JPH0738189A - Laser apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the constitution of the entire 5 apparatus and to make the adjustment of laser output accurate by controlling the driving number of a plurality of semiconductor lasers housed in the main body of the laser apparatus according to the preset value. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of semiconductor lasers 4 are provided in a laser oscillating part 1. In a control part 3, an output setting part 10, which sets the output of the laser light from a main body A of a laser apparatus, and a control device 11, which controls the driving number of the semiconductor lasers 4 according to the preset value 17 set with the output setting part 10, are provided. Thus, when the laser-apparatus main body A is used, the output of the laser light from the laser-apparatus main body A is set by the pushing operation of an operating button 15 of the output setting part 10. The opening and closing operations of each contact point 13a in a power supply device 12 are controlled with the control device according to the preset value set with the output setting part. Thus, the driving number of the semiconductor lasers is controlled.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser device for performing processing such as cutting, drilling, welding, etc. in the general industrial field, or cutting, hemostasis, coagulation, evaporation, etc. in the medical field.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a Nd: YAG laser or a CO ₂ laser which can obtain a high output is widely used as a laser device used for processing or treatment. The output of the laser is adjusted to an appropriate output according to the contents of processing or treatment. In order to perform accurate processing or safe and highly effective treatment, it is necessary to accurately adjust the output, but for that purpose, it is necessary to provide a control means having a complicated configuration for adjusting the laser output.

On the other hand, recently, the output power of semiconductor lasers has been increasing year by year, and the output power is several watts. However, since a single semiconductor laser does not provide a sufficient output for processing or medical use, a laser knife which has a sufficient output for medical use of, for example, several tens of watts can be obtained by using a plurality of semiconductor lasers. Being developed. For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-110916, a plurality of laser beams emitted from three to four semiconductor laser devices are converged into a single laser beam, which is coupled to one optical fiber. The configuration is shown.

Further, in adjusting the laser output, the input power to each laser source is continuously changed and adjusted in accordance with the set output value to obtain a desired laser output. .

[0005]

When the laser output is adjusted by adjusting the input power to each laser source according to the set output value as in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, a complicated control means is required. Therefore, there is a problem that the configuration of the entire apparatus becomes complicated. Further, as in the case of using a plurality of semiconductor lasers, controlling the output of each of the plurality of semiconductor lasers complicates the structure of the device, making it difficult to miniaturize the device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a laser device capable of simplifying the overall configuration of the device and accurately adjusting the laser output. It is intended.

[0007]

A plurality of semiconductor lasers built in a laser device body, an output setting means for setting an output of laser light from the laser device body, and a set value set by the output setting means. Control means for controlling the driving number of the semiconductor laser according to the above.

[0008]

The number of driven semiconductor lasers is controlled according to the set value set by the output setting means, and laser light is output from the number of semiconductor lasers according to the set value.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the entire laser apparatus main body A of this embodiment. The laser device main body A includes a laser oscillator 1 that oscillates a laser, a laser transmitter 2 that transmits the laser output from the laser oscillator 1, and a control that controls the output of the laser output from the laser oscillator 1. And a section 3 are provided.

The laser oscillator 1 has a plurality of semiconductor lasers 4
Is provided. In this embodiment, for example, 30 semiconductor lasers 4 are provided that output a laser beam of 1 watt when energized. Further, the laser transmission section 2 is provided with a single first optical fiber 5 for emitting light and the same number of second optical fibers 6 as the number of semiconductor lasers 4.

The incident end of the second optical fiber 6 is optically connected to the semiconductor laser 4 via the lens 7. Furthermore, the emission end portions of all the second optical fibers 6 are integrally bundled to form an optical fiber focusing portion 8. The optical fiber converging unit 8 is optically connected to the incident end of the first optical fiber 5 for emitting light via a condenser lens 9. The emission end of the first optical fiber 5 is arranged to face an object to be irradiated with laser light, for example, a work piece or a living tissue.

The control unit 3 has an output setting unit (output setting means) 10 for setting the output of the laser beam from the laser apparatus main body A, and a semiconductor laser according to the set value set by the output setting unit 10. A control device (control means) 11 for controlling the number of drives of four and a power supply device 12 are provided.

A switch 13 is built in the power supply device 12. The switch 13 is provided with the same number of contacts 13a as the number of semiconductor lasers 4. Further, the semiconductor lasers 4 of the laser oscillator 1 are connected to the contacts 13a via lead wires 14, respectively. Then, each semiconductor laser 4 of the laser oscillator 1 has each contact 13
It is connected in parallel to the power supply in the power supply device 12 via a. Therefore, the energization state of each semiconductor laser 4 is controlled according to the opening / closing operation of each contact 13 a of the switch 13. That is, the contact 13a of the switch 13
When the is opened, it is held in a state where no laser light is output,
When the contact 13a of the switch 13 is closed, it can be switched to a state of outputting a laser beam of 1 watt.

An output setting unit 10 and a power supply device 12 are connected to the control device 11, respectively. here,
The output setting unit 10 is provided with an operation button 15 for output setting and a display unit 16 for displaying the setting output. Further, the operation button 15 for output setting is provided with an increase button 15a for increasing the set value and a decrease button 15b for decreasing the set value.

When the laser apparatus main body A is used, the output of the laser beam from the laser apparatus main body A is set in accordance with the pushing operation of the operation button 15 of the output setting section 10, and is set by the output setting section 10. The control device 11 controls the opening / closing operation of each contact 13a in the power supply device 12 according to the set value, and controls the number of semiconductor lasers 4 to be driven.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. First, when the laser apparatus main body A is used, the output setting unit 10 first sets the output of the laser light. During this laser light output setting operation, the increase button 15a and the decrease button 15b of the output setting unit 10 are operated to display the output value on the display unit 16 every 1 watt from 0 watt to 30 watt, and the desired output value is set. To do.

The output signal from the output setting section 10 is input to the control device 11. Further, the control device 11 sends to the power supply device 12 a control signal according to the set output value set by the output setting unit 10.

Based on this control signal, the opening / closing operation of each contact 13a of the switch 13 in the power supply device 12 is controlled, and the number of semiconductor lasers 4 driven is controlled. For example,
When the output of the laser beam is set to 18 watts by the output setting unit 10, the 18 contacts 13a in the switch 13 are switched to the closed state, and the rest are held in the open state.
Therefore, of the 30 semiconductor lasers 4 of the laser oscillation unit 1, only 18 semiconductor lasers 4 are driven,
A laser output of 18 watts can be obtained.

The laser light emitted from each semiconductor laser 4 is incident on the second optical fiber 6 via the lens 7. The laser light incident on each optical fiber 6 passes through the optical fiber 6, is transmitted to the emission end portion of each optical fiber 6 bundled by the optical fiber focusing portion 8, and is emitted from this optical fiber focusing portion 8. It

Further, the laser light emitted from the optical fiber converging portion 8 is condensed at the incident end portion of the first optical fiber 5 through the condensing lens 9 and is incident into the first optical fiber 5. . The laser light that has entered the first optical fiber 5 travels through the optical fiber 5, is guided to the emission end side, and is emitted outside from the emission end. Then, the laser light emitted from the first optical fiber 5 is applied to an object to be processed or an irradiation target such as a living tissue, and laser processing, laser treatment, etc. are performed.

When changing the output of the laser output from the laser apparatus main body A, the increase button 15a or the decrease button 15b of the output setting section 10 is pressed.
Here, when increasing the laser output, the output setting unit 10
The increase button 15a is pressed to increase the set value displayed on the display unit 16 to a desired value. With this operation, the control device 11 causes the switch 13 in the power supply device 12 to operate.
The contacts 13a are closed by the number corresponding to the increase in the set value, and the semiconductor lasers 4 are driven by the desired output value.

Further, when the laser output is reduced, the decrease button 15b of the output setting section 10 is pressed to decrease the set value displayed on the display section 16 to a desired value. Along with this operation, the control device 11 causes the switch 13 in the power supply device 12 to have the contacts 1 in the number corresponding to the decrease in the set value.
3a is opened to stop the driving of the semiconductor laser 4. Then, the contacts 13a are held in the closed state by the number of changed output values, and the laser output of the changed output value can be obtained by the remaining semiconductor lasers 4 held in the driven state.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned structure, the plurality of semiconductor lasers 4 are built in the laser apparatus main body A, and the number of semiconductor lasers 4 driven according to the output setting value of the laser light set by the output setting unit 10. Since the output of the laser light is adjusted by controlling the input / output, the input power to each semiconductor laser 4 is adjusted as in the case of adjusting the output of the laser light by increasing or decreasing the input power to the laser source as in the conventional case. There is no need to provide a means for increasing or decreasing the power. Therefore, the configuration of the entire laser apparatus main body A can be simplified as compared with the conventional case.

Further, since the output set value is displayed on the display section 16 of the output setting section 10 and the driving number of the semiconductor laser 4 is controlled according to the set value displayed on the display section 16, the laser light is controlled. The output of can be adjusted accurately.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. This is because four semiconductor lasers 21a, 21b having the same or different laser light output values are provided to the laser oscillation unit 1.
21c and 21d are provided. Here, the output values of the laser beams of the first to fourth semiconductor lasers 21a to 21d are set to 1 watt, 2 watts, 2 watts, and 5 watts, respectively.

The output setting unit 10 can set the output value of the laser light within the range of 1 watt to 10 watts. Further, the control device 11 opens and closes each contact 13a in the power supply device 12 in a state where the number of driving the semiconductor laser 4 is controlled as shown in the following Table 1 according to the set value set by the output setting unit 10. It is like this.

[0027]

[Table 1]

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described. When the output value of the laser light is set by the output setting unit 10 within the range of 1 watt to 10 watts, a control signal is sent in accordance with each set value as in the first embodiment, and the first
~ The fourth semiconductor lasers 21a to 21d are the control device 11
It is driven by the following as shown in Table 1.

That is, when the laser light output is set to 1 watt, one first semiconductor laser 21a having a laser light output of 1 watt is driven. If the laser light output is set to 2 watts, the laser light output will be 2 watts.
Either one of the watts of the second semiconductor laser 21b or the third semiconductor laser 21c is driven.

Further, when the laser light output is set to 3 watts, either one of the second semiconductor laser 21b or the third semiconductor laser 21c having a laser light output of 2 watts and the laser light output. The first semiconductor laser 21a having a power of 1 watt is driven.

When the laser light output is set to 4 watts, the second semiconductor laser 21b and the third semiconductor laser 21c are driven simultaneously. When the output of the laser light is set to 5 watts, the output of the laser light is 5 watts. One fourth semiconductor laser 21d is driven.

Further, when the output of the laser light is set to 6 watts, the fourth semiconductor laser 2 having an output of 5 watts is used.
First semiconductor laser 21a having 1d1 and 1 watt output
One is driven. If the laser light output is set to 7 watts, the fourth semiconductor laser 2 outputs 5 watts.
Second semiconductor laser 21b with 1d1 and 2 watt output
Alternatively, either one of the third semiconductor lasers 21c is driven.

If the laser light output is set to 8 watts, the fourth semiconductor laser 21 outputs 5 watts.
One of the second semiconductor laser 21b or the third semiconductor laser 21c having an output power of d1 and 2 watts and the first semiconductor laser 21a having an output power of 1 watt are driven. 5 if the laser power is set to 9 watts
One fourth semiconductor laser 21d having a wattage output and two (second and third) semiconductor lasers 2 having a wattage output
1b and 21c are driven. When the output of the laser light is set to 10 watts, four semiconductor lasers 21a-2a
All 1d are driven.

Then, the laser light emitted from each of the semiconductor lasers 21a to 21d is incident on the second optical fiber 6 through the lens 7 as in the first embodiment, and each optical fiber 6
After being transmitted to the emission end of the first optical fiber 5, the laser light emitted from the optical fiber converging unit 8 is condensed on the incident end of the first optical fiber 5 through the condensing lens 9. Further, the laser light guided to the emission end side through the inside of the first optical fiber 5 is emitted to the outside from the emission end portion of the first optical fiber 5 and is an irradiation target such as a workpiece or a living tissue. The object is irradiated and laser processing, laser treatment, etc. are performed.

Therefore, in the above structure, four semiconductor lasers 21 having the same or different output values of laser light are provided.
Since a, 21b, 21c, and 21d are provided and are appropriately combined and driven to obtain a desired output, the laser output can be adjusted with a small number of semiconductor lasers.
Therefore, the structure of the laser apparatus main body A can be made simpler than that of the first embodiment.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
A description will be given based on (e). This is shown in FIG.
As shown in (c), a laser oscillating unit 33 in which a plurality of semiconductor lasers 32 are arranged in an annular shape is provided at the distal end of the tubular catheter 31, and the light emitting surface of each semiconductor laser 32 is directed toward the center of the lumen of the catheter 31. It has been arranged.

When cutting the living tissue using the laser device main body A having the above-described structure, first, as shown in FIG. 3D, the distal end of the tubular catheter 31 is brought into contact with the living tissue H. In this state, a suction force is applied to the catheter 31, and the target site R in the living tissue H is taken into the catheter 31.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3E, the grasping forceps 34 is inserted into the tubular catheter 31, and the top of the target region R is grasped by the grasping portion 34a at the tip of the grasping forceps 34. In this state, the laser oscillating unit 33 is driven to irradiate the base portion of the target region R with laser light.

At this time, as in the first embodiment, the driving number of each semiconductor laser 32 of the laser oscillator 33 is controlled according to the output setting value of the laser light set by the output setting unit 10, and the laser light The output is adjusted.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned structure, the target site R in the living tissue H is taken into the tubular catheter 31, and the laser is directed from each semiconductor laser 32 of the laser oscillator 33 toward the center of the lumen of the catheter 31. Since the light is irradiated, it is possible to reliably irradiate only the target site R in the living tissue H with the laser light. Therefore, since the laser light emitted from each semiconductor laser 32 of the laser oscillator 33 is not irradiated to a portion other than the target portion R in the living tissue H, the irradiation accuracy of the laser light is increased and the laser treatment is performed. The therapeutic effect can be enhanced.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the tubular catheter 4
A plurality of optical fibers 42 are embedded in one tube, each semiconductor laser 32 of the laser oscillating unit 33 is arranged opposite to each other at the base end of each optical fiber 42, and the center of the lumen of the catheter 41 is provided at the tip of each optical fiber 42. You may make it the structure which provides the reflection member 43 which reflects toward. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0042]

According to the present invention, a plurality of semiconductor lasers are built in the laser device main body, and the semiconductor laser of the semiconductor laser is set according to the set value set by the output setting means for setting the output of the laser light from the laser device main body. Since the number of drives is controlled, the configuration of the entire device can be simplified and the laser output can be adjusted accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire laser device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire laser device according to a second embodiment.

3A is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of a laser device according to a third embodiment, FIG. 3B is a plan view of a laser oscillation unit, FIG. 3C is a longitudinal sectional view of a tubular catheter, and FIG. FIG. 3A is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which a target site in a biological tissue is taken in a catheter, and FIG. 6E is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state of irradiation with laser light emitted from each semiconductor laser of a laser oscillator.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part showing a modified example of the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

A ... Laser device main body, 4, 21a, 21b, 21c, 2
1d, 32 ... Semiconductor laser, 10 ... Output setting unit (output setting means), 11 ... Control device (control means).

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 28, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 2

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Fig. 2]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of semiconductor lasers built in a laser device main body, an output setting means for setting an output of laser light from the laser device main body, and the output setting means for setting the output according to a set value set by the output setting means. A laser device comprising: a control unit for controlling the number of semiconductor lasers driven.