WO2006041050A1 - 超音波探触子及び超音波撮像装置 - Google Patents
超音波探触子及び超音波撮像装置 Download PDFInfo
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- WO2006041050A1 WO2006041050A1 PCT/JP2005/018677 JP2005018677W WO2006041050A1 WO 2006041050 A1 WO2006041050 A1 WO 2006041050A1 JP 2005018677 W JP2005018677 W JP 2005018677W WO 2006041050 A1 WO2006041050 A1 WO 2006041050A1
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- ultrasonic
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- frame data
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- elastic
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- A61B8/08—Detecting organic movements or changes, e.g. tumours, cysts, swellings
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
- A61B5/68—Arrangements of detecting, measuring or recording means, e.g. sensors, in relation to patient
- A61B5/6801—Arrangements of detecting, measuring or recording means, e.g. sensors, in relation to patient specially adapted to be attached to or worn on the body surface
- A61B5/6843—Monitoring or controlling sensor contact pressure
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- A61B8/12—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- A61B8/48—Diagnostic techniques
- A61B8/485—Diagnostic techniques involving measuring strain or elastic properties
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an ultrasonic imaging apparatus that obtains a tomographic image of an imaging target site in a subject using ultrasonic waves, and in particular, a set of ultrasonic reception signal frame data that are arranged in time series.
- the present invention relates to an ultrasonic imaging apparatus capable of calculating the strain and elastic modulus of each point on an image and displaying them as an elastic image quantitatively indicating the hardness or softness of a living tissue.
- a conventional general ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes an ultrasonic transmission / reception control unit that controls ultrasonic transmission / reception, an ultrasonic transmission / reception unit that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to a subject, and an ultrasonic transmission / reception unit.
- a tomographic scanning means that repeatedly obtains tomographic image data in a subject including a moving tissue using a reflected echo signal at a predetermined cycle, and an image display means for displaying time series tomographic image data obtained by the tomographic scanning means; It was configured with.
- the structure of the living tissue inside the subject was displayed as, for example, a B-mode image.
- the calculation of elastic frame data employs a method in which a single elastic frame data is composed of a set of ultrasonic reception signal frame data acquired at regular time intervals.
- the image quality of each of the plurality of elastic image data (especially strain image data) acquired in the process is super It depends on the compression speed at the time when the sound wave reception signal frame data is acquired.
- the amount of pressurization or decompression suitable for rendering high-quality elastic image data is within a range in which a strain of about 0.5% to 1% occurs in the tissue of interest.
- Patent Document 1 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-317313
- Patent Document 2 JP 2000-60853 A
- the present invention has been made in view of the above-described points.
- an ultrasonic probe capable of stably displaying a high-quality elastic image in an arbitrary time phase.
- An object is to provide a child and an ultrasonic imaging apparatus.
- a first feature of the present invention is an ultrasonic probe for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that acquires an elastic image by pressing an object, and is perpendicular to the pressing direction with respect to the ultrasonic probe.
- a compression member having a contact surface with the subject provided in the device, and a compression unit that compresses the imaging target region of the subject with a predetermined pressure by moving the contact surface in the pressing direction. It is an ultrasonic probe provided.
- a second feature of the present invention is an intracorporeal ultrasound probe that is inserted into a subject, and is provided with a subject provided parallel to the insertion direction of the probe.
- a compression member with a contact surface and the contact surface An intracorporeal ultrasonic probe comprising: a pressing unit that compresses the imaging target portion of the subject with a predetermined pressure in a direction perpendicular to the contact surface.
- the second in-body type ultrasonic probe is provided with a compression means.
- the ultrasound probe with the first feature performs compression in the moving direction, while the intracorporeal ultrasound probe with the second feature performs compression in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction.
- a third feature of the present invention is that ultrasonic transmission / reception means for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a subject using the ultrasonic probe, and transmission and reception of the ultrasonic waves are controlled.
- Ultrasonic transmission / reception control means for controlling tomographic scanning means for repeatedly acquiring ultrasonic reception signal frame data in a subject including a moving tissue at a predetermined cycle using a reflected echo signal output from the ultrasonic transmission / reception means,
- Signal processing means for performing signal processing of a plurality of time-series ultrasonic reception signal frame data acquired by the tomographic scanning means, and converting time-series tomographic frame data from the signal processing means into monochrome tomographic image data From the plurality of time-series ultrasonic reception signal frame data groups acquired by the black-and-white luminance information conversion means and the tomographic scanning means, the ultrasonic reception signal frame data to be subjected to displacement measurement.
- Received signal frame data selecting means for selecting a set of the received signals, and the amount of movement of each point on the tomographic image based on the set of ultrasonic received signal frame data selected by the ultrasonic received signal frame data selecting means Alternatively, it is measured by a displacement measuring means for measuring displacement, a pressure measuring means for measuring or estimating a body cavity pressure of an imaging target region of the subject, and the displacement measured by the displacement measuring means and the pressure measuring means. Based on the pressure in the body cavity! The strain and elastic modulus of each point on the tomographic image are calculated. A strain and elastic modulus calculation means for calculating and generating first elastic frame data; and signal processing the first elastic frame data generated by the strain and elastic modulus calculation means to obtain second elastic frame data.
- Generated elasticity data processing means and hue information conversion means or monochrome brightness information conversion means for inputting hue information or monochrome luminance information by inputting the second elasticity frame data generated by the elasticity data processing means;
- Switching addition means for adding or independently sending monochrome tomographic image data from the monochrome brightness information converting means and color elastic image data from the hue information converting means or monochrome elastic image data from the monochrome brightness information converting means
- the image display means for displaying the image data from the switching addition means.
- the present invention relates to an ultrasonic imaging apparatus capable of stably displaying a high-quality elastic image even at an arbitrary time phase using the ultrasonic probe.
- the fourth feature of the present invention is that ultrasonic transmission / reception means for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a subject using the intracorporeal ultrasonic probe, and transmission and reception of the ultrasonic waves are controlled.
- Ultrasonic transmission / reception control means, and tomographic scanning means for repeatedly acquiring ultrasonic reception signal frame data in a subject including a moving yarn and fabric at a predetermined cycle using a reflected echo signal output from the ultrasonic transmission / reception means
- a signal processing unit that performs signal processing of a plurality of time-series ultrasonic reception signal frame data acquired by the tomographic scanning unit, and converts the time-series tomographic frame data from the signal processing unit into monochrome tomographic image data
- the monochrome luminance information conversion means for performing the measurement and the ultrasonic reception signal frame to be subjected to displacement measurement from a plurality of time series ultrasonic reception signal frame data groups acquired by the tomographic scanning means.
- a displacement measuring means for measuring an amount or a displacement; a pressure measuring means for measuring or estimating a body cavity pressure of a region to be imaged of the subject; and the displacement measured by the displacement measuring means and the pressure measuring means.
- the strain and elastic modulus calculation means Based on the measured pressure in the body cavity, the strain and elastic modulus calculation means for calculating the strain and elastic modulus of each point on the tomographic image to generate the first elastic frame data;
- the first elastic frame data generated by the elastic modulus calculating means is transmitted.
- Data processing means for generating second elastic frame data by processing, and hue information for giving hue information or monochrome luminance information by inputting the second elastic frame data generated by the elastic data processing means
- An intracorporeal ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising switching addition means for adding or independently sending, and the image display means for displaying image data from the switching addition means.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to the present invention.
- FIG. 4 Diagram showing an ultrasonic ultrasonic probe with a built-in automatic compression mechanism using a motor mechanism according to the present invention.
- FIG. 5 A diagram showing an ultrasonic probe incorporating an automatic compression mechanism by a hydraulic mechanism according to the present invention.
- FIG. 6 An automatic compression mechanism mounted on an existing ultrasonic probe by external mounting according to the present invention.
- FIG. 8 is a diagram showing that the automatic compression mechanism is controlled according to pressure information by the pressure measuring unit according to the present invention.
- FIG. 9 is an external view of a transrectal ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged view and a left side view showing an embodiment of an automatic compression mechanism provided in a transrectal ultrasound probe.
- FIG. 11 is a partially enlarged view and a left side view showing an embodiment of an automatic compression mechanism provided in a transrectal ultrasound probe.
- ⁇ 12 A partially enlarged view and a left side view showing an embodiment of an automatic compression mechanism provided in a transrectal ultrasound probe.
- FIG. 13 is a partially enlarged view and a left side view showing an embodiment of an automatic compression mechanism provided in a transrectal ultrasound probe.
- FIG. 14 is a partially enlarged view and a left side view showing an embodiment of an automatic compression mechanism provided in a transrectal ultrasound probe.
- FIG. 15 is a partially enlarged view and a left side view showing an embodiment of an automatic compression mechanism provided in a transrectal ultrasound probe.
- FIG. 16 is a partially enlarged view, a left side view, and a right side view showing an embodiment of an automatic compression mechanism provided in a transrectal ultrasound probe.
- FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the compression bag described in FIG.
- FIG. 18 is a view showing another embodiment of the compression bag.
- FIG. 19 is a view showing a modified example of the drive unit that performs expansion and contraction of the compression bag described in FIG.
- FIG. 20 is a partially enlarged view, a left side view, and a right side view showing a modification of the automatic compression mechanism provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe described in FIG.
- FIG. 21 is a partially enlarged view, a left side view, and a right side view showing a modification of the automatic compression mechanism provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe of FIG.
- FIG. 22 is a partially enlarged view, a left side view, and a right side view showing a modification of the automatic compression mechanism provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe of FIG. 21.
- FIG. 23 is a partially enlarged view, a left side view, and a right side view showing a modification of the automatic compression mechanism provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe of FIG.
- This figure shows the application of the trigger part of a water gun as a power source for putting liquid into and out of the compression bag.
- FIG. 24 shows a modification of FIG. 24, in which the trigger portion of the water gun is integrally provided on the ultrasonic probe, and is used as a power source for putting liquid into and out of the compression bag.
- FIG. 26 shows a modification of FIG. 25.
- a structure like a holding part of a grip meter is provided integrally on the ultrasonic probe, and this is attached to the compression bag.
- FIG. 27 This is a modification of Fig. 26.
- the syringe force and the tube up to the compression bag are omitted, and the pipe built into the handle of the probe attached to the ultrasonic probe is used. Is.
- FIG. 24 This is a modification of FIG. 24, which uses a foot pedal type power source that can be operated with feet instead of a water gun that can be operated with fingers.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to the present invention.
- This ultrasonic imaging apparatus obtains a tomographic image of an imaging target region of the subject 1 using ultrasonic waves and displays an elastic image representing the hardness of a living tissue.
- this ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe 10 having an automatic compression mechanism 22, an ultrasonic transmission / reception control circuit 11, a transmission circuit 12, a reception circuit 13, and a phasing addition.
- Circuit 14 signal processing unit 15, monochrome scan converter 16, switching adder 17, image display unit 18, ultrasonic reception signal frame data selection unit 19, displacement measurement unit 20, and pressure measurement unit 21 And an automatic compression mechanism 22, a strain and elastic modulus calculation unit 23, an elastic data processing unit 24, and a color scan converter 25.
- the ultrasonic probe 10 is formed by arranging a large number of transducers in a strip shape, mechanically or electronically performs beam scanning, transmits ultrasonic waves to the subject 1, and the subject 1 Receiving ultrasonic waves reflected inside the body, abutting on the body surface of the subject 1, or inserted into the subject 1, and applying pressure to the surrounding subject 1 in these states It is configured to be able to. The detailed configuration of the ultrasonic probe 10 will be described later.
- the ultrasonic transmission / reception control circuit 11 controls timing for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves.
- the transmission circuit 12 generates a transmission pulse for driving the ultrasonic probe 10 to generate an ultrasonic wave, and determines the convergence point of the ultrasonic wave transmitted by the built-in transmission phasing and adding circuit. Set to a certain depth.
- the receiving circuit 13 amplifies the reflected echo signal received by the ultrasonic probe 10 with a predetermined gain.
- the number of received signals corresponding to the number of amplified transducers is input to the phasing and adding circuit 14 as independent received signals.
- the phasing addition circuit 14 inputs the reception signal amplified by the reception circuit 13, controls the phase thereof, and forms an ultrasonic beam at one or a plurality of convergence points.
- the signal processing unit 15 receives the received signal from the phasing addition circuit 14 and performs signal processing such as gain correction, log compression, detection, contour enhancement, and filter processing.
- the ultrasonic probe 10, the ultrasonic transmission / reception control circuit 11, the transmission circuit 12, the reception circuit 13, the phasing addition circuit 14 and the signal processing unit 15 constitute ultrasonic transmission / reception means.
- the ultrasound probe 10 is used to scan the ultrasound beam in a certain direction within the body of the subject 1. As a result, a single tomographic image is obtained.
- the black and white scan converter 16 uses the reflected echo signal output from the signal processing unit 15 of the ultrasonic transmission / reception means described above to ultrasonically receive the ultrasonic reception signal frame data in the subject 1 including the moving tissue.
- this ultrasonic reception signal frame data in a period and to display the tomographic scanning means for reading out in the period of the television system and means for controlling the system, for example, a reflected echo signal from the signal processing unit 15 AZD transformation that converts the image into a digital signal, multiple frame memories that store tomographic image data digitized by this AZD transformation in time series, and a controller that controls these operations.
- the image display 18 displays time-series tomographic image data obtained by the monochrome scan converter 16, that is, a B-mode tomogram, and an image output from the monochrome scan converter 16 via the switching adder 17. It consists of a DZA converter that converts data into analog signals and a color monitor that displays analog video signals from the DZA converter and displays them as images.
- the output side force of the phasing addition circuit 14 is also branched to provide an ultrasonic reception signal frame data selection unit 19 and a displacement measurement unit 20, and pressure measurement is performed in parallel therewith.
- a color scan converter 25 is provided, and a switching adder 17 is provided on the output side of the black and white scan converter 16 and the power color scan converter 25.
- the color scan converter 25 can be freely controlled by an operator or the like via a device control interface (not shown).
- the ultrasonic reception signal frame data selection unit 19 converts the ultrasonic reception signal frame data output from the phasing addition circuit 14 one after another at the frame rate of the ultrasonic imaging device over time. This is sequentially secured in the frame memory provided in the selection unit 19 (the currently secured ultrasound reception signal frame data is referred to as ultrasound reception signal frame data N), and past in time according to the control command of the ultrasound imaging apparatus. Of ultrasonic reception signal frame data N—l, N-2, N-3,..., N—M Frame data is selected (this is referred to as ultrasonic reception signal frame data X), and a pair of ultrasonic reception signal frame data N and ultrasonic reception signal frame data X are output to the displacement measuring unit 20.
- the signal output from the phasing addition circuit 14 is not limited to the ultrasonic reception signal frame data, and may be, for example, a signal in the form of I and Q signals obtained by complex demodulation of the ultrasonic reception signal.
- the ultrasonic reception signal frame data selection unit 19 acquires period information between the selected pair of ultrasonic reception signal frame data N and X, and the compression operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 is performed in that period. Is controlled accordingly.
- the operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 is performed in that period. Is controlled accordingly.
- the period between one pair of ultrasonic reception signal frame data N and X selected by the ultrasonic reception signal frame data selection unit 19 is output from the phasing addition circuit 14 and is received by the ultrasonic reception signal frame data.
- the ultrasonic reception signal frame data output from the phasing addition circuit 14 has a period of 40 frames per second, and the number of thinned frames between one pair of ultrasonic reception signal frame data N and X is one frame.
- the frame rate between a pair of ultrasonic reception signal frame data is 20 frames per second.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 acquires period information between the pair of ultrasonic reception signal frame data N and X, and controls the compression speed of the compression operation based on the acquired period information.
- the frame rate of the ultrasonic reception signal frame data output from the phasing addition circuit 14 is 40 frames per second, and one pair of ultrasonic reception signal frame data N, With a frame rate between X of 20 frames per second! Continuous compression at a compression speed V0 that gives a strain of 0.7% as a strain suitable for high image quality on the yarn and fabric of interest.
- the frame rate of the ultrasonic reception signal frame data which is an output of 14 phasing circuits
- the frame rate between one pair of ultrasonic received signal frame data N and X is halved to 10 frames per second. It will be awkward.
- the intermittent time between ultrasonic received signal frame data is twice as long, so the distortion applied to the tissue of interest is up to 1.4%. It becomes larger and deviates from the distortion range suitable for high image quality. As a result, the output continuous elastic image data becomes a distorted image.
- the period information of the ultrasonic reception signal frame data is acquired.
- the compression speed is reduced to half the compression speed of VOZ2. change.
- the compression operation is automatically performed to obtain the optimal compression speed for acquiring high-quality elastic images. It can be controlled automatically.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 arbitrarily switches the compression speed setting such as the compression speed, the continuous compression process, the compression amount (amplitude) accumulated in the decompression process, and the pressure threshold value for stopping the compression operation. be able to.
- the displacement measurement unit 20 performs one-dimensional or two-dimensional correlation processing based on one pair of ultrasonic reception signal frame data selected by the ultrasonic reception signal frame data selection unit 19, and displays the result on the tomographic image.
- Displacement frame data is generated by measuring the displacement or displacement of each measurement point (direction and size of displacement).
- a method for detecting the movement vector for example, there are a block matching method and a gradient method as described in Patent Document 1.
- the block matching method divides the image into blocks consisting of, for example, NXN pixels, searches the previous frame for the block that most closely matches the block of interest in the current frame, and refers to this to predict the prediction code. Do the trap.
- the pressure measurement unit 21 measures or estimates the pressure applied to the imaging target region of the subject 1.
- the pressure measurement unit 21 measures how much pressure is applied between the probe head of the ultrasonic probe 10 and the subject 1, for example, pressure applied to a rod-shaped member. Is attached to the side of the probe head, the pressure between the probe head and the subject 1 is measured at an arbitrary time phase, and the measured pressure value is calculated as a strain and elastic modulus calculation unit.
- the type of pressure sensor is not particularly limited. For example, a capacitance type or resistance wire type pressure sensor can be used.
- the strain and elastic modulus calculation unit 23 includes displacement frame data (movement amount) output from the displacement measurement unit 20 and the pressure measurement unit 21 and the strain and elastic modulus at each measurement point on the tomogram from the pressure. To generate numerical data (elastic frame data) of strain or elastic modulus, and output it to the elastic data processing unit 24.
- the calculation of the strain performed by the strain and elastic modulus calculation unit 23 is, for example, obtained by calculation by spatially differentiating the displacement without requiring pressure data.
- the Young's modulus Ym which is one of the elastic moduli, is calculated by dividing the stress (pressure) at each calculation point by the strain at each calculation point, as shown in the following equation. .
- the indices i and j represent the coordinates of the frame data.
- the elastic data processing unit 24 performs various processing such as smoothing processing in the coordinate plane, contrast optimization processing, and smoothing processing in the time axis direction between frames on the elastic frame data from the strain and elastic modulus calculation unit 23.
- the image is processed and the inertial frame data after processing is output to the color scan converter 25.
- the color scan converter 25 is configured to store the gradation in the elastic frame data output from the elastic data processing unit 24 and the command from the device control interface unit 216 or the elastic frame data output from the elastic data processing unit 24.
- a hue information conversion means for inputting an upper limit value and a lower limit value to be used as the selection selection range, and adding hue information such as red, green, and blue as elastic image data from the elastic frame data.
- the hue information converting unit converts the corresponding area in the elastic image data into a red code for the area where the distortion is measured, and conversely, For the area where is measured small, the corresponding area in the elastic image data is converted to blue code.
- the color scan converter 25 may be a black and white scan converter. An area where a large distortion is measured increases the brightness of the area in the elastic image data. Conversely, an area where the distortion is measured is small in the elastic image data. The brightness of the area may be made darker. [0036]
- the switching adder 17 inputs the black and white tomographic image data from the black and white scan converter 16 and the color elastic image data from the color scan converter 25, adds or switches both images, and only the black and white tomographic image data. Alternatively, only the color elastic image data is output, or the two image data are added and synthesized and output.
- a black and white tomographic image and a color or a black and white elastic image by the black and white scan converter may be displayed simultaneously.
- a color elastic image may be displayed in a translucent manner on a black and white tomographic image.
- the image data output from the switching adder 17 is output to the image display 18.
- FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the appearance of a one-dimensional linear array ultrasonic probe that is generally used.
- an element group of a transducer that is a generation source of ultrasonic waves and receives reflected echoes is arranged in an array.
- FIG. 3 is an external view of the ultrasonic probe 10 for acquiring an elastic image using ultrasonic waves.
- the ultrasonic probe 10 includes a compression plate 31 that is attached to the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101 so as to match the surface. The central portion of the compression plate 31 is cut out so as to expose the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface.
- the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101 and the compression plate 31 are used to apply stress distribution to the imaging target region of the subject 1 while performing ultrasonic transmission / reception via the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101.
- the compression surface composed of the above is brought into contact with the subject 1, and the compression surface is moved up and down to compress the subject 1. This vertical movement of the compression surface may be performed manually by the operator, or may be performed by an automatic compression mechanism 22 as described below.
- FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which the driving force by an actuator including a motor mechanism is used as an embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22 that performs the compression operation of the ultrasonic probe.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 moves up and down a compression stage 102 in which a compression surface composed of an ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101 and a compression plate 31 is made independent.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 includes a pinion 42 provided on the rotation shaft of the motor mechanism 41 held by the probe grip 103 of the ultrasonic probe 10 held by the operator, and a support for the compression stage 102.
- Rack 43 provided on member 104 and Consists of rack and pion composed of
- the motor mechanism 41 moves the compression stage 102 up and down with respect to the probe gripping part 103 via the rack and pion according to the control command of the external motor control part 44. That is, when the operator grips the probe grip 103 and brings the compression stage 102 into contact with the subject 1, the actuator changes the distance between the compression stage 102 and the probe grip 103. Then, compression is applied to the subject 1 through the compression stage 102.
- this is an interface for the operator to operate the automatic compression mechanism 22 (motor control unit 44), and is switched to a position where the operator can operate with the finger of the hand holding the probe holding unit 103. (Not shown) is arranged.
- the operator can adjust ON / OFF of the automatic compression mechanism 22, the operating pressure, the operating cycle, and the like through this switch.
- the interface for operating the automatic compression mechanism 22 is not limited to the above-described switch operated by the finger of the hand, and for example, a foot switch that can be operated by a foot can be used.
- the motor mechanism 41 may be a mechanism using an electromagnetic motor, an ultrasonic motor, or the like.
- the power transmission mechanism from the motor mechanism 41 to the compression stage 102 is not limited to the rack and pinion.
- a cam is provided in the motor mechanism 41 so that the support member 104 is driven in the vertical direction according to the shape of the cam. May be.
- a direct acting motor or the like may be directly connected to the compression stage 102 without using a power transmission mechanism such as a rack and pion.
- FIG. 5 is a view showing an example in which the driving force by the pump mechanism is used as another embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 is configured by a backward-acting cylinder 51 held by the probe grip 103 of the ultrasonic probe 10 that is gripped by an operator.
- a support member 104 of the compression stage 102 is coupled to the piston 511 of the cylinder 51.
- the cylinder 51 is connected to the intake and exhaust ports of the pump 53 by a tube 52, and has a structure in which a piston 511 provided in the cylinder 51 is moved up and down by the pressure control of the pump 53 and interlocked with the piston.
- the compression stage 102 is automatically moved up and down.
- the working fluid of the pump mechanism is particularly limited Water, oil, air, etc. can be used.
- FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22 in which an automatic compression unit 60 is mounted outside an existing ultrasonic probe to perform the same operation as driving a compression stage. It is a figure which shows embodiment which enables it.
- the automatic compression unit 60 includes an ultrasonic probe fixing mechanism 61 that holds the existing ultrasonic probe 10 fixedly, and a drive that drives the ultrasonic probe fixing mechanism 61 in a linear direction (vertical direction). And a mechanism 62. Similarly, this is an interface for the operator to operate the automatic compression mechanism 60, and a switch (not shown) is arranged at a position where the operator can operate with the finger of the hand holding the automatic compression unit 60. .
- the ultrasonic probe fixing mechanism 61 is pressed against the neck portion of the probe gripping portion 103 of the ultrasonic probe 10 to fix and hold the ultrasonic probe 10.
- the ultrasonic probe 10 fixed by the ultrasonic probe fixing mechanism 61 is equivalent to a compression stage as shown in FIG.
- a rank and pinion composed of a rack 63 provided on the support member 62 of the ultrasonic probe fixing function 61 and a pinion 65 provided on the rotating shaft of the drive mechanism (motor mechanism) 64.
- the probe grip 103 that is, the ultrasonic probe 10 is moved up and down.
- two gears 66 and 67 for power transmission are provided between the rack 63 and the pinion 65.
- a casing including such an automatic compression unit 60 is detachably attached to the outside of the casing of the existing ultrasonic probe 10. If the operator grips the automatic compression unit 60, the ultrasonic probe 10 itself can be moved up and down as a compression stage.
- FIG. 7 shows the distance between the ultrasound transmitting / receiving surface 101 of the ultrasound probe 10 and the skin of the subject 1.
- 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic probe 10 including a pressure measuring unit 21 that measures a force to which a pressure of a certain degree is applied.
- the ultrasonic probe 10 includes a pressure measurement unit 21 including pressure sensors 71 to 76 arranged at the peripheral edge of the compression plate 31.
- the pressure between the compression plate 31 and the epidermis of the subject 1 is measured at an arbitrary time phase, and the pressure data is obtained from the automatic compression mechanism. 22 and strain and elastic modulus calculator 23.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 acquires the pressure data measured by the pressure measurement unit 21, and controls the compression operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 according to the pressure data.
- the pressure measurement unit 21 obtains pressure data by measuring the load applied to the drive mechanism of the automatic compression mechanism 22 and calculating the pressure applied to the epidermis of the compression surface force subject 1 based on the load. Also good.
- FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the automatic compression mechanism 22 using the driving force by the motor mechanism 41 shown in FIG.
- the pressure data of the pressure sensors 71 to 76 mounted around the compression plate 31 is input to the motor control unit 44 of the automatic compression mechanism 22.
- the motor control unit 44 outputs a motor control signal corresponding to the pressure data to the motor mechanism 41 and controls the motor mechanism 41 to perform a desired compression operation.
- the operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 can be stopped at the time when the pressure measurement unit 21 measures a pressure larger than a certain reference. This makes it possible to avoid over-squeezing the subject.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 of the present embodiment in a certain continuous pressurization process, at the time when the pressure measurement unit 21 measures a pressure greater than a certain threshold, pressurization is performed. Controls the operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 that switches from a process to a continuous decompression process, and conversely, at a time when the pressure measurement unit 21 measures a small pressure below a certain threshold in a continuous decompression process. Can control the operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 that switches from the depressurization process to the continuous pressurization process, and by repeating this operation, the appropriate compression state It becomes possible to always maintain the state. As a result, a high-quality elastic image can be efficiently acquired in a limited imaging time.
- an intracorporeal ultrasound probe for acquiring an elastic image of the subject 1 using ultrasound
- ultrasonic probes of oral type, transanal type, transvaginal type, intravascular type, etc. according to the site of the subject into which the ultrasonic probe is inserted
- the present invention is an ultrasonic probe. It is applicable regardless of the form.
- a transrectal probe inserted into the rectum through the anus of the subject will be described as an example.
- FIG. 9 is an external view of a transrectal ultrasonic probe 80 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- the transrectal ultrasound probe 80 corresponds to the ultrasound probe 10 in FIG.
- a compression stage 102 having a compression surface composed of an ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101 and a compression plate 31 is movable with respect to the internal insertion portion 82, and an automatic compression mechanism 22 built in the internal insertion portion 82 is provided. Is pressed against the inner surface of the rectum of subject 1.
- the switch 105 is an interface for the operator to operate the automatic compression mechanism 22, and is arranged at a position where the operator can operate with the finger of the hand holding the probe holding portion 81.
- Fig. 10 (a) is a partially enlarged view showing an embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe 80
- Fig. 10 (b) is a diagram of Fig. 10 (b). It is the figure which looked at the ultrasonic probe 80 of a) from the left side direction.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 is configured so that the compression stage 102 is moved in the direction indicated by the vertical arrow 30 in the figure with respect to the body insertion portion 82 by the action of an actuator including the motor mechanism 41, the pinion 42, and the rack 43. To move to.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 is provided in a motor mechanism 41 built in and held in the body insertion portion 82, a pinion 42 provided on the rotation shaft of the motor mechanism 41, and a support member 87 of the compression stage 102. It is composed of rack and pion composed of rack 43 and rack.
- the motor mechanism 41 is controlled by a switch 105 provided in the probe gripping portion 81, and moves the compression stage 102 up and down via the rack and pion described above. That is, the operator can adjust the ON / OFF state of the automatic compression mechanism 22, the operating pressure, the operating cycle, and the like through this switch.
- the operator holds the probe grip 81 and presses the compression stage 10 2 is inserted into the subject 1, the actuator changes the distance between the compression stage 102 and the surface of the internal insertion portion 82, so that the compression stage 102 is Pressure will be applied through. That is, the surface opposite to the compression stage 102 of the in-body insertion part 82 is in contact with the surface opposite to the imaging target on the inner surface of the rectum of the subject 1 as a support surface.
- the actuator compression is applied to the inner surface of the rectum of the subject in contact with the compression stage 102.
- the motor mechanism 41 may be configured by a mechanism using an electromagnetic motor, an ultrasonic motor, or the like.
- the power transmission mechanism from the motor mechanism 41 to the compression stage 102 is not limited to the rack and pinion.
- a cam is provided in the motor mechanism 41 so that the support member 104 is driven in the vertical direction according to the shape of the cam. May be.
- a direct acting motor or the like may be directly connected to the compression stage 102 without using a power transmission mechanism such as a rack and pion.
- FIG. 11 (a) is a partially enlarged view showing another embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe 80
- FIG. 11 (b) is a view in FIG. It is the figure which looked at the ultrasonic probe 80 of (a) from the left side surface.
- fluid is supplied to and discharged from the compression bag 83 by the pump 53 and the tube 52, and the compression stage 83 is expanded and contracted in the directions of the double arrows 31, 32, so that the compression stage 102 is in the body. It is moved along the up and down arrow 30 in the figure with respect to the insertion portion 82 so that compression is applied to the rectal inner surface of the subject 1 with which the compression stage 102 is in contact.
- this is an interface for the same operator to operate the automatic compression mechanism 22 (pump 53), and the switch (not shown) can be operated with the finger of the hand holding the probe holding part 81. ) Is placed.
- the working fluid of the pump mechanism is not particularly limited, and may be water, oil, air or the like.
- FIG. 12 (a) is a partially enlarged view showing another embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe 80
- FIG. 12 (b) is a view in FIG. It is the figure which looked at the ultrasonic probe 80 of (a) from the left side surface.
- five systems similar to the embodiment described in FIGS. 11 (a) and 11 (b) are provided on the opposite side of the compression stage 102, and pumps 53A, 53B are provided.
- 53C, 53D, 53E and tubes 52A, 52B, 52C, 52D 52E, the compression bags 83A, 83B, 83C, 83D, and 83E are inflated and contracted, respectively.
- the compression stage 102 is moved toward the body insertion portion 82 by arrows A, B, C, and D as shown in FIG. , Can be moved in each of the E direction. As a result, it is possible to apply pressure to the rectal inner surface of the subject 1 in the direction desired by the operator.
- FIG. 13 (a) is a partially enlarged view showing another embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe
- FIG. 13 (b) is a view in FIG. It is the figure which looked at the ultrasonic probe of a) from the left side surface.
- a compression bag 83A, 83B, 83C, 83D, 83E similar to the embodiment described in FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b) is used as an existing transrectal ultrasound probe. It is configured to be attached to the outside of 0 and expanded and contracted by five pumps (not shown) connected via tubes 52A, 52B, 52C, 52D and 52E.
- Fig. 14 (a) is a partially enlarged view showing another embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe
- Fig. 14 (b) is a diagram of Fig. 14 (b). It is the figure which looked at the ultrasonic probe of a) from the left side surface.
- a ring-shaped compression bag 55 is attached to the outside of an existing transrectal ultrasonic probe 80 and compressed by a pump (not shown) connected through an opening 84 and a tube 52.
- the compression bag 55 is configured to be inflated and contracted by supplying and discharging liquid (for example, water, physiological saline, etc.) to the bag 55.
- the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface 101 is not moved relative to the rectal inner surface of the subject by expanding and contracting the compression bag 55. Pressure can be applied to the rectal surface.
- the compression bag 55 is interposed between the ultrasound transmission / reception surface 101 and the rectal surface of the subject, but since the compression bag 55 is filled with liquid, it can transmit and receive ultrasound.
- the surface of the compression bag 55 that touches the inner surface of the rectum in the imaging direction of the subject functions as an ultrasonic transmission / reception surface.
- a surface of the inner surface of the rectum of the subject of the compression bag 55 that contacts the surface opposite to the imaging target functions as a support surface.
- FIG. 15 (a) is a partially enlarged view showing another embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe
- FIG. 15 (b) is a view in FIG. It is the figure which looked at the ultrasonic probe of a) from the left side surface.
- a stubber 85 for restricting the expansion direction of the compression bag 55 is attached to the outside of the ring-shaped compression bag 55 described in FIGS. 14 (a) and 14 (b).
- the direction of inflation of the compression bag 55 is restricted to one direction, so that compression can be efficiently applied to the inner surface of the rectum of the subject 1.
- the surface force of the stopper 85 is a support surface that is in contact with the opposite surface of the subject's rectal inner surface that faces the imaging target.
- FIG. 16 (a) is a partially enlarged view showing another embodiment of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasonic probe
- FIG. FIG. 16 is a view of the ultrasonic probe of a) seen from the left side surface
- FIG. 16C is a perspective view showing only the compression bag 55 and the tube 52.
- the compression bag 55 is attached to the outside of an existing transrectal ultrasound probe by a fixing belt 86, and is attached to the compression bag 55 by a pump (not shown) connected through a tube 52.
- the compression bag 55 is configured to expand and contract by supplying and discharging liquid (water, physiological saline, etc.).
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 can be easily attached to the transrectal ultrasonic probe 80, including the opening 84 and the built-in tube 52.
- the force described above may be attached using a method other than this!
- FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the compression bag 55 described with reference to FIG. 16 (a).
- FIG. 18 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the compression bag.
- the compression bag 55 is deformed so as to spread in the lateral direction as indicated by arrows 33 and 34, and the compression target. The efficiency of compressing the organization may not be good. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 18, a shell portion 57 that regulates the expansion direction of the compression bag 56 is provided. This shell part 57 is less stretchable than the rest of the compression bag 56 is required. Therefore, for example, as a first method, the shell portion 57 is made thicker than the other portions of the compression bag 56.
- a net or the like is attached to the compression bag 56 corresponding to the shell portion 57.
- the shell portion 57 is formed of a different material that is less stretchable than the other portions of the compression bag 56.
- FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a modification of the drive unit that performs expansion and contraction of the compression bag described in FIG.
- five compression bags 83A, 83B, 83C, 83D, 83E attached to the outside of an existing transrectal ultrasound probe 80 are connected via tubes 52A, 52B, 52C, 52D, 52E.
- each pump is expanded and contracted by two pumps (not shown) has been described.
- the cylinders 51A to 51E held by the probe gripping part 81 and the insides of the cylinders 51A to 51E are shown.
- a drive unit composed of pistons 511A to 51IE that move up and down is provided, and the pistons 511A to 511E of the drive unit can be operated with fingers (manually). Since the working fluid in the cylinders 51A to 51E is connected via the tubes 52A to 52E, the operator presses the working fluid by arbitrarily operating the pistons 511A to 511E with the fingers of the hand. Bags 83A and 83B , 83C, 83D, and 83E, so that you can perform delicate compression operations. In addition, when the compression bags 83A, 83B, 83C, 83D, and 83E are excessively compressed, the force is transmitted to the finger, and it is possible to recognize the state of excessive compression or the like with the finger.
- FIG. 20 is a view showing a modification of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe described in FIG. 14, and FIG. 20 (a) is a partially enlarged view.
- Fig. 20 (b) is a view of the ultrasonic probe of Fig. 20 (a) from the left side
- Fig. 20 (c) is a view of the ultrasonic probe of Fig. 20 (a) from the right side.
- the ultrasonic probe includes two probe heads of ultrasonic transmission / reception surfaces 101 and 103.
- the probe head 101 is a convex type
- the probe head 103 is a linear type.
- a compression bag 131 is provided so as to cover the two ultrasonic transmission / reception surfaces 101 and 103.
- the compression bag 131 By putting liquid into and out of the compression bag 131, the compression bag 131 was expanded and contracted to compress the tissue to be compressed.
- the power for taking liquid into and out of the compression bag 131 through the tube 132 may be pumped as described above, or manually using a syringe or the like. May be. Since the compression bag 131 is in contact with the inner surface of the rectum of the subject 1, the subject can be moved without moving the ultrasonic transmission / reception surfaces 101, 103 relative to the inner surface of the rectum of the subject by expanding and contracting the compression bag 131. Pressure can be applied to the inner surface of the rectum.
- a compression bag 131 is interposed between the ultrasonic transmission / reception surfaces 101 and 103 and the rectal surface of the subject 1, but the compression bag 13 1 is filled with liquid, so it does not hinder the transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves.
- the surface in contact with the rectal inner surface in the imaging target direction of the 131 subjects functions as an ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface.
- a surface of the inner surface of the rectum of the subject of the compression bag 131 that is in contact with the surface opposite to the imaging target functions as a support surface.
- FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a modification of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe of FIG. 20, and FIG. 21 (a) is a partially enlarged view of FIG. Fig. 21 (b) is a view of the left side force of the ultrasonic probe of Fig. 21 (a), and Fig. 21 (c) is a view of the ultrasonic probe of Fig. 21 (a) from the right side surface. It is a figure.
- the ultrasonic probe includes two probe heads of ultrasonic transmission / reception surfaces 101 and 103.
- the probe head 101 is a convex type
- the probe head 103 is a linear type.
- a compression bag 141 is provided so as to cover the entire tip of the probe head including the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101 that becomes the probe head. By putting liquid in and out of the compression bag 141, the compression bag 141 was expanded and contracted to compress the tissue to be compressed. The power to put liquid into and out of the compression bag 141 via the tube 144 may be pumped as described above or manually using a syringe or the like.
- FIG. 22 is a view showing a modification of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe of FIG. 21, and FIG. 22 (a) is a partially enlarged view of FIG. Fig. 22 (b) is a view of the left side force of the ultrasonic probe of Fig. 22 (a), and Fig. 22 (c) is a view of the ultrasonic probe of Fig. 22 (a) from the right side surface. It is a figure.
- the ultrasonic probe includes two probe heads of ultrasonic transmission / reception surfaces 101 and 103.
- the probe head 101 is a convex type
- the probe head 103 is a linear type.
- a ring-shaped compression bag 151 is provided so as to cover only the outer peripheral portion of the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101 serving as the probe head portion.
- the ring-shaped compression bag 151 has a structure in which the tip of the probe head can be inserted. By putting liquid into and out of this compression bag 151, the compression bag 151 is inflated and The tissue to be compressed was compressed to be compressed.
- the power for taking the liquid in and out of the compression bag 151 through the tube 152 may be a pump as described above, or may be manually performed using a syringe or the like.
- the ring-shaped compression bag 151 is provided only on the outer peripheral portion of the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101.
- the compression bag 151 is also provided on the outer peripheral portion of the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 103 in the same manner as the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101. And a mechanism thereof may be provided.
- a compression bag on the outer periphery of the two ultrasonic transmission / reception surfaces, it is possible to select and compress the surface from which an elastic image is to be acquired.
- an elastic image can be obtained at the same time for two cross sections.
- FIG. 23 is a view showing a modification of the automatic compression mechanism 22 provided in the transrectal ultrasound probe of FIG. 22, and FIG. 23 (a) is a partially enlarged view of FIG. (b) is a view of the left side force of the ultrasonic probe of FIG. 23 (a), and FIG. 23 (c) is a view of the ultrasonic probe of FIG. 23 (a) from the right side. It is a figure. Also in this embodiment, the ultrasonic probe includes two probe heads of the ultrasonic transmission / reception surfaces 101 and 103, but only on the outer peripheral portion of the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101 serving as the probe head portion.
- a ring-shaped compression bag 151 is provided so as to cover it, and a stagger 165 for regulating the expansion direction of the compression bag 161 is attached to the outside of the ring-shaped compression bag 161.
- the expansion direction of the compression bag 161 is regulated in the negative direction, so that the inner surface of the rectum of the subject 1 can be efficiently compressed.
- the surface force of the stopper 165 becomes a support surface in contact with the surface on the opposite side of the inner surface of the subject 1 facing the imaging target.
- the power for taking the liquid in and out of the compression bag 161 through the tubes 162 and 163 may be a pump as described above, or manually using a syringe or the like.
- FIGS. 24 to 28 are diagrams showing modifications of the power for putting liquid into and out of the above-described compression bag.
- mechanical power such as a motor mechanism or a pump
- manual operation that allows easy operation with a single hand can be performed.
