JP4606449B2 - Automatic injection equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a contrast medium injection device used for X-ray CT image diagnosis, MRI image diagnosis, and the like.

  Contrast agents are used for diagnosis of X-ray CT (computed tomography) images, MRI, angio images (angiographic images), and the like. Since a contrast medium is a liquid having a high viscosity, and it is considerably troublesome to inject it by human power, an automatic contrast medium injection apparatus has recently been used.

  The automatic injection device 100 of FIG. 7 is an example thereof, and is called a double head type because two syringes can be mounted. FIG. 8 schematically shows the mechanism of the automatic injection apparatus. The contrast medium syringe 1a is set on the A head side, the physiological saline syringe 1b is set on the B head side, and the Y-type tube 2 is connected to the tips of the two syringes. A catheter is connected to the tip of the Y-shaped tube so that a contrast medium and physiological saline can be injected.

  Saline is primarily used to flush the tube after injecting contrast agent to prevent blood from clotting in the catheter and tube. It is also used for the purpose of diluting the contrast agent.

  In the main operation of the apparatus, with the syringe piston on the B head side stopped, the syringe piston on the A head side is advanced to inject a necessary amount of contrast agent, and then the A head side is stopped before the B head is stopped. Flush with saline by advancing the side. Further, when diluting the contrast agent, the syringe pistons of both the A head and the B head are moved forward, and the liquid of the AB heads is mixed and diluted by the Y-type tube.

  7 and 8, the rotations of the motors 4a and 4b on the A head side and B head side are transmitted to the motor gears 6a and 6b via the gear heads 5a and 5b, and are connected to the ball screws 8a and 8b. The speed is reduced to a predetermined gear ratio and transmitted to the screw gears 7a and 7b, and the ball screws 8a and 8b are rotated. Then, the ball nut units 9a and 9b engaged with the ball screws 8a and 8b are converted into linear motion, and the piston holders 3a and 3b holding the syringe piston are moved forward or backward.

  However, especially in the case of large syringes, the piston moves slowly and smoothly, so it may not be immediately obvious which head is moving. Therefore, it may be a burden for the user to confirm the operation. This is not only when the number of heads is 2 or more, but even when the head is a single head, it is not immediately known whether the head is stationary or moving, and operates in the same way. Confirmation of was sometimes a burden.

  Furthermore, during X-ray CT imaging and MRI imaging, there are cases in which operation is performed from an operation room remote from the contrast medium injection device. In such a case, it is extremely possible to observe the movement of the head from a location away from the observation window. Convenient.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides an automatic injection device that can easily check the movement of each head in an automatic injection device that can be equipped with one or more syringes. Objective.

  The present invention relates to an automatic injection device having a piston holder for holding a syringe piston and at least one series of heads provided with a drive mechanism for moving the piston holder back and forth, and a notification for notifying the user of the operating state of the head. The present invention relates to an automatic injection device characterized by comprising means.

  As the notification means, a device that emits light can be used. Moreover, a sound may be generated.

  Since the operation state of each head can be confirmed by light or sound, the confirmation operation is very easy for the user.

  In the present invention, the head refers to a series of one syringe holding / driving mechanism capable of moving the syringe piston forward and backward in order to hold a syringe and inject and suck a chemical solution and the like.

  The number of heads provided in the automatic injection device of the present invention is 1 or 2 or more. When the number of heads is 2 or more, a plurality of heads may be independent casings, but they are usually incorporated in the same casing. preferable.

  The disclosure of the present invention or the present application is used in an apparatus having one or more head series, and in each case, the stationary and moving (forward, backward) of each head can be easily confirmed by light or / and sound. In particular, in the case of a multi-head having a head series number of 2 or more, it is possible to easily confirm which head is operating, and therefore the present invention is further useful. In addition, as a multi-head, a multi-head having three or more heads is used, but a double-head type having two heads is often used. At that time, as described above, for contrast medium injection and saline injection Most commonly used.

  The automatic injection device of the present invention is used for injection of a contrast medium, but is also used for injection of other chemicals other than the contrast medium.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in the automatic injection apparatus which can mount a some syringe, the automatic injection apparatus which can confirm the movement of each head easily can be provided. In particular, X-ray CT imaging and MRI imaging may be operated from an operation room away from the contrast medium injection device. In such a case, the movement of the head can be observed from a location away from the observation window. Convenient.

