JPS62127050A - Ultrasonic endoscope for medical treatment - 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 FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION 1 This invention relates to an endoscope, and more particularly to a therapeutic ultrasound endoscope in which an ultrasound transducer is provided in the insertion section.

[Prior art] A conventional ultrasonic thermal treatment device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 51-240.
There is an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 93, and this ultrasonic thermotherapy apparatus is equipped with an ultrasonic probe for inspection to probe the affected area and an ultrasonic probe for treatment for ultrasonic treatment of the affected area.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] According to conventional ultrasonic treatment devices, an ultrasonic probe for examination and an ultrasonic probe for treatment are provided together, so such a probe is attached to the endoscope insertion section. This has the disadvantage that the diameter of the endoscope insertion portion becomes large.

An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope that can be provided with both observation and treatment ultrasound sensors without increasing the diameter of the insertion section.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] According to the present invention, the ultrasonic probe rotatably installed in the endoscope insertion section has an ultrasonic transducer for observation for exploring the affected area and an ultrasonic transducer for treating the affected area. therapeutic ultrasound transducers are placed back to back.

This back-to-back structure allows the ultrasonic probe to be configured compactly and can be incorporated into the endoscope insertion section without increasing the diameter of the insertion section.

(Example) As shown in FIG. 1, an ultrasound probe 12 is rotatably provided at the distal end 11 of an endoscope insertion section. Acoustic lenses 15 and 16 are respectively attached to the surfaces of the radiators 13 and 14, which are arranged back to back.

Acoustic lenses 15 and 16 are set so that the focal lengths of camera elements 13 and 14 are approximately equal. The ultrasonic probe having such a configuration is coupled to a motor 18 by a flexible shaft 17.

The flexible shaft 17 is constructed by, for example, spirally winding a metal belt, and has lead wires 19, 20 inside it.
is being passed. Lead wires 19 and 20 are ultrasonic transducer 1
3.14 respectively. Lead wire 19.20 is the third
Brush 2 provided on shaft 17 as shown in the figure
6.27, respectively, to the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31 and the wave transmission control circuit 36.

The wave transmission/reception control circuit 31 is connected to a video signal conversion circuit 32. The video signal converting circuit 32 is connected to a frame memory 33 and a monitor 34. Control input terminals of the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31 and the video signal conversion circuit 32 are connected to a system control circuit 35. This system control circuit 35 is also connected to a control circuit 36 and a rotation control circuit 38, making the ultrasonic endoscope apparatus 1111611 as a whole. The rotation control φV circuit 38 is connected to the motor 18 and controls the rotation of the motor 18.

The operation of the therapeutic high-frequency endoscope with the above configuration is shown in Figures 4 and 5.
This will be explained with reference to the figures. At the time of detection, tapping, and diagnosis, the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31 outputs a drive pulse in response to a control signal from the system control circuit 35.

At this point, the rotation control circuit 38 rotates the motor 18. The driving pulse is supplied to the observation vibrator 13 via the brush 26 and lead wire 19. The observation transducer 13 generates ultrasonic waves in response to the drive pulse. The ultrasonic waves are focused at a focal point F by an acoustic lens 15. When the ultrasonic wave is reflected from the part located at this focal point F and the echo wave is incident on the observation transducer 13, an echo signal is output from the observation transducer 13. This echo signal is input to the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31 via the lead wire 19 and the σ brush 26. When the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31 supplies the echo signal to the video signal conversion circuit, this echo signal is converted into a video signal and the monitor 34
The monitor 34 displays a tomographic image of the area represented by the echo waves. If necessary, the video signal is input to the frame memory 33 and stored.

As the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31 repeats the above-described wave transmission and reception, a tomographic image of the entire region, that is, a mechanical radial image is displayed on the monitor screen 21 as shown in FIG. According to this display image, an image 22 corresponding to the probe 12
An image including the affected area image 24 centered on is obtained. Also,
A heating section indicator 23 is displayed on the monitor screen 21 .

The heating section indicator 23 is provided at a portion corresponding to the focal position of the therapeutic transducer 14 of the ultrasonic probe 12 when the therapeutic transducer 14 is stationary downward relative to the inner mirror operating section.

Diagnosis is performed while observing the mechanical radial image displayed on the monitor 34, and when an affected area 24 such as cancer is found, heating is performed by manually rotating the endoscope insertion section 11 or operating the curved section of the endoscope. The part indicator 23 is aligned with the affected part 24. When the heating part indicator 23 is on the affected part 24, the heating switch 3
1 is turned on, the system control circuit 35 outputs a rotation stop command signal to the rotation control circuit 38 in response to the ON signal of the switch 37. This rotation stop timing is set so that the focal point of the therapeutic ultrasonic transducer 14 reaches a position that coincides with the heating section indicator 23 indicating the affected area. When the focal point of the therapeutic ultrasonic transducer 14 reaches the position of the affected area 24, the motor 18 is stopped. At the same time, the system control circuit 35 outputs a transmission start signal to the wave transmission control circuit 36, and in response, supplies a transmission/reception stop signal to the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31. Further, the system control circuit 35 supplies a memory rewriting stop signal and a memory read signal to the video signal converting circuit 32. Note that normally, the video signal converting circuit 32 is configured to rewrite the frame memory 33 and extract signals from the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31.

However, this video signal converting circuit 32 does not control reading from the frame memory 33.

Upon receiving the transmission start signal, the wave transmission control circuit 36 outputs a driving pulse for thermotherapy. The thermal treatment pulse is transmitted to the therapeutic ultrasonic transducer 14 via the brush 27 and the lead wire 20.
, the therapeutic ultrasonic transducer 14 generates high-energy ultrasonic waves for thermotherapy. This ultrasonic wave is focused at a focal point F by an acoustic lens '16. As a result, the affected area located at the focused position, that is, the affected area 24, is subjected to heat treatment (hyperthermia) by the ultrasonic waves. During this time, since the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31 stops operating in response to the wave transmission/reception stop signal, the video signal conversion circuit 32
The image signal stored in 3 is continued to be read out, and the image is displayed on the monitor 34.

When the heat treatment for a predetermined period of time is completed using the ultrasonic waves for heat treatment, the system control circuit 35 supplies a rotation start signal to the rotation control circuit 38 and also supplies a wave transmission/reception start signal to the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31 . At the same time, the system control circuit 35 supplies a wave transmission stop signal to the wave transmission control circuit 36 and also supplies a rewriting start signal to the video signal conversion circuit 32. While the probe 12 rotates once in this state, a mechanical radial image signal is obtained by transmitting and receiving the observation ultrasonic waves in the observation ultrasonic transducer 13. This image signal causes the frame memory 33 to be replaced and a new tomographic image to be displayed on the monitor 34. After the time for the probe 12 to rotate once, the system control circuit 35 again switches the rotation control circuit 38 to the rotation control circuit 38.
A rotation stop signal is supplied to the wave transmission/reception control circuit 31, a wave transmission start signal is supplied to the wave transmission control circuit 36, and a rewriting stop signal is supplied to the video signal converting circuit 32. . As a result, hyperthermia is started again.

The above operations are repeated until the heating switch 37 is turned off. When the heating switch 37 is turned off, a normal mechanical radial scan, that is, a scan of the site using only the observation ultrasonic transducer 13 is performed, and a tomographic image of the site is displayed on the monitor 34.

In the above embodiment, the therapeutic ultrasonic transducer 14 is aligned by manually moving the endoscope insertion section, but this alignment can be automated. In this case of automation, a position designation circuit including a keyboard is connected to the system control circuit 35, and by supplying a position designation signal to the system control circuit 35, the sixth screen 21 of the monitor 34 is displayed.
A cursor mark 25 as shown in the figure is displayed. This cursor mark 25 can be moved to any position by operating the cursor keys on the keyboard.

While observing the displayed tomographic image, if you want to align the therapeutic ultrasound transducer 14 to the affected area 24, operate the cursor keys on the keyboard to move the cursor mark 25 to the affected area 24 as shown in Figure M6. will be moved. When the cursor mark 25 reaches the position of the affected area, the heating switch 37 is turned on. At this time, the system control circuit 35
Information regarding the angle θ between the position of the cursor mark 25 and the position of the cursor mark 25 is supplied from the position control circuit. The system control circuit 35 determines the stopping position of the therapeutic ultrasound transducer 14 based on the value of the angle θ.

Stop position information is input to the rotation control circuit 38, and the motor 18 is stopped when the therapeutic ultrasonic transducer 14 reaches the affected area 24. In this state, the circuit system of the observation ultrasonic transducer 13 is stopped, the circuit system of the therapeutic ultrasonic transducer 14 is operated, and heat treatment is performed.

This heating treatment is repeated every revolution of the probe 12, that is, every -scan, as described in the previous embodiment.

When the heating switch 37 is turned off, the repeated operation of scanning and heating for observation ends and the normal observation state returns.

By providing the position specifying circuit as described above, the therapeutic ultrasonic transducer 14 can be automatically aligned to the affected area without rotating the endoscope insertion section.

Without being limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, the focal length can be made variable by changing the transmission frequency of the therapeutic ultrasound transducer, the acoustic impedance of the acoustic lens, or its shape using a control means. In this case, not only the rotational direction but also the depth direction can be changed to a desired position. For example, it can be changed depending on the cursor position in the second embodiment. Also, place a balloon at the tip of the insertion tube.
Good ultrasonic transmission can be achieved by filling the hollow cavity with a sound medium liquid, deaerated water, etc. Furthermore, a deep body temperature measuring sensor can be provided near the ultrasonic transducer to measure the temperature of the heated region.

In heat treatment, the motor is rotated once to scan the body part, then the motor is stopped and the heat treatment is performed. The heating treatment may be performed after obtaining the desired amount, or the ultrasonic waves may be oscillated after the motor has started up at a constant speed.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is also applicable to an ultrasonic stone destruction device, although it is explained as a hyperthermia device.

[Effect] According to the present invention, the ultrasonic transducer for observation and the ultrasonic transducer for treatment can be combined compactly, so that the diameter of the endoscope insertion portion does not increase. Furthermore, since the focal lengths of the observation ultrasound imager and the treatment ultrasound transducer are matched, the treatment area can be observed with high resolution. During treatment, the ultrasonic probe is stopped, allowing efficient treatment.

Furthermore, since it can be confirmed at predetermined time intervals whether the focal length of the therapeutic ultrasonic transducer matches the treated area, reliable treatment is possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial sectional view showing the development of a therapeutic ultrasound endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the ultrasound probe shown in FIG. 1; The figure is a block circuit diagram of the therapeutic ultrasound endoscope device, Figure 4 is a diagram showing the monitor screen, and Figure 5 is a time chart showing the operation of the therapeutic ultrasound endoscope device shown in Figure 3. 1 and 6 are diagrams showing display screens of monitors in other embodiments. 11... Endoscope insertion section, 12... Ultrasonic probe,
13... Ultrasonic transducer for observation, 14... Ultrasonic transducer for treatment, 15.16... Acoustic lens, 17... Flexible shaft, 18... Motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an endoscope having an insertion section inserted into a body cavity, an ultrasonic transducer for observation is rotatably provided in the insertion section, and an ultrasonic transducer for treatment is provided back to back to the ultrasonic transducer for observation. A therapeutic ultrasound endoscope comprising: