JP2014155552A - Photoelectric probe device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photoelectric probe device that has no instability of electrical contact with a human body surface, requires no alignment of an optical axis with an electrical contact point and can simultaneously perform two kinds of electric and optical treatments.SOLUTION: A photoelectric probe device having a light generation part 10 and a current generation part 20 comprises a probe head 30 that uses an optical fiber 11 to guide light generated by the light generation part 10, uses a conductive wire 22 to guide current generated by the current generation part 20, and almost simultaneously directs and supplies the guided light and current to a same section on a human body surface. The probe head 30 comprises: a conductive electrode (a probe electrode) 31 that conducts electricity by coming into contact with the human body surface; an electrode holder 36 that is electrically insulated from the conductive electrode; and the optical fiber 11 that is provided in an inner cavity. A light emitting hole 33 is located within a surface area in contact with the human body surface in the conductive electrode and is arranged at a position where a light outputting end face of the optical fiber does not project outward from a surface of the conductive electrode.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique of a probe apparatus that enables both weak current and light to be simultaneously applied and irradiated to the same part of a human body in health and beauty equipment technology.

Treatment of body disorders, muscle pain, neuralgia, trauma, etc. has been performed by applying electricity to the human body. Recently, it has begun to be used for the treatment of shallow parts of the body, especially skin diseases, by controlling weak currents, and by expanding the current control method according to the treatment field, its application field is expanding to the beauty field. .
Although the current controlled specifically for the application field is used, in many cases, the method of energizing the human body is electrically performed by the practitioner using two metal rods having a hemispherical tip as a probe electrode pair. It is held by hand through an insulated holder case, and the distal end of the two metal rods are lightly pressed against the surface of the human body around the patient's treatment site and slid while touching to select the current-carrying site. In addition, one plate electrode is attached and fixed to a specific part of the human body, and one probe electrode of a metal rod is slid along the surface of the human body surface around the treatment place as a probe electrode pair.
Usually, in order to efficiently energize the human body, a conductive gel is applied to the interface between the electrode tip and the human body surface to lower the contact electric resistance.

  On the other hand, so-called laser light, light emitting semiconductor diode (LED) light or the like is irradiated on the skin surface to activate skin cells by utilizing a photodynamic therapy (photodynamic therapy) effect. Phototherapy has begun to verify that it has a facial effect.

Among the above, the former applies the optimum current from the power source through the probe electrode to the inside (depth 1 cm or less) from the skin surface, while the latter transmits the light from the light source on the skin surface (depth 1 mm). However, the former is incident on the surface of the human body as electric energy and the latter as light energy.
Both are said to activate skin cells, but with regard to a specific technique that combines these two types of treatment methods, a conductive pad that is attached to the affected part of the body and allows current to flow is used as a transparent plastic plate that transmits infrared rays. An electrotherapy device is known which includes a transparent electrode provided thereon and a conductive adhesive pad that transmits infrared rays and adheres to the affected part of the body (see Patent Document 1).

  In Patent Document 1, an optically transparent material layer such as a conductive TiO film is bonded as an electrode to a substrate made of a transparent plastic plate of a light transparent material, and a transparent and conductive adhesive pad is further disposed thereon, as a whole. By adhering and fixing to the affected part of the body, the affected part can be irradiated without blocking light from a light source such as an LED disposed at the rear part away from the human body (see FIG. 4 of Patent Document 1). ), A method that enables two types of treatment as described above simultaneously.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-5348

  However, in the case of the electrotherapy device disclosed in Patent Document 1, since it is composed of a conductive pad and a transparent plastic plate, there is a problem in that contact with a human body surface having a complicated curved surface cannot be sufficiently maintained. That is, since the surface of the human body has a complicated curved surface depending on the place, electrical contact with the surface of the human body cannot be sufficiently maintained unless a dedicated electrode substrate that matches the curved surface of the place is prepared for each treatment place.

In addition, the position of the light source that emits light from the back of the electrode substrate and the position of the electrode need to be adjusted to align the optical axis each time the location of the affected area to be irradiated is changed. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to obtain a sufficient effect because it is difficult in actual treatment. In addition, in order to energize only the narrow local affected area through the electrode substrate and perform light irradiation from behind, a mask for shielding the irradiation of the human body other than the affected area is provided according to the location of the affected area. It is necessary.
That is, in the electrotherapy device disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to sweep the affected area to be treated along the surface of the human body, so that there is a problem that the treatment can be performed only on a small part of the affected area.

  In view of the above situation, the present invention eliminates the instability of electrical contact with the human body surface, does not require alignment between the optical axis and the electrical contact point, and can perform both electrical and light treatments simultaneously. An object is to provide a probe device.

In order to achieve the above object, the photoelectric probe device of the present invention has a light generator and a current generator,
The light generated in the light generation unit is guided by an optical fiber, the current generated in the current generation unit is conducted by an electric conductor, and the guided light and the conducted current are substantially simultaneously placed on the same surface of the human body. A probe head for guiding and supplying is provided.

The probe head in the photoelectric probe device of the present invention is composed of a conductive electrode that contacts the surface of the human body and conducts to the surface of the human body, an electrode holder that is electrically insulated from the conductive electrode, and an optical fiber.
Here, a cavity is provided inside the conductive electrode.
Also, an insertion hole into which the optical fiber can be inserted into the cavity and a light emission hole provided on the surface of the conductive electrode on the opposite side of the insertion hole are provided.
The light emission hole is located in a surface region in contact with the human body surface of the conductive electrode, and is disposed at a position where the light output end face of the optical fiber does not protrude outside the surface of the conductive electrode.

The probe head in the photoelectric probe device of the present invention is inside the probe head, and has a diameter of 1 to 5 millimeters and a thickness of 3 to 3 between the light output end face of the optical fiber and the opening of the light emission hole. At least one of a 10 mm light transparent window and an optical lens having a diameter of 1 to 10 mm and a focal length of 1 to 10 mm is mounted.
Then, the light emitted from the light emission hole is prevented from being attenuated inside the probe head, and the light emission efficiency from the light emission hole is improved.

  According to the present invention, even if a transparent electrode film is not used, the electric conduction between the probe electrode and the human skin surface is not affected, so that the current treatment and the light treatment are performed at the same time without placing an operational burden on the practitioner. Since it can be performed on the affected area, a synergistic effect between the two can be obtained, and the necessary treatment time can be shortened, so that the labor burden on both the practitioner and the practitioner can be reduced.

Configuration diagram of photoelectric probe device of embodiment 1 The enlarged view of the probe electrode front-end | tip part of the photoelectric probe apparatus of Example 1

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The scope of the present invention is not limited to the following examples and illustrated examples, and many changes and modifications can be made.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an embodiment of the photoelectric probe device of the present invention.
In the photoelectric probe device of this embodiment, the optical fiber 11 that transmits the light generated by the light generation unit 10 is appropriately connected to the probe electrode 31 inside the probe head 30 disposed in the vicinity of the affected part to be treated through an optical connector as appropriate. To guide the light. The optical fiber 11 is mounted and fixed inside an internal cavity 32 opened through the probe electrode 31 in the axial direction. The optical fiber 11 is a multimode transmission optical fiber or a bundle thereof.
On the other hand, the generated current is fed from the current output terminal pair 21 of the current generation unit 20 to the pair of probe electrodes 31 through the electric conductor 22.
In addition, although the probe electrode 31 is drawn in the cylindrical shape in drawing, it is not restricted to a cylindrical shape.

  The probe head 30 is held by hand and moved along the surface of the human body. However, when the practitioner's bare hand directly grasps the probe electrode 31, the current flows to the body of the practitioner, and thus does not flow to the skin tissue of the important practitioner. Therefore, the probe electrode 31 is covered with an electrode holder 36 made of an electrical insulator so that it can be easily held with one hand of the practitioner.

Therefore, the probe electrode 31 allows the tip of the probe electrode pair to be aligned and brought into contact with a necessary part of the body of the person to be treated, and can be swept along the skin surface. It is possible to change easily according to.
That is, the probe head 30 includes a probe electrode 31 that contacts the surface of the human body and energizes the surface of the human body, an electrode holder 36 that is electrically insulated from the probe electrode 31, and an optical fiber inserted into the electrode internal cavity 32 from the insertion port side. 11 is located in a region plane in contact with the human body surface of the probe electrode 31 and the optical fiber output end face 12 is connected to the probe electrode 31. Arrange it so that it does not protrude outward from the surface.

In the above configuration, the cross-sectional area of the output end face 12 of the optical fiber 11 (diameter 3 mm or less) is extremely small (10%) compared to the contact area (0.1 to 1.0 cm ² ) with the human skin that the probe electrode 31 has. Therefore, the light beam can be supplied to the skin surface at the same time without impairing the contact area amount of the electrode necessary for supplying power to the skin surface.
Further, since the conductive gel film is almost transparent, even if fresh gel enters and fills the entire inside of the light emitting hole 33, the light beam is incident on the skin surface without being attenuated. Further, by filling the light emitting hole 33 with the light transparent window 34 and / or the micro optical lens 35, it is possible to prevent filling and eliminate the need for cleaning the inside of the light emitting hole 33.

