JPS6137942B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an intrabody cavity examination probe that is inserted into the stomach, intestines, etc. to diagnose deep internal organs.

In recent years, the application of ultrasound to the medical field for diagnosis has become popular. The principle of a diagnostic device that uses ultrasonic pulses is that when ultrasonic pulses are emitted intermittently into the body for a very short period of time, the tissues and organs will emit acoustic waves depending on the type of tissue and organs as the ultrasonic waves propagate into the human tissues. Since the physical properties of the particles are somewhat different, some of them are reflected back from the boundaries of different organizations.

As this ultrasound pulse propagates through the body, the reflected echoes that are emitted one after another are detected and displayed on a cathode ray tube, etc., and the distribution of acoustic properties of body tissues can be seen. They have different physical properties, and the presence or absence of an abnormality within the tissue and its location can be determined from the pattern displayed on the cathode ray tube.

Therefore, probes for intrabody cavity examinations, which have a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves in the distal end of a guide tube that has an operating section, have been developed and are being put into practical use.However, conventional ultrasound probes As shown in FIG. 1, a tip component b is provided at the tip of the guide tube a, and a vibrator d is provided on the side wall of the tip component b via a vibration absorbing material c.

Therefore, although it is easy to scan the side of the probe, it is very difficult to operate when diagnosing the front, and there is a drawback that it is impossible to reliably position the probe at the target position.

This invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a transducer that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves in the axial direction of the tip component, and to rotate the transducer in front of the transducer. A flexible mirror is provided, and this mirror directs the ultrasonic pulses in any direction, making it possible to inspect a wide range with a single scan.Furthermore, an observation optical system is provided at the tip component, allowing the probe to be An object of the present invention is to provide an intrabody cavity inspection probe that can be easily positioned while observing a target position within a body cavity.

The present invention will be explained below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. Reference numeral 1 in FIGS. 2 to 4 is an operating section of a probe for intracorporeal examination, and this operating section 1 is provided with a guide tube 2, and at the distal end of this guide tube 2 is a distal end component 3, which will be described later. It is provided. Further, the operating section 1 is provided with an operating knob 4 and has an inlet body 5 and an outlet body 6 protruding from it. Further, a transparent cover 7 is provided at the tip of the tip forming portion 3, and a liquid storage chamber 8 is formed inside. A vibrator 10 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves in the axial direction is attached to the front surface of the tip component 3 facing inside the liquid storage chamber 8 via a vibration absorbing material 9. Further, one end of a cord 11 is connected to the vibrator 10, and the other end is inserted through the guide tube 2 and the operating section 1 to form a pulse generating circuit 1.
2 and an amplification/detection circuit 13. This amplification/detection circuit 13 is connected to a display device 14 such as a cathode ray tube. Also, vibrator 1
Connected to the front of 0. A support rod 15 is installed in the transparent cover 7 located in front of the vibrator 10 at right angles to the axial direction of the tip component 3, and a mirror 16 is rotatably supported on the support rod 15. ing. This mirror 16 has reflective surfaces 16 on the front and back surfaces.
a and 16b, and is adapted to reflect the ultrasonic pulse from the vibrator 10. Further, one end of the operating wires 17, 17 is connected to one end of the mirror 16, and the operating wires 17, 17 are inserted through the through holes 18, 18 penetrating the inside of the distal end component 3 and the guide tube 2. It is connected to the operation knob 4 of the operation unit 1. By rotating the operating knob 4 and moving the operating wires 17, 17 forward and backward, the mirror 16 can be rotated and the ultrasonic pulse can be scanned at various angles. Further, the tip component 3 communicates with the liquid storage chamber 8,
An injection/discharge port (not shown) is provided for injecting and discharging a liquid 19 such as water or oil into the liquid storage chamber 8 .

