阅读说明：本技术 一种光声内窥镜探头及系统 (Photoacoustic endoscope probe and system ) 是由 陈炳章 于 2019-10-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种光声内窥镜探头及系统,该探头包括一端开口且用于透射激光能量和超声波信号的外筒和置于外筒中两端均开口的内筒,所述外筒的筒底设置有反射镜,所述内筒靠近反射镜的一端内设置有自聚焦透镜且该端外设置有pMUT阵列,所述内筒与外筒之间填充有耦合液。采用内筒、外筒、自聚焦透镜、反射镜的结构,内筒外壁不仅有横向安装空间,也具备纵向安装空间,即可实现pMUT阵列的环向上的阵列分布和纵向上的阵列分布,大大提高其成像面积；采用该结构不仅可减小探头体积,且易于集成,便于信号引出。(The invention discloses a photoacoustic endoscope probe and a system, the probe comprises an outer cylinder with one open end and used for transmitting laser energy and ultrasonic signals and an inner cylinder with two open ends arranged in the outer cylinder, the bottom of the outer cylinder is provided with a reflector, one end of the inner cylinder close to the reflector is internally provided with a self-focusing lens, the other end of the inner cylinder is externally provided with a pMUT array, and coupling liquid is filled between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder. By adopting the structure of the inner cylinder, the outer cylinder, the self-focusing lens and the reflector, the outer wall of the inner cylinder not only has a transverse installation space, but also has a longitudinal installation space, thus realizing the circumferential array distribution and the longitudinal array distribution of the pMUT array, and greatly improving the imaging area of the pMUT array; by adopting the structure, the volume of the probe can be reduced, the integration is easy, and the signal extraction is convenient.)

1. The photoacoustic endoscope probe is characterized by comprising an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder, wherein one end of the outer cylinder is open and is used for transmitting laser energy and ultrasonic signals, the inner cylinder (10) is arranged in the outer cylinder, the two ends of the outer cylinder are open, a reflector (7) is arranged at the bottom of the outer cylinder, a self-focusing lens (9) is arranged in one end, close to the reflector (7), of the inner cylinder (10), a pMUT array (8) is arranged outside the end, and coupling liquid (5) is filled between the inner cylinder (10) and the outer cylinder.

2. A photoacoustic endoscopy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that the inner tube (10) is fixed inside the outer tube via a support, and the coupling liquid (5) is located in the area enclosed by the support and the outer tube.

3. A photoacoustic endoscopy probe according to claim 2, characterized in that the inner barrel (10) is provided at one end with an integrated circuit module (2), the integrated circuit module (2) being signal-connected to the pMUT array (8) by means of leads (3).

4. A photoacoustic endoscopy probe according to claim 3, characterized in that the integrated circuit module (2) comprises a gating circuit for controlling the state of the pMUT array (8) and an operational amplifier circuit, a filter circuit, connected to the gating circuit.

5. A photoacoustic endoscopy probe according to claim 1, characterized in that the mirror (7) is tapered with its axis coinciding with the inner cylinder axis.

6. A photoacoustic endoscope system comprises a laser, an optical fiber coupler, an optical fiber and a probe which are connected in sequence, wherein the probe and the laser are both connected with a controller through a signal acquisition card, and the photoacoustic endoscope system is characterized in that the probe is the probe according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of greenhouse devices, in particular to a photoacoustic endoscope probe and a photoacoustic endoscope system.

Background

The endoscope technology includes a pure ultrasonic endoscope, a photoacoustic endoscope, and the like, which can detect tissues in a human body such as blood vessels, stomach, and intestine, and can also image plaque and the like in the blood vessels of the human body.

A photoacoustic endoscope system based on a ring array detector (published in fig. 2010 at 35, No. 13, at opt.lett.) was developed by university of south china, and as shown in fig. 1, the endoscope probe also employs an optical fiber 11 to guide laser pulses into the probe, and emergent light directly reflects the laser light to an area to be imaged through a conical reflector 15; the photoacoustic signals are collected by a ring array sensor 16, which is composed of 64 array elements arranged in a ring, each array element has a separate lead to lead the signals to the outside of the probe, and then the signals are amplified and filtered by an external amplifier and a filter, and the photoacoustic signals of each channel are collected.

The endoscopic probe has numerous drawbacks due to limitations of the technology employed. First, the array sensors inside the endoscope probe only realize array distribution in the circumferential direction, but do not exist in the longitudinal direction, so the imaging area is greatly limited. Secondly, the sensors of 64 array elements in the probe are manufactured by adopting the traditional processing technology, each array element is independent, the array elements are combined together in a mechanical assembly mode, the probe is large in size, the diameter is up to 30mm, and the probe cannot be applied to clinic. Thirdly, each array element of the sensor adopts a lead to lead out signals, and the disadvantage of adopting the method to transmit the signals is that if the number of the array elements is large, the leading out of the signals is difficult to realize.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a photoacoustic endoscope probe and a photoacoustic endoscope system to solve the technical problems.

The invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

the photoacoustic endoscope probe comprises an outer barrel and an inner barrel, wherein one end of the outer barrel is open, the outer barrel is used for transmitting laser energy and ultrasonic signals, the inner barrel is arranged in the outer barrel, the two ends of the inner barrel are open, a reflector is arranged at the bottom of the outer barrel, a self-focusing lens is arranged in one end, close to the reflector, of the inner barrel, a pMUT array is arranged outside the end, and coupling liquid is filled between the inner barrel and the outer barrel. The structure of the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder is arranged, optical fiber signals enter the probe through the self-focusing lens, the self-focusing lens shapes light beams and is matched with the tail end of the probe, namely a reflector at the cylinder bottom of the outer cylinder, and laser reaches the lateral area of the probe after being reflected in a cylindrical light source mode outside the outer cylinder. Ultrasonic echoes generated by the interaction of the laser and tissues are transmitted to the pMUT array on the outer wall of the inner cylinder through the outer cylinder. By adopting the structure of the inner cylinder, the outer cylinder, the self-focusing lens and the reflector, the outer wall of the inner cylinder not only has a transverse installation space, but also has a longitudinal installation space, so that the circumferential array distribution and the longitudinal array distribution of the pMUT array can be realized, and the imaging area of the pMUT array is greatly improved. The probe is based on the pMUT array, the pMUT array has the advantages of small volume, high sensitivity, easy arraying and integration, and the signal-to-noise ratio and the stability of the probe can be improved. Due to the advantages of small volume and easy array and integration, the volume of the probe can be reduced during array, the integration is easy, and the signal extraction is convenient.

The photoacoustic endoscope system comprises a laser, an optical fiber coupler, an optical fiber and a probe which are sequentially connected, wherein the probe and the laser are connected with a controller through a signal acquisition card, and the probe is the probe.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages and beneficial effects:

1. the probe is based on the pMUT array, has the advantages of small volume and easiness in arraying and integrating, can reduce the volume of the probe during arraying, is easy to integrate, and is convenient for signal extraction.

2. The invention adopts the structure of the inner cylinder, the outer cylinder, the self-focusing lens and the reflector, and the outer wall of the inner cylinder not only has a transverse installation space, but also has a longitudinal installation space, thereby realizing the circumferential array distribution and the longitudinal array distribution of the pMUT array and greatly improving the imaging area of the pMUT array.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a conventional probe.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the probe of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a view a-a of fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a view B-B of fig. 2.

FIG. 5 is a system diagram of an endoscope of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is an imaging diagram obtained by the system adopting the present scheme.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to examples and accompanying drawings, and the exemplary embodiments and descriptions thereof are only used for explaining the present invention and are not meant to limit the present invention.