JPH11188099A - Balloon catheter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a balloon catheter that can apply light reactive medicine to the inside wall of a blood vessel. SOLUTION: Balloon catheter 1 consists of transparent balloon 4 in which optical fiber 18 that is wound to the outside around shaft 2 of the catheter illuminates. The balloon catheter 1 makes possible that the narrowing part of a vein is expanded by the balloon 4 when the balloon catheter 1 is inserted into blood vessel and simultaneously the inside wall of blood vessel is illuminated from the inside of the balloon 4, and then, treatment by light reactive medicine can be done. While the vein is shuttered because of the balloon 4 being dilated, the circulation of blood cannot to stopped as the blood that has been flown into side hole 15 is flown out from side hole 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a balloon catheter capable of irradiating light to a local part in a blood vessel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, photoreactive therapeutic agents used for local treatment have been known. This type of photoreactive therapeutic agent, when irradiated with light such as ultraviolet light, activates its function as a drug, and is already actually used as an anticancer agent or the like.

[0003]

However, since the above-mentioned photoreactive therapeutic agent has a medicinal effect upon irradiation with light, there is a problem that it is difficult to apply the photoreactive therapeutic agent to a place where light cannot be irradiated. However, the photoreactive therapeutic agent could not be applied.

[0004] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a balloon catheter which enables a photoreactive therapeutic agent to be applied to an inner wall of a blood vessel.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a balloon catheter according to the first aspect is a long tube that is flexibly curved and serves as a fluid supply / discharge path. A catheter shaft having a lumen, and a light-transmissive bag-shaped body provided on the distal end side of the catheter shaft, wherein the internal space communicates with the lumen and is supplied / discharged through the lumen A balloon that expands / contracts with a fluid; and a light emitting unit that has a light emitting unit disposed inside the balloon and that can emit light from the light emitting unit to the outside of the balloon. I do.

In this balloon catheter, the catheter shaft can be formed by using, for example, the same resin material as the balloon catheter for angioplasty. Specifically, for example, a resin material such as a polyimide resin, a nylon resin, a polyethylene resin, and a fluororesin can be used.

[0007] For the balloon, it is necessary to select at least a transparent material having a light transmitting property, but the other materials are not particularly limited. Specifically, for example, a transparent material selected from resin materials such as a nylon resin, a polyethylene resin, and a PET resin can be used.

[0008] The light emitting means may be any as long as it can emit light from a light emitting portion arranged inside the balloon.
Specifically, a device in which a light emitting element serving as a light source is arranged inside the balloon, or a device in which light is transmitted from a light source outside the balloon catheter to the inside of the balloon can be considered. The light emitted by the light emitting means is appropriately selected according to the photoreactive therapeutic agent. For example, use of visible light, ultraviolet light, infrared light, or the like can be considered.

[0009] The balloon catheter constructed as described above is inserted into the blood vessel from the distal end side of the balloon catheter, and the balloon is placed at a target position in the blood vessel. The interior of the balloon is supplied with a light transmissive fluid from the proximal end side of the catheter shaft. The fluid supplied here may be either a gas or a liquid. For example, a physiological saline solution, helium gas, or the like can be arbitrarily adopted. Further, a liquid containing a fluorescent substance or a light scattering substance may be used. By supplying such a fluid, the balloon is expanded in the blood vessel. The balloon has an outer diameter previously selected according to the inner diameter of the blood vessel, and the expanded balloon pushes out the blood and makes close contact or pressure contact with the inner wall of the blood vessel. In this state, when the light emitting portion of the light emitting means emits light, the light passes through the light-transmitting balloon and is emitted to the outside of the balloon. As a result, the balloon is in close contact or pressure contact. Light is applied to the inner wall of the blood vessel. Therefore, by using this balloon catheter, it is possible to irradiate light to the local part of the inner wall of the blood vessel, and by administering the photoreactive therapeutic agent to the patient in advance, treatment using the photoreactive therapeutic agent applied to the inner wall of the blood vessel is performed. Can be applied. In addition, the balloon catheter can perform a dilation treatment on a stenosis part of a blood vessel.

[0010] That is, by using this balloon catheter, dilatation treatment with a balloon and treatment with the above-mentioned photoreactive therapeutic agent can be performed simultaneously. Therefore,
In particular, an effective treatment can be performed by using the balloon catheter as a balloon catheter for angioplasty.

[0011] As the photoreactive therapeutic agent, for example, hematophotophyllin, phthalocyanine, tetracycline, methoxsalen, trioxysalen, NPe6 and the like are known, and these are used for patients. After administration, light can be irradiated with the balloon catheter. Also, when using a photoreactive therapeutic agent other than the above, light can be irradiated by the balloon catheter.

[0012] Next, in the balloon catheter according to claim 2, the light emitting means transmits light from an external light source incident on the incident end side to an emission end side arranged inside the balloon, It is characterized by being constituted by an optical fiber capable of emitting light from the light emitting portion on the emission end side.

In this balloon catheter, at the time of using the balloon catheter, the optical fiber is inserted into the body together with the balloon while at least the incident end is left outside the body and the emission end is placed inside the balloon. The part between the emission ends may be passed through the inside of the catheter shaft or may be arranged in parallel with the catheter shaft.

According to the balloon catheter configured as described above, the light from the external light source is transmitted to the inside of the balloon via the optical fiber, and is emitted from the light emitting unit inside the balloon. With such a structure, it is possible to easily emit light of sufficient brightness only by employing a large external light source without excessively increasing the size of the internal structure of the balloon.

It is to be noted that the light radiating means includes a second light emitting means.
Other than the optical fiber described in (1), other optical fibers can be considered. Specifically, for example, a light emitting device can be configured by incorporating a light emitting element capable of emitting light spontaneously into the inside of the balloon. However, such a balloon catheter tends to have a large light-emitting element when sufficient brightness is secured, while it tends to be difficult to secure sufficient brightness when the light-emitting element is downsized. In order to achieve both sufficient brightness, it is more advantageous to adopt the structure of the second aspect. Further, in order to make the light emitting element emit light, it is usually necessary to incorporate an electric circuit or the like. Therefore, it is more advantageous to adopt the structure described in claim 2 in consideration of the probability that the light emitting means will fail inside the balloon. It is.

Next, in a balloon catheter according to a third aspect of the present invention, the optical fiber has a core forming a light transmission path, and a clad covering the outer periphery of the core, and the light emitting section is formed of the optical fiber. It is a linear light emitting portion configured to remove the clad near the emission end to expose the outer peripheral surface of the core and to emit light from the outer peripheral surface of the core.

In this balloon catheter, the linear light emitting section is configured to emit light from the outer peripheral surface of the core of the optical fiber. The method of emitting light from the outer peripheral surface of the core is not particularly limited. For example, the shape of the core is processed into a shape that becomes smaller as the diameter of the core approaches the emission end, or a surface that reflects light relatively well. By attaching a fine powder having the following (for example, a white fine powder such as magnesium oxide) to the outer peripheral surface of the core, or by innumerably scratching the outer peripheral surface of the core itself,
Light is emitted from the outer peripheral surface of the core.

According to the balloon catheter configured as described above, since light is emitted from the linear light emitting portion disposed inside the balloon, it is easier to emit light from the outermost end of the optical fiber. The range in which light can be irradiated is increased. In addition, in order to increase the range in which light can be irradiated, besides adopting the configuration described in claim 3, for example, there is a method in which the number of optical fibers is increased and the emission end is directed in various directions. . In this case, the number of optical fibers increases, but if the outer diameter of each optical fiber is reduced, there is no concern that the outer diameter of the entire balloon catheter will increase. Further, for example, a method of further diffusing light radiated from the end portion of the optical fiber by an optical element such as a lens can be considered.

Next, in a balloon catheter according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the linear light-emitting portion is wound in a shape of drawing a spiral around an outer periphery of a shaft-shaped body disposed at a position penetrating the inside of the balloon. It is characterized by the following.

In this balloon catheter, the shaft member disposed at a position penetrating the inside of the balloon may be a catheter shaft, or a member other than the catheter shaft, for example, disposed to reinforce the balloon. May be used. According to such a balloon catheter, since the linear light-emitting portion is present so as to surround the shaft-like body, the portion where the light is not irradiated due to the shadow of the shaft-like body despite the presence of the shaft-like body Does not exist, and light is evenly applied to the entire area of the outer periphery of the balloon.

Next, the balloon catheter according to the fifth aspect communicates the distal end side and the rear end side of the balloon, and maintains the blood flow between the distal end side and the rear end side of the balloon even when the balloon is expanded. It is characterized by having a possible blood flow passage.

In this balloon catheter, the blood flow passage may be any as long as it connects the front end side and the rear end side of the balloon. Specifically, for example, a blood flow passage can be formed by a tubular member arranged to penetrate the balloon. In this case, as described in claim 4, it is desirable that the linear light-emitting portion is arranged in a spiral shape around the outer periphery of the blood flow passage because the blood flow passage does not block light. However, if light may be shielded somewhat, the configuration may not be as described in claim 4. In addition to forming the blood flow path with a tubular member disposed so as to penetrate the balloon, the blood flow path may be secured at a position along the outer periphery of the balloon, for example.

According to the balloon catheter configured as described above, even when the balloon is inflated through the blood flow passage, blood can flow between the front end side and the rear end side of the balloon. Therefore, for example, if the patient is very sensitive to ischemia or if treatment must be continued for an extended period of time, expand the balloon and provide the desired treatment without interrupting blood flow Can be.

[0024]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to an example. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the balloon catheter 1 is provided on a catheter shaft 2 which is a long tubular body that flexibly bends, and on the outer periphery of a distal end side of the catheter shaft 2. It has a balloon 4 which is a bag-like body, and a connector 6 provided on the proximal end side of the catheter shaft 2.

The catheter shaft 2 is formed of a nylon resin. As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the independent first lumens 1 are formed in parallel.
1, a second lumen 12 and a third lumen 13. The first lumen 11 penetrates from the distal end 2a of the catheter shaft 2 shown in FIG. 1A to the guide wire port 6a at the end of the connector 6, and forms an insertion passage for inserting a guide wire. doing. Also, the first lumen 1
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, 1 has an enlarged inner diameter in the vicinity of the balloon 4, and the front and rear ends of the balloon 4 are shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2B, side holes 15 and 16 penetrating from the side surface of the catheter shaft 2 to the first lumen 11 are formed, so that blood flows in from the side hole 15 and flows out from the side hole 16. A blood flow passage is formed.

The second lumen 12 penetrates from the inside of the balloon 4 shown in FIG. 1A to the balloon port 6b on the side of the connector 6, and the fluid supplied and discharged through the balloon port 6b is supplied to the balloon 4. A fluid supply / discharge path for introducing / discharging the fluid is formed. The third lumen 13 is the second lumen 1
As in 2, the optical fiber 18 penetrates from the inside of the balloon 4 to the optical fiber port 6c on the side of the connector 6, and an optical fiber 18 is inserted therethrough.

The optical fiber 18 is a plastic optical fiber having a core 18a forming a light transmission path and a cladding 18b covering the outer periphery of the core 18a, and capable of transmitting light from the incident end 18c to the emitting end 18d. It is. In the balloon 4, the optical fiber 18 is spirally wound around the outer periphery of the catheter shaft 2, but the helically wound portion has the clad 18b removed and the outer peripheral surface of the core 18a is removed. It is exposed. In addition, the exposed portion is formed by heat molding so that the diameter becomes smaller as approaching the emission end 18d. Therefore, the helical core 18a emits light as a whole when light is transmitted from the incident end 18c side. Note that the spirally wound portion is drawn in FIG. 1 (a) and FIG. 1 (b) so as to be wound around the outer circumference of the catheter shaft 2 about 5 times for convenience of illustration. However, actually, the diameter of the catheter shaft 2 having a diameter of 1.1 mm is 20 to 30 mm at a pitch of about 2 mm.
(About 10 to 15 turns).

The balloon 4 is made of an ultraviolet-permeable nylon resin and has both ends adhered to the outer periphery of the catheter shaft 2. The optical fiber 1 is provided inside the balloon 4 around the outer periphery of the catheter shaft 2.
8, a contrast marker 22 made of an X-ray opaque substance
Are arranged.

The balloon catheter 1 configured as described above is used, for example, when simultaneously performing dilation treatment with a balloon and treatment with a photoreactive therapeutic agent on a stenotic portion of a blood vessel. Specifically, a photoreactive therapeutic agent is administered to a patient in advance, and the therapeutic agent is present in a stenotic part of a blood vessel. The method of administration is not particularly limited, and generally may be systemic administration, but partial administration may be performed using a drug administration catheter.

Then, the balloon catheter 1 is inserted into the blood vessel, and the balloon 4 is positioned at the stenosis. In inserting the balloon catheter 1, the operation may be performed in the same procedure as a general angioplasty catheter, but in the case of the present balloon catheter 1, a guide wire can be inserted through the first lumen 11, A balloon catheter 1 may be pushed along the guide wire while passing the guide wire through the first lumen 11 by inserting a guide wire into the blood vessel in advance and passing the guide wire through the first lumen 11.

When the balloon 4 is indwelled at a target position, a physiological saline solution (other liquid or gas may be supplied) is supplied from the balloon port 6b to expand the balloon 4. As a result, the stenosis is expanded by the balloon 4 as in the known angioplasty catheter. At this time, the expanded balloon 4 is in a state in which it pushes out the blood and is in close contact with the inner wall of the blood vessel.

In this state, when an external light source (not shown) is operated, light (ultraviolet rays or the like) incident on the incident end 18 c of the optical fiber 18 is transmitted into the balloon 4, and the light is helically transmitted inside the balloon 4. Core 18a wound in a shape
Radiated from The emitted light passes through the physiological saline and the light-permeable balloon 4, and the light is applied to the inner wall of the blood vessel to which the balloon 4 is in close contact. As a result, the photoreactive therapeutic agent present at the place where the light is irradiated is activated,
The drug effect appears locally near the inner wall of the blood vessel.

While the balloon 4 itself performs the dilation treatment and the treatment with the photoreactive therapeutic agent, the blood vessel is closed by the balloon 4 but flows toward the balloon 4. The blood flows into the side hole 15, passes through the inside of the balloon 4 via the first lumen 11, and flows out from the side hole 16. Therefore, even though the blood vessel is occluded by the balloon 4, the blood flow is not blocked, and the treatment for a long time can be performed without any problem.

After completing the necessary treatment, the physiological saline is discharged from the balloon port 6b, and the balloon 4 is deflated. Thereafter, the balloon catheter 1 may be pulled out of the patient as in the case of a known angioplasty catheter. As described above, according to the balloon catheter 1, at the same time as performing the dilation procedure on the vascular stenosis,
Since the photoreactive therapeutic agent can be activated in the blood vessel, an effective treatment can be performed on the stenosis part of the blood vessel. In particular, since the blood is pushed out using the light-transmitting balloon 4 and the light is irradiated onto the inner wall of the blood vessel from inside the balloon 4, the light is not blocked by the blood and the blood vessel is reliably Light can be applied to the inner wall.

In the balloon catheter 1, the optical fiber 18 is used for irradiating light.
Since the light source itself can be arranged outside, as a result, there is no restriction on the size of the light source itself, so that it is possible to use an arbitrarily large light source. The size can be reduced. Further, since the optical fiber 18 is extremely flexibly bent, the flexibility of the balloon catheter 1 is not impaired at all.

Further, in the balloon catheter 1,
Optical fiber 18 spirally wound inside balloon 4
Since the core 18a emits light as a whole, light can be applied to a wide range with a relatively simple structure. In particular, the catheter shaft 2 exists inside the balloon 4 and blood is circulated inside the catheter shaft 2. However, light is not blocked by the catheter shaft 2 and the entire balloon 4 Light can be irradiated over the circumference.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various specific embodiments other than those described above are conceivable for the embodiments of the present invention. For example, in the balloon catheter 1, the core 18a of the spiral optical fiber 18 is used.
However, any other light emitting means may be used as long as it adopts a structure that emits light inside the balloon 4, and activates the photoreactive therapeutic agent. Function can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a balloon catheter of the present invention, wherein (a)
Is a side view thereof, and (b) is an enlarged view near the balloon.

FIG. 2 shows a balloon catheter of the present invention, wherein (a)
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA, and Fig. 3 (b) is a sectional view taken along line BB.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... balloon catheter, 2 ... catheter shaft, 4 ... balloon, 6 ... connector, 6a ...
・ Guide wire port, 6b ・ ・ ・ Balloon port, 6
c: optical fiber port, 11: first lumen,
12 ... second lumen, 13 ... third lumen, 1
5, 16 ... side hole, 18 ... optical fiber, 18a
..Core, 18b... Clad, 22... Contrast marker.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A catheter shaft which is a flexible, elongated tubular body having a lumen serving as a fluid supply / drainage passage, and a light-transmissive bag-shaped member provided at a distal end side of the catheter shaft. The body has an internal space that communicates with the lumen, and has a balloon that expands / contracts with a fluid that is supplied and exhausted through the lumen, and a light emitting unit that is disposed inside the balloon. A balloon catheter comprising: a light emitting unit capable of emitting light toward the outside of the balloon. 2. The balloon catheter according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting means transmits light from an external light source incident on the incident end side to an emission end side disposed inside the balloon, A balloon catheter comprising an optical fiber capable of emitting light from the light emitting portion on the emission end side. 3. The balloon catheter according to claim 2, wherein the optical fiber has a core forming a light transmission path, and a clad covering an outer periphery of the core, and the light emitting unit emits the optical fiber. A balloon catheter, wherein the balloon is a linear light emitting portion configured to remove the clad near an end to expose an outer peripheral surface of the core and emit light from the outer peripheral surface of the core. 4. The balloon catheter according to claim 3, wherein the linear light-emitting portion is spirally wound around an outer periphery of a shaft-shaped body disposed at a position penetrating the inside of the balloon. A balloon catheter, characterized in that: 5. The balloon catheter according to claim 1, wherein a distal end side and a rear end side of the balloon communicate with each other, and even when the balloon is expanded, the distal end side and the rear end of the balloon are connected. A balloon catheter comprising a blood flow passage capable of maintaining blood flow between sides.