JPH0134613B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that performs diagnosis using ultrasonic waves.

Generally, an ultrasonic diagnostic device is equipped with an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver at the tip of the insertion section of an endoscope, and the tip is connected to a balloon made of an elastic material such as rubber and filled with a transparent liquid. cover. The balloon is brought into contact with the subject and the transmitter/receiver emits ultrasonic waves to scan the subject, thereby diagnosing the subject. That is, by scanning a subject with ultrasonic waves through a liquid filled in a balloon, it is possible to perform a better diagnosis with less attenuation than when scanning through an air layer. Therefore, in order to perform ultrasound diagnosis efficiently and reliably, it is necessary to bring the balloon into airtight contact with the subject to reduce the attenuation of the ultrasound waves, and to bring the balloon into contact with the subject over a large contact area to increase the scanning range. There must be.

By the way, the balloon in the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is formed so that the elastic force of the entire circumferential wall thereof is uniform. Therefore, if a part of the circumferential wall of the balloon is pressed against the subject, other parts of the circumferential wall of the balloon will swell in response to the pressure applied to this part, so the area of contact with the subject is increased. Not only is it difficult to do this, but the contact area between the subject and the balloon is difficult to get into close contact with each other, and an air layer tends to exist, which causes problems such as the attenuation of ultrasound waves in this air layer, making it difficult to make a reliable diagnosis. Ta.

This invention was made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to make it possible to bring the balloon into close contact with the subject over a large area, so that diagnosis using ultrasound can be performed reliably and efficiently. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic device.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 is an endoscope main body, and this endoscope main body 1 is composed of an insertion section 2 that is inserted into a living body cavity, and an operation section 3 on the proximal side. The insertion section 2 is formed by connecting a distal end component 6 to the distal end of a flexible tube section 4 via a bending section 5. It is curved so that the direction of the tip component 6 can be selectively operated. Furthermore, a flexible universal cord 8 is connected to the operation unit 3, and this universal cord 8
A connector 9 connected to a light source device (not shown) is attached to the tip. A light guide (not shown) is inserted through the insertion portion 2 and the universal cord 8, and its tip faces an illumination window L provided in the tip structure portion 6. Therefore, illumination light is emitted from the illumination window L, and the region illuminated by the illumination light is operated through an image guide (not shown) that is inserted into the insertion section 2 and whose tip faces the observation window S. Observation is possible through an eyepiece section 10 provided with section 3.

An open recess 11 is formed in the main body 6a of the distal end component 6 on its circumferential surface, and an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 12 is provided in the recess 11. That is, this transmitter/receiver 12 faces an ultrasonic transducer 13 embedded in the peripheral wall of the recess 11 and a transmitting/receiving surface 13a of the ultrasonic vibrator 13 exposed on the inner peripheral surface of the recess 11. It consists of columnar reflectors 14 arranged therein. The end surface of this reflector 14 facing the above-mentioned transmitting/receiving surface 13a is an inclined reflecting surface 14a.
is formed. Therefore, the ultrasonic transducer 1
The ultrasonic waves outputted from 3 are reflected by the reflective surface 14a and emitted outside the recess 11 to irradiate the subject a, and then reflected by the subject a and reflected by the reflective surface 14.
The signal is received by the ultrasonic transducer 13 via a.

A shaft 15 is provided protruding from the rear end surface of the reflector 14, and this shaft 15 is rotatably supported by a bearing 16 provided on the main body 6a of the tip component 6.
That is, this bearing part 16 is provided in an insertion hole 18 that communicates the recess 11 with an insertion passage 17 formed over the entire length of the insertion part 2, and is provided in an insertion hole 18 that communicates with the recess 11 and an insertion passage 17 formed over the entire length of the insertion part 2. It consists of a pair of sealing materials 20, 20 joined to. Therefore, the shaft 15 is rotatable in the communication hole 18 in a watertight manner.

A flexible shaft 21 made of a tightly wound coil or the like is inserted through the insertion passage 17 . The tip of the flexible shaft 21 is connected to a connecting shaft 22 screwed onto the shaft 15, and the rear end is led to the operating section 3. Therefore, by rotating the flexible shaft 21 with the operation unit 3, the shaft 15, that is, the reflective surface 14 of the reflector 14 can be rotated.
The inclination state of a can be changed. Note that the connecting shaft 22 is rotatably supported by a second radial bearing 23.

The distal end portion 6 of the insertion portion 2 is covered with a balloon 24 detachably attached to this portion. The balloon 24 is formed into a bag-like shape with one end open using a stretchable transparent elastic material such as rubber, and a ring-shaped seal portion 2 is formed around the open end.
5 is formed, and this seal portion 25 is fitted in a groove 26 formed over the entire outer peripheral surface of the tip component portion 6 in a watertight manner. In addition, the balloon 24 has a ring 28 in which a portion facing the tip surface of the tip component 6 fits into a columnar projection 27 protruding from this portion.
is held by. Furthermore, balloon 24
is approximately half the circumference corresponding to the recess 11 of the peripheral wall,
That is, the side in contact with the subject a is formed into a thinner portion 29 that is more flexible than other portions.

