JP2556381Y2 - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe which can be inserted into a body cavity or the like to perform an ultrasonic inspection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an ultrasonic probe, a distal end hard portion is provided at the distal end of an insertion portion to be inserted into a body cavity or the like, and an ultrasonic vibrator is attached to the distal end hard portion. A body-insertable type that is configured to be able to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves by being pressed against a site to be inspected has been used. In addition, in order to allow an ultrasonic examination to be performed by the ultrasonic probe under monitoring by the endoscope, a so-called forceps channel for inserting a treatment tool such as forceps in the endoscope is provided. Some are designed to be inserted into the body.

[0003] For example, the configuration of the distal end portion of an ultrasonic probe of the type inserted into a forceps channel is configured as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a flexible portion constituting an insertion portion. The flexible portion 1 is formed of a flexible tube made of urethane resin or the like, and a connecting ring 2 made of a metal or other hard member is inserted into a tip of the flexible portion. It is fitted. At the base end of the distal end hard portion 4 formed of plastic or the like on which the ultrasonic transducer 3 is mounted, a connecting protrusion 4a is provided continuously, and this connecting protrusion 4a is connected to the connecting ring 2. The distal end hard portion 4 is connected to the soft portion 1 by being fitted into the inside in a substantially close fit state. Further, in order to fix the distal end hard portion 4 so as not to be separated from the flexible portion 1, a fixing thread is wound around a connection portion of the outer surface of the flexible portion 1 with the distal end hard portion 4, and the thread winding portion S is further fixed. It is configured so as to be hardened with an adhesive, so that the joint portion between the distal end hard portion 4 and the soft portion 1 is maintained in an airtight state. Further, in the ultrasonic vibrator 3 mounted on the distal end hard portion 4, the transmitting / receiving surface 3a of the ultrasonic wave faces the opening 4b of the distal end hard portion 4, and the transmitting / receiving surface 3a has an acoustic wave formed of silicon rubber or the like. The lens 5 is attached, and the beam width of the ultrasonic beam transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer 3 is reduced. A portion around the acoustic lens 5 is fixed to the distal end hard portion 4 with an adhesive. Reference numeral 6 denotes a signal cable connected to the ultrasonic transducer 3.

The ultrasonic probe is inserted into a body or the like via a forceps channel of the endoscope, and is pulled into the insertion portion from a state where the ultrasonic probe is projected from the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope by a predetermined amount. Linear scanning by moving,
An ultrasonic image of this scan site can be acquired.

[0005]

The ultrasonic probe of the type inserted directly into the body or the type inserted into the body through the forceps channel of the endoscope is inserted into the patient's body. Therefore, it must be washed each time it is used. The cleaning of the ultrasonic probe is generally performed by bringing the probe into contact with a cleaning fluid such as alcohol or ethylene oxide gas. However, an epoxy resin is usually used as an adhesive for fixing the wound portion and the acoustic lens, and when the epoxy resin comes into contact with the above-mentioned cleaning fluid such as alcohol or ethylene oxide gas, it becomes extremely early. Will be deteriorated. As a result, the wound portion is exposed, the protective function is lost, and the airtightness of the connecting portion between the hard end portion and the soft end portion is reduced, and the acoustic lens is dropped. Is generated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide an adhesive for fixing a thread wound portion provided at a connection portion between a hard end portion and a soft portion. The present invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe capable of effectively protecting the probe from being deteriorated by a cleaning fluid.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an ultrasonic probe according to the present invention is provided with a tip of a flexible portion.
The soft part and the hard part are connected
After winding the outer periphery of the connecting portion between
Is fixed with an adhesive, and the distal end hard portion is connected to the soft portion from the distal end side of the distal end hard portion.
It is characterized in that a bag-shaped thin cover member made of a member having good ultrasonic transmission properties, such as silicon rubber or urethane rubber , is applied so as to cover the wound portion .

[0008]

With this configuration, even if the ultrasonic probe is inserted into a body cavity or the like and then repeatedly brought into contact with the cleaning fluid, the ultrasonic probe can be placed between the soft portion and the hard tip portion. The thread wound portion provided at the connecting portion does not come into direct contact with the cleaning fluid, so that the epoxy resin adhesive used for fixing the portion can be reliably prevented from deteriorating.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 3 and 4 show the configuration of the tip portion of the ultrasonic probe. As is apparent from the figure, this ultrasonic probe has a connecting ring 11 made of a metal or other hard member inserted at the tip of a flexible portion 10 made of a soft tube formed of urethane resin or the like. The connecting projection 12a of the distal end hard portion 12 is inserted into the ring 11, the region is wound with a thread S1, and fixed using an adhesive made of epoxy resin or the like. Further, the ultrasonic transducer 13 is mounted on the distal end hard portion 12, and its transmitting / receiving surface 13a is mounted on the distal end hard portion.
Acoustic lens made of silicon rubber or the like facing the opening 12b formed in the cover 12 and covering the transmitting / receiving surface 13a.
14 is adhered, and its periphery is fixed to the distal end hard portion 12 by an adhesive such as epoxy resin. Regarding the above points, there is no particular difference from the above-mentioned prior art.

However, in the present invention, the distal end hard portion 12 provided with the ultrasonic vibrator 13 is connected to the middle of the soft portion 10 at least, and at least the distal end hard portion 12 and the soft portion 10 are connected.
To this end, a bag-shaped thin cover member 15 is attached to a position that completely covers the portion of the thread winding portion S1 where the adhesive has been applied. The cover member 15 is formed of a flexible thin member having excellent permeability to ultrasonic waves, such as silicon rubber or urethane rubber, and is attached to the distal end hard portion 12 in an expanded state. . In addition, the portion 15a of the cover member 15 through which the ultrasonic wave is transmitted is formed so as to be thinner than other portions. Further, a liquid having excellent ultrasonic propagation properties such as olive oil or liquid paraffin is applied to the contact surface between the inner surface of the cover member 15 and the acoustic lens 14,
As a result, there is no air bubbles or the like on the contact surface, and the contact surface is in a completely adhered state.

Here, the cover member 15 is adapted to be attached to the distal end portion of the ultrasonic probe in an expanded state, and furthermore, there is a step between the distal hard portion 12 and the soft portion 10. Therefore, the cover member 15 can be fixed so as not to be deviated by the tightening force acting on this portion. However, by further performing the thread winding S2 on this step portion, the cover member 15 can be more securely fixed. Also, this thread winding part S2
If you try to harden it with an adhesive such as epoxy resin,
Further, the fixing property of the thread winding portion S2 is improved. Then, when the bobbin winding is performed in this manner, it is possible to reliably prevent the ultrasonic wave propagating liquid interposed between the inner surface of the cover member 15 and the abutting surface between the acoustic lens 14 from flowing into the soft portion 10 side. become. Thus, if the cover member 15 is attached to the distal end hard portion 12, it becomes difficult to visually detect the direction of the ultrasonic transducer 13. Therefore, the cover member 15
Is provided with a mark 16 that allows the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving direction of the ultrasonic transducer 13 to be recognized.

The present embodiment is constructed as described above. This ultrasonic probe is inserted endoscopically into the body or the like to perform a predetermined examination, as described in the prior art. By transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from the inside of the body while scanning in the linear direction at the site, it is possible to obtain information on the tomographic tissue tomography at the scanned portion. Here, in order to reliably perform the ultrasonic inspection, the ultrasonic transducer must face the body cavity wall, but the mark 16 provided on the cover member 15 is observed through the observation mechanism of the endoscope. This makes it possible to reliably detect whether the ultrasonic transducer is facing the body cavity wall.

The transmitting / receiving surface 13a of the ultrasonic transducer 13
Has a cover member 15 attached thereto.
Numeral 15 is made of a member having a good ultrasonic permeability, and a liquid having a good ultrasonic propagation property is interposed between the members to keep the air layer and bubbles from being generated therebetween. The ultrasonic waves transmitted and received through the cover member 15 are not attenuated.

[0014] After the ultrasonic inspection is performed as described above, the ultrasonic probe must be cleaned. However, the entire distal hard portion 12 and the joint between the soft portion 10 and the distal end hard portion 12 are completely covered by the cover member 15, and this portion does not directly contact the cleaning fluid. The adhesive made of epoxy resin provided at the joint with the distal end hard portion 12 and the peripheral portion of the acoustic lens 14 is not exposed to the cleaning fluid, and its deterioration is prevented. Therefore, even if the cleaning is performed repeatedly, there is no inconvenience such that the acoustic lens 14 falls off or the airtight function between the soft portion 10 and the hard tip portion 12 is lost. Here, when an adhesive such as an epoxy resin is provided at a step portion between the soft portion 10 and the distal end hard portion 12 in order to fix the cover member 15, the adhesive comes into contact with the cleaning fluid. Although it is not possible to prevent the deterioration of the adhesive, the adhesive in this part merely serves to fix and protect the wound part, so that the deterioration of the adhesive does not become a serious problem. ,
Even if the adhesive deteriorates, the adhesive can be applied again, and it is also easy to remove the cover member 15 and replace it at the site of use.

In the above-described embodiment, the ultrasonic probe is inserted as a transendoscopically inserted ultrasonic probe. However, the ultrasonic probe is inserted directly into the body or the like for ultrasonic observation. The scanning method is not limited to mechanical linear scanning, but may be an electronic scanning method. Further, if the ultrasonic transducer itself is configured to have an acoustic lens effect, it is not necessary to separately provide an acoustic lens.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, a bag-shaped thin cover member made of a member having good ultrasonic permeability such as silicon or urethane is connected from the distal end side of the distal end hard portion to the flexible portion. Wound around the outer periphery of the part and glue this wound part
Since it is configured to be adhered to the part fixed with the agent, the adhesive provided at the joint portion between the hard end portion and the soft portion, etc., without attenuating the transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves by the ultrasonic vibrator Can be protected from

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a distal end portion of a conventional ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a distal end portion of the ultrasonic probe of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a distal end portion of the ultrasonic probe showing one embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an external perspective view of a tip portion of the ultrasonic probe of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Flexible part 12 Tip hard part 13 Ultrasonic transducer 14 Acoustic lens 15 Cover member 16 Mark

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A rigid distal end portion is connected to a distal end of a flexible portion constituting an insertion portion to be inserted into a body cavity or the like.
On the outer periphery of the connection between the rigid part and the hard tip
Then, fix the wound part with adhesive.
In an ultrasonic probe having an ultrasonic vibrator attached to the distal end hard portion , the distal end of the distal end hard portion is
To cover the thread wound part connecting the hard part and the soft part,
An ultrasonic probe characterized in that a bag-shaped thin cover member made of a member having good ultrasonic transmission properties, such as silicon rubber or urethane rubber, is attached. 2. A structure in which a liquid made of an ultrasonic wave propagation medium is interposed at a portion of the inner surface of the cover member where ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received, thereby preventing air from intervening therebetween. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein