Ultrasonic treatment head assembly

Abstract

The present invention provides an ultrasonic treatment head assembly, belonging to the field of medical technology, which can at least partially solve the problem that the existing ultrasonic treatment head assembly affects the treatment effect due to the acoustic waveguide film covering the fluid filling medium. An ultrasonic treatment head assembly of the present invention includes: an ultrasonic transducer, the emission surface thereof for emitting ultrasonic waves is a concave spherical crown surface; a solid medium for conducting ultrasonic waves, which is filled in the concave spherical crown surface and at least covers the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer, and one side of the solid medium away from the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer is an end surface, and the end surface is a plane or a convex arc surface.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of medical technology, and particularly relates to an ultrasonic treatment head assembly. Background Art

[0002] Since the ultrasonic treatment technology has good effects on the treatment of tumors or other serious diseases, the ultrasonic treatment technology has attracted people's attention, making the development of the ultrasonic treatment technology faster and faster, and its application fields are also expanding day by day.

[0003] As the core component of the ultrasonic treatment technology, the ultrasonic treatment head plays a crucial role in the treatment effect. At present, various ultrasonic treatment heads with different principles and different technical combinations have emerged, such as planar sound field ultrasonic treatment heads, focused sound field ultrasonic treatment heads, multi-frequency ultrasonic treatment heads, etc. Among them, the treatment using a focused sound field ultrasonic treatment head has its unique advantages in tumor treatment and is considered to be one of the most promising methods for treating tumors.

[0004] In the prior art, the focused sound field ultrasonic treatment head is mainly composed of an ultrasonic transducer and a B-ultrasound probe. In order to generate focused ultrasound, the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer of the focused sound field ultrasonic treatment head is generally concave. However, the ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonic transducer cannot pass through the air during the process of being emitted to the human tissue, otherwise reflection or refraction will occur at the interface of the air, thus affecting the propagation of the ultrasonic waves. However, it is difficult for the concave surface of the ultrasonic transducer to fit closely with the human skin. In order to ensure that there is no air between the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer and the human skin, a filling medium is generally arranged on the concave surface of the ultrasonic transducer, so that the end surface of the filling medium (i.e., the surface in contact with the human skin during treatment) can fit closely with the human skin.

[0005] Most of the existing filling media are made of liquid media with good fluidity (such as degassed water) or gel materials in a semi-solid state. These filling media need to be coated and fixed with a layer of sound guiding film to ensure that the position or shape of these filling media will not change during the treatment process and affect the treatment effect. However, since the acoustic characteristics of the sound guiding film are different from those of the filling medium and the human body respectively, and the ultrasonic waves formed by the ultrasonic transducer must pass through the sound guiding film to be conducted to the human tissue, the sound guiding film will have a great impact on the sound field entering the human tissue. For example, ultrasonic energy reflects and scatters on the surface of the sound guiding film, thus affecting the smooth entry of ultrasonic waves into the tissue.

[0006] At the same time, in order to ensure the treatment effect, the end surface of the filling medium and the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe must be on the same plane. However, it is difficult for the surface of the liquid medium coated with the sound guiding film to be on the same plane as the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe, which requires the sound guiding film to cover the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe as well. This will result in poor quality of the B-ultrasound image detected by the B-ultrasound probe and even the appearance of artifacts and other phenomena.

[0007] In addition, the sealing requirements for the liquid filling medium are relatively high, which increases the manufacturing process difficulty and cost of the focused sound field ultrasonic treatment head. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The present invention at least partially solves the problem that the existing ultrasonic treatment head assembly affects the treatment effect due to the sound guiding film covering the liquid filling medium, and provides an ultrasonic treatment head assembly with optimized treatment effect and simple manufacturing process.

[0009] The technical solution adopted to solve the technical problems of the present invention is an ultrasonic treatment head assembly, including:

[0010] An ultrasonic transducer, the emission surface thereof for emitting ultrasonic waves is a concave spherical crown surface;

[0011] A solid medium for conducting the ultrasonic waves, which is filled in the concave spherical crown surface and at least covers the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer. One side of the solid medium away from the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer is an end face, and the end face is a plane or a convex arc surface.

[0012] Further preferably, the convex arc surface is a convex spherical crown surface.

[0013] Further preferably, mounting holes are provided on the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer; a first channel communicating with the mounting holes and extending to the end face is provided in the solid medium, and the first channel is used for arranging a B-ultrasound probe.

[0014] Further preferably, the ultrasonic treatment head assembly further includes: a B-ultrasound probe, which is installed in the mounting holes and the first channel, and the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe and the end face of the solid medium form a smooth surface.

[0015] Further preferably, the first channel extends along the height axis of the concave spherical crown surface.

