Ultrasound probes and ultrasound devices

Abstract

The present invention is entitled "Ultrasound Probe and Ultrasound Device". To provide an ultrasound probe in which the size of the contact area with the patient is limited while maintaining the strength of at least the end portion of its housing and also maintaining electrical insulation between the interior and exterior of the housing, the ultrasound probe 1 has a housing 2 for accommodating an acoustic element module 4, the acoustic element module including an array of transducer elements. The housing 2 includes a first housing 2A in which an acoustic lens 3 is disposed, and a second housing 2B. The first housing 2A is constructed of a first material having a Young's modulus of 40 GPa or higher and also being electrically insulating. The first material is, for example, a ceramic or metal having a Young's modulus of 40 GPa or higher and also being electrically insulating.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an ultrasound probe in which the size of the contact area with a patient is limited while maintaining the strength of at least the end portion of its housing and also maintaining electrical insulation between the inside and outside of the housing, and to an ultrasound device having the ultrasound probe. Background Art

[0002] The ultrasonic probe has a housing containing an array of transducer elements. The housing is constructed of, for example, a thermoplastic resin. The housing is provided with an acoustic lens in its end portion (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application KOKAI No. 2019-170603). Figure 3 and Figure 4 ). An ultrasound scan is performed while the lens surface of the acoustic lens is placed against the patient.

[0003] In the case of transmitting / receiving ultrasound in a limited space such as the intercostal part of the human body, an ultrasound probe whose size of the contact area with the patient is limited is used. The lens surface of the acoustic lens and also the thickness of the end portion of the housing in which the acoustic lens is provided contribute to the size of the contact area. Therefore, in order to limit the size of the contact area, an attempt is made to reduce the thickness of the end portion of the housing as much as possible.

[0004] However, as the thickness of a housing constructed of a thermoplastic resin decreases, the housing becomes more susceptible to strain from external impacts, which may cause damage to internal structures such as the transducer element array by transmitting the impact to the inside.

[0005] Furthermore, the inside of a housing containing an ultrasonic transducer array and the like and the outside thereof are required to be electrically insulated from each other. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present summary introduces concepts that are described in more detail in the detailed description. It should not be used to determine the essential features of the subject matter claimed for protection, nor should it be used to limit the scope of the subject matter claimed for protection. In one aspect of the present invention, the present invention is an ultrasound probe, including: a housing for accommodating an array of transducer elements; and an acoustic lens disposed in an end portion of the housing. The housing includes a portion constructed of a first material in at least its end portion, the first material having a Young's modulus of 40 GPa or more and also having electrical insulation.

[0007] According to the present invention, in the above aspect, at least the end portion of the case includes a portion constructed of the above first material, and therefore when the thickness is reduced, the strength of the case can be maintained and electrical insulation can also be maintained. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1is a cross-sectional view showing a portion of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment;

[0009] Figure 2 It is shown that the Figure 1 A perspective view of a first housing in an ultrasound probe in FIG.

[0010] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the thickness of the first shell;

[0011] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the embodiment;

[0012] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a portion of an ultrasonic probe according to a modification of the embodiment; and

[0013] Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a first portion and a second portion included in a first housing according to a modification of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. The ultrasound probe in the embodiments may be any one of a linear probe, a sector probe, and a convex probe. As an example, the following embodiments will discuss a sector probe.

[0015] Figure 1 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of an ultrasonic probe 1 according to an embodiment. The ultrasonic probe 1 performs ultrasonic scanning on a patient and receives echo signals. The ultrasonic probe 1 has a housing 2, an acoustic lens 3, and an acoustic element module 4. An end portion 5 of the housing 2 has an opening portion 6 in which the acoustic lens 3 is disposed. The acoustic element module 4 is contained in the housing 2 so as to contact the acoustic lens 3. Although other components known in the art are contained in the housing 2, they are not included in the housing 2. Figure 1 is omitted.

[0016] The acoustic element module 4 has a configuration known in the art, which is not shown in detail, and includes a transducer element array 7 (see Figure 4 ), acoustic matching layer, backing, etc. The transducer element array 7 transmits pulsed ultrasound to a patient (not shown). More specifically, the pulsed ultrasound from the transducer element array 7 passes through the acoustic lens 3 and penetrates into the patient's body. The pulsed ultrasound penetrating into the patient's body is reflected in the patient's body to generate an echo. The echo from the patient passes through the acoustic lens to reach the transducer element array 7. The transducer element array 7 converts the echo of the pulsed ultrasound into an electrical signal.

[0017] like Figure 2As shown, the housing 2 includes a first housing 2A constituting an end portion 5 and further includes a second housing 2B. The first housing 2A covers at least a portion of the acoustic element module 4, thereby covering the transducer element array 7 included in the acoustic element module 4.

[0018] The first housing 2A and the second housing 2B are coupled to each other by a technique known in the art. The coupled structure is omitted in the drawings. The housing is configured so as to prevent liquid from penetrating into the interior of the housing 2 from between the first housing 2A and the second housing 2B.

[0019] The first housing 2A is constructed of a first material. The first material has an elasticity (Young's modulus) of 40 GPa or more and also has electrical insulation. In one example, the term "electrical insulation" means electrical insulation of 7.5 kV / mm or more. For example, the first material is ceramic. The ceramic may be fine ceramic. Alternatively, the first material may be a metal having a Young's modulus of 40 GPa or more and also having electrical insulation.

[0020] The second housing 2B is constructed of a material known in the art for use as a housing material for an ultrasonic probe, for example, a thermoplastic resin.

[0021] Since the first material has a Young's modulus of 40 GPa or more as described above, the first shell 2A is harder than a conventional shell of a thermoplastic resin, so that strength can be maintained. This makes it possible to reduce the thickness of the first shell 2A compared to a shell of a thermoplastic resin. This will refer to Figure 3 Describe it. Figure 3 , the two-dot chain line L represents a portion of the outer surface of the imaginary shell constructed of thermoplastic resin. T1 represents the thickness of the imaginary shell, and T2 represents the thickness of the first shell 2A compared to the thickness T1 of the imaginary shell. Since the first shell 2A is constructed of a first material that is harder than the thermoplastic resin, the thickness T2 can be reduced relative to the thickness T1 of the imaginary shell while maintaining strength. This means that the contact area with the patient can be limited.

[0022] Furthermore, it is also possible to maintain the electrical insulation between the inside and the outside of the housing 2 while maintaining the above-mentioned strength.

[0023] Next, an ultrasonic apparatus having the ultrasonic probe 1 will be described. The ultrasonic apparatus displays an ultrasonic image generated based on ultrasonic echoes acquired by the ultrasonic probe 1. Figure 4 An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 100 is described as an example of an ultrasonic apparatus.

[0024] Figure 4 The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 100 shown includes an ultrasonic probe 1, a transmit beamformer 101, and a transmitter 102. The transmit beamformer 101 and the transmitter 102 drive the transducer element array 7 to transmit pulsed ultrasound.

[0025] The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 100 further includes a receiver 103 and a receive beamformer 104. The echoes of the pulsed ultrasound emitted from the transducer element array 7 are converted into electrical signals, which are echo signals, by the transducer element array 7 and are input to the receiver 103. The echo signals are subjected to amplification and the like at a desired gain at the receiver 103 and then input to the receive beamformer 104 where receive beamforming is performed. The receive beamformer 104 outputs the receive beamformed ultrasonic data.

[0026] The receive beamformer 104 may be a hardware beamformer or a software beamformer. In the case where the receive beamformer 104 is a software beamformer, the receive beamformer may include one or more processors including any one or more of a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), or other types of processors capable of performing logic operations. The processor constituting the receive beamformer 104 may be constructed by a processor separate from the processor 105 to be discussed later or by the processor 105.

[0027] The ultrasound probe 1 may include circuits for performing all or part of transmit and / or receive beamforming. For example, all or part of the transmit beamformer 101, the transmitter 102, the receiver 103, and the receive beamformer 104 may be located within the ultrasound probe 1.

[0028] The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 100 further includes a processor 105 for controlling the transmit beamformer 101, the transmitter 102, the receiver 103, and the receive beamformer 104. In addition, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 100 includes a display 106, a memory 107, and a user interface 108.

[0029] The processor 105 is in electronic communication with the ultrasound probe 1. The processor 105 can control the ultrasound probe 1 to collect ultrasound data. The processor 105 controls which elements of the transducer elements are active and the shape of the ultrasound beam emitted from the ultrasound probe 1. The processor 105 also communicates electronically with the display 106, and the processor 105 can process the ultrasound data into an ultrasound image to be displayed on the display 106. The phrase "electronic communication" can be defined as including both wired connections and wireless connections. According to one embodiment, the processor 105 may include a central processing unit (CPU). According to other embodiments, the processor 105 may include other electronic components capable of performing processing functions, such as a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or any other type of processor. According to other embodiments, the processor 105 may include multiple electronic components capable of performing processing functions. For example, the processor 105 may include two or more electronic components selected from a list of electronic components, which include: a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, and a graphics processing unit.

[0030] The processor 105 may also include a complex demodulator (not shown) that demodulates the RF data. In another embodiment, demodulation may be performed earlier in the processing chain.

[0031] The processor 105 is adapted to perform one or more processing operations according to a plurality of selectable ultrasound modalities on the data. The data may be processed in real time during a scanning session as echo signals are received. For purposes of this disclosure, the term "real time" is defined to include processes performed without any intentional delay.

[0032] The data may be temporarily stored in a buffer (not shown) during ultrasound scanning so that the data may be processed in real-time operation or in a non-real-time offline operation. In the present disclosure, the term "data" may be used in the present disclosure to refer to one or more data sets acquired using an ultrasound diagnostic device.