  First, a double head type having two heads will be described as an example. The automatic injection device in FIG. 1 is an example of a device that uses an LED (light emitting diode) as a notification means of the operating state of the head. In this example, when the A head is in an operating state (forward or backward) in order to move the A head side piston holder 13a during operation of the A head syringe 11a, the A head LED 21a provided on the A head side is in the ON state. When the B head is in an operating state (forward or backward) to move the B head side piston holder 13b during the operation of the B head syringe 11b, the B head LED 21b provided on the B head side is turned on. Each operation state is shown. When the A head and B head are operating simultaneously, both LEDs are turned on. When each head is stopped, each LED is turned off.

  Here, the ON state of the LED can be any lighting method as long as it can notify the operation state, while the OFF state of the LED is a display method in which the stop state is known. Anything is acceptable. Commonly speaking, the OFF state of the LED is displayed as extinguished (no light emission), but the ON state of the LED may be merely lit (continuous light emission), blinking (repetition of light emission and extinction), or a plurality of It can also be displayed more effectively by LEDs.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, two LEDs are used in pairs, and the states of (a) and (b) are alternately switched as shown in FIG. The notification effect is enhanced by showing. In addition, by using three or more LEDs as shown in FIG. 3, by switching the state in the order of (a) → (b) → (c) → (a) → (b) → (c) → It is also possible to display the traveling direction of the head.

  The specific embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be further described.

  In the automatic injection device 200 of this embodiment, a pair of LEDs is used as a means for notifying the head operating state as described above, and a pair of LEDs is also used for various state displays. As shown in FIG. 4, the signal LED 22 displays an online state (a communication state with an external controller, for example, a synchronization state with a CT apparatus, etc.), a forward state, and a backward state. The air check LED 23 warns the user of the presence or absence of air in the syringe, and the “check request state” is canceled by checking the presence or absence of air and pressing the release button 24 after a necessary operation.

  This automatic injection device has operation buttons 25a and 25b on the main body, and each operation can be operated manually by using the forward, backward, acceleration and return operation buttons as shown in FIG.

  Furthermore, this device is provided with a jog dial 26, and by turning this, the head can be manually advanced or retracted little by little very slowly. Usually, when a medical solution such as a contrast medium is injected into a blood vessel, it is necessary to confirm whether the catheter, the needle, etc. have punctured the blood vessel reliably. When the head is slightly retracted by the jog dial, if blood flows back into the tube, it can be determined that the blood vessel is reliably secured. Accordingly, the backward and forward operations are extremely delicate, and it is hardly possible to visually recognize whether the head is moving forward or backward. Therefore, when the jog dial is being operated, when the jog LED 27 is displayed, it is possible to check the head forward and backward very easily.

  Table 1 shows a display example corresponding to a representative state. In this display method, only when the head is moving for the injection operation, the LEDs 21a and 21b are turned on, and when the operation buttons 25a and 25b are used to move forward and backward, they are turned off. The LEDs 21a and 21b may be displayed in the ON state in all cases where the head is moving.

  In addition, in the above description, the installation position of each LED is an example, and can be provided at an arbitrary position. For example, in FIG. 6, the syringe 11a on the A head side is cut out, but the A head LED 31a and the B head LED 31b are provided in the syringe outer cylinder mounting recesses 32a and 32b (however, the recess 32b is hidden in the syringe 11b). )), And the syringe is illuminated with LED from below. In this case, it may be possible to more easily confirm the observation of the state of the chemical solution in the syringe, the air check, and the observation of the movement of the head.

  Moreover, although demonstrated using LED in the above description, you may use light emission sources other than LED. Also, notification by sound is possible instead of light. In particular, the injection may be notified by sound instead of the A head LED and the B head LED. Further, a combination of light and sound may be used.

  Furthermore, the present invention is applicable not only to the double head type having two heads but also to a multi-head type having a large number of heads.

