JP2006025824A - Artificial sphincter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quicken the response to a pressure or a relaxation of a urine duct, to simplify the structure, to facilitate the handling, and to reduce troubles in the blood circulation of the urine duct or the like in an artificial sphincter. <P>SOLUTION: A magnetic fluid container 1 comprises a pressing section 11, a connecting section 12 and a storage section 13, which is filled with a magnetic fluid. The pressing section 11 is fitted on the periphery of the urine duct UD, the outside of which is fitted with a permanent magnet PM2. The magnetic fluid normally (at the time of a non-urinating) flows into the pressing section 11 by being attracted by the permanent magnet PM2, and expands the pressing section 11. By the expansion, the corpus spongiosum penis UD2 is pressed, and closes the urethra UD1. When the extracorporeal permanent magnet is brought closer to the storage section 13, the magnetic fluid moves from the pressing section 11 to the storage section 13 by being attracted by the permanent magnet, and the pressing section 11 shrinks. By the shrinkage, the corpus spongiosum penis UD2 is loosened, and the urethra UD1 is opened, and a urinating state is presented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an artificial sphincter that assists or substitutes for the function of sphincters such as the urethra and anus.

A conventional artificial sphincter will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 6A shows an outline of an artificial sphincter using a shape memory gel (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
The artificial sphincter in FIG. 6A has a shape memory gel SMG attached around the urethral duct UD leading to the bladder B. The urethral duct UD is composed of a urethral corpus cavernosum (not shown), and has a urethra (not shown) as a urine passage in the center thereof.

Normally (when not urinating), the shape memory gel SMG compresses the urethral duct UD (squeezes the urethral corpus cavernosum) and closes the urethra. That is, it is in a non-urination state.
At the time of urination, when the shape memory gel SMG is heated or warmed by heating means HC such as an electric heater or warm water, the shape memory gel SMG returns to the memorized shape, so that the urethra canal UD relaxes and the urethra opens. That is, it becomes a state of urination. When the heating of the shape memory gel SMG after urination is stopped or cooled, the shape memory gel SMG returns to the state of pressing the urethra canal UD again and closes the urethra.

FIG. 6B shows an outline of an artificial sphincter using a pump (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
A cuff K is attached around the urethra canal UD, and a reservoir ring R is disposed outside thereof. The cuff K and the reservoir ring R are connected to the valve portion H by a pipe, and communicate with the pump P through the valve portion H. The pump P moves the liquid from the cuff K to the reservoir ring R, and conversely moves the liquid from the reservoir ring R to the cuff K. The valve part H consists of a plurality of valves and controls the moving direction of the liquid.

The cuff K expands when the pump P is operated and the liquid moves from the reservoir ring R, and the pressure increases. The cuff K compresses the urethra tube UD and closes the urethra. That is, it becomes a non-urination state.
At the time of urination, when the pump P is operated to move the liquid from the cuff K to the reservoir ring R, the cuff K contracts, the reservoir ring R expands and the curvature increases to leave the cuff K. Relax. When the urethra canal UD relaxes, the urethra opens and urinates. That is, the state shown in FIG.

JP 2000-245824 A Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 6-38808

The conventional artificial sphincter using a shape memory gel uses a heating means and a cooling means for relaxing and compressing the urethral canal UD, so that the operation during urination and non-urination is troublesome and the apparatus becomes complicated. Further, the shape of the shape memory gel must be changed at a temperature higher than the human body temperature. However, if the shape memory gel is too high, it is dangerous to set the temperature of the gel. Moreover, since shape memory gel is slow in response, the urethral tube UD is relaxed and the switching of compression is delayed, and urination and non-urination cannot be performed smoothly.
On the other hand, an artificial sphincter using a conventional pump requires a pump, a valve portion, a pump operating means, and the like, which complicates the apparatus, increases the cause of failure, and is not suitable for indwelling in the body for a long time.
The object of the present invention is to solve the problems of these conventional artificial sphincters.

In order to achieve the object of the present invention, the artificial sphincter according to claim 1 connects a compression part to be mounted around an organ such as a urethral duct, a retention part for storing magnetic fluid, and a compression part and a retention part. A magnetic fluid container comprising a connecting portion, a permanent magnet in the body attached to the compression portion, and an external magnet approaching the holding portion, the magnetic fluid container is filled with a magnetic fluid, and the external magnet The magnet is stronger than the permanent magnet in the body.
The artificial sphincter according to claim 2 is the artificial sphincter according to claim 1, wherein the compression part is composed of two compression parts, and the two compression parts are branched from one end of the connection part. It is characterized by.
The artificial sphincter according to claim 3 is the artificial sphincter according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion is composed of two connecting portions, the retaining portion is composed of two retaining portions, and one end of the compression portion is It connects with one connection part, The other end of the said compression part is connected with the other connection part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.
The artificial sphincter according to claim 4 is the artificial sphincter according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the extracorporeal magnet is an electromagnet.
The artificial sphincter according to claim 5 is the artificial sphincter according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the permanent magnet in the body has a band shape.

In the artificial sphincter of the present invention, the magnetic fluid is attracted by a permanent magnet inside the body or a magnet outside the body, and moves inside the magnetic fluid container from the holding portion to the pressing portion, and from the pressing portion to the holding portion, thereby moving the urethral cavernous body of the urethra. Compresses and relaxes, blocking and releasing the urethra. Therefore, since the artificial sphincter does not need to be provided with a special device such as a pump, the device becomes simple. In addition, urinary tract obstruction and deocclusion can be performed simply by moving the magnet body outside the body closer to or away from the holding part, or by connecting or disconnecting the excitation power source to the electromagnet outside the body. Operation during non-urination is simplified. When the magnet outside the body is an electromagnet, the strength of the magnet can be adjusted by adjusting the excitation current, so that the strength of the magnet outside the body can be adjusted according to the detention location of the retaining portion of the magnetic fluid container.
The magnetic fluid of the artificial sphincter according to the present invention moves by being drawn by a permanent magnet inside the body or a magnet outside the body, and thus moves quickly. Therefore, switching between compression and relaxation of the urethral corpus cavernosum is performed quickly, and urination and non-urination can be performed smoothly.

The artificial sphincter of the present invention is simple in structure and has few causes of failure, so it can be left in the body for a long time. In addition, since the compression part is mounted so as to wrap the urethra tube along the periphery of the urethra tube, it compresses the urethra tube uniformly and compresses a wide range in the longitudinal direction of the urethra tube, so a relatively small compression force Can block the urethra. And since a compression part is comprised with the bag containing the fluid (magnetic fluid), the compression of a urethra canal becomes soft. Therefore, even if the urethra can be pressed for a long time, the blood circulation disorder can be reduced.
When the permanent magnet attached to the compression portion of the magnetic fluid container has a belt shape, the permanent magnet also functions as an expansion prevention member for the compression portion, and therefore prevents outward expansion when the compression portion expands. Therefore, the expansion force of the compression part can be efficiently used for compression of the urethral duct.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is used for the part common to each figure.

The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a plan view and a side view when an artificial sphincter is attached to a urethra tube, and a plan view of a magnetic fluid container. FIG.1 (b) shows the cross section of the arrow direction of X1 part of Fig.1 (a).
In FIG. 1, 1 is a magnetic fluid container, 21 is a fixed part, PM2 is a permanent magnet, UD is a urethral tube, UD1 is a urethra, and UD2 is a urethral cavernous body.

First, FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C will be described.
The magnetic fluid container 1 is a container filled with a magnetic fluid. The magnetic fluid container 1 is a container that is mounted around the urethra canal UD and compresses the urethral duct UD, the retaining portion 13 that stores the magnetic fluid, and between the compressing portion 11 and the retaining portion 13. And a connecting portion 12 for connecting the two. The compression part 11, the connection part 12, and the holding | maintenance part 13 are connected integrally, and comprise the one chamber. They are made of flexible silicone or the like. The compression part 11 and the connection part 12 are bag-shaped with a cross-sectional shape of a kamaboko shape. The cross-sectional shape may be a circle, an ellipse, a quadrangle, or the like. The storage unit 13 is a cylindrical or drum-shaped cylinder, but may be a cylinder of another shape. Moreover, the holding | maintenance part 13 can also extend the connection part 12, and can utilize the extension part.

The compression part 11 is wound around the urethral tube UD and attached, and fixed by the fixing part 21. Although the fixing | fixed part 21 uses the plane fastener 211,212, fixing means, such as adhesives other than a plane fastener, may be sufficient. A belt-like permanent magnet PM2 such as a rubber magnet is attached around the compression portion 11 by a fixing means such as an adhesive.
The connecting portion of the magnetic fluid container 1 may be a tubular connecting portion 14 made of a silicone tube or the like as shown in FIG.

The magnetic fluid container 1 may be entirely formed into a bag shape with a film-like material, or a film-like material is used for a part (for example, the side in contact with the urethral tube UD) and the other part (for example, a permanent magnet). A relatively thick material may be used on the side on which PM2 is attached (outside).
In addition, the permanent magnet PM1 outside the body may use an electromagnet instead of the permanent magnet. In that case, the magnetic fluid can be moved simply by fixing the magnet at a predetermined position and connecting or disconnecting the exciting power source to the electromagnet. Moreover, since the strength of the electromagnet can be adjusted by adjusting the excitation current, the strength of the magnet outside the body can be adjusted in accordance with the detention location of the retaining portion 13 of the magnetic fluid container 1. Here, the present application is called a magnet including a permanent magnet and an electromagnet.
The permanent magnet PM2 is not limited to a belt shape, and a plurality of permanent magnets may be juxtaposed. The permanent magnet PM2 can also be attached to the inside of the compression portion 11 of the magnetic fluid container 1. In this case, since the members constituting the artificial sphincter can be stored in the magnetic fluid container 1, the artificial sphincter can be easily placed in the body.

The compression and relaxation of the urethral canal UD will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 shows a state where the urethral canal UD is compressed, and FIG. 3 shows a state where the urethral canal UD is relaxed.
2 (b) and 3 (b) are cross-sectional views of the X2 portion in FIGS. 2 (a) and 3 (a) in the direction of the arrow, and FIGS. 2 (c) and 3 (c) are diagrams. It is sectional drawing of the arrow direction of X3 part of 2 (b) and FIG.3 (b). 2A and 3A are partially shown in cross section.

In the case of FIG. 2, most of the magnetic fluid LM is attracted by the permanent magnet PM2 and moves from the retaining portion 13 to the pressing portion 11, so that the pressing portion 11 expands and the retaining portion 13 contracts. When the compression part 11 expands, the urethral cavernous body UD2 of the urethra canal UD is compressed to close the urethra UD1. That is, it becomes a non-urination state.
When the magnetic fluid LM is drawn toward the compression part 11, the pressure of the magnetic fluid LM in the compression part 11 increases and the compression part 11 tries to expand in the entire circumferential direction, but the permanent magnet PM2 hardly expands. The compression part 11 expands in a direction in which the urethral tube UD is compressed. Therefore, the expansion force of the compression part 11 can be efficiently used to compress the urethra canal UD. As described above, the permanent magnet PM2 has a function of preventing the compression portion 11 from expanding outward in addition to the function of attracting the magnetic fluid, and therefore, it is necessary to separately provide an expansion preventing member outside the compression portion 11. There is no. When the expansion preventing force of the permanent magnet PM2 is small, or when a plurality of permanent magnets are juxtaposed, an expansion preventing member is attached to the outside of the permanent magnet, or the portion of the compression portion 11 that contacts the permanent magnet PM2 or You may produce the side (outside) which contacts permanent magnet PM2 with a raw material with small elongation.

In the case of FIG. 3, the permanent magnet PM <b> 1 outside the body is brought close to the holding unit 13. The permanent magnet PM1 uses a magnet stronger than the permanent magnet PM2 (the attractive force of the magnetic fluid LM is strong). Since the magnetic fluid LM is attracted to the permanent magnet PM1 and moves from the compression unit 11 to the holding unit 13, the compression unit 11 contracts with the magnetic fluid LM decreasing, and the magnetic unit LM flows into the holding unit 13. Expands. When the compression part 11 contracts, the urethral cavernous body UD2 relaxes and the urethra UD1 opens. That is, it becomes a state of urination.
When the permanent magnet 1 is moved away from the holding unit 13 after urination, the magnetic fluid LM is attracted to the permanent magnet PM2 again and moves from the holding unit 11 to the compression unit 11, so that the urethra UD1 is blocked and returns to the non-urine state. .

  In the case of the first embodiment, the magnetic fluid LM moves while being attracted to the permanent magnet PM1 or the permanent magnet PM2. Therefore, the magnetic fluid LM moves only by moving the permanent magnet PM1 closer to or away from the retaining portion 13. Therefore, since the artificial sphincter of Example 1 can move a magnetic fluid without providing a special device such as a pump, the device becomes simple. Further, since the magnetic fluid LM is attracted to the permanent magnet PM1 or the permanent magnet PM2 and moves, the magnetic fluid LM moves quickly. Therefore, the pressure and relaxation of the urethral cavernous body UD2 become speedy, and urination and non-urination are performed smoothly. Also, urination and non-urination operations are simplified.

