WO2021114097A1

WO2021114097A1 - Ultrasound endoscope system and ultrasonic transducer

Info

Publication number: WO2021114097A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/124336
Authority: WO
Inventors: 马腾; 黄继卿; 李永川; 王丛知; 刘佳妹; 刘项力; 杨晔
Original assignee: 深圳先进技术研究院
Priority date: 2019-12-10
Filing date: 2019-12-10
Publication date: 2021-06-17

Abstract

Provided are an ultrasonic transducer and an ultrasound endoscope system; an ultrasonic wafer (2) of the ultrasonic transducer surrounds the outer peripheral surface of an annularly arranged backing ring (1); an inner electrode layer (3) is located on the inner ring of the ultrasonic wafer (2); an electric pulse is applied to excite the inner surface of the ultrasonic wafer (2); an outer electrode layer (4) is located on the outer peripheral surface of the ultrasonic wafer (2); the outer surface of the ultrasonic wafer (2) is excited by applying an electric pulse; the electrode direction of the inner electrode layer (3) is arranged perpendicular to the electrode direction of the outer electrode layer (4); by means of changing the excitation position of the inner electrode layer (3) and the outer electrode layer (4) on the ultrasonic wafer (2), the ultrasonic transducer can be adjusted in the circumferential direction and the focus position, thus the imaging of the ultrasonic transducer in the sound field area is uniform and consistent.

Description

Ultrasound endoscope system and ultrasonic transducer

Technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of endoscopes, and more specifically, to an ultrasonic endoscope system and an ultrasonic transducer.

Background technique

Endoscopic Ultrasonography System (EUS) is a medical device that integrates ultrasound and endoscopy. After the endoscope enters the body cavity, the wall of the internal organs or adjacent organs is scanned under the direct vision of the endoscope, and ultrasound images of the various levels below the mucosa of the internal organs wall and surrounding adjacent organs are obtained, such as the mediastinum, pancreas, bile ducts, and Lymph nodes, etc., have great advantages in staging gastrointestinal tumors and judging the nature of tumors originating from the bowel wall.

Early ultrasonic endoscope systems mainly used mechanical scanning methods, using micro-motors to drive the connecting rod, driving the single ultrasonic transducer on the end of the endoscope to achieve 360° rotation, and obtaining circular tomographic images perpendicular to the axis; this scanning method The advantage is that the transducer is simple in design, but requires high-precision mechanical connection and drive, is easily damaged, and the obtained image is not stable enough. However, due to the late appearance of new technologies, it is still widely used.

In the 21st century, Japan's Fuji, Olympus, Pentax and other companies have successively developed 360° electronic circular scanning ultrasound probes, combined with color Doppler ultrasound diagnostic equipment using full digital image processing technology, to achieve a new full digital ultrasound endoscope Imaging system.

The transducer used in the 360° annular ultrasonic endoscope is generally composed of dozens to hundreds of strip-shaped array elements, which are uniformly arranged in a cylinder along the radial direction into a circle. The outer diameter of the array is generally not more than 13mm, and the center frequency is 3～15MHz, each array element goes out independently, and can be separately excited by electric pulse to obtain 360° circular scanning image. This method does not need to use a DC motor to drive, avoiding the shortcomings of mechanical ring scanning ultrasound endoscopes. Electronic ring scan ultrasound endoscope is suitable for large-scale scanning, overall evaluation and judgment.

Existing ultrasonic probes are only arranged in a 1D linear array in the scanning direction, so they only have good electronic focusing ability in the array direction, but the aperture size cannot be changed in the elevation direction (Elevation), and focus cannot be achieved, while 1.5 The D-phased array can improve this problem. The 1.5D array can not only change the aperture size in the elevation direction, but also realize the sound beam focusing in the elevation direction, and can obtain a better acoustic image than the 1D line array. The resolution will also be higher than traditional 1D line array probes.

Since the detection part of the endoscopic ultrasound transducer is inside the human body, objective factors limit the size of the transducer. For example, the ultrasound gastroscope needs to be inserted from the mouth, through the esophagus, and into the stomach cavity. Under normal circumstances, the diameter of the transducer and the entire insertion part cannot be greater than 13mm. When doing array endoscopy, the cable needs to be connected to the transducer and enters the human body together, and the cable has a certain wire diameter. When hundreds of cables are twisted into one strand, the overall size and the difficulty of the lead will be important factors for the development of the limit endoscope to more array elements and wider dimensions.

