JP3035046B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic device in body cavity - 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 diagnostic apparatus for obtaining an ultrasonic diagnostic image by scanning an ultrasonic beam in a body cavity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ultrasonic probe repeatedly transmits an ultrasonic pulse from an ultrasonic probe into a living body, and echoes of the ultrasonic pulse reflected from the living body can be the same or separately provided by an ultrasonic probe provided separately. An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus that can receive and, by slightly shifting the direction of transmitting and receiving this ultrasound pulse, can display information collected from a plurality of directions in a living body as a visible ultrasound diagnostic image. Various proposals have been made.

[0003] Generally, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses in a body cavity can be roughly classified into an electronic scanning type and a mechanical scanning type according to an ultrasonic beam scanning method. The electronic scanning type intra-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is
There is a problem that the size of the transmitting / receiving section provided at the distal end portion of the insertion section becomes large. On the other hand, the mechanical scanning type intracavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus can reduce the diameter of the insertion section by providing an ultrasonic beam scanning drive power source requiring an installation space, for example, in the operation section on the hand side. It will be possible,
In addition to facilitating insertion into a body cavity, pain of the subject can be reduced.

[0004] As for the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in the body cavity, a method for obtaining a good ultrasonic image has been conventionally proposed.

For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-27677 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-23287 disclose that the distal end portion of the insertion section of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in a body cavity is made liquid-tight by a seal member or the like, An ultrasonic transmission medium is filled in the dense front end portion to obtain a good ultrasonic image.

Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-29544 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 64-6818 disclose a configuration in which a distal end portion of an insertion portion of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for a body cavity is communicated with a guide tube provided in the insertion portion. In some cases, a liquid ultrasonic transmission medium is sealed in an integrated space so that the ultrasonic transmission medium also serves as a lubricant for a flexible drive shaft inserted through the guide tube. . By doing so, the ultrasonic transmission medium sealed in the guide tube can reduce the frictional force caused by the contact between the flexible drive shaft and the guide tube, or reduce the twist of the flexible drive shaft. By acting as a lubrication / buffering agent, for example, by preventing rotation, the rotational torque is accurately transmitted, and a good ultrasonic image can be obtained.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-286143 discloses the above-mentioned JP-B-63-29544 and JP-B-6-29544.
As an improvement of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-6818, an ultrasonic beam is introduced into a distal end cover in a flow passage of an ultrasonic transmission medium formed in a connecting portion connecting a distal end cover surrounding an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving section and a drive shaft. There has been proposed a device provided with a trap means for preventing the inflow of bubbles and dust, which cause scattering and attenuation of water.

[0008]

However, the ultrasonic transmission medium is filled only in the distal end portion of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in the body cavity as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-27677 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-23287. In such a device, a flexible guide tube inserted through the insertion portion to transmit a rotational torque from an ultrasonic beam scanning drive power source provided in the operation portion to the ultrasonic transmission / reception portion, and the guide tube The friction between the drive shaft and the drive shaft passing through the inside causes twisting of the drive shaft, and the rotational torque of the ultrasonic beam scanning drive power source is not accurately transmitted to the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit. In some cases, it is not possible to obtain a proper ultrasonic image.

[0009] In addition, in both the inside of the distal end component of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in a body cavity and the inside of a guide tube through which a drive shaft is inserted as shown in JP-B-63-29544 and JP-B-64-6818. Depending on the type of the medium, for example, an apparatus adapted to fill the ultrasonic transmission medium has a low attenuation and is suitable as an ultrasonic transmission medium such as degassed water or sucrose water, but has a low viscosity and therefore has a low flexibility. It is not very effective as a lubricating medium between the drive shaft and the flexible guide tube. Conversely, it has a certain degree of viscosity, such as castor oil and silicone oil, but is suitable as a lubricating medium. Some media are not suitable as ultrasonic transmission media.

