Irradiation apparatus and irradiation method

Abstract

To provide an irradiation apparatus capable of properly binding a collagen sheet and a biological tissue.SOLUTION: An irradiation unit irradiates a collagen sheet with light having a predetermined wavelength. A wavelength selection mirror 54 removes, from light obtained from the collagen sheet, light having the predetermined wavelength. A thermometer 56 measures the temperature of the collagen sheet 11 on the basis of the light from which light having the predetermined wavelength has been removed by the wavelength selection mirror 54. A controller 32 controls light irradiation by the irradiation unit, using a measurement result from the thermometer 56.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an irradiation device and an irradiation method. [Background technology]

[0002] In the past, suturing with thread was used to join biological tissues such as blood vessels. However, although various surgical instruments (for example, see Patent Document 1) have been developed or proposed to assist in suturing with thread, suturing biological tissues with thread requires the training and experience of the surgeon. For this reason, a technology for easily joining biological tissues is desired. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-159576 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As a technique for easily joining biological tissues, a technique has been considered in which a collagen sheet and biological tissue are bound together using the interlocking phenomenon of collagen. In this technique, since the interlocking phenomenon of collagen occurs only in a specific temperature range, it is necessary to control the temperature of the collagen sheet and biological tissue to be within the specific temperature range. However, it is difficult to directly measure the temperature of the collagen sheet and biological tissue during surgery, and it is a technical challenge to appropriately interlock (bind) the collagen sheet with the biological tissue.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an irradiation device and an irradiation method that are capable of properly fitting a collagen sheet to a living tissue. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An irradiation device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is an irradiation device that irradiates light onto a collagen sheet attached to biological tissue, and includes an irradiation unit that irradiates light having a predetermined wavelength onto the collagen sheet, a filter unit that removes light having the predetermined wavelength from light from an irradiation area on the collagen sheet irradiated with the light, a temperature measurement unit that measures the temperature of the boundary between the biological tissue and the collagen sheet based on the light from which the light having the predetermined wavelength has been removed by the filter unit, and a control unit that controls the irradiation of light by the irradiation unit using the measurement result of the temperature measurement unit. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to appropriately bind a collagen sheet to a biological tissue. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an illumination system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic view of an irradiation target. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic view of an irradiation target. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining light scanning. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining joining of biological tissues by collagen interdigitation phenomenon. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the illumination system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] 1 is a diagram showing an illumination system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The illumination system 100 shown in FIG.

[0011] The irradiation target 1 is an object to be irradiated with light from the irradiation device 2, and in this embodiment, includes a collagen sheet attached to a living tissue. The living tissue is not particularly limited as long as it is a tissue that can be interlocked with the collagen sheet by the collagen interlocking phenomenon, and examples of the living tissue include blood vessels, intestines, skin, bones, and cartilage. In this embodiment, a blood vessel 3 is shown as the living tissue.

[0012] The irradiation device 2 is a device that irradiates the irradiation target 1 with light having a predetermined wavelength. The predetermined wavelength is preferably a wavelength capable of efficiently heating biological tissue, for example, a wavelength included in the wavelength range of near-infrared rays. In this embodiment, the predetermined wavelength is 1940 nm, but is not limited to this wavelength. For example, the predetermined wavelength may be a wavelength included in the range of 1500 nm to 10000 nm.

[0013] 2 and 3 are diagrams showing an example of the irradiation target 1. Specifically, Fig. 2 is a perspective view that shows a schematic view of the irradiation target 1, and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in Fig. 2.

[0014] 2 and 3, the irradiation target 1 is attached to a blood vessel 3, which is an example of biological tissue. The irradiation target 1 also has a collagen sheet 11 and a pressure connector 12.

[0015] The collagen sheet 11 is a sheet-like member formed by bundling fibrous collagen. The collagen sheet 11 is provided so as to come into contact with the blood vessel 3. In the example shown in the figure, the collagen sheet 11 is wrapped around the blood vessel 3 so as to cover the cut portion 3a where the blood vessel 3 has been cut.

