JP4289905B2 - Ultrasonic probe starter - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic probe starter.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an arcuate acoustic element is rotated in a direction orthogonal to the arc direction in an ultrasonic probe and scanned, so that the arc direction of the acoustic element and the scanning direction and depth direction by the rotation are scanned. The three-dimensional image is acquired. Further, in recent years, an ultrasonic motor has been used as a driving means for rotating the acoustic element. Conventionally, this type of ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is configured to start an ultrasonic motor when a power switch of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body or the like is turned on, for example. As a conventional example of this type, for example, in Patent Document 1 below, a method of setting a user's desired function for a foot switch or a switch provided on the ultrasonic probe side in order to drive or stop a motor. Has also been proposed.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-104310
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, if the operator (user) manually starts the ultrasonic probe before contacting the subject, the driving of the acoustic element is started, causing vibration and feeling uncomfortable in the hand, There is also a problem that power is wasted due to useless scanning. In recent years, it has been demanded to make a three-dimensional image smoothly in real time, and this vibration becomes a particular problem when an acoustic element is scanned at a high speed in order to satisfy this requirement.
[0005]
In view of the above problems of the prior art, the operator to provide the starting equipment of ultrasonic probes useless scanning of the previous acoustic element can be prevented to contact the ultrasound probe to the subject Objective.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ultrasonic probe detachably connected to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body,
A drive motor for rotating the acoustic element in said ultrasonic probe,
A multiple reflection detection means built in the ultrasonic probe for determining and detecting the presence or absence of multiple reflection based on the output of the acoustic element;
Drive motor starting means that is built in the ultrasonic probe and starts the drive motor when multiple reflection is not detected by the multiple reflection detection means;
It was set as the structure which has.
[0007]
With the above configuration, in a state where the ultrasonic probe is not in contact with the subject, multiple reflections occur due to the difference in refractive index between the window provided at the tip of the ultrasonic probe and the oil and air layers in the ultrasonic probe, When the ultrasonic probe is in contact with the subject, the above window and the refractive index of the oil are close to that of the subject, so that multiple reflection does not occur. Therefore, before the user brings the ultrasonic probe into contact with the subject. It is possible to prevent unnecessary scanning of the acoustic element.
Further, when the drive motor is an ultrasonic motor, the above configuration is effective in reducing meaningless vibration.
[0009]
In addition, since the multiple reflection detection means is built in the ultrasonic probe, starting processing can be performed on the ultrasonic probe side, so that noise resistance and responsiveness can be improved. In addition, it can be used in the main body of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that does not rotate the acoustic element, and further, the main body side can be generalized and shared.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic probe according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic probe starter according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a starter of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process of.
[0011]
FIG. 1A shows an internal configuration of the ultrasonic probe 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention viewed from the side, and FIG. 1B shows an internal configuration of the ultrasonic probe 1 viewed from the front. . In FIG. 1, the ultrasonic probe 1 is detachably connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 10 via a cable. An acoustic element 2 having an arc shape is supported by an ultrasonic motor (M) 3 so as to be able to rotate in the oil 6 in a direction orthogonal to the arc direction inside the partition 5 by the window 5 at the tip of the ultrasonic probe 1. Yes. The ultrasonic motor 3 is driven by driving power supplied from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 10 shown in FIG. 2 via the starter 12 and the two-phase transformer (T) 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the output of the acoustic element 2 is sent to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body 10 and processed into a three-dimensional image by the image processing unit 11, and this three-dimensional image is sent to the monitor 13 via the main system 14. Is displayed.
[0012]
By the way, in a state where the ultrasonic probe 1 is not in contact with the subject, the window 5 provided at the tip of the ultrasonic probe 1, the oil 6 in the ultrasonic probe 1 and the difference in refractive index of the air layer are multiplexed. When reflection occurs and the ultrasonic probe 1 is in contact with the subject, multiple reflections do not occur because the refractive indexes of the window 5 and the oil 6 are close to those of the subject. For this reason, in the non-contact state, the monitor 13 displays a multiple reflection image in which a relatively bright arc and a relatively dark arc are multiplexed (striped) as schematically shown in FIG. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, the luminance signal at the center line A of the acoustic element 2 has unevenness levels corresponding to the rising edge a and the falling edge b of a relatively bright arc. Since the difference (α, β in the figure) is detected, it is possible to detect that the ultrasonic probe 1 is not in contact with the subject by detecting the case where the luminance difference is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold.
[0013]
2 starts the ultrasonic motor 3 when the multiple reflection image is not detected by the image processing unit 11 which is the multiple reflection detection means. I am doing so. FIG. 3A shows the processing of the starter 12. First, if the ultrasonic probe 1 is connected electrically or as a signal transmission system (step S1), the operation proceeds to an operation of taking an ultrasonic image from the ultrasonic probe 1 (step S2). Next, it is determined whether or not a multiple reflection image has been obtained (step S3). When the image processing unit 11 determines that there is no multiple reflection, the ultrasonic motor 3 is started to start scanning (step S4). Note that at the start of this scanning, not only rapid driving is performed from the initial state to perform rapid driving but also slow slow start, and high-speed scanning may be performed after a predetermined time.
[0014]
In the above embodiment, since the image processing unit 11 which is a multiple reflection detecting means is built in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body unit 10, the weight of the ultrasonic probe 1 can be reduced, the operability can be improved, and the multiplexing can be performed. High functionality and expandability can also be improved as a reflection detection means. In addition, since the multiple reflection detection means is built in the ultrasonic probe 1, starting processing can be performed on the ultrasonic probe 1 side, so that noise resistance and responsiveness can be improved, and the acoustic element can be rotated. The conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body that can not be used can be used, and the main body side can be generalized and shared.
[0015]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since multiple reflection is not detected when the ultrasonic probe is in contact with the subject, the drive motor is started when multiple reflection is not detected. It is possible to prevent unnecessary scanning of the acoustic element before the diagnostician contacts the ultrasonic probe with the subject. In addition, since start processing can be performed on the ultrasonic probe side, noise resistance and responsiveness can be improved, and it can be used with the main body of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that does not rotate the acoustic element. And sharing can be achieved.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is effective to reduce meaningless vibration when the drive motor is an ultrasonic motor .
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A is an internal configuration diagram of an ultrasonic probe according to the present invention as viewed from the side, and FIG. 1B is an internal configuration diagram of an ultrasonic probe according to the present invention as viewed from the front. FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a probe starter. FIG. 3A is a flowchart for explaining processing of the starter shown in FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram showing multiple reflections, and FIG. Illustration showing signals [Explanation of symbols]
1 Ultrasonic probe 2 Acoustic element 3 Ultrasonic motor (M)
4 Two-phase transformer (T)
5 Window 6 Oil 10 Ultrasonic Diagnostic Device Main Body 11 Image Processing Unit 12 Starter (Drive Motor Starter)
13 Monitor 14 Main system

Claims (2)

An ultrasonic probe detachably connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body;
A drive motor for rotating the acoustic element in said ultrasonic probe,
A multiple reflection detection means built in the ultrasonic probe for determining and detecting the presence or absence of multiple reflection based on the output of the acoustic element;
Drive motor starting means that is built in the ultrasonic probe and starts the drive motor when multiple reflection is not detected by the multiple reflection detection means;
A starting device for an ultrasonic probe.   The ultrasonic probe starter according to claim 1, wherein the drive motor is an ultrasonic motor.

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