JPH0244229B2 - - 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, during in-vivo cancer treatment, the center of the cancer often deviates from the fixed position of the applicator, and in such cases, detailed examinations to confirm the center position of the cancer are often required or unnecessary. It takes time and effort to fix the applicator on the living body in a state of stable oblique incidence, which is disadvantageous in that rapid heating treatment cannot be performed. [Object of the Invention] The present invention takes into consideration the disadvantages of the conventional example, and particularly aims to effectively concentrate electromagnetic waves to locally heat cancer even at a position shifted from the set position of the applicator. The object of the present invention is to provide an applicator for heating therapy that can be used for heating therapy. [Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in the present invention, a case main body having a function as a waveguide, an electromagnetic wave power feeding section provided at one end of the case main body, and an electromagnetic wave feeding section provided at the other end of the case main body are provided. and an opening for transmitting electromagnetic waves formed in the part,
A radio wave lens section is disposed between this opening and the electromagnetic wave power supply section. Each of the plurality of metal plates forming the radio wave lens section is rotatably equipped.
The electromagnetic wave power supply part is filled with a dielectric material such as machine oil that has a relatively small attenuation of electromagnetic waves and a relatively large relative dielectric constant, and a dielectric material is filled in the opening side of the electromagnetic wave power supply part. It is equipped with a body plate. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned purpose. [Function] The case body functions as a waveguide, and the electromagnetic wave power supply section has a function as a relay point that sends electromagnetic waves into the case body. Then, the electromagnetic waves sent to the electromagnetic wave power supply section at one end of the case body are propagated and sent out from the opening at the other end of the case body. In this case, due to the direction changing action of the radio wave lens section, the direction of transmission of the microwave can be changed over a relatively wide angle from one side to the other with respect to the center line of the case body, if necessary. At the same time, with respect to the electromagnetic waves sent into the case body, the attenuation within the case body is greatly reduced due to the action of the dielectric material of the electromagnetic wave feeding section, and the applicator is sent out from the opening by that amount. The output is increased, and furthermore, the electromagnetic wave feeding section is significantly reduced in size due to the effect of the dielectric member. [First Embodiment] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the main part of the present invention will be described as a first embodiment with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. In these figures, reference numeral 10 indicates a case body that functions as a waveguide, and reference numeral 11 indicates a case body that functions as a waveguide.
(See Figure 10) shows a cooling mechanism for cooling the surface. Inside the case body 10, an electromagnetic wave power supply section 12 is provided at the left end in FIG. 1, and a radio wave lens section 13 is provided at the fan-shaped section at the right end in FIG. Further, the case body 10 is filled with a liquid dielectric member that also serves as a cooling member, and this liquid dielectric member has a structure that allows this liquid dielectric member to flow out from the case body 10 side to the radiation opening 10A on the electromagnetic wave radiation side, as described later. It is becoming. As shown in FIG. 1, the size of the electromagnetic wave power supply section 12 is such that its width W is set to be 1/2 to 1 wavelength of the electromagnetic wave in the liquid dielectric member. 12
A indicates a coaxial connector, 12B (see Figure 4)
indicates an excitation antenna. As shown in FIG. 2, on the inner wall of the electromagnetic wave power supply section 12, a dielectric plate (for example, made of plastic) 20 with low loss and a relatively large dielectric constant is provided on a surface parallel to the electric field direction E of the electromagnetic wave.
is attached, thereby making the electric field distribution uniform as will be described later. This dielectric plate 20
has a structure that extends to the inner wall of the case body 10. As shown in the figure, the cooling mechanism 11 includes a contact support plate 21 made of a dielectric plate curved to fit the living body (see A in FIG. 10), and a contact support plate 21 fixed to the outside of the contact support plate 21. A soft film member 2 is sealed and attached to the outside of the plate 22 and the contact plate 22.
3. Among these, a square through hole 21A that matches the radiation opening 10A of the case body 10 is formed in the center of the abutting support plate 21, and a square cutout hole 22A that is larger than the square through hole 21A. As shown in FIG. 1, they are formed on the abutting plate 22, thereby creating a structure in which the cooling liquids in the case body 10 and the cooling mechanism 11 can flow very naturally. In this embodiment, the cooling liquid used in the cooling mechanism 11 is water (relative permittivity ε = 80.36; however, at 20°C,
measurement wavelength ∞) is used. A coolant inlet 11A for sending the coolant to the cooling mechanism 11 is provided at the center of the case body 10 in FIG. 3, and a coolant outlet 11B is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. They are provided at the four corners of the contact support plate 21, so that the cooling liquid can uniformly and effectively cool the entire range from the inside of the case body 10 to the surface of the living body A. As described above, the radio wave lens section 13 is made up of a plurality of metal plates 13A, 13A, .
B, . . . are fixed to each other, and this pivot shaft 13B is rotatably supported by the case body 10. Further, on the case body 10 side of the rotation support shaft 13B, a rotation locking means 25 of a rubbed structure in this embodiment is provided.
is equipped via a spring seat (not shown),
Thereby, each metal plate 13A can be freely rotated within a predetermined range and can be locked at any position. In addition, 13D indicates a rotating knob used in that case, and 13E
13 indicates an indicator needle, and 13F indicates an angle scale plate. Here, to explain the radio wave lens section 13 in more detail, the metal plates of the radio wave lens section 13 in this embodiment are the same as those in the conventional example described above (see Figs. 11 to 13). There is. On the other hand, regarding the radio wave lens section 13,
In addition, as shown in Fig. 5, those with the same dimensions but different arrangement intervals (where a>b>c>λ/2; λ is the wavelength),
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, the ends on the radiation opening side are on the same line as shown by dotted lines at the same interval S, and long metal plates 13A are arranged on the inner wall side. (However, S>λ/2).
In this case, in the case of Fig. 5, the phase velocity of the electromagnetic wave is faster on the outside where the interval between the metal plates 13A is narrow, and in the case of Fig. 6, the phase velocity of the electromagnetic wave is faster on the outside where the metal plate 13A is longer. The phase of the electromagnetic wave advances, so that it can function effectively as the radio wave lens section 13 in either case. Outer end of electromagnetic wave power supply section 12 (left end in FIG. 3)
A liquid discharge part 26 for removing air is provided in the center of the tank. The liquid discharge section 26 is configured to allow a predetermined amount of cooling liquid to flow out intermittently or a minute amount of cooling fluid to flow out continuously as necessary, thereby allowing air bubbles generated inside to be discharged to the outside. It's summery. Further, 27, 27, . . . indicate dielectric films affixed to the respective metal plates 13A, 13A, . This dielectric film 27 is formed of a dielectric member having the same properties as that attached to the inner wall of the case body 10 described above.
Therefore, the same electric field effect as that shown in FIG. It has now become possible to further alleviate the patient's pain caused by partial heating during treatment. Furthermore, since the cooling liquid used is water (relative dielectric constant ε = 80.36; however, 20°C, measurement wavelength ∞) as described above, each dimension of the case body 10 and the radio wave lens part 13 is smaller than that of air. It has the effect of being downsized to approximately 1/80.36 times the size of the case when it is encapsulated, and at the same time improving the fit with the living body. Next, to explain the overall operation of the first embodiment, first, the electromagnetic waves sent into the case body 10 from the excitation antenna 12B in the electromagnetic wave feeding section 12 are transmitted to the electromagnetic wave feeding section 12 attached to the inner wall. The electric field strength is made uniform by the action of the dielectric plate 20, so that the electromagnetic wave energy is sent to the radio wave lens section 13 in a substantially uniform manner within the cross section of the case body 10 without being biased toward the center. Therefore, the radio wave lens section 13 effectively exhibits a lens effect on electromagnetic waves and sends out focused electromagnetic waves toward the radiation aperture 10A side. Since this radiation opening 10A is placed close to the aforementioned living body A via the cooling liquid of the cooling mechanism 11 and the dielectric film 23, the focus of the radio wave lens section 13 is formed deep within the living body A. This makes it possible to more effectively heat the deep part of the body than the surface of the body. Furthermore, since the surface of a living body has a large absorption of electromagnetic waves, the temperature rise is relatively large in addition to the lens effect. In contrast, the inflow and outflow of the cooling liquid by the cooling mechanism 11 effectively cools down not only the surface of the living body but also the temperature rise due to the Joule loss and dielectric loss inside the case body 10, as described above. . In this case, the dielectric plates 20 and 27 attached to the inner wall of the case body 10 and each metal plate 13A of the radio wave lens section 13 form a substantially uniform electric field in a cross section perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the electromagnetic waves, thereby generating electromagnetic waves. The energy is also made substantially uniform as described above. Therefore, there is no unevenness in heating temperature on the surface of the living body, and the disadvantage of the conventional example in which the central part of the surface of the living body is heated more than the surrounding area is greatly improved. On the other hand, the effect when the radio wave lens section 13 is rotated will be explained with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows the results of a heating experiment using a phantom model with electrical and thermal constants equivalent to those of a living body. Figure 1 shows the heating pattern when each metal plate 13A, 13A,... is set parallel to the central axis of the case body 10 (no tilt), and Figure 2 shows the heating pattern on one side assuming an extreme case. The heating pattern is shown when the opening 10A is closed (however, the isotherm line is ΔT=1℃,
Model radius 125mm, liquid temperature constant 20℃). As a result,
By variable irradiation by the radio wave lens unit 13, the center of deep heating can be moved extremely easily,
It is clear that this has the advantage of being able to capture electromagnetic waves almost uniformly over a relatively wide range of cancer tissue, or reliably capture electromagnetic waves at the center of the focal point even when cancer tissue is located in an uneven position. Summer. [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 7 and 8. This second embodiment has a structure in which the electromagnetic wave power supply section 40 and the radio wave lens section 50 are detachable.Thereby, a plurality of radio wave lens sections 50 can be prepared in advance, and the optimum radio wave lens section can always be selected. 50 is intended for selective use. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the electromagnetic wave power supply unit 40
, the relative permittivity ε〓≒ of a dielectric member with relatively small attenuation of electromagnetic waves and relatively large relative permittivity.
Filled with 2.5 oil 40A. On the other hand, the metal plates 51, 51, . We are working to facilitate this process. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the coolant inflow portion 11A is provided at the center of the upper and lower ends of the contact support plate 21 in FIG. 7 (on the central axis of the case body 60), thereby allowing the coolant to The structure is such that the liquid flows into the living body surface and into the radio wave lens part 50 from the central side end of the cooling mechanism 11, and flows out from the four corners around the cooling mechanism 11 in the same manner as described above. Note that air removal can be made more effective by changing the inflow and outflow directions of the coolant as necessary. Reference numerals 42 and 52 each indicate connection flange portions for attachment and detachment, 61 indicates a sealing member, and 62 indicates an oil sealing plate. Moreover, the periphery of this oil-filled plate 62 is fixed to the electromagnetic wave power supply section 40 side by a fixing frame 62. The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above. As described above, the second embodiment has substantially the same effects as the first embodiment described above, and in particular, because the electromagnetic wave power supply section 40 is filled with oil with extremely low dielectric loss, it is possible to efficiently transmit electromagnetic wave energy. It has the advantage that it can be delivered into a living body and that the radio wave lens part can be selectively used according to the shape of the living body. In this second embodiment, the dielectric substance filled in the electromagnetic wave power supply unit 40 is not necessarily limited to oil, but may be any other liquid or solid dielectric substance as long as it has low attenuation of electromagnetic waves and has a high dielectric constant. It may be replaced with a body member. Further, in each of the above embodiments, the cooling mechanism 11 may have a flat shape. Further, the coolant inflow portion 11A may be provided in the center between the metal plates of the radio wave lens portions 13 and 50. Furthermore, each of the metal plates 13A and 51 of the radio wave lens sections 13 and 50 may be driven entirely by a motor or the like. In this case, as for the rotation locking means, the driving force transmission means can also serve as the rotation locking means. [Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is configured and functions as described above,
According to this, even if the heating treatment position deviates from the central axis of the case body, the rotation of the metal plate can effectively capture this and provide intensive deep heating, allowing the heating area to be relatively wide. Furthermore, since there is little loss in the electromagnetic wave feeding section of the case body, the overall output efficiency is improved, and at the same time, the size of the feeding section can be reduced by the action of the dielectric material. It is possible,
Therefore, it is possible to provide an unprecedented and excellent applicator for heating therapy that is easy to handle.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of the main part of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the electric field distribution in the electromagnetic wave feeding section of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a state in which the cross section of FIG. 1 is not shown. 4 is a front view of FIG. 3, FIGS. 5 and 6 are plan views showing other examples of the radio wave lens section, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the second embodiment. 8 is a sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 7, FIGS. 9 1 and 2 are explanatory diagrams showing the experimental results of the first embodiment, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the conventional example, and FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the radio wave lens section equipped in the conventional example, and FIGS. 12 and 13 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of FIG. 11, respectively. 10...Case body including main body waveguide section, 10
A... Radiation aperture as an aperture, 12, 40...
...Electromagnetic wave power supply section, 13,50...Radio wave lens section,
13A, 51...metal plate, 40A...oil as a dielectric member, 62... dielectric plate for sealing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A case body having a function as a waveguide,
The case body has an electromagnetic wave power supply section provided at one end, and an electromagnetic wave transmission opening formed at the other end of the case body, and a radio wave is transmitted between the opening and the electromagnetic wave power supply section. In the heating therapy applicator provided with a lens portion, each of the plurality of metal plates forming the radio wave lens portion is rotatably equipped, and the electromagnetic wave power feeding portion is provided with a material having a relatively small attenuation of electromagnetic waves. The heating device is characterized in that it is filled with a dielectric member such as machine oil having a relatively large dielectric constant, and that the opening side of the electromagnetic wave power supply section is equipped with a dielectric plate that encloses the dielectric member. Therapy applicator.