JPH07136169A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily observe the apex site of an ultrasonic probe by means of an X-ray photographing apparatus by making the apex site of a flexible tube to be an X-ray contrasting part where contrasting by means of X-ray is possible, in a device wherein an ultrasonic transducer is mounted in the flexible tube. CONSTITUTION:In an endoscope, an ultrasonic probe is inserted into a celom by using a treating tool inserting channel as a guide means and an operating part wherein a probe main body 11 and its base end part are connected is provided. The probe main body 11 has a flexible tube 20 with a closed apex and an ultrasonic transducer 22 is mounted therein at a position in the neighborhood of the apex through a fixing stage 21. A flexible shaft 23 prepd. by winding a metal wire in a tightly adhered coil-like shape thereon is connected with the fixing stage 21 to transmit a rotating force. A metal piece 26 with a function as an X-ray contrasting part is provided at a position which is out of the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving region and this piece can be clearly photographed by means of an X-ray photographing apparatus.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe which is inserted into a body cavity through a guide means such as an endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since an ultrasonic probe can obtain information on a tissue slice in a body cavity, it can obtain extremely useful information for examining and diagnosing an affected area. Moreover,
If it is possible to perform endoscopic observation of the inside of the body cavity with an endoscope in addition to the information about the ultrasonic waves, it is more convenient for examination and diagnosis.

From the above points, an ultrasonic probe to be inserted into a body cavity by using a treatment instrument insertion channel for inserting a forceps or other treatment instrument provided in an endoscope as a guide means is known in the art. Has been. This kind of ultrasonic probe is configured by attaching an ultrasonic transducer consisting of a single plate vibrator to the tip of a flexible probe body, and projecting this ultrasonic transducer from the tip of the treatment instrument insertion channel. , In a state of closely contacting or facing the wall of the body cavity, an ultrasonic pulse is incident toward the inside of the body cavity, the reflected echo thereof is received, the received signal of this reflected echo is signal-processed, and an ultrasonic image is displayed on the monitor device. I try to project it.

In order to perform, for example, radial scanning as an ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic transducer must be rotationally driven. For this purpose, the ultrasonic transducer is mounted on the mounting member, and the mounting member is rotationally driven by remote control. A rotation force transmission mechanism is provided to accurately transmit the rotation force from the hand side to the ultrasonic transducer. This rotational force transmission mechanism must have a highly flexible structure because it is inserted into the insertion portion of the endoscope that is bent along the insertion path. For this purpose, a rotation transmission means, which is composed of a contact coil spring or the like in which a metal wire is formed in multiple or multiple lines, or multiple multiple lines, and the tip of which is connected to a mounting member, and a flexible member into which the rotation transmission device is inserted. Flexible tube, the proximal end side of the flexible sleeve is connected and fixed to a fixing member, and the proximal end portion of the rotation transmitting means is led out from this flexible tube to a rotational force applying means such as a motor. They are connected to each other, and are rotationally driven by the rotational force applying means. Further, also in the case of performing the linear scanning, the rotational force transmitting means is also used to control the direction of the ultrasonic transducer, and the rotational force applying means is attached to the base end portion of the rotational force transmitting means. In this case, the torque applying means is
For example, it may be configured by an operation ring, and the operation ring may be manually rotated.

If the mounting member having the ultrasonic transducer mounted thereon is rotationally driven while it is exposed, the inner wall of the body cavity may be rolled up. The mounting member on which the ultrasonic transducer is mounted is housed in. And, in order to suppress the attenuation of ultrasonic waves, the ultrasonic wave propagation medium is enclosed in this flexible tube.

[0006]

An ultrasonic probe or the like which is inserted endoscopically as described above is wound in a loop when stored because the length of the probe body is considerably long. The smaller the diameter of this loop, the more compact it can be stored. By the way, the outer diameter of the rotation transmitting means is smaller than the inner diameter of the flexible sleeve to some extent. Therefore, when the probe main body is wound in a loop, the rotation transmitting means inside the flexible sleeve. Is biased toward the inner peripheral side or the outer peripheral side thereof, and therefore the mounting member having the ultrasonic transducer mounted therein is displaced in the front-back direction within the flexible sleeve. With the ultrasonic probe straightened, place the mounting member in the immediate vicinity of the tip of the flexible sleeve so that it does not move further forward, and wind it in a loop so that the mounting member faces forward. When it moves, the flexible sleeve comes into contact with the closed end portion of the flexible sleeve, which causes an inconvenience that the rotation transmitting means is deformed or damaged due to an unreasonable force.

From the above point of view, the mounting member on which the ultrasonic transducer is mounted is arranged at a position closer to the base end than the distal end of the flexible sleeve by a predetermined distance when the ultrasonic probe is straightened. Generally, a certain degree of clearance is formed between the mounting member and the inner surface of the distal end of the flexible sleeve. The ultrasonic probe configured in this way has a small diameter, and since the ultrasonic wave propagation medium is enclosed inside, it is flexible,
Since it has a considerable rigidity, therefore, when inserting into a thin body cavity tube such as the pancreaticobiliary duct for inspection,
Monitoring with an endoscope is not possible. Therefore, in order to protect the inner wall of the pancreaticobiliary duct from being damaged during insertion and to smoothly perform the insertion operation of the ultrasonic probe, an X-ray imaging apparatus is used to detect the X-ray of the insertion site of the ultrasonic probe. An image is taken, and the insertion operation is performed while monitoring the fluoroscopic image by the X-ray.

By the way, of the ultrasonic probes, the ultrasonic transducer and the mounting member to which it is mounted have an X-ray imaging function, but the flexible sleeve itself is X.
Does not have a line contrast function. Therefore, from the X-ray fluoroscopic image actually acquired, it is the position of the ultrasonic transducer in the ultrasonic probe, and the actual position of the tip of the ultrasonic probe, which is a certain distance from the position of the mounting member, is transparent. Can not.

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 accurately confirm the tip portion of an ultrasonic probe by an X-ray imaging apparatus.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention mounts an ultrasonic transducer on a mounting member rotatably provided in a flexible tube, and transmits the rotation to the mounting member. One end of the means is connected, the other end of the rotation transmitting means is pulled out from the flexible tube and connected to the rotating force applying means, and a signal cable is connected to the ultrasonic transducer. The feature is that the distal end portion of the flexible tube is configured as an X-ray contrast part capable of performing X-ray contrast.

[0011]

With this structure, the tip of the flexible tube in the ultrasonic probe can be reliably captured by the fluoroscopic image obtained by the X-ray imaging apparatus. Therefore, by performing the insertion operation of the ultrasonic probe while checking the fluoroscopic image, without damaging the inner wall of the body cavity,
It becomes possible to insert it accurately and surely toward the site to be inspected.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 1, 1 is an endoscope and 10 is an ultrasonic probe. The endoscope 1 comprises a body operation section 2 and an insertion section 3 inserted into a body cavity, and the endoscope 1 has a treatment instrument introduction section 4 on the distal end side of the body operation section 2.
Is provided, and a treatment instrument insertion channel 5 is provided at a site from the treatment instrument introducing portion 4 to the tip of the insertion portion 3. The endoscope 1 is of a side-view type in which the observation field of view is directed laterally as indicated by an arrow in the figure, and the treatment instrument, the ultrasonic probe 10 and the like are the distal end portion of the insertion portion 3. In the above, the elevation table 6 changes the direction by approximately 90 ° so as to project laterally.

The ultrasonic probe 10 is to be inserted into a body cavity by using the treatment instrument insertion channel 5 of the endoscope 1 as a guide means, and the probe body 11 and the base end portion of the probe body 11 are connected to each other. The operating section 12 to be
The flexible cable 13 extends from the operation portion 12, and the flexible cable 13 is detachably connected to a known ultrasonic observation device, although not shown. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the probe main body 11 has a flexible tube 20 whose tip is closed. Inside the flexible tube 20, a flexible tube 20 is attached to a mount 21 near the tip. The ultrasonic transducer 22 is attached. A flexible shaft 23 formed by multiple or multiple metal wire rods or multiple and multiple metal wire rods wound in a tight coil shape is connected to the mount 21 as a rotation transmission means. A signal cable 24 connected to the ultrasonic transducer 22 is inserted inside the flexible shaft 23. A connector 25 for detachably connecting to the operation unit 12 is provided at the base end of the probe body 11. The connector 25 is a fixed body 25a formed in a ring shape.
And a rotating body 25b inserted into the fixed body 25a. The flexible tube 20 is connected to the fixed body 25a, and the flexible shaft 23 is connected to the rotating body 25a.
The signal cable 24 is connected to the connector 25c which is connected to the rotary member 25b and rotates integrally with the rotating body 25b.
The fixed body 25a of the connector 25 is fixedly connected to the operating portion 12, and the rotating body 25b is connected to the rotating shaft 12a provided in the operating portion 12.

