JPH0685774B2 - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe used in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for obtaining a tomographic image of a living body using ultrasonic waves, particularly a plurality of transducers (ultrasonic waves). The present invention relates to a so-called mechanical sector ultrasonic probe in which a vibrator is rotated to display a sector ultrasonic tomographic image.

2. Description of the Related Art In a mechanical sector ultrasonic probe, one or more transducers are attached to a pedestal, and the pedestal and the transducer are reciprocally rotated by a driving force transmission mechanism by driving a motor or the like. It is rotated in the direction to obtain a sector-type ultrasonic tomographic image. Hereinafter, a conventional mechanical sector ultrasonic probe will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the principle of the reciprocating rotation system. In FIG. 2, 51 is a transducer, 52 is a cam connected to the transducer 51 by a connecting member 53, and 54 is a power transmission mechanism.

Then, the power transmission mechanism 54 swings the cam 54 to reciprocally rotate the transducer 51, and the ultrasonic beam from the transducer 51 is scanned in a sector shape.

FIG. 3 shows the principle of the unidirectional rotation system. In FIG. 3, 61 is a pedestal formed in a triangular prism shape, 62 is a transducer attached to each side of the pedestal 61, and 63 is a shaft of the pedestal 61.
A pulley attached to the reference numeral 64 and a belt 65 attached to the pulley 63 and a pulley (not shown) attached to the output shaft of the motor.

Then, the pulley 6 is driven through the belt 65 by driving the motor.
3, the shaft 64 and the pedestal 61 are rotated to scan the ultrasonic beam from the transducer 62 in a sector shape.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a specific configuration of a conventional one-way rotation type mechanical sector ultrasonic probe. As shown in FIG. 4, a support base 72 and a support frame 73 are attached inside a case 71. A shaft 76 of a pedestal 75 to which a transducer 74 is attached is rotatably supported on the tip ends of a pair of shaft support portions 73a and 73b of the support frame 73.
An intermediate shaft 77 is rotatably supported by bearings 78, 79 on a base portion of one shaft support portion 73a and a shaft support portion 73c provided inside the other shaft support portion 73b. Pulleys 80 and 81 are mounted on the shaft 76 and the intermediate shaft 77, and the belt 8 is attached to these pulleys 80 and 81.
It is multiplied by 2. A motor 83 is attached to the support base 72, and an output shaft 84 of the motor 83 is attached to the support base 72 and the support frame.
A helical gear 85, which is inserted through the bottom plate of 73 and is mounted on the output shaft 15, is meshed with a helical gear 86, which is mounted on the intermediate shaft 77. Front acoustic window 71 that forms case 71
An ultrasonic wave propagation liquid 87 is enclosed in a.

The motor 83 is driven to rotate the intermediate shaft 77 via the helical gears 85 and 86, and the rotation of the intermediate shaft 77 rotates the pedestal 75 and the transducer 74 via the pulley 81, the belt 82, and the pulley 80. . With this rotation, the ultrasonic beam emitted from the transducer 74 is sent to the human body through the ultrasonic wave propagating liquid 87 and the acoustic window 71a, and the reflected wave from the human body is received by the transducer 74, and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body (not shown). It is possible to display the center type ultrasonic tomographic image by transmitting the information.

Generally, in the case of the reciprocating rotation system, one transducer 51 is used as shown in FIG. 2, and in the case of the unidirectional rotation system, a plurality of transducers 51 are used as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. The transducer 62 or 74 is used.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the conventional unidirectional rotating mechanical sector ultrasonic probe using a plurality of transducers 62 or 74, a reciprocating rotating system using a single transducer 51 is used. Compared with the mechanical sector type ultrasonic probe, there is an advantage that high-speed scanning can be easily obtained and the rotation load of the motor can be reduced. However, due to the characteristic variation between the transducers 62 or 74 and the mounting accuracy of the transducers 62 or 74 on the pedestal 61 or 75, the position of the ultrasonic beam emitted from the transducers 62 or 74 is displaced. However, there are problems such as image fluctuation of the obtained ultrasonic tomographic image, flickering, and equivalent deterioration of resolution.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and by controlling the direction of the ultrasonic beam emitted from each transducer so that it does not shift, a good sector tomographic image is always obtained. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic probe capable of obtaining the above.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a rotatably driven pedestal, a plurality of transducers, and a plurality of these transducers, each of which is attached to the pedestal with a finely adjustable mounting angle. And mounting means.

Action The present invention has the following actions due to the above configuration.

That is, by finely adjusting the mounting angle of the transducer with respect to the pedestal, the direction of the ultrasonic beam emitted from each transducer can be controlled so as not to shift.

Examples Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 (a) and 1 (b) show an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is an exploded perspective view and FIG. 1 (b) is a partially assembled state. FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the pedestal 1 is formed into a substantially triangular prism shape as a whole, and mounting holes 2 are formed from the respective surface sides that form an equal angle (120 degrees). Each mounting hole 2
A transducer (ultrasonic transducer) 3 is attached to the device by attaching means so that the attaching angle can be finely adjusted. That is, the transducer 3 is fitted and fixed inside a ring-shaped support body 4, and the support body 4 has protrusions 5 at a plurality of locations (three locations at equal intervals in the illustrated example) on the outer periphery thereof.
And a screw insertion hole 6 is formed in each protrusion 5. Each of the mounting holes 2 is formed in a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the support body 4, and an annular bottom portion 7 of each mounting hole 2 is formed with a screw hole 8 corresponding to the screw insertion hole 6. Then, the screw 9 inserted into the screw insertion hole 6 is screwed into the screw hole 8 to mount the support body 4 and the transducer 3 in the mounting hole 2, and at the outer periphery of the screw 9, support the bottom portion 7 of the mounting hole 2 and the support 7. A compression spring 10 is interposed between the bodies 4.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

By adjusting the tightening force of each screw 9, the inclination of each support 4 and the transducer 3 with respect to the pedestal 1 can be finely adjusted. Therefore, each transducer 3
The directions of the ultrasonic beams emitted from the can be adjusted so as to be equiangular.

As described above, according to the present invention, since a plurality of transducers are attached to the rotatably driven pedestal so that the attachment angle can be adjusted, the directions of the ultrasonic beams emitted from the respective transducers can be adjusted. It can be adjusted and a good tomographic image can be obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) show an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (a) is an exploded perspective view, and FIG. 1 (b) is Partial cross-sectional view of the assembled state, FIGS. 2 and 3 are principle diagrams of a conventional reciprocating rotation type and one-way rotation type ultrasonic probe, and FIG. 4 is a conventional one-way rotation type ultrasonic probe. It is a sectional view of the important section showing the concrete composition of a probe. 1 ... Pedestal, 2 ... Mounting hole, 3 ... Transducer, 4 ... Support, 6 ... Screw insertion hole, 8 ... Screw hole,
9 ... Screw, 10 ... Compression spring.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic wave, comprising: a rotatably driven pedestal; a plurality of transducers; and mounting means for mounting the plurality of transducers on the pedestal so that a mounting angle can be finely adjusted. Probe. 2. A pedestal having a plurality of mounting holes for accommodating a transducer, the mounting means being fixed to an outer peripheral portion of the transducer, screw insertion holes formed at a plurality of positions of the supporting body, and Of the screw hole provided at the bottom of the mounting hole of the pedestal, the screw inserted into the screw insertion hole and screwed into the screw hole, and the bottom of the mounting hole of the pedestal and the support at the outer periphery of the screw. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, comprising a compression spring interposed therebetween.