JPH03155844A - Ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance measurement accuracy and to obtain a satisfactory image by providing an ultrasonic vibrator provided on a content liquid sealing part of a probe body, a temperature sensor of a content liquid, a heating/cooling equipment of the content liquid, and a temperature control circuit of the content liquid. CONSTITUTION:In the inside of a probe body 1, a partition wall 2 is provided, a content liquid sealing chamber 3 is constituted, and a content liquid 4 is enclosed. An ultrasonic vibrator 5 placed in the inside is held so as to be oscillatable by a shaft 6, and a motor 7 is provided on the outside of the sealing chamber 3. The ultrasonic vibrator 5 is connected to a transmitting/receiving circuit 14 through a connecting part. Also, on the partition wall 2, a temperature sensor 11 is provided so as to protrude into the content liquid sealing chamber 3, a temperature of a content liquid 4 is measured, and its result is outputted to a temperature control circuit 13. Moreover, in the content liquid sealing chamber, a thermal converter 12 is installed, and executes heating or cooling to the content liquid 4 by a command from a temperature control circuit 13. In such a way, the temperature of the content liquid 4 is held in the same as a bodily temperature of a body to be examined, velocities of propagation of both ultrasonic waves become the same, and the ultrasonic diagnosis is executed with high accuracy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a mechanical sector scan type ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

(Prior Art) One type of ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is a mechanical sector scan type.

This mechanical sector scan type ultrasonic diagnostic device uses a mechanical sector probe, which has a probe body filled with a liquid, and an ultrasonic transducer that can swing into the liquid-filled part. During diagnosis, the probe body is placed on the body surface of the subject, and the ultrasonic transducer emits ultrasonic waves within the liquid content, and the ultrasonic transducer swings its head to generate an ultrasonic beam. The image is scanned in a fan-like manner. Since this type of ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has excellent characteristics such as high resolution, it is used for obtaining tomographic images of the heart.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, when diagnosing a subject using this conventional ultrasonic diagnostic device, the total distance from the body surface is 7111j.
Errors may occur. If an error occurs in measuring the distance from the body surface in this way, the reproducibility of the tomographic image may deteriorate and a good image may not be obtained.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can prevent errors in measuring distance from the body surface and can obtain good images.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means and Effects for Solving the Problems) The inventor of the present invention has conducted various studies on the occurrence of errors in measuring distance from the body surface in mechanical sector scan type ultrasound diagnostic devices. . Among these, we focused on the temperature of the liquid inside the probe body as a cause of errors in the distance meter 1111 from the body surface. That is,
The question is whether the temperature of the liquid inside the probe body affects the reflected waves from inside the body of the subject.

So, I investigated further and found the following. The temperature of the liquid inside the probe body is determined by the influence of the external temperature. Generally, the external temperature is the human internal temperature (approximately 40
℃) may not match. For this reason, the temperature of the liquid inside the probe body is also affected by the external temperature and may differ from the human body temperature. If the temperature of the liquid inside the probe body is significantly different from the internal temperature of the human body, the propagation speed of ultrasound in the liquid will be significantly different from the propagation speed of ultrasound in the human body. As a result, when the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transducer of the probe body toward a predetermined region inside the subject's body are reflected within the body and exit from the body surface, the position at which the reflected waves exit from the body surface is The target area of the ultrasound emitted from the sonic transducer, which is the target part of the body, may be shifted from the existing position. This causes an error in the total 7111j in the distance direction.

Therefore, the inventor discovered that the above problem can be solved by measuring the temperature of the liquid inside the probe body and maintaining the temperature of the liquid at the same temperature as the human body temperature.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention includes: a probe body sealed with a liquid content; an ultrasonic transducer provided in a liquid sealing part of the probe body; a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the liquid content; It is characterized by comprising a device that heats or cools the liquid, and a temperature control circuit that receives a signal from the temperature sensor and controls the driving of the device so as to maintain the content liquid at a predetermined temperature. It is.

The temperature of the liquid inside the probe body is maintained at the same temperature as the internal temperature of the subject.

Therefore, in the present invention, since the temperature of the liquid inside the probe body is maintained at the same level as the internal temperature of the subject, the propagation speed of ultrasound in the liquid and the propagation speed of ultrasound inside the human body are different. are the same, and the position when the ultrasound emitted from the ultrasound transducer of the probe body is reflected by the area inside the subject's body and exits from the body surface is the position of the area inside the body that is the target of the ultrasound. There will be no large deviation.

