Focused ultrasound equipment overflow monitoring device, method and focused ultrasound equipment

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of medical device design, and in particular to a focused ultrasound device liquid shortage and overflow monitoring device, method and focused ultrasound device. The focused ultrasound device may damage the treatment head due to liquid shortage, and may cause equipment failure and reduced reliability due to liquid overflow. The present invention uses a dual pressure transmitter to collect the pressure values ​​at different points in the two liquid tanks of the focused ultrasound device to determine the liquid level height and combines the corresponding judgment conditions to achieve monitoring and protection of overflow caused by vertical movement and / or pipeline blockage, as well as monitoring and protection of liquid shortage before or during ultrasonic emission. Compared with the prior art, the present invention has high hardware utilization and strong transformability. It can be widely used in the transformation of large quantities of old equipment and in the design of new products. It can make timely judgments and responses to risks, greatly reduce damage to equipment, and reduce maintenance difficulties and requirements for operators.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of medical device design, and in particular to a device and method for monitoring liquid shortage and liquid overflow of a focused ultrasound device, and a focused ultrasound device. Background Art

[0002] Focused ultrasound therapy is a non-invasive treatment technology that uses the focusability and penetration of ultrasound to act on diseased tissues. This technology has the characteristics of no surgery, no bleeding, no scars, no trauma, no radiation, no side effects, etc. It has unique advantages that other treatment methods cannot match. Therefore, it has been widely used in the clinical treatment of various diseases in recent years.

[0003] This technology uses the characteristics of ultrasound that can penetrate human tissue and focus inside human tissue to generate multiple ultrasound beams outside the body, and then focus the ultrasound beams on the human lesions. Under the physical effect of ultrasound, the lesion cells disintegrate and break, achieving irreversible necrosis. This technology is currently one of the research and application hotspots in the field of tumor treatment.

[0004] The core of the focused ultrasound device is the treatment head, which is an ultrasonic transducer that is responsible for generating focusable ultrasound waves. At the same time, the motion control device of the system is used to make the ultrasound focus emitted by the treatment head scan the entire lesion. The ultrasound treatment system emits ultrasonic energy. Once there is an error in the operation of the ultrasound emission, the ultrasound may not completely enter the coupling liquid during the actual emission, resulting in the emission of ultrasound to the air. Once the ultrasound is emitted to the air, the direct impact is that the ultrasound is reflected and absorbed in large quantities on the surface of the treatment head, causing the surface of the treatment head to heat up rapidly, ultimately affecting the life and performance of the treatment head, and even damaging the treatment head. Even if the treatment head does not appear to be significantly damaged due to the short time, the high temperature may actually cause the performance parameters of the treatment head to change. If the operating physician is unaware of it, it may lead to poor treatment effects or dangers, endangering the safety of the patient and damaging the patient's interests. On the other hand, when the coupling liquid is at a high level, incorrect operation can easily cause a large amount of coupling liquid to overflow, and the equipment mechanism and electrical connections are easily soaked in the coupling liquid, which in turn causes the risk of corrosion and damage caused by the immersion, resulting in equipment failure and reduced reliability.

[0005] During the use of the focused ultrasound device, the reasons for the lack of liquid in the treatment head are: first, the coupling liquid of the treatment head has not been injected or the current liquid level has not reached the safe liquid level for immersing the entire treatment head in the liquid; second, during the ultrasonic transmission of the focused ultrasound device treatment head, the coupling liquid is drained due to human or accidental operation or forgotten to close the drain, causing the coupling liquid of the treatment head to continue to drop below the safe liquid level.

[0006] During the use of the focused ultrasound device, the reasons for the overflow of the coupling liquid are: first, the treatment head is moved in a large step in the vertical direction, causing the liquid level to rise, exceeding the maximum liquid level tolerance that the liquid tank can withstand, resulting in liquid level overflow; second, when the liquid level is stable, the overflow pipeline is blocked by air or foreign matter in the pipeline, such as air blockage, causing the liquid level to rise, exceeding the maximum liquid level tolerance that the liquid tank can withstand, resulting in liquid level overflow.

[0007] Judging from the technologies that have been made public, insufficient attention has been paid to the risks of lack of coupling fluid and overflow in focused ultrasound treatment heads, and there is almost no information on monitoring and controlling the lack of coupling fluid and overflow near the treatment head. At present, the protection against lack of fluid and overflow in the treatment head is mainly manual, and there is almost no proper protection for lack of fluid and overflow in the process of using ultrasonic treatment equipment. However, in fact, errors cannot be avoided in the use of physicians, operator training, and system maintenance. Therefore, in order to avoid huge problems caused by ultrasound emission to the air and accidental overflow of coupling fluid, this solution aims to prevent such problems.

[0008] At present, the most commonly used solutions for liquid level control in other fields are contact-type liquid level sensors and buoyancy-type liquid level sensors. The contact-type liquid level sensor places multiple contacts in the liquid for monitoring the liquid level, and realizes liquid level measurement by measuring electrical parameters such as conductivity and capacitance between the contacts. The buoyancy-type liquid level sensor places a float in the liquid, generally in conjunction with a magnet and a reed switch, to achieve fixed liquid level monitoring. The above two liquid level monitoring methods are generally commonly used in fields such as ultrasonic atomizers and ultrasonic cleaners. The contact-type liquid level sensor and the buoyancy-type liquid level sensor can only monitor the liquid level at limited points, generally using two or three points, with low measurement accuracy, and cannot achieve accurate monitoring and effective control of liquid shortage and overflow of focused ultrasonic equipment. Summary of the invention

[0009] The purpose of the present invention is to address the problem that existing focused ultrasound equipment lacks a monitoring method for lack of liquid in the treatment head and overflow of the coupling liquid. A dual pressure transmitter is used to collect pressure values ​​at different points in the two liquid tanks of the focused ultrasound equipment to determine the liquid level height and combine it with corresponding judgment conditions to achieve monitoring of lack of liquid in the treatment head and overflow of the coupling liquid.

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0011] In the first aspect, the present invention proposes a liquid shortage and overflow monitoring device for a focused ultrasound device, which is used to monitor liquid shortage and coupling liquid overflow in a treatment head. The device includes a transmitter 1 at a sampling point P1 on an overflow tank, a transmitter 2 at a sampling point P2 on a liquid storage tank, a data processing unit, and a central computer of the focused ultrasound device. Liquid pressure data collected by the transmitter 1 and the transmitter 2 are sent to the data processing unit, and the real-time depth h1 of the sampling point P1 and the real-time depth h2 of the sampling point P2 are obtained by calculation and sent to the central computer after protocol encoding. The overflow caused by vertical movement and / or pipeline blockage is monitored and protected by judging conditions, and the liquid shortage before or during ultrasonic emission is monitored and protected.

[0012] Advantageously, for overflow caused by vertical movement, the overflow margin Δh1 of the overflow trough and the expected increase in height Δh of the overflow trough in a single-step movement are calculated:

[0013] Δh1=H2―H0―h1

[0014]

[0015] Where H2 is the distance between sampling point P2 and the overflow surface, H0 is the height difference between sampling point P1 and sampling point P2, H0≥0, V 排 is the single-step displacement, V 注 S is the injection volume in a single step for a long time, 溢 is the overflow volume of a single step,

[0016] If the overflow tank is expected to increase in height in a single step motion more than or equal to the overflow margin, that is, Δh≥Δh1, a lock command is sent; otherwise, an enable command is sent.

[0017] Advantageously, Where s is the vertical upward movement step length of the treatment head along the Z axis, S 储 is the cross-sectional area of ​​the water tank, Q is the injection flow rate, v is the movement speed of the treatment head, S 溢 is the cross-sectional area of ​​the overflow tank.

[0018] Advantageously, if the next motion step length s has a risk of overflow, the next safe step length margin is estimated by the following algorithm:

[0019]

[0020] At this time, the treatment execution mechanism is locked and the next safe step margin s′ is prompted to the user.

[0021] Advantageously, for the overflow caused by pipeline blockage, if h1≥H2-H0 and h1 is within the tolerance range of 0.25-1.5mm of (h2-H0), the central computer controls the liquid discharge pump of the liquid storage tank to perform a timed interval liquid discharge operation until h1 <h2―H0。

[0022] Advantageously, the focusing focal length of the focused ultrasound treatment head is F, the convergence angle is θ, and the safety liquid level threshold h T The calculated value of is:

[0023]

[0024] Advantageously, the plane where the sampling point P2 is located is the zero liquid level line L0, vertically upward is positive, and the upper end surface of the treatment head on the Z axis has a relative position h3 relative to the zero liquid level line L0, for the lack of liquid before ultrasound emission and when the ultrasound is already in the emission state:

[0025] When h3≤0 and h2 <h T When h3≤0 and h2>2h T When h3≤0 and 2h T ≥h2≥h T When , it is the critical state of ultrasonic emission ST2;

[0026] When h3>0 and h2 <h T +h3, it is the ultrasonic emission risk state ST3; when h3>0 and h2>2h T +h3, it is the ultrasonic emission safety state ST1; when h3>0 and 2h T +h3≥h2≥h T +h3, it is the ultrasonic emission critical state ST2.

[0027] Advantageously, when in the ultrasonic emission risk state ST3, the ultrasonic emission unit is locked or emission is stopped immediately; when in the ultrasonic emission critical state ST2, the ultrasonic emission unit is unlocked or a user warning is issued; when in the ultrasonic emission safe state ST1, the ultrasonic emission unit is unlocked or the warning is eliminated.

[0028] Compared with the prior art, the focused ultrasound equipment liquid shortage and overflow monitoring device provided by the present invention has the following advantages:

[0029] 1) High hardware utilization rate and strong adaptability. It only needs to install and use two liquid pressure sensors at the sampling points of the liquid storage tank and the overflow tank on the basis of the existing focused ultrasound equipment, and combine the data processing unit and the central computer of the existing focused ultrasound equipment to realize the monitoring and protection of overflow caused by vertical movement and / or pipeline blockage, as well as the monitoring and protection of lack of liquid before or during ultrasound emission. It can be widely used in the transformation of large quantities of old equipment and in the design of new products, providing more complete protection for the product, reducing the difficulty of maintenance and the requirements for operators, and allowing operators to focus on the treatment process itself;

[0030] 2) In the process of monitoring and protecting the overflow caused by vertical movement, a predictive method is adopted, that is, before the overflow occurs, the next step result is judged, and control is carried out in advance according to the predicted result, which has high reliability and rapid processing, and has no effect on the treatment process and speed; in contrast, since the overflow caused by blockage is fast and takes a long time, the equipment makes judgments and analyses after the overflow has occurred, and takes corresponding measures;

[0031] 3) For the two cases of lack of liquid, when the safe liquid level threshold h is met T On the basis of combining with work requirements, the present invention enlarges the safety value range, can fully judge and respond to the risks brought by liquid shortage in a timely manner, greatly reduces the damage to equipment, and reduces maintenance costs.

[0032] In a second aspect, the present invention further provides a method for monitoring liquid shortage and liquid overflow of a focused ultrasound device, the method using the above-mentioned liquid shortage and liquid overflow monitoring device for the focused ultrasound device, including monitoring and protecting against liquid overflow caused by vertical movement and / or pipeline blockage, and monitoring and protecting against liquid shortage before or during ultrasound emission, wherein

[0033] For overflow caused by vertical movement, calculate the overflow margin Δh1 of the overflow trough and the expected increase in height Δh of the overflow trough in a single step:

[0034] Δh1=H2―H0―h1

[0035]

[0036] Where H2 is the distance between sampling point P2 and the overflow surface (5), H0 is the height difference between sampling point P1 and sampling point P2, H0 ≥ 0, V 排 is the single-step displacement, V 注 S is the injection volume in a single step for a long time, 溢 is the overflow volume of a single step,

[0037] If the estimated height increase of the overflow tank in a single-step motion exceeds or is equal to the overflow margin, that is, Δh≥Δh1, a lock command is sent; otherwise, an enable command is sent;

[0038] For the overflow caused by pipeline blockage, if h1≥H2-H0 and h1 is within the tolerance range of 0.25-1.5mm of (h2-H0), the central computer controls the liquid discharge pump (7) of the liquid storage tank (2) to perform a timed interval liquid discharge operation until h1 <h2―H0;

[0039] The plane where the sampling point P2 is located is the zero liquid level line L0, and vertically upward is positive. On the Z axis, the upper end surface of the treatment head (9) has a relative position h3 relative to the zero liquid level line L0. For the lack of liquid before ultrasound emission and when ultrasound is already in the emission state:

[0040] When h3≤0 and h2 <h T When h3≤0 and h2>2h T When h3≤0 and 2h T ≥h2≥h T When , it is the critical state of ultrasonic emission ST2;

[0041] When h3>0 and h2 <h T +h3, it is the ultrasonic emission risk state ST3; when h3>0 and h2>2h T +h3, it is the ultrasonic emission safety state ST1; when h3>0 and 2h T +h3≥h2≥h T +h3, it is the ultrasonic emission critical state ST2.

[0042] In a third aspect, the present invention further provides a focused ultrasound device, which comprises the focused ultrasound device liquid shortage and overflow monitoring device as described above.

[0043] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the focused ultrasound device provided by the present invention are the same as the beneficial effects of the liquid deficiency and overflow monitoring device of the focused ultrasound device described in the above technical solution, and will not be described in detail here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the present invention. The exemplary embodiments of the present invention and their descriptions are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute an improper limitation of the present invention. In the drawings:

[0045] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the positions of sampling point P1 and sampling point P2 on the overflow tank and the storage tank respectively;

[0046] Figure 2The positional relationship between the overflow tank and the storage tank from a top-down perspective;

[0047] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the drainage pipeline of the overflow tank and the storage tank;

[0048] Figure 4 It is a diagram of the architecture of a focused ultrasound device with a fluid shortage and overflow monitoring device;

[0049] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the position of the treatment head relative to the zero liquid level line;

[0050] Figure 6 is the ultrasonic emission safety liquid level threshold h T Schematic diagram of calculation;

[0051] Figure 7 This is a logical diagram of how the central computer handles faults.

[0052] Reference numerals:

[0053] 1- overflow tank, 2- storage tank, 3- overflow tank upper edge, 4- storage tank upper edge, 5- overflow surface, 6- one-way valve, 7- drainage pump, 8- air resistance, 9- treatment head, 10- watertight bag DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] In order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, in the embodiments of the present invention, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with basically the same functions and effects. For example, the first threshold and the second threshold are only used to distinguish different thresholds, and their order is not limited. Those skilled in the art can understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit them to be different.

[0055] It should be noted that, in the present invention, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present invention should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way.

[0056] Since the positive direction of the Z axis (the upward direction perpendicular to the horizontal liquid surface) is the main influencing direction of the upward movement of the treatment head causing the rise of the coupled liquid level, the vertical motion overflow protection mechanism of this scheme is only studied for the movement step length of the treatment head in the positive direction of the Z axis.

[0057] The ultrasonic emission safety liquid level refers to the coupling liquid at a certain height that must be maintained on the surface of the treatment head and above the treatment head when the focused ultrasound device is working, so that the treatment head has a good ultrasonic coupling path and cooling liquid level when emitting ultrasound.

[0058] See also Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, the overflow tank 1 and the liquid storage tank 2 are rectangular, and the overflow tank 1 surrounds the liquid storage tank 2. The overflow tank has a length of L1 and a width of W1, and the liquid storage tank has a length of L2 and a width of W2. The sampling point P1 is located at a set depth position of the overflow tank, and the distance from the upper edge 3 of the overflow tank is H1. The sampling point P2 is located at a set depth position of the liquid storage tank, and the distance from the overflow surface 5 is H2. The height difference between the sampling point P1 and the sampling point P2 is H0, and H0 ≥ 0. The real-time depth h1 of the sampling point P1 is obtained by the pressure at the sampling point P1. The upper middle area of ​​the liquid storage tank 2 has a circular upper edge 4 of the liquid storage tank, and the real-time depth h2 of the sampling point P2 is obtained by the pressure at the sampling point P2.

[0059] In some embodiments, more sampling points may be added to further improve the monitoring accuracy, and a corresponding monitoring method needs to be designed.

[0060] The overflow tank 1 and the liquid storage tank 2 may also have other shapes. In one embodiment, the overflow tank 1 and the liquid storage tank 2 are both square. In another embodiment, the overflow tank 1 and the liquid storage tank 2 have different shapes, which are a combination of other shapes.

[0061] See also Figure 3 The liquid reservoir 2 is used to store the coupling liquid, that is, the coupling liquid environment in which the treatment head is located. In order to keep the gas content of the coupling liquid required by the focused ultrasound device continuously below 4ppm, it is necessary to maintain the continuous injection and discharge of the coupling liquid in real time. When the treatment system is operating normally, the coupling liquid that has been expired is continuously injected into the liquid reservoir 2. When the liquid level exceeds the overflow surface 5, the coupling liquid will flow to the overflow tank 1. The overflow tank 1 has a certain volume and serves as a liquid storage buffer area to temporarily store the coupling liquid discharged from the liquid reservoir 2. The coupling liquid in the overflow tank 1 is discharged through the overflow front end pipeline, the one-way valve 6 and the discharge pipeline.

[0062] The drainage pump 7 is used to quickly drain the coupling liquid in the liquid storage tank 2. It is generally used to drain all the coupling liquid in the liquid storage tank 2 after a single treatment and to clear the pipeline when it is blocked.

[0063] See also Figure 4 The architecture diagram of the focused ultrasound device shown in the figure has a liquid shortage and overflow monitoring device. In this embodiment, the liquid shortage and overflow monitoring device includes a transmitter 1 at the sampling point P1 on the overflow tank 1, a transmitter 2 at the sampling point P2 on the liquid storage tank 2, a data processing unit and a central computer of the focused ultrasound device.

[0064] In the focused ultrasound device of this embodiment, the sampled data of the transmitter 1 and the transmitter 2 are sent to the data processing unit. The data processing unit will be connected to the central computer, and the central computer receives the protocol-encoded data transmitted by the data processing unit. At the same time, the central computer is responsible for controlling the drainage pump and the ultrasound drive unit and the treatment actuator in the treatment system. The central computer also transmits data with the doctor's work computer.

[0065] In the data processing unit, the pressure values ​​collected by transmitter 1 and transmitter 2 are used to calculate the liquid level depth at the sampling point through the formula P=ρgh, where ρ is the coupling liquid density, g is the gravitational acceleration, P is the measured pressure at the sampling point, and h is the liquid level depth at the sampling point. Protocol encoding is performed and the protocol-encoded data is sent to the central computer.

[0066] The treatment actuator is responsible for executing the received treatment head movement instructions to realize the movement of the treatment head in the XYZ movement axis directions. This solution only involves monitoring the movement of the treatment head along the Z axis. The treatment actuator has two states: locked and enabled. The vertical movement axis (Z axis) of the treatment actuator in the locked state refuses to respond to all control instructions related to vertical upward movement, including but not limited to vertical upward movement during the execution of the treatment plan and manual execution of the treatment actuator's vertical upward movement instructions. The treatment actuator in the locked state refuses to respond to all treatment actuator vertical upward movement instructions, and returns the locked state to the central computer so that the central computer retains the unexecuted vertical upward movement instructions in the instruction sequence and re-issues the instruction after a fixed time. The treatment actuator in the enabled state will release the control instructions from the central computer and complete the movement of each axis of the treatment actuator according to the content of the instruction.

[0067] The ultrasonic drive unit is responsible for executing the received ultrasonic emission instructions about the treatment head, and realizing the ultrasonic emission at the corresponding focused ultrasonic focus at the position. The ultrasonic drive unit has two states: locked and enabled. The ultrasonic drive unit in the locked state refuses to respond to all instructions related to ultrasonic emission, including but not limited to ultrasonic emission instructions during the execution of the treatment plan and instructions for manual execution of ultrasonic emission. The ultrasonic drive unit in the locked state refuses to respond to all ultrasonic emission instructions and returns the locked state to the central computer at the same time, so that the central computer retains the unexecuted emission instructions in the instruction sequence and re-issues the instruction after a fixed time. The ultrasonic drive unit in the enabled state will release the control instructions from the central computer and complete the execution of ultrasonic emission according to the content of the instruction.

[0068] The doctor's workstation computer connected to the central computer is responsible for generating treatment instructions for the focused ultrasound device. At the same time, it can directly control the ultrasound emission and motion control along each motion axis according to the operation interface.

[0069] The working parameters of the focused ultrasound device involved in this embodiment are: injection flow rate Q, vertical upward movement step length s of the treatment head along the Z axis, movement speed v of the treatment head, vertical position h3 of the treatment head (the relative position of the upper end surface of the treatment head relative to the zero liquid level line L0, see Figure 5 ).

[0070] This solution mainly implements liquid shortage and overflow protection for the following four situations:

[0071] 1. Vertical movement spill protection;

[0072] 2. Pipeline blockage and overflow protection;

[0073] 3. Liquid shortage protection before ultrasonic emission;

[0074] 4. Liquid lack protection during ultrasonic emission.

[0075] Next, the four situations in this embodiment are described respectively.

[0076] In this solution, overflow is identified when the liquid level in the overflow tank is flush with the overflow surface 5.

[0077] 1. Vertical motion spill protection

[0078] The protective measures taken against the rise in liquid level caused by the vertical upward movement of the treatment actuator include the following steps:

[0079] ① Calculate the volume V of the coupling fluid injected in a single step motion 注 :

[0080]

[0081] ② Calculate the volume V of the coupling fluid directly discharged by a single step motion 排 :

[0082] Since the treatment head 9 and the inside of the housing of the liquid storage tank 2 are sealed and isolated from each other by the watertight bag 10, when the treatment head 9 moves upward, it will drive the watertight bag 10 to move almost as a whole.

[0083] V 排 =s×S 储 =s×W2×L2

[0084] ③Calculate the cross-sectional area of ​​the overflow tank:

[0085] S 溢 =W1×L1―W2×L2

[0086] ④Calculate the overflow margin of the overflow tank:

[0087] Δh1=H2―H0―h1

[0088] ⑤ Calculate the predicted increase in height of the overflow tank for a single-step movement:

[0089]

[0090] ⑥ Judge and control

[0091] If the predicted increase in height of the overflow tank for a single-step movement exceeds or is equal to the overflow margin, i.e., Δh ≥ Δh1, then send a locking instruction; otherwise, send an enabling instruction.

[0092] For the case where the next movement step s has a risk of overflow, if the current state is the locked state, then maintain the lock; if the current state is the enabled state, then the central calculation sends a locking instruction to the treatment execution mechanism to lock the treatment execution mechanism. The treatment execution mechanism in the locked state will not respond to any movement instructions for controlling the treatment execution mechanism in the vertically upward direction.

[0093] If Δh < Δh1, it is considered that the next movement step s does not have a risk of overflow. At this time, it is necessary to judge whether the treatment execution mechanism is in the locked state. If the current state is the locked state, then解除该锁定, the central calculation sends an enabling instruction to the treatment execution mechanism to enable the treatment execution mechanism, and the treatment execution mechanism executes the movement instruction of the next movement step s; if the current state is the enabled state, then the treatment execution mechanism directly executes the movement instruction of the next movement step s.

[0094] In this embodiment, if the next movement step s has a risk of overflow, the next safe step margin can also be estimated by the following algorithm:

[0095]

[0096] At this time, lock the treatment execution mechanism, pop up a prompt to the user, and prompt the user with the next safe step margin s'.

[0097] 2. Overflow protection for pipeline blockage

[0098] Protection measures taken against the risk of overflow caused by poor drainage due to pipeline blockage Figure 3 In the shown embodiment, there is an air resistance 8. At this time, the liquid level may be entirely higher than the overflow liquid level 5. Judge the relationship between the real-time depth h1 and other heights. If h1 ≥ H2 - H0 and h1 = h2 - H0, at this time, there is a risk of pipeline blockage. The central computer controls the drainage pump 7 to perform timed drainage operation. The preferred drainage time is 1 - 5 seconds, which can play a role in dredging the pipeline. After performing the timed drainage operation, enter the waiting time, generally 1 - 5 seconds, and judge the risk of pipeline blockage again until h1 < h2 - H0. Under normal circumstances of the liquid storage tank, the liquid needs to be drained. When changing patients, the liquid needs to be changed (requiring a drainage pump); when blocked, use the drainage pump to drain the liquid and dredge the pipeline. It should be noted that in the translation of "解除该锁定" in line 17, it is not clear what the specific accurate expression should be as the original Chinese is a bit ambiguous. A more appropriate term might be needed depending on the context, but for now this is a literal translation attempt.

[0099] In actual application, when judging the relationship between h1 and h2−H0, factors such as the accuracy, resolution, and measurement error of the transmitter should be considered, and a certain tolerance range Δ should be given. The preferred tolerance range Δ is 0.25 - 1.5 mm, that is, when h1 = h2−H0 in actual application, it is equivalently calculated as h2−H0 + Δ ≥ h1 ≥ h2−H0−Δ; when h1 < h2−H0 in actual use, it is equivalently calculated as h1 < h2−H0−Δ; when h1 > h2−H0 in actual use, it is equivalently calculated as h1 > h2−H0 + Δ.

[0100] 3. Liquid shortage protection before ultrasonic emission

[0101] This situation is mainly a protective measure for the ultrasonic drive unit in case of direct start of treatment or manual activation of ultrasonic emission before the treatment head is not fully immersed in the liquid due to operation errors before treatment.

[0102] The plane where the sampling point P2 is located is the zero liquid level line L0, with the vertical upward direction being positive. The position of the upper end face of the treatment head 9 relative to the zero liquid level line L0 on the Z-axis is h3.

[0103] See Figure 6 , the focal length of the focused ultrasonic treatment head is F, and the convergence angle is θ. To ensure that there is a sufficient thickness of the coupling liquid above the upper end face of the treatment head, ensure that the thickness of the coupling liquid for the uppermost ultrasonic emission array element is much greater than the ultrasonic emission wavelength, and at the same time, the heat capacity is sufficient to absorb the heat generated by the operation of the treatment head, so that the safety liquid level threshold h T takes the value of:

[0104]

[0105] See Figure 7 , expand the safety value range. To reserve a 100% safety margin for treatment safety, it is defined in the system that when the height of the coupling liquid on the upper end face of the treatment head is greater than 2h T , the water level state is the ultrasonic emission safety state ST1; when the height of the coupling liquid on the upper end face of the treatment head is greater than or equal to h T and less than or equal to 2h T , the water level state is the ultrasonic emission critical state ST2; when the height of the coupling liquid on the upper end face of the treatment head is less than the safety liquid level threshold h T , or the water level state is the ultrasonic emission risk state ST3.

[0106] When h3 ≤ 0 and h2 < h T , it is judged that the ultrasonic emission risk state ST3 exists at this time; when h3 ≤ 0 and h2 > 2h T , it is judged that the ultrasonic emission safety state ST1 exists at this time; when h3 ≤ 0 and 2h T ≥ h2 ≥ h TWhen , it is determined that this is the critical state ST2 of ultrasonic emission.

[0107] When h3>0 and h2 <h T +h3, it is judged that this is the ultrasonic emission risk state ST3; when h3>0 and h2>2h T +h3, it is judged that this is the ultrasonic emission safety state ST1; when h3>0 and 2h T +h3≥h2≥h T +h3, it is judged that this is the critical state ST2 of ultrasonic emission.

[0108] When in the ultrasonic emission risk state ST3, if the ultrasonic emission unit is in the enabled state at this time, a locking instruction is sent to the ultrasonic emission unit to lock the ultrasonic emission unit. If the ultrasonic emission unit is already in the emission state at this time, the emission is stopped immediately.

[0109] When in the ultrasonic emission critical state ST2, if the ultrasonic transmitting unit is in a locked state at this time, an enable instruction is sent to the ultrasonic transmitting unit to release the locked state of the ultrasonic transmitting unit; if the ultrasound is being emitted at this time, a user warning needs to be issued to prompt the user that the water level is approaching the risky water level.

[0110] When in the ultrasonic emission safety state ST1, if the ultrasonic emission unit is in a locked state, an enable instruction is sent to the ultrasonic emission unit to release the locked state of the ultrasonic emission unit; if the ultrasound is issuing a warning, the warning is eliminated.

[0111] 4. Liquid shortage protection during ultrasonic emission

[0112] When the ultrasound is already in the transmitting state, the coupling liquid level in the liquid tank continues to drop due to abnormal reasons such as operating errors.

[0113] When h3≤0 and h2 <h T When h3≤0 and h2>2h T When h3≤0 and 2h T ≥h2≥h T When , it is determined that this is the critical state ST2 of ultrasonic emission.

[0114] When h3>0 and h2 <h T +h3, it is judged that this is the ultrasonic emission risk state ST3; when h3>0 and h2>2h T +h3, it is judged that this is the ultrasonic emission safety state ST1; when h3>0 and 2h T +h3≥h2≥h T +h3, it is judged that this is the critical state ST2 of ultrasonic emission.

[0115] When in the ultrasonic emission risk state ST3, if the ultrasonic emission unit is in the enabled state at this time, a locking instruction is sent to the ultrasonic emission unit to lock the ultrasonic emission unit. If the ultrasonic emission unit is already in the emission state at this time, the emission is stopped immediately.

[0116] When in the ultrasonic emission critical state ST2, if the ultrasonic transmitting unit is in a locked state at this time, an enable instruction is sent to the ultrasonic transmitting unit to release the locked state of the ultrasonic transmitting unit; if the ultrasound is being emitted at this time, a user warning needs to be issued to prompt the user that the water level is approaching the risky water level.

[0117] When in the ultrasonic emission safety state ST1, if the ultrasonic emission unit is in a locked state, an enable instruction is sent to the ultrasonic emission unit to release the locked state of the ultrasonic emission unit; if the ultrasound is issuing a warning, the warning is eliminated.

[0118] Taking the actual application environment as an example, when the device is implemented, transmitter 1 and transmitter 2 can use the same model 485 bus digital intelligent pressure transmitter, and the pressure can be collected in the range of 0 to 5 kPa relative pressure. During installation, the data signal line is connected into a bus in the form of a 485 bus. The data processing unit is implemented by a microcontroller. In the specific implementation, an 8-bit AVR microcontroller such as ATMEGA128 can be used considering factors such as cost and reliability. The main functions of the data processing unit in the device of the present invention are: 1. Collecting data from the transmitter bus and decoding the data of transmitter 1 and transmitter 2. The decoded protocol is the sensor's own data transmission protocol. After decoding, the relative pressure values ​​measured by transmitter 1 and transmitter 2 are obtained respectively.

[0119] The relative pressure values ​​measured by transmitter 1 and transmitter 2 are sent to the central computer through protocol encoding. The encoded protocol is the communication protocol defined by the treatment system control, which is responsible for data exchange and control command transmission between the treatment system and all lower-level controllers.

[0120] To realize the working state control of the liquid displacement pump, when the liquid displacement pump needs to work, it receives the control instruction issued by the central computer and converts it into a control signal to start the liquid displacement pump. The control signal drives the solid-state relay to control the operation of the liquid displacement pump.

[0121] The central computer is realized by an industrial computer with a network and multiple serial ports. The network interface is used to communicate with the doctor's workstation computer, and the serial ports are respectively connected to the treatment execution mechanism, the ultrasonic driving unit, and the data processing unit.

