JPH08229034A - Ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an ultrasonic diagnostic device capable of forming ultrasonic beam shapes of multiple types without replacing an ultrasonic probe. CONSTITUTION: When a vibrator 2 is excited, ultrasonic beams are emitted via an acoustic lens 1. The ultrasonic beam from the vibrator 2 in the range A arranged at the prescribed curvature is propagated as if it is emitted from a point P, the ultrasonic beam from the vibrator 2 in the range B arranged at the curvature different from that of A is propagated as if it is emitted from a point Q, and the visual field range (shape) of two different sectors is obtained by the vibrator array in the ranges A, B.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which the shape of an ultrasonic beam is changed according to a diagnostic site.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the medical field, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is used for observing tissues and blood flow dynamics in a living body. This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is generally composed of an ultrasonic probe that transmits / receives waves to / from a living body, and a diagnostic apparatus main body that images a reflected echo signal obtained by the probe.

The ultrasonic probe is generally composed of a plurality of strip-shaped transducers, and electronic scanning is performed by controlling the drive timing of each of these transducers.
Linear type, sector type, convex type and the like are known as this scanning method.

A linear probe is a linear probe in which a plurality of transducers are linearly arranged to transmit and receive a large number of ultrasonic beams linearly. A sector probe is an electric transducer arranged in a linear array. The ultrasonic wave is transmitted and received by deflecting the ultrasonic beam in a sector shape, and the convex type probe has multiple transducers arranged in an arc shape to transmit and receive the ultrasonic beam radially. Is. Therefore, in the convex type, the radiation angle differs depending on the curvature of the convex surface on which the transducers are arranged, and the visual field shape also differs.

When irradiating a target site / organ with an ultrasonic beam for diagnosis, it is necessary to change the scanning method of the ultrasonic beam depending on the target diagnostic site.
A linear type probe, a sector type probe, a convex type probe, etc. are used according to each case.

[0006]

However, conventionally, every time the target diagnostic region is changed, an ultrasonic probe suitable for this diagnosis must be selected and exchanged and connected to the main body of the apparatus, which is complicated and time-consuming. I needed it.

The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and ultrasonic waves capable of forming a plurality of types of ultrasonic beam shapes without exchanging ultrasonic probes and enabling quick diagnosis. A diagnostic device is provided.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention is provided with an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving transducer array or curvatures arranged continuously to form a plurality of curvatures. It is characterized in that it is provided with an ultrasonic probe composed of an ultrasonic wave transmitting and receiving transducer array which is continuously arranged so as to include a linear shape as a part of the configuration shape.

[0009]

The transducers for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves are continuously arranged so as to have a plurality of curvatures or have a linear shape in a part thereof. Therefore, transducer arrays having different curvatures are The ultrasonic beam is emitted radially, and it has the same role as having multiple convex type probes with different field shapes, and the transducers arranged in a linear shape have the same role as linear or sector type probes. Therefore, if this is properly used according to the purpose, diagnosis can be performed with one ultrasonic probe without replacing it with another probe.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A is a schematic view of a probe portion of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view thereof.

1 is an acoustic lens made of silicone rubber or the like,
2 is a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic beams, 3 is a backing material for absorbing ultrasonic waves emitted backward, 4 is a base,
Reference numeral 5 is a case, and 6 is a cable.

The acoustic lens 1, the vibrator 2, the backing material 3, and the base 4 are housed in a case 5, and a lead wire or the like (not shown) from a cable 6 is connected to each vibrator 2. . The vibrators 2 are arranged in strips on the backing material 3 formed on the base 4 to form a vibrator array,
The acoustic lens 1 is provided on the front surface of the arrayed vibrators 2 along the arrayed shape of the vibrators.

This acoustic lens 1 includes a matching layer for impedance matching, and has a convex shape in the X direction in the figure so that the ultrasonic beam can be focused in the thickness direction of the probe.

By the way, although the respective vibrators are continuously arranged from end to end, in a range A shown by an arrow in the figure, the vibrators 2 are arranged in an arc shape with a predetermined curvature R1, and in a range B. In, the vibrators are arranged in an arc shape with different curvatures R2.

Therefore, when the ultrasonic beam is emitted, the ultrasonic beam from the transducer in the range A propagates as if it was emitted from the point P, and the ultrasonic beam from the transducer in the range B is emitted. Propagation proceeds as radiated from the point Q, two different fan-shaped visual field ranges (shapes) are formed by the transducer arrays in the ranges A and B, and two different convex type visual field shapes are obtained at the same time. It will be.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which a linear type and a convex type are combined. 2A is an overall view of the ultrasonic probe portion, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view of FIG.

