JPH0651036B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to internal tissue by transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic pulse to a body wall by an ultrasonic probe attached to the tip of an insertion portion inserted into a body cavity. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for inspecting the state of.

[Prior Art] An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is used for inspecting the state of internal tissues. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has an ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic probe is used for the body surface or the like. A tomographic image of the internal tissue by forming a tomographic image of the internal tissue by irradiating the ultrasonic wave pulse, receiving the reflected wave, processing the reflected wave signal and displaying it as a raster on the monitor screen. It was done. And in recent years, like the endoscope,
An ultrasonic probe is attached to the tip of an insertion portion to be inserted into the body such as a body cavity. This type of ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus guides the insertion portion to a site in the body to be examined / diagnosed and transmits / receives ultrasonic waves through the body wall, etc. The accuracy of inspection / diagnosis becomes remarkably good, such as the decrease in the resolution.

Here, as the ultrasonic scanning method in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus described above, there are a mechanical radial scanning method and an electronic scanning method, even in the electronic scanning method,
There are linear type, convex type, and electronic sector type. In the mechanical radial scan type, scanning is performed by rotating the ultrasonic probe around the axis of the insertion portion by a motor or the like. As described above, in order to allow the ultrasonic probe to rotate at the tip of the insertion portion, the ultrasonic probe is provided inside a balloon or the like enclosing the ultrasonic transmission medium.

On the other hand, whether it is a linear type, a convex type, or an electronic sector type, there is no need to rotate the ultrasonic probe when driving with the electronic scan system. The sound wave probe is brought into direct contact with the inner wall of the body.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, ultrasonic waves emitted toward the inside of the body are pulse signals having a predetermined time interval, and in order to form such pulse signals, ultrasonic pulse signal generation is required. It is necessary to give a delay function to an electric circuit which constitutes the device. For this reason, the waveform of the ultrasonic pulse signal output from the ultrasonic probe is disturbed, and the tailing of the output signal, that is, the group delay for a certain time interval occurs. Therefore, the reflected wave cannot be detected during the time when the group delay occurs, and during this period, the masked state cannot be formed and the ultrasonic image cannot be formed. There is a drawback that it is not possible to obtain tissue information of a part near the body skin. In order to solve this, a degassed water filling method and a method using a balloon together have been attempted, but such a method causes great pain to the patient and is not suitable for practical use.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to secure tissue information immediately below the body skin in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus driven by an electronic scan method. Is.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is to apply an ultrasonic transducer provided at the tip of an insertion portion into the body against an inner wall of the body to provide the ultrasonic probe. The ultrasonic pulse signal is incident on the body tissue from the body and the reflected wave is received to inspect the state of the body tissue. A standoff layer for separating the first and second electrodes from each other by a predetermined distance.
In the invention, the ultrasonic probe mounting portion is provided with a supply portion of a highly viscous acoustic coupling medium, and the acoustic coupling medium quantitative feeding means for quantitatively feeding the acoustic coupling medium to the feeding portion is continued. A second aspect of the invention is to surround an ultrasonic probe, mount a movable container that is displaceable in a direction toward and away from the ultrasonic probe, and supply an acoustic coupling medium into the movable container. It is characterized in that the movable container is moved in a direction in which it projects from the ultrasonic probe by a predetermined distance.

[Operation] By providing the standoff layer in this manner, when the ultrasonic pulse signal is incident on the body wall, the influence of the group delay at the time of emitting the signal is eliminated, and thus the body wall is removed. It becomes possible to receive the reflected wave from immediately below, and it becomes possible to form a tomographic image from the portion directly below the body wall.

Here, in order to secure the stand-off layer, it is sufficient to separate the ultrasonic probe from the body wall only at the portion affected by the group delay, and place the ultrasonic probe too far from the body wall. Then, you will not be able to obtain information down to deep inside the body. Therefore, the thickness of the standoff layer must be manageable.

Thus, as in the first aspect of the invention, the acoustic coupling medium supply section is provided in the mounting section of the ultrasonic probe, and the high viscosity acoustic coupling medium is supplied from this supply section, and this supply section is also provided. A predetermined amount of the acoustic coupling medium is supplied to the part from the acoustic coupling medium constant amount feeding means, and the thickness of the standoff layer can be controlled by the amount of the acoustic coupling medium thus supplied.

Further, as in the second invention, a movable container that is displaceable in a direction approaching and separating from the ultrasonic probe is provided in a state of surrounding the ultrasonic probe, and acoustic coupling is performed in the movable container. By feeding the medium, the thickness of the standoff layer can also be controlled.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment, FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment, and FIG. 7 shows a fourth embodiment.

First, FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. In the figure, 1 is a main body operation part, 2 is an insertion part into the body, and 3 is a connector connected to an ultrasonic generator. Part 3a
And each of the universal cords with. Insertion part 2
Is a flexible portion 2a that freely bends along the most insertion path from the connecting portion to the main body operating portion 1, an angle portion 2b is provided at the tip of the flexible portion 2a, and a tip is provided at the tip of the angle portion 2b. Part main bodies 2c are sequentially arranged. The angle portion 2b can be curved so that the tip end body 2c can be directed in a desired direction, and the angle portion 2b can be remote-controlled to the body operation portion 1. The angle knob 4 is provided, and an angle operation wire is inserted between the mounting position of the angle knob 4 and the tip of the angle portion 2b or the tip portion main body 2c. Since it is well known, its illustration is omitted.

Thus, as shown in FIG.
The ultrasonic probe 10 is attached. This ultrasonic probe 10
Is driven by an electronic scan method, and for this purpose, the ultrasonic probe 10 is formed by connecting a large number of elements, and the ultrasonic probe 10 simultaneously or sequentially transmits these elements. The sound wave pulse signal can be emitted. Ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface of this ultrasonic probe 10
10a is fixed so as to be exposed to the outside through an opening 11 formed in the side surface of the tip end main body 2c. Then, one end of a cable 12 is connected to the ultrasonic probe 10, and the cable 12 is extended from the insertion portion 2 through the main body operation portion 1 into the universal cord 3 to connect the connector portion 3a. It is connected to the ultrasonic wave generator via the. Therefore, an ultrasonic pulse signal is emitted from the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10a of the ultrasonic probe 10 based on the drive signal transmitted from the ultrasonic wave generator through the cable 12, and the ultrasonic wave emitted in this manner is emitted. The reflected wave of the sound wave is incident on the ultrasonic probe 10, and this signal is transmitted to the ultrasonic wave generator via the cable 12,
After predetermined signal processing is performed, a tomographic image of a body tissue can be raster-displayed on a monitor screen.

Here, the ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasonic probe 10 is
As shown in the figure, it is a pal signal. By the way, the waveform of this ultrasonic pulse signal does not become an accurate one-shot waveform, and a state in which a tail is drawn for a predetermined time Δt, that is, a group delay occurs. Therefore, the reflected wave cannot be received only for the group delay time Δt. For this reason, if the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10a of the ultrasonic probe 10 is brought into direct contact with the body wall, it becomes impossible to form an image of the portion directly below the body wall.

Therefore, in the present invention, in order to separate the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10a from the body wall by an amount corresponding to the group delay time Δt, as shown in FIG.
A standoff layer having a predetermined thickness d is formed between a and the body wall. The standoff layer is composed of an acoustic coupling medium 13 such as an ultrasonic diagnostic jelly having the same viscosity and acoustic characteristics as Ultraphonic (trade name), and the acoustic coupling medium 13 is attached to the main body operation unit 1. It is contained in a cylindrical container 14. A pushing member 15 is slidably fitted into the container 14 and a liquid supply tube 16 is connected to the container 14. Therefore, it is possible to supply the acoustic coupling medium in an amount according to the pushing stroke of the pushing member 15 into the container 14, and the container 14 and the pushing member 15 constitute the acoustic coupling medium constant amount feeding means. The liquid supply tube 16 is inserted into the insertion portion 2, and its tip is connected to the medium supply port 10b provided in the ultrasonic probe 10.

This embodiment is configured as described above, and the insertion section 2 is inserted into the body through the patient's oral cavity, nasal cavity, etc., and is guided to the site to be examined and diagnosed. The ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10a of the ultrasonic probe 10 provided at the tip is brought into contact with the body wall. In this state, by operating the pushing member 15, the acoustic coupling medium 13 in the container 14 is supplied to the liquid supply tube 16
And is discharged from the medium supply port 10b. As a result, a standoff layer made of the acoustic coupling medium 13 is formed between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface 10a and the body wall, and when the ultrasonic pulse is emitted from the ultrasonic probe 10, this standoff layer is formed. Propagates to body tissue without decaying through.

Therefore, after the tailing of the waveform due to the group delay of the ultrasonic pulse incident from the ultrasonic probe 10 disappears, the ultrasonic wave is incident on the inside of the body, and it is possible to receive the reflected wave from directly under the body wall. It will be in a state. As a result, it becomes possible to form a tomographic image of the internal tissue including the portion immediately below the inner wall of the body, and it is possible to accurately perform the examination of the lesion at the position near the inner wall of the body, such as the thyroid examination. Become. Here, since the thickness of the standoff layer can be arbitrarily adjusted by the supply amount of the acoustic coupling medium 13, the acoustic coupling medium by the pushing member 15 according to the characteristics of the ultrasonic probe 10 and the like. By adjusting the supply of 13
Since the viscosity of the acoustic coupling medium 13 is high, its thickness can be maintained in a stable state, and a standoff layer having an optimum thickness can be formed in a stable state to reach the deepest part from the position immediately below the inner wall of the body. It will be possible to obtain information on the tomographic images up to.

Thus, when the insertion section 2 is inserted into the body, there is no standoff layer, and therefore the tip end body of the insertion section 2
The diameter of 2c does not increase, so this insert 2
It is possible to reduce the pain and burden on the patient during the insertion operation.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10 of the ultrasonic probe 10 is
It is formed by a balloon 20 made of a flexible bag on a. That is, similarly to the first embodiment described above, the cylindrical container 22 containing the acoustic coupling medium 21 is attached to the main body operation unit 1
And a push-in member 23 is attached to the container 22, and a liquid supply tube 24 is connected. The other end of the liquid supply tube 24 is connected to a medium supply port 10b formed in the sound wave probe 10. The acoustic coupling medium 21 can be supplied into the balloon 20 through the medium supply port 10b. Here, the acoustic coupling medium 21 that can be used in the present embodiment
A jelly-like material is used as in the first embodiment.