  Next, FIG. 9 shows an example of a single head type in which the number of heads is one. In the case of the single head in this example, as in the case of the double head type, the head LED 41 is turned on when the head is in an operating state (forward or backward) in order to move the piston holder 13 when operating the syringe 11. State, indicating the operating state. The notification method can be set similarly to the double head type. As for the signal LED 42, as shown in FIG. 4, the online state (communication state with the external controller, for example, the synchronization state with the CT apparatus), the forward state and the backward state are displayed, and the air check LED 43, The functions of the release button 44, the operation button 45, the jog dial 46, and the jog LED 47 can be made to function in the same manner as in the case of the double head.

  As described above, in the case of the single head type, there is no need to notify the two heads separately as in the double head type, but the jog dial operation can be performed by notifying the user of the stationary and operation (forward and backward). Even if the movement is so fine that it is unclear whether it is moving at the time of injection, it is possible to easily know the state by providing a notification means by LED etc., as in the case of the double head type Even when used for a single head, the effect is extremely large.

  The LED has been miniaturized together with a circuit, and a surface-mounted chip type has been used. In particular, in the case of a small LED, a small lens such as plastic is provided on the surface (or just above it; usually fixed to the housing), and diffuses or collects light as necessary. The visibility of light emission when viewed from the outside can be further improved. Usually, since it can be visually recognized from a wider angle, it is preferable to provide a lens so that light diffuses at a wide angle.

  In addition, with regard to the LEDs that inform the head advance and retreat (in the case of the double head type described above, the A head LED 31a and the B head LED 31b), the brightness, number, and lens installation of the LEDs are devised to illuminate the entire syringe. It is also preferable to do so.

  Furthermore, using LEDs with different emission colors, it is possible to distinguish between a stationary state and an operating state (forward, backward), or a specific display LED, for example, a red LED for the air check LED in the above example, It can be distinguished from other display LEDs and various changes can be made.

It is a figure which shows one example of an automatic injection apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of the display method using LED. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of the display method using LED. It is an enlarged view of one example of signal LED. It is an enlarged view of an example of an operation button. It is a figure which shows the example of the installation position from which A head LED and B head LED differ. It is a general view of a conventional double head type automatic injection apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the drive mechanism of an automatic injection apparatus. It is a figure which shows one example which applied this invention to the single head type automatic injection apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1a Contrast medium syringe 1b Saline syringe 2 Y-shaped tube 3a, 3b Piston holder 4a, 4b Motor 5a, 5b Gear head 6a, 6b Motor gear 8a, 8b Ball screw 7a, 7b Screw gear 9a, 9b Ball nut unit 10 Frame unit 11 Syringe 11a A head syringe 11b B head syringe 13 Piston holder 13a A head side piston holder 13b B head side piston holder 21a A head LED
21b B head LED
22 Signal LED
23 Air Check LED
24 Release button 25a, 25b Operation button 26 Jog dial 27 Jog LED
31a A head LED
31b B head LED
32a, 32b Syringe outer cylinder mounting recess 41 Head LED
42 Signal LED
43 Air Check LED
44 Release button 45 Operation button 46 Jog dial 47 Jog LED
100 automatic injection device 200 automatic injection device

Claims (4)

In an automatic injection device having a syringe outer cylinder mounting recess on which a syringe is mounted, a piston holder that holds a syringe piston, and at least one series of heads that includes a drive mechanism that moves the piston holder back and forth,
When a light emission source is provided in the concave portion for mounting the syringe outer cylinder and the syringe is mounted, light emission from the light emission source is visible through the syringe outer cylinder, and observation of the state of the chemical solution in the syringe and the syringe An automatic injection device characterized by being able to check the air inside . Holding a plurality of syringes, each having a plurality of heads so that injection and suction can be independently performed, and the light emitting source is provided in each syringe outer cylinder mounting recess of each head, When each syringe is mounted, light emission from the light emission source can be visually confirmed through the syringe outer cylinder, and the state of the chemical solution in each syringe can be observed and the air in each syringe can be checked. The automatic injection device according to claim 1. 3. The automatic injection device according to claim 2 , wherein the automatic injection device is a double head type in which the number of head series is two . 4. The automatic injection apparatus according to claim 3, wherein one series of heads is used for injecting contrast medium, and another series of heads is used for injection of physiological saline.

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