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to an example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The structure of a mechanical sector probe used in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

In the figure, 1 is a probe body, and a partition wall 2 is provided inside the tip of the probe body, and a liquid filling chamber 3 is formed in the space between the tip surface of the probe body 1 and the partition wall 2. It is. A liquid content 4 made of water or other liquid is sealed inside the liquid filling chamber 3 . An ultrasonic transducer 5 is disposed inside the liquid filling chamber 3, and the ultrasonic transducer 5 is held by a shaft 6 provided in the probe body 1 so as to be swingable. A motor 7 is provided in a portion of the probe body 1 located outside the liquid filling chamber 3, and this motor 7
The output shaft 8 passes through a bearing 9 provided on the partition wall 2, projects into the interior of the liquid filling chamber 3, and is connected to the ultrasonic vibrator 5 via a swinging mechanism 10 provided in the liquid filling chamber 2. are doing.

Note that the ultrasonic transducer 5 is connected to a transmitting/receiving circuit 14, which will be described later, via a connecting portion (not shown).

Further, for example, a temperature sensor 11 is provided on the partition wall 2 so as to protrude into the interior of the liquid filling chamber 3. This temperature sensor 11
The temperature of the content 14 sealed in the content liquid filling chamber 3 is measured, and the temperature of the content 14 sealed in the content liquid filling chamber 3 is outputted to the temperature control circuit 13 described later.

Further, a heat converter 12 is mounted on the partition wall 2 and located inside the liquid filling chamber 3. This heat converter 12 heats or cools the content liquid 4 sealed in the content liquid filling chamber 3, and is configured using, for example, a Vertier element. This heat converter 12 will be explained below with reference to FIG. 2.

In the figure, reference numeral 14 denotes a transmitting/receiving circuit, which transmits ultrasonic waves to the ultrasonic transducer 5 and handles reflected waves. 1
5 is an image display circuit which obtains an image signal based on the data of the reflected wave handled by the transmitting/receiving circuit 14, outputs this image signal to the display 16, and displays the image on the display 16; This is a system controller, which controls the transmitting/receiving circuit 14 to emit ultrasonic waves and handling reflected waves, controls the image display circuit 15 to display images, and controls the temperature control circuit 13. The temperature control circuit 13 receives information from the temperature sensor 11 and outputs it to the system controller 17, and also receives the reference temperature signal from the system controller 17 and sets the temperature. A calculation is performed together with the signal from the sensor 11, and the heat converter 12 is operated based on the result. A character display circuit 18 sends character signals to the display 16 based on commands from the system controller 17 to display characters.

Note that 19 is a mixer.

The operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured in this way will be explained.

The basic operation of a mechanical sector probe will be explained.

When performing ultrasonic diagnosis, the distal end surface of the probe body 1 is brought into contact with the body surface of the subject. The transmitting/receiving circuit 14 receiving a command from the system controller 17 operates the ultrasonic transducer 5, and the ultrasonic transducer 11 emits ultrasonic waves.

At the same time, the motor 7 is driven to rotate the rotary shaft 8, and the ultrasonic vibrator 5 is caused to swing through the swing mechanism 10. Thereby, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transducer 5 are fan-shaped to perform scanning.

The ultrasound waves propagate through the liquid content 4 inside the liquid filling chamber 3 of the probe body 1, exit from the probe body 1, enter the body of the subject, and reach a predetermined region that is the target of the ultrasound waves.
It is reflected at this part. The reflected wave exits the body, enters the probe body 1 again, propagates through the liquid in the liquid filling chamber 3, and is received by the ultrasonic transducer 5. The transmitting/receiving circuit 14 receives the signal from the ultrasound transducer 5 and outputs the signal to the image display circuit 15, and the image display circuit 15 outputs the image signal to the display 16 so that the display 16 displays the tomographic image.

Next, the operation of controlling the temperature of the liquid content 4 sealed in the liquid filling chamber 3 of the probe body 1 will be explained.

The temperature sensor 11 measures the temperature of the liquid content 4 sealed in the liquid filling chamber 3 of the probe body 1 and outputs the measurement result to the temperature control circuit 13 . On the other hand, the system controller 17 sets the preset reference temperature value of the content liquid 4, specifically 40°C, which is the human body temperature, to the temperature control circuit 17.
instruct.

The temperature control circuit 13 controls the content liquid 4 from the temperature sensor 11.
It receives the -1 constant temperature value and also receives the content liquid reference temperature value from the system controller 17, and compares both signals to determine the difference. If there is a difference between both temperature values, the temperature control circuit 13 adjusts the temperature of the liquid content 4 of the liquid content sealing part 3 according to this temperature difference so that it reaches the reference temperature, that is, the human body temperature. Content activation command,
Specifically, the voltage value is output to the thermal converter 12. The heat converter 12 operates based on instructions from the temperature control circuit 13, and specifically converts the voltage value from the temperature control circuit 13 into heat, and heats or cools the liquid content 4 in the liquid content sealing section 3. The temperature of the content liquid 4 is made to reach the human body temperature.