Here, the flexible tube 20 has a flexible shaft 23 which rotates therein, and therefore must be formed of a member having good sliding property. Therefore, a fluororesin or the like is preferably used as the material. Further, although an ultrasonic pulse is incident from the ultrasonic transducer 22 toward the inside of the body cavity and the reflected echo thereof is received, it is necessary to suppress attenuation of the ultrasonic pulse and the reflected echo as much as possible. Therefore, the probe body 11
The flexible tube 20 in 4 is required to be formed from a member having good ultrasonic wave propagation property. However, since the above-mentioned fluororesin has not so good acoustic characteristics, the tip end portion where the mounting base 21 is arranged is made of hard polyethylene or A tip cap 20a made of polyimide or the like is connected. An ultrasonic wave propagating medium is enclosed in the entire flexible tube 20 including the tip cap 20a.

Thus, the ultrasonic probe 10 configured as described above can perform radial scanning by rotating the ultrasonic transducer 22, and at the same time, the pushing member 15 provided on the operating portion 12 can be performed. By operating
Linear scanning can be performed by displacing the probe body 11 in the axial direction. Since the probe main body 11 has a small diameter, for example, as shown in FIG.
By inserting into the duodenum, inserting the tip portion of the probe body 11 into the pancreaticobiliary duct from the papilla, and performing ultrasonic scanning, so that an ultrasonic tomographic image of the site can be obtained. Has become. Then, the insertion of the probe main body 11 into the pancreaticobiliary duct is operated from the viewpoint of safety, operability, etc. while observing a fluoroscopic image of this site using an X-ray imaging device. ing.

By the way, the probe main body 11 of the ultrasonic probe 10 is a considerably long member and is a flexible member. For this reason, when it is not used, it is wound in a loop and compactly stored. . Here, in the probe main body 11, as described above, the ultrasonic transducer 22 is attached to the mounting base 21, and the flexible shaft 23 is connected to the mounting base 21, and these are placed in the flexible tube 20. The flexible shaft 23 is inserted, and the proximal end of the flexible shaft 23 is fixed to the rotating body 25b of the connector 25, but the distal end is in a free state. Therefore, when the probe main body 11 is wound in a loop, the mounting base 21 moves in the flexible tube 20 in its longitudinal direction. Therefore, this mount 21
In order to allow the movement of the probe body 11 in a substantially straight state, the tip of the mounting base 21 is flexible so as to be arranged at a position closer to the base end side by the distance H than the inner surface of the tip of the flexible tube 20. The sex tube 20 has an extra length.
Accordingly, when the probe main body 11 is wound in a loop shape, or when the probe main body 11 is inserted into the body cavity and wound in a loop shape along the inner shape of the body cavity, the mounting base 21 is attached to the tip of the flexible tube 20. The flexible shaft 23 is pressed and bent due to an unreasonable force, or the flexible shaft 23 is pressed against the inner wall of the flexible tube 20 to increase the friction, which causes uneven rotation during radial scanning. We try not to cause inconvenience such as the cause.

As described above, when the probe body 11 of the ultrasonic probe 10 is inserted into the inside of a thin body cavity tube such as in the pancreaticobiliary duct, it cannot be monitored by the endoscope 1 and therefore, it cannot be monitored by X-ray. Although the insertion operation is performed while observing the fluoroscopic image, the flexible tube 20 and the distal end cap 20a itself do not have an X-ray contrast enhancement function. Therefore, this fluoroscopic image is actually an X-ray image. A mounting base 21 having a line contrast function or an ultrasonic transducer 22 mounted on the mounting base 21. Therefore, the probe main body 11 to be inserted into the pancreaticobiliary duct or the like has the tip portion located further forward by the distance H than the mounting portion of the mounting base 21 and the ultrasonic transducer 22. The tip portion does not appear in the X-ray fluoroscopic image, and therefore the actual tip position cannot be detected. Therefore, it cannot be said that the inner wall of the body cavity may be damaged by an erroneous operation or the like. Also, from the viewpoint of the operability of inserting the probe main body 11, it is preferable that the position of the tip portion of the probe main body 11 can be confirmed.

