JPH09224941A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To hold an ultrasonic transducer in a stable position by placing inside the ultrasonic transducer each control cable including ultrasonic control wires, passing a number of signal cables through a soft part in such a way that they surround the control cables, so that even if the soft part constituting an inserted part is curved, forces do not work in the direction in which the ultrasonic control wires are pushed and pulled. SOLUTION: Two each of ultrasonic control 35 and angle control 36 cables, a total of four control cables, which comprise pairs of ultrasonic control wires 31 and angle control wires 32 passed through respective flexible sleeves 33, 34, are passed through an inside sheath member 37, and a number of signal cables 30 are arranged almost uniformly on the outer periphery of the inside sheath member 37 in such a way as to surround the overall periphery. With an outside sheath member 38 provided on the outer periphery of the arrangement of the signal cables 30 to combine the signal cables 30 into one bundle member 39, the bundle member 39 is passed through a soft part 1c, and the ultrasonic control wires 31 and the angle control wires 32 are always held approximately in the core positions of axes within the soft part 1c.

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 for ultrasonic inspection, and in particular, an ultrasonic transducer having a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in a row,
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe which is attached to a rotating body having a rotation axis in a direction orthogonal to the transmission / reception surface and is capable of acquiring an ultrasonic tomographic image in a desired direction by rotating the rotating body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an ultrasonic probe, by rotating an ultrasonic transducer in which a large number of ultrasonic vibrators are arranged in a row,
A multi-plane type ultrasonic probe capable of acquiring ultrasonic tomographic images in various directions is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-2.
It is conventionally known as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 61901. Therefore, an ultrasonic probe according to this conventional technique will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

First, FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of an ultrasonic probe. In the figure, 1 is an insertion portion into a body cavity,
The insertion portion 1 has a tip portion main body 1a, an angle portion 1b, and a flexible portion 1c from the tip end side. The tip end main body 1a is provided with an ultrasonic transducer 2, and the angle portion 1b can be bent to direct the tip end main body 1a provided with the ultrasonic transducer 2 in a desired direction. The flexible portion 1c is a flexible structure that bends in an arbitrary direction along the insertion path into the body cavity, and the main body operating portion 3 is connected to the proximal end portion of the flexible portion 1c. Also,
A cable cord 4 extends from the main body operating portion 3, and a connector portion 5 is provided at an end portion of the cable cord 4 so that the connector portion 5 can be attached to and detached from an ultrasonic observation apparatus (not shown). Connected.

The ultrasonic transducer 2 performs electronic scanning and is composed of a plurality of strip-shaped ultrasonic transducers 2a arranged in a row. This ultrasonic transducer 2
When is operated, ultrasonic scanning can be performed in a constant line shape. The ultrasonic transducer 2 can rotate in the horizontal direction around the center of the transmitting / receiving surface, and when rotated by a predetermined angle, the ultrasonic scanning line can be displaced in the rotating direction. Therefore, if ultrasonic scanning is performed at every predetermined angle while rotating the ultrasonic transducer 2, it is stereoscopically recognized within a predetermined cylindrical (for linear scanning) or conical (for sector scanning) range in the body. Can obtain tissue fault information.

The ultrasonic transducer 2 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
The rotation drive mechanism of is shown. First, in FIG. 2, the tip body 1a is shown.
Is shown, and 10 shows a casing of the tip end main body 1a, and an ultrasonic transducer 2 is provided in the casing 10. The ultrasonic transducer 2 is composed of a laminated body. In this laminated body, the lowermost layer is a backing material 11, and an ultrasonic transducer 2a is laminated on the backing material 11. An acoustic matching layer 12 is laminated on the ultrasonic transducer 2a, and an acoustic lens 13 is laminated on the acoustic matching layer 12. The backing material 11 of the ultrasonic transducer 2 is fixed on the rotating body 14. The acoustic lens 13 faces the acoustic window 15 attached to the opening 10 a provided in the casing 10.
A seal member 16 is mounted between the housing 10 and the casing 10 and between the housing 10 and the acoustic lens 13, and the space between the acoustic lens 13 and the acoustic window 15 is hermetically sealed. The transmission medium is enclosed.

