JP2001231788A - Bone treatment and healy-diagnosing method and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To measure the heal of a lesion while treating a bone after a surgical operation, etc., by a noninvasive and simple means through the use of ultrasonic wave. SOLUTION: The degree of heal of a fracture is measured by roughly classifying a fracture recovery process into two and by using respectively proper methods. Since a callus grows in a part in the periphery of the lesion in a comparatively early stage after the bone is fractured, diagnosing is performed by recognizing the shape. Since a bone density is increased by the growth of the bone after bridging by the callus is completed, the degree of heal is diagnosed by evaluating the correlative density of the normal part and the lesion. A mechanism for freely adjusting a space dissolution improvement area in a visual field adjusts a focus area in a depth direction with a vibrator 5 as an annular array and also adjusts an angle direction by scanning the vibrator or a probe by a mechanical scanning system.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for treating and healing a bone and a diagnostic apparatus for treating and healing a bone, and more particularly to an ultrasonic signal for measuring the healing state of a bone and the affected part after a surgical operation. The present invention relates to a treatment / healing diagnosis method and a treatment / healing diagnosis device for damaged bone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique relating to a method and an apparatus for promoting treatment of a fracture, there are, for example, a method in which an electrode is attached to an affected part to apply electric stimulation to the affected part, and an induced current is applied to the affected part by exposing the entire affected part to a magnetic field. Are known. In the former prior art, the electrode mounting is often invasive, and the physical and mental burden on the patient is large, and there is also a risk of infection. In the latter conventional technique, the size of the apparatus is huge, and the treatment period until the effect is achieved, and the time of one treatment is extremely long (about several hours a day), so that the patient is restrained during that time. is there.

[0003] None of the above-mentioned conventional techniques using electric stimulation and application of a magnetic field are currently used for the reasons described above.

[0004] On the other hand, in recent years, attention has been paid to fracture treatment by ultrasonic irradiation. In this method, treatment of the fracture is promoted by irradiating the fracture with the acoustic energy percutaneously. The method using ultrasonic irradiation can solve the problems of the invasive, large-scale device, long treatment, and long treatment of the above-described methods of electric stimulation and magnetic field application. Things.

[0005] As a conventional technique relating to fracture treatment by ultrasonic irradiation, for example, techniques described in JP-A-4-82567, JP-A-4-82568 and the like are known. This conventional technique promotes healing of a fractured site by simultaneously performing ultrasonic irradiation and electrical stimulation. As another conventional technique, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
The technique described in 220220 is known.
This prior art includes a device for measuring a boundary position between a bone and a surrounding tissue so that an ultrasonic wave to be irradiated is focused on a surface of a bone of a fracture affected part, and automatically controls an ultrasonic irradiation method suitable for treatment. That is.

Further, as another prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
The technology described in 108054 is known.
In this prior art, a plurality of ultrasonic transducers are mounted on a fractured affected part, and the excitation effect is controlled in a time-division manner to increase the therapeutic effect.
Further, as another prior art, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-1872
There are known techniques described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 65-65, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-332209, and the like. These prior arts focus on the gap between the bones of the fractured affected area, and can more efficiently transmit and irradiate acoustic energy to the space. 1 /
By selecting the frequency of the ultrasonic wave so as to be four wavelengths, a standing wave is established in the space between the bones to promote treatment.

[0007] None of the aforementioned methods and devices for treating fractures using ultrasonic waves according to the prior art have a function of measuring the healing state of an affected part of a fracture, and are dedicated to treatment by ultrasonic irradiation. However, the diagnosis of the healing condition must rely on another method and apparatus.

As the only prior art relating to a method and an apparatus for simultaneously performing treatment and diagnosis using ultrasonic waves, the technique described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-505745 is known. , As bone diagnosis, bone mineral density,
It measures strength and fracture rate quantitatively, and its correlation with fracture healing degree is not clear, and the measurement, analysis, and calculation means are complicated.

In this prior art, since a pair of transducers are used so as to sandwich the affected part, the transmitting transducer, the part to be measured (affected part), and the receiving transducer must be on a straight line. Therefore, it is difficult to align the transducers. Further, in this conventional technique, since most of the transmitted ultrasonic waves are reflected on the surface of the affected part (bone), the energy of the transmitted ultrasonic waves is extremely small, and the transmission energy is increased in order to obtain sufficient transmitted energy. It is necessary, but this causes a problem that it is difficult to suppress the intensity of the ultrasonic wave transmitted within the safety standard for the living body.

[0010] Generally, in the treatment by irradiation of ultrasonic waves, if the intensity of the irradiated ultrasonic waves is too high, there is a risk of destroying the tissue. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the intensity of the irradiated ultrasonic waves to a certain reference value or less. There is. Many of the above-mentioned prior arts also take this point into consideration, and there is a description specifying the intensity of the ultrasonic wave to be irradiated. However, all of the above-mentioned conventional techniques are intended to treat a bone located at a relatively shallow subcutaneous site, and the fat between the skin and the bone,
No consideration is given to the attenuation of ultrasonic waves caused by muscles, tendons and the like.

[0011] In the past, there have been many reports on diagnostic methods aimed at diagnosing osteoporosis, but none of these techniques has been known for the purpose of measuring the state of fracture healing.

[0012] Diagnosis of fracture healing at present is performed based on a doctor's subjective judgment by examining an image obtained by X-ray imaging of the affected part of the fracture. In other words, the criteria for the diagnosis of “healed” is made by comparing the fractured part with the healthy part, and can be said to be a relative diagnosis.

[0013]

The prior art described above is
In any case, the treatment and the diagnosis cannot be performed simultaneously. Even if the treatment and the diagnosis can be performed simultaneously, the measurement, analysis, and calculation means are complicated, and the alignment of the transducer is also difficult. Is difficult to take.

Although the above-mentioned prior art considers the intensity of ultrasonic waves to be irradiated, it does not consider the intensity of ultrasonic waves which are attenuated by subcutaneous fat or muscle and reach the bone surface. It is considered that only the bones in the subcutaneous area such as the calcaneus are targeted for treatment, and in the case of fractures in the deep subcutaneous areas such as the femur, the ultrasonic waves of the intended strength do not necessarily reach the surface of the bone when applying treatment. There is a problem that it cannot be said that there is.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to provide an apparatus such as an X-ray imaging apparatus which may be exposed to radiation or an MR.
Bone that enables measurement of the healing state of the affected area while performing bone treatment after surgery and the like by non-invasive and simple means using ultrasound without using a large device such as I To provide a treatment / healing diagnosis method and a treatment / healing diagnosis device.

[0016] In general, the fusion of the bones is performed first in the affected area (osteotomy,
Fractures, etc.) Callus formation in the surrounding area precedes. For this reason, it is considered effective to measure the degree of callus formation (callus bone amount, callus bone density) in measuring the union state of bone. The initial stage of callus growth is formed so as to bridge the opposing surface, not at the opposing surface of the bone separated by osteotomy, fracture, or the like, but at the periphery thereof.
Therefore, in order to measure the degree of callus formation, it is necessary to measure the shape of the bridge around the affected part using an ultrasonic beam with high spatial resolution. The measurement of the callus shape cannot be realized due to the insufficient spatial resolution of the ultrasonic beam depending on the image diagnostic function of an existing ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus (for abdominal echo or circulatory disease diagnosis). . Also, the range for measuring the degree of callus formation may be at most a few cm around the affected part in the longitudinal direction of the bone, and it is not possible to increase the spatial resolution over the entire depth direction of several tens of cm of the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Not reasonable. For the reasons described above, it is necessary to improve the spatial resolution of the ultrasonic beam in a specific range (surrounding part of the affected part) and to freely set the specific range.

Further, as the ultrasonic waves to be applied to the affected part, it is necessary to scan a narrow beam or a beam having a wide beam width so that the entire affected part is irradiated with the ultrasonic waves during treatment. At the time of diagnosis, high resolution is required in the vicinity of the affected part, so focused ultrasound with a narrow beam width is required. It is costly and impractical to replace the ultrasound probe between treatment and diagnosis to meet such demands, so it is necessary to switch the beam width, focus, and beam scanning method during treatment and diagnosis .

Therefore, another object of the present invention is to satisfy the requirements as described above, and to measure the healing state after bone surgery by irradiating ultrasonic waves from the body surface to the fracture affected part, It is an object of the present invention to provide a bone treatment / healing diagnosis method and a bone treatment / healing diagnosis device having a function of measuring the state of callus formation and objectively diagnosing the degree of healing while promoting healing.

[0019]

According to the present invention, there is provided a bone treatment / healing diagnosis method for treating bone by irradiating an ultrasonic wave and diagnosing a healing state. By diagnosing the healing state of the fracture by measuring at least one of the callus shape of the fractured affected area and the bone density of the fractured affected area using the same ultrasonic reflected signal as the ultrasonic wave used for treatment, Further, the measurement can be achieved by switching between measurement of the shape of the callus of the fractured affected part and measurement of the bone density of the fractured affected part depending on the period of the fracture healing process.

Further, the above object is to provide a bone treatment for irradiating an ultrasonic wave and diagnosing a healing state.
In a healing diagnosis device, an ultrasonic probe having an ultrasonic vibrator for irradiating an ultrasonic wave to a fractured part for treatment and diagnosis of a healing state, a callus shape of the fractured part based on a reflected signal of the ultrasonic wave, the fractured part Means for measuring at least one of the bone densities.

Further, the object is further provided with control means for controlling a phase of a voltage applied to the ultrasonic vibrator, narrowing an ultrasonic beam and adjusting a focus area, wherein the ultrasonic vibrators are arranged in an array. This is achieved by providing the arranged piezoelectric element, and by configuring the ultrasonic probe with the ultrasonic transducer, a motor for mechanical scan, and an encoder for position control.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a method for treating and healing a bone and a diagnostic apparatus for healing and healing according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a bone treatment / healing diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining focusing and beam scanning of an ultrasonic beam. Diagram explaining the healing process,
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating measurement of a callus shape and a display format, FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating measurement and display format of a relative value of bone density, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating adjustment of a high-resolution region in a visual field. FIG. 1 to 6, 1 is a focus area control circuit, 2 is a transducer driving circuit, 3 is an encoder, 4 is a beam scanning motor, 5 is an ultrasonic transducer, 6 is a gate circuit, 7 is an amplifier, 8 is AD converter, 9
Is a signal processing unit, 10 is a diagnostic result display unit, 11 is an ultrasonic probe, 12 is a transducer array, 13 is an ultrasonic beam, 1
4 is a focus area, 20 is a scan area, 21 is a scan direction, 22 is a fracture affected part, 23 is a bone, and 24 is a callus.

As shown in FIG. 1, a bone treatment / healing diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a focus area control circuit 1, a transducer driving circuit 2, an encoder 3, a beam scanning motor 4, and an ultrasonic wave. An ultrasonic probe 11 constituted by the transducer 5, a gate circuit 6, an amplifier 7,
AD converter 8, signal processing unit 9, diagnostic result display unit 10
It is comprised including.

In the above description, the vibrator driving circuit 2 is provided with a sine wave oscillator and a rectangular wave oscillator, and has a sine wave oscillation frequency of 1.5 MHz, which is known as a frequency suitable for bone treatment. As the oscillation frequency of the square wave,
Transmits and outputs 1 KHz having a duty ratio of 20%. The treatment by the treatment / healing diagnostic device configured as described above,
Pulse-like (1.5 MH in 20% of 1 KHz square wave)
(a sine wave of z exists), and the signal is controlled to a predetermined level, applied to the ultrasonic vibrator 5 through the gate circuit 6, and irradiated by the ultrasonic vibrator 5. Irradiation ultrasonic waves for therapeutic treatment whose intensity is controlled are performed by irradiating the fractured affected part. At that time, the reflected wave is 1
The ultrasonic vibrator 5 detects the KHz rectangular wave ultrasonic wave during a period during which the ultrasonic wave is not output, and the detection signal is output from the amplifier 7.
The signal is input to the signal processing unit 9 via the A / D converter 8.