With this configuration, if the pushing member 23 is pushed and the acoustic coupling medium 21 is supplied into the balloon 20,
As shown by the phantom line in FIG. 5, the balloon 20 is bulged to form a standoff layer between the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10a of the ultrasonic probe 10 and the body wall. .
The thickness of the standoff layer can be adjusted by adjusting the pushing amount of the pushing member 23, and since the acoustic coupling medium 21 enclosed in the balloon 20 has a high viscosity, a predetermined amount of acoustic When the binding medium 21 is supplied, the balloon 20 becomes quite rigid,
There is no inconvenience such as change in shape or thickness during operation. Therefore, the standoff layer is made uniform, and a tomographic image with a large depth can be obtained as a whole. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, the ultrasonic probe 1
No opening forming the medium supply port is provided in the center of 0 ',
A medium supply part 31 connected to the liquid supply tube 30 is formed at the edge of the ultrasonic probe 10 ', and a balloon 32 provided on the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10a' of the ultrasonic probe 10 'has a sound. It is also possible to supply the binding medium.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the ultrasonic probe 10 '
On the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10a ', a movable container 40 which is displaced only in a direction approaching / separating with respect to the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10a' is mounted.
It is also possible to form a sealed medium enclosing chamber 41 between the medium 10a 'and the medium supplying portion 43 to which the liquid supply tube 42 is connected and to connect to the medium enclosing chamber 41. According to this structure, when the acoustic coupling medium is sealed in the medium sealing chamber 41, as shown by a phantom line in the figure,
The entire upper surface 40a of the movable container 40 is projected, and as a result, the standoff layer formed between the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 10a 'and the body wall has a uniform thickness, and the movable container 40 inside the body has a uniform thickness. Good contact with the wall.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the tip body of the insertion portion is shown to be configured so that only the ultrasonic probe is attached. It goes without saying that a mechanism as an endoscope having an illumination window, an observation window, etc. can be provided.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, the first embodiment has the standoff layer for separating the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface of the ultrasonic probe and the body wall by a predetermined distance. In the invention, the high-viscosity acoustic coupling medium is fed in a fixed amount so as to supply the acoustic coupling medium having a predetermined thickness between the ultrasonic probe and the body wall. Since the movable container surrounding the ultrasonic probe is provided and the acoustic coupling medium is supplied to the movable container, the movable container is displaced in the direction away from the ultrasonic probe. Between the tentacle and the inner wall of the body, it is possible to easily control the thickness so that it has a predetermined thickness, and it is possible to interpose a stable standoff layer that does not change in shape or thickness during operation. , Whole range of ultrasonic field of view by ultrasonic probe The effect of being able to obtain information on the tissue state from the region directly under the body wall to the deepest possible without being affected by the tailing of the pulse waveform due to the group delay of the ultrasonic pulse Play.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a distal end portion of an insertion portion, and FIG. Is an explanatory view of the waveform of the ultrasonic pulse signal, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the action, and FIG. 5 is the second of the present invention.
6 is a sectional view of the distal end portion of the insertion portion showing the embodiment of FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the distal end portion of the insertion portion showing the third embodiment of the invention,
The figure is a sectional view of a distal end portion of an insertion portion showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 1: Main body operation part, 2: Insert part, 2a: Flexible part, 2b: Angle part, 2c: Tip part main body, 10 and 10 ': Ultrasonic probe, 10
a, 10a ': ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface, 10b: medium supply port, 11:
Aperture, 13, 21: Acoustic coupling medium, 14, 22: Container, 15, 23:
Push member, 16, 24, 30, 42: Liquid supply tube, 20, 3
2: Balloon, 31, 43: Medium supply unit, 40: Movable container, 4
1: Medium enclosure.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic transducer provided at the tip of an insertion part into the body is pressed against a body wall, and an ultrasonic pulse signal is incident from the ultrasonic probe toward a body tissue and then reflected. In order to inspect the state of internal tissue by receiving waves, in order to interpose a stand-off layer for separating a predetermined distance between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface of the ultrasonic probe and the internal wall, The ultrasonic probe mounting portion is provided with a supply portion of a high-viscosity acoustic coupling medium, and an acoustic coupling medium constant amount feeding means for quantitatively feeding the acoustic coupling medium is connected to the supply portion. Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. 2. An ultrasonic transducer provided at the tip of an insertion portion into the body is pressed against a body wall, and an ultrasonic pulse signal is incident from the ultrasonic probe toward the body tissue, and its reflection is performed. In order to inspect the state of internal tissue by receiving waves, in order to interpose a stand-off layer for separating a predetermined distance between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving surface of the ultrasonic probe and the internal wall, Surrounding the ultrasonic probe, and equipped with a movable container displaceable in the direction of approaching and separating from the ultrasonic probe,
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized in that by supplying an acoustic coupling medium into the movable container, the movable container is moved in a direction projecting from the ultrasonic probe by a predetermined distance.