JPH10118062A - Ultrasonograph - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To diagnose with higher accuracy by both ultrasonic hardness measurement and ultrasonograph by a probe consisting of a piezoelectric element which can be used in both an ultrasonic hardness measuring system and an ultrasonograph system. SOLUTION: A group of oscillators 5 of the apex face part 4 of a probe main body 2 is constituted by arranging a plurality of element parts 6 into narrow tablets and the element part 6 comprises a piezoelectric element 9, an earth (GND) electrode 10 arranged on the front face of this and signal electrodes 11 and 12 arranged side by side on the back face of the piezoelectric element 9. When ultrasonic image diagnosis is performed, a switch is switched to a transmitting and receiving circuit side and a pulse-like electric signal is transmitted to an adjoining plurality of element parts 6 in the apex face part of the probe 1. When hardness measurement is performed, the switch is switched to a transmitting circuit and a receiving circuit side and an AC electric voltage is simultaneously applied to all the signal electrodes 11 of the group of oscillators 5 by the transmitting circuit under a condition where the probe is brought into contact with the surface of a living body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for observing an ultrasonic tomographic image by contacting a living tissue.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a system for measuring the hardness of a living body,
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-290529 is known. This is to measure the hardness of a living body contact portion based on information on a change in resonance frequency when a probe made of a piezoelectric element is brought into contact with a living body and the probe portion is vibrated by an oscillation circuit. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-187 discloses an example in which a pressure sensor is provided in a probe for ultrasonic tomographic image diagnosis.
No. 844. This is provided with a pressure sensor that detects the pressure when the probe is pressed against the living body,
The hardness of the part is measured from the pressure of the contact part and the distortion amount of the ultrasonic tomographic image.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
In the hardness measurement probe of 290529, when using this to measure the hardness of a living body part existing in the body, it is necessary to blindly search for the position of the hard part on the body surface, The diagnosis was troublesome. In addition, the position of the hard part on the body surface can be detected, but it is difficult to accurately detect the position of the hard part in the depth direction.

In the case of using an ultrasonic tomographic image diagnostic probe disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-187844, the hardness of a living tissue is determined based on the amount of deformation of a living body at a pressed portion from an ultrasonic image and the measured value of a pressure sensor. Therefore, it is necessary to separately perform a calculation operation for obtaining the hardness. In addition, when the probe of the present example is used for the mucous membrane in the body cavity, if the probe is pressed indiscriminately, there is a risk that the mucous membrane may be damaged or the wall of the living body may be perforated. Further, in the probe of this example, it is necessary to provide the pressure sensor and the ultrasonic diagnostic probe separately, and the endoscopic probe, particularly the distal end portion, which is required to reduce the configuration of the insertion portion, has an endoscope function. It is difficult to apply this example to a probe or the like.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, measures the hardness of a living body and simultaneously measures the position of a lesion in the depth direction without increasing the configuration of the distal end portion of the probe. The purpose of the present invention is to enable a diagnosis with higher accuracy by combining the above.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a single probe made of a piezoelectric element which can be used in both an ultrasonic hardness measuring system and an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of measuring a height and performing an ultrasonic image diagnosis. Then, the following operation is provided. (1) Hardness can be measured under ultrasonic image observation. (2) The hardness of the tissue can be measured without strongly pressing the probe against the living body. (3) The probe can be downsized.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

<First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. (Purpose) The first embodiment aims to measure the position of a lesion in the depth direction at the same time as the hardness of a living body without increasing the configuration of the distal end portion of the probe, thereby enabling diagnosis with higher accuracy. And

(Configuration) FIGS. 1A to 1C show a probe 1 according to a first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a probe body 2 is formed in a thick flat plate shape (a rectangular parallelepiped shape), and a cord 3 is connected to a rear end of the probe body 2. A vibrator group 5 is provided on the distal end surface portion 4 of the probe main body 2. Transducer group 5
Is constituted by arranging a plurality of element portions 6 in a strip shape as shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D in the direction of the AA cross section line in FIG. 1B. Each of the plurality of element sections 6 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (d), the piezoelectric element 9, a GND (earth) electrode 10 disposed on the front surface thereof, and a first signal electrode 11 and a second signal electrode 12 disposed side by side on the rear surface of the piezoelectric element 9. Become. That is, the piezoelectric element 9 is sandwiched between the GND (earth) electrode 10 and the first signal electrode 11 and the second signal electrode 12 to constitute an ultrasonic vibration element as an electroacoustic transducer. An acoustic matching layer 13 made of resin is applied to the front surface of the GND electrode 10.

Although the piezoelectric element is made of, for example, piezoelectric ceramics, it goes without saying that any other material having an electroacoustic conversion function can be replaced with another material. For example, a polymer piezoelectric material such as PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride), a crystal oscillator, an electrostrictive material, or a magnetostrictive material can be used.

