JP2006149688A - Device introduced in subject - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device introduced in a subject which allows early detection/treatment of a treatment object position, such as a carcinoma or the like, and is capable of reducing the burden imposed on a patient. <P>SOLUTION: The device 1 introduced in a subject comprises an excitation light output section 3 for emitting excitation light to make labeled materials to radiate fluorescence, a fluorescence photographing section 4 for detecting fluorescence radiated from the labeled materials, a reactant storing section 5 for storing predetermined reactants, a discharge plug 6 for discharging the reactants stored in the reactant storing section 5 to the outside, and a control section 7 for controlling the driving conditions or the like of the fluorescence photographing section 4 and the discharge plug 6. Because the labeled material has a property to attach to a treatment object position and to radiate fluorescence, the position radiating fluorescence can be detected on the basis of an image obtained by the fluorescence photographing section 4. By discharging the predetermined reactants to the detected position, the burden imposed on the patient can be reduced and the treatment object position can be treated credibly. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-subject introduction apparatus that is introduced into a subject and performs a predetermined treatment by administering a reactive substance to a treatment target site in the subject.

  In recent years, research and development of technologies for early detection and treatment of internal diseases such as cancer have been actively conducted. Specifically, as examples of such techniques, so-called positron emission tomography (hereinafter referred to as “PET”) and photodynamic therapy (hereinafter referred to as “PDT”) are proposed. Has been.

  PET is a technique for the early detection of cancer, and is a technique for detecting cancer cells by utilizing the characteristic that cancer cells with vigorous proliferative ability consume a large amount of glucose compared with normal cells. . Specifically, in PET, it is introduced into glucose containing a substance having a function of emitting positrons, and radiation (γ rays) emitted due to the positrons contained in the introduced glucose is observed to detect cancer cells. Identify the location. As described above, since cancer cells consume a large amount of glucose, a large amount of introduced glucose is taken up by cancer cells, and radiation emitted due to positrons contained in glucose is other normal. A large amount of cells compared to other cells. Therefore, it is possible to specify the position of the cancer cell by measuring the position dependency of the radiation dose emitted from the patient (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  PDT is a technique aimed at not only early detection of cancer but also killing of cancer cells. Specifically, PDT is performed by introducing porfimer sodium photofrin (hereinafter simply referred to as “photofrin”), which is a photosensitizer and has a property of being easily taken up by cancer cells. Is called. The photofrin introduced into the body is gradually taken up by the cancer cells over time, and photosensitization of the photofrin is performed by irradiating red light with a wavelength of 630 nm from outside the body at the time when it was taken up by the cancer cells. A reaction is caused, and cancer cells are destroyed by the photofrin that has caused such a photosensitization reaction.

JP 2003-255048 A

  However, conventional techniques such as PET and PDT have an advantage that the cure rate of cancer is improved as compared with the past techniques, but have a problem in that they impose a great burden on the patient. Hereinafter, this problem will be described in detail.

  First, as described above, PET is a technique for the purpose of early detection of cancer, and does not treat cancer by itself. Therefore, when PET is used, it is necessary to undergo the same surgical operation after the discovery of cancer cells by PET, and the patient's physical burden is extremely high, such as requiring long-term hospitalization as before. It will be big. In particular, since PET has a problem in terms of spatial resolution, it is difficult to accurately identify the position of cancer cells. When performing surgery, it is relatively wide to remove cancer cells reliably. It is necessary to perform a surgical treatment over a range, and from this point of view, a great burden is imposed on the patient.

  Also, in PET, it is not easy to find a minute cancer region because of its low spatial resolution. Therefore, the existence of cancer cells can be reliably identified by PET only after the cancer cells have grown to a certain degree, and in order to remove such a stage of cancer, a wide range of surgical treatments are required. The patient's physical burden is enormous.

  On the other hand, the burden given to the patient regarding PDT is large. As described above, since photofrin used in PDT is a photosensitizer, it is necessary to prevent photofrin that has not been taken up by cancer cells from being irradiated with light. That is, when light is irradiated in the presence of photofrin in the vicinity of normal cells, there is a risk that photofrin will destroy normal cells. For this reason, when PDT is used, it is necessary to avoid light as much as possible until photofrin is introduced into the body and taken into the cancer cell, and even after irradiating red light to destroy the cancer cell. The patient needs to live in a dark room for several weeks. As described above, in the case of cancer treatment by PDT, it is forced to inconvenience for several weeks, and it imposes a great burden on the patient in that the return to society is delayed because of being forced to hospitalize for a long time. It will be.

