WO2017038575A1

WO2017038575A1 - Medicinal liquid injecting circuit, medicinal liquid injecting system provided with said medicinal liquid injecting circuit, and medical imaging system

Info

Publication number: WO2017038575A1
Application number: PCT/JP2016/074637
Authority: WO
Inventors: 増田　和正; 根本　茂; 宇田川　誠; 敦久田野
Original assignee: 株式会社根本杏林堂
Priority date: 2015-08-28
Filing date: 2016-08-24
Publication date: 2017-03-09
Also published as: JP6839853B2; JPWO2017038575A1

Abstract

According to the present invention, various items relating to injection of a medicinal liquid can be detected using a more simpler configuration. A medicinal liquid injecting circuit 200 includes: one or more tubes 201 to 203 each connected to a syringe; and a thermal flow-rate sensor 210 provided with a conduit which, together with the tubes 201 to 203, forms part of a liquid flow path. The flow-rate sensor 210 outputs, as a detection result to an injection control unit which controls the operation of pistons in the syringes, an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of a medicinal liquid in the conduit.

Description

Chemical injection circuit, chemical injection system equipped with the chemical injection circuit, and medical imaging system

The present invention relates to a chemical solution injection circuit used for injecting a chemical solution such as a contrast medium when taking a medical image, a chemical solution injection system including the chemical solution injection circuit, and the like.

Medical image diagnostic apparatuses include CT apparatus, MRI apparatus, angio apparatus, PET apparatus, MRA apparatus, and ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus. When taking a medical image using these apparatuses, in order to enhance the contrast effect, a medical solution such as a contrast medium or physiological saline is often injected into the subject. In many cases, the liquid medicine to be injected is filled in a syringe, and the liquid medicine filled in the syringe is automatically injected according to injection conditions set in advance using a liquid medicine injection device. In the injection of a chemical solution using a chemical solution injection device, an injection circuit is constituted by a catheter, an indwelling needle, various tubes, and the like in order to connect a syringe mounted on the chemical solution injection device and a subject.

In the injection of a chemical solution using a chemical solution injection device, for example, the blood pressure of the subject is monitored, whether the injection circuit is normally connected, the leakage of the chemical solution in the subject's body is monitored, etc. Various sensors are often used to monitor whether a chemical solution is being injected according to the injection conditions.

For example, in angiography using an angio device, treatment is performed by inserting a catheter into a subject while confirming the affected area under fluoroscopy. In the treatment using the angio device while confirming the affected area, for example, in the treatment of dissolving a thrombus generated in the coronary artery, the catheter is advanced to the occluded site of the coronary artery, and the thrombolytic agent is ejected from the tip. Even under X-ray fluoroscopy, blood vessels cannot be recognized as an image without a contrast medium, so a contrast medium is used to confirm the occlusion site or guide the catheter to the coronary artery. At the same time, a catheter is inserted while monitoring the blood pressure of the subject for safety confirmation.

As an injection circuit that can monitor the blood pressure of a subject, an injection circuit as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent No. 4338446) is known. The injection circuit disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a drug solution injection tube whose end is connected to a syringe filled with a contrast agent, and a drug solution that restricts movement of the drug solution in the drug solution injection tube from the end side to the tip side. It has a one-way valve provided on the injection tube, and a blood pressure detection tube having a pressure transducer connected to the end and having a tip connected to the tip side of the one-side valve of the drug solution injection tube.

According to the injection circuit configured as described above, when the contrast agent is not injected, the pressure of blood flowing in the blood vessel is transmitted to the pressure transducer, and the blood pressure is directly detected by the pressure transducer. However, pressure transducers used in this type of injection circuit generally have a lower withstand pressure value than the injection pressure of the contrast agent. Therefore, when a high pressure due to the contrast medium is transmitted to the pressure transducer through the blood pressure detection tube during the injection of the contrast medium, the pressure transducer may be destroyed. Therefore, the injection circuit disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with a switching valve in the blood pressure detection tube that shuts off the blood pressure detection tube when the chemical liquid is injected at a pressure higher than a predetermined pressure, and the pressure generated by the chemical liquid injection is applied to the pressure transducer. It is not transmitted.

Also, in tomographic imaging using a CT apparatus or the like, a contrast medium is injected through an indwelling needle punctured into a subject's blood vessel. At this time, it may be performed to check whether the tip of the indwelling needle is located in the blood vessel, or to detect whether the injected drug solution has leaked out of the blood vessel. Confirmation of the tip position of the indwelling needle is also referred to as “route confirmation”, and can be performed by confirming whether blood has flowed into the injection circuit when the piston of the syringe is retracted. In addition, as described in Patent Document 2 (International Publication No. 2006/030764), for example, a leakage detection unit including a light emitting element and a light receiving element is placed near the tip of the indwelling needle. The light emitted from the light-emitting element toward the body surface toward the body of the subject can be detected by the light-receiving element and detected by a change in intensity.

Furthermore, the injection pressure, injection volume, and injection speed during the injection operation are monitored regardless of the type of chemical injection system. The injection pressure can be obtained by detecting the force acting on the piston drive mechanism that operates the piston of the syringe by a force sensor such as a load cell, or by measuring the motor current flowing through the motor that drives the piston drive mechanism. . The injection amount can be obtained from the movement amount of the piston drive mechanism. For this purpose, a linear encoder or a rotary encoder that counts the rotation amount of the motor is used. The injection speed can be calculated from the amount of movement of the piston drive mechanism per unit time.

Japanese Patent No. 4338446 International Publication No. 2006/030764

As described above, when injecting a chemical solution using a chemical solution injection device, a dedicated sensor is used or a specific operation is performed depending on the matter to be detected or monitored. Therefore, the more items to be detected or monitored, the more complicated the system configuration is, and various processes for detection or monitoring are required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a chemical solution injection circuit that can detect various items related to chemical solution injection with a simpler configuration, a chemical solution injection system including the chemical solution injection circuit, and the like.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a chemical liquid injection circuit used when injecting a chemical liquid filled in a container,
A tube unit having at least one tube and having one tip and at least one end;
At least one thermal flow sensor disposed between the distal end and the distal end of the tube unit, comprising a conduit through which the chemical solution flowing in the tube flows, and responding to the movement of the chemical solution in the conduit A thermal flow sensor configured to output an electrical signal as a detection result; and
A chemical injection circuit is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a chemical liquid injection system for injecting a chemical liquid filled in a container,
An injection head comprising at least one drive mechanism, wherein at least one container is detachably mounted and configured to inject a chemical solution from the container;
A chemical injection circuit connected to the container;
An injection control unit for controlling the operation of the drive mechanism;
Have
The chemical injection circuit is
A tube unit having at least one tube and having one tip and at least one end;
At least one thermal flow sensor disposed between the distal end and the distal end of the tube unit, comprising a conduit through which the chemical solution flowing in the tube flows, and responding to the movement of the chemical solution in the conduit A thermal flow sensor configured to output an electrical signal as a detection result to the injection control unit;
A medicinal solution injection system is provided.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the chemical solution injection system of the present invention,
A medical image capturing apparatus for acquiring a medical image from a subject into which a chemical liquid is injected by the chemical liquid injection system;
A medical imaging system is provided.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, at least one container is detachably mounted, and an injection head having at least one drive mechanism configured to inject a chemical from the container, and connected to the container A chemical liquid injection circuit, and an injection control unit for controlling the operation of the drive mechanism, and the chemical liquid injection circuit has at least one tube, and has a tip and at least one end. An operation method of a chemical injection system comprising: at least one thermal flow sensor that is disposed between the distal end and the distal end of the tube unit and includes a conduit through which the chemical flowing in the tube flows.
The thermal flow sensor outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the chemical in the conduit as a detection result to the injection control unit;
The injection control unit performs a predetermined function using the detection result output from the thermal flow sensor;
There is provided a method of operating a chemical injection system having:

(Definition of terms used in the present invention)
The “injection circuit” means a path for circulating a drug solution connected to a container for injecting the drug solution into a blood vessel of a subject, and is attached to at least one tube through which the drug solution is circulated. Including parts. Further, the “infusion circuit” may include a catheter inserted into the subject's blood vessel or an indwelling needle pierced into the subject's blood vessel. When a plurality of medicinal liquids can be injected, the injection circuit may be configured such that the distal end side opposite to the distal end side connected to the catheter or the indwelling needle is branched into a plurality by combining a plurality of tubes. . The injection circuit can be divided into an “external circuit portion” that is located in the body of the subject and an “internal circuit portion” that is at least partially located in the body, depending on the arrangement during use. According to this division, the catheter or the indwelling needle belongs to the in-vivo circuit portion, and the other members belong to the extracorporeal circuit portion. Therefore, it can be said that the “injection circuit” includes at least the extracorporeal circuit portion of the in-vivo circuit portion and the extracorporeal circuit portion.

The “tip” of the injection circuit, tube unit, and tube means the end closest to the subject when the injection circuit is connected to the subject to inject the drug solution. The “end” of the injection circuit, tube unit and tube means the end opposite to the “tip” in their longitudinal direction. Depending on the form of the injection circuit, there may be only one “terminal” or multiple “terminals”.

According to the present invention, in a system for injecting a chemical solution in a container via an injection circuit, the injection circuit includes a thermal flow sensor, so that pressure is obtained, occurrence of an abnormality is determined, or the thermal flow sensor Various functions can be given to the system by using the detection result from.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a medical imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows one form of the injection | pouring circuit shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing of one form of the flow sensor provided in the injection circuit shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the chemical injection device by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the injection | pouring head shown in FIG. 4 with the syringe with which it is mounted | worn. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an injection condition setting screen displayed when setting injection conditions in the chemical injection device shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed when the dilution ratio is changed when the injection mode is the dilution injection mode on the injection condition setting screen shown in FIG. 6. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the medical imaging system by other embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the medical imaging system shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the injection head shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the mounting procedure of the syringe to the injection | pouring head shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the mounting procedure of the syringe to the injection head shown in FIG. 8, and shows the next step of the procedure shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the positional relationship of a RFID tag and a RFID module in the state in which the syringe was normally hold | maintained at the injection head shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram of an injection circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a change of arrangement | positioning of a flow sensor in the injection | pouring circuit shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram of an example of a mixing device that can be provided in the injection circuit of the present invention. FIG. 16B is a perspective view of the mixing device shown in FIG. 16A. It is sectional drawing of the mixing device shown to FIG. 16A. FIG. 6 is a diagram of an injection circuit according to yet another aspect of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a change of the injection circuit shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the support arm unit for injection heads which can be used by this invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of a medical image imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention that includes a chemical liquid injection device 100, an injection circuit 200, and a medical image imaging device 500. The chemical injection device 100 and the injection circuit 200 constitute a chemical injection system. In addition, the liquid injector 100 and the medical imaging device 500 can be connected to each other so that data can be transmitted and received between them. The connection between the two can be a wired connection or a wireless connection.

The medical imaging apparatus 500 includes an imaging operation unit 520 that executes an imaging operation, and an imaging control unit 510 that controls the operation of the imaging operation unit 520, and a subject into which a drug solution is injected by the drug solution injection device 100. A medical image including a tomographic image and / or a three-dimensional image can be acquired. The imaging operation unit 520 usually includes a subject bed, an electromagnetic wave irradiation unit that irradiates electromagnetic waves to a predetermined space on the bed, and the like. The imaging control unit 510 controls the operation of the entire medical imaging apparatus, such as determining the imaging conditions and controlling the operation of the imaging operation unit 520 according to the determined imaging conditions. The imaging control unit 510 can include a so-called microcomputer, and can have an interface with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and other devices. A computer program for controlling the medical image capturing apparatus 500 is installed in the ROM. The CPU controls the operation of each unit of the medical image capturing apparatus 500 by executing various functions corresponding to the computer program.

The medical imaging apparatus 500 further includes a display unit 504 such as a liquid crystal display capable of displaying imaging conditions and acquired medical images, and an input unit 503 such as a keyboard and / or mouse for inputting imaging conditions. Can do. At least a part of data used to determine the imaging condition is input from the input unit 503 and transmitted to the imaging control unit 510. Data displayed on the display unit 504 is transmitted from the imaging control unit 510. A touch panel in which a touch screen is arranged as an input unit on the display unit display can also be used as the input unit 503 and the display unit 504. A part of the input unit 503, the display unit 504, and the imaging control unit 510 can be incorporated in one housing as a console for a medical imaging apparatus.

The drug solution injection device 100 is a device used to inject a drug solution filled in a syringe as a container into a blood vessel of a subject via an injection circuit, and includes a plurality of

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b, and an input unit. 103, a display unit 104, and an injection control unit 101. The

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b are mechanisms for operating the pistons of the syringes so as to inject chemicals from the syringes. In this embodiment, the two syringes can be injected separately or simultaneously. Two

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b for independently operating the pistons are provided. However, there may be a plurality of at least one of the piston driving mechanism 130a for injecting one chemical liquid and the piston driving mechanism 130b for injecting the other chemical liquid.

The injection control unit 101 uses at least a part of the data input from the input unit 103 to determine the injection conditions such as the injection amount and the injection speed of the chemical liquid, or the chemical liquid is injected from the syringe according to the determined injection conditions. This chemical solution controls the operation of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b, controls the display of the display unit 104, and executes a predetermined process according to the output from the flow sensor 210, which will be described in detail later. Control the operation of the entire infusion device. The injection control unit 101 can be configured to include a so-called microcomputer, and can have an interface with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and other devices. A computer program for controlling the chemical injection device 100 is mounted in the ROM. The CPU can control the operation of each part of the chemical solution injector 100 by executing various functions in response to the computer program.

The input unit 103 is a unit used to input data used for determining the injection condition of the chemical solution by the injection control unit 101. The input unit 103 may be a known input device such as a keyboard and / or a mouse. Data input from the input unit 103 is transmitted to the injection control unit 101, and data displayed on the display unit 104 is transmitted from the injection control unit 101. The display unit 104 is controlled by the injection control unit 101 to display data and the like necessary for determining the injection condition of the chemical solution, display the injection protocol, display the injection operation, display various warnings, and the like.

The injection protocol indicates what kind of chemical solution is to be injected, how much and at what speed. The injection rate may be constant or may change with time. In addition, when injecting a plurality of types of drug solutions, for example, a contrast medium and physiological saline, information on the order of injection of these drug solutions is also included in the injection protocol. As the injection protocol, any known injection protocol can be used. Also, a known procedure can be used as a procedure for creating the injection protocol. The injection protocol may also include an allowable maximum value (pressure limit) for the injection pressure. When the pressure limit is set, the injection pressure is monitored during the injection operation, and the operations of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b are controlled so that the injection pressure does not exceed the set pressure limit.

The display unit 104 may be a known display device such as a liquid crystal display device. A touch panel in which a touch screen is arranged as an input unit on the display unit display can also be used as the input unit 103 and the display unit 104. A part of the input unit 103, the display unit 104, and the injection control unit 101 can be incorporated in one housing as a console for a chemical solution injection device.

The injection circuit 200 constitutes a flow path for liquid that communicates between the syringe and the subject, and includes a tube unit having at least one tube and having one tip and at least one end, at least one connector, and A flow sensor 210 can be included. The flow sensor 210 is disposed between the distal end and the distal end of the tube unit. The tube unit may further include at least one connector for connection with a container or the like. One mode of an injection circuit 200 that can be suitably used in the present invention is shown in FIG.

The injection circuit 200 shown in FIG. 2 has a first tube 201, a plurality of

second tubes

202 and 203, and a T-shaped connector 204 connecting them, and as a whole takes the form of a branch tube branched at the end side. ing. The first tube 201 has a connector 207 for connection with an in-vivo circuit unit such as a catheter at its distal end. The

second tubes

202 and 203 have

connectors

205 and 206 at their ends for connection with syringes, respectively. Infusion circuit 200 may further include an in-vivo circuit portion, such as a catheter or indwelling needle, connected by a connector 207.

At least one of the

connectors

205 and 206 connected to the

second tubes

202 and 203 may include a one-way valve. On the other hand, the valve has a valve body that is actuated by the back pressure of the liquid and closes the flow path. It works to prevent back flow of liquid into the. On the other hand, at least one of the valves may have a release function that can arbitrarily hold the valve body in the open position of the flow path by a predetermined operation. By using a one-way valve with a release function, it is possible to prevent blood from flowing back to the syringe side normally. However, in order to check whether the tip of the catheter or the like is normally located in the blood vessel of the subject, the syringe piston It is possible to perform so-called route check or the like that confirms the presence or absence of blood inflow into the injection circuit 200.

The injection circuit 200 further includes a flow rate sensor 210. The flow sensor 210 has a conduit that forms part of a liquid flow path together with the first tube 201 and the

second tubes

202 and 203. The flow sensor 210 is electrically connected to the injection control unit 101 (see FIG. 1), and an electric signal corresponding to the movement of the liquid (chemical solution) in the conduit is output to the injection control unit 101 as a detection result. (Send. The flow sensor 210 can perform a detection operation at regular time intervals, and can transmit a detection result to the injection control unit 101 each time the detection is performed. The injection control unit 101 can obtain various items related to the chemical solution and the chemical solution injection device 100 using the transmitted detection result.

The electrical connection between the injection control unit and the flow sensor 210 may be a wired connection or a wireless connection. Further, power for driving the flow sensor 210 can be supplied from an external power supply unit. Alternatively, the flow sensor 210 can be configured as a unit with a built-in battery, and the flow sensor 210 can be driven by electric power driven from the battery.

The position of the flow sensor 210 in the injection circuit 200 may be an arbitrary position between the front end and the end of the injection circuit 200. However, since the injection circuit 200 is often composed of a flexible tube, if the flow sensor 210 is attached to a position where the tube is not sufficiently fixed, the tube shakes. There is a possibility that the unintended movement caused by the above causes movement of the chemical solution in the flow path of the flow sensor 210 and an accurate detection result cannot be obtained. In order to reduce this influence as much as possible, it is preferable to arrange the flow sensor 210 at a position where the unintended movement of the tube is difficult to occur, for example, a position close to the distal end side of the injection circuit 200, that is, a portion fixed to the subject. It is also preferable to arrange the flow sensor 210 at a position close to the detection target. In the form shown in FIG. 2, the flow sensor 210 is connected between the tip of the first tube 201 and the connector 207. Moreover, although not shown in FIG. 2, the flow sensor 210 may be arrange | positioned in the site | part exposed from the test subject of an extracorporeal circuit part, for example, the terminal part of an indwelling needle, or the terminal part of a catheter.

Any flow sensor can be used as the flow sensor 210. Among various flow sensors, a thermal flow sensor 210 having a structure as shown in FIG. 3 can be preferably used in the present invention.

3 has a pipe 211 and a semiconductor module 212 joined to the outer surface of the pipe 211. The flow sensor 210 shown in FIG. The pipe 211 is open at both ends so that the liquid can flow therethrough, and constitutes a part of the liquid flow path together with the tube of the injection circuit. The semiconductor module 212 is provided with a heater 213 at positions in contact with the outer surface of the pipe 211, and two temperature sensors 214 arranged symmetrically with respect to the heater 213 on both sides of the heater 213 in the longitudinal direction of the pipe 211. It has been. The temperature sensor 214 forms part of a bridge circuit, and can be configured as a thermopile, for example.

The semiconductor module 212 may include a processing circuit (not shown). The processing circuit drives the heater 213, processes the signal from the temperature sensor 214, compares the outputs from the two temperature sensors 214, and measures the temperature difference between these temperature sensors 214. Further, the semiconductor module 212 can have a plurality of electrode pads (not shown) in order to supply power for driving the heater 213 from the outside and to output the measurement result to the outside. The semiconductor module 212 may be sealed with at least a joint with the pipe 211 with a sealant (not shown).

According to the flow rate sensor 210 configured as described above, when the liquid does not move in the pipe 211, the temperature distribution of the liquid in the pipe 211 becomes a symmetric temperature distribution around the heater 213. However, when the liquid moves along the longitudinal direction of the pipe 211, a temperature difference corresponding to the mass flow rate of the moved liquid is generated between the two temperature sensors 214. Since the temperature difference measured by the temperature sensor 214 changes the balance of the bridge circuit, an electrical signal corresponding to the flow rate is obtained.

From a structural point of view, the flow sensor 210 having the configuration shown in FIG. 3 does not expose the members constituting the electric circuit, such as electrodes, on the inner surface of the pipe 211 in contact with the liquid. There is no electrical effect. In order to further suppress the electrical influence on the subject, the distance between the inner surface of the member pipe 211 constituting the electric circuit (for example, the pipe at the portion where the member constituting the electric circuit is arranged) The thickness of the tube wall 211 is preferably 0.4 mm or more. Further, the entire configuration shown in FIG. 3 except for both ends of the pipe 211 that is the inlet and outlet of the liquid may be packaged with resin or the like.

Here, the contrast agent, which is a chemical solution injected by the chemical injection device of this embodiment, is generally a high-viscosity liquid, and a high pressure is required to inject at a predetermined injection rate, and the injection rate itself Is also relatively slow. On the other hand, the flow sensor 210 of the type used in this embodiment has no structure inside the pipe 211 which is a conduit through which a fluid flows, and can detect even a slight liquid movement. can do. Therefore, it can be said that this type of flow sensor 210 is suitable for detecting the movement of liquid injected at a high pressure and a low speed, like the injection circuit 200 for contrast medium.

This type of flow sensor 210 can be obtained from, for example, Sensirion Co., Ltd.

As described above, by incorporating the flow sensor 210 into the injection circuit 200, various items that can be used when injecting a chemical into a subject using the chemical injection device 100 can be detected. Below, some application examples will be described.

(Application in angiography)
Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown an external perspective view of one form of a chemical liquid injector used in angiography. This chemical injection device 100 has a configuration suitable for injecting a chemical into a subject through a catheter. When configured as a medical image imaging system, the chemical injection device 100 is linked to the angio device that is the medical image imaging device 500 shown in FIG.

A chemical solution injection device 100 suitable for injecting a chemical solution for angiography has an injection head 110, a console 112, and a main unit 114. The injection head 110 and the console 112 are electrically connected via the main unit 114. In the illustrated form, the injection head 110 is supported by the upper part of the stand 116 so as to be able to turn, but may be supported by a turning arm fixed to the ceiling. The console can include the input unit 103 and the display unit 104 described above. In the illustrated form, the console 112 includes a touch panel, which corresponds to the input unit 103 and the display unit 104 described above. The main unit 114 can include a power supply (not shown) and can supply power to the injection head 110 and the console 112 from this power supply. The injection control unit 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 may be disposed in the main unit 114 or may be disposed in the console 112.

As shown in FIG. 5, the injection head 110 is configured so that two syringes 320 can be detachably attached (in FIG. 5, only one syringe 320 is shown for the sake of simplicity).

In the illustrated form, the syringe 320 is attached to the injection head 110 while being inserted into the protective cover 370, but the syringe 320 may be configured to be directly attached to the injection head 110. The syringe 320 is generally called a rodless syringe, and includes a cylinder 321 having a flange 321a formed at the end and a nozzle portion 321b formed at the tip, and a piston 322 inserted into the cylinder 321 so as to be capable of moving forward and backward. have.

When the piston 322 moves toward the tip of the cylinder 321, the filled chemical solution is pushed out from the syringe 320 through the nozzle portion 321b. For example, the injection circuit 200 shown in FIG. 2 can be connected to the tip of each syringe 320. FIG. 2 shows an extracorporeal circuit portion of the injection circuit 200. In angiography, an in-vivo circuit portion such as a catheter is connected via a connector 207 at the distal end of the first tube 201.

As the chemical solution to be filled in the syringe 320, for example, the syringe 320 connected to the one second tube 202 is filled with the contrast agent, and the syringe 320 connected to the other second tube 203 is filled. Can be saline. Alternatively, a syringe 320 filled with contrast agents having different concentrations may be connected to each of the

second tubes

202 and 203.

Contrast agents used for medical imaging are relatively high in viscosity, and in particular, contrast agents used for angiography are higher in viscosity than other types of contrast agents. Moreover, the catheter is generally very thin with an inner diameter of less than 1 mm. Therefore, when the contrast medium is filled in the syringe 320 as a chemical solution and the piston 322 is advanced to inject the contrast medium, a very high internal pressure is generated in the cylinder 321. This high internal pressure may cause the cylinder 321 to expand and cause various troubles in the injection of contrast medium.

The protective cover 370 suppresses expansion due to an increase in the internal pressure of the cylinder 321 at the time of injecting a chemical solution. When the cylinder 321 is inserted, the cylinder is sized so that there is almost no gap between the cylinder 321 and its outer peripheral surface. Shaped member. In order for the protective cover 370 to fulfill this role, the protective cover 370 is preferably formed with a thickness having mechanical strength that can sufficiently withstand the internal pressure acting on the cylinder 321 during the injection of the chemical liquid.

An opening through which the nozzle part 321b of the syringe 320 passes is formed at the tip of the protective cover 370, and the syringe 320 is held in a state in which the nozzle part 321b protrudes from the opening. At the end of the protective cover 370, a cover flange 371 is formed in which a ring-shaped recess for receiving the flange 321a of the cylinder 321 is formed on the end surface.

The injection head 110 is provided with two

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b (see FIG. 1) that are driven independently of each other in order to advance and retract the pistons 322 of the two syringes 320 attached thereto. It is arranged corresponding to the position. Each of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b includes a presser 131 that holds a convex portion formed at the end of the piston 322, a drive source such as a motor that moves the presser 131 forward and backward, and a power transmission mechanism that connects them. Have

The syringe 320 attached to the injection head 110 can inject the drug solution filled in the syringe 320 into the subject separately or simultaneously by the piston 322 being advanced by the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b. . As the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b, known mechanisms generally used in this type of injection apparatus can be employed.

At the distal end of the injection head 110, there are provided a syringe receiver 120 and a clamper 140 that constitute a syringe mounting portion on which a syringe 320 with a protective cover 370 is mounted. The syringe receiver 120 is located on the tip side of the clamper 140 and has two concave portions 121 so as to receive the outer peripheral surface of the protective cover 370 individually. The clamper 140 is supported so as to be openable and closable with respect to the syringe receiver 120, and is configured to individually hold the cover flange 271 of each protective cover 270. Each syringe 320 is positioned in the recess 121 with the nozzle portion 321b facing the distal end side, and is fixed to the injection head 110 by closing the clamper 140. Note that the protective cover 370 is not an essential component, and the syringe 320 may be directly attached to the injection head 110.

The injection head 110 can have an exterior cover 125 that covers the entire mechanism except for the portion having the syringe receiver 120 and the clamper 140. In this case, the exterior cover 125 can have a mark 125 a for distinguishing the corresponding presser 131 at a position corresponding to each presser 131. The sign 125a may be any character or symbol, and in this embodiment, the characters “A” and “B” are used. This marker can also be used to distinguish the syringe 320 (chemical solution) on the injection condition setting screen 400 (see FIG. 5) described later. In the following description, the chemical solutions filled in the syringes 320 attached to the syringe receiver 120 corresponding to the label 125a may be referred to as “medical solution A” and “chemical solution B”.

Referring to FIG. 4 again, the chemical injection device 100 may further include a hand switch 118 and / or a foot switch 119 as an option. The hand switch 118 has an operation button, and is used to control the start and stop of the injection operation so that the injection operation of the chemical solution by the injection head 110 is performed only while the operation button is pressed. it can. The foot switch 119 is used to control the start and stop of the injection operation so that the injection operation of the chemical solution by the injection head 110 is performed only while the foot switch 119 is stepped on, for example, when performing test injection. Can do.

“Test injection” is performed as necessary prior to imaging for acquiring a medical image, for example, to grasp individual differences in contrast effects and / or to confirm the tip position of an injection circuit. It is the injection of chemicals. The injection of a medical solution for acquiring a medical image may be referred to as “main injection” for the purpose of distinction from the test injection. In the test injection, a smaller amount of chemical solution is usually injected than in the main injection. In addition, the injection rate of the chemical solution in the test injection is usually set in advance or set to be the same as the injection rate of the chemical solution in the main injection. This test injection can also be performed by operating the hand switch 118. In this case, if the hand switch 118 is operated at the stage where the setting of the injection protocol for the chemical solution is completed and the preparation for injection is completed (standby state), the main injection is executed, but the hand switch 118 is operated at the previous stage. If so, a test injection can be performed.

Next, an example of a procedure for injecting a chemical solution using the above-described medical imaging system will be described.

First, the power of the chemical injection device 100 is turned on by the operator. Thereafter, the syringe assembly 300 filled with the chemical to be injected into the subject is attached to the injection head 110. Alternatively, after an empty syringe assembly 300 that is not filled with a chemical solution is attached to the injection head 110, a chemical solution container (not shown) is connected to the nozzle portion 221b via an appropriate tube, and in this state, a piston drive mechanism is used. The syringe assembly 300 filled with the chemical solution may be attached to the injection head 110 by retracting the piston 322 and filling the syringe assembly 300 with the chemical solution. As for the syringe 320 constituting a part of the syringe assembly 300, in this specification, the one filled with the chemical solution by the manufacturer like the former is called a prefilled type, and the chemical solution is filled in the medical field like the latter. This is also called a post-filling type.

The mounting of the syringe assembly 300 to the injection head 110 can be performed, for example, by the following procedure. First, with the clamper 140 in the open position, the operator places the syringe assembly 300 on the recess 121 of the syringe receiver 120. At this time, the convex portion of the piston 322 at the rear end position is held by the presser 131. When the syringe assembly 300 is placed on the recess 121, the operator closes the clamper 140, whereby the syringe assembly 300 is held by the injection head 110.

The injection head 110 preferably has a lock mechanism (not shown) that locks the clamper 140 so that it can be opened in the closed position. The lock mechanism may be any mechanism as long as it can lock and release the clamper 140 in the closed position. By having the locking mechanism, it is possible to prevent the syringe assembly 300 attached to the injection head 110 from being detached from the injection head 110.

Here, the injection head 110 preferably includes at least one detector that detects that the syringe assembly 300 is attached to the injection head 110. When the syringe assembly 300 is mounted on the injection head 110, for example, a first detector that detects that the syringe assembly 300 is placed on the syringe receiving recess 121 and that the clamper 140 is in the closed position are detected. Can be detected by a second detector. As the first detector, for example, a detector that is arranged in the syringe receiving recess 121 and can detect the syringe assembly 300 in the syringe receiving recess 121 can be used. As the second detector, for example, a detector that is built in the injection head 110 and can detect the tip of the clamper 140 when the clamper 140 is in the closed position can be used.

Any of these detectors can detect an object to be detected when the distance between the object to be detected such as the syringe assembly 300 or the clamper 140 and the detector becomes a predetermined distance or less (including contact). Specifically, an optical sensor that optically detects the presence or absence of an object in a detection region, a proximity sensor that detects the presence or absence and position of an object using magnetism as a detection medium, and a contact with an object to be detected A mechanical switch that is switched on / off by non-contact can be used. As the mechanical switch, any switch including, for example, a tact switch and a limit switch can be used as long as it is switched on / off by contact / non-contact of the object to be detected. Note that the injection head 110 does not need to include both the first detector and the second detector in order to detect that the syringe assembly 300 is attached to the injection head 110, but only one of them. It may be.

As described above, by enabling detection that the syringe assembly 300 is mounted on the injection head 110, for example, the injection control unit 101 displays information indicating that the mounting of the syringe assembly 300 is completed on the display unit 104. It is possible to display it and visually notify the operator, or to move the operation of the chemical injection device 100 to the next step.

At this time, the information displayed on the display unit 104 may be a message by text or information represented by a symbol. Further, a light emitting lamp (not shown) is provided separately from the display unit 104, and the injection control unit 101 turns on the light emitting lamp to visually notify the operator that the mounting of the syringe assembly 300 is completed. it can. In this case, the light emitting lamp can be provided in the injection head 110. The position of the light-emitting lamp provided in the injection head 110 may be arbitrary, but is preferably in the vicinity of the part that is last operated by the operator when the syringe assembly 300 is mounted, for example, in the vicinity of the clamper 140. In particular, as shown in FIG. 5, the injection head 110 is provided with a mark 125a (specifically, letters “A” and “B”) for identifying the two

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b. It is preferable to arrange two light-emitting lamps so that these label portions each emit light as a light-emitting portion. The color visually recognized by the lighting of the light-emitting lamp may be arbitrary, and may be a different color for each corresponding chemical solution, for example, blue and green. The injection head 110 can also include a light emitting unit 126 that emits light by turning on another light emitting lamp that emits light in the standby state described above. In the form shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of light emitting units 126 are arranged at positions distant from each other. By doing so, it is possible to visually recognize that they are in the standby state from any direction.

When the mounting of the syringe assembly 300 to the injection head 110 is completed as described above, the injection control unit 101 executes an operation for injecting the chemical solution. This operation can include, for example, the following series of steps.
(1) Reception of data input and setting of injection conditions (2) Preparation for injection (3) Execution of injection operation according to the set injection conditions (4) End operation of injection operation Hereinafter, these processes will be described in order. .

(1) Accepting data input and setting injection conditions In this step, the injection control unit 101 causes the display unit 104 to display a screen for setting injection conditions, and inputs to the input unit 103 for setting injection conditions. Make the operation possible.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the injection condition setting screen 400. The injection condition setting screen 400 shown in FIG. 6 includes an injection mode icon 401, a quick memory icon 402, a confirmation icon 403, a speed setting icon 404, an injection amount setting icon 405, an injection time setting icon 406, a dilution degree setting icon 407, and a syringe. An information icon 408, a purge icon 409, and the like are included.

The syringe information icon 408 graphically displays information about the syringe 320 attached to the injection head 110 (see FIG. 4). The information displayed on the syringe icon 408 can include the amount of the chemical solution filled in the attached syringe 320. In addition, during the chemical liquid injection operation, the operator can visually recognize the chemical liquid injection operation by displaying an arbitrary animation.

The injection mode icon 401 is an icon that indicates in which injection mode the injection operation is to be executed among a plurality of injection modes preset in the injection control unit 101. As the injection mode, for example, “normal injection mode” in which injection is performed only with the chemical liquid A, “flash mode” in which the chemical liquid B is injected after the injection of the chemical liquid A is completed, and “dilution” in which the chemical liquid A and the chemical liquid B are injected simultaneously “Mode”, “multi-mode” in which only the chemical solution A is injected in a plurality of phases, and the like. FIG. 6 shows a state where the “dilution mode” is selected. When the operator taps the injection mode icon 401, the injection control unit 101 switches the display of the injection mode icon 401, thereby switching the injection mode.

The quick memory icon 402 is operated when an injection condition registered in the memory of the injection control unit 101 is called. The confirmation icon 403 is operated when the operator approves the injection condition displayed on the injection condition setting screen 400. When the confirmation icon 403 is tapped, the injection control unit 101 moves the chemical injection device 100. It is possible to shift to the next step of the chemical solution injection procedure by setting the standby state.

The speed setting icon 404, the injection amount setting icon 405, and the injection time setting icon 406 are used for setting the injection speed, the injection amount, and the injection time of the chemical solution, respectively. For example, when setting the injection speed, when the operator taps the speed setting icon 404, the injection control unit 101 displays a ten-key icon (not shown) for inputting the injection speed on the injection condition setting screen 400 in an overlapping manner. Let The operator can set the injection rate by inputting and confirming a numerical value through the numeric keypad screen. The injection amount and the injection time can also be set in the same manner as the setting of the injection rate. In the “dilution injection mode”, what is set by the speed setting icon 404 and the injection amount setting icon 405 is the total injection speed and injection amount of the chemical liquid A and the chemical liquid B.

The dilution degree setting icon 407 is an icon operated when setting the ratio of the target chemical solution to the reference chemical solution injected in the dilution injection mode. There are several ways of expressing the degree of dilution. In this embodiment, the amount of the chemical solution A with respect to the total amount of the chemical solution A and the chemical solution B, that is, the chemical solution A is based on the idea that the chemical solution A is diluted with the chemical solution B. It is represented by a dilution ratio calculated by / (chemical solution A + chemical solution B). This is because, for example, when the drug solution A is a contrast medium and the drug solution B is a physiological saline solution, when the contrast agent is diluted with a physiological saline solution, how much the contrast agent is contained in the total amount. Means. The dilution ratio may be set to 50% as a default value, for example.

The dilution ratio can be set as follows, for example.

When the operator taps the dilution degree setting icon 407, the injection control unit 101 pops up a dilution ratio input screen 430 as shown in FIG. 7 on the injection condition setting screen 400 or an injection condition setting screen. The display is switched from 400 to the dilution ratio input screen 430. The dilution ratio input screen 430 can include a numeric keypad icon 431 and a ratio setting bar 432. With the numeric keypad icon 431, the ratio of the amount of the chemical solution A to the total amount of the chemical solution A and the chemical solution B can be set numerically. When the operator operates the numeric keypad 431 to input a numerical value, the injection control unit 101 determines the input numerical value as a dilution ratio.

On the other hand, the ratio setting bar 432 may have a ratio display part 432a and a slider icon 432b. The ratio display unit 432a indicates the ratio between the chemical solution A and the chemical solution B as a band graph, and the slider icon 432b is displayed at a display position so that the slider icon 432b can be moved along the ratio display unit 432a while being touched by the operator. Is controlled. When the position of the slider icon 432b is moved by the operator, the injection control unit 101 sets the dilution ratio to a ratio corresponding to the position of the slider icon 432b. In order to make it easy to visually recognize the dilution ratio, the ratio display unit 432a may display the drug solution A side and the drug solution B side in different colors with respect to the position of the slider icon 432b.

The dilution ratio can be set from either the numeric keypad icon 431 or the ratio bar 432. The dilution ratio input screen 430 may have only one of the numeric keypad icon 431 and the ratio bar 432. Furthermore, the input of the dilution ratio is not limited to the above method, and any method can be used. When the dilution ratio is set, the injection control unit 101 deletes the pop-up display of the dilution ratio input screen 430 from the injection condition setting screen 400 or the injection condition setting screen according to the display form of the dilution ratio input screen 430. The display is switched to 400, and the set dilution ratio is displayed on the dilution ratio icon 407 of the injection condition setting screen 400.

The operator performs a data input operation as necessary according to the display of the injection condition setting screen 400. When the input of all data for setting injection conditions is completed and the operator taps the confirmation icon 403, the display is switched to “start OK”, and the chemical injection device 100 is in a standby state in which chemical injection is possible. Become.

(2) Injection Preparation The injection preparation can include “purge operation” and “in-place placement of injection circuit”.

(2a) Purge operation The purge operation is performed after the extracorporeal circuit portion of the injection circuit 200 is connected to the syringe assembly 300 and before the injection operation of the chemical solution is started. The fluid containing the air and the chemical liquid in the extracorporeal circuit unit is discharged from the injection circuit by the chemical liquid inside. In order to discharge the fluid in the extracorporeal circuit unit from the injection circuit, the purge operation is performed in a state where the distal end of the extracorporeal circuit unit is not connected to the end of the intracorporeal circuit unit or between the extracorporeal circuit unit and the intracorporeal circuit unit. And the three-way cock is switched so that the chemical solution is discharged from the side pipe connected to the remaining port of the three-way cock. The purge operation is basically performed when the extracorporeal circuit unit is not filled with the chemical solution, so as to fill the extracorporeal circuit unit with the chemical solution, and needs to be performed when the extracorporeal circuit unit is filled with the chemical solution. There is no. However, if the dilution ratio is changed, such as when the second injection is performed at a different dilution ratio from the first injection following the first injection, even if the extracorporeal circuit unit is filled with the chemical solution, the purge is performed. It is preferable to perform the operation.

The trigger for executing the purge operation is given by the operator. For this purpose, for example, the injection head 110 can have a purge button 123 (see FIG. 5). Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, a purge icon 409 can be displayed on the injection condition setting screen 400. Furthermore, both the purge button 123 and the purge icon 409 can be provided.

When the operator depresses the purge button 123 or taps the purge icon 409, the injection control unit 101 executes the purge operation. When the two syringes 320 are attached to the injection head 110, the purge operation can be performed by discharging a chemical solution from each syringe 320 at an equal discharge amount and discharge speed. In this case, the dilution ratio is 50%. Alternatively, the injection control unit 101 sets a discharge ratio that is a ratio of the discharge amount of the chemical liquid A to the total discharge amount of the chemical liquid A and the discharge amount of the chemical liquid B, and discharges the chemical liquid according to the set discharge ratio. The operations of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b may be controlled.

In this case, the discharge ratio in the purge operation preferably follows a dilution ratio that is one of the injection conditions of the chemical solution. As described above, when an input of the dilution ratio is accepted by the injection control unit 101 via the injection condition setting screen 400, the discharge ratio is set to a value equal to the input dilution ratio. Thereby, the chemical solution A and the chemical solution B are discharged from each syringe 320 in the amount of the chemical solution A and the amount of the chemical solution B according to the dilution ratio, respectively. When the injection circuit 200 shown in FIG. 2 is used, the chemical solution A and the chemical solution B discharged from each syringe 320 pass through the

second tubes

202 and 203, respectively, and merge in the first tube 201. A mixed solution with the chemical B is used. The concentration of the chemical solution A in this mixed solution is equal to the concentration of the chemical solution A diluted at the set dilution ratio.

As a control method of the operation of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b for discharging the chemical liquid at the set discharge ratio, the discharge speed, that is, the control based on the moving speed of the presser 131 of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b, and the discharge amount, That is, control based on the movement amount of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b can be given.

The purge amount, which is the total amount of the chemical solution discharged in the purge operation, may be an amount that can fill the extracorporeal circuit portion with a desired chemical solution, and the amount is an injection set as one of the injection conditions of the chemical solution The amount is small compared to the amount. Therefore, the purge amount is preferably set in the injection control unit 101 separately from the injection amount at the time of injection of the chemical solution. A preferable value of the purge amount depends on the volume of the extracorporeal circuit unit to be used, but can generally be 5 to 10 mL.

When the purge amount is determined in advance, the discharge rate of the chemical solution in the purge operation is arbitrary as long as the final discharge amount becomes a desired amount, and is the same as the injection rate set as the chemical solution injection condition. It may be different or different. Further, the discharge speed may be constant during at least a part of time from the start to the end of the purge operation or may be changed with time.

For example, the injection control unit 101 discharges both chemical solutions at the same discharge speed at the start of the purge operation, and then sets the discharge rate of at least one of the chemical solutions as time passes until the purge operation ends. It is possible to set the discharge condition of the chemical solution in the purge operation so that the final dilution degree becomes the target dilution degree.

When the extracorporeal circuit unit is not filled with the chemical solution, the purge operation is performed in a state where the extracorporeal circuit unit is not connected to the extracorporeal circuit unit, and the extracorporeal circuit unit is operated by the operator after the purge operation is completed. Connected to the circuit section.

(2b) Fixed-position arrangement of injection circuit The fixed-position arrangement of the injection circuit is a treatment for sending the injection circuit, in particular, the in-vivo circuit portion (catheter) so that the tip thereof is located at a desired site in the blood vessel. Although the injection circuit can be placed at a fixed position independently of the purge operation, in this embodiment, the purge operation is completed and the internal circuit portion and the external circuit portion are connected.

After the blood vessel of the subject and the syringe are connected by the injection circuit, the flow sensor 210 is driven, and the detection operation by the flow sensor 210 is continuously performed regardless of whether or not the chemical solution is injected. The flow sensor 210 transmits a detection signal corresponding to the movement (movement amount and movement direction) of the liquid in the conduit (in this embodiment, the pipe 211 shown in FIG. 3) to the injection control unit 101 of the chemical injection device 100.

In the state where the infusion circuit including the in-vivo circuit portion is connected to the blood vessel of the subject, even in the case where no medicinal solution is infused, the infusion circuit is slightly caused by blood pulsation in the blood vessel. The chemical solution moves. Generally, when a liquid moves in a straight pipe, the pressure of the moving liquid is proportional to the flow rate or the square of the flow rate, so that there is a correlation between the flow rate and the pressure (proportional to the flow rate or 2 of the flow rate). Whether it is proportional to the power depends on the viscosity of the liquid). Therefore, the pressure of the liquid can also be obtained from the detection result by the flow sensor 210. Since this pressure corresponds to the blood pressure of the subject in a state where no medicinal solution is injected, the blood pressure of the subject can be obtained by the flow sensor 210.

In order to obtain the blood pressure of the subject, the injection control unit 101 can have a pressure calculation function for calculating the pressure using the detection result transmitted from the flow sensor 210. In order to calculate the pressure from the flow rate, parameters such as the cross-sectional area of the pipe line of the flow sensor 210, the length of the pipe line, and the density of the liquid filling the pipe line are required. These parameters may be preset in the injection control unit 101, may be input by an operator via the input unit 103, and may be transmitted to the injection control unit 101. In the case of having the configuration shown in FIG. 3, the semiconductor module 212 includes a memory that stores at least one of these parameters as data, and the data in this memory may be transmitted to the injection control unit 101 together with the detection result. Or two or more of these may be combined.

As described above, since the injection control unit 101 has the pressure calculation function, the tip of the catheter can be placed at a desired position while monitoring the blood pressure of the subject. As a result, the pressure transducer used to measure the subject's blood pressure with a conventional injection circuit is not required. Eliminating the need for a pressure transducer simplifies the configuration of the injection circuit, and also eliminates the need for operations such as channel switching that are necessary when measuring blood pressure using a pressure transducer. Etc. does not occur.

(3) Execution of injection operation in accordance with set injection conditions As described above, after the display is switched to “start OK” by tapping the confirmation icon 403, the hand switch 118 is operated, whereby the injection control unit is operated. 101 operates the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b, and the injection operation of the chemical solution is started. The hand switch 118 may be a momentary operation type switch. In this case, the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b operate only while the button of the hand switch 118 is pressed. The injection operation of the chemical solution can also be started by a command from the medical image capturing apparatus 500 that is linked.

The injection operation of the chemical liquid is performed by the injection control unit 101 so that the chemical liquid is injected under the set injection conditions (including at least one of the injection speed, the injection amount, the injection time, and the injection pressure). This is done by controlling the operation. When the injection mode is the dilution injection mode, both

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b are operated simultaneously so that the chemical liquid A and the chemical liquid B are injected at the set dilution ratio. Here, a purge operation is performed prior to the injection operation, and at the distal end side from the junction portion of the extracorporeal circuit portion (for example, the T-shaped connector 204 of the injection circuit 200 shown in FIG. 2), the desired dilution ratio has already been obtained. Since the drug solution is filled in a diluted state, immediately after the injection operation is started, the drug solution diluted at a desired dilution ratio is injected. This minimizes the time lag until injection of waste chemicals and the dilution ratio of the injected chemicals reaches the desired ratio. As a result, a good image can be obtained in a smaller amount of chemicals and in a shorter time. Can be obtained.

Actually, when the injection operation is started, the chemical solution remaining in the in-vivo circuit portion is injected, and then the in-vivo circuit portion is injected. Therefore, if the extracorporeal circuit part used is new and filled with physiological saline, or if the dilution ratio at the previous injection is different from the current dilution ratio, the desired dilution ratio and Different chemicals may be injected first. However, a catheter used for injecting a contrast medium as an in-vivo circuit portion usually has an inner diameter of 2 mm or less and an effective length of about 1 m. Therefore, the volume of the catheter is extremely small compared to the amount of the chemical solution injected in one examination.

On the other hand, the medical image capturing apparatus 500 starts an imaging operation in response to the chemical liquid injection operation by the chemical liquid injection apparatus 100. The imaging operation by the medical imaging apparatus 500 may be executed with an operation by the operator as a trigger, or may be automatically executed in conjunction with the injection operation by the chemical injection apparatus 100. When the injection operation and the imaging operation are linked, for example, after the injection operation is started, the imaging operation is started after a predetermined time required for the injected drug solution to reach the target site. Simultaneously with the start, the injection control unit 101 of the chemical solution injection device 100 transmits an injection start signal to the imaging control unit 510 of the medical imaging device 500, and the imaging control unit 510 that has received the injection start signal receives the imaging operation unit after the predetermined time has elapsed. The injection control unit 101 transmits an injection start signal to the imaging control unit 510 after the predetermined time has elapsed since the injection operation is started by controlling the 520, and the imaging control unit 510 transmits the injection start signal. Immediately after receiving, the imaging operation unit 520 can be controlled to start the imaging operation.

The imaging control unit 510 can reconstruct the data obtained by the imaging operation of the imaging operation unit 520 to acquire a medical image, and display the acquired medical image on the display unit 504 in real time. In addition, if the injection condition data such as the injection speed, the injection amount, the injection time, and the injection pressure of the chemical solution is transmitted from the injection control unit 101 to the image pickup control unit 510, the image pickup control unit 510 displays the data in the display unit 504. Some or all of the injection conditions can be displayed in real time together with or separately from medical images and imaging conditions.

By displaying part or all of the injection conditions in real time, for example, when the imaging and the injection of the drug solution are repeated multiple times while changing the site in the examination and treatment of the liver, the cumulative up to the imaging stage The injection amount and the X-ray irradiation amount can be displayed. As a result, it is judged on the spot whether the cumulative X-ray irradiation dose does not exceed the reference value, and whether the injection amount of the contrast medium does not exceed the reference value for subjects with poor liver function, When the X-ray irradiation amount and / or the injection amount is likely to exceed the reference value, the X-ray irradiation amount and the contrast agent injection amount can be adjusted as necessary.

In this embodiment, since the injection circuit 200 has the flow sensor 210, the flow rate sensor 210 can detect the injection amount of the chemical liquid during the chemical liquid injection operation. The injection amount data measured by the flow sensor 210 is transmitted to the injection control unit 101. The injection control unit 101 uses the data transmitted from the flow sensor 210 to display the injection amount of the chemical solution on the display unit 104 in real time, or to drive the piston drive mechanism 130a so that the chemical solution is injected with the set injection amount. The operation of 130b can be controlled. Conventionally, the amount of chemicals injected has been indirectly determined from the amount of movement of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a, 130b or the amount of rotation of the motor that drives the

piston drive mechanisms

130a, 130b. However, by allowing direct measurement by the flow sensor 210 as in the present embodiment, the injection amount of the chemical solution can be obtained more accurately.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the injection control unit 101 has a pressure calculation function. By using this function, the injection pressure can also be calculated. Using the calculated injection pressure, the injection control unit 101 can control the operations of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b so that the obtained injection pressure does not exceed the set injection pressure. Conventionally, a load sensor is built in the presser 131 of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b, and the injection pressure is obtained by the load sensor, or the injection pressure is obtained from the motor current flowing in the motor driving the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b. It was. By obtaining the injection pressure from the detection result of the flow sensor 210 as in the present embodiment, the load sensor is not required, so that the configuration of the chemical injection system can be simplified, or the injection pressure can be determined from the state of the chemical flow. Therefore, the effect that the injection pressure can be obtained more accurately than the case where the injection pressure is obtained from the motor current is achieved.

(4) Injection Operation End Process After the injection operation is completed, the injection control unit 101 can display the injection result on the display unit 104 as one of the injection operation end processes. Examples of displayed results include injection end date and time, injection mode, set imaging location, injection speed, injection volume, dilution ratio (in dilution injection mode), time required for injection, maximum pressure during injection, etc. And at least one of these items may be displayed. Moreover, the injection control unit 101 records these injection results in an appropriate memory device inside or outside the chemical solution injection device 100 or transmits them to the medical image imaging device 500 as one of the injection operation end processes. be able to.

When the injection operation end process is completed, the injection control unit 101 can display the injection condition setting screen 400 on the display unit 104 again by a predetermined operation by the operator. When the injection of the chemical solution is repeated again under different conditions or the same conditions for the next examination or treatment, the injection conditions are set on the injection condition setting screen 400, and the chemical solution may be injected under the set injection conditions. it can. In particular, when the injection mode is the dilution injection mode and the dilution ratio is changed from the previous time, the purge operation is performed. Thereby, even in the next injection, a good image can be obtained in a smaller amount of chemical solution and in a shorter time.

By the way, since contrast medium is injected using an elongate catheter in angiography, the contrast medium is injected at a higher injection pressure than injection of contrast medium in CT imaging using an indwelling needle. In some cases, the internal pressure of the syringe becomes very high during the injection operation, and the contrast agent is injected in a state where the syringe (cylinder) is expanded by the pressure. Therefore, when the injection operation is finished and the operation of the piston drive mechanism is stopped, the expanded syringe tries to return to the original state. At this time, since the piston is held by the piston drive mechanism, the expanded volume of the contrast medium flows out from the tip of the injection circuit.

Therefore, in order to suppress the consumption of extra contrast agent after the completion of the injection operation, the injection control unit 101 causes the flow rate sensor 210 in the injection circuit 200 after the injection operation is completed (after the operation of the piston drive mechanism is stopped). When the movement of the chemical solution is detected, it is preferable to control the operation of the piston drive mechanism so that the piston drive mechanism moves in the backward direction that is the direction in which the liquid in the injection circuit 200 is sucked into the syringe. The retraction amount of the piston drive mechanism may be a predetermined amount or an amount corresponding to the movement amount of the chemical liquid detected by the flow sensor 210. Alternatively, the piston drive mechanism can be moved backward until the amount of movement of the chemical by the flow sensor 210 is not detected without particularly defining the amount of backward movement of the piston.

(Application in CT imaging)
Referring to FIG. 8, the appearance of a medical imaging system according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown. A block diagram showing the functional configuration is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, a CT apparatus is used as the medical image imaging apparatus 500, and an injection apparatus suitable for injecting a chemical liquid used when a CT image is taken by the CT apparatus is used as the chemical liquid injection apparatus 100. Also in this embodiment, the medical image imaging system includes the chemical liquid injection device 100, the medical image imaging device 500, and the injection circuit 200. The chemical liquid injection device 100 includes the RFID module 166, and the syringe 350 includes the syringe 350. Except for the point that the RFID tag 352 is included, the functional configuration can be the same as that described above.

The chemical injection device 100 has an injection head 110 supported by a stand 116 with casters, and a console 112 having various functions for controlling the operation of the chemical injection device 100. The same applies to the above-described angiographic medical imaging system, but the injection head 110 is usually disposed in the examination room together with the imaging operation unit of the medical imaging apparatus 500, and the console 112 is a medical imaging apparatus. It is arranged in the operation room together with 500 imaging control units.

The injection head 110 can detachably mount two syringes 350 as shown in FIGS. For example, one of the syringes 350 can be a contrast medium syringe, and the other can be a physiological saline syringe. The syringe 350 has a cylinder and a piston. The injection head 110 includes a cylinder holding portion 151 that holds the cylinder of the syringe 350, and a piston drive mechanism 130a for operating the piston of the syringe 350 that holds the cylinder in the cylinder holding portion 151 (moving forward and backward with respect to the cylinder). , 130b.

The

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b are moved forward and backward by a motion conversion mechanism such as a lead screw mechanism or a rack and pinion mechanism that converts the rotational motion of the motor that is the drive source into a straight motion, and the tip of the rod 153. And a fixed presser 152.

The injection head 110 is entirely covered with a synthetic resin casing 155 except for part of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b (for example, the presser 152). On the upper surface of the housing 155, a button group 156 including a plurality of operation buttons corresponding to various operations is provided so that the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b can be operated by a user operation.

The operation buttons include, for example, a check button for making the chemical injection device ready for injection, a start button operated when starting injection, a forward button for moving the presser 152 forward by an arbitrary distance, and a presser. A backward button for moving the presser 152 by an arbitrary distance, an acceleration button for accelerating the speed of the presser 152 while the presser 152 is moving, an auto return button for moving the presser 152 back to the initializing position, and the like can be included. In this embodiment, each of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b has two forward buttons, two backward buttons, two acceleration buttons, and two auto return buttons so that each

piston driving mechanism

130a and 130b can be operated independently.

The cylinder holding part 151 is configured such that the syringe 350 is attached via the adapter 600. The syringe 350 has various sizes depending on the volume of the chemical solution that can be filled. The adapter 600 is prepared for each size of the syringe 350. As shown in FIG. 11, the adapter 600 has a structure capable of receiving a cylinder flange 351 formed at the end of the cylinder of the compatible syringe 350, and an injection head. 110 is detachably attached to the cylinder holder 151.

The syringe 350 can be attached to the injection head 110 by, for example, attaching the adapter 600 to the cylinder holding portion 151 of the injection head 110 and then inserting the cylinder flange 351 of the syringe 350 into the adapter 600. The adapter 600 has a groove for receiving the cylinder flange 351, and the syringe 350 is held by the adapter 600 by inserting the cylinder flange 351 into the groove. Further, after the cylinder flange 351 is inserted into the groove of the adapter 600, there is a lock mechanism for locking the cylinder by rotating the syringe 350 by a predetermined angle (for example, 90 degrees) around its axis as shown in FIG. It may be. By using the adapter 600 as described above, syringes 350 of various sizes can be attached to the injection head 110.

In this embodiment, the injection head 110 shows an example having two

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b so that two syringes 350 can be attached, but is configured so that only one syringe 350 can be attached. Alternatively, three or more syringes 350 may be attached. The number of cylinder holders 151 and

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b is changed according to the number of syringes 350 that can be mounted.

The syringe 350 may be a prefilled type syringe provided from a pharmaceutical manufacturer in a state of being filled with a chemical solution, or an on-site filling type syringe filled with a chemical solution at a medical site.

The syringe 350 may further include an RFID tag 352 that is a data carrier. The mounting position of the RFID tag 352 may be arbitrary, and may be, for example, the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder. In order to read data from the RFID tag 352 and / or record data in the RFID tag 352, the injection head 110 may have an RFID module 166. The RFID module 166 has an RFID control circuit 164 and an antenna 165, reads data recorded in the RFID tag 352 by the antenna 165, transmits the read data to the injection control unit 101, and / or the injection control unit. The data transmitted from the terminal 101 can be recorded on the RFID tag 352. The RFID control circuit 164 controls data transmission / reception operations in the RFID module 166. That is, the RFID module 166 functions as a reader that reads data from the RFID tag 352 or a reader / writer that records data in the RFID tag 352.

The data recorded in the RFID tag 352 includes various data relating to the chemical liquid filled in the syringe 350, such as the manufacturer, the type of chemical liquid, the product number, and the contained components (particularly, the iodine-containing concentration when the chemical liquid is a contrast agent). Etc.), filling amount, lot number, expiry date, etc., as well as various data related to the syringe, for example, a unique identification number such as manufacturer, product number, allowable pressure value, syringe volume, piston stroke, dimensions of each required part, lot Numbers can be included. At least a part of these data can be transmitted to the medical image capturing apparatus 500.

The RFID control circuit 164 can be installed at an arbitrary position, but the antenna 165 is preferably installed at a position facing the RFID tag 352 in a state where the syringe 350 is normally held by the cylinder holding unit 151. .

In particular, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the RFID tag 352 has a shape having a longitudinal direction, and is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder so that the longitudinal direction coincides with the circumferential direction of the syringe 350. After the syringe 350 is received by the cylinder holding part 151, the syringe 350 is normally held by rotating the syringe 350 in a specific direction, and the RFID tag 352 is designed to face downward in the held state. Has been.

The antenna 165 of the RFID module 166 has an FPC (flexible printed circuit board) on which a predetermined pattern (for example, one or a plurality of loop patterns) made of a conductor is formed, and as shown in FIG. In a position facing the RFID tag 352 of the syringe 350 that is normally held in the part, the syringe 350 is arranged so as to be concentric with the syringe 350 and bent in an arc shape. Thereby, the detection range of the RFID tag 352 attached on the curved surface is expanded.

Further, in this embodiment, the antenna 165 has a larger area than the RFID tag 352 so that the RFID tag 352 can reliably face the antenna 165 even if the application position of the RFID tag 352 varies. ing. Therefore, the size of the antenna 165 is preferably designed in consideration of variations in the position where the RFID tag 352 is attached to the syringe 350.

On the other hand, by bending the antenna 165 in a circular arc shape, as the radius of curvature of the antenna 165 becomes smaller and the length in the circumferential direction of the antenna 165 becomes longer, radio waves for communication are more likely to interfere and communication sensitivity is lowered. Tend to. Therefore, in order to suppress radio wave interference, the antenna 165 preferably includes a ferrite sheet 165a on the surface opposite to the surface facing the RFID tag 352 of the FPC.

The output of the RFID module 166 can be set to 200 mW, for example. Thereby, the detection range (detection distance) of the RFID tag 352 can be further widened, and the RFID module 166 reads information from the RFID tag 352 through the chemical solution filled in the syringe 350, or stores the information in the RFID tag 352. It is also possible to write information. For example, even if the syringe 350 is rotated 180 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 13 and is opposed to the antenna 165 via the chemical solution filled in the syringe 350, the RFID module 166 is connected to the RFID tag 802. This means that information can be read out between.

RFID module 166 can be placed at any position. In the case of the arrangement shown in FIG. 13, the RFID module 166 can be configured such that at least the antenna 165 is built in the injection head 110. The RFID module 166 may be a handy type. In this case, at least the antenna 165 is disposed in a handy unit separate from the injection head 110. When the RFID module 166 is configured as a handy unit, information from the RFID tag 352 can be obtained by bringing the handy unit closer to the RFID tag 352 attached to the syringe before or after the syringe is attached to the injection head 110. Can be read out. Transmission / reception of information between the RFID module 166 and the injection control unit 101 may be performed by wired communication or wireless communication.

Next, an example of the chemical solution injection operation by the chemical solution injection device 100 described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

When the syringe 350 filled with the chemical solution is attached to the injection head 110 in a predetermined procedure with the power of the chemical solution injection device 100 turned on, various data are read from the RFID tag 352 by the RFID module 166.

Based on the data read from the RFID tag 352, the injection control unit 101 causes the display unit 104 to display the type of the chemical solution filled in the syringe 350 on the display unit 104 as necessary, or the presser 152 to the standby position. Move it. The standby position is an arbitrary position between the position where the presser 152 abuts the end of the piston of the syringe 350 and the end position. In the movement to the standby position, the injection control unit 101 obtains the end position of the piston based on the data regarding the syringe 350 read from the RFID tag 352, and the end position of the piston from the initial position which is the end position of the movable range of the presser 152. This can be done by calculating the distance to the position and operating the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b so that the presser 152 moves forward by the distance and an arbitrary offset value determined in advance. Thereby, the presser 152 is moved to the standby position.

In addition, the injection control unit 101 creates an injection protocol using the injection speed, the injection amount, the injection time, and the like as parameters based on the data acquired from the RFID tag 352, the data input from the input unit 103, and the like. The created injection protocol can be displayed on the display unit 104 graphically or in the form of numerical data. The operator can arbitrarily change the displayed injection protocol by inputting data or the like from the input unit 103. When the operator presses the check button of the injection head 110, an injection operation according to the created or changed injection protocol is enabled.

On the other hand, the operator connects the syringe 350 and the subject with the injection circuit 200. When taking a CT image, an indwelling needle is used as an in-vivo circuit portion of the injection circuit 200.

When the operator presses the start button of the injection head 110 while the injection operation by the injection head 110 is enabled and the syringe 350 and the subject are connected by the injection circuit 200, the injection control unit 101 is created. The operation of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b is controlled so that the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b operate according to the injection protocol. Thereby, the chemical | medical solution with which the inside of the syringe 350 is filled can be inject | poured into a test subject.

In this embodiment, the injection circuit 200 including the flow sensor 210 is used, and the movement of the chemical solution in the injection circuit 200, particularly the flow sensor 210, can be monitored from the time when the injection circuit 200 is connected to the subject.

Before the injection of the chemical solution, it is often checked whether the tip of the indwelling needle is positioned in the blood vessel, which is called “route confirmation”. This is because if a medical solution is injected with the tip of the indwelling needle positioned outside the blood vessel, a desired image cannot be acquired and various side effects may be caused. Conventionally, this “route confirmation” is performed after the syringe and the subject are in fluid communication with each other by the injection circuit, and then, for example, the piston of the syringe filled with physiological saline is retracted, and blood flows into the injection circuit. It was done by checking whether or not.

Here, the behavior of the drug solution in the injection circuit 200 differs depending on whether the tip of the indwelling needle is located inside the blood vessel or outside the blood vessel. The difference in the behavior of the chemical solution in the injection circuit 200 appears as a difference in the detection result from the flow sensor 210. Therefore, from the detection result of the flow sensor 210, whether the tip of the indwelling needle is located inside the blood vessel or outside the blood vessel. It can be determined whether it is located. The situation where the tip of the indwelling needle is located outside the blood vessel may occur at the stage when the indwelling needle is punctured or when the subject moves after the indwelling needle has been punctured normally, for example, during the injection of a drug solution Sometimes.

For example, in a state where no medicinal solution is injected, if the tip of the indwelling needle is located in the blood vessel, the indwelling needle and the blood vessel communicate with each other. Therefore, in the injection circuit based on blood pulsation in the blood vessel. The movement of the chemical solution is detected by the flow sensor 210. On the other hand, when the distal end of the indwelling needle is located outside the blood vessel, the indwelling needle is in a state where the distal end side is closed or opened, and movement of the drug solution based on blood pulsation is not detected. Therefore, the injection control unit 101 uses the detection result transmitted from the flow sensor 210 to determine whether or not the movement of the chemical solution based on blood pulsation is detected by the flow sensor 210 before the injection of the chemical solution. An injection circuit tip position determination function for determining the tip position of the injection circuit 200 can be provided. As a result, the route can be confirmed only by monitoring the detection result from the flow sensor 210 without operating the syringe as described above.

