JPH0685779B2 - Ultrasonic endoscope scanning device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ultrasonic endoscope which is inserted into a body to perform diagnosis by an ultrasonic tomographic image, and in particular, mechanically scans ultrasonic waves. The present invention relates to improvement of a scanning device for an ultrasonic endoscope.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as an apparatus of this type, for example, as shown in FIG.
By arranging various optical system members b inside the tip a of the insertion portion, incorporating an ultrasonic vibrator c, and rotating ultrasonic waves emitted from the vibrator c, a scanning member, for example, a vibrator holder d. It is known to mechanically scan. (Kaikai No. 57-76605 publication).

This type of device needs to detect the rotation angle of the scanning member d and the reference direction that serves as a reference for the rotation angle in order to know the scanning direction of the ultrasonic waves. Conventionally, however, the rotation angle information and the reference direction information have been detected. In this case, the rotation angle and the reference direction are detected by the display member e which is recorded with and is rotated together with the scanning member d, and the one detector f which reads the information and outputs the above two information signals.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the above-described conventional ultrasonic endoscope scanning device outputs two information signals from one detector, two signals are output when the signals are processed. Must be separated, which complicates the signal processing circuit, and has been a cause of increasing the cost of this kind of device produced in small quantities in various types.

However, if a rotation angle detector and a reference direction detector are separately provided inside the tip of the insertion part, the tip of the insertion part becomes large, which is a serious drawback for an ultrasonic endoscope that is inserted into the body and requires miniaturization. Therefore, as described above, in the related art, the signal processing circuit is made complicated by not increasing the tip of the insertion portion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a scanning device for an ultrasonic endoscope which is compactly housed in the distal end of an insertion portion and can perform signal processing by a simple circuit. With the goal.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the ultrasonic endoscope scanning device of the present invention is provided with an ultrasonic transducer inside the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion. In a scanning device of an ultrasonic endoscope in which transmitted ultrasonic waves are rotationally scanned by a rotationally driven scanning member, rotation angle information and reference direction information serving as a reference of the rotation angle are respectively reflected by the light reflecting portion. And a display body that is digitally recorded by the light absorbing unit and rotates together with the scanning member, an irradiation optical fiber for irradiating light toward the display body, and a reflected light from the display body. An optical fiber for receiving the rotation angle information and an optical fiber for receiving the reference direction information for detecting the rotational angle information and the reference direction information, and an optical fiber for illumination among the above optical fibers are fixedly inserted in the central jurisdiction. One support pipe rotatably installed around the jurisdiction by fixing both optical fibers for receiving light around it and fixing the support pipe to the tip of the endoscope insertion part at an arbitrary rotation position. A fixing means is provided.

[Operation] When the scanning member is rotationally driven, the display body on which the rotation angle information and the reference direction information are recorded is rotated, and the information is detected via the optical fiber.

Moreover, since the optical fiber for illumination and the optical fibers for receiving both the rotation angle and for detecting the reference direction are inserted and fixed in a single pipe, the insertion part is similar to the case of a conventional single detector. Can be compactly stored inside the tip of.

Then, when the pipe is rotated around the jurisdiction, the positions of both the light receiving optical fibers for detecting the rotation angle and the reference direction are changed, and each optical fiber is fixed to the tip of the endoscope insertion portion by the fixing means at the optimum position. be able to.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 2 shows the distal end 1 of the insertion portion of the ultrasonic endoscope according to the present invention, and the distal end 1 of the insertion portion is connected to the distal end of a flexible tube 2 which is connected to a known operating portion (not shown). .

In the figure, 3 is a tip body, and a tip cap 4 made of synthetic resin or the like having high ultrasonic wave propagation efficiency is liquid-tightly attached to the tip body 3, and a vibrator is provided in the tip cap 4. A storage chamber 5 is formed, and a liquid having high ultrasonic wave propagation efficiency is filled therein.

