JP2697384B2 - Mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe which is used in a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and performs scanning of an ultrasonic beam by mechanical operation of a transducer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe used in a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus performs scanning by mechanically rotating or swinging a transducer by driving a motor.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe. 1 is a transducer, 2 is a rotor,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a rotating shaft, 4 denotes a rotating shaft supporting member, and the transducer 1 comprises a rotor 2, a rotating shaft 3 and a rotating shaft supporting member 4.
Are supported rotatably.

[0004] 5 is a motor, 7 is a pinion gear, 8 is an orthogonal conversion gear, 9 is a driving pulley, 10 is a timing belt,
11 is a driven pulley. The rotational motion of the motor 5 is transmitted to the rotor 2 via a transmission system such as a pinion gear 7, an orthogonal conversion gear 8, a driving pulley 9, a timing belt 10, and a driven pulley 11.

[0005] A transducer 1 is fixed to the rotor 2. An encoder 6 is attached to the motor 5 to detect a rotation position of the motor 5. On the basis of the information obtained by the position detection by the encoder 6, the control circuit (not shown) controls the rotation of the motor 5.

14 is an acoustic window, 12 is an oil seal, 13
The acoustic coupling liquid 13 is an acoustic coupling liquid.
4 is filled. The oil seal 12 is sealed so that the acoustic coupling liquid 13 does not leak through the rotating shaft of the motor 5.

Next, the operation of the above conventional example will be described. In FIG. 3, when the motor 5 rotates, the rotor 2 rotates via a drive transmission system such as a pinion gear 7, a driving pulley 9, a timing belt 10, and the like, and the transducer 1 fixed to the rotor 2 rotates. The ultrasonic signal is supplied to the transducer 1 while detecting the rotation angle by the encoder 6 attached to the motor 5. Ultrasonic waves from the transducer 1 are emitted to the human body through the acoustic coupling liquid 13 and the acoustic window 14. The reflected wave of the radiated ultrasonic wave is received through the acoustic window 14, the acoustic coupling liquid 13, and the transducer 1, and the received signal is supplied to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body to display an image.

As described above, even with the above-described conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe, the scanning can be performed mechanically by rotating the transducer 1 through the drive transmission system by the rotational movement of the motor 5.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe, the transducer 1
Is rotated around the rotation shaft 3, and the rotation shaft 3 is fixed to the rotation shaft support member 4.
Rotational displacement of the rotating shaft 3 in a direction orthogonal to the rotating direction is not possible. Therefore, there is a problem that the scanning plane cannot be tilted when measuring the subject, and an effective ultrasonic diagnostic image by various scans cannot be obtained.

[0010] Furthermore, rotation control errors due to the component accuracy and assembly accuracy of the drive transmission system such as the eccentricity of the pinion gear 7 occur, causing distortion and shaking of the ultrasonic image, and a high-quality ultrasonic image can be obtained. There was no problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an effective ultrasonic diagnostic image relating to a subject can be obtained by various scans in which a scanning surface is inclined, and a rotation control error of a drive transmission system is prevented. It is another object of the present invention to provide an excellent mechanical ultrasonic probe capable of obtaining a high-quality ultrasonic image without distortion or shaking.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a rotor having a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and a rotor integrally formed with the rotor and continuously rotating the rotor in one direction. A first motor to be driven, and an operation detecting means integrally formed with the rotor and detecting a rotation speed and a stop position of the rotor;
The rotor, the first motor and the operation detecting means
A support member rotatably supporting an axis orthogonal to the ultrasonic scanning surface of the transducer, and the transformer rotating
Signal transmission for transmitting and receiving signals to the transducer via contacts
Means and the ultrasonic scanning surface of the transducer.
Tilt the shaft by swinging the support member
Swing mechanism, and second motor for driving the swing mechanism
Detecting the swing speed and swing displacement of the support member
Swing displacement detecting means .

[0013]

Therefore, in the mechanical ultrasonic probe of the present invention, the integrally formed rotor, the first motor, the operation detecting means and the support member are rotationally displaced such that the rotation axis of the rotor is inclined. Therefore, an effective ultrasonic diagnostic image of the subject can be obtained by various scans in which the scan surface is inclined, and
A high-quality ultrasonic image free from distortion and shaking can be obtained by preventing a rotation control error of the drive transmission system.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the structure of the main part of this embodiment. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view, and FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are side views.

In FIG. 1, a transducer 30 is fixed to a rotor 31. The rotor 31 is supported by a swing frame 32 to which both ends of a shaft 44 are fixed so as to be able to rotate in the direction of the arrow M.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a motor 42 and an encoder 41 are mounted on both sides of the rotor 31. Inside the rotor 31, a slip ring 34 is fixed to a shaft 44, and the brush 3 of the slip ring 34 and the element lead wire 35 pass through the transducer 3.
0 is electrically connected.

