JPH0515538A - Byplane type ultrasonic inspection instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the gaining of an ultrasonic image which allows the determining of a stereoscopic image of an affected part or the like accurately with a very simple construction. CONSTITUTION:An operating unit 10 to which an ultrasonic probe 1 is connected is provided with a connector 13 comprising a rotor 14 and a rotary type connector 15. A radial scanning mechanism is provided which comprises a motor 25 to drive to rotate the rotor 14 and an encoder 26 to detect the rotation of the motor. A linear scanning mechanism is provided which is equipped with an operation rod 30 for the push-pull operation of a flexible cord 2, a rack 32 formed on the operation rod 30, a pinion 33 to be meshed with the rack 32 and an encoder 34 connected to a rotating shaft 33a of the pinion 33. Tomographic images in directions orthogonal to each other of a radial ultrasonic image RP to be obtained with the radial scanning mechanism and a linear ultrasonic image LP to be obtained with the linear scanning mechanism are displayed on a monitor device M simultaneously.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic inspection apparatus which is inserted into a body cavity or the like to perform an ultrasonic inspection, and is a biplane display composed of two tomographic images orthogonal to each other. The present invention relates to a biplane ultrasonic inspection apparatus capable of performing the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic inspection apparatus displays an ultrasonic probe having an ultrasonic transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals, a processor for controlling transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves, and an ultrasonic image for processing received signals. The ultrasonic probe is composed of a monitoring device for monitoring the ultrasonic wave, and guides the ultrasonic probe to a predetermined observation position in the body cavity directly or through a guide means such as an endoscope to form a body cavity tube or a body cavity wall. A body-insertion type in which an ultrasonic pulse is incident from a body toward a tissue in the body and the reflected echo is received is conventionally known.

Here, as an ultrasonic inspection apparatus, an ultrasonic pulse is made incident on the inside of the body while moving the ultrasonic transducer.
In the so-called B-mode ultrasonic inspection apparatus that sequentially acquires the reflected echoes and displays an ultrasonic image of a predetermined scanning width on a monitor device, the scanning method includes a mechanical scanning method and an electronic scanning method. There is. Ultrasonic probes of the type inserted into body cavities, especially ultrasonic probes guided by guide means such as an endoscope or those inserted into an extremely narrow insertion path such as in a blood vessel, have a reduced diameter and a hard portion. Since there is a strong demand for miniaturization such as shortening, a mechanical scanning type probe, in particular, an ultrasonic probe equipped with a small single plate transducer is used. Further, in this type of ultrasonic probe, there are a radial scanning type that scans in the rotation direction and a linear scanning type that scans linearly.

[0004]

By the way, an examination using an ultrasonic examination apparatus is carried out in order to find a tumor or other affected area, and the affected area usually has a three-dimensional spread. It is necessary to grasp the affected area in three dimensions. However, in either case of the radial scanning type or the linear scanning type described above, as long as the single plate transducer is used, only one tomographic image in one direction in the body cavity can be obtained. Therefore, we have tried to recognize the stereoscopic image of the affected area by acquiring multiple tomographic images at different positions of the ultrasonic transducer, but it is extremely difficult to recognize the stereoscopic image of the affected area by this method. In addition, it requires skill and cannot always recognize an accurate three-dimensional image, which may cause a false recognition of the affected area.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is an ultrasonic image capable of more accurately grasping a stereoscopic image of a diseased part or the like with an extremely simple configuration. Is to be able to obtain.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an ultrasonic probe in which a rotatable ultrasonic transducer is attached to the tip of a flexible cord, and this ultrasonic transducer. And a radial scanning mechanism comprising a rotary driving means for rotationally driving and a radial direction angle detecting means of the ultrasonic transducer, and the ultrasonic vibration. A linear scanning mechanism including probe operating means for reciprocating the child in a linear direction by a predetermined distance and linear position detecting means for detecting the position in the linear direction when the ultrasonic transducer is moved by the probe operating means. And by disposing in the axial direction while rotating the ultrasonic transducer, a radial ultrasonic image and a linear ultrasonic image are simultaneously obtained. It is an its characterized in that a viewable configuration Nita device.

