JP2019122670A - Ultraviolet radiation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique capable of enhancing safety and convenience of an ultraviolet radiation device.SOLUTION: An ultraviolet radiation device 10 comprises: an ultraviolet light source 30 for outputting an ultraviolet; an integral type sensor 36 for measuring an integral dose of an ultraviolet based on electric characteristic which is varied according to a cumulative absorption amount of the ultraviolet from the ultraviolet light source 30; and a control unit 50 for controlling an operation of the ultraviolet light source 30 based on a measured value of the integral type sensor 36. The integral type sensor 36 may comprise a photochromic material whose state is changed from a first state to a second state in which electric characteristic is different from that in the first state, by absorbing the ultraviolet, and whose state is changed from the second state to the first state by absorbing a visible light.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultraviolet irradiation device.

  UV treatment is used as a treatment method for various skin diseases. For example, for skin diseases such as psoriasis, vitiligo and atopic dermatitis, treatment is performed by irradiating the affected area with long-wave ultraviolet light (UVA wave) or medium-wavelength ultraviolet light (UVB wave) at a predetermined energy amount. . Vitamin D is required for the treatment of osteoporosis, and ultraviolet radiation that produces vitamin D effectively in the body is encouraged. For example, a device is known which promotes the generation of vitamin D by irradiating the palm of the user with ultraviolet light (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP, 2016-140375, A

  In order to obtain an appropriate therapeutic effect in UV treatment, it is necessary to properly control the cumulative dose of UV light.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and one of the exemplary objects thereof is to provide a technology for enhancing the safety and convenience of the ultraviolet irradiation device.

  The ultraviolet irradiation device according to an aspect of the present invention is an integration type that measures an integrated dose of ultraviolet light based on an ultraviolet light source that outputs ultraviolet light and an electrical characteristic that changes in accordance with the cumulative absorption amount of ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source. And a controller configured to control the operation of the ultraviolet light source based on the measurement value of the integration sensor.

  According to this aspect, since the integration type sensor that directly measures the integrated dose of the ultraviolet light is provided, it is possible to more accurately measure the integrated irradiation dose of the ultraviolet light irradiated to the object. Thus, the irradiation of the ultraviolet light can be controlled so as to obtain an appropriate integrated irradiation amount, and the safety and convenience of the irradiation device can be enhanced.

  The integration type sensor changes from the first state to the second state having different electrical characteristics from the first state by absorbing ultraviolet light, and changes the second state to the first state by absorbing visible light. It may contain materials.

  The photochromic material may be a diarylethene compound.

  It may further comprise a visible light source arranged to output visible light towards the integrating sensor. The control unit may turn on the visible light source when the ultraviolet light source is not turned on to reset the integrated dose of the integration type sensor.

  The control unit may control the operation of the visible light source based on the measurement value of the integration sensor.

  It may further comprise an intensity type sensor that measures the intensity of ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source. The control unit may control the operation of the ultraviolet light source based on the measurement values of the integration sensor and the intensity sensor.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the ultraviolet irradiation device which improved convenience and safety can be provided.

It is a figure showing typically the composition of the ultraviolet irradiation device concerning an embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically the structure of an integrating | accumulating type | mold sensor. It is a figure which shows typically the photoreaction of a diarylethene type-compound. It is a figure which shows an example of the diarylethene type-compound couple | bonded with electroconductive particle. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of an ultraviolet irradiation device. It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the irradiation unit which concerns on a modification, and an initialization unit.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the description, the same elements will be denoted by the same reference signs, and overlapping descriptions will be omitted as appropriate.

  FIG. 1: is a figure which shows typically the structure of the ultraviolet irradiation device 10 which concerns on embodiment. The ultraviolet irradiation device 10 is a device for irradiating the skin of a patient with ultraviolet light to perform ultraviolet treatment, and can be used, for example, as a treatment device for skin diseases and exercise equipment diseases.

  The ultraviolet irradiation device 10 includes an irradiation unit 12 and a control unit 14. The ultraviolet irradiation device 10 is used by pressing the irradiation unit 12 against the skin to be irradiated. The inside of the irradiation unit 12 is an irradiation space 16 for irradiating ultraviolet light, and the irradiation target is irradiated with ultraviolet light in the irradiation space 16 surrounded by the irradiation unit 12. According to the present embodiment, the ultraviolet rays can be irradiated inside the irradiation unit 12 to prevent the leakage of the ultraviolet rays to the outside of the irradiation unit 12, so that the ultraviolet treatment can be performed easily and safely.

  The irradiation unit 12 includes a housing 20, an ultraviolet light source 30, an integration sensor 36, an intensity sensor 38, and a visible light source 40.

  The housing 20 is a member that encloses the irradiation space 16. The housing 20 has a box shape that encloses the irradiation space 16 with the upper surface 21 and the side surface 22, and the lower surface 23 is provided with an opening 24 for outputting the ultraviolet light B. The inner surface 26 of the housing 20 is formed of a flat surface. A grip 28 is provided on the outside of the housing 20. The casing 20 may have a dome shape or a bowl shape, or may be formed of a polyhedron having a opening or a part of a polyhedron, for example, a pyramid shape or a shape obtained by cutting a sucker ball. May be In this case, the inner surface 26 may be configured by a curved surface, or may be configured by a combination of a flat surface and a curved surface.

  The housing 20 can be made of any material such as a resin material or a metal material. At least the inner surface 26 of the housing 20 is preferably made of a material having a high reflectance of ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source 30, and is made of, for example, a fluorine resin such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or aluminum (Al). Preferably. The inner surface 26 of the housing 20 may be roughened to diffuse the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source 30. In addition, a light diffusion plate or the like may be additionally disposed between the ultraviolet light source 30 of the ultraviolet light and the opening 24. By these, the intensity distribution of the ultraviolet rays outputted from opening 24 may be equalized.

  The ultraviolet light source 30 is attached to the inside of the upper surface 21 and arranged to output the ultraviolet light toward the opening 24 of the housing 20. The ultraviolet light source 30 includes a plurality of ultraviolet light emitting diodes (LEDs) 32 and a cooling device 34. The ultraviolet LED 32 outputs light of a wavelength used for skin treatment, and outputs, for example, long wavelength ultraviolet light (UVA wave) used for ultraviolet treatment, medium wavelength ultraviolet light (UVB wave) of 290 nm to 320 nm, etc. . As the ultraviolet LED 32, a semiconductor light emitting element of aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) type can be used. The cooling device 34 efficiently dissipates the heat generated when the ultraviolet LED 32 is lit. As the cooling device 34, for example, a heat sink, a heat pipe, an air cooling fan or the like can be used.

  The integrating sensor 36 and the intensity sensor 38 are attached to the inner surface 26 of the housing 20 and provided at a position where the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source 30 can be measured. The integration sensor 36 and the intensity sensor 38 are preferably provided in the vicinity of the opening 24 close to the irradiation target, and are preferably provided at a position closer to the opening 24 than the ultraviolet light source 30. Moreover, the integrating sensor 36 and the strength sensor 38 are preferably provided close to each other, for example, provided so as to be adjacent to each other.

  The integration type sensor 36 and the intensity type sensor 38 are sensors whose measurement methods of ultraviolet light are different from each other. The integrating sensor 36 measures the integrated dose of ultraviolet light, and is configured to change electrical characteristics such as resistance according to the cumulative absorption amount of ultraviolet light. The integrating sensor 36 changes the first state from the first state to a second state having different electrical characteristics from the first state by absorbing ultraviolet light, and returns the second state to the first state by absorbing visible light. The photochromic material can be configured using For example, a diarylethene compound that absorbs ultraviolet light to change to a highly conductive second state and absorbs visible light to change to a low conductive first state can be used as the photochromic material of the integrating sensor 36 .

  On the other hand, the intensity type sensor 38 measures the intensity of ultraviolet light, and is configured to change electrical characteristics such as a current value according to the amount of incident ultraviolet light per unit time. As the intensity type sensor 38, a photodiode formed of a semiconductor material such as silicon (Si) can be used.

  The visible light source 40 is attached to the inner surface 26 of the housing 20 and is arranged to output visible light towards the integrating sensor 36. The visible light source 40 is provided inside the housing 20 at a position facing the integrating sensor 36. The visible light source 40 includes a visible light LED 42. The visible light LED 42 emits visible light for resetting the electrical characteristics of the integrating sensor 36 to the integrating sensor 36 so that the photochromic material of the integrating sensor 36 returns from the second state to the first state. The emission wavelength of the visible light LED 42 is preferably selected according to the light absorption characteristics of the photochromic material in the second state.

  The control unit 14 controls the operation of the irradiation unit 12. The control unit 14 is electrically connected to the irradiation unit 12 via a cable 58. The control unit 14 includes a control unit 50, a power supply unit 52, a display unit 54, and an operation unit 56.

  The control unit 50 has a drive circuit for driving the ultraviolet LED 32 and the visible light LED 42, and controls drive conditions such as the light emission intensity and the lighting time of the ultraviolet light source 30 and the visible light source 40. The control unit 50 turns on the ultraviolet light source 30 upon receiving an input operation for starting irradiation of ultraviolet light. The control unit 50 lights the ultraviolet light source 30 until the integrated dose of ultraviolet light reaches a predetermined value based on the measurement values of the integration type sensor 36 and the intensity type sensor 38, and at the timing when the integrated dose of ultraviolet light becomes a predetermined value. The ultraviolet light source 30 is turned off.

  The control unit 50 calculates the “first integrated dose” based on the measurement value of the integration type sensor 36 and the “second integrated dose” based on the measurement value of the intensity type sensor 38. The control unit 50 turns off the ultraviolet light source 30 at the timing when either the first integrated dose or the second integrated dose reaches the target value, and ends the irradiation process. The control unit 50 holds a formula or table information indicating the correspondence between the resistance value of the integration type sensor 36 and the integration dose, and refers to them to make a first integration from the measurement value (for example, resistance value) of the integration type sensor 36. Calculate the dose. The control unit 50 calculates the second integrated dose by time-integrating the intensity value measured by the intensity sensor 38.

  The control unit 50 may maintain the emission intensity of the ultraviolet light source 30 within a predetermined range based on the measurement value of the intensity sensor 38. The control unit 50 may interrupt the irradiation process by turning off the ultraviolet light source 30 when the emission intensity of the ultraviolet light source 30 is out of the predetermined range based on the measurement value of the intensity type sensor 38.

  The control unit 50 turns on the visible light source 40 when the ultraviolet light source 30 is not turned on, and resets the integrated dose of the integration type sensor 36. When receiving the input operation of the initialization operation of integration type sensor 36, control unit 50 turns on visible light source 40, and after the measured value (for example, resistance value) of integration type sensor 36 recovers to the initial value, visible light source 40 is turned on. Turn off the light to complete the initialization process.

  The power supply unit 52 supplies power necessary for the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation device 10. The power supply unit 52 converts, for example, AC power supplied from a commercial power supply into DC power of a predetermined voltage, and supplies the DC power to the irradiation unit 12, the control unit 50, the display unit 54, and the operation unit 56. The power supply unit 52 may include a storage battery capable of charging and discharging, and may be configured such that the ultraviolet irradiation device 10 can operate only with the power of the storage battery.

  The display unit 54 is configured of a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays a menu for receiving an input operation from the operation unit 56, and a message indicating the operation state of the irradiation unit 12 such as “during irradiation” and “end of irradiation”. The display unit 54 displays a screen for setting an irradiation condition such as an operation of start and stop of the ultraviolet irradiation processing and an irradiation amount of the ultraviolet light. The display unit 54 also displays a screen for performing an operation of starting and stopping the visible light irradiation process for initializing the integration type sensor 36. The display unit 54 may display information such as the light emission intensity and integrated dose of the ultraviolet light source 30 based on the measurement values of the integration sensor 36 and the intensity sensor 38, or the elapsed time or remaining time of the irradiation process May be displayed.

  The operation unit 56 is configured of switches, buttons, and the like arranged next to the display unit 54. The operation unit 56 may be configured integrally with the display unit 54, or may be configured as a so-called touch panel.

  FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing the configuration of the integrating sensor 36. As shown in FIG. The integrating sensor 36 includes a substrate 60, a first electrode 61, a second electrode 62, photochromic molecules 64, and conductive particles 66. The photochromic molecules 64 and the conductive particles 66 are alternately connected to each other and configured in a fibrous form. The first electrode 61 and the second electrode 62 are provided on the substrate 60, and the first electrode 61 and the second electrode 62 are connected by the photochromic molecules 64 and the conductive particles 66 configured in a fiber shape. When the photochromic molecule 64 absorbs ultraviolet light and changes to the second state of high conductivity, the resistivity between the first electrode 61 and the second electrode 62 changes according to the number of molecules of the photochromic molecule 64 changed to the second state. descend. As a result, the integrating sensor 36 can measure the cumulative amount of absorption of ultraviolet light as a change in resistivity.

FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing the photoreaction of a diarylethene compound. The chemical formula (1) on the left is a structural formula of the low-conductivity first state diarylethene compound, and the chemical formula (2) on the right is a structural formula of a highly conductive second-state diarylethene compound. The substituents R ₁ and R ₂ bonded to the left and right thiophene rings are alkyl groups, and are, for example, an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms or a cycloalkyl group having 3 to 7 carbon atoms. The substituents R ₁ and R ₂ are, for example, a methyl group (—CH ₃ ).

In FIG. 3, in the first state (1), the ring-opened ring between the substituents R ₁ and R ₂ bound to each of the left and right thiophene rings is open, and the left and right thiophene rings are doubled via ethene. Combined. As a result, the conductivity between the left and right thiophene rings is low. On the other hand, in the second state (2), the substituents R ₁ and R ₂ bonded to each of the left and right thiophene rings are bonded and closed, and the left and right thiophene rings are conjugated double bonds. As a result, the π electron is delocalized between the left and right thiophene rings, resulting in a highly conductive state.

  The diarylethene compound shown in FIG. 3 absorbs ultraviolet light and changes from the first state to the second state, absorbs visible light and changes from the second state to the first state. This photoreaction is reversible and has high durability that can be repeated 10,000 times or more. As a result, by using a diarylethene compound as illustrated, a highly reliable integrating sensor 36 can be configured.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the diarylethene compound 68 bound to the conductive particles 66. The diarylethene compound 68 is connected to the conductive particle 66 via a thiol group (-S) bonded to each of the left and right benzene rings. For example, by using metal nanoparticles such as gold (Au) or silver (Ag) as the conductive particles 66, metal nanoparticles can be bonded to the thiol groups at both ends of the diarylethene compound 68. As a result, it is possible to form a fibrous structure in which the conductive particles 66 and the diarylethene compound 68 are alternately connected to each other. By forming such a fibrous structure as a thin film on the substrate 60, it is possible to form an integrating sensor 36 having a structure as shown in FIG.

  In addition, the connection structure of the conductive particle 66 and the diarylethene compound 68 does not have to be configured to be single-stranded, and a plurality of diarylethene compounds 68 are bonded to one conductive particle 66 to form a branched connection structure. May be formed. As a result, the connection structure of the conductive particles 66 and the diarylethene compound 68 may be formed in a mesh shape. The connection structure of the conductive particles 66 and the diarylethene compound 68 may be arranged so as to overlap in the thickness direction of the substrate 60.

  The first electrode 61 and the second electrode 62 may be connected only by the diarylethene compound 68 without using the conductive particles 66. For example, a thin film may be used in which the diarylethene compound molecules are vacuum deposited on the substrate 60 and the diarylethene compound molecules are deposited in an amorphous state. In this case, each diarylethene compound molecule may be oriented regularly or may be randomly oriented. For example, by regularly orienting each diarylethene compound molecule, the conductivity when absorbing a large amount of ultraviolet light can be lowered, and the rate of change in resistance due to the absorption of ultraviolet light can be increased. The alignment characteristics of each diarylethene compound molecule can be adjusted by changing the atmospheric pressure (degree of vacuum) and the substrate temperature at the time of vacuum deposition.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation device 10. The irradiation condition (for example, irradiation amount) of the ultraviolet light is input in the control unit 14 (S10), the irradiation unit 12 is arranged on the irradiation object (for example, the skin of the patient) (S12) Do (S14). The ultraviolet light source 30 is turned on and the irradiation target is irradiated with ultraviolet light, and the integrated ultraviolet sensor 36 and the intensity sensor 38 measure the ultraviolet light (S16). If the first integrated dose based on the integrating sensor 36 does not reach the target value (N in S18) and the second integrated dose based on the intensity sensor 38 does not reach the target value (N in S20), Irradiation of ultraviolet light is continued. When the first integrated dose based on the integration type sensor 36 reaches the target value (Y in S18), or when the second integrated dose based on the intensity type sensor 38 reaches the target value (Y in S20), an ultraviolet light source 30 is extinguished (S22), and the control unit 14 displays that the irradiation process has been completed (S24). Thereafter, the irradiation unit 12 is removed from the irradiation target (S26). The initialization start operation is performed in the control unit 14 (S28), and the visible light from the visible light source 40 is irradiated to the integration type sensor 36 until the integration type sensor 36 returns to the initial state (S30).

  In the present embodiment, the target value of the first integrated dose based on the integrating sensor 36 and the target value of the second integrated dose based on the intensity sensor 38 may be set to the same value or different values from each other. It may be set. If the same value is set, the target values of the first integrated dose and the second integrated dose may be set based on the irradiation conditions input through the control unit 14. On the other hand, when different values are set, the target value of the second integrated dose is variably set based on the irradiation condition input through the control unit 14, while the target value of the first integrated dose is set to a fixed value. It may be done. In this case, the target value of the first integrated dose may be the upper limit value of the integrated dose that is considered safe in ultraviolet treatment.

  According to the present embodiment, by measuring the integrated dose using two types of sensors having different measurement principles, it is possible to more appropriately control the integrated dose of the ultraviolet light irradiated to the irradiation target. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the irradiation target from being irradiated with excessive ultraviolet light, and to enhance the safety and convenience of the ultraviolet irradiation device 10.

  The ultraviolet irradiation device 10 can be used for internal synthesis of vitamin D for treatment of musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoporosis and salpekonia by being configured to output wide band ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 280 nm to 320 nm. In addition, by configuring so as to output a narrow band ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 308 nm or 311 nm, it can be used for treatment of skin diseases such as psoriasis and white spots.

  The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. It is understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various design changes are possible, various modifications are possible, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. It is about

  In the above-mentioned embodiment, it showed about the case where integration type sensor 36 and strength type sensor 38 were combined. In a modification, only the integrating sensor 36 may be used to control the irradiation amount of ultraviolet light. Since the integrated dose of ultraviolet light can be directly measured by using the integration type sensor 36, the integrated dose of ultraviolet light irradiated to the irradiation target can be more appropriately controlled.

  In the above-mentioned embodiment, it showed about the case where the visible light source 40 is provided in the irradiation unit 12. FIG. In a modification, the visible light source 40 may not be attached to the irradiation unit 12, and for example, the visible light source may be provided in an initialization unit separate from the irradiation unit 12.

  FIG. 6 is a view schematically showing the configuration of the irradiation unit 112 and the initialization unit 118 according to a modification. The irradiation unit 112 is different from the above-described embodiment in that the visible light source 40 is not provided. The initialization unit 118 includes a mounting table 170 and a visible light source 140. A protrusion 174 is provided on the upper surface 172 of the mounting table 170. The visible light source 140 includes a visible light LED 142 provided on the side surface of the protrusion 174.

  The irradiation unit 112 is set on the upper surface 172 of the mounting table 170 for the initialization process of the integrating sensor 36. The protruding portion 174 of the mounting table 170 is located inside the housing 20 of the irradiation unit 112, and the integrating sensor 36 of the irradiation unit 112 and the visible light LED 142 face each other. By turning on the visible light source 140 in this state, the integration type sensor 36 can be irradiated with visible light to initialize the integration type sensor 36. The upper surface 172 of the mounting table 170 may be provided with a groove for receiving the lower surface 23 of the housing 20, and is visible at a position corresponding to the integrating sensor 36 by setting the irradiation unit 112 in alignment with the groove. The initialization unit 118 may be configured to align the light LEDs 142.

  In the above-mentioned embodiment, although irradiation unit 12 and control unit 14 are constituted as another object, in a modification, irradiation unit 12 and control unit 14 may be constituted in one. When the ultraviolet irradiation device 10 is configured to be driven by the power of the storage battery, the power may be supplied from the initialization unit 118 and the storage battery may be charged by setting the irradiation unit 12 in the initialization unit 118 described above. . Thereby, charging and initialization of the ultraviolet irradiation device 10 may be performed simultaneously.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... ultraviolet irradiation device, 12 ... irradiation unit, 14 ... control unit, 30 ... ultraviolet light source, 36 ... integration type sensor, 38 ... intensity type sensor, 40 ... visible light source, 50 ... control part.

Claims (6)

UV light source that outputs UV light,
An integrating sensor that measures the integrated dose of ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source based on electrical characteristics that change according to the cumulative absorption amount of ultraviolet light;
And a control unit configured to control an operation of the ultraviolet light source based on a measurement value of the integration type sensor.   The integrating sensor changes from a first state to a second state having different electrical characteristics from the first state by absorbing ultraviolet light and absorbs visible light to absorb the visible light from the second state to the first state The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1, comprising a photochromic material that changes into.   The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 2, wherein the photochromic material is a diarylethene compound. It further comprises a visible light source arranged to output visible light towards said integrating sensor,
The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the control unit turns on the visible light source when the ultraviolet light source is not turned on, and resets an integrated dose of the integration type sensor.   The ultraviolet light irradiation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control unit controls an operation of the visible light source based on a measurement value of the integration type sensor. It further comprises an intensity type sensor that measures the intensity of ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source,
The said control part controls operation | movement of the said ultraviolet light source based on the measurement value of the said integral type sensor and the said intense | strong type sensor, The ultraviolet irradiation device as described in any one of Claim 1 to 5 characterized by the above-mentioned.

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