JP4697375B2 - Ultrasound scanner for breast examination - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic inspection scanning device used in breast cancer screening, and more particularly to an ultrasonic scanning device for breast inspection that enables automatic scanning of all breasts on both sides.
[0002]
[Prior art]
With the rapid increase in breast cancer patients in recent years, breast cancer screening using image diagnosis is becoming widespread. Conventionally, breast cancer image screening has been performed in Europe and the United States using mammography (a dedicated breast X-ray apparatus).
[0003]
However, the disadvantages of the above-described mammography image screening include difficulty in detecting abnormal shadows in small breasts and breasts with less fat and developing mammary glands, as well as difficulties in imaging and interpretation techniques. These drawbacks are particularly serious in Japan where breast cancer develops in a younger age group in the 40s compared to Europe and America. In recent years, the importance of ultrasonic examination has been recognized as an examination method to compensate for such drawbacks, and it is predicted that ultrasound examination will be introduced to breast cancer examination not only in Japan but also in the US and Europe in the near future.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Currently, ultrasound examination (breast scan) in breast cancer screening is performed manually by doctors or technicians using their own methods, but there are the following problems.
[0005]
Hereinafter, problems will be described while showing a conventional inspection method.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, first, the subject C is placed in a supine position on the examination bed. If this is the case, the breast B hangs down on both sides and cannot be examined. For this reason, a towel T or the like is placed on the back of the examination side, the subject's posture is slightly oblique, the right upper limb is appropriately abducted, and the right breast is fixed on the chest wall (hereinafter referred to as sitting down). Put it in a state. That is, in order to facilitate the scanning of the breast B with the ultrasonic probe, it is necessary to tilt the breast B to the front chest wall while tilting the body position of the subject laterally. Therefore, this method has a problem that only one breast can be scanned.
[0006]
Next, a test jelly is applied to the breast of the subject so that air does not enter between the ultrasound probe (hereinafter referred to as a probe) and the breast skin and the probe can be operated smoothly. The examiner sits on the subject's right side, operates the ultrasound system with his left hand, grasps the probe with his right hand, scans the entire breast without undue movement, and observes it with a monitor image that shows the inside of the breast . When the scan of the right breast is completed, the subject is tilted so that the left breast of the subject becomes higher, and the same operation as the right is performed. The method of moving the probe varies depending on the examiner and the facility, and there is no standard. When the examiner finds an abnormality, the probe is carefully moved at that site, and the image judged to be most appropriate on the monitor is recorded as a still image. Depending on the facility, the moving image of that part is recorded in a video. Then, the approximate position is marked on the part display on the monitor. However, there are problems such as oversight due to differences in the skill of the examiner, a decrease in reproducibility of the inspection site by a different scanning method for each examiner, and a decrease in reproducibility of the inspection site due to a rough display on the monitor.
[0007]
That is, the above conventional methods have problems as listed below, and need to be solved in terms of efficiency and stabilization of breast scanning, accuracy management of screening, and cost-effectiveness ratio.
(1) The length and complexity of the examination time due to the subject changing the left and right positions.
(2) The reliability of the image data decreases due to the difference in the skill of the examiner.
(3) Decrease in reproducibility of examination site due to difference in scanning method for each examiner.
(4) Decrease in the reproducibility of the examination site due to the rough site display on the monitor.
Therefore, the present invention enables constant scanning of both breasts at a time, can greatly shorten the examination time, and can improve the reliability of the image data and the reproducibility of the examination site, resulting in high It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic scanning apparatus for breast examination that can obtain a cost-effective ratio.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, an ultrasonic scanning apparatus for breast examination according to the present invention is capable of holding a breast of a subject fixed on the anterior chest wall (sedated), and rotating to the breast fixing apparatus. And a probe support to which the ultrasonic probe can be fixed, and the probe support is rotated so that the ultrasonic probe scans along the breast. .
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a partial front view of a breast fixing device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the entire configuration of the breast fixing device, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the breast fixing device is mounted on a subject. 4 is a perspective view showing a probe support according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a state where an ultrasonic probe is attached to the probe support, and FIG. 6 is a partial cross-section showing the probe support. FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part showing a probe support driving mechanism, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are explanatory views showing a conventional inspection method.
[0010]
【Example】
The breast examination scanning device according to the present invention is generally composed of a breast fixing device 1 and a probe support 2 for fixing the ultrasonic probe 3.
[0011]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the breast fixing device 2 is applied to the chest wall of the subject C from the back of the subject C, and a compression chest band 4 that fixes the fixing device 1 firmly to the chest, and an annular breast. It consists of two components of the fitting part 5. The compression chest band 4 is prepared in three sizes of large, medium and small according to the body shape of the subject C. The compression chest band 4 is mainly made of a stretchable cloth, and the breast fitting portion 5 is made of a light metal such as aluminum. It is preferable that the compression chest band 4 and the breast fitting part 5 and the left and right breast fitting parts 5 can be easily detached from each other. A groove 6 in which a rotating wheel 9 of the probe support 2 to be described later is mounted is provided at the innermost side of the breast fitting portion 5, and a ball bearing 7 is attached to the inside, and an outer lower side of the breast fitting portion 5. In addition, a driving device (motor 8, rotating wheel 17, etc.) for rotating the probe support 2 is incorporated.
[0012]
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the probe support 2 is provided with a rotating wheel 9 that can be fitted to the breast fitting portion 5 of the breast fixing device 2 and a center of the rotating wheel 9. The strut 10 is provided with a cord entanglement prevention mechanism 11 of the ultrasonic probe 3. The probe support 2 is also made of a light metal such as aluminum for the purpose of reducing the weight load on the breast in the same manner as the breast fitting portion 5.
[0013]
Further, the probe support 2 is provided with a mountain-shaped bridge plate 12 over the diameter of the rotating wheel 9, and a probe mounting port 13 for mounting the ultrasonic probe 3 is opened on the bridge plate 12. Yes. The probe mounting port 13 is a rectangular opening 13 that can be loaded with an ultrasonic probe 3 having a maximum length of 8 cm. This opening 13 is basically filled with all the high frequency ultrasonic probes of the world's major manufacturers. The size is fixed. A probe holding plate 14 having three fixing screws 15 is provided in the opening 13, and the ultrasonic probe 3 can be fixed by the probe holding plate 14.
[0014]
The top portion of the bridge plate 12 (the portion corresponding to the nipple position of the subject) is recessed so that the subject's nipple is not damaged, and the column 10 is erected from here. An annular recess is provided in the middle of the column 10, and the cord entanglement preventing mechanism 11 is rotatably fitted therein. The entanglement prevention mechanism 11 is composed of two circular rings, one of which is a locking ring 11 a for stopping the cord of the ultrasonic probe 3 and the other is an attachment ring 11 b to the support column 10.
[0015]
The rotating wheel 9 is loaded so as to enter the ring-shaped groove 6 of the breast fitting portion 5. As shown in FIG. 7, a rubber belt 16 having a high friction coefficient is attached to the outer periphery of the rotating wheel 9, and is rotated by contacting with a rotating tire 17 connected to a motor 8 built in the breast fixing appliance 2 side.
[0016]
Next, a method for using the device of the present invention will be described.
First, the subject C takes a posture in which the compression chest 4 placed on the bed is on the back side, the head is placed on the pillow, is in the supine position, and the upper limb is abducted about 120 degrees. Next, the compression chest band 4 is finely adjusted in the left-right direction, and tightened so that fat or a part of the breast that has fallen on the side chest wall from the outer lower side is put into the ring of the breast fitting portion 5. The left and right breast fitting portions 5 are fastened at the midline so that the entire breast is almost in the ring. Finally, the entire breast is manually placed so that the breast is centered in the breast fitting portion 5. In this state, the probe support 2 is rotated and ultrasonic waves are rotated by attaching the rotating ring 9 of the probe support 2 to which the ultrasonic probe 3 is fixed to the ring-shaped groove 6 of the breast fitting portion 5 and performing a scanning operation. The probe 3 automatically scans along the breast.
[0017]
In the apparatus of the present invention, in breast cancer screening by ultrasonic examination, since the breast can be firmly fixed on the anterior chest wall in the supine position, automatic scanning can be facilitated. Stable and quick scanning operation and reproducibility can be improved. For example, assuming that the rotation speed is approximately 15 seconds / rotation, the scanning is completed in 15 seconds if the breasts on both sides are scanned simultaneously. Even if it is performed on each side, the time required for scanning only is 30 seconds on both sides, and even if the operation time for fixing the position is added, it is 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds. Furthermore, by turning the rotation direction clockwise, the site of the lesion is determined by two factors, the rotation angle from the origin and the distance (in mm) from the nipple center, and the reproducibility of the image data Accurate and easy to secure. The angle is obtained by transferring the information of the rotation recognition sensor installed on the connection support portion to the image data, and the distance from the nipple is easily selected on the monitor image data. That is, the apparatus of the present invention can be directly connected to a computer and can be connected to an interpretation report system or a computer-aided diagnosis apparatus.
[0018]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, in order to prevent the left and right breasts from drooping outward, the left and right breasts can be placed on the chest wall at the same time by taking the posture of supine upper abduction dislocation separately. Made possible. Thereby, it is possible to easily perform the rotary automatic scanning by the ultrasonic apparatus. That is, the present invention enables a constant scan of both breasts at the same time, greatly shortening the examination time, improving the reliability of the image data and improving the reproducibility of the examination site, resulting in a high cost. There is an excellent effect that an effect ratio can be obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partial front view of a breast fixing device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a breast fixing device.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a breast fixing device is attached to a subject.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a probe support according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a state in which an ultrasonic probe is attached to a probe support.
FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing a probe support.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part showing a drive mechanism of the probe support.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a conventional inspection method.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a conventional inspection method.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Breast fixing equipment 2 Probe support body 3 Ultrasonic probe 4 Compression chest band 5 Breast fitting part 6 Ring-shaped groove 7 Ball bearing 8 Motor 9 Rotating wheel 10 Prop support column 11 Cord entanglement prevention mechanism 11a Cord locking Ring 11b Strut mounting ring 12 Bridge plate 13 Probe mounting port 14 Probe clamping plate 15 Fixing screw 16 Rubber belt 17 Rotating tire

Claims (1)

A breast fixing device that can hold the subject's breast on the anterior chest wall (sedated), and a probe support that is pivotally attached to the breast fixing device and to which an ultrasonic probe can be fixed An ultrasonic scanning apparatus for breast examination, characterized in that the probe support rotates so that the ultrasonic probe scans along the breast.

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