JPH09239041A - Microwave curative equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide microwave curative equipment where a prescribed position is irradiated with microwave without a position deviation and an effective and safe heating treatment is executed. SOLUTION: Microwave oscillated by a microwave oscillating means is emitted from an antenna part 17. The antenna part 17 is constituted of a radiating equipment 33, a reflecting equipment 32 which covers the radiating equipment 33, has one open end part and irradiates an opening end side with microwave and a cover 36 which covers the opening part 32a of the reflecting equipment 32 and also has a recessed curved surface or a plane surface in shape, where microwave is transmitted. A microwave intermitting means intermits the oscillation of microwave by the microwave oscillating means based on the control of an intermission control means and oscillates pulse-shaped microwave.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microwave therapeutic device for irradiating and treating a diseased part with microwaves (electromagnetic waves of about 1 GHz or more), which is particularly effective and safe. Regarding vessels.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is well known that electromagnetic waves in the microwave band (approximately 1 GHz or more) vibrate water molecules, and as a result, increase the temperature of water. Moreover, many heating appliances utilizing this principle have been developed and widely used.

In the medical field as well, a large number of inspection instruments and treatment instruments using microwaves have been put to practical use. Among them, a microwave treatment device that heat-treats an affected part of an internal organ located in a deep part of a living body such as a stomach by irradiating a microwave may have a relatively simple structure and can be inexpensively configured. Yes, there is much demand.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an antenna section 51 (microwave irradiation section) used in a conventional microwave therapeutic device, FIG. 4 (a) is a side view, and FIG. 4 (b). Is a partially cut side view.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 52 is, for example, a metallic reflector formed in the shape of a paraboloid of revolution. This reflector 5
A radiator 53 is attached to the center of the second unit 2. The radiator 53 is supplied with a high-frequency current having a microwave band frequency transmitted by the power supply line 54 via the power supply unit 55.

Front of the reflector 52 (right side in FIG. 4)
The opening 52a is covered with a cover 56 (commonly called a radome) made of acrylic resin or the like that does not affect the propagation of electromagnetic waves. In these antenna parts 51, the vicinity of the central portion 56a of the cover 56 is brought into contact with the surface of the skin 7 to irradiate microwaves, thereby heating the deep part of the skin 7.

[0007]

By the way, in general, the central portion 56a of the above-mentioned cover 56 is formed by a convex structure protruding forward. On the other hand, the surface of each part of the body often has a convex curved surface. Therefore, there is a problem that the opening 52a of the reflector 52 and the skin 7 do not fit well, and a positional shift easily occurs during the heat treatment.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), when the central portion 56a of the cover 56 and the surface of the skin 7 are brought into contact with each other, the opening surface of the reflector 52 and the skin 7 are removed. There is a gap between the surface and the surface. For this reason, there is a problem that microwaves leak from the gap, a sufficient heating effect cannot be obtained, and various problems occur.

The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and a microwave treatment device capable of irradiating a predetermined position with microwaves without displacement and capable of effective and safe heating treatment. Is intended to provide.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the invention described in claim 1, microwave oscillating means for oscillating a microwave, and microwave irradiation for irradiating the microwave. The microwave irradiating means includes a radiator that radiates the microwave, a reflector that covers the radiator and has one end opened and irradiates the microwave toward the opening end, It is characterized in that it comprises a covering means for covering the opening end of the reflector and having a concave curved surface shape for transmitting microwaves.

Further, in the invention according to claim 2,
A microwave oscillating means for oscillating a microwave, and a microwave irradiating means for irradiating the microwave are provided, wherein the microwave irradiating means includes a radiator for radiating the microwave and one end for covering the radiator. It is characterized in that it is constituted by a reflector having a section which is opened to irradiate the microwave toward the opening end side, and a covering means which has a planar shape for covering the opening end of the reflector and transmitting the microwave.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3,
The microwave therapeutic device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the microwave oscillating means interrupts the microwave oscillated by the microwave oscillating means, and the interrupting ratio or the interrupting period of the microwave interrupting means. Any one of them, or an intermittent control means for controlling both the intermittent ratio and the intermittent period.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the microwave oscillated by the microwave oscillating means is radiated by the radiator, and one end of the radiator is covered and the microwave is radiated to the opening end side. Irradiation is carried out by a microwave irradiating means comprising a reflector and a covering means for covering the opening end of the reflector and having a concave curved surface or a flat shape for transmitting microwaves. Also, the microwave interrupting means is
Microwave oscillation by the microwave oscillating means is interrupted under the control of the intermittent control means to oscillate a pulsed microwave.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a microwave therapeutic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, AC power input from an AC power input terminal is supplied to a power supply circuit 11 and a transformer 13 via an SSR (solid state relay) 12. The SSR 12 is a contactless relay that includes a semiconductor switching element (for example, a triac) and is turned on when a pulse P described later becomes "H (high level)".

Reference numerals 2a and 2b are timer setting switches for setting the treatment time by the microwave treatment device of this embodiment. The power supply circuit 11 described above is controlled to be turned on / off by one of the contact circuits 2a- ₁ constituting the timer setting switch 2a and a control signal Soff described later, generates DC power, and supplies it to each circuit described later. To do. That is, when the contact circuit 2a- ₁ is turned on, the supply of DC power is started, and when the control signal Soff is input, the supply of DC power is stopped.

2 is boosted by the transformer 13 described above.
The high voltage generated in the secondary winding is rectified by the rectifier circuit 14 and then supplied to the plate (anode) of the magnetron 15. The magnetron 15 is an electron tube that arranges electrodes in a strong magnetic field and oscillates microwaves by cavity resonance, but detailed description thereof is omitted here. Further, the magnetron 15 has a heater electrode and is used by supplying heater power to this electrode, but since it is not related to the gist of the present invention, illustration and detailed description thereof will be omitted in the present embodiment.

The microwave electromagnetic wave output from the magnetron 15 is supplied to the antenna section 17 via the power supply line 16 and is emitted from the opening of the antenna section 17 to the skin (both not shown in FIG. 1). .

Reference numeral 21 is a timer circuit composed of a pulse generator for generating a clock pulse of a constant cycle (for example, a cycle of 1 second) and a counter (both not shown). This counter is counted down by pressing the clock pulse or the timer setting switch 2b, and is also counted by pressing the timer setting switch 2a (contact circuit 2a _-2 of the timer setting switch 2a).

The output of the counter constituting the timer circuit 21 is displayed on the display unit 3, and when the count value of this counter becomes "0", the control signal Soff is output. The display unit 3 is composed of, for example, one or a plurality of 7-segment LEDs, and displays the time required until the treatment is completed in “minute” or “second” units.

Reference numeral 23 is a pulse generating circuit, which has a cycle (a maximum of approximately 1 as an example) determined by the position (resistance value) of the shafts of VR (variable resistors) 7a and VR 7b.
Seconds) and a duty ratio (ratio of “H” time and one pulse period time) of a rectangular wave pulse P is output.
Here, VR7a sets the "H" time of the pulse P,
VR7b is for setting the "L (low level)" time of the pulse P.

The pulse P output from the pulse generation circuit 23
Is the above-mentioned SSR12 (gate input terminal of SSR12,
(Not shown). Therefore, in the transformer 13,
Pulsed AC power intermittently supplied at a period and duty ratio set by VR7a or VR7b is supplied. As a result, pulsed microwaves are similarly emitted from the antenna unit 17.

FIG. 2 is a partially cut side view showing the detailed structure of the antenna section 17. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 32 is a metallic reflector formed into a shape such as a paraboloid of revolution. A radiator 33 is attached to the center of the reflector 32.

