Patent · US Expired

Ultrasonic endoscope apparatus

US5054491A · kind A · utility

83Cited by
4References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 5, 1989
Grant dateOct 8, 1991
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 5, 2009

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
  • CPC primaryA61B8/5238
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

In an ultrasonic endscope apparatus for observing an optical image of a cavity of a body under inspection by forming the optical image with the aid of an objective lens arranged in a distal end of an insertion section of an endoscope and by transmitting the optical image by means of an image guide and for observing an ultrasonic sectional image by arranging an ultrasonic vibrating element in the distal end of the insertion section, a distance between the objective lens and the cavity is measured by detecting a first echo reflected by the cavity, image data representing a locus of a section line of the ultrasonic sectional image is derived in accordance with the measured distance, the image of the section line is displayed on a display device, and the displayed image of the section line is monitored in the superimposed manner with the optical image of the cavity.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.