[0016] Further preferably, the ultrasonic treatment head assembly further includes: a mounting member provided in the first channel, the outer side surface of which is in contact with the solid medium, and the inside thereof includes a second channel communicating with the mounting holes. The B-ultrasound probe is used to be arranged in the second channel, and the mounting member is made of a sound-absorbing material.

[0017] Further preferably, the outer side surface of the mounting member and the concave spherical crown surface form a smooth curved surface.

[0018] Further preferably, the smooth curved surface is a quadratic curved surface.

[0019] Further preferably, the difference in acoustic impedance between the mounting member and the solid medium is 10%-15%.

[0020] Further preferably, the solid medium is composed of one material.

[0021] Further preferably, the solid medium is composed of a modified silica gel material.

[0022] Further preferably, the difference in acoustic impedance between the solid medium and the human tissue is 10%-15%.

[0023] Further preferably, the diameter of the opening of the concave spherical crown surface is 20 mm to 300 mm.

[0024] Further preferably, the frequency of the ultrasonic wave emitted by the transducer is 100 kHz to 10 MHz.

[0025] In the ultrasonic treatment head assembly of the present invention, the solid medium can be disposed on the concave spherical crown surface of the ultrasonic transducer. Due to the solid characteristics of the solid medium, there is no need to provide an acoustic guiding film (such as the acoustic guiding film used to coat the liquid filling medium in the prior art). In this way, the medium that the ultrasonic wave of the ultrasonic transducer needs to pass through to enter the human tissue can be reduced, thereby reducing the reflection and scattering of the ultrasonic wave on the acoustic guiding film, and further ensuring the intensity of the sound field generated by the ultrasonic transducer and improving the treatment effect.

[0026] In addition, the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe located in the mounting hole of the ultrasonic transducer is not coated with other materials (such as the acoustic guiding film used to coat the liquid filling medium in the prior art), so that the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe can be directly in contact with the human skin, thereby improving the image quality generated by the B-ultrasound and avoiding phenomena such as artifacts, and further improving the treatment effect. Description of the Drawings

[0027] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasonic treatment head assembly without a B-ultrasound probe according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 It is a schematic block diagram of the composition of an ultrasonic treatment head assembly with a B-ultrasound probe installed according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Wherein, the reference numerals are: 10 ultrasonic transducer; 11 mounting hole; 20 solid medium; 21 end face; 30 mounting member; 31 second channel; 40 B-ultrasound probe. Detailed Embodiments

[0030] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and specific embodiments.

[0031] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the various drawings, like elements are denoted by like reference numerals. For the sake of clarity, the various parts in the drawings are not drawn to scale. In addition, some well-known parts may not be shown in the figures.

[0032] Many specific details of the present invention are described below, such as the structure, materials, dimensions, processing techniques and technologies of components, in order to understand the present invention more clearly. However, as those skilled in the art can understand, the present invention can be implemented without these specific details.

[0033] Embodiment 1:

[0034] As Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown, this embodiment provides an ultrasonic treatment head assembly, including:

[0035] An ultrasonic transducer 10, the emission surface thereof for emitting ultrasonic waves is a concave spherical crown surface;

[0036] A solid medium 20 for conducting ultrasonic waves, which is filled in the concave spherical crown surface and at least covers the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer 10. One side of the solid medium 20 away from the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer 10 is an end face 21, and the end face 21 is a plane or a convex arc surface (such as a convex spherical crown surface).

[0037] Among them, the ultrasonic transducer 10 with a concave spherical crown surface as the emission surface is generally used to generate a focused ultrasonic treatment sound field. The concave spherical crown surface refers to the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer 10 that emits ultrasonic waves towards the inner side of the spherical surface where the concave spherical crown surface is located, and the emitted ultrasonic waves are focused on the center of the sphere. The ultrasonic transducer 10 of this embodiment can be a self-focusing concave spherical transducer made of piezoelectric ceramics, or a focusing transducer composed of a focusing lens and a piezoelectric ceramic sheet, or a phased focusing transducer composed of multiple point vibration elements.

[0038] Among them, if the fit between the concave spherical crown surface and the human skin is not good, it is easy for air to enter between the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the human skin. Due to the refraction or reflection of ultrasonic waves by air, it has an adverse effect on the treatment effect. Therefore, it is necessary to fill the concave spherical crown surface with the solid medium 20 so that the solid medium 20 is in close contact with the human skin, thereby avoiding the adverse effect on the treatment effect caused by the presence of air between the solid medium 20 and the human skin.

