JPS6249061B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a microwave detection device for detecting microwaves inside a body cavity.

Normally, an endoscope is used to visually observe the mucosal surface within a living body cavity, and it is impossible to discover, for example, a lesion unless it appears visibly.
On the other hand, it has recently been known that lesions such as cancer and tumors in living tissues are about 1° C. hotter than other normal tissues. Therefore, various methods have been proposed for discovering a lesion by detecting the temperature difference.

For example, Special Publication No. 33949, Special Publication No. 48-
In Japanese Patent No. 33952, etc., far infrared rays emitted by living tissue are detected to measure the temperature of the inner surface of the living cavity. Furthermore, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 49-141687 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-11157, temperature is measured by inserting a temperature measuring probe through an endoscope and pressing it against the inner surface of the body cavity. be. Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-18515, temperature is determined by pressing a liquid crystal film against the inner surface of a living cavity and observing the color change of this liquid crystal film.

However, since all of these prior art methods utilize non-transparent far-infrared radiation or heat conduction through contact, they can only measure the temperature of the surface within the body cavity. Therefore, it is difficult to detect submucosal lesions, and of course, it is impossible to detect lesions in areas such as the pancreas or liver where a measuring instrument cannot be inserted.

The present invention has been made focusing on the above circumstances,
The purpose of this invention is to provide a microwave detection device inside a living body cavity that is capable of detecting not only the inner surface of the living body cavity but also the state below the surface thereof.

It is generally known that living tissue emits electromagnetic waves depending on its temperature state. As shown in FIG. 1, this radiation spectrum covers a wide frequency range, and the higher the absolute temperature T, the more the radiation intensity increases, reaching its maximum when the wavelength λ in the air is around 10 μm. However, this wavelength region of maximum intensity is far-infrared rays, which has the property of hardly transmitting through living tissue, and cannot detect anything inside the living tissue.

However, in the microwave range, it easily penetrates the living tissue. Therefore, the present invention attempts to measure the temperature state under the mucous membrane by detecting microwaves emitted from the inner surface of the body cavity.

The present invention will be described below based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

2 and 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a microwave detection device is incorporated into an endoscope. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 2 is an endoscope body consisting of an insertion section 2 and an operation section 3. As shown in FIG. Insertion part 2
The tip portion 6 is connected to the tip of the flexible tube portion 4 via the curved portion 5.
The bending section 5 connects an operating mechanism (not shown) provided in the operating section 3 to a bending operating knob 7.
By operating the tip 6, the tip 6 can be bent remotely, and the direction of the tip 6 can be selected. Further, a flexible light guide cable 8 is connected to the operating section 3, and a connector 9 is attached to the tip of the cable. The light source device 10 can be attached to the light source device 10 via this connector 9.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, an observation window 12 of an observation optical system 11 is provided on the upper side of the tip 6. A right angle prism 13 is located inside this observation window 12.
is installed so that the light entering from the observation window 12 is made incident on the objective lenses 14. Further, the objective lens 14 forms an image of the light on the distal end surface of an image guide 15 made of an optical fiber bundle, and the image guide 15 is guided through the insertion section 2 to the eyepiece section 16 of the operating section 3. It's dark. Although not shown, an illumination window for an illumination optical system is provided near the observation window 12, and the illumination light guided from the light source device 10 is emitted through the illumination optical system to illuminate the observation field of view. It's summery.

On the other hand, the insertion section 2 serves as a detection probe by configuring a microwave detection section at its distal end 6. That is, a microwave receiving antenna 17 is provided on the upper side of the most distal end of the distal end portion 6 and is directed toward the observation direction of the observation optical system 11 . This receiving antenna 17 is a horn antenna made of a conductive material.

Further, a long conductive cylinder 19 forming a microwave resonance chamber 18 is installed in the distal end 6 along the axial direction of the insertion portion 2 . That is, the cylindrical body 19
is installed using almost the entire length of the tip 6. Further, a shorting plate 20 made of a conductive material is attached and fixed to the open end of the cylindrical body 19 on the front end side. Further, a shorting plate 21 made of a conductive material is provided in the base end of the cylinder 19 so as to be slidable along the axial direction of the cylinder 19. Thus, the microwave resonance chamber 18 described above is formed within the cylindrical body 19 sandwiched between the shorting plates 20 and 21.

Further, the tip of an operating wire 22 is connected to the shorting plate 21 on the movable side. The operating wire 22 is connected through the insertion section 2 to an operating mechanism (not shown) within the operating section 3. This operating mechanism is operated by an operating knob 23 provided on the operating section 3, and is adapted to push and pull the operating wire 22. By pushing and pulling the operating wire 22 in this way, the movable shorting plate 21 is moved back and forth, changing the distance between the shorting plates 20 and 21, that is, the state of the microwave resonance chamber 18, and causing the resonating micro You can adjust the frequency of the waves.

