JP2002224119A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic probe capable of obtaining a desired ultrasonic tomographic image in a necessary linearly scanning range by suppressing an excess pain to a patient to a minimum limit. SOLUTION: This ultrasonic probe comprises a radial scanning means 2 for rotating an ultrasonic vibrator in a radial direction, and a linearly scanning means 6 for driving the vibrator in a linear direction. The probe further comprises setting means (31, 20) capable of arbitrarily setting a ratio of a moving distance of the vibrator in the linear direction to a rotational speed of the vibrator in the radial direction. Thus, the radial scanning and the linearly scanning of the vibrator are simultaneously executed at the ratio set by the setting means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe, and more particularly, to an ultrasonic probe which is radially scanned and linearly scanned and projected onto a living body. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe used for an obtained ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a method of irradiating an ultrasonic wave into a living body, extracting a state of the body from an echo signal thereof, and finding and diagnosing a lesion has been widely used. Above all, the method of irradiating ultrasonic waves from inside the body by inserting the ultrasonic probe into the body endoscopically requires the use of high-frequency ultrasonic waves with lower attenuation of ultrasonic waves and higher resolution than those of the extracorporeal type. It is attracting attention because it can be.

[0003] As such an intracavity ultrasonic probe,
It is proposed to construct a three-dimensional image of a lumen by scanning the lumen spirally by combining a so-called radial scan for rotating the ultrasonic transducer and a so-called linear scan for linearly moving the ultrasonic transducer. Have been.

[0004]

However, in a conventional ultrasonic probe for performing a spiral scan,
The speed ratio between the radial scan and the linear scan is fixed, and scanning is performed by synchronizing the movement in the radial direction and the movement in the linear direction.

For this reason, if the speed of the radial scan is reduced, for example, due to the conditions of the diagnostic site and the speed of taking in three-dimensional image data, the speed of the linear scan is also reduced, and the required scan range in the linear direction is reduced. In contrast, the time required for the spiral scan is prolonged, during which time the patient must hold his or her breath, which may cause extra pain to the patient.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to be made in view of the above point that an unnecessary pain to a patient is minimized and an appropriate ultrasonic tomographic image is obtained in a necessary linear scan range. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a radial scanning means for rotating an ultrasonic transducer in a radial direction, and a linear scanning means for driving the ultrasonic transducer in a linear direction. An ultrasonic probe comprising: a setting unit capable of arbitrarily setting a ratio of a moving distance in a linear direction to a rotational speed of the ultrasonic transducer in a radial direction, wherein the ultrasonic wave is set at a ratio set by the setting unit. It is characterized in that a radial scan and a linear scan of the vibrator are performed simultaneously.

As described above, in the present invention, the ratio of the moving distance in the linear direction to the number of rotations in the radial direction of the ultrasonic transducer can be arbitrarily set, and the radial scanning of the ultrasonic transducer can be performed at the set ratio. By simultaneously performing the linear scanning, it is possible to arbitrarily set the moving speed in the linear direction of the ultrasonic transducer rotating in the radial direction, the scanning time, and the resolution of the ultrasonic tomographic image.

[0009]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of an ultrasonic probe according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a drive mechanism system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a control system. As shown in FIG.
In the ultrasonic probe according to the present embodiment, a frame 1 holds a radial motor 2 and a rotary encoder 3 that constitute a radial rotating unit. The rotating shaft of the radial motor 2 is connected to the flexible shaft 4, and transmits the rotation of the motor 2 to an ultrasonic vibrator (not shown) attached to the distal end of the flexible shaft 4 so that the ultrasonic vibrator is It is designed to rotate. Radial motor 2
The rotary encoder 3 is fixed via a gear 5. On the other hand, a fitting member 8 is provided on the frame 1 holding the radial rotating portion, and a ball screw 7 connected to a stepping motor 6 is screwed into the fitting member 8,
By rotating the ball screw 7 by the stepping motor 6, the frame 1 is linearly moved between a required range AB and the ultrasonic transducer is linearly driven.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the output of the rotary encoder 3 is supplied to a frequency dividing circuit 31. The frequency dividing circuit 31 is configured so that the frequency dividing ratio can be arbitrarily set via the microprocessor 20. Based on the output of the frequency dividing circuit 31, the frequency of the stepping motor 6 is controlled via the motor control circuit 9 and the motor driver 10. Control the drive.

In the present embodiment, the frequency division ratio of the frequency dividing circuit 31 is set to a desired value by the user via the microprocessor 20 in advance. The rotary encoder 3 generates a clock of, for example, 200 cycles for one rotation of the radial motor 2 and inputs the clock to the frequency dividing circuit 31. Dividing circuit 3
At 1, the clock pulse supplied from the rotary encoder 3 is frequency-divided at a frequency division ratio set via the microprocessor 20, and the frequency-divided clock is output to the motor control circuit 9. If the frequency division ratio is, for example, 1: 1, the motor control circuit 9 outputs the clock 1 supplied from the frequency division circuit 31.
The stepping motor 6, that is, the ball screw 7 is rotated by 1.8 ° via the motor driver 10 with respect to the cycle. Therefore, the stepping motor 6, that is, the ball screw 7 rotates 360 °, that is, one rotation by the clock 200 generated by the rotary encoder 3. For one rotation of the ball screw 7, the fitting member 8,
That is, the ultrasonic transducer retracts by, for example, 1 mm. Since the rotation speed of the radial motor 2 is constant, the linear movement amount of the ultrasonic transducer with respect to the radial rotation can be changed by changing the dividing ratio of the dividing circuit 31 via the microprocessor 20.

As described above, in the present embodiment, by changing the frequency division ratio of the frequency dividing circuit 31 via the microprocessor 20, the rotation in the radial direction and the movement in the linear direction are operated synchronously. In addition, the speed of the linear scan can be arbitrarily changed. Therefore, when the user increases the speed of the linear scan, the slice pitch of the ultrasonic tomographic image becomes coarser, but the scan time is shortened, so that the patient's pain such as stopping breathing during the scan is reduced. Can be. In addition, by reducing the scan speed and increasing the number of radial scans with respect to the linear scan, it is possible to increase the resolution by reducing the slice pitch of the tomographic image while minimizing extra pain to the patient. The user can select these features and use an ultrasound probe by changing the speed of the linear scan relative to the radial scan.

[0013]

As described above, according to the ultrasonic probe of the present invention, the ratio of the moving distance in the linear direction to the number of rotations in the radial direction of the ultrasonic transducer can be arbitrarily set. By increasing the speed of the linear scan, the scanning time can be shortened and the patient's pain can be reduced. The slice pitch can be made finer while minimizing extra pain, thereby improving the resolution of the ultrasonic image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a drive mechanism system of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a control system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 frame 2 radial motor 3 rotary encoder 4 flexible shaft 5 gear 6 stepping motor 7 ball screw 8 fitting part 9 motor control circuit 10 motor driver 20 microprocessor 31 frequency dividing circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic probe comprising: a radial scan means for rotating an ultrasonic transducer in a radial direction; and a linear scan means for driving the ultrasonic transducer in a linear direction. Setting means capable of arbitrarily setting the ratio of the moving distance in the linear direction to the number of rotations in the direction, wherein the radial scanning and the linear scanning of the ultrasonic transducer are simultaneously performed at the ratio set by the setting means. An ultrasonic probe, characterized in that: 2. According to the ratio set by the setting means,
The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein a moving speed of the ultrasonic transducer in a linear direction is changed. 3. According to the ratio set by the setting means,
The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein a scan time of the ultrasonic transducer is changed. 4. According to the ratio set by the setting means,
The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein a resolution in a linear direction of the ultrasonic transducer is changed.