JPH01121069A - Heating promoter for high-frequency hyperthermia - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve heating efficiency, fixing an inflation bag through engagement with a flexible contractile tube equipped with a plurality of supply passages in a circular form in the periphery of the exhaust passage, and by inflating the bag by sending a high insulation material after an opening provided to each supply passage is opened and closed via a valve and a pump. CONSTITUTION:After applicators 5, 5 are arranged correspondingly to the cancer tissue of living body's throat A and a flexible contractile tube 1 is inserted into the oral cavity, the valve 21 of opening 14 of that supply passage 13 of supply passages 13 which corresponds to the cancer tissue is opened and air is sent to the supply passage 13 by operation of air feed pump 22. Thus, the cancer tissue mucosa contacting the inflation bag 3 is pressed by swells 31 to enlarge. By this process, air pool grows at the part corresponding to the cancer tissue: upon application of high-frequency voltage across the applicators 5, 5, lines of high-frequency electric force flow by avoiding the swells 31 to increase their density around swells 31. As a result, the part of cancer tissue shows high temperature, and a high efficiency of heating the cancer tissue is attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to high-frequency thermal therapy that heats cancer tissue by applying a high-frequency electric field between two electrodes placed facing each other on a living body, for example, in response to cancer mta. The present invention relates to a heating accelerator for high-frequency thermotherapy, which is used to improve heating efficiency.

(B) Prior Art FIGS. 6(A) and 7(A) are explanatory diagrams showing the mold surface structure of a conventional high-151-wave thermotherapy device.

The electrode structure (applicator) shown in FIG. 6(A) has an electrode arranged inside a flat cylinder 61 with a bottom opening and a bag-like liquid storage bang 62 in the bottom opening of the cylinder 61. is installed. A power supply line 63 is connected to the electrode inside the cylindrical body 61, and this power supply cotton 63 is drawn out to the outside. Further, a liquid vibro 4 for supplying a cooling liquid is projected outward from the liquid storage bag 62, and the liquid storage bag 62 is filled with the cooling liquid. This electrode structure is a so-called "9 type" compact type, and as shown in Figure 6 (B), it has a pair of electrode structures (a pair of applicators consisting of electrodes and a liquid storage bag).
are placed opposite to the skin surface corresponding to the cancer tissue of living body A, and a high frequency electric field is applied between both electrodes to heat-treat the cancer cells.

Further, the electrode structure (applicator) shown in FIG. 7(A) has an electrode (not shown) disposed inside a flat cylindrical body 71 with a bottom opening, and a bottom opening of the cylindrical body 71. A liquid storage bag 72 is attached to the cylindrical body 71, and an attachment arm 73 is provided protruding from the upper part of the cylindrical body 71. A power supply line connected to the electrode is internally provided within the mounting arm 73, and the liquid storage bag 72 is provided with a liquid pipe for supplying a cooling liquid (not shown). This electrode structure is attached to the so-called gantry cuve high-frequency thermal treatment device body, and is shown in Fig. 7(B).
As shown in FIG. 2, a mounting body 76 provided at both ends of a curved arm 75 rotatably arranged with respect to a pair of supports 74,
The applicator mounting arm 73 is fixed. In use, the curved arm 75 is rotated to bring the pair of opposing applicators into contact with the affected skin surface of the living body A, and a high-frequency electric field is applied between both electrodes to heat-treat the cancerous tissue. do.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention In general, high-frequency thermal therapy for cancer, etc. is performed using a pair of electrodes (
applicator) is brought into contact with the skin surface corresponding to the cancer tissue, and a high-frequency electric field is applied between both electrodes to heat the cancer cells. However, cancerous tissue may exist in the oral cavity of a living body, for example, in the intracavity of the esophagus, uterus, rectum, and the like. When performing heat treatment on such cancerous tissues, the conventional electrode structure (
In the portable type and gantry type), the applicator is placed facing the surface of the living body's skin corresponding to the cancer tissue, and a high-frequency electric field is applied. Therefore, the heating area is wide, and parts other than the necessary parts are also heated, which has the disadvantage of poor heating efficiency.

For this reason, an electrode structure for intraluminal insertion as shown in FIG. 8(A) has recently been proposed. small electrode 82
A bifurcated coolant circulation opening 83 is provided at the rear end of the pipe 81.

In addition, the electrode lead 84 inside the pipe 81 is connected to the vibrator 81.
The structure is such that it can be pulled out to the outside. In this electrode structure,
As shown in FIG. 8(B), this applicator is inserted into the cavity and the tip electrode portion 82 is positioned corresponding to the cancerous tissue. Then, an ordinary portable applicator 85 is placed in contact with the electrode section 82, that is, on the side of the biological skin A corresponding to the cancerous tissue Jf, and a high-frequency electric field is applied between both electrodes. In this case, since the small electrode for insertion is placed within the cavity and in correspondence with the cancerous tissue, the heating area is expanded compared to the conventional method in which a pair of image electrodes are placed facing each other on the skin surface. Disadvantages such as reduced thermal efficiency are eliminated. However, with this electrode structure, the electrode inserted into the oral cavity is much smaller than the electrode brought into contact with the skin surface. Therefore, heating energy is concentrated on this inserted electrode. For this reason, this inserted electrode itself becomes like a heating body, which not only deteriorates the heating efficiency of the cancer tissue but also causes the living body near the inserted electrode to become exposed to fire.
There were disadvantages such as

The purpose of this invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a heating accelerating device for high-frequency thermotherapy that can efficiently apply (1) frequency electric lines of force to cancer mla existing in the cavity. shall be.

(d) Means and action for solving the problem In order to achieve this object, the heating accelerator for high frequency thermotherapy of the present invention has the following configuration.

The heating accelerator for high-frequency thermotherapy has an internal discharge passage for discharging highly insulating material, and a plurality of discharge passages provided on the outer periphery of the discharge passage, each having openings at different positions at appropriate lengths. A flexible telescopic tube for insertion into a living body cavity, which is provided with a supply passage section for supply, and a bulge portion that is fitted into the flexible telescopic tube and corresponds to the opening of each of the supply passage sections. It is composed of an inflatable bag body and a feeding means connected to the supply passage and discharge passage of the flexible extensible tube and equipped with a valve and a pump.

In the heating accelerator for high-frequency thermotherapy having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. When the highly insulating part B exists, the high frequency electric lines of force (arrow lines in Figure 4) flow avoiding the highly insulating part B, so the density of the electric lines of force around the highly insulating part B increases, resulting in In other words, the principle that the temperature of the peripheral part of the highly insulating part B is the same as that of the cylinder is utilized.

When treating cancer occurring in the oral cavity of a living body, for example, in the esophageal mucosa, a flexible extensible tube is inserted into the oral cavity (throat) of the living body and positioned to correspond to the cancerous tissue in the esophagus. At this time, at the same time, for example, an ordinary portable applicator is placed facing the living body's skin surface corresponding to the cancerous tissue.

Then, by means of a feeding means (a unit including a valve and a pump) connected to the flexible telescoping tube, the valve of each supply passage corresponding to the cancer tissue is opened to open the opening. Then, operate the pump to air air (highland edge material) to each supply passage.
Send out. As a result, the inflatable portions of the inflatable bag fitted in the expandable tube corresponding to the openings of the respective supply passages are swollen by the air, and the stickiness where the cancer cells are located is pressed and expanded. . As a result, an air pocket (highly insulating part) will be generated in the part corresponding to the cancerous tissue. Here, when applying a high frequency voltage between the pair of electrodes, the high frequency electric lines of force flow avoiding this air pocket (bulging part of the bag),
The density of electric lines of force in this part becomes high. As a result, this air pocket, that is, the cancer tissue region becomes high in temperature, and the efficiency of heating cancer cells increases.

When the heat treatment is finished, the valve in the discharge passage is opened and the suction pipe is activated to remove the air inside the inflatable bag (bulging part), so that the inflatable bag returns to its original state. It can be easily and painlessly removed from the oral cavity.

(E) Embodiment FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a heating accelerator for high-frequency thermotherapy according to the present invention.

The heating accelerator includes a flexible telescopic tube 1 inserted into the oral cavity;
It consists of a feeding means 2 connected to the flexible extensible tube 1, and an inflatable bag 3 fitted onto the flexible extensible tube 1. The feeding means (wandering unit) 2 includes a valve 2 that opens and closes openings of a discharge passage and a supply passage of the flexible extensible tube 1, which will be described later.
1, air supply and intake pumps 22 and 23, and a pressure sensor 24 provided in an air supply pipe 41, which will be described later, and which is connected to the air supply pump 22. This pressure sensor 24 detects the internal pressure of the supply passage section, which will be described later, and performs pressure adjustment.

The flexible extensible tube 1, whose partial sectional view is shown in FIG. 1, is a cylindrical body 11 that is open at both ends and is made of a flexible material that can be expanded and contracted, such as silicone rubber.

A plug 1a is fitted to the opening tip, and a connecting tube 4 for connecting the telescopic tube 1 to the supply 11L unit 2 is connected to the rear end. The cylinder inner hole of this cylinder (expandable tube 1) 11 is set as a discharge passage part 12 made of a highly insulating material, and a discharge m Four highly insulating material (air) supply passages 13 are formed in the cylinder axis direction in a circular shape with respect to the step part 12.
(See Figures (A) to 2(D)). The four supply passages 13 are each provided with an opening I4 that penetrates the wall of the cylinder 11. The openings 4 are provided at different positions for each supply passage 13.

Figure 2 (A) to Figure 2 (D) are A of Figure 1, respectively.
- A cross section, a B-B cross section, a C-C line cross section, and a D-D line cross section. As is clear from this figure, in the example, the cylinder 1
1 are provided in the longitudinal direction, and one or two openings 4 are provided in any one of the four supply passages 13 (in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, two openings 4 are provided). one opening 14 is provided). In other words, each supply passage section 1
The three openings 14 are opened at different positions. Further, in the discharge passage section 12, a cylindrical body 11 is provided at a position corresponding to the frontage part 14 of the supply passage section 13 (air supply area).
A through hole 15 penetrating the wall is opened.

The supply passage section 13 and the discharge passage section 12 are connected to the supply vibrator 41 and the discharge vibrator 42 of the connection tube 4, respectively, and the valve 21 of the supply wandering unit 2, It is connected to pumps 22 and 23. As a result, each opening 14 of each supply passage I3 is
It is set so that the corresponding valve 21 is opened as appropriate, and air is blown out of the telescopic tube 1 only from the opening 14 opened by the valve 21.

The inflatable bag 3 is a bag formed of a material such as thin rubber with high elasticity, and is fitted into the expandable tube 1. This bag body 3 has a telescopic tube 1 arranged in a knot shape corresponding to the opening 14.
In other words, the inflatable bag body 3 is composed of four mutually independent regions, and only the position corresponding to the opening 14, that is, the bulging part 31, receives air from the opening 14. It is set to inflate and deflate with air.

Further, a temperature sensor 32 is provided on the surface of this bulging portion 31, and a lead wire of the temperature sensor 32 is led out to the supply N1 unit 2 via the discharge passage portion (not shown). Thereby, the heating temperature of the bulging part 31 of the expansion/contraction bag 3 can be detected, the degree of swelling of the bulging part 31 can be adjusted, and -layer heating efficiency can be rationally realized.

When using a heating accelerator for high-frequency thermotherapy having such a configuration to heat-treat, for example, esophageal cancer existing in a living body cavity, as shown in FIG. Correspondingly, a pair of opposing applicators (usually one
General applicator) 5.5. Then, the soft and flat flexible tube 1 (111) is inserted into the vaginal opening and positioned corresponding to the cancerous tissue mucous membrane.
Among them, the pulp 21 of the opening 14 of the supply passage section 13 corresponding to the cancer tissue is opened, and the air supply pump 22 is operated to send air to the supply passage section 13 . As a result, air is sent from the opening 14 of the supply passage section 13 where the pulp 21 is opened to the bulging part 31 of the inflatable bag 3, and the bulging part 31 bulges out (see FIG. 1). In this way, the cancerous tissue mucous membrane that is in contact with the expansion/contraction bag 3 is pressed by the bulge 31 and expanded.

