JPH08117229A - Body cavity-inserting type ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To quickly discharge a fluid in a balloon by fitting a reinforcing ring to a part on the base end side from the disposition of an ultrasonic vibrator of a cap where a balloon is installed, and forming projecting and recessed parts on the outer surface of the reinforcing ring in such a manner as to be connected to the supply and discharge part by the recessed part. CONSTITUTION: A reinforcing ring 38 made of metal or the like is fixed in such a manner as to surround a screw-engaging part to a connecting part 21 at the base end part of a cap 20 where a balloon 30 is installed, thereby stably holding the screw-engaging part to the connecting part 21 of the cap 20. The outer surface of the reinforcing ring 38 is knurled to form many very small projecting and recessed parts on the outer surface part of the reinforcing ring 38, and the valley part 38a is forced to go through in the axial direction. Further, the wall part 35a of the forward end side for dividing the projecting part 35 where a supply path 33 and a discharge path 36 are opened is made lower than the base of the valley part 38a made by knurling, so that the recessed part 35 communicates with the valley part 38a of the reinforcing ring 38.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention can be inserted into a body cavity,
The present invention relates to a body cavity insertion type ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for performing ultrasonic diagnosis.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic transducer is provided in an insertion portion to be inserted into a body cavity, and the ultrasonic transducer is operated in the body cavity.
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus adapted to acquire information on a tissue state in the body is widely used, for example, as an ultrasonic endoscope. Here, in transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves in the body cavity, in order to prevent damage and stains on the ultrasonic transducer, and to prevent the inner wall of the body cavity from being caught when performing radial scanning, the insertion part There is one in which a cap is provided at the tip of the and an ultrasonic transducer is provided in the cap.

By the way, in order to suppress the attenuation of ultrasonic transmission / reception signals by the ultrasonic transducer as much as possible, first, the cap must be formed of a material having excellent acoustic characteristics. Here, for example, hard polyethylene, polyimide, vinyl chloride, epoxy resin, urethane resin and the like have excellent acoustic characteristics, and the material of the cap is selected from these and used. In addition, since ultrasonic waves are significantly attenuated in the air, liquid paraffin or other ultrasonic transmission medium is sealed inside the cap. Further, when performing ultrasonic scanning, it is sufficient that the cap is in close contact with the inner wall of the body cavity directly, but it is not always possible to completely adhere the cap to the inner wall of the body cavity, and air may be present between them, so A balloon is used to prevent air from interposing with the inner wall of the body cavity. The balloon is composed of a thin film body having extremely good flexibility and acoustic characteristics, such as latex, and is attached so as to surround the cap. Inside the cap, as a ultrasonic wave transmission medium,
For example, deaerated water or the like is supplied to swell to a predetermined extent.

A balloon is attached to the ultrasonic transducer attachment portion at the tip of the insertion portion, but when the ultrasonic transducer is attached to or removed from the body cavity, the balloon is inserted into a thin and complicatedly curved path. Therefore, the balloon cannot be preliminarily filled with the ultrasonic transmission medium to be in a bulged state. Therefore, when the balloon is inserted into the body cavity in a deflated state and ultrasonic diagnosis is performed, the ultrasonic transmission medium is supplied into the balloon. For this reason, a passage for supplying the ultrasonic transmission medium is opened at a position inside the balloon mounting portion in the insertion portion.

When supplying the ultrasonic transmission medium to the inside of the balloon in the body cavity, it must be free of air. However, when the balloon is attached to the insertion portion, it is extremely difficult to reliably exclude air from the gap. Air may also be contained in the passage for supplying the ultrasonic transmission medium. Therefore, in some systems, a discharge route is provided in addition to the supply route of the ultrasonic transmission medium. With this configuration, first in the body cavity,
The ultrasonic transmission medium is once supplied into the balloon to a certain extent so that the entire supply path does not contain air, and at this time, the fluid in which the ultrasonic transmission medium and air are mixed in the balloon is discharged, After that, by sending ultrasonic waves into the balloon from the supply path, the balloon can be filled with only the ultrasonic wave transmission medium containing no air.