[0016] The crimper 12 is a tool that crimps the collagen sheet 11 against the blood vessel 3. In this embodiment, the crimper 12 has an inner member 12a that comes into contact with the collagen sheet 11, and an outer member 12b that is attached to the inner member 12a.

[0017] The inner layer 12a and the outer layer 12b are made of a material that transmits light of a predetermined wavelength from the irradiation device 2.

[0018] The inner 12a is attached so as to cover the collagen sheet 11 wrapped around the blood vessel 3. For example, the inner 12a is a flexible cylindrical member having a slit along the cylindrical axis direction, and is attached so as to cover the collagen sheet 11 by widening the slit.

[0019] Moreover, the inner 12a is a temperature-indicating material containing a pigment whose color changes according to temperature. Specifically, the inner 12a changes color when a predetermined temperature is reached. For example, the inner 12a changes from blue to transparent when a predetermined temperature is reached. The predetermined temperature is, for example, a temperature that is included in the control temperature range described below and is lower than the median value of the control temperature range. The predetermined temperature may also be the lower limit of the control temperature range or a temperature slightly lower than the lower limit. This is because it is considered that the temperature of the blood vessels and collagen sheet 11 increases due to the laser light, and then the temperature of the inner 12a increases due to thermal conduction.

[0020] The outer 12b is attached so as to cover the inner 12a, and presses the collagen sheet 11 via the inner 12a, thereby applying pressure to the collagen sheet 11 against the blood vessel 3. The pressing mechanism for pressing the collagen sheet 11 in the outer 12b is not particularly limited.

[0021] Returning to the description of Fig. 1, the irradiation device 2 includes a light source device 21 and a hand piece 22. The light source device 21 and the hand piece 22 are optically connected via an optical transmission path 23. The optical transmission path 23 is, for example, an optical fiber.

[0022] The light source device 21 includes a light source 31 and a control device 32 .

[0023] The light source 31 is a laser light source that emits laser light as light having a predetermined wavelength. The laser light emitted from the light source 31 is input to the optical transmission path 23. The type of the light source 31 is not particularly limited, but is, for example, an LD (Laser Diode: semiconductor laser). The control device 32 is a control unit that controls the entire irradiation device 2. A more detailed description of the control process performed by the control device 32 will be given later.

[0024] The handpiece 22 is an operation unit that is held and operated by an operator who uses the irradiation device 2. The handpiece 22 has a shaping unit 51, a total reflection mirror 52, a driving unit 53, a wavelength selection mirror 54, an emission unit 55, a thermometer 56, and a color detection unit 57.

[0025] The shaping unit 51 is optically connected to the light source 31 of the light source device 21 via the optical transmission path 23, and shapes and emits the laser light from the light source 31 that has passed through the optical transmission path 23. In this embodiment, the shaping unit 51 converts the intensity distribution of a cross section perpendicular to the traveling direction of the laser light from a Gaussian distribution to a top-hat distribution with a wide region of maximum intensity, and emits the laser light.

[0026] The total reflection mirror 52 reflects the laser light from the shaping unit 51 and outputs it to the wavelength selection mirror 54. In this embodiment, the total reflection mirror 52 is a scanning mirror that scans the laser light by changing the reflection direction of the laser light, such as a galvanometer mirror. Specifically, the total reflection mirror 52 scans the laser light in a two-dimensional plane direction approximately perpendicular to the traveling direction.

[0027] The driving unit 53 is a driving device that changes the angle at which the laser light is reflected by the total reflection mirror 52. The driving unit 53 is, for example, a galvano motor. The total reflection mirror 52 and the driving unit 53 constitute a scanning unit that scans the laser light.

[0028] The wavelength selection mirror 54 is a mirror that reflects light of a predetermined wavelength and transmits light of other wavelengths. Specifically, the wavelength selection mirror 54 reflects the light reflected by the total reflection mirror 52 and emits it to the irradiation target 1 through the emission part 55, and also transmits light having wavelengths other than the predetermined wavelength from the light from the irradiation target 1 and emits it to the thermometer 56. Therefore, the wavelength selection mirror 54 functions as a filter part that removes light of a predetermined wavelength from the light from the irradiation target 1. Note that the filter part may have an optical filter that blocks light of a predetermined wavelength instead of the wavelength selection mirror 54 or in addition to the wavelength selection mirror 54. In this embodiment, the predetermined wavelength is 1940 nm, so that, for example, a filter that blocks light having a wavelength of 2000 nm or less can be applied as the optical filter.

[0029] The above-described light source 31, shaping unit 51, total reflection mirror 52, driving unit 53, wavelength selection mirror 54, and emission unit 55 constitute an irradiation unit that irradiates the irradiation target 1 with laser light. Note that the irradiation unit may include various optical systems such as a collimator lens in addition to the configuration shown in FIG.

[0030] The thermometer 56 is a temperature measurement unit that receives light that has passed through the wavelength selection mirror 54, measures the temperature of the irradiation target 1 based on that light, and outputs a temperature detection signal indicative of the measurement result to the control device 32 of the light source device 21.

[0031] The color detection unit 57 detects the color of the inner layer 12a functioning as a temperature indicator in the irradiation target 1, and outputs a color detection signal indicating the detection result to the control device 32 of the light source device .

[0032] The control device 32 controls the light source 31 and the driving unit 53 based on a temperature detection signal from the thermometer 56 and a color detection signal from the color detection unit 57, thereby controlling the irradiation of light by the irradiation device 2 onto the irradiation target 1.

[0033] Specifically, the control device 32 turns on the light source 31 to emit laser light to the collagen sheet 11 of the irradiation target 1, and drives the total reflection mirror 52 via the drive unit 53 to scan the collagen sheet 11 with the laser light. At this time, the control device 32 executes a control process to control the light source 31 at each scanning point on the collagen sheet 11 based on the temperature detection signal and the color detection signal.

[0034] In the control process, the control device 32 switches between emitting and stopping light irradiation so that the temperature of the collagen sheet 11 falls within a control temperature range, which is a predetermined temperature range, based on, for example, a temperature detection signal. For example, the control device 32 performs PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control on the light source 31 and controls the duty ratio so that the temperature of the collagen sheet 11 falls within the control temperature range. The control device 32 may also control the frequency at which the light source 31 is turned on. Furthermore, when a color change is indicated by the color detection signal, the control device 32 turns off the light source 31 and stops emitting laser light to the collagen sheet 11.

[0035] Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining the scanning of the laser light, showing a plan view of the irradiation target 1 as viewed from the irradiation direction of the laser light of the irradiation target 1.

[0036] The control device 32 uses the driving unit 53 to change the reflection direction of the laser light at the total reflection mirror 52, so that the laser light is sequentially irradiated to each of a plurality of spots (scanning points) 61 virtually arranged on the irradiation area 11a of the collagen sheet 11, as shown in FIG. 4. The order of irradiation of each spot is not particularly limited. In the example of FIG. 4, the spot 61 irradiated with the laser light moves from one end of the irradiation area 11a to the other along the x-axis direction, then moves in the y-axis direction by the spot interval, which is the interval between the spots 61, and further moves from one end to the other along the x-axis direction. The x-axis and y-axis are axes that are approximately perpendicular to each other within the irradiation area 11a.

[0037] The number of spots, the spot interval, the irradiation area, etc. may be set in advance or may be set by the surgeon.

[0038] 5 is a diagram for explaining the joining of biological tissues by the collagen interdigitation phenomenon. The collagen sheet 11 before being irradiated with light is assumed to be uncrosslinked.

[0039] In Fig. 5(a), a collagen sheet 11 is placed so as to cover a cut portion 3a of a blood vessel 3, which is biological tissue, and the collagen sheet 11 is pressed against the blood vessel 3 by a force F from a pressure applying device 12 (omitted in Fig. 5). In this state, when a laser beam L is irradiated onto the collagen sheet 11 as shown in Fig. 5(b), the laser beam L increases the temperature of the moisture in the blood vessel 3 and the temperature of the collagen sheet 11 that has absorbed that moisture, thereby increasing the temperatures of the blood vessel 3 and the collagen sheet 11.

[0040] When the temperatures of the blood vessel 3 and the collagen sheet 11 exceed a threshold value (e.g., 46°C), the fibrous collagen bundles in the blood vessel 3 relax and expand, and the fibrous collagen bundles constituting the collagen sheet 11 also relax and expand. As a result, the relaxed collagens of the blood vessel 3 and the collagen sheet 11 become entangled, as shown in Fig. 5(c). At this time, in this embodiment, since the collagen sheet 11 is pressed against the blood vessel 3, the collagens become entangled efficiently.

[0041] Then, when the irradiation of the laser light is stopped as shown in Fig. 5(d), the temperatures of the blood vessel 3 and the collagen sheet 11 decrease, and the blood vessel 3 and the collagen sheet 11 contract in an intertwined state and fit together as shown in Fig. 5(e), thereby allowing the cut portion 3a of the blood vessel 3 to be joined.

[0042] 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the irradiation system 100. The surgeon wraps the collagen sheet 11 around the blood vessel 3, and then attaches the pressure connector 12 to the collagen sheet 11 to pressure-bond the collagen sheet 11 to the blood vessel 3. The surgeon further grasps the handpiece 22 and brings the emission section 55 of the handpiece 22 close to the pressure connector 12. After that, when the surgeon issues an instruction to emit laser light using an input section (not shown) provided in the irradiation system 100, the control device 32 of the irradiation system 100 executes the following process.

[0043] First, the control device 32 uses the driving unit 53 to set the angle of the total reflection mirror 52 to an initial state (step S101).

[0044] Thereafter, the control device 32 turns on the light source 31 (step S102). This causes the light source 31 to emit laser light. The laser light is emitted to the total reflection mirror 52 via the optical transmission path 23 and the shaping unit 51, reflected in a direction according to the state of the total reflection mirror 52, and irradiated onto the irradiation target 1 via the wavelength selection mirror 54. Of the light from the irradiation target 1, light other than light having a predetermined wavelength is transmitted through the wavelength selection mirror 54 and input to the thermometer 56.

[0045] The thermometer 56 measures the temperature according to the intensity of the input light as the temperature of the irradiation target 1 (more specifically, the temperature of the collagen sheet 11) and outputs a temperature detection signal indicating the measurement result to the control device 32. In addition, the color detection unit 57 detects the color of the inner layer 12a functioning as a temperature indicator in the irradiation target 1 and outputs a color detection signal indicating the detection result to the control device 32.

[0046] The control device 32 receives the temperature detection signal and the color detection signal, and controls the light source 31 so that the temperature indicated by the temperature detection signal falls within the control temperature range (step S103). For example, when the temperature is below the control temperature range, the control device 32 sets the duty ratio of the PWM signal that drives the light source 31 to a value that increases the temperature, and when the temperature falls within the control temperature range, the control device 32 changes the duty ratio of the WM signal so that the current temperature is maintained. The control temperature range is a temperature range in which the collagen interdigitation phenomenon occurs between the blood vessel 3 and the collagen sheet 11, and is, for example, a range of 42°C to 50°C.

[0047] The control device 32 determines whether the time during which the temperature indicated by the temperature detection signal is within the control temperature range has reached a predetermined time (step S104).

