KR20210138273A - Wedge-shpaed bladder measuring system based on ultrasoinc pulse echo signal - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a wedge- shaped bladder capacity measuring system based on an ultrasonic pulse echo signal. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the bladder capacity measuring system comprises: an ultrasonic transmitting and receiving element generating an ultrasonic signal to transmit the signal to a bladder of a target and receiving the ultrasonic signal reflected from the bladder; a wedge means disposed at a front portion of the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving element and considering a location of the target's pubis to adjust an angle of the ultrasonic signal transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving element; and a control unit measuring a bladder capacity of the target based on the ultrasonic signal received to the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving element.

Description

A wedge-shaped bladder capacity measurement system based on ultrasonic pulse echo signals {WEDGE-SHPAED BLADDER MEASURING SYSTEM BASED ON ULTRASOINC PULSE ECHO SIGNAL}

The present invention relates to a technology for measuring bladder capacity, and more specifically, by constructing a system in a wedge shape in consideration of the position of the pubis, which is an impediment to measuring or imaging the bladder capacity in an ultrasound method. , to a wedge-shaped bladder capacity measurement system based on an ultrasound pulse echo signal that minimizes the influence of the pubis by giving an angle to the ultrasound beam and can accurately measure bladder capacity through this.

In general, an ultrasonic system emits an ultrasonic signal to an object to be inspected by the piezoelectric effect of a transducer, which is a probe, and as a result receives an ultrasonic signal that is reflected from a discontinuous surface of the object and returns, and then converts the received ultrasonic signal into an electrical signal. It is a system that inspects the internal state of an object by converting it into a . Such an ultrasound system is widely used for medical diagnosis, non-destructive testing, underwater navigation devices, and the like.

On the other hand, in the examination of bladder abnormalities or urination disorders, measuring the amount of urine in the bladder is used as an essential element. In addition, in order to prevent urinary retention that may be caused after surgery, the amount of urine in the bladder is measured prior to urination using a catheter, and the amount of urine in the bladder is measured and used as a guideline in urination training.

Conventional techniques for measuring bladder capacity to measure urine volume take a long time because it is necessary to build a synthetic aperture image mainly with a scanning system, and the method in which the front part is spherical means that the front part is coupled to the inside of the human body. It is not suitable for measuring the process of urination, as well as causing pain because it has to apply pressure to the extent that it is required.

Another embodiment technique for measuring the bladder capacity in order to measure the amount of urine in the prior art is to select the pulse/echo method, and arrange an array-type transducer to directly deliver the ultrasound beam, avoiding the position of the pubis and the upper part of the pubis This was the way to place it. This prior art used a method of transmitting/receiving an ultrasound signal by positioning a probe on the upper part of the pubis in consideration of the position of the pubis during measurement, but this is a limited method in terms of the structure of the transducer, and additionally for subjects with relatively large pubis. It is a situation that needs development, and since it is a method of transmitting/receiving for each channel of the device, although the straightness of the wave is a very important factor, this point was not taken into account.

Embodiments of the present invention, by constructing a system in the form of a wedge in consideration of the position of the pubis, which is a factor that interferes with measuring or imaging the bladder capacity in an ultrasound method, by giving an angle to the ultrasound beam, the influence of the pubis To provide a wedge-shaped bladder capacity measurement system based on an ultrasound pulse echo signal that can minimize bladder capacity and accurately measure bladder capacity.

A bladder capacity measurement system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: an ultrasound transceiver element for generating an ultrasound signal, transmitting it to the bladder of a subject, and receiving the ultrasound signal reflected from the bladder; a wedge means disposed on the front portion of the ultrasound transceiving device and adjusting an angle of the ultrasound signal transmitted from the ultrasound transceiving device in consideration of the position of the pubis of the subject; and a controller configured to measure the bladder capacity of the subject based on the ultrasound signal received by the ultrasound transceiving device.

The ultrasonic transceiver may further include an acoustic lens for improving the directivity of an ultrasonic signal on a front surface of the transmitting element for transmitting the ultrasonic beam of the ultrasonic transceiving element.

The control unit may measure the bladder capacity of the subject by extracting the wall position of the bladder using the reflected ultrasound signal, arranging the extracted wall position as a point, and then fitting samples of the arranged point have.

The control unit forms a line by fitting the samples of the placed points to the shape of the bladder, and then extracts the wall position of the bladder, arranges the extracted wall position as a point, and sets the line through the fitting. By repeating the forming process a certain number of times, it is possible to measure the bladder capacity of the subject.

According to embodiments of the present invention, by constructing a system in a wedge shape in consideration of the position of the pubis, which is an obstacle to measuring or imaging the bladder capacity in an ultrasound method, the ultrasound beam is angled to reduce the influence of the pubis. Minimized, this allows accurate measurement of bladder capacity.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, since the capacity of the bladder can be measured in the form of a wedge regardless of the position of the pubis in the form of a wedge, the measurement is easier than the conventional method by using a belt-type element so as not to limit the activity of the user or the subject. It is convenient and the amount of data processing is small, so it can be worn by the subject directly, and the degree of contraction of the bladder during urination can be checked in real time. Therefore, the present invention can replace the conventional method of measuring by applying pressure to the body direction of the spherical probe with a simple belt-type device.

The present invention can be applied to a body part that needs to be irradiated with a beam by giving an angle, and since the characteristics of the internal material can be identified through the fitting of the ultrasound pulse echo signal, materials with different acoustic impedances can be distinguished, and the capacity of the medical bladder can be identified And it can be used in the medical field, such as the identification of material properties in the body, and furthermore, in the field of toilet and bladder training.

1 shows the configuration of a bladder capacity measurement system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 shows an exemplary view for explaining in detail the bladder capacity measurement system of the present invention.
3 shows an exemplary diagram for explaining a bladder capacity measurement process.
4 shows an exemplary diagram for explaining a bladder capacity measurement algorithm.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various different forms, and only these embodiments allow the disclosure of the present invention to be complete, and common knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains It is provided to fully inform those who have the scope of the invention, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing the embodiments, and is not intended to limit the present invention. As used herein, the singular also includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise in the phrase. As used herein, "comprises" and/or "comprising" refers to the presence of one or more other components, steps, operations and/or elements mentioned. or addition is not excluded.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein may be used with the meaning commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. In addition, terms defined in a commonly used dictionary are not to be interpreted ideally or excessively unless specifically defined explicitly.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals are used for the same components in the drawings, and repeated descriptions of the same components are omitted.

Embodiments of the present invention, by building a system in the form of a wedge in consideration of the position of the pubis, which is an impediment to measuring or imaging the bladder capacity in an ultrasound method, to minimize the influence of the pubis by giving an angle to the ultrasound beam and An object of the present invention is to provide a bladder capacity measurement system capable of accurately measuring bladder capacity through this.

In this case, the present invention may further include an acoustic lens on the front surface of the transmitting element configured in the ultrasonic transceiving element in order to improve the directivity of the ultrasonic beam transmitted from the ultrasonic transceiving element to the bladder of the subject.

In addition, in the present invention, the wedge means for giving an angle to the ultrasound signal (or ultrasound beam) is disposed on the front part of the ultrasound transceiving device, and the angle of the ultrasound signal transmitted from the ultrasound transceiving device can be adjusted in consideration of the position of the user's pubis. However, it may be formed of a wedge-shaped polymer.

In the system of the present invention, a device or device having an ultrasonic transmission/reception element, an acoustic lens, and a wedge means can be worn on the subject's body through a belt or wire. Of course, the system of the present invention is not limited to being worn on the subject's body using a belt or a wire, and may include all of various methods for allowing the system of the present invention to be worn on the subject's body.

1 shows the configuration of a bladder capacity measurement system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a bladder capacity measurement system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an ultrasound transceiving element 110 , a wedge means 120 , and a controller 120 .

