JPH02140178A - Laser device for treatment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a laser device for treatment on satisfactory operability, which can easily execute the cooling of a part to be irradiated with a laser and a nearby part, by arranging a cooling part, which has a laser transmissible part and utilizes an electronic cooling element, on the tip surface of a hand piece. CONSTITUTION:A contact 24a is connected by pushing a power source switch 24 and a voltage is applied to an electronic cooling element 22. Then, the electronic cooling element 22 is operated and heat is removed from a cooling surface 22a and radiated from a radiating surface 22b. In order to easily execute the radiation, a joint part 21a of the electronic cooling element 22 in a holding part 21 is composed of metal such as aluminum and copper, etc., for example, whose thermal conductivity is satisfactory. Then, the heat is easily radiated through the holding part 21 to an external part. When a laser device is used, the holding part 21 is grasped and a cooling side surface 22a of the electronic cooling element 22 is abutted on the laser irradiating part. Then, the power source switch 24 is pushed and the electronic cooling element 22 is operated. After that, the temperature of the laser irradiating part is cooled and displayed through a temperature measuring element 25 to a temperature display 26. Then, the cooling is executed with monitoring the degree of the cooling for the laser irradiating part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a therapeutic laser device that can optimally cool a body surface during laser treatment.

[Technical Background of the Invention] In recent years, many attempts have been made to use lasers for medical purposes, and some of them have already been put into practical use. The use of lasers for treatment involves making incisions on the body surface or removing birthmarks or birthmarks by utilizing their high energy density, and both use light energy as heat energy. .

For example, a birthmark treatment device using a ruby laser is shown in Figure 1.
It is constructed as shown in Figure 3. Figure 1 is an overall schematic diagram, Figure 2 is a diagram showing how the Rad Mount is attached to the beam in the guide groove for changing the position of the table, and Figure 3 is FIG. 3 is a side view of the device main body with the head cover removed. In these figures, 1 is the operation cabinet, 2 is the main body of the device,
3 is a cooling device, 4 is a table, 5 is a laser oscillation device, 6
is a lens, 7 is a mount, 8 is a beam head, 9 is a gas laser oscillation device, 10 is a laser beam path, 11 is a focal position, 12 is an expanded laser beam, 13 is a beam head base,
Reference numeral 14 indicates a spring, 15 an annular groove, 16 an opening end of the beam head, 17 a guide groove, 18 a screw, and 19 a helad cover.

This device ultimately forms bruises, etc. by applying a beam head opening end 16 at the tip of the beam head 8 to the treatment area on the surface of a living body (usually a human body) and irradiating a laser beam with the required intensity. The aim is to destroy the nevus cells.

In this case, the output of about 30 J/c- is usually 1 n+se
Irradiate for approximately c. At this time, the laser output is performed using a so-called kaleidoscope method, in which the laser beam is expanded to, for example, about 10 angles and irradiated onto the surface of the living body.

However, since a large amount of heat is instantaneously applied to the living body, it is absorbed by the nevus cells, and the heat other than the amount required for its destruction is absorbed by normal tissues, which gradually diffuse and disappear into the surrounding area. Due to this unnecessary amount of heat, normal areas will also be burned, and it will take some time for these burnt areas to recover to normal tissue.

For this purpose, after irradiation with the ruby laser beam, gauze soaked in saline (physiological saline) is applied to the irradiated area and its surroundings in order to speed up the recovery of tissues, including the destroyed nevus fat area, as much as possible. I'm trying to cool it down.

However, when gauze soaked in saline is applied to the irradiated area, water drips and wets clothes when the irradiated area is the face, especially the cheeks.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to provide a therapeutic laser device with good operability that can easily cool the laser irradiation site and its vicinity.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention provides a therapeutic laser device configured to introduce a laser generated by a main body into a handpiece, which is a laser irradiation end, via a flexible cable, which has a laser-transmitting part and The hand piece is characterized in that a cooling section using an electronic cooling element is disposed on the distal end surface of the hand piece.

[Embodiments of the invention] FIG. 4 shows the appearance of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, 21 is a holding part, 22 is an electronic cooling element, 23 is a cable consisting of a necessary power cord, etc.;
4 is a power switch for the electronic cooling element 22, 25 is a temperature measuring element such as a thermistor, and 26 is a temperature indicator.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual sectional view showing the detailed configuration of the main parts.

