JPH0731284B2 - Fiber for laser beam transmission - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a laser beam transmission fiber, and more particularly to a laser beam transmission fiber for transendoscopically irradiating a laser beam into a lumen organ.

[Background of the Invention]

Irradiating a laser beam endoscopically to diagnose and treat a lesion such as a tumor in a luminal organ has already been realized by the rapid progress of laser technology. The medical optical transmission fiber used for such a laser knife is usually used via an endoscope. That is, for example, an optical fiber having a laser knife portion processed at the tip is inserted from the forceps hole of the endoscope hand operation portion, the laser knife portion of the optical fiber tip is exposed from the tip portion of the endoscope insertion portion, and a lesion such as a tumor The lesion is treated by irradiating a laser beam on the.

However, in general, the optical transmission fiber for laser medical use has an extremely small diameter and a relatively long length, and an optical fiber of such a form is inserted into a forceps hole formed of a small hole in an endoscope insertion portion, and the internal light is transmitted successfully. It is a difficult technique to reach the tip of the endoscope insertion part. In particular, the endoscope insertion portion is bendable so that its tip can be directed to the lesion, and the curved shape of the insertion portion tip makes it difficult to insert the optical fiber. That is, when inserting the optical fiber for laser medical treatment into the forceps hole, the optical transmission fiber cannot be smoothly inserted due to the frictional force between the optical fiber outer peripheral surface and the forceps hole, or the optical transmission fiber is forced into the forceps hole. If the optical transmission fiber is to be inserted, an accident such as breakage of the optical transmission fiber in the forceps hole may occur.

Under the circumstances described above, the applicant of the present application has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 59-236070.
In this issue, we proposed a fiber for laser beam transmission in which a coil-shaped spring is wound around the optical fiber. This laser beam transmission fiber can be easily inserted into a forceps hole or the like of an endoscope, and can be inserted and removed with a laser knife,
It was possible to obtain a certain effect in that it became easier to exchange. However, since the optical fiber is wound around the coil during the manufacturing process, the optical fiber itself has a winding tendency. That is, the length of the laser knife fiber is usually 2 to 3 m, but if the optical fiber is curved due to the curl when wound into a coil as shown in FIG. Even if a spiral spring is wound, the followability of the fiber is poor. That is, when the rear end of the fiber is rotated 90 ° in order to change the direction of the fiber tip by 90 °, the curl of the fiber causes the tip of the fiber to rotate more than necessary (for example, 180 °) and the desired site is treated. There is a problem that can not be done.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to propose a fiber for laser beam transmission that can eliminate the influence of the winding tendency of the optical fiber and can easily orient the fiber tip in a desired direction. There is.

[Outline of Invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a laser beam transmission fiber in which a coiled spring is wound around the outer circumference of an optical fiber composed of a core and a clad having different refractive indexes, from the tip of the coiled spring. The coiled spring is fixed to the outer circumference of the optical fiber at a portion of a predetermined length.

Example of Invention

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a fiber for transmitting a laser beam according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a commonly used endoscope, and this endoscope is provided at a hand operating portion 2 and is provided so as to be connected to the hand operating portion 2 and can be inserted into a deep portion such as a body. It is composed of a flexible insertion portion 4, a hand operation portion 2, and a connecting portion 6 that connects the light source and other control devices incorporating various control mechanisms necessary for this endoscope. The hand operation part 2 is provided with an eyepiece 2A including an eyepiece on the upper part thereof, and an air / water supply operation button 2B, a suction operation button 2C, and a forceps insertion port 2D are provided on the front surface thereof. The laser beam transmitting fiber having a laser knife portion formed at its tip is normally inserted from the forceps insertion port 2D, passes through the hand operation section 2 and the insertion section 4, and is exposed from the tip of the insertion section 4. The insertion portion 4 includes a curved portion 4A and a flexible portion 4B that supports the curved portion 4A.

A laser beam emitting fiber (hereinafter referred to as an irradiation probe) 1 is coupled to a well-known laser light source device (not shown) and transmits the laser beam to its emission end. The irradiation probe 1 is, for example, a quartz fiber composed of a core fiber 11 and a clad layer (see FIG. 2) as is well known, and the laser beam is transmitted through the probe while repeating total reflection. Needless to say, the irradiation probe 1 can be used as it is, but in many cases, it is used endoscopically in order to treat a living body lumen organ or the like without laparotomy. That is, after inserting the bending portion 4A of the endoscope insertion portion 4 which is known per se into the target lumen, through the insertion passage (shown by the insertion port 2D) of the treatment tool such as forceps usually provided in the endoscope. The irradiation probe 1 is introduced into the lumen. The emission end 1A of the irradiation probe 1 can adjust the irradiation direction together with the observation field of view by the bending adjustment knob 2E of the endoscope together with the bending portion 4A of the endoscope insertion portion 4.

The structure of the irradiation end 1A of the irradiation probe 1 is shown in FIG.
A description will be given based on (B) and (C).

The fiber element wire 11 used for the laser beam side emission fiber of the present invention is a glass or plastic optical transmission fiber element wire composed of a core and a clad having conventionally known different refractive indexes. In this case, a quartz fiber wire having a core diameter of 400 μm and a cladding layer outer diameter of 650 μm is used, but these diameters and outer diameters can be selected according to the intended use form. In the figure, the irradiation probe 1 is provided with a coating layer having a two-layer structure that is coated over the entire length of the fiber strand. The first coating layer 12 is called a primary coating layer, and is a coating layer such as silicon. The second coating layer 13 is a jacket tube such as a nylon tube. The first and second coating layers 12 and 13 do not directly affect the optical transmission, but rather cracks or the like occur in the fiber element wire, and further the fiber element wire 11
To prevent breakage of the.

The emission end side of the fiber element wire 11 is formed as an inclined surface 14 of approximately 35 ° to 40 ° with respect to the center line of the fiber element wire 11 and is polished to an optically smooth surface. In this way the inclined surface at the tip
The fiber element wire 11 on which 14 is formed has the first and second coating layers 12 and 13 peeled off over a certain length including the tip thereof. A transparent quartz hollow cylindrical body 15 having a circular cross section, which is once closed in a substantially hemispherical shape, is mounted so as to fit into the second coating layer 13 so as to include the exposed portion of the fiber element wire 11 therein. ing. It is desirable that the contact portion between these coatings and the cylindrical body be bonded with an adhesive or the like. As shown in FIG. 2 (C), the cylindrical body 15 is formed with opposed parallel plane portions 15A and 15B.

A heat-shrinkable tube 17 is fitted to the cylindrical body 15 and the second coating 13 so as to cover them, and they are tightened and protected by a heat-shrinking action.
Although there is a step at the joint between the flat surface portions 15A and 15B of the cylindrical body 15, these portions are tightly tightened together due to the contracting action of the heat-shrinkable tube 17.

An antireflection coating film is formed on the flat surface portion 15A of the cylindrical body 15 and a total reflection coating film is formed on the flat surface portion 15B.

When the irradiation probe 1 of the present invention configured as described above is connected to a laser device (not shown) to generate a laser beam, the laser beam propagates through the fiber element wire 11 by repeating total reflection as is well known, and the inclined surface. Total reflection at 14 and flat surface 15
The laser beam L is emitted in a direction of approximately 60 ° to 75 ° forward through the transparent cylindrical body 15 containing A. The flat surface 15A is coated with an antireflection coating film to prevent generation of a reflected beam. On the other hand, the reflected beam at the other interface is covered with a total reflection coating film on the flat surface 15B so that the reflected beam is not transmitted.

FIG. 3 shows the exterior structure of the coil spring of the fiber for laser beam transmission according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, on the outer periphery of the probe 1, a small coil spring 20 having a small wire diameter and a large coil spring 22 having a large wire diameter are continuously wound. The coil springs 20 and 22 are made of high tensile strength steel wire, piano wire, phosphor bronze spring material, hard copper wire, stainless steel spring material, or the like. Particularly, the stainless steel spring material is advantageous in that it has an anticorrosive function.

