JPH0243129B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a microwave measuring device in a living body cavity that can detect temperature distribution deeper than the inner surface of the body cavity.

Recently, it has been discovered that lesions such as cancers and tumors in living tissues are approximately 1°C hotter than other normal tissues, and a method of detecting lesions by measuring this temperature difference has been developed. Various proposals have been made.

For example, Special Publication No. 33949, Special Publication No. 33949, Special Publication No. 33949, Special Publication No. 1973-
No. 34356, Special Publication No. 50-22351, Actual Publication No. 49-44310
In this method, far-infrared rays emitted by living tissue are measured to measure the inner surface temperature of the living cavity.

Also, Utility Model No. 141687, Special Publication No. 53-11157.
In this method, a temperature measuring probe is inserted through an endoscope and the temperature is measured by pressing the probe against the inner surface of the body cavity. In addition, the special public
In No. 18515, temperature is measured by pressing a liquid crystal film against the inner surface of a biological cavity and observing the color change of this liquid crystal film.

However, all of these known methods measure the temperature of the inner surface of the body cavity, and cannot detect lesions located under the mucosa. Moreover,
This method had the disadvantage that it could not detect lesions in areas such as the pancreatic vagina or liver where it could not be inserted.

This invention was made with attention to the above circumstances, and its purpose is to be able to detect the temperature state deep inside the body cavity, and to detect the temperature over a wide range by scanning with a detection device that detects microwaves. It is an object of the present invention to provide a microwave measuring device in a living body cavity that can easily and quickly detect microwaves in a living body cavity over a wide area.

In general, as shown in Figure 1, the radiation spectrum of electromagnetic waves from human tissue spreads over a wide frequency range, and as the absolute temperature rises, the radiation intensity also increases, reaching a maximum near the wavelength λ = 10 μm in the air. As mentioned above, since wavelengths in this wavelength range hardly pass through living tissue, the information obtained from this is limited to the surface of the living body. However, in the microwave range, it penetrates the living tissue.

Therefore, the present invention attempts to detect the temperature state deeper than the inner surface of the body cavity by detecting microwaves.

The present invention will be explained below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. 2 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a side-viewing endoscope. This endoscope 1 includes an operating section 2, a flexible insertion section 3, and a light guide conduit 4. The insertion section 2 is equipped with an image guide 5 and a light guide 6 made of optical fiber bundles. 9, the light guides 6 are connected to the illumination windows 10, respectively. Further, the end of the image guide 5 is connected to an eyepiece 11 provided in the operation section 2, and the end of the ride guide 6 is connected to an external light source device (not shown) via the light guide conduit 4.
It is becoming connected to. Further, the tip portion 7 has a recessed portion 1 having an opening 12 oriented in the same direction as the observation window 9 and the illumination window 10.
3, and a microwave resonator 14 formed of a cavity is provided on one side wall of the concave portion 13, that is, in the direction toward the tip of the tip component 7. A rotary reflecting mirror 16 having a reflecting surface 15 having a 45° inclined surface is housed within the recess 13, and is rotatably supported on the inner wall of the recess 13 by a rotation mechanism 17, which will be described later. The rotating reflecting mirror 16 is configured to reflect microwaves generated from the body cavity a by its reflecting surface 15 and guide them to the resonating section 14. This resonant section 14 is designed to select only microwaves of a specific frequency from the microwaves guided from the reflecting surface 15, and a detector 18 for converting the microwaves into electrical signals is provided on a part of the inner wall thereof. It is being And this detector 18
The tip of a flexible transmission line 19 is connected to constitute a detection device 20 for detecting microwaves.

The rotating mechanism 17 also includes a rotating shaft 16a that supports the rotating reflecting mirror 16, a driven pulley 21 fitted to the rotating shaft 16a, and a driven pulley 21 that is fitted onto the rotating shaft 16a.
and the drive pulley 22.
It is composed of. And the drive pulley 22
The rotation is transmitted to the driven pulley 21 via the belt 23, and the rotating reflecting mirror 16 is further rotated and scanned via the rotating shaft 16a. Further, the drive pulley 22 is supported by the tip of a flexible wire 24 which is a power transmission body. The wire 24 and the transmission line 19 are inserted through guide paths 25 and 26 provided in the insertion section 3, respectively, and guided to the operation section 2. A drive mechanism 27 such as a motor is provided within the operating section 2, and the end of the wire 24 is connected to this drive mechanism 27. The rotation of the drive mechanism 27 is transmitted to the rotation mechanism 17 via the wire 24. Further, this drive mechanism 27 and the transmission line 19 are electrically connected to a control circuit 28 provided outside.

This control circuit 28 is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, 29 is a drive circuit that drives the detection device 20 via the drive mechanism 27, and 30 is a signal processing circuit that processes electrical signals from the detection device 20. The drive circuit 29 and the signal processing circuit 30 are synchronized by a synchronization circuit 31, and displayed on a display device (not shown) such as a monitor television via a display circuit 32.