A vibrator holder 6 is rotatably supported as a scanning member on the tip end main body 3, and one end of a flexible shaft 7 made of, for example, a coil wound in close contact is connected to the vibrator holder 6 and The other end of the shaft 7 passes through the inside of the flexible tube 2 and is connected to the output shaft of the motor 8 at the operating portion.

An ultrasonic oscillator 9 is attached to the oscillator holder 6, and the ultrasonic oscillator 9 is provided so as to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves in the radial direction of the tip cap 4.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a signal cable for transmitting an ultrasonic wave drive signal to the ultrasonic transducer 9 and transmitting a received echo wave. The signal cable 10 is inserted into the flexible shaft 7 and guided to the operating portion. And is connected to an ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit (not shown).

Reference numeral 11 denotes a display body in which rotation angle information and reference direction information serving as a reference of the rotation angle are recorded and integrally attached to the end surface of the vibrator holder 6, and the display body 11 is, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown, as the rotation angle information recording unit 12, a light-reflecting portion 12a having a mirror surface or a white color and a non-reflection portion 12b having a black color are alternately formed radially along the rotation direction,
A non-reflective portion 13b is formed as a reference direction information recording portion 13 in the vicinity of the outer side of the light reflecting portion 13a at one place of the surface. The reference direction information recording unit 13 is a rotation angle information recording unit 12
It may be provided close to the inside. Further, the non-reflecting portion may be the light transmitting portion, and in this case, it can be formed by a method such as vapor deposition of metal on a glass plate or the like.

15, 16 and 17 are optical fibers as rotation angle detecting means and reference direction detecting means for reading the rotation angle information and reference direction information, and 14 are the optical fibers 15, 16 and 17 provided facing the display body 11. Shows a support pipe whose end is inserted and fixed, and this support pipe 14 is rotatably provided around its jurisdiction, and an optical fiber 15 for illumination is provided at the center of the jurisdiction and a rotation angle information recording unit 12 and a reference direction information recording unit. It is arranged so as to face the boundary with the portion 13, and the light-receiving optical fibers 16 and 17 are arranged around the illumination optical fiber 15 at a predetermined angle (for example, 135 degrees) from each other,
The light receiving optical fiber 16 faces the rotation angle information recording section 12 as a rotation angle detecting means, and the other light receiving optical fiber 17 faces the reference direction information recording section 13 as a reference direction detecting means. FIG. 3 shows these positional relationships.

18 is a fixing screw for fixing the support pipe 14,
When the support pipe 14 is assembled to the tip portion main body 3, the support pipe 14 is rotated so that the light receiving optical fibers 16 and 17 are moved relative to the rotation angle information recording unit 12 and the reference direction information recording unit 13 on the display body 11. After adjusting so as to have the optimum positional relationship, the fixing screw 18 is tightened and fixed. In this way, in the center of the jurisdiction of the rotatable support pipe 14, an optical fiber for illumination is used.
By disposing 15 and arranging the light receiving optical fibers 16 and 17 for detecting the rotation angle and detecting the reference direction at a predetermined angle around the optical fiber 15 for illumination, the display 1
The positional relationship with respect to 1 can be easily adjusted and assembled.

The other end of each of the optical fibers 15, 16 and 17 is connected to the flexible tube 2
The light emitting element 19 is provided facing the end face of the illumination optical fiber 15, and the light receiving elements 20 and 21 face the end faces of the light receiving optical fibers 16 and 17, respectively. The light emitting element 19 and the light receiving elements 20, 21
Is connected to the signal control circuit 22.

Further, on the side surface of the tip end main body 3, there are a publicly known observation window 23 and an illumination window.
24 and the like are provided, and by combining with other known means such as an image guide fiber, the side of the tip end main body 3 can be observed from the operating portion side.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

The tip 1 of the insertion portion is inserted into the body, and the side surface of the tip cap 4 is brought into close contact with the body wall of the target site. Then, the motor 8 is driven to rotate the transducer holder 6 via the flexible shaft 7 to rotate the ultrasonic transducer 9, and at the same time, to drive an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving circuit (not shown) to drive the ultrasonic transducer 9 It emits sound waves and receives the echo waves.