[0007]

When the ultrasonic transducer is moved in the linear direction by the probe operating means while rotating the ultrasonic transducer by operating the rotation driving means in the operation unit, a radial ultrasonic image and a linear ultrasonic image are obtained. It is possible to get That is, when the ultrasonic transducer is operated, a radial ultrasonic image is obtained every one rotation of the ultrasonic transducer. Further, by moving the ultrasonic transducer in the linear direction while performing the radial scanning, it is possible to acquire acoustic lines in a predetermined direction among a large number of acoustic lines in the radial direction at constant pitch intervals. A linear ultrasound image is obtained. The radial ultrasonic image and the linear ultrasonic image thus obtained are tomographic images in directions orthogonal to each other. Therefore, by observing these two orthogonal tomographic images, it becomes possible to stereoscopically recognize the affected area.

Here, since the ultrasonic transducer is constantly rotating, the radial ultrasonic image displayed on the monitor is displayed in a moving image state updated every one rotation. On the other hand, in the linear ultrasonic image, when the ultrasonic transducer moves, the data is updated only within the moved range, and as long as the ultrasonic transducer is not moved in the linear direction, it is a static image. Becomes Moreover, the scanning direction of this linear ultrasonic image is one direction in the radial direction, and the linear scanning position in this radial direction can be set to any direction. From the above, when the ultrasonic transducer is appropriately moved by the probe operating means, the tomographic position of the radial ultrasonic image changes according to the movement, and linear scanning can also be controlled to change the sampling direction. . Therefore, by judging from the above-mentioned two types of ultrasonic images, if the radial scanning position of a portion that may be an affected area such as a tumor is changed, or if the direction of linear scanning is changed, a more accurate detection of the affected area can be achieved. You can grasp a stereoscopic image.

Thus, for example, when changing the radial scanning position, if a marker for displaying the position of the ultrasonic transducer is attached to the linear ultrasonic image on the monitor device, the radial scanning position can be recognized more clearly. The operability is good, and it is also advantageous when it is kept as a record. Moreover, attaching a similar marker to the radial ultrasonic image is useful for confirming the directionality of the linear scanning. Therefore, a marker is attached to these two ultrasonic images, and the ultrasonic transducer is moved in a linear direction at a predetermined pitch interval using the marker attached to the linear ultrasonic image as a clue, and at this pitch interval. Sequentially acquire radial ultrasonic images of
If this is stored in a storage means such as a magnetic disk, then the direction of linear scanning is changed by a predetermined angle, and a plurality of linear ultrasonic images are acquired and stored in the storage means. By performing three-dimensional image processing based on the obtained data and forming voxel data, it becomes possible to display as a stereoscopic image, and the accuracy of inspection and diagnosis is significantly improved.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. First, FIGS. 1 to 6 show a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an ultrasonic inspection apparatus is provided for inserting forceps and other treatment tools of an endoscope S. It is configured to be guided into the body through a forceps channel C that is provided. Therefore, FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the ultrasonic inspection apparatus. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic probe 1 has a distal end hard portion 3 attached to a distal end of a flexible cord 2 made of a soft material,
An ultrasonic transducer 4 composed of a single plate transducer is provided on the tip hard portion 3.
It is equipped with.

The tip rigid portion 3 is rotatable relative to the flexible cord 2, and the transmitting / receiving surface 4a of the ultrasonic transducer 4 mounted on the tip rigid portion 3 is a part of the tip rigid portion 3. It faces the opening formed on the side. Then, the ultrasonic transducer 4
By scanning in the radial direction, it is possible to obtain a radial ultrasonic image of a tomographic image of a body tissue in this scanning range.

