JP4845443B2 - Laser treatment ultrasonic probe and laser treatment ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a laser treatment ultrasonic probe and a laser treatment ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for irradiating a laser treatment site with a laser.

As a conventional example in which a laser irradiation site is specified while observing an ultrasonic tomographic image and the laser irradiation site is cauterized, there are techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below. Further, as a conventional laser treatment ultrasonic probe to be inserted into a body cavity, for example, there is one proposed in Patent Document 3 below. In addition, as a laser treatment method, a photosensitizing substance having a tumor affinity is administered into the body, and then a photochemical reaction is caused by irradiating the tumor tissue with a laser beam to cause metastasis and necrosis of the tumor tissue. Photodynamic therapy) is known. According to the following non-patent document 1, it is described that a laser wavelength suitable for laser treatment such as PDT is preferably 600 nm or more because hemoglobin in blood absorbs 600 nm or less and is less effective. Yes.
Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 63-20547 (Fig. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-5936 (FIG. 4) JP-A-4-285548 (abstract) Laser Clinical, Kazuhiko Amami, November 20, 1981, p61, FIG.

  However, in the above conventional example, the laser irradiation site is specified while viewing the two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image. Therefore, it is necessary to specify the laser irradiation site while changing the direction of the probe with respect to the direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional image. For this reason, when it is difficult to change the laser irradiation direction by inserting the probe into a narrow body cavity such as the transvaginal or transrectal cavity, it is possible to accurately irradiate the laser irradiation site with the laser. There is a problem that it is not possible.

  In view of the problems of the conventional example described above, the present invention accurately irradiates a laser irradiation portion with a laser even when the probe is changed and inserted into a narrow body cavity where it is difficult to change the laser irradiation direction. It is an object of the present invention to provide a laser treatment ultrasonic probe and a laser treatment ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can perform the same.

In order to achieve the above object, the laser treatment ultrasonic probe according to the present invention scans two-dimensionally with an ultrasonic signal and swings in a direction orthogonal to the scanning surface to be two-dimensionally scanned. An acoustic element for acquiring three-dimensional echo data;
The laser emission angle in the radial direction can be controlled along the two-dimensional scanning plane scanned by the acoustic element, and the laser emission in the direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional scanning plane is oscillated integrally with the acoustic element. A laser irradiation means capable of controlling the angle;
The configuration was provided.
With this configuration, it is possible to control the emission angle of the irradiation laser beam in the radial direction of the two-dimensional scanning surface of the three-dimensional acoustic element and the emission angle in the direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional scanning surface. Even when it is inserted into a narrow body cavity where it is difficult to change the laser irradiation direction by changing the laser irradiation direction, it is possible to accurately irradiate the laser irradiation site with the laser.

In order to achieve the above object, the laser treatment ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention
A laser therapy ultrasound probe according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ;
Means for constructing a three-dimensional image from the three-dimensional echo data obtained by the acoustic element;
Based on the coordinates of the constructed three-dimensional image, the emission angle in the radiation direction of the two-dimensional scanning surface and the emission angle in the direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional scanning surface are controlled by the laser irradiation means. Means.
With this configuration, it is possible to accurately irradiate a laser irradiation site with a laser using an existing three-dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

