US-12622571-B2 - Ultrasound endoscope

US12622571B2US 12622571 B2US12622571 B2US 12622571B2US-12622571-B2

Abstract

An ultrasound endoscope includes an insertion part including a distal end part having an ultrasound transducer array of ultrasound transducers, a cable inserted into the insertion part, and a substrate, including electrode pads, that electrically connects the ultrasound transducers and the cable, and is disposed in the distal end part. The cable has a non-coaxial cable including a first cable bundle consisting of signal wires and ground wires, and a first shield layer with which the first cable bundle is coated, and an outer coat with which a second cable bundle consisting of the non-coaxial cables is coated. Each first cable bundle is individually led out from the cable, and each signal wire of the first cable bundle is led out and electrically bonded to the corresponding electrode pad. The ultrasound endoscope further includes a fixing part that fixes relative positions of the substrate and each first cable bundle.

Inventors

Tatsuhiro IWAYA
Yasuhiko Morimoto

Assignees

FUJIFILM CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240708
Priority Date: 20200908

Claims (18)

1 . An ultrasound endoscope comprising: an insertion part that includes a distal end part having an ultrasound transducer array in which a plurality of ultrasound transducers are arranged; a cable that is inserted into the insertion part; and a substrate that electrically connects the plurality of ultrasound transducers and the cable, and is disposed in the distal end part, wherein the cable has a non-coaxial cable that includes a first cable bundle consisting of a plurality of signal wires and a plurality of ground wires, and a first shield layer with which the first cable bundle is coated, and an outer coat with which a second cable bundle consisting of a plurality of the non-coaxial cables is coated, the substrate includes a plurality of electrode pads connected to the plurality of ultrasound transducers, respectively, each first cable bundle is individually led out from the cable, and each signal wire of the first cable bundle is led out and electrically bonded to the corresponding electrode pad of the substrate, and a fixing part that fixes relative positions of the substrate and each first cable bundle, and a filler layer that covers the substrate, the first cable bundle and the fixing part, are provided.
2 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the cable includes a second shield layer with which the second cable bundle is coated, between the outer coat and the second cable bundle.
3 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 2 , wherein the cable includes a resin layer with which the second cable bundle is coated, between the second cable bundle and the second shield layer.
4 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 3 , wherein the resin layer is made of a fluorine-based resin material.
5 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the cable includes a resin layer with which the second cable bundle is coated, between the outer coat and the second cable bundle.
6 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the fixing part is any one of an adhesive, solder, or a clamp member, or a combination thereof.
7 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the fixing part fixes the substrate and each first cable bundle in a state in which a part of the first cable bundle is superimposed on the substrate.
8 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the fixing part fixes the substrate and each first cable bundle in a state in which a part of the first cable bundle is not superimposed on the substrate.
9 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate is any one of a rigid substrate or a flexible substrate.
10 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein distances between the electrode pads of the substrate corresponding to the plurality of signal wires included in each first cable bundle and a distal end of the first cable bundle fixed by the fixing part are equal for each first cable bundle.
11 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein there are two kinds or more of distances between the electrode pads of the substrate corresponding to the plurality of signal wires included in each first cable bundle and a distal end of the first cable bundle fixed by the fixing part, for each first cable bundle.
12 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 11 , wherein the signal wires included in the first cable bundle are at least unequal in electric capacity per unit length, and for the signal wire smaller in the electric capacity per unit length among the signal wires of the first cable bundle, the distance between the electrode pad and the distal end of the first cable bundle fixed by the fixing part is longer.
13 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate has a ground electrode pad, and at least one ground wire included in each first cable bundle is electrically bonded to the ground electrode pad, and the fixing part is disposed on a side opposite to a side where the plurality of electrode pads are disposed, with respect to the ground electrode pad.
14 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 13 , wherein the ground wires that are included in each first cable bundle and are not bonded to the ground electrode pad are connected between the ground electrode pad and the distal end of the first cable bundle fixed by the fixing part.
15 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein there are two kinds or more of distances between the electrode pads of the substrate corresponding to the plurality of signal wires included in each first cable bundle and a distal end of the first cable bundle fixed by the fixing part, between the first cable bundles, and as viewed from a longitudinal axis direction of the insertion part, between the first cable bundles, a first electrode pad group constituted by electrode pads corresponding to one first cable bundle and a second electrode pad group constituted by electrode pads corresponding to another first cable bundle, are disposed at positions partially overlapping with each other.