[0039] In the ultrasonic treatment head assembly of the present invention, due to the solid state characteristics of the solid medium 20, there is no need to provide an acoustic transmission film (such as the acoustic transmission film used to cover the liquid filling medium in the prior art). This can reduce the medium that the ultrasonic waves of the ultrasonic transducer 10 need to pass through to enter the human tissue, thereby reducing the reflection and scattering generated during the entry of the ultrasonic waves into the human body, and further ensuring the intensity of the sound field generated by the ultrasonic transducer 10 and improving the treatment effect.

[0040] In addition, compared with the flowing medium in the prior art, since the flowing medium has higher requirements for sealing, the manufacturing process of the ultrasonic treatment head assembly in this embodiment is simplified, and the manufacturing cost is reduced at the same time.

[0041] Preferably, an installation hole 11 is provided on the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer 10; a first channel communicating with the installation hole 11 and extending to the end face 21 is provided in the solid medium 20, and the first channel is used to arrange the B-ultrasound probe 40.

[0042] Among them, the installation hole 11 can be provided at the middle position of the ultrasonic transducer 10. The B-ultrasound probe 40 can pass through the installation hole 11 and the first channel and be combined with the ultrasonic transducer 10. When the ultrasonic transducer 10 emits ultrasonic waves to treat human tissue, the B-ultrasound probe 40 can form an image of the treated part, so that the ultrasonic transducer 10 can quickly and accurately find the part to be treated, and at the same time, medical staff can also know the current treatment situation in a timely manner.

[0043] Preferably, the ultrasonic treatment head assembly further includes: a B-ultrasound probe 40, which is installed in the installation hole 11 and the first channel, and the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe 40 and the end face 21 of the solid medium 20 form a smooth surface.

[0044] Among them, the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe 40 and the end face 21 of the solid medium 20 are the surfaces of the ultrasonic treatment head assembly that directly contact the human skin. The emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe 40 and the end face 21 of the solid medium 20 form a smooth surface mainly to avoid generating a gap between the contact surface of the ultrasonic treatment head assembly and the human skin, thereby avoiding the refraction or reflection of the ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonic transducer 10 by the air in the gap to ensure the treatment effect of the ultrasonic treatment head assembly.

[0045] Preferably, the first channel extends along the height axis of the concave spherical crown surface.

[0046] Among them, that is to say, the B-ultrasound probe 40 is also arranged along the height axis of the concave spherical crown surface, which is beneficial to the focusing of the ultrasonic waves of the ultrasonic transducer 10.

[0047] Preferably, the ultrasonic treatment head assembly further includes: a mounting member 30 disposed in the first channel, whose outer side contacts the solid medium 20, and whose interior includes a second channel 31 communicating with the mounting hole 11. The B-ultrasound probe 40 is adapted to be disposed in the second channel 31, and the mounting member 30 is made of a sound-absorbing material.

[0048] That is to say, the B-ultrasound probe 40 is mounted on the concave spherical crown surface of the ultrasonic transducer 10 through the mounting member 30. At the same time, the entire side surface of the B-ultrasound probe 40 is covered by the mounting member 30, so that the sound field generated by the ultrasonic transducer 10 can be separated from the sound field generated by the B-ultrasound probe 40.

[0049] When the ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonic transducer 10 or the ultrasonic waves generated by the B-ultrasound probe 40 propagate to the mounting member 30, since the mounting member 30 is made of a sound-absorbing material, the mounting member 30 will absorb the ultrasonic waves, thereby preventing the sound field generated by the ultrasonic transducer 10 from entering the sound field generated by the B-ultrasound probe 40, or the sound field generated by the B-ultrasound probe 40 from entering the sound field generated by the ultrasonic transducer 10, reducing the mutual interference between the two sound fields, not only ensuring the treatment effect of the ultrasonic transducer 10, but also enabling high-quality images to be obtained through the B-ultrasound probe 40.

[0050] Preferably, the outer side of the mounting member 30 and the concave spherical crown surface form a smooth surface.

[0051] That is to say, the outer side of the mounting member 30 and the concave spherical crown surface form a smooth surface without edges and corners. In this way, the mounting member 30 can more effectively absorb the ultrasonic waves propagated from the ultrasonic transducer 10 to the mounting member 30, reducing the influence of the sound field of the ultrasonic transducer 10 on the sound field of the B-ultrasound probe 40, thereby further ensuring that high-quality images can be obtained through the B-ultrasound probe 40.

[0052] Preferably, the smooth surface is a quadratic surface.

[0053] That is, when the outer side of the mounting member 30 and the concave spherical crown surface form a smooth quadratic surface, the mounting member 30 can further effectively absorb the ultrasonic waves propagated from the ultrasonic transducer 10 to the mounting member 30, reducing the influence of the sound field of the ultrasonic transducer 10 on the sound field of the B-ultrasound probe 40, thereby further ensuring that high-quality images can be obtained through the B-ultrasound probe 40.

