CN215227811U

CN215227811U - Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic device

Info

Publication number: CN215227811U
Application number: CN202120149890.8U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郭光第
Original assignee: Wuhan United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Current assignee: Wuhan United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-01-20
Filing date: 2021-01-20
Publication date: 2021-12-21
Anticipated expiration: 2031-01-20

Abstract

The utility model provides an ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic equipment. The ultrasonic probe includes: the probe comprises a probe body, a flexible coupling liquid bag, a plurality of pressure sensors, a plurality of telescopic pieces and a control part. When ultrasonic examination is carried out, the front end of the flexible coupling liquid sac is arranged at the part to be examined of a patient, so that each pressure sensor can respectively detect the pressure between the flexible coupling liquid sac and the part to be examined at the corresponding position. The pressure measurement results of the plurality of pressure sensors can reflect: whether the fit degree between the flexible coupling liquid sac and the part to be inspected is proper or not at the corresponding positions. The control part can then control a plurality of extensible members to extend or shorten according to the pressure measurement result of a plurality of pressure sensors to adjust the form of the flexible coupling liquid bag, so that each position of the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag can be well attached to the part to be inspected of the patient, and then a clear ultrasonic image is obtained and the patient can obtain better body feeling.

Description

Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic device

Technical Field

The utility model relates to an ultrasonic testing equipment technical field, in particular to ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic equipment.

Background

Currently, the front end of an ultrasonic probe has a fixed shape, and when ultrasonic examination is performed, the front end of the ultrasonic probe needs to be attached to the surface of a part to be examined of a patient. In actual ultrasonic detection, the surface of the part to be detected is sometimes irregular in shape (for example, at a bone joint), which causes the front end of the ultrasonic probe to be difficult to completely adhere to the part to be detected, thereby causing air bubbles to appear between the part to be detected and the ultrasonic probe and seriously affecting the imaging effect.

Especially when the convex array probe is used, the front end of the convex array probe is a curved surface. When the abdomen of a patient is detected, an operator often needs to press hard to attach the whole convex array probe to the skin of the human body in order to obtain the best imaging effect. This is, however, very disadvantageous for the physician, especially the female physician. On one hand, a doctor needs to adjust the position and the posture of the probe while pressing the probe with force; on the other hand, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is required to be operated for recording, so that the experience feeling is poor in the ultrasonic detection process, and the working efficiency is greatly reduced.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

Therefore, it is necessary to provide an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic apparatus capable of bonding the surface of the ultrasonic probe and the surface of the part to be inspected well, in order to solve the problem that the conventional ultrasonic probe and the surface of the part to be inspected are difficult to bond.

An embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasonic probe, including:

a probe body;

the flexible coupling liquid sac is arranged at the front end of the probe main body;

one or more pressure sensors disposed at a front end of the flexible coupling sac;

one or more telescopic pieces, wherein each telescopic piece comprises a fixed part and a telescopic part which can be telescopic relative to the fixed part, the fixed part is used for being relatively fixed with the probe body, and the telescopic part is connected with the flexible coupling liquid bag; and

and the control part is used for controlling the extension or contraction of the telescopic piece according to the measurement result of the pressure sensor.

When the ultrasonic probe is used for carrying out ultrasonic examination on the part to be examined of the patient, the front end of the flexible coupling liquid sac is arranged on the part to be examined of the patient, so that each pressure sensor can respectively detect the pressure between the flexible coupling liquid sac and the part to be examined at the corresponding position. The pressure measurement results of the plurality of pressure sensors can reflect: whether the fit degree between the flexible coupling liquid sac and the part to be inspected is proper or not at the corresponding positions. The control part can then control a plurality of extensible members to extend or shorten according to the pressure measurement result of a plurality of pressure sensors to adjust the form of the flexible coupling liquid bag, so that each position of the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag can be well attached to the part to be inspected of the patient, and then a clear ultrasonic image is obtained and the patient can obtain better body feeling.

In one embodiment, the ultrasonic probe further comprises a probe kit, the probe kit comprises a kit body, the kit body is provided with a plug cavity, the front end of the probe body can be inserted into the plug cavity and is matched with the plug cavity, and the kit body is used for being fixedly connected with the probe body; the fixing part is fixedly connected with the kit main body.

