JP2019077969A - Optical fiber woven fabric and optical nerve-activity measurement support apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an optical fiber woven fabric having a light-transmitting part and a light-emitting part emitting a plane light which are formed by setting the weft density of the optical fiber woven fabric in an appropriate range, allowing the light-emitting part to efficiently emit a leakage light in bending an optical fiber, and also causing no problems in reproductivity and mass productivity; as well as an optical nerve activity measurement support apparatus.SOLUTION: An optical fiber woven fabric 1 is obtained by using an optical fiber as a warp yarn 3 and a yarn including an elastic yarn as weft yarns 4a and 4b. The optical fiber woven fabric comprises a light-transmitting part 6 for transmitting light originated from a light source 2 to a light-emitting part, and a light-emitting part 7 which is located ahead of the light-transmitting part 6 and emits a plane light. A bent angle at which the optical fiber as the warp yarn crosses the weft yarn is smaller in the light-emitting part 7 than in the light-transmitting part 6, and thereby the light-emitting part 7 allows a leakage light 5a-5e to be emitted by bending of the optical fiber. An optical nerve activity measurement support apparatus of the present invention is obtained by connecting the optical fiber woven fabric thereto to irradiate an eyeball with a stimulus light.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber fabric that emits light in the form of a plane at a necessary place and an optical nerve activity measurement support device.

  When performing a patient's intracerebral surgery, the patient's eyeball is irradiated with light under anesthesia, the activity of the optic nerve in the brain is observed, and a support device for performing surgery so as not to damage the optic nerve is proposed (Patent Document 1) An optical fiber fabric used for this purpose has also been proposed (Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-532460 JP, 2009-297296, A

  However, the conventional optical fiber fabric has sharp cuts in the optical fiber to form a light leakage portion, and it is difficult to make accurate cuts, and there are problems in reproducibility and mass productivity.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention forms a light emitting portion that emits light in a plane with the light transmitting portion by setting the weft density of the optical fiber fabric to an appropriate range, and leaks light by bending the optical fiber in the light emitting portion. Provided is an optical fiber fabric and an optic nerve activity measurement support device that emits light efficiently and has no problems with reproducibility and mass productivity.

  The optical fiber fabric of the present invention is an optical fiber fabric in which an optical fiber is a warp and a yarn including an elastic yarn is a weft, and a light transmitting portion for transmitting light from a light source to a light emitting portion, and a surface of the light transmitting portion The light emitting portion includes a light emitting portion that emits light in a shape, and the bending angle at which the optical fiber of the warp crosses with the weft is smaller in the light emitting portion than in the light transmitting portion. The light emitting portion emits leaked light by bending the optical fiber.

  An optic nerve activity measurement support apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the optical fiber fabric for irradiating the eye with stimulating light is connected.

  In the present invention, the bending angle at which the optical fiber of the warp crosses with the weft is smaller in the light emitting part than in the light transmitting part, and the light emitting part emits light leaked by the bending of the optical fiber to efficiently emit light in the necessary area and reproducibility Thus, it is possible to provide an optical fiber fabric and an optic nerve activity measurement support device free from problems with mass production. The light emitting portion emits leaked light due to the bending of the optical fiber, resulting in uniform planar light emission.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of an optical fiber fabric according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view showing a bent state of the warp (optical fiber) of the light transmitting portion of the optical fiber fabric and the light emitting portion. FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a bending angle of a warp (optical fiber). FIG. 4 is a photograph showing the light emitting state of the light transmitting portion and the light emitting portion of the optical fiber fabric. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an optical fiber fabric according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view of using the optical fiber fabric of one embodiment of the present invention for an optic nerve activity measurement support device.

  The optical fiber fabric of the present invention is a fabric in which an optical fiber is a warp and a yarn including an elastic yarn is a weft. The woven fabric includes a light transmission unit that transmits light from a light source such as a light emitting diode (LED) to the light emission unit, and a light emission unit that emits light in the form of a plane beyond the light transmission unit. The light transmission unit does not substantially emit the leaked light, and the planar light emitting unit emits the leaked light. The bending angle at which the optical fiber of the warp crosses with the weft is smaller in the light emitting portion than in the light transmitting portion, and the light emitting portion emits leaked light due to the bending of the optical fiber. The light emitting portion emits leaked light due to the bending of the optical fiber, resulting in uniform planar light emission. In the above, the planar shape may be a flat surface, or may be formed into a shape along the position of the eye of the human face by performing unevenness processing.

  In the optical fiber fabric, it is preferable that the weft density of the light emitting portion is larger than the weft density of the light transmitting portion. When the weft density of the light transmission part is 1, the more preferable weft density ratio is preferably 1.5 to 2.0, and more preferably 1.6 to 2.0. When the weft density is increased, the fabric is firm and the shape of the light emitting surface does not easily change, and stable light emission can be performed. In addition, the bending hardness of the woven fabric is increased, and the protective function of the eyeball is enhanced.

  The light leakage intensity (lux) of the optical fiber fabric of the present invention is preferably 6 times or more, more preferably 7 times or more, and more preferably 8 times or more larger than that of the light transmitting portion. As a result, more efficient light emission is achieved in the planar light emitting unit.

  It is preferable that the angle at which the warp of the light emitting portion crosses with the weft is 168 ° or more, and the angle at which the warp of the light transmitting portion crosses with the weft is less than 168 °. More preferably, the angle at which the warp of the light emitting portion intersects with the weft is 169 ° or more, and the angle at which the warp of the light transmitting portion intersects with the weft is 167 ° or less. As a result, the light transmission unit does not substantially emit leaked light, and the light emitting unit emits light more efficiently. Leakage occurs due to the bending angle of the optical fiber in the light emitting portion, and this becomes light emission. The angle at which the warp of the light emitting portion intersects with the weft is a value obtained from an experiment when using a specific optical fiber as a fabric, and the angle may be different if the material, thickness, number, etc. of the optical fiber are different. is there.

  The weft density of the light transmission part is preferably less than 4 / cm, more preferably 3.5 / cm or less. The lower limit is preferably 2 lines / cm or more, and more preferably 2.5 lines / cm or more. The weft density of the light emitting portion is preferably 4 yarns / cm or more, more preferably 4.5 yarns / cm or more. The upper limit is preferably less than 7 / cm, more preferably 6.5 / cm or less. As a result, the light transmission unit does not substantially emit leaked light, and the light emitting unit emits light with high efficiency due to leaked light. When the weft density is 7 cm or more, the fabric production becomes difficult.

  The fiber optic fabric is preferably a plain weave fabric. In the case of a plain weave fabric, the angle at which the warp intersects with the weft is constant, resulting in uniform planar light emission. It is preferable that both ends in the width direction of the optical fiber fabric be ear tissue in which weft yarns are entwined with warp yarns. As a result, both ends in the width direction are aligned, and the yarn is not frayed.

  In the optical fiber fabric, a light emitting unit may be present inside, a light transmitting unit may be present on both sides of the light emitting unit, and an end of the light transmitting unit on both sides may be connected to a light source. It is preferable that the lengths of the light transmission parts be approximately the same. Thereby, the light amount difference due to the left and right light transmission distance difference is eliminated, and the light emission becomes even more.

  An optical fiber fabric can be used as an example for use in an optic nerve activity measurement support device. For this reason, it is preferable that the optical fiber fabric has a narrow ribbon shape, and the planar light emitting portion be sized to cover both eyes of a human body. As an example, the entire length of the optical fiber fabric is preferably 0.5 to 10 m, the width 0.5 to 20 cm, and the length of the planar light emitting portion 0.5 to 30 cm. More preferably, the total length of the optical fiber fabric is 1 to 5 m, the width is 1 to 7 cm, and the length of the planar light emitting portion is 1 to 15 cm. Moreover, the optical fiber fabric of the present invention can be used for an optic nerve activity measurement support device, preferably emits red light in the light emitting portion and can emit stimulating light to the eye, and is thin and soft and does not interfere with brain surgery. Low cost, disposable, steam or hot water sterilization prior to surgery, and hygienic. The light emitting unit may emit light other than red. For example, it is an arbitrary color such as white, yellow or blue. Even with these colors, when passing through the eyelid, the blood of the eyelid blood vessel turns red and can be stimulating light to the eye.

  The optical fiber used for the warp has a two-layer structure of, for example, a core material called core material and a sheath material called cladding on the outside, and by making the refractive index of the core higher than cladding, the core and cladding The total reflection of light larger than the critical point occurs at the interface of (1), and any optical fiber in which light incident on the core is confined and propagated in the core by the total reflection can be used in the present invention. Types of optical fibers may include quartz optical fibers, polymer clad optical fibers, multicomponent glass optical fibers, and plastic optical fibers. A plastic optical fiber is preferable from the viewpoint of large light quantity transmission, large diameter, high core ratio, flexibility (non-breakable property). As an example, the core material is polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, the cladding material is fluorine resin, the core refractive index is 1.49, the core diameter is 240 μm, the cladding diameter is 250 μm, and the mass is 0.06 g / m. As such a plastic optical fiber (OPF), there is a trade name "CK-10" manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon. Other optical fibers include Toray Industries Inc. “Toray Optical Fivale Terra” and Asahi Kasei Corporation “Plastic Optical Fibers”.

  A yarn including an elastic yarn used for weft yarn has an elastic yarn or the like as a core, and there is a covering yarn in which a non-elastic yarn is coated on this surface. Examples of elastic yarns include polyurethane elastic yarns and polyester elastic yarns. Coated yarns include nylon yarns, polyester yarns and the like. Among these, single covering yarn using nylon false twist yarn is preferable.

  Hereinafter, description will be made using the drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same things. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of an optical fiber fabric according to an embodiment of the present invention. The optical fiber fabric 1 uses an optical fiber as a warp 3, a yarn including an elastic thread as wefts 4a and 4b, the density of the weft 4b is larger than the density of the weft 4a, and the portion composed of the warp 3 and the weft 4a is a light transmission portion The light emitting portion 7 is a portion composed of the warp 3 and the weft 4 b. The warp yarn 3 (optical fiber) on the light source side is converged and connected to the connector 9 of the light emitter 8.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view showing a bent state of the warp (optical fiber) of the light transmitting portion of the optical fiber fabric and the light emitting portion. The bending angle at which the optical fiber of the warp crosses with the weft is smaller in the light emitting part than in the light transmitting part. Thereby, the light from the light source 2 is transmitted to the light emitting unit 7 through the warp 3 (optical fiber) of the light transmitting unit 6, and the light emitting unit 7 emits the leaked light 5a to 5e due to the bending of the optical fiber.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a bending angle of a warp (optical fiber). The bending angle α at which the light emitting portion 7 intersects with the weft 4 b of the warp (optical fiber) 3 is preferably less than 168 °, for example. In the case described above, light leakage is emitted more stably. The bending angle α is within the range confirmed by the experiments of the present inventors and is not absolute, and the fineness (thickness) of the warp 3 and weft 4b, the distance (long) between the weft 4b and the next weft Depending on the rigidity of each yarn, the material of the warp (optical fiber) 3 and the like.

  FIG. 4 is a photograph showing the light emitting state of the light transmitting portion and the light emitting portion of the optical fiber fabric. The light transmitting unit does not emit light substantially, but emits light at the light emitting unit. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of FIG. It can be seen that the weft densities of the light transmitting portion 6 and the light emitting portion 7 are different, the weft density of the light transmitting portion 6 is coarse, and the weft density of the light emitting portion 7 is dense.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an optical fiber fabric according to another embodiment of the present invention. The optical fiber fabric 10 has a light emitting portion 12 at the center, light transmitting portions 11a and 11b on both sides thereof, and ends of the light transmitting portions 11a and 11b on both sides are connected to the light sources 2a and 2b. Thereby, the light amount difference due to the left and right light transmission distance difference is eliminated, and the light emission becomes even more.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view of using the optical fiber fabric of one embodiment of the present invention for an optic nerve activity measurement support device. The optic nerve activity measurement support device 15 attaches the light emitting portion 7 of the optical fiber fabric to the portion of both eyes of the human body 14. The basic structure is the same as shown in FIG. 1, and 13 is a power regulator. When performing a patient's intracerebral surgery, the patient's eye is irradiated with light under anesthesia, the activity of the optic nerve in the brain is observed, and it is used as a support device for the surgery so as not to damage the optic nerve.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically using examples. The measuring method in the Example of this invention and a comparative example was as follows.
<Flex angle of optical fiber>
The angle was measured by observing with an optical microscope (50 × magnification).
Light leakage (emission degree)
(1) Light emitting diode (LED) light source device: manufactured by You Technology Co., Ltd., trade name "UFL-12-08"
(2) Light source power consumption: 12 W
(3) Emitting color: White (4) Luminous flux: 540 to 980 lm

Example 1
<Warp>
The optical fiber used for warp yarn is manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon, trade name "CK-10", core material is polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, cladding material is fluorine resin, core refractive index is 1.49, core diameter is 240 μm, cladding diameter 250 μm, a mass of 0.06 g / m was used.
<Weft>
Polyurethane covering yarn (made by Kyoritsu fiber company, brand name "San Como") 22 decitex was used as a core yarn, and single covering yarn which wound nylon 6 false twisted yarn 33 decitex as covering yarn was used.
<Textiles and their evaluation>
The optical fiber was a warp and the single covering yarn was a weft to produce a plain weave fabric as shown in FIGS. The obtained woven fabric has a width of 30 mm, a total length of 1600 mm, a light transmission portion length of 1300 mm, a weft density of 3.0 in the light transmission portion, and a weft density of 5.4 in the light emitting portion. The The evaluation results of the obtained woven fabric are summarized in Table 1.

(Example 2)
As a weft yarn, a covering yarn in which a polyurethane elastic yarn (manufactured by Asahi Kasei Co., Ltd., trade name "Leica R40") 40 decitex is used as a core yarn and a polyester (PET) yarn 75 decitex is wound as a covering yarn. The other conditions were the same as in Example 1.

(Comparative example 1)
The weft density of the light transmitting portion was also the same as that of Example 1 except that the weft density of the light emitting portion was 3.0 / cm and the optical fiber of the light emitting portion was damaged. The above evaluation results are summarized in Table 1 below.

  As is clear from Table 1, the light emitting portion of the optical fiber fabric of Examples 1 and 2 can obtain high light leakage without damage and can be confirmed to be an optical fiber fabric that emits light efficiently in the necessary area. On the other hand, the light emitting part of the optical fiber fabric of Comparative Example 1 did not reach the level of Examples 1 and 2 much even when scratched. This is because it was difficult to damage the optical fiber uniformly, and at the same time, the weft was damaged at the same time, and the whole was covered with fluff, so that efficient light emission could not be performed.

  The optical fiber fabric of the present invention is suitable for an optic nerve activity measurement support device, and can also be applied to phototherapy (pin-point light irradiation using an optical fiber fabric) for the treatment of neonatal jaundice.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 10 Optical fiber fabric 2, 2a, 2b Light source 3 Optical fiber warp 4a, 4b Weft 5a-5e including an elastic thread Leak 6, 11a, 11b Light transmission part 7, 12 Light emission part 8 Light emitter 9 Light emitter 9 Connector 13 Power adjuster 14 Human body 15 Optic nerve activity measurement support device

Claims (11)

An optical fiber fabric in which an optical fiber is a warp and a yarn containing an elastic yarn is a weft,
A light transmission unit that transmits light from a light source to a light emission unit; and a light emission unit that emits light in the form of a surface beyond the light transmission unit;
The bending angle at which the optical fiber of the warp intersects with the weft is smaller in the light emitting part than in the light transmitting part,
The light emitting part emits light leakage by bending an optical fiber.   The optical fiber fabric according to claim 1, wherein the weft density of the light emitting portion is larger than the weft density of the light transmitting portion.   The optical fiber fabric according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an intensity (lux) of the leaked light is 6 or more times larger in the light emitting portion than in the light transmitting portion.   The optical fiber fabric according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an angle at which the warp of the light emitting portion intersects with the weft is 168 ° or more, and an angle at which the warp of the light transmitting portion intersects the weft is less than 168 °.   The optical fiber fabric according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the weft density of the light transmitting portion is less than 4 / cm, and the weft density of the light emitting portion is 4 / cm or more.   The optical fiber fabric according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the optical fiber fabric is a plain weave fabric.   The optical fiber fabric according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein both ends in the width direction of the optical fiber fabric are ear tissues in which weft yarns are entangled with warp yarns.   The light emitting part exists inside the optical fiber fabric, the light transmitting parts exist on both sides of the light emitting part, and the ends of the light transmitting parts on both sides are connected to the light source. Fiber optic fabric.   The optical fiber fabric according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the optical fiber fabric is an optical fiber fabric for use in an optic nerve activity measurement support device.   The optical fiber fabric according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the optical fiber fabric is in the shape of a narrow ribbon, and the planar light emitting portion has a size covering both eyes of a human body.   An optical nerve activity measurement support apparatus comprising the optical fiber fabric according to any one of claims 1 to 9 for irradiating the eye with stimulating light.