JPS646818Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to an ultrasonic scanner for insertion into a body cavity, which is provided with an ultrasonic medium sealing part that accommodates an ultrasonic transducer at the tip of an insertion part into a body cavity.

2. Description of the Related Art Ultrasonic scanners for insertion into body cavities are known, in which an ultrasonic transducer is provided in a body cavity insertion section such as an endoscope, and transmits and receives ultrasonic waves for scanning. This ultrasonic transducer is sealed with an ultrasonic medium so that the emitted ultrasonic waves can be effectively propagated, and the ultrasonic beam transmission and reception directions can be sequentially moved to obtain tomographic images. ing. Therefore, the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer is rotated for scanning, or a reflection plate facing the ultrasonic transducer is rotated for scanning. The part is equipped with a rotating shaft that works with the motor,
Its tip is inserted into the ultrasonic medium sealing section and connected to the ultrasonic vibrator or reflection plate. For this reason, an oil seal member, for example, is provided at the insertion portion of the rotating shaft into the ultrasonic medium sealing portion to rotatably support the rotating shaft and provide a liquid-tight seal, but a complete seal is not possible.

Therefore, if the external pressure drops, for example, when this ultrasonic scanner is transported by air,
If the internal pressure of the ultrasonic medium seal increases, oil may flow out of the oil seal, or the ultrasonic medium may leak, and if the external pressure subsequently increases, the oil seal or the ultrasonic medium seal may There is a problem in that air enters and loses the sealing effect and impedes the propagation of ultrasonic waves. This phenomenon also occurs when the ambient temperature rises, and the reality is that improvements are desired.

This idea was devised by paying attention to the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a pressure regulating member that adjusts the pressure inside the ultrasonic medium sealing part, so that it will remain stable even when there are fluctuations in external pressure, temperature changes, etc. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic scanner for insertion into a body cavity that can achieve a sealing effect that is as follows.

This invention will be explained below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 is an ultrasonic scanner integrated with an endoscope. This ultrasonic scanner 1 is composed of a main operation section 2, a sub-operation section 3, and a body cavity insertion section 4. The main operation section 2 is provided with an eyepiece section 5, an angle knob 6, and a universal cord 7, and the body cavity insertion section 4 has a flexible section 8 and a distal end section provided at the distal end thereof via a curved section 9. It consists of a section 10. Further, this tip structure section 10 is provided with an optical section 13 having an illumination window 11 and an observation window 12, and an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving scanning section 14, which will be described later, provided at the tip thereof. This ultrasonic transmitting/receiving scanning section 14 is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, reference numeral 5 denotes a housing constituting the optical section 13, and the tip thereof is provided with an ultrasonic medium sealing section 16 having a liquid-tight ultrasonic transmitting/receiving window section 16a. An ultrasonic medium 17 consisting of: Further, a through hole 18 is provided in the axial center of the housing 15 in the axial direction, and bearings 19, 19 made of ball bearings are attached to the open end of the through hole 18. A rotary shaft 20 is rotatably supported by these bearings 19, 19, and a gap 18a is formed between the bearings 19 and the through hole 18. Furthermore, an ultrasonic vibrator 21 located within the ultrasonic medium sealing section 16 is attached to the tip of the rotating shaft 20. Further, a flexible shaft 22 is directly connected to the distal end of the rotating shaft 20, and extends through the body cavity insertion section 4 to the sub-operation section 3. Further, a guide tube 24 is fitted into the outer periphery of the flexible shaft 22 with a gap 23 provided therebetween. The tip of the guide tube 24 is fluid-tightly connected to the connection port 25 of the housing 15, and the end is fluid-tightly connected to the connection port 27 provided in the housing 26 in the sub-operation section 3. . Furthermore, this housing 2
6 is provided with a through hole 28, and bearings 29, 29 made of ball bearings are attached to the open end of the through hole 28. A transmission shaft 30 is rotatably supported by these bearings 29, 29, and a gap 31 is formed between the bearings 29 and the through hole 28. The tip of this transmission shaft 30 is connected to the flexible shaft 2.
The housing 26 is connected directly to the end of the housing 26 through a sealing member 32 that seals liquid-tightly.
stands out from A driven gear 33 is fitted into the protrusion of the transmission shaft 30, which meshes with a drive gear 36 provided on the rotating shaft 35 of the motor 34, and transfers the rotational force of the motor 34 to the transmission shaft 30, the universal The sound is transmitted to the ultrasonic transducer 21 via the shaft 22 and the rotating shaft 20.
Further, a gap 31 is provided on the side wall of the housing 26.
A pressure adjustment path 37 made of a through hole communicating with the pressure adjustment path 37 is provided, and a balloon 38 made of an elastic body as a pressure adjustment member is connected to this pressure adjustment path 37. Furthermore, an air vent hole 3 is provided at the end of the balloon 38.
9 is provided, and a plug 40 is inserted into this air vent hole 39.

Therefore, the ultrasonic medium sealing section 16 communicates with the balloon 38 via the gaps 18a, 23, 31 and the pressure adjustment path 37, and the inside thereof is filled with the ultrasonic medium 17.

However, if the external pressure decreases or the temperature increases due to air transport of the ultrasonic scanner configured as described above, the ultrasonic medium sealing part 16,
Gap portions 18a, 23, 31 and pressure adjustment path 37
The pressure of the ultrasonic medium 17 contained therein increases and the balloon 38 can expand to absorb the increased pressure. Conversely, if the external pressure increases or the temperature decreases, the ultrasonic medium sealing part 1
6. The pressure of the ultrasonic medium 17 accommodated in the gaps 18a, 23, 31 and the pressure adjustment path 37 decreases, the balloon 38 contracts, and the reduced pressure can be absorbed.

As explained above, this invention is equipped with a pressure regulating member that regulates the pressure inside the ultrasonic medium sealing section.
Even if the internal pressure increases or decreases due to fluctuations in external pressure or temperature, the fluctuations can be absorbed by the pressure regulating member. Therefore, a stable sealing effect can be maintained and leakage of the ultrasonic medium can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing shows one embodiment of this invention.
The figure is a perspective view of the whole, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the main parts. 4...Intrabody cavity insertion section, 14...Ultrasonic transmission/reception scanning section, 16...Ultrasonic medium sealing section, 17...Ultrasonic medium, 20...Rotating shaft, 21...Ultrasonic transducer, 38... Balloon (pressure regulating member).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) An ultrasonic medium sealing part forming an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving scanning part is provided in the body cavity insertion part, and an ultrasonic 1. An ultrasonic scanner for insertion into a body cavity, which is equipped with a vibrator, and further comprising a pressure regulating member for adjusting the pressure within the ultrasonic medium sealing section. (2) The ultrasonic scanner for insertion into a body cavity according to claim 1, wherein the pressure regulating member is a balloon made of an elastic body communicating with the inside of the ultrasonic medium sealing portion.