Twist reproduction method based on ultrasonic phased array and vortex acoustic beam

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of ultrasonic acupuncture and moxibustion, and particularly discloses a twisting reproduction method based on an ultrasonic phased array and a vortex acoustic beam. Acoustic wave signals emitted by each array element in a phased array simultaneously reach a focus by adopting a delay focusing principle, and are superposed in the same phase at the focus, so that ultrasonic focusing is realized; on the basis of ultrasonic focusing, vortexes of a sound field are generated through a phase encoding method, the position and size of vortex focusing are controlled more accurately, the generated vortexes are uniform in phase change and appropriate in sound intensity, appropriate torque can be applied to human tissue, and acupuncture twisting simulation is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of ultrasonic acupuncture, and more specifically, relates to a twisting reproduction method based on an ultrasonic phased array and a vortex acoustic beam. Background Art

[0002] Ultrasonic waves with frequencies greater than 20 kHz have strong penetration and directivity. Their unique mechanical, thermal, and biological effects make them widely used in the medical field. In the field of traditional Chinese medicine, the combination of ultrasonic technology and acupuncture therapy has produced an innovative application of traditional acupuncture - ultrasonic "acupuncture", which uses the acoustic energy generated by ultrasound waves passing through the skin and converging under the skin to stimulate specific acupoints, and uses acoustic energy and thermal energy as stimulation methods to make the body produce corresponding ultrasonic biological effects. Ultrasonic acupuncture has the advantages of being painless and does not require acupuncture, and belongs to non-invasive acupuncture therapy. It uses acoustic energy as a stimulation method to make the body produce corresponding ultrasonic biological effects, and then achieves the purpose of treating diseases and regulating body functions through nerve reflexes, neurohumoral regulation, neuro-endocrine-immune and direct effects.

[0003] In existing research, ultrasonic acupuncture mainly stimulates acupoints by generating high-intensity focused ultrasound through a single transducer, but it is difficult to achieve precise control of the stimulation position, and it is impossible to achieve the stimulation of acupoints by the twisting technique in acupuncture. Summary of the invention

[0004] In response to the above defects or improvement needs of the prior art, the present application provides a twisting reproduction method based on an ultrasonic phased array and a vortex acoustic beam, which aims to solve the technical problem that the existing ultrasonic acupuncture technology cannot imitate the twisting technique in acupuncture to produce precise stimulation of acupoints.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, in the first aspect, the present application provides a twisting reproduction method based on an ultrasonic phased array and a vortex acoustic beam. Specifically: Modulate the ultrasonic signal required to be emitted by each array element in the phased array; Among them, each array element needs to transmit an ultrasonic signal with a different time delay, so that the ultrasonic wave reaches the target acupuncture point at the same time; each array element needs to transmit an ultrasonic signal with a different phase difference, so that the ultrasonic wave generates a vortex sound field at the target acupuncture point.

[0006] Preferably, the ultrasonic signal that each array element needs to transmit is specifically:

[0007] in, Indicates The ultrasonic signal emitted by each array element is is the reference sound pressure of each array element, is the base of natural logarithms, is the signal angular frequency, is an imaginary unit, is the circumference of a circle, is the time variable, is the signal frequency, For the The delay of an array element, For the The phase difference of the array elements.

[0008] Preferably, the time delay required for each array element to transmit an ultrasonic signal is Specifically:

[0009]

[0010] in, Indicates The time it takes for an array element to transmit an ultrasonic signal is yes The maximum value in It is The distance between the array element and the acupuncture point, is the propagation speed of the ultrasonic signal.

[0011] Preferably, the phase difference of each array element required to transmit the ultrasonic signal is Specifically:

[0012] in, It is The position of an element in a phased array.

[0013] Preferably, the frequency of the ultrasonic signal emitted by each array element is between 0.8-1 MHz.

[0014] Preferably, the reference sound pressure required for each array element to transmit the ultrasonic signal does not exceed the standard of medical sound intensity.

[0015] In a second aspect, the present application provides a phased array control device, comprising: at least one memory for storing programs; and at least one processor for executing the programs stored in the memory. When the program stored in the memory is executed, the processor is used to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0016] In a third aspect, the present application provides an ultrasonic acupuncture device, comprising: A phased array control part, used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 to generate an ultrasonic signal; The phased array part is used to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the ultrasonic signal.