- Adopt operation structure For example, a manually operated device such as a water gun trigger or a gripping force holder is used as the power source.
- Fig. 24 is a diagram showing an application of the trigger portion of a water gun as a power source for putting liquid into and out of the compression bag.
- This water gun part is provided separately from the ultrasonic probe. It is.
- the end of the piston rod 172 is connected to the trigger part 171 of the water gun 170, and by operating the trigger part 171 by hand, the piston of the syringe 173 is taken in and out so as to control the liquid in and out of the compression bag 161. It has become.
- the repulsive force of the liquid delivered to the compression bag 1 61 is transmitted to the trigger part 171, it is possible to feel the degree of compression (pressure in the compression bag 161) on the hand, The operation can be realized.
- the compression bag 161 of FIG. 23 has been described as an example, but the present invention can be similarly applied to the various compression bags described above.
- FIG. 25 shows a modification of FIG. 24, which is also provided integrally with the trigger partial ultrasonic probe of the water gun and serves as a power source for putting liquid into and out of the compression bag.
- a trigger part 181 is rotatably provided on the probe gripping part 81, and a syringe 183 is provided on the outer peripheral part of the probe head.
- the trigger part 181 and the end of the piston rod 182 are connected, and by operating the trigger part 181 by hand, the piston of the syringe 183 is taken in and out, and the liquid in and out of the compression bag 161 is controlled. ing.
- FIG. 26 shows a modification of FIG. 25.
- a structure like a holding part of a grip force meter is integrally provided on the ultrasonic probe, and the structure is compressed. It is used as a power source to draw liquid into and out of the bag.
- a syringe 193 having a larger working area than that of the syringe shown in FIGS. 24 and 25 is provided on the side surface of the probe grip 81, and a gripping force meter holding portion that can be pressed by a finger on the end of the piston rod 192 is provided.
- a grip 191 having such a structure is provided.
- FIG. 27 shows a modification of FIG. 26, in which the tubes from the syringe 193 to the compression bag 161 are omitted, and the pipe built in the handle of the probe that is attached to the ultrasonic probe. 20 0 is used.
- a tube is provided to connect between the pipe 200 for the tip of the ultrasonic probe and the compression bag 161, but the noise is bent inside the ultrasonic probe. It is good also as a structure which can be directly connected to the compression bag 161.
- FIG. 28 shows a modification of FIG. 24, in which a foot pedal type power source that can be operated with feet is used instead of the water gun 170 that can be operated with fingers.
- the pedal-type power source 210 is provided separately from the ultrasonic probe and can be operated with feet, so that there is an advantage that both hands can be used freely.
- the end of the piston rod 212 is connected to the pedal portion 211, and by operating the pedal portion 211 with a foot, the piston of the syringe 213 is taken in and out, and the liquid to the compression bag 161 is supplied. In and out is controlled.
- the force described using the compression bag 161 as an example can be similarly applied to the various compression bags described above.
- the cylinder operation unit is described as being fixed to the probe or separated from the ultrasonic probe.
- the cylinder operation unit may be attachable and detachable. Hold the ultrasonic probe and it will be easy to operate the cylinder by hand. When the water pressure measured in this way is greater than a certain threshold value, a warning about the danger may be fed back by image display or sound.
- a pressure sensor as described in Fig. 7 is provided around the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101 to measure the pressure applied to the subject 1 on the compression surface force.
- a pressure measuring unit 21 (see FIG. 1) that outputs pressure data may be configured.
- the pressure measurement unit 21 may obtain pressure data by measuring a load applied to the drive mechanism of the automatic compression mechanism 22 and calculating a pressure received by the subject from the compression surface based on the load.
- the pressure measurement unit 21 may obtain pressure data by measuring the internal pressure of the compression bag or the tube.
- Pressure gauge The measuring unit 21 measures how much pressure is applied to the epidermis of the subject 1 by measuring the liquid pressure in the compression bag. In this way, the pressure between the compression plate 101 and the epidermis of the subject 1 is measured at any time phase, and the pressure data is output to the automatic compression mechanism 22 and the strain and elastic modulus calculation unit 23. . That is, the automatic compression mechanism 22 according to the present embodiment acquires the pressure data measured by the pressure measurement unit 21, and controls the compression operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 according to the pressure data.
- the motor control unit may be controlled.
- the motor control unit outputs a motor control signal corresponding to the measured pressure data to the motor mechanism 41, and controls the motor mechanism 41 to perform a desired compression operation.
- the operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 can be stopped at the time when the pressure measurement unit 21 measures a pressure greater than a certain reference. , Do not overstress the subject.
- the automatic compression mechanism 22 of the present embodiment in a certain continuous pressurization process !, at the time when the pressure measurement unit 21 measures a pressure greater than a certain threshold, pressurization is performed. Controls the operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 that switches from a process to a continuous decompression process, and conversely at a time when the pressure measurement unit 21 measures a small pressure below a certain threshold in a continuous decompression process. Can control the operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 that switches from the depressurization process to the continuous pressurization process, and by repeating this operation, it is possible to always maintain an appropriate compression state. As a result, a high-quality elastic image can be efficiently acquired in a limited imaging time.
- the amount of liquid flowing in and out with a single stroke of the syringe can be freely adjusted. Also, in the body-insertable ultrasonic probe, When the distance between the probe gripping part 81 and the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 101 changes, the support surface does not touch the opposite surface of the subject opposite to the imaging target. Pressure can be applied.
- the automatic compression mechanism acquires period information between a set of ultrasonic reception signal frame data N and X selected by the ultrasonic reception signal frame data selection unit 19 and automatically The compression operation of the compression mechanism 22 is controlled according to the cycle.
- the compression operation of the compression mechanism 22 is controlled according to the cycle.
- a high-voltage electric pulse is applied to the ultrasonic probe 10 in contact with the body surface of the subject by the transmission circuit 12 to emit ultrasonic waves,
- the reflected echo signal is received by the ultrasonic probe 10.
- the received signal is input to the reception circuit 13 and preamplified, and then input to the phasing addition circuit 14.
- the received signal whose phase is aligned by the phasing and adding circuit 14 is subjected to signal processing such as compression and detection in the next signal processing unit 15 and then input to the black and white scan converter 16.
- the received signal AZD is converted and stored in a plurality of internal frame memories as a plurality of time-sequential tomographic image data.
- An appropriate compression method automatically set by the automatic compression mechanism 22 is used to evaluate the elasticity of the interested part inside the subject tissue using the ultrasonic probe 10 equipped with the automatic compression mechanism 22.
- the continuous phasing addition circuit 14 When the ultrasonic probe 10 is brought into contact with the body surface of the subject while pressing the subject, the continuous phasing addition circuit 14 outputs continuous ultrasonic reception signal frame data.
- the continuous ultrasonic reception signal frame data output from the phasing addition circuit 14 is sequentially stored in the ultrasonic reception signal frame data selection unit 19, and the ultrasonic reception signal frame data is continuous in time series.
