CN1209075C - Invasive Photoacoustic Sensing Device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an invasive photoacoustic sensing device which is inserted in a blood vessel and simultaneously acquires physiological information such as a blood vessel wall tissue section image, a blood vessel blood flow numerical value and the like by utilizing an ultrasonic array sensor and a laser light source sensor of a laser Doppler system. The ultrasonic array sensor transmits and receives ultrasonic signals by a plurality of sensing units; the matching units are fixedly arranged on the peripheries of the sensing units; an absorption unit is fixedly arranged on the inner periphery of the plurality of sensing units; and a plurality of signal line groups are used for transmitting sensing signals generated by a plurality of sensing units receiving ultrasonic signals, and the plurality of signal line groups are buried on the absorption units.

Description

Invasive Photoacoustic Sensing Device

technical field

The invention relates to an invasive photoacoustic sensing device, in particular to a miniature photoacoustic sensing device in a cardiovascular system suitable for cardiac catheterization.

Background technique

Press, when performing coronary artery hypertrophy, arterial embolism, balloon dilatation and other cardiac catheterization operations, physicians must obtain physiological information such as cross-sectional images of blood vessel wall tissue and intravascular blood flow values to facilitate the operation.

The traditional method is to use an invasive catheter ultrasound system (Intravascular Ultrasound System, IVUS), which can only scan the cross-sectional image of the blood vessel wall tissue or measure the blood flow velocity alone, and cannot perform the above two functions at the same time. This makes it impossible for physicians to obtain timely and sufficient information during the operation, and even requires frequent replacement of catheters with different functions, causing pain to patients and increasing the failure rate of operations.

Another approach is to use the Laser Doppler blood flow meter system (Laser Doppler bloodflow meter), which measures the blood flow velocity of the microvessels on the surface of the body from the outside, but for deeper blood vessels in the body and tissues around the heart, laser Measurements cannot be performed on parts that cannot penetrate and reach, and this method cannot present cross-sectional images of blood vessel tissue.

Because of this, the inventor, based on the spirit of active invention, desperately thought of an "invasive photoacoustic sensing device" that can solve the above problems, and after several researches and experiments, he finally completed this wonderful invention.

Contents of the invention

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide an invasive photoacoustic sensing device, so as to simultaneously obtain physiological information such as cross-sectional images of blood vessel wall tissue and blood flow values in blood vessels, without repeated replacement of catheters with different functions.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an invasive photoacoustic sensing device, so as to determine the position of blood vessel embolism according to the change of blood flow value, so as to indirectly reduce the exposure amount of X-rays for positioning. In order to achieve the above purpose, an invasive photoacoustic sensing device of the present invention is inserted inside a blood vessel and cooperates with a laser signal source. It is characterized in that the photoacoustic sensing device mainly includes:

A plurality of sensing units are used to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals;

A plurality of matching units are fixed on the periphery of the plurality of sensing units to match the impedance difference between the plurality of sensing units and the human body;

An absorption unit is fixed on the inner periphery of the plurality of sensing units to absorb the scattering noise generated by the plurality of sensing units, and the interior of the absorption unit is hollow;

A plurality of signal line groups transmits sensing signals generated by the plurality of sensing units transmitting and receiving the ultrasonic signals, and the plurality of signal line groups are assembled in the absorbing unit; and

An optical signal sensing unit is located inside the absorbing unit, and the optical signal sensing device includes a plurality of optical fibers;

The blood vessel photoacoustic sensing device further includes a catheter and a packaging body, one end of the catheter is sheathed on the periphery of the plurality of sensing units, and the packaging body is installed at one end of the catheter;

Wherein, the laser signal source is sent to the blood vessel through at least one optical fiber as an optical fiber for emitting optical signals, and other plural optical fibers are used as optical fibers for receiving optical signals to receive optical signals reflected by body fluids. The ultrasonic sensing device The light signal sensing device controls the sending and receiving sequence of the ultrasonic source and the light signal by a time sequence control method.

Wherein the number of other optical fibers for receiving optical signals is three to eight.

The acoustic impedance of the packaging body is between that of the human body and that of physiological saline, and has the characteristics of low ultrasonic attenuation coefficient and biocompatibility.

Wherein the package is made of polyurethane.

Wherein the head end of the package body is in the shape of a lens to increase the light-gathering effect of the emitted optical signal.

Wherein the plurality of matching units are sputtered or glued on the periphery of the plurality of sensing units.

Wherein the plurality of sensing units are made of piezoelectric ceramic material.

The main components of the absorption unit include: polymer material, resin, and metal powder.

The number of the plurality of sensing units is eight.

The acoustic impedance of the plurality of matching units is between the impedance of the human body and the plurality of sensing units, and has the characteristic of low ultrasonic attenuation coefficient.

Because the present invention has a novel structure, can provide industrial utilization, and has indeed enhanced effects, it applies for an invention patent according to law.

Description of drawings

The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described by taking the insertion into a blood vessel as an example. Please refer to the three-dimensional exploded view and three-dimensional view shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2, which mainly include: ultrasonic sensing unit 1, optical signal sensing unit 2, optical fiber 21, matching unit 3, absorbing unit 4, catheter 5, signal line 6 , Package 7.

The material of the above-mentioned ultrasonic sensing unit 1 is not limited, and it is preferably a piezoelectric ceramic material in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the optical signal sensing unit 2 preferably adopts a laser Doppler system, which has a laser light source (not shown) and nine optical fibers 21 . The material of the matching unit 3 is not limited, it is preferably a material with acoustic impedance, the acoustic impedance value of the acoustic impedance material is between the acoustic impedance value of the human body and the acoustic impedance value of the ultrasonic sensing unit 1, and has ultrasonic attenuation Materials with low coefficient properties. It is best to use polymer materials such as MetaCast 40l st (mainly composed of epoxy resin and silicic acid) or epoxy resin (Epoxy1365-25) from Mereco Technologies Group, together with aluminum oxide and tungsten oxide, etc. Mixture of powders. The material of the absorption unit 4 is not limited, and in this embodiment, it is preferably composed of polymer materials, resin, and metal powder. The packaging body 7 is the packaging material for the tip of the catheter 5, and its acoustic impedance value is between that of the human body and that of physiological saline, and has the characteristics of low ultrasonic attenuation coefficient and biocompatibility. The material of the package body 7 is not limited, and in this embodiment, it is preferably a polymer, most preferably polyurethane (PU).

In this example, there are eight ultrasonic sensing units 1, which are respectively inlaid on the periphery of the absorbing unit 4, and eight signal lines 6 are embedded between the eight ultrasonic sensing units 1 and the absorbing unit 4, and are connected with each ultrasonic sensing unit. A ground wire shared by the units 1 is used to transmit the signals generated by each ultrasonic sensing unit 1 after transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals to an external display device. The periphery of the eight ultrasonic sensing units 1 is also glued with eight matching units 3 with resin to form eight sets of ultrasonic array transducer modules, and a hollow catheter 5 is assembled or sheathed on the periphery of the ultrasonic array transducer modules , and encapsulate a transparent encapsulation body 7 at the tip of the catheter 5 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals to capture cross-sectional images of cardiovascular wall tissue.

Since the impedance difference between the human body impedance and the ultrasonic sensing unit 1 is quite large, the matching unit 3 is fixed by sputtering or gluing to reduce the difference between the ultrasonic sensing unit 1 and the human body impedance, and can smoothly transmit external ultrasonic signals to the ultrasonic sensing unit. Measuring unit 1. Certainly, the number of ultrasonic sensing units 1 is not limited, and in this example, eight ultrasonic sensing units 1 are used for illustration.

The absorption unit 4 is a hollow cylinder, which is mainly used to absorb the scattering noise generated after the ultrasonic sensing unit 1 transmits and receives the ultrasonic signal, that is, absorbs the noise generated after the ultrasonic sensing unit 1 transmits and receives the ultrasonic signal. shock. The optical signal sensing unit 2 is arranged in the hollow part of the absorption unit 4, and it has an optical fiber 21 as a transmission optical signal, and the optical fiber 21 is connected to an external laser light source, so that the external laser signal passes through the optical fiber 21 Through a lens-shaped packaging body 7, to achieve concentrating and then enter the blood vessel; the optical signal sensing unit 2 also includes eight optical fibers 21 for receiving the optical signals reflected by the body fluid in the blood vessel, and the eight optical fibers 21 It is connected to an external display device to display the flow rate of blood flow in the blood vessel.

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of the timing control method adopted in the present invention, t1 to t4 represent the timing of the four ultrasonic sensing units 1 transmitting and receiving, t5 represents the timing of the optical fiber 21 transmitting the optical fiber signal to the blood vessel, and t6 represents the remaining eight The optical fiber receives the timing of the light signal reflected back by the body fluid in the blood vessel. Wherein, the timing of each action is about 20 microseconds, the time interval after every two ultrasonic sensing units 1 are triggered is 5 microseconds, and the entire working cycle is about 150 microseconds. Because the timing control method is used to control the transmission and reception timing of each ultrasonic sensing unit 1 and the conductive optical fiber 21, and 5 microseconds are reserved after each ultrasonic sensing unit 1 is triggered, the vibration attenuation effect of the ultrasonic sensing unit 1 is greatly improved , so that the guiding fiber 21 is not disturbed by the scattering noise generated by the vibration.

As can be seen from the above description, the present invention integrates the ultrasonic array sensor and the laser light source sensor of the laser Doppler system into an invasive cardiac catheter, so as to simultaneously acquire the cross-sectional image of the vessel wall tissue and the blood in the vessel. Physiological information such as flow values, without repeated replacement of catheters with different functions. Moreover, the present invention can determine the position of blood vessel embolism through the change of blood flow value, so as to indirectly reduce the exposure amount of X-rays for positioning.

Claims (10)

1. An invasive photoacoustic sensing device, which is inserted inside a blood vessel and cooperates with a laser signal source, is characterized in that the photoacoustic sensing device mainly includes: A plurality of sensing units are used to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals; A plurality of matching units are fixed on the periphery of the plurality of sensing units to match the impedance difference between the plurality of sensing units and the human body; An absorption unit is fixed on the inner periphery of the plurality of sensing units to absorb the scattering noise generated by the plurality of sensing units, and the interior of the absorption unit is hollow; A plurality of signal line groups transmits sensing signals generated by the plurality of sensing units transmitting and receiving the ultrasonic signals, and the plurality of signal line groups are assembled in the absorbing unit; and An optical signal sensing unit is located inside the absorbing unit, and the optical signal sensing device includes a plurality of optical fibers; The blood vessel photoacoustic sensing device further includes a catheter and a packaging body, one end of the catheter is sheathed on the periphery of the plurality of sensing units, and the packaging body is installed at one end of the catheter; Wherein, the laser signal source is sent to the blood vessel through at least one optical fiber as an optical fiber for emitting optical signals, and other plural optical fibers are used as optical fibers for receiving optical signals to receive optical signals reflected by body fluids. The ultrasonic sensing device The light signal sensing device controls the sending and receiving sequence of the ultrasonic source and the light signal by a time sequence control method. 2 . The invasive photoacoustic sensing device according to claim 1 , wherein the number of other optical fibers for receiving optical signals is three to eight. 3. The invasive photoacoustic sensing device according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic impedance of the packaging body is between that of the human body and that of physiological saline, and has a low ultrasonic attenuation coefficient and has a biological phase. characteristics of content. 4. The invasive photoacoustic sensing device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the package is made of polyurethane. 5 . The invasive photoacoustic sensing device as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the head end of the package body is in the shape of a lens, so as to increase the light-gathering effect of the emitted optical signal. 6 . The invasive photoacoustic sensing device according to claim 3 , wherein the plurality of matching units are sputtered or glued on the periphery of the plurality of sensing units. 7. The invasive photoacoustic sensing device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensing units are made of piezoelectric ceramic material. 8 . The invasive photoacoustic sensing device according to claim 1 , wherein the main components of the absorption unit include: polymer material, resin, and metal powder. 9. The invasive photoacoustic sensing device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensing units is eight in number. 10. The invasive photoacoustic sensing device according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic impedance of the plurality of matching units is between the impedance of the human body and the plurality of sensing units, and has ultrasonic attenuation Features with low coefficients.

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