Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic equipment

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of medical instruments, and particularly discloses an ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic equipment, the ultrasonic probe comprises a head end part and a holding part, and an operation device used for performing control operation on an ultrasonic host is arranged at a transition part between the head end part and the holding part; the central axis of the array element surface vertically penetrating through the central array element of the ultrasonic probe is taken as a reference line, and the operating device is arranged on one side of the reference line. According to the ultrasonic probe and the ultrasonic equipment, a user can control the ultrasonic host through the operation device, and inconvenience caused by host operation is avoided. Besides, the operation device is arranged at the transition part between the head end part and the holding part and is positioned on one side of the reference line, so that the user can operate the ultrasonic probe in a natural holding manner, and mistaken touch on the operation device is avoided, so that the user does not need to adaptively change the holding manner, and the user experience is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of medical devices, and more particularly to an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic device. BACKGROUND

[0002] The ultrasonic device is widely used in various clinical scenarios due to its non-invasive, accurate and visual characteristics. When performing clinical operations such as puncture under the guidance of the ultrasonic device, the ultrasonic doctor is far away from the ultrasonic host and holds the puncture needle with one hand and the ultrasonic probe with the other hand, so the ultrasonic doctor cannot complete the operation of the ultrasonic host alone and needs the assistance of an assistant. In addition, in scenarios such as emergency and intensive care, the communication time and the shortage of personnel increase the operation time and even affect the clinical effect. Therefore, an ultrasonic probe is needed to interact with the ultrasonic host when the ultrasonic doctor holds the ultrasonic probe, which greatly facilitates the operation.

[0003] There are studies on setting buttons on the ultrasonic probe. The doctor can complete the operation of the host through the buttons on the ultrasonic probe in the clinic to achieve corresponding adjustment. However, the position of the button is usually opposite to the force point held by the doctor, and there is a possibility of accidental touch in actual operation. In order to avoid accidental touch, the doctor needs to change the holding method, which will affect the operation of the doctor to some extent, and even affect the image quality and accuracy. CONTENT OF THE UTILITY MODEL

[0004] Therefore, the purpose of the present application is to provide an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic device, and the structural design of the ultrasonic probe and the ultrasonic device can effectively solve the problem that the buttons on the ultrasonic probe are easily touched accidentally.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] An ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic probe comprises a head end and a holding part, and an operation device for controlling the operation of an ultrasonic host is arranged at the transition position between the head end and the holding part; a center axis perpendicular to the array element face of the center array element of the ultrasonic probe is taken as a reference line, and the operation device is arranged on one side of the reference line.

[0007] Optionally, in the ultrasonic probe, the operation device is arranged on the side of the ultrasonic probe.

[0008] Optionally, in the ultrasonic probe, the transition position is provided with recesses on opposite sides, and the operation device is arranged in the recess on one side.

[0009] Optionally, in the ultrasonic probe, the operation device is arranged within the reach of the idle fingers of the user when the user naturally holds the ultrasonic probe.

[0010] Optionally, in the ultrasonic probe, the operation device is arranged within the reach of the index finger of the user when the user naturally holds the ultrasonic probe.

[0011] Optionally, in the ultrasonic probe, the operation device is one of a dial lever, a touchpad, and a gesture recognition device.

[0012] Optionally, in the ultrasonic probe, the dial lever is capable of dialing in two directions by rotating around a first rotation axis and a second rotation axis, the first rotation axis being parallel to the reference line, and the second rotation axis being perpendicular to the reference line.

[0013] Optionally, in the ultrasonic probe, further comprising a vibration sensor arranged inside the ultrasonic probe, the vibration sensor being configured to receive a tapping operation of the user and switch the activation state and the pause state of the operation device based on the tapping operation.

[0014] Optionally, in the ultrasonic probe, further comprising a biological information recognition device arranged on the ultrasonic probe, the biological information recognition device being configured to collect and recognize biological information of the user, so as to invoke a function bound to the biological information of the user.

[0015] Optionally, in the ultrasonic probe, the biological information recognition device is a fingerprint recognition device.

[0016] The ultrasonic probe provided in the present application is provided with an operation device for controlling an ultrasonic host, and the user can control the ultrasonic host through the operation device. In some scenarios, the user can avoid the inconvenience caused by the operation of the host, such as the anesthesiologist being in a sterile state and no one assisting in the operation. The ultrasonic probe can meet the requirements of a sterile operation and relieve the tense distribution of manpower in the operating room. In addition, the operation device is arranged at a transition position between the head end and the holding portion and located on one side of the reference line. The user can operate the ultrasonic probe in a natural holding manner, which can facilitate the operation of the operation device and avoid accidental touch of the operation device. Therefore, the user does not need to adaptively change the holding manner, and the user experience is improved.

[0017] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application further provides an ultrasonic device, which comprises any one of the above-mentioned ultrasonic probes. Since the ultrasonic probe has the above-mentioned technical effects, the ultrasonic device with the ultrasonic probe should also have corresponding technical effects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments or the prior art description. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without any creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasound probe according to a specific embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A partial schematic diagram of the center lever;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasound probe according to another specific embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 4 for Figure 3 A partial enlarged schematic diagram of part A;

[0023] Figure 5 for Figure 4 A top-down view of the center touchpad.

[0024] The following are marked in the accompanying drawings:

[0025] Housing 100 , lever 200 , touchpad 300 , vibration sensor 400 , reference line L. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The embodiments of the present application disclose an ultrasound probe and an ultrasound device, which can realize the control of some functions of the ultrasound host through the ultrasound probe, effectively reduce the risk of accidental touch, reduce or even eliminate the impact on the stability of the probe during operation, and improve the user experience.

[0027] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0028] Ultrasound equipment consists of an ultrasound probe and a main unit, which can be connected to the main unit via wired or wireless connections. The probe emits and detects a scanning ultrasonic beam toward the subject, and the resulting information is displayed as an ultrasonic image on an image display or the main unit's screen, allowing real-time observation of the subject.

[0029] In order to realize the operation of some functions of the ultrasound host through the ultrasound probe, a button can be set on the ultrasound probe, and the corresponding function can be triggered by pressing the button. However, in the process of implementing this application, the inventor found that the ultrasound probe with a button has the following shortcomings:

[0030] In one aspect, a certain pressing force is required for the press button to work. The user (usually a doctor) usually presses the button with the thumb or middle finger. However, these fingers are the main stress points when the doctor holds the ultrasound probe. Therefore, when pressing the button, the force exerted on the ultrasound probe (especially when the button is not located at a convenient pressing position) is affected, which easily causes the ultrasound probe to move at the moment the button is pressed, that is, the stability of the probe is affected, which causes the image to shift, affecting the quality and accuracy of the image.

[0031] On the other hand, the position of the button is directly opposite to the force point of the user's hand. In actual operation, there is a possibility of accidental touch. In order to avoid accidental touch, the user needs to change the holding method, which will affect the operation to some extent, and even affect the image quality and accuracy.

[0032] In addition, the button is usually arranged on the front of the probe. In use, in order to enable the finger to control the button, a specific holding method is usually required. However, this holding method is usually different from the conventional holding method of the ordinary ultrasound probe, so the holding comfort is reduced. Especially when scanning and puncturing different parts of different patients, the comfortable holding and the operation of the button usually cannot be satisfied at the same time.

[0033] In order to at least partially solve the defects in the above technical solutions, the present application provides an ultrasound probe and an ultrasound device. The preferred embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the structure of the ultrasound probe for realizing ultrasound examination can refer to the prior art. In the following embodiments, the structure of the ultrasound probe for realizing part of the function of the ultrasound host is mainly described. The ultrasound probe provided by the present application can be a convex array probe, a linear array probe or a phased array probe.

