JPS6048732A - 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 (a) Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flat plate that adds a full function of measuring the blood flow of a subject to an ultrasonic device that uses a linear play glove. Due to its invasive nature, ultrasound diagnostic equipment has come to be widely used as a medical diagnostic equipment.

An ultrasound diagnostic device transmits ultrasonic waves to a transducer at a predetermined repetition frequency, receives reflected ultrasonic waves of the transmitted ultrasonic waves from the subject using the transducer, and creates a tomographic image inside the living body. form or
This is a device that performs blood flow measurement 2.

In order to form images of both ultrasonic Ur layers, it is necessary to scan the entire ultrasound beam transmitted and received by the transducer over the object to be observed. Conventionally, one or more transducers are rotated. Then, a fan-shaped scan was performed. Recently, the technology for multi-element transducers has progressed, and systems called linear arrays and phased arrays have appeared, and by simply connecting transducers to the t1 row, it is possible to eliminate all mechanical gate motion and reduce profits. It became so.

00 multi-element oscillators, which are approximately 130 oscillators with a cross-sectional area of approximately 1 m x 10 oscillators in a linear array, are connected with the sides of the tlQ oscillators connected to each other, and the mantissa sides are adjacent to each other. In this method, simultaneous transmission is performed while moving the transducers to the implanted site without changing the number μ of the transducers (i1"). The direction in which the near array transducers are connected from the ultrasonic beam (
It is characterized by a scanning mode in which the ultrasonic beam moves parallel to the progressive direction in the direction perpendicular to the array direction (hereinafter abbreviated as the array direction). The ultrasound device is generally used to acquire all the tomographic images called B mode. This is a tomographic image taken in the ultrasound transmission direction of the subject, and is used to observe tomographic images of blood vessels, Br3 organs, etc. in the P3 region of the living body.

A display called M mode is also often used.

In M mode, one ultrasonic beam is fixed in a specific direction of the whole subject, and the horizontal axis is the time axis, and the vertical axis is the ultrasonic reflected signal sound of the subject in the direction of the fixed beam. Then, the time change in the distance between each part of the subject and the glove in the specific direction is displayed. For example, the ultrasound beam? In the same case as the heart, the temporal movement of the heart wall in the direction of the globe can be measured.Hereinafter, the main measurement and command are called M-mode measurement and M-mode display.

In addition to the above, there is an important topic in recent medical applications of ultrasonic waves: blood flow measurement.In blood sludge measurement, a droop effect acts on the reflected ultrasound waves from the transmitted ultrasound waves and the movement of the blood. The =t tlQ method of blood flow velocity is generally used. Below is the main measurement and display t drap i [measurement,
O linear array probe called “drag display”
The superarc/wave device originally uses the above-mentioned 9-chi B mode l
IJ? The main method is tmlidm measurement, but recently there are some that also perform M mode display and blood flow measurement. However, among these conventional techniques, there is always a problem in the measurement accuracy of blood flow velocity, as will be described later, and the invention is intended to address this problem.

(C) Conventional technology and problems No. 1N is the prior art linear array glove that has the functions of the above-mentioned Dogura measurement and M-mode measurement? This is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the ultrasonic device used.

In Figure 1, l is a linear array globe and 1-1 is a linear array transducer? For example, the number of oscillators is 12.
The number is 0 to 130. An ultrasonic beam that transmits and receives all ultrasonic pulses squarely in the direction in which the linear array transducers are connected. Eight to ten elements are simultaneously transmitted from the end of the linear array transducer 1-1, with arrows at both ends? An ultrasonic beam is formed as shown by the dotted chain line 1-3 (hereinafter referred to as a scanning beam), and the combination of simultaneously sent transducers is shifted one by one to the right in the figure. , scan in the direction of arrows 1-4. Therefore, the scanning width becomes as shown in curly brackets 1-6, and the scanning width ? An ultrasonic M-layer image of the scanned object 15 is shown.

The scanning and display'kB mode scanning, B mode? It is called ``indication''.

20 indicates non-stop ultrasound diagnosis. 2 forms a scanning beam at the optical drive proboscis, and if 8 to 10 drive pulses are generated at a certain repetition frequency. The drive pulse is sent to multiplexer 4 via path 12. Is multiplexer 4 linear array transducer 1-1? In a circuit that selects all combinations of transducers for scanning, these combinations are created by a control section 3 including a mask oscillator that takes the timing of the entire system. The transmitted pulse passes through 11 paths and bursts at the same ultrasonic frequency as the V of the transducer 1-1 and all the transducers of the dark blue combination, and the reflected ultrasonic wave is transmitted as an electric signal (hereinafter referred to as received (W)) by the combined transducer. It is converted into a signal (referred to as a signal), passes through a multiplexer 4, passes through a path 13'l, is amplified by a receiving amplification group 8, and is applied to a display section 7. It is displayed in B mode using the return whistle made by Gogo No. 1.

In order for the observer to perform a total measurement in the He4 mode or the dog grabber 1, he finds the object to be measured from the above-mentioned B mode fitting, and sets the part of the object to be coughed in the marker section 6'rA to save time. The output of the marker section 6 is input to the same transducer 5, and the sales selection section 5 controls the 16 control section 3 to select the specific transducer of the linear play transducer.
Select, for example, 1-7 from the near array insect brakes,
Time-saving transducer 1-7-G MMO F or a dedicated transducer for Doppler measurement.

% One of the lJ near array resistors 1-1 is placed on the foot transducer 1-7.

Therefore, the superstition of the oscillator of the running I-beam is that it is impossible to transmit and receive signals at the same time as the oscillator that forms the main eclipse beam.
/2, the scanning transducer and time delay transducer are alternately transmitted and received. The above-mentioned control is performed by the Lully control section 3.

The receiving signal 1616 from the shipper's transducer 1-7 is separated by the receiving unit u width part 8, is separated by δ at the receiving unit u width part 8, and is combined with the 1 mode number on the top side through the M mode signal amplification section 9 and then sent to the wiped signal 7. sent to,
The Doppler analysis signal of the special jL region (in the depth direction of the subject) is detected at the gate (path 15), which is included in the Doppler signal Kusunoki 4, 7, and 7, and is in the form of hi and δ in the marker section 6. is input into the display section 7. M mode and Dogura Shinji sweep 1i5
The signals are generated by the display section 7 based on the respective synchronization signals from the control section 3.

In Doppler measurement, due to the nature of the Doppler effect, it is theoretically impossible to measure the blood flow velocity that is perpendicular to the direction of the ultrasound beam (parallel to the array direction).
On the other hand, blood flow (generally (
7. The body surface 1-8, L is often parallel to the array direction that can contact the body p. Therefore, Doppler ablation measurements using the conventional linear array glove have problems in terms of accuracy. (d) Purpose of the Invention In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to make the ultrasonic beam for blood flow measurement oblique to the array direction of the 7-ray transducer so that it flows parallel to the body surface or at an angle close to parallel to the body surface. The purpose is to measure blood flow with high precision using a mK meter.

(e) Structure of the invention 211: In an ultrafonic device that uses a linear array vibrator, On the court, there was a quick response to the early So Q or a set of 7 Aed Array transfers.
- Doppler is applied to the 14.0 ultra-U wave beam formed by a transducer or a 1-channel transducer. 4 beams for 1 stroke 1. I￥i, Ekiden oscillator's oscillator Bμ said J1 (A rotational oscillator is added to the kinen oscillator from outside t215 of the linear array globe by tunba city or mechanical operation, nozed array oscillator: f: Use゛r/) The place is to postpone the timing of the ultra-high wave transmission of the trial oscillator phase five: I: 笈 and set up the beam for the beam.
'TI can be freely installed in the same scanning plane as the running beam of the linear array transducer, and the beam direction of the single transducer is linked to the rotation of the horizontal vibration f. By means of an encoder, the beam direction of the phased array transducer is determined by a direction mark (displayed on the display) in the phased array copying element's mutual ultrasonic V timing delay layer. So, linear array swing! - Observe all the ultrasonic tomographic images of the T and B kings formed in the child, determine all the blood flow areas to be measured, and perform drag measurement by determining the direction of the dedicated beam to the blood flow areas. , the above object is achieved by the invention.

(f) Embodiment of the Invention Fig. 2 shows a system diagram of a circuit configuration of an uninvented embodiment in which a single transducer is used as the transducer for measuring blood flow velocity, and Fig. 3 shows a phased array transducer. In FIG. 2, 30 is the 17=a array glove of the embodiment of the present invention, and the linear array glove 30 is the main body of the 40 μ ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The transducer 1-1 forms a scanning beam 1-3 and scans the entire scanning range 1-6 in the direction of the arrow 1-4, which is similar to the prior art shown in FIG. A single transducer 31' for blood flow velocity measurement is installed on the extension line of the linear play transducer 1-1 in the array direction, and a dedicated beam 33 for blood flow velocity measurement formed by the single transducer 31 is connected to the single transducer 310. Same t direction control section 32'f
By controlling and changing fi, the scanning range 1-6 can be freely directed at an oblique angle to the entire scanning beam 1-3 as shown by the arrow 34. The direction control unit 32 is a linear array probe 30
A drive knob is provided on the outside of the unit, or a drive motor is built in and controlled by an external switch to rotate a single oscillator 310 times.
f. It also has a built-in encoder linked to the single oscillator 31 and outputs a direction signal sound for the dedicated beam 33.

Ultrasound examination 1! 'r In the device 40, the transmission drive section 41
Generates drive pulses to form the scanning beams 1-3 of the linear array transducer, and also generates drive pulses to form the dedicated beam 33i of the single transducer; Occur.

The multiplexer 43μ mask oscillator 'kP[is controlled by the control unit 42 which takes the timing of the entire system of the ultrasonic diagnosis Fr apparatus, selects the combination t of the transducers of the linear array sensor 1-1, and selects y=near array movement. Child 1-1+! Let them run,
The drive pulse of the single oscillator 31 is transmitted to the first to single oscillators 31 of the pulses generated by the control unit 41 .

Since the single transducer 31 is a 9-dedicated transducer, which is different from the conventional technology, the frequency of the transmitted ultrasonic wave is changed to the linear play transducer 1.
It is not necessary to make the frequency the same as that of -1, but if a different frequency is used, the single oscillator 31 can also be used as the linear array oscillator 1-1.
Is the repetition frequency similar to the conventional technology? There is no need to set it to l/2.

The received signal of the linear array vibrator 1-1 is transmitted to the receiving amplifier 44.
The signal is amplified and combined and sent to the instruction section 45, and the synchronization signal from the dividing section 42 is converted into a sweep signal by the instruction section 45. When the received 1g signal of the 5o'l' number oscillator 31 is Doppler No. 100, the Doppler analysis section 47 performs Doppler analysis. The measurement person receives the direction of the dedicated beam 33 from the encoder of the direction control section 32 to the marker section 48, and checks the marker on the B mode display of the display section 45. The direction control unit 32i can be adjusted and installed in the blood flow to be measured, and the gate number can be sent to the Doppler analysis unit 47 according to the blood flow site and can be applied to the Doppler analysis signal of the site.ゐThe gate position is marked with a dot on the marker. M mode wide part 4
Reference numeral 6 is provided in consideration of the case where M mode measurement is performed using a dedicated beam 33. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 50 indicates a glue air array probe according to an embodiment of the present invention, and reference numeral 60 indicates an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body.

In the linear array probe 50, the blood flow meter 6+1 transducer and one set of phased array transducers 51' do not require any mechanical drive, which is similar to the linear array transducer, but the dedicated beam formed The feature is that the direction is reversed at an angle of Iyr with respect to the array direction, and the aperture illumination surface has dimensions of, for example, 0.3 mm x 1 m, and the side of one strip is adjacent to each other, for example, d: 32 or 64 pieces. A number of elements are connected in series to form an array, and all elements are used simultaneously for ultrasonic transmission.
By mutually shifting the sending timings of the four elements, the dedicated beam can be changed as shown by the arrow 53.

In the ultrasonic diagnosis LFR device main body 60, a drive delay unit 62 controls the drive pulses generated by the 0-feed drive unit 61, which is a circuit that controls the transmission timing of each element of the 7 aided array transducer 51 described above. +7 Near array transducer 1-1 controlled by multiplexer 64? The reception signal of the linear array transducer l-1 is input to the reception amplification section 65 and displayed in the B mode on the display section 66, which is similar to the embodiment described above in FIG. Measuring the speed, b
In this case, observe the cough B mode display and change the drive pulse of the p drive delay unit 62 to be slow depending on the blood flow area to be measured, drive the phased array transducer, and set the dedicated beam 52 at the angle of Wi. Set to .

The received (tf) signal from the phased array oscillator is synthesized and amplified in a synthesis amplification section 67, and its output is sent to a doubled decomposition section 69.
The dog 2 formed at the marker section and the 1ζ gate point
The first number is output and displayed on the display section 66. M mode 1
The signal amplification section 68 is an amplification section when used for 721ZD array transducer ff1M mode measurement.

In the case of Fig. 3, since the 7-aided array transducer s12 for blood flow velocity measurement is provided, the transmitting ultrasonic frequency of the transducer 51 should be set to be different from the frequency of the linear array transducer. In that case, as in the case of FIG. 2, both the linear array vibrator and the phased array vibrator can be measured without reducing the repetition frequency contribution to 1/2.

