JPH02277445A - Probe for ultrasonic diagnosis - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the diameter of a probe and to obtain excellent resolving power from a short distance to a long distance by providing a plurality of different acoustic lenses to the hollow exterior member in which an interpolation member having an ultrasonic vibrator at the leading end part thereof is inserted in a displaceable manner. CONSTITUTION:A probe 1 for ultrasonic diagnosis is constituted so that a cylindrical exterior member 4 is externally fitted to a cylindrical interpolation member 3 having an ultrasonic vibrator 2 arranged to the leading end part thereof in a displaceable manner in the axial direction thereof and the first-third acoustic lenses 5-7 having different focus distances are respectively arranged to the peripheral surface of the exterior member 4. The ultrasonic vibrator 2 is opposed to either one of the acoustic lenses 5-7 by the displacement of the interpolation member 3 in the axial direction and the transmission/reception of ultrasonic beam is performed from the ultrasonic vibrator 2 through the cable 8 for the ultrasonic vibrator and an ultrasonic transmission medium 9. By this method, the probe 1 can be reduced in its diameter and excellent resolving power from the short distance to long distance in a human body can be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic probe, and more particularly, an insertion section having an ultrasonic transducer at its tip that generates, transmits, and receives an ultrasonic beam. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic probe that is inserted into a body cavity to scan a subject.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, the multi-stage focusing method using a transducer array or the hand-off dynamic focusing method is known as a means of obtaining clear images of a subject from short distances to long distances. It is being Also, JP-A-61-
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 11026, there are many ultrasonic transducers with different frequencies, and in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-5864.
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 8, a device in which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers with different focusing points of ultrasonic beams are arranged in parallel is already known.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, in actual ultrasound diagnosis, when performing ultrasound diagnosis by inserting an ultrasound probe into a narrow body cavity such as a blood vessel, as the diameter of the ultrasound probe becomes smaller, the ultrasound It is necessary to downsize the vibrator.

However, since an acoustic lens layer is usually attached to an ultrasonic transducer to focus the ultrasonic beam, if the ultrasonic transducer is miniaturized, the ultrasonic beam is apertured by the acoustic lens layer. The range becomes extremely narrow. Therefore, it becomes impossible to obtain images with excellent resolution from short distances to long distances. In addition, the multi-stage focusing method using a transducer array or the receiving dynamic focusing method, which is adopted to improve the above-mentioned resolution, requires a huge number of wiring lines, making it extremely difficult to reduce the diameter of the probe. At the same time, the configuration of the electric circuit was also complicated. Furthermore, the above-mentioned JP-A-61-
For the same reason, it has been extremely difficult to reduce the diameter of the ultrasonic probes disclosed in JP-A No. 11026 and JP-A-61-58648.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional ultrasonic probe, to have a simple structure, to be able to have a small diameter, and to be able to be used from short distances to long distances. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic probe that provides excellent resolution.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides an ultrasonic transducer that generates an ultrasonic beam for diagnosis, transmits and receives the ultrasonic beam, and The present invention includes an inner member having an ultrasonic transducer at its tip, a hollow outer member into which the inner member is movably inserted, and a plurality of different acoustic lenses provided on the outer member. The acoustic lens on the ultrasonic transducer can be easily replaced by moving either the inner member or the outer member, thereby making it possible to easily replace the acoustic lens on the ultrasonic transducer. The resolution has been improved, making it possible to obtain highly accurate images.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view showing the configuration of the main part of the tip of an ultrasonic diagnostic probe according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is taken along the dashed line S-8 in FIG. 1. FIG. This ultrasonic diagnostic probe 1 generates an ultrasonic beam for diagnosis, and an ultrasonic transducer 2 that transmits and receives the ultrasonic beam.
, a cylindrical inner member 3 having the ultrasonic transducer 2 disposed at its tip, and a cylindrical outer member 4 fitted so as to be able to be displaced in the axial direction with respect to the inner member 3. and first lenses provided on the circumferential surface of this exterior member 4, each having a different focal length. Second. The main part is composed of the third acoustic lens 5, 6°7. In addition, the original number 8 in FIG. Each shows a sound wave transmission medium.

Acoustic lens 5.6. 7 has a different curvature and the third
As shown in the figure, a, b,
At point c, the ultrasonic transducer 2 is displaced in the axial direction,
Acoustic lens 5. 6. 7, the ultrasonic beams are focused on the points a, b, and c.

In this case, it is sufficient that either the inner member 3 or the outer member 4 moves relative to the other.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electric circuit for driving the ultrasonic diagnostic probe 1. As shown in FIG. The ultrasonic transducer 2 is connected via a cable 8 to a switch circuit 10 that switches between transmission and reception, and the switch circuit 10 is connected to a pulser circuit 11 and a reception circuit 12. The above receiving circuit 1
The output of 2 is input to the gate circuit 13 and further input to the A/D converter 14. The output from the A/D converter 14 is input to the memory switching circuit 15, and the output from the A/D converter 14 is input to the first memory 1.
6. Second memory 17. One of the third memories 18 is selected to store the received signal. 1st above
~Third memory 16. 17 and 18 are both connected to a DSC (digital scan converter) 19, and the DSC 19 is connected to a monitor 20.

On the other hand, the exterior member 4 of the ultrasonic probe 1 includes an exterior member driving motor 21 and an exterior member position detection encoder 2.
2 is connected to the insert member 3, and an insert member driving motor 23 and an insert member position detection encoder 24 are connected to the insert member 3.

The exterior member driving motor 21. Exterior member position detection encoder 22. Inner member drive motor 23. Encoder 24 for detecting the position of the inserted member, switch circuit 10.
Balsa circuit 11. Gate circuit 13, A/D conversion circuit 14
．． Memory switching circuit 15゜DSC19 etc. are all control circuit 2
5.

Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic probe 1 in this embodiment configured as described above will be explained with reference to the drawings.

First, as shown in FIG. 5(A), the insertion member driving motor 23 is driven so that the ultrasonic transducer 2 faces the first acoustic lens 5, and the insertion member position detection encoder 24 is driven.
Place it appropriately. Next, the control circuit 25 outputs a trigger signal to the pulser circuit 11 to output the trigger signal to the switch circuit 10.
is switched to the transmitting side, and the ultrasonic transducer 2 located at the position shown in FIG. 5(A) is driven by the balsa circuit 11. Then, the transmitted ultrasonic wave becomes a beam that is focused at a short distance by the first acoustic lens 5 as shown by a in FIG. 6.

After transmitting the ultrasound, the switch circuit 10 is switched to the receiving side, and the received ultrasound signal is transferred to the cable 8. The signal is input to the receiving circuit 12 via the switch circuit 10 and amplified. The amplified received signal is then input to the gate circuit 13.

Next, the operation of the ultrasonic waves in the gate circuit 13 will be explained using FIG. 7. FIG. 7(A) shows the profile of the same transmitted ultrasound beam as the ultrasound beam a by the first acoustic lens 5 shown in FIG.
B) shows the waveform of the received signal obtained. and,
FIG. 7(C) shows that the control circuit 25 controls the acoustic lens 5.
This is a gate signal that is set every 6.7 seconds. Figure 7 above (
The received signal and gate signal shown in B) are as shown in FIG. 7(D).
The AND gate circuit 13 shown in FIG. 7 applies a gate only to the t6 period of the gate signal shown in FIG.
As shown in E), the gate output of only the t6 section of the gate signal is obtained, and the tV section is cut off.

tl in FIG. 8(A) indicates the gate time in the first acoustic lens 5, the gate signal is gated for 11 times by the trigger signal, and the gate output is A.
After being A/D converted by the /D converter 14 (see Fig. 4),
The data is stored in the first memory 16 via the memory switching circuit 15. The memory switching is performed by outputting a memory switching signal from the control circuit 25 to the memory switching circuit 15. In this manner, ultrasonic transmission and reception and a series of signal processing are performed when the first acoustic lens 5 is used.

Next, a series of effects when the second acoustic lens 6 is selected will be explained. First, the position of the insertion member 3 is fixed, and the exterior member 4 is moved by the exterior member driving motor 21 so that the second acoustic lens 6 faces the ultrasonic transducer 2. When the second acoustic lens 6 is positioned on the ultrasonic transducer 2, the encoder 22 for detecting the position of the exterior member outputs a position signal, the control circuit 25 sends a trigger signal to the balsa circuit 11, and the ultrasonic transducer 2 Driven. The beam b of the transmitted wave at this time is focused by the second acoustic lens 6 on a middle distance point, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. Then, the reception signal received by the ultrasonic transducer 2 is input to the gate circuit 13 through the same route as in the case of the first acoustic lens 5. Also, at this time, the control circuit 25 inputs the gate signal in the period t3 shown in FIG. 8(B) according to the output from the exterior member position detection encoder 22, and the received signal is and the gate signal is gated. The gate output is input to the memory switching circuit 15, and the second memory 17 is selected by a signal from the control circuit 25, and is stored in the second memory 17.

Next, after a series of transmission/reception and signal processing are performed by the second acoustic lens 6, the exterior member 4 is moved by the exterior member driving motor 21 with the inner insertion member 3 fixed, and the third acoustic lens 7 is made to face the ultrasonic transducer 2. Even when the third acoustic lens 7 is used in this way, the first. Ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received in the same way as when using the second acoustic lens 5.6, and the received signal is transmitted to the gate circuit 1.
3 is input. In this case, the ultrasonic transducer 2
The ultrasonic beam is focused on a distant point as shown by the two-dot chain line C in FIG. 6, and as shown in FIG. is input. And gate circuit 1 in this case
The gate output of 3 is stored in the third memory 18. In this way, transmission and reception are performed for each acoustic lens 5, 6, and 7, and when each received signal is stored in each memory, the DSC 19 uses the first... Second. Third memory 16.
17. The data of 18 are combined to create the scan data of - example and displayed on the monitor 20. As shown in FIG. 9, the series of scanning data synthesized in this way is
, the middle range #1b and the long range C part will be continuously scanned by each focused beam part, so
The entire image is displayed as a clear image. In addition, Figure 8 (^
), (B).

In (C), 11th union t2. t4-t2+ta, where t, ta, and ts are continuous. That is, the entire target surface is continuously scanned using only focused ultrasonic beams at near, medium, and long distances, and the series of monitor images is extremely accurate.

In addition, in the ultrasonic diagnostic probe 1 in this embodiment, the inner member 3 is fixed, the outer member 4 is moved,
The ultrasonic transducer 2 is connected to the first, second, . Third acoustic lens 5, 6.
In this case, the exterior member 4 is fixed, the inner member 3 is moved, and the ultrasonic transducer 2 is placed opposite to the first. Second. Third acoustic lens 5.6. 7
It goes without saying that the insert member 3 may be moved relative to the insert member 3, and in this case, the insert member 3 is moved by driving the insert member driving motor 23 and positioning it by the insert member position detecting encoder 24. Even in this case, the control circuit 2
5, by outputting a position signal to the DSC 19,
Similar highly accurate linear scan images can be obtained.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, the insert member 3. By moving either one of the exterior members 4 in the tube axis direction, each acoustic lens 5, 6
．． A radial scanning image can also be obtained by sequentially facing the ultrasonic transducer 7 and rotating the inner and outer members 3 and 4 in synchronization to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves.

In FIG. 10, the inner member 3 and the outer member 4 are radially driven in synchronization, and one of them is moved in the tube axis direction, and the ultrasonic transducer 2 is moved to the first. 2nd degree third acoustic lens 5,
6.7, and FIG. 11 shows the image configuration when the inner member 3 or the outer member 4 is linearly driven. In FIGS. 10 and 11, the area a is covered by the first acoustic lens 5, the area b is covered by the second acoustic lens 6, and
The range C shows images obtained by the third acoustic lens 7, respectively.

In this way, the ultrasonic diagnostic probe 1 in this embodiment
According to the above, three types of acoustic lenses 5, 6, and 7 are skillfully used to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, and the three types of reception signals obtained are synthesized into one scanning line. As shown in the figure, it is similar to scanning with an ultrasonic beam with an extremely wide focal range, and a single micro-oscillator is used to achieve high resolution at any point from a near point to a far point. , it is possible to obtain high-precision images. Moreover, the structure is simple, and the diameter of the entire probe can be easily reduced.

Further, by increasing the number of acoustic lenses described above, even more accurate images can be obtained.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the tip of an ultrasonic diagnostic probe showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The ultrasonic diagnostic probe IA in this embodiment is also configured in substantially the same manner as the ultrasonic diagnostic probe 1 shown in FIG. Omitted. The same applies to the following examples.

In the ultrasonic diagnostic probe IA in this embodiment, a plurality of acoustic lenses 5, 6, . 4 is rotatable, the insertion member 3 is fixed, and the acoustic lenses 5, 6 . ...
The ultrasonic transducer 2 is fixed so as to face the...

The ultrasonic diagnostic probe IA in the second embodiment configured as described above can rotate the exterior member 4 while the position of the ultrasonic transducer 2 fixed to the tip of the insert member 3 is fixed. Accordingly, the acoustic lenses 5, 6[deg.] . . . placed oppositely on the ultrasonic transducer 2 are selected. That is, by suitably changing the acoustic lens 5°6 facing the ultrasonic transducer 2 in this way,
For each change, ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received in exactly the same way as in the case of the ultrasonic diagnostic probe 1 in the first embodiment, and only information near the focal point of each acoustic lens 5, 6, . . . is extracted, By combining the scanned data of the book, highly accurate images from short distances to long distances can be obtained. Then, the above operation is performed using the same ultrasonic probe IA.
The radial scanning image shown in FIG. 10 and the linear scanning image shown in FIG. 11 can be obtained by performing the rotational movement or the forward and backward movement.

The ultrasonic diagnostic probe IA of the second embodiment configured in this way also produces high-precision images with excellent resolution using a single ultrasonic transducer, just like the ultrasonic diagnostic probe 1 of the first embodiment. At the same time, it is possible to obtain remarkable effects such as making it possible to make the diameter smaller.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the tip of an ultrasonic diagnostic probe showing a third embodiment of the present invention. This ultrasonic diagnostic probe IB has acoustic lenses 5.6. 7
The other configurations are the same as the ultrasonic diagnostic probe 1°IA in the first and second embodiments, and its functions and effects are also the same. However, the acoustic lens 5.6. Since the installation work described in step 7 is no longer necessary, the number of manufacturing steps can be greatly reduced and a low-cost probe can be obtained.

Next, FIGS. 14 and 15 show an ultrasonic diagnostic probe according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. This ultrasonic diagnostic probe IC has a first cylindrical lens formed near the tip of the exterior member 4 with short cylindrical lenses each having a different curvature and a different focus. Second. A third acoustic lens 5, 6.7 is attached, and the rear end of the exterior member 4 is connected from the stationary housing to the operation housing 27.
It's getting inside.

A drive mechanism is disposed within this operation casing 27. That is, the rear end of the exterior member 4 is fixed to a drive plate 28, and the drive plate 28 is provided with a rack 29 for moving the exterior member 4 forward and backward in the tube axis direction. This rack 29
includes a stepping motor 31 fixed within the housing 27.
The stepping motor 31 is connected to a control circuit (not shown) by a connecting cable 32. Further, the interior of the exterior member 4 is filled with an ultrasonic transmission medium 9,
An insert member 3 having an ultrasonic transducer 2 disposed at its tip is inserted into the exterior member 4 . The rear end of this inner member 3 extends into the operation casing 27, and after rotatably passing through the drive plate 28, is coupled to a slip ring 33, which is connected to a connecting cable. It is connected to an observation device (not shown) by 34.

Further, a belt pulley 35 is fixed to the rear end of the insert member 3 extending into the operation housing 27, and the belt pulley 35 and a drive motor 36 fixed inside the housing 27 are connected to each other. A transmission belt 38 is stretched around a belt pulley 37 fixed to the output shaft. The motor 36 is connected to a motor control circuit (not shown) via a connection cable 39.

In the fourth embodiment configured in this way, the insertion member 3 is rotated at a constant speed by the motor 36, and the ultrasonic transducer 2 transmits ultrasonic waves. When transmitting this ultrasonic wave, the ultrasonic transducer 2 first corresponds to the first acoustic lens 5, and when one revolution of wave transmission is completed, the stepping motor 31 is activated to remove the exterior member 4. the second acoustic lens 6 is displaced to a position facing the ultrasonic transducer 2. Then, the transducer 2 is rotated for the second time, and ultrasonic waves are transmitted. When this second round of transmission ends,
The stepping motor 31 is driven again, the exterior member 4 is moved outward, and the third acoustic lens 7 is opposed to the ultrasonic transducer 2. Then, the vibrator 2 is rotated to perform the third round of wave transmission. When the third wave transmission is completed, the stepping motor 31 is reversed and the first acoustic lens 5 is connected to the ultrasonic transducer 2.
The exterior member 4 is moved back to the position where it faces.

The above operations are considered as one set, and the first embodiment and the fourth embodiment are
A circuit similar to that shown in the figure performs signal processing as shown in FIGS. 6 to 10 to obtain one image.

According to the fourth embodiment, as in the other embodiments described above, the ultrasonic beam can be focused from the near point to the far point, and an image with high resolution can be obtained.

Further, in this embodiment, the inner member 3 only rotates at a constant rate, and only the outer member 4 is advanced or retreated, so the structure is also very simple.

Moreover, FIG. 16 is a sectional view of an ultrasound diagnostic probe ID showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The exterior member 4 in this fifth embodiment is constructed in the same manner as in the fourth embodiment. In this embodiment, a radial electronic scanning type probe 40 is inserted in place of the insertion member 3 in the fourth embodiment.

At the tip of this probe 40 is a radial transducer array 41.
The array 41 is connected to a view δ- (not shown) by a connecting cable 42 passing through the probe 40.
1 device.

The appearance of the tip of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 14 of the fourth embodiment.

In the fifth embodiment configured in this way, the fourth embodiment described above is
As in the embodiment, the exterior member 4 is moved in the axial direction every time the probe 40 scans once, and the acoustic lens facing the radial transducer array 41 is changed.

According to the fifth embodiment, similarly to the above-mentioned embodiments, it is possible to focus the ultrasonic beam from the near point to the far point, obtain a high-resolution image, and use electronic scanning to By focusing the beam in the insertion axis direction using an acoustic lens, the beam can be focused three-dimensionally, which further improves the resolution.

In addition, in this example, if the acoustic lens is attached to narrow the beam in the circumferential direction of the exterior member, beam focusing by electronic scanning and beam focusing by the acoustic lens can be performed. The directional resolution can be further improved.

FIGS. 17 and 18 further show a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the ultrasonic diagnostic probe IE of the sixth embodiment, two acoustic lenses 5a and 6a provided on the outer peripheral surface of the distal end of the exterior member 4 are semi-cylindrical acoustic lenses having different curvatures and focal points. , are arranged so as to face each other. The rear end of the exterior member 4 is rotatably supported by a bearing member 26 in the operation housing 27 and extends into the housing 27, and the end thereof is fixed to a drive member 28 made of a short cylindrical body. has been done. A drive gear 43 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drive member 28, and an output gear 45 fixed to the output shaft of a drive motor 44 meshes with this gear 43.

Further, in this embodiment, a linear electronic scanning probe 46 is inserted into the exterior member 4 as an insert member.
The acoustic lens 5a or 6a is arranged to face a linear transducer array 47 arranged at the tip of the acoustic lens 5a or 6a.

In the sixth embodiment configured in this manner, first, when one acoustic lens 5a faces the linear transducer 47, the linear transducer 47 scans the subject, and the linear transducer 47 scans the subject. The information is stored in the first memory 16 shown in FIG. 4 above. Next, the motor 44 is driven to rotate the exterior member 4 by half a rotation, and the other acoustic lens 6a is placed on the linear transducer array 47 to face it. Then, the linear transducer array 47 performs scanning and stores the scanned data in the second memory 17 in FIG. After that, the sixth example of the first embodiment
- Images are synthesized according to the procedure explained in FIG. 11, and the images are displayed on the monitor 20.

This sixth embodiment also provides the same effects as those of the aforementioned embodiments.

19 and 20 show a seventh embodiment of the present invention. The ultrasonic diagnostic probe H according to the seventh embodiment shown in FIG. 19 is constructed by dividing the front part of the exterior member 4 at the upper and lower parts of the fourth and fifth embodiments into acoustic lenses. It is. That is, the tip unit 48
A first acoustic lens 5 is provided on the relay unit 49, a second acoustic lens 6 is provided on the relay unit 49, and a rear end uni-soto 50 is provided on the relay unit 49.
are each provided with a third acoustic lens 7.

And the tip unit 48. The rear end unit 50 of the relay unit 49 is provided with connection protrusions 51 on its rear end face, and coupling holes 52 are formed on the front end faces of the relay unit 49 and the rear end unit 50, respectively. ing. Further, a coupling hole 52 is also formed in the rear front end surface of the exterior member 4.

Furthermore, the seventh embodiment shown in FIG.
The first to third acoustic lenses 5 to 7 in the figure are the first to third acoustic lenses 5 to 7 in the first embodiment shown in FIG.
7 is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG.

In the seventh embodiment configured in this way, the protrusion 51 provided on the tip unit 48 is coupled to the coupling hole 52 of the relay unit 49, and the protrusion 51 of the relay unit 49 is coupled to the coupling hole 52 of the rear end unit 50. 52 and the protrusion 51 of the rear end unit 50 is coupled to the coupling hole 52 of the exterior member 4 to form one probe IF.

According to the seventh embodiment, since each acoustic lens is made into a unit, a large number of units with different acoustic lenses can be prepared and used selectively depending on the diagnosis site. Further, the number of acoustic lenses can be connected and configured according to preference.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, a high-precision image can be obtained from a short distance point to a far distance point using a single micro ultrasonic transducer, and there is also less electrical wiring, etc. We are able to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic probe that has a simple circuit configuration and is easy to reduce in diameter, which eliminates the drawbacks of conventional ultrasonic diagnostic probes of this type, and has a wide range of resolution. It is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic probe with good quality.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part of the tip of an ultrasonic diagnostic probe showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line S-8 in FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the focal position of each acoustic lens of the ultrasound diagnostic probe shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the driving electric circuit of the ultrasound diagnostic probe shown in FIG. The block diagrams shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are operational diagrams of the ultrasonic diagnostic probe shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the ultrasonic diagnostic probe shown in FIG. Diagrams showing the ultrasonic beam profile from each acoustic lens, Figure 7 (^), (B), (C), (D),
(E) is a diagram for explaining the action of the gate circuit in FIG. 4, and FIGS. 2nd Diagram showing the relationship between the profile of the ultrasonic beam generated by the third acoustic lens and the gate signal, 9th
10 is a diagram showing the image configuration when the ultrasonic diagnostic probe according to the present invention is radially driven. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the ultrasonic diagnostic probe according to the present invention. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the tip of an ultrasonic diagnostic probe according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the image configuration when the diagnostic probe is linearly driven. FIGS. 14 and 15 are a perspective view and a sectional view of the tip of an ultrasound diagnostic probe showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 16 is a sectional view of an ultrasonic diagnostic probe showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 17 and 18 are views of the tip of an ultrasonic diagnostic probe showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention. Perspective View and Sectional View FIGS. 19 and 20 are exploded perspective views of the tip of an ultrasonic diagnostic probe showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention, respectively. 1. IA, IB, IC, ID, IE, IF...
......Ultrasonic diagnostic probe 2...
・・・・・・・・・・・・Ultrasonic transducer 3・・・・・・
・・・・・・・・・Insertion member 4・・・・・・・・・・・・
... Exterior member 5 5a ... First acoustic lens 6.6a ... Second acoustic lens

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An ultrasonic transducer that generates an ultrasonic beam for diagnosis and sends and receives the ultrasonic beam, an inserting member that has this ultrasonic transducer at its tip, and a displacement of this inserting member. An ultrasonic diagnostic probe comprising: a hollow exterior member that can be inserted; and a plurality of different acoustic lenses provided in the exterior member.