JPH0221048Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention is an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver having an optical fiber transmission line, and in particular, an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver that converts ultrasonic beams in various directions by electronic scanning to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves with good quality. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver having an optical fiber transmission line used in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that performs.

[Prior Art] Ultrasonic transmitter/receivers are used in ultrasonic diagnostic devices that display various information such as tomographic images inside a subject, and supply ultrasonic transmission signals to a probe. The ultrasonic reception signal obtained by the probe is input and signal processing for image display is performed.

FIG. 6 shows an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using a conventional ultrasonic receiving apparatus, in which an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving apparatus main body 10 and a probe 12 are connected by a signal cable made of a thin wire bundle. The oscillation signal outputted from the oscillator 14 in the transmitter/receiver main body 10 is transmitted to the analog switch 1 via the transmit signal generator 16.
8, and an ultrasonic transmission signal is supplied to each transducer piece of the transducer 22 in the probe 12 by a switching operation based on a control signal of the control unit 20 for performing an electronic scan. Therefore, each transducer piece is electrically controlled, and scanning conditions such as electronic sector, electronic linear, or compound scanning can be obtained, and information on a desired region within the subject can be obtained using these various scanning methods. be able to.

In other words, the reflected echo from inside the living body is transmitted by the transducer 2.
2 and sent to amplifier 2 via a signal cable.
4-1 to 24-n and amplified by the amplifier 24 are sent to the delay lines 26-1 to 26-2.
6-n to analog switch 28. This analog switch 28 performs a switching operation corresponding to the analog switch 18 described above, and the delay line adder 30
The signal output from is the received signal for one scan.

After this ultrasonic reception signal is detected by a wave detector 32, it is supplied to a digital scan converter 36 via a low-pass filter 34. Here, processing calculations for displaying the image are performed, and a tomographic image inside the subject or the velocity of a moving reflector, etc. are displayed on the display unit 38.

In this way, the ultrasonic transceiver device connects the probe 1
As mentioned above, each transducer piece in the probe 12 needs to be controlled separately, so in the conventional device, each transducer piece has one transducer. Wires are connected.

Therefore, the probe 12 and the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver main body 1
The signal cable connecting it to 0 is a bundle of about 40 to 130 electric wires.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] Problems of the conventional technology In the above-mentioned ultrasonic receiving device, the following signal cables are used because the probe 12 must be moved freely over the subject. characteristics are required.

(1) Thin.

(2) Light.

(3) Characteristic impedance must be approximately 50 to 300Ω.

(4) Interference (crosstalk) between each cable
That there are few.

(5) Strong against electromagnetic induction.

(6) Easy to bend.

(7) Frequency characteristics should be wideband (DC to 20MHz or more) and have low loss (1dB or less).

However, with conventional signal cables, it is not possible to obtain sufficient characteristics in each of the above points, and when operating a probe by moving a signal cable made of bundled electric wires, good operating conditions and signal transmission characteristics can be obtained. I had a problem that I couldn't do it.

[Purpose of the invention] The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to improve the movability characteristics of the signal cable and the signal transmission when the probe is freely movable over the subject. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver having an optical fiber transmission line that can obtain characteristics.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention transmits an ultrasound transmission signal to a subject and receives an ultrasound reception signal containing information inside the subject. a probe section including a plurality of transducers; a transmitter/receiver section that outputs a transmission signal in order to cause the transducer to output an ultrasound transmission signal and inputs an ultrasound reception signal for image processing; and the probe an optical fiber that forms a signal transmission path connecting the slave section and the transmitting/receiving section and converts the transmitting signal and the ultrasonic reception signal into optical signals for transmission and reception, the transmitting/receiving section and the probe; A directional coupler, which is made of a multilayer film filter and transmits and receives optical signals by reflecting and transmitting light, is connected to the optical fiber and transmits the transmitted signal to one transducer and the ultrasonic wave. It is characterized in that the received signal is transmitted through one optical fiber.

Further, in the present invention, the transmitting/receiving section is provided with a reference signal generator connected to the optical fiber and outputting the transmitting signal as a predetermined reference signal in order to output the ultrasonic transmitting signal from the vibrator, The probe section includes an ultrasonic transmission signal generator that inputs the reference signal and outputs the ultrasonic transmission signal from the transducer based on the reference signal, and an ultrasonic reception signal from the plurality of transducers. A multiplex signal converter is connected to the optical fiber and inputs, multiplexes, and outputs a multiplexed signal, converts the multiplexed signal and the reference signal into an optical signal, and transmits and receives the optical signal. It is characterized in that it is transmitted using a real optical fiber.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving device having an optical fiber transmission line, and the same members as those in the conventional device are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

A characteristic feature of the present invention is that an optical fiber is used for the signal transmission path connecting the probe and the main body of the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving device.
Each vibrator piece 22-1 to 22-n of the vibrator 22 in
includes electrical-optical converters (E/O) 40-1 to 40
-n and optical-electrical converters (O/E) 42-1 to 42
-n is connected. And a pair of electric-
The optical converter 40 and the optical-electrical converter 42 include an optical directional coupler (DC) that switches the transmission direction of the optical signal.
44-1 to 44-n are connected to perform switching between transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals.

Further, the ultrasonic receiver main body 10 is also provided with optical directional couplers 46-1 to 46-n, and the analog switch 18 on the transmitting side is provided with electrical-optical converters 48-1 to 48-n. On the other hand, the amplifier 24 on the receiving side includes optical-to-electrical converters 50-1 to 50-1.
50-n is connected. And probe 12
Side optical directional coupler 44 and ultrasound receiving device main body 1
An optical fiber is used between the optical directional coupler 46 on the 0 side and between the optical directional couplers 44, 46 and the electrical-to-optical converters 40, 48 or the optical-electrical converters 42, 50. The optical fiber cable 51 is formed by using the optical fiber cable 51.

In this embodiment, the electrical-to-optical converters 40, 48, the optical-to-electrical converters 42, 50, and the optical directional couplers 44, 46 required for using the optical fiber as a signal transmission line are generally The apparatus used is applicable, and an example thereof will be described.

First, the electric-to-optical converters 40 and 48 include a buffer 52, a power amplifier 5
4. It is composed of a transistor 56 and an LED 58, and the electric signal 1 input to the buffer 52
00 is an optical signal 100' in which the amount of optical energy changes in proportion to the input voltage or current.
It is output from LED58.

The optical-to-electrical converters 42, 50 include an avalanche photodiode (APD) 60, a transistor 62, and a preamplifier 6, as shown in FIG.
4, and the optical signal 10 input to the APD 60
1 is output from the preamplifier 64 as an electrical signal 101' expressed as a voltage or current proportional to the amount of optical energy.

As shown in FIG. 5, the directional couplers 44 and 46 have a multilayer filter 66, and the multilayer filter 66 selectively reflects and transmits light to transmit and receive optical signals. be exposed.

That is, the optical signal 102 input from the optical input/output section 68 is reflected by the multilayer film 66, and its direction is
It is converted by 90 degrees and output from the output section 70. on the other hand,
The optical signal 103 supplied from the input section 72 is transmitted through the multilayer film 66 and outputted from the input/output section 68 as a signal 103'. Therefore, separate input and output optical signals can be transmitted through one optical fiber connected to the input/output section 68, and the number of optical signal transmission lines can be reduced.

As explained above, by connecting the probe 12 and the transmitter/receiver main body 10 with an optical fiber cable using a coupler or converter, signal transmission characteristics or probes that fully utilize the characteristics of the optical fiber can be realized. Good mobility of the child can be obtained.

Comparing the characteristics of such an optical fiber cable with those of an electric wire, the characteristics required for the cable described above are as shown below.

(1)' The diameter of one optical fiber is 125 μm (in the case of multimode), which is extremely thin compared to conventional signal wires.

(2)′ The weight of optical fiber cable is approximately 1/10 that of copper cable.

(3)' The characteristic impedance can be changed freely to some extent because an electric-to-optical converter and an optical-to-electrical converter are connected to both ends of the optical fiber.

(4)′ Interference between cables can be ignored.

(5)′ The electromagnetic induction characteristics can also be ignored.

(6)′ The bendability is comparable to that of copper cables.

(7)' Frequency characteristics range from DC to over 500MHz/Km (in the case of multimode), resulting in an extremely wide band.

Note that the optical directional coupler 4 used in the first embodiment
4 and 46, and by using separate optical fibers on the transmitting side and receiving side, the signal converters of the transmitter/receiver main body 10 and the probe 12 can be connected with one optical fiber each. It goes without saying that you can.

Next, the ultrasonic transmission signal or the ultrasonic reception signal can each be transmitted through one optical fiber, and a configuration example in this case is shown in FIG. 2 as a second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the ultrasonic transmission signal is not generated as a transmission signal on the main body 10 side, and only the reference signal output from the reference signal oscillator 74 is supplied to the probe 12 via the optical fiber cable 51 (electrical - via an optical converter 76 and an optical-to-electrical converter 78). The probe 12 is provided with a transmission signal generating section 80, and here, based on the reference signal from the reference signal oscillator 74, each transducer piece 22 is transmitted in synchronization with the reference signal.
-1 to 22-n are formed.

Regarding the ultrasonic reception signals, the reception signals obtained from each of the transducer pieces 22-1 to 22-n are converted into multiplexed signals by the multiplex signal converter 82, and are transmitted via the optical fiber cable 51. and is supplied to a multiplex signal converter 88 on the side of the transceiver body 10 (via an electrical-to-optical converter 84 and an optical-to-electrical converter 86).

The conversion method for this multiplexed signal is well known; for digital signals, the TDM (time division multiplex) method is used, and for analog signals, it is the TDM (time division multiplex) method.
This is done using the FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex) method.

[Effects of the invention] As explained above, according to the invention, an optical fiber is used for the signal transmission path connecting the probe and the main body of the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving device, so it is better than a device using an electric wire cable. In addition, the flexible movable characteristics of the optical fiber cable facilitate the manipulation of the probe on the subject.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a preferred first embodiment of an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving device having an optical fiber transmission line according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a second embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of an electric-to-optical converter, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the configuration of an optical-to-electrical converter, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of an optical directional coupler. , FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Ultrasonic transmitter/receiver main body, 12... Probe, 16, 80... Transmission signal generator, 22... Vibrator, 40, 48, 76, 84... Electric-optical converter, 42, 50 , 78, 86... optical-electrical converter, 44, 46... optical directional coupler, 51... optical fiber cable, 82, 88... multiple signal converter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A probe unit equipped with a plurality of transducers that transmits ultrasonic transmission signals to a subject and receives ultrasonic reception signals containing information within the subject; a transmitting/receiving unit that outputs a transmitting signal to cause the transducer to output an ultrasonic transmitting signal and inputting an ultrasonic receiving signal for image processing; and a signal transmission path connecting the probe unit and the transmitting/receiving unit. an optical fiber that converts the transmitted signal and the ultrasonic received signal into optical signals for transmission and reception; and converts the transmitted signal and the ultrasonic received signal into optical signals, transmits them, and displays images In the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving device having an optical fiber transmission path, the transmitting/receiving section and the probe section include an optical directional coupler that is made of a multilayer film filter and transmits and receives optical signals by reflecting and transmitting light. An ultrasonic wave device having an optical fiber transmission path, wherein the transmission signal to one transducer and the ultrasonic reception signal are transmitted through one optical fiber. Transmitting/receiving device. (2) Utility model registration In the device according to claim (1), the transmitter/receiver section includes a reference signal generator that outputs the transmission signal as a predetermined reference signal in order to cause the transducer to output the ultrasonic transmission signal. an ultrasonic transmission signal generator is provided connected to the optical fiber, and the probe unit includes an ultrasonic transmission signal generator that inputs the reference signal and outputs the ultrasonic transmission signal from the transducer based on the reference signal. and a multiplex signal converter that inputs and multiplexes the ultrasonic reception signals from the plurality of transducers and outputs a multiplexed signal, connected to the optical fiber, and converts the multiplexed signal and the reference signal. An ultrasonic transmitting/receiving device having an optical fiber transmission path, characterized in that the optical signal is converted into an optical signal and the optical signal is transmitted and received through a single optical fiber.