JP2749117B2 - Ultrasound endoscopy diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, in order to perform a precise diagnosis of deep organs inside the body cavity,
An ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus provided with an ultrasonic probe at the distal end of an endoscope insertion section has been developed.

This ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus includes a mechanical scanning method and an electronic scanning method depending on the scanning method of the ultrasonic probe. In the mechanical scanning method, the ultrasonic probe is moved in a direction perpendicular to the center axis of the endoscope insertion portion. It is said that the radial scanning method in which the rotation is performed is suitable for ultrasonic diagnosis from inside a lumen such as a digestive tract.

Conventionally, as a radial scanning type ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-227740 or Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No.
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8 and the like. These ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic devices drive an ultrasonic probe provided at the distal end of the endoscope insertion section with a motor via a hollow drive shaft, and receive signals from the ultrasonic probe through the hollow portion of the drive shaft. It is designed to be taken out from a rotary signal transmission unit provided at the end of the drive shaft via a cable to be inserted, and the motor and the rotation signal transmission unit are disposed between the endoscope insertion unit and the endoscope operation unit. Is stored in the sub-operation unit provided in the sub-operation unit.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, the conventional radial scanning type ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus is configured such that a rotary signal transmission unit provided at an end of a drive shaft has a ring-shaped contact member and a brush which comes into contact with the outer periphery of the contact member. Therefore, there is a problem that noise occurs due to the contact state between the contact member and the brush. Therefore, conventionally, in order to reduce the influence of noise, a signal from an ultrasonic probe is amplified by an amplifier and then extracted from a rotary signal transmission unit. However,
As described above, if the signal from the ultrasonic probe is amplified by the amplifier and then extracted, the sub-operation unit becomes large due to the amplifier existing between the drive shaft and the rotary signal transmission unit. And, when such a large sub-operation unit is provided between the endoscope insertion unit and the endoscope operation unit, the grip position of the endoscope insertion unit and the grip position of the endoscope operation unit for the operator are However, there has been a problem that the operability is reduced due to the distance. In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to provide a sub-operation unit between the endoscope operation unit and the eyepiece unit. However, a large sub-operation unit is provided between the endoscope operation unit and the eyepiece unit. Providing the parts causes a problem that the overall balance is deteriorated and the operability is further reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus in which the size of the sub-operation unit is reduced and the operability is good.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe provided at the distal end of an endoscope insertion section, which is provided with a motor provided in a sub-operation section via a hollow probe shaft with respect to an axial direction of the insertion section. In the ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus, which is driven to rotate in the vertical direction and a signal cable from the ultrasonic probe is connected to a rotary signal transmission unit provided in the sub-operation unit through a hollow portion of the probe shaft,
A through-hole communicating with the hollow portion of the probe shaft is provided at the axis of the rotary signal transmission unit, and a signal cable from the ultrasonic probe and a signal cable connected to the rotation side of the rotary signal transmission unit are connected. The rotary signal transmission unit is connected at the rear end side through the through hole.

[Action]

In the present invention, a through hole communicating with the hollow portion of the probe shaft is provided at the axis of the rotary signal transmission unit, and the signal cable from the ultrasonic probe and the signal cable connected to the rotation side of the rotary signal transmission unit are connected. By connecting at the rear end side of the rotary signal transmission unit through the through hole, the space for connection can be reduced, and the size of the sub-operation unit can be reduced.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is the tip 2,
The endoscope insertion section includes a bending section 3 and a flexible section 4, and an ultrasonic probe 5 is provided at a distal end of the endoscope insertion section 1. Reference numeral 6 denotes an endoscope operation section provided at the rear end of the insertion section 1. The endoscope operation section 6 has a bending operation knob 7 for bending the bending section 3 and an air / water button 8. And the like, and the universal cord 9 is connected. A connector 10 connected to a light source device (not shown) is provided at the end of the universal cord 9.

At the rear end of the endoscope operation section 6, a sub-operation section 11 for driving and operating the ultrasonic probe 5 is provided. An electric cable cord 12 is connected to the sub-operation unit 11, and a connector 13 connected to an ultrasonic observation device (not shown) is provided at a tip of the electric cable cord 12. Reference numeral 14 denotes an eyepiece provided at the rear end of the sub-operation unit 11. The eyepiece 14 is located above the center of gravity of the endoscope operation unit 6.

