JPS6055935A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

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

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that mechanically scans an ultrasonic beam in a fan shape to obtain a tomographic image of the inside of the body.

Conventional configurations and their problems Mechanical sector-scanning ultrasonic diagnostic equipment (hereinafter referred to as mechanical sector) generally has a simpler configuration than electronic ones, so the equipment is also smaller. It is written as FIG. 1(b) is a plan view showing an example of the configuration of the rotary head. As an example, three oscillators 1a
, 1b, 1C are shown.

In the figure (a), a transducer 1a transmits and receives ultrasonic waves.

'ib, 1c are attached to the rotating head 2 that supports it, and the belt, boot'
It is rotated by the power transmission means 4 of J-%, and at the same time deflection is performed by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves by the transducers 1a to 1C. At this time, the rotational position of the rotary spatula 2 is detected by a detector 11 typified by a rotary encoder or a rotary potentiometer via a power transmission means 10 different from the one described above, and via a signal line 12&. It is connected to a main unit (not shown). In the main unit, detector 1
Based on the data of 1, the speed and 9 positions of the motor 3 are controlled through the signal line 12b, and the deflection angles of the ultrasonic beams from the transducers 1a to 1C are made precise. Here, as an example, we are considering a case where three transducers 1a to 1C are attached to the rotary head 2, so it is necessary to select one transducer 1a located in the acoustic window 7 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. Therefore, when a magnetic field is sensed on the end face of the rotating head 2, it turns on. This is the arrangement.

FIG. 1(b) shows a view of the rotary head 2 viewed from the direction of the rotation axis, and the positional relationship between the vibrator, the reed switch, and the magnet will be explained in more detail.

As shown in the figure, an arc-shaped magnet 6 is provided on the support base 8, and reed switches 6&, 6b, and sc are provided in one-to-one correspondence with each of the three vibrators 1a, 1b, and 1c. Furthermore, the support stand 8 is rotatably provided around the rotation axis of the rotary head 20. 9 is a housing.

The rotary head 2 rotates from A to A', and the reed switch 5a that approaches the magnet 6 is turned on. The magnet 6 is set so that the reed switch is turned on between A and A', which is a fan-shaped scanning area. The reed switch 6a in the ON state enables the corresponding vibrator 1a to transmit and receive data.

The transmission signal is sent from the main unit along with the signal line 12b, and is sent to the rotating head 2 via a rotary transformer (not shown).
and is sent to the vibrator 1a via the reed switch 5a. The received signal reflected inside the body is transmitted to the transducer 1.
It reaches the main unit from a in the opposite route. As the rotation further progresses, the reed switch 6a comes off from the magnet 6, and
At the same time, the vibrator 1a is no longer in the range of A - A', and O
The state becomes FF. This process is what happens to the other vibrator 1b.

1C1 and the other reed switches 5b and 5c. Another example of the vibrator switching and signal coupling method with the rotary head is a method using a slip ring shown in FIG.

Three vibrators 1a to 1C are provided on the side surface of the rotating head 2 provided in the housing 9, and a slip ring 16 is provided near the end surface of the rotating head 2. It rotates with the same rotation as head 2. The slip ring 16 includes one common electrode 15d, three individual electrodes 16a to 150 provided around it, and the common electrode 1.
5d and one of the individual electrodes 15a-15c, one electrode of the vibrators 1a-1c is connected to a common electrode 15d of the slip ring 16, and one electrode of the vibrators 1a-1c is connected to the common electrode 15d of the slip ring 16, The other electrode is connected to each of the individual electrodes 15zL to 16C of the slip ring 16. When the rotary head 2 rotates, the slip ring 16 also rotates, and when the electrode 16eL contacts the brush 14, the vibrator 12L becomes ready for transmission and reception. When the vibrator 1a further rotates from the position A and reaches A' through the acoustic window 7, the electrode 15? L is removed from the brush 14, and the transmission and reception of the vibrator 1a is completed. Thereafter, the brush 14 moves from the electrode 15b to the electrode 15C, and from the vibrator 1b to the vibrator 1C.
become ready for transmission and reception in sequence.

In either case using the reed switch or the slithering ring, in order to obtain tomographic images in real time, ten or more tomographic images are required per second, and the rotating head must be rotated at high speed. The wider the fan-shaped scanning area (A-A' in the figure) is, the more ideal it is, but by widening it, the scanning speed per tomographic image increases, and the scanning depth decreases accordingly. is 600-1200
is restricted to.

The case of diagnosing a subject using the glove configured as described above (-) will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, when it is desired to simultaneously view the organ a inside the subject 21 and the organ outside the fan-shaped field of view, it is necessary to move the glove 2° or tilt it toward the organ. Since it is not always possible to move the probe 2o in the same cross-sectional shape, a problem arises in reproducibility, and it is difficult to say that the organs are on the same cross-section. In addition, recently there has been a demand for a glove with a wider field of view to be tested, but this is impossible to achieve with the probes mentioned above, so in Fig. 1, reed switches 5 & ~ 6c are turned ON. A method has been devised in which the field of view to be examined is expanded without using any power to move the glove itself, by moving the position of the magnet and, in FIG. 2, moving the position of the brush 14.

However, with these methods, the position control of the visual field to be examined is inaccurate and cannot be performed at high speed. -Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and allows the scanning position to be varied freely, accurately, and at high speed, and to obtain fan-shaped tomographic images over a wide range without moving the globe. The purpose is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic device that can

Structure of the Invention The present invention achieves the above object, and includes at least one vibrator, a rotary body that supports and rotates the vibrator, a drive means that drives the rotary body, and a rotation angle of the rotary body. a rotation control section that controls the speed of the drive means based on the signal from the angle detection means; and a rotation control section that controls the scanning position and scanning range by counting the signal from the angle detection means. Provided is an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a scan control section having an input means for instructing a starting point; and a transmitting/receiving circuit that causes the transducer to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves based on a signal from the scan control section. It is.

Description of examples Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is an overview diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is an example of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the vibrators 1a to 1C are attached to a rotary head 2, and are driven by a motor 3 through a rotary shaft 22 by a power transmission means 4 consisting of a pulley, a belt, etc. A detector 23 such as a rotary encoder or a rotary potentiometer is provided on this rotating shaft 22 via another power transmission means 1o.
The position of the rotary head 2 is detected and its angle is output as data.

If the detector 23 is a rotary encoder, the detector 2
The output from the motor 3 includes a pulse R generated at every certain angle and a pulse Z generated at every rotation. Pulses R and Z are sent to the main unit 24, and R is used by the rotation control circuit 25 as a reference signal for rotation control, and the pulses R and Z are sent to the main unit 24.
Rotate at a constant speed.

A transmission signal for driving the vibrator is generated from a transmission/reception circuit 27 based on a control pulse of a control circuit 26 including a scan conversion circuit and a display circuit. The transmitter/receiver circuit 27 includes three transmitter circuits and three receiver circuits corresponding to the three vibrators, respectively.
It consists of at least a channel switching circuit controlled by a selection counter 29, which will be described later, a gain control amplifier, and a detection circuit.

The transmission signal generated from the transmitting/receiving circuit 27 passes through the probe cable 30 and the rotary transformers 321L to 32c in the two-lobe section 31 to the transducers 11L to 1C.
sent to. The received signal is received via the opposite route, and the obtained tomographic image is displayed on the display 34. Pulse Z from detector 23 consisting of a rotary encoder
The ζ pulse R is input to a counter 28 which generates a scan start position pulse Z' based on an instruction from the input means 33.

Scan start position pulse Z' and pulse R from counter 28
is input to the selection counter 29 and is a selection signal s1 for controlling the channel switching circuit of the transmitting/receiving circuit 27.
Occur.

Next, a method of changing the scanning position will be described using the time chart shown in FIG. The counter 28 is reset by the pulse Z, counts the pulse peaks based on the data X of the input means 33, and at the same time as the counting ends, the scanning start position
Outputs Kururesu Z'.

The selection counter 29 is reset by the pulse Z', selects the transducer 1a, and the transmitting/receiving circuit 27 selects the transducer 1a.
Transmission and reception are performed only with a. As the rotary head 2 rotates, the selection counter 29 counts the number of pulses R. For example, the rotary head 2 generates one pulse Z and three pulses per rotation.
Assuming that 0Q pulses R can be obtained, the oscillator should be 3
If the glove is used individually, the stationary element will be switched once every 100 times.

Therefore, by appropriately selecting the data X to be applied to the input means 33, the scanning starting point can be freely changed, and the field of view to be examined can be changed or expanded.

FIG. 6 shows this entire state shown on the display 34 of FIG. In FIG. 3A, the tomographic image 36 on Nice Play is shown on a normal fan-shaped scanning screen, and by moving the probe, the organ 36 inside the subject can be moved by ψ-X.

In the same figure (bl is a method that moves the entire tomographic image 35 according to the specified This can be realized by considering the scan conversion circuit and conversion method.

This situation is shown in FIG. 7 for the rotating head portion. When the data ψ-0 from the input means 33, the scanning position is A-A', and by inputting the data ψ-X, the scanning position can be changed to B-B'. The pulse R is counted IQO times from B to B' and transmission and reception are switched to the next vibrator.

Here, as the input means 33, in addition to setting the magnitude of ψ using a volume control or switch, ψ
It is conceivable to input the value directly as a numerical value. This input means 33 may be attached to either the glove part 31 or the main body part 24, but a switch 37 corresponding to the rotary head 2
Providing this on the probe section 31 makes it easier to operate.

Turn data into numbers and the power of ψ! In addition to inputting ``subtraction'', the image can be automatically moved to the right or left by gradually adding or subtracting the value of ψ for each frame in the main device 24. -+71 b→7
1 a-+7 l b-+71 c-+71d→718
It is possible to search while swinging left and right as shown in the figure, and it is possible to obtain a wide field of view without reducing the frame rate. In this case, it is sufficient to change the value of ψ for each frame, and in addition to continuously moving it left and right as described above, γ1e→71 d-+71 C→71 b→71
a and vice versa.

As shown in FIG. 9, in order to widen the field of view of the probe 37, ψ1 may be set to a and ψ2 to b, and the image of ψ1 and the 92 images may be alternately displayed for each frame. In the figure, ψl is 0. The case where ψ2 is set to b is shown. Here, ψ1-○ is the right side, and ψ2 is a position rotated by b from ψ1.

In this case, the normal frame rate can be maintained at the full normal frame rate in the shaded area shown in the figure, and the frame rate is reduced to half in the other areas, but it is effective for knowing the positional relationships of organs over a wide range.

Effects of the Invention In short, the present invention provides at least one vibrator, a rotary body that supports and rotates the vibrator, a driving means for driving the rotary body, and an angle detection means for detecting the rotation angle of the rotary body. a rotation control section that controls the speed of the drive means based on the signal from the angle detection means; and a rotation control section that controls the scanning position and scanning range by dividing the signal from the angle detection means.
Provided is an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: a scan control section having an input means for instructing a scan start point; and a transmission/reception circuit that causes the transducer to transmit and receive ultrasound based on a signal from the scan control section. Since the scanning position can be determined arbitrarily and electrically with the glove fixed, a wide range of biological information can be obtained. Also,
If the display is movable in accordance with the scanning position, there are advantages such as the ability to widen the narrow field of view by moving the scanning position at high speed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(a) is a plan view showing a configuration example of a conventional mechanical sector probe, FIG. 1(b) is a side view of the drive side of the rotary head,
Fig. 2(a) is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of another conventional mechanical sector probe, Fig. 2(b) is a plan view of Fig. 2 ta+, and Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the diagnosis of a subject using a conventional glove. 4 is a plan view of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a time chart of the above embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a tomographic image according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram explaining how to scan the rotary head portion of the above embodiment, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagrams explaining the scanning position control method of the present invention. be. 1a, 1b, 1c... Vibrator, 2... Rotating head, 3... Motor, 4, 10...
Power transmission means, 7...Acoustic window, 23...Mountain detector, 24...Main device, 25...Rotation control circuit, 26...Control circuit, 27...Transmission/reception circuit, 28...Counter, 29...-Selection counter, 31...Probe section, 33...Mountain/input means, 34...Display. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure ((1) /l Figure 2 Ia, 1 Figure 3 0 Figure 7 1h Figure 8 Figure 9 229-

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) At least one vibrator, a rotary body that supports and rotates the vibrator, a drive means that drives the rotary body, an angle detection means that detects a rotation angle of the rotary body, and an angle detection means that detects the rotation angle of the rotary body. a rotation control section that controls the speed of the driving means based on a signal from the means; and a scanning control section that includes an input means that controls a scanning position and a scanning range by counting signals from the angle detection means and that specifies a scanning start point. and a transmitting/receiving circuit that causes the transducer to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves based on a signal from the scanning control section. (2) The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scanning position is automatically moved sequentially in accordance with the number of frames of the tomographic image.