Endoscopic method & apparatus including ultrasonic B-scan imaging
First Claim
1. An endoscopic probe for use in a system for visually examining and for ultrasonically imaging internal body parts, said probe comprising,a substantially cylindrical shaped elongated housing having forward and rear ends at the respective distal and proximal ends thereof and a longitudinal axis, said housing including a distal end member at the forward end thereof,means forming a plurality of longitudinally extending apertures through said distal end member at a first substantially semicylindrical portion of said housing for use in optically imaging internal body parts, anda longitudinally extending rectilinear ultrasonic transducer array including a plurality of adjacent transducer elements within the probe housing, said transducer array being positioned rearwardly the forward end of of said distal end member at a second substantially semicylindrical portion of said housing substantially opposite said first semicylindrical portion for use in ultrasonically imaging internal body parts.
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Abstract
Endoscopic method and apparatus are provided for the simultaneous visual and ultrasonic imaging of internal body parts through use of a probe insertable into a body cavity. The probe includes a rectilinear transducer array acoustically coupled to the body through a cylindrical focusing lens having an outer face which conforms to the probe contour. The transducer array is included in a pulsed ultrasonic imaging system of the B-scan type. A tube, which includes a flexible portion adjacent the probe, connects the probe to a control housing containing manually operated control mechanism for bending the flexible tube portion. A control handle extends from the side of the housing for control of bending by the operator. The pulsed ultrasonic imaging system includes pulse generator and pulse receiver means connected to individual elements of the transducer array by coaxial cables extending through the tube. Electronic beam focusing and scanning means for rectilinear B-scan operation are provided for imaging of objects at close distances adjacent the probe. Visual display means are provided for visual display of the ultrasonic image from the B-scan receiver. An optical illuminating and viewing system is provided for optically viewing internal body parts through the probe, which system includes an objective lens and illuminating means adjacent the distal ends of the probe and transducer array. A removable eyepiece at the housing is used for direct viewing by the operator while guiding the probe into desired position in the body cavity. Means also are provided for viewing the optical image by a video camera having an output connected to a monitor adjacent the ultrasonic image display. Consequently, both the optical and ultrasonic images are simultaneously displayable and viewable by the operator.
163 Citations
12 Claims
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1. An endoscopic probe for use in a system for visually examining and for ultrasonically imaging internal body parts, said probe comprising,
a substantially cylindrical shaped elongated housing having forward and rear ends at the respective distal and proximal ends thereof and a longitudinal axis, said housing including a distal end member at the forward end thereof, means forming a plurality of longitudinally extending apertures through said distal end member at a first substantially semicylindrical portion of said housing for use in optically imaging internal body parts, and a longitudinally extending rectilinear ultrasonic transducer array including a plurality of adjacent transducer elements within the probe housing, said transducer array being positioned rearwardly the forward end of of said distal end member at a second substantially semicylindrical portion of said housing substantially opposite said first semicylindrical portion for use in ultrasonically imaging internal body parts.
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6. An endoscopic probe for insertion into a body cavity for use in a system for visually examining and ultrasonic imaging internal body parts comprising,
a housing having forward and rear ends at the respective distal and proximal ends thereof, said housing having a substantially cylindrical-shaped outer surface with a longitudinal axis, means at the rear end of the housing for attachment thereof to an elongated tube, a rectilinear transducer array inside said housing extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal probe housing axis and having forward and rear ends adjacent the respective forward and rear ends of the housing, said array comprising a plurality of transducer elements for directing pulses of ultrasonic energy along a beam into body parts, cylindrical focusing lens means having one face attached to said transducer face for beam focusing in a plane normal to the longitudinal plane of the transducer array, the outer face of said cylindrical focusing lens means being convex and forming a portion of the outer surface of said housing, and an optical system for use in visually examining internal body parts including objective lens means inside said housing adjacent the forward end of the transducer array at the forward end of the housing.
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8. An endoscopic system for visual and ultrasonic imaging of body parts comprising,
an endoscope comprising an elongated tube and probe at the distal end of the tube insertable into a body organ, a television system comprising a camera located at a distance from said endoscope, means for optically coupling said television camera to said endoscope and thence through said elongated tube to said probe for optically viewing the organ from the probe, and a monitor electrically coupled to said camera for visually displaying an image of the viewed organ, and a pulsed rectilinear B-scan ultrasonic imaging system comprising, a rectilinear ultrasonic transducer array inside said probe, pulse transmitter/receiver means connected to said transducer array for pulse energization of the transducer array for generating ultrasonic wave pulses and for processing signals received from the transducer array, and visual display means for B-scan display of the processed signals for the simultaneous display of ultrasonic and video images at said visual display means and monitor, respectively.
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10. In a combination visual and ultrasonic real-time B-scan imaging method which includes the use of an endoscopic system which includes an endoscopic probe insertable into a body organ, which probe includes a rectilinear ultrasonic transducer array and objective lens of optical telescope means, the steps comprising,
generating by use of said transducer array, recurrent ultrasonic wave pulses to insonify a section of a body part adjacent the body organ into which said probe is inserted, receiving reflected wave pulses and converting the same to corresponding electrical signals by use of said transducer array, displaying a real-time rectilinear B-scan image of an insonified section of the body part, viewing, through said optical telescope means by use of video camera means, optical images of a portion of the interior of the body organ into which the probe is inserted, displaying the output from said video camera means at visual display means, and locating said B-scan image display means and visual display means adjacent each other for substantially simultaneous viewing by the operator of the endoscopic system.
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12. A probe for use in an endoscopic system for ultrasonically imaging and optically viewing internal body parts, said probe comprising,
unitary housing means having a substantially cylindrical-shaped outer surface with a longitudinally extending axis, a forward distal end, and a rearward proximal end connected to an elongated tube for use in inserting the housing means into a body organ, ultrasonic transducer means fixedly mounted inside said housing means at one side of the longitudinal axis thereof for use in generating ultrasonic waves and receiving reflected ultrasonic waves for ultrasonic image examination of internal body parts with said transducer inside said housing means, and optical means inside said housing means to a side of the longitudinal axis diametrically opposite said ultrasonic transducer means for use in illuminating and visually examining internal body parts, said optical means including a viewing window adjacent the forward distal end of said housing means forwardly of said ultrasonic transducer means.
Specification