[0006]

By the way, in order to discharge the fluid in the balloon through the discharge passage, when the discharge passage is set to a negative pressure state, if the balloon is sucked into the discharge passage, The above fluid cannot be discharged. For this reason, it is known that at least the discharge path is not directly opened to the side surface of the insertion portion, but the concave portion is formed in a circumferential shape and is opened in the concave portion. However, the balloon is extremely flexible, and is attached in close contact with the cap when the ultrasonic transmission medium is not supplied into the balloon. Therefore, even if the drainage path is opened in the concave portion, when the fluid is discharged, if it comes into close contact with the cap in the vicinity of the site where the balloon drainage path is formed, further discharge of fluid is still impossible. It becomes impossible.

From the above, for example, in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 6-90, the ultrasonic transducer is attached to the tip hard portion in a state of being exposed to the outside, and the ultrasonic transducer is attached to the front and rear positions of the attaching portion. -Shaped balloon is fastened at both ends, and a groove is formed in the axial direction on the side opposite to the side where the ultrasonic transducer of the rigid tip is opened. It is known that it is configured to extend to.

Of course, with the above-mentioned structure, the fluid in the balloon can be discharged smoothly, but in the case where the ultrasonic vibrator is provided in the cap, the cap made of the resin material is not used. It is extremely difficult to form such a groove because it is formed relatively thin and is flexible to some extent. Further, particularly when performing radial ultrasonic scanning, if unevenness is formed on the cap that accommodates the ultrasonic transducer, ultrasonic waves are diffusely reflected at this uneven portion, so noise called so-called artifacts occurs. There are problems such as fear.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to accommodate an ultrasonic vibrator in a cap and to dispose the ultrasonic vibrator in the cap. The object of the present invention is to allow the fluid in the balloon to be quickly discharged in the case where the balloon is attached so as to surround it.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, a cap having excellent acoustic characteristics is attached to the tip of an insertion portion to be inserted into a body cavity or the like, and a supercap is provided in the cap. An ultrasonic wave oscillator is attached, and a balloon is attached to this cap so that a supply / discharge section for the ultrasonic transmission medium is provided in the balloon. It is characterized in that a reinforcing ring is provided by being fitted to a portion on the base end side, and an uneven portion is formed on the outer surface of the reinforcing ring so as to be connected to the supply / discharge portion by a concave portion. Is.

[0011]

The cap is provided with a reinforcing ring at its base end to prevent deformation of the cap. When the reinforcing ring is fitted to the cap, an uneven portion is formed on the outer surface of the cap to prevent slipping. Further, in this uneven portion, the base end side end portion and the tip end side end portion are formed so that the recessed portion is continuous. Therefore, at the portion of the balloon facing the reinforcing ring, even if the balloon is in close contact with the surface of the balloon, a passage formed of a concave portion is formed,
The fluid cannot be drained.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows, as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an ultrasonic endoscope in which an endoscope observation mechanism is integrally incorporated in addition to an ultrasonic observation mechanism. However, the present invention is not limited to the ultrasonic endoscope, the point is that it is inserted into the body cavity,
Moreover, it can be applied to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus to which a balloon is attached.

Thus, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an insertion portion, which is composed of a tip end main body 1a, an angle portion 1b and a flexible portion 1c from the distal end side, and most of the length thereof is the flexible portion 1c. Has become. Flexible part 1c in the insertion part 1
A main body operating portion 2 is connected to the base end of the main body, and a universal cord 3 is connected to the main body operating portion 2. The tip portion of the universal cord 3 is branched into three, one is a light source connector 3a detachably connected to the light source device 4, and by connecting this light source connector 3a to the light source device 4, Illumination light can be transmitted by a light guide extending from the universal cord 3 to the insertion portion 1 via the main body operation portion 2. The other is an electric connector 3b detachably connected to the processor 5. In this ultrasonic endoscope, a solid-state image sensor is provided at the tip of the insertion portion, the solid-state image sensor converts the image of the observation target portion into an electric signal, and the electric signal is transmitted to the processor 5. After the processing is performed, the image inside the body cavity is displayed on the monitor 5a. The remaining one is the ultrasonic connector 3c.
The c is detachably connected to the ultrasonic observation device 6. The ultrasonic observation apparatus 6 includes a signal processing unit 6a that processes an ultrasonic wave reflected echo signal and a monitor 6b that displays an ultrasonic image generated by this signal processing.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the tip portion of the insertion portion.
In addition, FIG. 3 shows the external appearance of the device without the balloon. In the figure, 10 is an illumination window, 11 is an observation window, and the emission end of a light guide (not shown) from the light source device 4 faces the illumination window 10 to illuminate the body cavity with illumination light. belongs to. A solid-state image sensor (not shown) faces the observation window 11, and the solid-state image sensor captures an image of an observation target part, converts the image into an electric signal, and transmits the electric signal to the processor 5. Further, reference numeral 12 is an air / water feeding nozzle, and when the observation window 11 is soiled, water is fed from the air / water feeding nozzle 12 to remove contaminants, and then pressurized air is jetted to the observation window 11. Water droplets that adhere are removed. Then, the illumination window 10 and the observation window 11 constitute an endoscope observation mechanism, and the endoscope observation mechanism is mounted on a flat portion provided on the tip portion main body 1a.

An ultrasonic observation mechanism is provided so as to protrude from the tip surface of the tip portion main body 1a. The ultrasonic observation mechanism has a cap 20 made of a resin material or the like having excellent acoustic characteristics, which is provided so as to project from the tip body 1a. The cap 20 is screwed to a connecting portion 21 extending from the tip body 1a. Have been combined. The connecting portion 21 is hollow, and the hollow rotating shaft 2 is provided inside the hollow portion 21a.
2 is inserted and rotatably supported by the bearing 23. A support 24 is connected to the tip of the rotary shaft 22, and an ultrasonic transducer 25 is attached to the support 24. Reference numeral 26 is a cable connected to the ultrasonic transducer 25. Further, a through hole 20a is formed at the tip of the cap 20, and the plug 2 is inserted into this through hole 20a.
7 is screwed in and sealed by a seal member 28. Further, a seal member 29 is also interposed between the rotary shaft 22 and the inner surface of the connecting portion 21, whereby a portion of the cap 20 in which the ultrasonic transducer 25 is arranged is a closed space, An ultrasonic transmission medium made of liquid paraffin or the like is enclosed in the inside. A thin film flexible member having excellent acoustic characteristics, for example, a balloon 30 made of latex or the like is attached to a part of the ultrasonic observation mechanism.

The balloon 30 has locking ring portions 30a and 30b having circular cross sections at both ends, and a flexible film portion 30c therebetween.
The locking ring portion 30a on one end side is fitted and fixed in an annular groove 31 formed on the tip side of the cap 20, and the locking ring portion 30b on the other end side is the outer circumference of the coupling portion 21. It is fitted and fixed in an annular groove 32 formed on the surface. Therefore, the flexible film portion 30c completely covers the position where the ultrasonic transducer 25 is disposed inside the cap 20.

An ultrasonic wave transmission medium such as degassed water is supplied to the inside of the balloon 30, and a supply passage 33 is formed in the connecting portion 21 for this purpose. The supply path 33 extends from the insertion section 1 to the light source connector 3a of the universal cord 3 through the main body operation section 2 and connects the supply source of the ultrasonic transmission medium by the connection section 34 provided in the light source connector 3a. You can do it. The supply passage 33 is open at the bottom surface of the circumferential or arcuate concave portion 35 located on the tip side of the connecting portion 21 from the portion where the concave groove 32 is formed. A discharge passage 36 is opened on the bottom surface of the recess 35, and like the supply passage 33, the discharge passage 36 extends from the insertion portion 1 to the universal cord 3 through the main body operating portion 2 and The light source connector 3a communicates with a connecting portion 37 provided on the light source connector 3a. Therefore, a suction source is connected to the connecting portion 37.

Further, in the figure, reference numeral 38 denotes a reinforcing ring made of metal or the like, and this reinforcing ring 38 is fixed so as to surround a screwing portion of the base end portion of the cap 20 to the connecting portion 21. And the cap 20 like this
This cap 2 by covering the
The threaded portion of the connection member 0 with the connecting portion 21 is stably held. Here, as apparent from FIG. 3, the outer surface of the reinforcing ring 38 is not a smooth surface, and is knurled so as to penetrate therethrough in the axial direction. As a result, when the cap 20 is screwed, slippage is prevented and the cap 20 can be smoothly tightened to a predetermined position.

