JPH0736821B2 - Laser probe holding device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser probe holding device for a laser application machine such as a laser knife and a laser processing machine, and more particularly to a laser probe for guiding a laser beam generated by a laser generator to a target portion. Holding device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a laser scalpel has been known to perform incision / coagulation / hemostasis of living tissue or incision / evaporation treatment of an affected area such as polyps or ulcers by YAG laser light or CO ₂ laser light. It is composed of a laser generator for generating laser light and a light guide path connected to the laser generator for guiding the laser light generated by the laser generator to a target site. Recently, a lightweight and flexible laser fiber is often used as the light guide path.
In particular, a laser probe with a double structure in which a laser fiber is inserted in a Teflon tube and air is sent by utilizing the gap between the Teflon tube and the laser fiber is used. A laser scalpel that performs the above laser treatment by introducing a probe into a body cavity has been put into practical use. In this type of laser knife, a long laser probe having a length of several meters to several tens of meters is usually used so that the treatment can be performed even at a place sufficiently separated from the laser generator.

By the way, when a laser beam is guided to a target site by using an endoscope channel with such a long laser probe, since the laser probe itself is also highly flexible, it sags on the way to the floor surface. The laser probe may be contaminated due to the contact, and if the surgeon handles the laser probe without noticing it, the inside of the endoscope channel and the surgeon's hand are contaminated, resulting in surgery of the patient. There is a serious problem that the parts are contaminated. When the laser treatment is not performed, the laser probe is wound in a loop with the incident end connected to the laser generator so as to prevent the laser probe from interfering with the operator and covers the upper surface of the laser generator. It was supposed to be placed on a sterilized sheet, but if you touch the laser probe carelessly, this laser probe will slip from the top of the laser generator to the floor and become contaminated, and even the laser that fell on the floor. There are various problems that an operator, an assistant, a nurse, etc. step on and damage the probe without noticing it.

In order to solve such a problem, conventionally, a plurality of laser probe holding members are hung from the ceiling of an operating room, and the holding members hold the laser probe to avoid contact with the floor surface. However, in this case, it is necessary to install a holding member that has been sterilized each time in the room where the laser treatment is performed, and since the position of the holding member is fixed, hold it even when the laser treatment is not performed. The laser probe held by the member has a drawback that the degree of freedom of the operator, assistant, nurse, etc. is limited. Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 185843/1982, as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, a supporting tool 6a provided at one longitudinal end of a recess 5 formed on one side of the upper surface of the laser generator 1. A first strut 7 rotatably connected to the shaft 8 by a stay 16 in a state of being raised substantially vertically, and a groove 9 opened to the upper end surface along the longitudinal direction of the first strut 7; A second support column 12 slidably inserted in the groove 9 whose side surfaces except the upper end surface of the groove 9 are closed by a cover plate 11 having an elongated hole 10 formed therein, and the elongated hole 1 at the lower end portion thereof.
The laser generator includes a tightening screw 13 that is passed through 0, a first holding portion 14 that holds and fixes the laser probe 3 formed on the upper end portion, and a second holding portion 15 that fits and holds the handpiece. When 1 is not used, the second support column 12 is put in the first support column 7 and the first support column 7 is housed in the recess 5, and the cover 6 is closed so as not to be exposed to the outside of the laser generator 1. A laser device according to the above is disclosed.

[0005]

However, in such a holding structure, one portion of the laser probe 3 is held by the first holding portion 14 that is provided so as to project in a substantially vertical direction from the laser generator 1, and the second holding portion is held. Since the handpiece is fitted and held in the portion 15, when the long laser probe 3 is used, the highly flexible laser probe 3 sags in the middle and comes into contact with the floor surface or the outer wall of the laser generator 1. It is still possible to avoid being polluted. Therefore, when performing the laser treatment, if the operator directly operates the laser probe or the handpiece, the operator's hand and the inside of the channel of the endoscope are contaminated, and as a result, the surgical site of the patient is also contaminated. I had a problem. These holding parts
It is also conceivable to provide a plurality of 14 and holding portions 15. Shi
However, the laser probe consists of a fragile optical fiber.
The laser probe between these holding parts
Depending on the way of arranging the bracket 3, the expansion and
Therefore, the curvature of the laser probe 3 becomes too large,
The problem that the optical fibers that make up the probe 3 break
Will occur.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and even when a long laser probe is used in a laser application machine, it hangs down on the floor and is contaminated, or the outer wall surface of the laser generator. rather name that such contaminated in contact with, also, like the stretch-oscillation of the laser holding arms
The optical fiber that makes up the laser probe was broken
An object of the present invention is to provide a laser probe holding device that does not rotate .

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a laser probe holding device of the laser application unit for guiding the laser beam generated by the laser generator to the target site in the laser probe, the outer pre <br/> SL laser generator A plurality of probe supporting arms provided on the wall surface and a plurality of probe supporting arms arranged in the longitudinal direction of the probe supporting arms.
Elastic holding means for holding the laser probe, and the laser probe
In the state of being spirally wound around the support bay,
It is characterized by being held by a lobe elastic holding means .

[0008]

1 and 2 are perspective views of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a side view showing a stretchable and bendable tube according to the present invention in a stretched state, and FIG. 4 is a line I--I of FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1
Is a laser generator. The laser generator 1 is provided with a carrying handle 17 and a lead-out body 2 through which the laser light generated here is guided. The lead-out body 2 has a built-in condenser lens for collecting the laser light. The laser probe 3 is connected via the connector 4. This laser probe 3
Is introduced into the body cavity through the channel of the endoscope, and although not shown in detail, it has a double structure in which a laser fiber such as quartz or thallium bromoiodide is inserted into the Teflon tube. Air can be supplied by utilizing the gap between the laser and the laser fiber.

On the other hand, a T-shaped groove portion 18 having a T-shaped cross section made of a magnetic material such as iron or stainless steel is formed as a first engaging portion on a part of the upper outer wall surface of the laser generator 1. By inserting the flange 20 in which the permanent magnet 19 as the second engaging portion shown in FIG. 3 is embedded along the T-shaped groove portion 18, the flange 20 is formed by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet.
Is magnetically attached, and is detachably connected so as not to come out except in the insertion direction.

The flange 20 has a probe supporting arm portion.
One end of the expandable / bendable tube 21 is fixed, and a stopper 22 is fixed to the other end of the expandable / bendable tube 21. As shown in FIG. 3, the expandable / bendable tube 21 has a shape in which convex portions 23 and concave portions 24 are alternately and continuously repeated on the outer periphery thereof, and is usually a synthetic resin such as vinyl chloride, urethane, or polyethylene. Is formed by making the thickness of the concave portion 24 smaller than that of the convex portion 23 or by forming a crease in the center of the concave portion 24.
4 can be expanded and contracted and bent little by little so that it can be fixed to any length and shape. Further, on the outer circumference of the convex portion 23 of the expandable / flexible tube 21, there is provided a first probe elastic holding body 25 having an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the convex portion 23 and made of a rubber-like elastic body such as silicon or urethane. A plurality of rubber-like elastic bodies, which are fitted in the radial direction, have an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the convex portion 23 on the outer periphery of the convex portion 23 at the tip of the expandable / flexible tube 21. A second probe elastic holder 26 made of is fitted in the radial direction. The first elastic probe holding body 25 and the second elastic probe holding body 26 can be fitted into the position / angle of any convex portion 23 of the expandable / bendable tube 21 by expanding the inner diameter. . As shown in FIG. 4, the first elastic probe holder 25 has a protrusion 27 in the radial direction.
Is provided with a circular opening 28 slightly larger than the diameter of the laser probe 3, and a tapered opening 29 communicating with the opening 28 and gradually expanding in the radial direction. A boundary portion between the openings 28 and 29 is a laser probe. 3 is formed so as to be slightly smaller than the diameter dimension of the laser probe 3, and an arbitrary portion of the laser probe 3 is pressed against the tapered opening 29 of the first probe elastic holding body 25 and inserted into the circular opening 28. The flexible tube 21 is held along the outer circumference of the flexible tube 21. In this case, the laser probe 3 can be expanded and contracted and bent freely.
First probe elastic holder 2 spirally around the outer periphery of
By arranging so that it can be held at 5, even if the expandable / flexible tube 21 is expanded / contracted / bent to an arbitrary position / angle, the laser probe 3 can be made to follow freely without being broken. In the second laser probe elastic holder 26, as shown in FIG. 5, a dango-shaped opening 3 slightly smaller than the diameter dimension of the laser probe 3 is formed in the projecting portion 27a on the opposite side.
0 and a tapered opening 29a communicating with the tapered opening 29a that gradually expands in the radial direction are provided. Cage, laser probe 3
A tapered opening 29 is formed by looping the unretained portion of the
By pressing on a, the laser probe 3 can be elastically held and fixed by the dango-shaped opening 30.

In the apparatus of the present invention constructed as described above, the sterilized laser probe 3 connected to the outlet port 2 of the laser generator 1 through the connector 4 is expanded and contracted with an appropriate degree of slack. The tapered opening 29 and the circular shape are formed by pressing an arbitrary portion of the flexible tube 21 into the tapered openings 29 attached to the plurality of first probe elastic holders 25 so as to form a spiral shape along the outer circumference of the flexible tube 21. Opening 2
The boundary of the laser probe 3 is larger than the diameter of the laser probe 3 and is inserted into the circular opening 28 to be held. Further, the tip end surplus unretained portion of the laser probe 3 is formed into a loop shape having an appropriate diameter and pressed against the tapered opening 29a attached to the second probe elastic holding body 26, whereby the tapered opening 29a and the dango-shaped opening 30 are formed. The dimension of the boundary portion where and contact is larger than the diameter dimension of the laser probe 3 and is inserted into the dango-shaped opening 30 and elastically held and fixed.

The expandable / bendable tube 21 has one end fixed to a flange 20 detachably connected to a T-shaped groove 18 formed on the outer wall surface of the laser generator 1 with a permanent magnet embedded in the bottom surface. Ordinarily, when the laser generator 1 is not used as shown in FIG.
Even when a long laser probe 3 is used in a state where most of the expandable / bendable tube 21 is compressed, the middle part is bent and comes into contact with the floor surface, or directly contacts the outer wall of the laser generator 1. The laser probe 3 is not contaminated at all, and the safety for the patient is ensured and the working space and the degree of freedom of the surgeon, assistant, nurse, etc. can be secured sufficiently. Further, when performing laser treatment using the laser generator 1, as shown in FIG. 1, the expandable / bendable tube 21 in which the laser probe 3 is spirally held along the outer circumference is used as an appropriate portion of the target portion. By stretching / bending to the position / direction, each recess 24 of the expandable / bendable tube 21 is expanded / contracted little by little to be fixed in a free length and the laser probe 3 may be broken. It is possible to follow a spiral shape along the outer circumference of the expandable / bendable flexible tube 21 without further expansion / contraction / flexible tube 21.
A required amount of the laser probe 3 elastically held by the dango-shaped opening 30 by forming a loop at the tip of the dango-shaped opening 30
By opening the endoscope more open and inserting it into the channel of the endoscope, it is possible to prevent contamination of the operator or the channel of the endoscope and ensure safety without any contamination of the patient.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, even a long laser probe can be held in a spiral shape by a plurality of elastic holding means provided in the longitudinal direction of the probe supporting arm portion. The middle part hangs down on the floor and is contaminated, is damaged by being trampled on, and is not directly contacted with the outer wall surface of the laser generator, so that there is no contamination to the patient when using the laser application machine. It is possible to ensure safety. Also, the laser probe
Probe even when the probe support arm is in the most contracted state
Loop shape with a certain radius of curvature around the support arm
The optical fiber that composes this
It is possible to reduce the risk of breaking the iva.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a stretched and bendable tube according to the present invention in a stretched state.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional laser generator.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a column of a conventional laser generator.

8 is a partial cross-sectional view of the column shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Laser Generator 3 Laser Probe 18 T-Shaped Groove 19 Permanent Magnet 20 Flange 21 Flexible Tube 25 First Probe Elastic Holder 26 Second Probe Elastic Holder

Claims (1)

[Claims] Rezapuro of 1. A laser application machine that leads to the target site of laser light generated by the laser generator in the laser probe
Holding in over blanking holding device, a probe support arm portion provided on the outer wall surface of the front SL laser generator, the laser probe is a plurality arranged in a longitudinal direction of the probe supporting arms
Provided with a probe resilient holding means for the Le
The user probe in a spiral shape around the probe supporting bay.
The probe elastic holding means
Laser probe holding device of the laser application device, characterized in that that.