JPH05269132A - Intracelom ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain many pieces of ultrasonic images by a simple operation under the condition which exactly grasps a moving position in the inserting shaft direction of an ultrasonic transducer. CONSTITUTION:The device is provided with an intracelom inserting part 10 of a shape which can be inserted easily into a celom of an examinee, an ultrasonic transducer 13 provided so as to be freely movable in the inserting shaft direction in this intracelom inserting part 10, and an encoder for detecting a moving position in the inserting shaft direction of this ultrasonic transducer 13, and obtains an ultrasonic tomographic image being vertical to the intracelom inserting shaft, based on the scanning contents of the ultrasonic transducer 13 is accordance with the moving position detected by the encoder.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention inserts an ultrasonic probe having a distal end portion into a body cavity of an object equipped with an ultrasonic transducer so that a body cavity wall and an organ in the vicinity thereof can be detected. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic device in a body cavity that performs ultrasonic tomography and uses the obtained ultrasonic image for diagnosis.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in a body cavity of this type has an ultrasonic transducer electronically or electronically at each movement position where an ultrasonic probe inserted into the body cavity is moved back and forth depending on the sense of the operator. By mechanically scanning, ultrasonic tomography was performed on the wall of the body cavity and the organs in the vicinity thereof. In a system that obtains an ultrasonic image based on imaging data obtained by this ultrasonic tomography, the ultrasonic image is simply displayed without being associated with the quantitative movement position of the ultrasonic probe.

[0003]

In the intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the prior art, an ultrasonic image obtained by one insertion into the coelomic cavity is obtained by inserting the intracoelomic axis into the coelomic cavity due to the performance limit of the system and the ultrasonic probe. Is limited to one or two that are perpendicular to and / or parallel to. Therefore, in order to grasp the three-dimensional situation such as the enlargement of organs, the operator repeatedly inserts and removes the ultrasonic probe and reconstructs the obtained ultrasonic image three-dimensionally in the head to determine the situation. It is necessary to grasp.

Therefore, the conventional intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has a problem that the burden on the operator is large and the diagnostic accuracy is low due to the limited number of images.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide ultrasonic waves in a body cavity capable of obtaining a large number of ultrasonic images by a simple operation under the condition that the moving position of the ultrasonic transducer in the insertion axis direction is accurately grasped. To provide a diagnostic device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a body cavity insertion portion which is easily inserted into a body cavity of a subject, and an insertion axis direction of the body cavity insertion portion. An ultrasonic transducer movably provided and position detecting means for detecting the moving position of the ultrasonic transducer in the insertion axis direction are provided, and the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic transducer is associated with the moving position detected by the position detecting means. It is characterized in that an ultrasonic diagnostic image perpendicular to the insertion axis in the body cavity is obtained based on the scanning content.

[0007]

With the configuration of the intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, since the ultrasonic transducer is provided in the intracorporeal insertion portion so as to be movable in the intracorporeal cavity and in the insertion axis direction, insertion and removal of the ultrasonic probe. A plurality of continuous ultrasonic tomography can be performed without repeating the above. Moreover, since the moving position of the ultrasonic transducer in the insertion axis direction is detected by the position detecting means, the ultrasonic tomographic image obtained in association with the moving position detected by the position detecting means causes a three-dimensional situation such as enlargement of an organ. Can be grasped quantitatively.

[0008]

1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in a body cavity to which the present invention is applied.

This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in a body cavity sends an ultrasonic probe having an ultrasonic transducer, a transducer moving mechanism and a position detecting means, a transmission signal to the ultrasonic transducer, and a reception signal from the ultrasonic transducer. An ultrasonic transceiver 2 for receiving
A position control unit 3 that detects and controls the moving position of the ultrasonic transducer, a two-dimensional image forming unit 4 that forms an ultrasonic tomographic image at an arbitrary moving position of the ultrasonic transducer, and position information of the ultrasonic transducer. And a two-dimensional image storage unit 5 for organizing and storing the ultrasonic tomographic images at each moving position, and the two-dimensional image storage unit 5
A three-dimensional constructing unit 6 for constructing a three-dimensional image by obliquely reconstructing a plurality of ultrasonic images collected and stored in Fig. 3 and a plurality of collected and stored ultrasonic images in the two-dimensional image storage unit 5. Image group to be reconstructed into a three-dimensional image from the ultrasonic tomographic image of the
A three-dimensional image control unit 7 for controlling the display interval between tomographic images,
A two-dimensional image selection unit that selects a desired two-dimensional tomographic image before reconstruction by selecting an arbitrary tomographic image from the three-dimensional image reconstructed by the three-dimensional image construction unit 6 from the two-dimensional image storage unit 5. 8 and a display unit 9 for displaying a two-dimensional tomographic image and a three-dimensional image.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasonic probe 1 has a structure roughly divided into a body cavity insertion portion 10, an operation portion 11 and a cable portion 12 as shown in FIG. The inner insertion portion 10 is provided with an ultrasonic transducer 13 so as to be movable in the insertion axis direction. That is, the ultrasonic transducer 13 uses the rotation of the motor 14 provided in the operating portion 11 and the ball screw 15 connected thereto as a driving force to move along the moving rail 17 by the action of the gear 16 meshing with the ball screw 15. The stopper 18 is configured to move parallel to the body cavity insertion axis within the set area. Further, an encoder 19 for detecting the rotation of the motor 14 is provided as position detecting means for detecting the moving position of the ultrasonic transducer 13. In the present embodiment, as such an ultrasonic transducer 13, a ring-shaped transducer in which the transducer element group is arranged over the entire outer circumference of the body cavity insertion portion 10, or the transducer element group is arranged only in a part of the entire outer circumference thereof. A convex transducer was applied. The shape and element arrangement of the ring-shaped transducer and the tomographic image shape obtained by using this ring-shaped transducer are shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 4 shows the shape and element arrangement of the convex transducer and the tomographic image shape obtained by using this convex transducer.

The body cavity insertion portion 10 on which these ultrasonic transducers 13 are mounted has an outer shape that is easy to insert into the body cavity of the subject, and has a bellows in which only the surface of the ultrasonic transducer 13 is exposed. The structural member 20 isolates the internal mechanism of the insertion tube such as the ball screw and the moving rail from the body cavity so that the ultrasonic transducer 13 can be moved safely.

The intracavitary ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of this embodiment, which is provided with the respective parts as described above, operates as described below.

The ultrasonic probe 1 is inserted into the body cavity, the ultrasonic transducer 13 provided in the body cavity insertion portion 10 is moved in the insertion axis direction, and the position information indicating the moving position is transmitted from the encoder 19 to the position controller 3. send.

On the other hand, the ultrasonic echo signal received at each moving position is converted into an ultrasonic tomographic image by the two-dimensional image forming section 4 via the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving section 2. The ultrasonic tomographic image formed by the two-dimensional image forming unit 4 is sent to the display unit 9 immediately after being formed and displayed in time series at any time, and corresponds to the position information of the ultrasonic transducer 13 from the position control unit 3. It is attached and stored in the two-dimensional image storage unit 5. The two-dimensional image information stored in the two-dimensional image storage unit 5 is selected in part or in front by the three-dimensional image control unit 7.
It is sent to the three-dimensional image construction unit 6. Note that the method of selecting the two-dimensional image can be a plurality of tomographic image groups whose collection positions are continuous or a discontinuous image group.

In the three-dimensional image construction unit 6, the two-dimensional image storage unit 5 is based on the perspective angle from the three-dimensional image control unit 7, the display direction (rotation display in the insertion axis direction) and the display interval information of the two-dimensional image. A plurality of two-dimensional tomographic images sent by the above are reconstructed. At this time, processing is performed in which the overlapping two-dimensional images, which are located far from the perspective viewpoint, are not displayed.

The operation of each section described above is performed by the operator operating the three-dimensional image control section 7, and the three-dimensional image control section 7 selects the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image according to the operation situation. The display method can be instructed to the two-dimensional image storage unit 5 and the three-dimensional configuration unit 6. Then, the three-dimensional image information reconstructed by the three-dimensional image reconstructing unit 6 according to this command is sent to the display unit 9 and is displayed. For example, the operator refers to the display status of the display unit 9 while appropriately changing the three-dimensional image display method, and selects an arbitrary two-dimensional image in the three-dimensional image display. A sonic tomographic image is selected, called from the two-dimensional image storage unit 5, sent to the display unit 9, and instantaneously switched display to the three-dimensional image display or parallel display can be performed.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, in the system configuration shown in FIG. 1, as the ultrasonic probe 1, a configuration is roughly divided into a body cavity insertion section 10A, an operation section 11A and a cable section 12A as shown in FIG. ing. That is, in the ultrasonic probe 1 according to the second embodiment, the flexible membrane member 21 is provided in the body cavity insertion portion 10A instead of the bellows structural member used in the first embodiment, and the flexible membrane member is provided. 21 ultrasonic transducer 13 and ball screw 15
The member for insertion and the insertion tube such as the moving rail are separated from the body cavity, and the inside of the flexible film member 21 is filled with the sound propagation liquid 22. Note that, in FIG. 5, the parts denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 indicate the corresponding parts. Even if the ultrasonic probe 1 is configured in this manner, it is possible to display an ultrasonic tomographic image and display a three-dimensional image as in the first embodiment described above.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment, the ultrasonic probe 1 having the system configuration shown in FIG. 1 is roughly divided into a body cavity insertion portion 10B, an operation portion 11B, and a cable portion 12B as shown in FIG. is doing. That is, in the ultrasonic probe 1 according to the third embodiment, the body cavity insertion portion 10B is
In the range from the operation portion 11B to the operation portion 11B, a combination structure of the tension spring 23, the pulleys 24 and 25, the moving wire 26, and the gear box 27 is adopted instead of the ball screw used in the first embodiment, and the ultrasonic transducer 13 is used. The driving method of is changed. According to the driving method of the third embodiment, the tension spring 23 causes the moving wire 26 to have a constant tension so that the pair of pulleys 24 and 2 can be moved.
The moving wire 26 is stretched in the direction parallel to the body cavity insertion axis by the rotation of the motor 14 converted by the gear box 27.
The ultrasonic transducer 13 connected to can be moved in the movable area along the moving rail 17.
Even when the ultrasonic probe 1 that moves the ultrasonic transducer 13 is applied in this way, ultrasonic tomography can be performed and a three-dimensional image can be displayed as in the first embodiment described above.

Next, each embodiment of the display processing applied to the above-described system configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a perspective display conversion process of an ultrasonic tomographic image, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a simultaneous display method (three-dimensional display method) of a plurality of perspective images.

As shown in FIG. 7, the perspective transformation of an ultrasonic tomographic image is performed by forming an arbitrary angle (perspective angle) with respect to an ultrasonic tomographic plane perpendicular to the insertion axis in the body cavity and the insertion axis in the body cavity and the ultrasonic tomography. This is performed by projecting an ultrasonic tomographic image on a perspective plane that intersects the ultrasonic tomographic plane with a straight line including the intersection with the plane. It should be noted that, in this perspective conversion, the viewpoint should be on the display front side (front side toward the display screen) of the display unit. Here, the perspective angle θ can be changed by the operator through the three-dimensional image control unit 7 shown in FIG.

In the simultaneous display method of a plurality of perspective images, if ultrasonic tomographic images which are perspective-transformed by the same method and are simultaneously displayed at arbitrary intervals are A, B, and C as shown in FIG. 8, the images are overlapped. Processing is performed by the three-dimensional image construction unit 6 in FIG. 1 so as not to display a portion that is located at a distant position from the perspective portion and the perspective portion. In this example, in the overlapping portion of A and B, the portion of B side is not displayed, and of B and C, the C side is not displayed.

FIG. 9 is a model diagram showing the function of changing the display method of a three-dimensional image by the three-dimensional image control unit 7 shown in FIG.

9-a for the original three-dimensional image shown in 9-a
-B is an image in which the display interval of the two-dimensional image is changed, 9-c is an image in which the perspective angle is changed, and 9-d is an image rotated with respect to the insertion axis in the body cavity.

The display interval of the secondary image is determined in proportion to the two-dimensional image acquisition position interval (if the acquisition position interval is doubled, the display interval is also doubled). Although not shown, the three-dimensional image control unit 7 arbitrarily selects a two-dimensional ultrasonic image to be used for three-dimensional display, and the two-dimensional image storage unit 5
It has a function of transferring data from the 3D image forming unit 6 to the 3D image forming unit 6.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the function of selecting an arbitrary tomographic image from a three-dimensional image. The operator selects an arbitrary 2D image from the 3D image displayed as shown in 10-a.
By selecting as shown in 0-b, the ultrasonic tomographic image before perspective conversion of the selected image can be switched or displayed in parallel with the three-dimensional image.

The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of each embodiment, which is system-operated as described above, has two displays 13A and 13B as the display unit 13, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, and one display 13A is for three-dimensional display. The other display 13B is preferably used for displaying a two-dimensional tomographic image. That is, the three-dimensional display 13A is displayed by a desired display method of the perspective-transformed and reconstructed three-dimensional image, and the three-dimensional state of the organ is grasped based on this image. Also, an arbitrary two-dimensional image is selected from these.