A helical antenna is used as an example of the radiator 33 of this embodiment. The radiator 33 is supplied with a high-frequency current having a microwave band frequency transmitted by the power supply line 16 via the power supply unit 35.

An opening 32a in front of the reflector 32 (on the right in FIG. 2, the same applies hereinafter) is covered with a cover 36 made of acrylic resin or the like that does not affect the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the microwave band. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the cover 36 includes the reflector 3
It is formed in a concave curved surface shape when viewed from the front of 2. The microwave therapeutic device according to the present embodiment is used by bringing the opening 32a of the antenna portion 17 covered by the concave curved surface-shaped cover 36 into contact with the surface of the skin 7 close to the affected area.

At this time, since the peripheral edge of the reflector 32 comes into contact with the skin 7, there is no gap between the opening 32a of the reflector 32 and the skin 7. Therefore, the microwaves emitted from the radiator 33 do not leak.
Further, since the surface shapes of the skin 7 and the cover 36 are easily adapted to each other, the positional deviation is unlikely to occur and the radiator 33 comes closer to the affected part.

Also in this case, the radiator 33 irradiates pulsed microwaves intermittently at a predetermined cycle and duty ratio. The surface of the skin 7 is more likely to radiate heat than the affected area located in the deep part of the living body. For this reason,
By irradiating with the pulsed microwave, the heat treatment can be performed without raising the temperature of the surface of the skin 7 excessively.

The details of the shapes of the reflectors and antenna radiators, the elements of each circuit, and the like shown in the above-described embodiments are examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.
For example, in the present embodiment, the cover 36 has a concave curved surface, but the present invention can be realized with a simple plane (see the cover 36a shown in FIG. 3). In this case, in addition to the skin 7 having the convex curved surface as shown in FIG. 2, the opening 32a is brought into contact with the surface of the skin 7a close to a flat surface as shown in FIG. 3 to obtain a high effect. .

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the microwave oscillated by the microwave oscillating means is radiated by the radiator, and the microwave is covered by the radiator and has one end opened. Is irradiated to the opening end side by a microwave irradiation means including a reflector for irradiating the opening end side and a covering means for covering the opening end of the reflector and having a concave curved surface shape or a planar shape for transmitting microwaves. Further, the microwave interrupting means interrupts the microwave oscillation by the microwave oscillating means based on the control of the interrupting control means and oscillates the pulsed microwave, so that the microwave interrupter does not shift its position to a predetermined position. It is possible to obtain an effect that it is possible to realize a microwave therapeutic device that can be irradiated and can perform effective and safe heat treatment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a microwave therapeutic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cut side view showing a detailed configuration of an antenna unit 17 in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an antenna unit 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention.
It is a partially cut side view showing a detailed configuration of 7a.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an antenna unit used in a conventional microwave therapeutic device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 15 magnetron 17 antenna section 33 radiator 32 reflector 36 cover 12 SSR 23 pulse generation circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A microwave oscillating means (15) for oscillating a microwave, and a microwave irradiating means (17) for irradiating the microwave.
The microwave irradiating means includes a radiator (33) for radiating the microwave, and a reflector (33) that covers the radiator and has one end opened so that the microwave is radiated toward the opening end ( 32) and a covering means (36) for covering the opening end of the reflector and having a concave curved surface for transmitting microwaves. 2. A microwave oscillating means for oscillating a microwave, and a microwave irradiating means for irradiating the microwave, wherein the microwave irradiating means emits the microwave, and the radiating means. A reflector having an open end and irradiating the microwave to the opening end side; and a covering means having a planar shape for covering the opening end of the reflector and transmitting the microwave. Microwave treatment device characterized by. 3. A microwave interrupting means (12) for interrupting the microwave oscillated by the microwave oscillating means, and either the interrupting ratio or the interrupting period by the microwave interrupting means, or both the interrupting ratio and the interrupting period. The microwave therapeutic device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an intermittent control means (23) for controlling the above.