JPS635102B2 - - 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 such conventional examples, reflection and attenuation of electromagnetic waves occur due to the cooling member or metal radio wave lens used as necessary during the propagation within the case body from the electromagnetic wave power supply unit to the biological surface. There is a problem in that this tendency becomes particularly noticeable when high-frequency electromagnetic waves are used. Furthermore, the internal dimensions of the waveguide portion of the applicator in the direction of the electric field component of the propagating electromagnetic wave must be set between half a wavelength and one wavelength due to transmission propagation. In other words, when considering the case where there is a gas such as air inside, if the operating frequency is 300 [MHz], the half wavelength is approximately 50 [cm], which increases the size of the entire device and makes it inconvenient to handle. However, the device needed to be fixed onto a living body during treatment is large-scale, and has the disadvantage that prompt treatment cannot be achieved. [Object of the Invention] The present invention aims to improve the disadvantages of the above-mentioned conventional examples, and in particular to provide an applicator for heating therapy that reduces the size of the entire device and reduces the attenuation of electromagnetic waves within the case body. is its purpose. [Means for solving the problem] Therefore, in the present invention, an electromagnetic wave power feeding section is provided at one end of the case body, an opening for transmitting electromagnetic waves is provided at the other end, and a connection between this opening and the electromagnetic wave feeding section is provided. Between,
In the applicator for heating therapy, the electromagnetic wave power supply section is provided with a dielectric liquid passage for matching the output side with the outside and also for cooling, and is equipped with a soft film member that seals the dielectric liquid passage from the outside. The dielectric liquid passage is sealed with a hard dielectric plate, and the electromagnetic wave feeding section is filled with a dielectric material such as machine oil, which has a relatively small electromagnetic wave attenuation and a relatively large dielectric constant. The aim is to achieve the above objectives. [Effect] By using a dielectric material with low electromagnetic wave attenuation, attenuation loss within the applicator is reduced, which increases the electromagnetic wave energy propagated to the outside and improves the efficiency of heating therapy. can be achieved. At the same time, due to the effect of the dielectric member, for example, if a dielectric member with a relative permittivity of ε _r is used, the size of the area where the dielectric member is used can be reduced to 1/√ _r . Furthermore, the surface of the heating section is effectively cooled through the film-like soft dielectric plate. [First Embodiment] The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
This will be explained based on the diagram. In these figures, 10 indicates a case body, and 20 indicates a cooling mechanism as a dielectric liquid passage. The case body 10 is composed of a power feeding part waveguide 11 and a lens part waveguide 12. Among these, the feeding part waveguide 11 includes an excitation antenna 13.
and a coaxial connector 13A. Therefore, electromagnetic waves sent through the coaxial connector 13A are introduced into the case body 10. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the power feeding part waveguide 11 is filled with machine oil 11B as a dielectric member with less attenuation of electromagnetic waves. 11A indicates a hard dielectric plate for enclosing the machine oil. The hard dielectric plate 11A is made of a material that has relatively low attenuation of electromagnetic waves. On the other hand, the lens part waveguide 12 is open at both left and right ends in the same figure, and is equipped with a radio wave lens part 16 inside, and has an inlet/outlet passage 17 for cooling water in the center of the outside as shown in the figure. Equipped. Among these, the radio wave lens section 16 includes metal plates 16A and 16 having different lengths.
A, .
Therefore, the electromagnetic waves sent to the radio wave lens section 16 are first gradually divided from the metal plate 16A on the inner wall side, and the radio wave lens section 16 has a matching effect. ing. Further, a dielectric plate 19 having a relatively high dielectric constant and low attenuation is attached to the inner wall of the case body 10 in parallel to the direction E of the electric field of the electromagnetic wave, so that the dielectric plate 19 has a relatively high dielectric constant and low attenuation. In addition, the disadvantage of the conventional example in which radio wave energy is concentrated in the center has been greatly improved. Furthermore, as shown in the figure, the cooling mechanism 20 includes an abutment support plate 21 made of a dielectric plate curved to fit the living body (see A in FIG. 8), and is fixed to the outside of this abutment support plate 21. The contact plate 22 is made up of a contact plate 22 and a soft film member 23 sealed on the outside of the contact plate 22. Of these,
In the center of the contact support plate 21, there is a square through hole 2 that matches the radiation opening 10A of the case body 10.
As shown in FIG. It has a structure that allows each cooling liquid to flow very naturally. In this embodiment, the cooling liquid used in the cooling mechanism 20 is water (relative permittivity ε _r =80.36; however,
20℃, measurement wavelength ∞) is used. A plurality of cooling water inflow/outflow portions 20A and 20B are each symmetrically provided at the peripheral end of the cooling mechanism 20,
This makes it possible to appropriately select and set the direction in which the cooling water flows. 11F, 1
2F indicates a flange portion for attachment and detachment. In the first embodiment configured in this manner, the structure has good impedance matching with little reflection from the excitation antenna 13 to the outer end of the radio wave lens section 16, and therefore, the electromagnetic wave generating means This has the advantage that electromagnetic waves sent from a magnetron or the like can be efficiently sent out to the outside.In particular, since the power feeding part waveguide 11 is filled with machine oil, the size of the power feeding part waveguide 11 can be reduced. It can be set to 1/√ _r , or approximately 2/3 (however, when the relative permittivity of machine oil ε _r ≒ 2.2),
Therefore, the overall size can be reduced, and since it is a split type, radio wave lens parts with various shapes of cooling mechanisms etc. can be prepared in advance, and the most suitable radio wave lens part corresponding to the treatment area of the living body can be selected. The advantage is that it can be done. [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 4 and 5. In this embodiment, the inflow/outflow portions 17 for the cooling water described above are disposed at the upper and lower ends of the back center of the abutting hand plate 21 in FIG. is shortened to reduce the attenuation of electromagnetic waves. That is, the radio wave lens section 32 used includes a plurality of metal plates 32A, 32A, . . . arranged at equal intervals, and the outer metal plate 32A is longer than the inner metal plate 32A. . 33,3
4 indicates a degassing means. This degassing means 33, 34
In this method, a small amount of internal cooling liquid is constantly allowed to flow out from the relevant location, thereby releasing internal air bubbles to the outside. 50 indicates a sealing member. Other configurations are as described above.
It is the same as the example. Even in this case, in addition to having the same effect as the first embodiment described above, the radio wave lens section 32 can be disposed along the curved surface of the contact support plate 21 of the cooling mechanism 20, and therefore, Overall, the overall length of the case body 10 is shortened, and the power feeding part waveguide 1 is
There is an advantage that one portion can be formed long, thereby reducing the attenuation of electromagnetic waves. [Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 6 and 7. This embodiment is an embodiment in which electromagnetic waves of a relatively high frequency are used, and the width W of the feed section waveguide 41 portion is larger than that of the above-mentioned embodiments.
is formed even smaller, and the radio wave lens portion 4
This is a compact version of 3. In this case, each metal piece 43A, 43A, . . . of the radio wave lens portion 43
are of the same size, and the distance between them is set to become narrower toward the outside. The other configurations are the same as those of the second embodiment described above. Even in this case, in addition to having the same function and effect as the second embodiment described above, the overall size and weight can be reduced in response to high-frequency electromagnetic waves, and therefore it becomes easier to handle. It has the advantage of speeding up treatment. In addition, in each of the above embodiments, the power feeding part waveguide 1
1 and 41 and the lens part waveguide 12 are separated, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and they may be integrated. [Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is configured and functions as described above,
According to this, the entire device can be significantly downsized due to the action of the dielectric material such as machine oil stored in the electromagnetic wave power supply section, and at the same time, the attenuation of electromagnetic waves within the case body can be reduced. , it is possible to provide an unprecedented and excellent applicator for heating therapy that can efficiently send electromagnetic wave energy to the living body side and has improved operability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 4 is a front view showing the second embodiment, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a front view showing the third embodiment, and FIG. Figure -
8 is a perspective view showing the conventional example, FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the radio wave lens section installed in FIG. 8, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are respectively 9 It is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the figure. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Case body, 10A... Opening for electromagnetic wave transmission, 11, 41... Power feeding part waveguide forming an electromagnetic wave feeding part, 11A... Hard dielectric plate for sealing, 11B... Dielectric member machine oil as, 2
0... Cooling mechanism as a dielectric liquid passage, 23...
...Soft film member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electromagnetic wave power feeding section is provided at one end of the case body,
An opening for transmitting electromagnetic waves is provided at the other end, and a passage for dielectric liquid is provided between this opening and the electromagnetic wave feeding section for matching with the outside of the output side and also for cooling. In an applicator for heating therapy that is equipped with a soft film member that is sealed from the outside, the electromagnetic wave power supply section is sealed with a hard dielectric plate from the dielectric liquid passage, and the electromagnetic wave power supply section is provided with an electromagnetic wave power supply section. An applicator for heating therapy, characterized in that it is filled with a dielectric material such as machine oil that has a relatively small attenuation and a relatively large dielectric constant.