JP2619941B2 - Hyperthermia probe - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a probe for hyperthermia, for example, for hyperthermia of an enlarged prostate.

[Related Art] In recent years, a method for treating prostatic hypertrophy with heat has been considered. This utilizes the fact that heating the prostate at around 43 ° C. cures the benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Conventionally, a catheter provided with a microwave antenna around it is inserted into the urethra and irradiated with microwaves from the antenna to perform heating treatment.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-292173, a conductor has been proposed in which a conductor such as a metal pipe is provided on the outer periphery of an intermediate part of a tube body, thereby concentrating a heating electric field. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, each of the above-mentioned heating methods only installs a microwave antenna or a heating electrode on or near the surface of a target to be heated, for example, the surface of a prostate. Therefore, the affected part such as the prostate cannot be heated uniformly as a whole. In addition, it was not possible to reliably and efficiently heat the whole.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a probe for hyperthermia that can uniformly and efficiently heat a target portion to be heated. is there.

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, a probe for thermotherapy of the present invention is provided with a probe main body inserted into a body cavity, and provided inside the probe main body so as to be able to protrude and retract from the tip thereof. A plurality of needle electrodes for heating to penetrate a target portion to be heated and operating means for exposing the needle electrodes, inserting the probe body into a body cavity, and exposing each of the needle electrodes. In this case, the target is heated by piercing the target portion to be heated.

As described above, the plurality of needle-shaped electrodes are pierced into the portion to be heated and heated, so that the portion to be heated can be uniformly and efficiently heated with certainty.

[Embodiment] FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. This example is for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia. As shown in FIG. 1, the thermotherapy probe 1 has a flexible sheath 2 as a probe main body to be inserted into a body cavity, and a catheter 3 is inserted through the sheath 2. The distal end portion of the catheter 3 is provided so as to protrude from the distal end opening of the sheath 2. A balloon 4 made of rubber is provided at the distal end of the catheter 3. The catheter 3 is flexible, and has a fluid supply hole (not shown) formed in the inside thereof along the axial direction, and this is communicated with the balloon 4. The balloon 4 is normally deflated, but is inflated by the fluid supplied from the fluid supply hole as shown in FIG.

A plurality of needle-shaped electrodes 5 each having a curl outward are provided at the distal end of the sheath 2 so as to be able to protrude and retract from the distal end opening of the sheath 2. Each needle-shaped electrode 5 is connected to the tip of an operation wire (not shown) inserted into the sheath 2, and the operation wire is operated by an operation handle 6 of operation means provided on the hand side. The operating handle 6 is connected to the sheath 2 as shown in FIG.
Is attached to the sheath holding member 7 provided at the base end near the hand so as to be able to advance and retreat. The operation handle 6 is provided with a connection terminal 8 that is electrically connected to the needle electrode 5. The connection terminal 8 is connected to a microwave generator 10 via a microwave transmission cable 9. ing. Further, the operation handle 6 has a base that communicates with the catheter 3.
11 are provided.

The distal end of the sheath 2 is provided with a plurality of needle-like electrodes 5 and a temperature-sensitive element 13 that can freely protrude and retract from the distal end opening of the sheath 2. The temperature sensing element section 13 is made of, for example, a thermocouple, and a temperature measuring cable 14 leading to the thermocouple is connected to the sheath 2.
Is connected to a thermometer 15 installed outside through the inside. The temperature measurement data of the thermometer 15 is stored in a control unit 16 for controlling the microwave generator 10.
It is connected to the.

Next, a method of using the thus configured thermal treatment system will be described. First, with the balloon 4 of the probe 1 deflated, the handle 6 is retracted to the near side. Thereby, the balloon 4 is drawn into the sheath 2 together with the catheter 3. Further, each of the needle-shaped electrodes 5 and the temperature sensing element 13
Is also drawn into the sheath 2.

Therefore, the sheath 2 is inserted into the urethra 17 and the distal end of the sheath 2 is positioned at the enlarged prostate 18 (the affected part). Then, by retracting the sheath 2, the balloon 4, each needle-shaped electrode 5, and the temperature-sensitive element portion are formed as shown in FIG.
13 is exposed from the tip of the sheath 2.

Then, each needle-shaped electrode 5 having a bending habit that curves outward.
Pierce the enlarged prostate 18 respectively. Temperature sensing element 13
Is applied to or penetrated the surface of the prostate 18. In addition, air is supplied to the balloon 3 to expand it. As a result, the balloon 3 is inflated and locked while hitting the wall of the bladder 19 at the back of the enlarged prostate 18, and the probe 1 is fixed.

Then, while measuring the temperature of the prostate 18 with the thermometer 15, the microwave generator 10 is operated to supply microwave energy to each of the needle-shaped electrodes 5 through the microwave transmission cable 9 to emit microwaves. And that prostate 18
Warm. At this time, the temperature of the prostate 18 to be heated is measured by the thermometer 15, and the temperature is 43 ° C (for example, 42 ° C to 42 ° C).
The output of the microwave is controlled by the control unit 16 so as to be around 45 ° C).

Thus, the prostate 18 in the affected part is heated from the inside by the needle-shaped electrode 5 penetrated therethrough, and can be uniformly heated as a whole.

The catheter 3 may be hollow so as to penetrate to the distal end, and a guide wire for assisting insertion of the probe may be inserted through the hollow.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, at least one of the needle electrodes 5 is formed in a hollow shape as shown in FIG.
A thermo-sensitive element section 13 made of a thermocouple is inserted into and provided in 20. According to this, the temperature-sensitive element portion 13 can be pierced into the affected part together with the needle-shaped electrode 5. Therefore, the temperature can be measured more accurately.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the invention. Moreover, the treatment target used is not limited to the prostate. Alternatively, two needle electrodes may be configured as a pair of high-frequency electrodes, and high-frequency energy may be supplied between the electrodes to conduct and heat the electrodes.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the probe for hyperthermia treatment of an affected part in a body cavity according to the present invention is configured such that a plurality of needle-shaped electrodes are pierced into a target site to be heated and heated. It is possible to uniformly and efficiently heat the entire surface.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a thermal treatment probe showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view including the thermal treatment system of the first embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the use of the thermal treatment system of the first embodiment, FIG. 4 is a side view of the vicinity of the tip of a probe for thermal treatment showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a sectional side view of the tip part of a needle-like electrode in an example. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Probe for thermal treatment, 2 ... Sheath, 5 ... Needle electrode, 6 ... Operating handle, 7 ... Sheath holding member, 18
……prostate.

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shinji Hatta 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside O-Limpus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Eiichi Fuse 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O-limpus Optics Inside the Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaaki Hayashi 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O-Rinpas Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinichi Nishigaki 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O-Rinpas Within Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hitoshi Karasawa 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O-Rinpas Optical Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tatsuya Saito 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O-Limpus Optics (56) References JP-A-57-55159 (JP, A) JP-A-60-49803 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A probe for thermal treatment for thermally treating an affected part in a body cavity, a probe body inserted into the body cavity, and a portion to be heated which is provided in the probe body so as to be freely protruded and retracted from the tip thereof. A plurality of heating needle-shaped electrodes that penetrate into the body, and operating means for exposing the needle-shaped electrodes. The probe body is inserted into a body cavity, and each of the needle-shaped electrodes is exposed to a target portion to be heated. A thermotherapy probe characterized by piercing and heating.