The swing frame 32 is rotatably supported by the frame 33 in the direction Va or the direction Vb, that is, swingably supported. Further, a swing gear 37 is provided on the swing frame 32, and a pinion gear 36 is attached to the motor 38. The pinion gear 36 and the swing gear 37 mesh with each other, and the swing frame 32 can swing according to the rotation position of the motor 38. An encoder 39 is attached to the motor 38 so that the rotational position of the motor 38 can be detected.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
When a current flows through the motor 42 through a voltage supply line (not shown), the motor 42 rotates, and the rotation causes the rotor 31 to rotate. The rotational position of the rotor 31 is detected by an encoder 41 attached to the side surface of the rotor 31, and the scanning operation of the transducer 30 fixed to the rotor 31 is performed by controlling the rotation of the rotor 31.

When an ultrasonic signal is applied to the transducer 30 via the signal line 40, the slip ring 34, and the element lead 35 during the scanning operation of the transducer 30,
Ultrasonic waves are emitted from the transducer 30 into the subject. Ultrasonic waves reflected from the subject
Is converted into an electric signal, and is transmitted to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body (not shown) through the element lead wire 35, the slip ring 34, and the signal line 40. The image is displayed as an ultrasonic image by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body.

Then, the rotational position of the motor 38 is controlled,
In this case, the engagement between the pinion gear 36 and the swing gear 37 causes the swing frame 32 fixed to the swing gear 37.
Is tilted, whereby the scanning line 43 of the ultrasonic wave is tilted. FIG. 2B shows a state where the scanning line 43 is inclined by 45 degrees. The tilt angle of the scanning line 43 is detected by an encoder 39 attached to a motor 38.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, the motor 3
The inclination of the scanning line 43 is controlled by the encoder 39, the pinion gear 36, the swing gear 37, and the swing frame 32, which are coupled to the scanning line 8. Can be.
For example, in intracavity diagnosis such as transluminal diagnosis or transrectal diagnosis, when it is not possible to tilt the entire ultrasound probe with respect to the subject, it can be tilted inside the ultrasound probe, It is possible to obtain high-quality ultrasonic images effective for diagnosis relating to various scan planes.

Further, in the present embodiment, the scanning operation of the transducer 30 is performed by the motor 42 and the encoder 4 integrated with the rotor 31 fixed to the transducer 30.
According to 1, the drive transmission system for transmitting the rotational movement of the motor 42 to the rotor 31 can be eliminated. This eliminates rotation control errors due to component accuracy and assembly accuracy of the drive transmission system, such as gear eccentricity, and provides a high-quality ultrasonic image effective for diagnosis without distortion or shaking.

In the above embodiment, the scanning line 4 is driven by a swing mechanism using the pinion gear 36 and the swing gear 37.
Although 3 is inclined, a swing mechanism using a cam or the like may be used.

[0025]

The present invention is apparent from the above embodiment.
A rotor, a first motor, and a motor
Operation detection means perpendicular to the ultrasonic scanning surface of the transducer.
The support member that is supported so that it can rotate continuously in one direction
The rotation axis of the rotor is tilted by moving
Diagnostics, such as intracavity diagnostics and transrectal diagnostics
The entire ultrasound probe can be tilted with respect to the subject
If not, tilt the rotation axis of the rotor to
Ultrasonic of the transducer with respect to the insertion direction of the acoustic probe
Diagnosis related to the subject by various scans tilting the wave scanning plane
To obtain an effective ultrasonic diagnostic image,
Since the scanning operation can be performed without the need for the drive transmission system, there is an effect that a rotation control error of the drive transmission system is prevented and a high-quality ultrasonic image without distortion or fluctuation can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a main part of a mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 (a) shows a scan line having an inclination of 0 ° in the present embodiment.
(B) Side view showing a state where the inclination of the scanning line is 45 ° in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 transducer 31 rotor 32 swing frame 33 frame 36 pinion gear 37 swing gear 38 motor 39 encoder 41 encoder 42 motor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-57-200138 (JP, A) JP-A-64-27538 (JP, A) JP-A-4-11009 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotor having a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, a first motor integrally formed with the rotor and continuously driving the rotor to rotate in one direction ,
An operation detecting means configured to detect a rotation speed and a stop position of the rotor;
The above-mentioned rotor, first motor and operation detecting means.
Centered on an axis perpendicular to the ultrasonic scanning plane of the transducer
A support member for rotatably supporting the above Trang rotating
Signal transmission for transmitting and receiving signals to the transducer via contacts
And orthogonal to the ultrasonic scanning surface of the transducer
Tilt the shaft by oscillating the support member on the surface
Swing mechanism, and a second mode for driving the swing mechanism.
And the swing speed and swing displacement of the support member.
A mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe comprising a swing displacement detecting means .