Reference numeral 11 is an acoustic lens made of silicon rubber or the like, 12 is a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic beams, 13 is a backing material for absorbing the ultrasonic waves radiated backward, 1
Reference numeral 4 is a base, 15 is a case, and 16 is a cable. These connections are almost the same as in FIG.

The difference from FIG. 1 is that the vibrators in the range C shown by the arrows are linearly arranged, and the vibrators in the range D are arranged in an arc shape with a predetermined curvature R3.

Therefore, in the range C, the ultrasonic beam is radiated in the direction perpendicular to the array direction of the transducers, and a linear type visual field shape is obtained.

On the other hand, in the range of D, the ultrasonic beam propagates as if it was emitted from the point of S, and a fan-shaped visual field shape is obtained.

Therefore, a necessary ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface (acoustic lens surface) in the range A, B in FIG. 1 or C, D in FIG. 2 can be brought into close contact with the body surface for diagnosis.

By the way, a delay time for deflecting the beam may be given to a part of the vibrators linearly arranged in the range of C so that the beams are emitted in a sector shape.

In the above-described embodiment, the oscillator array has two different curvatures, and the linear array and 1
The case of combining with an array with two curvatures has been described, but this can be combined more variously so as to have a large number of curvatures, or an appropriate part of it can be arranged into a linear array, and a composite ultrasonic wave can be used. You may make it form a probe.

Next, an example of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus equipped with such an ultrasonic probe is shown in FIG. An array range of a plurality of transducers having different curvatures, a range in which they are linearly arrayed, and the like are grouped into T ₁ , T ₂ , ..., T _n .

Reference numeral 21 denotes these T ₁ , T ₂ , ..., T _n.
Of the transducer groups, M _{1 to} M _n are provided corresponding to each transducer group element of T _{1 to} T _n , and the element selection control circuit 2 is provided.
A multiplexer that selects an element to be driven in each transducer group based on the signal from 2, and 23 transmits a drive pulse with a delay time to the transducer or sends an echo signal returned to the transducer. It is a switch circuit for transmission / reception switching that switches between receiving and receiving.

At the time of diagnosis, first, the transducer range changeover switch is set to a desired transducer group by a key input from the operation unit 31.

Next, a drive pulse is sent from the transmission circuit 26 to the delay circuit 24 in response to a control signal from the control unit 30.
A delay circuit 24 gives a predetermined delay amount for beam focusing, deflection, etc., and sends the beam to the transmission / reception switching switch circuit 23. In the transmission / reception changeover switch circuit 23, the switch is changed over so as to output a drive pulse, and this signal is supplied to the next transducer group changeover switch 21.
It is sent to a predetermined transducer group selected by the changeover switch 21. Then, the multiplexers M _{1 to} M _n select which element in this oscillator group the drive signal is applied to.

When a drive signal is applied, an ultrasonic wave is emitted from the element and propagates into the living body. The echo signal reflected and returned in the living body is received by the element of the vibrator, converted into an electric signal, and sent to the delay circuit 25 via a path reverse to that of the vibrator group changeover switch 21 and the multiplexers M _{1 to} M _n. And a predetermined delay amount is given.

This echo signal is sent to the receiving circuit 27, where the echo signals are added and A / D converted to be a digital signal and sent to the image display control circuit 28. The image data stored in the memory or the like of the image display control circuit 28 is read by a TV sync signal,
An image is displayed on the monitor 29, and an image corresponding to the visual field shape of each transducer group is obtained.

Further, without selecting a specific transducer group,
It is also possible to excite all the transducer groups T _{1 to} T _n so that all the images are displayed in a composite manner.

[0032]

As described above, according to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, various combination shapes of the field of view such as convex type, linear type, sector type, etc. are realized by the array shape of the ultrasonic transducers. Therefore, it is possible to perform quick diagnosis because it is not necessary to frequently exchange different types of ultrasonic probes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a probe unit of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a probe unit of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic transducer array for ultrasonic transmission / reception continuously arranged so as to form a plurality of curvatures, or ultrasonic transmission / reception continuously arranged so as to include a linear shape as a part of a curvature forming shape. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising an ultrasonic probe including a transducer array.