JPH0523336A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To maintain flexibility with the removal of a noise by a method wherein an ultrasonic reflector is provided free to rotate on the rear of a piezo-electric vibrator in a case and a fluid to be sent from the outside of the apparatus is jetted out and drives it to rotate to eliminate alignment of a transgap, the winding of a coil and the like. CONSTITUTION:A piezo-electric vibrator 3 is fixed on an internal wall at the tip of a case 2 which is mounted on one end of a tube 1 to be inserted into a blood vessel and a signal line 15 and an earth wire 22 are joined on an electrode to be connected to an electrical signal processing circuit 16. An ultrasonic reflector 5 arranged behind the piezo-electric vibrator 3 is made to rotate freely about a center shaft 4 of the case 2 and an impeller 9 is provided therebehind to run by a fluid 6. Then, a passage 8 has a flexible pipe 18 inserted through the case 2 and the tube 1 to supply a physiological saline (fluid 6) from a pump 19. The impeller 9 and the ultrasonic reflector 5 are driven to rotate by a water pressure of the fluid 6 jetting out at the other end of the passage 8, namely, at a jetting port 7. Moreover, the fluid is discharged into the blood vessel at a discharge port 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe, and more particularly to an ultrasonic probe used for ultrasonic flaw detection in blood vessels.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows a conventional ultrasonic probe used for detecting flaws in a blood vessel. A probe inserted into a blood vessel by a guide wire (not shown) is formed by housing a piezoelectric vibrator 3 in a case 2 provided at the tip of a tube 1 made of a flexible material. The piezoelectric vibrator 3 is a case 2
The piezoelectric transformer 3 is held by a rotor 13 which is rotatable around an axis (not shown) provided along the longitudinal direction of the rotary transformer 1 arranged in front of the rotor 13.
4 or a slip ring and a signal line 15 to be connected to an external electric signal processing circuit 16.

A turbine 17 is provided at the base end portion of the rotor 13, and a pipe 18 is arranged on the back side of the turbine 17 in the vicinity of the outer periphery so that the jet port 7 is opposed to the pump. By ejecting a fluid 6 such as physiological saline by 19, the turbine 17 and the piezoelectric vibrator 3 on the rotor 13 are driven to rotate.

The fluid 6 ejected from the pipe 18
Is discharged into the blood vessel through the discharge port 10 formed in the front of the case 2.

In this ultrasonic probe, however, when the fluid 6 is ejected from the pipe 18 to rotate the piezoelectric vibrator 3 and a drive voltage is applied from the electric signal processing circuit 16, the ultrasonic wave is superposed radially in the blood vessel. A sound beam is emitted,
The reflected wave is again received by the piezoelectric vibrator 3 and processed by the electric signal processing circuit 16 to obtain a tomographic image of the blood vessel.

FIG. 4 shows still another conventional example. The rotor 13 holding the piezoelectric vibrator 3 is connected to an external drive source such as a motor 21 via a flexible shaft 20, and the drive source 21 causes piezoelectric vibration. The piezoelectric vibrator 3 is driven while the child 3 is rotated to obtain a tomographic image of the blood vessel.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the rotary transformer 1 is used to connect the rotating piezoelectric vibrator 3 and the external electric signal processing circuit 16.
4 or a slip ring is used, but when configuring a minute ultrasonic probe that can be inserted into a blood vessel by using the rotary transformer 14, alignment of the transformer / gap, coil winding, etc. Is difficult to realize because of the difficulty of the work described above. Further, when a slip ring is used, a minute piezoelectric vibrator 3 having a small transmission / reception efficiency, such as used for flaw detection in a blood vessel, is generated by contact with a brush. It has a drawback that the noise becomes large and the S / N decreases.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, when the piezoelectric vibrator 3 is rotationally driven by the flexible shaft 20, the flexibility of the whole is impaired and it is difficult to insert the piezoelectric vibrator 3 into a meandering blood vessel. I had one.

The present invention has been made to solve the above drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe which is free from noise and does not lose its flexibility.

[0010]

According to the present invention, the above object is achieved by a piezoelectric element fixed to an inner wall surface of a case 2 connected to one end of a flexible tube 1 as shown in FIG. 1 corresponding to an embodiment. The vibrator 3, an ultrasonic reflector 5 held on the back surface of the piezoelectric vibrator 3 rotatably around an axis 4 along the longitudinal direction of the case 2, and a fluid 6 sent from outside the apparatus.
The flow path 8 that guides the gas to the jet port 7 located behind the ultrasonic reflector 5 and the fluid 6 that is fixed behind the ultrasonic reflector 5 and is jetted from the jet port 7 of the flow channel 8. A rotating body 9 for driving the ultrasonic reflector 5 to rotate via the shaft 4, and a discharge port provided in the case 2 for discharging the fluid 6 ejected from the ejection port 7 to the outside of the case 2. 1
This is accomplished by providing an ultrasound probe comprising 0 and.

Further, the ultrasonic reflector 5 can be formed in a shape in which a cylinder is obliquely cut, and the wall surface of the hypotenuse thereof can be used as the ultrasonic reflecting surface 11 facing the front of the case 2. The fluid 6 ejected from 7 can be configured to be collected by the case 2 and the circulation path 12 formed in the tube 1.

[0012]

In the present invention, the scanning of the ultrasonic beam is performed by rotating the ultrasonic reflector 5, and the piezoelectric vibrator 3
Is fixed to the inner wall of the case 2. As a result, the piezoelectric vibrator 3
On the other hand, since the wires can be directly connected without going through the rotary transformer 14 or the like, problems such as manufacturing or noise generation can be prevented.

Further, when the ultrasonic reflector 5 is formed in a shape in which a cylinder is obliquely cut, it is possible to perform ultrasonic scanning forward of the case 2. Further, when the circulation path 12 for collecting the fluid 6 from the ejection port 7 is formed, the rotating body 9
As the driving fluid 6 of FIG.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 2 is a flexible tube 1 guided by a guide wire (not shown) and inserted into a blood vessel.
The case 2 is attached to one end of the, and its tip is formed in a hemispherical shape so as not to damage internal organs. Further, the piezoelectric vibrator 3 is fixed to the inner wall of the front end portion of the case, and the signal line 15 and the ground line 22 are joined to the electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrator 3 and connected to an electric signal processing circuit 16 (not shown).

The main surface of the piezoelectric vibrator 3 is the case 2
Is arranged so as to be orthogonal to the central axis 4 thereof, and a necessary backing material is arranged between the piezoelectric vibrator 3 and the wall surface of the case 2 so that ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the rear of the case 2 during driving, that is, rightward in FIG. Send to.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an ultrasonic wave reflector disposed behind the piezoelectric vibrator 3, which is rotatable around the central axis 4 of the case 2. The piezoelectric vibrator 3 is made of a material such as stainless steel having a high reflection efficiency of ultrasonic waves, and is formed into a shape in which a cylinder is obliquely cut, and its oblique side wall surface forms 45 ° with respect to the central axis 4 of the case 2. It is arranged.

Reference numeral 9 denotes an impeller (rotating member) integrally provided behind the ultrasonic reflector 5 and has a plurality of rotating blades designed to generate a rotational force by colliding the fluid 6 from the rear. Are radially provided.

Reference numeral 8 is a flow path 8 formed in the case 2 and the tube 1, and is formed by inserting a flexible pipe 18 into the case 2 and the tube 1. A pump 19 is connected to the flow path 8 and physiological saline (fluid 6) having a predetermined pressure is supplied from the pump 19.
Are supplied into the flow path 8.

The other end of the flow path 8, that is, the fluid 6
7 is located behind the impeller 9 and in the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the rotary blade of the impeller 9, and the impeller 9 and the ultrasonic wave reflection are caused by the water pressure of the physiological saline ejected from the ejector 7. The body 5 is rotationally driven.

Further, a discharge port 10 is provided at least in a region in front of the impeller 9 of the case 2, and the flow passage 8 is formed.
The physiological saline 6 for power flowing out of the case is discharged out of the case 2, that is, into the blood vessel.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the fluid 6 is supplied into the flow path 8 and ejected from the ejection port 7, the piezoelectric vibrator 3 rotates at a predetermined angular velocity. At the same time, when a drive voltage is applied to the piezoelectric vibrator 3 via the electric signal processing circuit 16, the ultrasonic waves generated from the piezoelectric vibrator 3 are generated by the case 2.
After traveling toward the ultrasonic reflector 5 along the central axis 4 of the case 2, the hypotenuse wall surface of the ultrasonic reflector 5 is used as the reflecting surface 11 in the case 2
The ultrasonic beam 23 is formed by being reflected in the direction perpendicular to the wall surface.

