JPH10272146A - Medical laser apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medical laser apparatus that can supply a laser suitable for treatment such as for hardening a dental photopolymerizing composition (composite resin) or the like to a plurality of treating points without moving the laser light source. SOLUTION: This medical laser apparatus is constituted of the body 1 of a laser emitter with a laser light source for outputting light suitable for treatment and a plurality of optical fibers 3a, 3b and 3c to guide a laser light outputted from the body 1 of the emitter to a plurality of treating points. It is also made up of the body 1 of the laser emitter, one optical fiber with one end thereof connected to the body 1 of the emitter, a means (for example, light beam branching circuit) to branch light guided to the other end of the optical fiber and a plurality of optical fibers 3a, 3b and 3c to guide light after branched to respective treating points.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a medical laser device used for, for example, dental treatment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, amalgam, silicate cement and the like have been widely used as molding restoration materials used for dental caries treatment in dental treatment.

In recent years, photopolymerizable compositions that polymerize with visible light have been increasingly used in dental treatments. In particular, photopolymerizable composite resins are useful because of their convenient handling and the like. It has become quite popular.
Along with this, various types of light irradiators for curing the composite resin have been put on the market, but the most commonly used light irradiators mainly use a halogen lamp as a light source.

[0004]

By the way, according to the halogen lamp type light irradiator, a main body (one unit) having a light source is provided.
Is generally connected to a bundle of optical fiber bundles. Therefore, where there are many treatment tables,
If the location where the light irradiator is used is different, it is necessary to move the light irradiator body and place it on the treatment table or table each time.
In addition, the doctor had to move accordingly.

In view of such circumstances of the present invention, a plurality of laser beams suitable for treatment, such as curing of a dental photopolymerizable composition (composite resin), can be obtained without moving the light source. It is an object of the present invention to provide a medical laser device capable of supplying a medical treatment site.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a medical laser apparatus according to the present invention (corresponding to the first aspect of the present invention) outputs light suitable for treatment as illustrated in FIG. And a plurality of optical fibers 3a, 3b, 3c for guiding the output laser light from the emitter 1 to a plurality of treatment sites. .

In order to achieve the same object, a medical laser apparatus according to the present invention (corresponding to the second aspect of the present invention) is provided with a laser light source for outputting light suitable for treatment, as shown in FIG. A laser emitter main body 1, one optical fiber 22 having one end connected to the emitter main body 1, and a unit (for example, an optical branch circuit D) for branching light guided to the other end of the optical fiber 22. A plurality of optical fibers 23a, 23b, 2 for guiding the branched light to the treatment site, respectively.
3c.

According to the medical laser device of the present invention, since a laser is used as the light source of the light emitting device body, light can be efficiently incident on the fiber even when the core diameter of the optical fiber is small. In addition, even if the optical fiber is lengthened, the loss on the fiber transmission path can be reduced as compared with the case where a halogen lamp is used. It becomes possible to guide the laser beam to the treatment place by the optical fiber and use it for treatment.

In addition, since there is no problem even if the optical fiber is lengthened, the degree of freedom in laying the optical fiber at the treatment site is increased, and as a result, the optical fiber is incorporated into a treatment arm for dental use or a treatment instrument table. It becomes possible.

Here, in the medical laser device of the present invention, the output laser light of the laser light source of the laser emitting device body is
A wavelength (for example, 430 nm to 480 nm) suitable for curing the dental photopolymerizable composition (composite resin) and a handpiece for dental treatment connected to each end of an optical fiber for guiding laser light to a plurality of treatment locations. For example, it can be used as a laser device for dental treatment.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in this embodiment, an LD-excited wavelength conversion laser having the structure shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, output light from a high-power semiconductor laser (LD) 11 is transmitted through a collimator lens 12 and a focus lens 13 to a laser medium (eg, N
d: YAG) 14. The output wavelength (for example, 0.8 μm) of the semiconductor laser 11 is transmitted through the end face 14 a (LD side) of the laser medium 14 and the laser medium 14
A coating having a high reflectivity is applied to a fundamental wave (e.g., 946 nm) and a second harmonic (473 nm) thereof stimulated emission from the substrate.

A second harmonic output mirror 16 is disposed to face the laser medium 14.
An optical resonator is formed between the laser medium 6 and the end face 14a of the laser medium 14. A wavelength conversion element (for example, LBO, KN, BBO, etc.) 15 is accommodated inside the optical resonator, and the laser medium 1 is output by the semiconductor laser 11.
The second harmonic (473 nm) is generated by irradiating the wavelength conversion element 15 with a fundamental wave stimulated and emitted by exciting 4, and the second harmonic is extracted from the output mirror 16 to the outside. . Then, the second harmonic (hereinafter, referred to as laser light) emitted from the output mirror 16 is condensed by the lens 17 and is incident on an end face of the optical fiber bundle 2 described later.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, and shows an example in which the laser device of the present invention is applied to dental treatment. In this example, the output laser light from the laser emitter main body 1 having the structure shown in FIG. 1 is first guided by the optical fiber bundle 2 to the branch points of each treatment site (three places), and three optical fibers are further separated from the branch points. The light introduction ports 41a, 4c of the treatment instrument tables 4a, 4b, 4c installed at the respective treatment places by 3a, 3b, 3c.
1b and 41c.

Optical fibers 5a, 5a extending from the light introducing ports 41a, 41b, 41c to the treatment positions through the insides of the respective instrument tables are provided in the respective therapeutic instrument tables 4a, 4b, 4c.
b, 5c, and the respective optical fibers 5a, 5c
Dental treatment handpieces 6a, 6b, 6c are attached to the distal ends of 5b, 5c, respectively.

In the embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration, 3
Of the treatment instrument tables 4a, 4b, 4c arranged at the location,
In any of the treatment tables, the laser beam 7a, 7b or 7c for curing the composite resin can be irradiated whenever necessary. Therefore, the doctor can treat the patient on the treatment chair 8a, 8b or 8c using the handpiece 6a, 6b or 6c without moving the treatment place.

Here, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
As a method of transmitting the laser light, the laser light is continuously transmitted from the laser emitting device main body 1 to the treatment instrument tables 4a, 4b, and 4c.
Irradiation of the laser beam to the patient is performed by handpieces 6a, 6b, 6
A method of turning on / off by a hand switch (optical switch) provided on the c or a foot switch provided on the therapeutic instrument table 4a, 4b, 4c may be used, or a drive provided on a handpiece or the like may be used. With a switch etc.
A method of controlling on / off of the laser beam output of the laser emitting device body 1 may be adopted.

In the above embodiment, the laser beam emitted from the laser emitting device main body 1 is made incident on the optical fiber bundle 2. In addition, an optical branching circuit (or a branching device) is provided in the laser emitting device main body 1. (Optical switch) may be disposed to split the laser light into each optical fiber inside the main body and send it out.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 3, the output laser light from the laser emitting device main body 1 having the structure shown in FIG. 1 is guided by one optical fiber 22 to the branch point of each treatment site. An optical branching circuit D (or an optical branching switch) is connected to the distal end of the optical fiber 22, and each of the branched laser beams is treated by the optical fibers 23a, 23b, and 23c to treat the branching circuit D and each treatment site. Instrument table 4a, 4
b, 4b.

With the above configuration, the handpiece 6a, 8b or 8c can be provided to the patient on the treatment chair 8a, 8b or 8c without moving the treatment place by the doctor as in the previous embodiment. Treatment can be provided using 6b or 6c.

In this example, similarly to the previous embodiment, the laser device main body 1 is connected to the treatment instrument table 4a,
4b and 4c, the laser beam is continuously transmitted to the patient, and the laser beam is radiated to the patient by hand switches (optical switches) provided on the handpieces 6a, 6b and 6c or the therapeutic instrument tables 4a and 4c.
A method of turning on / off by a foot switch or the like provided in b, 4c, or a method of controlling on / off of a laser beam output from the laser emitting device body 1 by a drive switch or the like provided in a handpiece or the like is adopted. can do.

In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the wavelength conversion laser device of the end face pumping type is used as the light source of the laser emitting device main body. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A wavelength conversion laser adopting another method such as a method may be used, or a semiconductor laser may be used alone.

In addition to the above-mentioned dental treatment, the therapeutic laser device of the present invention can be used for medical equipment for performing treatment using laser light such as a laser scalpel or a laser needle.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A laser is used as the light source of the light emitting device main body, and the output laser light is guided to a plurality of treatment sites through optical fibers. Irradiation with laser light can be performed. This reduces the labor and time occupied by the device and the time loss caused by the movement of the physician, thereby improving the spatial and temporal efficiency of the treatment area. It can be expected to improve treatment efficiency.

Therefore, the therapeutic laser device of the present invention can be effectively used in a dental clinic where a large number of therapeutic instrument tables and chairs are installed in a relatively small space.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a laser emitter main body used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 laser emitting device main body 2 optical fiber bundle 3a, 3b, 3c optical fiber 4a, 4b, 4c therapeutic instrument table 5a, 5b, 5c optical fiber 6a, 6b, 6c handpiece 7a, 7b, 7c laser light 8a, 8b, 8c for therapeutic Chair 22 Optical fiber 23a, 23b, 23c Optical fiber D Optical branch circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A medical device comprising: a laser emitter having a laser light source for outputting light suitable for treatment; and a plurality of optical fibers for guiding output laser light from the emitter to a plurality of treatment sites. Laser device. 2. A laser emitter body provided with a laser light source for outputting light suitable for treatment, one optical fiber having one end connected to the emitter body, and light guided to the other end of the optical fiber. And a plurality of optical fibers for guiding the light after branching to the treatment site. 3. The medical laser device according to claim 1, wherein a dental treatment instrument is connected to an end of an optical fiber for guiding a laser beam to each treatment place. 4. A laser light source of the laser emitting device main body,
The medical laser device according to claim 3, wherein the medical laser device outputs light suitable for curing the dental photopolymerizable composition.