JP2003061953A - Ultrasonic vibrator driving motor, ultrasonic probe including the same and ultrasonic diagnosing apparatus using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic diagnosing apparatus, capable of constructing a motor system for driving an ultrasonic vibrator only with the ultrasonic probe and detaching/attaching the apparatus and the ultrasonic probe to and from each other. SOLUTION: An ultrasonic vibrator-carrying driving motor 3 is housed in a window case 23, and a driving motor control driving circuit 19 is incorporated in a connector box 18.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic transducer drive motor, an ultrasonic probe using the same, and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ultrasonic probes used in ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses for living bodies are roughly classified into a linear scanning system and a sector scanning system. The sector scanning systems mainly include an electronic sector scanning system and a mechanical sector system. There is a scanning method. As the mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe, the type and method described on page 54 of "Introduction to Ultrasonic Examination (2nd Edition)" issued by Ito Denshaku Publishing Co., Ltd. are known. The mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe is also described in Table 3.11 on page 91 of "Revised Medical Ultrasonic Equipment Handbook" (published by Corona Publishing Co., Ltd.) edited by Japan Electronic Machinery Industry Association. Has been done.

Conventionally, an ultrasonic probe (also referred to as an ultrasonic probe or an ultrasonic diagnostic probe) is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-
31373, JP 2001-46377 A, JP 7-184888 A, JP 7-163562 A.
Those described in Japanese Patent Publication are known. Most ultrasonic probes are electronic, and few are mechanical.
The mechanical type has a problem that the drive mechanism section becomes complicated and the probe tip and the operation section at hand tend to be large. Therefore, recently, a motor has been used to drive the ultrasonic transducer. Depending on the type of probe that also uses the motor,
There are commutator motors, brushless motors, pulse motors, stepping motors, ultrasonic motors, and the like. In response to the recent demand for increasing the resolution of diagnostic images, a highly accurate control motor is required for the motor used. The control motor has a motor unit and a control unit, but in the case of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the ultrasonic probe to be inserted into the living body must be small, and the motor unit built in it and the control unit of the motor must be separated separately. . The control unit of the drive motor is often formed on the substrate of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body.

Conventionally, since the system is small in scale, electronic components of the system such as image display are mounted on the main body substrate together with the control portion of the drive motor, and it is handled as a pair with the ultrasonic probe to be used. It was In such a situation, there was no reason to separate the control unit of the drive motor.

However, recently, there is a strong demand for high precision, high image quality, and high speed display for image display, and it is necessary to always use the latest DSP to be used. It's getting more and more. The CPU used along with the change may be changed to a high-speed one. It is necessary to update and enhance the diagnostic specifications of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in a short time, and each time the specifications are enhanced, the ratio of the main body system section to the board increases. On the other hand, since the control unit of the drive motor also evolves separately from the main body system, it may be more efficient to develop the main body system and the motor control unit on different boards.

To summarize the reasons for separating the control unit of the drive motor, (1) shorten the development time. (2) It is easy to expand the specifications of ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. (3) Easy options for ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. (4) The system board of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus can be fully used, and specifications can be easily changed. (5) The versatility of the system board of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is increased. And so on.

However, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the prior art has not been able to separate the control unit of the drive motor due to problems such as maintenance and compatibility.

The conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and ultrasonic probe will be described below.

The ultrasonic probe disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 1-31373 has a structure in which the tip of the ultrasonic probe having an ultrasonic transducer and the handle have a housing structure, and the motor is mounted on the handle. The structure is such that the tip of the motor shaft is extended to the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and an ultrasonic transducer is mounted on the tip. The motor is a pulse motor, and the drive circuit of the motor is connected to a rotation control device connected through a cable. A cable is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body from the probe. The main body and the motor rotation control device are housed in separate housings. Since the main body device and the rotation control device are separate bodies, there are problems such as poor workability in handling and the like, which has recently disappeared. In many cases, an integrated body having a built-in motor rotation control is used.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-107179, there is provided an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic probe in which a motor is built in the ultrasonic probe, wherein a control portion of the motor in which the ultrasonic probe is built. There are many ultrasonic diagnostic devices configured in the device body, and pulse motors, brush motors, brushless motors, etc. are used for motors, but a control unit (generally called a motor driver or simply driver) that controls the rotation of the motor is also used. It is configured in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body. Incidentally, JP-A-2000-107
In the No. 179 publication, the rotation speed signal generation unit and the rotation detection unit are referred to as a rotation control unit.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-46377 describes a three-dimensional ultrasonic probe and its device. A motor that rotationally drives the ultrasonic transducer is configured at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and a motor that swings the entire rotary motor is configured as a handle. As described above, the two motors are formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe and the handle, and the drive circuits (control units) of the two motors are built in the main body.

The ultrasonic probe described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-163562 is an ultrasonic probe having a tip on which an ultrasonic vibrator is mounted, a guide tube and a handle, and drives the ultrasonic vibrator. The motor is configured as a handle, and a flexible shaft is provided from the motor to the tip of the ultrasonic probe to oscillate and oscillate the ultrasonic transducer. The circuit that drives the motor is related to the body of the ultrasonic diagnostic device in the body cavity. Is configured. The guide tube through which the flexible shaft is inserted is a flexible member.

This ultrasonic probe is a small-diameter probe that is inserted into a blood vessel as one of the ultrasonic probes inserted into a body cavity. This small diameter probe is composed of an insertion portion (insertion tube) and an operation portion. The insertion portion is composed of a sheath tube, a flexible shaft and a drive wire that are inserted therein, and an ultrasonic transducer provided at the tip of the flexible shaft and the drive wire. Also,
The operation unit has a motor that rotationally drives the flexible shaft. The ultrasonic oscillator is rotated by rotating the motor, and the ultrasonic beam is emitted from the ultrasonic oscillator at the tip in a radial direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the insertion tube. There is also a probe in which the ultrasonic transducer is directed directly in the radial direction as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-163562, or one in which an acoustic mirror is provided to indirectly radiate the beam of the ultrasonic transducer in the radial direction.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-184888 is provided with an ultrasonic probe which indirectly emits a beam of an ultrasonic transducer in a radial direction with respect to an insertion direction by an acoustic mirror. Has been done. The ultrasonic transducer is configured at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, the motor that rotates the ultrasonic transducer is configured in the hand operation unit, and the transmission force of the motor is transmitted to the ultrasonic transducer using the flexible shaft. . Although there is a rotation control mechanism, the motor is considered to be an overload control circuit rather than a control drive circuit.
The motor is not a brushless motor but a motor with a brush.

As in the above-mentioned conventional examples, the control of the motor and the probe as a whole is mostly configured in the device circuit of the main body. Generally, the motor that rotates the ultrasonic transducer is configured near the ultrasonic transducer, but the drive circuit of the motor is configured on the device main board from the viewpoint of power supply and rationalization of board mounting. It was often done.

The mechanical sector scanning type ultrasonic probe of the above conventional example is capable of obtaining a two-dimensional or three-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image. The beam locus surface of the ultrasonic oscillator may be orthogonal to the rotation axis of the drive motor or may be axial. Although there are ultrasonic probes with various beam trajectory planes with respect to the rotation axis of the drive motor, since the rotation control section of the drive motor is configured in the device body,
The system circuit of the apparatus body and the ultrasonic probe are integrated, and it was not assumed that another ultrasonic probe would be attached. This is because the system for displaying images and the ultrasonic probe used were treated as an integral part.

[0017]

As described above, the conventional system integrated with the main body and the probe has a main body system board side in order to quickly respond to the demand for high precision, high image quality, and high speed display of images. From (1), a board space must be secured so that a high-speed DSP can be used easily. (2) What can be done without changing the size of the system board. (3) A space is secured so that the CPU used can be changed to a high-speed one. (4) The system board should have enough room to mount and add another electronic component in the future. (5) The latest image DSP, memory, processing CPU, etc. can be used. Separation is possible so that the specification-changeable part and the part-changeable part are not mixed according to technological progress. (6) It is possible to construct a part whose specification can be changed and a part molecule that does not change so much on different substrates. There has been a demand for a new device form that can meet such demands.

From the control drive circuit side of the ultrasonic transducer drive motor, The ultrasonic transducer drive motors do not have the same motor specifications. For example, brushed motors, brushless motors,
It can be configured with various motors such as a stepping motor and an ultrasonic motor. What you can do regardless of the main system.

2. The applied voltage of the ultrasonic transducer drive motor varies. Since different motors have different applied voltages, they cannot all be made constant. Power supply is 5V, 12V,
Apply 24V to control the reference voltage from the power supply.

3. Even if the ultrasonic transducer drive motor is a brushless motor, the drive system has various specifications such as three-phase half-wave, three-phase full-wave, and two-phase full-wave. The main body system needs a general-purpose interface that does not affect the specifications of the drive circuit.

4. Even if the ultrasonic transducer drive motor is a brushless motor, there are various specifications such as the number of poles of the drive magnet of the motor and the number of winding slits. The main body system needs a general-purpose interface that does not affect the specifications of the drive circuit.

5. There are various cases where the resolution angle accuracy of the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducer drive motor is also various. The signal resolution passed to the main system is a signal of 4 times or less. The mechanism for informing the position of the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment should be known.

6. There are various cases such as the specification of passing the signal level of the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducer drive motor to the apparatus main body. It should be done at a level that does not receive noise.

7. The device body and ultrasonic probe must be removable and attachable. There has been a demand for a new device form that can meet such demands.

The present invention constructs a scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus system in which an ultrasonic transducer is driven by a motor incorporated in the tip portion of an ultrasonic probe, and further satisfies the above demands, and advances in image processing technology and ultrasonic probe. It is an object of the present invention to provide a scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of promptly responding to technological advances and probe replacement.

[0026]

According to the present invention, a small and lightweight scannable ultrasonic transducer driving motor is manufactured, and a motor system for driving an ultrasonic transducer only by an ultrasonic probe is constructed. An object of the present invention is to provide a scanning ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic probe.

It is necessary to be able to construct a motor system that drives an ultrasonic transducer only with an ultrasonic probe. Therefore, it is necessary to construct the control drive circuit of the drive motor on the ultrasonic probe side.

The device body and the ultrasonic probe are detached,
In order to be able to mount the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the connector box is connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

Therefore, the apparatus body and the ultrasonic probe can be detached and attached, which facilitates transportation and maintenance. Further, a portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is manufactured and used for periodical health examinations. It is possible to build a system that can do it. In addition, medical diagnosis can be expanded and medical treatment can be improved and enhanced.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides
(A) In the case of an ultrasonic probe including a handle that is connected to the housing with a tip that includes the ultrasonic vibrator and the drive motor, the ultrasonic vibrator drive motor and the ultrasonic probe include one or more of the following configurations. (1) In order to make a compact structure, an ultrasonic wave propagation medium is included and an ultrasonic wave oscillator and an ultrasonic wave oscillator drive motor are formed in a window case. (2) The ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and a tip containing an ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable. The connector box is used for ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. It is configured to be connected to the main body of. (3) The control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box. (4) For the ultrasonic transducer drive motor, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and M
Amplification of the R signal and rectangular wave processing are performed.

(I) MR output from the MR element
Signal amplification of the signal is performed by the signal processing unit at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, a relay adjustment board that processes the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is placed on the handle, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by the cable line, and it is configured in the connector box. Connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor.

(Ii) MR output from the MR element
A signal processing unit for amplifying a signal and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by a cable wire to a control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box. Connecting.

(Iii) M output from the MR element
A signal drive unit for amplifying the R signal and a rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal is arranged on the handle of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by the cable wire, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box. Connect to.

(Iv) MR output from the MR element
A signal is transmitted by a cable line, a signal processing unit of the signal processing unit formed in the connector box performs signal amplification of the MR element and rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal, and a control drive circuit of a drive motor formed in the connector box. Connect to.

(V) MR output from the MR element
The signal is transmitted from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the cable through the cable to the internal board of the connector box, and the internal board of the connector box amplifies the signal of the MR element and processes the amplified signal into a rectangular wave. And a control drive circuit for the drive motor. (5) The ultrasonic transducer drive motor has a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, and windings on the fixed side member,
It has a drive shaft and a base. (6) The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is a motor other than the commutator motor. (7) The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is a brushless motor. (8) The ultrasonic vibrator is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotor frame of the drive motor, and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated about the drive shaft of the drive motor. (9) The rotating side member of the drive motor is rotatably supported by two bearings, a core and a winding are formed between the bearings, and an ultrasonic transducer is formed on the rotor frame between the two bearings.
Further, a base for fixing the drive shaft is constructed outside the two bearings. (10) The drive shaft of the drive motor is arranged in the window case of the ultrasonic probe so as to be orthogonal to the shaft (handle shaft) connected to the handle from the tip of the ultrasonic probe. (11) A trajectory plane of the ultrasonic beam of the ultrasonic transducer is formed parallel to the handle. (B) The ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor and the ultrasonic probe include one or more of the following configurations. If the motor and ultrasonic transducer are integrated, for example,
An ultrasonic transducer is attached to the rotor frame. (1) In order to make a compact structure, an ultrasonic wave propagation medium is included and an ultrasonic wave oscillator and an ultrasonic wave oscillator drive motor are formed in a window case. (2) The ultrasonic probe is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected from the tip by an insertion tube, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle, and ultrasonic diagnosis is performed by the connector box. It is configured to be connected to the main body of the device. (3) The control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box. (4) The insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility. (5) For the ultrasonic transducer drive motor, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and M
Amplification of the R signal and rectangular wave processing are performed.

(I) MR output from the MR element
Signal amplification of the signal is performed by the signal processing unit at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, a relay adjustment board that processes the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is placed on the handle, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by the cable line, and it is configured in the connector box. Connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor.

(Ii) MR output from the MR element
A signal processing unit that processes signal amplification of the signal and a rectangular wave of the amplified signal is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable, Connect to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box.

(Iii) M output from the MR element
The R signal passes through the insertion tube, and a signal processing section for amplifying the MR element signal and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged in the handle of the ultrasonic probe, and the MR element signal is connected to the signal processing section of the handle. The rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the cable and connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor formed in the connector box.

(Iv) MR output from the MR element
The element signal is transmitted through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable, and the processing circuit of the signal processing unit formed in the connector box performs signal amplification of the MR element and rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal. Then, it is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box.

(V) MR output from the MR element
A signal processing unit for amplifying a signal and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable, The signal is transmitted to the internal board of the connector box, and the signal amplification of the MR element, the rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal and the control drive circuit of the drive motor are configured on the board inside the connector box. (6) The ultrasonic vibrator drive motor has a rotor frame, a drive magnet, and a drive shaft on the rotating side member, and a winding and a base on the fixed side member. (7) The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is a motor other than the commutator motor. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is a brushless motor. (8) The rotation side member of the drive motor is rotatably supported by the bearing,
An ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is formed on a surface orthogonal to the rotation axis, and the ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is a top surface side surface of the rotor frame of the drive motor. (9) The drive shaft of the drive motor is configured in the window case of the ultrasonic probe so as to be orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube connected from the tip of the ultrasonic probe to the handle. (10) The trajectory plane of the ultrasonic beam of the ultrasonic transducer is formed orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube. The ultrasonic transducer mounted on the rotor frame of the drive motor is rotated by rotating the drive motor, and the ultrasonic probe to obtain an ultrasonic tomographic image by scanning the ultrasonic beam trajectory plane at an arbitrary angle is attached to the tip of the ultrasonic probe. The built-in drive motor enables (11) a beam trajectory plane of a slice along the insertion axis and a beam trajectory plane perpendicular to the insertion axis. (C) In the case of an ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic probe is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected from the tip with an insertion tube, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor and the ultrasonic probe include one or more of the following configurations. The motor and the ultrasonic vibrator are configured separately, and for example, the ultrasonic vibrator is attached to a table attached to the tip of the drive shaft (rotation shaft) of the motor. (1) In order to make a compact structure, an ultrasonic wave propagation medium is included and an ultrasonic wave oscillator and an ultrasonic wave oscillator drive motor are formed in a window case. (2) The ultrasonic probe is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected from the tip by an insertion tube, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle, and ultrasonic diagnosis is performed by the connector box. It is configured to be connected to the main body of the device. (3) The control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box. (4) The insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility. (5) For the ultrasonic transducer drive motor, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and M
Amplification of the R signal and rectangular wave processing are performed.

(I) MR output from the MR element
Signal amplification of the signal is performed by the signal processing unit at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, a relay adjustment board that processes the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is placed on the handle, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by the cable line, and it is configured in the connector box. Connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor.

(Ii) MR output from the MR element
A signal processing unit that processes signal amplification of the signal and a rectangular wave of the amplified signal is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable, Connect to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box.

(Iii) M output from the MR element
The R signal passes through the insertion tube, and a signal processing section for amplifying the MR element signal and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged in the handle of the ultrasonic probe, and the MR element signal is connected to the signal processing section of the handle. The rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the cable and connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor formed in the connector box.

(Iv) MR output from the MR element
The element signal is transmitted through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable, and the processing circuit of the signal processing unit formed in the connector box performs signal amplification of the MR element and rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal. Then, it is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box.

(V) MR output from the MR element
A signal processing unit for amplifying a signal and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable, The signal is transmitted to the internal board of the connector box, and the signal amplification of the MR element, the rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal and the control drive circuit of the drive motor are configured on the board inside the connector box. (6) The ultrasonic transducer drive motor has a drive magnet and a drive shaft on the rotary member, and a winding and a base (case) on the fixed member. (7) The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is a motor other than the commutator motor. (8) The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is a brushless motor. (9) The rotation side member of the drive motor is rotatably supported by the bearing,
An ultrasonic transducer is attached to a table attached to the tip of the rotation axis, and an ultrasonic transducer attachment surface is formed on a surface orthogonal to the rotation axis. In this case, there is a reflecting mirror in order to make the ultrasonic beam trajectory plane perpendicular to the insertion axis. (10) The rotation side member of the drive motor is rotatably supported by the bearing, the ultrasonic oscillator is attached to the base attached to the tip of the rotation shaft, and the ultrasonic oscillator attachment surface is parallel to the rotation axis. Is configured. In this case, the plane of the ultrasonic beam trajectory is perpendicular to the insertion axis. No reflective mirror is required. (11) A beam trajectory plane of a slice along the insertion axis and a beam trajectory plane perpendicular to the insertion axis are possible.

The electro-mechanical scanning type ultrasonic transducer driving motor according to the present invention includes the ultrasonic wave propagating medium and the driving motor and the ultrasonic transducer are formed in the window case to reduce the size of the ultrasonic probe tip. By configuring the control drive circuit of the drive motor in the connector box, it is possible to easily attach and detach the ultrasonic probe, and
There is a merit that the ultrasonic probe can be designed independently while being linked with the development pace of the device body. Therefore, the development time can be shortened, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus can be easily optioned, and the specifications of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus can be easily expanded. Specifications can be easily changed. For example, the versatility of the system board of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is increased.

[0047]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator. Is an ultrasonic probe in which an ultrasonic wave propagating medium is included in a window case, and the ultrasonic probe is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip including a drive motor, and a handle connected to the housing. In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which a connected connector box is configured and the connector box is connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the drive motor is equipped with a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, and fixed. The side member has a winding, a drive shaft, and a base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is characterized in that the ultrasonic transducer is driven by the drive motor, and a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe can be constructed. The main body and the ultrasonic probe have an effect that they can be detached and attached.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic vibrator is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotor frame of the drive motor, and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated about the drive shaft of the drive motor. The rotating side member of the motor is rotatably supported by two bearings, a core and a winding are formed between the bearings, an ultrasonic transducer is formed on the rotor frame between the two bearings, and further, the ultrasonic transducers of the two bearings are formed. The ultrasonic vibrator drive motor according to claim 1, further comprising a base for fixing the drive shaft to the outside, wherein the ultrasonic vibrator is mounted on a rotor frame rotatably supported by two bearings. Since the mounting is performed, the rotation is stable and the position of the ultrasonic transducer is stable, so that the seat image can be improved in accuracy.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic vibrator is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotor frame of the drive motor, and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated about the drive shaft of the drive motor. The rotating member of the motor is rotatably supported by two bearings, a core and a winding are formed between the bearings, an ultrasonic transducer is formed on the rotor frame between the two bearings, and the outside of the two bearings is further formed. The drive shaft of the drive motor is configured in the window case of the ultrasonic probe so as to be orthogonal to the axis (handle shaft) connected to the handle from the tip of the ultrasonic probe. 3. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 1, wherein a trajectory surface of the ultrasonic beam of the ultrasonic transducer is formed in parallel with
To reduce the size and weight of the mechanism by constructing an ultrasonic transducer drive motor in which the ultrasonic transmission medium is included and the drive axis of the drive motor and the rotation axis of the ultrasonic transducer are configured in the same axis in the window case. And has an effect of obtaining an ultrasonic tomographic image with good image quality on a beam trajectory plane parallel to the handle axis.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, an encoder is used as a rotational relative position information means of the drive motor in the ultrasonic transducer drive motor, and the encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. Then, the signal processing unit at the tip of the ultrasonic probe performs signal amplification of the MR signal output from the MR element, and a relay adjustment board that processes the amplified signal into a rectangular wave is arranged on the handle to output the rectangular wave signal. The ultrasonic vibration according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the ultrasonic vibration is configured to control the drive motor by being transmitted by a cable line and connected to a control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box. A child drive motor, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified at the tip of the probe. So as not affected by the external noise has the effect that it is possible to route the amplified signal to a rectangular wave processing substrate without worrying about the shielding performance.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and the ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. This is an ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, and the winding and drive on the fixed side member. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor comprises an axis and a base, and an encoder is used as a rotational relative position information means of the drive motor.
The encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The signal processing section at the tip of the ultrasonic probe performs signal amplification of the MR signal output from the MR element, and the amplified signal is a rectangular wave. An ultrasonic transducer drive motor that controls the drive motor by arranging the relay adjustment board to be processed on the handle, transmitting the rectangular wave signal with the cable wire, and connecting it to the control drive circuit of the drive motor built in the connector box. Is contained in the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified at the tip of the probe to obtain an external signal. Without being affected by noise, it is possible to route amplified signals to the rectangular wave processing board without worrying about the shield performance. Cormorant having an effect.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and the ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. This is an ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, and the winding and drive on the fixed side member. It has a shaft and a base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit to generate ultrasonic vibration. The A structure for driving the drive motor, the ultrasonic transducer driving motor using an encoder as a rotation relative position information means of the drive motor, the encoder is composed of the encoder magnet and the MR element,
A signal processing unit for amplifying the MR signal output from the MR element and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by a cable wire to form a connector box. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is characterized in that it is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor to control the drive motor, and a magnetic type is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor. By using an encoder to amplify the signal of the MR element at the tip of the probe and subject it to rectangular wave processing, it is possible to reduce the influence of external noise.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and the ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. This is an ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, and the winding and drive on the fixed side member. It has a shaft and a base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box. In the ultrasonic transducer drive motor, an encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. Then, a signal processing unit for amplifying the MR signal output from the MR element and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged in the handle of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by a cable line to make a connector box. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is characterized in that the drive motor is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor, and is configured to control the drive motor. MR using a magnetic encoder
By amplifying the signal of the element with the handle and processing the square wave,
A small drive motor can be mounted on the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made smaller.

The invention described in claim 8 is provided with a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein the ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. This is an ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, and the winding and drive on the fixed side member. It has a shaft and a base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit to generate ultrasonic vibration. In the ultrasonic transducer drive motor, an encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. Then, the MR signal output from the MR element is transmitted by a cable line, the signal amplification of the MR element and the rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal are performed in the processing circuit of the signal processing unit formed in the connector box, An ultrasonic transducer drive motor characterized by being connected to a control drive circuit of a drive motor formed in a box to control the drive motor. Rotation relative position information means of the drive motor A magnetic encoder is used as a unit, and the signal from the MR element is amplified by the connector box and processed into a rectangular wave. Has an effect of smaller drive motors can the be mounted, it can be reduced to be or handle to reduce the ultrasonic probe tip.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element, and the MR signal output from the MR element passes through the handle from the tip of the ultrasonic probe. Is transmitted to the internal board of the connector box through the cable.
9. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 8, wherein a signal amplification of the MR element, a rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal, and a control drive circuit of the drive motor are configured on a substrate inside the connector box. The magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the connector box and subjected to rectangular wave processing, thereby mounting a small drive motor on the tip of the ultrasonic probe. Therefore, the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made smaller and the handle can be made smaller. Furthermore, by configuring the signal processing circuit of the MR element on the same substrate as the control drive circuit of the drive motor, the number of substrates to be stored in the connector box is reduced, and workability is improved. It has the effect of facilitating maintenance.

The invention as set forth in claim 10 is based on claim 1
An ultrasonic probe characterized in that the ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to 3, 6 to 9 is included in the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the drive control board of the drive motor is arranged in the connector box. A motor system for driving the ultrasonic transducer can be constructed only with the probe, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe have an action of being detachable and attachable.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency is provided, and the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. This is an ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus through the connector box, the drive motor has a rotor frame as a rotary side member,
Equipped with a drive magnet, fixed side member winding, drive shaft,
It has a base, a control drive circuit of a drive motor is built in a connector box, the drive circuit is driven by the drive motor, and the ultrasonic oscillator is driven by the drive motor. An encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor for the motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The MR signal output from the MR element is subjected to signal amplification and its amplification in an ultrasonic probe. Ultrasonic vibration characterized by being configured to perform rectangular wave processing on the amplified signal and connect the rectangular wave signal of the MR signal to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box to control the drive motor. This is an ultrasonic diagnostic device that uses ultrasonic tomographic images of the beam trajectory surface obtained by the slave drive motor. Can build a motor system for driving the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe is detachable,
It has the effect that it can be mounted.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe consists of an ultrasonic oscillator, a tip that is enclosed by a drive motor, a handle that is connected from the tip with an insertion tube, and a connector box that is connected with a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor has a rotor frame as a rotation side member. ,
Equipped with drive magnet and drive shaft, winding on fixed side member,
An ultrasonic transducer drive motor having a base, a control drive circuit for the drive motor is built in a connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit to drive the ultrasonic transducer by the drive motor. The motor system for driving the ultrasonic transducer can be constructed only by the ultrasonic probe, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe can be detached and attached.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic vibrator is attached to the rotating side member of the drive motor, and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated by rotating the drive motor. The side member is rotatably supported by a bearing, and the ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is formed on the surface orthogonal to the rotation axis, and the ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is the top surface of the rotor frame of the drive motor. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 12,
In order to attach the ultrasonic transducer to the top surface of the rotating rotor frame, the ultrasonic beam is emitted in the axial direction with respect to the rotation axis, and the ultrasonic beam trajectory surface can be formed parallel to the rotation axis. Since the ultrasonic transducer is directly mounted on the rotor frame of the motor, the position is stable, which has the effect of improving the accuracy of the seat image.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic vibrator is attached to the rotating side member of the drive motor, and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated by rotating the drive motor. The side member is rotatably supported by a bearing, and an ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is formed on a surface orthogonal to the rotation axis of the side member. 13. The drive shaft of the ultrasonic probe is formed in the window case of the ultrasonic probe, and the trajectory plane of the ultrasonic beam of the ultrasonic transducer is formed orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor is equipped with a drive motor that rotates the ultrasonic transducer at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic beam is emitted so that it is orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube. Since the ultrasonic beam trajectory plane so as to be perpendicular to the insertion direction of can be formed, it can be like Hosokei probe fabrication. Further, since the position of the ultrasonic transducer is stable, there is an effect that the accuracy of the seat image can be improved.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic vibrator is attached to a rotating member of the drive motor, and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated by rotating the drive motor. The side member is rotatably supported by a bearing, and an ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is formed on a surface orthogonal to the rotation axis, and the ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is the top side surface of the rotor frame of the drive motor. , The tip of the ultrasonic probe that obtains an ultrasonic tomographic image by rotating the ultrasonic transducer mounted on the rotor frame of the drive motor by rotating the drive motor and scanning the ultrasonic beam trajectory plane at an arbitrary angle. 14. The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 12, wherein the drive motor built in the disk enables a beam trajectory plane of a slice along the insertion axis and a beam trajectory plane perpendicular to the insertion axis. This is a dynamic motor, and in order to attach the ultrasonic transducer to the top surface of the rotating rotor frame, an ultrasonic beam is radiated in the axial direction with respect to the rotation axis, and the ultrasonic beam is parallel to the rotation axis. Since the locus surface can be formed and the ultrasonic transducer is directly mounted on the rotor frame of the motor, the position is stable, and the seat image accuracy can be improved.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic transducer drive motor uses an encoder as a rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The signal processing unit at the tip of the ultrasonic probe performs signal amplification of the MR signal output from the, and the relay adjustment board that processes the amplified signal into a rectangular wave is placed on the handle to perform the rectangular wave processing, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted to the cable. 16. The ultrasonic wave according to claim 12, 13, 14, and 15, wherein the ultrasonic wave is configured to be transmitted by a wire and connected to a control drive circuit of the drive motor formed in the connector box to control the drive motor. This is a vibrator drive motor, and a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified at the probe tip. So as not to be affected by external noise by, it is possible to route the amplified signal to a rectangular wave processing substrate without worrying about the shielding performance. In addition, it is possible to build a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe, and the device main body and the ultrasonic probe can be detached,
It has the effect that it can be mounted.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and the ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic transducer are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of an ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor, which includes a tip, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor has a rotor frame as a rotation side member. ,
Equipped with drive magnet and drive shaft, winding on fixed side member,
It has a base, a control drive circuit of a drive motor is built in a connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit to drive the ultrasonic transducer by the drive motor. An encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The signal amplification of the MR signal output from the MR element and the amplified signal are rectangular waves. The signal processing unit to be processed is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal passes through the insertion tube,
Ultrasonic transducer drive characterized by being configured to control the drive motor by connecting it to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box by transmitting it through the handle and further through the cable A magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified at the tip of the probe and subjected to rectangular wave processing to make it less susceptible to external noise. In addition, it is possible to build a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe,
The main body of the apparatus and the ultrasonic probe have an action of being able to be detached and attached.

According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window case made of a window material having an ultrasonic wave transmitting property, and the ultrasonic wave oscillator and the drive motor for driving the ultrasonic wave oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic wave propagating medium. An ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of an ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor, which includes a tip, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor has a rotor frame as a rotation side member. ,
Equipped with drive magnet and drive shaft, winding on fixed side member,
It has a base, a control drive circuit of a drive motor is built in a connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit to drive the ultrasonic transducer by the drive motor. An encoder is used for the motor as a rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element, and the MR signal output from the MR element passes through the insertion tube and the MR element signal. A signal processing unit for amplifying the signal and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged on the handle of the ultrasonic probe, the MR element signal is connected to the signal processing unit of the handle, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the cable. , An ultrasonic transducer drive characterized by being connected to a control drive circuit of a drive motor configured in a connector box to control the drive motor. A magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the handle and subjected to rectangular wave processing to mount a small drive motor on the tip of the ultrasonic probe. Therefore, the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made small. Further, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe, and it is possible to attach and detach the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of an ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor, which includes a tip, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor has a rotor frame as a rotation side member. ,
Equipped with drive magnet and drive shaft, winding on fixed side member,
It has a base, a control drive circuit of a drive motor is built in a connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit to drive the ultrasonic transducer by the drive motor. An encoder is used as a rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The MR element signal output from the MR element is an insertion tube. Through the handle, and then through the cable, the signal processing unit of the signal processing unit configured in the connector box performs signal amplification of the MR element and rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal to the connector box. Ultrasonic transducer drive characterized by being configured to control the drive motor by connecting to the control drive circuit of the configured drive motor The magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the connector box and subjected to rectangular wave processing, thereby making it possible to realize a small drive motor with the ultrasonic probe tip. It can be mounted, and has an effect that the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made smaller and the handle can be made smaller.

According to a twentieth aspect of the invention, there is provided a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of an ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor, which includes a tip, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor has a drive magnet on a rotation side member. ,
It has a drive shaft, a fixed side member has a core, windings, and a base. A control drive circuit for the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive circuit drives the drive motor to drive the ultrasonic transducer. The ultrasonic vibrator drive motor is configured to be driven by a drive motor, and an encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element.
A signal processing unit for amplifying the MR signal output from the element and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal passes through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable. 15. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 14, wherein the ultrasonic transducer drive motor is configured to control the drive motor by being transmitted through the control box and connected to a control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box. In order to mount a small drive motor on the tip of the ultrasonic probe by using a magnetic encoder as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, amplifying the signal of the MR element with a connector box and processing the rectangular wave. The ultrasonic probe tip can be made smaller and the handle can be made smaller. Furthermore, by configuring the signal processing circuit of the MR element on the same substrate as the control drive circuit of the drive motor, the number of substrates to be stored in the connector box is reduced, and workability is improved. It has the effect of facilitating maintenance.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and the ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic transducer are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe consists of an ultrasonic oscillator, a tip that is enclosed by a drive motor, a handle that is connected from the tip with an insertion tube, and a connector box that is connected with a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor has a drive magnet on a rotation side member. ,
It has a drive shaft, a fixed side member has a core, windings, and a base. A control drive circuit for the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive circuit drives the drive motor to drive the ultrasonic transducer. The ultrasonic vibrator drive motor is configured to be driven by a drive motor, and an encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element.
The MR signal output from the element passes through the insertion tube and the MR
A signal processing unit that amplifies the element signal and processes the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged on the handle of the ultrasonic probe.
The device signal is connected to the signal processing unit of the handle, the rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the cable and connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box, which is configured to control the drive motor. Claim 1 characterized by
4. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to 4, wherein a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, the signal of the MR element is amplified by the handle, and the rectangular wave processing is performed. As a result, a small drive motor can be mounted, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made smaller.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency is provided, and the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe is composed of an ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor, which includes a tip, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor has a drive magnet on a rotation side member. ,
It has a drive shaft, a fixed side member has a core, windings, and a base. A control drive circuit for the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive circuit drives the drive motor to drive the ultrasonic transducer. An ultrasonic transducer drive motor uses an encoder as rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is a magnetic encoder including an encoder magnet and an MR element. The MR element signal output from the MR element is transmitted through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable, and the MR element signal is processed by the processing circuit of the signal processing unit configured in the connector box. Amplify and process the amplified signal with a rectangular wave, and connect it to the drive motor control drive circuit configured in the connector box to control the drive motor. It constructed featuring claim 14
The ultrasonic transducer driving motor described above, wherein a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the driving motor, the signal of the MR element is amplified by the connector box, and rectangular wave processing is performed. As a result, a small drive motor can be mounted, and the ultrasonic probe tip can be made smaller and the handle can be made smaller.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the invention, an encoder is used as a rotary relative position information means of the drive motor in the ultrasonic transducer drive motor, and the encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. Then, the MR element signal output from the MR element is transmitted from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable to the internal board of the connector box. 20. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 14, wherein the internal substrate of is provided with a signal amplification of the MR element, a rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal, and a control drive circuit of the drive motor. A magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the MR element signal is amplified by the connector box. By square wave processing, it is possible to mount a small drive motor by the ultrasonic probe tip,
The ultrasonic probe tip can be made smaller and the handle can be made smaller. Furthermore, by configuring the signal processing circuit of the MR element on the same substrate as the control drive circuit of the drive motor, the number of substrates to be stored in the connector box is reduced, and workability is improved. It has the effect of facilitating maintenance.

The invention as set forth in claim 24 is based on claim 13.
The ultrasonic transducer drive motor described in 23 is included in the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the drive control board of the drive motor is arranged in the connector box to form an ultrasonic probe. A motor system for driving the sonic oscillator can be constructed, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe have an action of being detachable and attachable.

According to the twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency is provided, and the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. It is an ultrasonic probe contained in a window case, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the ultrasonic probe is connected by an insertion tube from the tip included in the ultrasonic transducer and the drive motor. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a handle and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable, the connector box is connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. ,
Equipped with drive magnet and drive shaft, winding on fixed side member,
It has a base, a control drive circuit of a drive motor is built in a connector box, the drive circuit is driven by the drive motor, and the ultrasonic oscillator is driven by the drive motor. An encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor for the motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The MR signal output from the MR element is subjected to signal amplification and its amplification in an ultrasonic probe. Ultrasonic vibration characterized by being configured to perform rectangular wave processing on the amplified signal and connect the rectangular wave signal of the MR signal to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box to control the drive motor. This is an ultrasonic diagnostic device that uses ultrasonic tomographic images of the beam trajectory surface obtained by the slave drive motor. Can build a motor system for driving the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe is detachable,
It has the effect that it can be mounted.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency is provided, and the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are formed by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe contained in a window case.The ultrasonic probe consists of an ultrasonic oscillator, a tip that is enclosed by a drive motor, a handle that is connected from the tip with an insertion tube, and a connector box that is connected with a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor has a drive magnet on a rotation side member. ,
It has a drive shaft, a fixed side member has a core, windings, and a base. A control drive circuit for the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive circuit drives the drive motor to drive the ultrasonic transducer. The ultrasonic vibrator drive motor is configured to be driven by a drive motor, and an encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element.
The MR signal output from the element is amplified in the ultrasonic probe, the amplified signal is subjected to rectangular wave processing, and the rectangular wave signal of the MR signal is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box. , An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic tomographic image of a beam trajectory plane obtained by an ultrasonic transducer driving motor characterized by being configured to control the driving motor, and only an ultrasonic probe Thus, a motor system for driving the ultrasonic transducer can be constructed, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe have an action of being detachable and attachable.

[0073]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe in one embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of the ultrasonic probe.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the embodiment comprises an ultrasonic probe and a main body system section (or main body apparatus).
The ultrasonic probe comprises a tip 39, a handle 6, a connector box 18, and a cable. A drive motor 3 that rotationally drives the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 is formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe. The drive motor 3 includes a drive rotor 4 that rotates together with an ultrasonic transducer, a base housing 5 (also referred to as a base or housing) that supports the drive rotor 4 is built in, and a handle 6 of the ultrasonic probe 6 is provided.
A relay adjusting substrate 7 for the position detection signal of the drive motor and a volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic wave propagating medium are configured in the.

The ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotating portion of the drive rotor 4. Therefore, the drive shaft 9 of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 and the drive shaft 9 of the drive motor 3 are the same shaft. The beams of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are emitted in the radial direction with respect to the drive shaft 9. The beam emission axis 10 on the ultrasonic transducer 1 side is shown in FIG. Its drive rotor 4
Rotation of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 causes the beam emission axis 1 of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to rotate.
0 forms a surface, and its locus surface 11 is a surface orthogonal to the drive shaft 9.

To know the rotational position information of the drive rotor 4 is to know the ultrasonic transducers 1, 2 attached to the drive rotor 4.
You will know the location information of. The rotational position of the drive rotor 4 can be known by using both the reference position means serving as a reference for one rotation and the relative position information means. The reference position means is composed of a magnetic material pin 12 (also referred to as a Z-phase pin) and an MR element 13 (also referred to as a Z-phase MR element). Different. Since the Z-phase MR element 13 has only one magnetic material pin 12, the Z-phase MR element 1
In No. 3, a signal of one pulse can be detected for one rotation of the drive rotor 4. Therefore, the reference position of the drive rotor 4 can be known. Since the signal level of the Z-phase MR element signal is small, it is not affected by noise, so that the signal is amplified by the relay amplifier board 14 near the motor and the handle 6 from the probe tip.
Be routed to.

A magnetic encoder 15 is incorporated as relative position information means. The magnetic encoder 15 is composed of an encoder magnet 16 on the drive rotor 4 side and an MR element 17 (also called an AB phase MR element) on the base housing 5 side. ing. The MR element 17 is distinguished from another MR element as an AB-phase MR element. The AB phase MR element 17 has the A phase,
This is an MR element that can obtain signals of two channels of B phase, and the phase difference between A phase and B phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive rotor 4 can be obtained from the phase difference. A multi-pole magnetic pole is magnetized on the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 16, and a number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles is obtained from the AB-phase MR element 17. For example, since the encoder magnet 16 has 150 magnetic poles, the AB-phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, so the position information of the drive motor is 1 per rotation.
A signal with a resolution of 50 is obtained. Since the encoder magnet 16 is rotationally magnetized, the angle accuracy between the magnetic poles is very high. The AB phase signal is also amplified once by the relay amplifier board 14 near the motor, and further wired to the relay adjustment board 7 that processes a sine wave signal into a rectangular wave, and passes through the cable to drive the motor built in the connector box 18. It is connected to the control drive circuit 19. The connector box 18 is connected to the system body 20 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body,
Electric power for driving a drive motor such as the drive motor control drive circuit 19 is supplied.

This drive motor 3 has a rotational speed of 300 r / mi.
Rotation is performed by switching from n to 1800 r / min in several stages. For example, if the encoder magnet 16 is 15
When the magnetic pole has 0 poles, the AB phase MR signals are also 15
Since the number of pulses is 0, the number of pulses can be used as it is, but in order to improve the resolution accuracy of the rotation angle positions of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2, if the A phase and B phase are multiplied by 4, the number of pulses becomes 600 pulses per rotation. , The resolution is four times higher than that of the original signal. Since the drive shaft 9 of the drive motor 3 and the rotation shaft of the ultrasonic transducer are the same axis, there is no variation and the rotation angle accuracy is good, and when the image is used as a trigger, the image quality is considerably good. It becomes an ultrasonic diagnostic image.

The rotary transformer 21 is configured to take out the signals from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to the outside of the drive motor 3. The rotary transformer 21 is composed of a rotor-side transformer 22 and a stator-side transformer 23, the rotor-side transformer 22 is arranged at a rotor end portion on the drive rotor 4 side, and the signal line of the rotor-side transformer 22 is the ultrasonic transducer 1.
Connected to 2. The stator side transformer 23 is fixed to the base housing 5 side, the signal line of the stator side transformer 23 is connected to the connector box 18 from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the handle 6 and a cable, and the connector box 18 is mounted on the main body. Then, the signal of the ultrasonic transducer is connected to the circuit side of the main body.

Since the rotary transformer 21 can transmit a signal in a non-contact manner, the load acting on the drive motor is much smaller than that of the contact type slip ring.
In the case of a small drive motor, design it for use.

The ultrasonic waves radiated from the ultrasonic vibrator 1 (or 2) travel radially to the center of the ultrasonic vibrator 1 (or 2) and enter the living tissue. A part of the ultrasonic wave that has entered the tissue is reflected in the tissue and then the ultrasonic transducer 1
(Or 2) is received, converted into an electric signal, taken out of the drive motor through the rotary transformer 21, and sent to an amplifier in the system body.

The frequency characteristics of the signals from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are different from each other. The ultrasonic transducer having the higher frequency is the high-frequency transducer and the lower frequency is the low-frequency transducer. To distinguish

The base housing 5 that supports the drive rotor 4 is fixed to the mounting base of the probe body. In addition, the base housing 5 is formed of an integral member including a support portion that supports the drive rotor 4 and a support portion that is fixed to the mounting base of the probe body. The base rigidity is increased to increase the support rigidity of the drive motor.

The drive rotor 4, the base housing 5, and the relay amplifier board 14 are formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and are enclosed in the ultrasonic wave propagating medium in the window case 24 which is entirely made of a window material having ultrasonic wave transparency. Has been done. The ultrasonic wave propagation medium in the window case 24 is depressurized so as not to contain bubbles, deaerated, and then sealed. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic wave propagating medium is provided so that the pressure of the sealed ultrasonic wave propagating medium is relaxed even if the medium expands due to the environment. When the bubbles are mixed in by the volume adjusting mechanism 8 of the ultrasonic propagation medium, the acoustic impedance of the bubbles is minimal, so that the ultrasonic waves are reflected at the interface between the ultrasonic propagation medium and the bubbles. As a result, multiple reflection noise is generated to the extent that the ultrasonic image becomes pure white, and in some cases observation of the ultrasonic image becomes virtually impossible. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic propagation medium is composed of a rubber-based elastic bag. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 and the relay adjusting board 7 are configured on the handle 6 of the ultrasonic probe.

Next, the system body 2 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body
The transmitting / receiving circuit portion within 0 will be described. The signal lines for the high frequency and the low frequency are different for the two vibrators having different frequency characteristics of the ultrasonic vibrator. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2, the high-frequency transducers are replaced by the ultrasonic transducers 1.
And the low frequency oscillator is the ultrasonic oscillator 2.

When the ultrasonic wave is transmitted into the living body, a rate pulse for determining the repetition period of the ultrasonic pulse is first output from the pulse generator 25 and is sent to the pulse transducer drive circuit 26 having a determined ultrasonic frequency. To be In this oscillator drive circuit 26, an ultrasonic oscillator corresponding to the frequency is supplied with a drive signal to the corresponding ultrasonic oscillator 1 (or 2) via the rotary transformer 21 corresponding to the frequency to drive the ultrasonic wave. A drive pulse is formed to generate The drive pulse causes the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) to radiate into the living body.

In the case of a high frequency transmission signal, the high frequency oscillator 1
Therefore, in the case of the low-frequency transmission signal, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the low-frequency oscillator 2 into the living body are reflected by the in-vivo tissue.
The reflected ultrasonic wave is called an ultrasonic echo. The weak reception signal received by the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) used at the time of transmission and corresponding to the reflection intensity of the ultrasonic echo is amplified by the amplifier 27 in the system body 20 and then signal processing for B mode is performed. Sent to the circuit. In the B-mode signal processing circuit, the oscillator output is logarithmically compressed by a logarithmic amplifier 28, detected by a detection circuit 29 for envelope detection, and a gain setter 30 for gain correction is controlled by a gain control controller 31 to obtain a gain. The corrected image is combined by the combining circuit 32, and is A / D converted by the A / D converter 33.
Image processing is performed in SP34. The sitting image processed by the DSP 34 is temporarily stored in the image memory 35. A plurality of images during driving are also stored in the image memory 35, and the high-speed image DSP
Signal processing is performed by using the digital signal 34, and the signal is converted by the digital scan converter (DSC) 36 into image data compatible with the TV scanning format, and displayed as a two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image on the television monitor 37. It

The system main body 20 of the main body apparatus has a host CPU 38 which controls the circuits of the entire apparatus, and comprehensively monitors the image data, the position information of the memory and the drive motor, the motor drive, and the like, and issues processing instructions. . Host CPU3
Reference numeral 8 generally controls the processing as the ultrasonic probe by the input accompanying the external input operation to the main body device.

FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of the ultrasonic probe. FIG. 3 shows the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body. In FIG.
Reference numeral 6 denotes a handle, which has a built-in relay adjustment board.
Reference numeral 39 denotes the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the window case 24 made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency is attached to the tip. ing. The tip 39 of the ultrasonic probe and the handle 6 are connected by a hard housing, and the direction of the tip can be determined by holding the handle 6 by hand. The ultrasonic probe is from the handle 6 to the cable 40
Is connected to the connector box 18. The ultrasonic probe is connected to the system main body 20 by mounting the connector box 18 on the connector insertion port 41 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. There is a knob 42 with a lock mechanism so that the ultrasonic probe does not come off during diagnosis, and after mounting, the knob 42 is turned to firmly lock the connector box 18 to the main body.

The tip 39 of the ultrasonic probe has a cylindrical smooth streamline shape so that it can be easily inserted into the body cavity. The cable 40 is an input / output line (I / O line) connecting the ultrasonic transducer and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, an electric control line for driving and controlling the drive motor, a signal line such as an encoder, and a shock detection line. A flexible cable for transmitting the signal line of the temperature sensor and the like to the connector box 18, which is protected by a cover and shielded. The cable 40 is grounded at the ultrasonic transducer side and both ends of the connector box. In FIG. 2, since the cable 40 is long, it is omitted in the figure.

By constructing the control drive circuit of the drive motor in the connector box, the design of the main body system can be reduced, and the specification of the connection between the connector box and the main body of the diagnostic device can be determined in a general-purpose manner. Even if the specifications are different, it can be easily handled by changing the software side of the diagnostic device. The control unit of the motor that drives the ultrasonic transducer can be performed on the probe side, and the drive motor system can be completed on the probe side.

The main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is a liquid crystal display 43 and a keyboard 4 for operating the apparatus.
4 and a trackball 45 for moving the scanning angle position and the like, which can be moved by a car 46.
Several connector insertion ports 41 are provided below the main body operation unit such as a keyboard. In order to install the ultrasonic probe at a predetermined position where it is easy to work, a hook 47 for fixing the handle of the ultrasonic probe is provided on the side near the operation portion, and it may be arranged so that several kinds of diagnostic probes can be diagnosed. it can.

4 and 5 are views of a slotless motor with a core using hexagonal cylindrical windings in this embodiment, FIG. 4 is a sectional view, and FIG. 5 is a side view.
This slotless motor with a core is a servo-controlled brushless motor and is a sensorless drive type outer rotor rotating type. The motor of this embodiment is an ultrasonic transducer drive motor, and is an example of a motor mounted on the tip of the probe of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. 4 and 5 for the sake of explanation
The casings such as window case and handle are omitted.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the core 48 is on the fixed side, and the rotor frame 50 with the drive magnet 49 is on the rotating side. The rotor frame 50 has an oval shape, and two semicircular drive magnets 49 are attached to face each other inside. Rotor frame 50
Ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are attached to the flat outer surface of the oval shape. Therefore, when the rotor frame 50 rotates about the drive shaft 9 (also referred to as a shaft), the ultrasonic transducers 1 mounted on the rotor frame 50,
2 also rotates about the drive shaft 9. The rotor frame 50 is rotatably supported by bearings 51 and 52. The bearing 51 is attached to a bearing boss portion 53 provided on the rotor frame 50. The other bearing 52 is attached to the rotor side plate 54, and the rotor side plate 54 is attached to the rotor frame 50.
Is fitted and inserted into.

In order to control the motor, the rotor side plate 54
Encoder magnet 16 is attached to
Magnetic poles are magnetized on the surface of the encoder magnet 16 at a large number of equal intervals. A magnetic resistance element (also referred to as an MR element or an AB-phase MR element) 17 is attached to a mounting base 55 of a magnetic material so as to face the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 16, and the mounting base 55 is mounted to the base housing 56. The AB phase MR element 17 is arranged and fixed with a minute gap provided between the outer periphery of the encoder magnet 16.

A magnetic encoder is incorporated as relative position information means for knowing the rotational position information of the drive rotor. The magnetic encoder has an encoder magnet 16 on the drive rotor side and an AB on the base housing 56 side.
And the phase MR element 17. The material of the encoder magnet 16 is a plastic magnet, and 12 nylon type is used as the base resin.

Since the encoder output is not affected by the leakage magnetic flux of the drive magnet 49, the gap between the encoder magnet 16 and the AB-phase MR element 17 is set to be very narrow. Since the gap is narrow, it is necessary to reduce the effects of swelling of the encoder magnet 16, cutting runout, and assembly runout. The encoder magnet 16 is bonded and fixed to the rotor side plate 54 to perform assembly processing to reduce the shake due to the parts. Further, a material having a large ferrite content in the plastic magnet of the encoder magnet 16 is used. That is, since the encoder magnet 16 is used in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, the one containing 79% or more of the magnetic material is used in consideration of the swelling effect.

A magnetic encoder is incorporated as relative position information means, and the position detecting element of the magnetic encoder is the AB phase MR element 17. The AB-phase MR element 17 is an MR element capable of obtaining two-channel signals of A phase and B phase, and the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees. A
Since the phase difference between the B phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive rotor can be obtained from the phase difference. Therefore, the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 attached to the rotor frame 50 can be known. The outer periphery of the encoder magnet 16 magnetized in multiple poles by the rotary magnetizer and the AB-phase MR element 17 are opposed to each other.
Since it is about m and is driven in the ultrasonic wave propagating medium, if there is a large dust, it may enter the gap, so that it is cleaned after oil cleaning and then installed. The number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles of the encoder magnet 16 is AB phase M
It is detected by the R element 17 and the drive motor is controlled as a motor control signal.

For example, the encoder magnet 16 has 1
In the case of 50 poles, the AB phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, so the position information of the drive rotor is 1 per revolution.
A signal with a resolution accuracy of 50 pulses is obtained. Since both the A phase and the B phase have 150 pulses and have a phase difference of 90 degrees, if the signals of the A phase and B phase are multiplied by 4, a signal with a resolution accuracy of 600 per rotation can be obtained. Since the encoder magnet 16 is rotationally magnetized, the angle accuracy between the magnetic poles is very high. Therefore, even when the frequency is multiplied by four, position information with considerably good angle accuracy can be obtained.

The signal of the AB-phase MR element 17 passes through a flexible substrate (also referred to as an AB-phase FPC, not shown), is temporarily amplified by the relay amplifier substrate 14 near the drive rotor, and has a sinusoidal waveform. Connect the signal to the relay adjustment board that processes the rectangular wave, and from there, perform long wiring using a cable and connect it to the control drive circuit of the drive motor built in the connector box, and then connect the connector box to the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment body. It is mounted and power is supplied to the control drive circuit of the drive motor. Further, depending on the device, the rectangular wave signal of the MR signal is also connected to the system body side to transmit pulse information.

In the drive motor, the Z-phase pin 12 made of magnetic material is used as the reference position means for knowing the reference position information.
It is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotor frame 50 made of a magnetic material such as L or SUY. The Z-phase pin 12 is attached by inserting a cylindrical portion into a cylindrical hole provided on the outer periphery of the rotor frame 50, and cut surfaces 57 are provided on both sides so that the tip has an acute angle with respect to the driving rotation direction. ing. The magnetic flux to the Z-phase pin 12 is obtained from the drive magnet 49. Z-phase MR element 13 for detecting Z-phase pin 12
Are attached to the base housing 56 via a magnetic material mount 58. The signal of the Z-phase MR element 13 is connected to the relay amplifier board 14 through a flexible substrate (also called a Z-phase FPC, not shown), and the relay amplifier board 14 is connected.
From the relay adjustment board in the handle of the ultrasonic probe, and from the relay adjustment board through the shield cable to the control drive board of the drive motor in the connector box. The connector box is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body side. The relay amplifier board 14 amplifies the signal of the Z-phase MR element. Further, the amplified signal is subjected to rectangular wave processing on the relay adjustment board.

Z-phase pin 12 and Z-phase MR element 13 made of magnetic material
The reference position means composed of is a Z-phase pin 1 made of magnetic material.
Since there is only one, the Z-phase MR element 13 detects one pulse signal for one rotation of the drive rotor. The Z phase M
Since the R signal has a small signal level, the signal is amplified by the relay amplifier board 14 near the motor. The amplified Z-phase signal is rectangularly processed by the comparator circuit of the relay adjustment board. The rectangular-processed signal is a 0-5V rectangular wave signal and is not easily affected by external noise. Since the signal immediately from the Z-phase MR element 13 is easily affected by external noise, the relay amplifier board 14 is arranged near the base housing 56 so as to be amplified. If the rising position of the Z-phase comparator signal is set to the reference position of the drive rotor, it becomes the rotation reference position of the drive motor, and also the rotation reference position of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2. If the positions of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are determined based on the reference position by this Z-phase signal, the reference of the rotational position of the ultrasonic transducer can be determined without difference among the individual ultrasonic probes. .

The rectangular wave signals of AB phase and Z phase are also supplied to the main body system 20 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in the connector box 18.
Connected via. In order to display an image, it cannot be expressed without position information. Therefore, the body system side also needs position information of the ultrasonic transducer.