Therefore, when diagnosing deep internal organs using the intrabody cavity examination probe configured as described above, the distal end component 3 is inserted into the stomach through the guide tube 2, and the transparent cover 7 is closed. Close to the stomach wall. In this state, when an ultrasonic pulse is generated from the vibrator 10 by the pulse generating circuit 12, the ultrasonic wave is reflected by the mirror 16 in the liquid 19 and propagates through the transparent cover 7 into the human tissue. The reflected echo reflected from the abnormal part of the tissue is received by the transducer 10 via the mirror 16, and is displayed as a tomographic image on the display device 14 via the amplification/detection circuit 13. Therefore, from the tomographic image displayed on the display device 14, it is possible to know the presence or absence of an abnormality in internal organs, such as the pancreas, and the location thereof. Also, in this state,
Since the mirror 16 can be rotated by rotating the operating knob 4 and moving the operating wire 17 forward or backward, the ultrasonic pulse from the transducer 10 can be scanned at varying angles.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5A, the mirror 16
By tilting the reflection surface 16a at an angle of 45 degrees so that the reflecting surface 16a faces the transducer 10, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the transducer 10 can be directed to the left of the tip component 3, and conversely, as shown in FIG. When the mirror 16 is tilted at 45 degrees so that the reflective surface 16b faces the transducer 10, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the transducer 10 can be directed to the right of the tip component 3. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3c, when the mirror 16 is positioned at right angles to the transducer 10, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the transducer 10 are directed forward without being reflected by the mirror 16. Therefore, by rotating the mirror 16, the range shown by D in the figure can be scanned.

Furthermore, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show another embodiment of the present invention, in which reference numeral 20 is an endoscope, and a bending section 23 is connected to this operating section 21 via a flexible tube 22. The curved portion 23 is provided with a tip forming portion 24 . First and second operation knobs 25, 26 and an eyepiece section 27 are attached to the operation section 21, and a universal cord 28 is attached to the operation section 21.
is connected. Furthermore, the tip component 24
includes an objective lens 30, a prism 31, and a cover glass 32 facing the end surface of the image guide 29.
is provided and constitutes an observation optical system 33. Further, a light guide 34 is provided next to the observation optical system 33. Further, a transparent cover 36 constituting a liquid storage chamber 35 is provided at the tip of this tip structure 34 , and a vibrator 36 is attached to the tip of the tip structure 24 facing inside through a vibration absorbing material 37 .
8 is installed. A mirror 40 rotatably supported by a support rod 39 is installed in front of the vibrator 38 . And this mirror 4
One end of 0 is the second operating knob 2 of the operating section 21.
connected to operation wires 41, 41 connected to 6;
Rotate the second operating knob 26 to remove the operating wire 4.
The mirror 40 is configured to be able to be rotated by moving the mirrors 1 and 41 back and forth.

Therefore, when the distal end component 24 is inserted into the body cavity for diagnosis, the distal end component 24 can be guided to the target position while observing the inside of the body cavity using the observation optical system 33 from the eyepiece 27, which facilitates the operation. can be achieved.

As explained above, this invention includes a vibrator that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves in the axial direction of the tip component, and a mirror that is rotatably installed in front of the vibrator.
Because the front and back surfaces of this mirror are ultrasonic reflecting surfaces,
The ultrasonic waves from the transducer can be directed in any direction by a mirror, and a wide range of tomographic images can be obtained with one scan.

Furthermore, since the observation optical system is provided in the distal end component of the present invention, the probe can be guided to the target position in the body cavity while being observed, and the probe can be reliably positioned at the desired position. play.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the tip of a conventional probe for testing inside a body cavity, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the entire probe for testing inside a body cavity showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
4 is a perspective view of the mirror, FIGS. 5A to 5D are explanatory views of the operation, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view showing the main part of FIG. 6. FIG. 3... Tip component, 10... Vibrator, 16...
Mirror, 16a, 16b...Ultrasonic reflecting surface, 39
...Observation optical system.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A probe for intracorporeal examination in which a tip component is provided with a transducer that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves in the axial direction, and a mirror that reflects the ultrasonic waves is provided in front of the transducer, A probe for intracorporeal examination, characterized in that both the front and back surfaces of the mirror are ultrasonic reflecting surfaces, and the mirror is rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the axial direction of the tip component. 2. In a body cavity inspection probe that has a transducer that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves in the axial direction in the tip component and a mirror that reflects the ultrasonic waves in front of the transducer, both the front and back surfaces of the mirror are An intrabody cavity characterized by having an ultrasonic reflecting surface, the mirror being rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the axial direction of the distal end component, and an observation optical system provided in the distal end component. Inspection probe.