JPS58185139A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe for obtaining ultrasonic images such as intraoral ultrasonic tomographic images.

There has never been an example of an ultrasound probe designed for intraoral diagnosis. Almost all existing ultrasound probes are based on the abdomen and chest of the human body.

Most of them were used in devices for diagnosing relatively large organs in the human body, such as the upper and lower limbs and the abdominal cavity.

Therefore, since these ultrasonic probes are large in shape and mainly target soft tissues, it has been impossible to use them for examination of the 2-bene oral cavity.

The present invention solves these problems seen in the conventional example, and provides an ultrasonic probe that enables inspection of the oral cavity by housing an ultrasonic transducer in a tooth-shaped housing. The purpose is to provide

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a side sectional view of an embodiment of the ultrasonic probe of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a probe housing, 11 is a piezoelectric vibrator, 12 is a rotating shaft, 13 is a vibration motor, and 14
is the vibrator lead wire, 141 is the vibration motor lead wire, 1
6 is a membrane, 1 is a filling liquid, 18 is an object to be examined such as a tooth, and 19 is an ultrasonic beam.

The probe housing 1o has a toothed shape,
Portion 1 of this housing 10 corresponding to the bristles of the hub ten
A membrane 16 is interposed in the 01 to maintain contact with an object to be examined 18 such as teeth and gums. A vibrating motor 13 for reciprocating a rotary shaft 12 with a truncated tip around a main shaft portion 121 is housed in the handle portion 1σ of the probe housing 1o, and is connected via a lead wire 14′. A line 15 connects it to an external power source. Further, a piezoelectric vibrator 11 is attached to the tip shaft portion 12'' of the circuit shaft 12, and the piezoelectric vibrator 11 is driven by the vibration prime mover 13 in a swing-like manner around the main shaft portion 121 of the rotating shaft 12. The piezoelectric vibrator 11 is vibrated so that the ultrasonic beam 19 can be scanned through the object to be examined 18.As shown in the figure, the piezoelectric vibrator 11 is formed into a bowl shape so that both side sections are concave. The ultrasonic beam 19 is formed so as to be focused close to the surface of the object to be inspected 18, for example, at a depth of approximately 1 depth from the surface. A fan-shaped scan is performed when viewed from the front of the part corresponding to the tip of the hair.Test object 1
Focusing on the surface near and below 8 is very effective in detecting phlegm inside the gums. Inside the hair tip portion 101 of the probe housing 1o, there is a hair tip that is approximately the same as the human body.
A filling liquid 17 having an acoustic impedance of, for example, mineral oil is filled, and ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the object to be examined 18 without attenuation through the membrane 16 such as a polystyrene coating or artificial rubber.

Next, the operation of the ultrasonic probe according to the present invention will be explained based on FIG. Examiners such as dentists and laboratory technicians use the handle 10 of the probe housing 10 having a hapten-like structure.
” in one hand and insert the probe housing 1 into the patient's mouth.
The part 10' corresponding to the bristles 10' is inserted, the membrane 16 is brought into direct contact with the object to be examined 18 such as teeth or gums, and the external power is turned on to drive the vibration motor 13. The piezoelectric vibrator 11 is connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and an ultrasonic beam 19 is emitted into the object to be examined 18 in response to a drive signal from the main body. Scanning is performed in a fan shape. The reflected beam reflected from an abnormal part such as a lesion in the object to be inspected 18 is converted into an electric signal by the ultrasonic transducer 11 again, and the signal is transmitted to the lead wire 14.
The data is sent to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus via the connection line 166, and is subjected to reception processing.

A side sectional view of the second embodiment of the ultrasonic probe of the present invention is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure. In FIG. 2, the same parts as in the first embodiment are given the same numbers as in FIG. The difference from the first embodiment is the probe housing 21. As shown in FIG. 2, in the case of the second embodiment, a part of the portion 10'' corresponding to the handle of the hapten is curved to form a curved portion 20. The portion 2o is provided to facilitate application when the present probe is applied to the inner surface of a tooth or the inside of a gum.

In the second embodiment, the parts other than the probe housing 1o are completely the same as those in the first embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted.

A side sectional view of the third embodiment of the ultrasonic probe of the present invention is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure. In FIG. 3, the same parts as in the first and second embodiments are given the same numbers as in FIGS. 1 and 2. The difference from the first and second embodiments is that the rotary shaft and the prime mover for the vibrator are six benders, whereas in the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, a bending type vibrator is used instead of these parts. There is. In FIG. 3, a bending type vibrator 3o is, for example, a bimorph type piezoelectric vibrator, and has one end fixed by a stator 32, and is introduced from a connecting line 16 via a bending vibrator lead wire 31. The other end of the vibrator 30 can be bent and vibrated by the driving power generated by the vibrator 30. A piezoelectric vibrator 11 is attached to the end of the vibrator 30, and the bendable vibrator 3
The piezoelectric vibrator 11 is caused to swing up and down in response to the bending vibration of the ultrasonic beam 1.
7 can perform fan-shaped scanning. In the case of this embodiment, fan-shaped scanning is performed from side to side toward the drawing.

As explained above, according to the present invention, a piezoelectric vibrator and a drive machine for reciprocating the piezoelectric vibrator are provided in a tooth-shaped housing in which an acoustic window capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is formed in a portion corresponding to the tip of the hair. The structure is small, lightweight, and inexpensive, and it is possible to obtain a 7-page tomographic image of the teeth, gums, etc. in the oral cavity by making complete contact with the object to be examined.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an ultrasonic probe according to a first embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an ultrasound probe according to a third embodiment of the invention. It is a sectional view showing an example. 10...Probe...Using, 11...
・Piezoelectric vibrator, 1a... Rotating shaft, 13...
...Motor for vibrator, 14...Lead wire for vibrator, 141...Motor lead wire for vibrator, 15
...Connection line, 16 fist ##I+#-membrane, 17・ll・filling liquid, 18...test object,
19... Ultrasonic beam, 2°... Curved portion, 30... Bending type vibrator, 31...
・Lead wire for bending type vibrator, 32...Stator for bending type vibrator. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A tooth-shaped housing in which an acoustic window capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is formed in a portion corresponding to the tip of a hair, a piezoelectric vibrator provided in a portion corresponding to the acoustic window, and mechanically coupled to the piezoelectric vibrator. An ultrasonic probe characterized in that it is equipped with a drive machine that gives reciprocating vibration.