As described above, by knurling the outer surface of the reinforcing ring 38, a large number of minute irregularities are formed on the outer surface portion of the reinforcing ring 38, and as shown in FIG. It is in a state of penetrating in the direction. The wall portion 35a on the tip side for partitioning the concave portion 35 in which the supply passage 33 and the discharge passage 36 are open is lower than the bottom portion of the valley portion 38a formed by the knurls. As a result, the recess 35 communicates with the valley 38a of the reinforcing ring 38.

The present embodiment is constructed as described above, and the insertion portion 1 is inserted into the body cavity and the tip end main body 1a is guided to a predetermined observation target portion. In addition,
The balloon 30 is kept in a deflated state when the insertion portion 1 is inserted into the body cavity. Then, by observing the observation target portion obtained through the observation window 11 under the illumination through the illumination window 10, the endoscopic examination can be performed.
Then, based on the result of the endoscopic examination, which has been scheduled in advance, ultrasonic diagnosis is performed to acquire information regarding the internal tissue state at a predetermined site. For this purpose, while observing with the aforementioned endoscope observation mechanism,
First, the cap 20 provided so as to project from the tip portion main body 1a is arranged at the site where the ultrasonic diagnosis is to be performed.

Prior to executing the ultrasonic diagnosis, an ultrasonic transmission medium is supplied into the balloon 30 and bulged to a desired degree. For this purpose, the ultrasonic transmission medium is supplied from the supply passage 33, and at this time, the inside of the balloon 30 and the supply passage 3 are supplied.
If air is present in 3, this air must first be discharged.

Therefore, the ultrasonic transmission medium is once fed from the supply passage 33, and air is exhausted from at least the supply passage 33. Then, when the air is completely removed from the supply passage 33, the inside of the discharge passage 36 is made to have a negative pressure, so that the in-balloon fluid including the ultrasonic transmission medium and the air sent to the balloon 30 is sucked and removed. Here, when a suction force acts on the balloon 30, the balloon 30 contracts, and the flexible film portion 30c of the balloon 30 is attached to the cap 2
I try to stick to 0. However, from the concave portion 35 provided with the discharge passage 36 to a predetermined portion is covered with a reinforcing ring 38, and the reinforcing ring 38 is formed with a knurl having a valley portion 38 a continuous with the concave portion 35.
Even if the flexible film portion 30 c of the balloon 30 is the reinforcing ring 38.
Even if the fluid comes into close contact with, it does not hinder the suction of the fluid into the discharge passage 36.

By the way, as shown by D in FIG. 2, it is necessary that the reinforcing ring 38 does not extend to the transmitting / receiving region of the ultrasonic signal. Therefore, the balloon 30 is provided on the distal end side of the cap 20. Since the flexible film portion 30c of the above-mentioned confronts the cap 20, adhesion may occur at this portion, but at the portion of the reinforcing ring 38, since the knurl is formed over the entire circumference, the concave portion 35 is formed. A small passage due to the continuous valley portion 38a extends over the entire circumference, and this passage is along the surface of the cap 20. Therefore, as long as the fluid is present between the flexible film portion 30c of the balloon 30 and the cap 20, the suction force does not act in the direction in which the balloon 30 is pressed against the surface of the cap 20, so that even the flexible film is Even if the tip side portion of the portion 30c directly faces the cap 20, it does not significantly hinder the discharge of the fluid.

In the fluid in the balloon 30, it is the air that must be discharged, and even if the ultrasonic transmission medium remains, it does not cause any special problem. Therefore, the angle portion 1b is curved and the cap is closed. At least the air can be completely discharged if the fluid is discharged with the posture in which 20 is oriented downward.

When the fluid in the balloon 30, especially the air, is completely discharged by discharging the fluid through the discharge passage 36, the connection between the discharge passage 36 and the suction source is cut off, and the supply passage 33 is restarted. By supplying the ultrasonic transmission medium, the balloon 30 is inflated to a desired state, as indicated by a phantom line in FIG.

