JP2009112563A - Living body freezing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a freezing apparatus which can be manufactured even if the triple tube has a small diameter which makes the manufacture difficult, and has a good operability while being a living body freezing apparatus which is directly inserted to the lesion in a living body from the outside of the living body by making no incision on the abdomen. <P>SOLUTION: This living body freezing apparatus has the triple tube structure which is formed of a flexible member and is constituted by arranging an internal tube 2, an intermediate tube 3 and an external tube 4 in order from the inside. A vacuum heat-insulating layer is formed by intracelial a ring-like space 13 between the external tube and the intermediate tube. At the same time, a liquid coolant which is jetted out from a liquid coolant introducing passage 11 on the inside of the internal tube is expanded and vaporized in a probe rear surface side space 6 which is arranged on the distal end side of the triple tube and is formed of a good heat-conductive object made of a metal. Then, the vaporized coolant is discharged from a discharging passage 12 between the intermediate tube 3 and the internal tube 2 for the living body freezing apparatus. In the living body freezing apparatus, a ring-like supporting member 20 which seals the distal end of the vacuum heat-insulating layer is installed, and the internal tube 2 is extended more than the distal end side of the ring-like supporting member 20. At the same time, a covering tube which covers the outer periphery of the internal tube of the extended section through a gap is installed, and a double-tube section 10 is formed. Then, the space between the internal tube and the covering tube is made into a part of the discharging passage for the vaporized coolant. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a living body freezing apparatus used for removing affected areas such as polyps and cancer cells generated on living tissues such as the throat, esophagus, and stomach by cryotherapy, and in particular, a probe that is inserted into a living body and frozen. The present invention relates to a living body freezing apparatus in which the diameter of the part can be made smaller than before.

Cryotherapy is a method of freezing and killing abnormal cells, and as an alternative to conventional surgery involving laparotomy, for example, liver cancer that has not spread, cancer that has spread from other sites to the liver, prostate It is used to treat various cancers such as prostate cancer, cervical precancerous lesions, bone cancerous and noncancerous tumors, and precancerous or noncancerous diseases.
In conventional surgery involving surgery, patients undergoing surgery require physical strength that can withstand long surgeries, as well as side effects, costs associated with laparotomy, and concerns and considerations of acquaintances such as family members. The burden is also large. On the other hand, because cryotherapy does not perform laparotomy, it is a technique that is attracting attention because it is less likely to cause physical stress and side effects, and costs are low.

  When cryotherapy is used to treat a disease that has occurred in the body, a liquid refrigerant such as liquid nitrogen is circulated and cooled in a hollow needle called a freezing probe, and the probe is inserted from outside the body without laparotomy. The abnormal cells in the affected area are frozen by contacting with. At this time, the treating physician guides the freezing probe using ultrasonic waves, MRI or the like, and monitors the degree of freezing of the affected area to suppress damage to surrounding healthy cells.

As a freezing apparatus used for such cryotherapy, a triple tube probe apparatus having a schematic configuration diagram shown in FIG. 5 and a cross-sectional view of the main part shown in FIG. 6 is known, and is disclosed in Patent Document 1. Yes.
A conventional concentric triple tube freezing probe device will be described with reference to FIGS. Conventionally used triple-tube biological freezing apparatus 101 is sealed to a concentric triple-pipe portion 101a composed of an inner tube 102, a middle tube 103, and an outer tube 104, and a tip of the concentric triple-pipe portion 101a. The tip member 105 is formed. The tip end of the ring-shaped space 113 formed between the outer tube 104 and the middle tube 103 is sealed by the metal tip member 105, and the middle tube 103 and the inner tube are interposed through the space 106 provided in the tip member 105. A ring-shaped space 112 formed between the two tubes 102 and a columnar space 111 formed inside the inner tube 102 are formed so as to communicate with each other. Further, the outer tube 104 is inserted and sealed at the tip of the tapered portion 107a provided in the large-diameter tube body 107. An annular space 113 between the outer tube 104 and the middle tube 103 communicates with a large-diameter tube vacuum space 117 in the large-diameter tube body 107, and the large-diameter tube vacuum space 117 is provided at the rear part of the large-diameter tube body 107. The vacuum exhaust pipe 108 communicates with the vacuum exhaust pipe. The intermediate tube 103 is held by a holding ring 115A and is extended and welded and sealed to the exhaust pipe 110 at the rear of the large-diameter tube body 107. In the gap between the inner wall of the intermediate tube 103 and the outer wall of the inner tube 102, The formed return gas circuit 112 opens to the exhaust pipe 110 and further communicates with the exhaust pipe 109. Further, the inner pipe 102 penetrating the exhaust pipe 110 is held by a holding wheel 115B and guided to a flexible pipe 111 having an inner diameter larger than that of the inner pipe 102 to reach a cryopot (not shown).

The living body freezing apparatus 101 conducts a cryogenic liquid fluid 131 such as liquid nitrogen stored in a storage tank 130 from a cylindrical space 111 formed inside the inner tube 102, and collides with the inner surface of the tip member 105 from the space 106. The tip member 105 is cooled by the latent heat of vaporization. The probe with the tip cooled in this way is inserted from outside the body and brought into contact with the affected part, and then frozen by heat removal, and the root part thereof is removed.
The deprived liquid refrigerant is vaporized by the deprived heat, and the vaporized refrigerant is exhausted by the suction pump 134 through the ring-shaped space 112 between the middle tube 103 and the inner tube 102.

As another technique related to a living body freezing apparatus, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique that is a triple-pipe probe and has a base provided with a passage that forms a heat exchange structure for precooling a cooling fluid flowing in the inner tube. It is disclosed.
Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a hollow heat in which one end is inserted into a tank for storing a refrigerant, the other end extending outside the tank is covered with a heat insulating sleeve, and the tip is exposed as a freezing portion from the heat insulating sleeve. A cryotherapy device with a conductive needle means is disclosed.
Further, Patent Document 4 discloses a frozen sonde formed of a double tube for treating hypertrophic scars and keloids as a similar technique with different problems.

JP-A-4-357946 JP 2004-512075 A JP 2005-80988 A JP 2004-511274 A

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a probe having a small diameter called a local freezing probe is created, the diameter of the probe brought into contact with the affected part depends on the outer tube diameter. Therefore, the diameters of the middle tube and the inner tube must be further reduced, making it difficult to manufacture a triple tube.

  Further, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, as in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a probe having a small diameter called a local freezing probe is created, the diameter of the probe to be brought into contact with the affected area is the outer tube. Since it depends on the diameter, the outer tube diameter must be reduced, and therefore the diameters of the intermediate tube and the inner tube must be further reduced, making it difficult to manufacture a triple tube. Further, the precooling part cannot be reduced in diameter due to its structure, and in order to reduce the diameter of the probe, only the front side of the precooling part must be reduced in diameter. The problem remains in the operability by the doctor.

  Moreover, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 3, since heat conduction is inserted into the tank for storing the refrigerant, the tank for storing the refrigerant must be moved together when inserting the heat conducting material into the patient's body, Problems remain in the operability by doctors.

  Further, when the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4 is used for freezing treatment of a disease that has occurred in the body, all of the tube portions that have been inserted into the body act as frozen portions, so that the portions other than the affected portion are also frozen. Therefore, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4 cannot be used for freezing treatment of a disease that has occurred in the body.

  Therefore, in view of the problems of the prior art, the present invention is a living body freezing apparatus that directly stabs the affected part in the living body from outside the body without laparotomy, and can be manufactured even if the diameter is so small that it is difficult to manufacture the triple tube. And it aims at providing the freezing apparatus with favorable operativity by a doctor.

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention,
It is formed of a flexible member and has a triple tube structure in which an inner tube, an intermediate tube, and an outer tube are arranged in order from the inside, and the ring-shaped space between the outer tube and the intermediate tube is evacuated to a vacuum. While forming the heat insulation layer, the liquid refrigerant ejected from the liquid refrigerant introduction path inside the inner tube is arranged on the triple tube tip side, and is expanded and vaporized in the space on the back side of the probe formed of a metal good heat transfer body, In the biological freezing apparatus for discharging the vaporized refrigerant from the discharge path between the inner tube and the inner tube, a ring-shaped support member for sealing the tip of the vacuum heat insulating layer is provided, and the front side of the ring-shaped support member is provided. Extending the inner tube and providing an encapsulated tube that encapsulates the outer periphery of the inner tube through a gap to form a double tube portion, and the space between the inner tube and the encapsulated tube is It is characterized by being part of the discharge path for the vaporized refrigerant.

A ring-shaped support member that seals the tip of the vacuum heat insulating layer is provided, the inner tube extends beyond the ring-shaped support member, and the outer periphery of the inner tube is encapsulated via a gap. By providing a tube tube and forming a double tube part, the probe diameter formed by the metal good heat transfer body located on the liquid refrigerant jet destination side depends on the diameter of the tube tube that forms the double tube It becomes. Therefore, even if it is difficult to manufacture a triple tube, the probe can be reduced in diameter to a diameter that can manufacture a double tube.
In the double pipe part, the gasified refrigerant flowing in the ring-shaped space between the encapsulated pipe and the inner pipe plays a role of heat insulation. Therefore, in the double pipe part, the cold heat of the liquid refrigerant flowing inside the inner pipe is covered. It is possible to prevent the living tissue other than the affected part from being frozen outside the envelope.
In the triple tube section, the ring-shaped space between the middle tube and the outer tube is placed under vacuum, so the outer surface of the outer tube is thermally blocked from the inside of the middle tube and the inner tube. Since the freezing apparatus can be operated with a triple tube section, operability is also good.

  Further, when the outer diameter dimension of the enveloping tube is made smaller than the outer diameter dimension of the middle tube, the vaporized refrigerant 33 passage to be discharged becomes wider on the way, so that it is easily sucked and discharged.

Furthermore, the envelope tube is an intermediate tube extended from the ring-shaped support member, and the intermediate tube and the inner tube form a double tube portion.
As a result, it is not necessary to provide an encapsulated tube separately from the middle tube, so that the refrigeration apparatus can be easily manufactured.

  Further, it is formed of a flexible member and has a triple tube structure in which an inner tube, an intermediate tube, and an outer tube are arranged in order from the inside, and the ring-shaped space between the outer tube and the intermediate tube is evacuated. In addition to forming a vacuum heat insulation layer, the liquid refrigerant ejected from the liquid refrigerant introduction path inside the inner tube is arranged on the triple tube tip side, and is expanded and vaporized in the space on the probe back side formed by a metal good heat transfer body. In the living body freezing apparatus for discharging the vaporized refrigerant from the discharge path between the inner tube and the inner tube, the probe is sealed at the distal end of the middle tube opening, and is ahead of the distal end sealing portion of the middle tube opening The outer tube is extended to the outer tube, and the outer tube tip side is reduced in diameter by the extending portion, and the inside tube opening tip is sealed, and the inside of the reduced diameter portion of the outer tube is extended into a narrow tube, The extending end is formed in a thick shape so as to seal the distal end opening of the outer tube reduced diameter portion.

As a result, the probe diameter formed by the metal good heat transfer body located on the liquid refrigerant jet destination side depends on the diameter of the reduced diameter portion of the outer tube. Therefore, even if it is difficult to manufacture a triple tube, it is possible to reduce the diameter of the probe to a diameter that allows the tube to be manufactured.
In addition, since the probe to be cooled is placed under vacuum except for the tip that freezes the affected part, the cold heat of the probe is transmitted outside the reduced diameter part of the outer tube, and the living tissue other than the affected part is frozen. Can be prevented.
Moreover, in the triple pipe part, since the ring-shaped space between the middle tube and the outer tube is placed under vacuum, the outer surface of the outer tube is thermally blocked from the inside of the middle tube and the inner tube, Since the doctor can operate the freezing apparatus with the triple tube section, the operability is also good.

