Method for mounting acoustic coupling material

Abstract

To provide a method for mounting an acoustic coupling material that can be easily fitted to a probe used for an oral cavity examination.SOLUTION: A method for mounting an acoustic coupling material is for mounting a gelled acoustic coupling material to a probe for an oral cavity examination which is provided with a sensor part including an ultrasonic vibrator at an end part and in which the sensor part has a sensor surface and a peripheral wall surface connected to the sensor surface. The acoustic coupling material is arranged so as to cover the sensor surface of the sensor part, one part of the peripheral wall surface adjacent to the sensor surface, and the other part of the peripheral wall surface opposite the one part of the peripheral wall surface. An elastic band is attached so as to encircle a part covering the one part and the other part of the peripheral wall surface and the remaining part of the peripheral wall surface uncovered with the acoustic coupling material in the acoustic coupling material to fix the acoustic coupling material to the sensor part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for attaching an acoustic coupling material that is interposed between a probe used in an intraoral examination and a site to be examined when performing an ultrasonic examination of the intraoral cavity. [Background technology]

[0002] In the fields of dentistry and oral surgery, ultrasound examinations are sometimes performed in conjunction with X-ray examinations to diagnose tongue cancer, and to check before and after bone grafts and implants. Since there are many irregularities formed by hard tissues such as teeth and gums in the oral cavity, it is difficult to directly attach the probe to the area to be examined. In addition, since the oral cavity is always moistened by saliva, gels that have no cushioning properties and are easily washed away by saliva are not suitable, so the use of sheet-shaped acoustic coupling materials with cushioning properties made of polymer gels is being considered. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-176197 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2013-123605 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When using a sheet-shaped acoustic coupling material for intraoral ultrasonic examination, it is necessary to overlap, for example, a rectangular acoustic coupling material on the sensor surface of the probe and to make the acoustic coupling material adhere to the sensor surface of the probe using a wrap film, etc. Therefore, in the past, there was a problem that the task of attaching a sheet-shaped acoustic coupling material to a probe required time and effort and skill.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for attaching an acoustic coupling material that can be easily attached to a probe used for intraoral examination. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A method of attaching an acoustic coupling material according to one embodiment of the present invention is a method of attaching a gel-like acoustic coupling material to an intraoral examination probe having a sensor section including an ultrasonic transducer at its tip, the sensor section having a sensor surface and a peripheral wall surface connected to the sensor surface, in which the acoustic coupling material is arranged to cover the sensor surface of the sensor section, a portion of the peripheral wall surface adjacent to the sensor surface, and another portion of the peripheral wall surface facing the portion of the peripheral wall surface, and an elastic band is attached to surround the portion of the acoustic coupling material covering the portion and other portion of the peripheral wall surface and the remaining portion of the peripheral wall surface that is not covered by the acoustic coupling material, thereby fixing the acoustic coupling material to the sensor section.

[0007] A method for attaching an acoustic coupling material according to another embodiment of the present invention is a method for attaching a gel-like acoustic coupling material to an intraoral examination probe having a sensor unit including an ultrasonic transducer at its tip, the method comprising the steps of: The acoustic coupling material is placed on the sensor surface so that the other side of the flat portion contacts the sensor surface of the sensor portion and the protrusion overlaps the sensor surface, and an elastic band is attached so as to press the entire circumference of the portion of the acoustic coupling material along the outer edge of the flat portion toward the sensor surface, thereby fixing the acoustic coupling material to the sensor portion. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, a method for attaching an acoustic coupling material that can be easily attached to a probe used for intraoral examination can be provided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a probe used for intraoral examination and an acoustic coupling material according to a first embodiment; [Diagram 2] 2 is a side view of the probe shown in FIG. 1, and a side view and a plan view of the acoustic coupling material shown in FIG. 1; [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a method of attaching an acoustic coupling material according to a first embodiment; [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a method of attaching an acoustic coupling material according to a second embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a method of attaching an acoustic coupling material according to a third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] (First embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a probe used for intraoral examination and an acoustic coupling material according to a first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the probe shown in FIG. 1, and a side view and a plan view of the acoustic coupling material shown in FIG. 1.

[0011] The acoustic coupling material 1 according to the embodiment is a gel-like member that can be attached to a probe 2 used in intraoral examination. The probe 2 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2(a) includes, as an example, a sensor unit 3 at the tip and a handle unit 4 connected to the sensor unit 3. The probe 2 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2(a) is sometimes called a hockey-type or hockey stick-type probe. The sensor unit 3 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and includes a sensor therein that is composed of a piezoelectric element (ultrasonic transducer), an acoustic lens, an acoustic matching layer, and the like. The sensor unit 3 is a part that is inserted into the oral cavity of a subject during an ultrasonic examination, and transmits or receives ultrasonic waves from a sensor surface 5. The handle unit 4 is connected to one end of the sensor unit 3 in the longitudinal direction and extends in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the sensor unit 3. The handle unit 4 is a part that is held by a user during an ultrasonic examination.

[0012] The acoustic coupling material 1 is a gel-like material whose main components are natural polymer materials and water. When placed between the area to be examined in the oral cavity and the sensor surface 5 of the probe 2 during intraoral ultrasound examination, the acoustic coupling material 1 improves the adhesion of the probe 2 to the area to be examined.

[0013] As shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 2(b) and (c), the acoustic coupling material 1 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape. The acoustic coupling material 1 is provided with a hollow portion 11 capable of accommodating the sensor portion 3, and an opening portion 12 for inserting the sensor portion 3 into the hollow portion 11. The hollow portion 11 is a space having a shape substantially the same as the outer shape of the sensor portion 3. Since the acoustic coupling material 1 has elasticity, the hollow portion 11 may be configured to be smaller than the outer shape of the sensor portion 3. The opening portion 12 is provided in a part of an upper wall portion 13 of the acoustic coupling material 1, and communicates with the hollow portion 11. In a plan view (the state of Fig. 2(c)), the opening portion 12 is formed so as to have an area smaller than the sensor surface 5 of the sensor portion 3. A portion of the upper wall portion 13 of the acoustic coupling material 1 that is adjacent to the opening 12 and forms the peripheral wall of the hollow portion 11 functions as a locking portion that locks the acoustic coupling material 1 to the sensor portion 3 of the probe 2 when the sensor portion 3 is housed in the hollow portion 11; this will be described later.

[0014] In addition, in the acoustic coupling material 1 according to this embodiment, all corners (vertices and sides of the outer surface and hollow portion 11) are formed in a curved shape. When the acoustic coupling material 1 is attached to a probe, ultrasonic waves emitted from the sensor surface 5 and ultrasonic echoes from the part to be examined can propagate in all directions within the acoustic coupling material 1, so that ultrasonic waves can be transmitted and received from each surface of the outer surface of the acoustic coupling material 1. If all corners are formed in a curved shape as in the acoustic coupling material 1 according to this embodiment, adjacent surfaces of the outer surface of the acoustic coupling material 1 can be used as a continuous surface. Therefore, there is no restriction on the part of the acoustic coupling material 1 that is brought into contact with the part to be examined during intraoral examination, which has the advantage of making the examination easier regardless of the position, shape, etc. of the part to be examined.

[0015] Here, the material of the acoustic coupling material 1 will be described.

[0016] Conventional polymer acoustic coupling materials use synthetic resins such as urethane resins as polymer materials, or multiple materials such as polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyethylene glycol are used in combination to improve strength and durability, which causes strong surface reflection and masks the mucosal epithelium layer with artifacts. In addition, in intraoral ultrasound examination, the sensor surface of the probe must be in close contact with the unevenness of hard tissues such as teeth and gums, so the coupling material must be elastic.

