1993-02-22
1997-09-23
Apley, Richard J.
Surgery
Truss
Pad
12866008, 12866301, A61B 812
Patent
active
056693893
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an endoscopic probe, in particular suitable for use as a TEE probe.
(2) Brief Description of the Prior Art
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 space 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, however, necessary from the point of view of hygiene if the probe is intended for repeated use.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide an endoscopic probe which meets the above mentioned requirement, and more generally to provide a reliable endoscopic probe which is suitable for repeated use on different patients, which is easy to clean externally, and by which the human body can be examined internally by echography in the optimum manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
For this, according to the invention an endoscopic probe of the above-described type is characterised in that the cavity in the probe head is sealed with an acoustically transparent head and the transducer is coupled acoustically
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Brommersma Pieter Derk
Rotteveel Bart Joseph
Apley Richard J.
B.V. Optische Industrie "De Oude Delft"
Marn Louis E.
Mulcahy John
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