JP5993338B2 - Plasma sterilizer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a plasma sterilization apparatus, and more particularly to a plasma sterilization apparatus having a wide plasma irradiation range.

  In dentistry, various sterilization devices such as an autoclave have been proposed. However, autoclaves cannot sterilize heat-sensitive equipment such as plastic. In addition, a technique using a plasma jet has been proposed in order to sterilize an affected part during dental treatment.

  As a technique using such a plasma jet, Patent Document 1 discloses an outer periphery of a rare gas pipe in which a rare gas having a low dielectric breakdown voltage is flowed into a syringe equipped with a fluid discharge system for performing dental treatment. A plasma jet is generated by applying a low-frequency high voltage from a low-frequency high-voltage power source to discharge between the upper electrodes, and a plasma jet is irradiated from the tip of a rare gas conduit to improve the wettability of the affected area. It has also been proposed to sterilize the treatment site.

International Publication No. 2010/008062

  However, the plasma jet irradiation apparatus described in Patent Document 1 uses a rare gas having a low dielectric breakdown voltage for generating plasma, and applies a low-frequency high voltage to the rare gas. The gas must be prepared, and a low frequency high voltage (alternating voltage) is used, so that the generated plasma becomes hot.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a plasma generation unit of the plasma jet irradiation apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1. The plasma jet irradiation means 100 is exposed from the base end side of the main body to the plasma jet irradiation port 101 through the inside thereof. A low-frequency high-voltage power supply is applied to two electrodes 103 and 104 arranged at a predetermined interval in a rare gas conduit 102 selected from a dielectric tube such as a glass tube, a resin tube, or a ceramic tube having an inner diameter of several millimeters. Since the noble gas conduit 102 of the plasma jet irradiation means is thin and is provided integrally with an instrument (syringe) for performing dental treatment, it is possible to irradiate the affected area with plasma. Could not be irradiated with plasma.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, enables plasma generation with little heat generation without using a special gas such as a rare gas, and further plasma sterilization suitable for a wide range of sterilization. It was made for the purpose of providing a device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a plasma sterilization apparatus, which is a cylindrical handpiece main body made of a conductor and having an air passage formed therein, and the handpiece main body. of provided at the distal end portion, a first electrode having a plurality of through-hole through which the air is Ru is released, a plurality of needle-like provided in a position facing each of the plurality of through-holes of the first electrode A second electrode comprising electrodes, a power source for applying a high-frequency voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode, a positioning through-hole for positioning each of the needle electrodes, and air A positioning member made of an insulator provided with an air through hole to be passed is fixed inside the handpiece main body at a predetermined interval from the first electrode, and a plurality of the second electrode The needle electrode has one end side Bundled by a coaxial connector provided in Ndopisu body, in which the other end side is characterized in that it is passed through each of the positioning holes of said positioning member.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1 , the second electrode is located inside the handpiece main body.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that an insulating member surrounding the second electrode is provided between the second electrode and the handpiece body. To do.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein an insulating member having a through hole communicating with the plurality of through holes of the first electrode is provided on the first electrode. It is provided on the second electrode side.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the plasma sterilization apparatus which enables generation | occurrence | production of plasma with little heat_generation | fever without using special gas, such as rare gas, and also suitable for a wide range sterilization can be provided.

It is a figure for demonstrating one Embodiment which applied the plasma sterilizer by this invention to the handpiece main-body part. It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between the plasma sterilization apparatus main-body part of FIG. 1, and a handpiece main-body part. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of the plasma generation part of the handpiece main-body part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the other example of the plasma generation part of the handpiece main-body part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline of the plasma generation part of the conventional plasma jet irradiation apparatus.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the plasma sterilization apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the configurations denoted by the same reference numerals in different drawings are the same, and the description thereof may be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a view for explaining an embodiment in which a plasma sterilization apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a handpiece main body, and FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the plasma sterilization apparatus main body and the handpiece main body of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating. In the figure, 10 is a plasma sterilizer main body, 11 is a pulse power source provided in the plasma sterilizer main body 10, 12 is a blower source, 20 is a blower tube through which air from the blower source 12 is blown, A pair of lead wires (not shown) to which a pulse voltage from the power source 11 is supplied are provided. Reference numeral 30 denotes a handpiece main body connected to the tip of the blower tube 20, and reference numeral 40 denotes a tip detachably and replaceably connected to the tip of the handpiece main body 30. The tip 40 is integrated with a plasma irradiation tube 41. Or removably connected. Reference numeral 50 denotes a wireless foot switch for controlling the pulse power source 11, the air source 12, and the like.

  The air source 12 includes, for example, an air pump, and the air pump sends the atmosphere (air) as it is through the air tube 20 to the handpiece main body 30 and discharges it from the plasma irradiation port 42 of the plasma irradiation tube 41. For example, the pulse power supply 11 generates a pulse voltage higher than that of a commercial power supply of AC 100 V, and sends the pulse high voltage into the handpiece main body 30 through a lead wire disposed in the tube 20, as will be described later. Plasma discharge is generated in the vicinity of the tip of the handpiece main body 30 to generate plasma by ionizing oxygen and water vapor in the air. The generated plasma is emitted from the plasma irradiation port 42 of the plasma irradiation tube 41 through the chip 40.

  FIG. 3 is a view for explaining an example of a plasma generation unit of the handpiece body according to the embodiment of the present invention. The plasma generating unit includes a first electrode 32 provided at the distal end portion of the cylindrical handpiece main body 30 and a second electrode 35 including a needle electrode 35. The interior of the handpiece main body 30 is an air passage 31, and the first electrode 32 is composed of a disk-shaped conductive member having a large number of circular through-holes 32 'for allowing air to pass therethrough. ing. The first electrode 32 is grounded via the handpiece main body 30.

  The second electrode 35 is composed of, for example, a plurality of needle-like electrodes made of a tungsten wire having a diameter of 0.2 mm, and the needle-like electrodes are bundled by a coaxial connector 36. In addition, a disc-shaped insulating member 34 having a through hole 34 ′ communicating with the through hole 32 ′ is provided in the plasma generating portion at a position facing the through hole 32 ′ of the first electrode 32. The needle electrodes of the second electrode 35 are disposed so that their tips are located at least in the through holes 34 ′ of the disc-shaped insulating member 34, and the through holes 32 ′ of the first electrode 32 are arranged. It is opposite to the peripheral part. For this reason, the front-end | tip of a 1st acicular electrode does not contact with a 2nd electrode. The through hole 34 ′ of the insulating member 34 becomes an air passage together with the through hole 32 ′ of the first electrode 32.

  The needle-like electrode may be extended until the tip of the needle-like electrode is located in the through hole 32 ′ of the first electrode 32, but it is necessary to prevent the needle-like electrode from coming into contact with the first electric electrode. is there. For this reason, it is desirable to provide the insulating member 34, but if the needle-like electrode is located at the center of the through hole 32 ′ of the first electrode 32, the insulating member 34 may be omitted.

  Further, an insulating member 33 surrounding the needle electrode is interposed between the needle electrode as the second electrode 35 and the handpiece main body 30. Thereby, even if some force is applied to the needle-like electrode and deformed, the needle-like electrode and the handpiece main body 30 do not come into contact with each other, and a short circuit accident can be prevented. In addition, no discharge occurs between the needle-like electrode and the handpiece main body 30.

  Then, the pulse power supply 13 generates a high-frequency high-frequency pulse voltage from, for example, a commercial power supply of AC 100 V, and this high-frequency pulse voltage is intermittently (periodically) applied between the first electrode 32 and the second electrode 35. By doing so, low temperature plasma is generated. This low temperature plasma can be used for sterilization or the like due to the strong chemical reactivity of neutral radicals as non-equilibrium plasma. In the present embodiment, each acicular electrode of the second electrode and the peripheral edge portion of the through hole 32 ′ of the first electrode serve as a plasma generating portion. Since the first electrode 32 is grounded together with the handpiece main body, the user of the handpiece main body is also grounded.

  As described above, in one embodiment of the present invention, since a plurality of plasma generating portions are provided for the handpiece body portion having an air passage, not only normal air ejection but also a large amount of plasma is ejected. can do. Switching between normal air ejection and plasma ejection can be performed by a switch (not shown) provided in the handpiece main body 30 or a wireless foot switch 50 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a view for explaining another example of the plasma generating unit of the handpiece main body according to the embodiment of the present invention. A positioning member 37 for positioning the needle-like electrode of the second electrode 35 is provided in the plasma generating part of the handpiece main body 30 shown in FIG. This positioning member 37 is made of an insulating material, and is provided with a positioning through hole 38 for inserting and positioning the needle-like electrodes of the respective second electrodes, and an air passage through hole 39 for allowing air to pass therethrough. Yes. Here, the center of the positioning through hole 38 is arranged so as to be positioned at the center of the through hole 32 ′ of the first electrode 32. The positioning member 37 is disposed in the handpiece body 30 with a predetermined interval from the first electrode in a state where the needle-like electrode of the second electrode is passed through the positioning through hole 38. .

  What is necessary is just to adhere | attach suitably between an acicular electrode and the positioning through-hole 38 and between the positioning member 38 and the insulating member 33 with an adhesive agent etc. Thereby, the acicular electrode of the second electrode 35 can accurately face the through hole 32 ′ of the first electrode 32. In addition, since the needle-shaped electrode is positioned on a plane intersecting at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the handpiece main body 30, the insulating member 33 described above can be omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Plasma sterilizer main-body part, 11 ... Pulse power supply, 12 ... Air supply source, 20 ... Air blower tube, 30 ... Handpiece main-body part, 31 ... Air passage, 32 ... 1st electrode, 33, 34 ... Insulation member, 35 2nd electrode 36 ... Coaxial connector 37 ... Positioning member 38 ... Positioning through hole 39 ... Air passage through hole 40 ... Tip 41 ... Plasma irradiation tube 42 ... Plasma irradiation port 100 ... Plasma jet irradiation means, 101 ... plasma jet irradiation port,
102: Noble gas pipe, 103, 104: Electrode.

Claims (4)

A cylindrical handpiece body made of a conductor and having an air passage formed inside;
A first electrode having a plurality of through holes provided at the tip of the handpiece body portion, the air is Ru is released,
A second electrode comprising a plurality of needle-like electrodes provided at positions facing each of the plurality of through holes of the first electrode;
A power supply for applying a high-frequency voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode ;
A positioning member made of an insulator provided with a positioning through hole for positioning each needle electrode and an air through hole for allowing air to pass therethrough is spaced apart from the first electrode by a predetermined distance from the handpiece. Fixed inside the body,
One end side of the plurality of needle-like electrodes of the second electrode is bundled by a coaxial connector provided in the handpiece body, and the other end side is passed through the positioning through hole of the positioning member. A plasma sterilizer characterized by that. The plasma sterilizer according to claim 1 , wherein the second electrode is located inside the handpiece main body. Wherein between the second electrode and the handpiece body portion, the plasma sterilizer according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a dielectric member surrounding the second electrode. An insulating member having a through hole communicating with a plurality of through-holes of the first electrode, any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that provided on the second electrode side of the first electrode 1 The plasma sterilizer according to item.

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