[0034] In some embodiments, please refer to Figures 1-2The ultrasonic probe provided in the application comprises a head end portion and a holding portion, and an operation device for controlling the operation of an ultrasonic host is arranged at a transition position between the head end portion and the holding portion; a center axis vertically penetrating a center element face of a center element of the ultrasonic probe is taken as a reference line, and the operation device is arranged on one side of the reference line. The holding portion is a portion for being held by a user, that is, a main force receiving portion when the user holds. The elements of the ultrasonic probe are arranged at the head end portion. The operation device is arranged at the transition position between the head end portion and the holding portion, and is used for receiving the operation of the user to control the ultrasonic host to trigger corresponding functions, which can include a key, a knob, a touchpad 300, a sliding bar, a dial rod 200, a trackball or any combination thereof. The operation device can be manipulated by conventional usage modes, such as pressing, rotating, sliding, clicking, dialing, flipping, scrolling, etc. In the application, the operation device is arranged at the transition position and on one side of the reference line, so that the user will not mistakenly touch the operation device when naturally holding the ultrasonic probe, and since the operation device is close to the holding portion, the user can conveniently operate the operation device with fingers when holding.

[0035] The ultrasonic probe provided in the application is provided with the operation device for controlling the operation of the ultrasonic host, and the user can control the ultrasonic host through the operation device, which can avoid the inconvenience caused by the operation of the host (keyboard panel) in some scenarios, such as that the anesthesiologist is in a sterile state and no one assists in the operation, etc., which can not only meet the requirements of sterile surgery, but also relieve the tense distribution of manpower in the operating room. In addition, by arranging the operation device at the transition position between the head end portion and the holding portion and on one side of the reference line, the user can operate the ultrasonic probe in a natural holding manner, which can more conveniently operate the operation device and avoid mistakenly touching the operation device, so that the user does not need to adaptively change the holding manner, and the user experience is improved.

[0036] In some embodiments, the operation device is arranged at a side of the ultrasonic probe. Specifically, the holding portion comprises opposite first and second side walls, the first side wall can be used for contacting the thumb of the user, and the second side wall can be used for contacting the remaining fingers of the user. The operation device is specifically arranged at a portion of the holding portion connecting between the first and second side walls, which is not easy to be mistakenly touched when holding, is located at a position easy to be touched by the fingers of the user in a holding state, can be conveniently operated, and the user experience is improved.

[0037] In some embodiments, the transition position is provided with recesses on opposite sides, and the operation device is arranged at the recess on one side. Arranging the operation device at the recess on one side facilitates force application. At the same time, the recesses leave space for the installation of the operation device, which is beneficial to the control of the overall size of the ultrasonic probe, and the operation device is not easy to be mistakenly touched.

[0038] In some embodiments, the operation device is arranged within the reach of the idle fingers of the user when the user naturally holds the ultrasound probe. It should be noted that the idle fingers herein refer to the fingers that do not support the ultrasound probe. The operation device is arranged corresponding to the idle fingers, and when the user naturally holds the ultrasound probe, the idle fingers can move relatively freely, so that when the user operates the operation device, the idle fingers can effectively avoid causing false touch and moving the ultrasound probe.

[0039] In some embodiments, the operation device is arranged within the reach of the index finger of the user when the user naturally holds the ultrasound probe. When the user naturally holds the ultrasound probe, the user can provide support force through the thumb and the web position, and the index finger can move relatively freely within a certain range. Therefore, the operation device is arranged within the reach of the index finger, so that the user can effectively operate the operation device by using the index finger, and false touch and movement of the ultrasound probe are less likely to occur.

[0040] In some embodiments, referring to Figures 1-2 , the operation device is one of a dial lever 200, a touchpad 300, and a gesture recognition device. The dial lever 200 is rotatably arranged at the transition position; the touchpad 300 is used to receive the sliding operation and / or clicking operation of the user; and the gesture recognition device is used to recognize the gesture action of the user. The operation device adopts the above structure, which can reduce the force for operating the operation device, so as to avoid affecting the imaging quality. In one mode, the operation device includes the dial lever 200. The dial lever 200 is easier to operate than the button, for example, the user can more easily dial the dial lever 200 by using the index finger, and since the force direction for dialing the dial lever 200 is different from the force direction for holding the ultrasound probe, false operation is less likely to occur, and movement of the probe during image acquisition can be better avoided, which is conducive to better ensuring the image quality.

[0041] Specifically, the dial lever 200 can be operated in multiple directions. For example, the dial lever 200 is dials in two directions perpendicular to each other by rotating around a first rotation axis and a second rotation axis perpendicular to each other, the first rotation axis is parallel to the reference line, and the second rotation axis is perpendicular to the reference line. That is, the first rotation axis is along the longitudinal direction of the ultrasound probe, and the second rotation axis is along the transverse direction of the ultrasound probe. After the ultrasound probe is connected to the ultrasound host, certain functions of the ultrasound host can be realized by operating the dial lever 200 in different directions. Specifically, the operation mode of the dial lever 200 can be single or multiple dialing in one or more directions to realize different functions of the ultrasound host.

[0042] In one mode, referring to Figures 3-5The operation device includes a touchpad 300 for receiving a sliding operation and / or a clicking operation of a user and triggering the operation device to implement a corresponding function according to the sliding operation and / or the clicking operation of the user. Specifically, the control can be implemented by different direction sliding, continuous clicking and the like. The touchpad 300 is adopted, the force required in operation is small, the operation is convenient, and the space occupation is small. Further, in the case where the biological information recognition device is provided, the biological information recognition device can be shared with the touchpad 300, that is, the sensor of the biological information recognition device is shared with the touchpad 300, only one module is used to implement two functions, and the structure is simplified.

[0043] In one mode, the operation device includes a gesture recognition device, which specifically can include a non-contact sensor such as a distance sensor, and the control is implemented by recognizing a gesture action. That is, the gesture action of the user is recognized to trigger the control structure to implement a corresponding function.

[0044] In some embodiments, the ultrasonic probe further includes a vibration sensor 400 arranged in the interior of the ultrasonic probe, the vibration sensor 400 is connected with the operation device, for accepting a knocking operation of a user and switching an activation state and a pause state of the operation device based on the knocking operation, wherein the operation device can trigger a corresponding function when in the activation state, and the function of the operation device is paused when in the pause state. By arranging the vibration sensor 400, the activation / pause control of the operation device can be implemented. When the user forgets to turn on the function of the operation device, the operation device can be activated by the knocking operation, so that the corresponding function can be normally triggered. When the user takes other operations and does not need to use the function of the operation device, the function of the operation device can also be paused by the knocking operation, so as to avoid accidental touch.

[0045] For example, the vibration sensor 400 is arranged in the shell 100, and when the vibration sensor 400 detects a first preset vibration or a second preset vibration of the shell 100, the operation device is switched to the activation state or the pause state correspondingly. Then the user can knock the shell 100 to switch the state of the operation device. It can be understood that the position of the knocking of the user should be within the detection range of the vibration sensor 400, for example, when the detection range of the vibration sensor 400 is the entire shell 100, the user can knock any position of the shell 100 to switch the state of the operation device; if the detection range of the vibration sensor 400 is in a part of the shell 100, the user can knock the corresponding part of the shell 100 to switch the state of the operation device. The vibration sensor 400 includes but is not limited to an inductive sensor, a piezoelectric sensor and the like. It can be understood that the first preset vibration and the second preset vibration can be the same or different, which can be a preset number of knocks or a preset amplitude of vibration. The vibration sensor 400 is used in cooperation with the shell 100, which can provide a larger operation range, so as to facilitate the user to activate or pause the operation device.

[0046] In one embodiment, the ultrasonic probe can include a receiving unit, a switching element and an executing unit, the receiving unit is connected with the vibration sensor 400, for receiving the detected first preset vibration and second preset vibration; the switching element is used to cut off or connect the operating device and the ultrasonic host; the executing unit is connected with the receiving unit and the switching element, for controlling the switching element to be connected when the first preset vibration is received, so as to connect the operating device and the ultrasonic host, and for controlling the switching element to be cut off when the second preset vibration is received, so as to cut off the operating device and the ultrasonic host. The structure and working principle of the specific receiving unit, switching element and executing unit can refer to the conventional corresponding components, which will not be described here.

[0047] The function corresponding to the operating device can be fixed or selectable, such as setting the specific function of the operating device by the ultrasonic host and storing it. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic probe is also provided with a biological information recognition device for collecting and recognizing the user's biological information, so as to call the function bound thereto by using the user's biological information. The biological information can include at least one of fingerprint information, facial information and pupil information. Taking the fingerprint information as an example, the biological information recognition device is a fingerprint recognition device. The fingerprint recognition device is arranged on the outer wall of the shell 100 to collect the user's fingerprint information. The ultrasonic probe or the ultrasonic host specifically includes a memory and stores the fingerprint information of different users and the bound functions. The fingerprint recognition device collects and recognizes the user's fingerprint information, and according to the stored fingerprint information of different users and the bound functions, the function bound to the fingerprint information is called. As set above, the user can be identified, so that the stored function setting can be quickly reused, that is, the operating module can be quickly identified and switched to the user's preset operation item, thereby increasing the availability and convenience of the ultrasonic probe. It can be understood that the fingerprint information of different users and the bound functions can be set and stored on the ultrasonic host or on the ultrasonic probe. In one embodiment, the ultrasonic host can include a biological information receiving unit, a function selection unit and a storage unit, the biological information receiving unit is used to receive the user's biological information collected by the biological information recognition device, the function selection unit is used to receive the function setting selected by the user, which can be selected by the way of a drop-down menu, or by manual, voice input and the like, and the storage unit is used to bind and store the user's biological information and the corresponding selected function. It can be understood that the above biological information receiving unit, function selection unit and storage unit can all use conventional components in the prior art.

[0048] It can be understood that the function bound with the user information can be a use function of the ultrasonic probe, or can be a function related to the user's use habit on the ultrasonic host. Exemplarily, the above function can include at least one of an ultrasonic wave emitting or receiving function, an image freezing and unfreezing, an image storing, a movie storing, a diagnosis mode switching, and an opening puncture function. The diagnosis mode includes but is not limited to, for example, blood flow, pulse Doppler, continuous Doppler, etc. Correspondingly, according to the user's use habit, the function of the operation device can be set to one or more of the above functions.

[0049] Based on the ultrasonic probe provided in the above embodiments, the present application further provides an ultrasonic device including the ultrasonic host and any one of the ultrasonic probes in the above embodiments. Since the ultrasonic device adopts the ultrasonic probe in the above embodiments, the beneficial effects of the ultrasonic device refer to the above embodiments.

[0050] The various embodiments in the specification are described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment focuses on the difference from other embodiments. The same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other.

[0051] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables a person skilled in the art to implement or use the present application. Various modifications to the embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application. Therefore, the present application will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but will conform to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An ultrasound probe, characterized by, The ultrasonic probe comprises a head end and a holding part, and a transition part between the head end and the holding part is provided with an operation device for controlling operation of an ultrasonic host; a center axis vertically passing through a center element face of the ultrasonic probe is a reference line, and the operation device is arranged on one side of the reference line.

2. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein, The operation device is arranged on a side of the ultrasonic probe.

3. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein, Opposite sides of the transition part are respectively provided with recesses, and the operation device is arranged in the recess on one side.

4. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein, The operation device is arranged within a reach of an idle finger when a user naturally holds the ultrasonic probe.

5. The ultrasound probe of claim 4, wherein, The operation device is arranged within a reach of an index finger when a user naturally holds the ultrasonic probe.

6. The ultrasound probe of any one of claims 1-5, wherein, The operation device is one of a dial lever, a touchpad and a gesture recognition device.

7. The ultrasound probe of claim 6, wherein, The dial lever is capable of dialing in two directions by rotating around a first rotation shaft and a second rotation shaft, the first rotation shaft is parallel to the reference line, and the second rotation shaft is perpendicular to the reference line.

8. The ultrasound probe of any one of claims 1-5, wherein, A vibration sensor arranged in an interior of the ultrasonic probe is further included, and the vibration sensor is used for accepting a knocking operation of a user and switching an activation state and a pause state of the operation device based on the knocking operation.

9. The ultrasound probe of any one of claims 1-5, wherein, The ultrasonic probe is further provided with a biological information recognition device, which is used for collecting and recognizing biological information of a user, so as to call a function bound with the biological information of the user by using the biological information of the user.

10. The ultrasound probe of claim 9, wherein, The biological information recognition device is a fingerprint recognition device.

11. An ultrasound apparatus, characterized by The ultrasonic probe is electrically connected with the ultrasonic host.

Images