As mentioned above, blood flow measurement uses a dedicated vibrator,
Since the ultrasonic beam of the trial excavation transducer is directed obliquely to the array direction of the linear array transducer, as shown in FIG. Even when the blood flow is flowing, the beam 52 dedicated to blood flow measurement (on the contrary, the beam speed of the blood flow is 520,000 times per minute).
You can side 0.

In the explanation of Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, using different frequencies for the transmission ultrasonic frequency of the blood flow rate measuring transducer and the frequency of the IJ near array transducer, the repetition frequency is changed as in the conventional technique (do not reduce it to 1/2). However, this method makes it possible to increase the flow rate and increase the maximum flow velocity detection limit, making it extremely
It is a means.

In the explanation of FIGS. 2 and 3, there is an example t in which a single oscillator 31 or a phased array oscillator 51t is used also on the M mode needle side.
However, there is no particular reason why M-mode measurements must be performed using this vibrator. In some cases, as in the prior art, one of the linear array image sensors is responsible for all of the M-mode measurement, and the B-mode and M-mode measurements are performed.

It is also possible to perform each display in parallel with Doppler measurement.

Ig) Effects of the Invention The present invention provides a linear array globe. I- What about the ultrasound diagnostic equipment you use during diagnosis? It is possible to precisely measure the axis of blood flow that is almost parallel to the epidermis that appears in tJJ lacrimation. :Accurately, it has a very large effect on the accuracy of blood flow velocity measurement and the maximum detection limit.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows a system diagram of an ultrasonic beam system using a conventional linear array globe, and Figure 2 shows a system diagram of an ultrasonic beam system using a linear array globe using a single transducer as a transducer for measuring blood flow velocity. An embodiment of the ultrasonic V diagnosis 1I7r device of the invention is shown in a system diagram, and FIG. 3 shows a complete system diagram of the non-inventive embodiment used on a phased array transducer. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout Figure 2, and in Figure 1, 1 is a linear array probe, 20iIi ultrasonic diagnostic r!
lr device body, 1-1 is a linear play transducer, 1-7 is a transducer that shares flow velocity measurement, 5 is a transducer selection section, 2 is a transmission drive section, 10 is a dograph) T-fold section, 7 is a This is the display section. In Figure 2, 30 is l/near array glove, 4
0 is ultrasonic diagnosis pJ1 coin is the main body, 31 is a single oscillator, 47
In the third cause, 50 is a linear array glove, 60 is an ultrasound diagnostic equipment, 511″1
．． 7 aided array vibrator, 62 is drive'f, dJ delay section, and 69 is Doppler Pingxuandu.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of ultrasonic transducers (hereinafter abbreviated as linear array transducers) that are connected in series to form an array form an ultrasonic beam at right angles to the direction in which the ultrasonic beams are connected to the The foot is moved sequentially in the direction fI] 1r, and a tomographic scan is performed on the whole fat scanning surface of the subject that is brought into contact with the linear array transducer. In the ultrasonic cutting device used, a single transducer (hereinafter referred to as a single transducer) is all installed on an extension line in the direction in which the linear array transducers are connected in the linear array globe, and the single transducer is The ultrasonic beam of j
The JllL number oscillator is controlled by an electrical or mechanical operating means from the outside of the linear array globe so that the scanning plane formed by the JNear array oscillator can be oriented toward itself and the direction can be set. the direction signal is formed in the scanning plane formed by the linear array transducer of the ultrasonic beam of the single transducer, and the direction is displayed on the display section. Ultrasound diagnostic rDr device with % signs. (2) A plurality of connected ultrasonic transducers (hereinafter referred to as linear array transducers) that form an entire array form an ultrasonic beam at right angles to the connected direction, and the ultrasonic beams are A linear array type ultrasonic globe (hereinafter abbreviated as linear array globe) is moved sequentially in the C direction to form a scanning surface, and the linear array transducer is placed on the subject's armpit fixed surface, which can be represented by the linear array transducer. In the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment for t-t', a 7-aided array transducer of 1 m length is installed on the extension line of the linear array transducer in the direction in which the linear array transducers are connected, and the ultrasonic The ultrasonic wave transmission timing V delay amount rK between the seven aided array transducers is set so that the sonic beam can be directed to the scanning Ifr circle (1" mark) formed by the linear array, and the amount of delay rK is set. The linear array vibration f of the phased array transducer is shaped by the foot. A directional signal within the scanning plane is generated by the directional circuit, and a mark between the two directions is displayed on the display section. Diagnostic equipment.