In the bone treatment / healing diagnosis apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic transducer 5 for irradiating the ultrasonic beam to the fractured part of the ultrasonic probe 11 comprises a focus area control circuit 1 and a transducer drive circuit 2. Thus, the frequency of the ultrasonic wave applied to the fractured part, the pulse repetition frequency, the depth of focus, the scanning direction, and the like are controlled. At the time of treatment, the affected part may be irradiated with the ultrasonic beam, but at the time of diagnosis, a reflected wave from the affected part must be received. For this reason, the illustrated apparatus is provided with a gate circuit 6 that temporally divides a transmission wave and a reception wave, thereby obviating the need for providing a separate probe for each of treatment and diagnosis. The configuration can be simplified and the cost can be kept low.

The received signal divided by the gate circuit is amplified by an amplifier 7, converted into a discrete numerical value by an AD converter 8, subjected to appropriate signal processing by a signal processing unit 9, and then displayed on a diagnosis result display unit 10. The result is displayed. The AD converter 8 receives a control signal indicating the beam scan direction from the encoder 3 in addition to the received signal, and extracts information for specifying the beam direction. It is necessary to scan the ultrasound beam to irradiate the area around the fracture,
The illustrated apparatus uses a mechanical scan method as a means for this purpose.
The ultrasonic transducer is scanned by the motor 4. Accordingly, the present invention makes it possible to configure a small and inexpensive device while preventing the device configuration from becoming complicated.

As described above, the existing ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus used for image diagnosis for measuring the state of callus formation has insufficient spatial resolution. However, it is clearly overspec to simply improve the spatial resolution of the entire visual field range of more than 10 cm in the depth direction. In order to diagnose the healing state of the bone, it is sufficient that only the part where the callus formation occurs near the fractured affected part has a high resolution. Therefore, the ultrasonic transducer 5 used in the embodiment of the present invention has the structure shown in FIG. As shown in (), the piezoelectric elements constituting the ultrasonic transducer 5 are constituted by a transducer array 12 arranged in an array, for example, an annular array, and different phases of voltages are applied to the piezoelectric elements arranged concentrically. This enables the ultrasonic beam 13 to be focused. By appropriately controlling the phase of the applied voltage, it becomes possible to focus the ultrasonic beam only in a certain specific range, and it is possible to realize the forming of the ultrasonic beam 13 suitable for measuring the shape of the callus. The beam diameter of the focus area 14 having a high resolution of the ultrasonic beam 13 shown in FIG.
The length is approximately one wavelength, and the length in the depth direction is several wavelengths.

Further, since the depth of the bone from the skin is not constant depending on the site, the specific range having the high resolution (the ultrasonic beam focus area 14) is determined by the depth of the target bone and the affected area. It must be able to move and set freely depending on the position of. In order to realize this, it is effective to use the beam focus method based on the above-described phase control, whereby the beam width and the focus area can be freely controlled, the spatial resolution can be improved in an arbitrary area, and It is possible to irradiate an optimal ultrasonic beam for measuring the state of bone formation.

At present, callus formation diagnosis in image diagnosis by X-ray imaging, which is the mainstream of current diagnostic methods, is an ambiguous and subjective diagnosis of the presence or absence of a faint shadow on a captured image. . For this reason, the measurement of the callus formation state according to the present invention is performed by identifying the callus shape by a reflected signal obtained by ultrasonic irradiation and monitoring the change over time of the shape. Therefore,
The present invention does not require a tomographic image such as an echo screen of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in diagnosing the state of callus formation, and scans a peripheral portion of an affected part with an irradiated ultrasonic beam to obtain a boundary surface representing a callus shape. What is necessary is just to display the waveform which traced the peak position of the reflected signal from.

In the above-described scan, as shown in FIG. 2B, the transducer 5 of the ultrasonic probe 11 is controlled by the scanning motor 4 so that the ultrasonic beam from the transducer 5 includes the fracture affected part 22. In the longitudinal direction of the bone 23 in the scanning direction 2
This is performed by scanning as 1. Thereby, as the scan area 20 which is the visual field, the fracture affected part 2
A sufficient size can be obtained for measuring the shape of the callus including 2.

The embodiment of the present invention is intended to irradiate ultrasonic waves to a fractured part of a human or an animal whose fracture may be fatal to promote fracture healing, and to use the ultrasonic waves for the state of fracture healing. Is to measure. According to the considerations of the present inventors, it is not necessary to quantitatively evaluate the fracture healing state, such as the elastic modulus for bending of the fracture site, but rather to measure the bending strength. Applying mechanical stress is a previous problem whether or not the patient feels painful and should be avoided. In order to make such a fracture healing diagnosis, it is necessary to compare the healthy part of the bone with the fractured part. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the body surface to the healthy part and the fractured part of the bone, respectively, and the distribution of the ultrasonic reflection coefficient in the longitudinal direction of the bone is measured.

Here, the healing process of the fracture site will be described with reference to FIG. First, healing of bone 23 is shown in FIG.
As shown as stage 1, a callus 24 is formed around the bone 23 on both sides of the fracture, and the callus 24 grows so as to bridge the opposing portion of the bone separated from the affected area. As shown in FIG. 3 as stage 2, the diseased part is surrounded and further proceeds so as to fill the distant part around the affected part.

The healing diagnosis of the fracture according to the embodiment of the present invention utilizes the above-described healing process of the fracture site, and objectively measures the growth of the callus by monitoring the temporal change of the callus shape. This is done by: As described with reference to FIG. 2B, the shape of the callus 24 traces the peak position of the reflected wave from the surface of the bone 23 and the callus 24 while scanning the ultrasonic beam so as to include the affected area. Can be measured.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the result of tracing the peak positions of the reflected waves from the surfaces of the bone 23 and the callus 24 is shown in FIG. 4, and the reflected waves immediately after the injury are as shown in FIG. The fracture separation portion shape 26 is measured as a depressed shape with respect to the substantially flat bone surface shape 25. In addition, the reflected wave in the early stage of callus formation is, as shown in FIG. 4B, a state in which the callus surface shape 27 formed at the end of the fracture site is raised from the bone surface shape 25, and the distance between the fractures. The part shape 26 is measured as a depressed shape. Then, when bridging is completed by filling the space around the affected area, bridging is measured as a smooth bone surface shape 25 as shown in FIG.

When bridging of the callus is completed, the shape of the callus surface hardly changes, and the process of healing of the bone mainly changes within the affected area surrounded by the callus. The content of the process is
Broadly divided, callus formation in the opposing space of spaced bones,
It is an increase in bone (callus) density and bone union. Therefore, it is considered that the diagnosis of bone union after bridging of the callus should be performed by measuring the callus density. Diagnosis by measuring the callus density does not require reflected waves from healthy bones, measures the reflection intensity from the callus, and takes into account attenuation due to subcutaneous fat, etc., and the interface between the arm and callus / peripheral tissue. By calculating the reflection coefficient caused by the difference in the acoustic impedance at. Using this reflection coefficient and the acoustic impedance of the surrounding tissue, the callus density can be calculated and quantitative evaluation can be performed.

In the case of promoting (healing) bone fusion, it is necessary to irradiate an ultrasonic beam to the affected area and the entire surrounding area.
For this purpose, a wide ultrasonic beam may be applied, or a relatively narrow ultrasonic beam may be scanned. In contrast, when diagnosing the degree of bone union,
Since high accuracy is required, an ultrasonic beam to be irradiated needs high spatial resolution. To achieve high spatial resolution, an ultrasonic wave with a narrow beam width is used or an ultrasonic beam is focused. As described above, the properties of the ultrasonic beam to be irradiated are greatly different between the time of treatment and the time of diagnosis.
However, replacing the ultrasonic probe used at the time of treatment and at the time of diagnosis in order to make the properties of the ultrasonic beam to be irradiated different will lead to an increase in cost, complexity, and operation complexity of the device. Not realistic for a reason.

The embodiment of the present invention includes a treatment / diagnosis switching circuit for performing treatment and diagnosis using the same ultrasonic probe. Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, as described above, the configuration of the ultrasonic transducer used for the probe is an annular array type, and the focus area of the ultrasonic beam can be freely controlled by adding a control circuit. I have. Thus, it becomes possible to irradiate a wide beam including the area around the affected part of the fracture at the time of treatment, and a focused beam of high resolution at the affected part at the time of diagnosis. Furthermore, in the case of bone diagnosis, it is not necessary to follow the movement of the organ in real time as in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, and since information from the tissue around the affected area is almost useless, the resolution of the entire visual field area is reduced. No need to improve. For this reason, the embodiment of the present invention is configured such that the focus area can be arbitrarily set by the above-described control circuit so that the depth from the skin can correspond to various bones.

FIG. 6 shows the control state of the focus area (high-resolution area) of the ultrasonic beam described above. The phase of the voltage applied to the piezoelectric elements arranged in an array of transducers constituting the ultrasonic probe 11 is shown in FIG. Is appropriately controlled, and in addition, the beam direction by the mechanical scan is controlled, so that the high resolution region 31 can be freely adjusted in the visual field 20.

When the affected part is not healed, support materials (metal plates, bolts, etc.) are used for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the bone.
Is often inserted and implanted in the affected area. In such a case, if the support material is located between the fractured affected part and the transducer for ultrasonic irradiation, almost all the ultrasonic beams are reflected on the surface of the support material, and the shape of the bridging is reflected by the reflected wave from the fractured affected part. And information on bone density cannot be obtained. In order to avoid this, the arrangement of the ultrasonic transducer may be determined with reference to the doctor who has implanted the support material and the X-ray photograph.

As described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the embodiment of the present invention uses an annular array transducer as the ultrasonic transducer 5 in order to improve the spatial resolution required for measurement of the callus shape. The focus area is configured to be freely set by the vibrator driving circuit 2 and the control circuit 1, and switching between treatment and diagnosis is performed by a gate circuit 6 as a switching circuit. At the time of treatment, it is only necessary to irradiate an ultrasonic beam. Therefore, the gate circuit 6 prevents a signal from flowing to the amplifier 7 and the AD converter 8 constituting a reflected wave receiving unit.
On the other hand, at the time of diagnosis, it is necessary to receive and process the reflected wave from the bone surface. Therefore, the gate circuit 6 controls the reflected signal to flow to the receiving unit of the reflected wave. The beam scan for recognizing the callus shape at the time of diagnosis is a mechanical scan, and the encoder 3 captures the position and direction information in synchronization with the reflected wave and uses the information to recreate the callus shape to be displayed.

As described with reference to FIG. 3, during the healing process of the fractured area, a short time after the injury, callus grows around the affected area, and bridging is formed so as to surround the affected area (stage).
1) When the bridging with callus is completed, the callus grows in the inside thereof, that is, in the part where the fracture is separated, and the density of the callus itself increases and fills the separated part (stage).
This is the process 2). Then, when the distant part is buried and the bone density of the affected part becomes equal to that of the healthy part, it is completely cured.

For this reason, the stage 1 is a period until the callus grows and the bridging is completed, so that the degree of healing of the fracture can be monitored by monitoring the shape of the callus. That is, as described with reference to FIG. 4, the healing degree of the fracture can be diagnosed by obtaining and displaying the surface shape of the callus by the scanned beam. However, Stage 2 is a time when bridging of the callus is completed and healing progresses in the separated part inside,
It is difficult to diagnose the degree of healing by diagnosing the same shape as in stage 1.

Therefore, the embodiment of the present invention relates to the Stage 2
Diagnosis at the time of the measurement, the reflection intensity from the callus is measured, and the reflection coefficient caused by the difference in acoustic impedance at the interface between the arm and callus / peripheral tissue in consideration of attenuation due to subcutaneous fat is calculated. The temporary bone density is calculated by using the acoustic impedance of the surrounding tissue and the acoustic impedance of the surrounding tissue, and the evaluation is made quantitatively by comparing with the bone density of the healthy part. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the measurement result of the relative value of the bone density is displayed, and the density 30 of the callus 23 is displayed in a rod shape as a relative value when the density of the bone 23 in the healthy part is 100%. ing. This makes it possible to relatively compare the density between the callus and the bone of the healthy part, and easily diagnose the degree of healing.
The above-described diagnosis methods of stages 1 and 2 can be easily performed by switching the methods in the signal processing unit 9 shown in FIG.