[0122] The discharge pump uses a DC water pump model 4138-131-E65, which can discharge up to 11.3L / min when the pump is working normally. In actual use, the coupling liquid injection flow is 0.8-2.5L / min, which is much smaller than the rated working discharge volume of the discharge pump, so that the discharge pump can quickly handle the excess coupling liquid to ensure the safety of the liquid level during long-term operation.

[0123] In practical applications, in order to unify the relative values ​​of the transmitter values, the preferred distance H0 is 0 mm, that is, transmitter 1 and transmitter 2 are installed at the same height.

[0124] The methods disclosed in the above embodiments of the present invention can be applied to a processor or implemented by a processor. The processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented or executed.

[0125] Although the present invention is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed invention, those skilled in the art may understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments by viewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "one" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit may implement several functions listed in the claims. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0126] Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it is apparent that various modifications and combinations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, this specification and the accompanying drawings are merely exemplary illustrations of the present invention as defined by the appended claims and are deemed to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents within the scope of the present invention. Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is intended to include such modifications and variations if they fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A focused ultrasound equipment overflow monitoring device, used for monitoring coupling liquid overflow, characterized in that: The device comprises a transmitter 1 at a sampling point P1 on an overflow tank (1), a transmitter 2 at a sampling point P2 on a liquid storage tank (2), a data processing unit and a central computer of a focused ultrasound device. Liquid pressure data collected by the transmitter 1 and the transmitter 2 are sent to the data processing unit, and the real-time depth h1 of the sampling point P1 and the real-time depth h2 of the sampling point P2 are obtained by calculation. The data are sent to the central computer after being encoded by a protocol, and the overflow caused by vertical movement and / or pipeline blockage is monitored and protected by judging conditions. For overflow caused by vertical movement, calculate the overflow margin Δh1 of the overflow trough and the expected increase in height Δh of the overflow trough in a single step: Δh1=H2―H0―h1 Where H2 is the distance between sampling point P2 and the overflow surface (5), H0 is the height difference between sampling point P1 and sampling point P2, H0 ≥ 0, V 排 is the single-step displacement, V 注 S is the injection volume in a single step for a long time, 溢 is the single-step overflow amount. If the expected increase in height of the overflow tank in a single-step movement exceeds or is equal to the overflow margin, that is, Δh≥Δh1, a lock command is sent; otherwise, an enable command is sent; For overflow caused by pipeline blockage, if h1≥H2―H0 and h1 is within the tolerance range of 0.25-1.5mm of (h2―H0), the central computer controls the liquid discharge pump (7) of the liquid storage tank (2) to perform a timed interval liquid discharge operation until h1 <h2―H0。 2. The focused ultrasound equipment overflow monitoring device according to claim 1, characterized in that: Where s is the vertical upward movement step length of the treatment head along the Z axis, S 储 is the cross-sectional area of ​​the water tank, Q is the injection flow rate, v is the movement speed of the treatment head, S 溢 is the cross-sectional area of ​​the overflow tank.

3. The focused ultrasound equipment overflow monitoring device according to claim 2, characterized in that: If the next motion step length s has a risk of overflow, the next safe step length margin is estimated by the following algorithm: At this time, the treatment actuator is locked and the next safety step margin s ′ Prompt to the user.

4. A method for monitoring overflow of a focused ultrasound device, characterized in that: The method uses the focused ultrasound equipment overflow monitoring device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, including monitoring and protecting against overflow caused by vertical movement and / or pipeline blockage, wherein For overflow caused by vertical movement, calculate the overflow margin Δh1 of the overflow trough and the expected increase in height Δh of the overflow trough in a single step: Δh1=H2―H0―h1 Where H2 is the distance between sampling point P2 and the overflow surface (5), H0 is the height difference between sampling point P1 and sampling point P2, H0 ≥ 0, V 排 is the single-step displacement, V 注 S is the injection volume in a single step for a long time, 溢 is the single-step overflow amount. If the expected increase in height of the overflow tank in a single-step movement exceeds or is equal to the overflow margin, that is, Δh≥Δh1, a lock command is sent; otherwise, an enable command is sent; For overflow caused by pipeline blockage, if h1≥H2―H0 and h1 is within the tolerance range of 0.25-1.5mm of (h2―H0), the central computer controls the liquid discharge pump (7) of the liquid storage tank (2) to perform a timed interval liquid discharge operation until h1 <h2―H0。 5. A focused ultrasound device, characterized in that: A focused ultrasound device overflow monitoring device as described in any one of claims 1-3.

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