JP3319296B2 - Ultrasonic inspection equipment - 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 inspection apparatus which is inserted into a body cavity and performs ultrasonic scanning inside the body cavity.
In particular, the present invention relates to an ultrasonic inspection apparatus capable of smoothly and surely penetrating a stenosis in a thin body cavity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an ultrasonic inspection apparatus which is inserted into a body cavity and performs an ultrasonic inspection, an ultrasonic probe provided with an ultrasonic vibrator at the tip of a flexible tube, and a scan for driving the ultrasonic vibrator And a drive unit. This type of ultrasonic inspection apparatus is not inserted alone into a body cavity, but is inserted into a body cavity using, for example, a treatment tool insertion channel of an endoscope as a guide.

Since the ultrasonic probe is inserted into the treatment instrument insertion channel, the outer diameter of the ultrasonic probe is extremely small, and the ultrasonic transducer is attached to the tip of a flexible tube having a predetermined length. A single-plate vibrator is used as the ultrasonic vibrator. Therefore, this ultrasonic vibrator mechanically scans, and in the case of performing a so-called radial scan that scans the ultrasonic vibrator in the rotational direction, a flexible shaft including a close-contact coil or the like is attached to the ultrasonic vibrator. connect. Then, the flexible shaft is inserted into the flexible tube and connected to a rotating shaft provided in the scanning drive unit. By rotating this rotating shaft with a motor, radial scanning can be performed.

[0004] As described above, an ultrasonic inspection apparatus having a thin ultrasonic probe is inserted into a thin body lumen, and is suitably used to acquire information on a body tissue around the body lumen. For example, using a side-view type endoscope, insert the insertion portion of the endoscope into the duodenum, and project the ultrasonic probe through the treatment instrument insertion channel provided in the insertion portion. By guiding the nipple to the pancreatic bile duct, further inserting it into the pancreatic duct, bile duct, etc., by rotating the flexible shaft around the axis, transmitting ultrasonic pulses at predetermined angles while rotating the ultrasonic vibrator By receiving the reflected echo, radial ultrasonic scanning can be performed.

[0005]

However, there is a case where a stenosis exists in a normal insertion path, and a case where a tumor or the like occurs in a part of a thin body lumen, for example, and a stenosis exists. Sometimes. The ultrasonic probe is thin and flexible so that it can bend freely along the insertion path. If there is an obstacle such as a stenosis in the insertion path that makes it difficult to pass, not have out to be inferior to efficiently up to the tip, or that to pass the site is difficult, if you are grossly stenosis, can not be passed therethrough. Ultrasound examination with an ultrasound probe is for acquiring tissue information such as lesions, so if there is a possibility that stenosis has been caused by the tumor, in order to pursue the cause of this stenosis It is essential to confirm the state of the body tissue at the site. Accordingly, the inability of the ultrasonic probe to enter such a stenosis greatly hinders this type of examination.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a flexible ultrasonic probe having a small diameter even if there is a narrow portion in an insertion path. To be able to pass through.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a flexible tube having a closed end.
An ultrasonic vibrator is provided, and this ultrasonic vibrator has a flexible
Scan drive the ultrasonic probe connected to the
The scanning drive unit is connected to the
A super sound equipped with a motor that rotates the kibble shaft
A wave inspection apparatus comprising: a base end of the flexible tube;
Driven by the motor between the scanning drive unit
And connect the vibration means to vibrate the flexible tube
It is characterized by having a configuration of

As described above, the flexible tube is vibrated by the vibrating means in order to pass through the narrowed portion in the insertion path. The oscillating means for this purpose is an eccentric rotating pin.
The flexible tube has a plate-like shape with a slit groove.
A swing member is connected and provided. Then, insert the eccentric rotating pin
With the scanning drive unit engaged with the slit groove of
Ultrasonic transducer to perform radial scanning
Motor that rotates the flexible shaft connected to the motor
The eccentric rotation pin is driven to rotate by using the rotation force of (1). So
As a result, the rotational motion of the eccentric rotary pin is converted into the rocking motion of the rocking member. As a result, the swinging member repeatedly swings with a width corresponding to twice the amount of eccentricity of the eccentric rotation pin, and vibrates the flexible tube to which the swinging member is connected.

When scanning the ultrasonic transducer in the rotation direction
Must be held so that the swing member does not swing.
No. Therefore, a clutch is provided between the motor and the eccentric rotation pin.
When vibrating the flexible tube with
Switch is turned on and the ultrasonic transducer is rotated.
Turns off the clutch.

[0010]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As a guide means for inserting an ultrasonic probe into a body cavity, an example using a side-view type endoscope is exemplified, but the ultrasonic inspection apparatus of the present invention is not limited to this. Needless to say.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a state in which an ultrasonic inspection apparatus is mounted on an endoscope. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an endoscope, and the endoscope 1 is configured by connecting an insertion section 3 to a body cavity to a main body operation section 2. As is well known, the insertion section 3 is provided with an illumination window and an observation window, and a treatment tool insertion channel 4 for inserting forceps and other treatment tools. Instead, it is provided on the chamfered tip side surface portion 3a. The main body operation section 2 is provided with a treatment instrument introduction section 4 a, one end of the treatment instrument insertion channel 4 is connected to the treatment instrument introduction section 4 a, and the other end is open to the distal end side surface 3 a of the insertion section 3. . The ultrasonic inspection apparatus 5 is inserted into a body cavity using the endoscope 1 as a guide.

The ultrasonic inspection apparatus 5 includes an ultrasonic probe 1
0, a scanning drive unit 11 and an ultrasonic observation device 12. The ultrasonic probe 10 has a flexible tube 13 whose tip is closed, and as shown in FIG. 2, an ultrasonic vibrator 14 composed of a single-plate vibrator is built in the flexible tube 13. A flexible shaft 15 is connected to the ultrasonic transducer 14. The flexible shaft 15 is formed of, for example, a close contact coil. When the rotation direction is one direction, the flexible shaft 15 may be formed of a single layer close contact coil. In order to perform the operation more reliably and efficiently, it is preferable to form the contact coil in a double form. Further, the scanning drive unit 11 is supported by a connecting portion 12 a provided in the ultrasonic observation device 12. The scanning drive unit 11 can be fixedly held at various places other than the ultrasonic observation device 12.

The base end of the ultrasonic probe 10 is a connector 16, and the ultrasonic probe 10 is detachably connected to the scanning drive unit 11 by the connector 16. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 3, the base end of the flexible tube 13 in the ultrasonic probe 10 is a hard connecting ring 13a, and the end of the flexible shaft 15 is a connecting shaft 17a. Are connected. A rotating shaft 18 is provided inside the casing 12a of the scanning drive unit 11, and a pair of pulleys 19 and 20 are attached to the rotating shaft 18. A transmission belt 23 is wound around the pulley 19 and a pulley 22 connected to an output shaft 21 a of a motor 21. A transmission belt 26 is provided between the pulley 20 and a pulley 25 provided on the input shaft 24 a of the encoder 24.
Is provided by winding.

The casing 11a of the scanning drive unit 11
Is formed with an insertion hole 27, and the tip of the rotating shaft 18 faces the insertion hole 27. A cylindrical portion 28 is provided around the insertion hole 27 so as to protrude. Therefore, the connector portion 16 of the ultrasonic probe 10 has its connection shaft 17 inserted through the insertion hole 27 and is connected to the rotation shaft 18, and also has the connection ring portion 13 a of the flexible tube 13.
Is fitted to the cylindrical portion 28. Here, the connecting shaft 17 and the rotating shaft 18 are connected to each other by a mechanism such as a spline or a key so that they cannot rotate relative to each other.
Is fitted to the cylindrical portion 28 so as to be relatively rotatable.

Further, the swing plate 2 is provided on the connecting ring portion 13a.
9 are connected. As is clear from FIG. 4, the swing plate 29 extends a predetermined length from the side surface of the connecting ring portion 13a in a direction orthogonal to the axis, and in the longitudinal direction,
A slit groove 29a is formed over a predetermined length from the tip side. Further, an eccentric rotation pin 30 is attached to the casing 11a so as to be rotatable around an axis. The eccentric rotation pin 30 penetrates the casing 11a and protrudes to the outside. The portion of the eccentric rotation pin 30 outside the casing 11a is once bent 90 ° in the horizontal direction, and further bent at 90 °. This tip portion is engaged with the slit groove 29 a of the swing plate 29. A base end of the eccentric rotation pin 30, that is, a part in the casing 11 a is connected to a rotation shaft 21 a of the motor 21 via a clutch 31. Accordingly, in the eccentric rotation pin 30, the eccentric shaft portion 30b engaged with the slit groove 29a of the swing plate 29 is eccentric with respect to the main body shaft portion 30a connected to the clutch 31 by an interval d. The length of the slit groove 29a of the oscillating plate 29 into which the eccentric shaft portion 30b of the eccentric rotary pin 30 is engaged has at least twice the distance d.

Therefore, in this case, the eccentric rotation pin 30
The motor 21 that rotates the eccentric rotation pin 30 and the clutch 31 that contacts and separates between the eccentric rotation pin 30 and the motor 21 function as vibration means.

With the above configuration, FIG.
As shown in the above, by being inserted into the narrow body cavity in the patient's body cavity and performing ultrasound scanning,
Information on internal tissues can be obtained.

That is, the insertion section 3 of the endoscope 1 is guided to a predetermined position in the body cavity, and the ultrasonic probe 10 of the ultrasonic inspection apparatus 5 is inserted into the treatment instrument insertion channel 4. At this time, the connector section 16 of the ultrasonic probe 10 is connected to the scanning drive unit 11. Then, the distal end portion of the ultrasonic probe 10 is projected from the distal end side surface portion 3a of the insertion portion 3, and is guided toward a thin body cavity, for example, a pancreatic bile duct. The direction control of the ultrasonic probe 10 is performed by raising a treatment tool raising table (not shown) provided at a distal end portion of the treatment tool insertion channel 4 under monitoring by the endoscope 1. There may be a stenotic part in the insertion path in the thin body cavity of the ultrasonic probe 10. Since the ultrasonic probe 10 is made of a small-diameter and flexible member, even if a strong pushing thrust is applied from the proximal end side, the ultrasonic probe 10 is blocked by the constricted portion and does not proceed any further, and bends in the middle. Will be lost.

As described above, when the tip of the ultrasonic probe 10 is blocked by the stenosis, the motor 21 is driven to rotate and the clutch 31 is turned on. by this,
The eccentric rotation pin 30 is driven to rotate. As shown in FIG. 6, since the eccentric shaft portion 30b of the eccentric rotary pin 30 is engaged with the slit groove 29a of the oscillating plate 29, the rotational motion of the eccentric rotary pin 30 causes the oscillating plate 29 to oscillate. Converted to movement. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the eccentric rotation pin 30 rotates along the locus C, the swing plate 29 swings over the width B, and the swing of the swing plate 29 causes the flexible tube 13 to swing. Vibrates. Therefore, when the ultrasonic probe 10 is pushed into the stenosis along with the vibration of the flexible tube 13, the tip of the ultrasonic probe 10 advances while pushing and expanding the stenosis, and passes smoothly and reliably. be able to. At this time, the flexible shaft 15 rotates together with the drive of the motor 21,
This rotational force extends to the ultrasonic vibrator 14, but there is no particular problem even if the ultrasonic vibrator 14 rotates.