In the field of medical ultrasound, the 1.5D planar phased array probe has been used in some applications, but there are relatively few applications in ultrasound endoscopy systems, especially 360-degree circular ultrasound endoscopy systems. The main difficulty is that it is very difficult to lead a large number of cables in a limited space.

Therefore, how to improve the imaging effect of the ultrasound transducer is an urgent problem to be solved by those skilled in the art.

Summary of the invention

In view of this, the present invention provides an ultrasonic transducer to improve the imaging effect of the ultrasonic transducer; the present invention also provides an ultrasonic endoscope system.

In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

An ultrasonic transducer includes a backing ring arranged in an annular shape and an ultrasonic wafer attached to the outer circumference of the backing ring. The inner ring of the ultrasonic wafer is arranged with a ring on the outer circumference of the backing ring. The inner electrode layer, the outer ring of the ultrasonic wafer is attached with an outer electrode layer around its circumference;

The electrode direction of the inner electrode layer is arranged along the axial direction of the backing ring, and the electrode direction of the outer electrode layer is arranged around the circumference of the backing ring.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer, the inner electrode layer includes a center electrode, and multiple sets of side electrodes symmetrically arranged on both sides of the center electrode;

The width of the center electrode is arranged in proportion to the width of each of the side electrodes.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer, the width of the center electrode is twice the width of each of the side electrodes.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer, the side electrode includes a first side electrode and a second side electrode which are respectively close to the inner side and the outer side of the center electrode;

The internal electrode layer includes a center lead drawn from the center electrode, a first side lead drawn from the first side electrode, and a second side lead drawn from the second side electrode.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer, a ground electrode lead for applying an excitation electric field to the ultrasonic wafer is drawn from the inner electrode layer, and a positive electrode for applying an excitation electric field to the ultrasonic wafer is drawn from the outer electrode layer. Electrode lead.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer, a plurality of electrode array elements are arranged in parallel on the outer electrode layer, and an electrode lead is drawn from each of the electrode array elements.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer, the ultrasonic wafer includes a plurality of elongated ultrasonic array elements arranged in the longitudinal direction along the axial direction of the backing ring, and the plurality of ultrasonic array elements surround the backing ring Are evenly arranged in the circumferential direction;

The outer diameter of the ultrasonic wafer is not greater than 13 mm, and the center frequency of the ultrasonic wafer is 3-15 MHz.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer, a first matching layer, a second matching layer and an acoustic lens are sequentially stacked and arranged on the outer periphery of the outer electrode layer.

An ultrasonic endoscope system, including an endoscope ultrasonic excitation system, an optical imaging system, a display, and a puncture needle system. The puncture needle system includes an insertion part that can be inserted into a subject and is arranged at the front end of the insertion part The front hard part, the bending part and the flexible tube part of the front end hard part are provided with a ring array ultrasonic transducer, characterized in that the ring array ultrasonic transducer is provided with any one of the above Ultrasonic transducer.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned ultrasonic endoscope system, the endoscope ultrasonic excitation system includes a secondary excitation system that excites the inner electrode layer and the outer electrode layer respectively.

The ultrasonic transducer provided by the present invention includes an annularly arranged backing ring and an ultrasonic wafer attached to the outer circumference of the backing ring. The inner ring of the ultrasonic wafer is arranged with an inner electrode layer surrounding the outer circumference of the backing ring, The outer ring of the ultrasonic wafer is attached with an outer electrode layer around its circumference; the electrode direction of the inner electrode layer is arranged along the axial direction of the backing ring, and the electrode direction of the outer electrode layer is arranged around the circumference of the backing ring. The ultrasonic wafer surrounds the outer peripheral surface of the backing ring arranged in a ring. The inner electrode layer is located on the inner ring of the ultrasonic wafer, and the inner surface of the ultrasonic wafer is excited by electric pulses. The outer electrode layer is located on the outer peripheral surface of the ultrasonic wafer, and the ultrasonic wafer is excited by electric pulses. The electrode direction of the inner electrode layer is perpendicular to the electrode direction of the outer electrode layer. By changing the excitation position of the inner electrode layer and the outer electrode layer on the ultrasonic wafer, the ultrasonic transducer can be adjusted in the circumferential direction and the focus position. Adjust to make the imaging of the ultrasonic transducer uniform in the sound field area.

Description of the drawings

In order to explain the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art more clearly, the following will briefly introduce the drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only These are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement structure of the ultrasonic transducer provided by the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the expanded structure of the inner electrode layer in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of drawing out electrode wires of the inner electrode layer in FIG. 2; FIG.

4 is a schematic diagram of the expanded structure of the outer electrode layer in FIG. 1;

5 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement structure of the ultrasound endoscope system provided by the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the end structure of the ring array ultrasonic transducer in Fig. 5.

Detailed ways

The invention discloses an ultrasonic transducer, which improves the imaging effect of the ultrasonic transducer; the invention also provides an ultrasonic endoscope system.

The following describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement structure of the ultrasonic transducer provided by the present invention.

This embodiment provides an ultrasonic transducer including a backing ring 1 arranged in a ring shape and an ultrasonic wafer 2 attached to the outer circumference of the backing ring 1. The inner ring of the ultrasonic wafer 2 is arranged with a ring surrounding the backing ring 1. The inner electrode layer 3 on the outer circumference, the outer ring of the ultrasonic wafer 2 is attached with an outer electrode layer 4 around its circumference; the electrode direction of the inner electrode layer 3 is arranged along the axial direction of the backing ring 1, and the electrode of the outer electrode layer 4 The direction is arranged around the circumference of the backing ring 1. The ultrasonic wafer 2 surrounds the outer peripheral surface of the backing ring 1 arranged in a ring shape. The inner electrode layer 3 is located on the inner ring of the ultrasonic wafer 2, and the inner surface of the ultrasonic wafer 2 is excited by electric pulses. The outer electrode layer 4 is located on the outer peripheral surface of the ultrasonic wafer 2. The electric pulse is applied to excite the outer surface of the ultrasonic wafer, and the electrode direction of the inner electrode layer 3 is arranged perpendicular to the electrode direction of the outer electrode layer 4. By changing the excitation position of the inner electrode layer 3 and the outer electrode layer 4 on the ultrasonic wafer, The ultrasonic transducer is adjusted in the circumferential direction and the focus position, so that the imaging of the ultrasonic transducer in the sound field area is uniform.

As shown in Figures 2 to 4, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the expanded structure of the internal electrode layer in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the electrode wire leading structure of the internal electrode layer in Figure 2; Figure 4 is the expanded structure of the external electrode layer in Figure 1 Schematic.

In a specific embodiment of the present case, the internal electrode layer 3 includes a center electrode 33 and multiple sets of side electrodes symmetrically arranged on both sides of the center electrode; the width of the center electrode 33 is arranged in proportion to the width of each side electrode. The electrode direction of the inner electrode layer 3 is arranged along the axial direction of the backing ring 1, and its inner electrode layer is provided with a central electrode 33 and multiple groups of side electrodes symmetrically located on both sides of the central electrode 33, and each group of side electrodes includes symmetrically located central electrodes respectively. The two side electrodes on both sides of the width direction of 33, by arranging the width of the center electrode 33 in proportion to the width of each side electrode, the electrodes of different depths along the axial direction of the ultrasonic transducer can be excited by different electric pulses. , The imaging of the ultrasonic transducer is adjusted in its axial direction to achieve the focus of ultrasound at different depths.

Specifically, the width of the center electrode 33 is twice the width of each side electrode. To meet the radial imaging requirements of the 1.5D ultrasonic transducer, the width of the center electrode 33 is set to be twice that of the side electrodes, and the ultrasonic transducer of the same size can be used to realize the 1.5D replacement 1D imaging scheme.

In a specific embodiment of the present case, the side electrodes include a first side electrode 32 and a second side electrode 31 respectively close to the inner and outer sides of the center electrode 33; the inner electrode layer 3 includes a center lead Y3 drawn from the center electrode 33, and The first side lead Y2 drawn from the side electrode 32 and the second side lead Y1 drawn from the second side electrode 31. To meet the medical imaging requirements of ultrasonic transducers, a first side electrode 32 and a second side electrode 31 are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the center electrode 33. The first side electrode 32 includes two symmetrically located in the width direction of the center electrode 33. The two-side electrodes 31 also include two symmetrically located on the center electrode, and are located outside the first side electrode 32.

The electrode lead of the inner electrode layer 3 is set with the center electrode 33 to lead out the central lead Y3 separately. The two lead electrode wires of the first side electrode 32 are combined into a first side lead Y2, and the two lead wires of the second side electrode 31 are drawn out. The electrode wires are combined into a second side lead Y1.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the internal electrode layer 33 has three electrode leads Y1, Y2 and Y3, Y1 is the second side lead of the second side electrode 31 of the outermost layer of the internal electrode layer, and Y2 is the first lead of the internal electrode layer 33. The first side lead of one side electrode 32, Y3 is the center lead of the center electrode 33. By performing different electrode excitations on Y1, Y2, and Y3, an electric field can be formed at different positions of the ultrasonic wafer in the axial direction to realize ultrasonic transduction. The imaging of the detector is adjusted in depth in the axial direction.

In a specific embodiment of the present case, the inner electrode layer 33 leads to a ground electrode lead that applies an excitation electric field to the ultrasonic wafer, and the outer electrode layer 4 leads to a positive electrode lead that applies an excitation electric field to the ultrasonic wafer.

In a specific embodiment of this case, a plurality of electrode array elements 41 are arranged in parallel on the outer electrode layer 4, and an electrode lead is led out from each electrode array element 41. The electrode direction of the outer electrode layer 4 surrounds the circumference of the backing ring 1, and is arranged perpendicular to the axial electrodes of the inner electrode layer 3. A plurality of electrode array elements 41 arranged in parallel are arranged on the outer electrode layer 4, and each electrode Electrode leads are arranged on the array elements 41, and electric pulses are applied through different electrode leads, and the electrode array elements at different positions on the outer electrode layer around the circumference of the electrode array are excited.

The position of the excitation electric field generated on the inner electrode layer 3 is adjusted in the axial direction of the backing block 1, and the excitation electric field generated on the outer electrode layer 4 is adjusted in the circumferential direction of the backing block 1. Both of them excite the ultrasonic wafer together. Ultrasound generated at the position can realize the focus and circumferential deflection of ultrasound imaging in the depth direction, thereby obtaining better image quality.

In a specific embodiment of this case, the ultrasonic wafer 2 includes a plurality of elongated ultrasonic array elements arranged in the longitudinal direction along the axial direction of the backing ring, and the multiple ultrasonic array elements are evenly arranged around the circumference of the backing ring; the ultrasonic wafer The outer diameter is not more than 13mm, and the center frequency of the ultrasonic wafer is 3～15MHz.

The ultrasonic wafer adopts long strip ultrasonic array elements, and the length of each ultrasonic array element should be consistent with the width of the inner electrode layer and the width of the outer electrode layer. At the same time, it is suitable for the medical application of the ultrasonic transducer on the ultrasonic endoscope system. The outer diameter of the ultrasonic wafer is set to be no more than 13mm, and the center frequency of the ultrasonic wafer is 3-15MHz, so that the ultrasonic transducer with the inner electrode layer and the outer electrode layer in this embodiment can be used to replace the existing ultrasonic transducer. The existing ultrasound endoscope system is used to realize the imaging solution of 1.5D phased array instead of 1D display.

Specifically, as shown in Figures 2 to 4, the internal electrode layer 3 is composed of a middle electrode, a first side electrode, and a second side electrode. The electrode direction of the internal electrode layer is set to the Y direction, and the electrode lead-out line includes the inner layer. Three electrode leads: the middle lead Y3, the first side lead Y2 of the two rows of first side electrodes that are retracted, and the second side lead Y1 of the second side electrodes of the two outermost rows, and the electrode direction of the outer electrode layer 4 is set to X The number of the electrode array element 41 from left to right is X1, X2, X3···Xn, the Y direction is connected to the ground electrode pulse, the X direction is connected to the positive electrode pulse, and the combination of X and Y directions is wound on the back The array of positions in the circumferential direction of the pad 1. The ultrasonic transducer has N+3 electrode leads, and the actual number of coded array elements is 3N. Therefore, when the array elements are manipulated by the positive electrode lead and the ground electrode lead, it can be controlled by Addressable excitation is performed on the rows and columns composed of X and Y directions to realize Y-direction near-field, mid-field, and far-field depth focusing and X-direction focus deflection, and obtain higher quality and more complete image information in medicine. The lead method of row and column addressing can also solve the problem on the lead of the multi-element array.

In a specific embodiment of this case, a first matching layer, a second matching layer and an acoustic lens 6 are stacked on the outer periphery of the outer electrode layer 4 in order. To adapt to the structural layout requirements of the ultrasonic endoscope system, the matching layer 5 and the acoustic lens 6 can be arranged around the outer ring of the outer electrode layer 4 to meet the structural requirements of the ultrasonic transducer. Of course, the stack structure can be based on the actual ultrasonic transducer. The structure is increased or decreased.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement structure of the ultrasonic endoscope system provided by the present invention; Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the end structure of the ring array ultrasonic transducer in Fig. 5.