In order to take out the transmission / reception signals to / from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to the outside of the drive rotor, the rotary transformer 21 is used.
Is configured. The rotor-side transformer 22 of the rotary transformer 21 is attached to the side surface of the rotor frame 50, and the stator-side transformer 23 is attached to the base housing 56 side. Since the rotary transformer 21 has a 2-channel structure, there are two ring-shaped coil grooves on the surface facing the transformer.
The windings are formed on each of the transformers, and the windings are arranged on a plane for several turns in the ring-shaped groove. The winding of the rotor-side transformer 22 is drawn to the rotor frame 50 side through a hole 59 provided under the coil grooves 66 and 67, and is connected to an FPC 68 attached to the back surface of the rotor-side transformer. The lead wire of the ultrasonic transducer is also connected to the FPC 68 attached to the back surface of the rotor-side transformer, and the winding of the rotor-side transformer 22 is conductively connected to the ultrasonic transducer. The stator-side transformer 23 is also provided with ring-shaped coil grooves 69 and 70 at positions facing the windings of the rotor-side transformer 22,
The winding 71 is arranged several turns around the coil grooves 69 and 70, and the end of the winding is passed through a hole 60 provided at the back of the ring-shaped groove on the stator transformer side and connected to the FPC 72 on the back side of the stator side transformer. To do. The FPC 72 is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side using a shield wire or the like.

In this embodiment, two ultrasonic transducers are used. The numbers are 1 and 2. Furthermore, since two types of ultrasonic transducers can be mounted, there is an advantage that one ultrasonic probe can be treated as two different ultrasonic wave resolutions.

Generally, the distance resolution is improved when the frequency is high, but since the attenuation of the ultrasonic wave is increased when the frequency is high, the diagnosis cannot be performed in a deep portion. Therefore, one ultrasonic probe has different frequencies. Since ultrasonic transducers can be switched and used, more convenient ultrasonic diagnosis can be performed.

The ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 mounted on the rotor frame 50 are mounted at a position 180 degrees away from the drive shaft 9. The relative angular positions of the two ultrasonic transducers are set to 180 degrees so that they are also received by the ultrasonic transducers and do not enter the received ultrasonic signal as noise. The transmitted ultrasonic transducer receives the reflected signal, but when the reflected signal is received by the other ultrasonic transducer, the signal becomes noise, so when using multiple ultrasonic transducers It is necessary to perform phase reception by the same ultrasonic transducer and prevent other ultrasonic transducers from receiving received signals.

In the case of the rotary transformer 21, the rotary transformer 2 is arranged so that the crosstalk becomes as small as possible.
Measures such as the ring of 1 material and the magnetic material, the short ring and the interruption of the leakage magnetic circuit are taken. Since crosstalk causes image noise, it is necessary to give sufficient consideration.

The ultrasonic transducer has two lead wires,
One is an electrical ground (GND) and the other is a signal line. In the ultrasonic probe of this embodiment, two ultrasonic transducers are attached to the drive rotor, so there are four lead wires, but since the electrical ground is treated as common, it can be processed as three lead wires. Since the ultrasonic transducers are 180 degrees apart, the electrical ground lines cannot be easily connected to each other, so they are connected via the FPC 68 provided on the back side of the rotor-side transformer 22. That F
There are four lands on the PC 68, and the lead wires of the ultrasonic transducer are connected by soldering.

The ultrasonic transducer emits ultrasonic waves in response to an electric signal sent from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body through the I / O line (transmission / reception line of ultrasonic signals), and the ultrasonic waves reflected from the subject are detected. The waves are received and the amount of charge changes. The electrical change of the ultrasonic transducer is transmitted to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body via the I / O line. The electric signal flowing through the I / O line is 2 kHz to 12
Since it is a frequency signal in the range of kHz, it becomes a main noise source of unnecessary radiation. In this embodiment, the liquid-sealed portion is I / O.
A part of the wire is composed of a flexible substrate, and the other parts are shielded wires. Since the I / O line is shielded, it has the effect of preventing unwanted radiation, but the vicinity of the rotary transformer cannot be shielded. Unwanted radiation is reduced by examining the position of the electrode at the frequency used. That is, the frequency of the ultrasonic transducer is increased from the outer peripheral side of the ring-shaped groove toward the inside.

The position information signal line of the drive motor that is rotationally driven in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium is a signal line for knowing the scanning position of the ultrasonic transducer from the encoder, and noise enters from the ultrasonic signal transmitting / receiving unit. Then, the position information becomes unstable and the control of the drive motor becomes unstable. In order to stabilize the control of the motor, the I / O section is electrically shielded so that it is not affected by noise.

A cylindrical core 48 is fixed to the drive shaft 9 (shaft) so as to face the drive magnet 49. The core 48 is insulated, and a cylindrical winding 61 is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the core 48. The winding 61 is a cylindrical hexa-winding winding.

Since the core 48 is a cylindrical core, it is called a slotless core, which is distinguished from a core having a slot. The slotless core 48 is provided with an insulating film 62 in a film shape. In the embodiment, the insulating film 62 is an electrodeposition coating film of epoxy resin, and is intended for electrical insulation between the winding wire 61 and the core 48. Therefore, the thicker the film is, the thicker the film is. Since a gap is created between the winding wire 61 and the core 48, and the efficiency is lowered, a process for making the film thickness as thin as possible is adopted. The insulating film can also be formed by spray painting. An electrodeposition coating film having the insulating film 62 formed thereon, a vacuum deposition film, or the like is used.

The electrodeposition coating film is a film having excellent insulating properties,
In addition to being relatively easy to industrially form a film, the electrodeposition coating film has excellent environmental resistance, so that the motor can be used in environments other than air, such as oil. When an insulating tape is used for insulation, it cannot be used in an environment such as oil because the adhesive deteriorates in characteristics, but the electrodeposition coating film can be used without problems even in an environment such as oil.

Since the thin film formed by the vacuum evaporation polymerization method has a good cover coat ratio at the corners of the core, the winding and the core can be reliably insulated.

The core 48 is insulated, and a cylindrical winding 61 is attached to the outer periphery of the core 48. The winding 61 is a cylindrical hexa-winding winding. The tap of the winding wire 61 is connected to a lead wire 64 via a flexible substrate 63 provided on the end surface of the core 48.
4 is pulled out of the rotor through the groove of the drive shaft 9.

The rotating portion of the drive motor rotates about the drive shaft 9, and the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 attached to the outer periphery of the rotor hood 50 also rotate about the drive shaft 9. The ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are also called transducers and are the core parts of the ultrasonic probe. An acoustic lens 65 is attached to the tips of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2. It is the acoustic lens 65 that effectively utilizes the phenomenon of refraction. Since ultrasonic waves have a higher speed of sound in a solid than in a liquid, the ultrasonic beam is focused on the transducer surface by a concave acoustic lens. There is. In addition to the concave acoustic lens, a planar acoustic lens or an ultrasonic transducer to which a convex acoustic lens is attached is used.

The beams of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are orthogonal to the drive shaft 9 of the drive motor and are scanned in the radial direction. Therefore, the beam trajectory plane 11 is orthogonal to the drive axis 9, but parallel to the handle axis. Therefore, an ultrasonic tomographic image of the beam trajectory plane 11 which is a plane parallel to the handle axis can be obtained. Since the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are rotated by the drive motor, the beam locus surface 11 of the ultrasonic transducers at that time is a surface orthogonal to the drive axis 9. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the ultrasonic tomographic image acquisition region in the ultrasonic transducer array direction obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer is not the entire circumference of 360 degrees but is blocked by the base housing 56. Only the ultrasonic image of the range can be obtained. In that range, an ultrasonic scannable area that can be scanned by the ultrasonic transducer is shown. In an actual ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the setting is slightly smaller than the geometrical angle in consideration of the problem of reflection. This angle is called a scan angle 73. In the case of this embodiment, the angle is 220 degrees.

The base housing 56 is a metal powder injection molding method (Metal Injection Molding).
= MIM).
MIM is E. Wiech developed the Witec process, which was put into practical use in 1972 and is capable of accurately producing parts with three-dimensionally complex shapes, making it the fifth generation after machining, die casting, precision casting, and powder metallurgy. It is a construction method that has been attracting attention as a metal processing method of
Dimensional tolerance is ± 0.05m with a general tolerance of 10mm or less.
m, with a special tolerance of about ± 0.03 mm, which is comparable to metalworking precision and cannot be obtained by other metal die castings. Base housing 56 of the present embodiment
Is a three-dimensionally complex shape, and it is necessary to have support rigidity for supporting the drive motor, and it is also an important requirement that the position of the rotary shaft of the ultrasonic transducer be stable. , MIM was adopted and produced.

Since SUS630 is used as the material, heat treatment is performed to increase the rigidity. The blank shape is not deformed by heat treatment.

The winding of the embodiment is a hexagonal cylindrical winding. This winding is a winding used in a coreless motor, and has a configuration in which this winding is inserted into the outer periphery of a cylindrical core and used. This is a hexa-winding winding. Hexa winding process consists of winding work, temporary tape fixing work, flat pressing work, curling work, and annealing work.

4 and 5, the motor lead wire 64 of the drive motor is drawn out from the groove of the drive shaft 9, and the motor lead wire 64 has three phases because the drive motor is a three-phase Δ connection. The individual motor lead wires are soldered to a predetermined relay amplifier board 14. The electric power of the drive motor is supplied from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body. In other words, the motor lead wire is supplied from the main body to the drive motor control drive circuit of the connector box, from the coil output section of the drive motor control drive circuit to the relay adjustment board of the handle, and also to the relay amplifier board. 64 (U phase in general,
(Differentiated as V-phase and W-phase). The motor lead wire 64 has a small lead wire resistance because a drive current of the motor flows. That is, the conductor is thickened.

According to FIGS. 4 and 5, the core, the insulating film, the winding, the air gap, the magnet, and the rotor frame are arranged from the inner side with the drive shaft as the center. That is, it is a slotless motor with a core.

As shown in FIG. 4, a rotary transformer 21 is provided in order to take out transmission / reception signals to / from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to the outside of the drive rotor. In the rotary transformer 21, the rotor-side transformer 22 is attached to the rotor frame 50, and the stator-side transformer 23 is attached to the base housing 56 side.

Since two ultrasonic transducers are mounted, the rotary transformer 21 has a 2-channel structure, so that two ring-shaped grooves are formed in each transformer on the surface facing the transformer.

Coil grooves 66, 67 are formed concentrically on the surface of the rotor-side transformer 22, and the coil grooves 66, 6 are formed.
A coil having a radius suitable for the groove is attached to 7. In order to house the drive motor in the window case, the rotary transformer 21 has a disk shape and is as thin as possible. Depending on the method of treating the coils arranged in the coil grooves 66 and 67, the torque generation space of the motor becomes small. Therefore, in order to reduce the deterioration of the characteristics, the flexible substrate 63 was used to connect the coil terminals.

Since the rotor side transformer 22 of the rotary transformer 21 can be constructed in a thin space,
A drive motor for driving a small and lightweight ultrasonic transducer can be created, and the drive motor can be built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe.

The stator side transformer 23 also has a structure of 2 channels like the rotor side transformer 22. Two coil grooves 69, 70 are formed on the transformer facing surface of the stator-side transformer 23 at radial positions facing the rotor-side coil grooves, and the coil grooves 69, 70 have a coil with a radius suitable for the grooves. 71 is attached. The coil 71 is fixed to the coil groove by an adhesive material which is a non-magnetic material, and the terminal wire of the coil 71 of the stator side transformer 23 is drawn out to the back side of the stator side transformer 23 through a hole 60 formed under the groove. , FPC7 attached to the back side of the stator side transformer 23
2 is soldered and connected. It is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side via the FPC 72. The FPC 72 on the back side of the stator-side transformer 23 is soldered to the shield wire at a position where it does not interfere with the support column of the base housing 56.
Connect to the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment body side.

Since the stator side transformer can be constructed in a thin space by making the coil lead out on the back side, a small and lightweight drive motor for driving the ultrasonic transducer can be obtained, and the drive motor is It can be built into the tip of the sonic probe.

The operating frequency of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is 1 MHz to
The frequency is 10 MHz, which is higher than that of home appliances. Therefore, the material of the transformer to be used is preferably a material whose frequency characteristic of the initial magnetic permeability μi is flat in the range of the used frequency, and therefore a material having a relatively small initial magnetic permeability is used. The rotary transformer of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus preferably has an initial magnetic permeability of 650 or less.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows an external perspective view of the ultrasonic probe. 8 and 9
[Fig. 3] shows a structural diagram of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor in the present embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment is that a substrate for amplifying the output signal of the MR element and processing a rectangular wave is formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the signal is passed through the handle and the cable to drive the drive motor control drive circuit of the connector box. Connected to.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the embodiment comprises an ultrasonic probe and a main body system section. A drive rotor 75 of a drive motor 74 that rotationally drives the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 and a base housing 76 that supports the drive rotor 75 are built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and ultrasonic waves are propagated in the handle 6 of the ultrasonic probe. A volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the medium is configured.

The ultrasonic oscillators 1 and 2 are attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotating portion of the drive rotor 75, so that the rotary shafts of the ultrasonic oscillators 1 and 2 and the drive shaft 77 of the drive motor 74 are the same shaft. Becomes The ultrasonic transducer 1 with respect to the drive shaft 77,
The second beam is emitted in the radial direction. The rotation of the drive rotor 75 is such that the beam trajectory surface 11 of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 is a plane orthogonal to the drive axis 77. That is, the axis perpendicular to the trajectory surface 11 of the beam is the drive shaft 77 of the drive motor 74.

To know the rotational position information of the drive motor 74, the ultrasonic transducer 1 attached to the drive rotor 75,
You will know the position information of 2. Regarding the rotational position of the drive rotor 75, the rotational position information of the drive rotor 75 can be known by using the reference position means serving as a reference for one rotation and the relative position information together with the position means. It is composed of a Z-phase pin 78 and a Z-phase MR element 79 of a magnetic material as the reference position means. Z-phase MR
Since the element 79 has only one Z-phase pin 78 made of a magnetic material, the Z-phase MR element 79 has one Z-phase MR element 79 per revolution of the drive rotor 75.
The pulse signal is detected. Therefore, the drive rotor 75
You can know the reference position of. Since the signal level of the Z-phase MR signal is small, it is not affected by noise, so the signal is amplified by the signal processing unit 80 near the motor, and the sinusoidal waveform signal is further subjected to rectangular wave processing and long cable wiring processing. Connected to the motor control drive circuit of the connector box. The Z-phase MR signal subjected to the rectangular wave processing is also connected to the system main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body from the connector box.

A magnetic encoder 81 is incorporated as relative position information means, and the magnetic encoder 81 is composed of an encoder magnet 82 on the drive rotor side and an AB phase MR element 83 on the base housing 76 side. The AB-phase MR element 83 is an MR element that can obtain signals of two channels of A-phase and B-phase, and the phase difference between the A-phase and the B-phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive motor can be obtained from the phase difference. Multi-pole magnetic poles are magnetized on the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 82, and signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles are obtained from the AB-phase MR element 83. For example, since the encoder magnet 82 has a magnetic pole of about 150 poles, the AB-phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, so that the position information of the drive motor can be a signal with a resolution accuracy of about 150 per rotation. Since the encoder magnet 82 is rotationally magnetized, the angle accuracy between the magnetic poles is very high. That A
The B-phase signal is also amplified by the signal processing unit 80 near the motor, the amplified signal of the sine wave waveform is subjected to rectangular wave processing, the long wiring of the cable is processed, and the signal is connected to the motor control drive circuit of the connector box. . The Z-phase MR signal subjected to the rectangular wave processing is also connected to the system main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body from the connector box.

The rectangular wave signals of the AB and Z phases are also connected to the main body system 20 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in the connector box 18.
Connected via. In order to display an image, it cannot be expressed without position information. Therefore, the body system side also needs position information of the ultrasonic transducer.

This drive motor 74 has a rotation speed of 300 r / m.
Rotation is performed by switching in several steps from in to 1200 r / min. For example, if the encoder magnet 82 is 1
In the case of a magnetic pole of about 50 poles, the AB phase MR signal also has 150 pulses each, so that it can be used with the same number of pulses, but in order to improve the resolution accuracy of the rotation angle positions of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2, If the phase B is multiplied by 4, the number of pulses per rotation is 600 pulses, which is four times the resolution of the original signal. Since the drive shaft 77 of the drive motor 74 and the rotary shaft of the ultrasonic transducer are the same axis, there is no variation and the rotation angle accuracy is good, and the image uses the signal as a trigger, so the image quality is considerably high. It gives a good ultrasound diagnostic image.

A slip ring 84 is formed at the rotor end of the drive rotor 75 in order to take out signals from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to the outside of the drive motor 74. The ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic oscillator 1 (or 2) travel radially to the center of the ultrasonic oscillator 1 (or 2) and are incident on the living tissue. A part of the ultrasonic waves that have entered the tissue is reflected in the tissue, then received by the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) and converted into an electric signal, and passes through the slip ring 84 to the outside of the drive motor 74. It is taken out and sent to the amplifier 27 in the system main body.

The frequency characteristics of the signals from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are different from each other. The ultrasonic transducer having a higher frequency is called a high frequency transducer, and the one having a lower frequency is called a low frequency transducer. .

The base housing 76 that supports the drive rotor 75 is fixed to the probe body mounting base 85. Further, the base housing 76 is formed of an integral member including a support portion that supports the drive rotor 75 and a support portion that is fixed to the probe body mounting base 85. By forming it as an integral member, the base rigidity is increased and the support rigidity of the drive motor is increased.

The drive rotor 75, the base housing 76, and the signal processing unit 80 are formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and are contained in the ultrasonic wave propagating medium in the window case 24 which is entirely made of a window material having ultrasonic wave permeability. Has been done. The ultrasonic wave propagation medium in the window case 24 is depressurized so as not to contain bubbles, deaerated, and then sealed. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic wave propagating medium is provided so that the pressure of the sealed ultrasonic wave propagating medium is relaxed even if the medium expands due to the environment. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic propagation medium is composed of a rubber-based elastic bag. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 is configured on the handle 6 of the ultrasonic probe.

A drive motor control drive circuit 19 for driving the drive motor is formed in the connector box.

Next, the system body 2 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body
The transmission / reception circuit portion of 0 will be described. For the convenience of description of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2, the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are different from the ultrasonic transducers having different frequency characteristics, and the high frequency transducer is the ultrasonic transducer 1 and the low frequency transducer is the ultrasonic transducer. Assume that it is 2.

When transmitting the ultrasonic waves into the living body, first, the pulse generator 25 outputs a rate pulse for determining the repetition period of the ultrasonic pulses, and the rate pulse is transmitted to the pulse transducer drive circuit 26 having the determined ultrasonic frequency. To be In the vibrator drive circuit 26, a drive signal is supplied to the ultrasonic vibrator corresponding to the frequency through the slip ring 84 corresponding to the frequency and is driven to the corresponding ultrasonic vibrator 1 (or 2) to generate ultrasonic waves. A drive pulse is formed to generate
The drive pulse causes the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) to radiate into the living body.

In the case of a high frequency transmission signal, the high frequency oscillator 1
Therefore, in the case of the low-frequency transmission signal, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the low-frequency oscillator 2 into the living body are reflected by the in-vivo tissue.
The reflected ultrasonic wave is called an ultrasonic echo. The weak reception signal received by the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) used at the time of transmission and corresponding to the reflection intensity of the ultrasonic echo is amplified by the amplifier 27 in the system body, and then the B mode signal processing circuit. Sent to. In the B-mode signal processing circuit, the oscillator output is logarithmically compressed by a logarithmic amplifier 28, detected by a detection circuit 29 for envelope detection, and a gain setter 30 for gain correction is controlled by a gain control controller 31 to obtain a gain. After being corrected, the signal is combined by the combining circuit 32,
A / D converted by the A / D converter 33, and the high-speed image DSP3
Image processing is performed at 4. The image processed by the DSP 34 is temporarily stored in the image memory 35. A plurality of images at the time of driving are also stored in the image memory 35, signal-processed using the high-speed image DSP 34, and the signals are digitally scanned.
It is converted into image data compatible with the TV scanning format via a converter (DSC) 36, and the TV monitor 3
It is displayed as a two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image at 7. The system body 20 includes a host CP that controls the entire circuit of the device.
There is U38, which comprehensively monitors image data, a memory, a drive circuit of a drive motor, and the like, and gives a processing instruction. The host CPU 38 controls the processing as a probe by the input accompanying the external input operation to the main body device.

In FIG. 7, 6 indicates a handle, and 39
Is a tip of the ultrasonic probe, a window case 24 made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency is attached to the tip, and a drive motor, an ultrasonic transducer, and the like are built therein. The ultrasonic probe is connected to the main body by a connector box 18 at the end of the cable 40. The tip 39 has a smooth streamlined cylindrical shape for easy insertion into the body cavity. The cable 40 includes an input / output line (I / O line) connecting the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, an electric control line for driving and controlling a drive motor, and a signal line such as an encoder. A cable 40 for connecting a signal line for impact detection and the like to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, which is protected by a coating and shielded. Cable 40
Is grounded at both ends of the ultrasonic transducer side and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side.

There is a hand switch 6a on the handle,
The rotation of the ultrasonic transducer is started and stopped. In the signal line, the switch 6a is connected to the drive motor control drive circuit.

8 and 9 are structural views of the ultrasonic transducer drive motor in this embodiment. For the sake of explanation, casings such as a window case and a handle are omitted in FIGS. 8 and 9.

8 and 9, 1 and 2 are ultrasonic vibrators, 75 is a drive motor drive rotor, 76 is a base housing, 78 is a magnetic material Z-phase pin, and 80 is a signal processor.
Reference numeral 81 is a magnetic encoder, 82 is an encoder magnet, 83 is an AB phase MR element, and 84 is a slip ring.

The rotating portion of the drive motor 74 rotates around the drive shaft 77 of the drive motor, and the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotor frame 86. The ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are also called transducers and are the core parts of the ultrasonic probe. An acoustic lens 87 is attached to the tips of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2. It is the acoustic lens 87 that effectively utilizes the phenomenon of refraction. Since ultrasonic waves have a higher speed of sound in a solid than in a liquid, the ultrasonic beam is focused on the transducer surface by a concave acoustic lens. There is. In addition to the concave acoustic lens, a planar acoustic lens or an ultrasonic transducer to which a convex acoustic lens is attached is used.

The beams of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are orthogonal to the drive shaft 77 of the drive motor and are scanned in the radial direction. Therefore, the beam trajectory plane 11 is orthogonal to the drive axis 77. An ultrasonic tomographic image of the beam trajectory plane 11 which is orthogonal to the drive shaft 77 of the drive motor but is parallel to the axis of the handle 6 can be obtained. Since the ultrasonic vibrators 1 and 2 are rotated by the drive motor 74, the trajectory surface 11 of the beam of the ultrasonic vibrator at that time is a surface orthogonal to the drive shaft 77 of the drive motor. As can be seen from the figure, the ultrasonic tomographic image acquisition region in the ultrasonic transducer array direction, which is obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer, is not the entire circumference of 360 degrees but is blocked by the base housing 76 and has a certain range. Only the ultrasonic image of can be obtained. The ultrasonic scannable area angle that can be scanned by the ultrasonic transducer in that range is called a scan angle. In the actual ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the scanning angle is set to be slightly smaller than the geometrical angle in consideration of the problem of reflection. In the case of this embodiment, it is 230 degrees.

A Z-phase pin 78 made of a magnetic material is attached to the drive motor 74 as a reference position means for knowing the reference position information on an outer peripheral portion of a rotor frame 86 made of a magnetic material.
The Z-phase pin 78 is attached by inserting a cylindrical portion into a cylindrical hole provided on the outer periphery of the rotor frame 86, and cut surfaces 88 are provided on both sides so that the tip has an acute angle with respect to the driving rotation direction. ing. The magnetic flux to the Z-phase pin 78 is obtained from the main magnet of the drive motor 74. A Z-phase MR element that detects the Z-phase pin 78 (see FIGS. 8 and 9).
6) is attached to the base housing 76 via a magnetic material mount. The signal of the Z-phase MR element is connected to the signal processing unit 80 through the Z-phase FPC 89, and is connected from the relay amplifier board to the handle of the ultrasonic probe through the flat lead wire 90. A flat cable is used for sealing the ultrasonic wave propagation medium because a round lead wire cannot be completely sealed. Use shielded cables from the flat cable to the connector box. This is because the control system is not disturbed by noise from the outside. The connector box is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side through the connector box. Z
Since the reference position means constituted by the phase pin 78 and the Z-phase MR element has only one Z-phase pin 78, the Z-phase MR element detects a signal of one pulse for one rotation of the drive motor. Since the Z-phase MR signal has a low signal level, it does not receive noise and is amplified by the signal processing unit 80 near the motor. The Z-phase signal after the amplification is subjected to rectangular processing by the comparator circuit. The signal rectangularly processed by the signal processing unit 80 is a signal of 0-5V and is not easily affected by noise from the outside. When the rising position of the Z-phase rectangular wave signal is set to the reference position of the drive rotor 75, it becomes the rotation reference position of the drive rotor 75, and further becomes the rotation reference position of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2. If the positions of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are determined based on the reference position by this Z-phase signal, the reference of the rotational position of the ultrasonic transducer can be determined without difference among the individual ultrasonic probes. .

A magnetic encoder 81 is incorporated as relative position information means for knowing the rotational position information of the drive motor 74. The magnetic encoder 81 includes an encoder magnet 82 on the drive rotor 75 side and an AB-phase MR element 83 on the base housing 76 side.
The material of the encoder magnet 82 is a plastic magnet, and 12 nylon type is used as the base resin.

In order to prevent the encoder output from being affected by the leakage flux of the main magnet, the encoder magnet 8
2 and the AB-phase MR element 83 attached to the base housing 76 side are set to be very narrow. Since the gap is narrow, it is necessary to reduce the influence of swelling of the encoder magnet 82. Therefore, the encoder magnet 82 is a plastic magnet, and the ferrite content of the magnetic material is 79% or more in consideration of the swelling effect because it is used in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium. .

A magnetic encoder 81 is incorporated as relative position information means, and the position detecting element of the magnetic encoder 81 is an AB phase MR element 83. The AB-phase MR element 83 is an M that can obtain signals of two channels of A-phase and B-phase.
The R element has a phase difference of 90 degrees between the A phase and the B phase. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive motor can be obtained from the phase difference. Therefore, most MR elements used for control encoders have a 90-degree phase difference. The AB-phase MR elements 83 are arranged to face each other through a gap with the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 82 that is rotationally magnetized into multiple poles.

A number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles of the encoder magnet are obtained from the AB-phase MR element 83. For example, if the encoder magnet 82 has 150 poles,
Since the AB phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, a signal having a resolution accuracy of 150 pulses per rotation can be obtained as the position information of the drive motor. Since the encoder magnet 82 is rotationally magnetized, the angle accuracy between the magnetic poles is very high. If the A-phase and B-phase signals are multiplied by 4, it is 6 per rotation.
Since a signal with a resolution accuracy of 00 is obtained, the angle accuracy between the magnetic poles is very high, so that position information with a fairly good angle accuracy can be obtained even by multiplying by four.

The signal of the AB phase MR element 83 is AB phase F.
Signal processing unit 8 near the drive rotor 75 through the PC 91
It is amplified by 0, and the sine wave signal is further subjected to rectangular wave processing. Further, the AB phase signal is subjected to a long wiring process of the cable and connected to the motor control drive circuit of the connector box. The Z-phase MR signal subjected to the rectangular wave processing is also connected to the system main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body from the connector box.

A slip ring 84 is formed in order to take out a transmission / reception signal to / from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to the outside of the rotor frame 86. The slip ring 84 has an insulating material such as an insulating sheet interposed on the drive motor side,
The required number of electrodes 92 are configured, and the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are connected to the electrodes 92. Brushes 93 for contacting and electrically connecting the electrodes 92 to the respective electrodes are attached to the base housing 76 via brush holders 94 made of an electrically insulating material such as a phenol resin material. Signal from brush 93 (I / O signal)
Is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side through the I / OFPC.

The electrode 92 is composed of three electrodes,
Each electrode is insulated by a polyester insulating sheet 97.

One ultrasonic transducer has two lead wires, one is an electrical ground (GND) and the other is
Books are signal lines. In the ultrasonic probe of the present embodiment, since two ultrasonic vibrators are attached to the drive rotor,
Although there are four lead wires, the electrical ground can be treated as a lead wire since they are treated as common. Since the ultrasonic vibrators are 180 degrees apart, the electric ground lines cannot be easily connected to each other, and therefore they are connected via the electrode 92. Four lead wires extend from the electrode 92. Two of them come from the same electrode about 180 degrees apart.

As for the number of electrodes, three are required for two ultrasonic transducers. Of the three electrodes, an electrode for an electric ground is formed on the window case side, and the frequency of the ultrasonic transducer is increased toward the inside.

The motor wire 95 of the drive motor 74 is drawn out from the groove of the shaft, and the motor wire 95 is three because the drive motor has three phases and Δ connection, and each of the motor wires is a predetermined one. It is soldered to the signal processing unit 80.
The motor wire connected to the signal processing unit 80 is generally U phase, V
Phase and W phase are distinguished.

Since both ends of the drive rotor 75 are supported by the columns of the base housing 76, the drive motor is supported by both ends. That is, the rotating body of the ultrasonic transducer is also supported on both sides. The base housing 76 is a support portion that is attached to the mounting base of the probe and the drive rotor 75.
It is composed of a pillar that supports. The bearing at the support cannot be easily installed because the base housing 76 mounts the drive rotor 75 in a recessed recess. Explaining in the assembled state, the drive rotor 7
The outer circumference of the drive shaft 77 is covered with bearing collars 96 at both ends of the bearing 5, and the bearing collars 96 are engaged and inserted into the holes of the support columns of the base housing 76. The drive shaft 77 cannot be removed from the base housing 76 because of the bearing collar 96. That is, since the ultrasonic oscillator is attached to the outer periphery of the rotor frame of the drive rotor 75 of the double-ended bearing, it is formed between the two bearings of the drive rotor 75. Therefore, the ultrasonic tomographic image is orthogonal to the drive shaft 77, and is not orthogonal to the handle shaft.

When the drive motor is rotated, scanning is performed centering on the drive shaft, so that an ultrasonic tomographic image can be obtained on the drive beam trajectory plane 11 orthogonal to the drive shaft 77. The ultrasonic tomographic image is a two-dimensional image. As described above, in this embodiment, the ultrasonic probe for two-dimensional scanning can be used. For example, 23
It is possible to obtain an unprecedented wide measuring range in which an ultrasonic tomographic image in the 0 degree range can be obtained. Further, when the ultrasonic probe for two-dimensional scanning is used by inserting it into the body cavity, the ultrasonic transducer can be arranged at the tip of the insertion portion, so that the insertion portion can be made smaller and lighter. It has the advantage of being able to.

In this embodiment, two ultrasonic transducers are used. The numbers are 1 and 2. Since the frequency characteristics of the signals from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are different from each other and two kinds of ultrasonic transducers, a high-frequency transducer and a low-frequency transducer, can be mounted, The sonic probe can be treated as two different distance resolutions.
Generally, the distance resolution improves with higher frequency, but since ultrasonic attenuation increases with higher frequency, diagnosis cannot be performed at deeper depths. Since the child can be switched and used, better ultrasonic diagnosis is possible.

Further, the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 attached to the rotor frame 86 are attached at positions 180 degrees apart from the drive shaft. The ultrasonic waves emitted from one ultrasonic transducer are the ultrasonic waves emitted from the other ultrasonic transducer. Two ultrasonic transducers are attached in pairs of 180 degrees so that they are also received by the transducer and do not enter the received ultrasonic signal as noise. The transmitted ultrasonic transducer receives the reflected signal, but when the reflected signal is received by the other ultrasonic transducer, the signal becomes noise, so when using multiple ultrasonic transducers It is necessary to perform transmission and reception with the same ultrasonic transducer and prevent reception signals from being transmitted to other ultrasonic transducers. In the case of slip rings, there is almost no effect of noise.

Electric signals are correctly transmitted and received between the ultrasonic transducer and the apparatus main body, and an accurate ultrasonic image with less noise can be obtained.

The base housing 76 is made of sintered metal by a metal powder injection molding method (MIM). In addition to being mechanically complicated, it is a small part because it is a drive mechanism that is inserted into the body cavity, and it has a shape that is impossible with general turning processing.
Manufactured by the construction method to ensure sufficient strength.

With the positional relationship between the drive motor and the ultrasonic transducer,
Since the ultrasonic transducer is configured within the range of the internal axis of the drive motor, a two-dimensional ultrasonic image scanning mechanism that can be compactly configured within the window case can be incorporated. A drive motor for scanning ultrasonic waves can be made small and lightweight, an ultrasonic probe with the drive motor built into a window case can be provided, and ultrasonic diagnosis can be performed using the probe, improving the convenience of diagnosis. It is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of performing the above.

As described above, the ultrasonic probe for two-dimensional scanning in this embodiment is lightweight and small, and the main mechanical portion of the driving portion is built in the probe tip. With the ultrasonic transducer, a wide-angle ultrasonic tomographic image can be obtained. Also, 2
When the ultrasonic probe for dimensional scanning is used by inserting it into the body cavity, the ultrasonic transducer can be arranged at the tip of the insertion portion, which has an advantage that the insertion portion can be further downsized.

Two-dimensional scanning is possible with the ultrasonic probe for two-dimensional scanning of this embodiment, and a rotation angle signal is output from the encoder on the drive motor side as the drive motor to which the ultrasonic transducer is fixed rotates. It is transmitted to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and a two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image is obtained. By firmly attaching the base housing supporting the drive rotor to the attachment portion of the probe, impact resistance is improved.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.
An external perspective view of the ultrasonic probe is similar to that of FIG. 2 and is not shown.

MR is different from the first and second embodiments.
A substrate for amplifying an output signal of the element and processing a rectangular wave is configured as a handle of the ultrasonic probe. In order to make the tip of the ultrasonic probe small, the substrate structure of the tip was one of the obstacles to downsizing. AB phase MR element, Z phase MR
Although many connecting lines to the element are required, it is possible to easily achieve miniaturization although it is complicated in terms of work.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the embodiment comprises an ultrasonic probe and a main body system section (or main body apparatus).
The ultrasonic probe includes a tip, a handle 6, a connector box 18, and a cable 40. A drive motor 3 that rotationally drives the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 is formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe. The drive motor 3 includes a drive rotor 4 that rotates together with an ultrasonic transducer, a base housing 5 that supports the drive rotor 4 is built in, and a handle 6 of the ultrasonic probe has a signal processing of a position detection signal of the drive motor. The section 98 and the volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic propagation medium are configured.

The ultrasonic oscillators 1 and 2 are attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotating portion of the drive rotor 4, so that the drive shafts 9 of the ultrasonic oscillators 1 and 2 and the drive shaft 9 of the drive motor 3 are the same. It becomes an axis. The beams of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are emitted in the radial direction with respect to the drive shaft 9. The beam emission axis 10 on the ultrasonic transducer 1 side is shown. As the drive rotor 4 rotates, the beam emission axes 10 of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 form a surface, and the locus surface 11 thereof becomes a surface orthogonal to the drive axis 9.

To know the rotational position information of the driving rotor 4 is to know the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 attached to the driving rotor 4.
You will know the location information of. The rotational position of the drive rotor 4 can be known by using both the reference position means serving as a reference for one rotation and the relative position information means. The Z-phase pin 99 and the Z-phase MR element 100, which are magnetic materials, are used as the reference position means. Z-phase MR element 100
Since there is only one Z-phase pin 99 of the magnetic material, the Z-phase M
The R element 100 can detect a signal of one pulse for one rotation of the drive rotor 4. Therefore, the reference position of the drive rotor 4 can be known. Since the Z-phase MR element signal has a small signal level, it is subjected to signal amplification and rectangular wave processing in the signal processing unit 98, is subjected to long wiring of the cable 40, and is connected to the motor control drive circuit 19 of the connector box 18. The Z-phase MR signal subjected to the rectangular wave processing is also connected from the connector box 18 to the system body 20 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body.

A magnetic encoder 15 is incorporated as relative position information means, and the magnetic encoder 15 is composed of an encoder magnet 16 on the drive rotor 4 side and an AB-phase MR element 17 on the base housing 5 side. The AB-phase MR element 17 is an MR element that can obtain two-channel signals of A phase and B phase, and the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive rotor 4 can be obtained from the phase difference. A multi-pole magnetic pole is magnetized on the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 16, and a number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles is obtained from the AB-phase MR element 17. For example, since the encoder magnet 16 has 150 magnetic poles, the AB phase M
Since the R signal also has 150 pulses, as the position information of the drive motor, a signal having a resolution accuracy of 150 per rotation can be obtained. Since the encoder magnet 16 is rotationally magnetized, the angle accuracy between the magnetic poles is very high. That AB
The phase signal is also amplified and rectangular wave processed by the signal processing unit 98. The rectangular wave signal passes through the cable 40 and is connected to the drive motor control drive circuit 19 built in the connector box 18. The connector box 18 is connected to the system body 20 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body and supplies electric power for driving a drive motor such as the drive motor control drive circuit 19.

This drive motor 3 has a rotational speed of 300 r / mi.
Rotation is performed by switching from n to 1800 r / min in several stages. For example, if the encoder magnet 16 is 15
When the magnetic pole has 0 poles, the AB phase MR signals are also 15
Since the number of pulses is 0, the number of pulses can be used as it is, but in order to improve the resolution accuracy of the rotation angle positions of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2, if the A phase and B phase are multiplied by 4, the number of pulses becomes 600 pulses per rotation. , The resolution is four times higher than that of the original signal. Since the drive shaft 9 of the drive motor 3 and the rotation shaft of the ultrasonic transducer are the same axis, there is no variation and the rotation angle accuracy is good, and when the image is used as a trigger, the image quality is considerably good. It becomes an ultrasonic diagnostic image.

The rotary transformer 21 is constructed to take out the signals from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to the outside of the drive motor 3. The rotary transformer 21 is composed of a rotor-side transformer 22 and a stator-side transformer 23, the rotor-side transformer 22 is arranged at a rotor end portion on the drive rotor 4 side, and the signal line of the rotor-side transformer 22 is the ultrasonic transducer 1.
Connected to 2. The stator side transformer 23 is fixed to the base housing 5 side, the signal line of the stator side transformer 23 is connected to the connector box 18 from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the handle 6 and a cable, and the connector box 18 is mounted on the main body. Then, the signal of the ultrasonic transducer is connected to the circuit side of the main body.

Since the rotary transformer 21 can transmit a signal in a non-contact manner, the load acting on the drive motor is much smaller than that of the contact type slip ring.
In the case of a small drive motor, design it for use.

The ultrasonic waves radiated from the ultrasonic vibrator 1 (or 2) travel radially to the center of the ultrasonic vibrator 1 (or 2) and enter the living tissue. A part of the ultrasonic wave that has entered the tissue is reflected in the tissue and then the ultrasonic transducer 1
(Or 2) is received, converted into an electric signal, taken out of the drive motor through the rotary transformer 21, and sent to an amplifier in the system body.

The frequency characteristics of the signals from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are different from each other. The ultrasonic transducer with the higher frequency is called the high frequency transducer and the lower frequency is called the low frequency transducer. To distinguish

The base housing 5 supporting the drive rotor 4 is fixed to the mounting base of the probe body. In addition, the base housing 5 is formed of an integral member including a support portion that supports the drive rotor 4 and a support portion that is fixed to the mounting base of the probe body. The base rigidity is increased to increase the support rigidity of the drive motor.

The drive rotor 4, the base housing 5, and the relay amplifier board 14 are formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and are enclosed by the ultrasonic wave propagating medium in the window case 24 made of a window material having ultrasonic wave transparency. Has been done. The ultrasonic wave propagation medium in the window case 24 is depressurized so as not to contain bubbles, deaerated, and then sealed. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic wave propagating medium is provided so that the pressure of the sealed ultrasonic wave propagating medium is relaxed even if the medium expands due to the environment. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic propagation medium is composed of a rubber-based elastic bag. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 and the relay adjusting board 7 are configured on the handle 6 of the ultrasonic probe.

Next, the system body 2 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body
The transmitting / receiving circuit portion within 0 will be described. The signal lines for the high frequency and the low frequency are different for the two vibrators having different frequency characteristics of the ultrasonic vibrator. In FIG. 10, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the high-frequency oscillators are the ultrasonic oscillators 1 and the low-frequency oscillators are the ultrasonic oscillators 2 for convenience of description.

When transmitting ultrasonic waves into the living body, first, the pulse generator 25 outputs a rate pulse for determining the repetition period of the ultrasonic pulses, and the rate pulse is sent to the pulse transducer drive circuit 26 with the ultrasonic frequency determined. To be In this oscillator drive circuit 26, an ultrasonic oscillator corresponding to the frequency is supplied with a drive signal to the corresponding ultrasonic oscillator 1 (or 2) via the rotary transformer 21 corresponding to the frequency to drive the ultrasonic wave. A drive pulse is formed to generate The drive pulse causes the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) to radiate into the living body.

In the case of a high frequency transmission signal, the high frequency oscillator 1
Therefore, in the case of the low-frequency transmission signal, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the low-frequency oscillator 2 into the living body are reflected by the in-vivo tissue.
The reflected ultrasonic wave is called an ultrasonic echo. The weak reception signal received by the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) used at the time of transmission and corresponding to the reflection intensity of the ultrasonic echo is amplified by the amplifier 27 in the system body 20 and then signal processing for B mode is performed. Sent to the circuit. In the B-mode signal processing circuit, the oscillator output is logarithmically compressed by a logarithmic amplifier 28, detected by a detection circuit 29 for envelope detection, and a gain setter 30 for gain correction is controlled by a gain control controller 31 to obtain a gain. The corrected image is combined by the combining circuit 32, and is A / D converted by the A / D converter 33.
Image processing is performed in SP34. The sitting image processed by the DSP 34 is temporarily stored in the image memory 35. A plurality of images during driving are also stored in the image memory 35, and the high-speed image DSP
Signal processing is performed by using the digital signal 34, and the signal is converted by the digital scan converter (DSC) 36 into image data compatible with the TV scanning format, and displayed as a two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image on the television monitor 37. It

The system main body 20 of the main body device has a host CPU 38 that controls the circuits of the entire device, and comprehensively monitors image data, memory and drive motor position information, motor drive, etc., and issues processing instructions. . Host CPU3
Reference numeral 8 generally controls the processing as the ultrasonic probe by the input accompanying the external input operation to the main body device.

A window case 24 made of a window material having ultrasonic permeability is attached to the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe has a built-in drive motor and ultrasonic transducer. There is. The tip of the ultrasonic probe and the handle 6 are connected by a hard housing, and the direction of the tip can be determined by holding the handle 6 by hand.

Since the signal processing unit is not provided at the tip of the ultrasonic probe but the signal processing unit 98 is provided at the handle 6, the volume of the tip can be made small, and the ultrasonic wave can be sealed at the tip. Since the amount of the sound wave propagation medium can be reduced, the weight of the tip can be reduced. Since a structure that does not use the substrate can be formed in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, the stacking density of the substrate and the mounting density of components can be increased, and the signal processing unit can be downsized. Since the handle can be made smaller, the ultrasonic probe can be made lighter, and the diagnostic workability is further improved.

By configuring the drive motor control drive circuit 19 in the connector box 18, not only the design of the main body system is reduced, but also the specification of the connection between the connector box 18 and the main body of the diagnostic device is determined universally. Even if the specifications of the probe are different, it can be easily dealt with by changing the software side of the diagnostic device. The control unit of the motor that drives the ultrasonic transducer can be performed on the probe side, and the drive motor system can be completed on the probe side.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a slotless motor with a core using a hexagonal cylindrical winding in this embodiment. FIG. 12 is a side view of this slotless motor with a core. This slotless motor with a core is a servo-controlled brushless motor and is a sensorless drive type outer rotor rotating type. The motor of this embodiment is an ultrasonic transducer drive motor, and is an example of a motor mounted on the tip of the probe of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. For the sake of explanation, casings such as a window case and a handle are omitted in FIGS. 11 and 12.

In FIGS. 11 and 12, the core 48 is on the fixed side, and the rotor frame 103 with the drive magnet 49 is on the rotating side. Rotor frame 103
Has an oval shape, and two semi-circular drive magnets 49 are attached to face each other inside. The ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are attached to the flat outer peripheral surface of the rotor frame 103. Therefore, when the rotor frame 103 rotates about the drive shaft 9, the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 mounted on the rotor frame 103 also rotate about the drive shaft 9. There are rotor side plates 104 and 105 on both sides of the rotor frame 103. The rotor side plate 104 is for the rotary transformer 21 and the rotor side plate 105 is for the encoder side. Rotor side plate 10
4 is provided on the bearing boss portion 53, and the bearing boss portion 53
A bearing 51 is attached to the. Also, the rotor side plate 10
4 has a spigot portion 106 that engages and fixes the rotor-side transformer 22, and also fixes a portion of the outer peripheral side end face to assemble the bearing 51 so that the surface runout becomes small.
The other bearing 52 is attached to the rotor side plate 105. The rotor side plates 104 and 105 are fitted into and inserted into the rotor frame 103, and are rotatably supported by the attached bearings 51 and 52.

In order to control the motor, the rotor side plate 10
5, an encoder magnet 16 is attached, and a large number of magnetic poles are magnetized on the surface of the encoder magnet 16 at equal intervals. The AB phase MR element 17 is attached to the mounting base 55 made of a magnetic material so as to face the outer periphery of the encoder magnet 16, and the mounting base 55 is mounted to the base housing 56.
The AB phase MR element 17 is arranged and fixed with a slight gap provided between the outer periphery of the MR element 6 and the outer circumference of the element 6.

A magnetic encoder is incorporated as relative position information means for knowing the rotational position information of the drive rotor. The magnetic encoder has an encoder magnet 16 on the drive rotor side and an AB on the base housing 56 side.
And the phase MR element 17. The material of the encoder magnet 16 is a plastic magnet, and 12 nylon type is used as the base resin.

Since the encoder output is not affected by the leakage magnetic flux of the drive magnet 49, the gap between the encoder magnet 16 and the AB-phase MR element 17 is set to be extremely narrow. Since the gap is narrow, it is necessary to reduce the effects of swelling of the encoder magnet 16, cutting runout, and assembly runout. The encoder magnet 16 is adhered and fixed to the rotor side plate 105, and is assembled to reduce the shake due to the parts. Further, a material having a large ferrite content in the plastic magnet of the encoder magnet 16 is used. That is, since the encoder magnet 16 is used in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, the one containing 79% or more of the magnetic material is used in consideration of the swelling effect.

A magnetic encoder is incorporated as relative position information means, and the position detecting element of the magnetic encoder is the AB phase MR element 17. The AB-phase MR element 17 is an MR element capable of obtaining two-channel signals of A phase and B phase, and the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees. A
Since the phase difference between the B phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive rotor can be obtained from the phase difference. Therefore, the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 attached to the rotor frame 103 can be known. The outer circumference of the encoder magnet 16 magnetized in multiple poles by the rotary magnetizer and the AB-phase MR element 17 are opposed to each other.
Since it is about μm, and it is driven in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, if there is a large dust, it will enter the gap, so it is assembled after being cleaned with oil. A number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles of the encoder magnet 16 are detected from the AB-phase MR element 17, and a drive motor is controlled by a motor control signal.

For example, the encoder magnet 16 has 1
In the case of 50 poles, the AB phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, so the position information of the drive rotor is 1 per revolution.
A signal with a resolution accuracy of 50 pulses is obtained. Since both the A phase and the B phase have 150 pulses and have a phase difference of 90 degrees, if the signals of the A phase and B phase are multiplied by 4, a signal with a resolution accuracy of 600 per rotation can be obtained. Since the encoder magnet 16 is rotationally magnetized, the angle accuracy between the magnetic poles is very high. Therefore, even when the frequency is multiplied by four, position information with considerably good angle accuracy can be obtained.

The signal of the AB-phase MR element 17 is amplified and square-wave processed by the signal processor in the handle. The signal processing unit is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor built in the connector box through the cable, the connector box is attached to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, and power is supplied to the control drive circuit of the drive motor. Also, depending on the device, M
The rectangular wave signal of the R signal is also connected to the system body side to transmit pulse information.

A Z-phase pin 99 made of a magnetic material is attached to the outer periphery of the rotor frame 103 made of a magnetic material as a reference position means for knowing the reference position information in the drive motor. The Z-phase pin 99 is mounted not on the intermediate portion of the rotor frame 103 but on the side closer to the encoder magnet.
The Z-phase pin 99 has a cylindrical portion in the rotor frame 10.
3 is inserted into a cylindrical hole provided on the outer periphery of the No. 3 and attached, and cut surfaces 107 are provided on both sides so as to form an acute angle at the tip with respect to the driving rotation direction. The magnetic flux to the Z-phase pin 99 is obtained from the drive magnet 49. Z-phase pin 9
The Z-phase MR element 100 for detecting 9 is a mount 10 made of a magnetic material.
1 to the angle 102 of the base housing 56. The signal of the Z-phase MR element 100 is connected to the signal processing unit of the handle. The signal processing unit is connected to the control drive board of the drive motor in the connector box through the shielded cable. The connector box is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body side.

Z-phase pin 99 of magnetic material and Z-phase MR element 10
In the reference position means constituted by 0, the Z-phase pin 99 is 1
Therefore, the Z-phase MR element 100 detects a signal of one pulse for one rotation of the drive rotor. Since the Z-phase MR signal has a low signal level, it is amplified by the signal processing unit of the handle. The Z-phase signal after the amplification is subjected to rectangular processing by the comparator circuit of the signal processing unit. The rectangular-processed signal is a 0-5V rectangular wave signal and is not easily affected by external noise. If the rising position of the Z-phase comparator signal is set to the reference position of the drive rotor, it becomes the rotation reference position of the drive motor, and also the rotation reference position of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2. If the positions of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are determined based on the reference position by this Z-phase signal, the reference of the rotational position of the ultrasonic transducer can be determined without difference among the individual ultrasonic probes. .

In order to take out the transmission / reception signals to / from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to the outside of the drive rotor, the rotary transformer 21 is used.
Is configured. The rotor-side transformer 22 of the rotary transformer 21 is attached to the rotor-side plate 104 attached to the side surface of the rotor frame 103. The stator-side transformer 23 is attached to the base housing 56 side. Since the rotary transformer 21 has a 2-channel structure, ring-shaped coil grooves are formed on each of the transformers on the surface facing the transformer, and windings are arranged on a plane for several turns in the ring-shaped grooves. There is. The winding of the rotor-side transformer 22 has holes 5 formed below the coil grooves 66 and 67.
It is drawn out to the rotor side plate 104 side through 9 and is connected to the FPC 68 attached to the back surface of the rotor side transformer. The lead wire of the ultrasonic transducer is also connected to the FPC 68 attached to the back surface of the rotor-side transformer, and the winding of the rotor-side transformer 22 is conductively connected to the ultrasonic transducer. The stator-side transformer 23 is also provided with ring-shaped coil grooves 69 and 70 at positions facing the windings of the rotor-side transformer 22.
Several turns of winding 71 are arranged around 9, 70, and the ends of the winding 71 are holes 60 provided at the back of the ring-shaped groove on the stator transformer side.
To the FPC 72 on the back side of the stator side transformer. The FPC 72 is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side using a shield wire or the like.

In this embodiment, two ultrasonic transducers are used. The numbers are 1 and 2. Furthermore, since two types of ultrasonic transducers can be mounted, there is an advantage that one ultrasonic probe can be treated as two different ultrasonic wave resolutions.

Generally, the distance resolution is improved when the frequency is high, but when the frequency is increased, the attenuation of the ultrasonic wave is increased, and the diagnosis cannot be performed at the deep portion. Therefore, one ultrasonic probe has different frequencies. Since the ultrasonic transducers can be switched and used, more convenient ultrasonic diagnosis can be performed.

Further, the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 attached to the rotor frame 103 are attached at positions 180 degrees away from the drive shaft 9, and the ultrasonic wave radiated from one ultrasonic transducer is the ultrasonic wave emitted from the other ultrasonic transducer. The relative angular positions of the two ultrasonic transducers are set to 180 degrees so that they are also received by the ultrasonic transducers and do not enter the received ultrasonic signal as noise. The transmitted ultrasonic transducer receives the reflected signal, but when the reflected signal is received by the other ultrasonic transducer, the signal becomes noise, so when using multiple ultrasonic transducers It is necessary to perform phase reception by the same ultrasonic transducer and prevent other ultrasonic transducers from receiving received signals.

The ultrasonic transducer has two lead wires,
One is an electrical ground (GND) and the other is a signal line. In the ultrasonic probe of this embodiment, two ultrasonic transducers are attached to the drive rotor, so there are four lead wires, but since the electrical ground is treated as common, it can be processed as three lead wires. Since the ultrasonic transducers are 180 degrees apart, the electrical ground lines cannot be easily connected to each other, so they are connected via the FPC 68 provided on the back side of the rotor-side transformer 22. That F
There are four lands on the PC 68, and the lead wires of the ultrasonic transducer are connected by soldering.

The ultrasonic transducer radiates ultrasonic waves in response to an electric signal sent from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body through the I / O line (transmission / reception line of ultrasonic signals), and the ultrasonic waves reflected from the subject are detected. The waves are received and the amount of charge changes. The electrical change of the ultrasonic transducer is transmitted to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body via the I / O line. The electric signal flowing through the I / O line is 2 kHz to 12
Since it is a frequency signal in the range of kHz, it becomes a main noise source of unnecessary radiation. In this embodiment, the liquid-sealed portion is I / O.
A part of the wire is composed of a flexible substrate, and the other parts are shielded wires. Since the I / O line is shielded, it has the effect of preventing unwanted radiation, but the vicinity of the rotary transformer cannot be shielded. Unwanted radiation is reduced by examining the position of the electrode at the frequency used. That is, the frequency of the ultrasonic transducer is increased from the outer peripheral side of the ring-shaped groove toward the inside.

The position information signal line of the drive motor that is rotationally driven in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium is a signal line for knowing the scanning position of the ultrasonic transducer from the encoder, and noise enters from the ultrasonic signal transmitting / receiving unit. Then, the position information becomes unstable and the control of the drive motor becomes unstable. In order to stabilize the control of the motor, the I / O section is electrically shielded so that it is not affected by noise.

A cylindrical core 48 is fixed to the drive shaft 9 so as to face the drive magnet 49. Its core 4
8 is insulated, and a cylindrical winding 61 is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the core 48. The winding 61 is a cylindrical hexa-winding winding.

Since the core 48 is a cylindrical core, it is called a slotless core so as to be distinguished from a core having a slot. The slotless core 48 is provided with an insulating film 62 in a film shape. In the embodiment, the insulating film 62 is an electrodeposition coating film of epoxy resin, which is intended for electrical insulation between the winding wire 61 and the core 48. Therefore, the thicker the film is, the thicker the film is. Since a gap is created between the winding wire 61 and the core 48, and the efficiency is lowered, a process for making the film thickness as thin as possible is adopted. The insulating film can also be formed by spray painting. An electrodeposition coating film having the insulating film 62 formed thereon, a vacuum deposition film, or the like is used.

The electrodeposition coating film is a film having excellent insulating properties,
In addition to being relatively easy to industrially form a film, the electrodeposition coating film has excellent environmental resistance, so that the motor can be used in environments other than air, such as oil. When an insulating tape is used for insulation, the adhesive cannot be used in an environment such as oil because the characteristics of the adhesive deteriorate, but the electrodeposition coating film can be used without problems in an environment such as oil.

The core 48 is insulated, and a cylindrical winding 61 is attached to the outer periphery of the core 48. The winding 61 is a cylindrical hexa-winding winding. The tap of the winding wire 61 is connected to a lead wire 64 via a flexible substrate 63 provided on the end surface of the core 48.
4 is pulled out of the rotor through the groove of the drive shaft 9.

The rotating portion of the drive motor rotates about the drive shaft 9, and the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotor hood 103 also rotate about the drive shaft 9. The ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are also called transducers and are the core parts of the ultrasonic probe. An acoustic lens 65 is attached to the tips of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2. It is the acoustic lens 65 that effectively utilizes the phenomenon of refraction. Since ultrasonic waves have a higher speed of sound in a solid than in a liquid, the ultrasonic beam is focused on the transducer surface by a concave acoustic lens. There is. An ultrasonic transducer to which a flat acoustic lens or a convex acoustic lens other than the concave acoustic lens is attached is used.

The beams of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are orthogonal to the drive shaft 9 of the drive motor and are scanned in the radial direction. Therefore, the beam trajectory plane 11 is orthogonal to the drive axis 9, but parallel to the handle axis. Therefore, an ultrasonic tomographic image of the beam trajectory plane 11 which is a plane parallel to the handle axis can be obtained. Since the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are rotated by the drive motor, the beam locus surface 11 of the ultrasonic transducers at that time is a surface orthogonal to the drive axis 9. The ultrasonic tomographic image acquisition area in the ultrasonic transducer array direction obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer is not the entire circumference of 360 degrees but is blocked by the base housing 56 and only an ultrasonic image in a certain range is obtained. I can't. In that range, an ultrasonic scannable area that can be scanned by the ultrasonic transducer is shown. In an actual ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the setting is slightly smaller than the geometrical angle in consideration of the problem of reflection. This angle is called a scan angle 73. Its scanning angle 73
In the case of this embodiment, the beam locus surface 11 of
It is a degree.

The base housing 56 is made of sintered metal by a metal powder injection molding method. The base housing 56 of the present embodiment has a three-dimensionally complicated shape, needs support rigidity for supporting the drive motor, and is stable in the position dimension of the rotary shaft of the ultrasonic transducer. That is also an important requirement, and it was manufactured using MIM.

11 and 12, the motor lead wire 64 of the drive motor is pulled out from the groove of the shaft 9, and the motor lead wire 64 is three-phase because the drive motor is a three-phase Δ connection. Yes, the individual motor leads are soldered to the signal processing portion of the handle. The electric power of the drive motor is supplied from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body. That is,
It is supplied from the main body to the drive motor control drive circuit of the connector box, and from the coil output section of the drive motor control drive circuit via the signal processing section of the handle, the motor lead wire 64 (generally U phase, V phase, W phase). Connected as). The motor lead wire 64 has a small lead wire resistance because a drive current of the motor flows. That is, the conductor is thickened.

As shown in FIG. 11, a rotary transformer 21 is provided to take out the transmission / reception signals to / from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to the outside of the drive rotor. In the rotary transformer 21, the rotor side transformer 22 is attached to the rotor side plate 104, and the stator side transformer 23 is attached to the base housing 56 side.

Since two ultrasonic transducers are mounted so that the rotary transformer 21 has a 2-channel structure, ring-shaped grooves are formed in each of the two transformers on the surface facing the transformer.

Coil grooves 66, 67 are formed concentrically on the surface of the rotor-side transformer 21, and the coil grooves 66, 6 are formed.
A coil having a radius suitable for the groove is attached to 7. In order to house the drive motor in the window case, the rotary transformer 21 has a disk shape and is as thin as possible. Depending on the method of treating the coils arranged in the coil grooves 66 and 67, the torque generation space of the motor becomes small. Therefore, in order to reduce the deterioration of the characteristics, the flexible substrate 63 was used to connect the coil terminals.

Since the rotor side transformer 22 of the rotary transformer 21 can be constructed in a thin space,
A drive motor for driving a small and lightweight ultrasonic transducer can be created, and the drive motor can be built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe.

The stator side transformer 23 also has a structure of 2 channels like the rotor side transformer 22. Two coil grooves 69, 70 are formed on the transformer facing surface of the stator-side transformer 23 at radial positions facing the rotor-side coil grooves, and the coil grooves 69, 70 have a coil with a radius suitable for the grooves. 71 is attached. The coil 71 is fixed to the coil groove by an adhesive material which is a non-magnetic material, and the terminal wire of the coil 71 of the stator side transformer 23 is drawn out to the back side of the stator side transformer 23 through a hole 60 formed under the groove. , FPC7 attached to the back side of the stator side transformer 23
2 is soldered and connected. It is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side via the FPC 72. The FPC 72 on the back side of the stator-side transformer 23 is soldered to the shield wire at a position where it does not interfere with the support column of the base housing 56.
Connect to the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment body side.

Since the stator side transformer can be constructed in a thin space by making the coil lead out on the back side, a small and lightweight drive motor for driving the ultrasonic vibrator can be obtained. It can be built into the tip of the sonic probe.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.
An external perspective view of the ultrasonic probe is similar to that of FIG. 2 and is not shown.

The difference between the first embodiment, the second embodiment and the third embodiment is that the substrate for amplifying the output signal of the MR element and processing the rectangular wave is formed in the connector box of the ultrasonic probe. In order to make the tip and handle of the ultrasonic probe smaller, what can be arranged in the connector box is an example.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the embodiment comprises an ultrasonic probe and a main body system section (or main body apparatus).
The ultrasonic probe includes a tip, a handle 6, a connector box 18, and a cable 40. A drive motor 3 that rotationally drives the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 is formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe. The drive motor 3 includes a drive rotor 4 that rotates together with an ultrasonic transducer, a base housing 5 that supports the drive rotor 4 is built in, and a handle 6 of the ultrasonic probe has a volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic propagation medium. And are configured.

The ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotating portion of the drive rotor 4. Therefore, the drive shaft 9 of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 and the drive shaft 9 of the drive motor 3 are the same shaft. The beams of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are emitted in the radial direction with respect to the drive shaft 9. The beam emission axis 10 on the ultrasonic transducer 1 side is shown. As the drive rotor 4 rotates, the beam emission axes 10 of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 form a surface, and the locus surface 11 thereof becomes a surface orthogonal to the drive axis 9.

Knowing the rotational position information of the drive rotor 4 is to know the ultrasonic transducers 1, 2 attached to the drive rotor 4.
You will know the location information of. The rotational position of the drive rotor 4 can be known by using both the reference position means serving as a reference for one rotation and the relative position information means. As the reference position means, the Z phase pin 109 and Z of the magnetic material are used.
It is composed of the phase MR element 110. Z-phase MR element 11
At 0, since there is one Z-phase pin 109 of the magnetic material, Z
The phase MR element 110 can detect a signal of one pulse for one rotation of the drive rotor 4. Therefore, the reference position of the drive rotor 4 can be known. The output signal of the Z-phase MR element is a signal processing unit 108 configured in the connector box 18 from the tip of the ultrasonic probe via the handle and the cable.
The signal processing unit 108 performs amplification and rectangular wave processing, and transmits a signal to the control drive circuit 19 of the drive motor and the host CPU 38 of the main body system.

A magnetic encoder 15 is incorporated as relative position information means, and the magnetic encoder 15 is composed of an encoder magnet 16 on the drive rotor 4 side and an AB-phase MR element 17 on the base housing 5 side. The AB-phase MR element 17 is an MR element that can obtain two-channel signals of A phase and B phase, and the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive rotor 4 can be obtained from the phase difference. Multi-pole magnetic poles are magnetized on the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 16, and the number of signals corresponding to the number of the magnetic poles is AB.
Obtained from the phase MR element 17. For example, since the encoder magnet 16 has 150 magnetic poles, the AB-phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, so that the position information of the drive motor can be a signal having a resolution accuracy of 150 per rotation.
Since the encoder magnet 16 is rotationally magnetized, the angle accuracy between the magnetic poles is very high.

The output signal of the AB-phase MR element is also connected from the tip of the ultrasonic probe to the signal processing unit 108 formed in the connector box 18 via the handle and the cable. The signal processing unit 108 performs amplification and rectangular wave processing, and the AB phase signal subjected to the rectangular wave processing is transmitted to the control drive circuit 19 of the drive motor and the host CPU 38 of the main body system.

The connector box 18 is connected to the system body 20 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body and supplies electric power for driving the drive motor such as the drive motor control drive circuit 19.

[0232] The rotary transformer 21 is configured to take out the signals from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 to the outside of the drive motor 3. The rotary transformer 21 is composed of a rotor-side transformer 22 and a stator-side transformer 23, the rotor-side transformer 22 is arranged at a rotor end portion on the drive rotor 4 side, and the signal line of the rotor-side transformer 22 is the ultrasonic transducer 1.
Connected to 2. The stator side transformer 23 is fixed to the base housing 5 side, the signal line of the stator side transformer 23 is connected to the connector box 18 from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the handle 6 and a cable, and the connector box 18 is mounted on the main body. Then, the signal of the ultrasonic transducer is connected to the circuit side of the main body.

Since the rotary transformer 21 can transmit a signal in a non-contact manner, the load acting on the drive motor is much smaller than that of a contact type slip ring.
In the case of a small drive motor, design it for use.

The ultrasonic waves radiated from the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) travel radially to the center of the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) and enter the living tissue. A part of the ultrasonic wave that has entered the tissue is reflected in the tissue and then the ultrasonic transducer 1
(Or 2) is received, converted into an electric signal, taken out of the drive motor through the rotary transformer 21, and sent to an amplifier in the system body.

The frequency characteristics of the signals from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are different from each other. The ultrasonic transducer having the higher frequency is the high frequency transducer, and the lower frequency is the low frequency transducer. To distinguish

The base housing 5 that supports the drive rotor 4 is fixed to the mounting base of the probe body. In addition, the base housing 5 is formed of an integral member including a support portion that supports the drive rotor 4 and a support portion that is fixed to the mounting base of the probe body. The base rigidity is increased to increase the support rigidity of the drive motor.

The drive rotor 4 and the base housing 5 are formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and are entirely enclosed by the ultrasonic wave propagating medium in the window case 24 made of a window material having ultrasonic wave transparency. The ultrasonic wave propagating medium in the window case 24 is decompressed so as not to contain bubbles,
It is degassed and then sealed. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic wave propagating medium is provided so that the pressure of the sealed ultrasonic wave propagating medium is relaxed even if the medium expands due to the environment. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 for the ultrasonic propagation medium is composed of a rubber-based elastic bag. The volume adjusting mechanism 8 is configured on the handle 6 of the ultrasonic probe.

Next, the system body 2 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body
The transmitting / receiving circuit portion within 0 will be described. The signal lines for the high frequency and the low frequency are different for the two vibrators having different frequency characteristics of the ultrasonic vibrator. In FIG. 13, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the high-frequency oscillator is the ultrasonic oscillator 1 and the low-frequency oscillator is the ultrasonic oscillator 2.

When transmitting ultrasonic waves into the living body, first, the pulse generator 25 outputs a rate pulse for determining the repetition period of the ultrasonic pulses, and the rate pulse is transmitted to the pulse transducer drive circuit 26 in which the ultrasonic frequency is determined. To be In this oscillator drive circuit 26, an ultrasonic oscillator corresponding to the frequency is supplied with a drive signal to the corresponding ultrasonic oscillator 1 (or 2) via the rotary transformer 21 corresponding to the frequency to drive the ultrasonic wave. A drive pulse is formed to generate The drive pulse causes the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) to radiate into the living body.

In the case of a high frequency transmission signal, the high frequency oscillator 1
Therefore, in the case of the low-frequency transmission signal, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the low-frequency oscillator 2 into the living body are reflected by the in-vivo tissue.
The reflected ultrasonic wave is called an ultrasonic echo. The weak reception signal received by the ultrasonic transducer 1 (or 2) used at the time of transmission and corresponding to the reflection intensity of the ultrasonic echo is amplified by the amplifier 27 in the system body 20 and then signal processing for B mode is performed. Sent to the circuit. In the B-mode signal processing circuit, the oscillator output is logarithmically compressed by a logarithmic amplifier 28, detected by a detection circuit 29 for envelope detection, and a gain setter 30 for gain correction is controlled by a gain control controller 31 to obtain a gain. The corrected image is combined by the combining circuit 32, and is A / D converted by the A / D converter 33.
Image processing is performed in SP34. The sitting image processed by the DSP 34 is temporarily stored in the image memory 35. A plurality of images during driving are also stored in the image memory 35, and the high-speed image DSP
Signal processing is performed by using the digital signal 34, and the signal is converted by the digital scan converter (DSC) 36 into image data compatible with the TV scanning format, and displayed as a two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image on the television monitor 37. It

The system main body 20 of the main body apparatus has a host CPU 38 which controls the circuits of the entire apparatus, and comprehensively monitors image data, memory, drive motor position information, motor drive, etc., and issues processing instructions. . Host CPU3
Reference numeral 8 generally controls the processing as the ultrasonic probe by the input accompanying the external input operation to the main body device.

A window case 24 made of a window material having ultrasonic permeability is attached to the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe has a built-in drive motor and ultrasonic transducer. There is. The tip of the ultrasonic probe and the handle 6 are connected by a hard housing, and the direction of the tip can be determined by holding the handle 6 by hand.

Since the signal processing unit is not formed on either the tip of the ultrasonic probe or the handle, the volume of the tip can be made small, and the amount of the ultrasonic propagation medium for liquid-sealing the tip is small. Therefore, the weight of the tip can be reduced. Since the structure in which the substrate is not used can be formed in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, it is possible to increase the stacking density of the substrate and the mounting density of components, so that the signal processing unit can be downsized. Since the handle can be made smaller, the ultrasonic probe can be made lighter, and the diagnostic workability is further improved.

By configuring the drive motor control drive circuit 19 in the connector box 18, not only the design of the main body system is reduced, but also the specification of the connection between the connector box 18 and the diagnostic device main body is determined in a general manner. Even if the specifications of the probe are different, it can be easily dealt with by changing the software side of the diagnostic device. The control unit of the motor that drives the ultrasonic transducer can be performed on the probe side, and the drive motor system can be completed on the probe side.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a motor with a slotless core using a hexagonal cylindrical winding in this embodiment. This slotless motor with a core is a servo-controlled brushless motor, which is a sensorless drive type outer rotor rotating type. The motor of this embodiment is an ultrasonic transducer drive motor, and is an example of a motor mounted on the tip of the probe of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. For the sake of explanation, casings such as a window case and a handle are omitted in FIG.

In FIG. 14, the core 48 is on the fixed side, and the rotor frame 113 with the drive magnet 49 is on the rotating side. The rotor frame 113 has an oval shape, and two semicircular drive magnets 49 are attached to face each other inside. Rotor frame 11
The ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are attached to the flat outer peripheral surface of the oval shape 3. Therefore, when the rotor frame 113 rotates about the drive shaft 9, the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 mounted on the rotor frame 113 also rotate about the drive shaft 9. There are rotor side plates 104 and 105 on both sides of the rotor frame 113.
Is for the rotor side transformer 21, and the rotor side plate 105 is for the encoder side. The rotor side plate 104 is provided on the bearing boss portion 53, and the bearing 51 is attached to the bearing boss portion 53. Further, the rotor side plate 104 has a spigot portion 106 for engaging and fixing the rotor side transformer 22, and the outer peripheral side end face is also fixed to assemble the bearing 51 so that the surface runout becomes small. Rotor side plate 1
The other bearing 52 is attached to 05. The rotor side plates 104 and 105 are fitted and inserted into the rotor frame 113 and mounted, and the mounted bearings 51 and 5 are mounted.
It is rotatably supported by 2.

In order to control the motor, the rotor side plate 10
5, an encoder magnet 16 is attached, and a large number of magnetic poles are magnetized on the surface of the encoder magnet 16 at equal intervals. The AB phase MR element 17 is attached to the mounting base 55 made of a magnetic material so as to face the outer periphery of the encoder magnet 16, and the mounting base 55 is mounted to the base housing 56.
The AB phase MR element 17 is arranged and fixed with a slight gap provided between the outer periphery of the MR element 6 and the outer circumference of the element 6.

A magnetic encoder is incorporated as relative position information means for knowing the rotational position information of the drive rotor. The magnetic encoder has an encoder magnet 16 on the drive rotor side and an AB on the base housing 56 side.
And the phase MR element 17.

Since the encoder output is not affected by the leakage magnetic flux of the drive magnet 49, the gap between the encoder magnet 16 and the AB-phase MR element 17 is set to be very narrow. Since the gap is narrow, it is necessary to reduce the effects of swelling of the encoder magnet 16, cutting runout, and assembly runout. The encoder magnet 16 is adhered and fixed to the rotor side plate 105, and is assembled to reduce the shake due to the parts. Further, a material having a large ferrite content in the plastic magnet of the encoder magnet 16 is used. That is, since the encoder magnet 16 is used in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, the one containing 79% or more of the magnetic material is used in consideration of the swelling effect.

A magnetic encoder is incorporated as relative position information means, and the position detecting element of the magnetic encoder is the AB phase MR element 17. The AB-phase MR element 17 is an MR element capable of obtaining two-channel signals of A phase and B phase, and the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees. A
Since the phase difference between the B phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive rotor can be obtained from the phase difference. Therefore, it is possible to know the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 attached to the rotor frame 113. The outer circumference of the encoder magnet 16 magnetized in multiple poles by the rotary magnetizer and the AB-phase MR element 17 are opposed to each other.
Since it is about μm, and it is driven in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, if there is a large dust, it will enter the gap, so it is assembled after being cleaned with oil. A number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles of the encoder magnet 16 are detected from the AB-phase MR element 17, and a drive motor is controlled by a motor control signal.

A Z-phase pin 109 made of a magnetic material is attached to an outer peripheral portion of a rotor frame 113 made of a magnetic material as a reference position means for knowing reference position information in the drive motor.
The Z-phase pin 109 is mounted not on the intermediate portion of the rotor frame 113 but on the side closer to the encoder magnet. The Z-phase pin 109 is attached by inserting a cylindrical portion into a cylindrical hole provided on the outer periphery of the rotor frame 113, and the side facing the element has an inclination. The Z-phase MR element 110 for detecting the Z-phase pin 109 is mounted on the angle 11 of the base housing 56 via the mount 111 made of magnetic material.
It is attached to 2.

The Z-phase MR element output signal is transmitted to the signal processing section of the connector box via the handle and the cable. The signal line of this output signal is a shield line so that it is not affected by external noise. Further, the signal processing unit performs amplification and rectangular wave processing, and connects to the control drive circuit of the drive motor from the connector box to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side.

Z-phase pin 109 made of magnetic material and Z-phase MR element 1
10, the reference position means is the Z-phase pin 109.
Therefore, the Z-phase MR element 110 detects a signal of one pulse for one rotation of the drive rotor.

The rotary transformer 21 is constructed to take out the transmission / reception signals to / from the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 (see FIG. 13) to the outside of the drive rotor. Rotary transformer 2
The first rotor-side transformer 22 is attached to the rotor-side plate 104 attached to the side surface of the rotor frame 113. The stator-side transformer 23 is attached to the base housing 56 side. 2ch rotary transformer 21
Because of the structure, two coil grooves having a ring shape are formed in the transformer facing surface in each of the transformers, and windings are arranged on a plane for several turns in the ring groove.

The winding of the rotor-side transformer 22 has a coil groove 6
Rotor side plate 1 through holes 59 drilled under 6, 67
It is pulled out to the 04 side and connected to the FPC 68 attached to the back surface of the rotor side transformer. The lead wire of the ultrasonic transducer is also connected to the FPC 68 attached to the back surface of the rotor-side transformer, and the winding of the rotor-side transformer 22 is conductively connected to the ultrasonic transducer.

The ultrasonic transducer has two lead wires,
One is an electrical ground (GND) and the other is a signal line. In the ultrasonic probe of this embodiment, two ultrasonic transducers are attached to the drive rotor, so that there are four lead wires, but since the electric ground is treated as common, it can be treated as three lead wires. Since the ultrasonic transducers are 180 degrees apart, the electrical ground lines cannot be easily connected to each other, so they are connected via the FPC 68 provided on the back side of the rotor-side transformer 22. That F
There are four lands on the PC 68, and the lead wires of the ultrasonic transducer are connected by soldering.

In order to house the drive motor in the window case, the rotary transformer 21 has a disk shape and is as thin as possible. Coil groove 66,
Depending on the method of treating the coil arranged in 67, the torque generation space of the motor becomes small. Therefore, the flexible substrate 63 was used to connect the coil terminals so as to reduce the deterioration of the characteristics.

Since the rotor side transformer 22 of the rotary transformer 21 can be constructed in a thin space,
A drive motor for driving a small and lightweight ultrasonic transducer can be created, and the drive motor can be built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe.

The stator side transformer 23 also has a structure of 2 channels like the rotor side transformer 22. Two coil grooves 69, 70 are formed on the transformer-facing surface of the stator-side transformer 23 at radial positions facing the rotor-side coil grooves, and the coil grooves 69, 70 have windings with a radius suitable for the grooves. Line 71 is attached. The winding 71 is fixed to the coil groove with a non-magnetic adhesive material,
The terminal wire of the coil 71 of No. 3 is drawn out to the back side of the stator side transformer 23 through a hole 60 formed under the groove, and is soldered to the FPC 72 attached to the back side of the stator side transformer 23. It is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side via the FPC 72. Stator side transformer 23
The FPC 72 on the back side is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side by soldering to the shield wire at a position where it does not interfere with the support column of the base housing 56.

Since the stator side transformer can be constructed in a thin space by making the coil lead out on the back side, a small and lightweight drive motor for driving the ultrasonic vibrator can be obtained. It can be built into the tip of the sonic probe.

In this embodiment, two ultrasonic transducers are used. Therefore, since two kinds of ultrasonic transducers can be mounted, there is an advantage that one ultrasonic probe can be handled as two ultrasonic transducers having different distance resolutions. Generally, the distance resolution improves with higher frequency, but since ultrasonic attenuation increases with higher frequency, diagnosis cannot be performed at deeper depths. Since the child can be switched and used, more convenient ultrasonic diagnosis becomes possible.

The ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 (see FIG. 13) attached to the rotor frame 113 are attached at positions 180 degrees apart from the drive shaft 9, and the ultrasonic waves emitted from one ultrasonic transducer. Is received by the other ultrasonic transducer, and the relative angular position of the two ultrasonic transducers is set to 180 degrees so as not to enter the ultrasonic reception signal as noise. The transmitted ultrasonic transducer receives the reflected signal, but when the reflected signal is received by the other ultrasonic transducer, the signal becomes noise, so when using multiple ultrasonic transducers It is necessary to perform phase reception by the same ultrasonic transducer and prevent other ultrasonic transducers from receiving received signals.

The ultrasonic transducer radiates ultrasonic waves in response to an electric signal sent from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body through the I / O line (transmission / reception line of ultrasonic signals), and the ultrasonic waves reflected from the subject are detected. The waves are received and the amount of charge changes. The electrical change of the ultrasonic transducer is transmitted to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body via the I / O line. The electric signal flowing through the I / O line is 2 kHz to 12
Since it is a frequency signal in the range of kHz, it becomes a main noise source of unnecessary radiation. In this embodiment, the liquid-sealed portion is I / O.
A part of the wire is composed of a flexible substrate, and the other parts are shielded wires. Since the I / O line is shielded, it has the effect of preventing unwanted radiation, but the vicinity of the rotary transformer cannot be shielded. Unwanted radiation is reduced by examining the position of the electrode at the frequency used. That is, the frequency of the ultrasonic transducer is increased from the outer peripheral side of the ring-shaped groove toward the inside.

The position information signal line of the drive motor that is rotationally driven in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium is a signal line for knowing the scanning position of the ultrasonic transducer from the encoder, and noise enters from the transmitting / receiving section of the ultrasonic signal. Then, the position information becomes unstable and the control of the drive motor becomes unstable. In order to stabilize the control of the motor, the I / O section is electrically shielded so that it is not affected by noise.

The cylindrical core 48 is fixed to the drive shaft 9 so as to face the drive magnet 49. Its core 4
8 is insulated, and a cylindrical winding 61 is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the core 48. The winding 61 is a cylindrical hexa-winding winding.

Since the core 48 is a cylindrical core, it is called a slotless core and is distinguished from a core having a slot. The slotless core 48 is provided with an insulating film 62 in a film shape. In the embodiment, the insulating film 62 is an electrodeposition coating film of epoxy resin, which is intended for electrical insulation between the winding wire 61 and the core 48. Therefore, the thicker the film is, the thicker the film is. Since a gap is created between the winding wire 61 and the core 48, and the efficiency is lowered, a process for making the film thickness as thin as possible is adopted. The insulating film can also be formed by spray painting. An electrodeposition coating film having the insulating film 62 formed thereon, a vacuum deposition film, or the like is used.

The electrodeposition coating film is a film having excellent insulating properties,
In addition to being relatively easy to industrially form a film, the electrodeposition coating film has excellent environmental resistance, so that the motor can be used in environments other than air, such as oil. When an insulating tape is used for insulation, it cannot be used in an environment such as oil because the adhesive deteriorates in characteristics, but the electrodeposition coating film can be used without problems even in an environment such as oil.

The core 48 is insulated, and a cylindrical winding 61 is attached to the outer periphery of the core 48. The winding 61 is a cylindrical hexa-winding winding. The tap of the winding wire 61 is connected to a lead wire 64 via a flexible substrate 63 provided on the end surface of the core 48.
4 is pulled out of the rotor through the groove of the drive shaft 9.

The beams of the ultrasonic transducers 1 and 2 are orthogonal to the drive shaft 9 of the drive motor and are scanned in the radial direction. Therefore, the trajectory plane of the beam is orthogonal to the drive shaft 9, but is parallel to the handle shaft. Therefore, an ultrasonic tomographic image of the beam trajectory plane that is a plane parallel to the handle axis can be obtained. Since the ultrasonic oscillators 1 and 2 are rotated by the drive motor, the beam locus surface of the ultrasonic oscillators at that time is a plane orthogonal to the drive axis 9. The ultrasonic tomographic image acquisition region in the ultrasonic transducer array direction obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer is 360
Is blocked by the base housing 56 instead of the entire circumference,
Only a certain range of ultrasonic images can be obtained. In that range, an ultrasonic scannable area that can be scanned by the ultrasonic transducer is shown. In an actual ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the setting is slightly smaller than the geometrical angle in consideration of the problem of reflection. This angle is called a scanning angle. In the case of this embodiment, the beam locus surface of the scanning angle has an angle of 220 degrees.

From FIG. 14, the motor lead wire 64 of the drive motor is pulled out from the groove of the shaft 9, and the motor lead wire 64 is three because the drive motor is a three-phase Δ connection. The individual motor leads are soldered to the signal processing portion of the handle. The electric power of the drive motor is supplied from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body. That is, it is supplied from the main body to the drive motor control drive circuit of the connector box, and from the coil output section of the drive motor control drive circuit via the signal processing section to the motor lead wire 64 (generally U
Phase, V phase, and W phase).
The motor lead wire 64 has a small lead wire resistance because a drive current of the motor flows. That is, the conductor is thickened.

(Embodiment 5) FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention. 16 is an external perspective view of the ultrasonic probe inserted into a body cavity. This ultrasonic probe is used for diagnosis of digestive organs such as the esophagus and intestine, or directly inserted into a blood vessel to scan an oscillator for ultrasonic diagnosis. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment incorporated in the tip of the ultrasonic probe.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the embodiment comprises an ultrasonic probe and a main body system section (or main body apparatus).
The ultrasonic probe includes a tip (or an insertion part) 114, a handle (or an operation part, a hand operation part) 115, a connector box 18, an insertion tube (or a guiding middle part) 116, and a cable 1.
It is composed of 17. At the tip 114 of the ultrasonic probe, a drive motor that rotationally drives the ultrasonic oscillator 118 is configured. The drive motor includes a drive rotor 120 that rotates together with the ultrasonic oscillator 118, and a base housing 121 that supports the drive rotor 120 is built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe. Handle 1 from tip 114
A flexible insertion tube 116 is formed up to 15, and the insertion tube 116 is an elongated tube to be inserted into a blood vessel or an oral cavity, and a sheath tube and an electric signal line pass through the sheath tube. The handle 115 of the ultrasonic probe is provided with a relay adjustment board 122 for the position detection signal of the drive motor.
A connector box 18 is connected to the handle 115 via a cable 117, and an ultrasonic probe is electrically connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body via the connector box 18.

