JPH10201762A - Three dimensional ultrasonic probing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image without lowering in sharpness and contrast by attaching a two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator transducer to an oscillating lever so as to be slidable in the oscillating direction of an ultrasonic wave, and thereby eliminating the influence of a reflected wave caused by a case, ultrasonic relay, etc. SOLUTION: The driving device 2 is constituted of a rotating machine 4 for performing a reciprocating action at a constant angle, a base 3 on which an eccentric pin 5 driven by the rotating machine 4 is set, as is a fulcrum 6 provided at a proper distance from the eccentric pin 5, and an oscillating lever 7 which is fitted to the eccentric pin 5 at one end and which is engaged with the fulcrum 6 with a slit 7b. In addition, the three-dimensional ultrasonic probing device 1 is so designed that the existing two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator transducer 10 in an exposed state is made freely attachable to and detachable from the oscillating lever 7, thereby enabling a locus to be freely set at the tip end of the ultrasonic vibrator transducer 10, and also enabling an image to be formed with the transducer in direct contact with the human body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic device which emits ultrasonic waves to a human body and makes a diagnosis based on the state of an echo wave reflected from an organ or the like. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic transducer which is further swung in the orthogonal direction to make it three-dimensional so as to further improve diagnostic accuracy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of the configuration of a conventional three-dimensional ultrasonic probe of this type is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-184532. The ultrasonic transducer and a driving device for mechanically making a circular motion in a direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional direction generated by the ultrasonic transducer are housed and integrated in a case.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional three-dimensional ultrasonic probe, firstly,
The integration of the two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator and the driving device increases the size of the whole, inconveniences in handling and the like, and also raises the problem of increasing the cost as a whole. Secondly, since a case is provided, there is a problem that the measurement becomes impossible due to an incompatibility between the shape of the part of the case that contacts the object and the shape of the object.

Third, since the ultrasonic vibrator moves in the case, the case and the ultrasonic vibrator cannot be naturally brought into close contact with each other, and a gap is provided between the two.
Therefore, since this gap attenuates the ultrasonic wave, the gap must be filled with an ultrasonic relay body formed by enclosing oil in a flexible bag, for example.

At this time, it is practically impossible to set the above-mentioned bag body to have a size large enough to ignore reflected waves from the surroundings. Problems such as irregular reflection in the body to lower the sharpness or lowering of the obtained image quality, such as a decrease in contrast, occur, and solving these points is an issue to be solved.

[0006]

According to the present invention, as a specific means for solving the above-mentioned conventional problems, a two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator and a two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator in a direction orthogonal to a dimension are provided. A three-dimensional ultrasonic probe comprising a driving device for mechanically oscillating, the driving device comprising: a rotating machine for rotating or reciprocating at a fixed angle; an eccentric pin driven by the rotating machine; A base on which a fulcrum provided at an appropriate distance from the core pin is installed, and a swing lever fitted at one end to the eccentric pin and fitted to the fulcrum by a slit; An object of the present invention is to solve the problem by providing a three-dimensional ultrasonic probe in which an existing two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer is detachable in an exposed state.

[0007]

Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. 1 and FIG.
Is a three-dimensional ultrasonic probe according to the present invention. The three-dimensional ultrasonic probe 1 is a two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator 10 driven by a driving device 2.
This point is similar to that of the conventional example in that it is mechanically swung in a direction orthogonal to the dimension direction of the above.

Here, in the present invention, the driving device 2 and the two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator 10 are configured without being integrated like the conventional three-dimensional ultrasonic probe, and at this time, In addition, the driving device 2 includes a rotating machine 4, an eccentric pin 5, and a base 3 provided with a fulcrum 6, and one end fitted to the eccentric pin 5 and fitted to the fulcrum 6 by a slit 7 b. And a swinging lever 7 that moves.

The rotating machine 4 performs a rotating motion or a reciprocating rotating motion in a fixed angle range such as a range of 240 ° in full rotation (360 °). At this time, the rotating machine 4 It is preferable to use a motor that can be set to a predetermined position by a signal from the control side, for example, a stepping motor.
It is fixed to.

An eccentric pin 5 formed as an arm 5b provided with a pin 5a at a position separated by a predetermined distance D1 from a rotation center C of the rotating machine 4 is connected to the rotating machine 4, The eccentric movement is performed. Further, a fulcrum 6 is provided on the base 3 at an appropriate distance D2 from the rotation center C of the rotating machine 4.

Further, a fitting hole 7a is provided at one end of the swing lever 7, and the pin 5a of the eccentric pin 5 is fitted into the fitting hole 7a. In addition, a slit 7b is provided at a position corresponding to the fulcrum 6 of the swing lever 7, and the fulcrum 6 is slidably fitted.

With this configuration, the rotating machine 4
When the rotary lever 7 is caused to perform a rotary motion or a reciprocating motion within a fixed angle range, the rocking lever 7 performs a rocking motion about the fulcrum 6. If the two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator 10 is attached, the two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator 10 also performs a swinging motion.

At this time, the dimension of the distance D2 from the rotation center C to the fulcrum 6, which is the same as the dimension of the distance D1 from the rotation center C of the rotating machine 4 to the pin 5a, and the ratio of the two dimensions are appropriately set. Thus, the swing angle and the like of the swing lever 7 can be freely set without changing the operation of the rotating machine 4.

In the present invention, the two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer 10
For example, a product that is commercially available as a finished product for a probe of a diagnostic device that performs two-dimensional ultrasonic diagnosis is used. In this case, a case and an ultrasonic repeater are used as in a conventional example. Instead, the two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer 10 is brought into direct contact with an object to be measured such as a human body.

Accordingly, the two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator 10 comes into direct contact with the object to be measured along the trajectory of the other end 7c of the swing lever 7, and the trajectory at this time corresponds to the object to be measured such as a human body. Large differences between the topography and the topography result in situations where it is difficult to maintain contact over the entire swing range.

Here, when examining the trajectory of the other end 7c of the swing lever 7 in the present invention, the dimension of the distance D1 from the rotation center C of the rotating machine 4 to the pin 5a is the same. Distance D2 from rotation center C to fulcrum 6
The shape of the trajectory of the other one end 7c is adjusted by adjusting the relationship between the dimension of the other end 7c and the length D3 from the fulcrum 6 to the other end 7c of the swing lever 7 from the fulcrum 6. Can be changed.

FIG. 3 shows the above as a specific example. First, in the first example, the distance D3 from the fulcrum 6 of the swing lever 7 to the other end 7c is set to 50 mm, and the rotation is performed. The distance D1 from the rotation center C of the rotating machine 4 (not shown) to the pin 5a is 12.5 mm, the distance D2 from the rotation center C of the rotating machine 4 to the fulcrum 6 is 25 mm, and the swing angle α1 of the rotating machine is 240 mm. °.

At this time, the locus T of the other end 7c
Has an arc shape having a center on the opposite side of the swing lever 7 and a deflection angle α2 of 60 °, and a radius R thereof is approximately 129 mm. In this example, the above-mentioned trajectory T is obtained assuming that the two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer 10 projects 10 mm from the tip of the other end 7c.

In the second example, the distance D3 from the fulcrum 6 of the swing lever 7 to the other end 7c is 50 mm as in the first example. 5a
The distance D1 to the fulcrum 6 from the rotation center C of the rotating machine 4 was 16 mm, and the deflection angle α1 was 240 ° as described above.

At this time, the trajectory T of the other one end 7c
As in the first example, a swing angle α2 having a center on the opposite side of the swing lever 7 and having a swing angle α2 of 60 ° is obtained, and the radius R
Is approximately 825 mm, which is almost straight. Therefore, by optimizing the distances D1, D2, and D3, the surface shape of the measured object can be approximated.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment provides a means for further matching the shape of the tip of the two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer 10 with the surface shape of the object to be measured.
In the previous embodiment, the swing lever 7 is formed as a single plate, but in this embodiment, the swing lever 8 is a fixed side plate portion 8a and a sliding side plate portion 8b.

The fixed side plate 8a is engaged with the pin 5a and the fulcrum 6 (both not shown, see FIG. 1) as in the swing lever 7 of the previous embodiment. The two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator 10 is not mounted, the two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator 10 is mounted on the sliding side plate portion 8b, and the sliding side plate portion 8b is mounted on the fixed side plate portion 8a by, for example, a sliding groove 8
It is attached by fitting it to c.

At this time, the sliding side plate portion 8b is mounted so as to be slidable in the axial direction in which the two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator 10 oscillates ultrasonic waves, and protrudes toward the measured object by a compression spring 8d or the like. It is deviated in the direction. Therefore, even if the shape of the trajectory of the tip of the sliding side plate portion 8b does not match the shape of the object to be measured, the compression spring 8d
Performs expansion and contraction.

With the configuration described above, the three-dimensional ultrasonic probe of the present invention can obtain a free trajectory at the tip of the ultrasonic vibrator 10. An image can be formed by directly contacting the ultrasonic vibrator 10 with a human body or the like without using a case, an ultrasonic relay, or the like. Therefore, there is no possibility that a reflected wave from the case, the ultrasonic repeater, or the like is generated, and the resulting image does not suffer from a decrease in sharpness and contrast due to the reflected wave.

Further, as the ultrasonic transducer 10, an off-the-shelf ultrasonic transducer which is provided on the market for a probe of a diagnostic apparatus for performing two-dimensional ultrasonic diagnosis can be adopted. Can be prepared, and the size and weight can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the present invention, the driving device is a rotating machine that performs a reciprocating motion of rotation or fixed angle, an eccentric pin driven by the rotating machine, and an appropriate distance from the eccentric pin. And a swing lever fitted at one end to the eccentric pin and fitted to the fulcrum by a slit. The swing lever has an existing two-dimensional A three-dimensional ultrasonic probe in which the ultrasonic transducer is detachable in an exposed state. In addition, a two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer is mounted on the swing lever so that it can slide in the ultrasonic oscillation direction. First, a free trajectory can be obtained at the tip of the ultrasonic transducer 10 without using a case, an ultrasonic relay body, etc. as in the conventional example. The ultrasonic transducer is brought into direct contact with the human body to create an image. And things.

Therefore, there is no possibility that a reflected wave from the case, the ultrasonic repeater or the like is generated, and the obtained image is not affected by the reflected wave from the object, and the sharpness and the contrast are not reduced. Thus, this type of three-dimensional ultrasonic probe has an extremely excellent effect in improving the image quality.

Second, when forming a probe as a three-dimensional ultrasonic probe, it is sufficient to prepare only a driving device, and the ultrasonic transducer performs two-dimensional ultrasonic diagnosis. Since a ready-made probe that is provided on the market for a probe of a diagnostic device to be performed can be adopted,
An excellent effect that both size reduction and cost reduction can be achieved is also achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a three-dimensional ultrasonic probe according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state of the three-dimensional ultrasonic probe of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of another embodiment of the three-dimensional ultrasonic probe according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Three-dimensional ultrasonic probe 2 ... Driving device 3 ... Base 4 ... Rotating machine 5 ... Eccentric pin 5a ... Pin 5b ... Arm 6 ... Support point 7, 8 ... Swing Lever 7a ... fitting hole 7b ... slit 8a ... fixed side plate 8b ... sliding side plate 8c ... sliding groove 8d ... compression spring C ... center of rotation D1 ... from center of rotating machine to pin D2: Distance from the center of the rotating machine to the fulcrum D3: Distance from the fulcrum to the tip of the probe

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional ultrasonic probe comprising: a two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer; and a drive device for mechanically swinging the two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer in a direction orthogonal to the dimension. A base on which a rotating machine that performs reciprocating motion of rotation or fixed angle, an eccentric pin driven by the rotating machine, and a fulcrum provided at an appropriate distance from the eccentric pin, A swinging lever fitted at one end to the pin and fitted to the fulcrum by a slit, wherein the swinging lever has an existing two-dimensional ultrasonic vibrator which is detachably mounted in an exposed state. 3D ultrasonic probe. 2. The three-dimensional ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer is slidably mounted on the swing lever in an ultrasonic oscillation direction. apparatus.