The tomographic image of the two-dimensional image selected in the three-dimensional display before the perspective conversion is displayed on the two-dimensional image display display 13B, whereby detailed diagnosis is performed. Further, the tomographic image acquired when the ultrasonic probe 1 is inserted into the body cavity and the tomographic image is acquired at an arbitrary position is displayed at any time,
This allows the operator to change the collection method. In FIG. 11, 28 is an operation panel, 29 is a video tape recorder, and 30 is a polaroid camera.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, a large number of ultrasonic tomographic images can be reconstructed by inserting the ultrasonic probe into the body cavity only once, and reconstructing them three-dimensionally. The information can be displayed, and the time required for diagnosis can be shortened, the burden on the operator can be reduced, and the accuracy of diagnosis can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view showing a structure of an ultrasonic probe forming a main part of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the shape and element array of a ring-shaped transducer used in the first embodiment of the present invention, and a tomographic image shape obtained by using this ring-shaped transducer.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a shape of a convex transducer used in the first embodiment of the present invention, an element array, and a tomographic image shape obtained by using this convex transducer.

FIG. 5 is a structural explanatory view showing a structure of an ultrasonic probe which is a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a structural explanatory view showing the structure of an ultrasonic probe forming the essential part of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of perspective display conversion processing of an ultrasonic tomographic image.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a simultaneous display method (three-dimensional display method) of a plurality of perspective images.

FIG. 9 is a model diagram showing a function of changing a display method of a three-dimensional image by a three-dimensional image control unit.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a function of selecting an arbitrary tomographic image from a three-dimensional image.

FIG. 11 is an external view of a device showing a preferred example of the display unit in the intracavitary ultrasonic diagnostic device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ultrasonic probe 2 Ultrasonic wave transmission / reception part 3 Position control part 4 Two-dimensional image construction part 5 Two-dimensional image storage part 6 Three-dimensional image construction part 7 Three-dimensional image control part 8 Two-dimensional image selection part 9 Display part 10, 10A, 10B Body cavity insertion part 11, 11A, 11B Operation part 12, 12A, 12B Cable part 13 Ultrasonic transducer 14 Motor 15 Ball screw 16 Gear 17 Moving rail 18 Stopper 19 Encoder 20 Bellows structural member 21 Flexible membrane member 22 Acoustic Propagation liquid 23 Tension springs 24, 25 Pulley 26 Moving wire 27 Gear box 28 Operation panel 29 Video tape recorder 30 Polaroid camera

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Ryoichi Kanda 1385-1 Shimoishigami, Otawara-shi, Tochigi Stock Company Toshiba Nasu Plant (72) Innovator Takanobu Uchibori 1385-1385 Shimoishi, Otawara, Tochigi Toshiba Medical Engineering Co., Ltd. In the company

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An intracorporeal insertion portion having a shape that facilitates insertion into a body cavity of a subject, an ultrasonic transducer movably provided in the intracorporeal insertion portion in the insertion axis direction, and insertion of the ultrasonic transducer. An ultrasonic tomographic image perpendicular to the insertion axis in the body cavity based on the scanning content of the ultrasonic transducer in association with the moving position detected by the position detecting means, and position detecting means for detecting the moving position in the axial direction. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in a body cavity, comprising: 2. The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intracorporeal insertion section isolates the internal mechanism of the insertion tube from the intracorporeal cavity by a bellows structural member in the movable range of the ultrasonic transducer. .. 3. The body cavity inserting portion isolates the ultrasonic transducer and the internal mechanism of the insertion tube from the body cavity by a flexible membrane member in the movable range of the ultrasonic transducer, and the flexible membrane member. The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inside of the body is filled with a liquid. 4. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for body cavity according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic transducer is a convex transducer. 5. The intracavitary ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic transducer is a ring-shaped transducer. 6. The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic transducer uses a ball screw as a moving mechanism in the insertion axis direction. 7. The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic transducer uses a tension spring as a moving mechanism in the insertion axis direction. 8. The ultrasonic transducer is moved, and at the same time the moving position of the ultrasonic transducer is detected by the position detecting means, a plurality of body cavity insertion axes are set based on the scanning contents of the ultrasonic transducer. The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a vertical ultrasonic tomographic image is obtained. 9. The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of ultrasonic tomographic images perpendicular to the insertion axis in the body cavity are displayed in time series. 10. An ultrasonic diagnostic image group consisting of a plurality of ultrasonic diagnostic images perpendicular to the insertion axis in the body cavity is perspectively reconstructed, and the overlapping portion on the far side is selectively selected from the viewpoint of the overlapping perspective images. 9. The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of perspective images that are deleted and simultaneously deleted are displayed. 11. When displaying a plurality of perspective images from which overlapping portions have been deleted, the perspective angle, the tomographic image to be displayed, and the interval between the tomographic images can be appropriately changed. The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus described.