JPH04266746A - Ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a ultrasonic diagnostic device diagnosing a disease such as the constriction or obturation in a blood vessel from the inside of the blood vessel with ultrasonic waves for therapy by providing a ultrasonic vibrator at the tip of a catheter, sector-scanning the ultrasonic vibrator, and displaying the information in the depth direction in front of the ultrasonic vibrator on a CRT. CONSTITUTION:A ultrasonic vibrator 2 is provided at the tip section of a catheter insertable into a blood vessel 23, and shape memory alloy wires 6, 7 are connected to the ultrasonic vibrator 2. The shape memory alloy wires 6, 7 perform extending motions contending with each other via the on/off switching of the excitation heating by current sources 13, 14, and the ultrasonic vibrator 2 is sector-scanned centering on a rotary shaft 5. The maximum deflection angle of the sector scanning motion is detected by a position detector 11 and sent to an angle arithmetic section 12, and the direction information of the ultrasonic vibrator 2 is obtained and used as the drive control signal for the current sources 13, 14.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for diagnosing and treating diseases such as stenosis and occlusion within a blood vessel using ultrasonic waves from inside the blood vessel.

0002

[Prior Art] In recent years, angioplasty surgery, which diagnoses and treats diseases such as stenosis and occlusion in blood vessels using catheters inserted into blood vessels, has become more convenient than bypassing blood vessels through open-heart surgery. Attention has been paid. This method of diagnosing diseases such as stenosis from inside blood vessels is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63
The configuration described in Japanese Patent No. 3834 is known.

[0003] A conventional endovascular video system will be explained below. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a catheter portion of a conventional vascular endoscopic video system. In FIG. 3, 41 is a catheter, 42 is an optical fiber port for image transmission, 43 is an optical fiber port for guiding illumination light, and 44 is a transparent liquid injection port for blood removal. 45 is a blood vessel, and 46 is an atheroma that is a blockage or stenosis.

The operation of the vascular endoscopic video system configured as described above will be explained below. First, the catheter 41 is inserted into the blood vessel 45, and the atheroma 4 is inserted into the blood vessel 45.
Move to the 6th neighborhood. When the tip of the catheter 41 reaches the vicinity of the atheroma 46, the illumination light guiding optical fiber port 4
3. Illuminate the affected area. Since the inside of the blood vessel 45 is opaque due to blood, in order to obtain a visual field, a transparent liquid such as physiological saline is injected from the blood removal transparent liquid injection port 44, and intravascular endoscopic scanning is performed through the image transmission optical fiber port 42. Check the status of atheroma 46.

[0005]

However, with the above configuration, the state of the atheroma is scanned by an endoscope, and therefore sufficient information in the depth direction cannot be obtained. Also, several times
Since physiological saline is injected into the blood vessels, there is a problem that a large amount of physiological saline may be injected into the living body.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and aims to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic device that uses ultrasound from inside a blood vessel to display the condition of an atheroma in the depth direction on a CRT and performs treatment. The purpose is

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve this object, the present invention provides an ultrasonic transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves at the tip of a catheter, and a shape memory alloy that is connected to the ultrasonic transducer. Scanning the ultrasonic transducer in a fan shape using shape change,
The apparatus is configured to display information in the depth direction in front of this ultrasonic transducer on a CRT or the like to treat the inside of a blood vessel.

[0008]

According to the present invention, with the above-described structure, two-dimensional information in the depth direction of an atheroma can be obtained using an ultrasonic transducer without using a transparent liquid for removing blood such as physiological saline.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a catheter inserted into a blood vessel, 2 is an ultrasonic transducer provided at the tip of the catheter 1, 3 is an insulating member connected to the ultrasonic transducer 2, and 4 is an insulating member connected to the insulating member 3. 5 is a rotating shaft made of a conductor that supports the rotational movement of the rotating plate 4; 6 is a shape memory alloy wire A connected to the rotating plate 4; 7 is a rotating plate made of a conductor;
The shape memory alloy wire A6 is connected to the rotating shaft 5 on the rotating plate 4.
shape memory alloy wire B connected in a symmetrical position,
Reference numeral 8 denotes a current-carrying terminal for connecting lead wires for flowing current to the shape memory alloy wire 6 and the shape memory alloy wire 7, 9 an insulating member, and 10 a shape memory alloy wire together with the rotating shaft 5 and the insulating member 9. a support plate 11 made of a conductor that applies tension to 6 and 7 and also serves as a current-carrying ground;
12 is an angle calculation unit connected to the position detector 11; 13 is a current source A for energizing the shape memory alloy wire 6; and 14 is a current source A for supplying electricity to the shape memory alloy wire 7. A current source B for energizing, 15 a control unit that drives the current sources 13 and 14, 16 a receiving unit connected to the ultrasonic transducer 2, 17 a transmitting unit connected to the ultrasonic transducer 2, 18 19 is a scan conversion unit connected to the detection unit 18; 20 is a display unit connected to the scan conversion unit 19; 21 is a membrane that covers the tip of the catheter 1; 22 is a catheter A balloon is placed outside 1, 23 is a blood vessel, and 24 is an atheroma. Note that in this embodiment, the above-mentioned components 12 to 20 are provided outside the catheter 1.

The operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus constructed as described above will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. First, the catheter 1 is inserted into the blood vessel 23. The ultrasonic transmission pulse signal is transferred from the transmitter 17 to the ultrasonic transducer 2, which converts the ultrasonic pulse signal into an ultrasonic signal and transmits the wave to the front of the catheter 1. Current source 1
3 is driven, and the shape memory alloy wire 6 is electrically heated and contracted. The ultrasonic transducer 2 rotates around a rotating shaft 5. Eventually, the rotary plate 4 comes into contact with the position detector 11, and in this state, the ultrasonic transducer 2 reaches the maximum positive rotation angle and enters the state shown in FIG. Subsequently, the information is transmitted to the control unit 15. The control unit 15 stops driving the current source 13, and then drives the current source 14 to cause the shape memory alloy wire 7 to be heated and contracted. At that time, the shape memory alloy wire 6 is stretched in a non-energized state,
The ultrasonic transducer 2 performs rotational movement in the opposite direction. Eventually, the rotary plate 4 comes into contact with the position detector 11 again, and in this state, the ultrasonic transducer 2 reaches the maximum negative rotation angle, resulting in the state shown in FIG. 3(b), and this information is transmitted to the angle calculation section, Subsequently, the information is transmitted to the control unit 15. The control unit 15 stops driving the current source 14 and starts driving the current source 13 again.

As described above, by using the position detector 11 and switching the current sources 13 and 14, the ultrasonic transducer 2 can be caused to scan in a fan-shaped manner. This control method is illustrated in FIG. 2. The time (T2-T1) corresponds to one fan-shaped scan of the ultrasonic transducer 2. Angle calculation unit 12
divides the interval between T1 and T2 into N parts to obtain direction information of the ultrasonic transducer 2 corresponding to ΔT.

The ultrasonic pulses transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer 2 propagate in the blood and interact with the blood and blood vessels 23 and atheroma 2.
A part of it is reflected at the boundary of 4 and returns to the ultrasonic transducer 2. The ultrasonic waves reflected and returned to the ultrasonic transducer 2
The signal is converted into an electrical signal in the receiving section 16 and detected by the detecting section 18 . The scan conversion section 19 generates a television signal from the detection output of the detection section 18 and the direction information of the ultrasound transducer 2 of the angle calculation section 12, and displays an ultrasound tomographic image on the display section 20. The catheter 1 is brought close to the atheroma 24 while viewing the ultrasonic diagnostic image of the atheroma 24 on the display unit 20. The catheter 1 is moved so that the balloon 22 is placed inside the atheroma 24, the balloon 22 is inflated, and angioplasty surgery is performed to perform diagnosis and treatment at the same time.

[0014]

As described above, the present invention displays an ultrasonic diagnostic image inside a blood vessel by inserting an ultrasonic transducer scanned by a shape memory alloy into a blood vessel, thereby detecting stenosis or stenosis in the blood vessel. It is possible to realize excellent diagnosis and treatment that can diagnose diseases such as occlusion, and at the same time can easily overcome angioplasty surgery using a balloon and perform it quickly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cutaway perspective view of essential parts of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2] Signal timing chart showing the operation of the ultrasonic transducer, which is the main part of the device

FIG. 3: (a) A plan view showing the positive fan-shaped motion of the ultrasonic transducer; (b) A plan view showing the negative fan-shaped motion of the ultrasonic transducer.

[Figure 4] Enlarged view of the distal end of a conventional vascular endoscopic video system

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Catheter 2 Ultrasonic transducer 3 Insulating material 4 Rotating plate 5 Rotation axis 6 Shape memory alloy wire A 7 Shape memory alloy wire B 8 Energizing terminal 9 Insulating material 10 Support plate 11 Position detector 12 Angle calculation section 13 Current source A 14 Current source B 15 Control section 16 Receiving section 17 Transmission section 18 Detection section 19 Scan conversion section 20 Display section 21 Membrane 22 Balloon 23 Blood vessels 24 Atheroma

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A catheter inserted into a blood vessel, an ultrasonic transducer contained in a distal end of the catheter, a rotary plate connected to the ultrasonic transducer, and supporting rotational movement of the rotary plate. a rotating shaft; a shape memory alloy wire connected to the rotating plate and causing the ultrasonic transducer to scan in a fan shape in the blood vessel length direction around the rotating shaft; and a drive control unit controlling the expansion and contraction movement of the shape memory alloy wire. , a position detector disposed within the catheter and detecting the direction of the ultrasonic transducer; an angle calculation unit connected to the position detector; and a transmitting unit and a receiving unit connected to the ultrasonic transducer. an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a detection section connected to the reception section; a scan conversion section connected to the detection section; a membrane covered on the tip of the catheter; and a balloon attached to the catheter.