The probe surface formed of the metal good heat transfer body is plated with gold or titanium.
Even if gold or titanium is inserted into the human body, it is difficult to cause allergies or rejection reactions. However, if the probe is made of gold, gold has a large specific gravity, so that the probe becomes heavy and a problem remains in operability.
Therefore, the problem of using gold or titanium does not occur by plating the surface of the probe formed of a metal good heat transfer body with gold or titanium, and even if it is inserted into the human body, it is difficult to cause allergies and rejection reactions. Become.
Even if the probe is made of titanium, even if the probe is inserted into the human body, allergies and rejection reactions are less likely to occur.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is a living body freezing device that directly pierces an affected part in a living body from outside the body without laparotomy. It is possible to provide a freezing device with good operability.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified, but are merely illustrative examples. Not too much.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part in the vicinity of the tip of the biological freezing apparatus according to the first embodiment. The configuration of the biological freezing device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
The living body freezing apparatus 1 forms a triple tube composed of an inner tube 2, an intermediate tube 3, and an outer tube 4 in order from the inside. A cylindrical space 11, an inner tube 2 and an intermediate tube 3 are formed inside the inner tube 2. A first ring-shaped space 12 is formed between them, and a second ring-shaped space 13 is formed between the middle tube 3 and the outer tube 4. The cylindrical space 11 is connected to a storage tank (not shown) that stores liquid nitrogen that is a frozen fluid, and the first ring-shaped space 12 is vaporized by freezing and freezing the affected area. A suction pump (not shown) is connected to discharge the nitrogen. The tip of the ring-shaped space 13 is sealed with a ring-shaped support member 20, and a cylindrical plug-shaped metal probe 5 is attached to the tip of the intermediate tube 3, so that the columnar space 11 and the ring-shaped space 12 are blocked from the outside, and the columnar space 11 and the ring-shaped space 12 can be communicated with each other through a space 6 provided in the probe 5.

Hereinafter, these members will be further described.
The probe 5 has a cylindrical plug shape substantially the same diameter as the middle tube 3, and a concave space 6 is provided on the rear end side thereof, and a front end side in contact with the living tissue is formed in an R shape so that the freezing apparatus 1 can be inserted into the body. Sometimes it can be inserted into the body without damaging the body tissue. In order to facilitate the insertion into the body, it is effective to cut the front end side obliquely toward the middle tube center side. Further, the probe 5 is provided with an L-shaped notch at the rear end, and the L-shaped notch is brought into contact with the inner side and the front end of the middle tube 3 to be welded to thereby form the concave space. 6. The ring-shaped space 12 and the cylindrical space 13 are blocked from the outside.
Further, since the probe 5 needs to transmit the cold heat in the space 6 to the front end side in contact with the living tissue, the probe 5 is preferably made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity such as copper or nickel.

  The inner tube 2 forms a cylindrical space 11 therein, and its tip is not in contact with the probe 5 and is inserted into the cylindrical space 11 from the liquid nitrogen storage tank (not shown). The liquid nitrogen is configured to extend to a position where it collides with the inner wall surface of the probe 5 in the form of a jet stream.

  The middle tube 3 is formed with a ring-shaped space 12 between the inner tube 2 and the tip of the middle tube 3 so that an L-shaped notch provided in the probe 5 can come into contact therewith.

The outer tube 4 forms a ring-shaped space 13 between the outer tube 4 and the tip of the outer tube 4 is located on the rear end side of the freezing device 1 with respect to any of the tips of the inner tube 2 and the middle tube 3. ing. That is, the double tube portion 10 where the outer tube 4 does not exist is present on the front side of the living body freezing device 1. Further, a ring-shaped support member 20 provided with an L-shaped notch at the rear end at the front end of the ring-shaped space 13 is brought into contact with the inner side and the front end of the outer tube 4. By welding in this manner, the inside of the ring-shaped space 13 is hermetically sealed.
Therefore, the double pipe part 10 which becomes a cooling part at the tip depends on the medium pipe diameter, not the outer pipe diameter. That is, even if it is difficult to manufacture a triple tube, the diameter of the cooling portion of the cooling probe can be reduced to a diameter that allows the double tube to be manufactured.