Furthermore, a detection element 24 that converts the strength of the resonating microwave into an electrical signal is provided at a position on the inner wall of the microwave resonance chamber 18 facing the receiving antenna 17. As this detection element 24, for example, a wave detector is used. The signal thus obtained is transmitted to an externally provided display device 26 through a transmission cable 25, as will be described later. That is, the display device 26 is connected to the connector 9 via a cable 27 as shown in FIG.
A display portion 29 of a display device and various switches 30, which will be described later, are provided on the upper surface of the device. Further, the display device 26 is provided with a signal amplifier 31, a conversion circuit 32, and a display 33. The transmission cable 25 is connected to the signal amplifier 31 through the insertion section 2, the operating section 3, the light guide cable 8, and the cable 27.

When the insertion section 2 is introduced into a biological cavity and the interior of the biological cavity is observed, the microwaves from the observation field of view enter the microwave resonance chamber 18 from the receiving antenna 17, and only those of a certain wavelength are transmitted. resonates. Then, this resonating microwave is detected by the detection element 24 and converted into an electrical signal according to its intensity. Further, this electrical signal enters the signal amplifier 31 of the display device 26 through the transmission cable 25 and is amplified, and then is sent to the conversion circuit 32.
The signal is then converted into a displayable signal. Then, in response to this signal, the display 33
For example, a digital display is performed as a temperature value at 9.

In addition, when changing the frequency of the microwave that resonates in the microwave resonance chamber 18, the operating mechanism is operated using the operating knob 23 of the operating section 3, and the movable side is moved by pushing and pulling the operating wire 22. The front and rear positions of the shorting plate 21 are changed. Therefore, the shorting plate 2
The distance between 0 and 21 changes, and the frequency of the resonant microwave changes. Therefore, the frequency of the microwave to be detected can be arbitrarily selected. Also,
This selection operation can be performed remotely from the operating section 3.

Generally, the penetration depth of microwaves into living tissue differs depending on the frequency. If the frequency of the microwave to be detected can be arbitrarily selected as described above, the temperature state from the inner surface of the body cavity to a depth of several centimeters below the surface can be detected.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the invention. This embodiment differs from the above embodiment only in the method of the operating mechanism for moving the shorting plate 21 on the movable side. That is, this operation mechanism uses hydraulic pressure to move the operation mechanism, and a piston 34 is installed inside the cylinder body 19.
A short circuit plate 21 on the movable side is provided on this piston 34.
At the same time, the proximal end of the cylindrical body 19 is closed, and an oil chamber 37 filled with a liquid such as oil 36 is formed between the closed end 35 and the piston 34. Furthermore, a cylinder 39 provided within the operating section 3 is connected to the oil chamber 37 via a tube 38 that is inserted into the insertion section 2 . A piston 40 is provided within this cylinder 39 and is connected to a rack 41. Further, a pinion 42 is engaged with the rack 41, and this pinion 42 is connected to the operating knob 2, for example.
3, the rack 41 can be moved forward and backward, and the piston 40 can be moved.

Therefore, if the oil pressure is changed by moving the piston 40 within the cylinder 39, the cylindrical body 19
Since the piston 34 can be moved back and forth, the shorting plate 21 on the movable side can be moved together with the piston 34.

When operated by hydraulic pressure in this way, the movement of the shorting plate 21 is more stable than in the above embodiment, and fine adjustment is possible.

In addition, in each of the above embodiments, only one of the short circuit plates is moved, but the present invention is not limited to this, and both short circuit plates may be moved. In addition, a microwave detection element is provided at the tip, and the tip converts the strength of the microwave in the microwave resonance chamber into an electrical signal. May be processed.

Further, depending on the biological cavity used, a microwave-transparent cover may be provided at the open end of the receiving antenna.

As explained above, the present invention inserts a detection probe part into a body cavity and detects microwaves emitted from the inner surface of the body cavity. Even the state can be detected. Therefore, lesions such as early submucosal cancers and tumors that were previously difficult to detect can be easily detected, as well as cancers in the pancreas, liver, etc. that could not be directly inserted with an endoscope can also be detected in the stomach. It becomes possible.

Furthermore, since this method detects microwaves from living tissue, unlike diagnosis using X-rays, there is no adverse effect on the living body.

Furthermore, since the frequency of the microwave to be detected can be arbitrarily selected in the present invention, the temperature state from the inner surface of the biological cavity to a depth of several centimeters below the surface can be detected. In other words, any lesion can be detected regardless of its depth.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a spectral characteristic diagram of electromagnetic waves emitted by living tissues, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the tip thereof, and Fig. 4 is the invention of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the distal end portion and the operating mechanism portion showing a second embodiment of the present invention. 2... Insertion part, 17... Receiving antenna, 18... Microwave resonance chamber, 19... Cylindrical body, 20, 21... Shorting plate, 22... Operating wire, 24... Detecting element.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An insertion section that can be inserted into a biological cavity, a microwave reception antenna provided in the insertion section, reception frequency variable means for arbitrarily varying the microwave reception frequency of the reception antenna, and a reception frequency of the reception antenna. 1. A microwave detection device in a living body cavity, comprising means for measuring the temperature of a region below the surface of the body cavity based on the output.