Further, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-286143, air bubbles and dust and the like into the front end cover are formed in the flow path of the ultrasonic transmission medium formed in the connecting portion between the front end constituting portion and the drive shaft. In the device provided with the trap means for preventing the inflow, a check valve is provided as the trap means, so that while providing this check valve, the clearance between the drive shaft and the guide tube is reduced in order to reduce the diameter of the insertion portion. The guide tube is made thinner by making it narrower. As a result, the frictional resistance between the drive shaft and the guide tube increases, and image shake or image flow occurs due to poor rotation of the drive shaft, or a good ultrasonic image cannot be obtained due to a phase shift due to the twist of the drive shaft. There is a problem that.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a good ultrasonic image free from image shaking and image deletion is obtained by enclosing an ultrasonic transducer or a mirror and a drive shaft with media having characteristics suitable for each. It is an object of the present invention to provide an in-body-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of obtaining the following.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided an in-body-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which uses a flexible guide tube for rotating or oscillating torque of an ultrasonic beam scanning drive power source. By transmitting to an ultrasonic vibrator or a mirror disposed at a distal end constituent portion of an insertion portion inserted into a body cavity through a drive shaft, the ultrasonic vibrator or the mirror is rotated or rocked to thereby generate an ultrasonic wave. In the in-body cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for obtaining an image, a distal end space portion in which an ultrasonic transducer or a mirror in the distal end portion is disposed, a drive shaft space portion through which a flexible drive shaft is inserted, and a seal member are separated and partitioned. Along with
A medium having characteristics suitable for each of the tip space portion and the drive shaft space portion separated and partitioned into two is sealed.

[0013]

With this configuration, the ultrasonic transmission medium is sealed in the distal end space, and the lubricating and buffering effect medium is sealed in the driving shaft space, whereby the contact resistance between the drive shaft and the guide tube is reduced by the lubricating and buffering medium. As a result, the drive shaft rotates stably and the attenuation of the ultrasonic wave by the ultrasonic transmission medium decreases, so that a good ultrasonic image can be obtained.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a part of an insertion section and an operation section of the intracavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the intracavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic configuration of the operation section. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rigid shaft for explaining the connection between the rigid shaft and the signal cable.

[0015] As shown in FIG.
Is an elongated and flexible insertion portion 2 that is inserted into a body cavity.
And a large-diameter operating section 3 connected to the rear end of the insertion section 2.
And an electric cable cord 4 extending from the side of the operation unit 3 and a flexible universal cord 5.

The elongated insertion section 2 is constructed by sequentially connecting a distal end component 6, a curved tube 7, and a flexible tube 8 from the distal end side. The bending tube 7 is operated by rotating a bending operation knob 9 provided on the operation section 3 to advance and retreat an operation wire (not shown) inserted into the insertion section 2 to bend, and has a distal end configuration. The direction of the part 6 can be freely selected.

The electric cable cord 4 has an ultrasonic signal cable (not shown) inserted therein, and a pulse generating circuit 10, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 11, a display device 12 for displaying an ultrasonic tomographic image, and a machine. Connected electrically and electrically. Further, the universal cord 5 is
Light guide bundle (not shown) inside
While a tube for water supply, a cable for operating a solid-state image sensor, and the like are inserted therethrough, it is connected to a video processor 13 and a display device 14 for displaying an endoscope image.

As shown in FIG. 1, the distal end component 6 located on the distal end side of the insertion section 2 connects the rear end of the distal end body 21 to the distal end of the curved tube 7 and
A distal end cover 23 made of hard polyethylene or the like and having an acoustic window 22 all around is connected in a liquid-tight manner to the distal end portion. In the end cover 23, for example, an ultrasonic vibrator 24, which is an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving element, is rotatably disposed.

The ultrasonic vibrator 24 is connected to a hollow flexible drive shaft 26 via a joint member 25 connected to the ultrasonic vibrator 24. The ultrasonic vibrator 24 transmits, for example, rotational torque from an unillustrated ultrasonic beam scanning drive power source provided in the operation unit 3 to the rigid shaft 27, the drive shaft 26, and the joint member 25. Thereby, it rotates integrally with the joint member 25. At this time, the rigid shaft 27 and the drive shaft 26 are
The drive shaft 26 is connected in the through hole provided in the drive shaft 26.
The joint member 25 and the joint member 25 are connected in a through hole provided in the distal end body 21. Further, the drive shaft 2
6 is inserted through a guide tube 30 made of a material having excellent wear resistance such as urethane, which is liquid-tightly connected to the oil sump member 28 and a connection pipe 29 provided on the distal end body 21. Thus, the rotational torque of the rigid shaft 27 is transmitted to the joint member 25.