In the above-mentioned state, while rotating the rotary shaft 22, ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer 25 toward the body at a predetermined angle, the reflected echoes are received, and the reflected echo signals are obtained. The signal is transmitted to the ultrasonic observation apparatus 6 so that the signal processing unit 6a of the ultrasonic observation apparatus 6 performs predetermined signal processing and then the monitor 6b.
An ultrasonic image is displayed on. In this case, although a radial ultrasonic image can be acquired, linear scanning can be performed by moving the ultrasonic transducer in a linear direction, and further mechanical or electronic scanning can be performed in various directions. Like Thus, as described above, when the ultrasonic transducer 25 is operated, the balloon 30 does not contain air, so that the attenuation of the ultrasonic signal is significantly suppressed. The quality of the ultrasonic image displayed on the monitor 6b is extremely high.

Further, after the ultrasonic diagnosis is completed, the ultrasonic transmission medium in the balloon 30 must be discharged. At this time, the discharge passage 36 is also operated so that at least the insertion portion 1 is inserted into the body cavity. When taken out from the balloon, the balloon 30 can be deflated to such an extent that it does not cause pain to the patient.

Here, in the above-described embodiment, the reinforcing ring 38 has a structure in which the one-character knurl is formed on the outer peripheral surface in the axial direction, but as shown in FIG. It is also possible to form a so-called iris knurl on the outer peripheral surface of the ring 40 that obliquely intersects the axis, and as shown in FIG. 6, a large number of minute projections are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the reinforcing ring 41. You can also do it. 5 and 6, the same or equivalent members as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals. In short, the outer peripheral surface of the reinforcing ring exerts a non-slip function when the cap is screwed into the connecting portion of the tip body, and also has a small amount from one end to the other end. It suffices if the passage is formed all around.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, an ultrasonic wave transmission medium supply / discharge section and an ultrasonic wave oscillator arrangement section are provided on the base end side of a cap having an ultrasonic wave oscillator incorporated therein. A reinforcing ring is fitted between the two parts, and the outer surface of the reinforcing ring is formed with a concavo-convex portion in which a portion where the outer surface of the cap is exposed and the supply / discharge portion are connected by a recess. Therefore, in the case where the ultrasonic transducer is housed in the cap and the balloon is attached so as to surround the installation site of the ultrasonic transducer in the cap, the fluid in the balloon can be quickly discharged. Therefore, when the ultrasonic transmission medium is supplied into the balloon and swelled, it is possible to prevent air from entering inside.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram when an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention is configured as an ultrasonic endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the distal end portion of the insertion portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view of FIG. 2 with the balloon removed.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an external view similar to FIG. 3 showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an external view similar to FIG. 3, showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insertion part 1a Tip part main body 6 Ultrasonic observation device 20 Cap 21 Connecting part 24 Support stand 25 Ultrasonic transducer 30 Balloons 31, 32 Recessed groove 33 Supply path 35 Recessed 36 Discharge path 38, 40, 41 Reinforcement ring 38a Valley part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cap having excellent acoustic characteristics is attached to a tip of an insertion portion to be inserted into a body cavity or the like, an ultrasonic transducer is attached to the cap, and a balloon is attached to the cap. In this balloon, in which a supply / discharge section for the ultrasonic transmission medium is provided, a reinforcing ring is fitted to a portion of the cap on the proximal end side of the ultrasonic transducer, and the reinforcing ring is provided. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for insertion into a body cavity, characterized in that a concave and convex portion is formed on the outer surface of the feeding and discharging portion so as to be continuous with a concave portion. 2. The body cavity inserting type superimposing device according to claim 1, wherein the supply / drain portion is formed by an arcuate or annular recess having an opening for a supply path and an exhaust path for the ultrasonic transmission medium. Sound wave diagnostic equipment. 3. The concavo-convex portion is a single character knurl formed so as to penetrate in the axial direction of the reinforcing ring, an iris knurl formed so as to penetrate in the axial direction of the reinforcing ring, or a minute formed on the entire outer peripheral surface of the reinforcing ring. The intracorporeal ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, which is one of the protrusions.