JPS62102772A - hyperthermia device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hyperthermia device for performing heating therapy.

Conventional hyperthermia therapy (hyperthermia) is known to be highly effective in treating cancer, but if the temperature distribution within the body is not monitored during heating, unexpected temperatures may rise or The predetermined temperature (43° C. or higher) may not be reached.

Conventionally, a thermistor or thermocouple is inserted into the living body to measure the temperature, and heating is controlled based on the measured temperature (U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,31
4).

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, inserting a thermistor or thermocouple into a patient's body to measure temperature or control heating places a heavy burden on the patient and is not desirable. Moreover, since thermistors and thermocouples can only measure temperature at a limited number of measurement points, there is a risk of burns to the patient if hot spots occur and continued heating is not detected.

This invention does not place any burden on the patient by non-invasively measuring the temperature distribution within the body during heating.

Moreover, the purpose is to provide a safe hyperthermia device.

Means for Solving the Problems The hyperthermia device according to the present invention is applied to the surface of a living body via a heating energy source and a radiation medium, and receives energy from the heating energy source and radiates it into the living body. It includes a radiation means and an ultrasonic temperature measuring probe. The radiation means and the ultrasonic temperature measuring probe form an integral structure as a head, and this head is held by the holding means. This holding means can move the position of the head along the body surface of the living body.

Since temperature is measured using active ultrasound, the temperature of a living body during heating treatment can be measured non-invasively. Therefore, it is possible to monitor the internal temperature distribution during heating and to perform temperature control without placing any burden on the patient. Moreover, since the ultrasonic temperature measuring probe and the heating energy radiation means are integrated as a head, and this head is movable along the body surface, heating is performed according to the above-mentioned measured temperature distribution. controlling the scanning of the hot energy radiating means;
Optimal temperature distribution can be achieved.

Embodiment In FIG. 1, a human body 2 of a patient receiving treatment is placed on a bed 1.
is lying down, and an aquarium 3 is placed on top of this human body 2. As shown in FIG. 2, this water tank 3 has a semi-cylindrical bottom surface 31 whose axis is parallel to the body axis direction of the human body 2.
A stretchable bag-like container, ie, a bag 32 made of rubber, vinyl chloride sheet, etc., is attached to a part of the bottom surface 31. When the fluid 4 is put into the water tank 3, the fluid 4 enters the bag 32, expands it, and comes into close contact with the surface of the human body 2.

This fluid 4 is circulated by a temperature controller 33 to maintain a constant temperature.

A head 5 that integrally includes a probe 51 and an applicator 52 is positioned within this water tank 3 . This head 5
is held by a stand 6. Specifically, the vertical movement device 61 of the stand 6 moves the human body 2 in the vertical direction (Y direction in the figure), the lateral movement device 62 moves the human body 2 in the lateral direction (X direction in the figure), and then the vertical movement device 63 in the axial direction of the human body 2 (in the figure, the Z direction - the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper), while being held by the stand 6. These moving devices 61
Although the moving devices 61 to 63 are composed of a threaded rod and a nut body in this figure, other mechanisms may be used.
to 63 are controlled by the position control device 7 to determine the position of the head 5.

The probe 51 is a probe for ultrasonic side temperature, and is composed of an ultrasonic transducer that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves. For example, a fan-shaped ultrasonic beam is transmitted from this probe 51, and when an echo is received thereafter, this received signal is sent to the ultrasonic temperature measurement device 8, and the temperature is measured, such as the attenuation and frequency characteristics of the transmitted signal. The temperature distribution in a certain cross section of the human body 2 can be obtained using the dependence.

The applicator 52 radiates electromagnetic wave (frequency approximately 10 MHz to 2500 MHz) energy sent from the electromagnetic wave energy source 9 into the human body 2 using the fluid 4 as a medium. fluid 4
is a fluid (generally water) whose electrical characteristics are similar to those of the human body 2 with respect to the electromagnetic waves, and the bag 32 is provided so that the fluid 4 comes into close contact with the surface of the human body 2.

In this way, impedance matching with respect to electromagnetic waves and ultrasonic waves and cooling of the body surface are achieved by this fluid 4.

First, the location of the affected area 21 such as cancer tissue (it is possible to use the ultrasonic temperature measuring device 8 to find this location)
is given to the control device 10, the head 5 moves to this affected area 2.
1, the vertical movement device 61, the lateral movement device 62. The longitudinal movement device 63 is controlled. Then, electromagnetic wave energy is radiated into the human body 2 from the applicator 52, and the human body 2 is heated. During this heating, the head 5 is caused to scan the vicinity of the affected area 21 along the body surface, for example, as shown by the arrow in the figure. The trajectory of this scan is commanded from the control device 10 to the position control device 7. At the same time, the temperature distribution near the affected area 21 is determined by the ultrasonic temperature measuring device 8. This temperature distribution information is sent to the control device IO, and the control device 10 sends a control signal to the electromagnetic wave energy source 9 to control the heating energy and also to the 1-position control device 7 to correct the scan trajectory, etc. command is issued. In this way, control is achieved such that only the affected area 21 that requires heating is heated to a predetermined temperature.

Note that the moving device for the head 5 may be attached to the ceiling instead of being provided on the stand 6.
Although the above configuration is such that the fluid 4 is in close contact with the upper half of the human body 2, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the fluid is in close contact with the entire periphery of the human body 2.

Effects of the Invention By using the hyperthermia device of the present invention, it is possible to non-invasively monitor the temperature distribution within a living body during heating, and the temperature can be controlled accurately. By being able to measure temperature non-invasively, there is no need to put a burden on the patient.Furthermore, it is possible to measure temperature distribution over a wide range rather than at a limited number of measurement points, so even if hot spots occur, they can be avoided. It is immediately detectable and extremely safe. In addition, since the head in which the heating energy emitting means and the ultrasonic temperature measurement probe are integrated can be moved along the body surface, the desired temperature can be determined by controlling the scanning of this head based on the measured temperature distribution. distribution can be achieved and the therapeutic effect is large.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a two-dimensional blow diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a water tank portion. 1... Bed 2... Human body 21... Affected area 3... Water tank 31... Semi-cylindrical bottom surface
32...Bag 4...Fluid 5...
・Head 51... Probe 52... Applicator 6... Stand 61... Vertical movement device 62... Lateral movement device 63... Vertical movement device 7
...Position control device 8...Ultrasonic temperature measurement device 9.
...Electromagnetic energy source 10...Control device

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A heating energy source, a radiation means that is applied to the surface of a living body via a radiation medium, receives energy supply from the heating energy source, and radiates into the living body, and is formed integrally with the radiation means. 1. A hyperthermia device comprising: an ultrasonic temperature measuring probe; and a holding means that holds an integral structure of the emitting means and the ultrasonic temperature measuring probe and whose position is movable along the body surface of a living body.