JPH0515471B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a therapeutic laser device that is capable of optimally cooling 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 are already in 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 thermal energy. .

For example, a nevus treatment device using a ruby laser is configured as shown in Figures 1 to 3. Figure 1 is an overall schematic diagram, and Figure 2 shows a beam in a guide groove for changing the position of the table. FIG. 3 is a side view of the main body of the apparatus with the head cover removed. In these figures, 1 is an 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 the lens, 7 is the mount, 8 is the 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, 1
3 is the base of the beam head, 14 is the spring, 15
16 is an annular groove, 16 is a beam head opening end, 17 is a guide groove, 18 is a screw, and 19 is a head cover.

The ultimate goal of this device is that the beam head opening end 16 at the tip of the beam head 8 is applied to the area to be treated on the surface of a living body (usually a human body), and a laser beam of the required intensity is irradiated to prevent the formation of bruises, etc. It attempts to destroy plaque cells.

In this case, irradiation is usually performed with an output of about 30 J/cm ² for a period of about 1 msec. 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 mm square 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 was applied to the irradiated area, water dripped down and wet clothes when the irradiated area was the face, especially the cheeks.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a therapeutic laser device with good operability that can easily cool a laser irradiation site and its vicinity.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention relates to a therapeutic laser device configured to introduce a laser beam 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 utilizes an electronic cooling element. The cooling unit is disposed on the distal end surface of the hand piece, and the hand piece is further provided with a switch means for opening and closing the supply of power to the electronic cooling element.

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 4 shows the appearance of the main 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., 24 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 measuring element such as a thermistor. It 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;
2b is the same heat dissipation surface. Further, 24a is a contact portion of the power switch 24 for the electronic cooling element.

In such a configuration, when the power switch 24 is pressed, the contact 24a is connected, voltage is applied to the electronic cooling element 22, the electronic cooling element 22 is operated, removes heat from the cooling surface 22a, and dissipates heat from the heat dissipation surface 22.
Heat is radiated from b. To facilitate this heat dissipation,
Joint portion 21a of holding portion 21 with electronic cooling element 22
A metal with good thermal conductivity, such as aluminum,
It is made of a material such as copper, so that the heat can be easily radiated to the outside through the holding part 21.

Furthermore, since the temperature measuring element 25 is installed on the cooling surface 22a of the electronic cooling element 22, the temperature of the cooled part, that is, the leading edge of the holding part 21 can be detected, and the result is displayed on the temperature display 26. Ru.

In use, hold the holding part 21, touch the cooling side surface 22a of the electronic cooling element 22 to the laser irradiation area, press the power switch 24, and turn the electronic cooling element 2.
2 is operated to cool down the temperature of the laser irradiated area, and the temperature is displayed on the temperature display 26 through the temperature measuring element 25, thereby cooling the laser irradiated area while monitoring the degree of cooling. be.

As the electronic cooling element 22, it is preferable to use one that utilizes the Peltier effect among those that can be used at present.By applying a voltage to the Peltier effect element and passing a current, one side of the Peltier effect element absorbs heat, and the other side absorbs heat. generates a fever. Currently 31.8×31.8×
Thermoelectric cooling elements with a size of 3.8 ^(mm) , a voltage of 10, a current of about 6A, and a cooling capacity of about 26W are commercially available.

Now, when treating birthmarks with a ruby laser device,
It is common to irradiate a 10 x 10 mm area with an output of 30 J/cm ² and approximately 1 ms. Furthermore, since it is a pulse output, the average output is equivalent to 0.5 W·sec, which is the amount of heat that can be sufficiently cooled by the electronic cooling element.

If such a cooling device is used, it is easy to operate, and the laser irradiated area can be cooled extremely easily and hygienically. Moreover, it is also possible to simultaneously observe the temperature of the irradiated area, and it is possible to cool the laser irradiated area 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.

In addition, in the above, since the temperature measuring element 25, temperature display 26, etc. do not directly affect the cooling function,
If temperature monitoring is not necessary, it may be omitted.

Further, the structure is not limited to the one shown in the above embodiments, and cooling fins may be provided to increase the cooling effect, or 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, it can be used in therapeutic laser devices in which the handpiece at the laser irradiation end is connected to the main body via a flexible cable (such as an optical fiber cable).
If a cooling part is formed on the distal end surface of the handpiece 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 other words, in the above-mentioned configuration, a cooling section that has a laser transmitting section and uses an electronic cooling element is disposed on the distal end surface of the handpiece, and the supply of power to the electronic cooling element is opened and closed. This is a therapeutic laser device in which a switch means is provided on a handpiece.

If the therapeutic laser device has such a configuration,
The advantages of the cooling device shown in FIG. 4 and detailed in the drawings function directly as advantages of the handpiece, and the operability is further improved as described above. That is, in this configuration, the handpiece
It is a laser irradiation end and a cooling end whose cooling capacity can be changed. Therefore, the doctor can irradiate the laser beam onto the affected area while holding the handpiece with one hand, and at the same time cool the affected area. In this case, the doctor who holds the handpiece with one hand can only operate the switch means with that one hand, leaving the other hand free.
The affected area can be cooled to a desired cooling level. The other free hand can be used for other procedures, such as holding forceps.

With the configuration in which the cooling unit and the switch means are provided in the handpiece, laser irradiation, cooling, and other treatments can be effectively performed on the affected area, and effective treatment can be achieved.

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

〔Effect 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 indicator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a therapeutic laser device configured to introduce the laser generated by the main body into the handpiece, which is the laser irradiation end, via a flexible cable, a cooling section that has a laser transmissive section and uses an electronic cooling element is disposed on the distal end surface of the handpiece, and the handpiece is further provided with a switch means for opening and closing the supply of power to the electronic cooling element.