JPH06327668A - Ultrasonic fat thickness measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a fat thickness measuring device simply and cheaply by measuring the reach time of ultrasonic echo which is the ultrasonic reflection wave transmitted from an ultrasonic transducer to a human body, and composing the measuring device to display the result from its measurement on a display means. CONSTITUTION:An ultrasonic delay line 1 is formed integrally with a container case 9 using a synthetic resin with a sonic impedance value similar to that of water, such as polyethylene etc., and an ultrasonic transmission and reception face 2 on an end of the ultrasonic delay line 1 is made to abut gainst the measurement objective part of a human body via suitable gel. On the other end of the ultrasonic delay line 1, an ultrasonic vibrator 3 is adhered to form an ultrasonic transducer 4 with these element 1 and 3. The time for the transmitted ultrasonic wave to reach the reception face 2 through the fat layer is measured by a time measuring means 6 connected to a transmission and reception circuit 5, the fat thickness is operated by an arithmetic means 7 from the measurement result and display on a display means 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a relatively inexpensive measuring device for measuring the thickness of a fat layer in a human body or the like by ultrasonic waves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for irradiating a human body with an ultrasonic pulse and receiving a reflected wave (echo) thereof to pick up a predetermined tomographic image of the subject has been conventionally used in the medical field. In order to improve the resolution, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-203143 proposes and discloses a proposal for improving the ultrasonic wave transmission / reception system.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional proposals, the detailed description of the means for receiving (receiving) the echo of the ultrasonic wave incident on the human body will be omitted. In order to achieve acoustic matching between the vibrator and the human body, a thin layer called a matching layer or an ultrasonic delay line made of silicon rubber or the like is provided on the front surface of the vibrator,
A backing material has been provided on the back surface of the vibrator in order to reduce the length of the ultrasonic echo.

As described above, since the structure of the sensor means is complicated, the apparatus becomes expensive, and its use has been conventionally limited to hospital facilities and the like. However, on the other hand, in general, for example, the measurement of the thickness of the fat layer in a specific part of the human body, etc. can be used not only in a specific medical diagnosis but also in a general home or a beauty-related facility. Is highly desirable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive ultrasonic fat thickness measuring apparatus which can meet these needs.

[0006]

Therefore, according to the present invention, an ultrasonic fat thickness measuring apparatus of this kind is provided with a resin material whose acoustic impedance has a value close to that of water, and an ultrasonic wave is radiated at one end thereof. · An ultrasonic delay line forming a receiving surface, an ultrasonic transducer arranged at the other end, an ultrasonic transducer configured by the ultrasonic delay line and the ultrasonic transducer, and the transducer and electrical , A measuring circuit for measuring the arrival time of ultrasonic echoes, a calculating means for calculating the human body fat thickness from the timed output, and a display means for displaying the calculated output. By configuring to have
It is intended to achieve the above object.

[0007]

With the above-described configuration of the present invention, a relatively inexpensive ultrasonic fat thickness measuring device of this type that can be used for household purposes can be obtained.

[0008]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below based on examples.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the fat thickness measuring apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the transceiver.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is an ultrasonic delay line,
Together with the container case 9, it is integrally formed of a synthetic resin material such as polyethylene having an acoustic impedance close to that of water. Reference numeral 2 denotes an ultrasonic wave radiation / reception surface formed at one end of the delay line 1. The surface is brought into contact with the measurement target portion of the human body through an appropriate gel, and the fat thickness at that portion is measured by echo. To do. Also,
An ultrasonic transducer 3 is attached to the other end of the delay line 1 to generate an ultrasonic pulse and uses PZT (lead zirconate titanate).

Reference numeral 4 is an ultrasonic transducer constituted by the ultrasonic delay line 1, ultrasonic radiation / reception surface 2 and vibrator 3, and 5 is a transmission / reception circuit having electrical matching with the transducer 4. Show. Reference numeral 6 is a time measuring means for measuring the arrival time of the echo, which has been transmitted through the fat layer, of the ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasonic wave emitting surface 4 and reaches the receiving surface 2, 7
Is a computing means for computing the target fat layer from the timing output of the timing means 6, and 8 is, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display) for displaying the fat thickness which is the result of this computation in mm units. It is a display means.

FIG. 2 is an example of a concrete circuit diagram of the transmission / reception circuit 5. 11 is an inductor (L), 12 is a transformer (1: T), 13 is a resistor (R), and 14 is a pulsar (VI).
N) and 15 are receiver amplifiers.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the admittance characteristic curve of the ultrasonic transducer 4.
2 and the transmission / reception circuit 5 of FIG. 2 are defined so as to satisfy the following conditions: 1) L = 1 / (ωy2) of the inductor 11, where ω is the angular frequency at (y1, y2)

[0013]

[Equation 1]

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the ultrasonic fat thickness measuring device has a very simple and inexpensive structure, it can be used, for example, at home.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an embodiment.

[Figure 2] Circuit diagram of the transceiver

FIG. 3 Admittance characteristic curve diagram of ultrasonic transducer

[Explanation of Codes] 1 ultrasonic delay line 2 ultrasonic emission / reception surface 3 ultrasonic transducer 4 ultrasonic transducer 5 transmitting / receiving circuit 6 timing means 7 computing means 8 display means 9 case

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic delay line, which is made of a resin material having an acoustic impedance close to that of water, and has an ultrasonic wave emitting / receiving surface formed at one end thereof, and an ultrasonic wave delay line disposed at the other end of the one end. An ultrasonic wave transducer, an ultrasonic wave transducer constituted by the ultrasonic wave delay line and the ultrasonic wave oscillator,
A transmission / reception circuit that is electrically compatible with this transducer, a measuring means for measuring the arrival time of ultrasonic echoes, a calculating means for calculating the human body fat thickness from this timed output, and a display of this calculated output An ultrasonic fat thickness measuring device, comprising: 2. The ultrasonic wave emitting / receiving surface is provided on a side surface,
The ultrasonic fat thickness measuring device according to claim 1, further comprising a storage case for storing the ultrasonic transducer, the transmission / reception circuit, the measuring means, the calculating means and the display means. 3. The ultrasonic fat thickness measuring device according to claim 2, wherein the storage case and the ultrasonic delay line are integrally molded.