Ultrasonic transmission instrument and ultrasonic imaging device
To provide an ultrasonic transmission instrument that can uniformly transmit ultrasonic waves in each direction around the instrument, even when the instrument is made of a material through which the ultrasonic waves cannot be transmitted. In an ultrasonic transmission instrument according to the invention, a light transmission member is disposed at an emission end of an optical waveguide, and an outer peripheral member covers an outer periphery of the light transmission member and is made of a light absorbing material.
1 . An ultrasonic transmission instrument configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave, the ultrasonic transmission instrument comprising:
an optical waveguide that is disposed inside the ultrasonic transmission instrument;
a light transmission member that surrounds a wire member, wherein the light transmission member is configured to transmit at least a part of light emitted from the optical waveguide;
an outer peripheral member that covers at least a part of an outer periphery of the light transmission member, wherein the outer peripheral member is made of a light absorbing material that is configured to generate the ultrasonic wave by absorbing the light and the light absorbing material has a shape that is not symmetric with respect to a rotation operation of at least one angle.
2 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 1 ,
wherein the light transmission member is attached so as to cover an emission end of the optical waveguide from which the light is emitted.
3 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 2 , wherein
the light transmission member has a cylindrical shape,
a bottom surface of the light transmission member is disposed at a position covering the emission end, and
the outer peripheral member covers at least a part of a side surface of the light transmission member.
4 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 2 , further comprising:
an opaque member configured to block at least a part of the light, wherein
the light transmission member is disposed between the emission end and the opaque member, and
the opaque member is disposed so as to cover at least a part of the light transmission member that is not covered by the outer peripheral member.
5 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 4 , wherein
the opaque member is attached to an end of the wire member.
6 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 2 , wherein
one end of the light transmission member has a curved surface,
the other end of the light transmission member is disposed at a position for receiving the light emitted from the emission end, and
the outer peripheral member covers at least a part of the curved surface.
7 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a light scattering member that scatters the light emitted from the optical waveguide inside the light transmission member.
8 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a light scattering member configured to scatter the light emitted from the optical waveguide inside the light transmission member.
9 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 8 ,
wherein the light scattering member is disposed at an emission end of the optical waveguide from which the light is emitted.
10 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a hollow portion, wherein
the optical waveguide is disposed on an outer periphery of the hollow portion, and
the light transmission member is disposed on the outer periphery of the hollow portion.
11 . The ultrasonic transmission instrument according to claim 1 ,
wherein a cross-sectional shape of the light absorbing material is rectangular.
12 . An ultrasonic imaging device configured to generate an image of a subject using an ultrasonic wave, the ultrasonic imaging device comprising:
an ultrasonic transmission instrument configured to transmit the ultrasonic wave, wherein the ultrasonic transmission instrument includes:
an optical waveguide that is disposed inside the ultrasonic transmission instrument;
a light transmission member configured to transmit at least a part of light emitted from the optical waveguide; and
an outer peripheral member that covers at least a part of an outer periphery of the light transmission member;
an ultrasonic probe configured to receive a reflected ultrasonic wave that is generated by the ultrasonic wave reflecting from the subject, wherein the ultrasonic probe includes a plurality of elements;
an image generation unit configured to generate an ultrasonic image of the subject using the reflected ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe;
a position estimation unit configured to estimate a position of the ultrasonic transmission instrument using a difference between time points when respective elements among the plurality of elements receive the reflected ultrasonic wave; and
an angle estimation unit configured to estimate an inclination of the ultrasonic transmission instrument based on a shape of the image of the outer peripheral member in the ultrasonic image generated by the image generation unit,
wherein the outer peripheral member is made of a light absorbing material that generates the ultrasonic wave by absorbing the light and the outer peripheral member has a shape that is not symmetric with respect to a rotation operation of at least one angle.
13 . The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 12 ,
wherein the angle estimation unit configured to measure an inclination of an image of the ultrasonic transmission instrument based on the ultrasonic image generated by the image generation unit, and estimates an angle in an ultrasonic image plane.
14 . The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 13 ,
wherein the angle estimation unit is configured to measure the inclination measures a length of the image of the ultrasonic transmission instrument based on the ultrasonic image of the subject generated by the image, and estimates an angle in a plane perpendicular to the ultrasonic image by obtaining a ratio of the length to a true length of the ultrasonic transmission instrument measured in advance.