[0017] After extensive investigation, the inventors of the present application found that an acoustic coupling material 1 made using natural agar or agarose as a polymeric material retains moisture close to that of a living body, reducing reflection noise and enabling clear images to be obtained even if the site to be examined is a surface layer such as a mucosal epithelial layer. It is preferable to use agar that has been purified to have a high purity and contains few impurities, and it is more preferable to use high-purity agar. It is even more preferable to use agarose, which is obtained by further refining high-purity agar, as the polymeric material.

[0018] Agar is made by extracting and drying the mucilage of red algae such as Tengusa and Gracilaria, and is composed of polysaccharides such as agarose and amylopectin. Agarose is the main component that contributes to the gelation of agar. Agar made from Tengusa is highly transparent and can form a gel with high hardness, while agar made from Gracilaria is characterized by being able to form a gel with high viscosity and high elasticity, although it tends to brown slightly. However, since the yield of Tengusa is smaller than that of Gracilaria, agar from Tengusa is more expensive than agar from Gracilaria. Therefore, inexpensive agar from Gracilaria is used for food, while expensive agar from Tengusa is often used for culture media and gels for electrophoresis.

[0019] The manufacturing process of agar is, for example, as follows. First, harvested seaweed (red algae) is washed, and then the seaweed is boiled and extracted to extract mucus. Next, impurities are removed from the obtained mucus solution by filtration or the like, and the solution is solidified, dehydrated and dried, and the dried product is crushed and powdered. Agarose is obtained by further washing powdered agar with pure water, drying and powdering it, and has a higher purity (agarose purity) than agar. In general, the lower the content of sulfur-containing agaropectin, the higher the purity. In the field of biochemistry, agar that has been purified to remove agaropectin or to reduce its content to an extremely low level is called "agarose" to distinguish it from agar. The content of sulfate groups in agar with a low degree of purification is 2 to 3%, while the content of sulfate groups in agarose is less than 1%. The content of sulfate groups in agarose is preferably less than 0.7%, more preferably less than 0.5%, and even more preferably less than 0.3%.

[0020] The agar or agarose used as the polymer material constituting the acoustic coupling material 1 has a higher agarose purity (low agaropectin content), which allows for a higher resolution echo image. is obtained. When agarose is used, the resolution of the echo image can be improved compared to when agar is used. Moreover, it is more preferable to use agarose obtained by purifying agar produced from agar seaweed as the agar used in the acoustic coupling material 1, and the resolution of the echo image can be improved compared to when agarose obtained by purifying agar produced from Gracilaria is used. Furthermore, if the number of purification steps (number of times impurities are removed by filtration, etc.) in the agar production process or the number of washing steps after powdering the agar is performed twice or more, the purity of the agarose obtained by purifying the agar can be further improved, which is more preferable in terms of improving the resolution of the echo image when used in the acoustic coupling material 1.

[0021] The acoustic coupling material 1 can be formed by injecting a sol, which is prepared by dissolving agar or agarose in water at a predetermined concentration by heating, into a mold, and then cooling and gelling the sol. In this case, it is preferable to add an antifoaming agent composed of silicone resin, sorbitan fatty acid ester, glycerin fatty acid ester, sucrose fatty acid ester, vegetable oil, xanthan gum, etc., in order to suppress the generation of bubbles. The amount of the antifoaming agent is preferably 0.5 to 1.0% of the total mass of the sol. By adding an antifoaming agent to the sol, the generation of spaces due to bubbles inside the gelled acoustic coupling material 1 is reduced, and it becomes possible to obtain a fine image with less noise during ultrasonic inspection.

[0022] In addition, since the acoustic coupling material using agar or agarose as the polymeric material is fragile, it is preferable that the polymeric material is cross-linked with borate ions. Specifically, by immersing the completed agar or agarose gel in a sodium borate solution for at least one hour, the polymeric material is cross-linked, and the strength of the gelled acoustic coupling material can be improved. The amount of sodium borate blended is preferably 0.1 to 1.0% of the total mass of the sol, and more preferably 0.1 to 0.3%.

[0023] In addition, it is preferable to blend glycols such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and dipropylene glycol into the sol containing the polymer material. Blending glycols into the sol improves the water retention of the acoustic coupling material 1 and increases its elasticity, thereby improving the adhesion between the acoustic coupling material 1 and the inspection site. The blending amount of glycols is preferably 3.0% to 8.0% of the total mass of the sol. Of the above-mentioned glycols, blending dipropylene glycol is most preferable in terms of improving the adhesion of the acoustic coupling material 1.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of attaching the acoustic coupling material according to the first embodiment.

[0025] As a preliminary step before attaching the acoustic coupling material 1 to the probe 2, first, the sensor section 3 of the probe 2 is wiped clean with a nonwoven fabric or the like impregnated with rubbing alcohol, and then a commercially available gel for ultrasonic probes is applied to the sensor section 3. The gel for ultrasonic probes is applied to fill the gap between the sensor surface 5 of the sensor section 3 and the acoustic coupling material 1, thereby suppressing blurring of the echo image. Since the purpose is to fill the gap between the sensor surface 5 and the acoustic coupling material 1, it is not necessary to apply the gel to the entire sensor section 3, but it is sufficient to apply the gel to at least the sensor surface 5. Instead of gel, the gap between the sensor surface 5 and the acoustic coupling material 1 may be filled with water.

[0026] Next, as shown in FIGS. 3( a ) and 3 ( b ), the sensor portion 3 of the probe 2 is inserted into the opening 12 provided in the upper wall portion 13 of the acoustic coupling material 1 .

[0027] Then, the sensor portion 3 of the probe 2 is further pushed into the hollow portion 11 of the acoustic coupling material 1, and the entire sensor portion 3 is inserted into the hollow portion 11 of the acoustic coupling material 1 as shown in FIG. The acoustic coupling material 1 is formed of an elastic gel-like polymer material, and can therefore elastically deform as the sensor section 3 is inserted, allowing the sensor section 3 to be accommodated in the hollow section 11 through a relatively small opening 12. In the state shown in FIG. 3(c), the sensor surface 5 of the sensor section 3 is in close contact with the acoustic coupling material 1. During ultrasonic inspection, the bottom surface 14 of the acoustic coupling material 1 attached to the probe 2 is pressed against the area to be inspected, thereby allowing the sensor surface 5 of the probe 2 to be tightly coupled to the area to be inspected.

[0028] As described above, the acoustic coupling material 1 according to this embodiment is provided with the hollow portion 11 capable of accommodating the sensor portion 3, and the opening portion 12 for inserting the sensor portion 3 into the hollow portion 11, and attachment of the acoustic coupling material 1 to the probe 2 is completed by inserting the sensor portion 3 from the opening portion 12 and accommodating the sensor portion 3 in the hollow portion 11. Therefore, compared with the case where a rectangular sheet-like coupling material is fixed to the probe using a wrap film or the like, the task of attaching the acoustic coupling material 1 to the probe 2 can be easily performed.

[0029] In addition, since the acoustic coupling material 1 is a resilient gel-like material, by being interposed between the sensor surface 5 of the probe 2 and the site to be examined, the sensor surface 5 of the probe 2 can be brought into close contact with the site to be examined. Since the oral cavity contains many irregularities formed by relatively hard tissues such as teeth and gums, the resilient acoustic coupling material 1 is particularly effective in ensuring close contact between the sensor surface 5 of the probe 2 and the site to be examined. In addition, since the acoustic coupling material 1 is mainly composed of agar or agarose and water, it is possible to reduce ultrasonic reflection noise and obtain a clear echo image of the site to be examined.

