JPH0515536A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a proper ultrasonic image information with limited effect of a high voltage pulse flowing through a transmitting system signal path by arranging a part alone through which a receiving signal processed by a pre- electric circuit means side by side in a diametrical direction of a transmitting system signal path and an ultrasonic probe out of a signal line forming a receiving system signal path. CONSTITUTION:An ultrasonic vibrator 5 and a pre-amplifier 6 exclusive for reception are connected together through a signal line 7 and a receiving system signal path 8 having the signal line 7 extends in the direction of a drive section. An ultrasonic vibrator 4 exclusive for transmission is provided behind the ultrasonic vibrator 5 and the pre-amplifier 6 and a transmitting system signal path 9 extends in the direction of the drive section. Thus, in a part A-1 where the receiving system signal path 8 and the transmitting system signal path 9 are arranged side by side in the diametrical direction of the ultrasonic probe, a signal of a high level amplified with the pre-amplifier 6 flows through the receiving system signal path 8. Thus, any high voltage pulse flowing through the transmitting system signal path 9 has a limited effect thereby producing a proper ultrasonic image.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe provided with an electric circuit means such as a preamplifier near an ultrasonic transducer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that emits an ultrasonic beam from an ultrasonic transducer and converts an electric signal based on a reflection echo into an image signal to obtain an ultrasonic tomographic image of an object to be observed is widely used. It is used. In this ultrasonic diagnostic device,
The portion to be inserted into the region to be observed is the ultrasonic probe. FIG. 8 shows an outline of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for body cavity for observing and diagnosing the inside of a human body. The ultrasonic probe 51 has an ultrasonic transducer (not shown) inside the tip and is inserted into the human body 52. The ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 51 receives and transmits an electric signal by the drive unit 53, and mechanically or electronically scans the ultrasonic beam.
The received echo signal received by the ultrasonic probe 51 is generated as an image signal by the ultrasonic observation device 54. And
The image signal is displayed on the monitor 55 as an ultrasonic tomographic image.

9 to 12 are views for explaining the tip portion of the ultrasonic probe 51. FIG. 9 shows a tip structure of a mechanical radial scan type ultrasonic probe, in which a housing 57 having an ultrasonic transducer inside a flexible sheath 56 is rotatable. It is housed in. The housing 57 is fixed to one end of a flexible shaft 58 having flexibility, and the other end of the flexible shaft 58 is rotated by a drive mechanism in a drive unit (not shown) to generate an ultrasonic beam. Mechanical radial scan of. Inside the housing 57, an ultrasonic oscillator 59 dedicated to ultrasonic beam transmission, an ultrasonic oscillator 60 dedicated to receiving waves, and a preamplifier 61 are provided. The preamplifier 61 amplifies the received signal before transmitting the received signal so that it is not disturbed by external noise or induction of a pulse signal for transmission because the level of the echo signal is generally extremely weak. This is for relatively reducing the influence of noise.

FIG. 10 shows a state of electrical connection inside the housing 57. The ultrasonic transducer 59 dedicated to transmitting waves is more than the ultrasonic transducer 60 dedicated to receiving waves and the preamplifier 61. The transmission system signal path 62 is arranged on the tip side of the ultrasonic probe and extends toward the drive section. Further, the reception system signal path 63 has a signal wiring 64 before the reception signal enters the preamplifier 61 and extends toward the drive section. The signal wiring 64 of the reception system signal path 63 and the transmission system signal path 62 are arranged side by side in the radial direction of the ultrasonic probe. The portion A in FIG. 10 corresponds to this juxtaposed portion.

FIG. 11 shows the internal structure of an ultrasonic probe of the electronic radial scan type. A radial array 65 is provided at the tip of a flexible sheath 56. A multiplexer circuit 66 is provided at the rear of the radial array 65, and the connection with each ultrasonic transducer element of the radial array 65 can be switched with a phase difference. The beam is electronically radial scanned. The electric signal transmission path is divided into a reception system signal path 67 and a transmission system signal path 68. The received signal passes through the clip circuit 69 from the output end of the multiplexer 66, enters the preamplifier 70, is amplified, and then is transmitted to the drive unit by the signal wire 67 of the receiving system.

On the other hand, the transmission signal passes through the clipping circuit 69 and enters the multiplexer circuit 66 by the transmission system signal path 68. The clipping circuit 69 is for preventing a high-voltage transmission pulse signal from flowing into the preamplifier 70 and destroying it. Further, the preamplifier 70 is for amplifying a weak echo signal as in the above-mentioned example, and for relatively reducing the influence of various noises. FIG. 12 shows a state of electrical connection of the ultrasonic probe. The radial array 65 and the multiplexer circuit 66 are arranged on the front end side of the preamplifier 70 in the clip circuit 69 and the reception system signal path 67. Therefore, similarly to the above, the low-level signal wiring 71 before entering the preamplifier 70 in the receiving system signal path 69 is arranged in parallel with the transmitting system signal path 68 in the radial direction of the ultrasonic probe. B shows the part provided in parallel.

[0007]

However, the mechanical radial scan system and the electronic radial scan system of the above-mentioned conventional examples are the signal wiring and the transmission system signal line for transmitting a weak signal among the reception system signal lines. Since there is a portion arranged in parallel in the radial direction of the ultrasonic probe, a weak signal may be induced by noise due to a high-voltage pulse in the transmission system signal path. As a result, even if the preamplifier is provided, there is a problem that it is affected by noise and proper ultrasonic image information cannot be obtained. This problem is caused by the combination of ultrasonic transducers proposed so far (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-60397) and ultrasonic probes (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-13703).
This is also the case with the No. 9 publication). These are provided with ultrasonic transducers dedicated to receiving waves and transmitting waves, and by changing the materials thereof, the efficiency of transmission / reception is improved, and a highly sensitive ultrasonic probe is configured. However, the above problems due to the positional relationship between the reception system signal path and the transmission system signal path have not been solved. The present invention is proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and reduces the influence of a high-voltage pulse flowing in a transmission system signal path, amplifies a weak reception signal flowing in a reception system signal path, and outputs a proper ultrasonic wave. The purpose is to provide an ultrasonic probe capable of obtaining image information.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ultrasonic vibrator dedicated to the transmission of an ultrasonic beam, an ultrasonic vibrator dedicated to the reception of the ultrasonic beam, and the ultrasonic vibration. An ultrasonic wave having front electric circuit means for processing and outputting a received signal from a child, a transmission system signal path for transmitting a transmission signal to an ultrasonic transducer, and a reception system signal path for transmitting a received signal In the probe, the signal line forming the reception system signal path is arranged in parallel in the radial direction of the transmission system signal path and the ultrasonic probe only in the portion where the received signal processed by the front electric circuit means flows. The ultrasonic probe is characterized in that

[0009]

As described above, according to the present invention, the signal flowing through the portion of the receiving system signal path arranged in parallel with the transmitting system signal path is an electrically stable signal amplified by the front electric circuit means. Therefore, the influence of noise from the high-voltage pulse signal of the transmission system can be made relatively small.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a tip configuration of a mechanical radial type ultrasonic probe according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection state. Inside the flexible sheath 1,
A housing 2 in which an ultrasonic transducer or the like is mounted is housed so as to be rotatable about the center axis of the sheath. The housing 2 is fixed to one end of a flexible shaft 3 having flexibility, and the other end of the flexible shaft 3 is connected to a drive mechanism in a drive unit (not shown). In the housing 2, an ultrasonic transducer 4 dedicated to ultrasonic beam transmission, an ultrasonic transducer 5 dedicated to receiving waves, a preamplifier 6 for amplifying a received signal, etc. are mounted.

The above-mentioned members inside the housing 2 are connected as shown in FIG. The ultrasonic transducer 5 dedicated to receiving waves and the preamplifier 6 are connected via a signal line 7 through which a weak received signal flows, and a receiving system signal path 8 having this signal line 7 is not shown in the drawing. It extends in the direction of the section. Behind the ultrasonic oscillator 5 and the preamplifier 6 (toward the drive unit), the ultrasonic oscillator 4 dedicated to wave transmission is provided, and the transmission system signal path 9 extends toward the drive unit. ..

With this configuration, in the portion A-1 where the receiving system signal path 8 and the transmitting system signal path 9 are juxtaposed in the radial direction of the ultrasonic probe, the receiving system signal path is provided. A high-level signal that has been amplified by the preamplifier 6 flows in the signal line 8, and even if a high-voltage pulse flows in the transmission system signal path 9 to try to adversely affect noise induction, the effect is relatively small. ..