Details of the sub-operation unit 11 are shown in FIGS.
2 to 8, reference numeral 21 denotes a sub-operation unit main body, 22 denotes a sub-operation unit cover, and the ultrasonic probe 5 is disposed in the sub-operation unit main body 21 in the axial direction of the endoscope insertion unit 1. On the other hand, a drive unit 23 that rotates in the vertical direction is housed. The drive unit 23 includes a base 24 and the base 24
A shaft holder 25 provided above, a hollow drive shaft 28 rotatably supported by the shaft holder 25 via bearings 26 and 27, and a pulley 29, a belt 30, a pulley
A drive shaft 28
The rear end of the probe shaft 33 is fitted and fixed to the hollow portion by a screw 34. The ultrasonic probe 5 is attached to the tip of the probe shaft 33, and the rotational force of the motor 32 is transmitted to the ultrasonic probe 5 via the probe shaft 33.

The probe shaft 33 is constituted by connecting a first flexible shaft 35, a seal shaft 36, a second flexible shaft 37, and a fixed shaft 38, as shown in FIG. It is guided to the sub-operation unit 11 by guide tubes 39a and 39b provided in the unit 6. The probe shaft 33 has a hollow structure, and a signal cable 40 connected to the ultrasonic probe 5 is inserted through the hollow portion.

At the rear end of the drive shaft 28, a rotary signal transmission unit 42 having a through hole 41 in the shaft center is fitted and fixed by a screw 43. The rotary signal transmission unit 42 includes a slip ring 44 that rotates integrally with the drive shaft 28, and a brush 45 that contacts the slip ring 44.One end of the signal cable 40 is connected to the slip ring 44. The brush 45 is connected to one end of a signal cable 46 connected to the amplifier 48. Therefore, the signal from the ultrasonic probe 5 is
As shown in the figure, an amplification amplifier 47 is
To be amplified.

Reference numeral 48 denotes an encoder for detecting the rotational position of the ultrasonic probe 5, and the rotation of the motor 32 is transmitted to the encoder 48 via the pulley 31, the belt 30, and the pulley 49 as shown in FIG. I have. An idler 50 for applying an appropriate tension to the belt 30 is disposed between the pulley 31 and the pulley 49. The ratio of the number of teeth of the pulleys 29, 31, 49 is 2: 1: 2.

The motor 32 is fixed by screws above the vicinity of the fulcrum A when the endoscope operation unit 6 is gripped via the elliptical portion 51 formed on the base 24. A shield plate 52 is provided around the motor 32, and a noise filter 53 is provided on the shield plate 52. The drive unit 23 is connected and fixed by traction members 54 and 55 provided at the front and rear of the sub operation unit main body 21. The sub-operation unit cover 22 is fitted in a V-shaped groove 56 provided at an opening edge of the sub-operation unit main body 21 with a packing 57 interposed therebetween. The sub-operation unit cover 22 is fixed to the traction member by a fixing screw 58.
A screw 59 is fixed to a metal fitting 59 provided at 54 and 55, and a fixing metal 61 and a packing 62 which are screw-fixed to a base 60 of the electric cable 12 through a hole provided in the sub-operation cover 22. ing.

The sub-operation unit main body 21 is provided with a switch 63 for controlling an ultrasonic function, a switch function for freezing an ultrasonic image by operating an ultrasonic observation device (not shown) in advance, and a The user can select a release function of an apparatus for recording an image and an operation function of a recording apparatus for moving and storing an ultrasonic image as a moving image.

FIG. 11 shows the inside of the endoscope operation section 6, in which a seal section 65 for enclosing the ultrasonic transmission medium in the guide tube 30a is provided. The sealing portion 65 includes a bearing 66, a sealing member 67, and a housing 68.
And the like, and seals the outer periphery of the seal shaft 36 of the probe shaft 33. A hole communicating with the inside is provided on a side surface of the housing 68, and a base is provided so that an ultrasonic medium can be sealed in the guide tube by negative pressure.
69 is installed. This cap 69 is a stopper 70
It is removable.

Further, the second flexible shaft 37 of the probe shaft 33 is guided to the sub-operation unit 11 through the guide tube 39b while meandering in the endoscope operation unit 6. In addition,
The guide tube 39b has a double tube structure. The inner tube is connected and fixed to the housing 68 of the seal portion 65, and the outer tube is connected to the connection portion between the endoscope operation portion 6 and the sub operation portion 11. Connection is fixed.

In the ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus configured as described above, since the through-hole 41 communicating with the hollow portion of the probe shaft 33 is provided at the axis of the rotary signal transmission unit 42, the ultrasonic probe 5 Connected signal cable 40 and rotary signal transmission unit 42
The signal cable 46a connected to the slip ring 44 can be easily connected to the rear end side of the rotary signal transmission unit 42 through the through hole 41. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, a space for connection is not required, and the sub-operation unit 11 can be downsized. Further, since the rear end of the probe shaft 33 is fitted and fixed in the hollow portion of the drive shaft 28, variations in the length of the probe shaft 33 can be reduced by the hollow portion of the drive shaft 28 and the penetrating portion of the rotary signal transmission unit 42. Can be absorbed. Further, since the motor 32 is disposed near the fulcrum A of the holding portion as shown in FIG. 3, operability can be improved.

In the above embodiment, the sub operation unit 11 is provided between the endoscope operation unit 6 and the eyepiece unit 14. However, the sub operation unit 11 is provided between the endoscope insertion unit 1 and the endoscope operation unit 6. 11 may be provided. Also, the twelfth
As shown in the figure, arranging the board 70 at the connection portion of the rotary signal transmission section 42 with the signal cable further improves workability.

FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the motor 32, the rotary signal transmission unit 42, and the encoder 48 are arranged in series on the same plane.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the motor 32 and the rotary signal transmission unit 42 are arranged in series on the same plane, but the encoder 48 rotates. The mold signal transmission unit 42 is arranged in the lateral direction.

17 and 18 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the motor 32, the rotary signal transmission unit 42, and the encoder 48 are arranged on the same plane as in the second embodiment. I have.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the ultrasonic probe provided at the distal end of the endoscope insertion section is driven by a motor provided in the sub-operation section via a hollow probe shaft in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the insertion section. In the ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus in which a signal cable from the ultrasonic probe is connected to a rotary signal transmission unit provided in the sub-operation unit through a hollow portion of the probe shaft, the rotary signal A through hole communicating with the hollow portion of the probe shaft is provided in the axis of the transmission unit, and a signal cable from the ultrasonic probe and a signal cable connected to the rotating side of the rotary type signal transmission unit are passed through the through hole. It is connected at the rear end of the rotary signal transmission section. Therefore, the size of the sub-operation unit can be reduced, and an ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus with good operability can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 11 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
The figure shows the overall configuration of the ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus, FIGS.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the sub-operation unit, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the electrical circuit configuration of the embodiment, FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of the probe shaft, and FIG. FIGS. 12A and 12B show a modified example of the rotary signal transmission unit. FIG. 12A is a front view, FIG. 12B is a side view, and FIGS.
14 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 (a) is a side view of the sub-operation unit, FIG. 13 (b) is a front view thereof, and FIG. FIGS. 15 and 16 show a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 (a) is a side view of the sub-operation unit, FIG. 15 (b) is a front view thereof, and FIG. FIGS. 17 and 18 show a plan view of the inside of the sub-operation unit. FIGS. 17 and 18 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 (a) is a side view of the sub-operation unit, and FIG. FIG. 18 is a front view, and FIG. 18 is a plan view showing a configuration inside the sub operation unit. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... endoscope insertion part, 5 ... ultrasonic probe, 6 ... endoscope insertion part, 11 ... sub operation part, 14 ... eyepiece part, 23 ... drive part unit, 28 ... drive Shaft, 32 ... motor, 33 ... probe shaft, 40 ... signal cable, 41 ... through hole,
42 ... Rotary signal transmission unit, 46a, 46b ... Signal cable, 4
7 ... amplifying amplifier, 48 ... encoder.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An ultrasonic probe provided at a distal end of an insertion portion of an endoscope is rotationally driven in a direction perpendicular to an axial direction of the insertion portion by a motor provided in a sub-operation portion via a hollow probe shaft. An ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus in which a signal cable from the ultrasonic probe is connected to a rotary signal transmission unit provided in the sub-operation unit through a hollow portion of the probe shaft; A through-hole communicating with the hollow portion of the probe shaft is provided in the core, and a signal cable from the ultrasonic probe and a signal cable connected to the rotating side of the rotary signal transmission unit are passed through the through-hole through the rotary signal. An ultrasonic endoscope diagnostic apparatus, wherein the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is connected at a rear end side of a transmission unit.