JP2006345964A - Ultrasonic device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic device which dramatically increases the number of the kinds of identifiable probes, has a simple cost, and is manufactured at a low cost. <P>SOLUTION: A resistor 13 is built into an ultrasonic probe 11 and has a different resistance value for each kind of the probe 11. When a cable of the ultrasonic probe 11 is connected to a main body 21 of the device through a connector, signal wires connected to both ends of the resistor 13 are connected to a resistance measuring circuit 26 of a probe identification circuit 25 installed on the main body 21, and the resistance value of the resistor 13 built into the probe 11 is measured by the resistance measuring circuit 26. The probe identification circuit 25 transmits probe identification signals showing which kind the probe is depending on the measured resistance value to a system control circuit 24, and the system control circuit 24 controls a transmitting and receiving circuit 22 or the like depending on the identification signals. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic apparatus such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic apparatus in which a plurality of types of ultrasonic probes can be used interchangeably.

  Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment obtains diagnostic information by transmitting ultrasonic waves into the subject and receiving the reflected waves. In these ultrasonic apparatuses, multiple types of ultrasonic probes have been replaced. The ones that are intended to be used are known. Recently, a wide variety of ultrasound probes have been prepared for different diagnostic applications, expanding the range of user choices. By the way, when these ultrasonic probes are arbitrarily selected and connected to the apparatus main body, it is necessary to identify the type of the ultrasonic probe to be connected.

For this ultrasonic probe identification, for example, in Patent Document 1 below, a plurality of signal lines are prepared, a High or Low signal is placed on them, and this signal is discriminated by the apparatus body to identify the probe. . Further, in Patent Document 2 below, a voltage generation circuit that generates a voltage having three or more levels and an identification signal voltage selection circuit that sequentially distributes the generated voltages are provided on the probe side. The selection circuit applies each of the signal lines, and the voltage on each signal line is discriminated by the apparatus main body so as to identify the probe.
JP-A-11-299781 JP-A-9-84785

  However, in the case of the configuration described in Patent Document 1, only 256 types of probes can be identified even with 8 signal lines, and there is a problem that the number of signal lines must be increased when attempting to identify many types of probes. . Further, in the configuration of Patent Document 2, an identification signal voltage selection circuit configured with a LOGIC IC, an FPGA IC, or the like must be provided on the probe side, the configuration becomes complicated, and it must be provided for each individual probe. Therefore, there is a problem that the cost is increased and it is not easy to increase the number of types of probes that can be identified.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic apparatus capable of dramatically increasing the number of types of probes that can be identified while having a simple configuration and low cost.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in an ultrasonic apparatus including an ultrasonic probe including an ultrasonic transducer that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves, and an apparatus main body to which the probe is replaceably connected, The ultrasonic probe is provided with at least one resistor whose resistance value is changed according to the type of the probe, and when the probe is connected to the apparatus main body, It is characterized in that a probe identification circuit for measuring the resistance value and identifying the connected probe type is provided.

  In the ultrasonic apparatus, the ultrasonic probe connected to the apparatus main body in an exchangeable manner is provided with at least one resistor, and the resistance value of the resistor is changed according to the type of the probe. . When this ultrasonic probe is connected to the apparatus main body, a probe identification circuit provided in the apparatus main body measures the resistance value of the resistor in the probe to identify the type of the probe. The measurable resistance value can be easily distinguished to at least about 100 although it depends on the measurement accuracy of the resistance value measurement circuit. Therefore, since 100 types of probes can be identified with one resistor, 10,000 types of probes can be identified when two resistors are combined. The number of identification signal lines is basically two for each resistor, and when a plurality of resistors are used, if a common ground line is used, the number of resistors is increased by one. Therefore, it is possible to identify a great number of types of ultrasonic probes while having a simple configuration, a small number of signal lines, and cost reduction.

  Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention comprises an ultrasonic probe 11 and an apparatus body 21 as shown in FIG. In the ultrasonic probe 11, a large number of ultrasonic transducers 12 made of piezoelectric elements or the like are arranged to constitute an ultrasonic transducer array. Furthermore, one or two resistors (two in this case) having different values for each type of probe are provided.

  A cable including a signal line connected to each of the ultrasonic transducers 12 and a signal line connected to both ends of the resistor 13 is drawn out from the ultrasonic probe 11, and is detachably attached to the apparatus main body 21 by a connector. To be connected to. Thereby, each of the ultrasonic transducers 12 is connected to a transmission / reception circuit 22 provided in the apparatus main body 21, is pulse-driven by an ultrasonic signal, and a reception signal from each transducer 12 is input to the transmission / reception circuit 22. Will come to be.

  The transmission / reception circuit 22 controls the timing (delay time) of the pulse drive signal applied to each of the ultrasonic transducers 12 under the control of the system control circuit 24, and is thereby emitted from each ultrasonic transducer 12. Ultrasonic waves are synthesized in the propagation medium (within the subject) so as to focus. Similarly, the received signals from the ultrasonic transducers 12 are synthesized by adjusting the delay time, and focus control is performed on the received ultrasonic waves. The reception signal output from the transmission / reception circuit 22 is sent to the signal processing display circuit 23, subjected to various types of signal processing, two-dimensional image configuration processing, and the like, and further formed as a display signal, then to an image monitor device (not shown) Sent.

