Ultrasonic diagnosis system in which periphery of magnetic sensor included in distal part of ultrasonic endoscope is made of non-conductive material
First Claim
1. An ultrasonic endoscope, comprising:
- an ultrasonic transducer for producing an ultrasonic tomographic image;
a magnetic sensor for detecting a position; and
a distal part including said ultrasonic transducer and said magnetic sensor, at least one of said ultrasonic transducer and said magnetic sensor being fixedly disposed at the distal part, wherein portions of said endoscope peripheral to said magnetic sensor, which are unrelated to electrical conduction, are made of a non-conductive material.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An ultrasonic transducer for producing an ultrasonic tomographic image is included in a distal part of an ultrasonic endoscope to be inserted into an object of observation. The ultrasonic transducer is rotated. Echoes of ultrasonic waves produced by the ultrasonic transducer are detected in order to produce an ultrasonic tomographic image that is a two-dimensional image. A magnetic sensor for detecting a position is included in the distal part. A magnetic field generated by a magnetic field generator locked near the object of observation is sensed. The position and orientation of the distal part are detected, whereby information of a position and orientation relevant to the ultrasonic tomographic image is obtained. Based on the information of the position and orientation, a plurality of produced ultrasonic tomographic images is synthesized in order to produce an ultrasonic image that is a three-dimensional image. The periphery of the magnetic sensor in the distal part is made of a non-conductive material. An eddy current developing near the magnetic sensor is therefore limited. Consequently, the precision in position detection performed by the magnetic sensor improves. The precision in position relevant to each of the ultrasonic tomographic images constituting the ultrasonic image therefore improves. Thus, an ultrasonic image with high positional precision can be produced.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An ultrasonic endoscope, comprising:
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an ultrasonic transducer for producing an ultrasonic tomographic image;
a magnetic sensor for detecting a position; and
a distal part including said ultrasonic transducer and said magnetic sensor, at least one of said ultrasonic transducer and said magnetic sensor being fixedly disposed at the distal part, wherein portions of said endoscope peripheral to said magnetic sensor, which are unrelated to electrical conduction, are made of a non-conductive material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An ultrasonic endoscope, comprising:
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an ultrasonic transmitter receiver for transmitting or receiving ultrasonic waves and producing an ultrasonic tomographic image;
a position detector for detecting the position of said ultrasonic transmitter receiver using a magnetic field generated externally to said endoscope;
wherein all portions of said ultrasonic endoscope unrelated to electrical conduction are made of a non-conductive material.
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5. An ultrasonic diagnosis system, comprising:
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a magnetic field generator for generating a magnetic field;
an ultrasonic endoscope including an ultrasonic transmitter receiver for transmitting or receiving ultrasonic waves to produce an ultrasonic tomographic image, and a magnetic sensor for sensing a magnetic field generated by said magnetic field generator so as to detect the position of said ultrasonic transmitter receiver, and having all regions thereof unrelated to electrical conduction made of a non-conductive material;
means for producing an ultrasonic tomographic image according to at least an echo signal produced by said ultrasonic transmitter receiver;
means for synthesizing ultrasonic tomographic images according to information of a position and direction detected using a signal sent from said magnetic sensor, and thus producing a three-dimensional ultrasonic image; and
peripheral equipment for said ultrasonic endoscope having all regions thereof which are unrelated to electrical conduction made of a non-conductive material. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An ultrasonic diagnosis system, comprising:
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an ultrasonic endoscope including a passage and an ultrasonic transducer, and producing an ultrasonic tomographic image by moving said ultrasonic transducer for scanning;
a position detection catheter passed through said passage in said ultrasonic endoscope when used, and having a position detecting-means included in the distal part thereof; and
a three-dimensional processor for acquiring a position signal sent from said position detecting element and a plurality of consecutive ultrasonic tomographic images produced by said ultrasonic endoscope, and thus structuring three-dimensional data. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification