Endoscopic probe

Details Endoscopic probe Endoscopic probe

1993-02-22

1994-04-05

Kamm, William E.

Surgery

Truss

Pad

12866301, 12866008, A61B 812

Patent

active

052995780

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an endoscopic probe, in particular suitable for use as a TEE probe, comprising a flexible tube having at one end a probe head which is provided with ultrasonic transducer means of the phased array type with a transducer made up of a number of elongated transducer elements, which elements can be individually electrically controlled by means of cables connected to the individual elements and extending through the flexible tube, the transducer being mounted in an essentially cylindrical transducer housing which is placed in a cavity with an aperture in the probe head and is rotatable about a longitudinal axis extending at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the probe head by means of drive means interacting with the transducer housing while the elongated transducer elements are connected by means of flexible conductors to the cables extending through the flexible tube.
An endoscopic probe is known from the article "An endoscopic micromanipulator for multiplanar transesophageal imaging" by Roy W Martin et. al. in Ultrasound in Med & Biol., Vol 12, No 12, pp. 965-975, 1986. The known probe has a probe head with a slightly flattened part containing an essentially flat transducer made up of a number of individual adjacent elongated elements of piezoelectric material which can be excited individually, and which together form a phased array. By exciting the strip-type elements in a suitable sequence, it is possible to obtain a beam which scans the environment to be examined and produces reflections in a plane lying at right angles to the elongated elements, as described in greater detail by J. C. Somer in "Echocardiography", N. Bom, published by Martinus Nijhof in The Hague, 1977. Rotating the flexible tube and thus the probe head, about the longitudinal axis means that the environment around the probe head can be scanned by an ultrasonic beam. Pulling cables also extend through the flexible tube, by means of which said head can be pulled forwards or backwards.
In the medical world there is a need for an endoscopic probe with which more information can be obtained. In the past it was proposed that a biplane TEE probe should be used for this purpose. Such a probe head has two transducer arrays lying one after the other in the lengthwise direction of the flexible tube and the head, each again composed of adjacent elongated elements. The elements of one transducer extend at right angles relative to the elements of the other transducer. With this head it is therefore possible to obtain two scanning beams which can carry out a scanning movement in directions extending at right angles to each other.
A disadvantage of this known probe is that the scanning beams originate in two different points. Another disadvantage is that the rigid head is relatively long, which can lead to problems in practical use. Two separate transducer arrays with the same definition per array also require twice the number of control cables, which all have to be conveyed through the flexible tube. However, the flexible tube has little or no pace for these.
In order to eliminate these problems, it was proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,960 that the transducer array should be fitted in the probe head so that it is rotatable about an axis extending at right angles to the plane of the array. For this, a transducer housing, bearing the transducer array and rotatable about a pin provided on the side of the transducer housing facing away from the array, is fitted in a cavity in the probe head. The elements of the transducer array are connected by means of conductors formed on two flexible printed circuit boards to the different cores of one or more electrical cables extending through the flexible tube.
The flexible printed circuit boards lie coiled around the transducer housing.
It is not indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,960 whether, and if so in what way, the cavity in which the transducer housing with the transducer is situated is sealed off relative to the environment. A good seal with as few seams and crevices as possible is

REFERENCES:
patent: 4957112 (1990-09-01), Yokoi et al.
patent: 5195519 (1993-03-01), Angelsen

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