JPH0392143A - Laser therapeutic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attempt to make a diameter of an inserting part of a laser therapeutic apparatus small by performing transmitting and receiving of a signal in an inserting part of an endoscope through an optical fiber for laser therapy in a detecting means detecting an affect part by means of an ultrasonic oscillator etc. CONSTITUTION:A detecting means 13 for detecting a diseased part and a therapeutic means 14-19 by means of a laser are provided. An ultrasonic wave irradiated to an inner wall of a body cavity by means of an ultrasonic oscillator 4 is reflected therefrom and is received again by the oscillator 4 and is transduced into an electric signal by means of an ultrasonic transducer 6 connected to the oscillator 4. This electric signal is transformed to an optical signal by means sof a photoelectric transforming element 7. This optical signal is guided into a photoelectric transducer 12 and is transformed into an electric signal and an information on a diseased part is obtd. In an ultrasonic signal- treating part 13 to actuate a laser apparatus 14. Namely, as it is possible to perform transmitting and receiving of a signal in an inserting part 2 of an endoscope through optical fibers 17, 8 and 11 for a laser therapy, it is possible to make a diameter of the inserting part small.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a laser treatment device, and is particularly used for treating affected areas within body cavities. [Conventional technology] Laser therapy is used to remove abnormally shaped objects in weak areas within body cavities that would be extremely dangerous to remove with a normal scalpel, or to destroy tissue around tumors. It is well known that this is done. Up to now, many cases of successful treatment of malignant tumors using lasers have been reported.

This laser device uses ultrasonic waves to detect the affected area, shortens the time it takes to treat the affected area after it is detected, and enables prompt and appropriate laser irradiation by avoiding misalignment of the treatment device relative to the affected area. There are devices that control the treatment device based on the information detected to perform treatment.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, since the conventional laser treatment device described above is inserted into a body cavity, it is necessary to extend a signal cable for transmitting and receiving to the ultrasonic transducer to the insertion part, and an optical fiber for laser irradiation must also be installed. This has hindered efforts to reduce the diameter of the insertion site. Reducing the diameter of the insertion section is necessary to reduce the pain of the subject and to improve operability for the operator.

The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a laser treatment device that is capable of detecting affected areas and performing laser treatment, with a thinner insertion section. This is what I did.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a laser treatment device having a detection means for detecting an affected area and a laser treatment means.
The system has a detection means for detecting the affected area, which is equipped with means for converting the received ultrasonic waves into electric signals, means for converting the electric signals into optical signals, and an ultrasonic diagnostic device for processing based on the optical signals. It is something.

In this way, transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves can be performed using optical signals, and therefore can be performed using an optical fiber for laser irradiation.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention, which is incorporated into an endoscope. The endoscope 1 is provided with an observation optical system at the distal end of an insertion section 2, and a formed image is guided through an image guide and is observed by an operator from an eyepiece section 3. In the drawings, details of the structural elements for endoscopic observation are omitted. An ultrasonic transducer 4 is provided at the tip of the insertion portion 2, and the ultrasonic transducer 4 is configured to radiate ultrasonic waves from a scanning window 5 to approximately 360 degrees all around while rotating. The ultrasonic waves emitted toward the inner wall of the body cavity propagate to the living body deep within the inner wall, and the ultrasonic waves reflected from there are received by the ultrasonic transducer 4 again.

The ultrasound received by the ultrasound transducer 4 is converted into an electrical signal by an ultrasound conversion element 6 connected to the ultrasound transducer 4 within the tip of the insertion section 2 . In this case, the ultrasonic signal is converted into an electrical signal depending on its magnitude. Ultrasonic conversion element 6
A piezoelectric element or the like is used for this purpose.

The electrical signal is converted into an optical signal by a photoelectric conversion element 7 connected to the ultrasonic conversion element 6. In this case as well, the electric signal is converted into an optical signal depending on its magnitude.

The optical signal is guided to the ultrasonic diagnostic device 9 through an optical fiber A8 whose end faces the vicinity of the photoelectric conversion element 7 and which passes through the insertion section 2 and extends toward the operator's hand. .

In the embodiment, the optical signal passes through optical fiber A8 and is then reflected via reflective optics 10 into optical fiber Bll. After passing through the optical fiber Bll, the optical signal is converted into an electric signal again by the photoelectric conversion element 12 provided near the end of the optical fiber Bll, and then the ultrasonic signal processing unit l3 connected to the photoelectric conversion element l2 Input it into .

When the signal is processed by the ultrasonic signal processing unit 13, information such as the location, depth, and hardness of the affected area is obtained.The laser device is activated by inputting a signal based on this information to the laser device. let

The laser device 14 has a control section 15 and a laser oscillation section 16, and is adapted to emit a laser beam when a detection signal from the ultrasonic diagnostic device 13 is received. The laser from the laser oscillation unit 16 is guided through an optical fiber C to the endoscope 2.
17, and is guided to the optical fiber A8 via an optical system. Furthermore, the laser emitted from the end of the optical fiber 88 is emitted to the outside of the insertion section 2 via a reflection member 19 provided near the laser emission window l8 (in the direction of the broken line X).

The type of laser used depends on the situation of the affected area, but in general, if the cancer is only on the surface of the affected area,
Treatment can be carried out by selecting a Coz laser, which is a gas laser, and if cancer cells have progressed deep into the affected area, selecting a YAG, which is a 4-level infrared laser with good penetration ability, to destroy the cancer cells. .

For this purpose, the laser device 14 may be configured to be able to emit two types of lasers.

In this way, ultrasonic diagnosis is performed using the optical signal transmitted through the optical fiber A8, and based on the signal, the laser is transmitted through the optical fiber A8 to treat the affected area. There is no need to provide an electric signal cable for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the ultrasonic transducer, and the insertion portion can be made smaller in diameter.

Optical fibers can be made thinner than electrical signal cables, so even if optical fibers are provided separately for ultrasound and laser use, there is no disadvantage in reducing the diameter of the insertion section. In this case, detection of the affected area and laser treatment can be performed simultaneously.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, in the detection means for detecting the affected area using an ultrasonic transducer or the like, signals can be transmitted and received within the insertion section of the endoscope via the optical fiber for laser treatment, so that the insertion section has a small diameter. It is possible to aim for As a result, it is possible to reduce the pain of the subject and to improve the operability of the endoscope.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. 2... Insertion part 4... Ultrasonic transducer 6... Ultrasonic conversion element 7... Charge conversion element 8... Optical fiber A 9... Ultrasound diagnostic equipment l3... Ultrasonic signal processing section 14... Laser device 19... Laser reflection part

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A laser treatment device having a detection means for detecting an affected area and a laser treatment means, a means for converting received ultrasonic waves into an electric signal, and a means for converting the electric signal into an optical signal. A laser treatment device characterized by having a detection means for detecting an affected area, which is equipped with an ultrasonic diagnostic device that performs processing based on the optical signal.