Since the flexible cord 2 is inserted through the forceps channel C of the endoscope S, it has a small diameter so that it can be inserted into the forceps channel C, and as shown in FIG. A control cable in which a multi-coil spring 2b is inserted into a flexible sleeve 2a made of a soft tube material such as fluororesin having good sliding property. Therefore, the flexible cord 2 has a function of rotating the distal end hard portion 3 having the ultrasonic transducer 4 mounted thereon by remote control. An ultrasonic signal transmission / reception line 5 formed of a coaxial cable is inserted into the multiple coil spring 2b of the flexible cord 2. Further, the tip portion of the multi-coil spring 2b is fixed to the tip hard portion 3, and the multi-coil spring 2b is configured to transmit the thrust force of the rotation operation of the ultrasonic transducer 4. When the ultrasonic oscillator 4 is rotated, the transmission / reception line 5 is also rotated integrally with the multiple coil spring 2b.

At the base end of the ultrasonic probe 1, there is formed a connecting portion 6 which is detachably connected to an operating unit 10 for radial scanning of the ultrasonic transducer 4. The connecting portion 6 is composed of an electrode pin 6a and a split connecting cylinder body 6b. The multiple coil spring 2b is connected and fixed to the connecting cylinder body 6b, and the transmitting / receiving line 5 is connected to the electrode pin 6a. Is connected to the wiring 5a, and the wiring 5b of the transmission / reception line 5 is connected to the connecting cylindrical body 6b. The connecting cylinder 6b is formed of a conductive member, and the insulating member 6c is interposed between the connecting cylinder 6b and the electrode pin 6a. A protective sleeve 7 made of a tube that is more rigid than the sleeve 2a is connected to a portion of the sleeve 2a of the flexible cord 2 that is led out from the forceps channel C of the endoscope S.

The operation unit 10 is detachably attached to the forceps port CE in the forceps channel C of the endoscope S and has the structure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. That is, a mounting mount portion 12 is continuously provided on the main body casing 11 of the operation unit 10, and the mounting mount portion 12 is mounted on a mount piece 8 which is detachably mounted on the forceps port CE, and the endoscope S is attached. Be attached to. Here, the mount piece 8 has a function as an adapter for allowing the operation unit 10 to be attached to different types of endoscopes. The mount piece 8 and the mounting mount portion 12 are formed with insertion holes 8a and 12a for inserting the flexible cord 2 of the ultrasonic probe 1.

Thus, the connecting portion 6 provided at the tip of the flexible cord 2 of the ultrasonic probe 1 led out through the insertion hole 8a of the mount piece 8 and the insertion hole 12a of the mounting mount portion 12 as described above. Is detachably connected to the connector 13 of the main body casing 11. The connector 13 includes a rotating body 14 and a rotary connector 15. One end of the rotating body 14 is slightly led out from the body casing 11 to the flexible cord 2
The connecting portion 6 of is fitted. Here, this rotating body 14
Has a function as a rotation shaft for rotationally driving the ultrasonic transducer 4 and a function as a signal transmission member. That is, the core portion 14a of the rotating body 14 functions as a terminal on one side connected to the electrode pin 6a of the connecting portion 6, and the outer tube 14b functions as a terminal on the other side connected to the connecting cylinder body 6b. An insulating layer 14c is interposed between the core portion 14a and the outer tube 14b. And this rotating body
14 is formed as a hard rod as a whole. The rotary connector 15 is rotatably connected to the rotary body 14, and the core portion 14a of the rotary body 14 is electrically connected to the electrode 15a through a fluid contact 17a made of a conductive fluid such as mercury.
And an electrode 15b electrically connected to the exterior tube 14b via a fluid contact 17b, and an insulating member 16 is interposed between the electrodes 15a and 15b. Therefore, the transmission / reception line 5 rotating together with the ultrasonic transducer 4 is connected to the ultrasonic observation device T by the connecting portion 6, the rotating body 14, and the rotary connector 15 to the transmission line 19 installed in the non-rotatable cable 18. I am letting you.

