JP2624491B2 - Ultrasound endoscope - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides an ultrasonic transducer at an insertion end of an endoscope, and uses an ultrasonic wave to rotationally scan a site to be observed in a direction orthogonal to an insertion direction. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic endoscope.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional ultrasonic endoscope, for example, JP-A-57-75625
And JP-A-61-64240. In the former, an ultrasonic transducer and an optical unit having an observation optical system and an illumination optical system are fixedly arranged so as to face each other, and a double-sided reflector is rotatably provided by being inclined by 45 ° therebetween. Ultrasonic scanning is performed by projecting ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic vibrator toward the double-sided reflector while rotating the double-sided reflector, and sector-scanning the observed portion, and intermittently projecting illumination light in the optical unit. An optical image of a part is observed.

In the latter case, the ultrasonic transducer is rotatably provided, and the optical unit is fixedly disposed so that an optical image of a part of the region to be observed by the ultrasonic transducer is observed by the optical unit. ing.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the former ultrasonic endoscope described in JP-A-57-75625, a clear image cannot be obtained because observation of an optical image by an optical unit observation optical system is intermittent. In addition, since the illumination light is intermittently projected, a light source having a large amount of light is required, and there is a problem that the entire apparatus becomes large and expensive.

Further, in the latter ultrasonic endoscope described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-64240, only a part of the observed image by the ultrasonic transducer can be observed, and the other part of the optical endoscope can be observed. In order to observe the image, the insertion section must be twisted, which complicates the operation.If the insertion section is twisted in this way, the scanning position of the ultrasonic vibrator shifts and the readjustment becomes necessary. is there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and uses an optical image of an arbitrary portion of a region to be observed by ultrasonic waves without twisting an insertion portion and using a light source having a large light amount. It is another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic endoscope appropriately configured so as to enable simple and clear observation.

[Means and actions for solving the problems]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, an ultrasonic transducer is provided at an insertion distal end of an endoscope including an optical unit having an observation optical system and an illumination optical system, and an ultrasonic wave is used to move an object to be observed in an insertion direction. In an ultrasonic endoscope configured to perform rotational scanning in a direction orthogonal to the optical unit, the optical unit is configured to be rotatable independently of rotational scanning of ultrasonic waves at the insertion distal end portion, and the optical unit is configured to generate ultrasonic waves by ultrasonic waves. An optical image of an arbitrary part of a part to be observed can be observed.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an observation section 3 is provided on a rigid insertion end portion 2 of an endoscope 1 so as to be rotatable about an insertion axis.
An ultrasonic vibrator unit 4 is provided at the tip of the unit so as to be rotatable about the insertion axis with respect to the observation unit 3. A protruding portion 2a is provided at the distal end portion of the rigid portion 2 so as to extend in the insertion axis direction, and the observation portion 3 is rotatably held on the protruding portion 2a about the insertion axis.
The observation section 3 is rotated by a first ultrasonic motor 6 having a stator 6a and a rotor 6b provided to face the rigid section 2 and the observation section main body 5.

A base 7 is provided on the protruding portion 2a of the rigid portion 2, and the entrance 7 of the image guide 8 constituting the observation optical system is held between the opening 7 and the lenses 9a, 9b. The emission end portions of the first light guide 10 constituting the illumination optical system are arranged and provided. The observation unit main body 5 is provided with an observation window 11 and a prism 12 constituting an observation optical system, and an optical image of a part to be observed is incident on the image guide 8 through the observation window 11, the prism 12, and the lenses 9a and 9b. An image is formed on the end face 8a, and the emission window 13 and the emission end of the second light guide 14, which constitute an illumination optical system, are held. The entrance end of the second ride guide 14 is arranged around the base 7 such that their end faces slide against the exit end face of the first ride guide 10, whereby the first ride guide 14 The illumination light from the second ride guide 14 and the illumination window
Irradiate the site to be observed after 13.

The distal end of the observation section main body 5 is provided with a projection 5a extending in the insertion axis direction at the center thereof. The projection 5a holds the ultrasonic vibrator section 4 rotatably about the insertion axis. The ultrasonic vibrator section 4 is rotated by a second ultrasonic motor 16 having a stator 16a and a rotor 16b provided to face the observation section main body 5 and the ultrasonic vibrator main body 15.

The protruding portion 5a of the observation section main body 5 is provided on the ultrasonic vibrator section main body 15.
A damper member 17 is provided in connection with the rotor 16b of the second ultrasonic motor 16 so as to slide and rotate on the upper side, and an ultrasonic wave is projected on the damper member 17 in a direction orthogonal to the insertion axis. The ultrasonic vibrator 18 is attached.

The first ultrasonic motor 6 has a position detection sensor for detecting the observation position of the optical image by the observation unit 3, and the second ultrasonic motor 16 has a position in the ultrasonic projection direction of the ultrasonic vibrator 18. Are respectively provided.

The leads 1000a and 21b of the ultrasonic vibrator 18 are
To the transmitter 26 via the slip rings 22a and 22b provided on the peripheral surface of the protrusion 5a, the connection lines 22a and 23b, the slip rings 24a and 24b provided on the end face of the protrusion 2a of the rigid portion 2 and the coaxial cable 25. Connected, thereby driving the ultrasonic vibrator 18 to project an ultrasonic wave to a site to be observed, and supplying an echo signal received by the ultrasonic vibrator 18 to a signal processing circuit via an amplifier 27. And display it on a display device.

