Ultrasonic probe

摘要

An ultrasonic probe has an organism contact portion that is shaped for use along a comparatively large curvature and can easily be used while closely contacting an organism. The probe includes a first cylinder pulley secured to a probe casing, an arm secured to a motor spindle extending through the first pulley, and a second cylinder pulley rotatably arranged on the opposite side and coupled to the first pulley by a wire. The second pulley is equipped with a slider shaft that is arranged to be extendable by a slider bearing. The slider shaft is equipped with a roller contacting a guide rail of the casing. An ultrasonic element is attached to the distal end of the slider shaft to provide the telescopic structure for the slider shaft. In this manner, the size of a scanning mechanism, for oscillating the ultrasonic element along a large curvature, is reduced.

主权项

1. An ultrasonic probe comprising:
a probe casing; a window which is provided on the probe casing, wherein an acoustic coupling fluid is enclosed in an area defined by the window and the probe casing; an ultrasonic element which is arranged in the area defined by the window and the casing; a motor which is secured to an outside of the probe casing, the motor including a motor spindle extending from the motor into the probe casing; a first cylinder pulley which is secured to an inner wall of the probe casing, the first cylinder pulley having a through-hole, wherein the motor spindle penetrates the through-hole to project from the first cylinder pulley into an interior of the probe casing; an arm which has a first end that is directly secured to a portion of the motor spindle that penetrates through and projects from the first cylinder pulley, wherein a longitudinal direction of the arm extends perpendicularly with respect to a projecting direction of the motor spindle; a pulley shaft which is directly secured to a second end of the arm opposite to the first end of the arm, the pulley shaft extending in parallel to the projection direction of the motor spindle; a second cylinder pulley which is directly mounted on the pulley shaft to be rotatable around the pulley shaft; a connecting member which attaches the first cylinder pulley to the second cylinder pulley; a slider bearing which is directly secured to the second cylinder pulley; a slider shaft which is slidably attached directly to the slider bearing, the slider shaft being attached directly to the ultrasonic element; a roller shaft which is directly secured to the slider shaft; a guide rail having an arced shape with a curvature center which is present on a line extending from the motor spindle in a direction away from the ultrasonic element; and a roller which is directly mounted on the roller shaft, wherein the roller is configured to move along the guide rail while contacting the guide rail, wherein when the motor drives the motor spindle to rotate, the rotation of the motor spindle is translated into rotational and telescopic movement of the slider shaft along the shape of the guide rail, whereby the ultrasonic element oscillates in accordance with the rotation of the motor spindle.