[0017] Preferably, the phased array part is composed of The array elements form a rectangular planar phased array, where .

[0018] Preferably, the spacing between the array elements in the phased array part is between 0.3 mm and 0.5 mm.

[0019] In general, the above technical solutions conceived by this application have the following beneficial effects compared with the prior art: (1) The present application adopts the principle of delayed focusing to make the sound wave signals emitted by each array element in the phased array reach the focus at the same time and superimpose in phase at the focus to achieve ultrasonic focusing; compared with conventional ultrasonic acupuncture technology, the control of the focus position and size is more precise.

[0020] (2) This application generates a vortex of the sound field through a phase encoding method based on phased array ultrasonic focusing. This scheme has a more precise control over the position and size of the vortex focusing, and the phase change of the generated vortex is uniform and the sound intensity is appropriate. It can apply a suitable torque to human tissue, thus realizing the simulation of acupuncture twisting. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 It is a flow chart of a twisting reproduction method based on an ultrasonic phased array and a vortex acoustic beam provided in Example 1 of the present application.

[0022] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the time delay of each array element in the ultrasonic phased array provided in Example 2 of the present application.

[0023] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the ultrasonic phased array provided in Example 2 of the present application.

[0024] Figure 4 It is a sound intensity cloud diagram of the XZ section in the three-dimensional sound field model provided in Example 2 of the present application.

[0025] Figure 5 It is the phase cloud diagram of the XY section in the three-dimensional sound field model provided in Example 3 of the present application.

[0026] Figure 6 It is a sound intensity cloud diagram of the XZ section in the three-dimensional sound field model provided in Example 4 of the present application.

[0027] Figure 7 It is the phase cloud diagram of the XY section in the three-dimensional sound field model provided in Example 4 of the present application.

[0028] Figure 8It is a sound intensity curve diagram of the Z axis in the three-dimensional sound field model provided in Example 2 of the present application.

[0029] Fig. 9 It is a sound intensity curve diagram of the Z axis in the three-dimensional sound field model provided in Example 3 of the present application.

[0030] Fig.10 It is a sound intensity curve diagram of the Z axis in the three-dimensional sound field model provided in Example 4 of the present application.

[0031] Fig.11 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the phased array control device provided in Example 7 of the present application.

[0032] Fig.12 It is a schematic diagram of the composition of the ultrasonic acupuncture device provided in Example 8 of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.

[0034] In the embodiments of the present application, 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 embodiments of the present application 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.

[0035] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, “plurality” means two or more than two. For example, “plurality” means two or more than two array elements.

[0036] Embodiment 1: Example 1 is as follows Figure 1 A twisting reproduction method based on an ultrasonic phased array and a vortex acoustic beam is shown, specifically: Modulate the ultrasonic signal required to be emitted by each array element in the phased array; Among them, each array element needs to transmit an ultrasonic signal with a different time delay, so that the ultrasonic wave reaches the target acupuncture point at the same time; each array element needs to transmit an ultrasonic signal with a different phase difference, so that the ultrasonic wave generates a vortex sound field at the target acupuncture point.

[0037] The specific ultrasonic signals required to be emitted by each array element are:

[0038] in, Indicates The ultrasonic signal emitted by each array element is is the reference sound pressure of each array element, is the base of natural logarithms, is the signal angular frequency, is an imaginary unit, is the circumference of a circle, is the time variable, is the signal frequency, For the The delay of an array element, For the The phase difference of the array elements.

[0039] To ensure the effectiveness and safety of ultrasonic acupuncture, the frequency of the ultrasonic signal is between 0.8-1MHz, and the reference sound pressure does not exceed the standard of medical sound intensity.

[0040] like Figure 2 As shown, the distance between each array element and the acupuncture point is used to set the delay of each array element to transmit the ultrasonic signal. Specifically, the delay of each array element to transmit the ultrasonic signal Specifically:

[0041]

[0042] in, Indicates The time it takes for an array element to transmit an ultrasonic signal is yes The maximum value in It is The distance between the array element and the acupuncture point, is the propagation speed of the ultrasonic signal.

[0043] The phase difference of the ultrasonic signal required to be transmitted by each array element Specifically:

[0044] in, It is The position of an element in a phased array.

[0045] Embodiment 2: Example 2 uses the pressure acoustic transient physical field in COMSOL for simulation, and the specific process is as follows: Step 1: Figure 3 As shown by The array elements form a rectangular planar phased array as the transmitting surface, with a single element width of 2.15mm and an element gap of 0.35mm.

[0046] Step 2: Establish a three-dimensional sound field model, and construct the model as a cylinder. The ground radius of the cylinder is 15mm, the height is 40mm, and the material is divided into water or skin. In order to ensure the accuracy of the simulated ultrasound, it is required that at least 20 grids must be contained in the shortest wavelength. Therefore, the grid size is 0.075mm in the two-dimensional focusing simulation. In the three-dimensional vortex model, the amount of calculation increases. Too small a size not only affects the calculation time, but also has higher requirements for the equipment. After debugging and optimization, a grid size of 0.5mm is selected. Set the position of the target acupuncture point, that is, the focus position of the ultrasonic signal is located at point F in the three-dimensional sound field model, F=(0, 0, 25).

[0047] Step 3: Use the distance between the array element and point F to determine the time delay of each array element transmitting the sound wave signal. The array element far from point F transmits the sound wave first, and the array element close to point F transmits the sound wave later, so that the sound wave signals emitted by each array element arrive at point F at the same time and are superimposed at point F. The amplitude of the sound field at point F reaches the maximum, forming a focused sound field; therefore, the ultrasonic signal of each array element is set to:

[0048] in, is the reference sound pressure of each array element, and the reference sound pressure does not exceed the standard of medical sound intensity; f is the transmitting frequency; is the delay time of each array element:

[0049]

[0050] in, Indicates The time it takes for an array element to transmit an ultrasonic signal is yes The maximum value in It is The distance between the array element and the acupuncture point, is the propagation speed of the ultrasonic signal; at this time, the midpoint of the phased array is set as the origin.

[0051] Step 4: After ultrasonic simulation, obtain its sound intensity cloud map, such as Figure 4 Shown is the sound intensity cloud diagram of the XZ section of the three-dimensional sound field model. It can be seen that the focus of the sound intensity is located at the position of the target acupuncture point, and the focusing effect has met the requirements of the acupuncture point position.

[0052] like Figure 8 The figure shows the sound intensity curve of the Z axis of the three-dimensional sound field model. It can be seen that the sound intensity is the largest at Z=25mm, that is, the sound wave is focused at the target acupuncture point, and the maximum sound intensity is 2.062W / cm 2 , meeting the medical ultrasound safety standard 3W / cm 2 under.

[0053] In this embodiment, the phases of the array elements are consistent, and a vortex sound field cannot be generated, and the simulation of acupuncture twisting cannot be achieved.

[0054] This embodiment 3: The pressure acoustic transient physics field in COMSOL is used for simulation. The specific process is as follows: Step 1: Figure 3 As shown by The array elements form a rectangular planar phased array as the transmitting surface, with a single element width of 2.15mm and an element gap of 0.35mm.

[0055] Step 2: Establish a three-dimensional sound field model, and construct the model as a cylinder. The ground radius of the cylinder is 15mm, the height is 40mm, and the material is divided into water or skin. In order to ensure the accuracy of the simulated ultrasound, it is required that at least 20 grids must be contained in the shortest wavelength. Therefore, the grid size is 0.075mm in the two-dimensional focusing simulation. In the three-dimensional vortex model, the amount of calculation increases. Too small a size not only affects the calculation time, but also has higher requirements for the equipment. After debugging and optimization, a grid size of 0.5mm is selected. Set the position of the target acupuncture point, that is, the focus position of the ultrasonic signal is located at point F in the three-dimensional sound field model, F=(0, 0, 25).

[0056] Step 3: Perform phase encoding and phase modulate the transmitted sine wave, so the ultrasonic signal of each array element is set to:

[0057] in, is the reference sound pressure of each array element, and the reference sound pressure does not exceed the standard of medical sound intensity; f is the transmitting frequency; is the phase difference of the array element:

[0058] in, It is The position of an element in the phased array; at this time, the midpoint of the phased array is set as the origin.

[0059] Step 4: After ultrasonic simulation, obtain its phase diagram and compare and verify the effectiveness of its acoustic field vortex generation, such as Figure 5 The four phase diagrams shown are from left to right the XY cross sections at Z=0.5mm, Z=1mm, Z=1.5mm, and Z=2mm in the three-dimensional sound field model. It can be seen from the figure that the red frame part is obviously rotated, from which it can be determined that a vortex sound field is generated by phase encoding.

[0060] like Fig. 9The figure shows the sound intensity curve of the Z axis in the three-dimensional sound field model after ultrasonic simulation. It can be seen that its intensity is limited to the emission section. At Z=25mm, which is the target acupuncture point, the intensity drops significantly and cannot achieve the effect of acupuncture treatment.

[0061] Embodiment 4: The pressure acoustic transient physics field in COMSOL is used for simulation. The specific process is as follows: Step 1: Figure 3 As shown by The array elements form a rectangular planar phased array as the transmitting surface, with a single element width of 2.15mm and an element gap of 0.35mm.

[0062] Step 2: Establish a three-dimensional sound field model, and construct the model as a cylinder. The ground radius of the cylinder is 15mm, the height is 40mm, and the material is divided into water or skin. In order to ensure the accuracy of the simulated ultrasound, it is required that at least 20 grids must be contained in the shortest wavelength. Therefore, the grid size is 0.075mm in the two-dimensional focusing simulation. In the three-dimensional vortex model, the amount of calculation increases. Too small a size not only affects the calculation time, but also has higher requirements for the equipment. After debugging and optimization, a grid size of 0.5mm is selected. Set the position of the target acupuncture point, that is, the focus position of the ultrasonic signal is located at point F in the three-dimensional sound field model, F=(0, 0, 25).

[0063] Step 3: Use the distance difference between the array element and the set focal position to determine the delay of each array element transmitting the sound wave signal. The array element far from the focal point transmits the sound wave first, and the array element close to the focal point transmits the sound wave later, so that the sound wave signals emitted by each array element reach the focal point at the same time, superimpose in phase at the focal point, and the sound field amplitude reaches the maximum, forming a focused sound field; therefore, the ultrasonic signal of each array element is set to:

[0064] in, is the reference sound pressure of each array element, and the reference sound pressure does not exceed the standard of medical sound intensity; f is the transmitting frequency; is the delay time of each array element:

[0065]

[0066] in, Indicates The time it takes for an array element to transmit an ultrasonic signal is yes The maximum value in It is The distance between the array element and the acupuncture point, is the propagation speed of the ultrasonic signal; at this time, the midpoint of the phased array is set as the origin.

[0067] Step 4: According to the phase encoding, the transmitted sine wave is phase modulated, so the ultrasonic signal of each array element is set to:

[0068] in, is the reference sound pressure of each array element, and the reference sound pressure does not exceed the standard of medical sound intensity; f is the transmitting frequency; is the phase difference of the array element:

[0069] in, It is The position of an element in the phased array; at this time, the midpoint of the phased array is set as the origin.

[0070] Step 5: After ultrasonic simulation, obtain its sound intensity cloud map and phase map.

[0071] like Figure 6 The figure shows the sound intensity cloud map of the XZ section of the three-dimensional sound field model. It can be seen from the figure that at Z=25mm, which is the target acupuncture point, the sound intensity focuses to form two spindle-shaped focusing cloud maps. This is because the sound field vortex is focused here, and the vortex propagates forward in a circular manner. There is a phase singularity point, so the sound intensity at the center is 0. Therefore, two spindle-shaped focusing cloud maps will appear at Z=25mm on the XZ section.

[0072] like Figure 7 Shown is the phase diagram of the XY section of the three-dimensional sound field model, from which clear spiral phase changes can be seen.

[0073] like Fig.10 The figure shows the sound intensity curve on the Z axis in the three-dimensional sound field model. It can be seen that at Z=25mm, that is, the sound intensity focus at the acupuncture point is the maximum 1.504W / cm 2 , meeting the medical ultrasound requirement of less than 3W / cm 2 safety standards.

[0074] In this embodiment 4, the ultrasonic signal emitted by each array element in the phased array is simultaneously time-delay encoded and phase-encoded, so as to achieve focusing and vortexing of the sound field at the target acupuncture point, thereby reproducing the twisting technique in acupuncture through ultrasound.

[0075] Embodiment 5: Example 5 uses the pressure acoustic transient physical field in COMSOL for simulation. The simulation process is basically the same as that of Example 4, except that in Example 5: Phased array The array elements form a rectangular planar phased array, the array element gap is 0.3mm, and the frequency of the ultrasonic signal required to be transmitted by each array element is 0.8MHz.