The ultrasonic oscillator 118 is attached to the top surface of the rotating portion of the drive rotor 120. Therefore, the rotary shaft of the ultrasonic transducer 118 and the drive shaft 123 of the drive motor are the same shaft. Ultrasonic transducer 1 for drive shaft 123
Eighteen beams are emitted in the axial direction. A beam trajectory plane 125 is formed in the direction of the beam emission axis 124 on the ultrasonic transducer 118 side. As the drive rotor 120 rotates, the beam locus surface 125 of the ultrasonic transducer 118 rotates. The locus surface 125 is a surface parallel to the drive shaft 123.

The ultrasonic probe of the embodiment is an intracorporeal ultrasonic probe that is inserted into the body cavity of a subject to obtain an ultrasonic image of the subject within the body cavity. Is equipped with an ultrasonic transducer 118 at its tip, and the ultrasonic transducer 118 is adapted to take an ultrasonic tomographic image at an arbitrary angle within a mechanically determined rotation range.

Knowing the rotational position information of the drive rotor 120 means knowing the position information of the ultrasonic transducer 118 attached to the drive rotor 120. Drive rotor 120
For the rotational position of, the rotational position information of the drive rotor 120 can be known by using the reference position means serving as the reference of one rotation and the relative position information means together.

The reference position means is composed of an encoder magnet 126 and an MR element 127. Also, the relative position information means is composed of the encoder magnet 126 and the MR element 127. The MR element is an ABZ-phase MR element, and the Z-phase MR element part and the AB-phase MR element part are formed in one MR element. The Z-phase MR element portion is formed on the ultrasonic transducer side, and the AB-phase MR element portion is formed on the base housing 121 side. Therefore, the encoder magnet 126 is also a Z-phase magnetic pole portion on the ultrasonic transducer side and an AB-phase magnetic pole portion on the base housing 121 side.

The Z phase signal of the MR element 127 is the drive rotor 1
A signal of one pulse can be detected for one rotation of 20. Therefore, the reference position of the drive rotor 120 can be known. Since the signal level of the Z-phase signal is small, it is not affected by noise, so the signal is amplified by the relay amplifier board 128 near the motor, passed through the insertion tube 116, and subjected to rectangular wave processing by the relay adjustment board 122 of the handle 115. Cable 117
And is connected to the drive motor control drive circuit of the connector box 18.

As the relative position information means, the AB phase detecting portion of the MR element 127 and the encoder magnet 126 on the drive rotor 120 side are constituted. The AB phase detector is the A phase,
This is an MR element that can obtain two-phase B-phase signals, and the phase difference between the A-phase and the B-phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the drive rotor 120
The rotation direction of can be obtained from the phase difference. AB-phase magnetic poles and Z-phase magnetic poles are magnetized on the outer periphery of the encoder magnet 126, and in particular, the AB-phase magnetic pole portion is magnetized with multi-pole magnetic poles, and the number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles is MR-transmitted.
Obtained from element 127. For example, when the AB-phase magnetic pole of the encoder magnet 126 is a 150-pole magnetic pole,
Since the phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, a signal having a resolution accuracy of 150 per rotation can be obtained as the position information of the drive motor. The AB phase signal is also amplified once by the relay amplifier board 128 near the motor, and further wired by the handle 115 to the relay adjustment board 122 that processes the signal of the sine wave waveform into a rectangular wave, and passes through the cable 117 to the connector box 18.
Is connected to the drive motor control drive circuit built in the. The connector box 18 is the system main body 2 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body.
It is connected to 0 and supplies electric power for driving a drive motor such as a drive motor control drive circuit.

The rectangular wave signals of AB phase and Z phase are also sent to the main body system 20 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in the connector box 18.
Connected via. The main body system side also needs the positional information of the ultrasonic transducer, that is, it cannot be expressed without the positional information in order to display the image.

The rotary transformer 129 is configured to take out the signal from the ultrasonic transducer 118 to the outside of the drive motor. The rotary transformer 129 is composed of a rotor side transformer 130 and a stator side transformer 131, and the rotor side transformer 130 is the drive shaft 1 on the drive rotor 120 side.
The signal line of the rotor-side transformer 130, which is formed at the end of the ultrasonic transducer 23, passes through the hollow drive shaft 123 and
8 is connected. The stator side transformer 131 is fixed to the base housing 121 side, and the stator side transformer 13
The signal line 1 is from the tip 114 of the ultrasonic probe to the insertion tube 1
16 to be connected to the connector box 18 through the handle 115 and the cable 117.
By mounting 8 on the main body, the signal of the ultrasonic transducer is connected to the circuit side of the main body.

Since the rotary transformer 129 can transmit a signal in a non-contact manner, the load acting on the drive motor is much smaller than that of the contact type slip ring. Therefore, in the case of the transesophageal ultrasonic probe, the drive motor is used. Is often used because it is small.

The ultrasonic waves radiated from the ultrasonic oscillator 118 radially advance to the center of the ultrasonic oscillator 118 and enter the living tissue. A part of the ultrasonic waves incident on the tissue is reflected in the tissue, then received by the ultrasonic transducer 118, converted into an electric signal, taken out to the outside of the drive motor through the rotary transformer 129, and then the system. It is sent to the amplifier 27 in the main body.

Drive rotor 120 and base housing 12
1 and the relay amplifier board 128 are formed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and are entirely enclosed in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium in the window case 132 made of a window material having ultrasonic wave transparency. The ultrasonic propagation medium in the window case 132 is decompressed and degassed so that no bubbles are contained,
It is sealed. A volume adjusting mechanism 133 for the ultrasonic propagation medium is provided so that the pressure of the sealed ultrasonic propagation medium is relaxed even if the medium expands due to the environment. The volume adjusting mechanism 133 of the ultrasonic wave propagating medium is composed of a rubber-based elastic bag.

Next, the system body 2 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body
The transmitting / receiving circuit portion within 0 will be described.

When transmitting an ultrasonic wave into the living body, first, the pulse generator 25 outputs a rate pulse for determining the repetition period of the ultrasonic pulse, and the rate pulse is sent to the pulse transducer drive circuit 26 having the determined ultrasonic frequency. To be In this oscillator drive circuit 26, a drive signal is transmitted to the ultrasonic oscillator 11 corresponding to the frequency via the rotary transformer.
A driving pulse is formed for supplying ultrasonic waves to the ultrasonic wave generator 8 to generate ultrasonic waves. The ultrasonic transducer 11 is driven by the drive pulse.
8 is emitted into the living body.

The ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transducer 118 into the living body are reflected by the tissues in the living body. The reflected ultrasonic wave is called an ultrasonic echo. Ultrasonic transducer 1 used for transmission
The weak reception signal received by the amplifier 18 and corresponding to the reflection intensity of the ultrasonic echo is amplified by the amplifier 2 in the system body 20.
After being amplified at 7, it is sent to the B-mode signal processing circuit. In the B-mode signal processing circuit, the oscillator output is logarithmically compressed by a logarithmic amplifier 28, detected by a detection circuit 29 for envelope detection, and a gain setter 30 for gain correction is controlled by a gain control controller 31 to obtain a gain. Corrected,
High-speed image DSP which is A / D converted by A / D converter 33
Image processing is performed at 34. The sitting image processed by the DSP 34 is temporarily stored in the image memory 35. A plurality of images during driving are also stored in the image memory 35, and the high speed image DSP 34
Is used to process the signal, and the signal is converted into image data compatible with the TV scanning format through the digital scan converter (DSC) 36 and displayed as a two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image on the television monitor 37. .

The system main body 20 of the main body apparatus has a host CPU 38 which controls the circuits of the entire apparatus, and comprehensively monitors image data, memory, drive motor position information, motor drive, etc., and issues processing instructions. . Host CPU3
Reference numeral 8 generally controls the processing as the ultrasonic probe by the input accompanying the external input operation to the main body device.

FIG. 16 is an external perspective view of the ultrasonic probe.

The insertion tube 116 is composed of a flexible sheath tube and an electric signal line inside the sheath tube, and ultrasonic diagnosis is performed with the distal end 114 to the insertion tube 116 inserted in the body cavity. For example, if the drive motor is rotated while the ultrasonic probe is inserted into the blood vessel, the ultrasonic beam trajectory plane formed by the ultrasonic transducer is rotated and a scanned image is obtained.

The tip 114 of the ultrasonic probe is attached with a window case 132 made of a window material having ultrasonic permeability, and the tip 11 of the ultrasonic probe is attached.
Reference numeral 4 has a built-in drive motor and ultrasonic transducer.
The tip 114 of the ultrasonic probe and the handle 115 are connected by a flexible insertion tube 116. Handle 115
Is a hand-held operation unit that is held and operated by a hand, and has a controller knob 134 for operation. The controller knob 134 has various switches and can rotate. When the controller knob 134 is rotated, the drive motor is rotated in accordance with the rotation direction of the controller knob, and the ultrasonic transducer is also rotated. Therefore, the rotation speed or the like is changed by operating a switch provided on the controller knob 134. . A switch for stopping the rotation of the drive motor is also attached to the controller knob 134. The signal of the controller knob 134 is sent from the connector box 18 to the host CPU 38 of the system main body 20, and the command is transmitted from the host CPU 38 to the control circuit of the drive motor in accordance with the instruction of the controller knob. The drive motor is controlled and driven based on the command.

The ultrasonic probe is connected to the connector box 18 from the handle 115 by a cable 117.
The ultrasonic probe is connected to the system body 20 by mounting the connector box 18 on the connector insertion port of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. There is a knob 135 with a lock mechanism to prevent the ultrasonic probe from coming off during diagnosis,
After mounting, the knob 135 is turned to firmly lock the connector box 18 to the main body.

Since the ultrasonic transducer 118 is provided on the side surface of the tip of the probe, the lateral direction of the affected area in the body cavity can be diagnosed, and the ultrasonic transducer 118 can be rotated, for example, by 90 degrees even with the control only by the operating portion of the handle, and can be moved along the insertion axis. Diagnosis of the tomographic plane (beam trajectory plane is reference numeral 136 in FIG. 16) and diagnosis in a direction perpendicular to the insertion axis (beam trajectory plane is reference numeral 137 in FIG. 16)
And are possible.

Further, the entire operating method of the ultrasonic transducer can be performed from the operating section of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, and the operating section at hand can perform a basic operation which is frequently used.

[0294] The tip 114 of the ultrasonic probe has a cylindrical smooth streamline shape so that it can be easily inserted into the body cavity. The insertion tube 116 and the cable 117 include an input / output line connecting the ultrasonic transducer and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, an electric control line for driving and controlling the drive motor, a signal line such as an encoder, a shock detection line, and a temperature line. A flexible cable that transmits a signal line of a sensor to the connector box 18, and is protected by a coating and shielded.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of an outer rotor rotating type brushless motor with a core according to the present embodiment. This motor is an ultrasonic transducer drive motor.
It is an example of a motor mounted on the tip of the probe of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

In FIG. 17, the ultrasonic transducer 118 is constructed in the frame of the housing of the element holder 138 and attached to the top surface of the rotor hood 119 of the drive motor.
It rotates around the drive shaft 123. An acoustic lens 139 is attached to the tip of the ultrasonic transducer 118. It is the acoustic lens 139 that effectively utilizes the phenomenon of refraction. Since ultrasonic waves have a higher sound velocity in solid than in liquid, the ultrasonic beam is focused on the transducer surface by a concave acoustic lens. There is. An ultrasonic transducer to which a flat acoustic lens or a convex acoustic lens other than the concave acoustic lens is attached is used. The signal line of the ultrasonic transducer is connected to the rotor-side transformer 130 through the hole at the center of the hollow drive shaft 123.

The rotor-side transformer 130 is attached via a bush 141 in order to reduce the surface runout with respect to the drive shaft 123. The rotor side transformer 130 and the bush 141 are attached in advance, and the inner diameter of the bush 141 with respect to the surface of the transformer is combined to form a perpendicularity between the surface and the shaft. By doing so, the surface runout of the rotor-side transformer 130 with respect to the drive shaft 123 is suppressed to be small. Concentric coil grooves are formed on the surface of the rotor-side transformer by the number of channels required for the rotary transformer, and coils having a radius suitable for the grooves are mounted in the coil grooves. In order to house the small drive motor in the window case, the rotary transformer 129 has a disc shape and is as thin as possible. Since the rotor-side transformer 130 of the rotary transformer 129 can be configured in a thin space, a small and lightweight drive motor for driving the ultrasonic transducer can be obtained, and the drive motor can be built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe. it can.

The stator side transformer 131 also has the same number of channels as the rotor side transformer 130.
A coil groove is formed on the transformer-facing surface of the stator-side transformer 131 at a radial position facing the coil groove of the rotor-side transformer 130, and a coil having a radius suitable for the groove is mounted in the coil groove. The coil wire of the transformer 131 on the stator side is F attached to the base housing 121.
It is once soldered and connected to the PC 142. The FPC14
It is soldered to the shield wire via 2, and the shield wire is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side. Since the coil lead-out part can be configured in a thin space of the transformer on the stator side, a small and lightweight drive motor for driving the ultrasonic transducer can be made, and the drive motor can be built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe. it can. Further, the stator side transformer 131 uses a shaft core collar 143 for centering. The shaft core collar 143 is the base housing 1
21 and the inner peripheral portion of the stator-side transformer 131 are engaged with each other for positioning.

Since crosstalk causes image noise,
Since sufficient consideration is required, the rotary transformer 129
Has taken measures such as the material of the rotary transformer 129, the ring of magnetic material, the short ring, and the interruption of the leakage magnetic circuit to minimize the crosstalk.

The working frequency of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is 1 MHz to
The frequency is 10 MHz, which is higher than that of home appliances. Therefore, the material of the transformer to be used is preferably a material whose frequency characteristic of the initial magnetic permeability μi is flat in the range of the used frequency, and therefore a material having a relatively small initial magnetic permeability is used. The rotary transformer of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus preferably has an initial magnetic permeability of 650 or less.

The beam of the ultrasonic transducer 118 is emitted in the drive axis direction. Beam emission axis 1 on the ultrasonic transducer 118 side
A beam trajectory plane 125 is formed in 24 directions. Since the ultrasonic transducer 118 attached to the top surface of the rotor frame 119 rotates about the drive shaft 123, the beam locus surface 125 of the ultrasonic transducer 118 also rotates. The locus surface 125 is a surface parallel to the drive shaft 123. The beam trajectory plane 125 includes a beam trajectory plane 136 (reference numeral 136 in FIG. 16) which is a tomographic plane along the ultrasonic probe insertion axis and a beam trajectory plane 137 (reference numeral 1 in FIG. 16) perpendicular to the insertion axis.
Since it is possible to move to angles other than 37),
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of taking an ultrasonic tomographic image at an arbitrary angle, which is useful for medical diagnosis.

The drive rotor of FIG. 17 is the rotor frame 11
9 is mainly shown. The rotor frame 119 is integrally configured with a hanging portion 145 to which the drive magnet 144 is attached, a spigot portion 146 to which the drive shaft 123 and the ultrasonic transducer are attached. Ring-shaped drive magnet 14
4 is a neo dibond magnet, which is magnetized with 8 poles. The core 147 is adhesively fixed to the central cylindrical portion 148 of the base housing 121 at a position facing the drive magnet 144. The core 147 has six salient poles, and the winding 149 is wound so that the salient poles symmetrical about the center have the same phase. The core is electro-deposited to insulate the core from the winding.

An insulating film is applied to the core 147 in a film shape. In the embodiment, this insulating film is an electrodeposition coating film of epoxy resin, which is intended to electrically insulate the winding 149 and the core 147. Therefore, it is preferable that the film thickness is thick. Since a gap is created between the line 149 and the core 147 and the efficiency is reduced, the film is formed as thin as possible. As the insulating film, a core having a film thickness of 50 μm or less was used. The electrodeposition coating film is a film with excellent insulation properties, which can be formed relatively easily industrially, and because the electrodeposition coating film has excellent environmental resistance, it can be used in environments other than air, such as oil. It is possible to use the motor even under such environment.

In the three-phase brushless motor of the drive motor, the wire wound around the core is subjected to Y connection processing, and the common wire is not taken out of the motor.
Process three lines, U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase. These three wires are soldered to the FPC 140 attached to the base housing 121, the FPC 140 is drawn out of the drive motor, and the motor lead wire from the drive motor control drive circuit is connected to the land of the drawn FPC. To do.

The rotor frame 119 to which the ultrasonic transducer 118 is attached uses the drive shaft 123 as the bearings 150 and 151.
It is supported in rotation. The bearings 150 and 151 are fixed inside the central cylindrical portion of the base housing 121 and can rotate around the drive shaft 123.

Knowing the rotational position of the ultrasonic transducer is necessary for displaying an image, so that it is necessary to know the rotational position information of the rotor frame 119 to which the ultrasonic transducer is attached. Regarding the rotational position of the rotor frame 119, the rotational position information of the rotor frame 119 is known by using both the reference position means and the relative position information means, which are references for one rotation.

[0307] The encoder magnet 12 is used as the reference position means for knowing the reference position information of the rotor frame 119.
6 and the MR element 127. The encoder magnet 126 is configured such that the Z-phase magnetic pole portion and the AB-phase magnetic pole portion are the same. Although it cannot be seen from the outside because it is magnetized, the polarity state of the magnetic pole can be seen by using the MR element. MR element 1
In the element 27, the AB phase and Z phase detection portions are formed in one element. Since the Z-phase detector is configured on the ultrasonic transducer side of the MR element 127, the Z-phase magnetic pole is also present on the ultrasonic transducer side of the encoder magnet 126. The Z-phase magnetic pole is magnetized with a single pole at one position in one rotation.
When a single pole magnetic pole cannot be created neatly, only one portion of the Z-phase portion of the encoder magnet has the same diameter as the AB-phase magnetic pole portion, and the rest is the encoder magnet as a paragraph.

As the Z-phase MR element signal, one pulse signal is detected for one rotation of the rotor frame. Since the Z-phase MR signal has a small signal level, it is amplified by the relay amplifier board 128 near the motor. The amplified Z-phase signal is rectangularly processed by the comparator circuit of the relay adjustment board of the handle. The rectangular-processed signal is a 0-5V rectangular wave signal and is not easily affected by external noise. The relay adjustment board is connected to the control drive board of the drive motor in the connector box through the shielded cable. The connector box is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body side.

If the rising position of the Z-phase comparator signal is set to the reference position of the ultrasonic oscillator, the ultrasonic image can be displayed by the ultrasonic oscillator 118 based on the reference position by the Z-phase signal, and the Z-phase signal is displayed. By determining the position and the position of the ultrasonic transducer, the reference of the rotational position of the ultrasonic transducer can be determined without any difference between the individual ultrasonic probes.

Also, the relative position information means is composed of the encoder magnet 126 and the MR element 127. M
The R element is an ABZ phase MR element, and the Z phase MR element section and the AB phase MR element section are formed into one MR element. The Z-phase MR element part is formed on the ultrasonic transducer side, and
The phase MR element portion is formed on the base housing 121 side. Therefore, the encoder magnet 126 is also the Z-phase magnetic pole portion on the ultrasonic transducer side, and the base housing 1
The 21st side is an AB-phase magnetic pole part.

In order to prevent the encoder output from being affected by the leakage magnetic flux of the drive magnet 144, the rotor frame is made thicker and the encoder magnet 126 is made thicker, and then the encoder magnet 126 and the MR element 12 are made thicker.
The gap with 7 is set very narrow.

The magnetic encoder incorporated as the relative position information means has a pair of encoder magnets and an MR element for the AB phase and the Z phase. The AB phase detector of the MR element 127 is an MR element that can obtain two-channel signals of A phase and B phase, and the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive rotor can be obtained from the phase difference. Therefore, the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducer 118 attached to the rotor frame 119 can be known. The AB-phase magnetic poles are obtained by magnetizing the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 126 into multiple poles with a rotary magnetizer. The outer periphery of the encoder magnet 126 and the MR element 127 have a gap of about 50 μm facing each other, and since they are driven in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, if there is a large dust, it will enter the gap, so after cleaning with oil. Installation is done. The MR element 127 detects a number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles of the encoder magnet 126, and controls the drive motor as a motor control signal.

Both the AB-phase and Z-phase signals are signal-amplified by the relay amplifier board 128 near the motor, passed through the insertion tube, processed by the relay adjustment board of the handle for rectangular wave, and further passed through the cable to drive the connector box drive motor. It is connected to the control drive circuit. The connector box is connected to the system body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body and supplies electric power for driving a drive motor such as a drive motor control drive circuit.

The AB-phase and Z-phase rectangular wave signals are also connected to the main body system of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus via the connector box. The main body system side also needs the position information of the ultrasonic transducer. That is, in order to display an image, it cannot be expressed without position information.

The ultrasonic probe of the fifth embodiment is of a type in which the relay amplifier substrate is the ultrasonic probe tip and the relay adjusting substrate is the handle. As in the other embodiments, there is a method in which the signal processing unit is configured on the tip of the ultrasonic probe, the handle, or the connector box.

However, the control box of the drive motor is formed in the connector box, which is the main object of the present invention.

(Embodiment 6) FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 19 shows a perspective view of the appearance of an ultrasonic probe inserted into a body cavity. This ultrasonic probe is used for diagnosis of digestive organs such as the esophagus and intestine, or directly inserted into a blood vessel to scan an oscillator for ultrasonic diagnosis. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe. The tip of the mechanical drive type ultrasonic probe rotates the ultrasonic mirror and the ultrasonic oscillator that change the traveling direction of the ultrasonic beam composed of the ultrasonic oscillator and the ultrasonic pulse train transmitted from the ultrasonic oscillator. The drive motor and the holding member for holding these are mounted on a cylindrical housing.

Drive motor 152 for driving ultrasonic transducer
A pedestal 155 to which an ultrasonic transducer 154 is attached is adhesively fixed to the tip of the drive shaft 153.

The signal of the ultrasonic transducer 154 is transmitted by using a rotary transformer. The rotary transformer is composed of a stator side transformer 156 and a rotor side transformer 157. The rotor-side transformer 157 is fixed to the pedestal 155 and rotates together with the ultrasonic transducer 154. The ultrasonic transducer and the rotor side transformer are electrically connected. The stator side transformer 156 is fixed to the housing side of the drive motor 152, and the signal line of the stator side transformer 156 is connected to the connector box 18 from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the insertion tube 158, the handle 159, and the cable 160. By mounting the connector box 18 on the main body, the signal of the ultrasonic transducer is connected to the circuit side of the main body.

Knowing the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducer 154 is necessary for image display. Regarding the rotational position of the drive motor, the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducer 154 can be known by using the reference position means and the relative position information means, which are the reference for one rotation.

The reference position means is composed of a projection 162 on the end face of the encoder magnet 161 and a Z-phase MR element 163. Also, the relative position information means is composed of an encoder magnet 161 and an AB phase MR element 164.

In the Z-phase MR element 163, one projection 162 is formed on the end surface of the encoder magnet 161, and it is magnetized to have a single pole. The Z-phase MR element 163 can detect a signal of one pulse for one rotation of the encoder magnet 161. Therefore, the reference position of the ultrasonic transducer 154 can be known. The output signal of the Z-phase MR element is connected from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the insertion tube 158, the handle 159 and the cable 160 to the signal processing unit 165 configured in the connector box 18, and amplified by the signal processing unit 165. And rectangular wave processing is performed, and a signal is transmitted to the drive motor control drive circuit 166 and the host CPU 38 of the main body system.

A magnetic encoder is incorporated as relative position information means, and the magnetic encoder is composed of an encoder magnet 161 and an AB phase MR element 164. The AB-phase MR element 164 is an MR element that can obtain signals of two channels of A-phase and B-phase, and the phase difference between the A-phase and the B-phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive motor 152 can be obtained from the phase difference. Multi-pole magnetic poles are magnetized on the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 161, and a number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles is obtained from the AB-phase MR element 164. The output signal of the AB-phase MR element also passes through the insertion tube 158, the handle 159, and the cable 160 from the tip of the ultrasonic probe to the signal processing unit 165 configured in the connector box 18.
Connected to. The signal processing unit 165 performs amplification and rectangular wave processing, and the AB phase signal subjected to the rectangular wave processing is transmitted to the drive motor control drive circuit 166 and the host CPU 38 of the main body system.

By applying a pulse voltage from the pulse generator 25 to the ultrasonic oscillator 154, an ultrasonic pulse is emitted from the ultrasonic oscillator, reflected by the reflection mirror 167, and then output to the outside of the ultrasonic probe. It Then, the direction of the ultrasonic pulse reflected by the observation target of the living body is changed by the reflection mirror 167, and is incident on the ultrasonic transducer 154. By providing an ultrasonic pulse transmission section between the ultrasonic transducer 154 and the reflection mirror 167, this ultrasonic probe enables short-distance observation by setting a time interval between the ultrasonic beam and the observation target. become.

Next, the system body 2 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body
The transmitting / receiving circuit portion within 0 will be described.

When transmitting ultrasonic waves into the living body, first, the pulse generator 25 outputs a rate pulse for determining the repetition period of the ultrasonic pulse, and the rate pulse is transmitted to the pulse transducer drive circuit 26 having the determined ultrasonic frequency. To be In this vibrator drive circuit 26, a drive signal is sent to the ultrasonic vibrator 15 corresponding to the frequency via the rotary transformer.
A driving pulse is formed for supplying ultrasonic waves to the ultrasonic wave generator 4 to generate ultrasonic waves. The ultrasonic transducer 15 is driven by the drive pulse.
4 is reflected by the reflection mirror 167 and is radiated into the living body.

The ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transducer 154 into the living body are reflected by the tissues in the living body. The reflected ultrasonic wave is called an ultrasonic echo. Ultrasonic transducer 1 used for transmission
The weak received signal received by the amplifier 54 and corresponding to the reflection intensity of the ultrasonic echo is amplified by the amplifier 2 in the system body 20.
After being amplified at 7, it is sent to the B-mode signal processing circuit. In the B-mode signal processing circuit, the oscillator output is logarithmically compressed by a logarithmic amplifier 28, detected by a detection circuit 29 for envelope detection, and a gain setter 30 for gain correction is controlled by a gain control controller 31 to obtain a gain. Corrected,
High-speed image DSP which is A / D converted by A / D converter 33
Image processing is performed at 34. The sitting image processed by the DSP 34 is temporarily stored in the image memory 35. A plurality of images during driving are also stored in the image memory 35, and the high speed image DSP 34
Is used to process the signal, and the signal is converted into image data compatible with the TV scanning format through the digital scan converter (DSC) 36 and displayed as a two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image on the television monitor 37. .

The system main body 20 of the main body device has a host CPU 38 which controls the circuits of the entire device, and comprehensively monitors image data, memory and drive motor position information, and motor drive, and issues processing instructions. . Host CPU3
Reference numeral 8 generally controls the processing as the ultrasonic probe by the input accompanying the external input operation to the main body device.

As shown in the external perspective view of the ultrasonic probe (FIG. 19), the beam of the ultrasonic transducer is reflected by the reflection mirror and is emitted in the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube 158. Since the ultrasonic oscillator is rotated by the drive motor, the beam of the ultrasonic oscillator forms a surface depending on the rotation. The beam locus surface 168 of the ultrasonic transducer having the configuration is formed so as to be orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube.

The insertion tube 158 is composed of a flexible sheath tube and an electric signal line inside the sheath tube. Ultrasound diagnosis can be performed with the distal end of the ultrasonic probe to the insertion tube 158 inserted into the body cavity. Done. For example,
When the drive motor is rotated with the ultrasonic probe inserted in the blood vessel, the ultrasonic beam trajectory plane formed by the ultrasonic transducer is rotated and a scanned image is obtained.

The tip 169 of the ultrasonic probe is attached to the tip of the window case 170 made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, and the tip 16 of the ultrasonic probe is attached.
Reference numeral 9 has a built-in drive motor and ultrasonic transducer.
The tip 169 of the ultrasonic probe and the handle 159 are connected by a flexible insertion tube 158. Handle 159
Is a hand-held operation unit that is held and operated by a hand, and includes a controller knob 171 for operation. The controller knob 171 has various switches and can rotate. When the controller knob 171 is rotated, the drive motor is rotated in accordance with the rotation direction of the controller knob, and the ultrasonic transducer is also rotated. Therefore, the rotation speed and the like are changed by operating the switch provided on the controller knob 171. . A switch for stopping the rotation of the drive motor is also attached to the controller knob 171. The signal of the controller knob 171 is sent from the connector box 18 to the host CPU 38 of the system main body 20, and the command is transmitted from the host CPU 38 to the control circuit of the drive motor in accordance with the instruction of the controller knob. The drive motor is controlled and driven based on the command.

The ultrasonic probe is connected to the connector box 18 by a cable 160 from the handle 159.
The ultrasonic probe is connected to the system body 20 by mounting the connector box 18 on the connector insertion port of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. There is a knob 172 with a lock mechanism to prevent the ultrasonic probe from coming off during diagnosis,
After mounting, the knob 172 is turned to lock the connector box 18 firmly to the main body.

Since the beam of the ultrasonic transducer 154 is radiated from the side surface of the tip of the probe, the lateral direction of the affected area in the body cavity can be diagnosed, and the control can be performed only by the operation section near the handle. Further, the entire operating method of the ultrasonic transducer can be performed from the operation unit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, and the operation unit at hand can perform basic operations that are frequently used.

The tip 169 of the ultrasonic probe has a cylindrical smooth streamline shape for easy insertion into the body cavity. The insertion tube 158 and the cable 160 include an input / output line connecting the ultrasonic transducer and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, an electric control line for driving and controlling the drive motor, a signal line such as an encoder, a shock detection line and a temperature line. A flexible cable that transmits a signal line of a sensor to the connector box 18, and is protected by a coating and shielded.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of an inner rotor type brushless motor in this embodiment. This motor is an ultrasonic transducer drive motor, and is an example of a motor mounted on the probe tip of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. .

In FIG. 20, the ultrasonic transducer 154 is formed in the frame of the housing of the receiving stand 155, and is formed at the tip of the drive shaft 153 of the drive motor. An acoustic lens 139 for effectively utilizing the phenomenon of refraction is attached to the tip of the ultrasonic transducer 154. Since ultrasonic waves have a higher speed of sound in solids than in liquids, a concave acoustic lens is used to focus the ultrasonic beam on the transducer surface. An ultrasonic transducer to which a flat acoustic lens or a convex acoustic lens other than the concave acoustic lens is attached is used.

A rotary transformer is used for signal transmission of the ultrasonic transducer, and the rotor side transformer 157 of the rotary transformer is fixed to the surface of the pedestal 155. The rotor-side transformer 157 rotates integrally with the ultrasonic transducer 154. Since the outer circumference of the drive shaft 153 is engaged with and fixed to the inner circumference of the rotor-side transformer 157, the center of the rotor-side transformer can be easily aligned with the center of rotation.

The stator side transformer 156 has the same structure as the rotor side transformer 157. The stator side transformer 156 is assembled so that the gap between the transformer facing surfaces is uniform. The stator side transformer 156 is fixed to the side surface of the housing of the drive motor.

The rotary transformer is the transformer 15 on the rotor side.
7 and the stator side transformer 156 are formed by winding a thin film insulated square coil in a roll shape, and have a structure in which a magnetic transformer core or the like is not used.

The electric signal line from the stator side transformer is FP
It is pulled out to the insertion tube side of the tip using C, and soldered to the shield wire via the FPC, and the shield wire is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body side.

The drive motor has a drive magnet on the rotating side and a housing and a core 174 on the fixed side. The rotatable drive magnet 173 is attached to the drive shaft 153, and the drive magnet 1
73, a drive shaft 153 is rotatably supported by two bearings 175 and 176.

The core 174 of the drive motor is a split core, and each split core is provided with an insulating film. In the embodiment, this insulating film is an electrodeposition coating film of epoxy resin, which is intended for electrical insulation between the winding wire 177 and the core 174. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the film thickness as much as possible and reduce the efficiency. Hold down. As the insulating film, a core having a film thickness of 50 μm or less was used. The electrodeposition coating film is a film with excellent insulation properties, which can be formed relatively easily industrially, and because the electrodeposition coating film has excellent environmental resistance, it can be used in environments other than air, such as oil. It is possible to use the motor even under such environment.

The drive motor is a three-phase brushless motor, and the wire wound around the core is subjected to Y connection processing, and its common wire is not taken out of the motor.
Process three lines, U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase. These three wires are pulled out from the motor housing to the outside of the drive motor,
The motor lead wire from the drive motor control drive circuit is connected to the land of the drawn FPC.

Knowing the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducer 154 is necessary information for image display. Regarding the rotational position of the drive motor, the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducer 154 can be known by using the reference position means and the relative position information means, which are the reference for one rotation.

The reference position means is composed of a projection 162 on the end face of the encoder magnet 161 and a Z-phase MR element 163. In the Z-phase MR element 163, one protrusion 162 is formed on the end surface of the encoder magnet 161, and it is magnetized to have a single pole. The Z-phase MR element 163 can detect a signal of one pulse for one rotation of the encoder magnet 161. Therefore, the reference position of the ultrasonic transducer 154 can be known. The output signal of the Z-phase MR element is connected from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the insertion tube, the handle and the cable to the signal processing unit configured in the connector box, and the signal processing unit performs amplification and rectangular wave processing. , A signal is transmitted to the control drive circuit of the drive motor and the host CPU of the main body system. The Z-phase signal after the amplification is subjected to rectangular processing by the comparator circuit. Square processed signal is 0-5V
Is a square wave signal and is not easily affected by external noise. If the rising position of the Z-phase comparator signal is set to the reference position of the ultrasonic transducer, the sitting image can be displayed by the ultrasonic transducer 154 based on the reference position by the Z-phase signal, and the Z-phase signal position and the superposition can be displayed. If the position of the ultrasonic transducer is determined, the reference of the rotational position of the ultrasonic transducer can be determined among the individual ultrasonic probes without any difference.

Also, the relative position information means is composed of an encoder magnet 161 and an AB phase MR element 164. The AB-phase MR element 164 is an MR element that can obtain signals of two channels of A-phase and B-phase, and the phase difference between the A-phase and the B-phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive motor can be obtained from the phase difference. Multi-pole magnetic poles are magnetized on the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 161, and a number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles is obtained from the AB-phase MR element 164. For example, when the AB-phase magnetic pole of the encoder magnet 161 is a 150-pole magnetic pole, since the AB-phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, the position information of the drive motor is 150 per rotation.
A signal with the resolution accuracy of is obtained. The output signal of the AB-phase MR element is also connected from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable to the signal processing unit formed in the connector box. The signal processing unit performs amplification and rectangular wave processing, and the AB phase signal subjected to the rectangular wave processing is transmitted to the control drive circuit of the drive motor and the host CPU of the main body system. The connector box 18 is connected to the system body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body and supplies electric power for driving a drive motor such as a drive motor control drive circuit.

The AB-phase magnetic pole is the encoder magnet 161.
It is obtained by magnetizing the outer periphery of the magnet with a rotating magnetizer to form multiple poles. Outer circumference of encoder magnet 161 and AB phase MR element 164
Since the gap disposed opposite to each other is about 50 μm and it is driven in the ultrasonic wave propagating medium, if there is a large dust, it may enter the gap, so that it should be assembled after cleaning with oil. A number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles of the encoder magnet 161 are detected from the AB-phase MR element 164, and the drive motor is controlled as a motor control signal.

The ultrasonic probe of the sixth embodiment is of a type in which the signal processing unit is a handle. As in the other embodiments, there is a method in which the signal processing unit is configured at the tip of the ultrasonic probe or the connector box. There is also a method of arranging the signal processing units in a divided manner as in the first embodiment. However, the connector box, which is the main object of the present invention, is provided with the control drive circuit board of the drive motor.

(Embodiment 7) An embodiment of the present invention is a so-called multi-plane type ultrasonic probe in which the cross-sectional position can be arbitrarily changed by rotating a vibrator built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe with a motor. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram showing the whole ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using the scanning ultrasonic probe in one embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 22 shows an external perspective view of an ultrasonic probe inserted into a body cavity. This ultrasonic probe is used for diagnosis of digestive organs such as the esophagus and intestine, or directly inserted into a blood vessel to scan an oscillator for ultrasonic diagnosis. Figure 2
3 is a sectional view of a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic transducer.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the embodiment comprises an ultrasonic probe and a main body system section (or main body apparatus).
The ultrasonic probe includes a tip (or an insertion part) 178, a handle (or an operation part, a hand operation part) 179, a connector box 18, an insertion tube (or a guiding middle part) 180, and a cable 1.
It is composed of 81. At the tip 178 of the ultrasonic probe, a drive motor that rotationally drives the ultrasonic transducer 182 is configured. The drive motor has a rotor portion (to be a drive rotor) that rotates together with the ultrasonic oscillator 182.
183 is configured, and a base housing 184 that supports the drive rotor 183 is built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe. A flexible insertion tube 180 is formed from the distal end 178 to the handle 179. The insertion tube 180 is a long and narrow tube to be inserted into a blood vessel or an oral cavity, and a sheath tube and an electric signal line pass therethrough. A control knob 185 is formed on the handle 179 of the ultrasonic probe. A connector box 18 is connected to the handle 179 via a cable 181, and the connector box 18 includes a signal processing unit 186 for a drive motor position detection signal and a drive motor control drive circuit 187. The ultrasonic probe is electrically connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body through the connector box 18.

The ultrasonic vibrator 182 is attached to the top surface of the rotating part of the drive rotor 183. Therefore, the rotary shaft of the ultrasonic transducer 182 and the drive shaft 188 of the drive motor are the same shaft. Ultrasonic transducer 1 for drive shaft 188
The beam 82 is emitted in the axial direction. A beam trajectory plane 190 is formed in the direction of the beam emission axis 189 on the ultrasonic transducer 182 side. As the drive rotor 183 rotates, the beam trajectory plane 190 of the ultrasonic transducer 182 rotates. The locus plane 190 is a plane parallel to the drive shaft 188.

The ultrasonic probe of the embodiment is an intracorporeal ultrasonic probe which is inserted into the body cavity of a subject to obtain an ultrasonic image of the subject in the body cavity. Has an ultrasonic transducer 182 at its tip, and the ultrasonic transducer 182 is adapted to take an ultrasonic tomographic image at an arbitrary angle within a rotation range mechanically determined in advance.

Knowing the rotational position information of the drive rotor 183 means knowing the position information of the ultrasonic transducer 182 attached to the drive rotor 183. Drive rotor 183
The rotation position information of the drive rotor 183 can be known by using the reference position means serving as a reference of one rotation and the relative position information means together.

The reference position means is composed of an encoder magnet 191 and an MR element 192. Also, the relative position information means is composed of an encoder magnet 191 and an MR element 192. The MR element is an ABZ-phase MR element, and the Z-phase MR element part and the AB-phase MR element part are formed in one MR element. The Z-phase MR element portion is formed on the ultrasonic transducer side, and the AB-phase MR element portion is formed on the base housing 184 side. Therefore, the encoder magnet also has the Z-phase magnetic pole portion on the ultrasonic transducer side and the AB-phase magnetic pole portion on the base housing side.

The Z phase signal of the MR element 192 is the drive rotor 1
One pulse signal can be detected for one rotation of 83. Therefore, the reference position of the drive rotor 183 can be known. The Z-phase signal passes through the insertion tube 180, the handle 179 and the cable 181, and is connected to the signal processing unit 186 of the connector box 18. The signal processing unit 186 amplifies the signal, processes the rectangular wave, and drives the drive motor control drive circuit 18
Connected to 7.

As the relative position information means, it is composed of an AB phase detecting portion of the MR element 192 and an encoder magnet 191 on the drive rotor 183 side. The AB phase detector is the A phase,
This is an MR element that can obtain two-phase B-phase signals, and the phase difference between the A-phase and the B-phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the drive rotor 183
The rotation direction of can be obtained from the phase difference. AB-phase magnetic poles and Z-phase magnetic poles are magnetized on the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 191, and in particular, the AB-phase magnetic pole portion is magnetized with multi-pole magnetic poles, and the number of signals corresponding to the number of magnetic poles is MR-transmitted.
Obtained from element 192.

The rectangular wave signals of the AB and Z phases are also sent to the main body system 20 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in the connector box 18.
Connected via. The main body system side also needs the positional information of the ultrasonic transducer, that is, it cannot be expressed without the positional information in order to display the image.

For example, when the AB-phase magnetic pole of the encoder magnet 126 is a 150-pole magnetic pole, the AB-phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, and therefore, as the position information of the drive motor, a signal with a resolution accuracy of 150 per rotation is obtained. To be The AB phase signal is also amplified once by a relay amplifier board near the motor, and further wired to a relay adjustment board that processes a sine wave waveform signal into a rectangular wave, and passes through a cable 181 to control the drive motor built in the connector box 18. It is connected to the drive circuit. The connector box 18 is connected to the system body 20 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body, and supplies electric power for driving a drive motor such as a drive motor control drive circuit.

As the rotational position information means of the drive motor, a potentiometer for detecting a change in resistance value, an optical encoder using a photoelectric sensor, etc. may be used other than the magnetic encoder using the MR element as shown in the embodiment.

The embodiment shows an ultrasonic probe in which ultrasonic tomographic images of a large number of tomographic planes are mounted on a drive motor of an ultrasonic vibrator and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated without rotating the probe itself. The ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that obtains an ultrasonic tomographic image by rotating an ultrasonic scanning region (for example, a sector-shaped plane) and scanning the beam trajectory surface of the ultrasonic at an arbitrary angle. Since such a multi-plane ultrasonic tomographic image can be obtained, it is distinguished as a multi-plane ultrasonic probe.

The ultrasonic oscillator 182 of the embodiment is composed of an ultrasonic oscillator array in which a plurality of ultrasonic oscillators are arranged in a one-dimensional direction, and the pulse driving means of the ultrasonic oscillator array is The system is configured to perform scanning by interlocking with position information of the drive motor, and the ultrasonic transducer array is rotated by the drive motor.

The ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic oscillator 182 are emitted at an angle orthogonal to the emission surface of the ultrasonic oscillator 182 and enter the living tissue. A part of the ultrasonic wave that has entered the tissue is reflected in the tissue and then the ultrasonic transducer 1
At 82, it is converted into an electric signal and transmitted through several shielded I / O lines, and the insertion tube 180 and the handle 1
It is sent to the circuit of the system main body 20 via 79, the cable 181, and the connector box 18.

Next, the system body 2 of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body
The transmitting / receiving circuit portion within 0 will be described.

When transmitting ultrasonic waves to the inside of a living body, first, the pulse generator 25 outputs a rate pulse for determining the repetition period of the ultrasonic pulse, and the rate pulse is transmitted to the pulse transducer drive circuit 26 having the determined ultrasonic frequency. To be In the vibrator drive circuit 26, a drive pulse is formed to supply and drive a drive signal to the ultrasonic vibrator to generate ultrasonic waves. The drive pulse causes the ultrasonic transducer 182 to radiate into the living body.

The ultrasonic waves radiated into the living body from the ultrasonic transducer 182 are reflected by the tissues in the living body. The reflected ultrasonic wave is called an ultrasonic echo. Ultrasonic transducer 1 used for transmission
The weak reception signal received by the reference numeral 82 and corresponding to the reflection intensity of the ultrasonic echo is amplified by the amplifier 2 in the system body 20.
After being amplified at 7, it is sent to the B-mode signal processing circuit. In the B-mode signal processing circuit, the oscillator output is logarithmically compressed by a logarithmic amplifier 28, detected by a detection circuit 29 for envelope detection, and a gain setter 30 for gain correction is controlled by a gain control controller 31 to obtain a gain. Corrected,
The signals are combined in the combining circuit 32 and then converted into A / D in the A / D converter 33.
It is D-converted and image-processed by the high-speed image DSP 34. D
The sitting image processed in SP34 is temporarily stored in the image memory 35. A plurality of images at the time of driving are also stored in the image memory 35, signal-processed by using the high-speed image DSP 34, and the signals are processed by the digital scan converter (DSC) 3
Image data corresponding to the TV scanning format is converted via 6 and displayed as a two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image on the television monitor 37.

The system main body 20 of the main body device has a host CPU 38 which controls the entire circuit of the device and comprehensively monitors and processes image data, memory and position information of the drive motor, motor drive and the like. . Host CPU3
Reference numeral 8 generally controls the processing as the ultrasonic probe by the input accompanying the external input operation to the main body device.

The external perspective view of the ultrasonic probe shown in FIG. 22 is an example of a multi-plane ultrasonic probe. A multi-plane TEE ultrasonic probe (TEE: Transesophageal Echo) that is orally inserted into a subject and observes the heart from the upper digestive tract including the esophagus and stomach.
cardiography). The insertion tube 180 is composed of a flexible sheath tube and an electric signal line inside the sheath tube.
Ultrasound diagnosis is performed in a state in which the components are inserted into the body cavity.
For example, the insertion tube of the ultrasonic probe is inserted into the esophagus through the mouth to perform ultrasonic diagnosis of organs near the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, etc. When is rotated, the ultrasonic beam trajectory surface formed by the ultrasonic transducer is rotated, and a scanned image is obtained.

The tip 178 of the ultrasonic probe has a window case 193 made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency attached to the tip thereof.
Reference numeral 8 has a built-in drive motor, ultrasonic transducer, and the like.
The tip 178 of the ultrasonic probe and the handle 179 are connected by a flexible insertion tube 180. Handle 179
Is a hand-held operation unit that is held and operated by a hand, and includes a controller knob 185 for operation. The controller knob 185 has various switches and can be rotated in various modes. When the controller knob 185 is rotated, the drive motor rotates in the rotation direction and the ultrasonic transducer also rotates. Therefore, the rotation speed or the like is changed by operating the switch provided on the controller knob 185. A switch for stopping the rotation of the drive motor is also attached to the controller knob 185. The signal of the controller knob 185 is sent from the connector box 18 to the host CPU 38 of the system body 20, and the command is transmitted from the host CPU 38 to the control circuit of the drive motor in accordance with the command of the controller knob 185. The drive motor is controlled and driven based on the command.

The ultrasonic probe is connected to the connector box 18 by a cable 181 from the handle 179.
The ultrasonic probe is connected to the system body 20 by mounting the connector box 18 on the connector insertion port of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. There is a knob 194 with a lock mechanism to prevent the ultrasonic probe from coming off during diagnosis,
After mounting, the knob 194 is turned to firmly lock the connector box 18 to the main body.

Since the ultrasonic transducer 182 is provided on the side surface of the tip of the probe, the lateral direction of the affected area in the body cavity can be diagnosed, and the ultrasonic transducer 182 can be rotated, for example, by 90 degrees even with the control only by the hand operation section of the handle, and it can be moved along the insertion axis. Diagnosis of the tomographic plane (beam trajectory plane is reference numeral 195 in FIG. 22) and diagnosis in a direction perpendicular to the insertion axis (beam trajectory plane is reference numeral 196 in FIG. 22)
And are possible.

Further, the entire operating method of the ultrasonic transducer can be performed from the operating section of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, and the operating section at hand can perform the basic operations that are frequently used. The tip 178 of the ultrasonic probe has a cylindrical smooth streamline shape so that it can be easily inserted into the body cavity. The insertion tube 180 and the cable 181 are connected to the ultrasonic transducer and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, an electric control line for driving and controlling a drive motor, a signal line such as an encoder, a shock detection and a temperature. A flexible cable that transmits a signal line of a sensor to the connector box 18, and is protected by a coating and shielded.

FIG. 23 is a sectional view of an outer rotor rotating type brushless motor with a core according to the present embodiment. This motor is an ultrasonic transducer drive motor.
It is an example of a motor mounted on the tip of the probe of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

In FIG. 23, the ultrasonic transducer 182 is constructed in the frame of the housing of the element holder 195, and is attached to the top surface of the rotor hood 196 of the drive motor.
It rotates about the drive shaft 188. An acoustic lens 197 is attached to the tip of the ultrasonic oscillator 182. It is the acoustic lens 197 that effectively utilizes the phenomenon of refraction. Since ultrasonic waves have a faster sound speed in solid than in liquid, the ultrasonic beam is focused on the transducer surface by a concave acoustic lens. There is. An ultrasonic transducer to which a flat acoustic lens or a convex acoustic lens other than the concave acoustic lens is attached is used. The signal line of the ultrasonic transducer 182 has a hollow drive shaft 1
It is drawn out of the drive motor through a hole in the center of the shaft 88.

The beam of the ultrasonic transducer 182 is emitted in the drive axis direction. Beam emission axis 1 on the ultrasonic transducer 182 side
A beam trajectory plane 190 is formed in the 89 direction. Since the ultrasonic transducer 182 attached to the top surface of the rotor frame 196 rotates about the drive shaft 188, the beam locus surface 190 of the ultrasonic transducer 182 also rotates. The locus plane 190 is a plane parallel to the drive shaft 188. The beam trajectory plane 190 includes a beam trajectory plane 195 (reference numeral 195 in FIG. 22) which is a tomographic plane along the ultrasonic probe insertion axis and a beam trajectory plane 196 (reference numeral 1 in FIG. 22) perpendicular to the insertion axis.
Since it is possible to move to angles other than 96),
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of taking an ultrasonic tomographic image at an arbitrary angle, which is useful for medical diagnosis.

Since the multi-plane TEE ultrasonic probe of the embodiment is capable of observing the image of the diagnostic region from the inside of the body cavity, the transesophageal ultrasonic probe is affected by intercostal effects or ultrasonic attenuation by subcutaneous fat. Without
Further, the blood vessel insertion ultrasonic probe can obtain a clear image without being affected by ultrasonic attenuation due to subcutaneous fat, and can observe a tomographic plane viewed from an arbitrary direction inside the body cavity. An example of the ultrasonic probe of the present embodiment is a multi-plane transesophageal ultrasonic probe that is inserted into the esophagus to obtain an ultrasonic tomographic image of the heart, and is an example of a biplane transesophageal ultrasonic probe.

The ultrasonic transducer 182 is composed of an ultrasonic transducer array in which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged in a one-dimensional direction, and an image of the beam trajectory plane 190 can be obtained at the same time. By driving the drive motor equipped with this ultrasonic transducer array in the following operation modes, complicated image diagnosis becomes possible. (1) Constant speed rotation operation (2) Step operation (1 degree, 2 degrees, 3 degrees) (3) 15 degree biplane operation (4) 90 degree biplane operation (5) External synchronous biplane operation (1) The constant-speed rotation operation is an operation mode in which a plurality of two-dimensional images at angular positions at arbitrary times can be combined to perform three-dimensional image processing, such as the size of the heart and the size and direction of diseased part. Can be grasped.

The step operation of (2) is 2 at a constant angular interval.
This is to observe a three-dimensional image. This is an operation mode in which a plurality of these two-dimensional images can be combined to perform three-dimensional image processing, and the size of the heart and the size and direction of the diseased part can be grasped.

In the 45 degree biplane operation of (3), the ultrasonic transducer angle is 0 °, 45 °, 90 ° for a patient whose heart position and angle are slightly deviated due to individual differences.
A measurement mode for instantly obtaining a basic cross-sectional image of the patient from the images moved to 135 ° and 180 °.

Also in the 90 degree bi-plane operation of (4), the ultrasonic transducer angle is 0 °, 90 °, 180 ° for a patient whose heart position and angle are slightly deviated due to individual differences.
Measurement mode to instantly obtain a basic cross-sectional image of the patient from the image moved to.

In the external synchronization mode of (5), since the heart beats are different for each person, the biplane motions of (3) and (4) cannot be performed in a preset time. Therefore, it is synchronized with the heart beat. To operate the biplane,
This is an operation mode in which the movement of the heart valve is instantaneously observed.

Such an operation mode is possible by directly driving the ultrasonic transducer with the motor.

The drive rotor includes a hanging portion 198 for attaching a drive magnet 197 to a rotor frame 196 and the drive shaft 1.
88 and a spigot portion 199 for mounting an ultrasonic transducer are integrally formed. Ring-shaped drive magnet 197
Is an anisotropic neodymium magnet having a characteristic of BHmax = 39MGOe and magnetized with 8 poles. Drive magnet 1
The core 200 is located at a position facing 97
It is adhesively fixed to the central cylindrical portion 201 of 84. Its core 2
00 is the number of salient poles 6, and the winding 20
2 is wound. To insulate the core 200 from the winding 202, the core is electrodeposited.

The insulating film of the core 200 is an electrodeposition coating film of epoxy resin, which is for the purpose of electrical insulation between the winding 202 and the core 200. Therefore, the thicker the film, the better.
If the film thickness is large, a gap is created between the winding 202 and the core 200, and the motor efficiency is reduced. Therefore, the film thickness is made as thin as possible. For example, a core having a film thickness of 50 μm or less was used as the insulating film. The electrodeposition coating film is a film with excellent insulation properties, which can be formed relatively easily industrially, and because the electrodeposition coating film has excellent environmental resistance, it can be used in environments other than air, such as oil. It is possible to use the motor even under such environment. In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that uses a drive motor in an ultrasonic wave propagation medium, an electrodeposition coating film or a vacuum deposition film is often used for the core of the drive motor.

In the three-phase brushless motor of the drive motor, the wire wound around the core is subjected to Y connection processing, and its common wire is not taken out of the motor.
Process three lines, U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase. These three wires are soldered and connected to the FPC 203 attached to the base housing 184, the FPC 203 is drawn out of the drive motor, and the motor lead wire from the drive motor control drive circuit is connected to the land of the drawn FPC 203. To do.

The rotor frame 196, to which the ultrasonic transducer 182 is attached, mounts the drive shaft 188 on the bearings 204, 205.
It is supported in rotation. The bearings 204 and 205 are fixed inside the central cylindrical portion 201 of the base housing 184 and can rotate about the drive shaft 188.

It is necessary to know the rotational position of the ultrasonic transducer for displaying an image, and therefore to know the rotational position information of the rotor frame 196 to which the ultrasonic transducer is attached. Regarding the rotational position of the rotor frame 196, the rotational position information of the rotor frame 196 is known by using the reference position means and the relative position information means, which are the references for one rotation.

The encoder magnet 19 is used as the reference position means for knowing the reference position information of the rotor frame 196.
1 and the MR element 192. In the encoder magnet 191, the Z-phase magnetic pole portion and the AB-phase magnetic pole portion are configured in the same encoder magnet 191. Although it cannot be seen from the outside because it is magnetized, the polarity state of the magnetic pole can be seen by using the MR element. MR element 1
Reference numeral 92 has an AB-phase and Z-phase detector formed in one element. Since the Z-phase detector is formed on the ultrasonic transducer side of the MR element 192, the Z-phase magnetic pole is also present on the ultrasonic transducer side of the encoder magnet 191. The Z-phase magnetic pole is magnetized with a single pole at one position in one rotation.
When a single pole magnetic pole cannot be created neatly, only one portion of the Z-phase portion of the encoder magnet has the same diameter as the AB-phase magnetic pole portion, and the rest is the encoder magnet as a paragraph.

As the Z-phase MR element signal, one pulse signal is detected for one rotation of the rotor frame. The Z-phase signal is connected to the signal processing section of the connector box through the handle and the cable through the insertion tube. In the signal processing unit, the signal is amplified, processed into a rectangular wave, and connected to the drive motor control drive circuit and the main body system.