[0030] In addition, in the acoustic coupling material 1 according to this embodiment, the opening 12 for inserting the sensor portion 3 of the probe 2 is formed smaller than the sensor surface 5 of the sensor portion 3. Therefore, when the sensor portion 3 is accommodated in the hollow portion 11, a part of the peripheral wall of the hollow portion 11 adjacent to the opening 12 (in this embodiment, a part of the upper wall portion 13 adjacent to the opening 12) functions as a locking portion for locking the acoustic coupling material 1 to the sensor portion 3 of the probe 2. Specifically, in the state shown in FIG. 3(c), the part of the upper wall portion 13 suppresses detachment of the acoustic coupling material 1 in a direction perpendicular to the sensor surface 5. In this way, by providing a part that functions as a locking portion, the acoustic coupling material 1 can be held relative to the probe 2 simply by attaching the acoustic coupling material 1 to the probe 2 by the above-mentioned simple method.

[0031] (Other variations) In the above first embodiment, an example was described in which a locking portion for locking the acoustic coupling material to the sensor portion was formed by a part of the upper wall portion, but the configuration of the locking portion is not particularly limited as long as it can lock the acoustic coupling material to the sensor portion when the sensor portion is stored in the hollow portion, and it can be designed appropriately according to the shape of the sensor portion. Also, depending on the shape of the hollow portion, the locking portion may be omitted. For example, if the hollow portion has a shape that allows the sensor portion to be inserted in a direction parallel to the bottom surface of the acoustic coupling material, the acoustic coupling material can be prevented from coming off the probe in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface when the sensor portion is stored in the hollow portion of the acoustic coupling material, so the locking portion is not necessarily required.

[0032] In the above first embodiment, a hockey-type probe is taken as an example of a probe used for intraoral examination, and an acoustic coupling material having a shape corresponding to the sensor part of the hockey-type probe is described. However, the shape of the acoustic coupling material is not particularly limited as long as it is not too large to be difficult to insert into the oral cavity, and it can be designed appropriately according to the shape of the probe. Specific examples of probes that can be used for intraoral examination include the linear probe L8-18I-D (model number) manufactured by GE and the linear probe IO3-12 (model number) manufactured by Alpinion. The probes that can be used for intraoral examination may be either probes dedicated to intraoral use or probes for other medical purposes. The present invention can be applied to probes other than those exemplified in the above embodiment. When the present invention is applied to a probe other than those exemplified in the above embodiment, if the connection between the sensor part and the handle part (shaft part) of the probe has a narrowed part, a locking part that can lock the acoustic coupling material to the probe at the narrowed part can be formed by appropriately setting the position and size of the opening part provided in the acoustic coupling material.

[0033] Second embodiment FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of attaching the acoustic coupling material according to the second embodiment.

[0034] The mounting method according to this embodiment is for mounting a sheet-like acoustic coupling material 20 on a probe 21 configured such that a sensor section 22 including an ultrasonic transducer is provided at the tip portion of a body section 29, and a part of the sensor section 22 protrudes beyond the body section 29. The acoustic coupling material 20 can be manufactured in the same manner as the acoustic coupling material according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4(a), in this embodiment, the sensor section 22 of the probe 21 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and has a sensor surface 23 that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves, and side surfaces 24a to 24d adjacent to the sensor surface 23. The side surfaces 24a to 24d form peripheral wall surfaces connected to the sensor surface 23.

[0035] As in the first embodiment, as a preliminary step before attaching the acoustic coupling material 20 to the probe 21, the sensor portion 22 of the probe 21 is first wiped with a nonwoven fabric or the like impregnated with rubbing alcohol, and then a commercially available gel for ultrasonic probes is applied to the sensor portion 22. The application of the gel for ultrasonic probes is intended to fill the gap between the sensor surface 23 of the sensor portion 22 and the acoustic coupling material 20, thereby suppressing blurring of the echo image. Since the purpose is to fill the gap between the sensor surface 23 and the acoustic coupling material 1, it is not necessary to apply the gel to the entire sensor portion 22, and it is sufficient to apply the gel to at least the sensor surface 23. Instead of the gel, the gap between the sensor surface 23 and the acoustic coupling material 20 may be filled with water.

[0036] Next, as shown in FIG. 4(b), acoustic coupling material 20 is arranged so as to cover sensor surface 23 of sensor section 22, side surface 24a (part of the peripheral wall surface) adjacent to sensor surface 23, and side surface 24c (another part of the peripheral wall surface) opposing side surface 24a.

[0037] Next, the acoustic coupling material 20 is fixed to the probe 21 using a ring-shaped band 25 shown in Fig. 4(b). The band 25 is made of a stretchable material such as resin or rubber. As shown in Fig. 4(c), the band 25 is attached so as to surround a part of the acoustic coupling material 20 covering the side surface 24a, another part of the acoustic coupling material 20 covering the side surface 24c, and the side surfaces 24b and 24d (the remaining parts of the peripheral wall surface) that are not covered with the acoustic coupling material 20. In this way, the acoustic coupling material 20 is fixed to the sensor unit 22.

[0038] According to this embodiment, the acoustic coupling material 20 can be attached to the sensor portion 22 of the probe 21 by a simple operation using the band 25.

[0039] The band 25 is not particularly limited as long as it can fix the acoustic coupling material 20 to the probe 21, and the width, shape, etc. of the band 25 can be designed appropriately.

[0040] In the present embodiment, the sheet-like acoustic coupling material 20 is attached along the sensor surface 23 and the side surfaces 24a and 24c. Alternatively, acoustic coupling material 20 may be formed in advance to have a U-shaped cross section that fits along the first portion and the other portion facing the first portion.

[0041] Furthermore, the shape of probe 21 shown in this embodiment is just an example, and as long as the portion including sensor surface 23 of sensor unit 22 protrudes from body 29, band 25 can be attached so as to surround the peripheral wall surface of sensor unit 22. In other words, the shape of sensor unit 22 does not have to be a rectangular parallelepiped, and may be a columnar body having a curved peripheral wall surface.

[0042] (Third embodiment) FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a method of attaching an acoustic coupling material according to the third embodiment.

[0043] The mounting method according to this embodiment is for mounting an acoustic coupling material 30 shown in Fig. 5(a) on a probe 21 having a sensor unit 22 including an ultrasonic transducer provided at the tip of a body 29. As shown in Fig. 5(a), the acoustic coupling material 30 according to this embodiment has a sheet-like flat plate portion 31 and a protruding portion 32 protruding from the center of one side of the flat plate portion 31. A portion of the flat plate portion 31 within a predetermined range from the outer periphery protrudes outward from the protruding portion 32 in a flange-like shape. The acoustic coupling material 30 can be manufactured in the same manner as the acoustic coupling material according to the first embodiment.

[0044] As in the second embodiment, after performing the preliminary step of mounting the acoustic coupling material 30 on the probe 21, the acoustic coupling material 30 is placed on the sensor surface of the sensor section 22 as shown in Fig. 5(b). At this time, the acoustic coupling material 30 is positioned so that the other surface (the lower surface in Fig. 5(a)) of the flat plate section 31 of the acoustic coupling material 30 contacts the sensor surface 23, and the protruding section 32 overlaps the sensor surface 23 and is positioned approximately in the center of the sensor surface 23.

[0045] Next, the acoustic coupling material 30 is fixed to the probe 21 using a band 27 shown in Fig. 5(b). The band 27 according to this embodiment has three ring-shaped portions connected in series, and includes a rectangular first ring portion 28a, and a second ring portion 28b and a third ring portion 28c adjacent to a pair of opposing sides of the first ring portion 28a. The first ring portion 28a has a shape that substantially corresponds to a flange-shaped portion of one surface of the flat plate portion 31 of the acoustic coupling material 30 where the protrusion 32 is not provided. The band 27 is made of an elastic material such as resin or rubber.

