JPH0347239A - Apparatus for ultrasonic diagnosis - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable entirely equal operations of an apparatus to be carried out notwithstanding the difference of user's dominant hand by making positions of two or more type switches optionally interchangeable with each other. CONSTITUTION:Switches A...E from among two or more type switches A...F, which are arranged at an operation panel 6 of apparatus main body 1, are constituted of units, i.e., recording switch unit (a), track ball unit (b), STC volume switch unit (c), mode switch unit (d) and freeze switch unit (e). Every unit (a)...(e) is made removable and interchangeable with each other. It is possible, therefore, to operate the switches A...F in an entirely equal manner notwithstanding the difference of user's dominant hand, resulting in an improvement of operability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that improves the arrangement of a plurality of types of switches on an operation panel.

(Prior Art) When making a diagnosis using an ultrasonic diagnostic device, a user 8 such as a doctor or a technician pulls out an ultrasonic probe 3 from the device main body 1 via a cable 2 and places it on a bed 4, as shown in FIG. Desired diagnosis is performed by operating various switches arranged on the operation panel 6 while in contact with the lying subject 5. Reference numeral 7 denotes a display that displays images taken by ultrasonic scanning by the ultrasonic probe 3.

FIG. 5 shows the appearance of the operation panel 6 in such an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and a plurality of types of switches each having functions necessary for diagnosis are arranged on the operation panel 6. - For example, the recording switch A, trackball B, STC volume switch C, mode switch D, freeze switch E, and full key switch F are arranged from the front left side. Each of these switches A to F is arranged in a layout that is easy to use for diagnosis (according to a person who normally uses cloth), but each position remains fixed.

When the diagnosis is actually performed here, each switch is operated by the user 8's hand, but the user 8 is not necessarily a right-handed person, and some are left-handed people. For this reason, in order to make it easier for left-handed users to use, it has been considered that a support 9 is provided at the end of the device main body 1, as shown in FIG. 6, and the device main body is configured to be rotatable using the support 9 as a fulcrum. There is.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in conventional ultrasound diagnostic equipment, although multiple types of switches are arranged for ease of use, their positions remain fixed, so if the user is right-handed or Since it is impossible for a left-handed person to operate the device in exactly the same way, there is a problem that the operability is inferior.

The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus equipped with an operation panel that can be operated in exactly the same way regardless of the user's listening skills.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has an ultrasonic probe in contact with a subject, and operates a plurality of types of switches arranged on an operation panel. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is characterized in that the positions of the plurality of types of switches can be arbitrarily changed.

(Function) By configuring the plurality of types of switches arranged on the operation panel so that their positions can be changed arbitrarily, each switch can be arranged according to the listening hand of the user. Therefore, the user can operate each switch in exactly the same way whether he is a right-handed person or a left-handed person, so that operability can be improved.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, in which the main body 1 of the apparatus is supported by casters 10 so as to be movable to any location. 2 is a cable drawn out from the main body 1 of the apparatus, and 3 is an ultrasonic probe connected to the end of the cable 2. Reference numeral 6 is an operation panel on which a plurality of types of switches necessary for performing ultrasonic diagnosis are arranged.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a display that displays images taken by ultrasonic scanning by the ultrasonic probe 3.

Assuming that a plurality of types of switches A to F are normally arranged on the operation panel 6 in the same arrangement as shown in FIG.
Among these, the switches A to E are arranged in unit units, and include a recording switch unit a, a trackball unit b, an STC volume switch unit C, a mode switch unit d, and a freeze switch unit e. Each of these units a to e is configured to be removable, and thus can be replaced with one another. - As an example, FIG. 2 shows an example in which the recording switch unit a and the freeze switch unit e are interchanged.

Of the switches configured in units of these units, recording switch A is for recording the image displayed on display 7 in a frozen state, and trackball B is for setting coordinates at an arbitrary position on display 7. ,
The STC volume switch C is for correcting the characteristics in the depth direction in ultrasonic scanning, the mode switch D is for setting the mode of ultrasonic scanning, and the freeze switch E is for freezing the image displayed on display 7. It is for the purpose of Of these switches, the recording switch A and the freeze switch E in particular are placed apart from each other in order to prevent mutual selection errors.

FIG. 3 shows another arrangement example in which the positions of the recording switch unit a and the freeze switch unit e are interchanged with respect to the arrangement of FIG. 5, and the positions of the trackball unit b and mode switch unit d are changed. This shows an example in which the mutual positions are swapped.

When replacing each unit in this manner, a connector bin for the target switch is provided in advance on the back of the unit, so that the unit can be operated simply by installing the unit. For example, when replacing recording switch unit a and freeze switch unit e as shown in Fig. 3, a plurality of pins 11 necessary for both units are provided in advance on the back side of each unit a and b as shown in Fig. 4. By specifying pin lla as the pin necessary for the operation of recording switch unit a and pin llb as the pin necessary for the operation of freeze switch unit e, the necessary pins can be set simply by installing each unit. You can perform various actions.

According to this embodiment, when the positions of the recording mode switch A and the freeze switch E are swapped as shown in FIG. 2, a symmetrical arrangement can be obtained for a right-handed person and a left-handed person. Therefore, even in the case of freeze switch E, which is frequently used during diagnosis, the same operation can be performed regardless of the difference in the listener, thereby improving operability.

Further, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the same effect can be obtained only by changing the type of target switch.

Note that the necessary switches arranged on the operation panel can be arbitrarily changed depending on the purpose, use, etc., and are not limited to those in the embodiment.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the positions of multiple types of switches arranged on the operation panel can be changed arbitrarily, so that the switches can be operated in exactly the same way regardless of the user's preference. The switch can be operated to improve operability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the operation panel of the device of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another configuration of the device of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of the arrangement of connector pins of the switch unit of the operation panel used in the device of this embodiment; FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the operation panel used in the conventional device; FIG. 6 is a top view showing a conventional device, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of diagnosis using an ultrasonic diagnostic device. 3... Ultrasonic probe, 6... Operation panel, 11
...Connector pin, A...Recording switch, B...Trackball, C
... STC volume switch, D... Mode switch, E... Freeze switch, a... Recording switch unit, b... Trackball unit, C... STC volume switch unit, d...
Mode switch unit, e...Freeze switch unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that has an ultrasonic probe in contact with a subject and performs a desired diagnosis by operating multiple types of switches arranged on an operation panel, wherein the positions of the multiple types of switches can be arbitrarily changed. An ultrasonic diagnostic device characterized by: