Ultrasound therapeutic system

• US 5,435,311 A
• Filed: 05/16/1994
• Issued: 07/25/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kawabata, Kenichi, Kawaguchi, Koji, Ikeda, Hiroshi, Umemura, Shinichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Ruth S.
• Application Number:
  US08/243,321
• Time in Patent Office: 435 Days
• Field of Search: 128/660.03, 601/2-4, 607/97
• US Class Current: 600/439
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/2256 with means for locating or checking the concrement, e.g. X-ray apparatus, imaging means A61B17/2255 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0833 involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures

Abstract

In an ultrasound therapeutic system provided with an ultrasound transmitter having a focusing mechanism and a plurality of groups of ultrasound transmitters/receivers, each of which has a controllable directivity, each of the transmitters/receivers is constructed so as to be able to receive both echo of pulse-shaped ultrasound transmitted by itself and even order harmonic signals of the ultrasound transmitted by the transmitter, and a plurality of two-dimensional pulse echographical images constructed by ultrasound signals obtained by transmitting/receiving beams, while controlling the directivity of the beam emitted by each of the plurality of groups of ultrasound transmitters/receivers and a plurality of images indicating orientation and intensity, in which an even order harmonic wave signal due to the ultrasound transmitted by the transmitter is received by each of the plurality of groups of ultrasound transmitters/receivers, are displayed, superimposed on each other.

Claims

1. An ultrasound therapeutic system comprising:

an ultrasound transmitter having focusing means for continuously transmitting focused ultrasonic waves;

monitoring transmitter/receiver means having a controllable directivity for transmitting monitoring ultrasonic waves and for determining an aiming position for the focused ultrasonic waves, said monitoring transmitter/receiver means including two transmitter/receiver units receiving harmonic wave signals of the continuously transmitted focused ultrasonic waves produced by non-linear effects in the region of the aiming position;

converting means coupled to the monitoring transmitter/receiver means for converting reflected ultrasonic waves to echographical image information; and

display means coupled to the converting means for displaying, in superimposed relation, an echographical image based on reflected ultrasonic waves corresponding to the monitoring ultrasonic waves and an echographical image based upon reflected ultrasonic waves corresponding to the focused ultrasonic waves.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the converting means includes received wave beam scanning and focusing means for receiving reflected ultrasonic waves of the transmitted monitoring ultrasonic waves and for converting the received reflected ultrasonic waves to echographical image information, and image memories for recording the echographical image information.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasound transmitter includes a plurality of piezoelectric ceramic elements on one surface of a light metal baseplate.