The amplified Z-phase signal is rectangularly processed by the comparator circuit, and the rectangularly processed signal is a 0-5V rectangular wave signal, which is less susceptible to external noise. If the rising position of the Z-phase comparator signal is set to the reference position of the ultrasonic transducer, the Z-phase signal causes the reference position to
A sitting image can be displayed by the ultrasonic transducer 182, and if the Z-phase signal position and the ultrasonic transducer position are determined, the reference of the rotational position of the ultrasonic transducer does not differ between individual ultrasonic probes. You can decide.

Also, the relative position information means is composed of an encoder magnet 191 and an MR element 192. M
The R element is an ABZ phase MR element, and the Z phase MR element section and the AB phase MR element section are formed into one MR element. The Z-phase MR element part is formed on the ultrasonic transducer side, and
The phase MR element portion is formed on the base housing 184 side. Therefore, the encoder magnet 191 is also the Z-phase magnetic pole portion on the ultrasonic transducer side, and the base housing 1
The 84 side is the AB phase magnetic pole portion.

In order to prevent the encoder output from being affected by the leakage magnetic flux of the drive magnet 197, the rotor frame is made thicker, the encoder magnet 191 is made thicker, and the encoder magnet 191 and the MR element 19 are made thicker.
The gap with 2 is set very narrow.

The magnetic encoder incorporated as the relative position information means is composed of a pair of encoder magnets and an MR element for the AB phase and the Z phase. The AB phase detector of the MR element 192 is an MR element that can obtain two-channel signals of A phase and B phase, and the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees. Since the phase difference between the A phase and the B phase is 90 degrees, the rotation direction of the drive rotor can be obtained from the phase difference. Therefore, the rotational position information of the ultrasonic transducer 182 attached to the rotor frame 196 can be known. The AB-phase magnetic poles are obtained by magnetizing the outer circumference of the encoder magnet 191 into multiple poles with a rotary magnetizer. The outer circumference of the encoder magnet 191 and the MR element 192 are opposed to each other, and the gap is about 50 μm. Since they are driven in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, if there is large dust, it will enter the gap. Installation is done. The MR element 192 detects as many signals as the number of magnetic poles of the encoder magnet 191, and controls the drive motor as a motor control signal.

Both the AB phase signal and the Z phase signal are signal-amplified in the signal processing section of the connector box through the handle and cable through the insertion tube, subjected to rectangular wave processing, and connected to the drive motor control drive circuit. The connector box is connected to the system body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body and supplies electric power for driving a drive motor such as a drive motor control drive circuit.

The AB-phase and Z-phase rectangular wave signals are also connected to the main body system of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus via the connector box. The main body system side also needs the positional information of the ultrasonic transducer, that is, it cannot be expressed without the positional information in order to display the image.

The gap between the encoder magnet 191 and the MR element 192 is set to be extremely small in order to prevent the encoder output from being affected by the leakage magnetic flux of the drive magnet 197. Since the gap is narrow, it is necessary to reduce the effects of swelling of the encoder magnet 191, cutting runout, assembly runout, and the like. The encoder magnet 191 is bonded and fixed to the rotor frame 196, and is assembled to reduce the runout of the outer peripheral surface of the encoder magnet. Also,
The encoder magnet 191 is made of a material having a large ferrite content in the plastic magnet. That is, since the encoder magnet 191 is used in the ultrasonic wave propagation medium, considering the swelling effect,
A material containing 79% or more of a magnetic material is used. For example, the material of the encoder magnet 191 is a plastic magnet, and 12 nylon type is used as the base resin.

For example, when the encoder magnet 191 has 150 poles, the AB phase MR signal also has 150 pulses, and therefore, as the position information of the drive rotor, a signal with a resolution accuracy of 150 pulses per rotation can be obtained. Since both the A phase and the B phase have 150 pulses and have a phase difference of 90 degrees, if the signals of the A phase and B phase are multiplied by 4, a signal with a resolution accuracy of 600 per rotation can be obtained. Since the encoder magnet 191 is rotationally magnetized, the angle accuracy between the magnetic poles is very high. Therefore, even when the frequency is multiplied by four, position information with considerably good angle accuracy can be obtained.

The base housing 184 is a metal powder injection molding method (Metal Injection Moldin).
g = MIM) and is made of sintered metal. SUS316L is used as a material in order to stabilize the molding accuracy and the sintering dimensional accuracy.

The ultrasonic probe of the seventh embodiment is of a type in which the signal processing section is formed in the connector box. As in the other embodiments, there is a method in which the signal processing unit is configured on the tip or handle of the ultrasonic probe. There is also a method of arranging the signal processing units in a divided manner as in the first embodiment. However, the connector box, which is the main object of the present invention, is provided with the control drive circuit board of the drive motor.

As described above, the ultrasonic probe for two-dimensional scanning in this embodiment is lightweight and small, and the main mechanical portion of the driving portion is built in the tip of the probe. With the ultrasonic transducer, a wide-angle ultrasonic tomographic image can be obtained.

Two-dimensional scanning is possible with the ultrasonic probe for two-dimensional scanning of this embodiment, and a rotation angle signal is output from the encoder on the drive motor side as the drive motor to which the ultrasonic transducer is fixed rotates. It is transmitted to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and a two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic image is obtained.

[0402]

As is clear from the description of the above embodiment,
According to the invention described in claim 1, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe, and it is possible to attach and detach the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe, which is an advantageous effect. can get.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the ultrasonic vibrator is attached to the rotor frame rotatably supported by the two bearings, the rotation is stable and the position of the ultrasonic vibrator is stable. Therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the sitting image.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, an ultrasonic transducer in which the ultrasonic transmission medium is included and the drive shaft of the drive motor and the rotation axis of the ultrasonic oscillator are formed in the same axis in the window case. A drive motor can be configured to reduce the size and weight of the mechanical unit, and an ultrasonic tomographic image with good image quality can be obtained on a beam trajectory plane parallel to the handle axis.

According to the invention described in claim 4, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified at the tip of the probe so that it is not affected by external noise. Thus, it is possible to route the amplified signal to the rectangular wave processing substrate without worrying about the shield performance.

According to the invention described in claim 5, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified at the tip of the probe so that it is not affected by external noise. Thus, it is possible to route the amplified signal to the rectangular wave processing substrate without worrying about the shield performance.

According to the invention described in claim 6, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified at the tip of the probe and subjected to rectangular wave processing, thereby exerting an influence of external noise. The thing that can be made hard to receive is obtained.

According to the invention described in claim 7, the magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the handle and subjected to the rectangular wave processing. As a result, a small drive motor can be mounted, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made smaller.

According to the invention described in claim 8, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the connector box and subjected to rectangular wave processing. It is possible to mount a small drive motor on the tip, and it is possible to obtain a small ultrasonic probe tip and a small handle.

According to the ninth aspect of the invention, the magnetic probe is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the connector box and subjected to rectangular wave processing. A small drive motor can be mounted on the tip, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made small and the handle can be made small. Furthermore, by configuring the signal processing circuit of the MR element on the same substrate as the control drive circuit of the drive motor, the number of substrates to be stored in the connector box is reduced, and workability is improved.
The result is that maintenance becomes easier.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 10, it is possible to construct a motor system for driving the ultrasonic transducer only by the ultrasonic probe, and the apparatus body and the ultrasonic probe can be detached and attached. .

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only by the ultrasonic probe, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe can be attached and detached. That is what you get.

According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, it is possible to construct a motor system for driving the ultrasonic transducer only by the ultrasonic probe, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe can be detached and attached. That is what you get.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe can be attached and detached. That is what you get.

According to the fourteenth aspect of the invention, the drive motor for rotating the ultrasonic transducer is mounted on the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic beam is emitted so as to be orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube. Since the ultrasonic beam trajectory surface can be formed so as to be orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube, it is possible to manufacture a microscopic probe or the like. Further, it is possible to obtain that the position of the ultrasonic transducer is stable.

According to the fifteenth aspect of the invention, in order to mount the ultrasonic transducer on the top surface of the rotating rotor frame, the ultrasonic beam is emitted in the axial direction with respect to the rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft is rotated. In addition to the fact that the ultrasonic beam trajectory planes can be formed parallel to each other, and the ultrasonic transducer is mounted directly on the rotor frame of the motor, the position is stable, and the accuracy of the sitting image can be improved. Is what you get.

According to the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, the magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor and the signal of the MR element is amplified at the tip of the probe so that it is not affected by external noise. In this way, the amplified signal can be routed to the rectangular wave processing substrate without worrying about the shield performance. Further, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe, and the device body and the ultrasonic probe can be detached and attached.

According to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified at the tip of the probe and subjected to rectangular wave processing, so that the influence of external noise is exerted. Can be made hard to receive. Further, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe, and the device body and the ultrasonic probe can be detached and attached.

According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, the magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the handle and subjected to the rectangular wave processing. As a result, a small drive motor can be mounted, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made small. Further, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe, and the device body and the ultrasonic probe can be detached and attached.

According to the invention described in claim 19, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the connector box and subjected to rectangular wave processing. It is possible to mount a small drive motor on the tip, and it is possible to obtain a small ultrasonic probe tip and a small handle.

According to the twentieth aspect of the invention, the magnetic probe is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the connector box and subjected to rectangular wave processing. A small drive motor can be mounted on the tip, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made small and the handle can be made small. Furthermore, by configuring the signal processing circuit of the MR element on the same substrate as the control drive circuit of the drive motor, the number of substrates to be stored in the connector box is reduced, and workability is improved.
The result is that maintenance becomes easier.

According to the twenty-first aspect of the invention, the magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the handle and subjected to the rectangular wave processing, whereby the ultrasonic probe tip is obtained. As a result, a small drive motor can be mounted, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made smaller.

According to the twenty-second aspect of the present invention, the magnetic probe is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the connector box and subjected to rectangular wave processing. It is possible to mount a small drive motor on the tip, and it is possible to obtain a small ultrasonic probe tip and a small handle.

According to the invention of claim 23, a magnetic encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the signal of the MR element is amplified by the connector box and subjected to rectangular wave processing. A small drive motor can be mounted on the tip, and the tip of the ultrasonic probe can be made small and the handle can be made small. Furthermore, by configuring the signal processing circuit of the MR element on the same substrate as the control drive circuit of the drive motor, the number of substrates to be stored in the connector box is reduced, and workability is improved.
The result is that maintenance becomes easier.

According to the twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only by the ultrasonic probe, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe can be attached and detached. That is what you get.

According to the twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only with the ultrasonic probe, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe can be attached and detached. That is what you get.

According to the twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to construct a motor system that drives the ultrasonic transducer only by the ultrasonic probe, and the apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe can be attached and detached. That is what you get.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a structural diagram of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a structural diagram of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a structural diagram of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a mechanical sector scanning ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an external perspective view of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an external perspective view of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a sectional view of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram showing an entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is an external perspective view of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a sectional view of an ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 118, 154, 182 Ultrasonic transducer 3, 74, 152 Drive motor 4, 75, 120, 183 Drive rotor 5, 56, 76, 121, 184 Base housing 6, 15, 159, 179 Handle 6a Hand Switch 7, 122 Relay adjustment substrate 8, 133 Ultrasonic wave propagation medium volume adjustment mechanism 9, 77, 123, 153, 188 Drive shaft 10, 124, 189 Beam emission axis 11, 125, 136, 137, 168, 190 Ultrasonic wave Beam trajectory plane 12, 78, 99, 109 Z phase pin 13, 79, 100, 110, 163 MR element (Z
Phase) 14,128 Relay amplifier board 15, 81 Magnetic encoder 16, 82, 126, 161, 191 Encoder magnet 17, 83, 164 MR element (AB phase) 18 Connector box 19, 166, 187 Drive motor control drive circuit 20 System main body 21,129 Rotary transformer 22,130,157 Rotor side transformer 23,131,156 Stator side transformer 24,132,170,193 Window case 25 Pulse generator 26 Transducer drive circuit 27 Amplifier 28 Logarithmic amplifier 29 Detection circuit 30 Gain setter 31 Gain control controller 32 Synthesis circuit 33 A / D 34 DSP 35 Image memory 36 DSC 37 Television monitor 38 Host CPU 39, 114, 169, 178 Tip 40, 117, 160, 181 Cable 41 Connector insertion ports 42, 135, 172, 194 Knob 43 Display 44 Keyboard 45 Trackball 46 Car 47 Hook 48, 147, 174, 200 Core 49, 144, 173, 197 Drive magnet 50, 86, 103, 113, 119, 196 Rotor frames 51, 52, 150, 151, 175, 176, 20
4, 205 bearing 53 bearing boss portion 54, 104, 105 rotor side plate 55, 58, 101, 111 mounting base 57, 88, 107 inclined surface (cut surface) 59, 60 hole 61, 149, 177, 202 winding 62 insulation Film 63 Flexible substrate 64 Lead wire 65, 87, 139 Acoustic lens 66, 67, 69, 70 Coil groove 68, 72, 140, 142, 203 FPC 71 Coil 73 Scanning angle 80, 98, 108, 165, 186 Signal processing unit 84 Slip ring 85 Probe body mounting base 89 Z-phase FPC 90 Flat lead wire 91 AB-phase FPC 92 Electrode 93 Brush 94 Brush holder 95 Motor wire 96 Bearing color 97 Insulating sheet 102, 112 Angle 106, 146, 199 Inlay part 116, 158 , 180 Insertion tube 127, 192 MR element 134,171,185 controller knob 138,195 element holder 141 bushing 143 axial collar 145,198 hanging portions 148,201 central cylindrical portion 155 cradle 162 projection

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2G047 AC13 BA03 BB04 BC13 CA01                       DB05 EA14 GA02 GA03 GB04                 4C301 AA02 BB02 BB03 BB26 BB27                       BB30 EE15 FF01 GA02 GA03                       GA12 GB14 GB28 GB31 GC11                       GD10 GD16                 4C601 BB05 BB09 BB10 BB12 BB14                       BB23 BB24 EE12 GA01 GA02                       GA03 GA11 GA12 GA17 GA21                       GA29 GA30 GB01 GB14 GB32                       GB34 GB37 GC09

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic vibrator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic vibrator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable.
In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, the winding on the fixed side member, the drive shaft, An ultrasonic oscillator drive motor characterized by comprising a base, a control drive circuit for the drive motor built into a connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit to drive the ultrasonic oscillator by the drive motor. . 2. A structure in which an ultrasonic vibrator is attached to an outer peripheral portion of a rotor frame of a drive motor to rotate the ultrasonic vibrator about a drive shaft of the drive motor, wherein the rotation side member of the drive motor is 2 It is rotatably supported by two bearings,
A core and a winding are formed between the bearings, an ultrasonic transducer is formed in the rotor frame between the two bearings, and a base for fixing the drive shaft is formed outside the two bearings. The ultrasonic vibrator drive motor according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 3. An ultrasonic vibrator is attached to an outer peripheral portion of a rotor frame of a drive motor to rotate the ultrasonic vibrator about a drive shaft of the drive motor. A base that is rotatably supported by bearings, a core and a winding are formed between the bearings, an ultrasonic transducer is formed in a rotor frame between the two bearings, and a drive shaft is fixed outside the two bearings. The drive shaft of the drive motor is configured in the window case of the ultrasonic probe so as to be orthogonal to the axis (handle shaft) connected to the handle from the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic transducer is parallel to the handle. 3. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 1, wherein the trajectory surface of the ultrasonic beam is formed. 4. An ultrasonic transducer drive motor uses an encoder as rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The signal processing unit at the tip of the ultrasonic probe performs signal amplification of the MR signal output by, the relay adjustment board that processes the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged in the handle, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by the cable line. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic transducer drive motor is configured to be connected to a control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box to control the drive motor. 5. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable.
In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, the winding on the fixed side member, the drive shaft, The ultrasonic vibrator drive motor has a base, and an encoder is used as a rotational relative position information means of the drive motor. The encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The signal processing unit at the tip of the ultrasonic probe performs signal amplification of the MR signal output by, the relay adjustment board that processes the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged in the handle, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by the cable line. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor that controls the drive motor is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor built in the connector box. Ultrasonic probe characterized by containing therein the tip of the over drive. 6. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable.
In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, the winding on the fixed side member, the drive shaft, It has a base, a control drive circuit for the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit to drive the ultrasonic transducer by the drive motor. An encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The signal amplification of the MR signal output from the MR element and the amplified signal are rectangular waves. A signal processing unit for processing is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and a rectangular wave signal is transmitted by a cable wire, which is configured in a connector box. Connected to the control drive circuit of the dynamic motor, an ultrasonic transducer driving motor configured it is characterized to control the drive motor. 7. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable.
In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, the winding on the fixed side member, the drive shaft, It has a base, a control drive circuit for the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive circuit drives the drive motor to drive the ultrasonic transducer. An encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor in the motor, and the encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element, and a signal amplification of the MR signal output from the MR element is performed. A signal processing unit that processes the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged on the handle of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by a cable wire, An ultrasonic transducer drive motor characterized by being connected to a control drive circuit of a drive motor configured in a connector box to control the drive motor. 8. A supermarket comprising a window case made of an ultrasonically transparent window material, wherein an ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic transducer are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable.
In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, the winding on the fixed side member, the drive shaft, It has a base, a control drive circuit for the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive circuit drives the drive motor to drive the ultrasonic transducer. For the motor, an encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor. The encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element, and the MR signal output from the MR element is transmitted by a cable line. By transmitting the signal, signal processing of the MR element and rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal are performed by the processing circuit of the signal processing unit configured in the connector box. An ultrasonic transducer drive motor characterized by being configured to be connected to a control drive circuit of a drive motor configured in a connector box to control the drive motor. 9. The encoder comprises an encoder magnet and M
A magnetic encoder composed of R elements, the MR of which is
The MR signal output from the element is transmitted from the tip of the ultrasonic probe, through the handle, through the cable and to the internal board of the connector box. 9. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 8, wherein a rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal and a control drive circuit of the drive motor are configured. 10. An ultrasonic wave characterized in that the ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and 6 to 9 is included in a tip of an ultrasonic probe, and a drive control board of the drive motor is arranged in a connector box. probe. 11. A supermarket comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic probe is composed of a handle connected to the housing and the tip of the ultrasonic oscillator and the drive motor, and a connector box connected from the handle with a cable.
In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame and a drive magnet on the rotating side member, the winding on the fixed side member, the drive shaft, It has a base, a control drive circuit for the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive motor is driven by the drive circuit to drive the ultrasonic transducer by the drive motor. An encoder is used as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor for the motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The MR signal output from the MR element is subjected to signal amplification and its amplification in an ultrasonic probe. The amplified signal is subjected to rectangular wave processing, and the rectangular wave signal of the MR signal is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is configured to control the drive motor is using ultrasound tomographic image of the beam trajectory plane obtained by the ultrasonic transducer driving motor characteristics. 12. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor includes a rotor frame, a drive magnet, and a drive shaft on the rotating side member. The fixed side member has a winding and a base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box and driven by the drive circuit. By driving the motor, an ultrasonic transducer driving motor is characterized by driving the ultrasonic transducer by a driving motor. 13. A structure in which an ultrasonic vibrator is attached to a rotating side member of a drive motor, and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated by rotating the drive motor, wherein the rotating side member of the drive motor is a bearing for rotation. 13. An ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is formed on a surface orthogonal to the rotation axis, and the ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is a top surface of a rotor frame of a drive motor.
The ultrasonic transducer drive motor described. 14. A structure in which an ultrasonic vibrator is attached to a rotary member of a drive motor, and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated by rotating the drive motor, the rotary member of the drive motor being a bearing for rotation. The ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is formed on the surface orthogonal to the rotation axis, and the drive shaft of the drive motor is arranged so that the drive shaft of the drive motor is orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube connected from the tip of the ultrasonic probe to the handle. 2. The locus surface of the ultrasonic beam of the ultrasonic transducer is formed in the window case, and is orthogonal to the insertion direction of the insertion tube.
2. The ultrasonic vibrator drive motor according to 2. 15. A structure in which an ultrasonic vibrator is attached to a rotation side member of a drive motor, and the ultrasonic vibrator is rotated by rotating the drive motor, wherein the rotation side member of the drive motor is a bearing for rotation. The ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is formed on the surface orthogonal to the rotation axis, and the ultrasonic transducer mounting surface is the top side surface of the rotor frame of the drive motor, and the drive motor must be rotated. Is a drive motor built in the tip of the ultrasonic probe that rotates the ultrasonic transducer mounted on the rotor frame of the drive motor and scans the ultrasonic beam trajectory plane at an arbitrary angle. And a beam trajectory plane of a slice along the insertion axis and a beam trajectory plane perpendicular to the insertion axis are possible.
The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to 2 or 13. 16. An ultrasonic transducer drive motor, wherein an encoder is used as rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element, and the MR signal output from the MR element is used. The signal processing part of the ultrasonic probe is amplified in the signal processing part of the ultrasonic probe, the relay adjustment board that processes the amplified signal in the rectangular wave is placed on the handle to perform the rectangular wave processing, and the rectangular wave signal is transmitted by the cable line, and the connector The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 12, 13, 14, or 15, wherein the ultrasonic transducer drive motor is configured to be connected to a control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the box to control the drive motor. 17. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic vibrator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic vibrator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor includes a rotor frame, a drive magnet, and a drive shaft on the rotating side member. The fixed side member has a winding and a base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box and driven by the drive circuit. Drive the motor,
A configuration in which an ultrasonic oscillator is driven by a drive motor, wherein the ultrasonic oscillator drive motor uses an encoder as rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. A signal processing unit for amplifying the MR signal output from the MR element and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is disposed at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal passes through the insertion tube and the handle. An ultrasonic transducer drive motor characterized in that it is further configured to be transmitted through a cable and connected to a control drive circuit of a drive motor configured in a connector box to control the drive motor. 18. A supermarket comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor includes a rotor frame, a drive magnet, and a drive shaft on the rotating side member. The fixed side member has a winding and a base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box and driven by the drive circuit. The configuration is such that the motor is driven and the ultrasonic oscillator is driven by the drive motor.The ultrasonic oscillator drive motor uses an encoder as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is an encoder magnet. The MR signal composed of the MR element passes through the insertion tube, and the signal processing unit for amplifying the MR element signal and processing the amplified signal into a rectangular wave is arranged on the handle of the ultrasonic probe. Then, the MR element signal is connected to the signal processing unit of the handle, the rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the cable, and is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box to control the drive motor. An ultrasonic transducer drive motor characterized by being configured in. 19. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic vibrator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic vibrator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor includes a rotor frame, a drive magnet, and a drive shaft on the rotating side member. The fixed side member has a winding and a base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box and driven by the drive circuit. The configuration is such that the motor is driven and the ultrasonic oscillator is driven by the drive motor.The ultrasonic oscillator drive motor uses an encoder as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is an encoder magnet. A magnetic encoder including an MR element, wherein an MR element signal output from the MR element is transmitted through an insertion tube, a handle, and a cable, and is configured in a connector box. The processing circuit of the signal processing unit is configured to perform signal amplification of the MR element and rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal, and to connect to the control drive circuit of the drive motor formed in the connector box to control the drive motor. Ultrasonic transducer drive motor characterized by 20. A supersonic device comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic transducer are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor includes a drive magnet and a drive shaft on a rotation side member, The fixed side member has a core, windings, and base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive circuit drives the drive motor. The ultrasonic vibrator driving motor is driven by an encoder as a rotational relative position information means of the driving motor, and the encoder is an encoder magnet and an MR element. A signal processing unit for amplifying the MR signal output from the MR element and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and the rectangular wave signal passes through the insertion tube and is handled. 15. The apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that it is configured to control the drive motor by being transmitted via a cable and further connected to a control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box. Sound wave drive motor. 21. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor includes a drive magnet and a drive shaft on a rotation side member, The fixed side member has a core, windings, and base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive circuit drives the drive motor. The ultrasonic vibrator driving motor is driven by an encoder as a rotational relative position information means of the driving motor, and the encoder is an encoder magnet and an MR element. The MR signal output from the MR element passes through the insertion tube, and a signal processing unit for amplifying the MR element signal and processing the amplified signal in a rectangular wave is arranged on the handle of the ultrasonic probe. The MR element signal is connected to the signal processing unit of the handle, the rectangular wave signal is transmitted through the cable, and is connected to the control drive circuit of the drive motor formed in the connector box to control the drive motor. 15. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 14, wherein the ultrasonic transducer drive motor is provided. 22. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic vibrator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic vibrator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor includes a drive magnet and a drive shaft on a rotation side member, The fixed side member has a core, windings, and base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive circuit drives the drive motor. The ultrasonic vibrator driving motor is driven by an encoder as a rotational relative position information means of the driving motor, and the encoder is an encoder magnet and an MR element. In the magnetic encoder constituted by, the MR element signal output from the MR element is transmitted through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable, and the signal processing is performed in the connector box. It is configured to control the drive motor by performing signal amplification of the MR element and rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal in the processing circuit of the part and connecting to the control drive circuit of the drive motor configured in the connector box. The ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to claim 14, which is characterized in that. 23. An ultrasonic transducer drive motor uses an encoder as a rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is a magnetic encoder composed of an encoder magnet and an MR element. The MR element signal output from the ultrasonic probe is transmitted from the tip of the ultrasonic probe through the insertion tube, the handle, and the cable to the internal board of the connector box. 20. The ultrasonic vibrator drive motor according to claim 14, wherein the signal amplification of the element, the rectangular wave processing of the amplified signal, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor are configured. 24. An ultrasonic probe characterized in that the ultrasonic transducer drive motor according to any one of claims 13 to 23 is included in the tip of the ultrasonic probe, and a drive control board of the drive motor is arranged in a connector box. 25. A window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic transducer and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic transducer are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. It is a sonic probe, and the insertion tube is a flexible tube that is flexible, and the ultrasonic probe is a tip that is included in the ultrasonic transducer and drive motor, and a handle that is connected from the tip to the insertion tube with a cable In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is composed of a connected connector box and is connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus by the connector box, the drive motor includes a rotor frame, a drive magnet, and a drive shaft on the rotating side member. The fixed side member has a winding and a base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box and driven by the drive circuit. The configuration is such that the motor is driven and the ultrasonic oscillator is driven by the drive motor.The ultrasonic oscillator drive motor uses an encoder as the rotational relative position information means of the drive motor, and the encoder is an encoder magnet. A drive motor configured by an MR element, the MR signal output from the MR element is amplified in the ultrasonic probe, the amplified signal is subjected to rectangular wave processing, and the rectangular wave signal of the MR signal is configured in a connector box. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic tomographic image of a beam trajectory plane obtained by an ultrasonic transducer drive motor, characterized in that the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is configured to be connected to the control drive circuit of 1. to control the drive motor. 26. A super case comprising a window case made of a window material having ultrasonic transparency, wherein an ultrasonic oscillator and a drive motor for driving the ultrasonic oscillator are enclosed in the window case by an ultrasonic propagation medium. An ultrasonic probe is an ultrasonic probe that is composed of an ultrasonic transducer, a tip enclosed by a drive motor, a handle connected by an insertion tube from the tip, and a connector box connected by a cable from the handle. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to be connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the insertion tube is a flexible tube having flexibility, and the drive motor is provided with a drive magnet and a drive shaft on a rotation side member, The fixed side member is equipped with a core, windings, and base, and the control drive circuit of the drive motor is built in the connector box, and the drive motor drives the drive motor. The ultrasonic vibrator driving motor is driven by an encoder as a rotational relative position information means of the driving motor, and the encoder is an encoder magnet and an MR element. The MR signal output from the MR element is amplified in the ultrasonic probe, the amplified signal is subjected to rectangular wave processing, and the rectangular wave signal of the MR signal is controlled in the connector box. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic tomographic image of a beam trajectory plane obtained by an ultrasonic transducer driving motor characterized by being connected to a driving circuit to control the driving motor.