[0033] The ultrasound data may be processed by the processor 105 through other or different mode-related modules (e.g., B-mode, color Doppler, M-mode, color M-mode, spectral Doppler, elastic imaging, TVI, strain, strain rate, etc.) to form data for ultrasound images. For example, one or more modules may generate ultrasound images using B-mode, color Doppler, M-mode, color M-mode, spectral Doppler, elastic imaging, TVI, strain, strain rate, and combinations thereof. Image beams and / or image frames are stored, and timing information indicating the time when data was acquired in the memory may be recorded. These modules may include, for example, a scan conversion module for performing a scan conversion operation to convert image frames from beam space coordinates to display space coordinates. A video processor module may be provided that reads image frames from a memory and displays the image frames in real time while a procedure is performed on a patient. The video processor module may store image frames in an image memory, read ultrasound images from the image memory, and display these ultrasound images on a display 106.

[0034] The ultrasound data before the scan conversion operation is referred to herein as raw data, and the data after the scan conversion operation is referred to herein as image data.

[0035] In the case where the processor 105 includes multiple processors, the aforementioned processing tasks to be processed by the processor 105 may be processed by the multiple processors. For example, a first processor may be used to demodulate and extract RF signals, while a second processor may be used to further process the data before displaying an image.

[0036] For example, where the receive beamformer 104 is a software beamformer, the processing functions of the receive beamformer may be performed by a single processor or by multiple processors.

[0037] The display 106 is an LED (Light Emitting Diode) display, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, or the like.

[0038] The memory 107 is any known data storage medium, and includes a non-transitory storage medium and a transient storage medium. The non-transitory storage medium is, for example, a non-volatile storage medium such as an HDD (hard disk drive) and a ROM (read-only memory). The non-transitory storage medium may include a portable storage medium such as a CD (compact disk) and a DVD (digital versatile disk). The program executed by the processor 7 is stored in the non-transitory storage medium.

[0039] Transient storage media are volatile storage media, such as RAM (Random Access Memory).

[0040] The user interface 108 accepts input from an operator. For example, the user interface 108 accepts input from a user of commands, information, etc. The user interface 108 is suitable for including a keyboard, hard keys, trackball, rotary control, soft keys, etc. The user interface 108 may include a touch screen displaying soft keys, etc.

[0041] Next, modifications of the embodiment will be described. Figure 5 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a portion of an ultrasonic probe 10 according to a modification of the embodiment. The first housing 2A has a first portion 11 and a second portion 12. The second portion 12 is provided on an outer surface of the first portion 11. In one example, the first portion 11 and the second portion 12 are integrally formed by a bonding step or an overmolding step to manufacture the first housing 2A. Figure 6 The thickness of the second portion 12 is, for example, in the range of 0.2 mm to 2 mm.

[0042] The first part 11 is constructed of the first material described above. The second part 12 is constructed of a second material having a higher elongation than the first material. For example, the second material has an elongation of 2% or more. The second material is, for example, a thermoplastic resin or silicone rubber. The silicone rubber includes RTV (room temperature vulcanized) silicone resin.

[0043] Since the elongation of the second portion 12 provided on the outer surface of the first portion 11 is higher than that of the first portion 11, the outer surface of the housing 2 can be more securely prevented from being broken. In addition, when the second portion 12 as the outer surface is constructed of a thermoplastic resin or silicone rubber, biocompatibility and resistance to chemical solutions and reagents can be ensured.

[0044] Since the first housing 2A still has the first portion 11 when the second portion 12 is configured of a thermoplastic resin as in a conventional housing, strength can be ensured for a housing with a reduced thickness compared to a conventional housing.

[0045] The embodiments of the present disclosure shown in the drawings and described above are exemplary embodiments only and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims, including any equivalents included within the scope of the claims. Various modifications are possible and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is intended that any combination of non-mutually exclusive features described herein is within the scope of the invention. That is, the features of the embodiments may be combined with any appropriate aspect described above, and the optional features of any one aspect may be combined with any other appropriate aspect. Similarly, the features listed in the dependent claims may be combined with non-mutually exclusive features of other dependent claims, particularly where the dependent claims are dependent on the same independent claim. In some jurisdictions that require single claim dependencies, these dependencies may have been used as a practice, but this should not be taken to mean that the features in the dependent claims are mutually exclusive.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic probe, comprising: A housing for accommodating the transducer element array; and an acoustic lens disposed in an opening portion provided at an end portion of the housing, wherein The housing includes, in at least the end portion, a portion constructed of a first material having a Young's modulus of 40 GPa or more and also having electrical insulation, The end portion includes a first portion constructed of the first material and a second portion disposed on an outer surface of the first portion and constructed of a second material having a higher elongation than the first material.

2. The ultrasound probe according to claim 1, wherein: The first material is a ceramic or a metal having a Young's modulus of 40 GPa or more and also having electrical insulation.

3. The ultrasound probe according to claim 1, wherein: The first material has an electrical insulation of 7.5 kV / mm or higher.

4. The ultrasound probe according to claim 1, wherein: The second material has an elongation of 2% or more.

5. The ultrasound probe according to claim 4, wherein: The second material is a thermoplastic resin or silicone rubber.

6. The ultrasound probe according to claim 1, wherein: The housing includes a first housing constituting the end portion, and a second housing coupled to the first housing.

7. The ultrasound probe according to claim 1, wherein: The end portion is a portion covering the transducer element array.

8. An ultrasound device comprising the ultrasound probe according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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