JP2654046B2 - Magnetic resonance imaging equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an endoscope for observing the inside of a body cavity of a subject,
In particular, the present invention relates to a technology that enables simultaneous observation using a magnetic resonance phenomenon.

(Prior Art) An endoscope is extremely useful for observing a lesion site in a body cavity of a subject. In particular, in the case of an electronic endoscope, the interior of a body cavity can be imaged by a solid-state imaging device, and the electrical processing can be performed to clearly display the imaged content, which is a situation that greatly contributes to the development of the medical field. I have.

However, although an endoscope can visually grasp the surface condition of a lesion site in a body cavity, it is impossible to capture the state of the infiltration of the lesion site into tissue or the like.

On the other hand, a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as an MRI apparatus) using a magnetic resonance phenomenon transmits a high-frequency excitation pulse (hereinafter, referred to as an RF pulse) under a static magnetic field and transmits a magnetic resonance signal (hereinafter, referred to as an MR signal) from a region of interest of a subject. ), Image reconstruction processing and spectrum analysis processing are performed based on this MR signal, and the contents of these processing results can be displayed as an image. Therefore, it is suitable for grasping the invasion state of the lesion site of the subject.

However, the body cavity of the subject moves frequently. For this reason, conventionally, it has not been possible to measure the infiltration state of a lesion site in a body cavity based on a positional relationship using an MRI apparatus.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional case, the endoscope cannot capture the invasion state of the lesion site in the body cavity,
In addition, according to the MRI apparatus, it was not possible to measure the magnitude of invasion of the lesion site in the body cavity based on the positional relationship.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to measure an invasion state of a lesion site in a body cavity of a subject visually captured by an endoscope with an MRI apparatus. Is to be able to do that.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to the present invention provides a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus including a substance which generates an MR signal in a guiding part introduced into a subject. An endoscope having a phantom for resonance imaging and observing the inside of the body cavity of the subject is provided.In the presence of the subject in which the guiding portion is introduced, a magnetic resonance tomographic image of an observation region by the endoscope is obtained. It is something to shoot.

(Effect) With an endoscope having such a phantom for magnetic resonance imaging, a lesion site in a body cavity can be visually recognized by the endoscope, and the phantom recognized by a projection image by the MRI apparatus. The position coordinates of the lesion site can be recognized.

Therefore, the infiltration state of the lesion site in the body cavity can be measured based on the positional relationship by the CT scanner using the magnetic resonance phenomenon.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing an endoscope apparatus equipped with an endoscope according to one embodiment of the present invention.

This endoscope device includes an endoscope 1 and a device main body 2. The endoscope 1 is equipped with a magnetic resonance imaging phantom (hereinafter, simply referred to as a phantom) 4 along a guiding part 3 to be introduced into a body cavity. The operation unit 5 is provided to perform the operation. The phantom 4 is formed by filling a phantom solution in a plastic container.

The device main body 2 that receives light incident from the distal end of the guiding portion 3 of the endoscope 1 includes an imaging unit 6, a signal processing circuit 7, a digital scan converter 8, and other components.

Therefore, in the apparatus main body 2, a lesion site in a body cavity is imaged by the imaging unit 6, converted into an electric signal corresponding to the lesion site, and image data is created by the signal processing circuit 7 based on the electric signal. The contents of the data are subjected to enlargement / reduction and display position change processing by the digital scan converter 8, and an image showing the lesion site is displayed on the monitor 9. Therefore, on the monitor 9, it is possible to clearly display an image of the deformed part in the body cavity.

In such an endoscope apparatus, the endoscope 1 of the present invention secures the length of the guiding unit 3 so that the guiding unit 3 can be accommodated in the static magnetic field space of the MRI apparatus together with the subject. It is something to keep.

The guiding portion 3 is also configured as a surface coil so that an MR signal can be extracted from the phantom 4 or the like when an RF pulse is transmitted from an MRI apparatus described later.

In a state in which such a guiding portion 3 is introduced into the body cavity of the subject A as schematically shown in FIG. 2, the subject A is photographed by an MRI apparatus as shown in FIG. , The coordinates (X, Y,
Z) can be recognized by the presence of the phantom 4.

Here, the MRI apparatus shown in FIG. 3 drives and controls a static magnetic field control circuit 13, a gradient magnetic field control circuit 14, an RF transmission circuit 15, and the like by a controller 12 connected to a computer main body 11, which controls the entire MRI apparatus. The magnet assembly 16 is controlled to operate.

The magnet assembly 16 is a main magnet for generating a static magnetic field.
17, a RF coil 18 for transmitting an RF pulse, and a gradient magnetic field coil 19 for generating a gradient magnetic field such as each of the X, Y, and Z channels, and the subject is further housed in a static magnetic field generation space. Sometimes, the guiding portion 3 of the endoscope 1 functions as a surface coil for receiving MR signals.

Further, the computer main body 11 receives the MR signal from the surface coil formed by the middle portion 3 through the MR signal receiving circuit 20, and the computer main body 11 performs image reconstruction processing based on the MR signal. The contents of the result are displayed as an image on the monitor 9 of the endoscope apparatus in FIG.

Therefore, when the surface condition of the lesion site in the body cavity of the subject is visually grasped by the endoscope image by the endoscope apparatus shown in FIG. 1, first, the MRI image by the MRI apparatus shown in FIG. Coordinates (X, Y,
Z) is recognized by the presence of the phantom 4. Note that MR
When the image of the phantom 4 is made white in the I image, comparison and identification with the composition of the subject become easy.

By performing such coordinate recognition, it is possible to correlate the positional relationship of the lesion site in the body cavity of the subject, and thereafter, the state of the inside of the tissue at the metamorphosis site of the subject using the MRI image by the MRI apparatus shown in FIG. Can be recognized by the tissue contrast.

In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the middle portion 3 also serves as the surface coil has been described. However, the configuration also serving as the surface coil may be omitted. In this case, a surface coil is separately prepared.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a lesion site in a body cavity in a subject can be observed with an endoscope and a magnetic resonance image, and as a result, diagnostic performance is significantly improved. It will be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing an endoscope apparatus equipped with an endoscope according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 performs MRI imaging with a guiding portion being introduced into a body cavity of a subject. FIG. 3 is a state diagram schematically showing the situation, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the MRI apparatus. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope, 2 ... Device main body 3 ... Central part, 4 ... Phantom 5 ... Operation part, 6 ... Imaging part 7 ... Signal processing circuit 8 ... Digital scan converter 9 ... Monitor, 11 Computer main unit 12 Controller 13 Static magnetic field control circuit 14 Gradient magnetic field control circuit 15 RF transmission circuit 16 Magnet assembly 17 Main magnet 18 RF coil 19 Gradient magnetic field coil 20 ... MR signal receiving circuit

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An endoscope which has a phantom for magnetic resonance imaging including a substance generating an MR signal in a guiding portion introduced into a subject, and has an endoscope for observing a body cavity of the subject, wherein the guiding portion is provided. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus that captures a magnetic resonance tomographic image of an observation region by the endoscope in the presence of the introduced subject. 2. The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guiding section includes a receiving coil for receiving a magnetic resonance signal.