JPH025413B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a medical laser device that controls a laser oscillation device by detecting the attachment state of a laser probe.

Patent application filed in 1984 as a method for detecting the attachment of a laser probe in a laser oscillation device.
There is one related to application No. 59553 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 173047/1983). This detection method uses a photo sensor to detect the reflective surface formed at the tip of the attachment base of the laser probe when it is securely attached. However, even if it is not installed correctly, if a shiny foreign object is mistakenly placed near the photo sensor, or if light such as a laser beam that should have entered the incident end face of the laser probe is reflected and enters the photo sensor's light receiving area. If this occurs, a detection signal will be output, and the shutter that shields the laser beam will open even though the laser probe is not securely attached, or the shutter will not close and the laser beam will continue to be emitted. There were dangers such as:

The present invention has been made focusing on the above circumstances,
The purpose is to provide a medical laser device with improved safety by doubling the detection of the attachment state of the laser probe to prevent danger due to malfunction of each detection section.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 is an endoscope, and this endoscope 1 is formed with an insertion channel 3 through which a laser probe 2 for laser surgery is inserted. The laser probe 2 has a laser guide 4 inserted therein, and the laser guide 4 is made of, for example, quartz fiber. A connector 5 is provided at the base end of the laser probe 2, and the connector 5 can be detachably attached to a connector receiver 7 of a laser probe attaching portion of a laser device 6, which will be described later.

The laser device 6 is constructed as shown in FIG. Then, the receiver main body 8 of the connector receiver 7
A fitting hole 9 is formed in which the insertion end 5a of the connector 5 is tightly inserted. A cylindrical fixing member 1 is provided on the front wall of the receiving body 8 concentrically with the insertion hole 9.
It is attached and fixed so that 0 protrudes toward the front. The fixing member 10 has an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter, and a ring member 12 is slidably fitted into an inner hole 11 in the inner part. Furthermore, ring member 1
2 and the receiving portion main body 8 is a coil spring 13.
is interposed therebetween, and this coil spring 13 urges the ring member 12 outward. Note that when the connector 5 is not attached to the connector receiver 7, the ring member 12 waits against the step portion 14 formed between the inner and outer portions of the fixing member 10. When the connector 5 is attached to the connector receiver 7, as shown in FIG.
As the connector 5 is pushed in, the connector 5 is urged to be removed by the urging force of the coil spring 13. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an engagement groove 6 is formed by cutting out the distal end edge of the fixing member 10. As shown in FIGS. The engaging groove 16 has an engaging part 16b formed at one end of the sliding part 16a along the circumferential direction, and an introduction part 16c opening toward the outer end at the other end of the sliding part 16a. Fixing pin 1 protruding from the circumferential surface of the connector 5
7 is fitted and locked. Note that two engaging grooves 16 and two fixing pins 17 are each formed at an angular interval of 180°. Further, an elastic ring 10a is fitted onto the circumferential surface of the distal end of the fixing member 10. Then, when attaching the connector 5 to the connector receiver 7, the fixing pin 17 is aligned with the introduction part 16c of the engagement groove 16, and the connector 5 is pushed in. When the fixing pin 17 is located in the sliding part 16a, it is rotated 90 degrees and fixed. The pin 17 is connected to the engaging portion 16
b. Thus, the connector 5 is held in the pushed-in position together with the ring member 12 against the restoring force of the coil spring 13. Further, at this time, the tip of the insertion end 5a of the connector 5 is adapted to protrude into a recess 18 formed near the center of the receiving portion main body 8. Both opposing side surfaces of the tip of the insertion end 5a are cut out as shown in FIG. 8, and the remaining circumferential surface of the protrusion 19 forms a reflective surface 20.

Further, a photo sensor 21 is provided on the wall surface of the recess 18 as a detection means for detecting that the connector 5 is correctly attached to the connector receiver 7 at a predetermined position. As shown in FIG. 7, this photo sensor 21 consists of a light emitting element part 22 and a light receiving element part 23, and the light receiving element part 23 receives the reflected light of the light emitted from the light emitting element part 22, and calculates the distance to the reflection position. To detect. By the way, the connector 5 is attached to the connector receiver 7.
When the connector 5 is installed correctly, the protrusion 19 shifts to the state shown by the solid line in FIG. be.

