JPH01250245A - Ultrasonic treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the noise accompanied by the generation of an ultrasonic shock wave from appearing on a display image, by displaying the image stored in a memory means in place of the image during observation by an observation means at the time of the generation of the ultrasonic shock wave. CONSTITUTION:The image signal from a calculus observation circuit 21 consisting of an ultrasonic probe 11 and the signal processing circuit thereof is applied to a change-over switch 22. A frame memory 23 is provided to store the image signal and writing or reading is controlled by a frame memory circuit 27. Next, the control circuit 28 of the whole of the apparatus is provided to control the operation of the frame memory control circuit or that of the change- over switch 22. At the time of the generation of a shock wave, the focus position of the shock wave is matched with a calculus 14 by a positioning signal generating means 6 and a focus moving means 7 to indicate the crushing of the calculus. When the indication signal is inputted to the control circuit 28, change-over is performed by the change-over switch and the frame memory control circuit is controlled to display a memory image in place of the image during observation.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention applies ultrasound waves from outside the body to objects to be treated, such as stones that have formed inside the body! The present invention relates to an ultrasonic treatment device such as a stone crusher that concentrates ILJ waves to crush stones and the like.

[Prior Art] Recently, a lithotripter 41fi has been developed which is capable of crushing a stone or the like formed inside the body by focusing ultrasonic m-bomb waves generated outside the body on the stone or the like formed inside the body.

This calculus crushing device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-145131.
As shown in the above publication, in general, an ultrasonic shock wave generator formed by arranging a large number of ultrasonic transducers made of piezoelectric elements in a 5-spherical model is exposed to an ultrasonic propagating liquid such as water. Contact the kidneys to the human body surface via a filled water bag.

Ultrasonic shock waves are focused on stones formed in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, etc. to break them up. The ultrasonic shock wave is generated by applying a crushing pulse voltage to an ultrasonic vibrator.

In addition, the location of the stone can be determined using an ultrasonic lJ'Ij4 device or X1a
l! It is now confirmed by measuring equipment, etc.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, if a pulse for crushing a stone is generated while observing a stone with an observation device, noise will occur on a display device such as a television monitor of the observation device, making the image unreadable. The problem is that it becomes difficult.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic treatment device that can prevent noise from appearing in a displayed image.

[Means and operations for solving the problem] The ultrasonic treatment device of the present invention includes a shock wave generating means for generating an ultrasonic shock wave focused on a target position, and a shock wave generating means for generating an ultrasonic shock wave focused on a target position, and observing a region including the target position, an observation means capable of displaying an image, a storage means for storing the image observed by the observation means, and when an ultrasonic shock wave is generated from the shock wave generation means, the mll υItl1 means is provided for displaying an image stored in the storage means in place of the image being observed, and when an ultrasonic shock wave is generated, the image stored in the storage means is displayed. By displaying a noise-free image, it is possible to display a noise-free image.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Ru.

FIGS. 1 to 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a block diagram showing the main parts of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of this embodiment, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of the ultrasonic treatment device, and FIG. The figure is a block diagram showing an example of a concretion II survey path.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ultrasonic treatment apparatus of this embodiment includes an ultrasonic m-edge wave generator 1 and a shock wave generating circuit 2 for driving the ultrasonic shock wave generator 1 as shock wave generating means. ing. The ultrasonic shock wave generator 1 includes an ultrasonic sensor 3 made of a piezoelectric element mounted on a mounting plate 4 formed in a spherical shape.
It is formed by fixing a large number of them in a mosaic pattern on the front of the
The front shock wave generating surface is arranged to face the body 10. A water bag 5 made of soft resin or the like and having liquid injection means and pressure control means is disposed between the shock wave generation surface of the ultrasonic shock wave generator 1 and the human body 10. It is designed to be filled with IIs wave propagation liquid such as. Further, the shock wave generating circuit 2 is a well-known ultrasonic pulse voltage generating circuit, and this circuit drives the ultrasonic sensor 3 with stone crushing pulses.

Further, as an 11111 means, an ultrasonic probe 11 is provided at the center of the ultrasonic shock wave generator 1.

This ultrasonic probe 11 is connected to an ultrasonic observation device 112, and a video signal generated by this ultrasonic observation device 12 is inputted to a display device 13 such as a CRT.
3, an observation image of the inside of the body is displayed so that the position of the stone 14 etc. can be confirmed.

Additionally, positioning signal generating means 6 and focus moving means 7 are provided as means for adjusting the focal position of the shock wave. The positioning signal generating means 6 includes the display device 113
Set up an indicator marker, etc. at any position on the screen, so that the focus of the rock crushing shock wave will be at the location of this indicator marker.
A control signal is output to the focus moving means 7. The focal position moving means 7 moves the water bag 5 and the ultrasonic shock wave generator 1 according to the control signal using a numerical value υ16110, etc., and moves the focal position of the shock wave for stone crushing to a target position. There is.

The observation means in this embodiment is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the digital video signal from the calculus observation circuit 21 consisting of the ultrasonic probe 11 and a signal processing circuit that performs signal processing for this ultrasonic probe is 2.
One input terminal 22a of the changeover switch 22 for human power 1 output
is applied. Further, a frame memory 23 as a storage means is provided, and the stone observation circuit 2
The digital video signal from 1 is sent to the frame memory 2.
3 and is stored in this frame memory 23. The signal read from the frame memory 23 is applied to the other input terminal 22b of the changeover switch 22. The output of the changeover switch 22 is converted into an analog signal by a D/A converter 24, amplified by an amplifier 25, and then output to the display device 13. Note that writing and reading of the frame memory 23 are controlled by a frame memory control circuit 27 at times t and II. Further, a control circuit 28 is provided for controlling the entire ultrasonic treatment apparatus, and this control circuit 28 controls the operation of the frame memory control circuit 27 and the switching of the changeover switch 22. ing. Further, in response to a signal from the control circuit 28,
A stone crushing pulse is generated from a stone crushing pulse generating circuit 29 in the shock wave generating circuit 2.

Said calculus I! The survey route 1 is configured as shown in FIG. 4, for example. 1, the ultrasonic probe 11 is connected to a transmitting/receiving circuit 27.

The ultrasound probe 11 emits an ultrasound beam in response to a transmission signal from the transmission/reception circuit 27 .

The ultrasonic beam, that is, the echo reflected at the boundary of tissues such as the stone 14 in the body, is transmitted to the ultrasonic probe 11.
is converted into an electrical signal by This ultrasonic probe 11
The output signal is input to the transmitting/receiving circuit 27, and is amplified and
Signal processing such as logarithmic compression and STC is performed. The output signal of the transmitting/receiving circuit 27 is converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter 28 and stored in a frame memory (or digital scan converter) 29,
The digital video signal read from the frame memory 29 is transferred to the changeover switch 22 and the frame memory 2
3 is output.

Next, we will discuss the action of the ultrasonic treatment device of this example in the second section.
This will be explained with reference to the figures.

Before generating the ultrasonic shock wave, the input terminal 22a side of the changeover switch 22 is connected, and the video signal from the calculus 11 measuring circuit 21 is transmitted to the D/A converter 24 via the changeover switch 22. and the stone observation circuit 2
1 is displayed on the display device 13. and,
By the image displayed on this display device 13, the stone 14
The location etc. of the are confirmed. Further, the image from the stone observation circuit 21 is also stored in the frame memory 23. still,
The stored content of this frame memory 23, that is, the image, is
It is updated sequentially.

When attempting to crush the stone 14, the positioning signal generating means 6 and focus moving means 7 align the focal position of the VfJ shock wave for lithotripsy to the position of the stone 14. Then, a switch or the like (not shown) is used to instruct stone crushing. This instruction signal is input to the control circuit 28, and this control circuit 28
When the instruction signal is input, the selector switch 22 is switched so that the input terminal 22'b side is in the connected state, and the frame memory it, flai1 circuit 27 is controlled to put the frame memory 23 in the read state. and,
In imitation of this changeover switch 22, the control circuit 2
8, a stone crushing pulse is output from the stone crushing pulse generation circuit 29, and a shock wave is generated from the ultrasonic shock wave generator 1 in accordance with this stone crushing pulse. Further, the changeover switch 22 is connected to the input terminal 22 after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, that is, after the stone observation circuit 21 has outputted an image free from noise caused by the lithotripsy pulse.
The a side is switched to the connected state.

Therefore, during the period when the lithotripsy pulse is output and there is a risk that noise due to the lithotripsy pulse may be mixed into the image from the stone observation circuit 21, the image stored in the frame memory 23 is read out and displayed. displayed on the device 13.