  According to the present invention, even when the probe is inserted into a narrow body cavity where it is difficult to change the laser irradiation direction by changing the direction of the probe, it is possible to accurately irradiate the laser irradiation site with the laser. Further, it is possible to accurately irradiate a laser irradiation site with a laser using an existing three-dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a laser therapy ultrasonic probe according to the present invention, and FIG. 1A shows an acoustic element of the laser therapy ultrasonic probe 1 according to the present invention. FIG. 1B is a front view of the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 1 according to the present invention. The plurality of acoustic elements 2 constituting the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 1 are arranged in the vertical direction in FIG. 1A and in the direction orthogonal to the drawing in FIG. This is an ultrasonic sector electronic scanning acoustic element that two-dimensionally scans the tomographic plane 100 as shown in FIG. 2 by controlling all drive timings. The acoustic element 2 has a housing for the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 1 in a direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional scanning plane (a horizontal direction in FIG. 1A and a direction orthogonal to the drawing in FIG. 1B). By swinging around the swing motion axis 3 with respect to 1a, the affected part three-dimensional (3D) space 101 can be scanned as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the acoustic element 2 is provided with a therapeutic laser irradiation window 4 along the arrangement direction. In the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 1, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), a treatment laser light scanning unit (hereinafter also simply referred to as a scanning unit) 5 swings around the rocking operation shaft 3 together with the acoustic element 2. It is provided to be movable. The scan unit 5 has a laser beam reflection unit 5a. In the laser beam reflection unit 5a, the optical path of the therapeutic laser beam L sent from the back of the housing 1a via an optical fiber (not shown) is reflected by the reflection mirror 5b. It is bent and reflected in the direction of the reflecting surface of the polygon mirror 5c, and the polygon mirror 5c is rotated to deflect the therapeutic laser light L in the direction of the therapeutic laser irradiation window 4. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2, the therapeutic laser beam L can be irradiated at a desired angle in the arrangement direction of the acoustic elements 2 in accordance with the rotational angle position of the polygon mirror 5c. Irradiation can be performed at a desired angle in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the acoustic elements 2 according to the moving angle position. Further, the position of the laser treatment site 102 shown in FIG. 2 can be obtained from the coordinates of the affected part 3D space 101 of the three-dimensional tomographic image obtained by three-dimensional scanning by the acoustic element 2, and accordingly, according to the coordinates. By controlling the irradiation timing of the therapeutic laser beam L, only the laser treatment site 102 can be irradiated with the therapeutic laser beam L in a pinpoint manner.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a laser treatment ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 including the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 1. Based on the control of the ultrasonic transmission control unit 11, the ultrasonic transmission beam former 12 generates drive pulses for the acoustic element 2 in the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 1 to scan the tomographic plane 100 in a fan shape two-dimensionally. The element swing operation control unit 14 controls the acoustic element 2 to scan in the affected part 3D space 101 by swinging in a direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional scanning plane. The ultrasonic receiving beam former 13 adjusts the phase of the echo signal obtained by the acoustic element 2 and outputs it to the 3D signal processing unit 15, and the 3D signal processing unit 15 converts the 3D echo data onto the 2D screen. Build 3D image data for display. The video processing unit 16 displays the three-dimensional image on the monitor 19 by converting the three-dimensional image data constructed by the 3D signal processing unit 13 into a luminance signal and developing it in the graphic memory 17. The console 20 can designate the laser irradiation position with respect to the coordinates of the three-dimensional image displayed on the monitor 19, and the laser irradiation control unit 18 responds to the laser irradiation position designated from the console 20. The irradiation timing of the therapeutic laser beam L is controlled. Here, when used for PDT, according to Non-patent Document 1, since hemoglobin in blood absorbs 600 nm or less and is less effective, a laser wavelength of about 660 nm is used.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the laser treatment ultrasonic probe according to the present invention, and FIG. 4A shows the acoustic element 2 of the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 30 as viewed from the front. FIG. 4B is a view of the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 30 as viewed from the side. Since the configuration and the rocking mechanism of the acoustic element 2 constituting the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 30 are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted. In the second embodiment, the acoustic element 2 is provided with a plurality of therapeutic semiconductor laser element rows 31 along the arrangement direction, and each of the therapeutic semiconductor laser element rows 31 has a therapeutic semiconductor laser scan wiring. 32 is connected. According to the second embodiment, the therapeutic laser beam L is applied to a desired angular position in the arrangement direction of the acoustic elements 2 by selecting a light emitting element from the therapeutic semiconductor laser element array 31. Further, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to irradiate a desired angular position in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the acoustic elements 2 according to the swing angle position of the scan unit 5.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the laser therapy ultrasonic probe according to the present invention. FIG. 5A shows the acoustic element 41 of the laser therapy ultrasonic probe 40 as viewed from the front. FIG. 5B is a view of the laser treatment ultrasonic probe 40 as viewed from the side. A semiconductor laser element (therapeutic semiconductor laser element) 42 is provided at the center of the acoustic element 41. The acoustic element 41 is attached to a mechanical sector scanning rotating rotor motor 43 together with the semiconductor laser element 42 as shown in FIG. This is a mechanical sector scanning acoustic element that rotates two-dimensionally in the direction of the arrow. The mechanical sector scanning rotating rotor motor 43 can rotate around the rotation operation shaft 46 in a direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional scanning plane. Therefore, the acoustic element 41 can scan in three dimensions. According to the third embodiment, the semiconductor laser element 42 scans the acoustic element 41 by controlling the driving timing according to the two-dimensional scanning direction position of the acoustic element 41 and the direction position orthogonal to the two-dimensional scanning plane. The therapeutic laser beam L can be irradiated in the same direction as the direction.