Next, a method of molding the housing used in this embodiment will be described. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3, a round bar having a metal content is carved out to form a cross section as shown in FIG. A and a flat surface as shown in FIG.
However, as the diameter of the body of the ultrasonic probe becomes smaller and the housing becomes finer, the conventional molding method becomes difficult. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, first, two kinds of metal pipes 10 and 11 having different diameters are cut into a predetermined length. Next, as shown in FIG. B, a metal pipe 11 slightly longer than this is inserted into one metal pipe 10 and one end thereof is aligned, and the other end of the metal pipe 10 is formed as a shoulder portion 12 of the housing. Next, both metal tubes are fixed by a method such as spot welding. Finally, the recess 13 is formed by a removal machining method such as electric discharge machining to complete.

FIG. 5 shows another method of molding the housing. First, a rigid body portion 15 to be a housing is formed by impregnating metal wax at the tip of the flexible shaft 14 as shown in FIG. Then C
As shown in the figure, a recess 16 is formed in the rigid part 15 by electric discharge machining or the like to complete the process. According to this method, a fine housing can be formed and the housing and the flexible shaft 14 can be integrally formed, so that the step of fixing the both can be omitted and the production cost can be reduced. The flexible shaft 14 is formed by coating Teflon, a Ni thin film or the like on the wire and winding it, or if it is coated after winding, the sliding friction on the surface is reduced, so that the rotation transferability is improved. Can be made When the flexible shaft 14 is formed in this manner, it is necessary to remove the coating from only the tip of the flexible shaft 14 in order to form the housing as described above.

FIG. 6 shows the structure of the tip of an electronic radial scan type ultrasonic probe according to the second embodiment of the present invention. A radial array 17 is provided at the tip of the flexible sheath 1, and a multiplexer 18 is provided in front of it.
The multiplexer 18 switches the connection of each ultrasonic transducer element of the radial array 17 with a phase difference, and the ultrasonic beam is electronically scanned radially. A clip circuit 19 and a preamplifier 20 are provided in front of the multiplexer 18, and the received signal passes through the clip circuit 19 from the output end of the multiplexer 18 and enters the preamplifier 20. It is adapted to be transmitted by the signal path 21.

FIG. 7 shows a state of electrical connection inside the ultrasonic probe. The reception signal is transmitted through the reception system signal path 21 after being amplified by the preamplifier 20 located at the front end of the ultrasonic probe. Further, the transmission system signal path 22 extends in the same direction as the reception system signal path 21 from the clip circuit 19 located behind the preamplifier 20. Therefore, the receiving system signal path 21 and the transmitting system signal path 22 are arranged side by side in the radial direction of the ultrasonic probe at the B-1 portion. Is transmitting a high-level signal that has already been amplified.
The influence of the induction of noise and the like from the high-voltage pulse flowing through the circuit becomes relatively small.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but various modifications and variations are possible. For example, although the present invention has been described with reference to an embodiment applied to a medical body cavity ultrasonic probe, it can be easily applied to an industrial ultrasonic flaw detection probe.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the portion of the receiving system signal path that is arranged in parallel with the transmitting system signal path in the radial direction of the ultrasonic probe is amplified by the preamplifier. Since the reception signal is transmitted, it is possible to obtain a more appropriate ultrasonic image because the adverse effect such as the induction of noise from the high voltage pulse flowing through the transmission system signal path is relatively reduced. Became.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an internal structure of a tip of a mechanical radial scan type ultrasonic probe according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection state of the tip of the ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view and a plan view showing a conventional example of a housing used for the ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a method of molding the housing.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing another method of molding the housing.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an electronic radial scan type ultrasonic probe tip according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection state of the tip of the ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic tomography apparatus according to a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a mechanical radial scan type ultrasonic probe tip according to a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection state of the tip of the ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a tip of an electronic radial scan type ultrasonic probe according to a conventional example.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection state of the tip of the ultrasonic probe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 series 4 ultrasonic transducer dedicated to transmission 5 ultrasonic transducer dedicated to reception 6 preamplifier 7 signal line (for reception) 8 reception signal path 9 transmission signal path

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. An ultrasonic transducer dedicated to transmitting an ultrasonic beam, an ultrasonic transducer dedicated to reception, and a received signal from the ultrasonic transducer. In an ultrasonic probe having front electric circuit means for outputting, a transmission system signal path for transmitting a transmission signal to an ultrasonic transducer, and a reception system signal path for transmitting a reception signal, a reception system signal path The signal line forming the ultrasonic probe is characterized in that only the portion through which the received signal processed by the front electric circuit means flows is arranged in parallel with the transmitting system signal line in the radial direction of the ultrasonic probe. Tentacles.