JPS6365341B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an applicator for heating therapy, and particularly to an applicator for heating therapy for heating a predetermined location of a living body using electromagnetic waves. [Conventional technology] In recent years, heating therapy

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in such conventional examples, the energy loss of electromagnetic waves inside the applicator is relatively large. For this reason, the inventors have already proposed filling the applicator with oil that reduces the attenuation of electromagnetic waves (Japanese Patent Application No. 8692/1982). On the other hand, even with this oil-filled applicator, there are problems with mismatching between the biological surface and the radio wave lens installed as necessary, and heat loss due to impedance in the electromagnetic wave propagation system. As a result, when used continuously for a long period of time, the applicator gets heated, and at the same time the filled oil expands, causing damage to, for example, the oil-filled partition plate installed in the radio wave propagation path inside the case body. This is causing some inconvenience. [Object of the Invention] The present invention improves the disadvantages of the conventional example, and even if the filled oil undergoes thermal expansion due to continuous use, it easily absorbs this and adversely affects the oil-filled partition and other members. The purpose is to provide an applicator for heating therapy that is durable and durable. [Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in the present invention, a case body is provided which has an electromagnetic wave feeding section at one end and an electromagnetic wave emitting end at the other end, and the electromagnetic wave feeding section in the case body is provided. is filled with insulating oil that has low attenuation of electromagnetic waves, and a plurality of small holes are provided in a part of the periphery of the electromagnetic wave power supply part, and a fluid is accommodated that communicates with the electromagnetic wave power supply part through the plurality of small holes. The fluid storage means is configured such that when the internal pressure of the insulating oil increases, the fluid storage means is energized by the insulating oil and the volume on the side communicating with the electromagnetic wave power supply section expands;
This aims to achieve the above objective. [Function] When the applicator is used continuously for a long time, the case body and the filled oil are heated due to loss of electromagnetic wave energy within the applicator. When the filled oil is heated, it undergoes thermal expansion, and the increased amount of filled oil due to this thermal expansion continues to the outside of the small holes through multiple small holes formed in a part of the inner wall of the electromagnetic wave power supply part. The fluid flows out of the case body from the fluid guide means provided in the case body, thereby eliminating inconveniences such as generation of abnormal hydraulic pressure inside the case body and damage to the oil-filled partition plate. [First Embodiment] Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 13. First, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates a case body having a function as a waveguide. As is clear from FIGS. 2 to 4, the case body 10 has a box shape, and has an electromagnetic wave power feeding section 11 at one end, a radio wave lens section 12 at the other end, and a box-like shape. A stabilization mechanism 13 for electromagnetic wave matching is provided in the intermediate portion. Furthermore, the right end portion of the radio wave lens portion 12 in FIG.
A cooling mechanism 15 for cooling the surface of the living body is provided so as to cover the body 4 from the outside. The electromagnetic wave feeding section 11 includes a feeding section waveguide 10A forming a part of the case body 10, an excitation antenna 11A protruding from the center of the feeding section waveguide 10A, and an excitation antenna 11A. It is formed by a connected waterproof coaxial connector 11B for electromagnetic waves. Thereby, the electromagnetic waves sent through the coaxial connector 11B are efficiently introduced into the case body 10. The power supply conduit 10A, including the location where the stabilization mechanism 13 is installed, is filled with an insulating oil (hereinafter simply referred to as "oil") 10C that has low attenuation of electromagnetic waves. 10D indicates an oil-filled partition plate made of a dielectric member for sealing the oil 10C. In this embodiment, the stub unit mechanism 13 is a set of three stub unit mechanisms disposed on the same line at predetermined intervals. To explain this in more detail, each of these stabilization units 13
Each of A, 13B, and 13C includes a cylinder portion 21 with an open end, a waterproof piston member 22 that reciprocates within the cylinder portion 21, and a piston member 22 that is integrated with the piston member 22 and has a stub alignment function. a threaded member 23, a threaded hole 24 into which the threaded member 23 is screwed and inserted, and the case body 10.
It is composed of one or more through holes 25 that communicate between the inside and the inside of the cylinder part 21, and by rotating each screw member 23, the screw member 23 is appropriately protruded into the case body 10. More and more consistency is being adopted. In this case, the communication through hole 25 is arranged so that the oil 10 generated as the piston member 22 reciprocates.
The flow port for movement of C is shown. In addition, in order to smooth the flow of the oil 10C, that is, the reciprocating movement of the piston member 22, and the case body 10 caused by continuous use,
In order to allow thermal expansion of the filled oil due to overheating, a part of the power supply waveguide 10A is provided with a fluid storage means 26 that communicates with the power supply waveguide 10A. This fluid storage means 26 is connected to the case body 10.
A fluid storage section 10E having a certain spatial area provided at the left end in FIG. A cup-shaped soft member 26B having a concave cross-section and a convex portion at the center thereof is inserted into the fluid storage portion 10E from the outside, and the electromagnetic wave power supply portion 11 is inserted into the center portion of the cup-shaped soft member 26B from the outside. It is composed of a coil spring 26C that constantly presses the coil spring 26C gently toward the side, and a lid member 26D that locks the coil spring 26C and sealingly attaches the cup-shaped soft member 26B to the case body 10. 26E indicates a screw that locks the coil spring 26C;
F indicates a ventilation hole formed in the lid member 26D. Here, the wire mesh 26A is connected to the electromagnetic wave power supply section 11.
Therefore, as long as it functions in the same way as this, even if a plurality of small holes are directly provided in the inner wall of the electromagnetic wave power supply section 11, It may be replaced with a plate-shaped metal member having a small through hole. Further, the electromagnetic wave radiation end portion 1 of the case body 10
The cooling mechanism 15 installed in the heating section 4 is formed into a flat shape in order to efficiently cool the surface of the heating section. To explain this in more detail, the cooling mechanism 15 includes an anchoring board 3 that is integrally fixed to the case body 10.
0, a rectangular cooling liquid outlet 30A formed at one end of this anchoring substrate 30, and a similarly rectangular cooling liquid flow formed at the other end of the anchoring substrate 30 corresponding thereto. Exit 30B, each cooling liquid inlet/outlet 30A, 30B, waterproof insulating film prevention groove 30C carved so as to surround the opening 10E of the electromagnetic wave radiation end 14, and each of these cooling liquids. coolant guides 31 and 32 connected and fixed to the inlet 30A and the coolant outlet 30B; a flat insulating film member 33 disposed to cover substantially the entire surface of the electromagnetic wave radiation end 14; This insulating film member 33 is formed by a frame plate 34 which is detachably attached to the retaining board 30 with its periphery waterproofed. Among them, the insulating film member 33
has a convex shape on the outside and an opening on the inside,
It is made of a film-like electrically conductive material that has little attenuation of electromagnetic waves. The cooling water flowing in from the cooling liquid inlet 30A flows inside the insulating film member 33 and is sent out to the cooling liquid outlet 30B as indicated by the arrow f in FIG. It is now possible to efficiently cool the surface of a living body. In this embodiment, the radio wave lens unit 12 installed at the right end of the case body 10 in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 9 to 9, it is formed into a box shape with two opposing sides open, and the entire box is removably housed within the case body 10. To explain this in more detail, the radio wave lens section 12
is a plurality of metal plates 40, 40 having the same dimensions.
... and a frame 41 that locks the upper and lower ends of each metal plate 40 in FIG. 6.
As shown in the figure, each of the metal plates 40 has a maximum dimension width α ₀ at the center thereof, and becomes smaller as it approaches the side wall 41A of the frame body 41. α ₁ set as,
α ₂ , α ₃ (however, α ₀ > α ₁ > α ₂ > α ₃ ), thereby providing the first
As shown by the dotted line in FIG. 1, each metal plate 40 is set so as to be able to exert a predetermined lens effect in one direction as a whole. Further, each of the metal plates 40 has a shape in which the center of the end on the side of the electromagnetic wave power supply unit 11 is cut into a bow shape, so that the same incoming electromagnetic waves as those described above can be detected as shown in FIG. As shown in , the lens is set so that a predetermined lens effect can also be exerted in the other direction. FIG. 12 shows a right side view of FIG. 1 when the radio wave lens section 12 formed in this manner is housed in the case body 10 (with the insulating film member 33 removed).
In this case, since both the electromagnetic wave incident side and the electromagnetic wave emission side of the radio wave lens section 12 are open, the cooling liquid in the cooling mechanism 15 described above can very easily flow into the electromagnetic lens section. It can leak out. Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 42 indicates a set screw for locking the radio wave lens portion 12. As shown in FIG. The box-shaped radio wave lens part 12, which is formed to be detachable as described above, is actually numbered 10 in advance according to the affected area.
A number of them are prepared and selected and used as appropriate. Further, on the side of the electromagnetic wave power supply section 11 of the radio wave lens section 12, a piping 39 with a relatively small diameter is provided as a means for escaping air bubbles, which is connected to the cooling liquid guide 32 for flowing out the cooling liquid, and is connected to the cooling liquid guide 32 for flowing out the cooling liquid. The bubbles are sucked out directly from the coolant guide 32 by the negative pressure accompanying the flow of the coolant. The applicator 50 for heating therapy in this embodiment thus formed has inverted U-shaped applicator holding means at the support members 10G and 10H on both sides as shown in FIG. 51, it is held so as to be freely rotatable up and down as shown by arrows C and D. This applicator holding means 51 is supported by a support mechanism (not shown) and is configured to be rotatable as shown by arrows E and F, so that it can assume any posture suitable for the heating section. . Next, the overall operation of the above embodiment will be explained. First, the electromagnetic waves input via the coaxial connector 11B and output from the excitation antenna 11A toward the inside of the case body 10 are hardly attenuated in the oil 10C and are directly transmitted to the radio wave lens section 12.
sent to. Then, in the process of propagating through this electromagnetic wave lens section 12, the phase of the outer part advances compared to the central part, so that a lens effect is applied to the electromagnetic waves that have propagated at the time of being radiated from the radio wave lens section 12, and the radiation and Focusing is done simultaneously. This electromagnetic wave with a lens effect propagates within the cooling mechanism 15 and then propagates from the surface to the living body. During this time, it is first partially reflected at the living body surface and then heats the living body surface and deep part. In this case, the surface of the living body is efficiently cooled by the cooling mechanism 15 described above. Further, in the deep part, since the radiation is focused by the omnidirectional lens effect of the radio wave lens, the focal position at a predetermined depth and its surroundings can be efficiently heated. On the other hand, the reflected waves on the surface of the living body are due to differences in impedance of the electromagnetic wave transmission system, and such impedance changes also occur on the incident side of the radio wave lens section 12. Therefore, the excitation antenna 1
When viewed from the 1A side, reflection of electromagnetic waves from both the radio wave lens section 12 and the surface of the heating section described above can be detected. In this case, by appropriately adjusting the stabilization mechanism 13, it is possible to immediately achieve impedance matching with respect to the radio wave lens section 12 and the heating section side, which suppresses the generation of reflected electromagnetic waves. Energy is efficiently sent into the heating section. Here, the impedance matching by the stabilization mechanism 13 is performed while confirming the reflection rate displayed on the reflected electromagnetic wave display means (not shown) of the directional coupler connected to the coaxial connector 11B. This is done by the operator. Apart from the impedance matching by the stub unit mechanism 13, there is a small amount of energy loss associated with the impedance of the electromagnetic wave transmission system within the case body 10, and this is due to continuous use of the applicator. Filling oil 10C by constantly heating the
Thermal expansion occurs, and countermeasures are a problem. In this case, if left as it is, for example, the oil-filled partition plate 10D will be damaged, but the above-mentioned fluid storage means 26 will act against this to accommodate the increased amount of filled oil 10C that has increased due to thermal expansion. It's getting old. Specifically, the central portion of the cup-shaped soft member 26B is compressed by the oil pressure, and an increased amount of filled oil is accommodated in the expanded fluid storage portion 10E. When adjusting the stub unit mechanism 13 described above, the fluid containing means 26 operates in the same manner so that the impedance matching within the case body 10 can be smoothly adjusted. In addition, although the above-mentioned first embodiment specifically exemplified an applicator for deep heating, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and for example, by reducing the output energy and eliminating the cooling mechanism 15, it is possible to This can also be applied to warm applicators. [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described based on FIG. 14. This embodiment shows another embodiment of the fluid storage means 26 in the first embodiment described above. That is, in FIG. 14, the fluid storage means 3
Reference numeral 6 denotes a cylindrical fluid storage pipe 36A that protrudes outward from a through hole 10F portion formed at the left end of the case body 10 in the figure, and a fluid storage pipe 36A that is inserted from the outside into the fluid storage pipe 36A. The bottomed cylindrical member 36B is made of a relatively soft elastic member, and the bottomed cylindrical member 36B is inserted into the fluid storage pipe 36 while sealing the periphery of the opening side of the bottomed cylindrical member 36B.
A fixed cap 36C disposed inside A, and a fine wire mesh 36 disposed to cover the through hole 10F formed in the case body 10 from the inside.
It is composed of D. A ventilation through hole 36E is provided at the center of the fixed cap 36C. The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above. Even in this case, the elastic action of the bottomed cylindrical member 36B provides substantially the same effect as the first embodiment described above, and by equipping the fixed cap 36C with a screw mechanism, the oil filled inside can be minimized. It has the advantage that it can be easily replaced, and it also has the advantage that the number of parts can be reduced overall. [Third Example] Next, a third example will be described based on FIG. 15. This embodiment also shows another embodiment of the fluid storage means 26 in the first embodiment described above. That is, in FIG. 15, the fluid storage means 4
Reference numeral 6 denotes a cylindrical fluid guide tube 46A that protrudes outward from a through hole 10F portion formed at the left end of the case body 10 in the figure, and a sealing device at the outer end of the fluid guide tube 46A. bellows mechanism 4
6B, and a fine wire mesh 4 disposed to cover the through hole 10F of the case body 10 from the inside.
6D. The bellows mechanism 46B includes an elastic mechanism and is normally contracted. 46G indicates a sealing O-ring. The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above. Even in this case, the bellows mechanism 46
Due to the contraction action of B, in addition to having the same effect as the first embodiment described above, there is an advantage that the number of parts can be further reduced, and the increase in the amount of filled oil can be recognized at all times. There is an advantage. [Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is configured and operates as described above,
According to this, when the filled oil stored in the case body thermally expands, the fluid storage means immediately acts to accommodate the increased amount, thereby preventing damage to internal components, such as oil-filled partition plates. Therefore, it is possible to provide a heating therapy applicator with excellent durability in this respect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view including a coolant guide showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a left side view of FIG. 1,
3 is a right side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views showing the radio wave lens section used in FIG. Figure 7 is a front view of the radio lens section seen from the arrow in Figure 5.
Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along the - line of Figure 7;
The figure is a sectional view taken along the line - in Figure 8, Figures 10 and 11 are explanatory diagrams each showing the focusing state of electromagnetic waves, and Figure 12 is the right side of Figure 1 with the insulating film member removed. Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing the installation state of Fig. 1, Fig. 14 is a sectional view including the coolant guide showing the second embodiment, and Fig. 15 is the coolant guide showing the third embodiment. The sectional view including FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a conventional example. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10...Case body, 10C...Oil as insulating oil, 11...Electromagnetic wave power supply part, 14...Electromagnetic wave radiation end part, 26, 36, 46...Fluid storage means, 26A...Form small hole part Wire mesh, 40...
Metal plate constituting the radio lens section, 41...frame body.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A case body having an electromagnetic wave feeding section at one end and an electromagnetic wave emitting end at the other end is provided, and the electromagnetic wave feeding section in the case body is coated with insulating oil that has low electromagnetic wave attenuation. A plurality of small holes are provided in a part of the periphery of the electromagnetic wave power feeding section, and a fluid storage means is provided which communicates with the electromagnetic wave power feeding section through the plurality of small holes, and this fluid storage means is provided. An applicator for heating therapy, characterized in that the means has a structure in which when the internal pressure of the insulating oil increases, the volume on the side communicating with the electromagnetic wave power supply section expands by being energized by it.