  In addition, the living body freezing device 1 is generally inserted into the living body from outside the body without laparotomy. Therefore, when the outer peripheral surface of the freezing device 1 other than the double tube portion 10 comes into contact with normal living tissue, it is accidentally frozen and melted. Therefore, the ring-shaped space 111 formed between the outer tube 4 and the inner tube 3 is kept under reduced pressure or vacuum to maintain heat insulation.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a use state of the biological freezing apparatus 1 according to the present invention. Based on FIG.1 and FIG.2, the effect | action of Example 1 is demonstrated.
The doctor inserts the freezing apparatus 1 from outside the body using ultrasonic waves, MRI (both not shown) or the like, and inserts the double tube part 10 of the living body freezing apparatus 1 into the affected part 31. Next, liquid nitrogen from the storage layer (not shown) is jetted from the cylindrical space 11 toward the space 6 provided in the probe 5 to collide, endotherm, evaporate, and gasify the probe 5 and evaporate. After the latent heat works as freezing heat, the absorbed and vaporized gas is reversed and discharged through the ring-shaped space 12 by the suction pump (not shown). At this time, the heat of freezing due to the latent heat of evaporation of the liquid nitrogen cools and freezes the affected area via the probe 5.
At this time, since the gasified nitrogen flowing through the ring-shaped space 12 is a gas body, it plays a role of heat protection, and the cold heat of the columnar space 11 is transmitted to the outside of the middle tube 3, and living bodies other than the affected part It is possible to prevent the tissue from freezing.
Further, in the triple tube portion, the ring-shaped space between the middle tube 3 and the outer tube 4 is placed under vacuum as described above, and therefore, the inner tube 2 and the middle tube from the cylindrical space inside the inner tube 2. The cold heat of the liquid nitrogen 31 transferred to the ring-shaped space between the tubes 3 can be completely blocked. Since the doctor can operate the freezing apparatus 1 with the triple tube section, the operability is also good.

By repeatedly cooling and freezing the affected part in this way and stopping the supply of liquid nitrogen 31 and thawing several times, the so-called frostbite can be lost and the diseased root part of the affected part can be removed.
Since the living body freezing apparatus 1 communicates the columnar space 11 and the ring-shaped space 12 via the space 6, the amount of liquid nitrogen 32 introduced and the amount of vaporized nitrogen 33 discharged are unillustrated adjustments. By adjusting by the mechanism, the freezing depth and freezing range of the living tissue in contact with the double tube portion 10 can be arbitrarily set. For example, the injection of liquid nitrogen is stopped by the determination of an X-ray or the like from the outside. By thawing the frozen affected part and repeating the freezing and thawing, only the diseased root part of the affected part can be completely frozen and removed. The frostbite part is naturally eliminated by the excretion action, and as a result, the affected part can be removed without performing a surgical recovery operation.

  In particular, by using a freezing probe in which the diameter of the double tube portion which is the cooling portion of the present invention is reduced, even in an early stage disease where the affected area is very small, normal living tissue around the affected area is not frozen. Only the affected area can be frozen.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the main part in the vicinity of the tip of the freezing probe according to the second embodiment. Since the configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment except for the shape of the intermediate tube 3 and the envelope tube 3a, the description of the same parts as those of the first embodiment will be omitted.

The middle tube 3 forms a ring-shaped space 12 between the inner tube 2 and its tip is welded to a ring-shaped support member 20.
Further, an enveloping tube 3a that encloses the outer periphery of the inner tube 2 through a gap is provided on the front side of the tip of the middle tube 4, and the outer diameter of the enclosing tube 3a is smaller than the outer diameter of the middle tube. is doing. Further, the ring-shaped space 12 formed between the intermediate tube 3 and the outer tube 4 and the ring-shaped space formed between the enveloped tube 3a and the intermediate tube 3 can be communicated with each other.
As a result, the vaporized and discharged refrigerant 33 passage is widened in the middle, and thus is easily sucked and discharged.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part near the tip of the freezing apparatus 1 according to the third embodiment. The configuration of the biological freezing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
The living body freezing apparatus 1 forms a triple tube composed of an inner tube 2, an intermediate tube 3, and an outer tube 4 in order from the inside. A cylindrical space 11, an inner tube 2 and an intermediate tube 3 are formed inside the inner tube 2. A first ring-shaped space 12 is formed between them, and a second ring-shaped space 13 is formed between the middle tube 3 and the outer tube 4. The cylindrical space 11 is connected to a storage tank (not shown) that stores liquid nitrogen that is a frozen fluid, and the first ring-shaped space 12 is vaporized by freezing and freezing the affected area. A suction pump (not shown) is connected to discharge the nitrogen. The tip of the ring-shaped space 13 is sealed with a highly conductive probe 9 to block the columnar space 11 and the ring-shaped space 12 from the outside, and the circular shape through the space 8. The columnar space 11 and the ring-shaped space 12 can communicate with each other. Further, the outer tube 4 extends to the front side from the tip of the middle tube 3 and has a reduced diameter portion 7 on the front side. The outer diameter of the reduced diameter portion 7 is made smaller than the diameter of the outer tube 4 other than the reduced diameter portion. The tip of the reduced diameter portion 7 is sealed with the probe 9.
The probe 9 is provided with an L-shaped notch in the sealing portion of the rear end portion and the reduced diameter portion 7, and the L-shaped notch is provided on the inner side of the intermediate tube 3, the distal end portion, and the reduced diameter portion. 7, the front end opening of the intermediate tube 3 and the opening of the reduced diameter portion 7 of the outer tube 4 are sealed.

Hereinafter, these members will be further described.
The probe 9 is configured to seal the distal end portion of the intermediate tube 3 and the distal end portion of the reduced diameter portion 7 of the outer tube 4 and extends in the reduced diameter portion 7 of the outer tube 4 into a thin tube. Further, an exposed portion 9 a having a semicircular cross section is provided before the reduced diameter portion 7 of the outer tube 4. The probe 9 is made of a highly conductive material such as copper or nickel, and the surface thereof is plated with gold or titanium, or is made of titanium. The front end side in contact with the living tissue is formed in an R shape, and can be inserted into the body without damaging the body tissue when the freezing device 1 is inserted into the body. In order to facilitate insertion into the body, it is effective to cut the front end side obliquely toward the center side of the reduced diameter portion 7 of the outer tube.

  The inner tube 2 forms a cylindrical space 11 therein, and its tip is not in contact with the probe 9 and is inserted into the cylindrical space 11 from the liquid nitrogen storage tank (not shown). The liquid nitrogen is configured to extend to a position where it collides with the inner wall surface of the probe 9 in the form of a jet stream.

  The middle tube 3 is formed with a ring-shaped space 12 between the inner tube 2 and the tip of the middle tube 3 so that an L-shaped notch provided in the probe 9 can come into contact therewith.

  The outer tube 4 forms a ring-shaped space 13 between the outer tube 4 and the outer tube 4 and extends forward from the tip of the middle tube. Further, the extended portion has a reduced diameter portion.

  From the above, in Example 2, the exposed portion 9a from the reduced diameter portion 7 of the outer tube 4 at the tip of the probe 9 becomes a cooling portion, and the diameter of the cooling portion is not the outer tube diameter but the outer tube 4 is reduced. It depends on the diameter of the diameter portion 7. Since the reduced diameter portion 7 has a single tube structure, even if it is difficult to manufacture a triple tube, the diameter of the cooling portion of the cooling probe can be reduced to a diameter at which a single tube can be manufactured. .

  Further, the living body freezing device 1 is generally inserted into the living body from outside the body without laparotomy, so that when the outer peripheral surface of the freezing device 1 other than the exposed portion 9a of the probe 9 comes into contact with normal living tissue, it is frozen erroneously. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent fusion, and therefore, in the ring-shaped space 13 formed between the outer tube 4 and the middle tube 3 and between the outer tube 4 (or its reduced diameter portion 7) and the probe 9. The space 14 is placed under vacuum to maintain heat insulation.

Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The doctor uses ultrasonic waves or MRI (both not shown) to insert the freezing device 1 from outside the body, and inserts the probe exposed portion 9a of the living body freezing device 1 into the affected area. Next, liquid nitrogen from the storage layer (not shown) is jetted from the cylindrical space 11 toward the space 8 to collide, endotherm, evaporate, and gasify the probe 9, and the latent heat of evaporation works as freezing heat. After that, the heat-absorbed / vaporized gas is reversed and discharged through the ring-shaped space 12 by the suction pump (not shown). At this time, the freezing heat due to the latent heat of vaporization of the liquid nitrogen cools and freezes the affected part at the exposed part 9 a of the probe 9 through the probe 9.
At this time, since the space 14 between the outer tube 4 (or its reduced diameter portion 7) and the probe 9 is placed under vacuum, the cold heat of the probe 9 is transmitted to the outside of the outer tube 4, and biological tissue other than the affected part Can be prevented from freezing.
Further, in the triple tube portion, the ring-shaped space between the middle tube 3 and the outer tube 4 is placed under vacuum as described above, and therefore, the inner tube 2 and the middle tube from the cylindrical space inside the inner tube 2. The cold heat of the liquid nitrogen 31 transferred to the ring-shaped space between the tubes 3 can be completely blocked. Since the doctor can operate the freezing apparatus 1 with the triple tube section, the operability is also good.

By repeatedly cooling and freezing the affected part in this way and stopping the supply of liquid nitrogen 31 and thawing several times, the so-called frostbite can be lost and the diseased root part of the affected part can be removed.
Since the living body freezing apparatus 1 communicates the cylindrical space 11 and the ring-shaped space 12 via the space 8, an adjustment mechanism (not shown) of the amount of liquid nitrogen introduced and the amount of nitrogen vapor 32 discharged is shown. The freezing depth and freezing range of the living tissue in contact with the exposed portion 9a of the probe 9 can be arbitrarily set by adjusting the position of the probe 9, for example, the injection of liquid nitrogen is stopped by the determination of an X-ray or the like from the outside. By thawing the frozen affected part and repeating the freezing and thawing, only the diseased root part of the affected part can be completely frozen and removed. The frostbite part is naturally eliminated by the excretion action, and as a result, the affected part can be removed without performing a surgical recovery operation.

  In particular, by using a freezing device in which the probe, which is a cooling part of the present invention, has a reduced diameter, even in an early stage disease where the affected part is very small, only the affected part is frozen without freezing normal living tissue around the affected part. It is possible to make it.

  A living body freezing device that can be directly inserted into the affected area from the outside of the body without laparotomy, and can be manufactured even if the diameter of the tube is so small that it is difficult to manufacture, and it can be used as a freezing device with good operability by a doctor. can do.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part near the tip of the freezing apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the use condition of the freezing apparatus for biological bodies 1 which concerns on this invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part in the vicinity of the tip of a freezing apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part in the vicinity of the tip of a freezing apparatus according to a third embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram of the conventional freezing apparatus. It is principal part sectional drawing of the conventional freezing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Freezing apparatus 2 Inner pipe 3 Middle pipe 4 Outer pipe 5 Probe 6 Probe back side space 7 Reduced diameter part 8 Probe back side space 9 Probe 10 Double pipe part 11 Cylindrical space (liquid refrigerant introduction path)
12 Ring-shaped space (discharge path)
13 Ring-shaped space (vacuum insulation layer)
20 support member 31 affected part

Claims (5)

It is formed of a flexible member and has a triple tube structure in which an inner tube, an intermediate tube, and an outer tube are arranged in order from the inside, and the ring-shaped space between the outer tube and the intermediate tube is evacuated to a vacuum. While forming the heat insulation layer, the liquid refrigerant ejected from the liquid refrigerant introduction path inside the inner tube is arranged on the triple tube tip side, and is expanded and vaporized in the space on the back side of the probe formed of a metal good heat transfer body, In the biological freezing apparatus for discharging the vaporized refrigerant from the discharge path between the inner tube and the inner tube,
A ring-shaped support member for sealing the vacuum heat insulating layer tip is provided,
The inner tube is extended to the front side of the ring-shaped support member, and an encapsulated tube for encapsulating the outer periphery of the inner tube through the gap is provided to form a double tube portion,
A living body freezing apparatus characterized in that the space between the inner tube and the encapsulated tube is part of the discharge path of the vaporized refrigerant.   The living body freezing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the enveloping tube is an intermediate tube extended from the ring-shaped support member, and a double tube portion is formed by the intermediate tube and the inner tube. It is formed of a flexible member and has a triple tube structure in which an inner tube, an intermediate tube, and an outer tube are arranged in order from the inside, and the ring-shaped space between the outer tube and the intermediate tube is evacuated to a vacuum. While forming the heat insulation layer, the liquid refrigerant ejected from the liquid refrigerant introduction path inside the inner tube is arranged on the triple tube tip side, and is expanded and vaporized in the space on the back side of the probe formed of a metal good heat transfer body, In the biological freezing apparatus for discharging the vaporized refrigerant from the discharge path between the inner tube and the inner tube,
With the probe, the middle tube opening tip is sealed,
Extending the outer tube to the front side from the middle tube opening tip sealing portion, and reducing the diameter of the outer tube tip side at the extending portion,
The probe sealed at the distal end of the intermediate tube is extended into a narrow tube inside the reduced diameter portion of the outer tube, and the extended end is formed in a thick shape to seal the distal end opening of the outer tube reduced diameter portion. A living body freezing apparatus configured as described above.   The living body freezing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the probe surface formed of the metal good heat transfer body is plated with gold or titanium.   The living body freezing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the probe is made of titanium.

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