In order to rotate the ultrasonic transducer 2, the rotating body 14 is rotatably supported by the rotating shaft 17. The rotating shaft 17 extends in a direction orthogonal to the transmitting / receiving surface of the ultrasonic transducer 2 to allow the casing 10
It is fixedly attached to. The rotator 14 is driven to rotate by remote control. For this reason, a pair of ultrasonic operation wires 18, 18 are connected to the rotator 14, and one of the ultrasonic operation wires is pulled and the other ultrasonic operation wire is pulled. The rotating body 14 rotates by pushing out the sonic wave operating wire. Further, in addition to the ultrasonic operation wire 18, a pair of angle operation wires 19 and 19 are also provided for bending the angle portion 1b. The ultrasonic operation wire 18 and the angle operation wire 19 extend from the insertion section 1 into the main body operation section 3, are provided in the casing of the main body operation section 3, and are wound around pulleys 20 and 21. The rotary shafts 20a of the pulleys 20 and 21 are
21a is projected from the casing and is connected to the operation knobs 20b and 21b, respectively. Therefore, the operation knob 2
By rotating 0b and 21b, a pair of operating wires 18 and 19 are pushed and pulled, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic operation wire 1
8 is inserted into an insertion pipe 22 attached to the casing 10, and a flexible sleeve 23 composed of a close contact coil or the like is connected to the insertion pipe 21. In the portion inside the angle portion 1b and the flexible portion 1c, Flexible sleeve 22
It is inserted inside and becomes a control cable as a whole. Further, the angle operation wire 19 is fixedly provided on the most advanced angle ring that constitutes the angle portion 1b or the casing 10 of the tip portion main body 1a, and is positioned at a predetermined position in the circumferential direction within the angle portion 1b. The angle portion 1b and the flexible portion 1
A control cable is formed by being inserted into a flexible sleeve also formed of a close contact coil or the like via a connecting pipe at a portion connected to c. Further, a cable is connected to each of the ultrasonic transducers 2a constituting the ultrasonic transducer 2, and the cable includes an angle portion 1b and a flexible portion 1.
In c, the cable bundle 24 is inserted by being bundled with an electrically insulating tape or the like.

[0008]

As described above, the ultrasonic operation wire 18 and the angle operation wire 19 are provided in the flexible portion 1c as the structure of the control cable, and in addition to these, the cable bundle 24 is flexible. Part 1
It is inserted in c. All of these insertion members are inserted into the flexible portion 1c in a free state, and among them, the ultrasonic transducer 2 performs electronic scanning, so that the cable bundle 24 has the largest cross-sectional shape. When the cable bundle 24 is located in the center of the flexible portion 1c, the ultrasonic operation wire 18 and the angle operation wire 19 are located in the peripheral portion. When the flexible portion 1c bends along the insertion path into the body cavity, the inner side contracts,
The outside is stretched, the members located along the inner side are slackened, and the members located outside are stretched.

For example, a pair of ultrasonic operation wires 1
If one of the eight is located inside and the other is located outside, the ultrasonic operation wires 18 and 18 are in the same state as when the ultrasonic operation wires 18 and 18 are pushed and pulled even though the pulley 20 is not rotating. The transducer 2 will rotate. As shown in FIG. 3, a gear 25 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the pulley 20, and the input gear 27 of the encoder 26 is provided on the gear 25.
When the rotation of the pulley 20 is detected by the encoder 26 to detect the position of the ultrasonic transducer 2, the position of the ultrasonic transducer 2 in the rotation direction detected by the encoder 26 is engaged. Then, there is a problem that the actual position of the ultrasonic transducer 2 is displaced. The same applies to the pair of angle operation wires 19, and if one angle operation wire is located inside the bent portion and the other angle operation wire is located outside, the angle operation wire is not performed. Regardless, the angle portion 1b is curved and the tip portion main body 1
There is also a problem that a tends to face in an unintended direction.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the position of the ultrasonic transducer from changing even when the flexible portion forming the insertion portion bends. To do.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, a control cable including at least an ultrasonic operation wire is inserted into a soft inner insertion member, and the inner insertion member has an outer circumference. A large number of signal cables connected to the ultrasonic transducer are arranged so as to surround them, and a bundle member that is inserted through a flexible outer insertion member is formed on the outside of this signal cable. The feature is that it is inserted.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION No matter how much the flexible portion is bent in any direction, the length of its axial core portion does not substantially change. Therefore, if the ultrasonic operation wire is arranged in the soft portion in the axial core portion or a position extremely close to the axial core, the ultrasonic operation wire does not move due to the posture state of the soft portion, and the ultrasonic transducer Does not shift in the rotational direction. It may be possible to position the ultrasonic operation wire at a predetermined position in the flexible part, but if this is done, the number of internal components in the flexible part will increase, making it impossible to reduce the diameter and reducing the flexibility of the flexible part. . Therefore, instead of positioning the ultrasonic manipulation wire, the cable bundle, which is the most bulky member in the flexible portion, is used to position the ultrasonic manipulation wire as close to the axis of the flexible portion as possible.

The cable bundle is a bundle of a large number of signal cables. The cable bundle is not formed only by the signal cables but is bundled together with the control cable including the ultrasonic operation wire to form a bundle member and this bundle. Position the ultrasonic manipulation wire approximately in the center of the member.
Thereby, when the bundle member is inserted into the soft portion, the ultrasonic operation wire is arranged at a position substantially passing through the axis of the soft portion, or even if the wire is deviated from the axis, the bundle member and the inner surface of the soft portion are separated from each other. Since the gap can be suppressed to be equal to or less than the gap, even if the soft portion is bent, the ultrasonic transducer does not unnecessarily shift its position in the rotation direction. The ultrasonic operation wire is inserted into a flexible sleeve, and the flexible sleeve is generally formed by a tight coil.

Therefore, if the control cable is simply mixed with the signal cable, the signal cable may be damaged or the ultrasonic operation wire may be displaced from the center. Therefore, the control cable is inserted into the inner insertion member while being inserted into the pair of flexible sleeves. Then, a large number of signal cables are arranged so as to surround the outer circumference of the inner insertion member, and the outer circumference is surrounded by the outer insertion member. In this way, by providing the double insertion member, the displacement of the ultrasonic operation wire is prevented. Each of the inner and outer insertion members may be a tube-shaped member, or a tape-shaped member may be wound.

A pair of control cables including ultrasonic operation wires are provided. However, if the two control cables are completely unified by the inner insertion member, even if the inner insertion member is made of an extremely flexible member, the control cables are separated. The hardness is higher than when it is inserted into. In addition, if the signal cables are bundled into a single cable, it becomes hard. On the other hand, the soft part should have a structure as flexible as possible.
Therefore, when the control cable is inserted into the inner insertion member, and also when the control cable is inserted into the outer insertion member through which the signal cable is inserted, it is possible to insert the control cable in a loose-fitting state with some allowance, It is possible to suppress the increase in hardness of the soft part as much as possible. For example, the inner insertion member is formed of a flexible tube, and the two control cables are inserted into the flexible tube in a loose fitting manner, and a large number of signal cables provided so as to surround the inner insertion member are taped to some extent. If it is wound loosely, the flexibility of the soft portion will not be impaired.

However, if the control cable moves too freely in the inner insertion member and the signal cable also moves freely between the inner insertion member and the outer insertion member, when the flexible portion bends, The ultrasonic operation wire will be displaced from the axis of the soft part due to deformation of the entire bundle member. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate the inner and outer insertion members to such an extent that the entire bundle member is not largely deformed within the range in which the flexibility of the soft portion is not impaired. Also, if the insertion of these insertion members is made too loose, the bundle member will become bulky, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of reducing the diameter of the flexible portion.

As the operation wire to be inserted into the flexible part, not only the ultrasonic operation wire but also the angle operation wire for bending the angle part when the angle part is provided in the insertion part is also inserted. . The angle operating wire has to be positioned at a predetermined position in the angle portion, but does not require special positioning in the flexible portion. Moreover, if the angle operation wire passes through a position away from the axis of the flexible part, when the flexible part is bent again, the angle operation wire will be as if pushed and pulled, and the angle part will bend. Will be done. Therefore, the control cable including the angle operation wire and the flexible sleeve through which the angle operation wire is inserted can be inserted into the inner insertion member that constitutes the bundle member together with the control cable including the ultrasonic operation wire. This also stabilizes the posture of the angle part.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the following description, there is no particular difference in the configuration of the distal end portion main body provided with the ultrasonic transducer in the insertion portion from that of the above-mentioned prior art. Only the rotating operation mechanism of the sound wave transducer will be described, and the same or equivalent members of the member on the insertion portion side of the conventional technique will be described using the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 4, the flexible portion 1c which constitutes the insertion portion 1 is shown.
The cross section of FIG. 1 shows a plurality of signal cables 30 connected to the ultrasonic transducer 2 in the flexible portion 1c.
An ultrasonic operation wire 31 and an angle operation wire 32, each of which is a pair, are inserted. Further, the ultrasonic operation wire 31 and the angle operation wire 32 are respectively inserted into the flexible sleeves 33 and 34 to form the ultrasonic control cable 35 and the angle control cable 36, respectively. There is no particular difference from the conventional technology.

However, the pair of control cables 35 and 36 are not inserted individually in the flexible portion 1c, but are integrated with the signal cable 30. That is, the inner insertion member 37 is provided, and each pair of the inner insertion member 37, and a total of four control cables 35 and 36 are inserted. A large number of signal cables 30 are arranged on the outer periphery of the inner insertion member 37 so as to surround them. Here, each signal cable 30 is arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of the inner insertion member 37 as uniformly as possible. Further, an outer insertion member 38 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the signal cable 30. In this way, four control cables 35, 36 and many signal cables 30
By using the inner and outer insertion members 37 and 38,
The book bundle member 39 is inserted into the flexible portion 1c.

The inner insertion member 37 constituting the bundle member 39 is inserted in a loose fit form to some extent in order to prevent the hardness of the control cables 35 and 36 from increasing.
Similarly, the outer insertion member 38 is also configured to surround the signal cable 30 loosely to some extent. Therefore, it is preferable that the inner insertion member 37 is made of a flexible tube and the outer insertion member 38 is made of a taping body. The bundle member 39 retains flexibility, has good shape retention, and is as bulky as possible.

By the way, the angle operation wire 32 has to be arranged at a predetermined position along the inner peripheral surface of the angle portion 1b, but the ultrasonic operation wire 31 is required.
Is inserted into the flexible sleeve 33 from a position immediately after passing through the tip body 1a to form the control cable 35, and the position is not restricted in the angle portion 1b. The same applies to the signal cable 30.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, at a position within the angle portion 1b, two control cables 35 are bundled by an inner ring-shaped member (not shown) at one or a plurality of locations, and a large number of signal cables 30 are provided. Is arranged so as to surround the inner ring-shaped member, and is then bundled by fitting the restriction ring 40, and the bundle is arranged at a substantially central portion of the angle portion 1b. Since the signal cable 30 is pulled when the ultrasonic transducer 2 rotates, the signal cable 30 has a certain amount of extra length in the tip portion main body 1a.

The present embodiment is constructed as described above, and only the bundle member 39 bundled into one is inserted through at least the flexible portion 1c of the insertion portion 1. In addition, since the ultrasonic control cable 35 and the angle control cable 36 having the ultrasonic operation wire 31 and the angle operation wire 32 that are pushed and pulled are inserted through the central position, these control cables are substantially inserted. In the flexible portion 1c, the member passes through the shaft center or a portion in the vicinity thereof.