In one embodiment, the fixing part is located at the periphery of the kit body; or, the fixing part is positioned at the front end of the kit main body.

In an embodiment, the probe kit further comprises an ultrasonic gel layer, the ultrasonic gel layer is connected with the kit main body, the ultrasonic gel layer is located between the front end of the probe main body and the flexible coupling liquid bag, and the front end of the probe main body and the flexible coupling liquid bag are respectively attached to the ultrasonic gel layer.

In one embodiment, the ultrasonic gel layer is a carbomer gel layer.

In an embodiment, the ultrasonic probe further comprises a flexible sound-transmitting layer, the flexible sound-transmitting layer is attached to and connected with the front end of the flexible coupling liquid sac, and the pressure sensor is arranged on the flexible sound-transmitting layer.

In one embodiment, the pressure sensor is a membrane pressure sensor.

In one embodiment, the pressure sensor is a flexible membrane pressure sensor.

In one embodiment, the telescopic member is an electric telescopic rod.

In one embodiment, the plurality of pressure sensors are arranged in sequence along a circumferential direction; the plurality of telescopic pieces are sequentially arranged around the flexible coupling liquid bag along a circumferential direction.

In one embodiment, the projections of the plurality of pressure sensors on the front end surface of the probe body are located at the periphery of the matching layer of the probe body.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound probe further comprises:

an outer container located outside the flexible coupling sac and used for containing a coupling agent; and

one end of the siphon is communicated with the external container, and the other end of the siphon is communicated with the flexible coupling liquid sac;

the couplant in the outer container can be automatically sucked in through siphoning action when the volume of the flexible coupling liquid sac is increased, and the couplant can be automatically discharged to the outer container when the volume of the flexible coupling liquid sac is decreased.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound probe further comprises:

a suction pump in communication with the flexible coupling sac;

when the volume of the flexible coupling liquid sac is increased, the control part can control the suction pump to pump the coupling agent into the flexible coupling liquid sac;

when the volume of the flexible coupling sac is reduced, the control portion can draw out the couplant from inside the flexible coupling sac.

Another embodiment of this application still provides an ultrasonic equipment, including supersound host computer and ultrasonic probe, supersound host computer and ultrasonic probe communication connection, its characterized in that, ultrasonic probe includes:

a probe body;

the pressure sensor is arranged on the flexible coupling liquid bag or the probe body;

the telescopic piece, the telescopic piece include the fixed part with can for the flexible pars contractilis of fixed part, the fixed part with probe main part relatively fixed, the pars contractilis with flexible coupling liquid bag is connected or the butt, just the extension or the state of shortening of telescopic piece can be controlled.

In an embodiment, the ultrasound apparatus further comprises a control section for controlling the expansion and contraction section of the expansion and contraction member to expand or contract according to the measurement result of the pressure sensor.

In an embodiment, the control part is provided in the ultrasound main unit or the ultrasound probe.

In an embodiment, the ultrasound probe further comprises a probe kit comprising:

the kit body is provided with an insertion cavity, the front end of the probe body can be inserted into the insertion cavity and is matched with the insertion cavity, and the kit body is fixedly connected with the probe body; the fixing part is fixedly connected with the kit main body; and

the ultrasonic gel layer, the ultrasonic gel layer with the external member main part is connected, the ultrasonic gel layer is located the front end of probe main part with between the flexible coupling liquid bag, the front end of probe main part with flexible coupling liquid bag respectively with the laminating of ultrasonic gel layer.

In an embodiment, the ultrasound probe further comprises:

the couplant in the external container can be automatically sucked in through siphoning when the volume of the flexible coupling liquid sac is increased, and the couplant can be automatically discharged to the external container through siphoning when the volume of the flexible coupling liquid sac is reduced.

In an embodiment, the ultrasound probe further comprises: a suction pump in communication with the flexible coupling sac;

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of an ultrasonic probe of a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the connection between the probe set and the telescopic member in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic front end view of the ultrasound probe of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially exploded view of an ultrasound probe of a second embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the probe assembly and the telescoping member of FIG. 4;

fig. 6 is a partially exploded view of an ultrasound probe of another embodiment.

The reference numbers illustrate:

100. an ultrasonic probe;

110. a probe body; 120. a flexible coupling sac; 130. a pressure sensor; 140. a telescoping member; 141. a fixed part; 142. a telescopic part; 150. a probe kit; 151. a kit body; 152. an ultrasonic gel layer; 101. inserting a cavity; 101a, side walls of the insert cavity; 160. a flexible acoustically transparent layer;

200. an ultrasonic probe;

210. a probe body; 220. a flexible coupling sac; 230. a pressure sensor; 240. a telescoping member; 250. a probe kit; 251. a kit body.

Detailed Description

In order to make the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, as those skilled in the art will be able to make similar modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", and the like, indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of description and simplicity of description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore, should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "fixed" are to be construed broadly and may, for example, be fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intervening media, or they may be connected internally or in any other suitable relationship, unless expressly stated otherwise. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific situations by those skilled in the art.

In the present application, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the first feature may be directly on or directly under the second feature or indirectly via intermediate members. Also, a first feature "on," "over," and "above" a second feature may be directly or diagonally above the second feature, or may simply indicate that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature may be directly under or obliquely under the first feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and the like as used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not denote a unique embodiment.

Referring to fig. 1 in conjunction with fig. 2 and 3, a first embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound probe 100. The ultrasonic probe 100 includes: a probe body 110, a flexible coupling sac 120, a plurality of pressure sensors 130, a plurality of telescoping members 140, a probe kit 150, and a control section (not shown). The flexible coupling sac 120 is provided at the front end of the probe body 110 and serves to achieve coupling between the probe body 110 and a site to be examined. The plurality of pressure sensors 130 are disposed at the front end of the flexible coupling sac 120, and the plurality of pressure sensors 130 are sequentially arranged in a circumferential direction. A plurality of telescoping members 140 are arranged in sequence around the flexible coupling sac 120 in a circumferential direction. The telescopic member 140 includes a fixed portion 141 and a telescopic portion 142 that is capable of being extended and contracted with respect to the fixed portion 141, the fixed portion 141 is used to be fixed with respect to the probe body 110, and the telescopic portion 142 is connected to the flexible coupling sac 120. The control part is used for controlling the expansion and contraction of the expansion piece 140 according to the measurement result of the pressure sensor 130.

Specifically, referring to fig. 1, in the present embodiment, the probe body 110 is a convex array probe. However, the present embodiment does not limit the type of the probe body 110, and the probe body 110 may be a line probe or the like. The distal end of the probe body 110 is an end of the probe body 110 near a portion to be examined of a patient during an ultrasonic examination. The tip of the other member referred to in the present application hereinafter means the end of the other member near the site to be examined of the patient during the ultrasonic examination.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the probe kit 150 includes a kit body 151. The cartridge body 151 is a housing structure having a socket 101. The front end of the probe body 110 can be inserted into the insertion cavity 101 and is matched with the insertion cavity 101, and the kit body 151 is used for being fixedly connected with the probe body 110.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the socket 101 of the cartridge body 151 has four side walls 101a connected end to end. When the tip of the probe body 110 is inserted into the socket 101, the side surfaces of the probe body 110 are respectively fitted to the corresponding side walls 101a, so that the probe body 110 can be fitted into the socket 101. The probe body 110 and the kit body 151 may be fixedly connected by means of a snap connection or an adhesive. The material used for the kit body 151 may be plastic, silicone, or the like.

The flexible coupling sac 120 may be made of a flexible material such as silicone. The interior of the flexible coupling sac 120 is filled with a liquid coupling agent such as gel coupling agent or olive oil. A flexible coupling sac 120 is provided at the front end of the probe body 110. In the present embodiment, the flexible coupling sac 120 may be attached to the probe body 110 by bonding the flexible coupling sac 120 to the front end surface of the cartridge body 151, or disposing a portion of the flexible coupling sac 120 in the insertion cavity 101 and bonding the flexible coupling sac 120 to the sidewall 101a of the insertion cavity 101.