Cables 15, 16, 1 are connected to the GND electrode 10, the first signal electrode 11, and the second signal electrode 12, respectively.
7 are individually connected to each other. The other ends of the cables 15, 16, 17 extend through the probe body 2 and the cord 3 to a connector (not shown) provided at the rear end of the cord 3. As described above, each of the plurality of element units 6 is connected to a circuit to be described later by a connector (not shown), and transmits and receives an electric signal.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit configuration of a system for driving the probe 1 according to the first embodiment. The cable 15 connected to the GND electrode 10 of the probe 1 is connected to the ground 18. Cables 16 and 17 connected to the first signal electrode 11 and the second signal electrode 12 are connected to a transmission / reception circuit 2 via a switch circuit 20 for switching between ultrasonic image diagnosis and hardness measurement.
1. The transmission circuit 22 and the reception circuit 23 are selectively connected. That is, the cable 16 connected to the first signal electrode 11 is connected to one of the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the reception circuit 22 by selecting the terminal 26 of the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the terminal 27 of the reception circuit 22 by the switch 25. . Also, the second signal electrode 12
Is connected to one of the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the reception circuit 23 by selecting the terminal 29 of the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the terminal 30 of the reception circuit 23 by the switch 28. Further, a frequency counter 31 is connected to the receiving circuit 23. These are controlled by the control unit 32. The control unit 32 includes a video processor, a video imposition circuit, and the like, in addition to the arithmetic circuit. In addition, the result of the processing operation is displayed on a monitor 33 that renders an ultrasonic tomographic image.

Next, the principle of rendering an ultrasonic image in the present embodiment will be described. When performing an ultrasonic image diagnosis, the switches 25 and 28 are switched to the transmission / reception circuit 21 side. The transmission / reception circuit 21 transmits a pulse-like electric signal to a plurality of element units 6 adjacent to each other on the distal end surface of the probe 1. At this time, the transmission / reception circuit 21 includes the plurality of element units 6.
The drive timings of the plurality of element units 6 are determined so that the ultrasonic waves emitted from and are focused at a certain point in front. That is, the electric signal emitted from the transmission / reception circuit 21 is converted into ultrasonic vibration by the plurality of element units 6 via the cables 16 and 17. Then, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the plurality of element units 6 are reflected by the body cavity body (object), and are directed to the plurality of element units 6 again. Multiple element units 6
Receives the reflected ultrasonic waves and converts them into electrical signals. This electric signal passes through the cables 16 and 17 again, is received by the transmission / reception circuit 21, amplified, and sent to the control unit 32. The control unit 32 converts the magnitude of the reflected ultrasonic wave into brightness based on the electric signal from the transmission / reception circuit 21, and calculates the reflection position of the ultrasonic wave from the reception timing. The above operation is sequentially performed in the arrangement direction of the transducer group 5 (the direction of the cross section line AA), and an ultrasonic scan is performed, thereby obtaining an ultrasonic scan signal. Then, a video signal is generated by a video processor, and the monitor 33
Draws an ultrasonic tomographic image. The control unit 32 has a function of measuring the distance between two points on the ultrasonic image in addition to the above function. This distance measurement result is displayed on the monitor 33.

Next, the principle of operation when measuring hardness in the present embodiment will be described. When performing the hardness measurement, the switches 25 and 28 are switched to the transmission circuit 22 and the reception circuit 23 side. While the probe 1 is in contact with the surface of the living body, the transmitting circuit 22 applies an AC voltage to all the signal electrodes 11 of the transducer group 5 at the same time. Then, according to the hardness of the surface of the living body, the vibrator group 5 resonates with a certain frequency as a peak value. On the other hand, the signal electrode 12 detects the periodic vibration of the transducer group 5 as an electric signal. The detected electric signal is received by the receiving circuit 23, amplified, and transmitted to the frequency counter 31. The frequency counter 31 calculates the peak value of the resonance frequency of the detection signal. Perform the above work on the histologically normal part and the hardened or softened abnormal part, and calculate the abnormal part hardness as a relative value when the normal part hardness is used as the reference value. , Through the imposition circuit to monitor 33
If the hardness is displayed above, the hardness of the living body is determined.

(Operation) An example of use of the probe 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, a living body 42 having a lesion portion 41 immediately below a position E
An example of diagnosing the hardness and the position of the object will be described. First, the surface of the transducer group 5 of the probe 1 is brought into contact with an arbitrary position C on the surface of the living body 42. And switches 25 and 2
8 is switched to the terminals 27 and 30 to start the hardness measurement.

