JPH09206308A - Laser scalple device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce noise and the volume of wind by controlling the rotation of a fan which diffuses heat generated from a semiconductor laser, etc. SOLUTION: The device has a semiconductor laser 12, a cooling element 18 to cool the laser, a cooling fan 11 to diffuse generated heat, and a control part 3 to control the cooling fan 11 by the volume of electricity to be supplied to the cooling element 18. The cooling fan 11 is stopped for a prescribed period from the start of operation of the semiconductor laser 12, and is started by the volume of electricity when the volume of electricity to be supplied to the cooling element 18 reaches a specified value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique of a laser scalpel device for irradiating a living body with a laser beam for cutting, evaporating, coagulating and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the technology of semiconductor lasers has advanced remarkably, and in particular, the wavelength range in which oscillation is possible has increased, and the output has become more sophisticated, which is remarkable. Also in the field of the laser scalpel device, the laser scalpel device using the semiconductor laser is smaller and lighter than the conventional carbon dioxide gas laser or the YAG solid state laser and has good maintainability, and is therefore being applied in the medical field.

A conventional semiconductor laser knife device will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4 showing the configuration of the semiconductor laser knife device, reference numeral 101 denotes a main body of the semiconductor laser knife device, which has a power supply unit, a control unit, a semiconductor laser and the like built therein. A power key switch 102 and a control panel 103 are used to set the output of the semiconductor laser and the irradiation mode of continuous wave or pulse wave. Reference numeral 104 is a probe formed of an optical fiber, 105 is a laser light emitting end portion of the probe 104, 106 is an optical connector for connecting the probe 104 to the main body 101, and 107 is a foot switch for controlling on / off of oscillation of the semiconductor laser. Reference numeral 108 denotes a cooling fan located at the back of the main body 101.

Laser light oscillated from a semiconductor laser built in the main body 101 of the semiconductor laser scalpel device is introduced by a probe 104 to an affected part of a patient.

The operation of the semiconductor laser knife device thus configured will be described. After the power is turned on by the power key switch 102, the control panel 103 is operated to set the output of laser light, the irradiation mode, and the like. The operator holds the laser beam emitting end portion 105 of the probe 104 on the affected area of the patient and operates the foot switch 107,
Laser light is applied to the treatment site based on the laser light irradiation conditions set on the control panel 103.

At this time, the cooling fan 108 is generally connected to the main body 101 from the time when the power key switch 102 is input.
It is driven by being supplied with power from a power source unit built in the power source, and is rotationally driven at a constant rotation speed until the power key switch 102 is turned off.

[0007]

The conventional semiconductor laser scalpel device is used for various diseases, but it is small in cases where it is necessary to continuously irradiate the semiconductor laser with the maximum output for a long time. Without cooling fan 108
The air volume is always set based on the condition that the semiconductor laser is continuously irradiated with the maximum output.

Therefore, in an actual clinical setting,
The cooling fan is driven under the conditions of maximum output, which is significantly different from the actually required driving conditions.
There was a problem that air volume was generated.

In particular, when used in an operating room, there is a problem that uncleanness of dust due to fan noise or air flow is not preferable.

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, in the laser scalpel apparatus of the present invention, the temperature of the semiconductor laser, the amount of power supplied to the semiconductor laser, and the power supplied to the cooling element for cooling the semiconductor laser. Control means for controlling driving of a fan for cooling the semiconductor laser is provided by at least one factor of the quantity. And
By controlling the drive of the fan that cools the semiconductor laser in this way, the fan is driven at the minimum required number of rotations, so that noise and air volume can be reduced.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A laser scalpel apparatus according to the present invention comprises a semiconductor laser, a fan for radiating heat generated by the semiconductor laser, and control means for controlling driving of the fan.

Further, the semiconductor laser, temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the semiconductor laser, a fan for dissipating heat generated by the semiconductor laser, and driving of the fan are controlled by signals from the temperature measuring means. And control means.

As the control means, a control means for controlling the drive of the fan on / off or a control means for controlling the rotation speed of the fan is effective.

The control means for controlling the drive of the fan by the amount of electric power supplied to the semiconductor laser, the control means for controlling the drive of the fan by the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling element for cooling the semiconductor laser, or both of them. It may be provided with a control means.

Further, a control means for controlling on / off of driving of the fan in synchronization with oscillation of the semiconductor laser may be provided.

Further, it is preferable that the driving of the fan is stopped for a certain period of time after the semiconductor laser starts oscillating, and the fan is driven by the amount of power supplied to the cooling element when it reaches a predetermined value. The amount of electric power for driving the fan is 90% of the maximum amount of electric power supplied to the cooling element.

In the laser knife device constructed as described above, the fan that dissipates the heat generated by the semiconductor laser is rotated at the minimum necessary number of revolutions to reduce the air volume and noise. it can.

[0018]

Embodiments will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIG. 1, which shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the semiconductor laser knife device, reference numeral 1 is a main body of the semiconductor laser knife device, which internally contains a power source section 2, a control section 3, a semiconductor laser block 4, and the like. Reference numeral 5 is a power key switch, and 6 is a control panel for setting the output of the semiconductor laser, the irradiation mode of continuous wave or pulse wave, and the like. Reference numeral 7 is a probe made of an optical fiber, 8 is a laser light emitting end of the probe 7, 9 is an optical connector for connecting the probe 7 to the main body 1, and 10 is a foot switch for controlling on / off of oscillation of the semiconductor laser. 1
Reference numeral 1 is a cooling fan located at the back of the main body 1.

The semiconductor laser block 4 has a semiconductor laser 12 and a condenser lens 13 built therein. The laser light 14 oscillated by the semiconductor laser 12 is incident on the optical fiber 15 by the condenser lens 13 to be guided and guided. After being guided to the probe 7 through the connector 9, the laser light emitting end portion 8 provides treatment. Reference numeral 16 is a temperature sensor including a thermistor, and the temperature of the semiconductor laser 12 is detected by the control unit 3 including a microcomputer. 1
Reference numeral 7 denotes a copper block. The semiconductor laser block 4 is fixed to the upper surface, and a cooling element 18 made of a Peltier element is attached to the lower surface to cool the heat generated in the semiconductor laser block 4 by the cooling element 1.
8 to conduct cooling to the semiconductor laser block 4.
A radiation fin 19 radiates heat generated from the semiconductor laser block 4 and the cooling element 18.

The control unit 3 controls the drive of the semiconductor laser 12, the drive control of the cooling element 18, the rotation control of the cooling fan 11 and the control panel 6, and the control unit 3 further.
Detects the on / off state of the foot switch 10 to control the oscillation of the semiconductor laser 12, and the cooling fan 11 serves to dissipate the heat inside the radiation fin 19 and the main body 1.

The operation of the semiconductor laser knife device constructed as described above will be described.

After the power is turned on by the power key switch 5, the control panel 6 is operated to set the output of laser light, the irradiation mode and the like. While the operator operates the foot switch 10, laser light 14 is emitted from the semiconductor laser 12 built in the semiconductor laser block 4 under the drive control of the control unit 3, and then the laser light 14 is the condensing lens 1.
3 is guided to the probe 7 through the optical fiber 15 and the optical connector 9 and can be used for treatment by the laser light emitting end 8.

Since the semiconductor laser 12 has a negative correlation between the temperature and the life of the laser element when it is being driven, the semiconductor laser 12 is kept at a certain temperature or lower in order to guarantee the operating life time of the laser knife device. It is necessary to control so as to oscillate. Therefore, in order to keep the temperature of the semiconductor laser 12 lower than a certain temperature, the semiconductor laser block 4 including the cooling fan 11 and incorporating the semiconductor laser 12 is mounted on the copper block 17, A cooling element 18 is brought into contact with the block 17, and a radiation fin 19 is brought into contact with the cooling element 18.

While the semiconductor laser 12 is oscillating, the temperature sensor 16 connected to the semiconductor laser block 4 detects the temperature of the semiconductor laser 12 so that the semiconductor laser 12 is not affected by the temperature, and the controller 3 cools it. Element 18
The semiconductor laser 12 is kept below a certain temperature by controlling the amount of electric power supplied to the semiconductor laser 12. The amount of heat generated by the semiconductor laser 12 and absorbed by the cooling element 18 and the amount of heat generated by the cooling element 18 itself are conducted to the radiating fins 19 and radiated into the atmosphere.

In this case, when the amount of air blown by the cooling fan 11 increases, the thermal resistance of the cooling fan 11 radiating heat into the atmosphere decreases, so that the heat radiating effect of the cooling fan 11 improves and is generated. The amount of heat applied is determined by the amount of power supplied to the cooling element 18 and the semiconductor laser 12. Therefore, if the amount of electric power according to the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling element 18 and the semiconductor laser 12 is controlled so as to be supplied to the cooling fan 11, the cooling fan 11 will be.
Laser diode 1 by rotating the
2 and the amount of heat generated by the cooling element 18 can be efficiently dissipated.

Next, means for controlling the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling fan 11 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2A showing a control circuit for controlling the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling fan 11, a DC motor is used as a drive source of the cooling fan 11, and one end of the drive source of the cooling fan 11 is a DC power source. On the positive voltage Vcc side, the other end is NP
It is connected to the collector side of the N-transistor 20. N
The emitter side of the PN transistor 20 is ground (GND)
The base side is connected to the control unit 3, and the control unit 3 controls the switching of the NPN transistor 20 (see FIG. 2B), and the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling fan 11 is controlled by the duty ratio. Thus, the cooling fan 11 is on / off controlled, and its rotation speed is controlled.

The control of the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling fan 11 will be described with reference to FIG. The relationship between the power supply ratio and the elapsed time when the maximum power supply to the cooling element 18 is 100% is shown in FIG. 3A, and the temperature changes of the semiconductor laser 12 and the radiation fin 19 in that case are shown in FIG. The control status of the cooling fan 11 is shown in FIG.
It becomes like each shown in (c). A is the time when the semiconductor laser 12 starts oscillating, and B is 90% of the maximum amount of power supplied to the cooling element 18, that is, the power supply ratio is 90.
%, C indicates the time when the supply power ratio reaches 100%, curves 24, 25 and 26 indicate the temperature change of the radiation fin 19, and curves 27, 28 and 29 indicate the temperature change of the semiconductor laser 12. Shown respectively.

Curves 21, 24 and 27 indicate that the driving of the cooling fan 11 is stopped from time A when the semiconductor laser 12 starts oscillating to time B when the power supply ratio to the cooling element 18 reaches 90%. However, after that, the case where the cooling fan 11 is driven at 80% of the rated speed is shown, and the on / off control status of the cooling fan 11 in that state is shown in FIG.
As shown in the control 30 in (c).

Curves 22, 25 and 28 indicate that the driving of the cooling fan 11 is stopped from time A when the semiconductor laser 12 starts oscillating to time C when the power supply ratio to the cooling element 18 reaches 100%. However, after that, the case where the cooling fan 11 is driven at 80% of the rated speed is shown, and the on / off control status of the cooling fan 11 in that state is shown in FIG.
As shown in the control 31 in (c).

Curves 23, 26 and 29 indicate that the driving of the cooling fan 11 is stopped from time A when the semiconductor laser 12 starts oscillating to time C when the power supply ratio to the cooling element 18 reaches 100%. However, thereafter, the case where the cooling fan 11 is driven at 70% of the rated speed is shown.

Therefore, when the cooling fan 11 is stopped, the temperature of the radiation fin 19 rises from the time when the semiconductor laser 12 starts to oscillate (see FIG. 3B), and the semiconductor laser 12 is turned on. The ratio of power supplied to the cooling element 18 which is maintained at a constant temperature (here, 25 ° C.) also continues to rise (see FIG. 3A).

The power supply ratio to the cooling element 18 is 9
When the rotation of the cooling fan 11 is started at 80% of the rated rotation speed at time B when it reaches 0%, the temperature of the semiconductor laser 12 is constantly controlled to 25 ° C. (see curve 27), and the radiation fin 1
The temperature of 9 and the power supply ratio of the cooling element 18 are also in an equilibrium state (see FIGS. 3A and 3B). Further, when the rotation of the cooling fan 11 is started at 80% of the rated rotation speed at time C when the power supply ratio to the cooling element 18 reaches 100%,
After the temperature of the semiconductor laser 12 rises slightly above 25 ° C., it is constantly controlled to 25 ° C. (see the curve 28), and the temperature of the heat radiation fin 19 and the power supply ratio of the cooling element 18 are also in an equilibrium state (FIG. ), See FIG. 3 (b). However, when the rotation of the cooling fan 11 is started at 70% of the rated rotation speed at time C when the power supply ratio to the cooling element 18 reaches 100%, the temperature of the semiconductor laser 12 (see the curve 29) and the heat radiation fin 19 are increased. Temperature (see curve 26) continues to rise,
The power supply ratio to the cooling element 18 remains constant at 100% (see curve 23), and the temperature of the semiconductor laser 12 cannot be controlled.

As described above, after the semiconductor laser 12 starts oscillating, the driving of the cooling fan 11 is stopped for a certain time until the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling element 18 reaches a certain value, and the cooling element 18 is stopped. When the cooling fan 11 is driven based on the amount of power supplied to the semiconductor laser 12 when the amount of power supplied to the semiconductor laser 12 reaches a constant value, the cooling fan 11 can be controlled to the minimum necessary rotation.

In the embodiment, when the power supply ratio to the cooling element 18 reaches 90%, the rotation speed of the cooling fan 11 is minimized based on the power supply to the semiconductor laser 12. The rotational speed is experimentally obtained in advance and controlled by the control unit 3. Further, in the embodiment, the rotation speed of the cooling fan 11 is controlled to the necessary minimum by the power supply amount to the cooling element 18 and the power supply amount to the semiconductor laser 12, but the power supply to the cooling element 18 is performed. It has been confirmed that controlling the cooling fan 11 only by the amount of electric power or only the amount of electric power supplied to the semiconductor laser 12 is effective.

Further, the temperature of the copper block 17 which is clearly related to the temperature of the semiconductor laser 12 is synchronized with the start of oscillation of the semiconductor laser 12 and only the on / off control of the cooling fan 11 is performed at a constant rotation speed. , Radiation fin 1
The cooling fan 11 may be controlled based on the temperature of the semiconductor laser 9. In this case, the presence or absence of the copper block 17 which is the cooling system of the semiconductor laser 12, the type of the radiation fins 19, and the cooling element 18 are used.
Is not affected by the presence or absence of.

In the embodiment, since the portion having the lowest allowable temperature rise is the semiconductor laser, the rotation of the cooling fan is controlled by the temperature of the semiconductor laser, the temperature of the cooling element and the amount of power supplied to the semiconductor laser. However, when the temperature rise allowable value of the other component parts, for example, the power supply part is small, the rotation of the cooling fan can be controlled by the temperature of the part. Further, the present invention is not affected by the presence or absence of a copper block as the cooling system of the semiconductor laser, the type of heat radiation fins, the type of cooling element, the configuration of the optical system including the semiconductor, or the internal configuration of the control unit.

[0038]

The present invention is embodied in the form described above and has the following effects.

By controlling the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling element and the amount of electric power supplied to the semiconductor laser on the basis of the temperature of the portion having a low allowable temperature value, for example, the temperature of the semiconductor laser, the drive of the cooling fan is controlled to the minimum. However, the driving time and the rotation speed of the cooling fan can be reduced to reduce noise, air volume, and dust rise.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of a semiconductor laser knife device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of control means for controlling the amount of electric power supplied to a cooling fan in the semiconductor laser knife device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of control of electric power supplied to a cooling fan in the semiconductor laser knife device.

FIG. 4 is a structural explanatory view of a conventional semiconductor laser knife device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Control Section 11 Cooling Fan 12 Semiconductor Laser 16 Temperature Sensor 18 Cooling Element

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A laser knife device having a semiconductor laser, a fan for dissipating heat generated by the semiconductor laser, and control means for controlling driving of the fan. 2. A semiconductor laser, temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the semiconductor laser, a fan for dissipating heat generated by the semiconductor laser, and drive of the fan controlled by a signal from the temperature measuring means. A laser knife device having a control means. 3. The laser scalpel device according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling on / off of driving of the fan. 4. The laser scalpel device according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling the rotation speed of the fan. 5. A laser knife device having a semiconductor laser, a fan for dissipating heat generated by the semiconductor laser, and control means for controlling the drive of the fan according to the amount of electric power supplied to the semiconductor laser. 6. A semiconductor laser, a cooling element for cooling the semiconductor laser, a fan for dissipating heat generated by the semiconductor laser, and a control means for controlling the driving of the fan according to the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling element. And a laser scalpel device having. 7. A semiconductor laser, a cooling element for cooling the semiconductor laser, a fan for dissipating heat generated by the semiconductor laser, and an amount of electric power supplied to the semiconductor laser and the cooling element to control driving of the fan. Laser scalpel device having control means for controlling. 8. A laser knife device comprising a semiconductor laser, a fan for dissipating heat generated by the semiconductor laser, and control means for controlling on / off of driving of the fan in synchronization with oscillation of the semiconductor laser. 9. A semiconductor laser, a cooling element for cooling the semiconductor laser, a fan for dissipating heat generated by the semiconductor laser, and control means for controlling driving of the fan by the amount of electric power supplied to the cooling element. A laser scalpel device that stops driving the fan for a certain period of time from the start of oscillation of the semiconductor laser, and drives the fan by the amount of power supplied to the cooling element when the amount of power reaches a predetermined value. 10. The laser scalpel device according to claim 9, wherein the amount of electric power for driving the fan is 90% of the maximum amount of electric power supplied to the cooling element.