JP3635512B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for observing an ultrasonic tomographic image in contact with a living tissue.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a system for measuring the hardness of a living body, for example, a system disclosed in JP-A-2-290529 is known. This is to measure the hardness of the living body contact portion based on the change information of the resonance frequency when the probe made of a piezoelectric element is brought into contact with the living body and the probe portion is vibrated by the oscillation circuit.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-187844 discloses an example in which a pressure sensor is provided on an ultrasonic tomographic probe. This is provided with a pressure sensor that detects a pressure when the probe is pressed against a living body, and measures the hardness of the part from the pressure of the contact part and the distortion amount of the ultrasonic tomographic image.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the hardness measuring probe disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-290529, when the hardness of a living body part existing in the body is measured using this probe, the position of the hard part on the body surface is blindly set. It was necessary to search and the diagnosis was troublesome. In addition, although the position of the hard part on the body surface can be detected, it has been difficult to accurately detect the position of the part in the depth direction.
[0004]
Further, when the ultrasonic tomographic diagnostic probe disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-187844 is used, the hardness of the living tissue is determined from the amount of deformation of the living body at the pressed portion and the measurement value of the pressure sensor from the ultrasonic image. Since it is necessary, it is necessary to separately perform calculation work for obtaining the hardness. In addition, when the probe of this example is used against the mucous membrane in the body cavity, if the probe is pressed unnecessarily, the mucosa may be damaged or the living body wall may be perforated. Furthermore, in the probe of this example, it is necessary to provide the pressure sensor and the ultrasonic diagnostic probe as separate bodies, and the probe in the body cavity is required to reduce the configuration of the insertion portion, and particularly has an endoscope function at the distal end portion. It is difficult to apply this example to a probe or the like.
[0005]
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and measures the position of the lesion in the depth direction simultaneously with the hardness of the living body without increasing the configuration of the tip of the probe, and combines the ultrasonic image and the hardness measurement result. Therefore, it is intended to enable diagnosis with higher accuracy.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention performs hardness measurement and ultrasonic image diagnosis with a single probe comprising a piezoelectric element that can be used in both an ultrasonic hardness measurement system and an ultrasonic image diagnosis system. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that enables this is provided. And the following effects are brought about.
(1) The hardness can be measured under ultrasonic image observation.
(2) The tissue hardness can be measured without strongly pressing the probe against the living body.
(3) The size of the probe can be reduced.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
<First Embodiment>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
(the purpose)
The first embodiment aims to enable diagnosis with higher accuracy by measuring the position of the lesion in the depth direction simultaneously with the hardness of the living body without increasing the configuration of the tip of the probe.
[0008]
(Constitution)
FIGS. 1A to 1C show a probe 1 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1A, the probe 1 is a probe main body 2 formed in a thick flat plate shape (cuboid shape). The cord 3 is connected to the rear end of the probe main body 2. A transducer group 5 is provided on the distal end surface portion 4 of the probe main body 2. The vibrator group 5 is configured by arranging a plurality of element portions 6 in a strip shape as shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D in the direction of the AA cross section in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 (c) and 1 (d), each of the plurality of element portions 6 is arranged side by side on the back surface of the piezoelectric element 9, a GND (ground) electrode 10 disposed on the front surface thereof, and the piezoelectric element 9. The first signal electrode 11 and the second signal electrode 12 are included. That is, the piezoelectric element 9 is sandwiched between a GND (earth) electrode 10 and the first signal electrode 11 and the second signal electrode 12 to constitute an ultrasonic vibration element that is an electroacoustic transducer. A resin acoustic matching layer 13 is applied to the front surface of the GND electrode 10.
[0009]
For example, piezoelectric ceramics is used as the material of the piezoelectric element, but it goes without saying that it can be replaced with another material as long as it has an electroacoustic conversion function. For example, a polymer piezoelectric material such as PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride), a crystal resonator, an electrostrictive material, or a magnetostrictive material can be used.
[0010]
One end of each of the cables 15, 16, and 17 is individually connected to the GND electrode 10, the first signal electrode 11, and the second signal electrode 12. The other ends of the cables 15, 16, and 17 extend to the connector (not shown) provided at the rear end of the cord 3 through the probe body 2 and the cord 3. As described above, each of the plurality of element portions 6 is connected to a circuit to be described later by a connector (not shown) so as to transmit and receive electrical signals.
[0011]
FIG. 2 shows a circuit configuration of a system for driving the probe 1 of the first embodiment. The cable 15 connected to the GND electrode 10 of the probe 1 is connected to the ground 18. Cables 16 and 17 connected to the first signal electrode 11 and the second signal electrode 12 are connected to the transmission / reception circuit 21, the transmission circuit 22 and the reception circuit 23 via a switching circuit 20 for switching between ultrasonic image diagnosis and hardness measurement. In contrast, it is selectively connected. That is, the cable 16 connected to the first signal electrode 11 is connected to one of the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the reception circuit 22 by selecting the terminal 26 of the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the terminal 27 of the reception circuit 22 by the switch 25. . The cable 17 connected to the second signal electrode 12 is connected to one of the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the reception circuit 23 by selecting the terminal 29 of the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the terminal 30 of the reception circuit 23 by the switch 28. Is done. A frequency counter 31 is connected to the receiving circuit 23. These are controlled by the control unit 32. In addition to the arithmetic circuit, the control unit 32 includes a video processor, a video impose circuit, and the like. Further, the result of the processing calculation is displayed on the monitor 33 for rendering an ultrasonic tomographic image.
[0012]
Next, the principle of rendering an ultrasonic image in this embodiment will be described. When performing ultrasonic image diagnosis, the switches 25 and 28 are switched to the transmission / reception circuit 21 side. The transmission / reception circuit 21 transmits a pulsed electric signal to a plurality of element portions 6 adjacent to each other at the distal end surface portion of the probe 1. At this time, the transmission / reception circuit 21 determines the drive timing of the plurality of element units 6 so that the ultrasonic waves generated and irradiated from the plurality of element units 6 converge at a certain point in front. That is, the electrical signal emitted from the transmission / reception circuit 21 is converted into ultrasonic vibration by the plurality of element units 6 via the cable 16 and the cable 17. Then, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the plurality of element units 6 are reflected by the body cavity living body (object) and travel again toward the plurality of element units 6. The plurality of element units 6 receive the reflected ultrasonic waves and convert them into electric signals. This electric signal is again received by the transmission / reception circuit 21 through the cable 16 and the cable 17, amplified, and then sent to the control unit 32. Based on the electrical signal from the transmission / reception circuit 21, the control unit 32 converts the magnitude of the reflected ultrasound into brightness and calculates the reflected position of the ultrasound from the reception timing. The above operation is sequentially performed in the arrangement direction of the transducer group 5 (direction of the AA cross-sectional line), and ultrasonic scanning is performed to obtain an ultrasonic scanning signal. Then, a video signal is generated by the video processor, and an ultrasonic tomographic image is drawn on the monitor 33. In addition to the above function, the control unit 32 has a function of measuring the distance between two points on the ultrasonic image. This distance measurement result is displayed on the monitor 33.
[0013]
Next, the principle of operation when measuring hardness in this embodiment will be described. When the hardness measurement is performed, the switches 25 and 28 are switched to the transmission circuit 22 and the reception circuit 23 side. With the probe 1 in contact with the living body surface, an alternating voltage is simultaneously applied to all the signal electrodes 11 of the transducer group 5 by the transmission circuit 22. Then, according to the hardness of the living body surface, the vibrator group 5 performs resonance vibration with a certain frequency as a peak value. On the other hand, the signal electrode 12 detects the periodic vibration of the transducer group 5 as an electric signal. The detected electrical signal is received by the receiving circuit 23, amplified, and then transmitted to the frequency counter 31. The frequency counter 31 calculates the peak value of the resonance frequency of the detection signal. Perform the above work on the histologically normal part and the abnormal part hardened or softened, and calculate the relative part hardness of the abnormal part when the hardness of the normal part is the reference value. If the hardness is displayed on the monitor 33 through the impose circuit, the hardness of the living body can be determined.
[0014]
(Function)
A usage example of the probe 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.
As shown in FIG. 3, an example of diagnosing the hardness and position of a living body 42 having a lesioned portion 41 immediately below the position E will be described.
First, the surface of the transducer group 5 of the probe 1 is brought into contact with an arbitrary position C on the surface of the living body 42. Then, the switches 25 and 28 are switched to the terminals 27 and 30 side to start the hardness measurement.
[0015]
With the surface of the transducer group 5 in contact with the surface of the living body, the probe 1 is moved in the direction of the arrow 43 via the position D and the position E. At this time, the measured value of hardness is recorded in the control unit 32 at a fixed timing, and the recorded result is displayed on the screen of the monitor 33 as a graph shown in FIG.
In this case, at the position E, the resonance frequency different from the case of the position C and the position D is shown due to the influence of the lesioned part 41 having a hardness different from that of the peripheral part immediately below the position E. Therefore, it can be estimated that the lesioned part 41 exists immediately below the position E.
Further, the control unit 32 calculates the difference Δf between the resonance frequency at the position E and the resonance frequency at the position E from the straight line portion (for example, position C or position D) on the graph of FIG. Ask.
[0016]
Next, the switches 25 and 28 are switched to the terminals 26 and 29 side, and an ultrasonic image 46 at the position E as shown in FIG.
In this example, the distance display unit 49 displays the distance between the two cursors 47 and 48 on the ultrasonic image 46 by the distance measurement function of the control unit 32. Thereby, it can be determined that the distance in the direction of the arrow 43 from the position E on the surface of the living body 42 to the lesioned portion 41 is Xcm.
Further, the relative hardness H of the position E with respect to the normal part is displayed on the monitor display 45 based on Δf obtained by the control unit 32.
[0017]
Based on the above diagnosis, the probe 1 of the present embodiment measures the hardness of the tissue as shown in FIG. 4 on a living body 42 having a lesioned portion 41 as shown in FIG. In addition, by performing ultrasonic image diagnosis and distance measurement from the contents of the monitor display 45 in FIG. 5, the accurate depth position of the lesioned part 41 can be grasped at the same time as the living body at the diagnosis position. It is possible to check the hardness of the.
[0018]
(effect)
According to this embodiment, it is possible to measure the position of the lesion in the depth direction simultaneously with the hardness of the living body without increasing the configuration of the distal end portion of the probe 1. Further, by combining the ultrasonic image and the hardness measurement result, the information necessary for the diagnosis is increased, so that the diagnosis can be performed with higher accuracy.
[0019]
Second Embodiment
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
(the purpose)
In addition to the object of the first embodiment described above, the second embodiment enables diagnosis of a site that is difficult to diagnose from the body surface, and without damaging the soft wall such as the mucous membrane in the body cavity. Enables measurement of hardness. It is another object of the present invention to make it possible to easily switch between hardness measurement and ultrasonic image diagnosis by hand operation.
[0020]
(Constitution)
This embodiment is applied to an intrabody cavity ultrasonic probe. FIG. 6 shows the whole body cavity ultrasonic probe 51 according to the second embodiment. The body cavity ultrasonic probe 51 includes a distal end portion 52, a bending portion 53, a rigid portion 54, an operation portion 55, and a cord 56 in order from the distal end in the insertion direction. A transducer group 57 is provided on the lower side surface of the distal end portion 52. The transducer group 57 has the same configuration as the transducer group 5 of the first embodiment. In other words, the transducer group 57 has one end of a cable (not shown) connected to each element (not shown). The other end of the cable (not shown) passes through the body cavity ultrasonic probe 51 and reaches a connector (not shown) provided at the rear end of the cord 56. A bending knob 58 for bending the bending portion 53 is provided on the operation portion 55. Further, the inside (not shown) in the vicinity of the boundary between the distal end portion 52 and the bending portion 53 and the side surface (not shown) of the rotating shaft inside the operation portion 55 of the bending knob 58 are fixed so as to face each other with two wires. ing. Thus, by operating the operation knob 58 in the direction of the arrow 59, the tip end portion 52 can be bent in the direction of the arrow 61. Further, the operation unit 55 is provided with a changeover switch 62 that can simultaneously change over the switch 25 and the switch 28. When the changeover switch 62 is depressed, the switch 25 and the switch 28 are respectively switched to the terminals 27 and 30, and the changeover switch 62 itself can maintain the depressed state. When the changeover switch 62 is pushed in again, the changeover switch 62 itself returns to the original state, and the switch 25 and the switch 28 are switched to the terminals 26 and 29, respectively.
[0021]
In addition, information on the hardness of the normal tissue at the diagnostic site is recorded in advance in the control unit 32, and by comparing with this, the relative hardness of the lesioned part can be instantaneously measured. .
In the present embodiment, configurations other than those described above are the same as those in the first embodiment, and are therefore omitted.
[0022]
(Function)
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation when the present embodiment is used in a body cavity. Follow the procedure below.
First, an abdominal abdominal needle (not shown) is inserted into the abdominal wall 71, and gas is injected into the abdominal wall 71 through the abdominal abdominal cavity using the abdominal abdominal cavity to inhale.
A trocar 72 is inserted into the abdominal wall 71 that is inhaled.
Next, the body cavity ultrasonic probe 51 is inserted into the trocar 72.
[0023]
Then, the bending knob 58 is operated so that the transducer group 57 comes into contact with the surface of the organ 73, and the distal end portion 52 is moved to the state shown in FIG.
The change-over switch 62 is pressed to start ultrasonic image diagnosis. At this time, the transducer group 57 maintains a state in contact with the organ 73 and searches the lesioned portion 74 while gradually sliding the distal end portion 52.
When the lesioned part 74 is confirmed under the ultrasound image, the changeover switch 62 is pressed again to measure the hardness, and the lesioned part 74 is diagnosed by combining the ultrasound image and the hardness measurement result.
[0024]
(effect)
In addition to the effects of the first embodiment described above, the second embodiment makes it possible to diagnose a site that is difficult to diagnose from the body surface, and to harden the tissue without damaging the soft wall such as the mucous membrane in the body cavity. It became possible to measure the height. Further, by providing the selector switch 62 on the probe 51 side, it is possible to easily switch between hardness measurement and ultrasonic image diagnosis by hand operation.
[0025]
In addition, this invention is not limited to each said embodiment. That is, in addition to the above-described embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to an embodiment in which hardness measurement and ultrasonic image diagnosis are switched at high speed so that hardness measurement and ultrasonic image rendering can be performed simultaneously. . Other examples include an ultrasonic probe that can be inserted into a body cavity orally, rectally, or vaginally. Further, an example in which the present invention is applied to an endoscope or the like using the advantage that the probe configuration can be reduced can be considered. In this case, for example, an optical observation system, air supply water or a suction channel is provided at the tip of the ultrasonic probe of the second embodiment, and the portion corresponding to the hard portion is changed to a flexible tube. This is possible by doing. Furthermore, although this embodiment has shown an example of a linear scanning probe, in addition to this, a radial scanning type capable of scanning 360 ° with elements arranged over the entire circumference with respect to the side surface of a cylindrical probe. The probe can be applied to a convex probe in which a transducer group of a linear scanning probe is arranged on a surface bent with a certain curvature.
[0026]
[Appendix]
1. An ultrasonic diagnostic probe comprising a piezoelectric element including an electrode, and an oscillator that generates an ultrasonic wave by applying an electric signal to the electrode;
An ultrasonic image diagnostic means for generating an ultrasonic wave by adding an electrical signal to the transducer of the probe, irradiating the ultrasonic wave on an object, detecting a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave, and performing an ultrasonic image diagnosis;
A frequency measuring means for detecting a resonance frequency of the vibrator when the probe is brought into contact with an object, and a hardness detecting means for detecting the hardness of the object from the measured resonance frequency,
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized in that ultrasonic image diagnosis using the probe and hardness detection using the probe are performed.
[0027]
2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the ultrasonic image diagnostic unit and the hardness detection unit includes a switching unit that selectively connects to the vibrator.
[0028]
3. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein the probe is an external probe that contacts the vibrator with an external surface.
4). The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the probe is a body cavity probe to be inserted into a body.
5. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the switching unit is provided in the probe.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to measure the position in the depth direction of the lesion simultaneously with the hardness of the living body without increasing the configuration of the tip of the probe. By combining the ultrasonic image and the hardness measurement result, diagnosis with higher accuracy is possible. In addition, observation of ultrasonic images has made it possible to measure tissue hardness without damaging soft wall surfaces such as mucous membranes in body cavities.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A is a side view of a probe according to the first embodiment, FIG. 1B is a front end view of the probe, FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. (C) Sectional drawing which follows the BB line.
FIG. 2 is a circuit configuration diagram of a system for driving the probe according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a usage example of the probe according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the position by the probe and the measurement frequency according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a state diagram of a monitor display according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a side view showing the entire body cavity ultrasonic probe according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a use state of an intrabody cavity ultrasonic probe according to a second embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Probe, 4 ... Tip surface part, 5 ... Vibrator group, 6 ... Multiple element part, 9 ... Piezoelectric element, 10 ... GND electrode, 11 ... 1st signal electrode, 12 ... 2nd signal electrode, 20 ... For switching Switch circuit, 21 ... Transmission / reception circuit, 22 ... Transmission circuit, 23 ... Reception circuit, 31 ... Frequency counter, 32 ... Control part, 33 ... Monitor, 51 ... Ultrasonic probe in body cavity, 52 ... Tip part, 53 ... Bending part, 54 ... a hard part, 55 ... an operation part, 57 ... a vibrator group, 62 ... a changeover switch.

Claims (1)

An ultrasonic diagnostic probe comprising a piezoelectric element including an electrode, and an oscillator that generates an ultrasonic wave by applying an electric signal to the electrode;
An ultrasonic image diagnostic means for generating an ultrasonic wave by adding an electrical signal to the transducer of the probe, irradiating the ultrasonic wave on an object, detecting a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave, and performing an ultrasonic image diagnosis;
A frequency measuring means for detecting a resonance frequency of the vibrator when the probe is brought into contact with an object, and a hardness detecting means for detecting the hardness of the object from the measured resonance frequency,
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized in that ultrasonic image diagnosis using the probe and hardness detection using the probe are performed.

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