JP3091542B2 - Ultrasound diagnostic apparatus equipped with an ultrasonic probe for body cavity - 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 for use in a body cavity.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an intracavity ultrasonic probe for obtaining an ultrasonic image of an inner wall of a blood vessel and an intrabody cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ultrasonic probe for a body cavity for obtaining an ultrasonic image of a blood vessel has been known. As shown in FIG. 7, the ultrasonic probe for body cavity has a long tube 10, and a rotating body 12 is rotatably arranged in the long tube 10. The base end of the rotating body 12 is the tube 1
0 is exposed from the base end. An ultrasonic vibrator 14 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is provided at the tip of the rotating body 12, and a mirror 16 for reflecting ultrasonic waves at a predetermined distance from the ultrasonic vibrator 14 is superposed. They are arranged at a predetermined angle (for example, 45 °) with respect to the sound wave transmission direction.

Accordingly, the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer 14 is reflected by the mirror 16 at a predetermined angle (for example, 45 °) and transmitted in the direction of arrow B perpendicular to the ultrasonic probe for body cavity. You. When the rotating body 12 is rotated in the direction of arrow A, the ultrasonic transducer 14 and the mirror 16 are rotated by the rotating body 12.
To rotate in the direction of arrow A to obtain a 360 ° ultrasonic image centered on the ultrasonic probe for body cavity.

[0004] Further, as shown in FIG.
4 is fixed, the mirror 16 is arranged at the tip of the rotating body 12,
Ultrasonic waves transmitted backward from the ultrasonic transducer 14 are reflected by the mirror 16 at a predetermined angle (for example, 45 °) and transmitted in a direction perpendicular to the ultrasonic probe for intracavity. Probes have also been proposed.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, there has been proposed an electronic scan type intracavity ultrasonic probe in which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 14 are arranged in a circumferential direction. This electronic scan type ultrasonic probe sequentially rotates the ultrasonic transducer 14 for electronic scanning without rotating the ultrasonic transducer 14, thereby sequentially changing the direction perpendicular to the ultrasonic probe for the body cavity. Scan and obtain a 360 ° ultrasound image centered on the ultrasound probe for body cavity.

[0006]

The conventional ultrasonic probe for a body cavity is constructed as described above, and can scan only in a direction perpendicular to the ultrasonic probe for a body cavity. Because the tomographic image of that part cannot be seen until the patient reaches the target, the ultrasonic probe for body cavity comes into contact with adult organisms such as plaque and thrombus in the blood vessel and peels off. There is a possibility of causing a state, and there is a demand for an intracavity ultrasonic probe capable of obtaining an image obliquely forward in the insertion direction of the intracavity ultrasonic probe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an ultrasonic probe for an intracorporeal body in which an image obliquely forward in an insertion direction is obtained so that a position to a diagnosis target portion can be easily recognized. An object of the present invention is to obtain an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a probe.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an ultrasonic probe for use in a body cavity according to the present invention.
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus provided with a long tube, a rotating body rotatably inserted into the long tube, and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is provided at the tip of the rotating body and transmits and receives ultrasonic waves in the base direction of the rotating body. An ultrasonic transducer for a body cavity comprising an ultrasonic transducer and a mirror provided on a radiation axis of an ultrasonic wave sent from the ultrasonic transducer and capable of freely changing an angle with respect to the ultrasonic transducer and a distance from the ultrasonic transducer. An ultrasonic probe, an encoder that detects an insertion amount of the intracavity ultrasonic probe into the body cavity, an angle changing unit that changes an angle of the mirror with respect to the ultrasonic transducer, and an ultrasonic wave of the mirror. and distance changing means for changing the distance from the transducer, images and control means for controlling the angle changing means and the distance changing means based on information from the encoder, the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer obtained anti shines And display means for displaying Instruction means for instructing a displayed desired target part, wherein the control means controls the angle changing means and the distance changing means so as to continue capturing the desired target part instructed by the instruction means. It is characterized by.

[0009]

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

For a body cavity ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, and displayed on the display unit the image to which the ultrasonic wave obtained by reaction shines sent from the ultrasonic transducer, the desired displayed on the display unit The target part is indicated by the instruction means, the insertion amount of the intracavity ultrasonic probe into the body cavity is detected by the encoder, and the control means determines the desired target part indicated by the instruction means by the information from the encoder. The angle changing means and the distance changing means are controlled so as to continue capturing, and the angle changing means sequentially changes the angle of the mirror with respect to the ultrasonic transducer to a predetermined angle,
The distance between the distance changing means and the mirror from the ultrasonic transducer is sequentially changed to a predetermined distance.

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

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

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an ultrasonic probe for a body cavity according to the present invention.

Intracavity ultrasonic probe 46, FIGS. 1 and 2
As shown in FIG. 1, the long tube 10 has a long tube 10, and a rotating body 12 is rotatably arranged in the long tube 10, and a base end of the rotating body 12 is higher than a base end of the tube 10. It is exposed. The distal end of the rotating body 12 is notched, and an ultrasonic vibrator 14 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is disposed at the distal end of the notch 12a with the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface facing the base end side. ing.

Further, a pair of rails 1 is provided in the notch 12a.
The moving member 20 slides on the rail 18. A stand 22 is erected on the moving member 20, and a mirror 16 that reflects the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic vibrator 14 is swingably supported at the tip of the stand 22. . Further, a long wire 24 is connected to the stand 22, and the wire 24 is connected to a distance changing unit 26, which will be described later. 16 is moved.

A wire 2 is provided at both ends of the mirror 16.
8 and 30 are connected, and the wires 28 and 30 are connected to an angle changing unit 32 described later.
The angle of the mirror 16 with respect to the ultrasonic transducer 14 can be set arbitrarily by moving the mirrors 8 and 30 back and forth.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the intracavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 44 having the above-described ultrasonic probe has an insertion amount of the intracavity ultrasonic probe 46 into the body cavity. The angle changing means 32 changes the angle of the mirror 16 with respect to the ultrasonic transducer 14 based on information from the encoder 34.
Further, a control unit 36 is connected as a control unit that controls a distance changing unit 26 that changes a distance of the mirror 16 from the ultrasonic transducer 14. Further, the control unit 36 includes a transmission / reception unit 38 and a monitor 4 as a display unit for displaying an image.
0 and an indicating means 42 for indicating a desired target part displayed on the monitor 40 are connected.

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

Transmission / reception unit 38 receiving a signal from control unit 36
Sends a transmission / reception signal to the ultrasonic vibrator 14, whereby the ultrasonic vibrator 14 transmits an ultrasonic pulse toward the mirror 16. Until the diagnosis target site is found, the angle of the mirror 16 is reduced to obtain a forward image as much as possible.

Then, on the monitor 40, the diagnosis target site 5
When 0 is found, the operator instructs the control unit 36 to capture the diagnosis target part by the instruction means 42. Then, the control unit 36 detects the insertion amount of the intracavity ultrasonic probe 46 into the body cavity by the encoder 34, and
The angle changing means 32 is controlled so that the angle of No. 6 becomes an angle corresponding to the insertion amount. The angle changing means 32 includes the wire 2
8 and 30, the mirror 16 is set to a desired angle as shown in FIG.

At this time, the controller 36 controls the diagnosis target portion 50
The distance changing means 26 is controlled so that the ultrasonic beam is focused on the object. The distance changing unit 26 advances and retreats the wire 24, moves the moving member 20 on the rail 18, and moves the positions of the stand 22 and the mirror 16 integrally with the moving member 20. When the diagnosis target portion 50 is located at a position opposing the mirror 16, the angle of the mirror 16 is set to 90 ° and the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic vibrator 14 is transmitted to the mirror 16.
, And transmits the wave in a direction perpendicular to the ultrasonic probe 46 for the body cavity. By performing the above operation while rotating the rotating body 12, a 360 ° ultrasonic image centered on the ultrasonic probe 46 for a body cavity is obtained.

However, at positions other than the position where the diagnosis target portion 50 opposes the mirror 16, the obtained image is conical section information as shown in FIG. 6, but the control unit 36 compresses this image. To display a circular compressed image 100 on the monitor 40.

In the above-described embodiment, the angle of the mirror with respect to the ultrasonic vibrator by the angle changing means and the distance of the mirror from the ultrasonic vibrator by the distance changing means are changed to a predetermined distance. Only one of the angle of the mirror with respect to the ultrasonic transducer and the distance of the mirror from the ultrasonic transducer may be changed.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention ,
Diagnosis target site automatically can continue Ho捉, it is possible to perform position recognition to diagnose the target site more easily.

[0029]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an ultrasonic probe for a body cavity according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the ultrasonic probe for a body cavity according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for a body cavity according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for a body cavity according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a conventional ultrasonic probe for a body cavity.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional intracavity ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional ultrasonic probe for a body cavity.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a main part of the ultrasonic probe for a body cavity shown in FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Tube 12 Rotating body 14 Ultrasonic vibrator 16 Mirror 26 Distance changing means 32 Angle changing means 34 Encoder 36 Control unit 40 Monitor 42 Instruction means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-115546 (JP, A) JP-A-56-60545 (JP, A) JP-A-55-94231 (JP, A) JP-A-55-942 94230 (JP, A) JP-A-58-4537 (JP, A) JP-A-5-95950 (JP, A) JP-A-3-228753 (JP, A) JP-A-3-99648 (JP, A) JP-A-2-104339 (JP, A) JP-A-57-107501 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 8/00-8/15

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A long tube, a rotating body rotatably inserted into the long tube, and an ultrasonic vibrator provided at a distal end of the rotating body for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves in a proximal direction of the rotating body. ,
And the ultrasound probe ultrasonic body cavity comprising a mirror which can be freely changed the distance from the angle and the ultrasonic transducer for ultrasonic transducers provided on the radial axis probe sent from the ultrasonic vibrator An encoder that detects an insertion amount of the ultrasonic probe for body cavity into a body cavity; an angle changing unit that changes an angle of the mirror with respect to the ultrasonic transducer; and a distance of the mirror from the ultrasonic transducer. and distance changing means for changing a control means for controlling the angle changing means and the distance changing means based on information from the encoder, the display means for displaying the images for the ultrasonic obtained anti shines sent from the ultrasonic vibrator And instructing means for instructing a desired target area displayed on the display means, wherein the control means comprises: an angle changing means and a distance changing means for continuously capturing the desired target area instructed by the instructing means. The ultrasonic probe for a body cavity, characterized in that
Ultrasound diagnostic equipment equipped .