JPH0531079A - Temperature monitor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a simple temperature monitor device calculating the temperature distribution of various sections of a living body in conjunction with a heating device and displaying the result. CONSTITUTION:A temperature monitor device is constituted of an image input interface 1 receiving the image data including a tumor section, a memory means 2 storing the organism parameters on various tissues of a living body, manual input means 3, 4 receiving the manual input data required for calculating the temperature distribution, a heating device interface 5, a calculating means 6 calculating the temperature of various sections of the living body by utilizing the organism heat transportation equation based on the data from the image input interface 1, memory means 2, manual input means 3, 4, and heating device interface 5, and a display means 7 displaying the calculated result as the temperature distribution.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a support device for a warming device that heats and treats cancer using high frequency power, and more particularly to a temperature monitor device attached to the warming device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when cancer treatment is performed using a heating device, the temperature inside a living body has been grasped by a temperature sensor inserted into the living body. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a main part of such a heating device. That is, this device includes an applicator 21 that is mounted so as to sandwich a tumor 20 to be heat-treated, and a temperature sensor 22 that is inserted into the tumor 20 or the like.
And a high-frequency output unit 23 that supplies high-frequency power to the tumor 20 via the applicator 21, and a control unit 24 that controls the high-frequency output unit 23 based on the data of the temperature sensor 22 and the like. Here, the temperature sensor 22 is composed of a thermocouple, a thermistor, or the like. Then, the control unit 24 controls the output power of the high-frequency output unit 23 based on the information from the temperature sensor 22, and displays the temperature from the temperature sensor 22 on a display device (not shown) to the operator. The temperature information in the living body is given.

[0003]

However, in the conventional device, since only the temperature data as the point data from the temperature sensor inserted at several points can be obtained, the temperature sensor is not inserted. Even if an unexpected hot spot appears, the operator cannot detect it. Therefore, heat treatment always involves a risk of burns, and there is a problem that, for example, the body surface is burned and a risk of infection occurs. In addition, internal organs have a lesser sense of heat than the body surface, so there is a problem that serious burns are likely to occur.
For example, fat induration is an example of this.

Further, in the conventional device, even if the accuracy of the temperature sensor is lowered, the operator cannot recognize this, so that not only there is a risk of burns, but also the therapeutic effect after treatment is based on unreliable data. There is also a problem such as making a determination. The present invention was made in view of this problem, by calculating the temperature distribution of each part of the living body in conjunction with the heating device, and displaying the result,
An object of the present invention is to provide a simple temperature monitoring device that realizes more effective heating treatment.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the temperature monitoring apparatus of the present invention comprises an image input interface for receiving tomographic image data of a patient, and a storage means for storing biological parameters for each tissue of the living body. A heating device interface for receiving data indicating the operating state of the heating treatment device, a manual input means for receiving data by manual input necessary for calculation of temperature distribution, an image input interface, a storage means, a manual input means, and Calculation means for calculating the temperature distribution of each part of the living body by using the biological heat transport equation based on the data from the warming device interface, and display means for displaying the temperature distribution of each part of the living body using the calculation result of this calculation means. It consists of and.

[0006]

The calculating means calculates the temperature distribution of each part of the living body by utilizing the biological heat transport equation or the like, so that the theoretical formula will be described first. The temperature change in the living body due to dielectric heating is given by the following general equation.

[0007]

[Equation 1] (Equation 1)

[0008]

[Equation 2] (Formula 2)

[0009]

[Equation 3] (Equation 3) Here, (Equation 1) is the Laplace equation, φ is the potential (V) of a specific site (x, y) in the living body, and ε is the dielectric constant (F / m) at that point. is there. (Equation 2) is an equation showing the amount of heat generated by high-frequency power, and represents the relationship between the electric field strength E (V / m) and the amount of heat generated W _h (W / m ³ ) by the electric field. Note that σ is the electrical conductivity (S / m). Also (Equation 3)
Is the bio-heat transfer equation BHT (Bio-Heat Transfer equa)
tion, where ρ is volume density (Kg / m ³ ), c is specific heat (J / Kg ° C.), T is temperature (° C.), and κ is thermal conductivity (W /
m ° C.) and W _h are heat generation amounts (W / m ³ ) due to high frequency. W _c represents cooling by blood flow,

[0010]

[Equation 4] (Equation 4) Here, F (T) is the blood flow (m ³ / KgS
), Ρ _b is blood volume density (Kg / m ³ ), C _b is blood specific heat (J / Kg ° C.), and T _b is blood temperature (° C.). Based on the above equations, the operation of each component of the present invention will be described. The calculating means captures a tomographic image including the tumor part from the image input interface, extracts the contour of each organ automatically or based on the input value by the manual input means, and specifies the position and size of the tumor. Next, the calculation means receives the data necessary for solving the above (formula 1) and (formula 2) from the manual input means, and also receives the dielectric constant ε and the conductivity σ of each tissue of the living body from the storage means. The calculation means solves the partial differential equation (Equation 1) based on these data using a finite element method or the like, and further calculates the electric field strength E,
Determining the amount of heat generated W _h by using high frequency power for each infinitesimal unit of biological organizations.

When the operation of the heating device is started after the above preparations, the heating device interface receives the data of the operating condition of the heating device necessary for solving the above (formula 3). Further, the biological parameter for each tissue of the living body for solving the above (formula 3) is received from the storage means. Then, the calculation means solves the biological heat transport equation to obtain the temperature T for each minute unit in the living body, and displays this as the temperature distribution on the display device.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a temperature monitor device showing an embodiment of the present invention. This temperature monitoring device includes an image input interface 1 for capturing a tomographic image including a tumor part from a medical image device, an external storage device 2 for storing biological parameters of each tissue / organ of a living body, and an operator required for calculation. A keyboard 3 for inputting predetermined data,
A mouse 4 which is an auxiliary input device of a keyboard, a heating device interface 5 which takes in predetermined data from the device when the heating device is operating, and a biological heat transfer equation or the like to solve the temperature distribution in the living body. CPU6 and CPU
And a display device 7 for displaying the calculation result of 6. The image input interface 1 takes in information from a medical image device such as CT or MR, and corresponds to, for example, an image scanner / camera. However,
In this case, since it is necessary to temporarily develop the image on the film, the amount of information is reduced, and therefore it is desirable that the image data be directly input from the medical image data. A trackball can be used instead of the mouse 4.

Next, the operation procedure of the temperature monitoring device of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. CPU6
Captures a tomographic image including a tumor part of a patient from a medical image device according to a control program (step ST (hereinafter referred to as ST
Abbreviated) 1). Next, the outline of each organ is extracted using this tomographic image (ST2). This operation is usually performed by an operator, but each organ can be automatically recognized if the image quality is good as in the case where a tomographic image as digital data is captured from a medical image device. Then, the operator operates the keyboard 3 and the mouse 4 to input the position and size of the tumor (ST3).

Subsequently, the operator operates the keyboard 3 or the like to input the size of the applicator used in the heating device and the mounting position of the applicator (ST4). Since the degree of expansion of the applicator liquid bag is particularly important in this operation, it is desirable to receive the amount of cooling water injected into the applicator on the heating device side via the heating device interface 5. When the above work is completed, the electric field analysis becomes possible, so data for solving the above (Equation 1) and (Equation 2) is created. Specifically, the values of the permittivity ε and the conductivity σ for each tissue of the living body are received from the external storage device 2 (ST
5). Then, the partial differential equation (Equation 1) is solved using a method such as the finite element method (ST6). Since the electric field strength E of each part of the living body is obtained by the processing of ST6, this value is substituted into (Equation 2) to obtain W _h for each minute element of the living body (ST7).

Next, the CPU 6 takes in the electric power applied to the heating device, the water temperature, the room temperature, and the sensor temperature from the heating device interface 5 (ST8). In a heating device, it is usual that reflected power is generated from the applicator, so the average value per unit time of the value obtained by subtracting the reflected power from the incident power is used here as the applied power. Here, the water temperature and the room temperature are boundary conditions for solving (Equation 3).
However, if the water temperature and the room temperature do not change during the operation of the heating device, it is not necessary to transfer them from the heating device one by one. Further, the sensor temperature is taken in for reference with the temperature of the calculation result obtained in the subsequent calculation.

Next, data for temperature distribution analysis is created using the above data. Specifically, each in-vivo parameter forming (Expression 3) and (Expression 4) is received from the external storage means 2 (ST9). As for the parameter whose value changes during the operation of the device, a different value is received each time this process is performed. Then, based on the created data, (Equation 3) is solved to obtain the temperature of each part of the living body, the result is stored in the external storage device 2, and the temperature distribution of each part of the living body is displayed on the display device 7 by using colors or the like. Is displayed (ST10).
Then, it is judged from the data from the heating device interface 5 whether or not the heating is completed, and if the heating is continued, the process returns to ST8 (ST11).

In this flowchart, ST8 to ST
Although it has been described that S10 is sequentially processed, ST8 and ST9 can be executed in parallel as a preparation for the next analysis while the temperature distribution analysis of ST10 is being performed using the multitasking method.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the temperature distribution of a portion that cannot be normally seen is dynamically visualized. It was easy. More specifically, since the temperature distribution of the heating cross section during heating is always displayed on the display device by different colors, the appearance of hot spots can be easily recognized. When a hot spot occurs during treatment, it is easy to give a warning to that effect.Therefore, when the hot spot occurs, the applied power on the heating device side or the cooling water temperature is lowered, or the cooling water is cooled. The risk of burns can be prevented by taking measures such as increasing the circulation flow rate.

Further, in the temperature distribution analysis according to the present invention, since the individual differences such as the body shape and the thickness of the fat layer are reflected by using the tomographic image of the patient, the accuracy of the temperature distribution analysis is high.
Further, if the temperature sensor insertion position is designated in the tomographic image in advance, the analysis temperature at this position and the sensor temperature sent from the heating device can be displayed in contrast.
Abnormalities such as temperature sensors can be recognized immediately.

Further, since the correlation between the analytically calculated temperature distribution and the reduction rate of cancer after a series of hyperthermia can be observed, the therapeutic effect can be easily determined.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a temperature monitoring device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the temperature monitoring device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a conventional heating device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Image Input Interface 2 External Storage Device 3, 4 Manual Input Means 5 Heating Device Interface 6 Computing Means 7 Display Means

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. An image input interface for receiving tomographic image data of a patient, a storage unit for storing biological parameters for each tissue of a living body, and an input unit for receiving data indicating an operating state of the hyperthermia treatment apparatus. Bioheat transport based on data from a warming device interface, manual input means for receiving data by manual input necessary for calculation of temperature distribution, data from the image input interface, storage means, manual input means, and warming device interface. A temperature monitoring device comprising: a computing means for calculating a temperature distribution of each part of a living body by using an equation; and a display means for displaying a temperature distribution of each part of the living body using a calculation result of this computing means.