The diagnosis of the fracture healing degree according to the embodiment of the present invention as described above is based on the fact that the diagnosis target does not move, the diagnosis mechanism has a high spatial resolution only in the vicinity of the affected part, and the high resolution area is the position of the affected part. It is necessary to be able to freely adjust to suit. Therefore, the embodiment of the present invention includes the device configuration as shown and described in FIG. 1, appropriately controls the phase of the voltage applied to the piezoelectric elements arranged on the array, and furthermore, controls the beam direction by mechanical scanning. As described with reference to FIG. 6, the high-resolution area can be freely adjusted within the field of view by the control.

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the healing state can be measured as it is without removing the ultrasonic transducer which is in close contact with the body surface for treating a fracture, and the treatment and diagnosis can be performed. Can be realized in exactly the same manner with the same device configuration. In addition, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the healing process of the fracture is roughly divided into two stages.
By categorizing into different types and using the diagnostic method based on shape recognition and density relative measurement using each feature,
More effective diagnosis can be performed. Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, a region having a high spatial resolution for shape recognition, which is required only in a region near the diseased part, can be freely adjusted depending on the position of the diseased part.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to measure the healing state of an affected part while performing a bone treatment after a surgical operation or the like by a noninvasive and simple means using ultrasonic waves. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a bone treatment / healing diagnosis device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating focusing of an ultrasonic beam and beam scanning.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a healing process of a fracture site.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating measurement of a callus shape and a display format.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating measurement and display format of a relative value of bone density.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating adjustment of a high-resolution area in a visual field.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Focus area control circuit 2 Transducer drive circuit 3 Encoder 4 Beam scan motor 5 Ultrasonic transducer 6 Gate circuit 7 Amplifier 8 A / D converter 9 Signal processing unit 10 Diagnostic result display unit 11 Ultrasonic probe 12 Transducer array 13 Ultra Sound beam 14 Focus area 20 Scan area 21 Scan direction 22 Fracture affected area 23 Bone 24 Callus

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takayuki Mizuta 216 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Communications Division, Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi Advanced Systems Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masahiro Kurihara 216 Totsukacho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in the Communications Division, Hitachi, Ltd. 4C060 JJ27 LL13 LL20 MM24 4C301 AA02 BB28 BB30 DD11 DD30 EE13 EE19 FF23 FF26 GB08 GD10 HH03 HH24 HH37 JB03 JB23

Claims (5)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A treatment of a bone by irradiation of an ultrasonic wave,
And, in the bone treatment / healing diagnosis method for diagnosing the healing state, the healing state of the bone that is the fractured part is determined by using the same ultrasonic reflected signal as the ultrasonic wave used for the treatment, and the callus shape of the fractured part, A bone treatment / healing diagnosis method characterized by diagnosing a degree of healing of a fracture by measuring at least one of a bone density of a fractured part. 2. The bone treatment / healing diagnosis method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement of the shape of the callus at the fractured site and the measurement of the bone density of the fractured site are switched depending on the period of the fracture healing process. 3. Treatment of bone by irradiation of ultrasonic waves,
And, in a bone treatment / healing diagnostic device for diagnosing a healing state, an ultrasonic probe having an ultrasonic vibrator for irradiating an ultrasonic wave for treatment and diagnosis of a healing state to a fractured part,
Means for measuring at least one of a callus shape of a fractured affected part and a bone density of the fractured affected part based on a reflected signal of an ultrasonic wave. 4. A control device for controlling a phase of a voltage applied to the ultrasonic vibrator to narrow an ultrasonic beam and adjust a focus area, wherein the ultrasonic vibrator is a piezoelectric element arranged in an array The bone treatment / healing diagnosis apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the ultrasonic probe includes the ultrasonic transducer, a motor for mechanical scanning, and an encoder for position control. Healing diagnostic device.