[0054] Preferably, the solid medium 20 is composed of one material.

[0055] That is, compared with the multi-layer filling media of different materials in the prior art, the solid medium 20 composed of one material in this embodiment can reduce the number of medium layers that the ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonic transducer 10 need to pass through when entering the human body, reduce the reflection or refraction of the ultrasonic waves during propagation, that is, reduce the energy loss of the ultrasonic waves during propagation, and thus can improve the treatment effect.

[0056] Preferably, the solid medium 20 is made of a modified silica gel material.

[0057] Among them, through a special process, the acoustic conduction performance of the solid medium 20 made of silica gel material is changed, so that the acoustic conduction performance of the solid medium 20 is improved.

[0058] This is beneficial to the conduction of the ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonic transducer 10 to the human tissue, can reduce the energy loss during the propagation of the ultrasonic waves, and ensure the treatment effect. In addition, the solid medium 20 made of silica gel material has the advantages of good resistance to strong sound fields, good wear resistance, and simple production process, which can not only extend the service life of the ultrasonic treatment head assembly, but also reduce the manufacturing cost of the ultrasonic treatment head assembly.

[0059] Preferably, the difference in acoustic impedance between the mounting member 30 and the solid medium 20 is 10%-15%; the difference in acoustic impedance between the solid medium 20 and the human tissue is 10%-15%.

[0060] Among them, the same acoustic impedance of the mounting member 30 and the solid medium 20 and the consistent acoustic impedance of the solid medium 20 and the human tissue are both beneficial to the propagation of the ultrasonic waves of the ultrasonic transducer 10 to the human tissue, reduce the energy loss during the propagation, and thus ensure the treatment effect.

[0061] In addition, the diameter of the opening of the concave spherical crown surface can be 20 mm to 300 mm, that is to say, the final contact area of the ultrasonic treatment head assembly with the human skin can be 20 mm to 300 mm. The frequency of the ultrasonic waves emitted by the transducer can be 100 kHz to 10 MHz.

[0062] It should be noted that in this article, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "comprising", "including" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not expressly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprising a..." does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element.

[0063] As described above with reference to the embodiments of the present invention, these embodiments do not describe all the details in detail, nor do they limit the invention to the specific embodiments described. Obviously, many modifications and variations can be made based on the above description. These embodiments are selected and specifically described in this specification in order to better explain the principles and practical applications of the present invention, so that those skilled in the art can make good use of the present invention and its modifications. The present invention is only limited by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic treatment head assembly, characterized in that, comprising: an ultrasonic transducer, the emission surface thereof for emitting ultrasonic waves being a concave spherical crown surface; a solid medium for conducting the ultrasonic waves, which is filled within the concave spherical crown surface such that the solid medium is in close contact with the human skin, and the solid medium covers at least the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer, one side of the solid medium away from the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer being an end face, and the end face being a plane or a convex arc surface; an installation hole is provided on the emission surface of the ultrasonic transducer; a first channel communicating with the installation hole and extending to the end face is provided in the solid medium, and the first channel is used for arranging a B-ultrasound probe; the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe and the end face of the solid medium are configured as the surfaces of the ultrasonic treatment head assembly directly contacting the human skin; the ultrasonic treatment head assembly further comprises: a mounting member provided in the first channel, the outer side surface thereof contacting the solid medium, and the interior thereof including a second channel communicating with the installation hole, the B-ultrasound probe being configured to be arranged in the second channel, and the mounting member being made of a sound-absorbing material to prevent the sound field generated by the ultrasonic transducer from entering the sound field generated by the B-ultrasound probe, or the sound field generated by the B-ultrasound probe from entering the sound field generated by the ultrasonic transducer.

2. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, the convex arc surface is a convex spherical crown surface.

3. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, further comprising: a B-ultrasound probe, which is mounted in the installation hole and the first channel, and the emission surface of the B-ultrasound probe and the end face of the solid medium form a smooth surface.

4. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, the first channel extends along the height axis of the concave spherical crown surface.

5. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, the outer side surface of the mounting member and the concave spherical crown surface form a smooth curved surface.

6. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that, the smooth curved surface is a quadratic curved surface.

7. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, the difference in acoustic impedance between the mounting member and the solid medium is 10% - 15%.

8. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, the solid medium is composed of one material.

9. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, the solid medium is composed of a modified silicone material.

10. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, the difference in acoustic impedance between the solid medium and the human tissue is 10% - 15%.

11. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, the diameter of the opening of the concave spherical crown surface is 20 mm to 300 mm.

12. The ultrasonic treatment head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, the frequency of the ultrasonic waves emitted by the transducer is 100 kHz to 10 MHz.

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