JP2003070802A - Laser therapeutic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a laser therapeutic apparatus which can easily confirm a site to be laser-irradiated. SOLUTION: The laser therapeutic apparatus irradiates the skin with a laser beam from a therapeutic laser beam source. The therapeutic apparatus comprises an irradiating optical system for irradiating an affected part with the laser beam from the laser beam source, a guide unit having a contact surface for bringing into contact with the skin to guide the optical system to the affected part in a prescribed state, and a stamping mechanism provided at a contact surface side of the guide unit to stamp a contact mark on the skin.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser treatment apparatus for irradiating a diseased part with a treatment laser beam to perform laser treatment.

[0002]

Laser devices used in dermatology, for example,
In a laser device for hair removal, a handpiece is used for irradiating laser light, and there is a handpiece in which a scanning mechanism for scanning the laser light on the affected area is incorporated.

[0003]

However, when targeting a wider area than the laser irradiation area, the laser irradiation is carried out by moving the handpiece, but the state of the skin surface after the laser irradiation is almost different at the visual level. Not seen,
There is a problem in that it is difficult to distinguish between a portion irradiated with laser and a portion not irradiated with laser. For this reason, while the laser irradiation is repeated, the laser light may be overlapped and irradiated on the same site, or conversely, a part which is not irradiated may be formed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the conventional device.
It is a technical object to provide a laser treatment apparatus that can easily confirm a portion irradiated with laser.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized by having the following configuration.

(1) In a laser treatment apparatus for irradiating the skin with laser light from a therapeutic laser light source, an irradiation optical system for irradiating the affected area with laser light from the therapeutic laser light source and a contact surface for contacting the skin And a guide unit for guiding the irradiation optical system to an affected part in a desired state, and a stamp mechanism provided on the contact surface side of the guide unit for stamping a contact mark on the skin. And

(2) In the laser treatment apparatus of (1), the stamping mechanism has a member for holding colored ink, and stamps the contact mark of the guide unit with the ink.

(3) In the laser treatment apparatus according to (1), the guide unit has a frame member that comes into contact with the skin and has a laser irradiation area inside thereof, and the stamp mechanism has at least a part of a contact surface of the frame member. It is characterized by having a stamp surface provided on.

(4) In the laser treatment apparatus of (1), a handpiece in which the irradiation optical system is arranged, a light guide body for guiding laser light from a therapeutic laser light source to the handpiece, and the guide. The guide unit is configured to have a frame member having a laser irradiation region inside thereof, and the guide unit is in contact with the skin. It is characterized in that the provided guide unit is attached to the handpiece and is replaceable.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of a laser treatment apparatus used for hair removal treatment and the like, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an optical system and a control system.

A large liquid crystal (LCD) panel 2 is provided on the front of the laser device main body 1, and the LCD panel 2 is provided.
In addition to displaying various setting conditions, the touch panel allows various settings by touching the operation keys displayed on the LCD panel 2. A communication cable 3 and a fiber cable 4 extend from the upper portion of the laser device body 1 to a handpiece 20 that radiates laser light.

A cooler 5 supplies cooling air to the handpiece 20. The cooling tube 7 extending from the cooler 5 is bundled with the communication cable 3 and the fiber cable 4 described above, and is integrated into a centralized cable 8. 9
Is a foot switch that triggers laser irradiation.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a laser light source section for emitting a therapeutic laser beam, and the laser light source section 10 has a large number of semiconductor lasers (diode lasers). The laser light emitted from each semiconductor laser is condensed and incident on the end face of each fiber 13a by the lens 12a arranged correspondingly. The fibers 13a are bundled on the emission end face side, and the laser light emitted from each semiconductor laser is collected on the fiber emission side and used for treatment as high-power laser light. In this embodiment, near infrared light having a wavelength of 800 to 820 nm is used as the therapeutic laser light.

The aiming light emitted from the aiming light source 11 is condensed by the condenser lens 12b and enters the fiber 13b. The emission side end face of the fiber 13b is bundled together with the emission side end face of the fiber 13a, and the aiming light travels the same optical path as the therapeutic laser light after emitting from the fiber 13b. In this embodiment, red visible light having a wavelength of 620 to 650 nm is used as the aiming light flux.

The laser light (therapeutic laser light and the aiming light) emitted from the emission end faces (fiber bundle portions) of the bundled fibers 13a and 13b are collected by the condenser lens group 1.
It is collected by 4 and enters the fiber cable 4. The fiber cable 4 is connected to the handpiece 20, and the laser light is guided to the handpiece 20.

A laser irradiation optical system is arranged on the handpiece 20. Scanner head 2 of handpiece 20
0a is provided with a first mirror 23 and a second mirror 24, and the first mirror 23 and the second mirror 24 are driven by the first galvanometer 23a and the second galvanometer 24a, respectively, and rotated, so that the XY direction The irradiation position of the laser light can be moved (swing) to each of them, and the therapeutic laser light can be scanned over a wide range. The laser light that has entered the scanner head 20a from the fiber cable 4 has its optical axis bent by the mirror 21, is converted into a parallel light flux by the collimator lens 22, and is then swung in the XY directions by the first mirror 23 and the second mirror 24. , Diameter 5 by condensing lens 25
The treatment area is irradiated with circular spot light of about mm.

A guide unit (large) 40, a guide unit (middle) 50, and a guide unit (small) 60 having frame-shaped members of different sizes as shown in FIG. 4 are selectively attached to the lower part of the scanner head 20a. To be The guide units 40, 50, 60 have the same basic structure except that the size and shape of the frame-shaped member serving as the irradiation region of the treatment laser light are different.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the lower portion of the handpiece 20 when the guide unit (large) 40 is attached. A scanner support base 26 is fixed below the scanner head 20a, and a guide mounting plate 27 is screwed to the scanner support base 26 from the side surface side (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3). The cooling tube 7 extending from the cooler 5 passes through the inside of the scanner head 20a and exits outside under the scanner head 20a. The tip thereof is connected to a bellows portion 7a capable of freely changing the direction of the outlet 6 for the cooling air.

The guide unit (large) 40 comprises a guide frame 41 having a substantially L-shaped side surface and a cover 42. The frame portion 41b protruding in the horizontal direction of the guide frame 41 and the cover 42 have a frame shape in which an opening is formed, and the inside thereof is the laser irradiation area. During laser irradiation, the lower surface (contact surface) of the frame portion 41b is pressed. The stamp mechanism 4 is provided in the hole 41c of the frame portion 41b.
3 is attached. The stamp mechanism 43 is a stamp tip portion 44 made of NBR (nitrile rubber) and an ink reservoir 4 in which PVA (polyvinyl acetate) is impregnated with colored ink.
It consists of 5. The ink is preferably a water-based ink that can be easily wiped off. The color is preferably black, red, or the like, which makes it easy to see when stamped on the skin. Further, as the ink, an ink that absorbs and reflects the therapeutic laser light very little is used. The stamp tip portion 44 and the ink reservoir 45 are fitted into the holes 41c of the frame portion 41b, and the cover 4 is attached from above.
It is pressed and fixed by 2. The cover 42 is fitted into the guide frame 41 by a groove (not shown).
When the stamp surface of the stamp mechanism 43 is viewed from the skin contact surface side of the frame portion 41b, the shape is as shown in FIG. The stamp surface is composed of four corner portions 43a and four intermediate portions 43b. Further, in FIG. 5, A indicates a laser scanning irradiation region. Back plate portion 41a of the guide frame 41
Two U-shaped long holes 47 are formed in the upper part of the guide mounting plate 2 (see FIG. 4) by the two screws 32.
It is supposed to be removable with 7.

Further, since the guide unit (large) 40 is attached to the lower portion of the scanner head 20a, the operator holds the scanner head 20a stably by pressing the contact surface of the guide frame 41 against the skin. be able to. The distance from the condenser lens 25 is designed so that the laser light emitted from the scanner head 20a is condensed near the lower surface of the guide frame 41.

The guide unit (middle) 50 shown in FIG.
The guide unit (large) 40 has a smaller size (approximately 30 mm square). The guide unit (small) 60 is smaller than the guide unit (middle) 50 in size (circular shape). The guide unit (small) 60 is mainly used when a single spot is formed without scanning the laser beam. Guide unit 50,
The basic structure of the guide unit 60 is the same as that of the guide unit (large) 40, so its explanation is omitted, but the guide unit (small) 6
The stamp surface 63 of 0 has the partial circumferential shape shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, an LCD panel 2, a cooler 5, a memory 16 and a foot switch 9 are connected to the control unit 15. The first galvanometer 23a and the second galvanometer 24a are connected to the control unit 1 via the communication cable 3.
Connected to 5.

The operation of the laser treatment apparatus having the above structure will be described below.

The operator has guide units 40, 50, 6 of appropriate sizes according to the position and size of the laser irradiation site.
0 is attached to the guide attachment plate 27 of the handpiece 20 in advance. For example, if the affected area is large in a flat area,
The guide unit (large) 40 is used so that a wide range of laser irradiation can be efficiently performed by scanning. When the affected area is relatively small, the guide unit (medium) 50 is used. Further, in the case where the shape is not constant, such as the face, armpits, and lower abdomen, it is possible to use the guide unit (medium) 50 or the guide unit (small) 60 instead of the guide unit (large) 40 for better operability It becomes easy to deal with small affected areas. A guide unit (small) 6 is especially suitable for small affected areas and areas with large changes in unevenness such as the nose, mouth, and around the eyes.
Use 0.

The operator operates the setting keys displayed on the LCD panel 2 to set the irradiation conditions. When the guide unit (small) 60 is attached, the single mode is set, and when the guide unit (large) 40 or the guide unit (medium) 50 is attached, the scan mode of the irradiation area of the size corresponding to each guide unit is set. Set.
Below, the guide unit (large) 40 is the handpiece 20.
It will be described as being attached to.

After preparing the apparatus main body 1 side, the operator holds the handpiece 20 by hand, presses the lower surface (contact surface) of the frame 41b against the skin, and the laser light is irradiated to the affected area for the purpose of treatment. To do so. Aiming light from the light source 11 is emitted from the scan head 20a, and the aiming light is repeatedly scanned by driving the first mirror 23 and the second mirror 24 according to the selected scanning pattern shape.
The operator can confirm the affected area and the irradiation position of the aiming light through the inside of the cover 42.

Press the READY switch (not shown) to set the device to REA.
When in the DY state, the controller 15 sends cooling air from the cooler 5 to the handpiece 20 through the cooling tube 7. Cooling air is emitted from the outlet 6 to cool the affected area. When the trigger signal from the foot switch 9 is input, the control unit 15 drives and controls the first galvanometer 23a and the second galvanometer 24a to scan the laser light from the laser light source unit 10 so that the treatment area in the scanning region is irradiated with laser light. Irradiate with light.
When laser irradiation cannot be performed on the entire surface of a desired treatment site in one scan, the scanner head 20 is gradually moved to repeatedly perform laser irradiation.

In the first irradiation, the irradiation area A1 is irradiated with the laser beam as shown in FIG. The stamp mechanism 43 leaves four corner stamp traces 71a and four intermediate stamp traces 71b on the skin. In the second irradiation, the scanner head 20 is moved so that the second corner stamp mark 72a is adjacent to the first corner stamp mark 71a. When the corner stamp traces 71a and 72a are moved so as to contact each other, the irradiation area A is contacted with the irradiation area A1.
2 is irradiated with laser light. When it is desired to irradiate a wider area, the irradiation areas A2, A3, A4 and A5 are similarly repeated. Further, it is desirable that the frame portion 41b and the cover 42 are transparent so that the stamp position can be easily confirmed. Further, the frame portion 41b and the cover 42
Even if is not a transparent body, use the intermediate stamp trace 71b,
A reference line is provided on the upper portion of the cover 42, and an intermediate stamp mark 71
The second and subsequent scanner heads 20 are aligned with b.
May be positioned.

If you want to use any ink,
The area of the stamp is made as small as possible, as shown in FIG. 8A, in order to avoid irradiating the laser beam for treatment on the trace of the stamp once irradiated. When the dot-shaped stamps 81 having a diameter of about 1 mm are arranged outside the four corners of the laser irradiation range B and the laser irradiation is laterally shifted and repeated, proceed so that the stamps 81 overlap as shown in FIG. 8B. Go. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the area where the stamp trace is irradiated with the therapeutic laser light.

Further, in the above embodiment, the cooling air is blown as the cooling method for the affected area. However, the method is not limited to this, and a method for cooling the affected area by cooling the window glass attached to the guide portion can be used. 43 may be provided.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to easily confirm the portion irradiated with the laser.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of a laser treatment apparatus used for hair removal treatment or the like.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a main configuration of an optical system and a control system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a guide unit and a cooling mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing each shape of a guide unit and a method of replacement.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an arrangement of stamp surfaces.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an arrangement of stamp surfaces.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a stamp mark and a laser irradiation area.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a dotted stamp.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Laser device body 4 fiber cable 15 Control unit 20 handpieces 20a scanner head 27 Guide mounting plate 32 screws 40 guide unit (large) 41 guide frame 43 Stamp mechanism 44 Stamp tip 45 ink reservoir 47 slot 50 guide unit (middle) 60 guide unit (small) 63 Stamp surface

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A laser treatment apparatus for irradiating skin with laser light from a therapeutic laser light source, and an irradiation optical system for irradiating a laser beam from the therapeutic laser light source onto an affected area.
A guide unit having a contact surface to be brought into contact with the skin, which guides the irradiation optical system to an affected part in a desired state,
A laser treatment apparatus, comprising: a stamp mechanism provided on the contact surface side of the guide unit and stamping a contact mark on the skin. 2. The laser treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stamp mechanism has a member that holds colored ink,
A laser treatment apparatus, wherein a contact mark of the guide unit is stamped with the ink. 3. The laser treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide unit has a frame member that comes into contact with skin and has a laser irradiation region inside thereof, and the stamp mechanism is provided on at least a part of a contact surface of the frame member. A laser treatment apparatus having a stamp surface provided. 4. The laser treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the irradiation optical system is arranged in the handpiece, a light guide for guiding laser light from a therapeutic laser light source to the handpiece, and the guide unit. Is attached to the handpiece, and the guide unit is configured to have a frame member that comes into contact with the skin and has a laser irradiation region inside thereof, and the frame member having different sizes and the stamp mechanism are provided. A laser treatment apparatus, wherein the guide unit is attached to the handpiece and is replaceable.