JP2003169804A - Ultrasound diagnostic device tip - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To not only prevent the balloon from inflating to the back side in the ultrasonic scanning direction, but also to shorten the length of the rigid portion at the distal end of the insertion portion and reduce the pain of the patient undergoing the examination. To provide a tip portion of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is excellent in safety. A balloon 5 is fixed to an outer peripheral portion of a distal end 4 of an insertion portion at a position rearward of an ultrasonic probe 4a at a position behind the ultrasonic probe 4a, and the balloon 5 is fixed to a distal end 4 of the insertion portion at a position forward of the ultrasonic probe 4a. And an engaging groove 8 is formed in the surface of the insertion portion tip 4 on the back side in the scanning direction.
An engagement protrusion 5 a that can be locked and released from the engagement groove 8 is fixedly provided on the inner wall surface of the balloon 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distal end portion of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which an ultrasonic probe for obtaining an ultrasonic tomographic image in a body cavity is arranged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is used to obtain an ultrasonic tomographic image in a body cavity, it is generally necessary to provide an interval of at least about 2 to 3 cm between the ultrasonic probe and the subject.

Further, since ultrasonic waves have a characteristic that they are easily transmitted in a liquid but difficult in the air, a liquid such as deaerated water having good ultrasonic transmission properties is provided in the space between the ultrasonic probe and the subject. Need to be filled.

Therefore, in general, a sack-shaped balloon which is expandable and contractable is detachably arranged so as to surround the ultrasonic probe arranged at the tip of the insertion part, and both front and rear ends thereof are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the insertion part and removed. It has a structure that inflates the balloon by sending in water and water.

Further, as a further advanced apparatus, for example, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-293105, a bulge regulating member for regulating the balloon so as not to bulge to the back side in the ultrasonic scanning direction is arranged. Swells efficiently in the ultrasonic scanning direction.

[0006]

However, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-2.
In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 93105 or the like, since the balloon is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the insertion portion at both front and rear positions of the ultrasonic probe, the length of the hard portion of the tip of the insertion portion becomes long. Therefore, it may cause great pain to the patient who inserts the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

Therefore, the present invention not only prevents the balloon from inflating to the back side in the ultrasonic scanning direction, but also shortens the length of the hard portion at the tip of the insertion portion to reduce the pain of the patient to be examined, Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tip portion of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is excellent in safety.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in the distal end portion of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, an ultrasonic probe whose scanning direction is the side of the distal end of the insertion portion is provided on the side surface of the distal end of the insertion portion. While arranged, a sack-shaped balloon made of an elastic thin film member is attached to the distal end portion of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is detachably attached to the distal end of the insertion portion so that it can be expanded and contracted while surrounding the distal end of the insertion portion. The vicinity of the end opening of the balloon is fixed to the outer periphery of the tip of the insertion part at a position posterior to the ultrasonic probe, and the balloon is not fixed to the tip of the insertion part at a position ahead of the ultrasonic probe. An engagement groove is formed on the surface on the back side in the scanning direction, and an engagement protrusion that can be locked and released from the engagement groove is fixedly provided on the inner wall surface of the balloon.

The engaging projections may be made of an elastic material, or the engaging projections may be made of a material similar to that of the balloon. Further, the engagement protrusion may be formed in an elongated rod shape.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a side view of an ultrasonic endoscope which is an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and shows an optical system in which an objective optical system or the like is built in at the tip of a flexible insertion part 2 connected to the lower end of the operation part 1. The observation objective section 3 and the ultrasonic scanning section 4 in which the ultrasonic probe 4a is arranged are provided side by side to form a distal end hard section.

A solid-state image pickup device is arranged at the projection position of the object by the objective optical system in the optical observation objective unit 3, and an image pickup signal is sent from the solid-state image pickup device. However, the observation image may be transmitted by the image guide fiber bundle.

The ultrasonic probe 4a is adjacent to the front side of the optical observation objective unit 3 so as to ultrasonically scan the lateral side of the tip of the insertion unit 2 and has an arc shape on the side surface of the most distal end of the insertion unit 2. It is located in.

An inflatable and deflatable balloon 5 is detachably attached so as to surround the ultrasonic scanning section 4. In addition, in FIG. 3, a state in which the balloon 5 is inflated is illustrated by a two-dot chain line.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the balloon 5, and FIG. 5 is a front cross-sectional view of the balloon 5 taken along a cross section perpendicular to the axis in the middle portion. The balloon 5 is a thin elastic film made of, for example, silicon rubber. It is formed in a sack shape by members and the like.

The inner wall surface of the balloon 5 is made of the same silicone rubber material as that of the balloon 5 so that it can be engaged with and disengaged from an engagement groove 8 formed in the ultrasonic scanning section 4 which will be described later. Engagement protrusion 5 formed in an elongated cylindrical shape
a is bonded and fixed in a direction parallel to the axis to be integrated with the balloon 5.

FIG. 2 shows the ultrasonic scanning unit 4 in a state where the balloon 5 is not inflated, and the vicinity of the end opening of the balloon 5 is near the rear end of the ultrasonic scanning unit 4 (hence, the ultrasonic probe 4a). Circumferential groove 6 formed on the outer peripheral surface (to the rear)
In addition, it is fastened and fixed from the outer surface side by an elastic O-ring 7 or the like. However, the O-ring 7 may be formed integrally with the open end of the balloon 5. Reference numeral 10 is a water passage for letting degassed water into and out of the balloon 5.

A linear engagement groove 8 is formed in the front-rear direction on the outer wall surface of the ultrasonic scanning portion 4 which is the rear surface position in the ultrasonic scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe 4a. As shown in FIG. 1 showing the II cross section in FIG. 2, the sectional shape of the engaging groove 8 is a circular shape into which the engaging protrusion 5a is fitted almost exactly, and the width of the opening is narrower than the diameter. The engagement protrusion 5a can be elastically deformed and locked in the engagement groove 8.

Then, by sending degassed water or the like into the balloon 5 from the water passage port 10 in that state, as shown in FIGS.
As shown in, the balloon 5 can be inflated in the ultrasonic scanning direction by the ultrasonic probe 4a.

In this state, the engagement projection 5a is elastically tightly fitted into the engagement groove 8, so that the balloon 5
Is firmly fixed to the ultrasonic scanning unit 4 on the back side in the scanning direction without being disengaged from the engagement groove 8 and does not swell in that direction.

Therefore, it is not necessary to fix the balloon 5 at the position on the distal end side of the ultrasonic scanning unit 4, and the length of the ultrasonic scanning unit 4 can be shortened by that much, and the patient undergoing the examination suffers. Can be made smaller.

Further, even if the engaging projection 5a is disengaged from the engaging groove 8 in the body or the fixation between the engaging projection 5a and the balloon 5 is broken, the engaging projection 5a does not fall out of the balloon 5. It is also excellent in safety. When detaching the balloon 5 from the ultrasonic scanning unit 4, the engagement protrusions 5a and the O
The rings 7 may be elastically deformed and removed from the engagement groove 8 and the circumferential groove 6.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the balloon 5 and the engaging projection 5a may not necessarily be made of the same material. If the engaging projection 5a has elasticity, it can be relatively easily engaged with and disengaged from the engaging groove 8.

Further, the engaging projections 5a and the engaging grooves 8 may have a shape other than a straight shape, for example, a T shape, and the present invention is not limited to the above. It can also be adopted in the department.

[0024]

According to the present invention, the engaging groove is formed on the rear surface of the tip of the insertion portion in the ultrasonic scanning direction, and the engaging projection which can be locked and released with respect to the engaging groove is provided. Since it is fixedly provided on the inner wall surface of the balloon, the balloon does not bulge to the back side in the ultrasonic scanning direction effectively in the ultrasonic scanning direction, but the length of the hard part at the tip of the insertion part is shortened for inspection. It is possible to reduce the pain of the patient who receives it, and moreover, it is excellent in terms of safety because it does not drop out from the inside of the balloon even if the engaging projection is disengaged from the groove in the body or disengaged from the balloon.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I in FIG. 2 in a state where the engagement protrusion is fitted in the engagement groove.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention,
It is a side surface partial sectional view of a state where an engaging projection was fitted in an engaging groove.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing an overall configuration of an ultrasonic endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a balloon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front sectional view of a balloon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention in a state where the balloon at the distal end portion is inflated.

FIG. 7 is a schematic front sectional view of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention in a state where the balloon at the distal end portion is inflated.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Insert 3 Optical observation objective 4 Ultrasonic scanning section (tip of insertion section) 4a Ultrasonic probe 5 balloons 5a Engagement protrusion 6 circumferential groove 7 O-ring 8 engaging groove

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kenichi Ohara             2-36 Maeno-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Asahikou             Gaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 4C301 EE13 EE19 FF04 FF15 GA01                 4C601 EE11 EE16 FE01 GA01 GC13                       GC17

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic probe having a side of the tip of the insertion section as a scanning direction is arranged on a side surface of the tip of the insertion section, and
A sack-shaped balloon made of an elastic thin film member,
In a distal end portion of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is detachably attached to the distal end of the insertion portion while being surrounded by the distal end of the insertion portion, the vicinity of an end opening of the balloon is located at a position rearward of the ultrasonic probe. The balloon is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the tip of the insertion section so that the balloon is not fixed to the tip of the insertion section at a position ahead of the ultrasonic probe, and the balloon is attached to the surface of the back side of the insertion section tip in the scanning direction. A distal end portion of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, characterized in that a mating groove is formed, and an engaging projection that can be locked and released from the engaging groove is fixedly provided on an inner wall surface of the balloon. 2. The distal end portion of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engagement protrusion is formed of a member having elasticity. 3. The distal end portion of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the engagement protrusion is formed of a material similar to that of the balloon. 4. The distal end portion of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engaging protrusion is formed in an elongated rod shape.