JPH07124169A - Laser knife - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the laser knife having high cutting quality by forming the relatively wide part at the front end of a laser knife chip heatable. CONSTITUTION:This laser knife consists of the laser knife chip 3 which is a transmission body for a laser beam and an optical fiber 1 for making the laser beam incident on the laser knife chip 3 and executes incision, etc., of viable tissues by converting the laser beam radiated from the optical fiber 1 to thermal energy in the laser knife chip 3 and heating the laser knife chip 3. The laser knife chip 3 has a blind hole 3a to be inserted with the front end of the optical fiber 1 and at least the inside wall 3b at the front end of th,e blind hole 3a is formed as a rough surface. Then, the relatively wide part of the outside surface of the laser knife chip 3 is heated, by which the entire region in contact with the viable tissues is almost uniformly heated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser scalpel, and more particularly, to a laser scalpel that performs incision of a living tissue using a laser light, while efficiently propagating the laser light to the scalpel tip of the laser scalpel. The present invention relates to a laser scalpel having a wider heating area and better sharpness.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A laser scalpel that cuts a generated tissue using a laser beam is well known, but the conventional laser scalpel is a laser scalpel chip that is a laser beam transmitting body, and a laser beam is incident on the laser scalpel chip. Consists of an optical fiber that
Laser light is introduced from the optical fiber to the laser knife tip to heat the tip of the laser knife tip, and the tip (heating portion) of the laser knife tip is brought into contact with the living tissue to incise the living tissue. And so on.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an essential part for explaining an example of a conventional laser knife. In the figure, 1 is an optical fiber, 2 is a protective tube through which the optical fiber 1 is inserted (for example, a Teflon tube), 3 is a laser knife chip (for example, a chip of ceramic, sapphire, etc.), 4 is a chip holding member, and 5 is a chip connecting member. As is well known, the end portion of the optical fiber 1 not shown is arranged facing the laser light source. The laser light from the laser light source is introduced into the optical fiber 1 and propagated through the optical fiber 1.

[0004]

As described above, the laser light propagated in the optical fiber 1 is radiated from the end face 1a of the optical fiber, and the laser knife chip 3 is emitted.
Is introduced into the laser knife chip 1 and is guided to the tip of the laser knife chip 3 while reflecting inside the laser knife chip 1 as shown by the arrow. At this time, the light transmittance of the laser knife chip 3 is about 80 to 90%, so that the laser light is considerably lost while propagating in the laser knife chip 3.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the conventional laser knife has a laser knife chip 3 which can be attached and detached.
When the laser knife chip 3 was removed, foreign matter such as dust was likely to adhere to the end face 1a of the optical fiber, which was a major cause of optical fiber burnout.

Further, since the laser beam is likely to be concentrated on the tip of the laser knife chip 3, only the tip of the laser knife chip 3 is heated to a high temperature, and the ceramic chip is burned.
Furthermore, in the low temperature part apart from the tip part, adhesion with living tissue occurs, and the sharpness is poor, which is not very convenient.

Further, in the prior art, as described above, foreign matter is likely to adhere to the end face of the optical fiber. Therefore, in order to prevent the foreign matter from adhering, air or water is introduced, and the air or water is used to remove the optical fiber. Although the foreign matter is prevented from adhering to the end surface or the adhering foreign matter is removed, this air may enter the blood vessel and cause a bronchial plug.

As described above, the conventional laser knife is not very sharp because only the relatively narrow portion of the tip of the laser knife tip is heated and a low temperature portion is generated. Therefore, it has been proposed to apply a light absorbing layer for converting the laser energy into heat energy to the surface of the laser light emitting end of the laser knife chip by coating or the like. However, coating the surface of the laser scalpel chip, that is, the outer side of the laser scalpel chip base material with the light absorbing layer has a drawback that the coating layer may "peel off". There was a concern that a part could enter a human body and cause a serious situation.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides (1) a laser knife chip which is a transparent body for laser light, and an optical fiber which makes laser light incident on the laser knife chip. The laser scalpel tip has a blind hole into which the tip of the optical fiber is inserted, and at least the tip end region of the inner wall surface of the blind hole is formed into a rough surface, and (2) ) The outer surface of the laser scalpel tip is formed into a rough surface, or (3)
Having a heat absorption layer on the outer surface of the laser knife tip,
Furthermore, (4) it has a holding member for holding the laser knife tip, and the holding member is a metal material having a high thermal conductivity, and (5) the holding member is made of Teflon on the outer peripheral portion. It is characterized by being coated.

[0010]

[Function] The optical path of the laser light in the laser knife tip is shortened, thereby reducing the loss of the laser light in the laser knife tip and enabling heating of a relatively wide portion of the tip of the laser knife tip. Therefore, we provide a laser scalpel with good sharpness.

[0011]

1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of a laser knife according to the present invention, in which 1 is an optical fiber,
Reference numeral 3 is a laser knife chip, and the laser knife chip 3 is, for example, a light transmitting body made of sapphire, translucent ceramics, or plastic, and the optical fiber 1 has a diameter of 2
It is an optical conductor of about 00 μm to 600 μm.

The end (not shown) of the optical fiber 1 is shown in FIG.
Similar to the prior art shown in FIG. 1, it is connected to the laser light source and the laser light from the laser light source is introduced. The laser light transmitted through the optical fiber 1 is introduced into the laser knife chip 3 with a spread angle of about 45 ° to 46 °, and a part of the laser light is converted into heat at the tip of the laser knife chip 3. , The other part is absorbed while passing through the laser knife chip 3.

In the contact type laser scalpel, the heated portion of the laser scalpel tip 3 is brought into contact with the living body tissue to perform incision or the like of the living body tissue. In that case, the tip portion of the laser knife tip 3 is If it is sufficiently heated, a sharp incision can be made, but as described above, if there is laser light that is absorbed during transmission through the laser scalpel chip 3, the laser light is heated by that amount. It is not converted into energy and the tip of the laser knife tip 3 cannot be efficiently heated.

The divergence angle of the laser light emitted from the tip of the optical fiber 1 is usually about 45 ° to 46 °, so that a relatively narrow area of the tip of the laser knife tip 3 is heated. Only. Thus, when an incision operation is actually performed using a laser knife, a relatively wide portion of the laser knife tip comes into contact with the biological tissue, but in that case,
There is a part that is not sufficiently heated, and when that part comes into contact with the living tissue, a large frictional resistance is generated there, resulting in poor sharpness.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and as shown in the drawing, the laser knife chip 3 is provided with a blind hole 3a into which the tip of the optical fiber 1 is inserted and the blind hole 3a is provided. At least the tip end region of the inner wall surface 3b of the hole 3a is roughened. In this way, the laser light emitted from the optical fiber 1 will not pass through the blind hole 3
After being diffusely reflected by the inner wall surface 3b of a, the laser knife tip 3
Since it is introduced inside, it is heated over a relatively large area of the outer surface of the laser knife tip 3. Further, since the blind hole 3a is provided in the laser knife chip 3 and the tip portion of the optical fiber 1 is inserted in the blind hole 3a, the propagation distance of the laser light in the laser knife chip is shortened, so that the laser The loss of the laser light in the female chip is small, and the laser light can be more efficiently converted into heat energy.

The laser knife chip 3 is integrally caulked with the laser knife chip holding member 4, and the laser knife chip holding member 4 is integrally caulked with the cable 2 for the optical fiber 1. The laser scalpel chip 3 is irremovably attached to the optical fiber, that is, it is built in, so that the tip 1a of the optical fiber 1 is always kept in a clean environment, and the tip of the optical fiber is dusted or the like. Foreign matter does not adhere, and therefore, there is no fear of burning the tip of the optical fiber.

Further, as described above, the laser knife chip 3 is used.
Since the inner wall 3b of the blind hole 3a is formed into a rough surface, the temperature distribution of the laser scalpel tip becomes uniform over a wide range, so that it is unlikely that the temperature will locally rise to a high temperature, and therefore there is no portion that rises to the burnout temperature. Biological tissue is not carbonized and attached to the surface of the laser scalpel chip.

If the outer surface of the laser knife tip 3 is roughened, the laser light is scattered on the outer surface,
More effectively, the surface of the laser knife chip 3 can be kept at a uniform temperature.

However, the heat generated by the laser knife chip 3 is transmitted to the chip holding member 4, and when the chip holding member 4 is made of a heat-conductive metal, the temperature of the chip member becomes high and an undesired portion is reached. In order to effectively return the heat of the holding member 4 to the laser knife tip 3,
A material having good thermal conductivity is used as the holding member 4, and
It is advisable to apply a coating 6 such as Teflon on the surface to prevent the heat from being unnecessarily dissipated to the outside.

In the above, the outer surface of the laser scalpel chip 3 is roughened to effectively scatter the laser light.
Although it has been described that the surface temperature of the laser knife tip 3 is made more uniform, it is easy to provide a heat absorption layer on the outer surface of the laser knife tip instead of roughening the outer surface. You can understand. Of course, in that case, the heat absorber layer may peel off, but the heat absorber layer can be put to practical use as long as it guarantees the same level of safety as in the conventional technique.

[0021]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to uniformly heat the outer surface of the laser scalpel tip over a relatively large area, and therefore, substantially the entire area in contact with the biological tissue can be obtained. Since the laser knife is sufficiently heated, a sharp laser knife can be obtained. Further, according to the present invention, the laser scalpel tip is provided with a blind hole, and the light emitting end of the optical fiber is inserted into the blind hole.
Since the optical path length of the laser light in the laser knife chip is short, the laser light emitted from the optical fiber into the laser knife chip is hardly absorbed in the laser knife chip, and therefore almost all laser light is absorbed. Light is efficiently converted into heat energy, and laser light can be used efficiently. Furthermore, since the temperature distribution of the laser knife tip becomes uniform over a wide range, local,
Since the temperature does not rise and it is hard to reach the burning temperature,
Carbonization of living tissue is also unlikely to occur. Further, since the laser knife tip is built into the optical fiber, the tip of the optical fiber is always kept in a clean environment, and dust or the like does not adhere to the tip of the optical fiber. There is no need to introduce air or water, and there is no concern about air plugs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view for explaining an embodiment of a laser knife according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an example of a conventional laser knife.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Optical fiber, 3 ... Laser knife tip, 3a ... Blind hole, 3b ... Inner wall of blind hole, 4 ... Laser knife tip holding member, 6 ... Teflon coating.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A laser knife, which is a laser light transmitting body, and an optical fiber for injecting the laser light into the laser knife, the laser knife having a blind hole into which the tip of the optical fiber is inserted. A laser knife having an inner wall surface of the blind hole, wherein at least a tip end region is formed into a rough surface. 2. The laser scalpel according to claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the laser scalpel tip is formed into a rough surface. 3. The laser knife according to claim 1, further comprising a heat absorption layer on an outer surface of the laser knife tip. 4. The laser knife according to claim 1, further comprising a holding member for holding the laser knife tip, wherein the holding member is a metal material having high thermal conductivity. 5. The laser knife according to claim 4, wherein the holding member has a Teflon coating treatment applied to an outer peripheral portion thereof.