Therefore, when performing microwave measurement inside the body cavity a, first insert the insertion section 3 of the endoscope 1 into the body cavity a, and place the tip component 7 at the part where the microwave is to be measured. to direct. A rotating reflecting mirror 16 provided in the recessed portion 13 of the detection device 20
When the reflective surface 15 is brought close to the biological cavity a, the microwaves generated from the biological cavity a are reflected by the reflective surface 15 and guided to the resonator 14. This resonant part 1
Among the microwaves received at 4, only microwaves of a specific frequency are selected, and the microwaves are converted into electrical signals by a detector 18. This electrical signal is input to the signal processing circuit 30 of the control circuit 28 via the transmission line 19, and is displayed on the display device via the display circuit 32 connected thereto. At this time, if there is a lesion such as cancer or tumor under the mucosa of the body cavity a, the lesion is hotter than other normal tissues, so the microwaves generated are stronger.
A change appears in the temperature distribution displayed on the display device. Therefore, by the temperature distribution displayed on this display device, it is possible to detect the submucosal area of the living cavity a, that is, a lesion that does not appear on the display. Further, when a drive signal is input from the drive circuit 29 of the control circuit 28 to the drive mechanism 27, the wire 24 is rotated by the drive mechanism 27. wire 2
4 rotates, its rotational force is transmitted to the driving pulley 22 to rotate it, and this rotation is transmitted to the driven pulley 21 via the belt 23. Therefore, the rotational force of the driven pulley 21 is transmitted to the rotating reflector 16 via the rotating shaft 16a, and since the rotating reflecting mirror 16 rotates around the rotating shaft 16a, the endoscope 1
The field of view of the observation window 9 is scanned one-dimensionally. When the rotating reflector 16 rotates in this way and scans the biological cavity a, the microwaves generated from the biological cavity a can be successively reflected and guided into the resonating part 14, and the distal end component 7 can be kept stationary. Microwaves can be detected over a wide range of living body cavity a. At this time, since the signal processing circuit 30 that processes the electrical signal from the detection device 20 and the drive circuit 29 are synchronized by the synchronization circuit 31, the display device shows the area corresponding to the measured part of the body cavity a. Not only can temperature distribution be displayed, but also the temperature distribution of not only the lesion area but also the surrounding area can be displayed.

In the first embodiment, the rotating mechanism 17 for rotating the rotating reflecting mirror 16 is composed of the driving pulley 22, the driven pulley 21, and the belt 23 stretched between them, but the invention is not limited to this. , power may be transmitted by a gear mechanism.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the invention. That is, 33 is a distal end component of the direct-viewing endoscope, and a storage chamber 35 having an opening 34 on the front surface is provided in this distal end. A support shaft 36 is provided in the storage chamber 35, and a detection device 37 for detecting microwaves is rotatably supported on the support shaft 36. This detection device 37 includes an antenna 38 for receiving microwaves, a resonator 39 made of a cavity, and a detector 40. The tip of a flexible wire 41, which is a power transmission body, is connected to one end on the back surface of the detection device 37, and the storage chamber 35 is connected to the other end.
A spring 42 provided on the back wall of the is connected. The detection device 37 is always urged counterclockwise by the spring 42. moreover,
The tip of a transmission line 43 is connected to the detector 40 of this detection device 37, and this transmission line 43 is connected to the operating section through guide paths 45 and 46 provided in the insertion section 44 of the endoscope together with the wire 41. (Not shown.)
being guided to. The end of the wire 41 is connected to a drive mechanism (not shown) as in the first embodiment, and the end of the transmission line 43 is connected to a control circuit (not shown).

When the wire 41 is advanced or retracted by the drive mechanism, the detection device 37 rotates about the support shaft 36, and the antenna 38 can scan the inner surface of the living cavity a. Microwaves in the living cavity a can be measured by the same means as in the example.

As explained above, the present invention makes the microwave detection device installed in the insertion section of an endoscope etc. rotatable, and connects the detection device via a power transmission body built into the insertion section. Since it is linked to a drive mechanism installed in the body cavity, the detection device can be rotated to scan the measurement site within the body cavity, making it possible to easily and quickly detect microwaves within a wide range of body cavities. . Furthermore, by detecting microwaves, it is possible to detect the temperature state deeper than the inner surface of the body cavity, making it possible to discover submucosal lesions, which were previously considered impossible, and also to measure the temperature distribution around the lesion. effective.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a curve diagram of radiation intensity versus frequency, Figs. 2 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the overall configuration, and Fig. 3 is a main part. 4 is a block diagram of a control circuit, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. 1... Endoscope, 2... Operation section, 3, 44... Insertion section, 7, 33... Tip component, 20, 37...
Detection device, 24, 41... wire (power transmission body),
27... Drive mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A microwave detection device is provided at the distal end of an insertion section of an endoscope that can be inserted into the body, and this detection device is provided at the operating section of the insertion section via a power transmission body built into the insertion section. A microwave measurement device in a living body cavity, characterized in that the detection device is configured to be rotatable with respect to the insertion section by a drive mechanism.