JPH0581144B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides a shock wave therapy device that destroys and treats objects to be crushed in a living body, such as cancer cells, stones, etc., using the focused energy of shock waves. Regarding.

(Prior technology) As a device for crushing stones in living bodies, JP-A-62
There is one disclosed in -049843. FIG. 11 shows a cross section of the ultrasonic applicator of this device.

The ultrasonic applicator 1 shown in the figure has a hole of a predetermined shape in the center, a concave vibrator 2 formed with a curvature of 10 cm in diameter, and a single hole on the back of the concave vibrator 2. The backing material 3 is adhered in a similar manner. The ultrasonic probe 4 is arranged so that the wave transmitting/receiving surface (ultrasonic array) 4a is on the same curved surface as the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface of the concave transducer 2 or at a position set back from that surface. In addition, 5 is a water bag, and 6 is a living body.

However, in such a device, since the crushing shock wave is generated by the vibrator 2, there is a drawback that the energy of the shock wave is small.

Furthermore, there is a device in which a shock wave is generated using a planar electromagnetic dielectric type sound source instead of piezoelectric blocking. The development of this planar electromagnetic induction sound source began in 1960.
Advances have been made since around 2000, and conventional devices using this sound source wind a wire rod with a circular cross section to form a coil for supplying shock wave current. By generating sound waves and focusing them with an acoustic lens, shock waves for in-vivo stone fragmentation are obtained.

However, since an acoustic lens is used,
The attenuation and scattering of sound waves caused by this acoustic lens cannot be ignored.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, in conventional devices using electromagnetic induction sound sources, the focus of shock waves becomes blurred due to the attenuation and scattering of sound waves by the acoustic lens, making it difficult to effectively remove stones in the body. Difficult to crush. In addition, in conventional devices using electromagnetic induction sound sources, the efficiency of the sound source is relatively low, and as a result, it is necessary to supply a large amount of power to the coil in order to obtain a strong shock wave, making it difficult to miniaturize the power supply section. It is. Furthermore, since the low efficiency of the sound source must be compensated for by increasing the sound wave radiation area, it is difficult to downsize the sound source itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention aims to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and aims to reduce the size of an electromagnetic induction type sound source and a power supply unit that supplies power to this sound source, and to improve the effectiveness of fragments in vivo. The object of the present invention is to provide a shock wave therapy device that can perform effective crushing.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a method in which the vibration surface of an electromagnetic induction sound source is formed by laminating a metal film through an insulating film on a coil for supplying shock wave current to a predetermined curvature. The shock wave therapy device is configured to focus sound waves transmitted from the vibrating surface in the living body by forming the vibrating surface into a concave shape, and by winding a wire rod having a square cross section, It is formed into a coil.

Further, a focal position moving means filled with a sound wave transmission medium and capable of moving the focal position of the electromagnetic induction sound source within the living body is provided on the vibration surface side of the electromagnetic induction sound source.

Further, image information collecting means includes the electromagnetic induction sound source and the focal position moving means to form a shock wave generating means, and collects image information of a predetermined in-vivo region including the focal position by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. is arranged at the center of the shock wave generating means.

(Function) By forming the coil by winding a wire rod having a rectangular cross section as described above, it is possible to increase the effective area equidistant between the coil and the metal film. The efficiency of the sound source can be greatly improved compared to the case of coils. Therefore, although the sound source is smaller than the conventional sound source, the same shock wave energy as the conventional one can be obtained, and the power supply can be easily miniaturized.

Here, the degree of shock wave convergence in a sound source using an acoustic lens depends on the mechanical accuracy of the shock wave current supply coil and the accuracy of the acoustic lens, and there is also reflection and scattering due to transmission through the acoustic lens. The degree of focusing in a sound source with a concavely formed vibration surface depends only on the mechanical precision of the coil. Therefore, according to the electromagnetic induction sound source having the vibration surface formed in a concave shape as described above, it is possible to improve the resolution of the focal position of the shock wave.

Further, by providing the above-mentioned focus position moving means, the focus position on the object to be crushed in the living body can be accurately determined. Furthermore, by providing the image information collecting means in the center of the shock wave generating means as described above,
Since the image of the object to be crushed can be positioned in the center of the screen, it becomes easy to confirm the object to be crushed.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1a shows an embodiment of the shock wave therapy device according to the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the device of this embodiment includes a shock wave generating means 1 that generates a crushing shock wave focused in the living body.
5, and an image information collecting means 16, which is arranged in the center of the shock wave generating means 15 and collects image information of a predetermined in-vivo area including the focal point of the shock wave by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. A shock wave applicator 17 is constituted by the shock wave generating means 15 and the image information collecting means 16.

Furthermore, the device of this embodiment has the shock wave generating means 15.
A pulser 18 that sends out a shock wave signal (pulse signal) to the image information collecting means 16, a transmitting/receiving circuit 19 that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves via the image information collecting means 16, and amplitude detection and A/D of the output signal of the transmitting/receiving circuit 19.
A signal processing circuit 20 that performs signal processing such as (analog/digital) conversion, a signal conversion system 21 that converts the output signal of this signal processing circuit 20 into a display system signal format, and a signal conversion system 21 that controls the operation of the entire device of this embodiment. govern
A CPU (central processing unit) 22, and under the control of this CPU 22, the transmitting/receiving circuit 19, the signal processing circuit 20,
A controller 23 that controls the transmission timing, amplitude, frequency, etc. of the pulse signal in the pulser 18
Based on the output signal of the signal conversion system 21, the image information collection means 16 generates a fan-shaped sound field region 25, a body surface image of the subject, a kidney image, a kidney stone image, etc., and a shock wave transmission region of the shock wave generation means 15. , a display means 27 for displaying a focus marker 26 and the like. In addition, it is formed so that it can be contacted with a part of a living body, such as a limb, and detects a biological signal indicating the heartbeat of the living body and transmits it to the body.
In order to set the generation timing of the biological signal detection element 28 sent to the CPU 22 and the pulse signal sent from the pulser 18 to the shock wave generation means 15, the CPU
22, a pulse generating switch 29 having first and second switches (not shown), and image information collecting means 1 for the shock wave generating means 15.
6 and a position control 30 for adjusting the relative positional relationship between the two.

Next, the detailed configuration of the shock wave applicator 17 will be explained.

FIG. 1b is an external perspective view of the shock wave applicator, and FIG. 1c is a sectional view taken along line A-A' in FIG. 1b.

As shown in the figure, the shock wave applicator 17 is
A shock wave generating means 15 that forms a focus 41a of a crushing shock wave within the living body 32, and this shock wave generating means 1
The focal position moving means 33 provided on the side of the shock wave transmitting surface 15a of the shock wave generating means 15 is arranged within the shock wave transmitting region 41 extending from the shock wave transmitting surface 15a of the shock wave generating means 15 to the focal point 41a, and is located on the surface of the living body 32. The image information collecting means 16 forms a sound field region 42 including the focal point 41a in a state in which the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface 16a is brought into contact with the living body 32, and collects image data of the living body 32.

The shock wave generating means 15 is formed into a circular shape with a predetermined curvature, and includes a coil 15b spirally wound around the location where the image information collecting means 16 is arranged, and an insulating member attached to the coil 15b. 1
The metal film 15d is laminated with the metal film 5c interposed therebetween. The shock wave transmission surface (vibration surface) 15a of the shock wave generation means 15 has a concave shape, so that the sound waves transmitted toward the living body 32 are focused within the living body 32 and become shock waves. Plan views of the coil 15b and the metal film 15d are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively.
As shown in the figure. Both terminals 15e and 15f of a coil 15b spirally wound by a stepped rectangular wire rod are electrically connected to the output terminal of the pulser 18 (see FIG. 1a), and from this pulser 18 the coil 1
A shock wave generation signal is supplied to 5b. coil 15
When a shock wave generation signal is supplied to b, a reverse current is generated in the metal film 15d due to electromagnetic induction, and the coil 1
The metal film 15d is pushed apart by magnetic forces generated in opposite directions between the metal film 5b and the metal film 15d, thereby generating a strong sound wave. That is, an electromagnetic induction sound source is formed by the coil 15b, the insulating member 15c, and the metal film 15d. In the present embodiment, the shock wave generating means 15 includes this single electromagnetic induction type sound source.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the equidistant effective area between the coil and the metal film and the focal sound pressure. As shown in the figure, the larger the equidistant effective area is, the more efficient the sound source is, and the higher the focal sound pressure is. Here, the fifth
As shown in Figure a, the coil is formed by a wire 51 with a circular cross section, as shown in Figure b, the coil is formed as a wire rod 52 with a rectangular cross section, and as shown in Figure c, the coil is formed with a cross section base. Comparing the case where a coil is formed with the shaped wire 53,
As shown by 51A, 52A, and 53A in FIG. 4, there are differences in the equidistant effective areas. That is, the equidistant effective area increases in the order of a, b, and c in FIG. 5, and the efficiency of the sound source increases. Therefore, from the point of view of efficiency, it is most preferable to form the coils 15b in FIGS. 1c and 2 using the wire rod 53 having a trapezoidal cross section as shown in FIG. 5c.

Here, the wire rod 53 having a trapezoidal cross section can be manufactured at low cost as follows.

FIG. 6 shows the manufacturing process of the wire rod 53, and FIG. 7 shows a cross section taken along the line B-B' in FIG.

A flow path having a predetermined temperature gradient is formed by the jig 55, and molten copper 54 is flowed into this flow path. The flow path has a trapezoidal shape as shown in FIG.
The molten copper passing through this section is formed into a trapezoidal cross section and gradually hardens. The wire rod 53 obtained by this curing is then wound up by a winding machine 55.

The image information collecting means 16 provided at the center of the shock wave generating means 15 in FIG. An ultrasonic probe is used to obtain (B-mode information). This image information collecting means 16 is a support drive section 36
It is attached so that it can move in the direction of arrow B via the arrow B.

This support drive unit 36 moves arbitrarily in the direction of arrow B based on the control signal from the position controller 30.
It is equipped with a mechanism capable of stopping and its driving source.
In the device of this embodiment, the image information collecting means 16
A rack member is fixed to the side surface of the motor, and a motor is provided with a pinion gear attached to a drive shaft that meshes with the rack.The position controller 30 controls the amount or angle of rotation of the motor to control the shock wave generating means 15 and the image. The relative positional relationship with the information gathering means 16 is adjusted. still,
This support drive section 36 may have any other configuration, and does not necessarily need to be provided. That is, the image information collecting means 16 is the shock wave generating means 1.
It may be fixed at the center of the arrow B, or it may be a mechanism that can be moved in the direction of arrow B by means of means when a certain force is applied in the direction of arrow B.

Further, as the focal position moving means 33, a shock wave transmission medium, for example, a water bag filled with water is used.

The illustrated water bag 33 has a substantially cylindrical shape with a bottom or a truncated cone shape that is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the shock wave generating means 15. A bellows portion 33a that can be expanded and contracted in the direction of arrow B is formed on its side surface, and a thin film having an acoustic impedance approximately equal to that of water is applied to the bottom portion 37 of the bellows portion 33a.
The details are shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, in the center of the bottom 37 of the water bag,
A notch 37a is formed corresponding to the side surface shape of the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface 16a of the image information collecting means 16, and in the present embodiment, this notch 37a is
and the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface 16a of the image information collecting means 16.
The sides are welded or glued together. Therefore, the thin film can be deformed as the image information collecting means 16 moves. or,
With this configuration, the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface 16a comes into direct contact with the biological surface together with the thin film. In this embodiment, the bellows portion 33a is formed so that it can maintain its posture when no force is applied from the outside. This can be easily realized, for example, by appropriately setting the material of the bellows portion 33a or by providing an auxiliary tool.

Alternatively, a water bag shown in FIG. 9 may be used.

The water bag 44 shown in the figure is similar to the above one in that a bellows portion 33a is formed on the side surface, but the bottom portion 46
The difference is that a cylindrical member 45 having the same shape as a notch 46a formed at the center of the cylindrical member 45 is formed. That is, the cylindrical member 4 has the same dimensions as the outer diameter of the notch 46a.
5 is formed from the bottom 46 to around the upper end 44a of the side surface, and the upper end 45a is adhered around the notch 43. This has the advantage that it is not necessary to apply any special waterproofing treatment to the image information collecting means 16 itself.

Next, the operation of the embodiment apparatus configured as described above will be explained, mainly assuming the case of crushing a kidney stone 39 in the kidney 38 shown in FIG. 1c.

First, the water bag 33 provided in the shock wave applicator 17 is placed on the living body 32, and in this state, the transmitting/receiving circuit 19, the signal processing circuit 20, and the signal conversion system 2
1 to display a tomographic image of the living body on the image of the display means 27. In this case, since the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface 16a of the image information collecting means 16 directly contacts the surface of the living body, it is possible to obtain a clear tomographic image by eliminating the influence of the bottom of the water bag, water, etc.

Then, when the kidney image 38 is displayed, a kidney stone image 39 existing therein is searched.

In this case, on the display means 27, the position of the electromagnetic induction type sound source (vibration surface), the shock wave transmission region 41, and the focus marker 26 are respectively fixed based on the signals transmitted and received from the CPU 22 to the signal conversion system 21. will be displayed. The tomographic image of the living body 32 displayed in real time is displayed using the shock wave applicator 1.
As 7 moves, its display area changes. In this case, the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface 16a of the image collecting means 16
is disposed in the shock wave transmission region extending from the metal film 15a of the shock wave generating means 15 to the focal point, so that the display position of the object to be crushed can be positioned at the center of the screen. Therefore, it becomes easy to confirm the object to be crushed.

At the stage when the kidney stone image 39 is depicted in the tomographic image, the shock wave applicator 17 is further finely adjusted so that the kidney stone image 39 is located within the focus marker 26, and in this state, the shock wave applicator 17 is 17
to be fixed. In this case, since the bellows portion 33a maintains the set posture, the shock wave applicator 17
is easy to fix.

Next, the operator operates the first switch of the pulse generation switch 29 to send a control signal to the pulser 18 via the CPU 22 and controller 23.
As a result, a shock wave signal is transmitted from the pulser 18 to the shock wave generation means 15, and the shock wave generation means 15 transmits a shock wave of strong energy toward the kidney stone 39 located at a position corresponding to the focal marker 26.

By repeating such shock wave transmission as many times as necessary, the entire kidney stone 39 can be destroyed.

Since the living body moves slightly due to heartbeat, breathing, etc., the biosignal detection element 28 is brought into contact with the subject's hands, feet, chest, nose, etc. in advance, and the biosignal detection element 28 is The obtained biological signal and the signal from the pulse switch 29 are sent to the CPU 22.
It is more effective to control the timing of sending out the pulse signals from the pulser 18 in a more synchronized manner.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist.

For example, in the above embodiment, a single electromagnetic induction sound source is used as the shock wave generating means 17, but a plurality of electromagnetic induction sound sources may be used. FIG. 10 17A shows a shock wave applicator in this case. This applicator 17A
is centered around the location of the image information collection means 16,
Four electromagnetic induction sound sources 50a, 50b, 50c,
50d. Each sound source 50a, 50b,
50c and 50d are as in the above example,
It consists of a spirally wound coil made of a wire rod with a square cross section, and a metal film laminated on this coil with an insulator interposed therebetween. The sound waves emitted from each sound source are focused within the body and become shock waves.

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is configured as described above, it produces effects as described below.

According to the shock wave therapy device according to claim 1, by winding a wire having a rectangular cross section to form a coil for supplying shock wave current, the effective area of the coil and the metal film is increased equidistantly, and the effective area of the sound source is increased. Since efficiency is improved, it is possible to downsize the sound source and the power supply unit that supplies power to the sound source. Further, by making the vibration surface of the sound source concave, the resolution of the focal position of the shock wave can be increased, and the object to be crushed in the living body can be effectively crushed.

Furthermore, according to the shock wave treatment device according to the second aspect, by providing the focal position moving means, the focal position on the object to be crushed in the living body can be accurately positioned.

According to the shock wave treatment device according to claim 3, by providing the image information collecting means in the center of the shock wave generating means, the image of the object to be crushed can be positioned at the center of the screen, and the object to be crushed can be confirmed. becomes easier.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1a is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the shock wave treatment device according to the present invention, FIG. 1b is a perspective view of the shock wave applicator in FIG.
2 and 3 are plan views of the coil and metal film in the shock wave generating means,
Figure 4 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the equidistant effective area between the coil and the metal film and the focal sound pressure, Figure 5 a, b, c
6 is a cross-sectional view showing various wire rods for forming coils, FIG.
BB' sectional view in the figure, FIGS. 8 and 9 are partially cutaway perspective views of the main parts of the shock wave applicator, FIG. 10 is a plan view of the shock wave applicator in another embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example device. 15... Shock wave generating means, 15b... Coil,
15c...Insulating member, 15d...Metal film, 16...
...Image information collecting means, 17, 17A...Shock wave applicator, 33...Focus position moving means, 39...
...Kidney stone (fractured object).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. By forming the vibration surface of an electromagnetic induction sound source, which is formed by laminating a metal film on a coil for supplying shock wave current via an insulating film, into a concave shape with a predetermined curvature, A shock wave therapy device configured to focus sound waves transmitted from the vibrating surface within a living body, characterized in that the coil is formed by winding a wire rod having a square cross section. Device. 2. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a focal position moving means filled with a sound wave transmission medium and capable of moving the focal position of the electromagnetic induction sound source in the living body, on the vibration surface side of the electromagnetic induction sound source. Shockwave therapy device. 3. An image information collecting means comprising the electromagnetic induction sound source and the focal position moving means to form a shock wave generating means, and collecting image information of a predetermined in-vivo region including the focal position by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. 3. The shock wave treatment device according to claim 2, wherein said shock wave generating means is arranged at a central portion thereof.