JPS6248915B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a laser irradiation device equipped with a guide light generator for positioning.

Laser light has a high energy density and is concentrated in one point, so it is necessary to accurately irradiate only the target area. Therefore, there has been provided a device in which the target area is irradiated with visible guide light for positioning before laser irradiation to confirm the irradiation position. This type of device always requires irradiation of a guide light before laser beam oscillation, but if the guide light generator and laser oscillator are controlled on and off using separate manual operation switches, the operation is cumbersome. Alternatively, there is a risk that the irradiation order may be incorrect, the laser beam may be oscillated without irradiating the guide light, and the laser beam may be inadvertently applied to a location other than the target portion. Particularly in laser scalpels used for medical purposes, it is strongly desired to have a device with excellent operability that does not cause such erroneous operations.

This invention was made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to turn on/off the guide light generator and laser oscillator using one operation switch.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a safe laser irradiation device with excellent operability that can perform off control and oscillate a laser beam after irradiating the laser beam without fail.

The present invention will be described below based on an illustrated embodiment.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a foot-operated foot switch as an example of an operation switch, and by turning on and off the operation switch 1, a guide light generator 3 and a laser oscillator 4 are activated via a control circuit 2, which will be described later. It is becoming more and more like this. As this guide light generator 3, for example, a visible laser beam oscillator with a small output is used. Reference numeral 5 indicates a drive power source for driving the guide light generator 3, and 6 indicates a laser oscillator drive circuit. The visible guide light generated by the guide light generator 3 is transmitted through the semi-transmissive mirror 7, reflected by the total reflection mirrors 8 and 9, and is reflected by the laser probe 1.
0, the laser beam is emitted from the laser emitting section 11, and the object A is irradiated with the laser beam. Therefore, the irradiation position of the target region can be confirmed using this guide light. Further, a part of the guide light is reflected by the semi-transparent mirror 7 and received by the light receiving element 12. 13 is an amplifier.

Next, the control circuit 2 will be explained. Reference numeral 15 denotes an edge trigger pulse generator connected to the operating switch 1, and this pulse generator 15 generates pulses when the operating switch 1 is turned on and off, as shown in b in FIG. . Also, when the above operation switch 1 is turned on, the output is 3.
It is designed to be input to an input AND circuit 16. In FIG. 2, the rise time delay of these pulses, etc. is exaggerated for convenience of explanation, but in reality, this delay time can be almost ignored.

The pulses generated by the pulse generator 15 are input to set input terminals of a first memory circuit 17 and a second memory circuit 18 using flip-flop circuits, respectively. Therefore, when operating switch 1 is turned on for the first time, the first
The storage circuit 17 becomes "H" level and maintains the storage state. During this storage period, a signal is output to the guide light driving power source 5, the guide light generator 3 is driven, and the visible guide light continues to be irradiated. On the other hand, the second memory circuit 18 temporarily goes to the "H" level when the switch is turned on for the first time, as shown by e in FIG. but,
Since it is input to the reset input terminal of the second memory circuit 18, it is immediately reset to the "L" level and enters a no-memory state. Therefore, since the 3-input AND circuit 16 lacks the signal from the second storage circuit 18, it does not output any signal to the laser oscillator drive circuit 6. Therefore, the laser beam is not oscillated and only the guide light is emitted from the emission section 11. Note that a part of the guide light is reflected by the anti-transmission mirror 7 and received by the light receiving element 12. The signal is then amplified by the amplifier 13 and input to the 3-input AND circuit 16.

Next, when the operation switch 1 is turned off (first time), pulses are input to the set input terminals of both memory circuits 17 and 18, but at this time, since no signal is output from the edge trigger pulse generator 19, the second The memory circuit 18 also becomes "H" level,
Becomes a memory state. Therefore, when the operation switch 1 is turned on for the second time, all the input signals to the 3-input AND circuit 16 are ready, so this AND circuit 16
generates an output signal to the laser beam drive circuit 6. Therefore, the drive circuit 6 operates, and the laser oscillator 4
Laser light is oscillated from.

This laser light is emitted from the emission unit 11 through the laser probe 10 in the same way as the guide light described above, and accurately irradiates the target part of the object A positioned by the guide light to perform a desired ablation treatment or the like. Can be done. Note that from the third time onwards, the process is the same as the case of the second time described above.

On the other hand, when the reset switch 20 is turned on, a reset signal is input to each of the memory circuits 17 and 18, and the memory circuits 17 and 18 are reset and returned to their original initial states.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the guide light is always irradiated before the laser beam is oscillated, and it is possible to prevent the laser beam from being inadvertently irradiated. Treatment can be carried out. Moreover, one operation switch 1
Since the on/off control of the guide light and laser light can be carried out using the , there is no risk of erroneous operation and the operability is excellent. Furthermore, by using a foot switch as the operation switch 1, the guide light and laser light can be turned on and off without using both hands. This is especially effective when you have to perform a variety of tasks.

In addition, since the output of the guide light is detected by the light receiving element 12, a signal can be given to the 3-input AND circuit 16 only when the guide light is definitely irradiated, resulting in extremely high reliability. expensive.

Note that this invention is not limited to the one embodiment described above, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, laser light irradiation may be controlled by opening and closing the shutter of a laser oscillator using the output of a three-input AND circuit. The output can also be pulsed by a rising edge trigger pulse generator and used to control the operation of another irradiation time control mechanism. Alternatively, the output may be pulsed at the falling edge to reset the memory circuits 17 and 18 and return them to their initial states. In this case, it is possible to always automatically return to the initial state without using the reset switch 20, further improving operability. Further, the memory circuit is not limited to the flip-flop circuit, and it goes without saying that other circuit configurations or memory elements may be used. Further, a backup circuit may be added as appropriate to prevent malfunction of the flip-flop circuit.

Furthermore, the laser probe 10 may be inserted into the body through a forceps channel or the like of an endoscope, or may be integrated into the endoscope.

Further, the laser irradiation device of the present application can be used for general industrial purposes other than medical purposes.

As explained above, in this invention, when the operation switch is turned on for the first time, only the visible guide light is emitted, and from the second time onwards, the laser light is oscillated, so that the guide light is not always emitted. Since the laser beam can be oscillated in the irradiated state, it is safe to use, and the guide light and laser beam can be turned on and off using a single operation switch, making it easy to operate and eliminating the risk of malfunction. The effect is significant.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a laser irradiation device, and FIG. 2 is a time chart explaining the operation. 1... Operation switch, 3... Guide light generator,
4... Laser oscillator, 16... AND circuit, 17
...first memory circuit, 18...second memory circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a laser irradiation device including a laser oscillator that oscillates a laser beam and a guide light generator that irradiates a visible guide light for positioning to the irradiation position of the laser beam, the first operation switch is a first memory circuit that stores the ON operation of the switch and outputs a signal for driving the guide light generator during the storage period; and a first memory circuit that stores the first OFF operation of the switch following the first ON operation; A second memory circuit that continuously outputs a signal during the memory period, and when the operation switch is turned on while the second memory circuit outputs a signal and the guide light is irradiated. output a signal to drive the laser oscillator.
A laser irradiation device characterized by comprising an AND circuit. 2. The laser irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a flip-flop circuit is used as the memory circuit.