device remains the same for a long time. There is a problem that it is difficult to maintain the posture, and the position cannot be corrected during diagnosis.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can provide stable contact with the body surface of a subject in response to individual differences such as the physique of the subject. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an ultrasonic probe device that can correct the ultrasonic radiation direction even when the ultrasonic wave radiation direction is shifted.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an ultrasonic probe device according to the present invention comprises: an ultrasonic probe for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves; A holding unit that holds the acoustic probe rotatably about its central axis and swingably around the central axis, and is provided on the outer periphery of the holding unit and freely deforms according to the body surface shape of the subject; And a holding leg formed of a member capable of maintaining the deformed state.

It is preferable that the holding section is provided with a driving means for swinging or rotating the ultrasonic probe in a desired direction.

[0019]

With the above construction, the ultrasonic probe device according to the present invention allows the holding leg to be freely deformed according to the shape of the body surface of the subject, and the holding leg is attached to the body surface of the subject. can do. The holding legs can hold the deformed state for a long time. In this state, the ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received by the array type ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe held by the holding section, and the reflected echo To obtain a tomographic image.

Further, the ultrasonic probe is swung or rotated in a desired direction by the driving means. This makes it possible to perform necessary position adjustment of the probe, and it is possible to easily and freely set a scanning surface formed by scanning with the ultrasonic beam in a desired direction.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ultrasonic probe device has a substantially cylindrical ultrasonic probe 12 having an array type ultrasonic transducer 10 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. A cable 14 for sending an excitation signal to the ultrasonic transducer 10 and guiding a reflected echo is connected to the ultrasonic probe 12, and a distal end of the cable 14 is connected to a female connector of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Male connector 16 is provided. Here, the array type ultrasonic transducer 10 is disposed inside the probe along the distal end surface of the ultrasonic probe 12.

Then, the ultrasonic probe 12 is
Are held rotatably about the center axis X and the center axis X is swingable.
Consists of a first holder 20 and a second holder 22.

Further, the first holder 20 has four holding legs 2.
4a, 24b, 24c, 24d are provided, the tip A of the holding legs 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d can be freely deformed and can hold the deformed state for a long time;
For example, a member obtained by coating a copper plate with plastic is used, and the holding legs 24a, 24b, 24c, and 24d are used.
The ultrasonic probe 1 is attached to the subject with an adhesive tape or the like.
2 can be fixed to the subject.

Further, a rotation holding portion 26 having a spherical inner surface is formed substantially at the center of the first holder 20, and the spherical rotation portion 28 of the second holder 22 is rotatable by the rotation holding portion 26. Is held in.

The first holder 20 is provided with a rotation motor 36 as a driving means with its axis vertical, and the rotation motor 36 is in contact with the outer periphery of the second holder 22. Roller 3 for rotating the second holder 22 by ± 90 degrees
8 is fixed.

Further, the first holder 20 has three tilting motors 40 as driving means at intervals of 120 degrees when viewed from above.
a, 40b, and 40c are arranged with their axes substantially horizontal (see FIG. 2).
The shafts b and 40c are screwed with advance / retreat portions 42 which advance / retreat by the rotation of the motor and push / pull the second holder 22.
Only the rotation of the advance / retreat section 42 with respect to the first holder 20 is restricted, and the advance / retreat is free.

The rotation motor 36 and the tilt motor 40
Conductive wires for supplying drive currents to a, 40b, and 40c are connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus together with the cable.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

When observing a change in the movement of the heart when a load is applied using an ultrasonic probe device, the holding legs 24a, 24b,
The ultrasonic probe device is fixed by attaching 24c and 24d to the subject with an adhesive tape or the like (see FIG. 3).

At this time, if the surface of the subject is uneven, the tips of the holding legs 24a, 24b, 24c and 24d are deformed to bring the ultrasonic transducer 10 into close contact with the surface of the subject (FIG. 4). reference). Therefore, according to the present invention, the holding leg is deformed in accordance with the skeleton of the subject, the degree of obesity, and the like, and the ultrasonic probe 12 is placed on the surface of the subject in an extremely stable state by the deformation of the holding portion 18. It is possible to adhere.

As a result, the holding legs 24a, 24b, 24
c and 24d maintain the deformed state for a long time, and the ultrasonic transducer 10 is always fixedly adhered to the surface of the subject during the diagnosis period.

It is preferable that a gel-like acoustic propagation medium 50 be placed in a slight gap between the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the surface of the subject as shown in FIG.

Then, a load is applied to the subject on the treadmill, and the connector 16 and the cable 14 are connected from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.
An excitation signal is transmitted to the ultrasonic vibrator 10 through the interface, and an ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic vibrator 10.

Then, reflected echoes obtained from portions of the subject having different acoustic impedances are received by the ultrasonic vibrator 10, and a tomographic image of the heart is displayed by a cathode ray tube or the like based on the reflected echo signals.

When the ultrasonic radiation direction of the ultrasonic probe device is deviated from the direction set before the diagnosis due to the vibration generated by the movement, the operator can use the tomographic image of the heart displayed on the CRT. , The turning motor 36 and the tilting motors 40a, 40b, 40c are turned on by remote control.
/ OFF to correct the ultrasonic radiation direction to a desired direction, for example, to obtain a tomographic image on the short axis side of the heart. That is,
With such an operation, the ultrasonic scanning surface can be set freely and easily in a desired direction.

For example, when the tilt motor 40a is turned on,
The advance / retreat portion 42 advances and pushes the second holder 22, and the second holder 22 rotates in the direction of arrow B (see FIG. 6).

As described above, the ultrasonic probe 12 can be tilted in any direction by driving the tilting motor alone or in plurals.

When the rotary motor 36 is driven by remote control, the tomographic image of the heart is inverted by ± 90 degrees, so that a tomographic image at an arbitrary position can be obtained.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the ultrasonic probe can be firmly positioned with respect to the subject who is walking or running on the treadmill, and such an ultrasonic probe can be positioned as required. There is an advantage that the position of the ultrasonic probe 12 with respect to the subject under high load diagnosis can be adjusted or changed arbitrarily.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The holding leg can be freely deformed according to the body surface shape of the subject, and the holding leg is made of a member that can hold the deformed state for a long time. Correspondingly, it is possible to make contact with the body surface of the subject, hold the deformed state for a long time, and make a diagnosis for a long time.

Also, since the ultrasonic probe is configured to swing or rotate in a desired direction by the driving means, when the ultrasonic radiation direction is shifted, correction by remote control or change of the position, angle, and position is performed. It can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of an ultrasonic probe device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ultrasonic probe device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the ultrasonic probe device according to the present invention is fixed to a subject.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which the ultrasonic probe device according to the present invention is fixed to a subject having irregularities.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which an ultrasonic wave propagation medium is interposed between the ultrasonic probe device according to the present invention and a subject having irregularities.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation of the ultrasonic probe device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a conventional ultrasonic probe device.

FIG. 8 is a front sectional view of a conventional ultrasonic probe device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 Ultrasonic probe 20 First holder 22 Second holder 24a Holding leg 24b Holding leg 24c Holding leg 24d Holding leg 36 Rotating motor 40a Tilt motor 40b Tilt motor 40c Tilt motor X Probe center axis

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Wataru Takekawa, 6-22-1, Mure, Mitaka, Tokyo Aloka Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshio Ito 6-22-1, Mure, Mitaka, Tokyo Aloka Inside (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Yoshikawa 6-22-1, Mury, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo Aloka Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ultrasonic probe having an array type ultrasonic transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and said ultrasonic probe being rotatable about its central axis and swinging about its central axis. A holding part for holding, and a holding leg provided on an outer periphery of the holding part and configured by a member that can be freely deformed according to the body surface shape of the subject and can hold the deformed state. Ultrasonic probe device. 2. The ultrasonic probe device according to claim 1, wherein a driving unit for swinging or rotating the ultrasonic probe in a desired direction is provided on the holding unit.