When ultrasonic examination is performed, a gel coupling agent needs to be smeared between the probe main body 110 and the flexible coupling liquid bag 120, the surface of the front end of the probe main body 110 is attached to the surface of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120, and the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is attached to a part to be examined of a patient, so that the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 can realize coupling between the probe main body 110 and the part to be examined, and the probe main body 110 can perform ultrasonic scanning on the patient through the flexible coupling liquid bag 120.

As shown in fig. 3, the pressure sensor 130 may be disposed on the front end surface of the flexible coupling sac 120 by means of adhesion or the like. A plurality of pressure sensors 130 are disposed at the front end of the flexible coupling sac 120. The plurality of pressure sensors 130 are arranged in sequence along a circumferential direction to form a substantially rectangular pressure sensor array.

When ultrasonic examination is performed, the front end of the probe body 110 faces a part to be examined of a patient, and the front end of the flexible coupling sac 120 is attached to the part to be examined of the patient. Since the pressure sensor 130 is disposed at the front end surface of the flexible coupling sac 120, the plurality of pressure sensors 130 are attached to the portion of the patient to be examined, and further, each of the pressure sensors 130 can detect the pressure between the portion of the patient to be examined and the flexible coupling sac 120 at the respective corresponding position.

In this embodiment, the extension member 140 may be an electric telescopic rod, a pneumatic telescopic rod or a hydraulic telescopic rod. It will be appreciated that the overall length of the telescoping member 140 is extended or shortened as the telescoping portion 142 is extended or retracted relative to the fixed portion 141. The fixing portion 141 and the kit body 151 may be fixedly connected by means of bonding or snap-fit connection, and the fixing portion 141 and the probe body 110 may be fixedly connected because the kit body 151 and the probe body 110 are fixedly connected. As shown in fig. 2, in the present embodiment, the fixing portion 141 is located at the periphery of the kit body 151 and is attached to the outer side surface of the kit body 151. The expansion part 142 and the outer side surface of the flexible coupling sac 120 may be attached and connected by bonding.

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, the plurality of bellows 140 are sequentially arranged around the flexible coupling sac 120 in a circumferential direction, so that the plurality of bellows 140 tightly surround the flexible coupling sac 120 and the cartridge body 151. The plurality of fixing portions 141 surround the kit body 151, and the plurality of expansion portions 142 surround the flexible coupling sac 120.

It will be appreciated that each bellows 142 is connected to a corresponding region of the flexible coupling sac 120. Since the fixing portion 141 is fixed relative to the probe body 110 and the bellows 142 is connected to the flexible coupling bellows 120, when each bellows 142 is extended or shortened, the corresponding region of the flexible coupling bellows 120 is extended or shortened. Since the plurality of expansion parts 142 surround the flexible coupling sac 120, when the plurality of expansion parts 142 are simultaneously expanded or contracted, the overall form of the flexible coupling sac 120 can be changed.

The control section may be a controller, a microprocessor, or the like. The control portion may be provided inside the probe body 110. The expansion and contraction of the plurality of expansion members 140 can be controlled by the control unit, respectively. And the plurality of telescopic members 140 can move independently of each other.

Specifically, in the present embodiment, when the ultrasound probe 100 is operated, the ultrasound probe 100 is connected to an external upper computer. The plurality of pressure sensors 130 may be connected to the control unit through wires, respectively. The plurality of expansion members 140 may be connected to the control part through wires, respectively.

The pressure measurement result measured by each pressure sensor 130 can be respectively transmitted to the control part through the corresponding conducting wire, and then the control part feeds back the pressure measurement result to the upper computer. After the upper computer obtains the pressure measurement result of each pressure sensor 130, the target elongation or target shortening of each expansion piece 140 can be calculated through a built-in algorithm of the upper computer. The upper computer can send a control instruction to the control part according to the target extension amount or the target shortening amount of each telescopic member 140, so that the control part can control the corresponding telescopic member 140 to extend or shorten according to the control instruction.

It is worth noting that in performing an ultrasound examination, the front end of the flexible coupling sac 120 is placed on the skin surface of the patient at the site to be examined. Generally, there are no three cases, namely, the skin morphology corresponding to the skin surface of the site to be examined: concave, convex and flat.