  As described above, conventional treatment technologies such as PET and PDT have advantages such as improvement in the probability of healing, but also have the problem that early detection of cancer and the like is difficult and the burden on the patient is great. It was. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to realize an intra-subject introduction apparatus that enables early detection and treatment of a treatment target site such as cancer while reducing the burden on the patient.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an in-subject introduction apparatus according to claim 1 is introduced into a subject, and a reactive substance is administered to a treatment target site in the subject. An intra-subject introduction apparatus for performing a predetermined treatment, a label specifying means for specifying a position of a labeling substance attached to the treatment target site, and a reaction substance for storing the reactive substance acting on the treatment target site It is characterized by comprising storage means and release means for releasing the reactive substance stored in the reactive substance storage means toward the position of the labeling substance specified by the label specifying means.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the label specifying means for specifying the position of the labeling substance attached to the treatment target site, and the release means for releasing the reactive substance toward the position of the labeling substance specified by the label specifying means, Therefore, it is possible to discover and treat a treatment target site with a single device.

  The in-subject introduction device according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the above invention, the labeling substance has a function of emitting fluorescence in a state of being attached to the treatment target site, and the label specifying means includes the labeling substance The position of the labeling substance is specified by detecting the fluorescence emitted from.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the in-subject introduction device according to the above invention, comprising: a labeling substance storage means for storing the labeling substance; and a label releasing means for releasing the labeling substance stored in the labeling substance storage means. It is further provided with a feature.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the in-subject introduction device according to the above invention, wherein the reactive substance is reactive with respect to a body tissue forming the treatment target site when irradiated with predetermined light. It is characterized by being formed.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the in-subject introduction device according to the present invention, the reactive substance storage means stores the reactive substance in a reaction active state irradiated with the predetermined light in advance. .

  Further, in the in-subject introduction device according to claim 6, in the above invention, the reactive substance storage means stores the reactive substance in a reaction inactive state with respect to the body tissue, and the release means includes the It further comprises light irradiating means for releasing the reactive substance in a reaction inactive state and irradiating the predetermined light on the reactive substance released by the releasing means.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the in-subject introduction apparatus according to the above invention, wherein the reactant is formed using titanium oxide as the photocatalyst, and the light irradiation means uses the ultraviolet light as the predetermined light. It is characterized by irradiating the reactant.

  The in-subject introduction device according to claim 8 is characterized in that, in the above invention, the labeling substance is formed integrally with the reaction substance.

  An in-subject introduction apparatus according to the present invention includes a label specifying unit that specifies the position of a labeling substance attached to a treatment target site, and a release unit that releases a reactive substance toward the position of the labeling substance specified by the label specifying unit Therefore, it is possible to find and treat a treatment target site with a single device, and to treat the treatment site such as cancer tissue while reducing the burden on the patient. Play.

  Hereinafter, an in-subject introduction apparatus which is the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter simply referred to as “embodiment”) will be described. Note that the drawings are schematic, and it should be noted that the relationship between the thickness and width of each part, the ratio of the thickness of each part, and the like are different from the actual ones. Of course, the part from which the relationship and ratio of a mutual dimension differ is contained. Further, in the embodiments described below, as an example, a site where cancer cells have proliferated as a “treatment target site” in the claims, and as an example of destroying cancer cells as a “treatment for a treatment target site” As will be described, it is not necessary to interpret the present invention as limited to this example as will be described later.

(Embodiment 1)
First, the in-subject introduction device according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing how the intra-subject introduction device according to the first embodiment is used. As shown in FIG. 1, the in-subject introduction apparatus 1 is formed so as to have a small capsule shape, and is introduced into the body from the oral cavity of the subject (patient) 2 and then again outside the subject 2. Until it is discharged, it has a configuration that exhibits a predetermined function in the subject 2. In the first embodiment, a labeling substance to be described later is introduced into the subject 2 independently of the in-subject introduction device 1.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the internal configuration of the intra-subject introduction device 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the in-subject introduction apparatus 1 includes an excitation light output unit 3 that outputs excitation light for generating fluorescence in a labeling substance, and a fluorescence imaging unit for detecting fluorescence emitted from the labeling substance. 4, a reactant storage unit 5 for storing a predetermined reactant, a discharge plug 6 for releasing the reactant stored in the reactant storage unit 5, and driving of the fluorescence imaging unit 4 and the discharge plug 6 And a control unit 7 for controlling the state and the like.

  The excitation light output unit 3 is for outputting excitation light necessary for the labeling substance to generate fluorescence. Specifically, the excitation light output unit 3 is formed with an optical element such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and has a function of outputting light having a predetermined wavelength corresponding to the labeling substance.

  The fluorescence imaging unit 4 is for imaging light having a wavelength corresponding to fluorescence emitted from the labeling substance. The fluorescence imaging unit 4 has a configuration including a wavelength filter that transmits light in a wavelength range including a wavelength corresponding to fluorescence, in addition to an imaging device such as a normal CCD and an optical system. As will be described later, in the first embodiment, as a labeling substance, a substance having a property of emitting fluorescence when attached to a cancer cell is used. From the viewpoint of detecting the position of the labeling substance, A configuration including a fluorescence imaging unit 4 that images emitted fluorescence is employed.

The reactant storage unit 5 is for storing reactants. In the first embodiment, cancer cells are assumed as a treatment target site, and destruction of cancer cells is assumed as the content of treatment. Therefore, a substance having a function of destroying cancer cells is used as a reactive substance. Specifically, in the first embodiment, a photocatalyst is used as a reactant, more specifically, titanium dioxide (TiO ₂ ) formed in a powder form. Is preserve | saved titanium dioxide of the state by which reaction activation was carried out with respect to the cancer cell. As the photocatalyst for such purpose, tin dioxide (SnO ₂ ), zinc oxide (ZnO) or the like may be used in addition to titanium dioxide. Further, a powdery substance such as titanium dioxide may be used as it is as a photocatalyst. However, for example, a structure in which titanium dioxide or the like is adhered on the surface of predetermined particles is also preferable.

  As a specific configuration of the reaction substance storage unit 5, any substance can be used as long as it can store the reaction substance and can release the reaction substance to the outside of the in-subject introduction apparatus 1 by interaction with the discharge plug 6. Good configuration. In the first embodiment, the reaction substance to be stored is urged by an elastic member or the like, so that the reaction substance is quickly released to the outside of the in-subject introduction apparatus 1 by opening the discharge plug 6. It shall have. As a specific example of such a structure, for example, a balloon member formed of a stretchable elastic sheet can be used as the reactive substance storage unit 5 and can be realized by a structure that stores the reactive substance inside the balloon member. In particular, as a method suitable for injecting a photocatalyst, there is a method of applying a voltage to drive a particulate photocatalyst. A photocatalyst such as titanium oxide is charged by applying a voltage, and has an advantage that it can be driven strongly into an affected part in an accelerated state. Further, driving by applying voltage has an advantage that the photocatalyst can be surely driven only to the affected part.

  The discharge plug 6 functions as an example of the discharge means in the claims. Specifically, the discharge plug 6 directs the reactant stored in the reactant storage unit 5 to the region where the labeling substance is located outside the in-subject introduction device 1 based on the control of the control unit 7. And has a function of releasing in a state where a predetermined acceleration is applied. In the first embodiment, the discharge plug 6 is simply formed by an opening / closing mechanism, and a configuration in which the reactant is released by opening the discharge plug 6 is adopted. For example, it is good also as functioning as a pump, and it is also preferable to set it as the structure which can adjust the discharge | release direction.

  The control unit 7 is for controlling the driving state of the fluorescence imaging unit 4 and the discharge plug 6, and more specifically, based on the image captured by the fluorescence imaging unit 4, the cancer cell that is the treatment target site. It has the function of specifying the position of the existence region and releasing the reactive substance to the specified position. That is, the control unit 7 controls the label specifying unit 8 for specifying the position of the labeling substance based on the image data acquired by the fluorescence imaging unit 4 and the reactive substance is released toward the position of the specified labeling substance. And a release control unit 9 for performing the above.