On the other hand, when the tip of the indwelling needle is detached from the blood vessel during the injection of the chemical solution, a phenomenon called chemical extravasation occurs. Extravascular leakage may also occur when the blood vessel wall of the subject is weak. When extravasation occurs, it is necessary to stop the injection of the chemical solution depending on the degree of the extravasation, and therefore it is desirable that the extravasation situation can be grasped as quickly and accurately as possible.

Conventionally, detection of extravasation has used a leak detection device that optically detects leaking of a chemical solution near the body surface of a subject. The leak detection device has a sensor head that includes a light emitting element that emits detection light and a light receiving element that detects the intensity of light emitted from the light emitting element, and the sensor head is indwelled by an adhesive sheet or the like. Detection of extravasation during the injection of a drug solution was performed in a state of being fixed to the body surface of the subject near the puncture position.

Here, when an extravasation of the medicinal solution occurs, the flow rate of the medicinal solution per unit time increases or decreases from the intended flow rate, and the occurrence of the extravasation of the medicinal solution is caused by the behavior of the medicinal solution in the injection circuit. Appears as a change. Therefore, the injection control unit 101 uses the injection rate set as one of the injection conditions of the chemical solution or the injection rate determined from the injection amount and the injection time set as part of the injection condition of the chemical solution, and the flow rate sensor 210. Leakage that compares with the flow rate per unit time of the drug solution in the injection circuit calculated from the detection results transmitted at regular time intervals from, and determines that extravasation has occurred if both values are different It can have a judgment function. Thus, since the injection control unit 101 has a leakage determination function, extravasation can be detected without using a leakage detection device as in the conventional case.

Furthermore, contrary to extravasation, kinks may occur due to twisting of the tube constituting the injection circuit. When a kink occurs, the drug solution may not be injected normally or may not be injected at all. In some cases, the occurrence of kinks can cause damage to the injection circuit. The occurrence of kink also appears as a change in the behavior of the chemical solution in the injection circuit, such as the flow rate of the chemical solution per unit time being reduced from the intended flow rate. Therefore, the injection control unit 101 is obtained from the injection rate set as one of the chemical solution injection conditions or the injection amount and the injection time set as part of the chemical solution injection conditions during the chemical injection operation. The injection rate is compared with the flow rate per unit time of the chemical solution in the injection circuit calculated from the detection results transmitted from the flow rate sensor 210 at regular time intervals, and from the value of the injection rate obtained from the injection conditions However, when the flow rate value per unit time obtained from the detection result by the flow sensor 210 is smaller, it is possible to have a kink determination function for determining that a kink has occurred in the injection circuit. Thus, since the injection control unit 101 has the kink determination function, it is possible to detect the occurrence of kinks during the injection of the chemical solution.

As described above, when the injection control unit 101 has a determination function for determining that an abnormality has occurred in the injection circuit 200 when a detection result different from the specific detection result is obtained from the flow sensor 210, the route confirmation, The presence or absence of an abnormality can be detected by the flow sensor 210 such as extravasation detection and kink detection.

The injection control unit 101 displays a message or a mark corresponding to the type of abnormality on the display unit 104 and / or the operation of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b when the flow sensor 210 detects the occurrence of the abnormality. Can be switched to abnormal operation. Examples of the abnormal operation include stopping the operation of the

piston driving mechanisms

130a and 130b (stopping the injection of the chemical liquid), reducing the moving speed of the

piston driving mechanisms

130a and 130b (decreasing the injection speed of the chemical liquid), and the like.

(Other forms of injection circuit)
FIG. 14 shows another form of the injection circuit 200 having the flow sensor 210. Similarly to the injection circuit 200 shown in FIG. 2, the injection circuit 200 of this embodiment also includes a first tube 201, a plurality of

second tubes

202 and 203, a T-shaped connector 204, connectors 205 to 207, and a flow sensor 210. These may be configured similarly to the injection circuit 200 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the injection circuit 200 includes a three-way stopcock 208 disposed in the middle of each of the

second tubes

202 and 203, and a first one connected to each of the three-way stopcocks 208 so as to branch from the

second tubes

202 and 203. 3

tubes

202a and 203a.

The

chemical bottles

700a and 700b are connected to the ends of the

third tubes

202a and 203a, respectively. The chemical liquid bottle 700 a connected to the third tube 202 a branched from the second tube 202 contains the same chemical liquid as the chemical liquid filled in the syringe connected to the second tube 202. The chemical solution 700b connected to the third tube 203a branched from the other second tube 203 contains the same chemical solution as the chemical solution filled in the syringe connected to the second tube 203.

According to the injection circuit 200 of the present embodiment, when the syringe to be connected is a post-filling type syringe, the three-way cock 208 is appropriately switched to move the presser backward while the syringe is mounted on the injection head, so that the chemical solution bottle The liquid medicine in 700a and 700b can be filled into the syringe. After filling the chemical solution, the three-way cock 208 is switched so that the

third tubes

202a and 203a are blocked from the other tubes, so that the chemical solution in the syringe can be injected.

Here, when the three-way stopcock 208 is switched, the chemical solution is changed in communication state, so that the chemical solution moves in the injection circuit 200. This movement of the chemical solution is detected by the flow sensor 210, and the amount and direction of movement of the chemical solution differ depending on which three-way cock 208 is switched and how it is switched. Accordingly, the injection control unit 101 is provided with a flow path switching determination function for determining the switching state of the three-way cock 208 from the detection result of the flow sensor 210 when the three-way cock 208 is switched, and the determination result is displayed, for example, in a graphic form By displaying on the unit 104, the state of the flow path at that time can be visually recognized by the operator. For accurate determination, a plurality of flow sensors 210 can be arranged at appropriate locations in the injection circuit 200.

When a chemical bottle is connected to the injection circuit 200, the chemical bottle is usually placed at a higher position than the injection circuit 200, and the injection circuit is connected to the lower end of the chemical bottle, thereby accommodating the chemical bottle. Almost all of the applied chemical solution can be used. Moreover, when inject | pouring a chemical | medical solution at a very low speed like infusion etc., a chemical | medical solution is dripped using gravity, and injection | pouring of a chemical | medical solution is implemented over a long time. In any case, if the suction operation or the injection operation is not stopped before the chemical solution in the chemical solution bottle is consumed, air will be mixed into the injection circuit 200.

Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, the flow sensor 210 is arranged at the end of the third tube connected to the chemical liquid bottle 700 so that the flow sensor 210 is positioned below the chemical liquid bottle 700 when the injection circuit is used. By doing so, the flow rate of the chemical solution from the chemical solution bottle 700 can also be detected by the flow rate sensor 210. The detection result by the flow sensor 210 is calculated as a consumption amount of the chemical solution in the injection control unit 101 and can be displayed on the display unit 104 in real time. Alternatively, if the amount of the chemical solution stored in the chemical solution bottle 700 is given in advance, the consumption amount can be subtracted from the amount of the chemical solution, and the result can be displayed on the display unit 104 as the remaining amount. By doing so, the operator can grasp the consumption amount or the remaining amount of the chemical solution in the chemical solution bottle 700. As a result, before the chemical solution in the chemical solution bottle 700 is completely consumed, Appropriate treatment is possible, such as replacing with a new one.

In addition, in the injection circuit 200 shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 14, the T-shaped connector 204 is disposed in the mixing portion of the chemical solution. In order to allow the chemical solution to be mixed better, this T-shaped connector 204 is provided. Instead, it is preferable to arrange a mixing device 241 as shown in FIG. 16A. Hereinafter, the mixing device 241 will be described with reference to FIGS. 16A to 16C by taking as an example a case where a contrast medium and physiological saline are mixed as a chemical solution.

The mixing device 241 includes a main body 242 having a first chamber that is a swirl flow generation chamber 242a that generates a swirl flow and a second chamber that is a constriction chamber 242b that concentrates the swirl flow in the axial direction. In this example, the swirl flow generation chamber 242a has a cylindrical inner space, and the constriction chamber 242b has a conical inner space coaxial with the swirl flow generation chamber 242a. The cross-sectional shape in the short direction of the swirl flow generating chamber may be various shapes formed from a circle, an ellipse, or other curves. In addition, the swirl flow generation chamber can be configured to have a narrowed shape that narrows as it approaches the narrowed chamber.

A conduit portion 243a to which one second tube 202 (see FIG. 2 and the like) is connected is provided on the upstream side of the flow of the main body portion 242 of the mixing device 241, and the first tube 201 (see FIG. 2 and the like) is provided on the downstream side. Is provided with a conduit portion 243c. The conduit portion 243b to which the other second tube 203 (see FIG. 2 and the like) is connected is disposed at a position upstream from the center of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a.

In this example, the contrast agent flows from the conduit portion 243a and the physiological saline flows from the conduit portion 243b, and both drug solutions are mixed in the mixing device. Thereafter, the mixed drug solution of the contrast medium and physiological saline flows out from the conduit portion 243c as a liquid outlet.

The conduit portion 243a into which a high specific gravity chemical solution flows is provided in the central portion of the upstream side wall surface of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a on the upstream side in the flow direction. The conduit portion 243c serving as the liquid outlet is provided so that the center line of the conduit portion 243c and the center line of the conduit portion 243a coincide, that is, both are coaxial. By arranging each part so as to have a coaxial axis, it is possible to increase the isotropic property of the vortex generated in the mixing device. That is, vortices can be generated uniformly in the space without stagnation, and the mixing efficiency can be improved.

On the other hand, the conduit portion 243b into which the chemical liquid having a small specific gravity flows is disposed on the side surface of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a and extends in the tangential direction of the circumference of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a having a circular cross section. In other words, the conduit portion 243b is provided at a position shifted to the peripheral side from the central axis of the cylindrical space included in the swirl flow generation chamber 242a, and thereby, the chemical liquid having a small specific gravity flowing from the conduit portion 243b. The swirl flow is generated. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 16C, the flow path 241fb is configured to extend in the circumferential tangential direction of the curved inner surface of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a, and thus flows from this flow path. The chemical becomes a swirl flow. Further, as is clear from the drawing, the constriction chamber 242b has an inclined inner surface that swells toward the downstream side in the flow direction, so that the generated swirling flow is concentrated in the direction of the central axis of the vortex. Become.

Also, the conduit portion 243a into which the contrast agent flows is in communication with the swirling flow generation chamber 242a through the flow path 241fa. Thereby, the chemical liquid having a large specific gravity can be introduced into the swirling flow generating chamber in a direction parallel to the central axis of the swirling flow of the chemical liquid having a small specific gravity. That is, the chemical liquid having a large specific gravity is introduced in a direction parallel to the central axis of the cylindrical space included in the swirl flow generation chamber. Further, the conduit part into which the physiological saline flows is in communication with the swirl flow generation chamber via the flow path 241fb. For example, the inner diameter of the flow path 241fb may be smaller than the inner diameter of the flow path 241fa into which the contrast agent flows. According to such a configuration, when a chemical solution is injected at a predetermined pressure, the flow rate of the chemical solution having a small specific gravity flowing from the flow path 241fb having a relatively small cross-sectional area becomes faster than the flow rate of the chemical solution having a large specific gravity. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a decrease in the mixing efficiency between the chemical solutions due to the attenuation of the inertial force of the swirling flow and the accompanying lack of swirling strength, which can occur when the flow rate of the chemical solution having a small specific gravity is low.

In the mixing device 241 configured as described above, for example, when a contrast medium and physiological saline are flowed into the device, the contrast medium that has flowed into the swirl flow generation chamber from the flow path 241fa flows toward the downstream side in the axial direction. Become. On the other hand, the physiological saline flowing into the swirl flow generation chamber from the flow path 241fb becomes a swirl flow swirling along the curved inner surface of the same chamber, and the swirl flow of the physiological saline is guided to the stenosis chamber and swirls. Concentrate in the direction of the central axis of the flow. Such a vortex is known as a Rankine vortex, and the inertial force of the swirling flow can be concentrated in the vicinity of the rotation axis of the vortex.

And when performing two chemical | medical solution simultaneous injection | pouring with the injection circuit which has such a mixing device 241, both chemical | medical solutions will be mixed favorably. That is, in this example, it is possible to obtain a diluted contrast agent in which the contrast agent and physiological saline are well mixed, and as a result, there is no unevenness in the concentration of the contrast agent. An excellent contrast effect can be expected as compared with the case of a general injection circuit having the above.

Note that the injection circuit 200 shown in FIGS. 2 and 14 is configured such that two syringes can be connected. However, the injection circuit, particularly the extracorporeal circuit unit, may be configured so that the number of syringes to be connected is only one, or configured to be three or more. Also good.

FIG. 17 shows still another embodiment of the injection circuit 200 having the flow sensor 210. Similarly to the injection circuit 200 shown in FIG. 2, the injection circuit 200 of this embodiment also includes a first tube 201, a plurality of

second tubes

202 and 203, a T-shaped connector 204, connectors 205 to 207, and a flow sensor 210. These may be configured in the same manner as the injection circuit 200 shown in FIG. 2 except for the position of the flow sensor 210. In the present embodiment, the injection circuit 200 further includes a fourth tube 221 that is branched and connected from an intermediate portion of one second tube 203, and a flow rate sensor 210 that is connected to the end of the fourth tube 221. ing. Therefore, in this embodiment, the injection circuit 200 has three terminals in total, that is, the two

connectors

205 and 206 to which the syringe is connected and the flow sensor 210.

For example, a T-shaped connector 225 can be used to branch the second tube 203. For example, another cock 223 may be provided on the fourth tube 221 in order to prevent the chemical liquid from flowing into the fourth tube 221 at the time of injection of the chemical liquid. The cock 223 may be provided between the end of the fourth tube 221 and the flow rate sensor 210, or may be provided in an intermediate portion of the fourth tube 221.

The injection circuit 200 configured as described above includes an injection circuit 200 in which the

end connectors

205 and 206 are connected to the syringe and the distal connector 207 is connected to the extracorporeal circuit unit. It can be used in a connected state, that is, in a state where the injection circuit 200 is disposed at a fixed position. In use, the cock 223 provided in the fourth tube 221 is opened.

By doing so, pressure fluctuations due to the pulsation of blood flowing through the blood vessels of the subject are transmitted to the injection circuit 200 via the in-vivo circuit section in a state where the medical solution such as a contrast medium filled in the syringe is not injected. To do. In the injection circuit 200, the liquid in the injection circuit 200 moves in response to the pressure fluctuation. The movement of the liquid is detected by the flow sensor 210, and from the detection result, the pressure of the liquid, and thus the blood pressure of the subject can be obtained, and the pulse of the subject can also be obtained.

That is, in this embodiment, the flow sensor 210 can be used as an alternative to a conventional pressure transducer. By using the flow sensor 210 as an alternative to the pressure transducer, unlike the pressure transducer, the flow sensor 210 is not damaged even if a high pressure due to the contrast medium is transmitted to the fourth tube 221 at the time of contrast medium injection. .

The injection circuit 200 preferably further includes a chamber connected to the end of the flow sensor 210. In this case, one end of the injection circuit 200 is a chamber. The chamber facilitates the movement of the chemical solution in the flow sensor 210 due to the pressure fluctuation when the pressure fluctuation occurs in the injection circuit 200 on the first tube 201 side. By providing this, the detection sensitivity of the flow sensor 210 can be improved. In the form shown in FIG. 17, the chamber is composed of a fifth tube 222 having a distal end connected to the flow sensor 210 and a cock 224 provided on the distal end. In use, the cock 224 provided at the end of the fifth tube 222 is closed.

Here, the chamber constituted by the fifth tube 222 and the cock 224 functions as a liquid reservoir on the terminal side of the flow rate sensor 210, and affects the ease of movement of the liquid in the flow rate sensor 210. In general, the longer the length of the fifth tube 222, in other words, the greater the capacity of the chamber on the end side of the flow sensor 210, the easier the liquid moves within the flow sensor 210. When the liquid easily moves in the flow sensor 210, the signal intensity that is the output from the flow sensor 210 increases. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the detection sensitivity of the flow sensor 210 by appropriately setting the volume of the chamber according to the physical quantity obtained using the detection result of the flow sensor 210.

The branch of the fourth tube 221 may be from either of the two

second tubes

202 and 203. However, when the specific gravity of the chemical solution filled in the syringe connected to the ends of the

second tubes

202 and 203 is different, it is preferable to branch from the second tube to which the syringe filled with the chemical solution having a small specific gravity is connected. . This is because a chemical solution having a small specific gravity is more likely to move in the tube, and as a result, a large detection result can be obtained. Therefore, in the form shown in FIG. 17, when the contrast medium and the physiological saline are respectively injected into the syringe connected to the injection circuit 200, the syringe connected to the second tube 203 branched from the fourth tube 221. Is a syringe filled with physiological saline, and the sputum syringe connected to the other second tube 202 is preferably a syringe filled with a contrast medium.

In the form shown in FIG. 17, the fourth tube 221 is branched from the second tube 203, and the flow sensor 210 is provided in the branched fourth tube 221. For example, as shown in FIG. The flow sensor 210 may be provided in the two tubes 203. The position where the flow sensor 201 is provided may be arbitrary. In addition, the above-described concept can be applied as it is as to which of the

second tubes

202 and 203 is provided with the flow sensor 210.

(Injection head posture / up-down movement detection)
For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, when the injection head 110 is supported by the stand 116, the stand 116 moves the injection head 110 so that the distal end side of the syringe can face upward or downward. It is preferable to support. The reason is that, for example, in the purge operation described above, the tip of the syringe is directed upward to facilitate the discharge of air bubbles existing in the syringe from the syringe. This is because the tip of the syringe can be directed downward in order to prevent the bubbles from being injected even if bubbles remain in the tube. From the viewpoint of preventing medical accidents, it is desirable that the posture of the injection head can be detected in the chemical injection device.

Here, when the syringe is attached to the injection head 110 and the injection circuit 200 is connected to the syringe, the posture of the injection head 110 is changed to change the position of the tip of the syringe in the vertical direction. The height difference between the tip and end of 200 changes. The liquid in the injection circuit 200 moves due to a change in the height difference between the tip and the end of the injection circuit 200, and the movement of the liquid is detected by the flow sensor 210. Using this detection result, it is possible to determine whether the injection head 110 is in a posture in which the tip of the syringe is directed upward or downward. The injection control unit 101 can be provided with a head attitude determination function for appropriately calculating the detection result transmitted from the flow sensor 210 and determining the attitude of the injection head 110. In order to better determine the posture of the injection head 110, the flow sensor 210 is preferably disposed at or near the tip of the syringe.

When the injection control unit 101 has a head posture determination function, when it is determined that the posture is not suitable for the purge operation or the posture suitable for the injection operation, the injection control unit 101 informs the display unit 104 to that effect. It is possible to display a warning or to control the operation of the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b so that the

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b do not operate.

The injection head 110 can also be supported in a state of being suspended from the ceiling. One form thereof is shown in FIG. In the form shown in FIG. 18, the injection head 110 is supported by an articulated ceiling arm unit 180. The ceiling arm unit 180 includes a base portion 181 that is fixed to the ceiling with bolts and the like, and an articulated arm portion 183 that extends from the base portion 181. An attachment arm 183a extending in the vertical direction is attached to the distal end portion of the arm portion 183 so as to be rotatable around its axis. The injection head 110 is attached to the lower end portion of the attachment arm 183a so as to be rotatable around an axis extending in the horizontal direction.

Thus, when the injection head 110 is supported by the ceiling arm unit 180, the injection head 110 can be moved to an arbitrary position in the vertical direction within the movable range of the arm portion 183. When the injection head 110 moves upward or downward with the syringe attached to the injection head 110 and the injection circuit 200 described above connected to the syringe, the height difference from the tip of the injection circuit 200 changes. It is possible to determine how much the injection head 110 has moved in the vertical direction by using the flow sensor 210 to detect the movement of the liquid in the injection circuit 200 caused by the change in the height difference. For this purpose, the injection control unit 101 can have a head vertical movement determination function that appropriately performs a calculation process on the detection result transmitted from the flow sensor 210 to determine the movement distance of the injection head 110 in the vertical direction.

In the form shown in FIG. 18, the second display unit 104b is attached to the attachment arm 183a together with the injection head 110. The chemical solution injection system may further include a second display unit 104b different from the display unit 104 described above.

The second display unit 104b can display various types of information related to chemical injection, such as the type of chemical, the injection rate, the injection amount, and the injection time. Thereby, the operator can check the injection condition of the chemical solution in the vicinity of the injection head 110. Further, the second display unit 104b may be a touch panel that can perform an input operation by touching the screen. By using the second display unit 104b as a touch panel, the operator can appropriately change the injection conditions according to the state of the subject using the second display unit 104b.

FIG. 18 shows an example in which the second display unit 104b is attached to the ceiling arm unit 180. However, the second display unit 104b is at a position that can be visually recognized by an operator who operates the injection head 110, for example, FIG. 8 may be attached to the stand 116 shown in FIG. 8, or may be attached to the injection head 110 via a mounting bracket or the like.

Although various items that can be detected using the injection circuit 200 including the flow sensor 210 have been described above, the injection control unit 101 performs appropriate arithmetic processing according to the items to be detected. Can be. The injection control unit 101 may be configured to detect all of these items, or may be configured to detect one or more items combining one or more of these items. Good.

(Container and drive mechanism)
In the embodiment described above, the case where the container filled with the chemical solution is a syringe has been described as an example. However, in the present invention, the container is not limited to a syringe, and may be a chemical solution bottle or a chemical solution bag. In that case, as the drive mechanism for injecting the chemical solution from the container, a drive mechanism corresponding to the form of the container such as a tube pump type drive mechanism can be used.

(Arrangement of units etc.)
In the embodiment described above, the injection control unit 101 is included in the chemical injection device 100, and the imaging control unit 510 is described as included in the medical image imaging device 500. However, both the injection control unit 101 and the imaging control unit 510 may be included in the chemical solution injection device 100, or both the injection control unit 101 and the imaging control unit 510 may be included in the medical image imaging device 500. Alternatively, both the injection control unit 101 and the imaging control unit 510 may be included in a programmable computer device (not shown) that is different from the chemical injection device 100 and the medical image imaging device 500. By doing so, it is not necessary for the chemical injection device 100 and the medical imaging device 500 to have separate consoles, and the input unit and the display unit of each control unit can be shared. As a result, the configuration of the entire system can be simplified.

Furthermore, a specific function of the injection control unit 101 can be incorporated in a unit different from the remaining other functions. For example, the injection condition determination (calculation) function can be incorporated into the imaging control unit 510 and the remaining other functions can be incorporated into the injection control unit 101. In this case, it is not necessary to input data common to the determination of the imaging condition and the determination of the injection condition to the chemical injection device 100 and the medical image imaging device 500 in duplicate. Data that is insufficient when determining the injection conditions may be input from the imaging control unit 510, or may be transmitted from the injection control unit 101 to the imaging control unit 510.

The function of the injection control unit 101 and the function of the imaging control unit 510 can be realized by using various hardware as required, but the main body is realized by the function of the CPU corresponding to the computer program.

The computer program is
At least one container is detachably mounted, and an injection head having at least one drive mechanism configured to inject a chemical liquid from the container, a chemical liquid injection circuit connected to the container, and the drive mechanism An injection control unit for controlling the operation, wherein the chemical injection circuit has at least one tube, a tube unit having one tip and at least one end, and the tip and the end of the tube unit. And a computer program for a system having at least one thermal flow sensor with a conduit through which the drug solution flowing in the tube flows,
At least some of the procedures described above, eg,
The thermal flow sensor outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the chemical in the conduit as a detection result from the thermal flow sensor to the injection control unit;
Causing the injection control unit to perform a predetermined function using the detection result output from the thermal flow sensor;
Is a computer program for executing

In the above-described embodiment, at least one of the function of calculating various physical quantities using the detection result from the flow sensor 210 and the function of performing various determinations described as functions of the injection control unit 101 (for example, the flow sensor 210). The function of calculating the pressure from the flow rate detected by the flow rate control unit) can be configured as a flow rate sensor control unit different from the injection control unit 101. In this case, the flow rate sensor control unit can be configured to control the operation of the flow rate sensor 210 and supply power necessary for operating the flow rate sensor 210. The flow rate sensor control unit is used in connection with the flow rate sensor 210, and the flow rate sensor 210 and the flow rate sensor control unit are incorporated in other devices or units such as the chemical solution injection device 100, the medical image imaging device 500, and the injection circuit 200. It can also be configured as an independent unit. The flow sensor control unit can be connected to the injection control unit 101, for example, and transmits the result (for example, pressure) obtained from the flow sensor 210 to the injection control unit 101 as data. The injection control unit 101 can display data (for example, pressure) transmitted from the flow sensor control unit on the display unit 104.

From a structural point of view, the injection head 110 and the console 112 shown in FIGS. 4 and 8 can be configured integrally. When the injection head 110 and the console 112 are integrally formed, the console 112 is also arranged in the examination room. Since the hand switch 118 can be used to start and stop the injection operation, the operator can control the start and stop of the injection operation in the operation chamber by the hand switch 118.

In the above-described embodiment, two

piston drive mechanisms

130a and 130b are mounted on one injection head 110. However, the chemical liquid injector has two injection heads each equipped with one piston drive mechanism, and at the time of purge operation and injection, the injection control unit 101 interlocks each injection head to dilute a plurality of chemical liquids. It can also be done.

(Cooperation with medical network)
At least the drug solution injection device 100 and the medical image imaging device 500 may be connected to a medical network. As a result, the injection speed, injection time, and injection volume of the drug solution injected by the drug solution injection device 100 (when multiple injections are performed in one examination and / or treatment, the injection amount for each injection) And the total injection amount of a series of injections), the injection graph, the type of the injected medicinal solution, the injection result including the dilution ratio when the dilution injection is performed, and the imaging conditions by the medical imaging device 500 are medical network Can be stored as injection data in a medical imaging apparatus, RIS (Radiology Information System), PACS (Medical Image Storage Management System), HIS (Hospital Information System), and the like. Thereby, the stored injection data is used for management of injection history. In particular, the injection amount or the like can be recorded in the chart information as a used chemical solution or used for accounting. In addition, physical information such as the body weight of the subject, ID, name, examination site, and examination method can be acquired from RIS, PACS, HIS, etc., and displayed on the drug solution injector, and injection can be performed accordingly. Such information and data acquired from the RFID tag 802 by the RFID module 166 may be transmitted from the chemical solution injector 100 to the RIS, PACKS, HIS, or the like via the medical imaging device 500, or the chemical solution injector 100. May be transmitted directly from RIS, PACKS, HIS, etc.

(Use of flow sensors for other equipment)
In the injection of a chemical solution using a chemical solution injection device, as described above, generally, an injection protocol is set in advance, and the chemical solution is automatically injected according to the set injection protocol. However, as another method of injecting a chemical solution, there is a method in which a hand controller operated by an operator is used and the operation of the piston drive mechanism is controlled in real time according to the operation of the hand controller. For example, a chemical liquid injector that injects a contrast medium for angiography may be controlled in this manner.

This type of hand controller usually has a controller body formed in a size and shape that can be held by the operator. The controller main body has an operation member provided to move by the operation of the operator, and a detector for detecting the movement of the operation member, and the detection result by the detector is transmitted to the injection control unit of the chemical liquid injector. The injection control unit is configured to control the operation of the piston drive mechanism based on the detection result transmitted from the detector.

In the hand controller configured as described above, in the present invention, a flow sensor can be used as a detector. An embodiment of a hand controller using a flow sensor as a detector will be described below.

A hand controller using a flow sensor as a detector further includes a flexible and airtight bag member in addition to the controller main body, the operation member, and the flow sensor as the detector. The bag member is connected to one flow path portion serving as a fluid inlet / outlet, and a flow rate sensor is connected to the flow path portion so that the flow rate of the fluid passing through the flow path portion can be detected. As the flow sensor, any flow sensor can be used. Among various flow sensors, the flow sensor has a conduit constituting a part of the flow path section as shown in FIG. A flow rate sensor configured to output an electric signal corresponding to the movement of the sensor as a detection result can be preferably used.

In this case, in order to detect the fluid passing through the flow path portion more accurately, it is preferable that the flow path portion of the bag member and the conduit of the flow rate sensor are connected in an airtight state. In order to make the connection between the two simpler and more reliable, the flow path portion preferably has a tubular portion integrally extending from the bag member, and a conduit of the flow sensor is preferably connected to the tubular portion. .

The fluid to be detected may be a gas or a liquid. Specifically, from the viewpoint of easy handling, air can be used as the gas, and water can be used as the liquid. When air is used as the fluid, the flow path portion of the bag member may be opened. Further, the present invention can be applied to both cases of using a gas as a fluid and a case of using a liquid, but the detector further includes a second bag member connected to the flow path portion, and the bag member, the flow path portion In addition, one closed space may be formed by the second bag member. Similar to the bag member, the second bag member is configured to have flexibility and airtightness.

The bag member is held in the controller body in an expanded state in the initial state before the operation member is operated, and the operation member is operated to respond to its operation amount (movement amount). The bag member is contracted. As the operation member, any of a lever type that is slid with respect to the controller main body and a button type that is pushed into the controller main body can be applied, similarly to an operation member used in a general hand controller.

According to the hand controller configured as described above, when the operation member is operated in a state where the bag member is filled with fluid, the fluid in the bag member is discharged through the flow path portion according to the operation amount. Is done. At this time, the movement of the fluid in the flow path portion is detected by the flow sensor, and an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the fluid is transmitted to the injection control unit of the chemical liquid injector as a detection result. The injection control unit controls the operation of the piston drive mechanism so that the piston drive mechanism moves forward according to the detection result transmitted from the flow sensor. The flow rate sensor detects the amount of movement of the fluid during a certain time interval, so that the chemical solution can be injected at a speed and amount corresponding to the operation of the operation member.

After the chemical liquid injection operation is completed, the injection control unit moves the piston drive mechanism back to the original position, for example, the standby position, for the next injection. Further, the bag member is also returned to the original inflated initial state. The backward movement of the piston drive mechanism can be automatically performed under the control of the injection control unit after the chemical liquid injection operation is completed. Alternatively, when the bag member returns to the initial state, the flow of fluid toward the inside of the bag member is detected by the flow rate sensor, and therefore the piston drive mechanism is controlled by the injection control unit by an amount corresponding to the detected flow rate. Can be made to retreat.

For example, if the bag member is made of an elastic material, it can be returned to the initial state by the elastic force of the bag member itself after the injection operation is completed. Alternatively, the bag member may be configured such that the bag member returns to the initial state by returning the operation member to the original position.

As described above, the present specification also discloses the controller device described below. That is,
A controller device for controlling the operation of a drive mechanism for injecting a chemical solution filled in a container,
An operation member provided to be movable by an operator's operation;
A bag member provided to contract according to the amount of movement of the operation member;
A flow path connected to the bag member;
A flow rate sensor that has a conduit that forms part of the flow path section, and outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the fluid in the conduit as a detection result;
A controller device.

In addition, this specification
The controller device;
A drive mechanism configured to inject the chemical solution from a container filled with the chemical solution;
An injection control unit for controlling the operation of the drive mechanism in response to the detection result output from the flow sensor of the controller device;
Also disclosed is a chemical injection device having:

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Chemical injection device 101 Injection control unit 103 Input unit 104 Display unit 104b 2nd display unit 110 Injection head 112 Console 114

Main unit

130a, 130b

Piston drive mechanism

131, 152 Presser 140 Clamper 153 Rod 164 RFID control circuit 165 Antenna 166 RFID Module 180 Ceiling arm unit 200 Injection circuit 201

1st tube

202, 203

2nd tube

202a, 203a 3rd tube 204 T-shaped connector 208 Three-way stopcock 210 Flow rate sensor 211 Pipe 212 Semiconductor module 213 Heater 214 Temperature sensor 221 4th tube 222 2nd 5 tube 241 mixing device 300 syringe assembly 3 0, 350 syringes 321 cylinder 322 piston 352 RFID tag 370 protective cover 400 injection condition setting screen 500 medical imaging apparatus 503 input unit 504 display unit 510 an imaging control unit 520 imaging operation unit 600 adapter 700 (700a, 700b) the bottles

Claims

A chemical solution injection circuit used for injecting a chemical solution filled in a container,
A tube unit having at least one tube and having one tip and at least one end;
At least one thermal flow sensor disposed between the distal end and the distal end of the tube unit, comprising a conduit through which the chemical solution flowing in the tube flows, and responding to the movement of the chemical solution in the conduit A thermal flow sensor configured to output an electrical signal as a detection result; and
A chemical injection circuit.
An internal circuit part and an external circuit part,
The extracorporeal circuit unit is connected to the first tube so that the distal end of the tube unit is branched from the end of the first tube, and the end of the first tube is connected to the container. 2. The chemical injection circuit according to claim 1, wherein the thermal flow sensor is connected to either the first tube or the second tube.
The chemical injection circuit according to claim 2, further comprising a plurality of third tubes connected to intermediate portions of the plurality of second tubes via a three-way stopcock.
The chemical liquid injection circuit according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the thermal flow sensor is connected to a distal end portion of the first tube.
The apparatus further includes a fourth tube branched from any one of the plurality of second tubes and connected to the second tube, and the thermal flow sensor is connected to an end of the fourth tube. The chemical injection circuit according to claim 2.
The chemical injection circuit according to claim 5, further comprising a chamber connected to an end of the thermal flow sensor.
A chemical solution injection system for injecting a chemical solution filled in a container,
An injection head comprising at least one drive mechanism, wherein at least one container is detachably mounted and configured to inject a chemical solution from the container;
A chemical injection circuit connected to the container;
An injection control unit for controlling the operation of the drive mechanism;
Have
The chemical injection circuit is
A tube unit having at least one tube and having one tip and at least one end;
At least one thermal flow sensor disposed between the distal end and the distal end of the tube unit, comprising a conduit through which the chemical solution flowing in the tube flows, and responding to the movement of the chemical solution in the conduit A thermal flow sensor configured to output an electrical signal as a detection result to the injection control unit;
Having a chemical injection system.
The chemical injection system according to claim 7, wherein the injection control unit has a pressure calculation function for calculating a pressure using a detection result output from the thermal flow sensor.
The chemical injection system according to claim 7, wherein the injection control unit has a determination function of determining that an abnormality has occurred in the chemical injection circuit using a detection result output from the thermal flow sensor.
10. The chemical injection system according to claim 9, wherein the determination function includes an injection circuit tip position determination function for determining a tip position of the chemical injection circuit using a detection result output from the thermal flow sensor.
10. The drug solution injection system according to claim 9, wherein the determination function includes a leak determination function for determining that an extravasation of a drug has occurred using a detection result output from the thermal flow sensor.
10. The chemical injection system according to claim 9, wherein the determination function includes a kink determination function for determining that a kink has occurred in the chemical injection circuit using a detection result output from the thermal flow sensor.
The medicinal solution injection circuit has an internal circuit part and an external circuit part,
The extracorporeal circuit unit is connected to the first tube so that the distal end of the tube unit is branched from the end of the first tube, and the end of the first tube is connected to the container. The chemical solution according to any one of claims 7 to 12, wherein the thermal flow sensor is connected to either the first tube or the second tube. Injection system.
The chemical injection system according to claim 13, wherein the chemical injection circuit further includes a plurality of third tubes connected to intermediate portions of the plurality of second tubes via three-way stopcocks.
The chemical injection system according to claim 14, wherein the injection control unit has a flow path switching determination function for determining a switching state of the three-way stopcock using a detection result output from the thermal flow sensor.
The chemical solution injection circuit further includes a fourth tube that is branched from any one of the plurality of second tubes and connected to the second tube, and the thermal flow sensor is connected to the fourth tube. The chemical | medical solution injection system of Claim 14 connected to the terminal.
The chemical injection system according to claim 16, further comprising a chamber connected to an end of the thermal flow sensor.
The injection control unit uses the detection result output from the thermal flow sensor to determine whether the injection head is in a posture with the tip of the container facing upward or downward. The medicinal-solution injection system according to claim 7, which has a posture determination function.
The chemical injection system according to claim 7, wherein the injection control unit has a head up / down movement determination function for determining movement of the injection head in the vertical direction using a detection result output from the thermal flow sensor.
When the movement of the chemical solution is detected by the thermal flow sensor after the operation of the drive mechanism is stopped, the injection control unit moves the drive mechanism in a direction to suck the chemical solution in the injection circuit into the container. The chemical injection system according to claim 8 to be operated.
The chemical injection system according to any one of claims 7 to 20, further including at least one of the containers.
The chemical injection system according to any one of claims 7 to 21,
A medical image capturing apparatus for acquiring a medical image from a subject into which a chemical liquid is injected by the chemical liquid injection system;
A medical imaging system having
At least one container is detachably mounted, and an injection head having at least one drive mechanism configured to inject a chemical liquid from the container, a chemical liquid injection circuit connected to the container, and the drive mechanism An injection control unit for controlling the operation, wherein the chemical injection circuit has at least one tube, a tube unit having one tip and at least one end, and from the tip to the end of the tube unit And at least one thermal flow sensor with a conduit through which the chemical flowing through the tube flows, the method of operating a chemical injection system comprising:
The thermal flow sensor outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the chemical in the conduit as a detection result to the injection control unit;
The injection control unit performs a predetermined function using the detection result output from the thermal flow sensor;
Method of operating a chemical injection system having
The method for operating a chemical injection system according to claim 23, wherein the step of the injection control unit executing a predetermined function includes a step of calculating a pressure using the detection result.
24. The method of operating a chemical solution injection system according to claim 23, wherein the step of the injection control unit performing a predetermined function includes a step of determining that an abnormality has occurred in the chemical solution injection circuit using the detection result.
26. The method of operating a chemical liquid injection system according to claim 25, wherein the step of determining that the abnormality has occurred includes a step of determining a tip position of the chemical liquid injection circuit using the detection result.
26. The method of operating a drug solution injection system according to claim 25, wherein the step of determining that the abnormality has occurred includes determining the occurrence of extravasation of the drug using the detection result.
26. The method for operating a chemical injection system according to claim 25, wherein the step of determining that the abnormality has occurred includes determining the occurrence of a kink in the chemical injection circuit using the detection result.
The medicinal solution injection circuit has an internal circuit part and an external circuit part,
The extracorporeal circuit unit is connected to the first tube so that a distal end of the tube is connected to the in-vivo circuit unit, and the first tube so as to branch from an end of the first tube, and each end is connected to the syringe. A plurality of second tubes connected to each other, and a plurality of third tubes connected to intermediate portions of the plurality of second tubes via three-way stopcocks, wherein the thermal flow sensor is the first tube And connected to one of the second tubes,
The operation of the medicinal solution injection system according to any one of claims 23 to 28, wherein the step of the injection control unit performing a predetermined function includes a step of determining a switching state of the three-way cock using the detection result. Method.
The step of the injection control unit performing a predetermined function is a step of determining whether the injection head is in a posture in which the tip of the container is directed upward or downward using the detection result. The operation | movement method of the chemical injection system of Claim 23 containing these.
24. The method of operating a chemical liquid injection system according to claim 23, wherein the step of the injection control unit performing a predetermined function includes a step of determining the movement of the injection head in the vertical direction using the detection result.
The step in which the injection control unit executes a predetermined function is that the movement of the chemical solution is detected by the thermal flow sensor after the operation of the drive mechanism is stopped, and the liquid in the injection circuit is put into the container. The method for operating a chemical injection system according to claim 23, further comprising the step of operating the drive mechanism in a suction direction.