Here, when there is a stenosis site in the insertion path of the ultrasonic probe 10 and this stenosis site may be a tumor or the like, the state of the body tissue at that site is examined. Need to do. Therefore, the ultrasonic transducer 14 at the distal end of the ultrasonic probe 10 is arranged at the position of the stenosis. Then, the clutch 31 is turned off,
The eccentric rotation pins 13 are prevented from rotating together during radial scanning. In this state, when the motor 21 is operated, the flexible shaft 15 rotates around the axis, and the rotation drives the ultrasonic vibrator 14 provided at the distal end to rotate the ultrasonic vibrator 14, and an ultrasonic tomographic image of a portion including the stenosis portion. Can be obtained, and it is possible to confirm whether or not there is a tumor in the stenosis.
Of course, at this time, since the clutch 31 is in the OFF state, the ultrasonic probe 10 does not vibrate and is stably held.

When the radial ultrasonic scanning is performed, the flexible shaft 15 rotates around the axis.
At this time, the flexible tube 13 needs to be held so as not to rotate. For this purpose, a stopper for preventing the flexible tube 13 from rotating together is provided. A swing plate 29 is connected to the connecting ring portion 13a of the flexible tube 13 and is connected to the swing plate 29. Since the eccentric rotation pin 30 is inserted, the oscillating plate 29 is restricted by the eccentric rotation pin 30 and cannot rotate more than a predetermined angle as long as the eccentric rotation pin 30 is not rotated. Thus, it functions as a stopper for preventing the flexible tube 13 from rotating together. Here, the stopper is required for the flexible tube 13 when performing ultrasonic scanning. At this time, since the flexible tube 13 is not vibrated, the eccentric rotation pin 3 is required.
0 is kept in a non-rotation state.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the vibrating means proximal portion of the flexible tube in the ultrasonic probe, without so vibrating the flexible tube, this
Ultrasonic vibrator for vibrating flexible tube
Easy to use because the motor that rotates the motor is shared
With such a configuration, it is possible to smoothly and reliably pass a flexible, small-diameter ultrasonic probe through a narrow portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory view showing a state in which an ultrasonic inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is incorporated in an endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a tip portion of the ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a scanning drive unit.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a main part showing a configuration of a mechanism for vibrating a flexible tube.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view showing a state where an ultrasonic inspection is being performed.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of a mechanism for vibrating a flexible tube.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Endoscope 2 Main body operation part 3 Insertion part 4 Treatment tool insertion channel 5 Ultrasonic inspection device 10 Ultrasonic probe 11 Scan drive unit 13 Flexible tube 14 Ultrasonic transducer 15 Flexible shaft 16 Connector part 17 Connecting shaft 18 Rotation Shaft 21 Motor 29 Rocking plate 29a Slit groove 30 Eccentric rotation pin 31 Clutch

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 8/12 A61B 1/00-1/32

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A within flexible tube tip is blocked provided an ultrasonic vibrator, flexible in this ultrasonic transducer Shi
The ultrasonic probe connected to the shaft is connected to the scanning drive unit, and the flexi
In an ultrasonic inspection apparatus equipped with a motor that rotationally drives a bull shaft, a base end of the flexible tube, the scanning drive unit,
During this time, the flexible tube is driven by the motor.
An ultrasonic inspection apparatus, wherein a vibration means for vibrating a probe is connected . 2. An oscillating member, wherein said oscillating means is connected to an eccentric rotary pin rotationally driven by said motor and a base end of said flexible tube, and has a slit groove through which said eccentric rotary pin is inserted. 2. The ultrasonic inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The ultrasonic probe is removably connected to the scanning drive unit, and the swing member is provided on a connector for connecting the ultrasonic probe to the scanning drive unit. The ultrasonic inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. Between the eccentric rotation pin and the motor
The motor that separates the eccentric rotary pin from the motor
3. The ultrasonic inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a switch is provided .