BRPI0802369A2 - halogen light source (hls) for photobiology and photomedicine applications - Google Patents

Abstract

HALOGENOUS LIGHT SOURCE (HLS) FOR PHOTOBIOLOGY AND PHOTOMEDICINE APPLICATIONS. A light source based on halogen lamps is described to meet the needs of photobiological and photomedical applications. HLS equipment (1) consists of the following main parts: lamp (L); lens (8); main body (2); thermal filter (3); cooler (4); rear protective cover (5); thermal filter holder (6); lens holder (7); lamp holder (9) and electrical system.

Description

"HALOGEN LIGHT SOURCE (HLS) FOR PHOTOBIOLOGY AND PHOTOMEDICINE APPLICATIONS."

INTRODUCTION

In health care there is a constant search for new types of treatment, either to treat currently incurable diseases, to make treatment more efficient or to reduce the costs of their application.

Photochemotherapy is a treatment in which photosensitive compounds are used which, when injected or applied topically to the organism, preferentially concentrate on tumoral regions or that present an anomaly, and when they are irradiated with light they produce chemical reactions that cause the death of cells where the disease occurs. Secondly.

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION

The objective was to develop a light source based on halogen lamps to meet the needs of photobiological and photomedical applications.

The purpose of this project was to develop a product for the application of photochemotherapy based on halogen lamps. The main differential brought by this product is the cost reduction, enabling a great competitive advantage within the existing market. In order to achieve this objective, we use components available in the market at low cost in the construction of the prototype. Moreover, the technical design employed is relatively simple, which does not cause obstacles to its large-scale production.

TECHNICAL STATE

In general in the areas of photobiology and photomedicine, the applied light sources are lasers and, recently, high power LEDs. These sources have advantageous features such as: non-divergent light beam and high intensity, but also have some disadvantages such as high price and high cost of maintenance. In addition, features which are advantageous for some purposes may be considered as unsuitable for others.

For example, in photochemotherapy applications, photosensitive organic compounds (photosensitizers, FS) are generally used which have quite wide liquid phase absorption bands (half-height thickness «1000-1500cm" 1) .The use of lasers and leds, which have very narrow emission bands (half-height thickness <70 cm "1) much of the absorption spectrum of these compounds is not effectively used, as laser or LED emission does not cover the entire absorption spectrum of the FS and does not always coincide with the region. maximum absorption of FS.

Regarding the irradiance (W / cm2) we found that laserseeds have high flux in small area regions, which is important for the use of optical fiber to radiate small regions and internal regions of the body. When application requires that the radiated area be larger, as in most cases of application on the body surface, the use of diffusers causes a significant loss in this irradiance. In this respect, light sources based on filament lamps, especially the halogen version, can successfully compete with lasers and leds. The suitability of these sources for application in photochemotherapy has already been demonstrated to treat some types of cancer.

There is also imported equipment called "Lumacare" and registered under US Patents: US 5849247; US 6187030e EP 1124613B1 which serves the same purpose, however, no component belonging and this equipment was used in this product. ADVANTAGES

The product which will be referred to hereinafter as "HLS" (Halogen Light Source) intends to become a viable option for the application of photochemotherapy, offering the possibility of an expansion of this type of treatment.

Due to its characteristics, a single equipment can offer the possibility of treatments with different photosensitizing agents, thus reducing the cost of this type of treatment and, consequently, increasing its spread in a larger number of medical centers.

The advantage offered by HLS is related to the diversity of applications it offers at a much more affordable cost compared to similar US or competitors based on other technologies.