[0046] The band 27 is attached so as to press the entire circumference of the portion (flange-shaped portion) along the outer periphery of the flat plate portion 31 of the acoustic coupling material 30 against the sensor surface 23. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5(c), the second ring portion 28b and the third ring portion 28c are attached so as to surround the sensor portion 22 in the circumferential direction, that is, to surround the peripheral portion (portion along the outer periphery of the flat plate portion 31) of the acoustic coupling material 30 arranged on the sensor surface 23, the side surface 24a of the sensor portion 22, the surface 26 facing the sensor surface 23, and the side surface 24c. In addition, the entire first ring portion 28a is brought into contact with the entire circumference of the portion along the outer periphery of the flat plate portion 31 of the acoustic coupling material 30. As a result, the acoustic coupling material 30 is fixed to the sensor portion 22.

[0047] In this embodiment as well, the acoustic coupling material 30 can be attached to the sensor portion 22 of the probe 21 by a simple operation using the band 27. Moreover, in this embodiment, the entire periphery of the flat plate portion 31 of the acoustic coupling material 30 is fixed in a state in which it is pressed against the sensor surface 23, so that the attached state of the acoustic coupling material 30 can be stably maintained.

[0048] The band 27 is not particularly limited as long as it can fix the acoustic coupling material 20 to the probe 21, and the width, shape, etc. of the band 27 can be designed appropriately. As shown, it is preferable that a part of band 27 can press the entire circumference of flat portion 31 toward sensor surface 23, but two bands corresponding to second ring portion 28b and third ring portion 28c may be used to press and fix a pair of short side portions of flat portion 31 toward sensor surface 23.

[0049] In addition, in this embodiment, an example has been described in which the sheet-like acoustic coupling material 30 is formed in approximately the same shape as the sensor surface 23, but the acoustic coupling material 30 may be formed in advance to have a U-shaped cross section that fits along the sensor surface 23, a part of the peripheral wall, and another part opposing the sensor surface 23.

[0050] Furthermore, the shape of the probe 21 shown in this embodiment is just one example, and the shape of the probe 21 is not limited as long as the acoustic coupling material 30 can be attached to the sensor portion 22 by a band. [Industrial Applicability]

[0051] The present invention can be used as an acoustic coupling material for use in intraoral ultrasonic examination. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1 Acoustic coupling material 2. Probe 3 Sensor section 5 Sensor surface 11 Hollow part 12 Opening 13 Upper wall 14 Bottom 20 Acoustic coupling material 21 Probe 22 Sensor section 23 Sensor surface 24a~24d side 25 Bands 27 Bands 30 Acoustic coupling material 31 Flat plate part 32 Protrusion

Claims

1. A method for attaching a gel-like acoustic coupling material to an intraoral examination probe, the sensor part including an ultrasonic transducer at a tip portion of the probe, the sensor part having a sensor surface and a peripheral wall surface connected to the sensor surface, the method comprising: The acoustic coupling material is disposed so as to cover a sensor surface of the sensor unit, a part of the peripheral wall surface adjacent to the sensor surface, and another part of the peripheral wall surface facing the part of the peripheral wall surface; A method for attaching an acoustic coupling material, comprising attaching an elastic band to surround a portion of the acoustic coupling material that covers the portion and the other portion of the peripheral wall surface and the remaining portion of the peripheral wall surface that is not covered by the acoustic coupling material, thereby fixing the acoustic coupling material to the sensor unit.

2. A method for attaching a gel-like acoustic coupling material to an intraoral examination probe having a sensor unit including an ultrasonic transducer at a tip portion thereof, comprising: an acoustic coupling material having a flat plate portion and a protruding portion protruding from one surface of the flat plate portion is disposed on the sensor surface such that the other surface of the flat plate portion contacts the sensor surface of the sensor unit and the protruding portion overlaps the sensor surface; A method for attaching an acoustic coupling material, comprising: attaching an elastic band so as to press the entire circumference of the portion along the outer periphery of the flat plate portion of the acoustic coupling material toward the sensor surface, thereby fixing the acoustic coupling material to the sensor portion.

Images