[0048] If the predetermined time has not been reached (step S104: No), the control device 32 determines whether or not the color of the inner layer 12a, which is a temperature indicating material, has changed based on the color detection signal (step S105).

[0049] If the color has not changed (step S105: No), the control device 32 returns to the process of step S103. On the other hand, if the predetermined time has been reached (step S104: Yes) and if the color has changed (step S105: Yes), the control device 32 determines that the irradiation of the current spot with light is to be terminated, and turns off the light source 31 (step S106).

[0050] Then, the control device 32 judges whether or not a predetermined end condition is satisfied (step S106). The end condition is, for example, that irradiation of all the spots has been completed. If the termination condition is not satisfied (step S106: No), the control device 32 uses the driving unit 53 to change the state of the total reflection mirror 52, to change the position of the spot onto which the laser light is irradiated (step S108), and returns to the process of step S102. On the other hand, if the termination condition is satisfied (step S106: Yes), the control device 32 ends the process.

[0051] The configuration and operation of the irradiation system 100 described above are merely examples and are not limited thereto. For example, the light source 31 may not be controlled by color detection. In this case, the color detection unit 57 may not be provided. In the operation described with reference to FIG. 6, the light source 31 is turned off when changing the spot to be irradiated with the laser light, but the spot may be changed with the light source 31 turned on.

[0052] In addition, the irradiation device 2 has a total reflection mirror 52 as a scanning unit that scans the laser light, but the scanning unit may not be provided. In this case, for example, the total reflection mirror 52 is fixed. At this time, the surgeon may manually operate the hand piece 22 to scan the collagen sheet 11 with the laser light. In addition, instead of providing a scanning unit, the shaping unit 51 may shape the laser light so that the diameter of the laser light is large, thereby irradiating a wide area with the laser light at one time, or may shape the laser light so that it has the same shape as the irradiation area on the collagen sheet 11. The size of the diameter of the laser light may be changed according to, for example, the surface area of ​​the pressure bonding tool 12. In addition, the scanning unit may be built into the light source device 21 instead of the hand piece 22.

[0053] In addition, the handpiece 22 may be configured to incorporate a processor or the like so that at least a portion of the functions of the control device 32 are performed by the handpiece 22.

[0054] As described above, according to this embodiment, the irradiation unit irradiates the collagen sheet 11 with light having a predetermined wavelength. The wavelength-selecting mirror 54 removes light having a predetermined wave height from the light from the collagen sheet 11. The thermometer 56 measures the temperature of the collagen sheet 11 based on the light from which the light having the predetermined wavelength has been removed by the wavelength-selecting mirror 54. The control device 32 uses the measurement result of the thermometer 56 to control the irradiation of light by the irradiation unit. This makes it possible to adjust the temperature of the collagen sheet 11 so that the interlocking phenomenon of the collagen sheet 11 occurs appropriately, making it possible to appropriately bind the collagen sheet 11 to the biological tissue.

[0055] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the control device 32 controls the light irradiation so that the temperature of the collagen sheet 11 falls within the controlled temperature range. Therefore, it is possible to more appropriately cause the interlocking phenomenon of the collagen sheet 11 to occur.

[0056] Furthermore, when the time during which the temperature of the collagen sheet 11 is within the controlled temperature range reaches a predetermined time, the control device 32 ends the light irradiation. This makes it possible to appropriately bind the collagen sheet 11 to the biological tissue while preventing the biological tissue from being overheated.

[0057] In this embodiment, the control device 32 controls the light irradiation according to the color of the inner layer 12a, which is a temperature indicating material. Specifically, the control device 32 ends the light irradiation according to the color of the inner layer 12a. This makes it possible to prevent the temperature of the collagen sheet 11 from becoming too high and causing the body tissue to be overheated.

[0058] Furthermore, this embodiment includes a total reflection mirror 52 that is a scanning unit that scans the collagen sheet 11 with light. This makes it possible to appropriately cause the interlocking phenomenon to occur over a wide area on the collagen sheet 11.

[0059] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the shaping unit 51 shapes the laser light into the same shape as the irradiated area of ​​the collagen sheet 11. This makes it possible to appropriately cause the interlocking phenomenon to occur over a wide area on the collagen sheet 11.

[0060] In this embodiment, the filter section is a wavelength selection mirror 54 that reflects light of a predetermined wavelength and transmits light of a wavelength different from the predetermined wavelength, and the light reflected by the wavelength selection mirror 54 is emitted to the collagen sheet 11, and the thermometer 56 measures the temperature based on the light transmitted through the wavelength selection mirror 54. It is possible to accurately measure the temperature to be measured by guiding the laser light and the light used for temperature detection coaxially with the laser light.

[0061] The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrative examples of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to only these embodiments. A person skilled in the art can implement the present disclosure in various other forms without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 1: Irradiation target 2: Irradiation device 3: Blood vessel 3a: Cutting section 5: Optical transmission path 11: Collagen sheet 12: Pressure applying device 12a: Inner 12b: Outer 21: Light source device 22: Hand piece 31: Light source 32: Control device 51: Shaping section 52: Total reflection mirror 53: Driving section 54: Wavelength selection mirror 55: Emitting section 56: Thermometer 57: Color detection section 100: Irradiation system

Claims

1. An irradiation device that irradiates light onto a collagen sheet that is pressed against biological tissue, an irradiation unit that irradiates the collagen sheet with light having a predetermined wavelength; a filter unit for removing light having the predetermined wavelength from the light emitted from the irradiation area of ​​the collagen sheet; a temperature measuring unit that measures the temperature of the collagen sheet based on the light from which the light having the predetermined wavelength has been removed by the filter unit; and a control unit that controls the irradiation of light by the irradiation unit using the measurement result of the temperature measurement unit.

2. The irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit uses the measurement result to control the irradiation of the light so that the temperature falls within a predetermined temperature range.

3. The irradiation device according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit terminates the irradiation of the light when a time during which the temperature is within the temperature range reaches a predetermined time.

4. The present invention further includes a color detection unit that detects the color of a temperature-indicating material that changes color depending on temperature and is provided between the irradiation unit and the collagen sheet, The irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit further uses a detection result of the color detection unit to control the irradiation of light by the irradiation unit.

5. The temperature indicator changes color when a predetermined temperature is reached, The irradiation device according to claim 4 , wherein the control unit terminates the irradiation of the light when the color changes.

6. The irradiation unit further includes a scanning unit that scans the collagen sheet with the light, The irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit controls the irradiation of light by the irradiation unit for each of a plurality of scanning points on the collagen sheet scanned by the scanning unit.

7. The irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the irradiation unit further comprises a shaping unit that shapes the light on the collagen sheet so that the light has the same shape as an irradiation area on the collagen sheet.

8. the filter unit is a wavelength selection mirror that reflects light of the predetermined wavelength and transmits light of a wavelength different from the predetermined wavelength, The irradiation unit emits the light reflected by the wavelength selection mirror to the collagen sheet, The irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature measuring unit measures the temperature based on light transmitted through the wavelength selection mirror.

9. The irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the light emitted from the irradiation unit has a top-hat intensity distribution.

10. The irradiation device according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined wavelength is included in the range of 1500 nm to 10000 nm.

11. An irradiation method using an irradiation device that irradiates light onto a collagen sheet that is pressed onto a biological tissue, comprising: Irradiating the collagen sheet with light having a predetermined wavelength; removing light having the predetermined wavelength from the light emitted from the irradiation area of ​​the collagen sheet; measuring a temperature of the collagen sheet based on the light from which the light having the predetermined wavelength has been removed by the filter unit; An irradiation method, comprising: controlling the irradiation of light by the irradiation unit using a measurement result from the temperature measurement unit.

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