Further, the receiver main body 8 includes a condenser lens 24,
A cylindrical lens frame 26 holding the lens 24 is screwed into the lens frame 26. The condensing lenses 24, 24 face the incident end surface 4a of the laser guide 4 on the connector 5 side, and condense laser light from the laser oscillation device 38 side, which will be described later, onto the incident end surface 4a. Note that the lens frame 26 is configured to be movable in the direction of its optical axis. Furthermore, a shutter device 27 is provided between the lens frame 26 and the laser oscillation device 38, which can block the laser optical path. This shutter device 27 is provided with a plate-shaped shutter body 29 that is driven to open and close by a rotary solenoid 28, and rotates the shutter body 29 in the direction D in FIG. 4 only when it receives a detection signal from the photo sensor 21. It is designed so that it can be moved out of the laser beam path.

Further, on the retracted side of the shutter body 29, there is an open position detector 30 that serves as a sensor for detecting the position of the shutter body 29 and detects the open state of the shutter body 29.
is installed. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, this open position detector 30 is constituted by a sensor 33 consisting of a light emitting element section 31 and a light receiving element section 32 facing each other. and,
When the shutter body 29 rotates and retreats from the laser beam path, it enters between the light emitting element section 31 and the light receiving element section 32, and blocks the light emitted from the light emitting element section 31 and directed toward the light receiving element section 32. Accordingly, the light receiving element section 32 is designed to detect the opening of the shutter device 27.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 7, a shielding plate 34 is provided in front of the sensor 21, and this shielding plate 34
When the connector 5 is correctly attached, an opening window 35 is formed at a position facing the reflecting surface 20, and the laser light that should enter the incident end surface 4a of the laser probe 4 enters the photo sensor 21 by reflection etc. We are trying to prevent this as much as possible.

On the other hand, a connector 5 is provided on the lower surface of the outer periphery of the tip of the fixing member 10 independently of the photo sensor 21.
A micro switch 36 is provided to detect the mounting state of the holder. The actuator 37 of this micro switch 36 operates when the fixing pin 17 is fitted into the engaging portion 16a of the engaging groove 16.
It is installed to be operated by 7.

Next, the electric circuit of the laser device 6 is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the output terminals of the photo sensor 21 and the microswitch 36 are respectively connected to the input terminals of the first AND circuit 41 of the control section 40, and the output terminal of the first AND circuit 41 is also connected to the second AND circuit of the control section 40. It is connected to one input end of the AND circuit 42. Further, the output end of the open position detector 30 is connected to the other input end of the second AND circuit 42 . The output terminal of the second AND circuit 42 is connected to one input terminal of the third AND circuit 43. Third AND circuit 43
The output terminal of a foot switch 44 for oscillation operation is connected to the other input terminal of the switch. Further, the output end of the first AND circuit 41 is connected to the rotary solenoid 28 of the shutter device 27 via the control section 40. Therefore, the rotary solenoid 28 is activated after both the photo sensor 21 and the micro switch 36 detect that the connector 5 has been attached, and opens the shutter body 29 of the shutter device 27. In addition, the third AND circuit 4
The output end of 3 is connected to a laser oscillation device 38.

Next, the operation of the laser device 6 will be explained. First, the laser probe 2 is guided into the body cavity through the insertion channel 3 of the endoscope 1. When the connector 5 of the laser probe 2 is attached to the connector receiver 7 of the laser device 6, the insertion end 5a of the connector 5 is inserted into the insertion hole 9. At this time, the fixing pin 17 is inserted into the engagement groove 16. Push it in along with the section 16c. Then, while the stepped portion 15 of the connector 5 hits the ring member 12 and resists the restoring force of the coil spring 13, the fixing pin 17 moves into the sliding portion 16 of the engagement groove 16.
Push it in until it hits point a. At this time, the protrusion 19 of the connector 5 protrudes into the recess 18, but the protrusion 19
9 is on the dotted line position side in FIG. Therefore, by rotating the connector 5 by 90 degrees, the fixing pin 17 moves along the sliding portion 16a and engages with the engaging portion 16b, thereby completing the attachment. When this installation is completed, the protrusion 19 is located at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG.
Since the light-receiving element section 23 faces the light-receiving element 23 in close proximity, the amount of reflected light received by the light-receiving element section 23 increases, and a signal at a level that detects the mounting state is outputted. At the same time, the fixing pin 17 operates the micro switch 36 to output a signal indicating that the device is in the correct mounting state. Each of these detection signals is sent to the control section 40 via the first AND circuit 41, and the control section 40 thereby drives the rotary solenoid 28 of the shutter device 27 to move the shutter body 29 in the direction D shown in FIG. Rotate it to move it out of the laser beam path. When the shutter body 29 is retracted, it is detected by the open position detector 30.
is detected. When the photo sensor 21, the micro switch 36, and the open position detector 30 each perform a detection operation in this way, the respective detection signals are input to each input terminal of the second AND circuit 42 of the control section 40, and the second The AND circuit 42 is operated for output. The output signal of the second AND circuit 42 is input to one input terminal of the third AND circuit 43. Therefore, the third AND circuit 43 performs an output operation in response to the closing signal of the foot switch 44 connected to the other input terminal. In other words, by stepping on the foot switch 44 and outputting a signal, the laser oscillation device 38 can be operated to oscillate.

Then, the laser beam emitted by stepping on the foot switch 44 is focused through the condenser lenses 24, 24, and is focused on the laser guide 4 of the laser probe 2.
incident on . The laser light incident on the laser guide 4 irradiates a target area within the body cavity to stop bleeding and destroy cancerous tissue.

By the way, if a shiny foreign object is accidentally inserted near the photo sensor 21, the photo sensor 21 will detect it and the connector 5
Even though the device is not installed correctly, it outputs the same detection signal as if it were installed correctly. However, unless the connector 5 is properly attached, the microswitch 36 is normally not operated and no detection signal is output from the microswitch 36. Therefore, since the first AND circuit 41 also does not perform an output operation, the shutter body 29 of the shutter device 27 does not open, making it safe. Since no signal enters the laser oscillator 38
It does not cause oscillation.

Furthermore, even if a part of the laser light that should have entered the incident end face 4a of the laser probe 2 enters the light receiving element section 23 of the photo sensor 21 due to reflection and the photo sensor 21 malfunctions, the micro switch 36
However, since the correct attachment state of the connector 5 is not detected, the first AND circuit 41 does not output and the shutter body 29 of the shutter device 27 does not remain open.

Note that the positions of the photo sensor and the notch of the connector are not limited to the positions of the above embodiments, but may be other positions. Further, the laser probe may be a manipulator that performs surgery using a CO ₂ laser, a surgical microscope that performs microsurgery, or the like.

As explained above, in the present invention, when the connector of the laser probe is correctly attached to the laser probe attachment part, the attachment of the connector is finally confirmed only when this is detected by a photo switch and a separate switch. be done. In other words, it is possible to double check the attachment of the connector.
In particular, even if a shiny foreign object gets in front of the photo sensor and it malfunctions, there is no risk of laser beam oscillation unless the other switch is activated. Furthermore, even if a portion of the laser light that should enter the incident end face of the laser probe enters the photo switch, the shutter device will not open. In addition, whether or not the laser probe connector is correctly attached to the laser probe attachment part is detected by different detection methods at different parts of the connector, that is, by using a photo sensor and a switch at different places. Even if it is mistaken for some reason, the other detection means will correctly detect it, so the laser device will not be erroneously operated to oscillate. Therefore, its safety can be greatly improved.

Further, in the present invention, the shutter device is not driven and the shutter body is not opened unless both the photo sensor and the switch detect the shutter.

Therefore, the shutter device will not open unless the laser probe connector is securely attached and fixed to the laser probe attachment part, so the laser oscillation shutter in the laser oscillation device may open due to a failure or malfunction, causing oscillation. However, the laser light does not leak outside from the exit end of the laser probe. In other words, there is no danger as long as the laser probe is pointed in a safe direction. Furthermore, there is no risk of burning out the connector or the like during the installation of the laser probe.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is a side sectional view showing the main parts of the laser device, FIG. 3 is a side view showing the laser probe attachment part, FIG. 4 is a rear view of the laser probe attachment part, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the laser probe attachment part. FIG. 6 is a front view of the probe attachment part, FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the laser probe attachment part, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the distance detection sensor, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the tip of the connector, and FIG. 9 is also an electric circuit diagram of the laser device. 2... Laser probe, 5... Connector, 6...
...Laser surgical device, 7...Connector holder, 20...
Reflective surface, 21... Photo sensor, 27... Shutter device, 28... Rotary solenoid, 29...
...Shutter body, 34...Micro switch, 40
...Control unit, 38...Laser oscillation device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a medical laser device that performs laser treatment via a laser probe, there is a laser probe attachment part into which the laser probe connector is inserted, and when the laser probe connector is correctly attached to this laser probe attachment part, each independently a switch and a photo sensor for detecting different positions of the connector; a shutter device that blocks a laser optical path with a shutter body when the laser probe is not attached to the laser probe attachment part; and a position detection of the shutter body of the shutter device. The laser oscillator can oscillate only when a sensor detects the installation state of the laser probe by the switch and photo sensor, and a signal detects that the shutter body is open is obtained by the sensor. A medical laser device characterized by comprising a control section.