The ultrasound transceiving device 110 generates an ultrasound signal (or ultrasound beam), transmits it to the bladder of the subject, receives the ultrasound signal reflected from the bladder of the subject, and transmits it to the controller.

In this case, the ultrasound transceiving device 110 may transmit an ultrasound pulse echo signal to the bladder of the subject through the transmitting device, and may transmit a reflected ultrasound signal with respect to the transmitted ultrasound signal received by the receiving device to the controller. The range for the ultrasonic signal in the present invention may include everything from a low-frequency signal in units of KHz to a high-frequency signal in units of MHz.

As shown in FIG. 2A , the ultrasonic transceiving element 110 may be mounted on a main body (or a main body frame) and fixed to the subject's body through a belt or wire. As shown in Figure 2, the wire serves to make it easier to wear the body as a material constituting the belt, and the ultrasonic transceiver 110 transmits and receives a signal for determining the position of the pubis. may be Of course, the ultrasound transceiver element may transmit an ultrasound signal for measuring bladder capacity, and the transmitted ultrasound signal may be reflected by the subject's bladder to provide the received ultrasound signal to the controller 130 . The pubis shown in FIG. 2 is an obstacle in measuring bladder capacity, and the system 100 of the present invention adjusts the angle of the ultrasound signal transmitted from the ultrasound transceiver element in consideration of the position of the pubis. It is intended to accurately measure bladder capacity.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2B , in the ultrasonic transceiver element 110, the angle of the ultrasonic signal is adjusted by the wedge means 120 in consideration of the position of the pubis, transmitted to the subject's bladder, and reflected from the subject's bladder. receive ultrasonic signals.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 2c , the ultrasonic transceiver element 110 is a circuit that helps electrical connection to implement an array-type element, for example, a printed circuit board (PCB) 111, channel It may include a conductive adhesive 112 for electrical connection, an ultrasound generating material 113 including PZT, a polymer 114 for coupling with the acoustic lens 115, and an elastic polymer-based acoustic lens 115 . .

The substrate 111 constituting the ultrasonic transceiver element 110 may include all kinds of substrates capable of forming the ultrasonic transceiver element 110 of the present invention, such as a flexible PCB, as well as a PCB, and such an ultrasonic transceiver element ( In 110), if an electrical connection is made using a wire or the like not only to the substrate but also to the ultrasonic generating material 113, all of them may be composed of the acoustic lens 115 and the polymer 114 molded for coupling, and can be formed in any shape. may be available. The conductive adhesive 112 for making an electrical connection of the channel is a conductive adhesive material and is attached to the ultrasonic wave generating material. In this case, the conductive adhesive is an adhesive-type conductive material, and may include both conductive polymers and conductive nanomaterials as well as attachment based on conductive materials. The ultrasound generating material 113 may include any material capable of transmitting or receiving ultrasound, such as PZT, CMUT, and PMUT. The acoustic lens 115 is based on an elastic polymer and can change the directivity of a beam based on the principle of refraction of ultrasonic waves due to a speed difference. That is, the acoustic lens 115 is disposed in front of the transmitting element that transmits the ultrasonic signal, thereby changing the shape of the diffused ultrasonic beam (ultrasound signal) generated by the transmitting element into a directional ultrasonic beam with improved directivity. A signal may be transmitted to the subject's bladder.

The wedge means 120 is disposed on the front portion of the ultrasound transceiver 110 and adjusts the angle of the ultrasound signal transmitted from the ultrasound transceiver 110 in consideration of the position of the subject's pubis.

At this time, the wedge means 120 molds a wedge-shaped polymer on the front surface of the ultrasonic transceiver 110 in consideration of the position of the pubis that interferes with the measurement of bladder capacity, whereby the ultrasonic signal transmitted from the ultrasonic transceiver 110 or By giving an angle to the ultrasound beam, the influence of the pubis can be minimized.

That is, the wedge means 120 adjusts the angle of the ultrasonic transceiver element 110 to give an angle to the ultrasonic signal to generate the ultrasonic signal from the upper direction to the lower direction, so that a wider space can be utilized. At this time, the wedge means 120 may be applied to the case where the surface in contact with the subject's body is a flat surface as well as a curved surface. When the wedge means 120 is formed of a curved surface, contact with the abdominal area is improved, and the ultrasound beams can cross, so that the bladder volume can be efficiently measured.

The controller 130 measures the bladder capacity of the subject based on the ultrasound signal received by the ultrasound transceiver 110 , that is, the ultrasound signal reflected from the subject's bladder.

In this case, the controller 130 may receive a signal reflected from the bladder in a wired or wireless manner with the ultrasonic transceiver 110 , and the controller 130 may be a portable terminal. For example, the control unit 130 may be a smart phone of the subject or a separate control device for measuring the bladder capacity of the subject.

The control unit 130 extracts the wall position of the subject's bladder using the ultrasound signal received from the ultrasound transceiver device 110, that is, the reflected ultrasound signal, and places the extracted wall position as a point, and then the position of the placed point. By fitting the samples, the subject's bladder capacity can be determined.

A process of measuring the bladder capacity will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 .

Figure 3 shows an exemplary view for explaining the bladder capacity measurement process, Figure 3a is a comparison of the signal transmitted and received by a single transducer in the bladder in the collapsed and expanded state, Figure 3b is the received in Figure 3a For example, this shows a method of forming a line by arranging the location of a wall extracted based on A-scan data as a point and fitting samples of these points.

As shown in FIG. 3A , the controller 130 controls the reflected signal T1 generated from the wall located at the front of the expanded bladder, the reflected signal T2 generated from the wall located at the rear of the expanded bladder, and the reduced bladder. It is possible to receive a reflected signal (T3) generated from the wall located at the front of the bladder and a reflected signal (T4) generated from the wall located at the back of the reduced bladder. can As can be seen from FIG. 3A , it can be seen that the time difference between the wall in front of the bladder and the wall behind the bladder is larger in the expanded bladder than in the collapsed bladder. As shown in FIG. 3B , the controller 130 may arrange the location of the wall extracted based on the received A-scan data as a point, and may form a line by fitting samples of these points. Here, P1 may mean a transducer implementation position, P2 may mean an axial line in the radial direction of the transducer, and P3 may mean a line fitted based on a position measured through a reflected ultrasound signal.

4 shows an exemplary diagram for explaining the bladder capacity measurement algorithm, as shown in FIG. 4 , A-scan data is obtained using a certain number of transducers configured to measure bladder capacity, and each bladder To measure the cross section of the wall, the location of the wall extracted based on the A-scan data obtained from the transducers listed in row 1 is placed as a point. A line is formed by fitting a predetermined number of points based on the general shape of the bladder to the shape of the bladder. Repeat this operation a certain number of times, for example, 2 to 5 lines. In addition, the same operation is repeated for rows 1 to 5, and the bladder capacity is imaged through the fitted result. Fitting can increase the accuracy of bladder capacity measurement through algorithms that increase the accuracy in various ways. Of course, the algorithm used in the present invention is an algorithm for measuring air defense capacity, and all applicable algorithms can be applied.

That is, the controller 130 extracts the wall position of the bladder using the reflected ultrasound signal, arranges the extracted wall position as a point, and then forms a line by fitting the samples of the arranged point to the shape of the bladder, By repeating the process of extracting the wall position of the bladder, arranging the extracted wall position as a point, and forming a line through fitting a certain number of times, the bladder capacity of the subject can be measured.

As described above, the system according to an embodiment of the present invention provides an angle to the ultrasound beam by constructing the system in a wedge shape in consideration of the position of the pubis, which is an obstacle to measuring or imaging the bladder capacity in an ultrasound method. The influence of the pubis is minimized, and thus the bladder capacity can be accurately measured.

In addition, the system according to an embodiment of the present invention uses a belt-type element so that the activity of the user or subject is not limited, and can measure the bladder capacity in a wedge form regardless of the position of the pubis, so the existing method It is more convenient to measure and the amount of data processing is small, so it can be worn by the subject directly and the degree of contraction of the bladder during urination can be grasped in real time.

The present invention can be applied to a body part that needs to be irradiated with a beam by giving an angle, and since the characteristics of the internal material can be identified through the fitting of the ultrasound pulse echo signal, materials having different acoustic impedances can be distinguished.

In the present invention, in order to quickly obtain information about the three-dimensional capacity of the bladder in an uncomplicated circuit, the ultrasound signal is based on the transmission information and reception information from each transducer, and the method for transmitting or receiving each transducer is the axis. Since it is a method of detecting the reflected signal in the direction line, the higher the directivity of the beam, the more advantageous. Therefore, in the present invention, by attaching an acoustic lens to the front surface of the matching layer to increase the directivity of the beam, it is easy to detect a reflected signal, and the volume can be easily measured through fitting of bladder sections based on the detected reflected signal. .

The device described above may be implemented as a hardware component, a software component, and/or a combination of the hardware component and the software component. For example, devices and components described in the embodiments may include, for example, a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable array (FPA), It may be implemented using one or more general purpose or special purpose computers, such as a programmable logic unit (PLU), microprocessor, or any other device capable of executing and responding to instructions. The processing device may execute an operating system (OS) and one or more software applications running on the operating system. The processing device may also access, store, manipulate, process, and generate data in response to execution of the software. For convenience of understanding, although one processing device is sometimes described as being used, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the processing device includes a plurality of processing elements and/or a plurality of types of processing elements. It can be seen that can include For example, the processing device may include a plurality of processors or one processor and one controller. Other processing configurations are also possible, such as parallel processors.

Software may comprise a computer program, code, instructions, or a combination of one or more of these, which configures a processing device to operate as desired or is independently or collectively processed You can command the device. The software and/or data may be any kind of machine, component, physical device, virtual equipment, computer storage medium or device, to be interpreted by or to provide instructions or data to the processing device. may be embodied in The software may be distributed over networked computer systems, and stored or executed in a distributed manner. Software and data may be stored in one or more computer-readable recording media.

The method according to the embodiment may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the medium may be specially designed and configured for the embodiment, or may be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magnetic such as floppy disks. - includes magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine language codes such as those generated by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

As described above, although the embodiments have been described with reference to the limited embodiments and drawings, various modifications and variations are possible from the above description by those skilled in the art. For example, the described techniques are performed in a different order than the described method, and/or the described components of the system, structure, apparatus, circuit, etc. are combined or combined in a different form than the described method, or other components Or substituted or substituted by equivalents may achieve an appropriate result.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are also within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (4)

an ultrasound transceiver device for generating an ultrasound signal, transmitting the ultrasound signal to the bladder of a subject, and receiving the ultrasound signal reflected from the bladder;
a wedge means disposed on the front portion of the ultrasound transceiving device and adjusting an angle of the ultrasound signal transmitted from the ultrasound transceiving device in consideration of the position of the pubis of the subject; and
A control unit for measuring the bladder capacity of the subject based on the ultrasound signal received by the ultrasound transceiver element
A bladder capacity measurement system comprising a.
According to claim 1,
The ultrasonic transceiver is
An acoustic lens for improving the directivity of an ultrasonic signal on the front surface of a transmitting element that transmits an ultrasonic beam of the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving element
Bladder capacity measurement system further comprising a.
According to claim 1,
the control unit
The bladder capacity of the subject is measured by extracting the wall position of the bladder using the reflected ultrasound signal, arranging the extracted wall position as a point, and then fitting samples of the arranged point. Bladder Dosimetry System.
4. The method of claim 3,
the control unit
After forming a line by fitting the samples of the arranged points to the shape of the bladder, extracting the wall position of the bladder, arranging the extracted wall position as a point, and forming a line through the fitting By repeatedly performing a certain number of times, bladder capacity measurement system, characterized in that for measuring the bladder capacity of the subject.

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