JPH07155327A - Intra-celom ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an intra-celom ultrasonic probe featuring flexibility, torque transmittability, strength and formation to a smaller diameter. CONSTITUTION:A hollow coil 2 contg. a signal line and driving shaft 7 is coated with a braiding 3. This braiding 3 is coated with a coating part 4 sealed at the front end or a coating part 4 having an aperture at the front end. The front end of the driving shaft is provided with an ultrasonic vibrator transducer 6. As a result, the flexibility, torque transmittability, the strength and the formation to a smaller diameter are attained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to blood vessels, digestive tracts, ureters,
The present invention relates to a body cavity ultrasonic probe having a flexible shaft that is used by inserting it into a body cavity such as the abdominal cavity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a body cavity ultrasonic probe having a flexible shaft, which is used by inserting it into a body cavity such as a blood vessel, digestive tract, ureter, or abdominal cavity, the probe is provided inside the probe tip inside the shaft. A shaft for inserting a cable (signal line) that transmits an electric signal that connects the ultrasonic probe and an external circuit, and a driving force transmission member for mechanically rotating or reciprocating the ultrasonic transducer. There is a need for a function to secure the lumen and to freely operate the inside of the body cavity, and to select a site selectively. Therefore, the shaft of the probe is required to have flexibility, torque transmissibility, strength and thinning. Furthermore, recently, it has been required to be inserted into a very thin blood vessel such as a coronary artery, and the reduction in the diameter of the shaft has become a major issue.

[0003]

In the case of rotating or reciprocating the driving force transmitting member within the shaft, in the conventional resin tube, in order to obtain sufficient strength, the wall thickness of the tube must be increased. Not suitable for thinning. Further, in the case of the coiled shaft as disclosed in JP-A-3-289949, the strength, bendability, flexibility and torque transmission in the rotation direction are superior to the resin tube, Since it has a spring property, it expands and contracts in the axial direction, and there is a risk of causing damage to the signal line in the shaft, the drive transmission member, and poor stable operation.

The present invention has been made in order to improve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional ultrasonic probe in a body cavity, and is capable of flexibility, torque transmission, strength and diameter reduction. The purpose is to obtain an ultrasonic probe in a body cavity.

[0005]

The present invention for achieving the above object provides an intracorporeal ultrasonic probe having a shaft which is inserted into a body cavity and used, wherein the shaft is at least a signal line and a drive shaft. A hollow coil containing a coil, and a braid that encloses almost the entire outer surface of the coil,
An ultrasonic probe in a body cavity, comprising: a covering member covering substantially the entire braid and having a sealed tip portion; or a covering member covering the substantially entire braid body and having a tip opening. .

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an ultrasonic transducer is provided inside the tip of the ultrasonic probe in the body cavity, and in the case of the radial scan method, the ultrasonic transducer is adapted to rotate, or The sound wave reflector is adapted to rotate on the proximal side or the tip side of the ultrasonic transducer.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an ultrasonic transducer is provided inside the tip of the ultrasonic probe in the body cavity, and in the case of the linear scanning system, array type ultrasonic transducers are sequentially driven to perform scanning. Alternatively, the ultrasonic transducer is configured to reciprocally scan within the probe.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, substantially the entire outermost portion of the shaft is coated with a synthetic resin having lubricity or wettability.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a coil having two or more layers or two or more strips is used as the hollow coil, and the winding directions of the coils of each layer are opposite to each other.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hollow coil is one in which the cross-sectional area of the coil material or the braided wire is made smaller toward the tip.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the diameter of the shaft is made smaller toward the tip of the shaft.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the coil material is made thinner toward the tip of the shaft.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An intracavity ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a catheter type intracavity ultrasonic probe according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a radial scanning type intracorporeal ultrasonic probe, 2 is a hollow coil, 3 is a braid (blade wire) that covers almost the entire hollow coil 2, and 4 is almost the braid 3. It is a covering portion that covers the whole and surrounds the ultrasonic transducer 6 extending from the tip of the hollow coil 2. Inside the hollow coil 2, a signal line (not shown) for the ultrasonic transducer 6 and a shaft 7 having a shaft for driving the ultrasonic transducer are provided. The shaft 7 also scans (radial scans) the ultrasonic transducer 6 in the circumferential direction as shown in the figure. The ultrasonic transducer 6 transmits ultrasonic waves to the subject and receives reflected ultrasonic waves. The proximal portion 8 of the body cavity ultrasonic probe 1 is provided with a connector 9 for connecting to a main body portion (not shown). 5
Is a bearing that supports the shaft 7.

FIG. 1 will be described in more detail below.

In FIG. 1, the hollow coil 2 has a width of 0.0
5 mm to 1.0 mm, particularly preferably 0.1 mm to
0.4 mm, wall thickness 5 μm to 200 μm, particularly preferably 0.01 mm to 0.05 mm flat plate or a diameter of 0.
01 mm to 0.5 mm, particularly preferably 50 μm to 20
A one-layer coil in which a wire of 0 μm is closely attached is used. The inner diameter of the hollow coil 2 is
0.1 mm to 6 mm, particularly preferably 0.3 mm to
It is 3 mm.

The material used for the hollow coil 2 is
Substantially 49-58 atomic% Ni (balance Ti) Ni-T
i alloy, part of this Ni-Ti alloy is 0.01 to 2.0
Ti-Ni-X alloy (X = Co, F
e, Mn, Cr, V, Al, Nb, Pb, B, etc.), substantially 38.5 to 41.5 wt% Zn (balance Cu) Cu
-Zn alloy, a Cu-Zn-X alloy (X = Be, Si, Sn, A
l), N of substantially 36 to 38 atomic% Al (the balance Ni)
Metallic materials such as superelastic alloys such as i-Al alloys, precipitation hardening stainless steels (particularly preferably PH austenitic stainless steels), maraging stainless steels and other stainless steels are preferably used. Among these, a superelastic material of Ni-Ti alloy is particularly preferably used. The superelastic alloy referred to here is generally called a shape memory alloy, and has a property of returning to its original shape even after being deformed at least at a living body temperature (around 37 ° C) to superelasticity (a normal metal is deformed to a region where permanent deformation occurs). ) Is shown. From the viewpoint of torque transmissibility, the number of layers of the hollow coil 2 is not limited to one layer, and may be a multilayer structure of two or more layers as appropriate. In this case, the winding directions of the layers are preferably opposite to each other.

The braided body 3 which encloses substantially the entire outer surface of the hollow coil 2 is for reducing the expansion and contraction of the shaft, and the material thereof is precipitation hardening stainless steel (PH stainless steel, particularly preferably semi-stainless steel). Wire rods such as austenite type), stainless steel such as maraging stainless steel, metal materials such as piano wire, carbon fiber, synthetic resin materials such as nylon (polyamide resin) are preferably used.
The outer diameter of the wire is 5 μm to 200 μm, particularly preferably 10 μm to 50 μm.

The braided wire used for the braided body 3 is three or more,
It is preferably eight or more. Further, when the number of layers is two or more, the winding directions of the respective layers may be opposite to each other. The operability is improved by reducing the cross-sectional area of the hollow coil 2 and / or the tip portion of the braided body 3. Also,
The hollow coil 2 and / or the braided body 3 has a tapered outer diameter toward the distal end 10 to facilitate insertion into a peripheral blood vessel. Tip 10
Has a wall thickness of 0.01 to 0.5 mm, preferably 0.02
A thermoplastic resin having an excellent sound permeability such as a polyolefin resin, a polyester resin, or a nylon resin is used, and is preferably the same material as that of the covering portion 4. The acoustic impedance (Z) is 0.8
× 10 ^{6 to} 4.0 × 10 ⁶ kg / ms ² , preferably 1.
It is 0 × 10 ^{6 to} 3.0 × 10 ⁶ kg / ms ² .

The tip portion 10 may be formed integrally with the covering portion 4, or after forming the covering portion 4 with a covering member having an open tip, adhesion with an adhesive, ultrasonic welding, or fusion with a laser beam is performed. Another member may be provided in the opening of the covering 4 by wearing or the like. An acoustic medium such as water is enclosed in the tip portion 10.

Ultrasonic transducer 6 provided in the tip portion 10
From the viewpoint of transmitting the torque from the proximal portion 8 to almost one-to-one, the base material of the shaft 7 is a Ni-Ti alloy of substantially 49 to 58 atomic% Ni (the balance Ti), and this Ni-T.
T in which a part of the i alloy is replaced with 0.01 to 2.0 atomic% X
i-Ni-X alloy (X = Co, Fe, Mn, Cr, V,
Al, Nb, Pb, B, etc.), substantially 38.5-41.
Cu-Zn alloy of 5 wt% Zn (balance Cu), Cu-Zn-X alloy (X = Be, Si, Sn, Al) in which a part of this alloy is replaced with 1 to 10 wt% X, substantially 36-3
Super-elastic alloy such as Ni-Al alloy with 8 atomic% Al (the balance Ni), precipitation hardening stainless steel (particularly preferably semi-austenitic PH stainless steel), metallic material such as stainless steel such as maraging stainless steel, etc. Is preferably used. As the shaft 7, a monofilament or a bundle of two or more wires in parallel to form a parallel wire, or a bundle of two or more wires as a twisted wire is used.

In the case of a catheter-type linear scanning type intracavity ultrasonic probe as shown in FIG. 2, a window 11 is provided at least at a portion of the tip 10 where ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received,
Only this portion can be made of a material such as a thermoplastic resin having excellent acoustic transparency, such as a polyolefin resin, a polyester resin, or a nylon resin. The same components as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.
The shaft 7 also scans the ultrasonic transducer 6 in the longitudinal direction (radial scanning) as shown in the figure. Reference numeral 12 is a back material of the ultrasonic transducer 6. The shaft 7 is provided with a signal line (not shown) for the ultrasonic transducer 6 and a shaft for driving the ultrasonic transducer. The ultrasonic transducer 6 inspects the subject by sequentially driving and scanning array type ultrasonic transducers or by causing the ultrasonic transducer to reciprocally scan the shaft 7 in the probe.

A material having a high lubricity or a material having a high wettability is used as the coating portion 4 which surrounds almost the entire outer surface of the braided body 3, and the surface of the braided body 3 is subjected to a primary treatment with a synthetic resin material or the like. Then, after providing the synthetic resin film with a functional group, a polymer material can be coated. Examples of synthetic resin materials include polyolefin resins (for example, polyethylene elastomer, polypropylene elastomer, elastomers using ethylene-propylene copolymer, etc.), polyolefin resins, polyester resins, nylon resins polyvinyl chloride, ethylene. -Vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide elastomer, polyurethane, thermoplastic resin such as fluororesin, silicone rubber and the like are used.

Examples of the polymeric material include poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate, hydroxypropyl cellulose, methyl vinyl ether maleic anhydride copolymer,
Hydrophilic polymers such as polyethylene glycol, polyacrylamide, and polyvinylpyrrolidone are used.

A bearing 5 is provided at the opening of the hollow coil 2, and an ultrasonic transducer 6 is provided at the tip of a drive shaft 7 provided with a signal line (not shown) via the bearing 5. . The ultrasonic oscillator 6 is movable in the axial direction as well as in the longitudinal direction by the drive shaft 7. When it is rotated in the axial direction, it becomes a radial scan, and when it is rotated in the longitudinal direction, it becomes a linear scan. Further, by providing the reflection plate, it is possible to rotate the reflection plate and perform radial scanning.

The base material of the shaft 7 is substantially 49
Ni-Ti alloy containing 58 to 58 atomic% Ni (the balance Ti), and a Ti-Ni-X alloy (X = Co, Fe, in which a part of the Ni-Ti alloy is replaced with 0.01 to 2.0 atomic% X). Mn, C
r, V, Al, Nb, Pb, B, etc.), substantially 38.5
~ 41.5 wt% Zn (balance Cu) Cu-Zn alloy,
Cu-Z in which a part of this alloy is replaced with 1 to 10% by weight of X
n-X alloy (X = Be, Si, Sn, Al), super elastic alloy such as Ni-Al alloy having substantially 36 to 38 atomic% Al (the balance Ni), precipitation hardening stainless steel (PH stainless steel) Particularly preferably, a semi-austenite type), a metal material such as stainless steel such as maraging stainless steel, or the like is preferably used. As the shaft 7, a monofilament or a bundle of two or more wires in parallel to form a parallel wire, or a bundle of two or more wires as a twisted wire is used.

A connector 9 for connecting the drive shaft 7 and the signal line to the main body (not shown) may be provided on the proximal portion 8 of the intracavity ultrasonic probe 1.

A probe connecting portion having a connector 9 and a connecting portion connectable to the ultrasonic probe 1 in the body cavity,
The proximal portion 8 of the ultrasonic probe 1 in the body cavity may be connected. In this case, the intracorporeal ultrasonic probe 1 is easily disposable.

[0029]

According to the intracavity ultrasonic probe of the present invention, an intracavity ultrasonic probe capable of flexibility, torque transmission, strength and diameter reduction can be obtained.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an ultrasonic transducer is provided inside the tip of the ultrasonic probe in the body cavity, and in the case of the radial scan method, the ultrasonic transducer is adapted to rotate. Alternatively, since the ultrasonic reflector is adapted to rotate on the proximal side or the distal side of the ultrasonic transducer, the desired inner surface of the body cavity can be easily scanned in the circumferential direction.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an ultrasonic transducer is provided inside the tip of the ultrasonic probe in the body cavity, and in the case of the linear scan system, array type ultrasonic transducers are sequentially driven to perform scanning. Since it is configured or configured to reciprocally scan the ultrasonic transducer within the probe, it is possible to easily scan the desired inner surface of the body cavity in the longitudinal direction.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, almost the entire outermost portion of the shaft is coated with a synthetic resin having lubricity or wettability, so that the shaft can be easily inserted into a desired body cavity or the like.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a coil having two or more layers or two or more strips is used as the hollow coil, and the winding directions of the coils of each layer are opposite to each other. (Kink) is prevented and torque transmission is good.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hollow coil is one in which the cross-sectional area of the coil material or the braided wire is smaller toward the tip, so that the tip has flexibility and can be easily inserted into a desired body cavity or the like. it can.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, since the diameter of the shaft becomes smaller toward the tip, the flexibility of the tip is achieved and the shaft can be easily inserted into a desired body cavity or the like.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the coil material is made thinner toward the tip of the shaft, so that the flexibility of the tip is achieved and it can be easily inserted into a desired body cavity or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ultrasonic probe in a body cavity according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of another ultrasonic probe in a body cavity according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Intracorporeal ultrasonic probe 2 ... Hollow coil 3 ... Blade wire 4 ... Cover part 5 ... Bearing 6 ... Ultrasonic vibrator 7 ... Drive shaft 8 ... Hand part 9 ... Connector 10 ... Tip part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An intracorporeal ultrasonic probe having a shaft that is inserted into a body cavity, wherein the shaft comprises a hollow coil containing at least a signal line and a drive shaft, and substantially the entire outer surface of the coil. And a covering member that covers substantially the entire outer surface of the braid and has a sealed tip, or a covering member that covers substantially the entire braid and has a tip opening. Characteristic ultrasonic probe in the body cavity.