In parallel with this, the light emitting element 19 is turned on. This light passes through the illumination optical fiber 15 and illuminates the rotation angle information recording unit 12 and the reference direction information recording unit 13 of the display body 11. When the light reflecting portion 12a of the rotation angle information recording unit 12 is irradiated, the reflected light is incident on the light receiving optical fiber 16 for detecting the rotation angle and is received by the light receiving element 20, and the light reflection of the reference direction information recording unit 13 is performed. When the portion 13a is illuminated, the reflected light enters the light receiving optical fiber 17 for detecting the reference direction and is received by the light receiving element 21. Further, when the display body 11 rotates and the non-reflecting portions 12b and 13b are irradiated, light is absorbed and is not received by the light receiving elements 20 and 21.

The signal control circuit 22 processes the on / off signals from the light receiving elements 20 and 21, and detects the rotation angle of the vibrator holder 6 from the output signal of the light receiving optical fiber 16 for detecting the rotation angle. The reference direction of the vibrator holder 6 is detected from the output signal of the light receiving optical fiber 17.
Reproduction scanning is performed by synchronizing the signal processing of the rotation angle information signal, the reference direction information signal, and the echo wave signal, and an ultrasonic tomographic image is displayed on a monitor (not shown).

In the above embodiment, the scanning member is the vibrator holder 6 to which the ultrasonic vibrator 9 is attached, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the scanning member is provided so as to face the ultrasonic vibrator. It may be an ultrasonic reflector or the like that is rotated by a motor. Further, the display body 11 is not limited to being directly attached to the scanning member, as long as the display body 11 is provided so as to rotate together with the scanning member.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the ultrasonic endoscope scanning device of the present invention, both the light receiving optical fibers for detecting the rotation angle and the reference direction detecting light independently detect the rotation angle detection information and the reference direction detection information. The digital signal is detected digitally, and its signal processing circuit is extremely simple, making it suitable for a wide variety of small-volume production. In addition, it is an optical fiber for illumination and an optical fiber for receiving light for both rotation angle detection and reference direction detection. Since one support pipe with and can be rotated around the jurisdiction and fixed to the tip of the endoscope insertion part at the optimum position, assembly and adjustment are very easy, and the insertion part tip is compact. Therefore, it has an excellent effect of not giving unnecessary pain to the patient.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of an embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a tip of an insertion portion of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a display body and an illumination of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing the positional relationship with the light receiving optical fiber, and FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a conventional scanning device for an ultrasonic endoscope. 1 ... Tip of insertion part, 3 ... Body of tip part 6 ... Transducer holder, 7 ... Flexible shaft 8 ... Motor, 9 ... Ultrasonic transducer 10 ... Signal cable, 11 ... Display 12 ...... Rotation angle information recording part 13 …… Reference direction information recording part 12a, 13a …… Light reflecting part 12b, 13b …… Non-reflective part 14 …… Support pipe, 15 …… Illumination optical fiber 16, 17 …… For receiving light Optical fiber 19 …… Light emitting element, 20,21 …… Light receiving element

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic endoscope in which an ultrasonic transducer is provided inside a distal end of an endoscope insertion portion, and ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transducer are rotationally scanned by a scanning member which is rotationally driven. In the scanning device, the rotation angle information and the reference direction information serving as a reference of the rotation angle are digitally recorded by the light reflecting portion and the light absorbing portion, respectively, and the display member rotates together with the scanning member. An optical fiber for illumination for irradiating light toward the optical fiber, and an optical fiber for receiving the rotation angle information and the reference direction information for detecting the rotation angle information and the reference direction information by receiving the reflected light from the display body. The optical fiber for illumination and the optical fiber for illumination among the above optical fibers are inserted and fixed in the center of the tube axis, and both optical fibers for receiving light are also inserted and fixed around the tube optical axis so that they can be rotated around the tube axis. And a fixing means for fixing the supporting pipe to the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion at an arbitrary rotation position.