It can be understood that, in the initial state of the ultrasonic probe 100, the lengths of the respective telescopic members 140 are the same, and the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is in a flat state. When the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is placed on the part to be examined, if the skin shape of a certain region (for example, region a in fig. 3, hereinafter, referred to as region a) of the part to be examined is concave as compared with the flat skin shape, the skin surface of region a is not attached to the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 or the attachment degree is loose, which is not favorable for obtaining a better imaging effect. Meanwhile, since the skin surface of the area a is not attached to the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 or is attached loosely, the pressure value measured by the pressure sensor 130 is also smaller at the position corresponding to the area a. At this time, the upper computer receives a measurement result that the pressure value measured by the pressure sensor 130 at the position corresponding to the area a is small, and the upper computer can determine that: it is necessary to control the extension of the expansion member 140 corresponding to the a-zone. When the telescopic part 140 corresponding to the area a is elongated, the corresponding area of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is driven to be elongated, so that the corresponding area of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 can be better attached to the skin surface of the area a, and the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 can play a good coupling role between the probe body 110 and the part to be inspected, thereby being beneficial to obtaining a good imaging effect.

Similarly, if a certain region of the region to be examined has a convex skin form, the skin surface of the region is tightly attached to the distal end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120, and the patient feels a greater pressure in his/her body than in a flat skin form. Meanwhile, because the skin surface of the region is tightly attached to the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120, the pressure value measured by the pressure sensor 130 is also larger at the position corresponding to the region. At this time, the upper computer receives the measurement result that the pressure value measured by the pressure sensor 130 at the position corresponding to the area is large, and then the upper computer can judge that: it is necessary to control the shortening of the corresponding bellows 140 in this area. When the telescopic part 140 corresponding to the region is shortened, the corresponding region of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is driven to be shortened, so that the skin surface of the region and the corresponding region of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 can be reduced in fitting degree, the body sensing pressure of a patient is reduced, and the body sensing comfort of the patient is facilitated.

As can be seen from fig. 3, since the plurality of pressure sensors 130 are disposed and arranged in a circle on the front end surface of the flexible coupling sac 120, the plurality of bellows 140 surround the flexible coupling sac 120 in a circle, so that the plurality of bellows 140 surround the plurality of pressure sensors 130 from the outer circumference of the flexible coupling sac 120. The upper computer can control the extension piece 140 in the corresponding area of each pressure sensor 130 to extend or shorten according to the measurement result of each pressure sensor 130, so that when the upper computer controls the extension pieces 142 to extend or shorten simultaneously according to the measurement result of each pressure sensor 130, the overall form of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 can be driven to change, and the whole flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is well attached to the part to be inspected.

It can be understood that the plurality of pressure sensors 130 can send pressure measurement results to the upper computer in real time, and the upper computer can control the extension or contraction of each telescopic member 140 in real time according to the pressure measurement results until each position of the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is in proper fit with the part to be inspected of the patient.

The above describes a basic method of controlling the expansion and contraction of the expansion member 140 based on the measurement result of the pressure sensor 130. The person skilled in the art can set a predetermined algorithm program in the upper computer by using the basic method and based on the deep learning algorithm. The upper computer includes a processor and a storage medium. When the upper computer receives the pressure measurement results measured by the plurality of pressure sensors 130, the processor calls the algorithm program from the storage medium to analyze and process the pressure measurement results to obtain corresponding processing results, and then the upper computer sends control instructions to the telescopic members 140 according to the processing results to control the extension or the shortening of each telescopic member 140, so that the form of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is adjusted. The deep learning algorithm may adopt the prior art, and is not described herein again.

When the ultrasonic probe 100 is used for ultrasonic examination of a part to be examined of a patient, the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is placed on the part to be examined of the patient, so that each pressure sensor 130 can detect the pressure between the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 and the part to be examined at the corresponding position. The pressure measurement results of the plurality of pressure sensors 130 can reflect: whether the fit between the flexible coupling sac 120 and the portion to be inspected is appropriate at the respective corresponding positions. The host computer then can be according to the pressure measurement result control of a plurality of pressure sensor 130 a plurality of extensible member 140 extension or shorten to adjust the form of flexible coupling liquid bag 120, thereby make each position homoenergetic of the front end of flexible coupling liquid bag 120 can laminate in the position of examining of patient better, and then obtain comparatively clear ultrasonic image and can make the patient obtain better body and feel.