The path in the body cavity into which the insertion part 1 is inserted is not straight but is complicatedly bent, and the flexible part 1c is bent in any direction according to the bending of the insertion path. Also,
The flexible portion 1c is not inserted into the body cavity over its entire length, but is located outside the body cavity for a certain length. Of the flexible portion 1c, the portion located outside the body cavity is not always kept straight. No matter how the flexible portion 1c bends, the bundle bundle 39 abuts on the inner surface of the flexible portion 1c, but the ultrasonic manipulation wire 31 and the angle manipulation wire 31 that are located substantially at the center of the bundle bundle 39 and are pushed and pulled. The reference numeral 32 hardly shifts from the axial center position of the flexible portion 1c, and when the flexible portion 1c expands and contracts and is pushed and pulled, the rotating body 14 rotates and the angle portion 1b bends. There is no inconvenience. Further, when the angle operation wire 32 is pushed and pulled, the angle portion 1b bends, but the length of the angle portion 1b in the axial direction is relatively short. If the extra length is provided, the tensile force does not act on the ultrasonic operation wire 31.

When the operation knobs 20b and 21b are rotated with fingers or the like, the ultrasonic operation wire 31 and the angle operation wire 32 can be pushed and pulled, the scanning direction of the ultrasonic transducer 2 is changed, and the tip end portion is changed. It does not hinder the operation of directing the main body 1a in a desired direction. Further, although the ultrasonic operation wire 31 and the angle operation wire 32 are pushed and pulled, they are inserted into the flexible sleeves 33 and 34 to form control cables 35 and 36, respectively. , 32 does not act on the flexible sleeves 33, 34 even if they move in the axial direction.
Therefore, the ultrasonic operation wire 31, the angle operation wire 3
There is no possibility of affecting other members during the operation of 2.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the insertion portion having the flexible structure, the control cable including the ultrasonic operation wire is inserted into the flexible inner insertion member, and then the inner insertion member is inserted. A large number of signal cables connected to the ultrasonic transducer are surrounded on the outer circumference of the signal cable, and the flexible outer insertion member is inserted on the outer side of the signal cable. A force does not act in the direction in which the sonic wave operating wire pushes and pulls, and the position of the ultrasonic transducer can be held in a stable state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of a multi-plane type ultrasonic probe according to a conventional technique.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a tip portion of an insertion portion in the ultrasonic probe of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view of a main body operating portion of the ultrasonic probe of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a soft part in an insertion part of an ultrasonic probe showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a structural explanatory view of a member inserted into an insertion portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Insertion Part 1a Tip Body 1b Angle Part 1c Flexible Part 2 Ultrasonic Transducer 2a Ultrasonic Transducer 30 Cable 31 Ultrasonic Operation Wire 32 Angle Operation Wire 33, 34 Flexible Sleeve 35 Ultrasonic Control Cable 36 Angle Control Cable 37 Inner insertion member 38 Outer insertion member 39 Bundle member

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Hisashi Nakamura 1385-1 Shimoishigami, Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, Nasu factory of stock company (72) Inventor Yasutaka Nagai 1385-1 Shimoishi, Otawara, Tochigi stock company, Toshiba Nasu in the factory

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic transducer in which a distal end body made of a hard member is provided at a distal end of a flexible structure insertion portion, a rotating body is provided at the distal end body, and a plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged in line on the rotating body. Is rotatably mounted in a direction orthogonal to the transmission / reception surface, and an ultrasonic operation wire for rotating the rotating body is extended from the insertion section into the main body operation section, and includes at least an ultrasonic operation wire The control cable is inserted into the flexible inner insertion member, and a large number of signal cables connected to the ultrasonic transducers are arranged around the outer periphery of the inner insertion member, and the flexible outer insertion member is arranged outside the signal cable. An ultrasonic probe having a configuration in which the bundle member is inserted into the insert member, and the bundle member is inserted into a portion having a flexible structure in the insertion portion. 2. The insertion portion is configured by connecting an angle portion to a tip end main body and connecting a flexible portion to the angle portion. An angle operating wire for bending the angle portion is provided. 2. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic probe according to claim 1 is configured such that the control cable including the ultrasonic operation wire is inserted into the inside insertion member of the bundle member together with the control cable including the angle operation wire. . 3. The inner insertion member and the outer insertion member,
The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic probe is formed of a flexible tube or a taping body. 4. The inner insertion member is formed of a flexible tube, the control cables are inserted into the inner insertion member in a loosely fitted state, and the outer insertion member is formed of a taping body, and the taping body is used for signal control. The cable is configured to be wound loosely.
An ultrasonic probe as described.