Since the piezoelectric vibrator 3 is rotating at a predetermined angular velocity, the beam 23 is scanned radially around the piezoelectric vibrator 3 and is reflected at a site having a different acoustic impedance such as a blood vessel wall surface. After the scanning beam is electroacoustically converted by the piezoelectric vibrator 3, it is processed by the electric signal processing circuit 16 to obtain a tomographic image in which the flaw detection target is sliced. The rotational angular velocity of the piezoelectric vibrator 3 is detected by a sensor (not shown), so that the transmission timing and the reception timing can be synchronized.

In the above, the case where physiological saline is used as the fluid 6 has been shown, but in addition to this, if a liquid medicine is used, for example, direct administration to the affected area becomes possible. A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. In the description of this embodiment, the same configurations as those of the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the driving fluid 6 for the impeller 9 is collected outside the case 2, that is, without being discharged into the body. A pipe 24 is inserted into the case 2 and the tube 1 to circulate the circulation path 12. Is configured. The tip of the circulation path 12 is arranged at the tip of the case 2 so that the circulation path can be efficiently constructed without reducing the water pressure of the fluid 6.

In this way, the fluid 6 is collected by the circulation path 12 without being discharged into the body, so that various fluids 6 can be collected without considering the influence on the human body.
Can be adopted.

In the above description, the case where the reflecting surface 11 of the ultrasonic reflector 5 is arranged so as to be inclined by 45 ° (indicated by θ1 in FIG. 1) with respect to the central axis 4 is shown. In addition, as shown by the broken line, 45 ° or more (θ2)
It is also possible to make it possible, and when configured in this way, a tomographic image in front of the entry site of the case 2 can be obtained.

[0027]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the ultrasonic beam is scanned by rotating the ultrasonic reflector, the signal line can be directly connected to the piezoelectric vibrator. it can. As a result, when constructing a minute ultrasonic probe, it is not necessary to use a rotary transformer, and work such as alignment of a transformer / gap and winding of a coil wire is not required, which is easy to realize.

Further, since the signal line is directly drawn from the piezoelectric vibrator, the noise generated by the contact of the brush can be removed. Furthermore, since a fluid is used to drive the ultrasonic reflector, the flexibility of the whole is not impaired,
It is easy to insert into a tortuous blood vessel.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional example.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another conventional example.

[Explanation of sign]

1 tube 2 cases 3 Piezoelectric vibrator 4 axes 5 Ultrasonic reflector 6 fluid 7 spout 8 channels 9 rotating body 10 outlet 11 Ultrasonic reflection surface 12 circuit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yasushi Hara             1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture             Within Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Kiyoto Matsui             1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture             Within Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Kenji Kawabe             1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture             Within Fujitsu Limited

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A piezoelectric vibrator (3) fixed to an inner wall surface of a case (2) connected to one end of a flexible tube (1).
And an ultrasonic reflector held on the back surface of the piezoelectric vibrator (3) so as to be rotatable around an axis (4) along the longitudinal direction of the case (2).
(5) and a fluid (6) delivered from the outside of the device, the ultrasonic reflector
A flow path (8) leading to the ejection port (7) located behind (5), and the flow path (8) fixed behind the ultrasonic reflector (5)
A rotating body (9) for rotationally driving the ultrasonic reflector (5) via the shaft (4) by a fluid (6) ejected from the ejection port (7) of the ejection port (7), A discharge port (1) provided in the case (2) for discharging the fluid (6) ejected from the case (2) to the outside.
0) and an ultrasonic probe. 2. The ultrasonic reflector (5) is formed into a shape in which a cylinder is obliquely cut, and the oblique side wall surface is a case.
(2) An ultrasonic probe having an ultrasonic reflection surface (11) facing forward. 3. The fluid (6) ejected from the ejection port (7) is
The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ultrasonic probe is recovered by the circulation path (12) formed in the case (2) and the tube (1).