  Since the artificial sphincter of Example 1 has a simple structure and has few causes of failure, it can be left in the body for a long time. Further, since the compression portion 11 is mounted so as to wrap around the urethra tube UD along the peripheral surface of the urethra tube UD, the urethra tube UD is uniformly compressed and a wide range in the longitudinal direction of the urethra tube UD is compressed. The urethra UD1 can be closed with a relatively small compression force. And since the compression part 11 is comprised with the bag containing the fluid (magnetic fluid), the compression of the urethra canal UD becomes soft. Therefore, even if the urethral duct UD is continuously pressed for a long time, the blood circulation disorder can be reduced.

FIG. 4 is a plan view and a side view when the artificial sphincter muscle of Example 2 is attached to the urethra, and a plan view of the magnetic fluid container.
The artificial sphincter in FIG. 4 is characterized in that the compression part of the magnetic fluid container 1 is composed of two compression parts 111 and a compression part 112. Other configurations are the same as those of the artificial sphincter in FIG. The compression part 111 and the compression part 112 are branched into two from one end of the connecting part 12. The compression part 111 and the compression part 112 are wound around the urethral tube UD and attached, and a permanent magnet PM2 is attached to the outside thereof.
The length of the compression part 111 and the compression part 112 (the length from the branch point of the connection part 12 to the tip) is half that of the compression part 11 in FIG. Therefore, inflow and outflow of the magnetic fluid in the compression part 111 and the compression part 112 are facilitated.

FIG. 5 is a plan view and a side view when the artificial sphincter of Example 3 is attached to the urethra, and a plan view of the magnetic fluid container.
The artificial sphincter in FIG. 5 is characterized in that the connecting portion and the holding portion of the magnetic fluid container 1 are each composed of two connecting portions 121 and 122 and two holding portions 131 and 132. Other configurations are the same as those of the artificial sphincter in FIG. One end of the compression part 11 is connected to the connection part 121, and the other end of the compression part 11 is connected to the connection part 122. Further, the connecting parts 121 and 122 are connected to the holding parts 131 and 132, respectively. The compression part 11 is wound around the urethral tube UD and attached, and a permanent magnet PM2 is attached to the outside thereof.
Since both ends of the compression portion 11 are connected to the connection portions 121 and 122, the length of the compression portion 11 is half that of the compression portion 11 in FIG. 1 in the same manner as in FIG. become. Therefore, inflow and outflow of the magnetic fluid in the compression part 11 are facilitated.
The permanent magnets in the body of each of the embodiments described above are disposed on substantially the entire circumference of the compression portion, but may be disposed only on a portion far from the end of the compression portion on the connection portion side.
In each of the above embodiments, urethral occlusion and deocclusion were described as examples. However, the present invention can be used for organs that are occluded by a sphincter muscle, such as an artificial anus other than the urethra, and the occlusion is released.

It is the top view and side view when the artificial sphincter of Example 1 of this invention is attached to a urethral canal, and the top view of a magnetic fluid container. It is a figure which shows the obstruction | occlusion state (non-urination state) of the urethra of FIG. It is a figure which shows the obstruction | occlusion cancellation | release state (urination state) of the urethra of FIG. It is the top view and side view when the artificial sphincter of Example 2 of this invention is attached to a urethra canal, and the top view of a magnetic fluid container. It is the top view and side view when the artificial sphincter of Example 3 of this invention is attached to a urethral canal, and the top view of a magnetic fluid container. It is the schematic of the conventional artificial sphincter.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Magnetic fluid container 11,111,112 Compression part 12,121,122 Connection part 13,131,132 Retaining part LM Magnetic fluid PM1, PM2 Permanent magnet UD Urethra canal UD1 Urethra UD2 Urethral cavernous body

Claims (5)

  Magnetic fluid container comprising a compression part to be mounted around an organ such as a urethra, a storage part for storing magnetic fluid, and a connecting part for connecting the compression part and the storage part, a permanent magnet in the body attached to the compression part, and the storage An artificial sphincter comprising an extracorporeal magnet approaching a part, wherein the magnetic fluid container is filled with a magnetic fluid, and the extracorporeal magnet is stronger than a permanent magnet in the body.   2. The artificial sphincter according to claim 1, wherein the compression part includes two compression parts, and the two compression parts are branched from one end of the connection part. 3.   2. The artificial sphincter according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion includes two connecting portions, the holding portion includes two holding portions, one end of the compression portion is connected to one connecting portion, and the compression An artificial sphincter, wherein the other end of the part is connected to the other connecting part.   4. The artificial sphincter according to claim 1, wherein the extracorporeal magnet is an electromagnet.   The artificial sphincter according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the permanent magnet in the body has a band shape.

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