JPH0975346A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and precisely adjust an ultrasonic scanning range by connecting a rotator connected to an ultrasonic transducer to an inclination operating means and providing a signal transmitting means for transmitting an operate signal to the inclination operating means in an operating part. SOLUTION: A rotary shaft 41 drooped at the lower part of a driven rotary pulley 39 is supported rotatably by a bearing 43 provided on an inclining table 42 and a supporting shaft 46 provided projectingly at the part to be shifted from a planar part 45a to an inclined part 45b at a side plate part 45 of the inclining table 42 or at the part vicinity thereof is supported rotatably on the inner wall of a main body casing 33. By the energizing force of a spring 47 mounted on the supporting shaft 46, the inclining table 42 is held in the state of abutting the planar part 45a of the side plate part 45 on a bottom wall 33b of the main body casing 33. Then, an inclination scanning wire 48 is connected to a lower surface at the top end section of an upper plate part 44 of the inclined table 42 and the inclination scanning wire 48 is pulled around along a guide part 44a so as to be positioned lower than the supporting shaft 46, and inserted later to a cylindrical guide part 49 on the bottom wall 33b of the main body casing 33.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe that performs multi-plane electronic scanning by rotating an ultrasonic transducer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic probe provided with an ultrasonic transducer at the tip of an insertion portion to be inserted into a body cavity or the like has a structure for performing so-called multi-plane electronic scanning, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-22534. It is shown in the official gazette. In this known ultrasonic probe, as shown in FIG. 1, a rotating body R is provided on a tip end main body D of an insertion portion C, and a plurality of ultrasonic transducers P made of piezoelectric ceramic or the like are arranged in a row on the rotating body R. The ultrasonic transducers T arranged are mounted. By sequentially driving a large number of ultrasonic transducers P with a predetermined time delay, linear or sector electronic scanning is performed over a predetermined range inside the body. Then, by rotating the rotating body R in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure, ultrasonic tomographic images by different scanning lines are obtained. For example, when performing a heart examination through the esophagus, the rotary body R is rotated while the distal end main body D of the insertion portion C is held at a predetermined position of the esophagus, and ultrasonic scanning is performed from various angles. By doing so, the whole image of the heart can be grasped, and if voxel data conversion processing is performed by the image processing means, three-dimensional display is also possible.

If a mechanism for rotating a rotating body equipped with an ultrasonic transducer is provided in the insertion portion, especially in the tip end body, the diameter of the insertion portion will be increased, so that the rotational drive of this rotation body is connected to the insertion portion. Generally, the operation section is provided so as to be remotely operated, and an operation wire is generally provided between the rotary drive mechanism and the rotating body to transmit a rotational force. A drive mechanism for remotely controlling the rotating body is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-261903. Therefore, regarding the known drive mechanism,
2 shows the overall configuration of the ultrasonic transducer, and FIG.
FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the distal end portion of the insertion portion, and FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the operation portion.

First, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an ultrasonic probe. This ultrasonic probe 1 includes an operating portion 2 and an insertion portion 3
And a cable 4 is pulled out from the operation portion 2, and the tip of the cable 4 has
A connector 5 that is detachably connected to the ultrasonic observation apparatus is provided. The insertion portion 3 has a predetermined length of the flexible portion 3a.
Thus, the angled portion 3b is connected to the flexible portion 3a, and the tip portion main body 3c is sequentially connected to the angled portion 3b.

The tip portion main body 3c has a main body casing 10 as is apparent from FIG.
A chamber 10a is formed in the chamber 0, and an ultrasonic transducer 11 is mounted in the chamber 10a. The ultrasonic transducer 11 has the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 1, and therefore detailed illustration and description thereof will be omitted. The ultrasonic transducer 11 is connected to a driven rotary pulley 12 as a rotating body. Here, a backing material 13 is mounted on the driven rotary pulley 12, and the ultrasonic transducer 11 is mounted on the backing material 13. The acoustic matching layer 14 is laminated on the transmitting / receiving surface of the ultrasonic transducer 11, and the acoustic lens 15 is laminated on the acoustic matching layer 14.
The acoustic lens 15 faces an acoustic window 16 provided in the main body casing 10. The acoustic window 16 is fixedly attached to the main body casing 10 via a sealing member 17, and thus the chamber 10a has a sealed space. For example, liquid paraffin or the like is used as an ultrasonic transmission medium in the chamber 10a. Is enclosed. In addition, 18 is a flat cable connected to the ultrasonic transducer 11.

The ultrasonic transducer 11 includes a backing material 13, an acoustic matching layer 14 and an acoustic lens 15,
Ultrasonic unit 1 provided integrally with the driven rotary pulley 12
9, the ultrasonic unit 19 rotates about the center of the transmitting / receiving surface of the ultrasonic transducer 11. Therefore, the central axis of the insertion portion 3 and the rotation axis of the ultrasonic unit 19 are orthogonal to each other.

In order to rotate the ultrasonic unit 19,
A pair of operation wires 20, 20 are provided by being wound in an annular groove 12a formed in the driven rotary pulley 12, and their ends are fixed to the driven rotary pulley 12.
The pair of operation wires 20 pass through the pipe 21 and are guided into the angle portion 3b, and extend from the angle portion 3b through the flexible portion 3a into the operation portion 2. Here, the part of the operation wire 20 from the part led out of the pipe 21 to the inside of the operation part 2 is inserted into a coil sleeve 22 formed by winding a metal wire rod into a close contact coil shape, and the part of the coil sleeve 22. Pipe 21 at one end
The other end is fixedly held in the operating portion 2.

In the operating section 2, as shown in FIG. 4, the operating wire 20 is led out to the outside of the coil sleeve 22, and the tip of the operating wire 20 is an annular groove 23a of the drive pulley 23.
Are wound around and fixed at their ends.
A rotary shaft 24 is connected to the drive pulley 23, and the rotary shaft 24 projects from the casing of the operation portion 2 and an operation knob 25 is connected to the tip thereof. Therefore, when the operation knob 25 is rotated with a finger or the like, the drive pulley 23 is rotated. As a result, the operation wire 20 is pushed and pulled, and the driven rotary pulley 12 is rotated following the operation. . In order to detect the rotation angle of the driven rotary pulley 12, a bevel gear 26 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the drive pulley 23, and the bevel gear 26 is connected to the input shaft 27a of the encoder 27. The gear 28 meshes. Therefore, when the drive pulley 23 rotates, the rotation angle is detected by the encoder 27, and the ultrasonic scanning direction is recognized by this.

[0009]

The operation wire 2 described above is to be solved.
Although the scanning direction of the ultrasonic transducer 11 in the ultrasonic unit 19 is changed by the push / pull operation of 0, the rotation axis of the driven rotary pulley 12 on which the ultrasonic unit 19 is mounted is the distal end body of the insertion portion 3. When the sector electronic scanning is performed by the ultrasonic transducer 11, the direction is orthogonal to the axis of 3c.
This ultrasonic scanning is performed in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the tip body 3c of the insertion section 3. Further, an angle portion 3b is continuously provided on the tip end main body 3c on which the ultrasonic transducer 11 is mounted.
The ultrasonic transducer 1 is operated by bending the
1 can be oriented in any direction. Therefore, the angle portion 3b is curved in an appropriate direction so as to face a site such as an affected part in the body cavity where ultrasonic examination is to be performed, but the positional relationship between the insertion direction of the insertion portion 3 and the portion where ultrasonic examination is performed. Depending on the situation, the ultrasonic transducer 11 may not always be arranged at a position where ultrasonic scanning can be performed within an appropriate scanning range.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an insertion portion and an inspection site when performing an ultrasonic inspection by electronic scanning in a multi-plane system in a body cavity. The ultrasonic scanning range can be easily and finely adjusted so that the ultrasonic transducer is directed to a region to be subjected to ultrasonic inspection in accordance with the positional relationship.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, a rotating body connected to an ultrasonic transducer is connected to a tilting operation means capable of tilting its rotation center axis in a predetermined direction. Further, the operation section is characterized by being provided with a signal transmission means for transmitting an operation signal to the tilting operation means.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An angle portion is continuously provided on a tip end body of an insertion portion provided with an ultrasonic transducer. Therefore, the angle portion is curved to orient the tip end body in a desired direction. Thus, the ultrasonic scanning range can be adjusted. However, depending on the site to be subjected to ultrasonic examination such as a diseased part in the body cavity, it may not always be possible to direct the ultrasonic transducer in an accurate direction only by bending the angle portion. From the above, the rotating body equipped with the ultrasonic transducer can be displaced not only in the rotating direction but also in the tilting direction. For this purpose, a tilting operation means is connected to the rotating body, and by operating this tilting operation means, the ultrasonic transducer can be tilted in a predetermined direction, and the ultrasonic transducer can be moved without moving the tip body. The ultrasonic scanning range can be adjusted so that the ultrasonic transducer is surely oriented to the site to be subjected to ultrasonic scanning such as the affected area.

Here, it is preferable that the ultrasonic transducer is tilted in the axial direction of the insertion portion so that the ultrasonic transducer can be tilted forward by a predetermined angle from the state in which the rotation axis of the ultrasonic transducer is orthogonal to the axis of the insertion portion. Is more preferable.

As the tilting operation means, specifically, a rotating body on which an ultrasonic transducer is mounted is rotatably mounted on a tilting table, and the tilting table is tilted by remote control. The tilting table can be held in a predetermined angle state by a biasing means such as a spring, and the tilting wire can be tilted against the biasing means by a tilting operation wire. This tilting operation wire transmits a drive signal from the operation section side, and is extended from the insertion section into the operation section, and push-pull operation means for generating a drive signal with respect to the tilting operation wire in the operation section. Connect to. With this, by operating the push-pull operation means,
The tilting table can be tilted, and when the tilting table is tilted, the ultrasonic transducer provided on the rotating body rotatably supported by the tilting table tilts, and the ultrasonic scanning range by the tilting table is adjusted to a desired portion. To be able to set and adjust.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the distal end portion of the insertion portion 31 of the ultrasonic probe 30. Here, the insertion part 3
Reference numeral 1 denotes a flexible portion 31a connected to the operation portion 32 (see FIG. 9).
The angle portion 31b is provided at the tip of the
A tip portion main body 31c is continuously provided at the tip of the (see FIG. 12), and a chamber 33a is formed in the body casing 33 of the tip portion main body 31c. In the chamber 33a, a linear on the backing material 34 is formed. Through the ultrasonic transducer 35 for performing sector electronic scanning, the acoustic matching layer 36 is laminated on the ultrasonic transducer 35, and the acoustic lens 37 is laminated on the acoustic matching layer 36, whereby the ultrasonic unit 38 is formed. Composed. In addition, the backing material 34 in the ultrasonic unit 38 is provided so as to be connected to a driven rotary pulley 39 as a rotating body, and the driven rotary pulley 39 has a pair of rotary operation wires 4.
0 and 40 are connected, and the ultrasonic transducer 3 is operated by pushing and pulling the rotary operation wire 40.
The direction of ultrasonic scanning by 5 can be displaced in the rotational direction. The above points are not particularly different from those of the prior art.

Here, as is apparent from FIGS. 6 and 7, a rotary shaft 41 is vertically provided below the driven rotary pulley 39, and the rotary shaft 41 is provided with a bearing 4 provided on a tilt base 42.
3 is rotatably supported. The tilting table 42 is a bearing 43.
And a side plate portion 45 provided on both left and right sides of the upper plate portion 44. An end surface of the side plate portion 45 extends in parallel to the upper plate portion 44 to an intermediate position. It is a flat surface portion 45a and is an inclined portion 45b that is inclined so as to rise from the middle. The side plate portions 45 on both sides are provided with a support shaft 46 projecting from a transition portion from the flat surface portion 45a to the inclined portion 45b or a portion in the vicinity thereof. The support shaft 46 is rotatably supported on the inner wall of the main body casing 33. Has been done.

A spring 47 as an urging means is attached to the support shaft 46 of the tilting table 42, and the tilting table 42 is normally moved by the urging force of the spring 47 as shown in FIG. The flat surface portion 45a of the side plate portion 45
Is held in contact with the bottom wall 33b of the main body casing 33. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when a pressing force is applied in a direction against the urging force of the spring 47 of the tilting base 42, the inclined portion 45 b is moved to the bottom wall 33 b of the main body casing 33.
Can be tilted to the state of abutting against. In order to tilt the tilting table 42 against the biasing force of the spring 47, the tilting table 42
A tilting operation wire 48 for transmitting a tilting drive signal is connected to the lower surface of the tip portion of the upper plate portion 44, and the tilting operation wire 48 is connected to a guide portion 44 a provided on the lower surface of the upper plate portion 44. After being routed so as to be positioned below the support shaft 46, it is inserted into a tubular guide portion 49 fixedly provided on the bottom wall 33b of the main body casing 33.
Therefore, when the tilting operation wire 48 is pulled, the tilting table 42 is
Is tilted about the support shaft 46.

When the tilting table 42 is tilted, the whole ultrasonic unit 38 is tilted. However, in order to enable ultrasonic scanning by the ultrasonic transducer 35 even in such a tilted state, an acoustic window provided in the main body casing 33. 50 is
Even in the maximum inclination angle state of the ultrasonic unit 38, the ultrasonic unit 38 is extended toward the front side to the extent that ultrasonic signals can be transmitted and received from the ultrasonic transducer 35. The acoustic lens 37 and the acoustic window 50 have a spherical shape centered on the tilt center of the tilt table 42.

The tilting operation wire 48 is used for the body casing 3
3 is inserted into a coil sleeve 51 formed of a close contact coil connected to a guide pipe 49 fixedly attached to the bottom wall 33b of the No. 3 and extended into the operation portion 32. In addition, the pair of rotary operation wires 4 wound around the driven rotary pulley 39 and provided.
0 is a mounting portion 44b erected on the upper plate portion 44 of the tilting table 42.
Is inserted into a guide pipe 52 fixedly provided in the coil sleeve 53. The guide pipe 52 is connected with a coil sleeve 53 formed of a close contact coil, and the rotary operation wire 40 is inserted into the coil sleeve 53 to operate. It extends into the section 32.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the operation unit 32,
A drive pulley 54 around which the rotation operation wire 40 is wound is provided, and the tilting operation wire 48 is connected to the push / pull operation means 55. The rotation operation wire 40 is
It is wound around the drive pulley 54 by being drawn out from the end of the coil sleeve 53 fixed to the casing of the operation portion 32, and therefore when the drive pulley 54 is rotated, the rotation operation wire 40 is pushed and pulled. As a result, the driven rotary pulley 39 rotates following it, and as a result, the ultrasonic unit 38 is rotationally driven about the rotary shaft 41. Here, the drive pulley 54 is provided with an operation knob extending outside the operation portion 32 and an encoder for detecting the rotation thereof.
Since it is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, its illustration and description are omitted.

On the other hand, the push / pull operation means 55 is
As is clear from FIG. 10, the reciprocating member 56 has the reciprocating member 56 to which the tilting operation wire 48 derived from the end of the coil sleeve 51 fixed to the casing or the like of the operating unit 32 is connected. Square portion 56a and male screw portion 56
b, and the male screw portion 56b is screwed into the female screw member 57. The female screw member 57 is rotatably supported by a bearing member 58 so as to be immovable in the axial direction, and an operation ring 59 is continuously provided at an end portion of the operation member 59. Exposed to the outside.
Further, the bearing member 58 is provided with a rectangular regulating wall 58 a, and the rectangular portion 56 a of the reciprocating member 56 is provided with the regulating wall 5 a.
8a is slidably brought out of the bearing member 58, so that the reciprocating member 56 can move in the axial direction, but is regulated so as not to rotate. With this configuration, when the operation ring 59 is rotated by a finger or the like that holds the operation portion 32, the reciprocating member 56 is drawn into the female screw member 57 or pulled out from the female screw member 57 according to the rotation direction thereof. The tilting operation wire 48 is pushed and pulled, and the tilting table 42 tilts.

The ultrasonic probe 30 according to the present embodiment is constructed as described above, and the ultrasonic probe 30 is inserted into the body cavity of the ultrasonic probe 30 up to a site where a predetermined ultrasonic examination is to be performed. The ultrasonic transducer 35 is operated to perform ultrasonic scanning on a predetermined cross section in the body cavity. Then, by rotating the drive pulley 54 by a predetermined angle,
The orientation of the ultrasonic transducer 35 is changed, and in this state, ultrasonic signals are transmitted and received by the ultrasonic transducer 35 to perform ultrasonic scanning. Hereinafter, by repeating this operation in sequence, it is possible to perform ultrasonic scanning with a multi-plane from various angles, and it is possible to stereoscopically grasp the entire image of the ultrasonic examination target portion such as the heart.

By the way, the ultrasonic transducer 35
Is to rotate about a rotary shaft 41 extending in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the distal end body 31c of the insertion portion 31. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, when performing ultrasonic scanning by a multi-plane on the heart, the rotary shaft 41 is located at a position on the extension line of the substantially central portion O of the heart.
The axis line of the ultrasonic scanning line L ₁ is positioned, and an ultrasonic tomographic image of the portion of the ultrasonic scanning line L ₁ is _first acquired.
It is preferable to acquire ultrasonic tomographic images in the order of ₂ , L ₃ , ... L _n in order to grasp the whole image of the heart. For this reason, the angle portion 31b is operated so as to be curved in an appropriate direction. However, the angle portion 31b is considered because of the relationship between the internal structure of the body cavity into which the insertion portion 31 is inserted and the position of the target portion to be subjected to ultrasonic examination. There is a case where the position for ultrasonic scanning cannot be accurately controlled only by the operation of.

Here, the ultrasonic unit 38 is not directly attached to the main body casing 33 of the tip end main body 31c, but is attached to the tilting base 42.
2 can be tilted forward by pushing and pulling the tilting operation wire 48 in the axial direction of the tip end main body 31c. Then, by rotating the operation ring 59, the reciprocating member 56 can be moved forward and backward with respect to the female screw member 57, whereby the tilting operation wire 48 is pushed and pulled, so that the operator operates the operation ring 59. By appropriately rotating, the direction in which ultrasonic scanning should be performed can be adjusted smoothly and finely.

That is, as shown in FIG. 12, when only the angle portion 31b of the insertion portion 31 is curved in the body cavity tube, the ultrasonic scanning range becomes the range F ₁ shown by the imaginary line, and the ultrasonic scanning is performed. When the tilting table 42 is tilted by pulling the tilting operation wire 56 when the tilting operation wire 56 is deviated from the region where the movement should be performed, the ultrasonic scanning range shifts in the arrow direction to the range F ₂ shown by the solid line. Thereby, the ultrasonic transducer 35 is ultrasonically operated by an extremely simple operation of appropriately rotating the operation ring 59 after bringing the distal end main body 31c close to a part to be ultrasonically scanned by operating the angle portion 31b. It is possible to perform control so that the position can be accurately adjusted in the region where the scanning range is to be performed. Moreover, when the urging force of the spring 47 acting on the tilting table 42 is released from the pulling force applied to the tilting table 42 by the tilting operation wire 48,
If the operation ring 59 is made as weak as possible within a range that does not hinder the smooth return operation, and a certain amount of sliding resistance is generated between the female screw member 57 and the bearing member 58, the operation ring 59 is at a predetermined angle. Even if the fingers are released in the rotated state, the tilting table 42 can be held at a predetermined tilting position.

Further, since the rotary operation wire 40 wound around the driven rotary pulley 39 is inserted into the guide pipe 52 mounted on the tilting table 42, even if the tilting table 42 is tilted, the rotary operating wire 40 of the driven rotary pulley 39 is tilted. Even if the axis of rotation is tilted,
There is no risk that the winding direction of the rotary operation wire 40 around the driven rotary pulley 39 will change, and the operability of the rotary operation wire 40 will not deteriorate or it will not deviate from the driven rotary pulley 39. Therefore, in performing ultrasonic scanning by the multi-plane, the driven rotary pulley 39 by the rotary operation wire 40 is maintained in a state in which it can be smoothly rotated.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the tilting table is constructed so as to be tilted forward in the axial direction of the tip end main body, but it may be tiltable in the front-rear direction along this axis. Alternatively, the tip body may be tilted in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the body. Further, two operating wires are used to rotate the driven rotary pulley. However, if the driven rotary pulley is configured to be biased to a predetermined position by, for example, a spring, the operating wire is Only a book should be provided. Furthermore, for the tilting operation of the tilting table, for example, a motor is built in the tip end main body, and the tilting drive of the tilting table is performed by this motor, and the operation control of this motor is performed by the operation unit. You can also In this case, the signal cable between the motor and the operation control means of the operation section serves as the signal transmission means.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the rotating body provided with the ultrasonic transducer can be tilted by the tilting operation means, and the operation of the tilting operation means can be remotely operated by the operation portion. Since it is configured, when performing ultrasonic inspection by electronic scanning in a multi-plane method inside the body cavity, the ultrasonic transducer ensures that the ultrasonic inspection is performed on the site to be ultrasonically tested according to the positional relationship between the insertion part and the inspection site. As a result, the ultrasonic scanning range can be easily and finely adjusted so as to face.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration for performing multi-plane electronic scanning.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of an ultrasonic probe according to a conventional technique.

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

4 is a cross-sectional view of an operation unit in the ultrasonic probe of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the distal end portion of the insertion portion in the ultrasonic probe showing the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an assembly structure of a drive mechanism of an ultrasonic transducer.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5, showing a state in which the tilting base is tilted.

FIG. 9 is a structural explanatory view of a drive mechanism section for a rotation operation wire and a tilt operation wire in the operation section.

FIG. 10 is a structural explanatory view of a push / pull operation means.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of the operation when ultrasonically scanning the heart.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory diagram for adjusting the ultrasonic scanning range.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 Ultrasonic Probe 31 Insertion Part 31c Tip Part Main Body 33 Main Body Casing 35 Ultrasonic Transducer 38 Ultrasonic Unit 39 Driven Rotary Pulley 40 Rotation Operation Wire 41 Rotation Shaft 42 Tilt Table 46 Spindle 47 Spring 48 Tilt Operation Wire 50 Acoustic Window 54 Drive Pulley 55 Push / pull operation means 59 Operation ring

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Hisashi Nakamura Hisashi Nakamura 1385-1 Shimoishigami, Otawara, Tochigi Stock Company Toshiba Nasu factory (72) Inventor Yasutaka Nagai 1385-1 Shimoishi, Otawara, Tochigi Company Toshiba Nasu Factory

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rotating body, on which ultrasonic transducers having a large number of ultrasonic transducers arranged in a line are mounted, is provided in a tip end main body of an insertion portion, and an operating wire is connected to the rotating body. Extend from the insertion part to the operation part,
It is mounted on a pulley that is rotated by an operation knob provided in the operation unit, and the operation wire is pushed and pulled by the operation of this operation knob, and the ultrasonic transducer is rotated to enable multi-plane electronic scanning. The rotating body is connected to a tilting operation means capable of tilting its rotation center axis in a predetermined direction, and the operation section is provided with a signal transmitting means for transmitting an operation signal to the tilting operation means. A characteristic ultrasonic probe. 2. The tilting operation means includes a tilting table on which the rotating body is rotatably mounted, and the tilting table is configured to be biased in a predetermined direction by biasing means, and the signal transmitting means is provided. Is composed of a tilting operation wire for tilting the tilting table in a direction against the urging force of the urging means, and the tilting operation wire is connected to the push-pull operation means provided in the operation portion. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1. 3. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the tilting direction of the tilting table is the axial direction of the insertion portion.