JPH05103780A - Machine scan type ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide easily and inexpensively an ultrasonic probe suitable for a diagnosis object place by making an element constitution portion and a drive constitution portion attachable/detachable. CONSTITUTION:An element constitution portion 22 containing an ultrasonic vibrator 10 and a ultrasonic wave propagation medium 11 and a drive constitution portion 21 having a motor 2 with an encoder are constituted attachably/ detachably by means of shaft joints 5a, 5b, connectors 6a, 6b and snap locks 7a, 7b.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanically operated ultrasonic probe used in a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, transmission of power and electric signals of an ultrasonic transducer in a mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe is performed by, for example,
It was carried out as shown in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 3-90495. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of a conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe.

In FIG. 4, a transmission system for imparting rotational power to the ultrasonic probe 107 transmits a signal transmitted via the cable 101 to the motor 102 with an encoder, converts the signal into rotational power, and the motor 102 with an encoder described above. The drive gear 106a directly fixed to the shaft drives the driven gear 106b and the ultrasonic transducer 107 fixed to the driven gear 106b.
Was rotating.

For electric signals, the frame 10
4 is provided with a hole 111, and the signal line 110 taken out from the ultrasonic transducer 107 is connected to the cable 101 via the hole 111.
Was directly connected to. In addition, in order to propagate the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transducer 107 to the outside of the acoustic window 109 with little attenuation, the ultrasonic propagation medium 108 having an acoustic impedance close to that of the human body is filled in the acoustic window 109.
Further, in order to seal the ultrasonic wave propagating medium 108 from the acoustic window 109 so as not to leak inside the case 103, an oil seal 105 is provided between the shaft of the motor 102 with an encoder and the frame 104 in a form fixed to the frame 104, The hole 111 provided in the frame 104 was filled with the adhesive and filled.

[0005]

However, in the present situation where diagnosis is performed using an ultrasonic probe having a different frequency, shape, etc. used for the diagnosis depending on the target site of the diagnosis, the conventional mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe described above is used. So, for example, when you want to replace a low-frequency probe that can perform deep diagnosis with a high-frequency probe that can perform shallow diagnosis, etc. It is necessary to replace the entire probe, and therefore several ultrasonic probes are required, which is a great financial burden. Further, since a plurality of probes are provided, it is troublesome to handle a long cable and inconvenience occurs during storage.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and is an excellent mechanical scanning type supersonic probe which can be easily replaced even when the ultrasonic probe to be used is desired to be replaced and which is economically inexpensive. It is intended to provide a sound wave probe.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention comprises an ultrasonic wave oscillator and an ultrasonic wave transmitting medium, and an element forming portion made of a window material having an ultrasonic wave transmitting property.
A drive component that includes drive means for driving the ultrasonic transducer, and the element component and the drive component are detachable.

[0008]

With the above-described structure, the present invention makes it possible to attach / detach the element forming section and the driving forming section, and to easily select an ultrasonic probe suitable for a diagnosis target site.

[0009]

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a drive component and an element component of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the configuration of the drive configuration unit 21 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, the cable 1
Is transmitted to the motor with encoder 2 and is converted into rotational power here. By using the motor with the encoder, the state of rotation of the ultrasonic transducer 10 can be accurately grasped. The rotational power is transmitted to the shaft coupling 5a (a clutch is used in this embodiment, but a spline may be used here) which is rotatably fixed to the frame 4. Further, the electric signal supplied to the ultrasonic probe is electrically connected to the connector 6 a fixed to the frame 4 via the cable 1. Then, as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), these are covered with a case 3 for protection to form a drive component 21.

Next, the structure of the element structure section 22 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1C, the shaft coupling 5b is rotatably fixed to the frame 8, and the ultrasonic transducer 10
The connector 6b electrically connected with the cable 25 is fixed. The shaft joint 5b and the connector 6b can be referred to as the shaft joint 5a and the connector 6a of the drive component 21, respectively. Further, the drive gear 9a is connected to the shaft coupling 5b for rotation, and the driven gear 9b and the ultrasonic transducer 10 fixed to the driven gear 9b are also rotated.

Regarding the electric signal, the signal line taken out from the ultrasonic transducer 10 is connected to the connector 6. further,
In order to propagate ultrasonic waves to the subject with little attenuation,
The periphery of the ultrasonic transducer 10 is covered with an acoustic window 12, and the inside of the acoustic window 12 is filled with the ultrasonic propagation medium 11.