Next, the radial scanning mechanism of the ultrasonic transducer 4 will be described. Both ends of the rotating body 14 are rotatably supported by bearings 20 and 20, and a pair of pulleys 21 and 22 are mounted between the bearings 20 and 20. The pulleys 21 and 22 are connected to the output shaft 25a of the motor 25 for rotation driving and the input shaft 26a of the encoder 26 via belts 23 and 24, respectively. Furthermore, the wires 25b and 26b from the motor 25 and the encoder 26 are cables.
It is inserted through 18 and connected to the ultrasonic observation apparatus T.
Therefore, by rotating the rotating body 14, the connecting cylinder body 6b of the connecting portion 6 fitted to the rotating body 14 is rotated, and the close contact coil spring having the ultrasonic transducer 4 attached to the tip thereof.
2b is configured to rotate around its axis. Therefore, if the motor 25 is operated, the ultrasonic transducer 4 can be rotationally driven. During this period, ultrasonic pulses are directed toward the inside of the body, the reflected echoes thereof are received, and output from this and the encoder 26. The ultrasonic image in the radial direction can be acquired based on the signal relating to the rotation angle of the ultrasonic transducer 4. When the contact coil spring 2b is rotated, a rotation stopping member 27 is attached to the protective sleeve 7 to prevent the sleeve 2a mounted on the contact coil spring 2b and the protective sleeve 7 connected thereto from being twisted. The detent member 27 is detachably attached to a guide tube portion 11a of the main body casing 11 for guiding an operation rod 30 described later.

Further, the operation unit 10 is provided with a linear scanning mechanism which pushes and pulls the flexible cord 2 to linearly scan the ultrasonic transducer 4 over a predetermined range. The linear scanning mechanism has an operating rod 30 as a probe operating means, and the operating rod 30 is mounted on the main body casing 11 so as to be slidable in the axial direction. Then, the guide tube portion 11a protruding from the body casing 11
A finger hooking portion 30a for pushing and pulling with a finger is connected to the tip of the finger.
In addition, a connecting member 31 extending laterally is continuously provided at a portion of the operating rod 30 which is led out of the main body casing 11, and the insertion holes of the mount piece 8 and the mounting mount portion 12 are provided.
The position near the base end of the flexible cord 2 led out through 8a and 12a, that is, the portion where the protective sleeve 7 is provided is this connecting member.
It is detachably connected to 31. And this connecting member
The connecting portion 6 is curved so as to draw a loop for a predetermined length from the connecting position to 31, and the connecting portion 6 provided at the base end thereof is detachably connected to the operation unit 10.

By connecting the flexible cord 2 to the connecting member 31, the flexible cord 2 is fixed so as not to be displaced in the axial direction and the rotational direction, and in this state, the fingers are hooked on the finger hooks 30a to move the operating rod 30. When the push / pull operation is performed in the axial direction, the distal end hard portion 3 is pushed and pulled by the insertion portion 2 and the insertion portion 2 via the connecting member 31, and the ultrasonic transducer 4 mounted on the distal end rigid portion 3 is moved to a predetermined position. Can be displaced linearly over the range of. The main body casing 11 is provided with a mechanism for detecting the movement of the ultrasonic transducer 4, that is, a linear position detecting mechanism. This linear position detecting mechanism is composed of a rack 32 formed in a portion of the operating rod 30 inside the main body casing 11, a pinion 33 meshing with the rack 32, and an encoder 34 connected to a rotating shaft 33a of the pinion 33. It Then, the position of the operating rod 30 can be detected based on the output signal from the encoder 34, and the position signal output from this encoder 34 is transmitted to the ultrasonic observation apparatus T.

The operating rod 30 is constantly protruded from the main body casing 11 by a return spring 35 and is urged to a position where its stopper portion 30b abuts a guide member 36 provided in the main body casing 11. It can be pushed into the main body casing 11 against the urging force of the operation lever. At the pushing end position, the light shielding plate 30c connected to the end of the operating rod 30 is detected by the optical sensor 30. It has become so. Therefore, this shading plate 30c is an optical sensor.
The movable stroke range in the linear direction of the ultrasonic transducer 4 is from the position where the ultrasonic wave 4 is blocked to the position where the stopper portion 30b contacts the guide member 36. Further, the position where the light shielding plate 30c is detected by the optical sensor 37 is set as a reference position which is a display end of the ultrasonic image displayed on the monitor device M in the ultrasonic observation device T. The reference position signal from the optical sensor 37 and the signal from the encoder 34 are transmitted to the ultrasonic observation apparatus T by wirings 37a and 34a inserted in the cable 18.

Here, this ultrasonic inspection apparatus is constructed so as to be able to simultaneously obtain a radial ultrasonic image and a linear ultrasonic image which are tomographic images in mutually orthogonal directions. That is, as is apparent from FIG. 5, an ultrasonic pulse is input from the ultrasonic transducer 4 toward the inside of the body based on the signal from the transmission / reception circuit 40, the reflected echo signal is received, and the received signal is A The received signal is converted into a digital signal by the / D converter 41, and the received signal is stored in the memory 42a of the radial scan converter 42 and also in the memory 43a of the linear scan converter 43. Then, every time one frame of data is taken into the radial scan converter 42 and the linear scan converter 43, the ultrasonic image data from the both scan converters 42 and 43 are converted into analog signals by the D / A converters 44a and 44b. The signal is converted and transmitted to the monitor device M through the signal output circuit 45, and as shown in FIG.
Biplane images of the radial ultrasonic image RP and the linear ultrasonic image LP that are orthogonal to each other are simultaneously displayed in parallel.

In order to control the transmission of ultrasonic pulses in the transmission / reception circuit 40, the radial scan converter 42 is also used.
And the memory 42a in the linear scan converter 43,
A radial / linear sequencer for supplying control signals to the memory controllers 42b and 43b for controlling 43a.
The radial / linear sequencer 46 is provided with a radial angle detection signal from a radial angle detection circuit 47 that detects the radial position of the ultrasonic transducer 4 based on the signal from the encoder 26. As you type
A linear position detection signal is input from a linear position detection circuit 48 that detects the position of the ultrasonic transducer 4 in the linear direction based on the signal from the encoder 34. A linear direction setter 49 is connected to the radial / linear sequencer 46. The linear direction setting device 49 is for setting the direction of the linear ultrasonic image LP displayed on the monitor device M. For example, a volume (not shown) is provided in the operation unit 10 and the volume is manually operated by a radial operation. The direction of which line to sample is set. Then, the linear direction signal set by the linear direction setter 49 is input to the radial / linear sequencer 46, and the switch 50 provided in the preceding stage of the memory 43a of the linear scan converter 43 is operated based on this signal. , Only the received signal at the set angular position is selectively fetched. Further, a radial range setting device 51 is connected to the radial / linear sequencer 46. The radial range setting device 51 is for limiting the sampling angle of the radial ultrasonic image RP to display an image of only a necessary part. When the radial range setting device 51 sets the sampling angle range. , Radial scan converter
The switch 52 provided in the previous stage of the memory 42a of 42 operates,
Only the received signal within the set angle range is selectively stored in the memory 42
It is designed to be taken into a.

Further, as described above, the radial ultrasonic image RP and the linear ultrasonic image LP are simultaneously displayed on the monitor M, but the radial ultrasonic image R is also displayed.
Indicators LI and RI are displayed on the biplane image composed of the P and linear ultrasonic images LP, respectively. The indicator LI displayed on the radial ultrasonic image RP indicates the direction of the currently displayed linear ultrasonic image LP, and the indicator RI displayed on the linear ultrasonic image LP is the position of the ultrasonic transducer 4. ,
That is, the position in the linear direction of the currently displayed radial ultrasonic image RP is shown. The indicators LI and RI are displayed based on the signal from the linear direction setting device 49 and the signal from the linear position detection circuit 48.
The position of the indicator is detected by the radial / linear sequencer 46, and this detection signal is input from the D / A converter 44c to the signal output circuit 45 and is combined with the linear ultrasonic image and the radial ultrasonic image. Become.

Next, the operation of the radial scanning ultrasonic inspection apparatus having the above construction will be described. First, the endoscope S is inserted into the patient's body, and the distal end portion thereof is guided to a site to be subjected to a predetermined examination and diagnosis.
The insertion portion 2 of the ultrasonic probe 1 is inserted into the insertion portion C of the endoscope S, the distal end hard portion 3 thereof is projected from the distal end portion of the endoscope S by a predetermined length, and the operation unit 10 The mounting mount portion 12 connected to the main body casing 11 is fixed to the forceps port CE of the forceps channel C via the mount piece 8, and the proximal end side of the flexible cord 2 is connected to the connecting member 31. , The connector 6 is connected to the connector 13 of the operation unit 10. Therefore, the motor 25
The multi-coil spring 2b of the flexible cord 2 is rotated by rotating 14 to rotate the ultrasonic transducer 4. In this state, when the operating rod 30 is once pushed to its end position, the ultrasonic transducer 4 moves to the stroke end in the linear direction while rotating. At this time, this operation rod 30
The light shield plate 30c shields the optical sensor 37 from light and detects that the ultrasonic transducer 4 is located at the stroke end. This position is the linear origin position of the ultrasonic transducer 4.

When the ultrasonic probe 2 is pulled back from this state, the reception signal of the ultrasonic reflection echo acquired by the ultrasonic transducer 4 during its movement is transmitted to the transmission / reception circuit 40 every moment. Then, unless the sampling angle is limited by the radial range setting unit 49, all of this received signal is taken into the memory 42a of the radial scan converter 42,
A tomographic image of a body tissue is sequentially displayed on the monitor device M as a radial ultrasonic image RP for each rotation of the ultrasonic transducer 4. If the sampling angle is limited,
Radial ultrasonic images of only this limited range are obtained. On the other hand, of the acoustic lines forming the radial ultrasonic image, the reception signal of the direction set by the linear direction setting device 47 is taken into the memory 43a of the linear scan converter 43 every time it is output from the transmission / reception circuit 40. Therefore, based on the output signal from the linear scan converter 43, the linear ultrasonic image LP is bi-plane displayed on the monitor device M together with the radial ultrasonic image RP. When the tomographic images orthogonal to each other are simultaneously displayed on the monitor M in this manner, it becomes possible to three-dimensionally grasp the tissue state in the body cavity, which is convenient for finding and identifying the affected area. Note that, of the above-described ultrasonic images, the radial ultrasonic image RP is a moving image whose image is updated every time the ultrasonic transducer 4 makes one rotation, and the linear ultrasonic image LP is the ultrasonic image of the ultrasonic transducer 4. When moving, only a part of the moving range is updated, and the other part is a still image.

Here, when a site that needs to be closely examined is found in the affected area or the like during the above-described ultrasonic scanning, it is possible to confirm the position with reference to the indicators LI and RI. Once the operating rod 30 is moved by its full stroke, radial and linear ultrasonic images of the entire scanning range are acquired, and then the display of the indicator LI is used as a hand, it is extremely easy to move to the position to be inspected. The ultrasonic wave oscillator 4 can be moved, and by moving the ultrasonic wave oscillator 4 at a fine pitch interval, it becomes possible to intensively inspect this part. Moreover, while the ultrasonic transducer 4 is repeatedly reciprocated within a predetermined range, a linear direction setter is provided for each reciprocating operation.
If 47 is operated to change the direction, it becomes possible to acquire a radial ultrasonic image at a constant pitch interval and a linear ultrasonic image at a constant angle at a predetermined site, and a three-dimensional image of the affected area is obtained. The recognition can be easily performed, and the three-dimensional image processing can be performed based on these data to form voxel data to create a stereoscopic image of the affected area.