  The label specifying unit 8 has a function of determining the presence / absence of a labeling substance based on image data captured by the fluorescence imaging unit 4 and a function of specifying a position when a labeling substance is present. As long as it realizes such a function, the specific processing content in the label specifying unit 8 may be arbitrary. For example, the label specifying unit 8 analyzes the image data obtained by the fluorescence imaging unit 4, for example, An area having a luminance of a predetermined value or more is detected, and the position of the area where the labeling substance exists is specified based on the position of the area on the image. Since the labeling substance adheres to the region where the cancer cell exists, the label specifying unit 8 can specify the position of the region where the cancer cell exists by specifying the position of the labeling substance.

  Note that the position of the labeling substance existing region may be an absolute position on the subject 2, but a minimum position may be a relative position with respect to the in-subject introduction apparatus 1. The in-subject introduction apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment has a function of performing not only the discovery of cancer cells but also a healing action using a reactive substance. This is because it is not necessary to specify the position.

  The release control unit 9 has a function of performing predetermined control so that the reactive substance is released toward the position of the labeling substance specified by the label specifying part 8. In the first embodiment, the release control unit 9 performs only control of the open / close state of the discharge plug 6 as a simple configuration, but in addition to such control, for example, performs control of the release direction of the reactant, etc. It is also good.

  Next, the operation of the intra-subject introduction device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the intra-subject introduction device 1 in the subject 2. As described above, in the first embodiment, the labeling substance is introduced into the subject 2 in advance, and the labeling substance is attached to the cancer tissue 13 as an example of the “treatment target site” in the claims. .

  First, the in-subject introduction device 1 outputs the excitation light by the excitation light output unit 3 and repeats the imaging operation for the in-vivo tissue 11 in the subject 2 by the fluorescence imaging unit 4. The image data captured by the fluorescence imaging unit 4 is sequentially transferred to the control unit 7, and the control unit 7 analyzes the position on the image of the light emitting part corresponding to the fluorescence emitted from the labeling substance 12 by the label specifying unit 8. By doing so, the specific position of the labeling substance 12 is specified. As described above, since the labeling substance 12 has a property of adhering to cancer cells, the position of the cancer tissue 13 in the subject 2 is specified by specifying the position of the labeling substance 12. .

  Thereafter, the intra-subject introduction device 1 releases the reactive substance to destroy the cancer tissue 13. Specifically, the in-subject introduction device 1 is controlled by the release control unit 9 so that the release plug 6 is opened, and the reactive substance 14 stored in the reactive substance storage unit 5 is directed toward the cancer tissue 13. Released. As described above, in the first embodiment, the reactive substance 14 is formed of titanium dioxide as a photocatalyst, and titanium dioxide is activated by being irradiated with ultraviolet light in advance. It functions as a reactive substance and destroys cancer cells forming the cancer tissue 13. The above is the operation of the intra-subject introduction device 1 according to the first embodiment.

  Next, advantages of the in-subject introduction device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described. First, the intra-subject introduction apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment employs a configuration that uses a single device to find and treat a treatment target site such as a cancer tissue. For this reason, the in-subject introduction apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment does not need to perform a separate surgical operation or the like after finding a cancer tissue or the like as in the case of conventional PET, and the physical condition of the patient (subject 2). It is possible to reduce the burden. Specifically, in the case where the intra-subject introduction apparatus according to the first embodiment is used, the discovery of a treatment target site such as a cancer tissue within a few hours after introduction into the body and discharge again -Since the treatment is completed, the burden on the patient is greatly reduced compared to conventional medical devices.

  In addition, by adopting a configuration in which a treatment target site is found and treated almost simultaneously by a single device, the in-subject introduction device 1 according to the first embodiment is used for specifying the position of the treatment target site. It is possible to simplify the mechanism. That is, when the position of the treatment target site is specified by a device that does not have a treatment function for the treatment target site, such as PET, an objective regarding the position of the treatment target site is given to the doctor or apparatus that performs the treatment. Information needs to be transmitted, and an objective position on the subject 2 with respect to the treatment target site needs to be specified. On the other hand, in the first embodiment, since the intra-subject introduction apparatus 1 performs both the position detection and the treatment of the treatment target region, the objective position on the subject 2 is specified with respect to the treatment target region. It is not necessary, and it is sufficient to know the relative position with respect to the intra-subject introduction apparatus 1. For this reason, the in-subject introduction apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment can perform a treatment on a treatment target region without providing an objective position detection mechanism or the like.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1 and the like, the in-subject introduction device 1 according to the first embodiment has a configuration having a small capsule-like outer shape and all the necessary components in the capsule. Have. For this reason, after introducing the in-subject introduction apparatus 1 into the body, the site to be treated is discovered and treated without using any external device or the like, and the patient (subject 2) is like PET or PDT. Unlike methods using external devices, it is possible to act freely. Therefore, the intra-subject introduction apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment can reduce the burden on the patient (subject 2) more than in the past even during the discovery and treatment of the treatment target site. Is possible.

  Further, the in-subject introduction apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment has an advantage that the amount of the reactant used can be significantly reduced as compared with the prior art such as PDT. That is, for example, in the case of PDT, since photofrin is introduced into the patient's body without specifying the specific position of the cancer tissue, it is necessary to use a large amount of photofrin to obtain a certain concentration throughout the body. is there. In contrast, the in-subject introduction device 1 according to the first embodiment employs a configuration that releases the reactive substance intensively at a specified position, so that the concentration is sufficient for treatment locally. It is possible to perform treatment with a certain amount of reactants, and it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of reactants used compared to PDT etc., and to have the advantage that the cost of use can be reduced. It becomes.

  Furthermore, since the intra-subject introduction apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment uses a labeling substance that acts on a treatment target site such as cancer tissue, the advantage of improving the certainty of early detection of the treatment target site is obtained. Have. That is, it is not easy to determine whether or not it is a treatment target site such as a cancer tissue using normal visual information. In particular, the in-subject introduction device 1 according to the first embodiment is, for example, a cancer tissue. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the treatment target site to be treated cannot be distinguished from the normal body tissue in appearance. In contrast, for example, the labeling substance acts on a specific protein that forms cancer cells and exhibits fluorescence characteristics, etc., so that it is possible to find a site to be treated without depending on the scale and shape of the cancer tissue etc. It is. From the above, the in-subject introduction device 1 can be expected to be surely found even in a minute cancer tissue having a cell number of about 100, and has the advantage of being able to surely find early cancer or the like. Have.

  In addition, the first embodiment has an advantage that labeling can be performed with a simple mechanism by using a fluorescent substance as a labeling substance. In other words, since it is possible to identify the label by detecting the light emission of the labeling substance due to the fluorescence action, by providing a mechanism for outputting excitation light for generating fluorescence and a mechanism for detecting fluorescence. It is possible to identify the sign. Since each of these mechanisms can be easily realized by a known light emitting element such as an LED and an image pickup element such as a CCD, a mechanism for identifying a sign can be realized with a simple configuration. .

  In the first embodiment, a photocatalyst is used as the reactant. The photocatalyst does not act on the tissue in the reaction inactive state, but has a characteristic of being in a reaction active state by irradiating a predetermined light. It can be adjusted by changing various materials, light irradiation time, irradiation luminance and the like. Therefore, by appropriately adjusting the period during which the reaction is activated, even if a reactive substance that has not been used for the treatment of the treatment target site remains in the subject 2, it is quickly changed to a reaction inactive state. And has the advantage of avoiding adverse effects on normal body tissues.

  In particular, in Embodiment 1, titanium dioxide is used as an example of the photocatalyst. Titanium dioxide is a substance that is harmless to the human body so that it can be used as a cosmetic material. Therefore, when titanium dioxide is used as a reactive substance, it is possible to realize a safer intra-subject introduction device. Have

(Embodiment 2)
Next, the intra-subject introduction device according to the second embodiment will be described. The in-subject introduction apparatus according to the second embodiment stores the photocatalyst as a reactive substance in a reaction-inactive state, and on the other hand, the reaction-active state is obtained by irradiating light after being emitted to the treatment target site. It has a configuration to change.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the intra-subject introduction device according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 4 and subsequent figures, the same reference numerals and names as those of the first embodiment have the same structure and function as those of the first embodiment unless otherwise specified. This is the same not only in the second embodiment but also in the third embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the in-subject introduction device 17 according to the second embodiment is similar to the in-subject introduction device 1 in the first embodiment, with the excitation light output unit 3, the fluorescence imaging unit 4, and the discharge plug 6. Is provided. On the other hand, unlike the first embodiment, the in-subject introduction device 17 is reactive with respect to the reactant storage unit 18 that stores the reactant in a reaction-inactive state and the released reactant. The light irradiation part 19 for irradiating predetermined irradiation light, and the control part 20 which controls not only the excitation light output part 3, the fluorescence imaging part 4, and the discharge plug 6 but the drive state of the light irradiation part 19 are provided.

  As a specific structure of the reactant storage unit 18, the same structure as that of the reactant storage unit 5 in Embodiment 1 can be used. In the second embodiment, the object to be stored is reaction-inactive, so that the member that forms the reactant storage unit 5 can be freely compared to the reactant storage unit 5 in the first embodiment. It is possible to select.

  The light irradiation part 19 is for irradiating the photocatalyst used as a reactive substance with the light which becomes reaction activity. Specifically, the light irradiation unit 19 has a function of performing light irradiation on the reactive substance released toward the treatment target site, and the photocatalyst is changed to a reaction active state by the light irradiation, and the treatment target It will act as a reactant on the site. As light irradiated by the light irradiation unit 19, for example, when titanium dioxide is used as a photocatalyst, ultraviolet light is used. In addition, as a structure of the light irradiation part 19, although it can be set as arbitrary structures if it has the function to output the above-mentioned irradiation light, in this Embodiment 2, the marker specific part 8 is set as an irradiation range. In order to irradiate the region including the position of the labeling substance specified by, the irradiation direction should be adjusted as necessary.

  The control unit 20 includes the marker specifying unit 8 and the emission control unit 9 as well as the control unit 7 in the first embodiment, and further includes a light irradiation control unit 21. The light irradiation control unit 21 has a function of controlling the driving state of the light irradiation unit 19 so as to perform light irradiation in accordance with the release timing of the reactive substance controlled by the release control unit 9.

  Next, the operation of the intra-subject introduction device 17 according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the intra-subject introduction device 17, and the operation of the intra-subject introduction device 17 will be described below with reference to FIG.

  First, the in-subject introduction apparatus 17 outputs excitation light by the excitation light output unit 3 and images the inside of the subject by the fluorescence imaging unit 4 as in the first embodiment. After specifying the position of the labeling substance 12 that emits fluorescence (that is, the position of the treatment target site), the reactive substance is released toward the labeling substance 12.

  Thereafter, the intra-subject introduction device 17 performs light irradiation by the light irradiation unit 19 on the released reactant. As described above, in the second embodiment, the photocatalyst used as the reactant is stored in the reactant storage unit 18 in a reaction inactive state. For this reason, the photocatalyst is changed to a reactive state by irradiating predetermined light by the light irradiating unit 19 after being released to the outside of the in-subject introducing device 17 through the discharge plug 6, and thereby to the cancer tissue 13. And act as a reactant. In the second embodiment, the light irradiation unit 19 performs light irradiation only on the existing region of the labeling substance 12 specified in advance by the label specifying unit 8. Accordingly, among the released reactive substances 14, those existing in the light irradiation range 23, which is the light existing area output from the light irradiation unit 19, become reactive and act on the cancer tissue 13, while For those that are not irradiated with light because they are located outside the irradiation range 23, the reaction inactive state is maintained.

  Next, advantages of the in-subject introduction device 17 according to the second embodiment will be described. In addition to the same advantages as the intra-subject introduction device 1 in the first embodiment, the intra-subject introduction device 17 according to the second embodiment has the reaction activity after the reactive substance is released by the irradiation light from the light irradiation unit 19. It has the advantage resulting from becoming.

  First, the intra-subject introduction device 17 according to the second embodiment has an advantage that the reactant storage unit 18 can be realized with a simple structure. That is, since all the reactants are in a reaction-inactive state at the stage of being stored in the reactant storage unit 18, the reactants cause a chemical action on the material forming the reactant storage unit 18. There is no fear. Therefore, the second embodiment has an advantage that the reactant storage unit 18 can be formed by a container using a general material such as plastic, and the reactant storage unit 18 can be realized with a simple structure. Have.

