JPS6236709B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an applicator for heating therapy, and particularly to an applicator for heating therapy for heating a predetermined location of a living body using electromagnetic waves. [Conventional technology] In recent years, heating therapy

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the above conventional example, since the cooling liquid is configured to flow from one side of the cooling mechanism 5 to the other, a temperature difference occurs between one end and the other end of the surface of the heating section. It has the disadvantage that the surface of the living body is not uniformly cooled, and at the same time, when used continuously for a long time, air bubbles remain in the applicator, which causes the electromagnetic wave output from the applicator to decrease over time. [Object of the Invention] The object of the present invention is to provide an applicator for heating therapy that can improve the disadvantages of the conventional example, and in particular, can cool the surface of the heated part of the living body almost uniformly. do. [Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in the present invention, an electromagnetic wave power feeding part provided at one end of the case body, a radio wave lens part provided at the other end of the case body, and this radio wave lens part are provided. A heating therapy applicator having a cooling mechanism attached to an electromagnetic wave emitting end of the heating therapy applicator, wherein the cooling liquid inlet for the cooling mechanism is connected to a central part of the case body located on the upstream side in the direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate. and the cooling liquid outflow portions for the cooling mechanism are installed at multiple locations on the outer periphery of the cooling mechanism located on the downstream side in the direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate, thereby achieving the objective. This is what we are trying to achieve. [First Embodiment] This is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In these figures, 10 indicates the case body. This case body 10 functions as a waveguide,
An electromagnetic wave power supply section 11 is provided at the left end of the figure, and a radio wave lens section 12 is provided at the right end. In the figure, 11A indicates an excitation antenna, and 11B
indicates a coaxial connector, and 12A, 12A, . . . indicate metal plates constituting the radio wave lens section 12. Further, the electromagnetic wave radiation opening 10A of the case body 10 is equipped with a cooling mechanism 13 for living body. As shown in the figure, this cooling mechanism 13 includes a contact support plate 21 made of a dielectric plate curved to fit the living body (see A in FIG. 1), and a contact support plate 21 fixed to the outside of the contact support plate 21. contact plate 22 and further contact plate 22
A soft film member 23 is hermetically attached to the outside of the holder. Among these, a square through hole 21A that matches the electromagnetic wave irradiation opening 10A of the case body 10 is formed in the center of the abutment support plate 21, and a square cutout hole 22A that is larger than the through hole 21A is formed. As shown in FIG.
The structure allows the cooling fluids inside to flow very naturally. Moreover, the cooling liquid used in the cooling mechanism 13 is
In this example, water (relative dielectric constant ε _r =80.36; however, 20
°C, measurement wavelength ∞) is used. A coolant inlet 13A is provided at the center of the upper surface of the case body in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 7 to 7, they are provided at the four corners of the abutting support plate 21, so that the cooling liquid can uniformly and effectively cool the entire range from the inside of the case body 10 to the surface of the living body A. I'm starting to get it. As described above, the radio wave lens section 12 is formed of a plurality of metal plates 12A, 12A, . This makes it possible to take full advantage of the lens effect. Further, as described above, a soft dielectric film member 23 is attached to the outer end surface of the cooling mechanism 13 in order to promote close contact with a living body. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, a dielectric plate 30 with low loss and a relatively large dielectric constant is attached to the inner wall of the case body 10. In this case, the dielectric plate 30 is attached to an inner wall parallel to the electric field direction of the electromagnetic waves. As a result, the electric field distribution within the case body becomes as shown in FIG. 8, and the energy of the electromagnetic waves is not concentrated in the center but is substantially uniform, which has the advantage that the focusing function of the radio wave lens section 12 can be fully demonstrated. Each metal plate 12A, 12 of the radio wave lens section 12
Dielectric members 40, 40, . . . made of the same material as the dielectric member 30 provided on the inner wall of the case body 10 are attached to A, . Therefore, the centralization of the electric field distribution shown in FIG. 5 2 and FIG. becomes. As a result, overheating damage in a lattice shape corresponding to the electric field strength on the biological surface during heating therapy is prevented, and cooling of the biological surface (incidence surface) and uniform irradiation of electromagnetic waves becomes possible. An ideal applicator for heating therapy is obtained in which intensive heating can be performed by the action of the lens portion 12. 1
4 indicates a drainage means for removing air. This liquid draining means 14 has a function of constantly draining a portion of the cooling liquid to the outside, thereby making it possible to continuously discharge the air bubbles inside to the outside. Therefore, the disadvantage of the conventional example that the output decreases over time due to the influence of air bubbles is greatly improved. [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 1.