The drive component 21 and the element component 22 are attached and detached by engaging the shaft coupling 5a and the shaft coupling 5b, the connector 6a and the connector 6b, respectively, and temporarily installing them in the case 3 and the acoustic window 12, respectively. The mechanical joint mechanism (in this embodiment, the snap locks 7a and 7b) is used. At this time, the ultrasonic coupling 10a and the shaft coupling 5b are accurately and accurately assigned at the same position, so that the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the motor with encoder 2
A rotation can be brought into relation with and the rotation position or image position can be precisely controlled.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the drive component 2
1 and the element constituent portion 22 are configured to be detachable and can be exchanged with each other. Hereinafter, a case where the element constituent portion is specifically replaced will be described.

First, replacement is performed when the frequencies used for diagnosis are different. The general frequency of medical ultrasonic diagnosis is 2 to 10 MHz, and generally, the higher the frequency, the more suitable it is for the diagnosis of shallow areas. The difference in frequency is ultrasonic transducer 1
This is due to the characteristic of 0, and the outer shape of the housing does not change.
Therefore, the ultrasonic transducers 10 having different transmission and reception frequencies are provided, and by exchanging the element configuration unit 22 displaying the respective frequencies, it is possible to easily perform diagnosis using various frequencies.

Second, replacement is performed when the ultrasonic probe itself has different axial lengths. In general, a long-axis ultrasonic probe is used in the body cavity diagnosis rather than the body surface diagnosis. The reason for this is to bring the ultrasonic transducer 10 closer to the diagnosis site as much as possible from the drive component 21 to be operated, and to obtain a clear image using high frequency without interference such as bone. FIG. 2 shows the element configuration unit 23 used for in-body diagnosis. The difference between the element forming portion 23 and the element forming portion 22 is basically only the shape of the acoustic window 12 caused by the difference in the length of the rotating shaft 13, but both ends of the rotating shaft 13 due to the long rotating shaft 13. In order to prevent eccentricity, the frame 8 is provided with a bearing 14 that rotatably supports the rotating shaft 13.

Thirdly, the rotating direction of the ultrasonic transducer 10 is changed. In the case of intracavitary diagnosis, mainly transrectal diagnosis, ultrasonic waves are emitted in the radial direction. FIG. 3 shows the element configuration unit 24 used in this case. In this case, since the ultrasonic transducer 10 is rotated in the radial direction, the ultrasonic transducer 10 is directly fixed to the rotary shaft 13 without the drive gear 9a and the driven gear 9b.

Although the three cases of exchanging the element constituent parts have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the examples given in this embodiment, and various element constituent parts having different internal structures can be used. Will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

According to the present embodiment, even if the ultrasonic probe is changed, only one driving component is required and only the element component needs to be attached and detached and replaced. This has the effect of being financially inexpensive as compared with the case where a sound wave probe is prepared. Further, even if the element constituent parts are prepared for a plurality of uses, since the connecting cable to the diagnostic apparatus main body is only connected to the driving constituent part, it has an effect of being easy to handle and store.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above-described embodiment, the present invention makes it possible to easily select the element component suitable for the site to be diagnosed by making the drive component and the element component detachable. Therefore, it is possible to provide a plurality of probes suitable for the site to be diagnosed at a low price. Furthermore, since only one drive component is required, even if a plurality of element components are provided, only one cable is required between the probe and the ultrasonic transducer, and it is easy to handle and store. It also has an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a front sectional view of a driving component of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a side sectional view of the driving component. FIG. 1C is an ultrasonic probe according to the present embodiment. Front sectional view of the element configuration part of

FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view showing another example of the element structure portion in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view showing still another example of the element structure portion in the present embodiment.

FIG. 4A is a front sectional view of a conventional ultrasonic probe. FIG. 4B is a side sectional view of the conventional ultrasonic probe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cable 2 Encoder Motor 3 Case 4, 8 Frame 5a, 5b Shaft Coupling 6a, 6b Connector 7a, 7b Punch Lock 10 Ultrasonic Transducer 12 Acoustic Window 13 Shaft 21 Drive Component 22, 23, 24 Element Component

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An element structure part comprising a window material having an ultrasonic wave transmissivity and including an ultrasonic transducer and an ultrasonic wave propagation medium,
A mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe comprising: a drive component that includes a drive unit that drives the ultrasonic transducer; and a detachable unit that detachably attaches the element component and the drive component. 2. The machine according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic transducer and the rotation detecting means provided in the driving means are connected at the same position when the element constituent portion and the driving constituent portion are mounted. Scanning ultrasonic probe. 3. The mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the attaching / detaching means comprises a connector for transmitting electric signals and a shaft joint for transmitting mechanical power. 4. The mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe according to claim 3, wherein a clutch is used to transmit mechanical power. 5. The mechanical scanning ultrasonic probe according to claim 3, wherein a spline is used to transmit mechanical power.