- the plurality of ultrasonic reception signal frame data to be selected is selected by the ultrasonic reception signal frame data selection unit 19 and the displacement measurement unit 2 Input to 0 and 1-dimensional or 2-dimensional displacement distribution (ALU) is obtained.
- the displacement distribution is calculated by, for example, the block matching method as the above-described movement vector detection method. Needless to say, this method need not be particularly used.
- the displacement may be calculated by calculating the autocorrelation in the same region.
- period information between a set of ultrasound reception signal frame data selected by the ultrasound reception signal frame data selection unit is output to the automatic compression mechanism 22, and the compression of the automatic compression mechanism 22 according to the period information. It is designed to optimize the operation.
- the pressure measurement unit 21 measures the pressure applied to the body surface by the pressure sensor, and the pressure information is sent from the pressure measurement unit 21 to the strain and elastic modulus calculation unit 23 and the automatic compression mechanism 22. Accordingly, by optimally controlling the compression operation of the automatic compression mechanism 22 according to this pressure information, the elastic image diagnosis of the subject can be performed efficiently and safely.
- Each measurement signal of A Pi, j) is input to the strain and elastic modulus calculator 23.
- the strain and elastic modulus calculation unit 23 is a displacement distribution (ALU
- the elastic modulus at each point is obtained, and two-dimensional elastic image data is continuously obtained.
- the elastic frame data obtained in this way is then input to the color scan converter 25 or the monochrome scan converter 16, and converted into hue information or monochrome luminance information. Thereafter, the black and white tomographic image and the color elastic image are added and synthesized via the switching adder 17, or the black and white tomographic image and the black and white elastic image are output to the image display unit 18 without being added, A black and white tomographic image and a color elastic image are superimposed and displayed on one screen. Alternatively, the black and white tomographic image and the black and white elastic image may be simultaneously displayed on the same screen by the two-screen display.
- the black and white tomographic image may be a tissue harmonic tomographic image in which the harmonic components of the received signal are selected and displayed, not limited to the general B image alone.
- a Tissue Doppler image may be displayed instead of a black and white tomographic image. You can select the image to be displayed in various combinations.
- the force described for generating the elastic image data by obtaining the above-described strain or Young's modulus Ym of the living tissue is not limited to this.
- the elastic modulus may be calculated using other parameters such as stiffness parameter j8, piezoelastic coefficient Ep, and incremental elastic coefficient Einc (see Patent Document 1).
- any intracorporeal ultrasound probe such as a transrectal ultrasound probe, a transesophageal ultrasound probe, or an intravascular ultrasound probe is used as the intracorporeal ultrasound probe.
- the present invention can be similarly applied to an insertion type ultrasonic probe.
- the ultrasonic imaging apparatus As described above, according to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to this embodiment, it is possible to easily and safely acquire a high-quality elastic image with high reproducibility that does not depend on an inspector. Become . Further, according to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to this embodiment, an elastic image can be stably depicted with high resolution at an arbitrary time, and conventionally, a palpation response attempted by a doctor has been visually imaged. By realizing the means expressed by the above, it is possible to provide a clinically useful ultrasonic imaging apparatus that maintains the real-time property and simplicity of ultrasonic diagnosis.
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Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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JP2006540928A JPWO2006041050A1 (ja) | 2004-10-12 | 2005-10-11 | 超音波探触子及び超音波撮像装置 |
EP05793702.1A EP1803404B1 (en) | 2004-10-12 | 2005-10-11 | Ultrasonic probe of type to be inserted in body, and ultrasonic imaging device |
US11/576,562 US20080033295A1 (en) | 2004-10-12 | 2005-10-11 | Ultrasonic Probe and Ultrasonic Imaging Device |
CN2005800188429A CN1964670B (zh) | 2004-10-12 | 2005-10-11 | 超声波探头以及超声波成像装置 |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
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JP2004297340 | 2004-10-12 | ||
JP2004-297340 | 2004-10-12 | ||
JP2004-345670 | 2004-11-30 | ||
JP2004345670 | 2004-11-30 |
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WO2006041050A1 true WO2006041050A1 (ja) | 2006-04-20 |
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PCT/JP2005/018677 WO2006041050A1 (ja) | 2004-10-12 | 2005-10-11 | 超音波探触子及び超音波撮像装置 |
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US (1) | US20080033295A1 (ja) |
EP (1) | EP1803404B1 (ja) |
JP (1) | JPWO2006041050A1 (ja) |
CN (1) | CN101912275B (ja) |
WO (1) | WO2006041050A1 (ja) |
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WO2008016022A1 (fr) | 2006-07-31 | 2008-02-07 | Hitachi Medical Corporation | Dispositif de pressage, sonde ultrasonore et dispositif de diagnostic ultrasonore utilisant le dispositif de pressage |
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WO2008029728A1 (fr) | 2006-09-01 | 2008-03-13 | Hitachi Medical Corporation | Échographe |
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JP2008167951A (ja) * | 2007-01-12 | 2008-07-24 | Hitachi Medical Corp | 圧迫装置及びその圧迫装置を用いた超音波診断装置 |
JP2008188180A (ja) * | 2007-02-02 | 2008-08-21 | Hitachi Medical Corp | 超音波診断装置 |
CN101869485A (zh) * | 2010-06-23 | 2010-10-27 | 深圳大学 | 超声成像方法及装置 |
WO2012029685A1 (ja) * | 2010-08-31 | 2012-03-08 | 富士フイルム株式会社 | 画像診断装置におけるプローブ押付具 |
WO2014112168A1 (ja) | 2013-01-18 | 2014-07-24 | オリンパスメディカルシステムズ株式会社 | 超音波観測システム |
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JP2017525446A (ja) * | 2014-07-28 | 2017-09-07 | デジタル エンドスコピー ゲーエムベーハー | 内視鏡デバイス |
KR20180132916A (ko) * | 2016-04-22 | 2018-12-12 | 우시 히스키 메디칼 테크놀로지스 컴퍼니., 리미티드. | 초음파 프로브 및 이 초음파 프로브를 구비하는 초음파 검출기기 |
JP2019515736A (ja) * | 2016-04-22 | 2019-06-13 | 无錫海斯凱尓医学技術有限公司Wuxi Hisky Medical Technologies Co.,Ltd. | 超音波プローブ及び該超音波プローブを有する超音波検査装置 |
KR102181334B1 (ko) | 2016-04-22 | 2020-11-20 | 우시 히스키 메디칼 테크놀로지스 컴퍼니., 리미티드. | 초음파 프로브 및 이 초음파 프로브를 구비하는 초음파 검출기기 |
JP7073055B2 (ja) | 2017-07-21 | 2022-05-23 | ゼネラル・エレクトリック・カンパニイ | 超音波プローブ及び超音波装置 |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20080033295A1 (en) | 2008-02-07 |
JPWO2006041050A1 (ja) | 2008-05-15 |
EP1803404B1 (en) | 2014-02-26 |
EP1803404A1 (en) | 2007-07-04 |
CN101912275B (zh) | 2013-02-06 |
EP1803404A4 (en) | 2010-01-13 |
CN101912275A (zh) | 2010-12-15 |
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