JPS63117734A - Ultrasonic probe apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

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

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe device that can easily detect Doppler information regarding a target region of a subject.

(Prior Art) A conventional example of an ultrasonic probe device that combines an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic coupler is shown in FIGS. 9 to 11.

The ultrasonic probe device 2o shown in FIG.
The ultrasonic converter 22 is provided with a contact surface 24 and an acoustic medium such as water contained therein. and,
This ultrasonic coupler 22 uses a soft storage body containing, for example, an ice bag or a flexible colloidal substance, so it is flexible and the shape of its contact surface 23 is in the scanning plane of the ultrasonic beam. It has a flat symmetrical shape or is freely deformable with respect to the center line BMc within the center.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10, a device equipped with an ultrasonic coupler 22a whose contact surface 24a has a predetermined curved shape is also known in order to perform convex scanning on a subject.

However, the ultrasonic coupler 22 (or 2
For example, as shown in FIG. 11, Doppler information (F'T Doppler information.

When trying to obtain two-dimensional color Doppler information (two-dimensional color Doppler information), there is a problem that the accuracy of Doppler information in the most important central part of the ultrasound beam BM, that is, in the central part of the target region 27, is low or cannot be measured. This is due to the principle of the Doppler effect. That is, the relationship between the Doppler shift frequency fd and the blood flow velocity V is given by the following equation, where α is the angle between the ultrasound beam and the blood flow.

2Vcosα fd=f (f: driving frequency, C: sound speed in the subject) Therefore,
At the target site 27 located at the above-mentioned position, the angle α between the blood flow and the ultrasound beam BM is 90°, so fd=Q, making it impossible to measure the blood flow velocity.

Further, the contact surface 24 of the ultrasonic coupler 22 is flat, and
Multiple reflections of ultrasound echoes due to symmetry is also one of the causes.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional ultrasound probe device, there is a problem in that it is difficult to obtain accurate Doppler information particularly regarding the central part of the target region.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe device that can detect accurate Doppler information even in the center of a target region.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides an ultrasonic probe device having an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic coupler, in which the contact surface of the ultrasonic coupler with the body surface of a subject is It is constructed by tilting the ultrasound beam emitted from the ultrasound probe with respect to its center.

(for production) The ultrasonic probe device having the above configuration operates as follows.

In other words, the contact surface of the ultrasonic coupler in this device is
Since an inclined surface is formed with respect to the center of the scanning plane by the ultrasonic beam, the ultrasonic beam at the center of the scanning plane enters the target region of the subject at a certain inclination angle. As a result, the angle α based on the Doppler effect does not become 90',
It becomes possible to obtain the Doppler shift frequency fd.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below.

The ultrasonic probe device 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes an ultrasonic probe 1 having the function of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and an ultrasonic coupler C attached to the ultrasonic probe 1. As shown in FIG. 2, this ultrasonic coupler C has a hook 2a on its upper part.

A mounting part 2 consisting of 2a is provided, and can be mounted on the ultrasonic probe 1 by engaging both fishing pieces 2a, 2a of this mounting part with the side wall of the tip end of the ultrasound probe 1.

Further, the contact surface 3 of the ultrasonic coupler C is connected to the ultrasonic beam BM.
The inclined surface is configured to form a convex curved shape with a predetermined curvature so that the inclined surface is inclined at an arbitrary angle (for example, 60°) with respect to the center line BMc. There is.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, this ultrasonic coupler C has a cross-sectional shape in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 1 from the width W of the attachment part 2 to the ultrasonic probe 1 to the body surface. The width W of the contact surface 3 is small. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, this cross-sectional shape is such that the width of the contact surface 3 to the body surface is wider than the width of the attachment part 2 to the ultrasound probe 1 along the ultrasound beam BM from the ultrasound probe 1. The shape is tapered to become smaller.

This ultrasonic coupler C has an outer shell made of plastic, for example, and contains water or other liquid as an acoustic medium, or it is composed of a colloidal solid and its holder. When water or other liquid is contained as an acoustic medium, the contact surface 3 with the body surface is made of a silicone rubber membrane.

Furthermore, the ultrasonic coupler C of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. By making the radius of curvature of the lower side 5b match the radius of curvature of the acoustic lens 5b, the focus point P' of the lens focus is moved to a shorter distance than the focus point P of the ultrasound probe itself. Incidentally, it is preferable to interpose a suitable acoustic coupling agent (eg, jelly, etc.) between the ultrasonic probe 1 and the acoustic lens 8.

Next, let's compare the functions and effects of the ultrasonic probe device 10 with the above configuration with a conventional device! explain.

(B) When using this ultrasound probe device 10 to detect Doppler information of the carotid artery 6, which runs parallel to the body surface of the subject M, as shown in FIG. Center line B of the ultrasound beam BM
Since Mc is inclined with respect to the target region 7 of the carotid artery 6, the overall shape of the ultrasonic coupler C becomes asymmetrical with respect to the central axis BMc, so that the angle α based on the Doppler effect does not become 90° and the Doppler It is possible to determine the displacement frequency fd, and the reflected echo from the target region 7 does not cause multiple errors in the ultrasonic coupler C. As a result, Doppler information of the target region 7 can be detected accurately.

In general carotid artery diagnosis, the part where the common carotid artery branches into the internal arterial artery and the external oblique artery and the internal arterial artery are important.
Depending on the subject, these positions may vary, such as considerably upwards or
That is, there are cases where the ultrasound beam BM must be hidden inside the jaw and emitted diagonally upward from the neck.

In such a case, in the device of this embodiment, the contact surface 3 is inclined, so that the ultrasonic beam can be easily radiated obliquely upward as shown in (a) above.

C) Since the contact surface 3 to the body surface 4 has a convex curved shape with a predetermined curvature, the transmittance of the ultrasound beam 8M at the contact surface 3 to the body surface 4 is improved, and the reflection is accordingly Echo becomes weaker. Therefore, multiple reflections on the side surface of the ultrasonic coupler are reduced.Furthermore, since the contact surface 3 to the body surface 4 has a convex curved shape with a predetermined curvature, the contactability when making contact with the body surface 4 is reduced. is significantly improved. That is, the width W of the contact surface 3 to the body surface 4 in the cross-sectional shape in the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction A (shown in FIG. 7) of the ultrasound probe 1.
is smaller than before, so the friction when moving in the direction of arrow E on the body surface 4 is small as shown in FIG. 5, making it easy to operate.Furthermore, as shown in FIG. In this case, it cuts into the body smoothly and provides sufficient contact.

On the other hand, the conventional ultrasonic coupler 22 has a cross-sectional shape in the scanning direction A of the ultrasonic probe 21 (FIG. 7) and a cross-sectional shape in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction A, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Since the shape (Fig. 8) was rectangular, the body surface 4
The width W1 of the contact surface 24 is too large, causing large friction when moving on the body surface and making it difficult to operate.Furthermore, when rotating the body surface as a pivot, it does not penetrate into the body enough, resulting in poor contact performance. There was a problem that it was bad.

Note that 7 in FIG. 5 is the target site.

(=) An acoustic lens 8 is provided on the attachment part 2 to the ultrasound probe 1, and the radius of curvature of the upper side 8a of this acoustic lens 8 is made to match the radius of curvature of the acoustic lens 8 of the ultrasound probe 1, and the radius of curvature of the lower side 8b is made to match the radius of curvature of the acoustic lens 8 of the ultrasound probe 1. By making the radius smaller, the focus point P' of the lens focus is moved to a shorter distance than the focus point P of the ultrasound probe itself, so superficial organs (such as the thyroid gland and carotid artery) can be visualized with high image quality. Wide field of view can be used at I12 end.

That is, the conventional ultrasonic coupler 22 generally has the effect of bringing the focus point closer to the body surface, but the ultrasonic probe 21
its focal length, the size of the ultrasonic coupler 22 (water depth),
Also, depending on the depth of the region of interest, the focus point when the ultrasonic coupler is attached may not match the region of interest. For example, the lens focus of the ultrasound probe itself is 6.
cm, ultrasonic coupler water depth, and region of interest depth are both 2.
cm, the focus point and region of interest are 2 cm
This causes a considerable deterioration in image quality.

Basically, if you increase the water depth of the ultrasonic coupler 22, it will increase)
Although this problem is solved, increasing the size of the ultrasonic coupler 22 worsens the operability, and increasing the water depth causes artifacts due to multiple reflections from the window material (the member that forms the contact surface with the body surface). There is a problem that this results in problems with diagnosis (continuation). Furthermore, it is also possible to attach only an acoustic lens to the ultrasound probe 21 without attaching an ultrasound coupler, but in that case, the image of the region of interest will be displayed above the sector-shaped image. The problem is that the field of view becomes narrow.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the attachment part 2 to the ultrasound probe 1 is
An acoustic lens 8 is provided in the acoustic lens 8, and by making the radius of curvature of the upper side of the acoustic lens 8 coincide with the radius of curvature of the acoustic lens of the ultrasound probe 1, and making the radius of curvature of the lower side smaller, the focus point P' of the lens focus can be set. Since the ultrasound probe is moved closer than the focus point P of the ultrasound probe itself, superficial organs can be observed with high image quality and a wide field of view.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and that various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention. For example, it can also be implemented by integrally incorporating an ultrasound coupler inside an ultrasound probe.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention described in detail above, the contact surface of the ultrasound coupler is tilted with respect to the center of the ultrasound beam in the ultrasound beam scanning plane, thereby obtaining Doppler information at the center of the target region. It is also possible to provide an ultrasonic probe device that can accurately detect

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the ultrasonic coupler of the same device, Fig. 3 is a side view showing the @1 device in use, and Fig. 4 is the same device. A cross-sectional view of the ultrasonic coupler, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the device, respectively.
7 and 8 are a schematic front view and a side view of a conventional ultrasonic coupler with an ultrasonic probe attached, and FIG. 9 is a front view showing the conventional ultrasonic coupler attached to an ultrasonic probe. FIG. 10 is a front view showing the state in which the ultrasound probe and the ultrasound coupler for convex scanning are attached to the ultrasound probe. FIG. 11 is a front view showing the state in which the ultrasound probe and ultrasound coupler shown in FIG. 9 are used. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Ultrasonic probe device, 1... Ultrasonic probe, 2... Mounting part, 3... Contact surface, C... Ultrasonic coupler. /Z' Figure 4 Figure 11

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) In an ultrasonic probe device having an ultrasonic probe having a function of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a subject, and an ultrasonic coupler disposed between the ultrasonic probe and the body surface of the subject, the ultrasonic 1. An ultrasonic probe device characterized in that a surface of a sonic coupler that contacts a subject forms an arbitrary inclination angle with respect to the center of an ultrasonic beam on an ultrasonic beam scanning plane. (2) The ultrasonic probe device according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic coupler contains water or other liquid as an acoustic medium. (3) The ultrasonic probe device according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic coupler has a colloidal substance as an acoustic medium and a holder thereof. (4) The ultrasonic probe device according to claim 1, wherein the contact surface has a predetermined curvature. (5) The ultrasonic probe device according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic coupler is configured to be detachable from the ultrasonic probe. (6) The ultrasonic probe device according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic coupler is integrated into an ultrasonic probe.