A liquid feeding path 30 and a liquid draining path 31 are formed in the insertion portion 2 . The liquid sending path 30 and the liquid draining path 31 have one end open to the outer circumferential surface of the portion of the tip component 6 covered with the balloon 24, and the other end a first connecting pipe 32 connected to the operating section 3. and the second connecting pipe 33, respectively. The first connecting pipe 3
A liquid sending cylinder 34 is connected to the second connecting pipe 33, and a liquid draining cylinder 35 is connected to the second connecting pipe 33.
Therefore, the liquid feeding cylinder 34 can supply liquid into the balloon 24, and the liquid draining cylinder 35 can discharge the liquid supplied into the balloon 24. .
Note that 36 in the figure is a signal cord whose one end is connected to the ultrasonic transducer 13 and the other end is connected to a power supply device (not shown).

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. First, the insertion section 2 of the endoscope main body 1 is inserted into a body cavity. When the tip component 6 reaches the target site, a transparent liquid such as water or oil is supplied to the balloon 24 via the liquid feeding path 30 by the liquid feeding cylinder 34. At this time, since the liquid enters the recess 11, there is a risk that the liquid will enter the insertion path 17 from the recess 11 via the communication path 18. Since the balloon 24 is held liquid-tight by the balloon 24, the liquid supplied to the balloon 24 will not enter the insertion passage 17.

After the liquid is supplied to the balloon 24, the wall portion of the balloon 24 on the side opposite to the recess 11, that is, the thin wall portion 29, is pressed against the subject a, and then the ultrasonic transducer 13 is transmitted via the signal cord 36. Activates the connected power supply device (not shown). Then,
Ultrasonic waves are oscillated in a pulse form from the ultrasonic transducer 13, reflected by the reflective surface 14a of the reflector 14, propagated through the liquid filled in the recess 11 and the balloon 24, and transmitted through the thin wall portion 29. Irradiate the object a. Thereafter, the ultrasonic waves are reflected within the object a and transmitted to the ultrasonic transducer 13 via the reflecting surface 14a.
Since the signal is received by the signal code 36, it is processed by an amplification/detection circuit (not shown) provided in the power supply device, and a tomographic image of that portion can be obtained. Therefore, if the inclination state of the reflective surface 14a of the reflector 14 is changed by a predetermined angle via the flexible shaft 21 each time the ultrasonic transducer 13 pulses and receives an ultrasonic wave, the ultrasonic wave can be directed to the tip. By scanning along the circumferential direction of the component 6, it is possible to obtain a tomographic image in this scanning range.

Incidentally, in such a diagnosis, the portion of the balloon 24 that is pressed against the subject a is a thinner portion 29 that is more flexible than other portions. Therefore, when this thin part 29 is pressed against the subject a, the thin part 29 of the balloon 24 is easily elastically deformed into a flat shape as shown by the solid line in FIG. Because we will be in close contact with each other,
A tomographic image can be obtained by scanning ultrasonic waves over the entire area in close contact. That is, a wide range of diagnosis becomes possible. Furthermore, since the balloon 24 is brought into close contact with the subject a, an air layer is less likely to exist between the joint surfaces, so that a good diagnosis can be performed with less attenuation of the ultrasound waves.

Incidentally, the conventional balloon 24' whose entire circumferential wall is formed with uniform elasticity, when pressed against the subject a as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
Since the pressed portion does not undergo large elastic deformation and swells to the side opposite to the pressed side, it does not come into contact with the subject a over a large contact area, resulting in the above-mentioned inconvenience.

Next, another embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 will be described. First, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, an electronic scanning type ultrasonic transducer 37 is used as the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver 12, and this ultrasonic transducer 37 is installed in the recess 11 via a damper material 38. did. According to such a configuration, the reflector 14, flexible shaft 21, etc. shown in the above-mentioned embodiment become unnecessary, and the configuration is simplified.

In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, in order to vary the elasticity of the peripheral wall of the balloon 24, the object a of the peripheral wall is
A net 39 woven from an elastic material or the like is bonded to the outer surface of approximately half the circumference that is not in contact with the net. According to such a configuration, the net 3 of the balloon 24
Since the portion without 9 is more flexible than the portion with 9, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

Furthermore, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is applied to a sector scan type diagnostic device, and in this case, in order to press the tip component 6 perpendicularly to the subject a, the peripheral wall of approximately half of the rear end side of the balloon 24 is Ninet 39
. It is clear that even in such a configuration, diagnosis using ultrasound can be performed satisfactorily.

In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,
The net 39 may be adhered to the inner surface of the balloon 24, or may be embedded within the peripheral wall of the balloon 24 when it is molded.

As described above, in the present invention, since the portion of the balloon that is pressed against the subject is made more flexible than the other portions, the balloon can be brought into close contact with the subject over a large area. Therefore, the scanning range of ultrasound can be increased, and since it is difficult for an air layer to exist between the joint surfaces of the subject and the balloon, diagnosis by ultrasound can be performed efficiently and reliably. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of the entire device showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the distal end of the insertion section, and Fig. 3 is an explanation showing how the balloon according to the present invention and a conventional balloon are used. 4 are sectional views of the distal end of the insertion tube showing a second embodiment of the invention, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are side views of the distal end of the insertion tube showing third and fourth embodiments of the invention, respectively. It is a diagram. 2... Insertion section, 6... Tip component, 12... Transmitter/receiver, 24... Balloon, 29... Thin wall portion, 3
9...net, a...subject.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a device in which the distal end component of an insertion section inserted into a body cavity in which an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver is installed is covered with a substantially cylindrical balloon over the entire circumference, the part of the balloon that presses against the subject is the other part. An ultrasonic diagnostic device characterized by being more flexible than.