  The present invention can accurately irradiate a laser irradiation site with a laser even when inserted into a narrow body cavity where it is difficult to change the direction of laser irradiation by changing the direction of the probe. Using a three-dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the laser irradiation site can be accurately irradiated with a laser, and can be used for a three-dimensional ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. .

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a laser treatment ultrasonic probe according to the present invention. (A) A view of an acoustic element of a laser treatment ultrasonic probe as viewed from the front. (B) Laser treatment ultra probe. A side view of an acoustic probe Explanatory drawing which shows the process of the laser therapy ultrasonic probe of FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the laser treatment ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus provided with the laser treatment ultrasonic probe of FIG. Configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of a laser therapy ultrasound probe according to the present invention (a) A diagram of an acoustic element of a laser therapy ultrasound probe as viewed from the front. (B) Laser therapy ultrasound probe. View of the child from the side The block diagram which shows 3rd Embodiment of the laser treatment ultrasonic probe which concerns on this invention (a) The figure which looked at the acoustic element of the laser treatment ultrasonic probe from the front (b) Laser treatment ultrasonic probe View of the child from the side

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 30, 40 Laser treatment ultrasonic probe 2, 41 Acoustic element 4 Treatment laser irradiation window 5 Laser beam scanning unit 5a Laser beam reflection unit 5b Reflection mirror 5c Polygon mirror 10 Laser treatment ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 11 Ultra Acoustic wave transmission control unit 12 Ultrasonic transmission beam former 13 Ultrasonic reception beam former 14 Element oscillation operation control unit 15 3D signal processing unit 16 Video processing unit 17 Graphic memory 18 Laser irradiation control unit 19 Monitor 20 Console 31 Therapeutic semiconductor laser Element array 32 Semiconductor laser scan wiring for treatment 42 Semiconductor laser element

Claims (4)

An acoustic element that scans two-dimensionally with an ultrasonic signal and acquires three-dimensional echo data by swinging in a direction orthogonal to the scanning surface that scans two-dimensionally;
The laser emission angle in the radial direction can be controlled along the two-dimensional scanning plane scanned by the acoustic element, and the laser emission in the direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional scanning plane is oscillated integrally with the acoustic element. A laser irradiation means capable of controlling the angle;
Laser treatment ultrasonic probe equipped. The acoustic element is composed of a plurality of acoustic elements arranged in one direction,
The laser treatment ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the laser irradiation unit deflects laser light in a radial direction along a two-dimensional scanning surface scanned by the acoustic element. The acoustic element is composed of a plurality of acoustic elements arranged in one direction,
2. The laser treatment according to claim 1, wherein the laser irradiation unit includes a plurality of laser light emitting elements that are arranged along an arrangement direction of the plurality of acoustic elements and emit laser light in each radiation direction. Ultrasonic probe. A laser therapy ultrasound probe according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ;
Means for constructing a three-dimensional image from the three-dimensional echo data obtained by the acoustic element;
Based on the coordinates of the constructed three-dimensional image, the emission angle in the radiation direction of the two-dimensional scanning surface and the emission angle in the direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional scanning surface are controlled by the laser irradiation means. Means,
Equipped with laser treatment ultrasonic diagnostic equipment.