22a is a cooling surface of the electronic cooling element 22, and 22b is a heat radiation surface thereof. Further, 24a is a contact portion of the power switch 24 for the electronic cooling element.

In such a configuration, by pressing the power switch 24, the contact 24a is connected, voltage is applied to the electronic cooling element 22, the electronic cooling element 22 is operated, and the cooling surface 22a is connected.
It absorbs more heat and radiates the heat from the heat radiation surface 22b. In order to facilitate this heat dissipation, the joint part 21a of the holding part 21 with the electronic cooling element 22 is made of a metal with good thermal conductivity, such as aluminum or copper, and the heat is passed through the holding part 21. Make it easier to dissipate heat to the outside.

Further, the temperature measuring element 25 is connected to the cooling surface 22a of the electronic cooling element 22.
Since the temperature of the cooled part, that is, the leading edge of the holding part 21 can be detected, the result is displayed on the temperature display 26.
will be displayed.

In use, hold the holding part 21, bring the cooling side surface 22a of the electronic cooling element 22 into contact with the laser irradiated area, press the power switch 24, operate the electronic cooling element 22, and cool down the temperature of the laser irradiated area. Then, the temperature is displayed on the temperature display 26 through the temperature measuring element 25, thereby performing cooling while monitoring the degree of cooling of the laser irradiated area.

As the electronic cooling element 22, it is preferable to use one that utilizes the Peltier effect among those currently available.By applying a voltage to the Peltier effect element and passing a current through it, one side of the Peltier effect element absorbs heat, and the other side absorbs heat. generates a fever. Currently, electronic cooling elements with dimensions of 31.8 x 81.8 x 3.8 ''Il), voltage of 10 V, current of about 6 A, and cooling capacity of about 26 W are commercially available.

Currently, when treating birthmarks with a ruby laser device, 30J/
It is common to irradiate the 10XIO" with an output of about 1 ms. Also, since it is a pulse output, the average output is equivalent to 0.5 W-sec, which is sufficiently cooled by the above-mentioned electronic cooling element. This is the amount of heat possible.

If such a cooling device is used, it is easy to operate, and the laser irradiated area can be cooled extremely easily and hygienically, and the temperature of the irradiated area can be observed at the same time. Treatment can be performed efficiently without taking an unnecessarily large amount of time.

Of course, this cooling device can also be used for purposes other than cooling the laser irradiated area, such as applying cold compresses.

Note that in the above description, the temperature measuring element 25. Since the temperature display 26 and the like do not directly affect the cooling function, they may be omitted if temperature monitoring is unnecessary.

Furthermore, the configuration is not limited to the configuration shown in the above embodiment, but cooling fins may be provided to increase the cooling effect, and cooling air may be applied to the cooling fins for forced cooling.

Furthermore, various methods can be considered to enhance the cooling effect, such as using a heat pipe.

Furthermore, the power source for driving can be obtained from a dry cell battery, and if the dry cell battery is built into the holding part, it becomes smaller and easier to use.

In addition, since this cooling device can be made extremely compact, in the case of a therapeutic laser device in which a hand piece at the laser irradiation end is connected from the main body via a flexible cable (optical fiber cable, etc.), the tip of the hand piece If a cooling part is formed on the surface and integrated with the handpiece, operability will be further improved. In this case, since the laser is emitted from the distal end surface of the handpiece, it is necessary to form a light-transmitting part for this purpose in the cooling part, or to make the cooling part itself transparent.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without changing the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a therapeutic laser device with good operability that can easily cool the laser irradiation site and its vicinity.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 to 3 are diagrams showing the configuration of an example of a general therapeutic laser device, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are a perspective view and a schematic cross-sectional view, respectively, showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. be. 21... Holding part, 22... Electronic cooling element, 23...
- Cable, 24... Switch, 25... Temperature measuring element, 26... Temperature display.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a therapeutic laser device that is configured to introduce the laser generated by the main body into the handpiece, which is the laser irradiation end, via a flexible cable, it has a cooling section that has a laser transmissive section and uses an electronic cooling element. A therapeutic laser device, characterized in that it is disposed on the distal end surface of the handpiece.