JPH0824267A - Ultrasonic treating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To treat a part to be treated with the irradiation of a proper ultrasonic wave without affecting normal tissues by determining the ultrasonic irradiation of a part and a peripheral tissue presently subjected to an ultrasonic treatment by a simulation means to be shown by a display means. CONSTITUTION:An ultrasonic image of a part to be treated existing in vivo is taken with an ultrasonic camera made up of an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting circuit, a receiving circuit, a display device and the like and a moving path and a moving speed of an ultrasonic focus, an ultrasonic altitude and the like of an applicator are set with a treatment plan setting section 31 to carry out a thermal treatment in treating areas in that order. Ultrasonic irradiation is determined in the respective ranges with a simulation section 32 during the execution of the treatment and turned to an image with an image memory 33 to be displayed on a screen with a monitor 34. When the ultrasonic irradiation in the treating ranges is larger than a specified value, a warning is given to the hearing or vision of an operator with a buzzer, a lamp or the like by the operation of alarm circuit 35.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus for performing treatment by converging high-intensity ultrasonic waves generated outside a subject to a treatment site inside the subject.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, ultrasonic medical treatment apparatuses have been widely used as medical diagnostic apparatuses have been developed. The ultrasonic therapy device has a therapeutic applicator and an ultrasonic probe, and takes an ultrasonic image near the treatment site using the ultrasonic probe, and identifies the treatment site while observing the ultrasonic image, Treatment is performed by irradiating strong ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic applicator. The treatment at this time may be, for example, crushing stones formed in the body such as gallstones by irradiating them with a shock wave, or hyperthermia treatment in which heat is applied to the tumor generated in the body for a certain period of time to cause necrosis. Even in this case, when the range of the treatment site is larger than the range that can be irradiated by one generation of ultrasonic waves, it is necessary to perform the treatment while moving the ultrasonic irradiation site (ultrasonic focus).

In such a case, conventionally, ultrasonic waves are once radiated to treat a predetermined range, and then the irradiation position is set again and the ultrasonic waves are radiated to the entire treatment site, repeatedly. The patient was treated with ultrasonic waves.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional method, the progress of the treatment cannot be observed in real time, and when the treatment is completed, the treatment is performed using an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a CT scanner or the like. The region was photographed, the result of the treatment was confirmed, and the influence on the peripheral region other than the treated region was observed. Therefore, even if the living body tissue was affected, it was not possible to know this during the treatment.

In particular, when the treatment area is larger than the range that can be treated with one irradiation of ultrasonic waves, the time accumulated value and energy accumulated value of pressure cannot be calculated for the spatial region in which strong ultrasonic waves propagate, so Irradiation of excessive ultrasonic waves and absorption of excessive ultrasonic waves by normal living bodies in the course of propagation, in the worst case, normal living tissues in the course of propagation may be necrotic by shock waves or heat. there were.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a conventional problem, and its purpose is to irradiate an appropriate ultrasonic wave to a treatment site without affecting normal tissues. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic therapy device that can be performed.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention irradiates a powerful ultrasonic wave from an ultrasonic wave generating means toward a treatment site of a subject, and moves the irradiation position of the ultrasonic wave. In an ultrasonic treatment apparatus for performing treatment while a treatment plan setting unit that sets the moving direction and moving speed of the irradiation position of the ultrasonic wave, and the ultrasonic waves are actually radiated to the treatment site It is characterized by having a simulation means for quasi-obtaining the ultrasonic wave irradiation amount of the ultrasonic wave irradiation site and a display means for displaying the ultrasonic wave irradiation amount obtained by the simulation means on the screen.

[0008]

According to the present invention configured as described above, the amount of ultrasonic irradiation of the site currently undergoing ultrasonic treatment and the surrounding tissue is obtained by the simulation means, and the obtained result is displayed on the display means. Since it is displayed as, it does not irradiate the treatment site and surrounding tissue with excessive ultrasonic waves,
It becomes possible to perform safe and reliable ultrasonic treatment. Further, when an excessive ultrasonic wave is applied to the treatment site or its surrounding tissues, an alarm can be issued or the ultrasonic wave can be forcibly stopped.

[0009]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this ultrasonic treatment apparatus has a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 7 and is in contact with the living body 2 via a water bag 5, and the treatment site 1 in the living body 2 is
An applicator 6 for irradiating strong ultrasonic waves to the body and an ultrasonic probe 4 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves for capturing an ultrasonic image of a region including the treatment site 1.