  Moreover, the intra-subject introduction device 17 according to the second embodiment can further suppress the action of the reactive substance on normal body tissue. That is, in the second embodiment, not all of the reactants 14 released as described above become reactive, but only those activated by light irradiation by the light irradiator 19 are regarded as reactive. Become. Therefore, for example, when the light irradiation unit 19 irradiates the irradiation light only to the treatment target site such as the cancer tissue, the reactive substance does not act on the normal body tissue 11 without any action on the cancer tissue or the like. It is possible to selectively treat the target region of treatment.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, the in-subject introduction device according to the third embodiment will be described. The third embodiment has a function of storing not only the reactive substance but also the labeling substance in advance in the intra-subject introduction apparatus.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the intra-subject introduction device according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the in-subject introduction device 25 according to the third embodiment is similar to the in-subject introduction device 1 in the first embodiment, with the excitation light output unit 3, the fluorescence imaging unit 4, and the reactant storage. While the unit 5 and the discharge plug 6 are provided, a label substance storage unit 26, a discharge plug 27, and a control unit 28 are newly provided.

  The labeling substance storage unit 26 is for storing the labeling substance in the in-subject introduction device 25. As a specific structure, it is good also as forming like the reactive substance storage part 5, and it is good also as another structure. In addition, the discharge plug 27 has the same configuration as the discharge plug 6, for example. The control unit 28 includes the label specifying unit 8 and the release control unit 9 as in the control unit 7 in the first embodiment, and further includes a label release control unit 29 that controls the open / close state of the discharge plug 27.

  Next, the operation of the intra-subject introduction device 25 according to the third embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the intra-subject introduction device 25. Hereinafter, the operation of the intra-subject introduction device 25 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the third embodiment, the in-subject introduction device 25 is introduced into the subject 2 without introducing the labeling substance in advance. The in-subject introduction apparatus 25 opens the discharge plug 27 under the control of the label release control unit 29 when, for example, a predetermined area in the subject 2 is reached, and the label substance storage unit 26 as shown in FIG. The labeling substance 30 stored in is released. The labeling substance 30 diffuses over a predetermined range inside the subject 2 and adheres to the treatment target site when a treatment target site such as cancer cells exists. Thereafter, the in-subject introduction device 25 outputs the excitation light from the excitation light output unit 3 as in Embodiments 1 and 2, and the label attached to the treatment target site based on the image data captured by the fluorescence imaging unit 4 The presence / absence and position of the substance 30 is specified. Then, the target substance is treated by releasing the reactive substance toward the specified position.

  Next, advantages of the in-subject introduction device 25 according to the third embodiment will be described. The intra-subject introduction device 25 according to the third embodiment further has the advantage of storing the labeling substance inside in addition to the advantages of the intra-subject introduction device 1 in the first embodiment.

  Specifically, since the intra-subject introduction device 25 according to the third embodiment has a configuration capable of locally releasing the labeling substance, it has an advantage that the amount of labeling substance used can be reduced. For example, when there is an organ suspected of having cancer in advance, it is necessary to focus on the discovery and treatment of cancer tissue with respect to such an organ. There is no need to do. The in-subject introduction device 25 according to the third embodiment is particularly effective in such a case, and can release the labeling substance mainly to an organ that needs to be examined. Since it becomes possible to prevent the release of the labeling substance to an organ that does not need to be examined, there is an advantage that the amount of labeling substance used can be reduced as a whole.

  As described above, the present invention has been described over the first to third embodiments. However, the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the above-described embodiments, and those skilled in the art have conceived various examples and modifications. Is possible. For example, in the first to third embodiments, a cancer tissue is described as an example of a treatment target site, but a disease site other than the cancer tissue may be used as a treatment target site.

  In the first to third embodiments, the photocatalyst is used as an example of the reactive substance. However, as long as a predetermined treatment can be performed on the treatment target site, a substance other than the photocatalyst is used as the reactive substance. Can be used. For example, in the in-subject introduction apparatus shown in Embodiment 2, the advantage of the present invention can be enjoyed even when photofrin is used as a reactant and the light irradiation unit 19 emits red light having a wavelength of 630 nm. Is possible.

  Further, in the first to third embodiments, a labeling substance that exhibits fluorescence characteristics is used. However, for example, a predetermined glucose used in PET may be used. If a γ-ray detection mechanism is provided instead of the fluorescence imaging unit 4 corresponding to such a labeling substance, the presence or absence and position of the labeling substance can be specified, and the advantages of the present invention can be enjoyed. Is possible. Further, as a labeling substance, for example, a tumor marker such as a molecular probe that reacts with a specific protein contained in cancer cells, such as STN in gastric cancer, may be used. It is possible to enjoy the advantages of the present invention by providing a mechanism for detecting the reaction of the tumor marker inside the intra-subject introduction device. Although these substances are also used in conventional cancer treatment, by using them as labeling substances in an intra-subject introduction apparatus located in the vicinity of a treatment target site as in the present invention, for example, cancer cells Even if the number is about 100, it can be expected to be fully discoverable.

  In the first to third embodiments, the intra-subject introduction apparatus is moved within the subject 2 by, for example, peristaltic movement of the digestive organ. It is also preferable to provide a self-propelled means or the like that makes it possible. When such a configuration is adopted, it is possible to discover and treat a treatment target site in more detail.

  Furthermore, it is also preferable to integrally form the reaction substance and the labeling substance. Since the labeling substance has the property of adhering to the body tissue that forms the treatment target site, by integrating the reactive substance with the labeling substance, the released reactive substance automatically reaches the treatment target site and reliably This is because it is possible to perform treatment on the treatment target site.

  In the first to third embodiments, the capsule introduction apparatus has been described as an example of the intra-subject introduction apparatus, but it is needless to say that the apparatus is not limited to such a structure. For example, the in-subject introduction apparatus according to the present invention can emit a reactive substance (and a labeling substance if necessary) from the distal end of the insertion portion in FIG. 1 in the endoscope apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-305770. It is good also as a structure provided with the label | marker identification means.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the usage condition of the in-subject introduction apparatus. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of an intra-subject introduction device according to a first embodiment. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the in-subject introduction apparatus. FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of an intra-subject introduction device according to a second embodiment. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the in-subject introduction apparatus. FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of an intra-subject introduction device according to a third embodiment. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the in-subject introduction apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Intra-subject introduction apparatus 2 Subject 3 Excitation light output part 4 Fluorescence imaging part 5 Reactive substance storage part 6 Release plug 7 Control part 8 Label specific part 9 Release control part 11 In-vivo tissue 12 Labeled substance 13 Cancer tissue 14 Reactive substance 17 Intra-subject introduction device 18 Reactive substance storage unit 19 Light irradiation unit 20 Control unit 21 Light irradiation control unit 23 Light irradiation range 25 Intra-subject introduction device 26 Labeled substance storage unit 27 Release plug 28 Control unit 29 Label release control unit 30 Label material

Claims (8)

An in-subject introduction apparatus that is introduced into a subject and performs a predetermined treatment by administering a reactive substance to a treatment target site in the subject,
Label specifying means for specifying the position of the labeling substance attached to the treatment target site;
A reactant storage means for storing the reactant acting on the treatment site;
A release means for releasing the reactant stored in the reactant storage means toward the position of the labeling substance specified by the label specifying means;
An intra-subject introduction apparatus characterized by comprising: The labeling substance has a function of emitting fluorescence in a state of being attached to the treatment target site,
2. The intra-subject introduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the label specifying unit specifies the position of the labeling substance by detecting fluorescence emitted from the labeling substance. A labeling substance storage means for storing the labeling substance;
A label release means for releasing the labeling substance stored in the labeling substance storage means;
The in-subject introduction device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:   The said reactive substance is formed including the photocatalyst which becomes reaction activity with respect to the body tissue which forms the said treatment object site | part by irradiating predetermined light. The intra-subject introduction device according to one.   5. The intra-subject introduction apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the reactive substance storage means stores the reactive substance in a reaction active state irradiated with the predetermined light in advance. The reactant storage means stores the reactant in a reaction inactive state with respect to the body tissue,
The releasing means releases the reactant in a reaction inactive state;
5. The intra-subject introduction apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a light irradiating unit that irradiates the predetermined light to the reactant released by the releasing unit. The reactant is formed using titanium oxide as the photocatalyst,
The in-subject introduction apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the light irradiation unit irradiates the reactive substance with ultraviolet light as the predetermined light. The in-subject introduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the labeling substance is formed integrally with the reaction substance.

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