JP3378941B2 - Position automatic tracking type ultrasonic blood flow measurement device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic blood flow measuring apparatus for measuring blood flow information in a living body based on a reflected echo signal. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automatic position-tracking type ultrasonic blood flow measuring device capable of detecting a blood vessel position and automatically tracking a blood vessel and realizing measurement of a blood flow even during exercise. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus used in the medical field has an ultrasonic transmitting probe and a receiving probe arranged on both ends of a human body to be measured on the surface of the human body.
An ultrasonic pulse is sent into the body from the transmitting probe by the pulse oscillator, the ultrasonic pulse propagates through the body, detects the state when it reaches the receiving probe, and displays the tomographic data of the internal organ parts in real time on the monitor. In addition, the blood flow velocity at a specific blood vessel site is measured using the pulse Doppler method, and the velocity distribution and the average blood flow velocity are displayed on a monitor. Further, there is also known an apparatus in which tomographic information is displayed on a monitor, and blood flow information is arranged and displayed in a region of interest of the monitor on which the tomographic information is displayed. On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-76239 discloses the use of an ultrasonic probe in which a plurality of transducers are arranged in an array to obtain a high signal over a wide frequency range. Have been. [0004] However, the above-mentioned conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, particularly an ultrasonic blood flow measuring apparatus for measuring a blood flow state, is not suitable for measuring a blood flow state in a living body. In the state, even if a measurement value corresponding to it is obtained, the relative positional relationship between the probe attached on the epidermis and the blood vessel inside the living body changes with exercise,
Since there is no function to detect the position, if the relative positional relationship between the probe attached to the epidermis and the blood vessel inside the living body changes, the arterial blood vessel moves out of the focal region of the irradiated ultrasonic wave As a result, there is a problem that the measurement cannot be performed with the probe on the epidermis. Further, since the amount of change in the relative positional relationship between the probe attached to the epidermis due to the movement and the blood vessel inside the living body is detected, and the irradiation position of the ultrasonic wave cannot be changed,
There is also a problem that the tissue outside the blood vessel of the target artery moves due to the influence of the muscle pump phenomenon and the like due to the movement, generating acoustic noise, and measurement cannot be performed due to the influence of the influence. In order to solve the problems of the conventional apparatus as described above, the present invention makes it possible to detect the position of the blood vessel to be measured and automatically track the blood vessel by finding a new ultrasonic probe. An object of the present invention is to measure the blood flow of a target blood vessel even when the subject is accompanied by movement such as changing or exercising, and is intended to be effective for prevention of vascular disease, early detection, and the like. That is, in order to meet the above object, the present invention provides:
In an ultrasonic blood flow meter that measures blood flow information in a blood vessel of a subject, transducers are arranged in two or more stages in a vertical direction and a plurality of lines in a horizontal direction, and a transducer row in at least one stage is measured. A two-dimensional array-type ultrasonic probe for measuring a blood vessel position for measuring a target blood vessel position, while using another transducer row for detecting a blood flow velocity, and control means for controlling the probe At the same time from the blood vessel position measuring transducer row.
By transmitting the sound wave impulse, the position of the blood vessel to be measured is measured, and the blood flow velocity detecting vibration corresponding to the vibrator that has received the reflected wave from the blood vessel obtained by the measurement in the vibrator array for measuring the blood vessel position The configuration is such that the child can measure only the blood flow information in the blood vessel by variably controlling the ultrasonic beam irradiation position and the detection time. [0008] Among them, particularly Oite the specific configuration of the ultrasonic probe, and transverse ultrasonic probe made up of a plurality or turned in the longitudinal direction between the upper and lower at least two stages, one stage that For example, the present invention is characterized in that the lower ultrasonic element is used as an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving section for detecting a blood vessel position , while the upper ultrasonic element is used as an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving section for detecting a blood flow velocity.
Is an important feature. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an outline of an ultrasonic blood flow measuring apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a two-dimensional array type ultrasonic probe, and reference numeral 2 denotes a signal corresponding to a lapse of time after ultrasonic pulse emission. The output blood flow measurement transducer control circuit 3 is a blood vessel position detection transducer control circuit that outputs a signal corresponding to the lapse of time after ultrasonic emission, and the ultrasonic probe 1 is arranged in the vertical direction as shown in the figure. An upper row 1a and a lower row 1b constitute a linear array type ultrasonic probe composed of a plurality of parallelly arranged transducer rows in the horizontal direction. The upper row 1a has a blood flow measurement transducer row. On the other hand, the lower row 1b of the transducer row for detecting the blood vessel position is connected to the control circuit 3 for detecting the blood vessel position. The number of rows and the number of rows of the ultrasonic probe are not necessarily limited to the illustrated example, and may be configured to have three or more rows in the vertical direction and an appropriate number of rows in the horizontal direction. The ultrasonic probe 1 is disposed opposite the arterial blood vessel 4 as shown in the figure, and transmits an ultrasonic pulse from the upper or lower ultrasonic element as indicated by an arrow, and is reflected by the arterial blood vessel 4. As shown by the arrow, the reflected wave is received by the same upper or lower ultrasonic element. For example, if the probe 1 is attached to the epidermis such as the upper arm and the blood vessel is aimed at the brachial artery inside the arm, for example, 1b is an ultrasonic transmission / reception unit for position detection, and the upper stage 1a is an ultrasonic transmission / reception unit for blood flow velocity detection. FIG. 2 shows the principle of detecting the position of a blood vessel by the lower stage 1b using the ultrasonic probe 1. When an ultrasonic impulse is transmitted from the lower ultrasonic element at the same time as shown in FIG. , The ultrasonic impulse a is the arterial blood vessel 4
And the reflected wave b is received by the same lower ultrasonic element as shown by the arrow. That is, the probe sound wave a transmitted from each element (vibrator) is reflected by the blood vessel wall, and a reflected wave b having a width corresponding to the blood vessel diameter is received by a required element (vibrator). Is strongly received only by the element directly above the blood vessel, and is hardly received by other elements. Therefore,
Thereby, the position of the blood vessel can be estimated. Further, since the traveling speed of the sound wave is proportional to the time and the distance, the difference between the transmission time and the reception time is the distance to the blood vessel. Although further (ii) ultrasonic pulse a is such outgoing view is reflected by the blood vessel wall while being reflected as a reflection waveform b ₀ in the epidermis, because blood vessels have a cylindrical wall, ideally (C) As shown in the figure, two reflected waveforms b ₁ and b ₂ on the side closer to the epidermis (front wall of blood vessel) and on the opposite side farther (rear wall of blood vessel) can be confirmed. Therefore, the difference between the two received reflected waves b ₁ and b ₂ is the blood vessel diameter. Thus, the position, depth, and diameter of the blood vessel can be detected from the above. FIG. 3 shows the principle of measuring the blood flow based on the information obtained by the blood vessel position detection in FIG. 2 described above. An ultrasonic pulse c as shown in FIG. 3A is transmitted through the skin 5 from the ultrasonic element corresponding directly above. The transmitted ultrasonic pulse c is an ultrasonic wave transmitted via Doppler shift reflection reflecting both the movement speed of the cell tissue (movement of extravascular tissue) up to the blood vessel 4 and the movement speed of the blood flow flowing in the blood vessel. The element receives the reflected wave d. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3B, the two reflected waves b ₁ and b ₂ (corresponding to the blood vessel diameter), which are the received waveforms immediately above the blood vessel obtained in FIG. When I'll, waveform portions w ₁ taken over the gate can be extracted only reflected in a blood vessel inside the time distance relationship of the sound wave. Incidentally, w ₂ is an ultrasound echo from extravascular tissues. From the above, detection of the blood vessel position and automatic tracking of the blood vessel can be performed, and blood flow measurement that is less susceptible to acoustic noise due to exercise can be realized. Thus, according to the present invention, an ultrasonic element arranged on a line having two different control mechanisms is formed in one probe, and a group of ultrasonic elements arranged on the line is used in a living body. Measures the position, depth and diameter of the blood vessel and controls other groups of ultrasonic elements based on this to extract only the reflected sound from the area corresponding to the inside of the blood vessel, resulting in acoustic noise associated with motion And the measurement of vascular blood flow in the living body during exercise can be realized. According to the present invention, as described above, a plurality of vibrators are