  The ultrasonic probe 11 has various types such as the number of the ultrasonic transducers 12, and it is necessary to perform control in the transmission / reception circuit 22 or the like according to the type. Therefore, it is necessary to automatically identify the type of the ultrasonic probe 11 connected to the apparatus main body 21. For the identification, each ultrasonic probe 11 is provided with two resistors 13 here as described above, and the resistance value is changed for each type of ultrasonic probe 11.

  Signal lines connected to both ends of the resistor 13 (two signal lines for each resistor 13) are connected to a detachable connector, and a resistance measuring circuit of a probe identification circuit 25 provided in the apparatus main body 21. The resistance measurement circuit 26 measures the resistance value of the resistor 13 of the ultrasonic probe 11. As the resistance measurement circuit 26, for example, a resistance bridge circuit or the like may be used, or a circuit applying the principle of a commercially available resistance measurement device may be used. Therefore, since the resistance value of the resistor 13 built in the ultrasonic probe 11 is measured by these resistance measurement circuits 26, the type of the ultrasonic probe 11 can be identified by the measured resistance value. Since the identification signal is sent from the probe identification circuit 25 to the system control circuit 24, the system control circuit 24 can appropriately control the transmission / reception circuit 22 and the like according to the type of the connected ultrasonic probe 11.

The number of resistance values that can be distinguished by the resistance measurement circuit 26 depends on the measurement accuracy. For example, if the resistance value of the resistor 13 is determined from 100Ω to 100 kΩ at appropriate intervals as shown in Table 1 below, It is easy to distinguish about 256 types. Therefore, if these resistance values correspond to 256 types of probes 11 from “P0” to “P255”, probe identification signals from “0” to “255” are obtained by measuring the resistance values. Obtainable. If there are two probe built-in resistors 13, two 256 types of probe identification signals can be combined, and about 16,000 (256 × 256) types of ultrasonic probes 11 can be identified.
(Table 1)
Ultrasonic probe Built-in resistance Probe identification signal
============================================
P0 100Ω 0
P1 110Ω 1
…… …… ……
P128 10kΩ 128
…… …… ……
P255 100kΩ 255

  FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the probe identification circuit 27 of the apparatus main body 21 includes a current / voltage conversion circuit 28 and a comparator 29. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment (FIG. 1). Here, a voltage is applied to the resistor 13 built in the ultrasonic probe 11 from the apparatus main body 21 through the signal line so that a current flows through the signal line and the resistor 13. Once converted into a voltage value by the conversion circuit 28, the comparator 29 compares the voltage value to detect whether the voltage value falls within a certain range, and determines whether the resistance value is within a certain range. Although the resistance value is not directly measured, the resistance value is actually measured in order to determine whether or not the resistance value is within a certain range as a result.

Similarly to the above example, resistance values are determined from 100Ω to 100 kΩ for each of 256 types of probes 11 from “P0” to “P255”, and current values corresponding to the resistance values are as shown in Table 2 below. Make it flow. By converting this current value into a voltage value and comparing with the comparator 29, probe identification signals from “0” to “255” are obtained.
(Table 2)
Ultrasonic probe Built-in resistance value Current value Probe identification signal
================================================== ============
P0 100Ω 50mA 0
P1 110Ω 45mA 1
…… …… …… ……
P128 10kΩ 0.5mA 128
…… …… …… ……
P255 100kΩ 0.05mA 255

  The above description relates to the embodiments of the present invention, and it goes without saying that specific configurations and the like can be variously changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, although the resistor 13 is used in the above, a variable resistor can also be used. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, two resistors 13 are built in, and two signal lines are connected to each of them, and a total of four signal lines are used. For example, three lines are sufficient, and the number of signal lines can be further reduced. In FIG. 2, a voltage is applied to the resistor 13 to pass a current through the signal line and the resistor 13, the current value is converted according to the voltage value, a current value is obtained, and the resistance value is measured as a result. However, the current value may be directly measured by using a circuit to which a commercially available current measuring device is applied without returning to the voltage value.

  According to the ultrasonic device of the present invention, the number of types of ultrasonic probes that can be identified is simple, with only one or several resistors built into the ultrasonic probe, with a small number of signal lines and low cost. Can be dramatically increased.

1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram of the ultrasonic diagnosing device concerning 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

11 ……………… Ultrasonic probe 12 ……………… Ultrasonic vibrator 13 ……………… Resistor 21 ……………… Device main body 22 ……………… Transmission / reception circuit 23… Signal processing display circuit 24 System control circuits 25 and 27 Probe identification circuit 26 Resistance measurement circuit 28 Current / voltage conversion circuit 29 ……………… Comparator

Claims (1)

  In an ultrasonic apparatus including an ultrasonic probe including an ultrasonic transducer that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves, and an apparatus main body to which the probe is replaceably connected, the ultrasonic probe has a resistance depending on the type of the probe. At least one resistor having a changed value is provided, and when the probe is connected to the device body, the resistance value of the resistor is measured to identify the connected probe type. An ultrasonic apparatus, comprising: a probe identification circuit that performs the following.

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