With such a configuration, an integrated space from the distal end cover 23 to the distal end body through hole 21a, the guide tube 30, and the oil reservoir member through hole 28a is formed in the intracavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1. Will be done. The space is formed such that the joint member 25 and the rigid shaft 27 are rotatable through the distal end main body through hole 21a in which the joint member 25 is disposed and the oil reservoir member through hole 28a in which the rigid shaft is disposed. Bearing 3
The shaft is fixed by the seal member 1 and the seal member 32 and is sealed in a liquid-tight manner.

The tip cover 23 has an ultrasonic transmission medium 36 (degassed water, sucrose solution, fluid An opening for injecting paraffin, polyhydric alcohols such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol, olive oil, etc.) is provided, while an ultrasonic transmission medium 36 is injected into the distal end space 33, and this opening is sealed with a sealing member. The ultrasonic transmission medium 3 sealed in the distal end space 33 is screwed together with the sealing screw 35 provided.
6 is prevented from flowing out. The drive shaft space 3 is provided in the tip end body 21 and the oil sump member 28.
4 is provided with an opening for injecting a medium 37 having a lubricating effect and a buffering effect (castor oil, silicon oil, machine oil, oil containing lubricating particles such as molycoat, etc.), while silicon oil or the like is provided in the drive shaft space 34. The medium 37 is injected, and the opening is screwed with a sealing screw 35 provided with a seal member, so that the medium 37 sealed in the drive shaft space 34 is prevented from flowing out.

The operation of the in-body-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. First, after inserting the insertion section 2 of the intracavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 to a target site while bending the insertion section 2 along the lumen shape in the body cavity, inject deaerated water into the lumen, or The distal end cover 23 is brought into close contact with the body cavity wall by filling the surrounding balloon with water. Then, the pulse generating circuit 10 is operated and the power source for ultrasonic beam scanning drive is operated. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rotational torque generated by the ultrasonic beam scanning drive power source 41 is supplied to a slide shaft group 42, a rigid shaft 27, and a flexible drive shaft 26 via a speed reduction mechanism (not shown). Is transmitted to the joint member 25 via the joint member 25 to rotate the ultrasonic vibrator 24 connected to the joint member 25. The ultrasonic transducer 24 includes:
By transmitting and receiving signals synchronized with the rotation of the ultrasonic vibrator 24 via a signal cable inserted through the drive shaft, a good ultrasonic tomographic image is displayed on the display device 12. I have.

As described above, since the ultrasonic transmission medium 36 is sealed in the distal end space 33 in the distal end cover 23 in which the ultrasonic vibrator 24 is disposed, the ultrasonic vibrator 24 is generated due to generation of air bubbles and inflow of dust. As a result, it is possible to obtain a good ultrasonic image.

The power source 41 for ultrasonic beam scanning drive
The medium 37 having a lubricating effect and a buffering effect is sealed in the drive shaft space 34 through which the drive shaft 26 transmitting the rotational torque generated by the shaft is inserted, so that the drive shaft 26 can be finely moved and twisted in the guide tube 30. The rotation torque can be accurately transmitted, and the frictional resistance between the drive shaft 26 and the guide tube 30 can be reduced, thereby preventing or reducing image shaking, image flow, phase shift, etc. due to poor rotation of the drive shaft 26. Thereby, a good ultrasonic image can be obtained.

Furthermore, since the rotational torque transmission of the flexible drive shaft 26 is improved, the diameter of the drive shaft 26 can be reduced, the diameter of the guide tube 30 can be reduced, and the drive shaft 26 and the guide tube 30 can be connected. Can be reduced, so that the diameter of the insertion section 2 can be reduced, so that the pain of the subject can be reduced.

Further, in the in-body-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 provided with an endoscope function, a forceps channel having a larger diameter than before and an observation optical system one rank higher than before are provided without increasing the diameter of the insertion portion. be able to.

Further, in the medium 37, cracks or the like are generated in the drive shaft 26, and the medium 37 enters the space inside the drive shaft 26, and passes through a gap between the drive shaft 26 and a signal cable passing through the inside of the drive shaft 26. Although there was a risk of leakage to the outside, as shown in FIG.
The inside of the guide tube 30 can be completely maintained by pouring and fixing the adhesive 53 into the removed portion 52 and the inside of the rigid shaft 27.

Incidentally, in order to reduce the disturbance of the ultrasonic image of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in the body cavity, the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in the body cavity may be as follows.

As shown in FIG. 7, the rotational torque generated by the power source 41 for ultrasonic beam scanning drive is applied to the rigid shaft 27.
The metal slide shaft 61 that is transmitted to the guide shaft 62 is supported by a metal guide bun 62. When the slide shaft 61 comes into contact with the guide bun 62, for example, when the slide shaft 61 slides while rotating. In some cases, the ultrasonic image was disturbed. This is because the guide bun 62 has the same potential as the GND of the in-body ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and the slide shaft 61 has the G of the ultrasonic transducer.
Although the potential is the same as that of ND, there is a slight potential difference between the slide shaft 61 and the guide band 62, so that noise is added to the signals when they come into contact with each other. Therefore, the guide van 62 and the slide shaft 6
By attaching an insulating member 63 such as a mylar sheet to the inner surface of the guide bun 62 that may come into contact with 1, generation of noise can be prevented. The same effect can be obtained by forming the guide bun 62 with an insulating member.

An in-body-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which inserts two signal cables having different characteristics, such as a center frequency and a focal length, into an ultrasonic transducer 24 into a flexible drive shaft 26 and transmits and receives respective signals. In No. 1, since the two signal cables were inserted with a margin so as not to be cut off by the pulling force when the insertion portion 2 was bent or the like, the signal in the drive shaft 26 was rotated during the rotation of the drive shaft 26. In some cases, when the cable falls into the drive shaft and an impact is applied to the signal cable, image deletion or the like occurs. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8A, a dummy signal line cable 73 is provided so that the two signal cables 71 and 72 do not violate in the drive shaft 26.
Is inserted. Also, this dummy signal cable 73
Instead, a wire or the like in which SUS fine wires are twisted may be inserted. Also, as shown in FIG.
A shield protection member 74 covering the signal cables 71 and 72 together with a shield wire and an outer cover may be used.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8C, two signal cables may be combined with a foamable flexible resin 75 or the like.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a distal end portion of the intracavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 in the body cavity of the present embodiment is an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus mainly used for diagnosis of a liver or the like in the abdominal cavity. Only the curved tube 7 has flexibility in the insertion section 2. A hard pipe-shaped member such as stainless steel or plastic is connected to the insertion portion 2 closer to the hand than the curved tube 7, and the observation optical system is inspected using another optical viewing tube.

As shown in FIG.
The ultrasonic vibrator 24 is fixed to the distal end portion of the distal end cover 23 so that the front side of the ultrasonic vibrator 24 having the transmitting / receiving portion is located close to the insertion shaft. On the front surface of the ultrasonic vibrator 24, a reflection mirror 81 for slightly shifting the transmission / reception direction of the ultrasonic pulse is provided so as to be rotatable. The reflection mirror 81 is configured to rotate by being connected to a flexible drive shaft 26 that transmits a rotational torque of an ultrasonic beam scanning drive power source via a joint member 25. The signal cable 82 transmitted to and received from the ultrasonic vibrator 24 is transmitted from the pulse generation circuit 10 to the operation unit 3, the insertion unit 2, and the distal end body 21.
Is passed through a part of the acoustic window 22 of the distal end cover 23 and connected to an ultrasonic vibrator 24 fixed to the distal end side of the distal end cover 23. At this time, the signal cable 82 inserted into the distal end cover 24 is
In order to keep the inside liquid-tight, the tip body 21 is made of an adhesive 83 or the like.
It is fixed to. Further, the drive shaft 26 does not need to have a signal cable inserted through the inside of the drive shaft 26, so that the hollow drive shaft 26 as shown in FIG.

The joint member 25 is rotatably supported by a bearing 31 and a seal member 32 so that the distal end space 33 and the drive shaft space 34 are kept liquid-tight. The medium, which is sealed but sealed in the respective spaces 33 and 34, is liquid paraffins 84 and 85 having different viscosities. The tip space 33 is provided with a low-viscosity liquid paraffin 84 and the drive shaft space 34. Is filled with liquid paraffin 85 having a high viscosity. Other configurations, operations, and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a distal end portion of an in-body-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The in-body-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 of this embodiment is a catheter-type ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of obtaining an ultrasonic image mainly by inserting it into a thin lumen such as a blood vessel 91 or a bile duct.

As shown in the figure, in the catheter-type in-body-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1, the insertion section 2 is formed of a hollow tube 90 made of the same material such as polyurethane or Teflon.
An acoustic window 22 is provided all around the distal end side of the insertion section 2, and a distal end body 21 for arranging the ultrasonic vibrator 24 so as to coincide with the acoustic window 22 rotates and swings. It is arranged so as to freely and seal the distal end space 33. By forming the distal end side of the distal end portion body 21 to have a smaller diameter than the insertion portion 2, the insertion portion 2
The gap between the front end portion 21 and the front end side can be filled with a gel-like medium 92 such as an ultrasonic gel, and the rear end side is connected to the hollow flexible drive shaft 26. It has become. A medium 93 made of a solid lubricant such as molycoat or dencaboron is applied to a gap between the hollow flexible drive shaft 26 and the inner diameter of the insertion section 2. The distal end of the hollow tube 90 is closed by a removable rubber lid 94. Other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment.

With such a configuration, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present embodiment can provide the ultrasonic vibrator 24 and the acoustic window 22
Gel medium 92
Is used, the decrease in sensitivity can be reduced, and since the medium is a gel medium 92, it is extremely difficult to mix bubbles. Also, in the event that bubbles are mixed, the rubber cover 94 provided at the tip may be removed and the gel medium may be refilled.

Further, since the medium 93 around the drive shaft 26 is a solid medium, the medium 93 does not flow out even when the seal on the hand side is not perfect, so that the structure can be simplified. Other functions and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, by enclosing the ultrasonic vibrator or the mirror and the drive shaft with a medium having characteristics suitable for each of them, it is possible to obtain a good ultrasonic image without image fluctuation and image deletion. Can get

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a part of an insertion unit and an operation unit of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for a body cavity.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an in-body-cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an operation unit.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a rigid shaft for explaining connection between the rigid shaft and a signal cable;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a distal end portion of an intra-body cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a distal end component of an intra-body cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a relationship between a slide shaft and a metallic guide van.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are cross-sectional views illustrating a configuration of a signal cable inserted through a drive shaft. FIG. 8A is an explanatory cross-sectional view when a dummy signal cable is used, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view when a shield protection member is used. The explanatory sectional view (c) is an explanatory sectional view when integrated with a foamable flexible resin.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... In-body ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 21 ... Tip main body 23 ... Tip cover 24 ... Ultrasonic vibrator 25 ... Joint member 26 ... Drive shaft 27 ... Hard shaft 28 ... Conductive film 30 ... Guide tube 33 ... Tip space 34 … Drive shaft space 36… ultrasonic transmission medium 37… medium

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tip of an insertion portion which is inserted into a body cavity through a flexible drive shaft which passes through a flexible guide tube by rotating or oscillating torque of an ultrasonic beam scanning drive power source. By transmitting to an ultrasonic transducer or a mirror disposed in a component, the ultrasonic transducer or the mirror is rotated or oscillated to obtain an ultrasonic image. The tip space where the ultrasonic vibrator or the mirror is disposed, the drive shaft space where the flexible drive shaft is inserted, and the seal member are separated and partitioned, and the tip space separated and partitioned into the two. A body cavity ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized in that a medium having suitable characteristics is enclosed in each of a drive shaft space portion and a drive shaft space portion.