It is understood that in other embodiments, the plurality of pressure sensors 130 and the plurality of expansion members 140 are not limited to be arranged along the circumferential direction, and may be arranged in other various manners. For example, the plurality of pressure sensors 130 may be arranged in two rows. Each column of pressure sensors 130 is aligned along the length of the cartridge body 151. And the two rows of pressure sensors 130 are oppositely disposed along the width direction of the cartridge main body 151. Accordingly, the plurality of telescoping members 140 may be arranged in two rows. Each row of telescoping members 140 is aligned along the length of the cartridge body 151. And the two rows of the expansion members 140 are oppositely disposed along the width direction of the bundle main body 151. The arrangement of the plurality of pressure sensors 130 and the plurality of bellows 140 also allows the form of the flexible coupling sac 120 to be adjusted so that each position of the front end of the flexible coupling sac 120 can be well fitted to a portion of a patient to be examined.

In other embodiments, the number of pressure sensors 130 and the number of telescopic members 140 may be one. It is understood that the configuration of flexible coupling reservoir 120 can also be adjusted by a pressure sensor 130 and a telescoping member 140.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, in one embodiment, the probe kit 150 further includes an ultrasonic gel layer 152. The ultrasonic gel layer 152 is connected to the cartridge body 151. An ultrasonic gel layer 152 is located between the front end of the probe body 110 and the flexible coupling sac 120. The front end of the probe body 110 and the flexible coupling sac 120 are respectively attached to the ultrasonic gel layer 152.

Specifically, the ultrasonic gel layer 152 is, for example, a carbomer gel layer. The carbomer gel is formed by removing part of water from carbomer sol and then coagulating. The ultrasonic gel layer 152 and the cartridge body 151 may be adhesively attached.

The ultrasonic gel layer 152 is located between the front end of the probe body 110 and the flexible coupling liquid sac 120, that is, one side surface of the ultrasonic gel layer 152 is attached to the front end of the probe body 110, and the other side surface is attached to the surface of the flexible coupling liquid sac 120. The layer of ultrasonic gel 152 may be adhesively well attached to the front end of the probe body 110 and the surface of the flexible coupling sac 120, respectively.

Since the ultrasonic gel layer 152 is located between the front end of the probe body 110 and the flexible coupling liquid sac 120, and the ultrasonic gel layer 152 has excellent self-lubricating property, good acoustic wave conduction can be achieved without additionally coating a gel coupling agent between the front end of the probe body 110 and the flexible coupling liquid sac 120.

It is understood that the ultrasonic gel layer 152 is not limited to carbomer gel layer, but can be other gel layers with better self-lubricating property and easy propagation of sound wave, such as gel layers made of gel materials mentioned in patent documents CN101987201A, CN107669952A, etc.

Referring to fig. 1, in an embodiment, the ultrasound probe 100 further includes a flexible sound-transmitting layer 160 attached to and connected to the front end of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120, and the pressure sensor 130 is disposed on the flexible sound-transmitting layer 160.

Specifically, the material used for the flexible sound-transmitting layer 160 is, for example, silicone or the like. The flexible acoustically transparent layer 160 may be adhesively attached to the front end of the flexible coupling sac 120. Pressure sensor 130 may be adhesively disposed on the surface of flexible acoustically transparent layer 160 to facilitate the placement of pressure sensor 130. Meanwhile, the flexible sound-transmitting material is flexible and can deform under the action of external force, so that the deformation of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is not influenced. Also, the flexible acoustically transparent layer 160 can propagate acoustic waves well.

In one embodiment, pressure sensor 130 is a membrane pressure sensor. The thin film pressure sensor is in the form of a thin sheet, is small in size, and is easily attached to the flexible acoustically transparent layer 160 or the flexible coupling sac 120. Moreover, the thin film pressure sensor has a small thickness, which is beneficial for the flexible sound-transmitting layer 160 or the flexible coupling sac 120 to be attached to the skin surface of the part to be examined of the patient.

Further, the pressure sensor 130 is a flexible membrane pressure sensor. The flexible thin film pressure sensor has flexibility and is easy to deform, so that when the form of the flexible coupling sac 120 changes, the pressure sensor 130 is easy to deform along with the flexible coupling sac 120, and the flexible coupling sac 120 is favorably attached to the skin surface of the part to be detected of the patient.

In one embodiment, the projections of the plurality of pressure sensors 130 on the front end surface of the probe body 110 are located at the periphery of the matching layer of the probe body 110.

Specifically, when the probe body 110 works, the ultrasonic waves emitted by the probe body are transmitted to the human body through the matching layer, and when the ultrasonic waves hit organs in the human body, the ultrasonic waves are reflected, and the reflected ultrasonic waves enter the probe body 110 through the matching layer and are processed by the upper computer to obtain corresponding ultrasonic images. Since the projections of the plurality of pressure sensors 130 on the front end surface of the probe body 110 are located on the periphery of the matching layer of the probe body 110, the pressure sensors 130 can be prevented from obstructing the propagation of the ultrasonic wave when the probe body 110 is in operation.

In an embodiment, the ultrasound probe 100 further comprises: an outer container (not shown) and a siphon tube (not shown). An external container is disposed outside the flexible coupling sac 120. The outer container is used for containing coupling agent. The siphon tube has one end communicating with the external container and the other end communicating with the flexible coupling sac 120, thereby allowing the external container to communicate with the flexible coupling sac 120.

The couplant can be circulated between the external container and the flexible coupling sac 120 by adjusting the height of the external container or by putting enough couplant into the external container so that the level of the couplant in the external container is higher than that of the flexible coupling sac 120.

The siphon principle is the prior art, and is not described herein.

Specifically, when the plurality of telescopic members 140 are extended or contracted, the flexible coupling sac 120 is driven to change its shape, so that the volume of the flexible coupling sac 120 is increased or decreased accordingly.

According to the principle of siphon, the flexible coupling sac 120 can automatically suck the couplant from the external container when the volume of the flexible coupling sac 120 is increased, and can automatically discharge the couplant to the external container when the volume of the flexible coupling sac 120 is decreased. Therefore, when the volume of the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 is increased or reduced, the coupling agent can be adaptively supplemented into the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 or discharged from the flexible coupling liquid bag 120, so that the flexible coupling liquid bag 120 can be filled with the coupling agent all the time and maintain proper pressure, and further, the probe body 110 can be favorably coupled with a part to be detected, and the probe body 110 can obtain a good imaging effect.

Further, the outer container and the siphon tube may be disposed inside the probe kit 150 or fixed to the outer surface of the kit body 151 as a part of the structure of the ultrasonic probe 100. May be otherwise configured independently of the ultrasound probe 100.

Referring to fig. 4 to 6, a second embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound probe 200. The ultrasonic probe 200 includes: a probe body 210, a flexible coupling sac 220, a plurality of pressure sensors 230, a plurality of telescoping pieces 240, and a probe kit 250. The structure of the ultrasound probe 200 of the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the ultrasound probe 100 of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted. The following description focuses on differences of the ultrasound probe 200 of the second embodiment from the ultrasound probe 100 of the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, a fixing portion (not shown) of the extensible member 240 is fixedly connected to the front end of the cartridge body 251, not surrounding the side of the cartridge body 251.

Referring to fig. 6, in another embodiment, the probe body 210 may also be a line probe.

In an embodiment, the ultrasound probe 200 further comprises a suction pump (not shown). The suction pump is in communication with the flexible coupling sac 220. When the volume of the flexible coupling sac 220 is increased, the control part can control the suction pump to pump the couplant into the flexible coupling sac 220. When the volume of the flexible coupling sac 220 is reduced, the control part can control the suction pump to suck the couplant out of the flexible coupling sac 220.

Specifically, a first connection pipe (not shown), a second connection pipe (not shown), and an outer container containing the coupler may be configured. The suction pump is communicated with the flexible coupling sac 220 through a first connection pipe, and is communicated with the outer container through a second connection pipe. The control command can be sent to the control part by the upper computer, and the control part controls the action of the suction pump. The suction pump may be disposed inside the probe kit 250 or fixed to the outer surface of the kit body 251.