Next, FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the ultrasonic probe 1 is configured to be inserted into a blood vessel. Has been done. Thus, in the case of this type of insertion into the blood vessel, it is not possible to insert a large diameter one like an endoscope, so unlike the first embodiment described above,
The conduit itself in the blood vessel V guides the ultrasonic probe 1 to function. Then, the trocar 60 is used to guide the ultrasonic probe 1 into the blood vessel V. This trocar 60 is, as is clear from FIG.
The configuration is such that a mount portion 63 for mounting the operation unit 10 is provided on a cylindrical portion 62 having a sharp tip portion 61 that is inserted into the blood vessel V. Here, since the ultrasonic probe 1 and the operation unit 10 can have substantially the same configurations as those of the first embodiment described above, detailed illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

According to this structure, it is possible to simultaneously obtain the radial direction information and the linear direction information in the tissue state along the blood vessel V and display them on the monitor device M in biplane. It is possible to more accurately and three-dimensionally grasp the inspection such as what position is closed to what extent.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the operation unit to which the ultrasonic probe is connected is provided with the radial scanning mechanism and the linear scanning mechanism, and while the ultrasonic transducer is rotated by these, the axial line Since the radial ultrasonic image and the linear ultrasonic image can be simultaneously displayed on the monitor device by displacing the images in the directions, the tomographic images in mutually orthogonal directions are simultaneously displayed on the monitor device in the portion to be scanned. Since it can be displayed, it is convenient for three-dimensional understanding of the affected area and other internal tissue conditions.
It becomes possible to perform inspection, diagnosis, etc. with extremely high accuracy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an ultrasonic inspection apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing how the operation unit is attached to the endoscope.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an operation unit.

FIG. 5 is a circuit configuration diagram of an ultrasonic signal processing mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display on the monitor device.

FIG. 7 is an external view of a main part of an ultrasonic inspection apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a trocar.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Ultrasonic probe 2 flexible cord 4 Ultrasonic transducer 10 Operation unit 13 connector 14 rotating body 15 Rotary connector 26, 34 encoder 30 Operation rod 36 Optical sensor 40 transmitter / receiver circuit 42 radial scan converter 43 Linear scan converter 44 Radial / Linear Sequencer 45 Radial angle detection circuit 46 Linear position detection circuit 47 Linear direction setting device 49 Radial range setting device S endoscope M monitor device LP linear ultrasound image RP radial ultrasound image LI, RI indicator

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic probe having a rotatable ultrasonic transducer mounted on the tip of a flexible cord, and an operation unit for remotely operating the ultrasonic transducer. The operation unit includes: A radial scanning mechanism consisting of a rotation driving means for rotationally driving and an angle detecting means in the radial direction of the ultrasonic transducer, a probe operating means for reciprocating the ultrasonic transducer in a linear direction by a predetermined distance,
When the ultrasonic transducer is moved by the probe operating means, a linear scanning mechanism including a linear position detecting means for detecting the position in the linear direction is provided, and while the ultrasonic transducer is rotated, A biplane ultrasonic inspection apparatus characterized in that a radial ultrasonic image and a linear ultrasonic image can be simultaneously displayed on a monitor device by being displaced in the axial direction. 2. A marker for displaying a position where an ultrasonic transducer is actually scanning is provided on at least one of a radial ultrasonic image and a linear ultrasonic image in the monitor device. The biplane ultrasonic inspection apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The ultrasonic probe is inserted into a forceps channel of an endoscope, and the operation unit is detachably attached to a forceps opening.
The described biplane ultrasonic inspection device.