JPS5861737A - Water immersion type ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - 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 a water immersion ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus equipped with a bubble removing device.

An ultrasound transducer, such as a probe equipped with an electroacoustic transducer, is used to radiate ultrasound into a living body either directly or via an ultrasound propagation medium to detect tissues with different acoustic impedances (product of sound speed and density in the medium). There is an ultrasonic diagnostic device that uses ultrasonic echoes reflected from the boundary surface to obtain both peaks of soft tissue. In addition to its superior ability to analyze living body soft tissues, this ultrasound diagnostic device has significantly fewer radiation exposure injuries than X-ray diagnostic devices, and can also obtain soft tissue images without the use of contrast agents. Therefore, application to mass screening for breast cancer, etc. is being considered.

When performing breast cancer screening using this ultrasound diagnostic device,
Since breast shapes differ from person to person, a water immersion ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is used that performs diagnosis by interposing an ultrasonic propagation medium between the breast and an on-mammary probe.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, as a diagnostic device of this type, there is a water immersion ultrasonic diagnostic device as shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a liquid tank containing an ultrasonic propagation medium 2, and 3 is an ultrasonic transducer disposed at the bottom of the liquid tank I.

As shown in FIG. 1, this device uses an ultrasonic transducer 3 to receive ultrasonic echoes that are reflected from a breast 4, which is an object to be examined, into an ultrasonic propagation medium 2 housed in a liquid tank 1. The received signal is then displayed on a cathode ray tube or the like for diagnosis.

This diagnostic device 1 heats the ultrasound propagation medium to control the liquid temperature to the same level as body temperature (for example, around 37°) so as not to cause discomfort to the patient, who is the subject. There is. For this reason, the gas dissolved in the ultrasonic method 1 medium is no longer saturated, and forms bubbles that adhere to the liquid tank 1 and the ultrasonic sensor 3. When air bubbles adhere to the surface of the ultrasonic sensor 3, the difference in acoustic impedance between the ultrasonic echo @2 and the gas becomes large, resulting in scattering of the ultrasonic waves and a significant deterioration in image quality. be.

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and the present invention was made in order to solve the first problem mentioned above. The present invention aims to provide a water immersion ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can prevent scattering of ultrasonic waves and maintain clear image quality at all times by providing a bubble removing device that removes air bubbles.

An example of this invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 2, 11 is a liquid tank containing an ultrasonic propagation medium 12, and this liquid f1! An electronic scanning type ultrasonic transducer 13 is disposed at the bottom of the cell. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the breast 14, which is the part to be examined, is immersed in the ultrasound propagation medium 12. In this state Jm, from the ultrasonic sensor 13 to the ultrasonic propagation medium 1
2 to the breast 14, and then
After the ultrasonic echo reflected from the boundary surface of the ultrasonic transducer 4 is received by the ultrasonic transducer 13 and converted into an electric signal, this electric signal is displayed on a display device via an amplifier (not shown).

On the other hand, a bubble removing device edge 15 for removing air bubbles adhering to the surface of the ultrasonic sensor 13 is disposed near the ultrasonic sensor 13. This bubble removing device 15 has one end of a wiper arm 17 fixed to a rotating shaft 16a of a drive motor 16 disposed near an ultrasonic wave generator 13.
A brush 18 is provided at the other end. Here, the wiper arm 17 is bent so that the brush 18 can reciprocate horizontally across the surface of the ultrasonic sensor 13. Further, a band-shaped rubber plate I9 is attached to the sliding contact surface of the brush 18 so that the brush 18 comes into close contact with the surface of the ultrasonic transducer 13 and does not damage the ultrasonic transducer 13.

Next, this invention will be explained in detail.

Now, if the liquid temperature of the ultrasound propagation medium 12 is heated to around 37° C. so as not to cause discomfort to the patient, who is the subject, air bubbles will adhere to the surface of the ultrasound transducer 13. In this state, when the drive motor 16 is driven, the wiper arm 1
7, the brush 18 reciprocates on the surface of the ultrasonic vibrator 13 in the left and right directions in the figure, and removes air bubbles attached to the surface of the ultrasonic vibrator 13.

In this way, by providing the brush in the vicinity of the ultrasonic vibrator 13 so that it can slide back and forth, air bubbles attached to the surface of the ultrasonic vibrator can be easily removed, thereby reducing the scattering of ultrasonic waves caused by air bubbles. You can always improve the clarity of the image by improving the image quality.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes an ultrasonic transducer disposed in a liquid tank (not shown), and a bubble removing device t22 is disposed to blow away air bubbles by hitting the surface of the ultrasonic transducer 21 with a liquid stream.

This bubble removing device 22 is constructed by joining a duct 24 to a discharge port 23a of a submersible pump 23 that circulates an ultrasonic propagation medium contained in a liquid tank. The discharge port 24a of this duct 22 is provided, for example, at the left end of the ultrasonic wave filter 21 as shown in the figure.

By spraying the ultrasonic propagation medium onto the surface of the ultrasonic transducer 21 in this way, the surface of the Mi acoustic transducer is coated with 7J.
Ldam t ('l can be removed to 1e3 fist. This is the same as the above) In addition, it is possible to improve the clarity of 1Llii obstacles by preventing the scattering of ultrasonic waves by air bubbles. .

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be modified and made more pointed without changing the gist.

For example, in the embodiment described in F, the brush is set so as to be movable back and forth over the ultrasonic image 4b to remove air bubbles attached to the ultrasonic transducer.
However, this invention is not limited to this,
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a rotating body formed of a soft material into a cylindrical shape can be moved over the ultrasonic transducer to push out air bubbles.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a bubble removing device embankment for removing air bubbles adhering to the surface of the ultrasonic vibrator in the vicinity of the ultrasonic vibrator provided in a liquid tank containing an ultrasonic propagation medium. By providing this, it is possible to provide a water immersion ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can prevent scattering of ultrasound waves and maintain clear image quality at all times.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the general configuration of a conventional water immersion method Zhao sonic diagnostic device g, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the general configuration of an example of the present invention, and Figure 3 is this FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the main parts of another packaging example of the invention.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Waves are received by an ultrasonic transducer installed in a liquid tank containing an ultrasonic propagation medium through the ultrasonic propagation medium, converted into an electrical signal, and then the electrical signal is sent to an amplifier. A water immersion ultrasonic diagnostic device that displays images on a display device via a water immersion method, characterized in that a bubble removal device for removing air bubbles adhering to the surface of the ultrasonic transducer is disposed near the ultrasonic transducer. Water immersion ultrasound diagnostic equipment. (2) The water immersion ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bubble removing device is provided with a brush that can be slid back and forth over the ultrasonic transducer. (3) The water immersion method according to claim 1, characterized in that the bubble removing device is a rotating body made of a soft material formed into a cylindrical shape and is movably provided on an ultrasonic vibrator. Ultrasound diagnostic equipment. (4) The water immersion ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bubble removing device removes bubbles by impinging a liquid stream on the surface of the ultrasonic transducer.