Each of the ultrasonic transducers 7 is connected to a pulser 8 provided for each ultrasonic wave so as to be supplied with an ultrasonic pulse, and each pulser 8 is driven by a drive voltage controller 10.
The ultrasonic pulse is output by the drive voltage from. Further, each pulsar 8 is connected to a delay circuit 9 which operates under the control of the delay control unit 11, whereby each pulse output from each pulsar 8 is delayed to control the focal position of the intense ultrasonic wave. . In addition, the delay control unit 11 and the drive voltage control unit 10
Are collectively controlled by the main control unit 13, and the main control unit 13
Is connected to a delay data memory 12 in which delay data is stored in advance.

On the other hand, the ultrasonic probe 4 is connected to the transmitting circuit 15 and the receiving circuit 16 via the multiplexer 14,
The ultrasonic waves for imaging are output to the living body 2 and the ultrasonic echoes generated in the imaging area are received. The pulse signal is supplied to the transmission circuit 15 from the imaging pulser 17.
The ultrasonic echoes collected by the receiving circuit 16 are supplied to the signal processing circuit 18 to create an image signal. This image signal is displayed on the display device 21 via the image memory 19 and the image processing unit 20.

Further, the ultrasonic treatment apparatus has a probe position controller 2 for controlling the position of the ultrasonic probe 4.
3. An applicator position controller 25 for controlling the position of the applicator is provided and is controlled under the control of the system controller 26. Also,
The focus marker controller 24 also operates under the control of the system controller 26 to display the focus marker 22 on the ultrasonic image.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the system controller 26. As shown in the figure, the system controller 26 includes a treatment plan setting unit 31 for setting a treatment plan such as ultrasonic intensity and irradiation time by inputting from the keyboard 27, and an ultrasonic treatment when this treatment plan is actually used. A simulation unit 32 that artificially obtains the ultrasonic irradiation dose at each treatment site, an image memory 33 that stores the imaged simulation result, a monitor 34 that displays this image on the screen, and a simulation unit 32 It has a CPU 36 and an alarm circuit 35 for notifying a user of a part of the site with a buzzer or a lamp when the intensity of the ultrasonic wave exceeds a predetermined value.

4A and 4B are explanatory views showing various kinds of ultrasonic applicators 6. FIG. 4A is a plane type in which the vibrators 7 are arranged in a plane, and FIG. 4B is a plane. Pseudo-planar type in which the oscillators 7 arranged in a shape are inclined toward the center side,
FIG. 6C shows a polyhedral type in which the vibrators 7 are arranged in a spherical shell shape.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
Now, for example, a case where a tumor (treatment site) that has occurred in a living body is subjected to thermal treatment will be described as an example. First, an ultrasonic image of the treatment site 1 existing in the living body 2 is captured by the ultrasonic imaging device including the ultrasonic probe 4, the transmission circuit 15, the reception circuit 16, the display device 21 and the like shown in FIG. Then, the operator sets the treatment plan while looking at this image (displayed on the display device 21). That is, when the size of the treatment site 1 is such that it cannot be treated with a single ultrasonic wave irradiation, the ultrasonic waves must be irradiated while sequentially moving the focal point of the strong ultrasonic wave irradiated from the applicator 6. Instead, the operator sets the moving direction of the focus, the moving speed, and the irradiation intensity of the ultrasonic wave in the treatment plan setting unit 31 shown in FIG.

With this setting, the focus can be determined based on information such as the range of treatment with one ultrasonic irradiation, the time integration of the pressure on the living tissue during the propagation of high-intensity ultrasonic waves, and the energy storage value. How to set the moving direction, moving speed, and ultrasonic irradiation intensity determines the most efficient and safe treatment.

As a result, the movement path 41 as shown in FIG. 3, for example, is obtained. In the figure, each cube indicated by reference numeral 42 is a range that can be treated at one time, and a cube indicated by reference numeral 43 is the entire treatment site. In other words, this movement route 4
Treatment is performed while irradiating ultrasonic waves in each treatment range 42 along 1. Then, when the ultrasonic irradiation is sequentially performed in each treatment area 42, the treatment of the entire treatment site 43 ends.