Further, since the electrode holder 36 containing the entire probe head can be held by the practitioner's hand, the treatment location can be freely selected and changed freely.
Therefore, even if a transparent electrode film is not used, the electric conduction between the probe electrode and the human skin surface is hardly affected, so that the current treatment and the light treatment can be performed simultaneously on the same affected part without placing an operational burden on the practitioner. It is possible to achieve this, and a synergistic effect of both can be obtained.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the probe electrode tip of the probe head 30. The optical fiber 11 is inserted into the electrode internal cavity 32 opened along the axial direction inside the probe electrode 31 and fixed by the optical fiber support member 13. At the tip of the probe electrode 31 in contact with the skin surface, a light emission hole 33 is opened as an extension of the electrode internal cavity 32. Light is emitted from the fiber output end face 12 installed at a distance of several millimeters to 10 millimeters toward the exit of the light emission hole 33.

  A light transparent window 34 having a diameter of 1 to 5 mm and a thickness of 3 to 10 mm is provided between the output end face 13 of the optical fiber 11 and the light emission hole 33 formed in the electrode surface so that the surface matches the electrode surface. Adjust the position and fix it with an adhesive. Due to the presence of the light transparent window 34, it is possible to prevent the possibility of scattering and attenuating the light emitted from the output end face 12 of the optical fiber due to accumulation of conductive gel or impurities due to impurities in the light emitting hole 33. Further, in order to further suppress the angular spread of the emitted light and increase the light density of the emitted light to strengthen the treatment effect, the diameter of 1 to 10 millimeters between the fiber output end face 12 and the light transparent window 34, A micro optical lens 35 having a focal length of 1 to 30 mm is inserted. The micro optical lens 35 collects the light emitted from the fiber output end face 12 and efficiently guides the light toward the light emission hole 33.

  In order to energize the human body using the probe electrode 31 described above, it is generally necessary to contact the human body as a plus / minus electrode pair. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, another probe head paired with the probe head 30 is connected to the current generator through the current output 2 terminal 21 as a current return path, and is separated from the probe head 30 as much as possible. Instead, sweep along the skin surface in parallel with the movement. Of course, the electrode as the current return path may be fixed at a location distant from the skin surface. In that case, there is a possibility that the effect of the treatment may be reduced as compared with the case where current is locally applied to the face using the electrode pair. In any case, the probe electrode 31 as a current return path is necessary to energize the human body through the skin, but the probe electrode equipped with the optical fiber so that light can be emitted is only one electrode to be swept.

  Needless to say, the current generator 20 and the light generator 10 and the probe head 30 can be easily attached and detached with an electrical connector and an optical connector, respectively, so that the head can be easily replaced.

  When a plurality of light beams having different wavelengths are mixed and used, the optical fibers for guiding the light generated by the light generators are bundled and inserted in the electrode internal cavity 32 of the probe electrode 31. Alternatively, after being combined by the optical multiplexer, the light is incident on and guided to a single transmission fiber, and is similarly emitted from the light emission hole 33 at the tip of the probe electrode 31.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Light generation part 11 Optical fiber 12 Optical fiber output end surface 13 Optical fiber support material 20 Current generation part 21 Current output terminal 22 Electrical conductor 30 Probe head 31 Probe electrode 32 Electrode internal cavity 33 Light emission hole 34 Light transparent window 35 Micro optical lens 36 Electrode holder 40 Power supply / control unit

Claims (3)

Having a light generator and a current generator,
The light generated in the light generation unit is guided by an optical fiber,
Conducting the current generated in the current generating part with an electrical lead,
A photoelectric probe device comprising: a probe head that guides and supplies light guided and electrically conducted current to the same location on the surface of a human body substantially simultaneously. The probe head is
A conductive electrode in contact with the human body surface and conducting to the human body surface;
An electrode holder electrically insulated from the conductive electrode;
With optical fiber,
Consisting of
A cavity is provided inside the conductive electrode;
An insertion hole through which the optical fiber can be inserted into the cavity, and a light emission hole provided on the surface of the conductive electrode on the opposite side of the insertion hole;
The light emission hole is located in a surface region in contact with the human body surface of the conductive electrode, and the light output end face of the optical fiber is disposed at a position that does not protrude outside the surface of the conductive electrode. The photoelectric probe device according to claim 1. Inside the probe head,
Between the light output end face of the optical fiber and the opening of the light exit hole,
A light transparent window having a diameter of 1 to 5 millimeters and a thickness of 3 to 10 millimeters;
With an optical lens having a diameter of 1 to 10 millimeters and a focal length of 1 to 10 millimeters,
At least one is installed,
3. The photoelectric probe according to claim 2, wherein light emitted from the light emission hole is prevented from being attenuated inside the probe head, and light emission efficiency from the light emission hole is improved. apparatus.