JPH0750067Y2 - Laser irradiator - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial field of application] The present invention applies laser light transmitted from a laser light source through an optical fiber to a living tissue such as an irradiated body or a tooth (hereinafter referred to as an irradiated body). The present invention relates to a laser irradiator for irradiating to perform processing and treatment.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of laser irradiator is provided with a laser probe at the tip of an optical fiber for carrying the laser light emitted from the emission end of the tip to an object to be irradiated. A non-contact type that does not come into contact with the irradiated body (for example, JP-A-61-20544) and a contact type that comes into contact with the irradiated body (for example, JP-A-63-318934)
Is known.

In the non-contact type laser probe, the laser light emitted from the emission end is condensed into a predetermined spot size by using a condenser lens.

On the other hand, the contact laser probe is formed by processing and polishing the side surface of the sapphire rod or the like in a tapered shape so that the diameter becomes smaller as it goes to the tip, and the laser light emitted from the emitting end is polished by this polishing surface. The light is internally reflected and focused on this tip.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

Since the minimum diameter of the condenser lens used for the non-contact type laser probe is at most 1 mmφ, it is difficult to manufacture a non-contact type laser probe having a size of 1 mmφ or less. Therefore, when processing or treating the inside of a narrow portion, for example, when treating the inside of the root of a tooth that has a thickness of 300 μm or less and is bent, it is not possible to sufficiently process the irradiated site in the deep portion of the narrow portion. could not.

On the other hand, the contact laser probe has a tip diameter of about 0.3 mm, but the diameter of the upper part of the taper is as large as about 2 mm. For this reason, it was not possible to sufficiently process the irradiated portion located deep in the narrow portion.

Therefore, the present inventor processes (treats) the bent deep portion of the narrow portion.
In order to achieve this, it is conceivable to use the tip of the optical fiber itself, which was used only for energy transmission of laser light, as a laser probe instead of using a laser probe separate from the optical fiber as in the past. It was As this optical fiber, for example, a fiber having a core diameter of 200 μm and a cladding diameter of 220 μm used for energy transmission of laser light was used.
Insert the output end of the tip of this optical fiber into the bent narrow part with a thickness of about 300 μm just before the irradiated object,
An attempt was made to irradiate a laser beam from the emitting end to process (treat) the irradiated body.

However, in this case, the acrylic protective layer, which is coated on the outer circumference of the ordinary optical fiber for protection, is melted by the heat generated in the irradiated body during laser processing (treatment), or the narrow portion is bent. The acrylic protective layer may be damaged due to the contact between the sharp portion present inside the inside and the side surface of the optical fiber. Due to the melting or damage of the acrylic protective layer, the cladding of the optical fiber was exposed and damaged, and the optical fiber was often broken. Therefore, in the conventional laser irradiator using the tip of the optical fiber itself as the laser probe,
The bent deep part of the narrow part could not be sufficiently processed (treated).

The present invention has been made under the above background, and an object thereof is to provide a laser irradiator capable of processing (treating) a bent deep portion of a narrow portion.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

According to the present invention, the laser light from the laser light source is received as incident light at the incident end, the incident light is guided to the emission end of the tip portion, and the optical fiber is provided for emitting as emission light from the emission end, In a laser irradiator for irradiating the emitted light (living tissue) to the irradiated body (living tissue) by laser processing (treating) the irradiated body (living tissue), a space is formed around the outer periphery of the optical fiber excluding the tip portion. A tube provided with an opening on the side of the distal end portion, and an optical fiber arranged to cover a part of the outer circumference of the tube in a state of being separated from the distal end portion so that the distal end portion projects. And a fluid supply means for causing a fluid to flow in the space to blow out the fluid from the opening and cool the heat generated in the irradiated body (living tissue) by the laser irradiation. And the optical fiber At least the tip of the outer peripheral surface of the bar is coated with a protective layer made of a material having a higher heat resistance than the material forming the optical fiber, and the tip of the optical fiber itself is used as a laser probe. A characteristic laser probe is obtained.

[Action]

Since the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the optical fiber is coated with a protective layer made of a material having a heat resistance higher than that of the material forming the optical fiber, the emitting end of the optical fiber is irradiated by laser irradiation (treatment) on the irradiated body (living tissue). It is possible to prevent melting due to the heat generated in (1). As a result, the bent deep portion of the narrow portion can be processed (treated) without destroying the optical fiber.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a laser irradiator according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an optical fiber 10. An incident end (not shown) of the optical fiber 10 receives laser light from a laser light source (not shown) as incident light. In this embodiment, a Nd: YAG laser that oscillates at a wavelength of 1.06 μm is used as the laser light source.
Needless to say, the laser light source is not limited to the Nd: YAG laser. For example, an Er: YAG laser may be used for incising living tissue, and a Ho: YAG laser may be used for coagulation. Further, in this embodiment, a quartz fiber is used as the optical fiber 10. Of course, the optical fiber 10 used is not limited to the quartz fiber, and any optical fiber capable of transmitting the laser light used may be used. For example, when an Er: YAG laser that oscillates in the wavelength band of 3 μm is used as the laser light source, a fluoride fiber is used as the optical fiber 10.

The optical fiber 10 guides the incident light to the emission end 11 and emits it as emission light from the emission end 11.

The outer periphery of the optical fiber 10 except the tip portion 15 of the optical fiber 10,
An outer tube (tube) that opens a space and is coaxial with the optical fiber 10.
Covered with 20. The outer tube 20 has an opening 21 on the side of the tip portion 15. As the outer tube 20, for example, a Teflon (registered trademark) tube is used. Air gas 22 supplied by a gas supplier (not shown) (not shown) flows through the space, and the air gas 22 is blown out from the opening 21.
The air gas 22 is for cleaning an irradiation target (living tissue) as described below or for cooling heat generated in the irradiation target (living tissue) by laser irradiation. Other than the air gas 22 may be used as long as it achieves this purpose. For example, carbon dioxide gas, nitrogen gas, water or the like may be used instead of the air gas 22.

Referring also to FIG. 2, the outer tube 20 is fixed to the optical fiber 10 at the opening 21 of the outer tube 20 by a fixing member 23. The fixtures 23 are arranged at intervals of 120 ° with a space and have three insertion portions 23 a to be inserted between the outer tube 20 and the optical fiber 10. The insertion portion 23a prevents the outer tube 20 from moving in the axial direction with respect to the optical fiber 10. By adjusting the fixing position of the fixing bracket 23 according to the purpose of use of the laser irradiator, the opening 21 of the outer tube 20 and the optical fiber 10 can be adjusted.
It is possible to adjust the length L between the output end 11 and the output end 11.

As shown, a handpiece 30 is attached so as to cover a part of the outer circumference of the outer tube 20. In other words, the handpiece 30 has the tip 15 of the optical fiber 10 protruding,
The optical fiber 10 is arranged so as to cover a part of the outer circumference of the outer tube 20 in a state of being separated from the tip portion 15. The handpiece 30 is fixed to the outer tube 20 by a cap 32 via an O-ring 31. In this case, cap 32
Crushes the O-ring 31, but does not block the space (flow path) for flowing the air gas 22 between the outer tube 20 and the optical fiber 10.

Referring to FIG. 3, the optical fiber 10 is, as is well known,
It is composed of a core 12 and a clad 13 enclosing it. The outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 10 is coated with a protective layer 14. In this embodiment, the core 12 and the clad are used as the optical fiber 10.
The diameters of 13 were 200 μm and 220 μm, respectively. Further, as the protective layer 14, a vapor-deposited film having a diameter of 260 μm was formed over the entire length of the optical fiber 10. After gold deposition,
The emitting end 11 was polished so that laser light could be transmitted.

Here, the material of the protective layer 14 may be any material other than gold, as long as it has a higher heat resistance than the material forming the optical fiber 10. Furthermore, it is preferable that the material of the protective layer 14 has a higher mechanical strength than the material forming the optical fiber 10. For example, as the material of the protective layer 14, a metal such as aluminum or an organic material such as polyimide may be used. The protective layer 14 may be formed by electroless plating or the like other than vapor deposition.

In this embodiment, as described above, gold, which is excellent in heat resistance and mechanical strength, is used as the material of the protective layer 14, and the protective layer 14 is formed over the entire length of the optical fiber 10. Therefore, the protective layer 14 made of gold not only allows the tip 15 of the optical fiber 10 itself to be used as a laser probe, but also improves the heat resistance and mechanical strength of the entire optical fiber 10. It also plays the role of letting you.
However, when it is sufficient to allow the tip 15 of the optical fiber 10 itself to be used as a laser probe, it is sufficient to coat the tip 15 of the optical fiber 10 with the protective layer 14.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the tooth 40 is treated as a living tissue by using the laser irradiator according to the present invention. In this example, the distal end portion 15 of the laser irradiator is inserted into the tooth 40 to treat the endodontic lesion with laser light. In this case, in the present embodiment, in order to prevent the scattered matter or the like generated from the tooth 40 by laser irradiation from adhering to the surface of the tooth 40 and to cool the heat generated at the irradiation site of the tooth 40, Adjust L to adjust air gas 22 to teeth 40
Sprayed on the surface of.

[Effect of device]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the outer peripheral surface of the tip end portion of the optical fiber used only for energy transmission of laser light is made of a material having higher heat resistance than the material forming the optical fiber. Since it was coated with the protective layer, it was possible to sufficiently process (treat) the deep portion of the bent narrow portion of the irradiated body or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of a laser irradiator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the structure of a fixing metal fitting used in the laser irradiator of FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the tip of the optical fiber of the laser irradiator shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state of dental treatment using the laser irradiator according to the present invention. is there. 10 ... Optical fiber, 11 ... Emitting end, 12 ... Core, 13 ... Clad, 14 ... Protective layer, 15 ... Tip part, 20 ... Outer tube (tube),
21 ... Opening, 22 ... Air gas, 30 ... Handpiece.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A laser beam from a laser light source is received as incident light at an incident end, and the incident light is emitted from an emitting end (11) of a tip portion (15).
A laser irradiator that has an optical fiber (10) for guiding light to the irradiation end (11) and emits it as emission light, and irradiates the emission light with laser to the irradiation target to process the irradiation target. A tube (20) having an opening (21) on the side of the distal end (15), which covers the outer periphery of the optical fiber (10) except the distal end (15) with a space, and the distal end ( 15) so that the tip end (15)
A handpiece (30) arranged to cover a part of the outer periphery of the tube (20) in a state of being separated from the handpiece (30) for holding the optical fiber (10), and flowing a fluid (22) into the space, A fluid supply means for discharging the fluid (22) from the opening (21) to cool the heat generated in the irradiated body by the laser irradiation, and the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber (10) At least the tip portion (15) of the optical fiber (10) is coated with a protective layer (14) made of a material having heat resistance higher than that of the material forming the optical fiber (10), and the tip portion (15) of the optical fiber (10) is ) A laser irradiator characterized by using itself as a laser probe.