[0076] Finally, ultrasound focusing simulation was performed to obtain its sound intensity cloud map and phase map. It can be seen from the figure that sound field focusing and sound field vortex were generated at the acupuncture points, thus reproducing the twisting technique in acupuncture through ultrasound.

[0077] Embodiment 6: Example 6 uses the pressure acoustic transient physical field in COMSOL for simulation. The simulation process is basically the same as that of Example 4, except that in Example 5: Phased array The array elements form a rectangular planar phased array, the array element gap is 0.5mm, and the frequency of the ultrasonic signal required to be transmitted by each array element is 0.9MHz.

[0078] Finally, ultrasound focusing simulation was performed to obtain its sound intensity cloud map and phase map. It can be seen from the figure that sound field focusing and sound field vortex were generated at the acupuncture points, thus reproducing the twisting technique in acupuncture through ultrasound.

[0079] Embodiment 7: Embodiment 7 of the present application provides a phased array control device, such as Fig.11 As shown, it may include: a processor, a communication interface, a memory, and a communication bus, wherein the processor, the communication interface, and the memory communicate with each other via the communication bus. The processor may call the logic instructions in the memory to execute the method in the above embodiment 1.

[0080] Embodiment 8: Embodiment 8 of the present application provides an ultrasonic acupuncture device, such as Fig.12 shown, including: A phased array control part, used to execute the method described in embodiment 1 to generate an ultrasonic signal; The phased array part is used to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the ultrasonic signal.

[0081] It is understandable that the detailed functional implementation of the phased array control part in the above-mentioned device can be found in the introduction of the above-mentioned method embodiment 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0082] It should be understood that the above-mentioned device is used to execute the method in the above-mentioned embodiment 1. The implementation principle and technical effect of the phased array control part in the device are similar to those described in the method in the above-mentioned embodiment 1. The working process of this part can refer to the corresponding process in the above-mentioned method and will not be repeated here.

[0083] It is understandable that the processor in the embodiment of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0084] The method steps in Example 1 of the present application can be implemented by hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, mobile hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC.

[0085] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted through the computer-readable storage medium. The computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state drive (SSD)), etc.

[0086] It should be understood that the various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only used for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0087] It will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A twisting reproduction method based on ultrasonic phased array and vortex acoustic beam, characterized in that: Specifically: Modulate the ultrasonic signal required to be emitted by each array element in the phased array; Among them, each array element needs to transmit an ultrasonic signal with a different time delay, so that the ultrasonic wave reaches the target acupuncture point at the same time; each array element needs to transmit an ultrasonic signal with a different phase difference, so that the ultrasonic wave generates a vortex sound field at the target acupuncture point.

2. The twist reproduction method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The specific ultrasonic signals required to be emitted by each array element are: in, Indicates The ultrasonic signal emitted by each array element is is the reference sound pressure of each array element, is the base of natural logarithms, is the signal angular frequency, is an imaginary unit, is the circumference of a circle, is the time variable, is the signal frequency, For the The delay of an array element, For the The phase difference of the array elements.

3. The twist reproduction method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The time delay required for each array element to transmit the ultrasonic signal Specifically: in, Indicates The time it takes for an array element to transmit an ultrasonic signal is yes The maximum value in It is The distance between the array element and the acupuncture point, is the propagation speed of the ultrasonic signal.

4. The twist reproduction method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The phase difference of the ultrasonic signal required to be transmitted by each array element Specifically: in, It is The position of an element in a phased array.

5. The twist reproduction method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The frequency of ultrasonic signals emitted by each array element is between 0.8 and 1 MHz.

6. The twist reproduction method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The reference sound pressure of each array element required to transmit the ultrasonic signal shall not exceed the standard of medical sound intensity.

7. A phased array control device, characterized in that: include: at least one memory for storing a computer program; At least one processor is used to execute the program stored in the memory. When the program stored in the memory is executed, the processor is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. An ultrasonic acupuncture device, characterized in that: include: A phased array control part, used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 to generate an ultrasonic signal; The phased array part is used to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the ultrasonic signal.

9. The ultrasonic acupuncture device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The phased array part is composed of The array elements form a rectangular planar phased array, where .

10. The ultrasonic acupuncture device according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The interval between each array element in the phased array part is between 0.3 mm and 0.5 mm.

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