The probe 1 is moved in the direction of the arrow 43 via the position D and the position E while the surface of the vibrator group 5 is in contact with the surface of the living body. At this time, the measured value of the hardness is recorded in the control unit 32 at a certain timing, and the recorded result is displayed on the screen of the monitor 33 as a graph shown in FIG. In this case, at the position E, a resonance frequency different from that at the position C and the position D is shown under the influence of the lesion portion 41 having a hardness different from that of the peripheral portion immediately below the position E. Therefore, it can be estimated that the lesion portion 41 exists immediately below the position E. Further, the control unit 32 calculates the difference Δf between the resonance frequency at the position E from the linear portion (for example, the position C or the position D) on the graph of FIG. Ask.

Next, switches 25 and 28 are connected to terminals 26 and 2
Switching to the 9 side, the ultrasonic image 46 at the position E as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the monitor. In this example, the control unit 32
The distance between the two cursors 47 and 48 on the ultrasonic image 46 is displayed on the distance display unit 49 by the distance measuring function of the above. Thereby, it can be determined that the distance in the direction of the arrow 43 from the position E on the surface of the living body 42 to the lesion portion 41 is Xcm. Further, the monitor display 45 includes the control unit 32.
The relative hardness H of the position E with respect to the normal part is displayed based on the Δf obtained in the above.

According to the above diagnosis, the probe 1 of the present embodiment measures the tissue hardness as shown in FIG. 4 for the living body 42 having the lesion 41 as shown in FIG. It is possible to grasp the approximate position on the body surface, and from the contents of the monitor display 45 in FIG.
By performing the distance measurement, it is possible to grasp the exact depth position of the lesion 41 and to confirm the hardness of the living body at the diagnosis position.

(Effect) According to this embodiment, it is possible to measure the hardness of the living body and the position of the lesion in the depth direction without increasing the configuration of the distal end portion of the probe 1. Further, by combining the ultrasonic image and the measurement result of the hardness, information necessary for the diagnosis is increased, so that the diagnosis can be performed with higher accuracy.

<Second Embodiment> A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. (Purpose) In addition to the purpose of the first embodiment, the second embodiment enables diagnosis of a part difficult to diagnose from the body surface and damages a soft wall surface such as a mucous membrane in a body cavity. Measurement of tissue stiffness. It is another object of the present invention to enable easy switching between hardness measurement and ultrasonic image diagnosis by hand operation.

(Configuration) The present embodiment is applied to an ultrasonic probe in a body cavity. FIG. 6 shows the whole body cavity ultrasonic probe 51 according to the second embodiment. The intracavity ultrasonic probe 51 includes a distal end portion 52, a curved portion 53, a rigid portion 54, an operation portion 55, and a cord 56 in order from the distal end in the insertion direction. A vibrator group 57 is provided on a lower side surface of the distal end portion 52. The vibrator group 57 has the same configuration as the vibrator group 5 of the first embodiment. That is, the vibrator group 57 has one end of a cable (not shown) connected to each element (not shown). The other end of the cable (not shown) passes through the inside of the intracavity ultrasonic probe 51 and reaches a connector (not shown) provided at the rear end of the cord 56. Operation unit 55
Is provided with a bending knob 58 for bending the bending portion 53. In addition, the inside (not shown) near the boundary between the distal end portion 52 and the bending portion 53 and the rotation shaft side surface (not shown) inside the operation portion 55 of the bending knob 58 are fixed so as to face each other with two wires. ing. By operating the operation knob 58 in the direction of the arrow 59, the distal end 52 can be bent in the direction of the arrow 61. Further, the operation unit 55 is provided with a changeover switch 62 that can simultaneously switch the switches 25 and 28.
When the changeover switch 62 is depressed, the switches 25 and 28 are switched to the terminals 27 and 30, respectively, and the changeover switch 62 itself can maintain the depressed state. When the changeover switch 62 is pressed again, the changeover switch 62 itself returns to the original state,
The switches 25 and 28 are switched to terminals 26 and 29, respectively.

In addition, the control unit 32 has previously recorded information on the hardness of the normal tissue at the diagnosis site, and by comparing this information, the relative hardness of the lesion can be instantaneously measured. Has become. In the present embodiment, since the configuration other than the above description is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description is omitted.

(Operation) FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the operation when the present embodiment is used in a body cavity. Follow the steps below. First, an insufflation needle (not shown) is inserted into the abdominal wall 71,
Inject gas into the abdominal wall 71 with an insufflator through the insufflation needle,
Make me angry. The trocar 72 is inserted into the insufflated abdominal wall 71. Next, the ultrasonic probe 51 for a body cavity is inserted into the trocar 72.

The bending knob 58 is operated so that the vibrator group 57 contacts the surface of the organ 73, and
Is moved to the state shown in FIG. By pressing the changeover switch 62, the ultrasonic image diagnosis is started. At this time, transducer group 5
7 maintains a state of contact with the organ 73 and searches for the lesion portion 74 while gradually sliding the distal end portion 52. When the lesion portion 74 is confirmed under the ultrasonic image, the changeover switch 62 is pressed again to measure the hardness, and the diagnosis of the lesion portion 74 is performed by integrating the ultrasonic image and the measurement result of the hardness.

(Effects) In the second embodiment, in addition to the effects of the above-described first embodiment, it is possible to diagnose a part which is difficult to diagnose from the body surface, and to form a soft wall such as a mucous membrane in a body cavity. Tissue hardness can be measured without damage. Further, by providing the changeover switch 62 on the probe 51 side, it is possible to easily switch between hardness measurement and ultrasonic image diagnosis by hand operation.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. That is, in addition to the above-described embodiment, the present invention can be applied to an embodiment and the like in which hardness measurement and ultrasonic image diagnosis are switched at high speed, and hardness measurement and ultrasonic image rendering can be performed simultaneously. . In addition, examples in which the present invention is applied to an ultrasonic probe which can be orally, rectally, or vaginally inserted into a body cavity can be considered. Further, there may be an example in which the present invention is applied to an endoscope or the like by taking advantage of the advantage that the configuration of the probe can be reduced. In this case, for example, an optical observation system, a channel for air supply or suction, and the like are provided at the distal end of the ultrasonic probe of the second embodiment, and the portion corresponding to the hard portion is changed to a flexible tube. It can be realized by doing. Further, the present embodiment has shown the example of the linear scanning type probe, but in addition to this, a 360 ° element in which elements are arranged along the entire circumference with respect to the side surface of the cylindrical probe.
It is also conceivable to apply the present invention to a radial scanning probe capable of scanning in the form of a probe, a convex probe in which transducer groups of a linear scanning probe are arranged on a surface bent at a certain curvature, and the like.

[Supplementary Notes] An ultrasonic diagnostic probe comprising a piezoelectric element having electrodes and having a vibrator for generating ultrasonic waves by applying an electric signal to the electrodes, and applying an electric signal to the vibrator of the probe to generate ultrasonic waves. Generating and irradiating the object with the ultrasonic wave, detecting the reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave to perform ultrasonic image diagnosis, and resonance of the vibrator when the probe is brought into contact with the object. It has a frequency measuring means for detecting the frequency, comprising a hardness detecting means for detecting the hardness of the object from the measured resonance frequency, ultrasonic diagnostic imaging using the probe and using the probe An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized by performing hardness detection.

2. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of said ultrasonic image diagnostic means and said hardness detecting means has a switching means for selectively connecting to said vibrator.

3. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the probe is an extracorporeal probe for bringing the transducer into contact with an extracorporeal surface. 4. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the probe is an intracavity probe to be inserted into a body. 5. 5. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said switching means is provided on said probe.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously measure the hardness of a living body and the position of a lesion in the depth direction without increasing the configuration of the distal end portion of the probe. By combining the ultrasonic image and the hardness measurement result, diagnosis with higher accuracy is enabled. In addition, observation of the ultrasound image has made it possible to measure the hardness of the tissue without damaging soft walls such as mucous membranes in the body cavity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A is a side view of a probe according to a first embodiment, FIG. 1B is a front end view of the probe, and FIG. 1C is FIG.
FIG. 3D is a cross-sectional view along the line AA, and FIG. 4D is a cross-sectional view along the line BB in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a circuit configuration diagram of a system for driving the probe of the first embodiment,

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a usage example of the probe according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between a position by a probe and a measurement frequency according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a state diagram of a monitor display according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the entire intracavity ultrasonic probe according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a use state of the intracorporeal ultrasonic probe according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Probe, 4 ... Tip surface part, 5 ... Transducer group, 6 ... Multiple element parts, 9 ... Piezoelectric element, 10 ... GND electrode, 11 ... First signal electrode, 12 ... Second signal electrode, 20 ... Switching Switch circuit, 21 transmission / reception circuit, 22 transmission circuit, 23 reception circuit, 31 frequency counter, 32
Control unit, 33 monitor, 51 ultrasonic probe in body cavity, 52 tip, 53 curved part, 54 rigid part, 55
... An operation unit, 57, a vibrator group, 62, a changeover switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ultrasonic diagnostic probe comprising a piezoelectric element having electrodes and having a vibrator for generating ultrasonic waves by applying an electric signal to the electrodes; and adding an electric signal to the vibrator of the probe. While generating an ultrasonic wave, irradiating the object with the ultrasonic wave, detecting the reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave to perform an ultrasonic image diagnosis, an ultrasonic image diagnostic means, when the probe is brought into contact with the object The apparatus has frequency measuring means for detecting a resonance frequency of the vibrator, and has hardness detecting means for detecting hardness of an object from the measured resonance frequency, and an ultrasonic image diagnosis using the probe and An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized by performing hardness detection using a probe.