In this embodiment, switching from the image from the stone observation circuit 21 to the image stored in the frame memory 23 is performed during the horizontal blanking period or vertical blanking period immediately before the lithotripsy pulse is output. It looks like this. For example, in the next vertical blanking period, the stone observation circuit 2
The image will be returned to the one from 1. This prevents the introduction of noise due to switching images during the scanning period.

FIG. 2 shows the timing for switching images during the horizontal blanking period. FIG. 2(a) shows a vertical synchronizing signal, FIG. 2(b) shows a frame pulse indicating frame spacing and position, and FIG. 2(C) shows a horizontal synchronizing signal. As shown in FIG. 2(d), when a stone crushing start pulse is input to the control circuit 28, which instructs the start of stone crushing by a switch (not shown), etc., the control circuit 28 operates as shown in FIG. 2(e). During the next horizontal blanking period, a display image switching signal is output, this display image switching signal is input to the frame memory control circuit 27 and the changeover switch 22, and the display image of display 8@13 is changed to the stone observation Frame memory 2 from image from circuit 21
The image is switched to the image stored in 3. Incidentally, the image stored in the frame memory 23 is
This is an image that is one frame earlier than the image from the 111 circuit 21.

After this image switching, a stone crushing pulse is output from the stone crushing pulse generation circuit 29, as shown in FIG. 2(f).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, immediately before outputting the lithotripsy pulse, the display image of the display device 13 is displayed on the stone observation circuit 2.
1 to the image stored in the frame memory 23, and during a period in which there is a risk that noise due to the lithotripsy pulse may be mixed into the image from the stone observation circuit 21, the image stored in the frame memory 23 is switched from the image from 1 to the image stored in the frame memory 23. is displayed.

The image stored in the frame memory 23 is an image free of noise caused by the lithotripsy pulse, and as a result, even when the lithotripsy pulse is output, the display device 13 displays an image free of noise. Ru.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the main parts of a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, instead of providing the frame memory 23 and the frame memory control circuit 27 in the first embodiment, writing to the frame memory 29 in the calculus observation circuit 21 is stopped and the image can be frozen. memory! 1 control circuit 30 is provided. This frame memory control circuit 30 is controlled by the control circuit 28, and immediately before the lithotripsy pulse is output, it stops writing to the frame memory 29, and also during a period during which there is a possibility that noise due to the lithotripsy pulse may be mixed. After the period has elapsed, normal writing and reading operations are resumed.

In this embodiment, since the image stored in the frame memory 29 is read out during a period in which there is a risk of noise being mixed in by the lithotripsy pulse, when the lithotripsy pulse is output, as in the first embodiment, Also, a noise-free image is displayed on the display device 13.

The other functions and effects of Structure 2 are the same as those of the first embodiment.

In addition to the frame memory or digital scan converter in the calculus observation circuit 21, a frame memory for freezing may be provided downstream of this memory.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the means for observing stones and the like in the body is not limited to ultrasonic waves, but may be an X-ray fluoroscope or the like.

Also,! Li bombardment wave generation means are not limited to those using ultrasonic imagers, but also include underwater discharge, micro-blasts, electric shock waves, etc. It may also be possible to use a single gestational membrane, a laser, or the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, when an ultrasonic shock wave is generated, the image stored in the storage means can be displayed by the observation means instead of the image being observed. This has the effect of preventing noise accompanying the generation of ultrasonic IIj shock waves from appearing on the displayed image.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 to 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a block diagram showing the main parts of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of this embodiment, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of the ultrasonic treatment device, and FIG. 4 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a calculus observation circuit, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing main parts of a second embodiment of the present invention. 1...Ultrasonic wave generator 2...Shock wave generation circuit 11...Ultrasonic probe 1
2...Ultrasonic observation device 13...Display device 21...
・Calculus observation circuit 22...Switch switch 23...
Frame memory 27... Frame memory control circuit 28... Control circuit 29... Pulse generation circuit for stone crushing

Claims (1)

[Claims] In the ultrasonic treatment apparatus, the ultrasonic treatment apparatus includes a shock wave generating means for generating an ultrasonic shock wave focused on a target position, and an observation means for observing an area including the target position and displaying an image of the area. storage means for storing an image observed by the observation means; and when an ultrasonic shock wave is generated from the shock wave generation means, storage means is stored in the storage means in place of the image being observed by the observation means. 1. An ultrasonic treatment device characterized by comprising: a control means for displaying a displayed image.