In the temperature control circuit 13, it is difficult to rapidly control the temperature change of the content liquid 4 due to its large inertia, so it is controlled using hysteresis characteristics. In addition, in the temperature control circuit 13, if the temperature value measured relative to the reference temperature value is out of a certain range,
The system controller 17 is contacted and the system controller 17 displays on the display 16 through the character display circuit 18 that the mechanical sector probe is currently being prepared.

When the mechanical sector probe is powered on, the liquid content 4 in the liquid enclosing part 3 is very low, so as shown in FIG.
8 is controlled so that the voltage of the maximum value is applied to rapidly warm up the inner liquid 4. In this way, the warm-up operation time of the mechanical sector probe is shortened and the operational efficiency is improved.

In addition, since the image quality conditions (focus switching point, pre-STC, etc.) of the image displayed on the display 16 are determined after the temperature of the liquid content 4 increases, the temperature of the liquid content 4 increases quickly and the image quality Your connection will improve.

In this way, the content liquid 4 in the content liquid enclosure part 3 of the probe body 1 is
The temperature of n1 is fixed by the temperature sensor 11, and the temperature control circuit 13
The measured temperature is compared with the reference temperature, that is, the human body temperature, and based on the comparison result, the heat converter 12 is activated to adjust the temperature of the liquid content 4 to the reference temperature, that is, the body temperature.

By constantly controlling the temperature of this content liquid 4,
The temperature of the content liquid 4 can be maintained at the human body temperature.

Ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transducer 5 of the probe body 1 to perform ultrasonic diagnosis propagate inside the body of the subject from the liquid content 4 that has the body temperature of the subject and reach the target site within the body. The waves reach the probe body 1, are reflected at this location, propagate from inside the body of the subject through the liquid 4 in the probe body 1 that has the body temperature of the subject, and return to the ultrasonic transducer 5.

That is, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transducer 5 of the probe body 1 are transmitted through the liquid content 4 having a propagation speed inside the body of the subject.
The liquid enters the body of the subject and reaches the target site within the body, and is further reflected at this site and propagates from the body of the subject through the liquid 4 in the probe body 1 that has a propagation speed within the body of the subject. Then, the process returns to the ultrasonic transducer 5. As a result, when the ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasound transducer 5 of the probe body toward a predetermined region inside the body of the subject is reflected within the body and exits from the body surface, the position at which the reflected wave exits from the body surface is There is no deviation from the position of the target site of the ultrasound waves emitted from the ultrasound transducer 5 in the body.

This eliminates errors in measurement in the distance direction, and allows a highly accurate tomographic image to be displayed.

In this way, the device of this embodiment maintains the temperature of the liquid 4 in the probe body 1 at the same temperature as the internal body temperature of the subject, and maintains the temperature of the liquid 4 in the probe body 1 at the same temperature as the internal body temperature of the subject. In order to be kept in the same state, the propagation speed of ultrasound in the liquid content 4 and the propagation speed of ultrasound in the human body are the same,
The position of the ultrasound emitted from the ultrasound transducer 5 of the probe body 1 when it is reflected at a site inside the body of the subject and exits from the body surface is shifted from the position of the site inside the body that is the target of the ultrasound. Things will disappear.

Therefore, highly accurate ultrasonic diagnosis can be performed by suppressing temperature fluctuations in the liquid content 4 due to the influence of external temperature and maintaining it at the human body temperature.

Note that the means for heating or cooling the content liquid is not limited to the heat converter using the Bertier effect, and other types of devices may be adopted, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and may be modified in various ways. be able to.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention,
a probe body sealed with a liquid content, an ultrasonic vibrator provided in a liquid sealing part of the probe body, a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the liquid content, and a device that heats or cools the liquid content; a temperature control circuit that receives a signal from the temperature sensor and controls the device to maintain the content liquid at a predetermined temperature;
By combining a device that heats or cools the liquid content and a temperature control circuit, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of total/1P1 errors in the distance direction, improve measurement accuracy, obtain good images, and perform highly accurate diagnosis.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of a mechanical sector probe, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control circuit of the mechanical sector probe. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between voltage and heating time in a heat converter, which is an example of means for heating or cooling the content liquid. 1... Probe body, 3... Content liquid filling chamber, 4...
- Content liquid, 5... Ultrasonic vibrator, 11... Temperature sensor, 12... Heat converter, 13... Temperature control circuit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A probe body in which a liquid content is sealed, an ultrasonic transducer provided in the liquid sealing part of the probe body, a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the liquid content, and a device that heats or cools the liquid content. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a device; and a temperature control circuit that receives a signal from the temperature sensor and controls the operation of the device so as to maintain the content liquid at a predetermined temperature. (2) The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the liquid contained in the probe body is maintained at the same temperature as the internal temperature of the subject.