From the above points, it is preferable that the distal end cap 20a of the flexible tube 20 is formed of a member having an X-ray contrast function, but since it must be a member having a good ultrasonic wave propagation property, its material. However, the above-mentioned members made of hard polyethylene or the like cannot have an X-ray contrast function. Therefore, in the present invention, in the tip cap 20a of the flexible tube 20, a metal piece 26 that functions as an X-ray imaging unit having an X-ray imaging function is provided at a position avoiding the ultrasonic transmission / reception region of the ultrasonic transducer 22. It is configured to be fixedly provided.
Thus, the ultrasonic transducer 22 faces the peripheral body portion in the vicinity of the tip of the tip cap 20a, and therefore the tip surface portion of the tip cap 20a does not serve as an ultrasonic transmission / reception region. The metal piece 26 is made to be fleshed and fixed to this portion.

With this configuration, when the ultrasonic probe 10 is operated and the probe main body 11 is inserted into the body cavity, the position of the distal end portion can be grasped by the X-ray imaging apparatus. Therefore, by visually observing the X-ray fluoroscopic image, the insertion operation can be performed while always confirming the position of the tip of the probe main body 11. Therefore, the operability of the insertion operation of the probe main body 11 is improved,
Safety is secured without the risk of damaging the inner wall of the body cavity.

By the way, an ultrasonic wave propagating medium is enclosed inside the entire flexible tube 20 including the tip cap 20a. Therefore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the X-ray contrast part is formed by using this ultrasonic propagation medium.

Liquid paraffin is a typical ultrasonic wave propagation medium, but this liquid paraffin does not exhibit an X-ray contrast function. However, for example, barium or the like has excellent ultrasonic wave propagation and also has an X-ray contrast function. Therefore,
The ultrasonic wave propagation medium having such an X-ray contrast function is enclosed in the flexible tube 20. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the ultrasonic propagation medium functions as an X-ray contrast section without attaching a metal piece or the like to the tip of the flexible tube 20.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the ultrasonic probe is constructed so that the treatment tool insertion channel of the endoscope is inserted as the guide means, but the guide means is not limited to this. It is not something that will be done.
In addition, as an example of a site where the ultrasonic probe is inserted,
Although it is shown that it is inserted into the pancreaticobiliary duct from the papilla, the inspection and diagnosis by the ultrasonic probe is not limited to this, and it is generally performed when it is inserted in a site that cannot be monitored by an endoscope. It is applicable. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a side-view endoscope as the endoscope. Furthermore, as the ultrasonic scanning method, various types such as radial, linear, and convex are adopted, and not only the mechanical scanning method but also the electronic scanning method may be used. Therefore, the ultrasonic transducer is not limited to the single-plate transducer, and may be a plurality of transducers arranged side by side. Furthermore, the flexible sleeve has
Although it was configured to connect to a tip cap provided separately from it, if it is formed of a member with excellent acoustic characteristics and good sliding, a flexible sleeve integrated to the closed part of the tip should be used. May be. As the member having the X-ray contrast function in the first embodiment, not only metal pieces but also various materials such as resin mixed with metal powder can be used.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the distal end portion of the flexible tube is the X-ray contrast part capable of performing X-ray contrast, the inside of the body cavity is guided by using a guide means such as an endoscope. When inserting the probe body into a thin body cavity tube, the tip part of the probe body can be reliably captured by the X-ray imaging device, and the operation of inserting the probe body into the body cavity tube is smooth and safe. It is possible to do so, and there is an effect that there is no possibility of accidentally damaging the inner wall of the body cavity tube.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view showing a state in which an ultrasonic probe according to a first embodiment of the present invention is attached to an endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a probe body in an ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a tip portion of a probe main body in an ultrasonic probe according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Endoscope 6 Treatment tool insertion channel 10 Ultrasonic probe 11 Probe body 20 Flexible tube 20a Tip cap 21 Mounting base 22 Ultrasonic transducer 23 Flexible shaft 26 Metal piece

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic transducer is mounted on a mounting member rotatably provided in a flexible tube, one end of a rotation transmitting means is connected to the mounting member, and the other end of the rotation transmitting means is connectable. An X-ray imaging unit capable of performing imaging with X-rays at the distal end of the flexible tube, which is drawn out from a flexible tube and connected to a rotational force applying means, and a signal cable is connected to an ultrasonic transducer. An ultrasonic probe characterized by having a configuration. 2. The X-ray contrast section is a metal provided at the tip of the flexible tube at a position avoiding an ultrasonic wave transmission / reception area of the ultrasonic transducer. Ultrasonic probe. 3. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the X-ray contrast section is an ultrasonic propagation medium having an X-ray contrast function, which is enclosed in the flexible tube.