JPH11244233A - Illuminator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an illuminator hardly broken during handling for an opera tion under celoscope, easily handleable in insertion. SOLUTION: In an illuminator having a light source connector 3 receiving the supply of illumination light and a core 5 and a clad 6 which are provided with a light emitting part in a part of an insertion part capable of being inserted into celom and transmit illumination light to the light emitting part in the insertion part 2, the core 5 is constituted using acrylic polymer. The light taken in from an end face of the connector is transmitted through the core 5. A part of the transmitted light is not totally reflected on a boundary face between the core 5 and the clad 6, but leaks to the outside of the insertion part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for performing laparoscopic surgery, for example, by inserting a ureter and emitting light.
The present invention relates to an illuminator that allows a user to understand the running state of the ureter from the abdominal cavity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A fiber optic diffuser (illuminator) is proposed in US Pat. No. 5,431,647. The illuminator includes an optical fiber comprising a light-transmitting core, a cladding provided around the light-transmitting core, and a buffer layer provided around the cladding, wherein the light-transmitting core is provided at a distal end of the optical fiber. A dispersing sleeve is disposed around the exposed portion where the light transmitting core is exposed, a transparent cylindrical cap is placed with a gap around the dispersing sleeve, and the light from the core and the dispersing sleeve is placed on the tip of the optical fiber. Is provided with a reflection mirror that reflects light. Then, it is inserted into a lumen such as the esophagus to emit light.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When performing laparoscopic surgery, it is difficult to understand the condition of running of the ureter from the abdominal cavity in a case of severe adhesion, and there is a risk that the ureter may be inadvertently damaged. is there.

[0004] In the conventional illuminator, glass fiber is used as an optical transmission means, so that it is generally difficult to insert the glass fiber into a curved lumen, and the glass fiber is easily broken at the time of handling. (Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to insert the ureter into the ureter to emit light when performing laparoscopic surgery. An object of the present invention is to provide an illuminator that makes traveling easy to understand, hardly breaks during handling, and is easy to handle.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a connector which can be connected to illumination light supply means, an insertion portion which can be inserted into a body cavity, a light emitting portion provided at least in part of the insertion portion, An illuminator having an optical transmission unit provided in the insertion unit and transmitting light obtained through the connector from the illumination light supply unit to the light emitting unit,
An acrylic polymer was used for at least a part of the light transmission means.

[0006] After the connector of the illuminator is connected to the illumination light supply means, and the light source is turned on, the light taken in from the end face of the connector is transmitted to the tip portion through the light transmission means.
Leak outside from the light emitting part. For example, when performing laparoscopic surgery, the insertion portion of the illuminator is inserted into the ureter or the like, and the location of travel of the ureter becomes clear by observation from inside the abdominal cavity.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. (Construction) As shown in FIG. 1, an illuminator 1 according to this embodiment has a long insertion portion 2 inserted into a body cavity. The insertion portion 2 is provided with a light source connector 3 at a base end and a distal end. The portion is provided with a front-end reflecting portion 4. The light source connector 3 is connected to a light source device (not shown).

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing the insertion portion 2 and the tip reflection portion 4. A single fiber core 5 is provided inside the insertion section 2. The core 5 is made of a flexible acrylic polymer. The core 5 may be formed of a plurality of fibers having a relatively large outer diameter instead of a single fiber.
A clad 6 is provided around the core 5. The clad 6 is made of, for example, a fluorine resin.

An outer shell 7 made of a transparent material is provided around the clad 6. The transparent skin 7 has sufficient transparency to transmit light obtained from a light source (not shown). Outer skin 7
Is, for example, Teflon (fluororesin), FEP, PTFE,
Consists of silicone. A tip reflector 4 is provided at the tip of the outer skin 7.
Are provided to be fitted. The outer periphery of the distal end portion of the outer cover 7 is formed to have a small diameter, and the cylindrical portion 9 formed in the distal reflecting portion 4 is fitted to the small diameter portion 8 and is fixed thereto by bonding or fusion. The outer peripheral portion of the distal end of the distal reflecting portion 4 is formed in a hemispherical roundness 10 having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the outer cover 7. Further, the inner end of the front-end reflecting section 4 is a flat reflecting surface 11, which reflects the light that has reached this point and returns it to the light-emitting section described later.

The core 5 and the clad 6 constitute an optical transmission means for transmitting light to the distal end through the core 5 while reflecting light at the interface. Further, part of the light transmitted by the optical transmission means leaks out of the clad 6 without being reflected at the interface between the core 5 and the clad 6. In particular, in a portion using a fluororesin as the cladding material, light is not totally reflected at the interface between the core and the cladding, and a part of the light leaks out of the cladding. Further, the light transmitted to the distal-end reflecting section 4 and reflected there also leaks out of the clad 6, and the leaked light passes through the transparent envelope 7 and leaks out of the insertion section 2. In this way, the light emitting section is constituted by the portion where light leaks out of the insertion section 2.
The outer diameter of the insertion section 2 is appropriate φ1m for insertion into the ureter.
m to φ5 mm.

(Operation) When the illuminator 1 is used,
The light source connector 3 is connected to a light source device (not shown). When the light source is turned on, the light taken in from the end face of the light source connector 3 is reflected at the interface between the core 5 and the clad 6, and is transmitted to the tip reflector 4 via the core 5. Part of the transmitted light does not reflect at the interface between the core 5 and the clad 6 but leaks out of the clad 6. The light leaked out of the clad 6 passes through the transparent outer skin 7 and leaks out of the outer skin 7. Further, the light transmitted to the tip reflecting section 4 and reflected there leaks out of the cladding 6 and illuminates the light emitting section. These leaked lights are
And leaks out of the insertion portion 2.

When performing laparoscopic surgery, the insertion section 2 of the illuminator 1 is inserted into the ureter or the like. In this state, when observing the inside of the abdominal cavity with a laparoscope, the light emitting portion of the insertion portion 2 of the illuminator 1 emits light so that the running position of the ureter appears bright, and the running position of the ureter can be clearly seen from inside the abdominal cavity. . Therefore, when performing a laparoscopic operation, there is no possibility that the ureter may be damaged without knowing the position of the ureter. (Effect) In a laparoscopic operation, the insertion state 2 of the illuminator 1 illuminated in the ureter is inserted so that the running state of the ureter can be easily understood from the inside of the abdominal cavity. Therefore, even in the case of severe adhesion, the ureter is not accidentally damaged during the operation. In addition, an acrylic polymer is used as the light transmission means, and since it is flexible, it is difficult to be broken at the time of handling or the like, pain of a patient is reduced, and insertion properties are further improved. In addition, the light transmission characteristics are not impaired by bending. Further, it is easy to make a long insertion portion.

[Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. (Configuration) The illuminator 1 according to this embodiment has the same configuration as that of the above-described embodiment with respect to the insertion section 2 and the tip reflection section 4 to be inserted into the body. A light guide connection portion 12 is provided at the base end of the insertion portion 2 instead of the light source connector 3. Then, a light guide cable (not shown) is connected to the light guide connecting portion 12,
The other end of the light guide cable is connected to a light source device (not shown).

(Operation) A light guide cable is connected to the light guide connecting portion 12 of the illuminator 1, the other end of the light guide cable is connected to the light source device, and after the light source is turned on, the insertion portion 2 of the illuminator 1 is mounted as described above. As in the ureter. The insertion portion 2 of the illuminator 1 emits light, whereby a running location such as the ureter can be observed from inside the abdominal cavity, and the running location can be clearly understood.

(Effect) In addition to the effect of the first embodiment, since light is obtained from the light source using the light guide cable, the entire length of the illuminator 1 can be shortened by the entire length of the light guide. Therefore, there is an effect that the illuminator 1 can be easily carried and cleaned. Further, since the total length of the illuminator 1 is short, there is an effect that the storage space is reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. According to the description of the above embodiment, at least the following items and items in any combination thereof can be obtained.

<Supplementary Notes> A connector connectable to the illumination light supply means, an insertion portion that can be inserted into a body cavity, a light emitting portion provided in at least a part of the insertion portion, and a connector provided in the insertion portion through the connector from the illumination light supply means. An illuminator having an optical transmission unit for transmitting the light to the light emitting unit, wherein an acrylic polymer is used for at least a part of the optical transmission unit.

2. 2. The illuminator according to claim 1, wherein a fluorine resin is used for at least a part of the clad material provided around the optical transmission means. 3. 3. The illuminator according to claim 2, wherein the outer diameter of the insertion portion is φ1 mm to φ5 mm.

[0019]

As described above, according to the illuminator of the present invention, the condition inside the body cavity can be easily understood by inserting the light into a body cavity such as the ureter to emit light. For example, in a case of severe ureteral adhesion in laparoscopic surgery, if the ureter is inserted into the ureter and emitted light, the position of the ureter can be clearly confirmed, and the ureter is not damaged during the operation. In particular, since the illuminator of the present invention uses an acrylic polymer as the light transmission means, it has an effect that the light transmission means can be prevented from being broken during handling.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an entire illuminator according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a distal end of an insertion portion of the illuminator.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the entire illuminator according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a distal end of an insertion portion of the illuminator.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Illuminator, 2. Insertion part, 3. Light source connector,
4 ... tip reflection part, 5 ... core, 6 ... clad, 7 ... outer skin,
8: small diameter portion, 9: cylindrical portion, 11: reflection surface, 12: light guide connection portion.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A connector connectable to illumination light supply means, an insertion portion insertable into a body cavity, a light emitting portion provided in at least a part of the insertion portion, and the illumination light supply provided in the insertion portion. An illuminator comprising: a light transmitting means for transmitting light obtained by the means through a connector to the light emitting unit, wherein an acrylic polymer is used for at least a part of the light transmitting means.