16 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate has grooves that hold the first cable bundles.
17 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the distal end part includes an observation window for acquiring an endoscope image, and the substrate is disposed on a side where the ultrasound transducer array, with respect to the observation window.
18 . The ultrasound endoscope according to claim 1 , comprising a treatment tool lead-out port that is connected to a treatment tool channel inserted into the insertion part, and is disposed in the distal end part, wherein the substrate is disposed on a side where the ultrasound transducer array, with respect to the treatment tool lead-out port.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/381,328, filed on Jul. 21, 2021 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C § 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-150292 filed on Sep. 8, 2020. The above applications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference, in their entireties, into the present application. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasound endoscope. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an ultrasound endoscope that observes a state inside a body of a subject by irradiating the inside of the body with ultrasonic waves and receives reflected waves to capture video has been used in medical practice. For example, as disclosed in JP2019-054962A, such an ultrasound endoscope comprises a distal end part that comprises piezoelectric elements configuring ultrasound transducers, a bending part and a flexible part connected to a proximal end of the distal end part, a plurality of coaxial cables that are inserted into the bending part and the flexible part, and a wiring substrate that electrically connects the piezoelectric elements and the coaxial cables. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Incidentally, a coaxial cable is formed by covering a shield layer and an outer coat the periphery of one signal wire coated for insulation. For this reason, the outside diameter of the coaxial cable increases, and the ultrasound endoscope is hardly reduced in diameter. Accordingly, a case where an ultrasound endoscope is reduced in diameter by applying a non-coaxial cable instead of the coaxial cable is considered. However, the non-coaxial cable does not comprise the shield layer and the outer coat for each one signal wire. For this reason, there is a problem in that the non-coaxial cable is likely to be disconnected at the time of connection to a wiring substrate. The invention has been accomplished in view of such a situation, and an object of the invention is to provide an ultrasound endoscope capable of preventing a non-coaxial cable from being disconnected and achieving reduction in diameter. An ultrasound endoscope of a first aspect comprises an insertion part that includes a distal end part having an ultrasound transducer array in which a plurality of ultrasound transducers are arranged, a cable that is inserted into the insertion part, and a substrate that electrically connects the plurality of ultrasound transducers and the cable, and is disposed in the distal end part. The cable has a non-coaxial cable that includes a first cable bundle consisting of a plurality of signal wires and a plurality of ground wires, and a first shield layer with which the first cable bundle is coated, and an outer coat with which a second cable bundle consisting of a plurality of the non-coaxial cables is coated. The substrate includes a plurality of electrode pads connected to the plurality of ultrasound transducers, respectively. Each first cable bundle is individually led out from the cable, and each signal wire of the first cable bundle is led out and electrically bonded to the corresponding electrode pad of the substrate. A fixing part that fixes relative positions of the substrate and each first cable bundle is provided. In an ultrasound endoscope of a second aspect, the cable includes a second shield layer with which the second cable bundle is coated, between the outer coat and the second cable bundle. In an ultrasound endoscope of a third aspect, the cable includes a resin layer with which the second cable bundle is coated, between the second cable bundle and the second shield layer. In an ultrasound endoscope of a fourth aspect, the cable includes a resin layer with which the second cable bundle is coated, between the outer coat and the second cable bundle. In an ultrasound endoscope of a fifth aspect, the resin layer is made of a fluorine-based resin material. In an ultrasound endoscope of a sixth aspect, the fixing part is any one of an adhesive, solder, or a clamp member, or a combination thereof. In an ultrasound endoscope of a seventh aspect, the fixing part fixes the substrate and each first cable bundle in a state in which a part of the first cable bundle is superimposed on the substrate. In an ultrasound endoscope of an eighth aspect, the fixing part fixes the substrate and each first cable bundle in a state in which a part of the first cable bundle is not superimposed on the substrate. In an ultrasound endoscope of a ninth aspect, the substrate is any one of a rigid substrate or a flexible substrate. In an ultrasound endoscope of a tenth aspect, distances between the electrode pads of the substrate corresponding to the plurality of signal wires included in each first cable bundle and a distal end of the first cable bundle fixed by the fixing part are equal for each first cable bundle. In an ultrasound endoscope of an eleventh aspect, there are two kinds or more of distances b