JPH06133917A - Laser probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a chip from contacting a trachea when a laser guide is inserted into and drawn out of a selom and preclude breakage of the chip due to interference with the trachea. CONSTITUTION:At the foremost part of a laser guide 1, a cylindrical protection member 4 is furnished so as to freely advance and retreat in the laser guide axial direction and is energized by a coil spring 5 toward the foremost of the laser guide 1 so the chip 2 is covered with the protection member 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser probe used for peeling the adhesion between the gallbladder and the liver in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a laser probe used for laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the like has a laser guide that guides laser light generated by a laser generator to a diseased part in a body cavity. The tip has a tip, and the adhesion part with the gallbladder and the liver is peeled off by the thermal energy of the laser beam emitted from the tip.
By the way, the tip of such a laser probe is
A conical shape is generally used, but recently, a hook shape is also known in consideration of usability.

[0003]

However, the laser probe provided with such a hook-shaped tip at the tip of the laser guide has the advantage that the tip of the tip can be hooked on the affected tissue for use. However, when inserting the laser guide into the trocar or performing storage and sterilization together with other surgical instruments, there is a problem that the hook portion of the tip tip is easily damaged by hitting the trocar or other surgical instruments.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a laser probe in which the hook portion of the distal end tip is not damaged by hitting a trocar or other surgical instruments. .

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a laser guide for guiding a laser beam to a diseased part in a body cavity, and a laser light guided by the laser guide to the diseased part in the body cavity. In the laser probe having a tip, the protective member for protecting the tip is provided so as to be movable relative to the tip.

[0006]

According to the present invention having such a structure, since the tip is covered with the protective member when the laser guide is not inserted into the body cavity, damage to the tip can be prevented.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a tip end portion of a laser probe according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 shows a laser guide of a laser probe according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The laser guide 1 guides laser light generated by a laser generator (not shown) to an affected part in a body cavity, and a hook-shaped tip 2 is provided at the tip thereof.
The laser guide 1 is formed, for example, by inserting a laser guide body made of an optical fiber into a flexible hollow sheath. The tip 2 is a laser guide 1
It irradiates the affected part in the body cavity with the laser light guided by, and is made of sapphire or quartz.

A cylindrical protection member 4 is provided at the tip of the laser guide 1 so as to be slidable in the axial direction of the laser guide 1. The protective member 4 protects the tip hook portion 3 of the tip 2, and is biased by the coil spring 5 toward the tip of the laser guide 1 so as to cover the tip hook 3 of the tip 2.

Therefore, in the first embodiment of the present invention having such a configuration, when the laser guide 1 is inserted into the trocar 6 as shown in FIG. 2, a stopper provided on the inner peripheral surface of the trocar 6 on the tip side. The tip of the protection member 4 contacts the 6a, and the protection member 4 is retracted to the rear end side of the laser guide 1 against the biasing force of the coil spring 5.

When the protective member 4 retreats toward the rear end side of the laser guide 1 against the biasing force of the coil spring 5 as described above, the distal end hook portion 3 of the distal end tip 2 is exposed from the distal end of the protective member 4, so that the distal end is exposed. The tip hook portion 3 of the tip 2 can be inserted into the body cavity of the patient without contacting the trocar 6.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of the cooling system of the laser generator, in which 14 is a laser oscillator.
Since the laser oscillator 14 is heated by an excitation lamp (not shown), cooling water is circulated for cooling.

In the type in which the electrodes of the excitation lamp are provided in the cooling water, if the electric resistance of the cooling water is low, a current will flow to the cooling water side and will not go to the excitation lamp, making it difficult to light the excitation lamp. . Therefore, in general, ion exchange resin 17
Cooling water is made to flow through to keep the electric resistance of the cooling water high.

When the switch of the laser generator is turned on and the cooling water is circulated, the cooling water passes through the ion exchange resin 17 and the electric resistance value gradually rises. At this time, if the ion exchange resin 17 is deteriorated, the electric resistance value of the cooling water does not increase and the excitation lamp does not light. For this reason, conventionally, an abnormality is notified if the electric resistance value does not exceed a certain value (for example, 200 KΩ) even if the cooling water is circulated for a certain time (for example, 10 minutes). That is, the abnormality can be recognized after a lapse of a certain time from turning on the switch of the laser generator.

In such a method, the ion exchange resin 17
There is a problem that it takes too long to notice that the ion exchange resin 17 is deteriorated because the degree of deterioration of the ion exchange resin is not immediately known.

Therefore, in the cooling system shown in FIG. 3, the cooling water in the tank 11 is sent by the pump 12 through the filter 13 to the laser oscillator 14 to cool the laser oscillator 14. The cooling water that has cooled the laser oscillator 14 is removed by the heat exchanger 15, and then returns to the tank 11.

Further, a part of the cooling water sucked up by the pump 12 is sent to the ion exchange resin 17 through the valve 16 to increase the electric resistance value. Then, the cooling water discharged from the ion exchange resin 17 returns to the tank 11.

The tank 11 is provided with a sensor 18 for detecting the electrical resistance value of the cooling water. The output signal output from the sensor 18 is processed by the control unit 19 and then
The display unit 20 is notified of the abnormality.

Therefore, in the cooling system shown in FIG. 3, when the laser generator is turned on, the electric resistance value of the cooling water is Ω1.
And a step of detecting the electric resistance value Ω2 of the cooling water after a lapse of a fixed time (for example, 30 seconds), and the electric resistance value increase rate ((Ω1 + Ω2) / t) is calculated, and when the value is less than or equal to the set value, an abnormality notifying the deterioration of the ion exchange resin 17 is displayed on the display unit 20, so that the ion exchange resin 1
The deterioration of No. 7 can be known in a short time.

In the first embodiment described above, the cylindrical protection member 4 is used as a means for protecting the tip 2, but the tip of the protection tube 7 into which the laser guide 1 can be inserted as shown in FIG. The protective portion 7a may be provided on the side so that the protective portion 7a opens like a petal due to the elastic force when the laser guide 1 is inserted into the body cavity.

Here, in the protection portion 7a shown in FIG. 5, for example, the tip of the elastic tube is divided in the axial direction as shown in FIG.
The rubber film 8 is formed between the petals and the rubber film 8 is formed between the petals so that the tip hook portion 3 of the tip 2 can be removed even when the laser guide 1 is removed from the trocar 6.
Never get caught in.

In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the tip portion of the protective tube 7 is formed into a petal shape to form the tip 2 of the tip.
It is designed to cover the protective tube 7 as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to form the tip of the elastic thin plate 9 and divide the elastic thin plate 9 into a plurality of leaf-shaped portions.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the protection member for protecting the tip is provided so as to be movable relative to the tip, the tip can be removed when the laser guide is inserted into or removed from the body cavity. It is possible to provide a laser probe that does not hit the trocar and can prevent damage to the tip chip due to interference with the trocar.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a tip portion of a laser probe according to a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view of the laser probe according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram showing a cooling system of a laser generator.

4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the electrical resistance value of cooling water used in the laser generator of FIG. 3 and time.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a tip portion of a laser probe according to a second embodiment of the invention.

6 is a configuration diagram of a protection member shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a modified example of the protection tube shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Laser guide, 2 ... Tip, 3 ... Tip hook, 4 ... Protective member, 5 ... Coil spring, 6 ... Trocar.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A laser probe having a laser guide that guides laser light to a diseased part in a body cavity and a tip that irradiates the diseased part in the body cavity with the laser light guided by the laser guide. The laser probe is provided with a protective member that is movable relative to the tip.