JPH0357440A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the constitution of the probe and to reduce the diameter thereof as well as to improve safety by providing a balloon in a guide member and sealing an ultrasonic medium therein in such a manner that the medium flows at the time of the advance and retreat of an ultrasonic oscillator. CONSTITUTION:The ultrasonic oscillator 10 is provided in the front end 6a of a sheath and is so constituted that the oscillator can advance and retreat in the insertion direction of the sheath while moving integrally with a flexible shaft 11. The front end 6a of the sheath covering the range where the ultrasonic oscillator 10 advances and retreats is formed thin to serve as an ultrasonic exit window 12. A connecting member 13 is provided at the tip of the front end 6a of the sheath and the balloon 14 is provided at the front end of the connecting member 13. The ultrasonic medium is sealed therein and the guide member 15 is provided freely attachably and detachably via a thread part 16 so as to cover this balloon. An aperture 17 is formed at the front end of the guide member 15. The balloon 14 in the guide member 15 inflates and the ultrasonic medium 18 escapes. The balloon contracts in the case of the latter, by which the smooth advance and retreat of the ultrasonic oscillator 10 are assured. The pressure in the guide member 15 by the balloon 14 is prevented by the aperture of the guide member 17.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides an ultrasonic transducer that is inserted into a body cavity and drives an ultrasonic transducer.
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe used in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that extracts ultrasonic signals and obtains ultrasonic images.

[Prior Art] Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment is widely used to obtain deep information inside body cavities and perform ultrasound diagnosis. The insertion section of the ultrasonic probe is inserted into the body cavity, and the ultrasonic transducer placed at the tip of the insertion section is scanned radially or linearly. This relates to a moving linear scan, and in the past, Figs. 3 and 4 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-302836 are related to this.
As shown in the figures, the probe is inserted endoscopically into the body cavity, and the ultrasonic transducer is moved forward and backward within the sheath, and as shown in Figure 6 of the above publication. and Tokukai Showa 6
As described in Figure 9 of Publication No. 4-2632,
There is one in which a sheath and a holding member for the ultrasonic transducer form a piston-cylinder mechanism, and the ultrasonic transducer is moved forward and backward by fluid.

In order to efficiently radiate ultrasound from an ultrasound transducer to a subject, an ultrasound transmission medium is required, and it is well known that a balloon for holding the ultrasound transmission medium is provided for this purpose. It is also well known that moving the ultrasonic transducer forward and backward must be done inside a sheath to protect the living body. [yA8 to be solved by the invention] However, in the device shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 of JP-A No. 62-30283, the tip of the sheath is closed, so the ultrasonic transducer cannot be moved forward or backward. In order to operate smoothly against the pressure of the ultrasonic transducer, it is necessary to leave a sufficient gap between the holding member of the ultrasonic transducer and the sheath, which causes the problem that the diameter of the sheath becomes large. In this case, if an opening is formed at the tip, not only will it be impossible to hold the ultrasonic transmission medium, but there will also be problems such as the influence of leakage current and difficulty in disinfection.

In addition, in the case shown in Figure 6 of the same publication and Figure 9 of JP-A-64-2632, it is necessary to provide a conduit for fluid supply and drainage, and the diameter of the resheath is large. There is a problem that this happens.

Therefore, there is a method of using a balloon to hold the ultrasound transmission medium and using its elasticity to move the ultrasound transducer forward and backward. There is a risk of pressure necrosis and perforation of the cavity wall.

The present invention is proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems.
The purpose of this invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe that has a simplified configuration, a smaller diameter, and improved safety.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention moves an ultrasonic transducer disposed at the tip of a sheath forming an insertion section forward and backward in the insertion direction, and transmits an ultrasonic wave through an ultrasonic medium. In an ultrasonic probe that scans and obtains ultrasound images of a subject, an insertion guide member with an opening is removably provided at the tip of the sheath, and a balloon is provided inside the guide member to allow the ultrasound transducer to advance and retreat. The ultrasonic medium is sealed so that it can flow during motion.

Since the balloon containing the ultrasonic medium is provided inside the guide member in this way, linear scanning can be performed while expanding and contracting the balloon inside the guide member in response to the forward and backward movement of the ultrasonic transducer.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic probe according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The sheath 6 of the ultrasound probe 5 is inserted through the forceps hole 4 of the videoscope 3 connected to the light source 1 and the monitor 2, and the sheath tip 6a protrudes from the insertion part 7 of the videoscope 3 inserted into the body cavity. Let. The drawing shows the state in which the sheath tip 6a is inserted into the common bile duct, the infiltration state of the tumor is scanned while being operated through the operation unit 8, and the state is imaged on the incision measuring device 9 to which the ultrasound probe 5 is connected. It is. FIG. 2 is a detailed sectional view of the sheath tip 6a. An ultrasonic transducer lO is provided inside the sheath tip 6a, and is configured to move forward and backward in the sheath insertion direction while moving integrally with the flexible shaft eye 1. The sheath tip 6a, which extends over the range in which the ultrasonic transducer 10 moves forward and backward, has a thin wall thickness to form an ultrasonic emission window 12.

A connecting member I3 is provided at the tip of the sheath tip 6a, and a balloon 14 is provided at the tip of the connecting member 13 to enclose an ultrasonic medium, and a guide member 15 is detachably attached via a threaded portion 16 so as to cover the balloon l4. It is set up in An opening 17 is formed at the tip of the guide member 15.

To explain the operation of this embodiment as described above, the inner wall of the sheath and the outer surface of the ultrasonic transducer 10 are approximately O. I+u
Since the ultrasonic transducer 10 has a clearance of about +, the movement of the ultrasonic transducer 10 back and forth via the flexible shaft 11 is performed like a piston-cylinder mechanism. In this way, linear scanning is performed, but in this case, the ultrasonic medium 18 within the balloon 14 is pushed and pulled.

The upper half of the drawing in FIG. 2 shows the ultrasonic transducer IO being pushed out, and the lower half shows the ultrasonic transducer 10.
It shows a bear pulling back.

Therefore, in the former case, the balloon 14 inside the guide member 15 is inflated and the ultrasonic medium 18 escapes, and in the latter case, the balloon 14 is contracted to enable smooth forward and backward movement of the ultrasonic transducer 10. Since the guide member l7 has an opening, the movement of the balloon l4 will not be hindered by the pressure inside the guide member I5. In this way, in this embodiment, the expansion and contraction of the balloon 14 is used to smoothly move the ultrasonic transducer 10 forward and backward, and by driving the ultrasonic transducer 10, ultrasonic waves are transmitted through the ultrasonic medium 18. Linear scanning can be performed by emitting ultrasonic waves from the emission window 12. In this case, since the expansion and contraction of the balloon l4 does not directly affect the living body, damage to the living body can be avoided. Further, body fluids etc. that have entered between the balloon and the guide member 15 during linear scanning can be removed by removing the guide member 15, and can be easily cleaned and disinfected. Further, there is no need for a conduit for sending and discharging the ultrasonic medium 18 into the balloon 14, and the sheath can be made smaller in diameter.

FIG. 3 shows a sheath tip according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and parts corresponding to those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, the balloon 14 is connected to the guide member 15 through a seal ring 19A made of silicon or Teflon.
The guide member 1 is removably fixed near the rear of the guide member 1.
5 is fixed to the threaded part 16 of the connecting member 13, and the ultrasonic medium 1
8 is sealed inside the balloon. Furthermore, the connecting member 13
A seal ring B20 made of silicon or Teflon is provided in a marshy area formed approximately on the outside of the center to ensure a sealed state with the guide member l5.

In addition to having the same effect as the first embodiment, the present embodiment configured as described above can easily attach and detach the balloon 14 from the guide member 15 by attaching and detaching the seal ring A19, so there are no pinholes, etc. The balloon 14, which is difficult to clean, disinfect, etc., can be made disposable if damaged. Note that the balloon 1 along with the guide member l5
It goes without saying that 4 can be made disposable. FIG. 4 is an external view of the sheath tip according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the guide member 6 is made of a flexible member such as latex. Since the inside is formed in the same manner as in each of the embodiments described above, most of the guide member 6 except for the connecting member 13 is flexible. Therefore, the first
As shown in the figure, when the sheath 6 is inserted through the forceps hole 4 of the videoscope 3, the bent portion 4a inside the forceps hole 4 or other bent portions can also be easily inserted.

FIG. 5 is an external view of a sheath tip 6a according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the tip of the guide member 15 is shaped conically so that even if there is a constricted area due to a tumor or the like in the living body, the guide member 15 can be expanded and passed through. The guide member of this embodiment is desirably made of a somewhat hard material, and may be made of, for example, polysulfone. It goes without saying that, as in the third embodiment, a flexible member may be used or a flexible member and a hard member may be combined.

FIG. 6 is an external view of a sheath tip 6a according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a guide wire insertion hole 21 is formed in a part of the guide member 15, and the guide wire 22 is inserted through the hole in the sheath insertion direction, so that the ultrasonic probe is guided along the guide wire 22. This makes it possible to improve the ease of inserting the ultrasonic probe into the body cavity. [Effects of the Invention] As described above, in the present invention, a balloon filled with an ultrasonic medium is provided inside the guide member so that the ultrasonic medium can flow when the ultrasonic transducer moves forward and backward. It is possible to perform linear scanning while moving the ultrasonic transducer back and forth, and there is no safety problem because there is no balloon in the area that comes into contact with the living body. In addition, the internal pressure generated when the ultrasonic transducer moves forward and backward can be eliminated by the opening of the guide member, and a conduit for sending and discharging the ultrasonic medium is not required, so the diameter of the insertion part can be reduced. .

Furthermore, since the guide member is detachable, maintenance of the probe is easy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the entire ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using an ultrasonic probe according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a detailed cross-sectional view of the sheath tip, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an external view of the sheath tip according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an external view of the sheath tip according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an external view of a sheath tip according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. 6a,... Sheath tip 10. ．． ．． Ultrasonic transducer 13. ．． ．． Connection member 14. ．． ．． Balloon 15. ．． ．． Guide member 17. ．． ．． Opening l8. ．． ．． Ultrasonic medium Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Ultrasonic waves to obtain an ultrasound image of a subject by moving an ultrasound transducer disposed at the tip of a sheath forming an insertion section forward and backward in the insertion direction and scanning through an ultrasound medium. In the probe, an insertion guide member with an opening is removably attached to the sheath tip, and a balloon is provided inside the guide member to enclose the ultrasound medium so that it can flow when the ultrasound transducer moves back and forth. An ultrasonic probe characterized by: