JP3990189B2 - Ultrasonic probe and its operation device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an operating device that controls an ultrasonic scanning plane of an ultrasonic probe, and more particularly to an operation for changing the ultrasonic scanning plane.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Ultrasound is radiated from the probe into the living body, the ultrasound reflected from the living body is received by the probe, and an ultrasonic image inside the living body is formed and observed based on the received signal. Ultrasonic diagnostic devices are widespread. The probe of this ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an ultrasonic probe) has various forms, shapes, and sizes depending on the diagnosis target part, and is appropriately used. Among them, an ultrasonic probe used by being inserted into a body cavity such as a transesophageal is known. This type of ultrasonic probe includes an operating device connected to the probe head and a cable for controlling the direction of the probe head and the ultrasonic scanning surface from outside the body. The operation device is provided with a dial and a button switch for performing a predetermined operation. In addition, a motor equipped with a motor for changing the ultrasonic scanning surface is known. In this ultrasonic probe, the change of the scanning plane by the motor is to sequentially acquire an ultrasonic image while rotating the motor, and this is used to search for the scanning plane in which the diagnosis target appears clearly. Yes.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When making a diagnosis using the above-described ultrasonic probe for insertion into a body cavity, there is a demand for obtaining an ultrasonic image with two orthogonal planes as scanning planes. In order to meet this demand, it is conceivable to provide two sets of transducer arrays respectively corresponding to two orthogonal planes, but in this case, the configuration of the device, particularly the configuration of the portion inserted into the body cavity, becomes large, There is a problem that the use is limited and the burden on the patient is increased. Further, it is possible to obtain an image of two orthogonal planes by continuously instructing the above-described motor until the scanning plane rotates 90 °. In this case, it is difficult to adjust the rotation angle to 90 °. ° It takes time to rotate.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to quickly obtain two ultrasonic images having a scanning plane as an orthogonal plane.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problem, an ultrasonic probe operating device according to the present invention provides a motor for changing the orientation of an ultrasonic transducer array with an ultrasonic scan plane after change being changed to an ultrasonic wave before change. It has a biplane switch for performing an operation for instructing to perform an operation of switching to a plane orthogonal to the acoustic wave scanning plane. Here, the operation of switching the changed ultrasonic scan plane to a plane orthogonal to the pre-change ultrasonic scan plane is to quickly switch the orientation of the scan plane by 90 ° and continue the operation images of two orthogonal planes. It is an action to get.
[0006]
By operating the biplane switch, two orthogonal plane images can be quickly acquired. Further, the rotation angle of the scanning surface when this switch is operated is determined, and it is not necessary for the operator of the ultrasonic probe to adjust the rotation angle.
[0007]
Further, it may have a reference plane registration switch for performing an operation for storing the current direction of the ultrasonic scanning plane in the memory as a reference plane. When the biplane switch is operated after the reference plane is stored, the reference plane is first selected as the ultrasonic scan plane, and each time the switch operation is performed thereafter, the ultrasonic scan plane is scanned in the current scan. The plane can be switched to a plane orthogonal to the plane. According to this configuration, by selecting a desired ultrasonic scanning plane as a reference plane, two desired orthogonal planes can be arbitrarily selected.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment. 2 to 4 are external views of the operation device for the ultrasonic probe. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 includes a diagnostic apparatus main body 12 and an ultrasonic probe 14 that can be attached to and detached from the diagnostic apparatus main body 12 and that is appropriately selected in accordance with the diagnostic part. The ultrasonic probe 14 includes an ultrasonic transducer array 16 and a probe head 18 that is inserted into a body cavity of a patient, and an operation device 22 that is connected to the probe head 18 via an insertion tube 20. The operating device 22 and a connector 26 electrically connected via a cable 24 (see FIG. 2) are included. The connector 26 is provided with a plurality of terminals, and the connection between the ultrasonic probe 14 and the diagnostic apparatus main body 12 is achieved by connecting to the terminals on the diagnostic apparatus main body 12 side corresponding to the terminals. Is done.
[0009]
The ultrasonic transducer array 16 provided in the probe head 14 is a one-dimensional array configured by arranging transducers on a straight line, and performs ultrasonic scanning in the array arrangement direction to obtain an ultrasonic tomographic image. Can be obtained. In addition, the ultrasonic transducer array 16 is rotated by a motor 28 around an axis extending in the vertical direction in FIG. 1, and the ultrasonic scanning surface is rotated around the axis to be changed. be able to. An operation device 22 connected to the probe head 18 via the insertion tube 20 is located outside the patient's body, and various operations of the ultrasonic probe are performed by a plurality of switches and dials provided for the operation device 22. Can be done.
[0010]
The operation device 22 is provided with a two-stage operation dial 30 for operating the direction of the probe head 18. The operation dial 30 includes two angle knobs 32 and 34, which are connected to the probe head 18 by tension wires 36 and 38, respectively. When the angle knob 32 arranged on the upper side, that is, at a position away from the main body of the operating device is rotated, the tension wire 36 is pulled accordingly, the cable is bent, and the probe head 18 is moved to the arrow shown in FIG. Swings in the Y direction. Corresponding to the rotation direction of the angle knob 32, the direction in which the probe head 18 is bent is determined. Further, by operating the other angle knob 34, the probe head 18 swings in a direction perpendicular to the arrow Y in FIG.
[0011]
A stop switch 40 for immediately stopping the operation of the ultrasonic probe is provided on the surface of the operation device 22 shown in FIG. 3 on which the operation dial 30 is provided. The surface of the operating device 22 shown in FIG. 4 is provided with a scanning plane rotation switch 42 for controlling the rotation of the ultrasonic scanning plane and a biplane switch 44 for obtaining two orthogonal planar diagnostic images. . The scanning surface rotation switch 42 has a so-called seesaw switch configuration. When the right switch 42a shown in FIG. 4 is pressed, the motor 28 rotates in one direction, and when the left switch 42b is pressed, the motor 28 rotates in the opposite direction. Rotate to. Further, when both the left and right switches 42a and 42b are pressed shallowly, the motor 28 rotates slowly, and when pressed deeply, the motor 28 rotates earlier. The biplane switch 44 will be described in detail later. On the surface of the operation device 22 shown in FIG. 2, a reference surface registration switch 46 that performs an operation of storing an angular position of a predetermined scanning surface, and a pilot lamp that indicates that the ultrasonic probe is in operation. 48 is provided. The reference plane registration switch 46 will also be described in detail later.
[0012]
The connector 26 connected to the operating device 22 via a cable is provided with a control unit 50 that performs control processing of the operation of the probe head 18. The control unit 50 receives the control signals from the switches described above and the rotation angle information from the motor 28. Then, power is supplied to the motor 28 so that control based on these input signals is performed. The connector 26 is further provided with a memory 52 that stores predetermined control parameters. The memory 52 is connected to the control unit 50. In the diagnostic apparatus body 12, a transmission / reception signal processing unit 54 that performs signal processing related to transmission / reception of ultrasonic waves of the ultrasonic transducer array 16, tomographic image processing based on the received signal, and further via the host control unit 56 A display processing unit 58 that performs display processing in accordance with scanning plane angle information obtained in this manner, and a display unit 60 that displays the processed image are provided. The host control unit 56 is a control unit that controls the entire ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 10.
[0013]
Next, the operation by the biplane sketch 44 for obtaining two orthogonal plane ultrasonic tomographic images will be described. In addition, the control by the operation of the biplane switch 44 and the reference plane registration switch 42 will be described.
[0014]
In the case of diagnosis using ultrasound, there is a request to view an image of two orthogonal planes of a diagnosis target part. The scanning plane rotation switch 42 rotates the motor 28 at a predetermined speed to sweep the scanning plane. When the scanning plane is rotated 90 °, the operation of the scanning plane rotation switch 42 is stopped and the scanning plane orthogonal to the first scanning plane is rotated. It is also possible to obtain an image. However, in this case, there is a problem in operability such that it takes time to rotate the motor 28 by 90 °, and attention must be paid to adjusting the motor 28 to 90 °. In the case of the present embodiment, by operating the biplane switch 44, the motor 28 is quickly rotated by 90 ° so that an image on the orthogonal scanning plane can be quickly obtained.
[0015]
The operation in actual diagnosis is as described below, for example. An operator of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 inserts the probe head 18 into the body cavity of the subject. Further, the operation dial 30 and the scanning plane rotation switch 42 are operated to specify a site to be diagnosed while viewing the tomographic image. The tomographic image includes, for example, a head mark 62 that imitates the probe head 18 as shown in FIG. 5, and an angle display 64 that displays an angle value indicating the array arrangement direction of the ultrasonic transducer array 16 at that time. It is synthesized and displayed on the display unit 60. The head mark 62 includes an array mark 66 indicating the array arrangement direction of the ultrasonic transducer array 16 by a line segment, and further a top mark indicating the position of the first vibration element of the ultrasonic transducer array 16 by a bright spot. 68.
[0016]
When the operator presses the biplane switch 44 for the first time after powering on the ultrasonic probe, the control unit 50 controls the motor 28 to drive the ultrasonic transducer array 16 in the array arrangement direction initial position (0 °). Position). Then, the tomographic image at the 0 ° position is displayed on the display unit 60. Next, when the biplane switch 44 is pressed, the ultrasonic transducer array 16 is controlled to be at a 90 ° position, and a tomographic image at this position is displayed. The head mark 62 and the angle display 64 at this time are shown in FIG. Naturally, the scanning plane at this time is a plane orthogonal to the scanning plane when the ultrasonic transducer array 16 is at the 0 ° position. Further, when the biplane switch 44 is pressed, the ultrasonic transducer array 16 is further rotated by 90 °. That is, the position is 180 °. In the next pressing of the biplane switch 44, the 90 ° ultrasonic transducer array 16 rotates in the reverse direction to reach the 90 ° position. Thus, when the biplane switch 44 is first pressed after powering on the ultrasonic probe, the control unit 50 controls the ultrasonic scanning surface to the 0 ° position. With each subsequent pressing, the ultrasonic scanning plane changes by 90 ° before and after pressing, such as 0 °, 90 °, 180 °, 90 °, 0 °, 90 °,. Switching of the scanning plane by the biplane switch 44 is completed in about 0.3 seconds, for example. On the other hand, the scanning surface rotation switch 42 requires about 3 seconds to rotate 90 ° even at a high speed.
[0017]
Next, a diagnostic operation using the reference plane registration switch 46 will be described. By using this switch, two plane images of an arbitrary scanning plane and a scanning plane orthogonal to the scanning plane can be quickly switched and displayed.
[0018]
The procedure is described below. An operator of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 10 specifies a diagnosis target region and operates the scanning surface rotation switch 42 to search for a scanning surface from which a tomographic image considered to be most preferable in the diagnosis is obtained. When a preferable image is obtained, the operation of the scanning plane rotation switch 42 is stopped and the reference plane registration switch 46 is pressed. The angle of the scanning surface at this time is stored in the memory 52 as a reference position. Subsequently, when the biplane switch 44 is pressed, the scan plane is switched to a scan plane orthogonal to the scan plane at the angle stored in the memory 52.
[0019]
In the control using the reference position stored in the memory 52, the control of the motor 28 differs depending on the reference position. 7 and 8 show an example of motor control at this time. In the ultrasonic transducer array 16 and the motor 28 of the present embodiment, the rotatable angle is limited to a range from −10 ° to 190 °. For this reason, the motor control method differs depending on the reference position. If the reference position of the scan plane registered and stored in the memory 52 is −10 to 10 °, the scan plane is rotated to the + 90 ° position with respect to the reference position by the first pressing of the biplane switch 44. In the second press, it is rotated to a position of 180 ° with respect to the reference position. In the third pressing, since it will exceed the movable range if it rotates further in the same direction, it is rotated 90 ° in the reverse direction. That is, it is rotated to the same position as the first pressing. In the fourth press, it returns to the reference position. Next, when the reference position is 10 to 80 °, the movable range is exceeded in the second pressing, and therefore, the reference position is rotated 90 ° in the reverse direction. That is, it returns to the reference position. Even in the third pressing, if it is rotated in the same direction, the movable range is exceeded, so the rotation direction is reversed.
[0020]
The above operations are summarized as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows the position of the scanning plane according to the number of times the biplane switch 44 is pressed with respect to the angle range to which the reference position belongs. The angle described in the reference position column in the figure is an angle value indicating the direction of the ultrasonic transducer array 16.
[0021]
Even if the scanning surface rotation switch 42 is rotated, the reference position does not change unless the reference surface registration switch is pressed. In this case, when the biplane switch 44 is pressed, the scanning plane is rotated to the reference position registered in the memory 52. From there, the position of the scanning plane is changed according to the control shown in FIG.
[0022]
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the probe head 18. Unlike FIG. 1, the ultrasonic transducer array 16 is arranged downward in the drawing. The ultrasonic transducer array 16 is installed on a pedestal 70 that also serves as a rotor of the motor 28. Permanent magnets 74 are arranged in the circumferential direction on the surface of the pedestal 70 opposite to where the ultrasonic transducer array 16 is arranged, and the stator 72 of the motor 28 is arranged opposite to the permanent magnets 74. Yes. Electric power controlled by the control unit 50 (see FIG. 1) is supplied to the stator 72 to generate a rotating magnetic field, and the pedestal 70 (rotor) is rotated by the interaction between the magnetic field and the permanent magnet 74.
[0023]
An encoder 76 for detecting the rotation angle of the motor 28 is disposed on the outer periphery of the base 70. The encoder 76 includes an encoder permanent magnet 78 in which the outer peripheral surface N pole and S pole of the pedestal 70 are alternately arranged, and an MR element (magnetoresistive element) 80 provided so as to face the encoder permanent magnet 78. . The MR element 80 is an element whose resistance changes according to a change in magnetic field, and is fixed to the probe head 18. The MR element 80 can detect the change in resistance and calculate the rotation angle of the base 70. By employing the MR element, the probe head 18 that houses the motor 28 can be reduced in size. Since the ultrasonic transducer array 16 can be directly driven, the angle control is accurate and the response is good as compared with the case where the ultrasonic transducer array 16 is driven through a wire or the like. Further, by employing the MR element, the probe head 18 can be reduced in size, and the burden on the patient is reduced.
[0024]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the case where the motor is built in the probe head has been described. However, for example, the motor is arranged in the operation device and the ultrasonic transducer array 16 is rotated via the wire. As for the configuration, it is possible to employ control using a biplane switch or the like.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a scanning surface can be switched rapidly between orthogonal scanning surfaces, and the ultrasonic tomographic image of two orthogonal planes can be switched and displayed rapidly.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a side surface of the operating device according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a top surface of the operating device according to the present embodiment.
4 is a view showing a side surface of the operating device according to the present embodiment opposite to that of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an ultrasonic tomographic image.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a head mark when the ultrasonic transducer array is at a 90 ° position.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic transducer array by the operation of the biplane switch.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic transducer array by the operation of the biplane switch.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the probe head.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, 12 Diagnostic apparatus main body, 14 Ultrasonic probe, 16 Ultrasonic transducer array, 18 Probe head, 22 Operation apparatus, 28 Motor, 30 operation dial, 42 Scanning surface rotation switch, 44 Plane switch, 46 reference plane registration switch, 52 memory, 60 display unit.

Claims (2)

An operating device for controlling an ultrasonic probe that changes an ultrasonic scanning surface by a motor,
Ultrasonic scanning surface after the change, the biplane switch for performing an operation for instruction to the motor so as to perform the operation of switching to the plane perpendicular to the ultrasonic scanning surface before the change,
A reference plane registration switch for performing an operation of storing the current ultrasonic scanning plane in a memory as a reference plane;
Have
When the biplane switch is operated after the reference plane is stored, the reference plane is first selected as the ultrasonic scanning plane, and the ultrasonic scanning plane is orthogonal to each other after each switch operation. Can be switched,
Ultrasonic probe operating device. An ultrasonic probe that inserts a head including an ultrasonic transducer array and a motor that rotates the ultrasonic transducer array into a body cavity and controls the motor by operating an external operating device to change the ultrasonic scanning plane. There,
The operating device is a biplane switch that instructs the motor to perform an operation of switching the changed ultrasonic scanning plane to a plane orthogonal to the ultrasonic scanning plane before the change,
A reference plane registration switch for performing an operation of storing the current ultrasonic scanning plane in a memory as a reference plane;
Have
When the biplane switch is operated after the reference plane is stored, the reference plane is first selected as the ultrasonic scanning plane, and the ultrasonic scanning plane is orthogonal to each other after each switch operation. Can be switched,
Ultrasonic probe.

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