The small-diameter coiled spring 20 is formed, for example, to have a wire diameter of 0.4 mm and a coil inner diameter of 1.45 mm, and the length thereof is substantially the length of the curved portion 4A (approximately 150 mm). Small coil spring 20
The tip portion 20A of the is externally fitted to the rear end portion of the heat-shrinkable tube 17. In this case, if the tip end portion 20A of the coiled spring 20 is separated from the heat-shrinkable tube 17 and directly fitted onto the outer circumference of the fiber 1, the protection of the fiber 1 becomes insufficient, and the appearance is inferior. Reduce. Further, the tip of the spring 20 is only externally fitted to the tube 17 and is not fixed, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the influence of curl when the probe is rotated.

A large-diameter coil spring 22 is wound around the probe 1 after the small-diameter coil spring 20. The large-diameter coiled spring 22 has a wire diameter of 0.6 mm and a coil inner diameter of 1.05 mm.
The endoscope insertion portion 4 is arranged over the substantially flexible portion 4B. The wire diameters of the small-diameter coil-shaped spring 20 and the large-diameter coil-shaped spring 22 are different from each other, because the spring 20 is located in the bending portion 4A, it is necessary to easily follow the bending operation of the bending portion 4A. This is to reduce the influence of the winding tendency of the fiber.On the other hand, since the spring 22 is located in the flexible portion 4B, it does not need to have such a bendable property, but rather it is better to have a certain degree of hardness when inserting the probe. Is good. The front end portion 22A of the large-diameter coil spring 22 is joined to the rear end portion 20B of the small-diameter coil spring 20. The joint 21 includes brazing after the butting, brazing after fitting the connection sleeve, and resin (nylon) molding. Also, the springs 20 and 22 and the probe 1
Is fixed by a resin mold 23 in the vicinity of the connecting portion between the rear end portion 20B of the spring 20 and the front end portion 22A of the spring 22. Note that this fixing is not limited to one location, but may be performed at a plurality of locations other than the length corresponding to the bending portion 4A of the endoscope.

A grip 30 shown in FIG. 4 is attached to the probe 1. As shown in FIG. 5, the grip 30 is composed of a holding cylinder 32 and a tightening cylinder 34. The cylindrical body 32 has a male screw 36 engraved on the outer periphery thereof, and a claw 38 divided into four at the tip thereof. When the female thread portion of the tubular body 34 is screwed into the male thread portion 36 of the tubular body 32, the contact surface 34A of the tubular body 34 tightens the grip claw 38, and the grip 30 is attached to the probe 1 as shown in FIG. It becomes impossible to move. To move the position of the grip 30, the cylindrical body 34 can be loosened and the grip 30 can be slid and fixed at a desired position. The grip 30 is used for gripping by the operator when the probe 1 is turned to a desired orientation.

A rear end 22B of the spring 22 is fixed to the probe 1 by a resin mold 25, and a tube 24 made of polytetrafluoroethylene resin (or nylon) is externally fitted onto the probe 1 after the rear end 22B. Furthermore, the rear end 22 of the spring 22
A rubber tube 26 is attached to the outer circumference of B and the tube 24 made of polytetrafluoroethylene resin.

A connector to a laser light source (not shown) is provided at the rear end of the probe 1.

The operation of the embodiment of the fiber for laser beam transmission according to the present invention constructed as described above is as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the probe 1 having the coiled springs 20 and 22 wound around the outer periphery is inserted from the forceps hole 2D of the endoscope hand operation part 2 shown in FIG. In this case, in the conventional fiber, the forceps hole and the outer peripheral surface of the fiber were in line contact, but the probe 1 according to the present embodiment has the coiled springs 20 and 22 wound around the outer periphery thereof. The contact between 1 and the forceps hole has a point contact relationship. Therefore, the probe 1 has a reduced frictional force when it is inserted, and the probe can be smoothly inserted even in the insertion portion 4 having a curved tip. Further, even if it is necessary to replace the laser knife portion at the tip of the fiber due to damage or the like, it can be pulled out easily, so that the replacement can be performed quickly. Furthermore, since the outer circumference of the probe 1 is protected by the springs 20 and 22, the occurrence of breakage accidents is reduced as compared with the laser knife of the probe 1 alone.

Further, since the spring is fixed to the outer periphery of the probe 1 at a portion having a predetermined length from the tip, the followability of the tip of the probe 1 is improved, and the laser knife portion at the tip of the probe 1 can be easily oriented to a desired position. it can.

That is, if the conventional probe 1 has a winding tendency, the followability is not good even if the spring is wound, but according to the above-described embodiment, the spring is attached to the probe 1 at the connecting portion between the spring 20 and the spring 22. Since 20 and 22 are fixed, the adverse effect of curl is reduced and the followability is improved.

Further, since the spring is composed of the small diameter spring 20 and the large diameter spring 22, it is possible to sufficiently follow the bending operation of the bending portion 2A and to give a sufficient insertion force when inserting the probe 1. I can.

Although the wire diameter is changed to change the flexibility of the spring in the above embodiment, the flexibility may be changed by changing the material and the winding state.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the fiber for laser beam transmission of the present invention, the coiled spring is wound around the outer periphery of the optical fiber, so that the fiber can be easily inserted into the forceps hole or the like of the endoscope, and the laser This has the effect of making insertion, removal and replacement extremely easy. Further, since the coiled spring is fixed to the fiber at a portion having a predetermined length from the tip end portion, the followability is improved, and the tip end of the fiber can be easily oriented in a desired direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the entire shape of an endoscope, and FIGS. 2 (A), (B), and (C) are cross-sectional views showing the structure of the tip of a fiber for laser beam side emission according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a main part of a fiber for laser beam side emission of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a half sectional view of a grip, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the grip, and FIG. 6 is a fiber with a curl. FIG. 1 ... Irradiation probe, 2 ... Hand operation part, 11 ... Fiber wire, 12, 13 ... Coating layer, 14 ... Inclined surface, 15 ... Transparent cylinder, 17 ... Heat shrink tube, 20 ... ... small springs,
22 …… Large diameter spring.

Front page continued (72) Hideyuki Takashima, Inventor Hideyuki 5-1, Hidaka-cho, Hitachi, Ibaraki Hitachi Cable & Cables, Inc. (72) Inventor Makoto Horie 5-1-1, Hidaka, Hitachi, Ibaraki Wire Co., Ltd., Electric Wire Laboratory (72) Inventor, Masane Suzuki, 1-324, Uetake-cho, Omiya-shi, Saitama Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor, Hiroshi Shibamoto, 1-324, Uetake-cho, Omiya-shi, Saitama Fuji Photo Kouki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Daisada Hashimoto 2-8-7 Nishikata, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo (56) References

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A flexible part and a bending part which are applied to an endoscope having a bending part whose bending angle is adjusted by an operation of an endoscope near-end operating part and which is inserted from a forceps hole of the above-mentioned endoscope near-end operating part. A laser beam transmission fiber in which a laser scalpel part for side emission is extended from a forceps hole at the tip of the endoscope insertion part through an optical fiber consisting of a core and a clad with different refractive indexes on the outer circumference. Laser beam transmission characterized in that a coil-shaped spring is wound, and the coil-shaped spring is fixed to the outer periphery of the optical fiber at a position other than the range of the length corresponding to the curved portion from the tip of the coil-shaped spring. Fiber. 2. The coiled spring is composed of two kinds of wire diameters, a small diameter spring and a large diameter spring, and is fixed to the optical fiber in the vicinity of the connecting portion of the two kinds of springs. The fiber for transmitting a laser beam according to item 1.