This will be explained based on Figure 0. In this embodiment, the electromagnetic wave power supply section 11 side and the radio wave lens section 12 in the first embodiment are separated and connected detachably, and the electromagnetic wave power supply section 11 is filled with machine oil and other liquids. It is filled with a damping member 11G, and 11C indicates an enclosed partition plate. In addition, the coolant inflow portion 13A in the first embodiment described above (see FIGS. 6 and 7)
However, in this embodiment, the case body 10 side has a plurality of branched inflow ports 13a, 13a, 13a, . . . . Specifically, each of the inflow ports 13a, 13a, . . . is disposed on the center portion between the metal plates 12A, 12A, . . . forming the radio wave lens portion 12, This allows the cooling water to flow substantially uniformly into the radio wave lens portion 12 of the case body 10 without particularly disturbing the electric field of the electromagnetic waves. 11F and 12F indicate connecting flanges, and 50 indicates a sealing member. The rest of the structure is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, except that this embodiment does not have a liquid draining means for removing air. [Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 11 and 12. In this embodiment, the coolant inflow section 13A in the second embodiment described above is installed at the upper and lower ends of the center on the back side of the cooling mechanism 13 without being branched, as shown in FIG. 11, and the radio wave lens section 32 as,
This embodiment is completely the same as the second embodiment described above, except that metal plates 32A, 32A, . . . of the same size are used. In this case, the radio wave lens section 32 is set so that the distance between the metal plates 32A becomes narrower toward the outside, thereby causing a change in the phase velocity of the passing electromagnetic waves and fully exhibiting the lens effect. Formed to get. Further, since the cooling water also flows from the substantially central portion of the cooling mechanism 13 toward the periphery, the surface of the living body can be effectively cooled as in each of the embodiments described above. [Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the electromagnetic wave power feeding unit provided at one end of the case body, the radio wave lens unit provided at the other end of the case body, and the radio wave lens unit In an applicator for heating therapy having a cooling mechanism attached to an electromagnetic wave emitting end, a cooling liquid inlet for the cooling mechanism is placed in a central part on the case body located on the upstream side in the direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate. A configuration is adopted in which the cooling liquid outflow portions for the cooling mechanism are installed at multiple locations on the outer periphery of the cooling mechanism located on the downstream side in the direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate, so that the electromagnetic field is particularly prevented from being disturbed. The surface of the heated part of the living body can be cooled almost uniformly without
Therefore, it is possible to provide an unprecedented and excellent applicator for heating therapy that can continuously perform long-term heating therapy to deep parts of the body.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional example, Fig. 2 is an explanatory view showing a radio wave lens section equipped in Fig. 1,
Figures 3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of Figure 2, Figures 5 1 and 2 are illustrations of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the waveguides of Figures 1 and 2, respectively, and Figure 6 is an illustration of the operation of Figure 2. FIG. 7 is a front view showing the first embodiment of the invention, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line of FIG. 6, and FIG. Figure 9 is a front view showing the second embodiment, and Figure 10 is a front view showing the second embodiment.
11 is a front view showing the third embodiment, and FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line XII--XII in FIG. 11. 10... Case body, 11... Electromagnetic wave power supply section,
12, 32...Radio wave lens section, 12A, 32A...
...Metal plate, 13...Cooling mechanism, 13A...Cooling liquid inlet, 13B...Cooling liquid outlet, 14...Drainage means for air bleeding, 23...Dielectric film.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An electromagnetic wave power supply section provided at one end of the case body, a radio wave lens section provided at the other end of the case body, and an electromagnetic wave power supply section attached to the electromagnetic wave emitting end of this radio wave lens section. A heating therapy applicator having a cooling mechanism, wherein a cooling liquid inlet for the cooling mechanism is disposed in a central portion on the main body case located upstream in a direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate, An applicator for heating therapy, characterized in that cooling liquid outflow portions are provided at a plurality of locations on the outer periphery of the cooling mechanism located on the downstream side in the direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate. 2. The applicator for heating therapy according to claim 1, wherein the one coolant inlet is provided on a central axis along the direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate. 3. The applicator for heating therapy according to claim 1, wherein the one coolant inflow portion is provided at a central portion between each metal plate of the radio wave lens portion. 4. A heating device that has an electromagnetic wave power supply section provided at one end of the case body, a radio wave lens section installed at the other end of the case body, and a cooling mechanism attached to the electromagnetic wave emitting end of this radio wave lens section. In the hot therapy applicator, a coolant inlet for the cooling mechanism is disposed at a central portion on the main body case located upstream in a direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate, and a coolant outlet for the cooling mechanism are installed at multiple locations on the outer periphery of the cooling mechanism located on the downstream side in the direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate, and a part of the main body case is provided with drainage means for removing air. Therapy applicator. 5. A heating device that has an electromagnetic wave power supply section provided at one end of the case body, a radio wave lens section installed at the other end of the case body, and a cooling mechanism attached to the electromagnetic wave emitting end of this radio wave lens section. In the hot therapy applicator, the coolant inlet for the cooling mechanism is disposed at the center of the main body case located on the upstream side in the direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate, and the coolant outlet for the cooling mechanism is disposed at the center of the body case. , equipped at multiple locations on the outer periphery of the cooling mechanism located on the downstream side in the direction in which electromagnetic waves propagate, and a soft dielectric film is sealed and equipped on the end face of the cooling mechanism on the electromagnetic wave sending side. Applicator for heating therapy.