JPS6238152A - Ultrasonic thermotherapy 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 [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic thermotherapy device for treating tumors by localized heating using ultrasonic waves.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Regarding the treatment of malignant neoplasms, so-called cancer, surgical therapy, chemotherapy, TFIM therapy, and immunotherapy have traditionally been carried out under the name of practical therapy, but in addition to these therapies, recently One type of therapy that has been attracting attention is hyperthermia (thermia). This treatment method takes advantage of the fact that the lethal temperature of tumor cells is lower than that of normal cells, and is used to treat tumor cells by heating, and is a non-invasive method.
It is considered to be extremely effective in treating unresectable lesions. Thermal therapy is classified into whole body, local, and regional heating, but among these, ultrasound therapy is focused and irradiated to the deep tumor to selectively heat the tumor site for treatment. A local heating method using this technique is seen as promising.

However, in the conventional local heating method, the focal point position is determined by the transducer position, and the position of the transducer is changed slowly depending on the movement of the object (tumor). However, there was a problem in that it could not track relatively fast movements (breathing, heartbeat, etc.).

[Purpose of the invention]

In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic thermotherapy device that can accurately irradiate tumors that can move relatively quickly and perform safe and effective treatment. It is in.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ultrasonic transducer for heating a living body with a variable focus position, a means for driving the transducer intermittently, and a signal reflected from the living body when the drive is stopped. It is characterized by comprising means for receiving and configuring internal structure information, and means for controlling the focal point position based on the information. In other words, multiple reflectors that exist in the rays of the heating ultrasound beam and have a fixed relative position to the irradiated area are targeted, and the variable focal point is fixed at a fixed position with respect to the targets. Alternatively, by performing constant scanning, it is possible to irradiate a specific point or area of a moving tumor.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to this invention, it is possible to accurately focus the heating ultrasound on tumors that constantly move due to heartbeat and breathing in areas close to the heart and lungs, resulting in highly safe and effective treatment. You can expect good results.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In contact with the living body 11, the linear array transducer 12
is provided. During heating, a drive signal from the drive circuit 13 passes through the switch 14 and drives each vibrator of the linear array with a phase difference set by the phase control circuit 15. As a result, the focal point 16 is connected to a certain place inside the living body 11,
Warm the area. However, if this is done only by heating a fixed point relative to the near array transducer 12, the target region may be removed due to the movement of the living body.

Therefore, the switch 14 is switched in response to a signal from the timing pulse generation circuit 17, and the signal line from the transistor 12 is transferred to the B-mode information configuration circuit 18. The B-mode information configuration circuit 18 has an internal pulse oscillator (not shown), transmits a pulse signal at the timing 9 when the switch 14 is turned off, and receives the pulse signal 4.
By analyzing the signal, information on the reflector inside the living body 11 can be obtained and displayed on the CRT 19, for example.

The operator of this device selects a target for determining the position of the focal point 16 from this screen, and selects the target and the relative positional relationship between the target and the focal point 16 using the keyboard 110.
This is input to the focus position control circuit 111. Based on this, the focus position control circuit 111 can control the style control circuit 15 to bring the focus 16 to a desired location.

For example, when the treatment plan is for a primary cancer, echoes from the upper side 112a and lower side 112b of the cancer are used as targets with clear phosphorus areas.

By specifying the focal point position as the midpoint between the two points, it is possible to always set the focal point 16 at the center of the cancer. Also, by instructing the device to scan between two points, it is possible to widely heat the inside of the cancer.

Once the position of the focal point 16 has been determined in this way, a pulse from the timing pulse generation circuit 17) is sent to the switch 1.
4 is switched, and a driving signal for heating is supplied.

In this embodiment, a linear array is used as the transducer, but an annular array in which annular vibrators are arranged concentrically may also be used. However, at this time, only the biological information on the central axis is entered, so the circuit becomes a human-mode information configuration circuit instead of a B-mode.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings are diagrams showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. 12... Linear array transducer 13... Drive circuit 15... Phase control circuit 16... Focus 17... Timing pulse generator 18... B mode information configuration circuit 111... Focus position control circuit Agent Patent Attorney Noriyuki Chika Yudo Kikuo Takehana

Claims (1)

[Claims] an ultrasonic transducer for warming a living body with a variable focus position; means for intermittently driving the transducer; and means for receiving reflected signals from the living body at the transducer when the drive is stopped, and configuring internal body structure information; The method includes means for specifying one or more points among the information, means for inputting relative position data between each point and the focal point, and means for controlling the focal point position according to the input data. Features of ultrasonic heat treatment device.