Based on the ultrasonic transducer provided in the foregoing embodiment, the present invention also provides an ultrasonic endoscope system, including an endoscope ultrasonic excitation system 12, an optical imaging system 13, a display 51, and a puncture needle system 52. The puncture needle system 52 includes an insertion portion 23 that can be inserted into the subject, a front hard portion 20, a bending portion 21, and a flexible tube portion 22 provided at the front end of the insertion portion 23, and a ring array ultrasonic transducer 201 is provided in the front end hard portion 20 The ring array ultrasonic transducer 201 is provided with the ultrasonic transducer as provided in the above-mentioned embodiment.

The end of the front end hard part 20 is provided with water jet holes 202, air jet holes 203, and puncture holes 204. The light source 205 provides illumination for the optical camera 206. When sampling, the front end hard part 20 enters the subject, and the puncture needle 30 passes through the puncture hole. Stretch out inside 204 to take a biopsy sample.

Since the ultrasonic endoscope system adopts the ultrasonic transducer of the foregoing embodiment, please refer to the foregoing embodiment for the beneficial effects of the ultrasonic endoscope system brought about by the ultrasonic transducer.

In a specific embodiment of this case, the endoscopic ultrasound excitation system includes a secondary excitation system that separately excites the inner electrode layer and the outer electrode layer. By setting the endoscope ultrasonic excitation system with the ground electrode excitation system and the positive electrode excitation system, the addressable excitation requirements of the inner motor layer and the outer electrode layer are met, and the 1.5D working requirements of the ultrasonic endoscope system are met.

The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to the embodiments shown in this document, but should conform to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed in this document.

Claims

An ultrasonic transducer, which is characterized in that it comprises a backing ring arranged in an annular shape and an ultrasonic wafer attached to the outer circumference of the backing ring, and an inner ring of the ultrasonic wafer is arranged with a ring surrounding the backing ring. The inner electrode layer on the outer circumference, and the outer electrode layer is attached to the outer ring of the ultrasonic wafer around its circumference;

The electrode direction of the inner electrode layer is arranged along the axial direction of the backing ring, and the electrode direction of the outer electrode layer is arranged around the circumference of the backing ring.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein the inner electrode layer comprises a center electrode, and multiple groups of side electrodes symmetrically arranged on both sides of the center electrode;

The width of the center electrode is arranged in proportion to the width of each of the side electrodes.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 2, wherein the width of the center electrode is twice the width of each of the side electrodes.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 3, wherein the side electrode comprises a first side electrode and a second side electrode which are respectively close to the inner side and the outer side of the center electrode;

The internal electrode layer includes a center lead drawn from the center electrode, a first side lead drawn from the first side electrode, and a second side lead drawn from the second side electrode.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein a ground electrode lead for applying an excitation electric field to the ultrasonic wafer is drawn from the inner electrode layer, and a ground electrode lead for applying an excitation electric field to the ultrasonic wafer is drawn from the outer electrode layer. The positive electrode lead to which an excitation electric field is applied.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of electrode array elements are arranged in parallel on the outer electrode layer, and an electrode lead is drawn from each of the electrode array elements.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic wafer comprises a plurality of elongated ultrasonic array elements arranged in the longitudinal direction along the axial direction of the backing ring, and a plurality of the ultrasonic array elements surround The backing rings are evenly arranged in the circumferential direction;

The outer diameter of the ultrasonic wafer is not greater than 13 mm, and the center frequency of the ultrasonic wafer is 3-15 MHz.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein a first matching layer, a second matching layer and an acoustic lens are sequentially stacked on the outer periphery of the outer electrode layer.
An ultrasonic endoscope system, including an endoscope ultrasonic excitation system, an optical imaging system, a display, and a puncture needle system. The puncture needle system includes an insertion part that can be inserted into a subject and is arranged at the front end of the insertion part The front hard part, the bent part and the flexible tube part of the front end hard part are provided with a ring array ultrasonic transducer, characterized in that, the ring array ultrasonic transducer is provided with as claimed in claims 1-8 Any one of the ultrasonic transducers.
The ultrasonic endoscope system according to claim 9, wherein the endoscope ultrasonic excitation system includes a secondary excitation system that excites the inner electrode layer and the outer electrode layer respectively.