An ultrasonic probe arranged in a two-dimensional array of at least two stages and at least two rows, wherein at least one of the transducers
One of the rows has a blood vessel position measuring means for measuring the position of a blood vessel to be measured , and at least one of the other rows in the transducer has an ultrasonic wave according to the blood vessel position measurement information from the transducer row. By variably controlling the beam irradiation position and the detection time, only the blood flow information in the blood vessel can be measured, and the sound wave transmitted from the transducer of the blood vessel position measuring means of the transducer row in one stage Reflected off the vessel wall,
A width corresponding to the vessel diameter, and from being received in the vibrator as a reflected wave from the skin-side vascular wall and the inner vessel wall, can detect the position and depth and diameter of the vessel, the other stage based on this
By controlling the corresponding transducers in the row, only reflected sound can be extracted from the area corresponding to the inside of the blood vessel, so that even if the user is exercising, the acoustic noise due to the movement is removed and the accurate in-vivo vascular blood It has a remarkable effect that can measure the flow, and in the medical field,
It can be used for exercise stress tests for the prevention and early detection of vascular diseases such as stenosis, and can be used for monitoring the blood flow condition of patients during surgery, and can also be applied to periodic medical examinations and rehabilitation. Various effects can be expected. Furthermore, the present invention relates to the field of basic medicine, for elucidation of changes in blood flow during exercise,
It can be used to elucidate the mechanism of occurrence of anemia, etc., and is also effective in the field of physical fitness medicine to evaluate the training effects of athletes, elucidate the dynamics of blood flow associated with effective training and exercise, and In life, there are merits that can be applied to ensuring the safety of exercise performed for health management and physical fitness enhancement, and confirming the survival of a solitary elderly person.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an ultrasonic probe according to the present invention. FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing a principle of detecting a blood vessel position, wherein FIG. 2A shows a mode of transmission and reception of a pulse from a lower ultrasonic element, and FIGS. (B) is a transmission waveform from each element, and (c) is a reception waveform just above a blood vessel. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a principle of measuring a blood flow, wherein (a) shows a mode of transmission and reception of a pulse from an upper ultrasonic element;
(B) shows the form of the reception waveform taken out through the gate. [Description of Signs] 1 Ultrasonic probe 1a Upper ultrasonic element (transducer array for blood flow measurement) 1b Lower ultrasonic element (transducer array for blood vessel position detection) 2 Transducer control circuit for blood flow measurement 3 Transducer control for blood vessel position detection Circuit 4 Arterial blood vessel 5 Epidermis

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2000-166926 (JP, A) JP-A-59-101143 (JP, A) JP-A-59-88137 (JP, A) JP-A-59-37940 (JP, A) A) JP-A-58-118741 (JP, A) JP-A-10-277030 (JP, A) JP-A-8-52137 (JP, A) JP-A-4-54945 (JP, A) JP-A-56 -119237 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 8/00-8/15

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] In an ultrasonic blood flow meter for measuring blood flow information in a blood vessel of a subject, two or more transducers are arranged in a longitudinal direction and a plurality of transducers are arranged in a straight line in a lateral direction. A two-dimensional array-type super array in which at least one of the transducer rows is used for measuring a blood vessel position for measuring the position of a blood vessel to be measured, while the other transducer row is used for detecting a blood flow velocity. and the ultrasonic probe, and a control means for controlling the probe, or the blood vessel position measuring transducer columns
With measuring the measurement target blood vessel position by transmitting ultrasonic waves impulse Luo same time, the blood vessel position measurement transducer
Receiving the reflected wave from the blood vessel obtained by the measurement in the column
A blood flow velocity detecting vibrator corresponding to the vibrator which is configured to measure only blood flow information in a blood vessel by variably controlling an ultrasonic beam irradiation position and a detection time. Automatic tracking ultrasonic blood flow measurement device.