It can be understood that when the plurality of telescopic members 240 are extended and contracted, the flexible coupling liquid bag 220 is driven to change its form, and when the flexible coupling liquid bag 220 changes its form, its volume is increased or decreased accordingly. Therefore, the upper computer can calculate the volume change of the flexible coupling sac 220 according to the degree of expansion and contraction of the plurality of expansion pieces 240.

When the upper computer calculates the volume increase of the flexible coupling liquid bag 220 according to the expansion degree of the plurality of expansion pieces 240, a control instruction is sent to the control part, and the control part controls the suction pump to extract the couplant from the external container and pump the extracted couplant into the flexible coupling liquid bag 220 so as to supply the couplant into the flexible coupling liquid bag 220.

When the upper computer calculates the volume reduction of the flexible coupling liquid bag 220 according to the expansion degree of the plurality of expansion pieces 240, a control instruction is sent to the control part, and the control part controls the suction pump to extract the couplant from the flexible coupling liquid bag 220 and pump the extracted couplant out of the external container so as to discharge the redundant couplant in the flexible coupling liquid bag 220.

Therefore, when the volume of the flexible coupling liquid bag 220 is increased or reduced, the couplant can be adaptively supplied into the flexible coupling liquid bag 220 or discharged from the flexible coupling liquid bag 220, so that the flexible coupling liquid bag 220 can be filled with the couplant all the time and keep proper pressure, and further good coupling between the probe body 210 and a part to be inspected can be realized, and good imaging effect of the probe body 210 can be obtained.

The outer container may be disposed inside the probe kit 250 as part of the structure of the ultrasound probe 200. May be otherwise configured independently of the ultrasound probe 200.

The technical features of the embodiments described above may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments described above are not described, but should be considered as being within the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above-mentioned embodiments only represent some embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is specific and detailed, but not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the present invention, several variations and modifications can be made, which are within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. An ultrasound probe, comprising:

a probe body;

2. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, further comprising a probe kit, the probe kit comprising a kit body having a socket into which a front end of the probe body can be inserted and fitted, the kit body for fixed connection with the probe body; the fixing part is fixedly connected with the kit main body.

3. The ultrasound probe of claim 2, wherein the anchor portion is located at a periphery of the cartridge body; or, the fixing part is positioned at the front end of the kit main body.

4. The ultrasound probe of claim 2, wherein the probe kit further comprises an ultrasound gel layer, the ultrasound gel layer is connected with the kit body, the ultrasound gel layer is located between the front end of the probe body and the flexible coupling liquid sac, and the front end of the probe body and the flexible coupling liquid sac are respectively attached to the ultrasound gel layer.

5. The ultrasound probe of claim 4, wherein the ultrasound gel layer is a carbomer gel layer.

6. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, further comprising a flexible acoustically transparent layer attached to and connected to the front end of the flexible coupling sac, wherein the pressure sensor is disposed on the flexible acoustically transparent layer.

7. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein the pressure sensor is a thin film pressure sensor.

8. The ultrasound probe of claim 7, wherein the pressure sensor is a flexible membrane pressure sensor.

9. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein the extension is an electrically powered telescopic rod.

10. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pressure sensors are arranged sequentially in a circumferential direction; the plurality of telescopic pieces are sequentially arranged around the flexible coupling liquid bag along a circumferential direction.

11. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein a projection of the plurality of pressure sensors on the front end surface of the probe body is located at a periphery of a matching layer of the probe body.

12. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, further comprising:

13. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, further comprising a suction pump in communication with the flexible coupling sac;

14. An ultrasonic device, comprising an ultrasonic host and an ultrasonic probe, wherein the ultrasonic host is connected with the ultrasonic probe in communication, and the ultrasonic probe comprises:

a probe body;

15. The ultrasound apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a control section for controlling the expansion and contraction section of the expansion and contraction member to expand or contract according to the measurement result of the pressure sensor.

16. The ultrasound apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the control portion is provided in the ultrasound main unit or the ultrasound probe.

17. The ultrasound device of claim 14, wherein the ultrasound probe further comprises a probe kit comprising:

18. The ultrasound device of claim 14, wherein the ultrasound probe further comprises:

19. The ultrasound device of claim 15, wherein the ultrasound probe further comprises: a suction pump in communication with the flexible coupling sac;