JP2006158581A - Needle unit and needle tube for acupuncture - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smooth work by eliminating a trouble of preparing a protective device for preventing the contact of a practitioner's finger with a needle body, separately from a needle tube. <P>SOLUTION: The needle tube 3 is formed dividedly into a needle tube lower part 31 for putting a pushing hand thereto and a needle tube upper part 32 forming a needle tube part upper than the needle tube lower part 31. The needle tube lower part 31 and the needle tube upper part 32 are connected easily separable by applying an external force, when cutting the skin, this needle unit is used as the needle tube 3, and when subsequently inserting the needle, is used as a protecting device by removing the needle tube upper part 32 alone therefrom. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an acupuncture needle unit and an acupuncture needle tube, and more specifically, an acupuncture needle unit having a function as a protective device for preventing contact between a finger of a practitioner and a needle body at the time of a treatment. Etc.

In acupuncture, the practitioner inserts a thin and long needle (ie, acupuncture needle) among the acupuncture needles into the affected area by the following procedure using the tube needle method.
That is, the needle is put on the skin with the acupuncture point in a state where it is inserted into the needle tube, and the tip of the needle is inserted by about 2 to 3 mm by an operation of cutting or puncturing to pass through the hard skin. After cutting, remove the needle tube from the needle. If you are right-handed, hold the needle body with your left hand and push open the skin where the needle tip is inserted, and then insert with your right hand.

  Here, when the insertion is advanced, the thumb and the index finger of the pusher (that is, the left hand) touch the needle body. When using a disposable needle for the first time, the thumb of the pusher touches the needle body, and there is a risk of contamination of the needle body with human proteins (here, pieces of skin) and microorganisms attached to the finger. In other words, when this needle is used for the second time or later, there is a risk that the practitioner's finger touches the needle once in the patient's body. Therefore, it is an action that the operator's finger touches the needle body at the time of insertion for safety against the operator and the patient. However, in practice, it is difficult to accurately insert the needle unless a pusher is attached. According to the safety guidelines of the All Japan Society of Acupuncture Safety Committee, you are instructed to wear rubber gloves or a finger sack during surgery. The fact is that it is not implemented due to the inconvenience, such as the need to replace each patient.

  The following guide tube is known as a simpler instrument instead of rubber gloves. This is formed in a flexible tubular shape having an inner diameter into which a needle tube can be inserted, and can be cut with the needle tube inserted. After cutting, only the needle tube is removed, the guide tube is crushed from the outside by a pusher, and insertion is performed while supporting the needle body, and the needle can be removed (Patent Document 1).

A needle tube is also known in which a cut is provided in the middle of the entire length, and the upper part and the lower part can be separated by this cut (Patent Document 2). This cuts off the upper part after cutting, and the remaining lower part can be used as a protective device.
JP 2002-126038 A (paragraph number 0005) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-202001 (FIG. 1)

  However, the guide tube disclosed in Patent Document 1 has the following problems. That is, this is generally not easy to remove from the needle and is left on the needle after insertion, but it is relatively easy to insert the needle tube. The size increases and the weight increases accordingly, which is uncomfortable for the patient. Further, since it is necessary to prepare one guide tube for each needle separately from the needle tube and insert the needle tube, it is troublesome to work.

On the other hand, in the needle tube of the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, the lower part left on the needle after separation is relatively small, and it is not necessary to prepare a protective device separately from the needle tube, so there is no such troublesome work. However, when separating the needle tube, it is necessary to twist the upper portion with respect to the lower portion, and this operation cannot be easily performed on the needle tube with the needle inserted.
For this reason, the present invention eliminates the hassle of preparing a protector separately from the needle tube for preventing contact between the operator's finger and the needle body during the treatment, and makes the operation smooth and easy. For the purpose.

  The present invention provides an acupuncture unit and an acupuncture needle tube used in the field of acupuncture. According to the present invention, a needle tube into which a needle is inserted at the time of cutting is divided into a first portion where a pusher is placed and a first portion that forms a needle tube portion above the first portion. 2 parts. The first part and the second part can be connected in a free state without a load to form a needle tube, and can be separated by applying an external force.

  According to the present invention, the first part and the second part of the needle tube are separable, and the function as a protective device is also provided in a part of the needle tube (that is, the first part). The troublesomeness of preparing the protective equipment every time is performed, and the work can be made smooth. Moreover, since the coupling strength between the first part and the second part can be appropriately set according to these connection modes, a connection mode in which interference with the needle inserted therein does not become a problem is adopted. Separation of these parts can be facilitated.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the needle unit 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the needle tube 3 of the needle unit 1 according to the embodiment. 2, FIG. 2A shows a cross-section of the entire needle tube 3 including a tube axis, and FIG. 2B shows an enlarged view of the joint between the needle tube upper portion (32) and the needle tube lower portion (31). .

The acupuncture needle unit 1 according to the present embodiment includes a needle 2 and a needle tube 3, and is provided to the user in a state where the needle 2 is inserted into the needle tube 3.
In the present embodiment, the needle 2 includes a needle body 21 and a needle handle 22. The needle body 21 is formed of stainless steel, silver, gold alloy, or the like, is elongated, and is intended for insertion into a deep part. Further, the needle body 21 has an end portion on one side as a needle tip, and a needle handle 22 is fixed to an end portion on the other side. The needle handle 22 is formed of a plastic such as polypropylene, polyethylene, or polystyrene, and is integrally formed with the needle body 21 by insert molding or the like.

  On the other hand, the needle tube 3 is formed in a cylindrical shape that is long in the tube axis direction, and includes a needle tube lower portion (corresponding to a “first portion”) 31 and a needle tube upper portion (corresponding to a “second portion”) 32. It is divided and formed. The needle tube lower part 31 is formed as a part where a pusher is placed at the time of cutting and subsequent insertion, and the needle tube upper part 32 is formed as a part other than the needle tube lower part 31 in the needle tube 3 and is formed separately from the needle tube lower part 31. The In the present embodiment, the same material as the needle handle 22 such as polypropylene is used for the material of these portions 31 and 32. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, in the direction D in which the needle 2 is inserted, the inner diameter of the rear end of the needle tube lower portion 31 is enlarged to form a recess 31a, and the outer diameter of the front end of the needle tube upper portion 32 is reduced. A convex portion 32a is formed, and the needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32 are connected by fitting the convex portion 32a into the concave portion 31a, whereby the needle tube 3 is configured. In the present embodiment, a plurality of ridges 32b are formed at intervals on the outer periphery of the convex portion 32a, and the ridge 32b ensures the connection between the needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32. The needle tube 3 is longer than the portion 21 a of the needle body 21 exposed from the needle handle 22, can completely surround the portion 21 a, and the rear end of the needle handle 22 slightly extends from the needle tube 3 with the needle 2 inserted. Length (for example, about 4 mm) is set. The needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32 can be efficiently created by two-color molding or the like, and the concave portion 31a and the convex portion 32a can be formed by changing the shapes of the molds of the respective portions 31 and 32. . The needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32 may be individually created using two molds and connected in a later step.

The needle unit 1 is provided to the user with the needle 2 inserted into the needle tube 3 as described above. In the present embodiment, since the same material is used for the material of the needle handle 22 and the needle tube upper part 32, the needle 2 and the needle tube 3 can be integrated by a joining method such as ultrasonic welding. The needle unit 1 is provided to the user through a sterilization and packaging process.
Next, a method for using the needle unit 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the needle unit 1 is taken out from the packaging tool, and the needle 2 and the needle tube 3 are separated. Next, as shown in FIG. 3A, with the needle 2 inserted into the needle tube 3, the needle tube 3 is placed on the skin with the acupuncture points, and cutting is performed by tapping the needle handle 22 in the direction of the arrow A1. After the cut, as shown in FIG. 3B, the needle tube lower part 31 is sandwiched by a pusher and an external force F is applied from the outside, and a force is applied to the needle tube upper part 32 in the direction of arrow A2, and the needle tube upper part 32 is moved from the needle tube lower part 31. Separate and pull out, leaving only the needle tube lower part 31 on the needle 2. Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, the pusher is placed on the lower part of the needle tube 31 to support the needle 2 and push the skin into which the needle tip is inserted so as to advance the insertion (arrow A3). . Here, in the cut and subsequent insertion, since the remaining needle tube lower part 31 is interposed between the pusher and the needle body 21, the practitioner's finger directly touches the needle body 21. Absent. After the needle body 21 reaches the target depth and an appropriate technique is performed as usual, the needle 2 is extracted and discarded together with the needle tube 3.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
That is, in the present embodiment, the needle tube 3 is divided into the lower part 31 and the upper part 32, and these parts 31 and 32 are detachably coupled by the concave part 31a and the convex part 32a. For this reason, it is possible to prevent contact between the operator's finger and the needle body 21 by removing only the upper portion 32 of the needle tube after cutting and using the lower portion 31 of the needle tube as a protector. In this embodiment, since the needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32 are joined by fitting the convex portion 32a into the recess 31a, the needle tube upper portion 32 can be separated from the needle tube lower portion 31 by being pulled out. Interference does not matter. In the present embodiment, in particular, by providing the needle tube lower portion 31 with a function as a protector, the troublesomeness of preparing the protector each time insertion is eliminated, and the operation can be performed smoothly.

  In the present embodiment, the same material is used for the material of the needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32, but different materials may be used for these materials. In this case, the needle tube lower portion 31 is relatively soft, and the needle tube upper portion 32 is harder than the needle tube lower portion 31, so that separation and subsequent insertion can be performed while ensuring the function as the needle tube 3. It can be easy. That is, at the time of separation, the recess 31a can be deformed by bending the needle tube lower portion 31, and the needle tube upper portion 32 can be easily removed (reference numeral 31 'in FIG. 3B). Further, during the subsequent insertion, the needle 2 can be supported more stably, and the feel from the needle 2 can be sufficiently obtained via the flexible needle tube lower part 31. For example, an elastomer such as rubber is used for the needle tube lower portion 31, and the same plastic as the needle handle 22 is used for the needle tube upper portion 32. Even if the same material is used for the material of the needle tube lower part 31 and the needle tube upper part 32, the needle tube lower part 31 is formed thinly, and the rigidity of each part 31, 32 is made different, thereby forming the needle tube lower part 31 flexibly, Separation can be facilitated. Further, the coupling between the needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32 can be achieved not only by the fitting of the concave portion 31a and the convex portion 32a but also by welding by heat or using an adhesive (FIG. 5). The needle tube lower part 31 and the needle tube upper part 32 are welded or bonded (reference numeral 41) at a plurality of locations set around the entire circumference of the needle tube 3 around the tube axis or at intervals in the circumferential direction (reference numeral 41). 32. The needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32 can be joined simultaneously with the formation of any one of the portions 31 and 32 by two-color molding or the like without using a special process such as welding.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the needle tube 3 of the needle unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.
In the present embodiment, a flange 35 extending in the radial direction from the side surface is formed at the front end of the needle tube lower portion 31 in the needle insertion direction D. The configuration of the needle (not shown) and the needle tube 3 other than the flange 35 is the same as that of the previous embodiment, and the needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32 are coupled by the concave portion 31a and the convex portion 32a. The needle is provided to the user with the needle inserted into the needle tube 3.

According to the present embodiment, the flange 35 is formed on the needle tube lower portion 31 to secure the self-supporting property of the needle tube lower portion 31 in the state left on the needle, thereby reducing the uncomfortable feeling that the needle tube lower portion 31 gives to the patient. .
In the above, a resin such as plastic is used for the material of the needle handle 22 and the needle tube 3. However, the material is not limited to this, and a desired material such as the needle handle 22 made of metal and the needle tube 3 made of plastic is used. May be selected.

  In addition, when using a plurality of needles 2 having different thicknesses during the treatment, the needle handle 2 or the needle tube lower portion 31 is colored according to the thickness of the needle 2 to improve the visibility. Can be avoided. In this case, for example, by coloring the material itself such as the needle handle 22 or the like, the needle handle 22 or the like can be colored after being manufactured by sticking a seal or spraying with an ink jet.

  Furthermore, in the above description, the needle tube 3 is divided and formed into the lower part 31 and the upper part 32. However, the needle tube 3 is not limited to two, and is an intermediate needle tube part as a “third part”. It can also be divided into three or more parts including According to such a multi-stage needle tube 3, the length of the portion left on the needle 2 as the needle tube lower portion 31 is adjusted according to the depth of insertion of the needle 2, and can be used as a guide for the depth of insertion. it can.

Furthermore, the inner surface of the needle tube 3 (particularly the lower portion 31 of the needle tube) is formed with irregularities by grooves or the like, and by increasing the surface area of the inner surface, the body fluid is absorbed by the needle tube 3 and the body fluid touches the operator's finger. Can be avoided.
Furthermore, in the above description, the inner and outer diameters of the needle tube lower portion 31 and the needle tube upper portion 32 are matched to make the inner and outer surfaces of the needle tube 3 flat without any step in the tube axis direction. The inner diameter or the outer diameter may be different between the portions 31 and 32. In particular, by making the inner diameter different and reducing the inner diameter of the needle tube lower part 31, the movement of the tip of the needle 2 in the needle tube 3 is limited, and the needle 2 is easily placed at an accurate position on the skin when cutting. Can do. On the other hand, by making the outer diameter different and reducing the outer diameter of the needle tube lower portion 31, the pusher can be stably placed on the needle tube lower portion 31. FIG. 6 shows a case where both the inner diameter and outer diameter of the needle tube lower portion 31 are reduced. In addition, the inner diameter or outer diameter of each part 31 and 32 may be changed uniformly (FIG. 6), and may be changed gradually. As an example of the latter, FIG. 6 shows an example in which the inner diameter of the needle tube lower part 31 is gradually changed and becomes smaller as it approaches the tip (reference numeral 31 ′).

  Further, the needle tube 22 can be provided to the user as the needle unit 1 or as a single needle tube.

Configuration of the needle unit according to the embodiment of the present invention Configuration of needle tube according to the embodiment Usage of needle unit according to the same embodiment Configuration of a needle tube according to another embodiment of the present invention Other methods of joining the lower and upper needle tubes Needle tube configuration with different inner and outer diameters between each part

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Acupuncture needle unit, 2 ... Needle, 21 ... Needle body, 22 ... Needle handle, 3 ... Needle tube, 31 ... Lower part of needle tube, 32 ... Upper part of needle tube, 31a ... Recessed part, 32a ... Convex part, 35 ... Collar

Claims (10)

A needle inserted into the affected area;
Including a needle tube for inserting the needle at the time of cutting and assisting the cutting,
The needle tube includes a first portion where a pusher is placed at the time of cutting, and a second portion separate from the first portion, which forms a needle tube portion above the first portion. And
The needle part unit in which the first part and the second part are connected in a free state without a load to form the needle tube and can be separated by applying an external force. A third portion separate from the first and second portions forming a needle tube portion between the first portion and the second portion;
The needle unit according to claim 1, wherein the first part and the second part are connected via the third part to form the needle tube.   3. The needle tube according to claim 1, wherein the needle tube is formed by fitting an edge convex portion formed in one of two adjacent portions and an edge concave portion formed in the other in the tube axis direction. Acupuncture needle unit.   The needle unit according to claim 1, wherein the first portion and the second portion are made of different materials.   The needle unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first portion has flexibility.   The needle unit according to claim 5, wherein the first portion is more flexible than the second portion.   The hook unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a flange extending in a radial direction from a side surface is provided at a front end of the first portion in the insertion direction of the needle.   The needle unit according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein an inner diameter or an outer diameter of the first portion is different from that of the second portion.   The needle unit according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein irregularities are formed on an inner surface of the first portion. An acupuncture needle tube for assisting the cut by inserting a needle at the time of cutting,
A first portion where a pusher is placed at the time of cutting and a second portion separate from the first portion, which forms a needle tube portion above the first portion;
The first portion and the second portion are connected in a free state without a load to form the needle tube and can be separated by applying an external force.

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