JPH0534644B2 - - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a laser device used for medical purposes that transmits power laser light emitted from a power laser light source through a fiber.

Prior Art and its Problems As is well known in medical laser devices, when a laser beam is irradiated to an affected area, substances such as evaporated matter and debris from the affected area are transferred to the laser power transmission fiber (hereinafter referred to as optical fiber). Since the substance adheres to the tip of the optical fiber and causes thermal damage to the tip of the optical fiber, conventional methods have been to scatter the above-mentioned substances with a gas jet or air stream and discharge them to the outside.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the output end of a laser fiber showing a conventional example. A centering holder 8 is fitted and fixed to the tip opening of the pipe 7 to fix the hollow pipe 7 and the optical fiber 4 and to keep the optical fiber 4 at the center of the pipe 7. The core 10 at the end of the output side of the optical fiber 4 protrudes from the affected area side of the centering holder 8, but is located slightly inside the end of the pipe 7. Further, an appropriate number of grooves 9 are bored in the outer peripheral surface of the centering holder 8, extending from one end surface to the other end surface. Therefore, when irradiating the laser beam, the pipe 7
The gas ejected from the pipe 7 is discharged to the outside of the pipe 7 through the groove 9.

In this way, conventional methods have been used to insert optical fibers into pipes for the purpose of protecting the optical fibers, and to supply air and water using the gap between the optical fibers and the inner wall of the pipes. In particular, when a laser beam is irradiated to an affected area containing fat, an explosive phenomenon of destruction occurs, and debris scatters and adheres to the tip of the optical fiber against the gas jet or air flow, causing the tip of the optical fiber (especially the core There was a problem that the parts) often suffered from thermal damage.

In addition, with conventional configurations, the tip of the optical fiber may come into contact with the affected area and blood or dirt may adhere to it, or floating matter in the air may adhere to the tip of the optical fiber when the optical fiber is left alone. However, there was a problem that the tip of the optical fiber was often damaged by heat when irradiated with laser light.

Purpose The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and includes a power laser light source, an optical system for condensing the power laser light emitted from the power laser light source, and an input end face disposed at the convergence point. In a laser device comprising a power laser transmission fiber, the distal end surface of the core at the exit end of the fiber has a diameter equal to or larger than the core diameter, and is made of a material different from the fiber; Moreover, a transparent rod member whose both end faces are polished and whose melting point is higher than that of the fiber is adhesively bonded, so that even if the above-mentioned scattered objects, blood, dirt, etc. adhere to the transparent rod member,
The present invention provides a laser fiber that can prevent thermal damage.

Configuration of the embodiment FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the tip.

The present invention comprises a power laser light source 1, an optical system 3 for condensing the power laser light 2 of the power laser light source 1, an optical fiber 4 whose input end face is disposed at the convergence point, and the optical fiber 4. A transparent rod member 5 is adhesively bonded to the core 10 at the tip with an adhesive 6, a hollow pipe 7 protects the optical fiber 4, and a plurality of grooves 9 are bored in the pipe, unlike the conventional example described above. Similarly, it consists of a centering holder 8 for holding the optical fiber 4, and means for supplying air and water from the gap between the pipe and the optical fiber.

Here, the input end surface of the optical fiber 4, the core surface at the output end, and both end surfaces of the transparent rod member are optically polished sufficiently.

In addition, quartz glass is used as the core material of optical fibers used in general medical YAG laser coagulator devices, but the transparent rod member 5 is much harder and has better chemical resistance than the quartz glass. It is preferable to use sapphire, which has a low thermal conductivity and has a diameter equal to or larger than the diameter of the core 10. Further, it is preferable to use an ultraviolet curing material as the adhesive 6 for adhesively bonding the tip of the quartz glass core to the transparent rod member.
In this case, the reflectance on the adhesive surface is 0.08%.

Effects of the Embodiment The power laser beam 2 emitted from the power laser light source 1 is condensed by the condensing optical system 3 onto the incident end face of the optical fiber 4, guided to the tip of the optical fiber 4, and passed through the transparent rod member. The affected area is irradiated from the tip of 5. At this time, the condition of the affected area is often obscured by bleeding, so in order to secure the field of view, gas or air is injected from the groove 9 between the optical fiber 4 and the inner wall of the pipe 7 during laser beam irradiation. gush out. This jetting and discharging of gas or air is a conventional practice.

Effects As explained above, the present invention has a core distal end face of the output side tip of the optical fiber having a diameter equal to or larger than the core diameter, and is made of a material different from the fiber, and the fiber is made of a material different from the fiber. By adhesively bonding a transparent rod member with polished both end faces, which has a higher melting point than the
Even if dirt or the like adheres to the fiber and generates heat when exposed to the power laser, the maintenance of the fiber tip is extremely less compared to the conventional method, which is advantageous in terms of cost. Moreover, when used as a medical laser device, its safety can also be ensured. Furthermore, the present invention has an extremely simple structure, and there is no need to make any improvements to the tip of the conventional laser fiber itself, so it is easy to manufacture and the manufacturing cost is low. It is extremely large.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the tip thereof. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional example of the tip portion. 1...Power laser light source, 3...Condensing optical system, 4...Optical fiber (fiber for laser power transmission), 5...Transparent rod member, 6...Adhesive material, 7...Pipe, 8...Centering Retainer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A laser device comprising a power laser light source, an optical system for condensing the power laser light emitted from the power laser light source, and a power laser transmission fiber whose input end face is arranged at the convergence point of the optical system, in which the fiber A transparent rod having a diameter equal to or larger than the core diameter, made of a different material from the fiber, and having both end faces polished and having a melting point higher than that of the fiber is attached to the tip surface of the core at the exit side tip of the fiber. A laser device characterized by adhesively bonding parts.