When such a treatment is being performed, the simulation unit 32 shown in FIG. 2 obtains the ultrasonic irradiation dose in each treatment area 42. This can be obtained from data such as the irradiation intensity of ultrasonic waves, the distance from the living body surface of each treatment range 42, the irradiation time of ultrasonic waves, etc. The calculated ultrasonic irradiation amount is imaged in the image memory 33. ,
The screen is displayed on the monitor 34. The display method at this time is
Each treatment range 42 may be displayed as a characteristic diagram in which the horizontal axis represents the ultrasonic irradiation amount and the vertical axis represents the ultrasonic irradiation amount, or the entire treatment site 43 is three-dimensionally displayed and the ultrasonic irradiation amount is displayed in color (for example,
By displaying the area where the ultrasonic irradiation amount is large in red),
It may be possible to make it easier to distinguish the region where the ultrasonic irradiation amount is large. Further, when the ultrasonic wave irradiation amount becomes larger than a predetermined value in at least one of the treatment areas 42, the operation of the alarm circuit 35 may audibly or visually appeal to the operator with a buzzer or a lamp. it can. Further, it is possible to forcibly stop the irradiation of ultrasonic waves by the operation of the alarm circuit 35.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the treatment site such as a tumor existing in the subject is irradiated with ultrasonic waves for treatment, the applicator is previously set in the treatment plan setting section 31. The movement path, the movement speed, the ultrasonic intensity, etc. of the ultrasonic focus of 6 are set, and the thermal treatment of each treatment range 42 is performed in this order. Then, when the ultrasonic irradiation amount exceeds a predetermined value in a part of the treatment site, the operator is notified by an alarm or the like. Therefore,
It becomes possible to always perform proper ultrasonic treatment without affecting normal living tissues when performing ultrasonic treatment, and without irradiating the treated region with ultrasonic waves more than necessary.

When it is not possible to irradiate the treatment site with a predetermined amount of ultrasonic waves because it affects the surrounding living tissue, a pause time is provided for a while after the ultrasonic waves are irradiated once. By performing the second ultrasonic wave irradiation, it is possible to prevent the influence on the peripheral region and surely treat the treated region.

In this embodiment, an example of treating a tumor or the like in a living body with heat is explained, but the present invention can also be applied to a calculus crushing device for crushing gallstones etc. by a shock wave. .

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the size of the treatment site is larger than the range that can be treated by one ultrasonic irradiation, the movement direction of the focal position of the strong ultrasonic waves, the ultrasonic intensity, etc. are set by the treatment plan setting means, and the simulation means is used. The ultrasonic irradiation dose at each treatment site is pseudo-determined. Then, when the ultrasonic irradiation amount becomes excessive at a specific portion, the operator can be notified by an alarm or the like, or the ultrasonic irradiation can be forcibly stopped. Therefore, the safety of ultrasonic treatment is ensured without excessively irradiating ultrasonic waves or causing adverse effects on normal tissues.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a system controller.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a movement path of a focal position of strong ultrasonic waves.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing various configurations of a vibrator mounted on the ultrasonic applicator.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Treatment site 2 Living body 3 Imaging area 4 Ultrasonic probe 5 Water bag 6 Applicator 7 Transducer 8
Pulser 9 Delay circuit 10 Drive voltage control unit 11 Delay control unit 12 Delay data memory 13 Main control unit 14
Multiplexer 15 Transmission circuit 16 Reception circuit 17 Imaging pulser 18 Signal processing circuit 19 Image memory 20 Image processing unit 21 Display device 22 Focus marker 23 Probe position controller 24 Focus marker controller 25 Applicator position controller 26 System controller 27 Keyboard 31 Treatment plan setting unit 32 simulation part 33 image memory 34 monitor 35 alarm circuit 41 moving path 42 single treatment range 43 treatment site

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic treatment apparatus for irradiating a treatment site of a subject with strong ultrasonic waves from an ultrasonic wave generation means, and performing treatment while moving an irradiation position of the ultrasonic waves. An ultrasonic therapy apparatus, characterized in that means for preliminarily planning a position movement path and ultrasonic irradiation intensity are provided. 2. An ultrasonic treatment apparatus for irradiating a treatment site of a subject with a strong ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic wave generation means, and performing treatment while moving the irradiation position of the ultrasonic wave. Treatment plan setting means for setting the movement path of position and ultrasonic irradiation intensity, and the ultrasonic irradiation amount of each ultrasonic irradiation site is simulated in response to the actual irradiation of ultrasonic waves on the treatment region. An ultrasonic treatment apparatus, comprising: a simulation means to be obtained; and a display means for displaying an ultrasonic irradiation dose obtained by the simulation means on a screen. 3. The ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising alarm means for issuing an alarm when the ultrasonic irradiation amount reaches a predetermined amount at an arbitrary treatment site. 4. The emergency stop means for forcibly stopping the ultrasonic wave irradiation when the ultrasonic wave irradiation amount reaches a predetermined amount at an arbitrary treatment site. Ultrasonic therapy device. 5. The ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic wave generating means generates a shock wave for calculus breaking. 6. The ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic wave generating means generates an ultrasonic wave for hyperthermia treatment.