As a result, an air pocket (highly insulating part) will be generated in the part corresponding to the cancerous tissue. Here, when applying a high-frequency voltage between the pair of applicators (electrodes) 5.5, the high-frequency electric lines of force flow avoiding this air pocket (bulging part 31), and the electric force around the bulging part 31 is The lines become denser (see Figure 4). As a result, this air pocket (bulging portion 31
), that is, the cancer tissue area, becomes high temperature, achieving high heating efficiency for cancer cells. When the heat treatment is completed, the pulp 21 in the discharge passage section 12 is opened and the suction pump 23 is activated. As a result, the air inside the inflatable bag (bulging part 31) 3 is exhausted through the through hole 15, the inflatable bag 3 returns to its original state, and the flexible elastic tube 1 is removed from the vaginal opening. It can be taken out without any problem. By changing the pulp 21 that opens and closes, the location where the bulging portion 31 occurs is changed.
A wide range of treatments can be performed.

In the embodiment, air was supplied as the highly insulating material, but in practice, silicone oil or the like may be used instead of air. In addition, the temperature of a highly insulating material such as air or silicone oil may be separately controlled and supplied. In this case, an auxiliary heating effect of high frequency heating can be achieved, and - the layer heating efficiency is improved. I can do it.

(F) Effects of the Invention In this invention, as described above, an inflatable bag body is fitted and fixed to a flexible elastic tube having a plurality of supply passages arranged in a circle around the outer periphery of a discharge passage. Opening and closing the openings provided in each supply passage through the pulp and pump connected to the flexible telescoping pipe,
Since we decided to send a highly insulating material to the inflatable bag that communicates with the opening to cause it to swell, when the flexible extensible tube is inserted into the body cavity and positioned to correspond to the cancerous tissue, the bag will bulge. The mucous membrane of the cancerous tissue is pressed by the part, and an air pocket is formed in this part. Here, by placing a pair of applicators facing each other on the skin surface corresponding to the cancer tissue and applying a high-frequency voltage between both electrodes, the high-frequency electric lines of force become dense at the periphery of the bulging part of the bag. , the cancer tissue is heated at high temperature and heat treatment is efficiently performed.

Furthermore, since the flexible telescopic tube is flat when no air is supplied, it can be easily inserted into and removed from the body cavity without causing any pain, which is an excellent effect of achieving the goal of the invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the main parts of the heating acceleration device for high-frequency thermotherapy according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 (A) is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. BB line sectional view in Figure 1, Figure 2 (
C) is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 1, FIG. 2(D) is a sectional view taken along the line DD in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line D-D in FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the principle of the heating acceleration device for high-frequency thermotherapy according to the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of treatment with the heating acceleration device for high-frequency thermotherapy according to the embodiment. , FIG. 6(A) is a perspective view showing a conventional portable applicator, FIG. 6(B) is a front view showing a state in which heat treatment is performed using the portable applicator, and FIG.
Figure (A) is a front view showing a gantry type applicator;
FIG. 7(B) is a front view showing the state of heat treatment using the gantry second applicator, FIG. 8(A) is a front view showing the electrode structure for insertion into the cavity, and FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which heat treatment is performed using an electrode structure for internal insertion. 1: IQ expandable tube, 2: Supply unit, 3: Inflatable bag, 12: Discharge passage, I3: Supply passage, ■4: Opening part, 21: Valve, 22
・23: Pump, 31: Swelling part. Patent applicant Tateishi Electric Co., Ltd. Agent
Patent Attorney Shigeru Nakamura Diagram 2 (A)
Figure 2 (B) 2■ (C) Figure 2 (D
> Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 (A') Figure 6 CB) Figure 7 (A) Figure 7 (B) Figure 8 (A) Figure 8 (B)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A discharge passage for discharging a highly insulating material inside, and a plurality of supply passages for supplying a high insulating material provided on the outer periphery of this discharge passage, each having openings at different positions with appropriate lengths. a flexible extensible tube for insertion into a living body cavity; an inflatable bag fitted into the flexible extensible tube and provided with a bulge corresponding to the opening of the supply passage; A heating accelerator for high-frequency thermotherapy, comprising a supply means connected to a supply passage and a discharge passage of a flexible extensible tube and equipped with a valve and a pump.