It is a product that uses components available in the domestic market, imported or not and of relatively simple design, therefore easy to maintain and which may in the near future replace the equipment used today, which generally have a high maintenance cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings, where:

Figure 1 shows the halogen light source in a lateral view;

Figure 2 illustrates the source body in a side view;

Figure 3 shows the source body in front view;

Figure 4 shows the source heat filter in a front view Figure 5 shows the source heat filter in a side view with a partial section detailing the mounting of one of the glass windows;

Figure 6 shows the source thermal filter at a later view;

Figure 7 shows the rear protective metal cap of the font in side view;

Figure 8 shows the rear protective metal cap in a front view;

Figure 9 shows the thermal filter holder in a view

fontal;

Figure 10 shows the heat filter holder in a lateral view;

Figure 11 shows the thermal filter holder in a posterior view;

Figure 12 shows a front view of the lens holder subset;

Figure 13 shows a sectional side view of the lens holder assembly and the mounted lens;

Figure 14 shows a rear view of the lens holder;

Figure 15 shows the front view of the lamp holder;

Figure 16 shows a cross-sectional view of the lamp holder and the indication of the mounted lamp;

Figure 17 shows the rear view of the lamp holder;

Figure 18 shows the optical scheme of the present invention Figure 19 shows the irradiance graph of the halogen light source as a function of the longitudinal distance x "and axial distance" y ";

Figure 20 shows the graph of measurements of the light intensity (I) of the lamp as a function of the wavelength (A) of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

HLS equipment (1) consists of the following main parts: lamp (L); lens (8); main body (2); thermal filter (3); cooler (4); rear protective cover (5); thermal filter holder (6); lens holder (7); lamp holder (9) and electrical system.

The selected lamp (L) has, according to the manufacturer: faceted aluminum reflector, precise and uniform light beam, high luminous intensity (48000cd), quartz bulb UV filter, 8 ° luminous divergence and 100W electrical power.

The lens (8) used is made of crystal and is of converging type, having89mm in diameter and 120mm focus. The objective of this lens (8) is to concentrate the light beam emitted by the lamp (L) and its focus was placed inside the filter. (3), which entailed the attachment of the lens holder (7) within the main body (2).

After selecting the lamp (L) the body (2) of the HLS (1) was developed in aluminum, resistant material that offers good heat dissipation when compared to other metals such as steel or plastic.

The main body (2) is cylindrical in shape. It is open at both ends and has incorporated into the cylinder two aluminum bases (2a) which support. This body also has aluminum fins (2b) distributed evenly on the outer side of the cylinder in order to increase the effective area of heat exchange thus increasing its dissipation. On the side of the main body (2), between the fins (2b) is an opening (2c), where a cooler (4) has been fixed.

The heat filter (3) is composed of a hollow aluminum cylinder (3c) with two glass windows (3d), which are fixed to the bases of the cylinder (3c) by aluminum sleeves (3a, 3b). These gloves are threaded to the cylinder (3c) by pressing the glass windows (3d) against oring-type rubber rings (3e) that are embedded in the cylinder wall (3c).

This cylinder (3c) is filled with water to filter out the infrared part of the lamp emission (L) that is unnecessary, since the objective is to obtain the visible spectrum of the lamp (L), where the therapeutic window is located. spectrum where the biological tissues present relative transparency allowing a greater penetration of the luminous energy in the tissues.

In order to make it possible to select a particular region, the aluminum sleeve (3b) has been designed and constructed to function as a filter holder (P). It is a solid aluminum part where filters (F) can be fitted with the following dimensions 40mm wide, 40mm long and 5mm thick.

In order to make this heat dissipation even more effective and to prevent unnecessary heating of the equipment body and other components, a cooler (4) was introduced, which acts as an exhaust and pushes hot air out of the equipment (1).

The lens and lamp holders (7, 9) are made of custom-made aluminum to ensure durability and a perfect fit of the equipment components.

The lens holder (7) is a solid aluminum ring having a lower (7a) such that lens (L) abuts the inside of the holder (7) and a metal (brass) ring (7b) secures the lens (L ) on the aluminum support (7) by snap. This ring (7) is fixed to the center of the main body (2) by means of three screws.

Likewise the lamp holder (9) is a solid aluminum ring which has a recess (9a) so that lamp (L) abuts the inner part of the holder and it is fixed to the holder (9) by stop screws fixed to the side. outside the ring, this bracket (9) is fixed to the main body (2) and acts as the base of this cylinder, this bracket (9) also has a shoulder (9b) where a metal cap (5) is attached to protect the lightning electrical connections . This ring (9) is fixed to the rear base of the main body by half bolts.

Finally we have the support of the thermal filter (6) that acts as the base of the main body (2), fixed to it and to the thermal filter (3) by screws.

The electrical connections of the lamp (L) and the cooler (4) were protected by a metal cover (5) coupled to the lamp holder (9) to prevent electric shock. A 2.5mm "PP" type cable connects between the lamp and the power supply which is connected to a switch which in turn is connected to the network via another 2.5mm "PP" cable of diameter.

Regarding the process of operation of the equipment, this is simple just activate the switch that the lamp (L) and the cooler (4) are activated, from this point, just position the body region to be radiated in front of the equipment.

To determine the dose applied in a given region, simply position the equipment at certain distances for a certain time.

For dose characterization, irradiance (lR) measurements were made as a function of longitudinal (x) and axial (y) distance using the Spectra Physics 407A luminous intensity meter, as shown in the graph of figure 16. Intensity (I) measurements were also made. of the light spectrum of the lamp as a function of wavelength (A) using the CVI SM-240 spectrophotometer, as shown in the graph in figure 17.

INNOVATIONS

The product innovates as it brings together available and well-known technologies, resulting in equipment that offers a variety of applications in photomedicine and photobiology, becoming an attractive alternative to the Brazilian market, which currently has no equipment with these characteristics.

Power density measurements found per cm2 are more than sufficient for photochemotherapy applications.

The equipment innovates because it allows the use of different types of photosensitizers and allows a wide treatment region as can be seen from the data in figure 16, the fact that treating a larger region allows a shorter time of therapy application in the patient which leads to greater comfort. for this and in a financial savings for hospital or clinic that applies the treatment.

Claims (7)

1.) "HALOGENOUS LIGHT SOURCE (HLS) FOR PHOTOTOBIOLOGY AND PHOTOMEDICINE APPLICATIONS", characterized by: - a lamp (L) mounted on a holder (9) which is positioned at the rear of a main body (2), positioned towards its facing a lens (8) mounted on a holder (7); - a lens (8) mounted on a holder (7) which is located in the central region of the main body (); - a thermal filter (3) mounted on a holder (6) which in turn is coupled to the anterior part of the main body (2); and a cooler (4) coupled to the side of the main body (2) and a capametallic (5) coupled to the back of the main body (2). 2. "SOURCE" according to Claim 1, characterized in that the main body (2) is metallic, preferably aluminum, cylindrical with open ends, with fins (2b) disposed around it longitudinally, having two bases (2). 2a) and a side opening (2c). 3. "SOURCE" according to Claim 1, characterized in that the lamp (L) has a faceted metal reflector, precise and uniform light beam, high luminous intensity, UV filter through a quartz bulb, 8 ° light divergence and is mounted. inside the main body (2) by means of a support (9). 4. A "source" according to claim 1, characterized in that the lens (8) is decrystalline, convergent type with the focus positioned in the center of the heat filter (3). 5. A "source" according to claim 1, characterized in that the heat filter (3) comprises a metal cylindrical body (3c) with two glass windows (3d) which are fixed to the cylinder bases (3c) by threaded metal sleeves. (3a, 3b) which press the glass windows (3d) against a seal in the cylinder wall (3c). 6. "SOURCE" according to claims 1 and 5, characterized in that the heat filter cylinder (3c) is filled with water and said heat filter (3) has a filter holder (P) for accommodating filters. (F) 7.) "SOURCE" according to claims 1, 2, 3 4, 5 and 6, characterized in that the skin to be irradiated to the body is a function of the longitudinal distance (x) and the axial (y).