Further, an oscillator 28 is provided for driving the first ultrasonic motor 6 and the second ultrasonic motor 16, and the output of the oscillator 28 is supplied to position detection control devices 29a and 29b. The output of the position detection control device 29a is supplied to one electrode group of the first ultrasonic motor 6 via the amplifier 30a and to the other electrode group via the variable phase shifter 31a and the amplifier 30b. The first ultrasonic motor 6 is driven. The output of the phase shift detection electrode of the first ultrasonic motor 6 is supplied to a phase comparator 32a, and the phase comparator 32a detects a phase difference from a signal applied to one of the electrode groups. Based on the output, the phase of the signal applied to the other electrode group is controlled by the variable phase shifter 31a to adjust the speed, and the output of the position detection sensor is supplied to the position detection control device 29a to observe the optical image. Try to control the position.

Each signal line of the second ultrasonic motor 16 is connected to slip rings 33a to 33d provided on the peripheral surface of the protruding portion of the rigid portion 2, so that a required signal is supplied through these slip rings 33a to 33d. . That is, the output of the position detection controller 29b is supplied to one electrode group via the amplifier 34a and the slip ring 33b, and is supplied to the other electrode group via the variable phase shifter 31b, the amplifier 34b, and the slip ring 33c. To drive the second ultrasonic motor 16. Also, the second
The output of the phase detection electrode of the ultrasonic motor 16 is supplied to a phase comparator 32b through a slip ring 33d, and the phase comparator
At 32b, the phase difference with the signal applied to one electrode group is detected, and based on the output, the phase of the signal applied to the other electrode group is controlled by the variable phase shifter 31b to adjust the speed. At the same time, the output of the position detection sensor is supplied to the position detection control device 29b via the slip ring 33a to control the ultrasonic wave projection position.

According to the above configuration, by rotating the ultrasonic vibrator unit 4 by the second ultrasonic motor 16, a 360 ° tomographic image of the observed part can be obtained, and the observation unit 3 can be obtained from the ultrasonic tomographic image. When the lesion is found at a site different from the optical image observation position by the first ultrasonic motor 6, the observation unit 3 is not distorted by the first ultrasonic motor 6 without twisting the insertion unit, and without displacing the observation site by the ultrasonic wave. By rotating, the optical image observation position can be positioned at the lesion. Therefore, it is possible to observe an optical image of an arbitrary part of the observed part by the ultrasonic wave with a simple operation, and the illumination light is supplied to the first and second ride guides 1.
Since the light can be constantly radiated through the illumination window 13 and the illumination window 13, a desired portion can be optically and clearly observed with a light source having a small light amount. Further, since the rotation is performed using the ultrasonic motors 6 and 16, the diameter of the insertion portion is not increased.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the observation unit 3 is rotatably provided with respect to the insertion tip rigid portion 2 by the first ultrasonic motor 6, and the ultrasonic vibrator unit 4 is disposed between the hard unit 2 and the observation unit 3. The second ultrasonic motor 16 is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the rigid part 2 and the observation part 3. For this reason, the stator 16a constituting the second ultrasonic motor 16 is
Attached to the end face of the ultrasonic transducer body
Attach rotor 16b to 15. Further, a base 7 is attached to the observation unit main body 5 to hold lenses 9a to 9e, and an optical image incident through the observation window 11 and the prism 12 through the lenses 9a to 9e is held in the rigid portion 2. An image is formed on the incident end face 8a of the image guide 8 thus formed. Other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the rotation of the ultrasonic vibrator unit 4 by the second ultrasonic motor 16 causes the lesion from the ultrasonic tomographic image to a site different from the optical image observation position by the observation unit 3. When a part is found, the observation part 3 is rotated by the first ultrasonic motor 6 so that the optical image observation position can be located at the affected part. Similar effects can be obtained.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications or changes can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the ultrasonic transducer and the distal end of the optical unit having the observation optical system and the illumination optical system are each rotated by an ultrasonic motor, but are rotated by a normal electric motor. You can also. Further, the ultrasonic vibrator is fixed, and the ultrasonic wave projected from the ultrasonic vibrator is reflected by a reflecting plate rotated by an ultrasonic motor or an electric motor so as to rotate and scan the observed region. Can also. Similarly, the observation unit may be configured to observe an optical image of an arbitrary part of the observed part by rotational scanning of the ultrasonic wave by the rotary reflector. Further, instead of using an image guide, a fixed image sensor can be used.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the optical unit having the observation optical system and the illumination optical system can be rotated at the insertion end thereof independently of the rotational scanning of the ultrasonic wave. In addition to being able to observe an optical image of an arbitrary part of the observed part by ultrasonic waves and irradiating illumination light at all times, a light source with a small light amount is used, thus making the entire apparatus large and expensive. Thus, a desired portion can be optically and clearly observed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

 FIG. 1 is a view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view showing the same second embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope, 2 ... Hard insertion tip part 3 ... Observation part, 4 ... Ultrasonic vibrator part 6 ... 1st ultrasonic motor, 8 ... Image guide 9a-9e ... Lens, 10 First ride guide 11 Observation window 12 Prism 13 Illumination window 14 Second ride guide 16 Second ultrasonic motor 18 Ultrasonic transducer

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Tsukaya 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside the Olympus Optical Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsuguhisa Sasai 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside the Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroki Hibino 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside the Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaaki Hayashi 2-43-2, Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hideo Adachi 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-60-169760 (JP, A) 57-168649 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An endoscope having an optical unit having an observation optical system and an illumination optical system is provided with an ultrasonic vibrator at an insertion end portion thereof, and an ultrasonic wave is used to rotate a portion to be observed in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction. In an ultrasonic endoscope that is made to scan,
The optical unit is configured to be rotatable independently of the rotational scanning of the ultrasonic wave at the insertion distal end, so that the optical unit can observe an optical image of an arbitrary portion of the observed part by the ultrasonic wave. An ultrasonic endoscope, comprising: