The present application is National Phase of International Application No. PCT/JP2013/055157 filed Feb. 27, 2013, and claims priority from Japanese Application No. 2012-122777, filed May 30, 2012.
The present invention relates to medical instruments such as a knife, mirror, hook, retractor and dilator used in the medical field, and more particularly, to medical instruments that enable a functional portion provided at the front end of the instrument to be displaced at a required angle when the instrument is used in a medical operation.
In medical instruments each provided with a rod-shaped grasp portion at its base end and a functional portion such as a knife, mirror, hook, retractor and dilator used in medical practice at its front end, it has conventionally been general that the grasp portion and the functional portion are arranged substantially linearly.
A medical knife 101 shown in
However, for example, in heart coronary-artery bypass surgery and the like, from the relationship between the position of a blood vessel to cut and an insertion angle of the medical knife, the conventional medical knife as shown in
Then, such medical knives have previously been commercially available that a removable knife body can be disposed at an arbitrary angle with respect to the grasp portion (for example, Patent Document 1).
Meanwhile, the medical mirror 201 is used to visually identify an area such as a deep narrow operation site and the inside of the oral cavity that are normally hard to see, and conventionally, as shown in
In the case of the above-mentioned conventional medical knife 301 as shown in
Therefore, medical instruments deformable to a bent state and changeable in the position have been known using shape-memory alloys in a part of some middle portion of a shaft portion formed between the functional portion and the grasp portion (for example, Patent Document 2).
However, the shape-memory alloy is to return to its original shape with respect to a bend (distortion) within 10% of the metal crystalline structure when a predetermined temperature is applied, and is not able to return to its original shape when extreme deformation such that the metal crystalline structure changes is applied. Therefore, the shape-memory alloy can be bent only in the range of small angles, and there is a case that it is not possible to secure a necessary bending angle when used in a medical operation.
By increasing the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the shape-memory portion using the shape-memory alloy, it is possible to deform largely in bending with the same curvature radius, but when the shape-memory portion is simply made long, corresponding thereto, the dimensions of the instrument are longer to be hard to handle, and there is a problem that operability deteriorates.
Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned respects, it is an object of the present invention to provide a medical instrument that enables a functional portion to be displaced adequately even when the bending angle is small, by making a structure that enables a large dimension in the longitudinal direction of the shape-memory portion to be secured without particularly increasing the length dimension of the entire instrument in the medical instrument using the shape-memory alloy.
To attain the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a medical instrument characterized by having a rod-shaped grasp portion at a base end thereof, a functional portion used in medical practice at a front end thereof, a shape-memory portion comprised of a rod-shaped shape-memory alloy provided between the grasp portion and the functional portion, and a holding portion, formed in the grasp portion, having a space in which apart of the shape-memory portion is inserted from a longitudinal direction, where a gap is provided between an inner surface of the holding portion and an outer surface of the shape-memory portion, the shape-memory portion is subjected to memory treatment in a linear state, is bent within a predetermined range as necessary to use, and after using, is returned to an original memory-treated shape by heating the shape-memory portion to a memory recovery temperature, and in bending the shape-memory portion, the outer surface of the shape-memory portion comes into contact with an inner edge portion at a front end of an opening of the holding portion, and thereby restricts deformation of the shape-memory portion beyond the predetermined range. At this point, it is preferable to provide surfaces of the grasp portion and the functional portion with knurling processing and/or satin finish in order for fingers not to slip when an operator grasps to operate.
Further, the shape-memory portion is characterized by being comprised of a nickel-titanium alloy. Then, the functional portion is characterized by being any one of a medical knife, medical mirror, medical hook, medical retractor and dilator.
Furthermore, it is a feature that the opening of the holding portion is extended and opened toward the functional portion.
Still furthermore, the functional portion is characterized by further having a receiving portion, in which a front end portion of the shape-memory portion is inserted, at a connection portion with the shape-memory portion, where a gap is provided between an inner surface of the receiving portion and an outer surface of the shape-memory portion, and in bending the shape-memory portion, the outer surface of the shape-memory portion comes into contact with an inner edge portion at a front end of an opening of the receiving portion, and thereby restricts deformation of the shape-memory portion beyond the predetermined range. Then, it is a feature that the opening of the receiving portion is extended and opened in the direction of the grasp portion.
The medical mirror is characterized by being configured by coupling a pair of mirrors in the shape of a hinge, where the shape-memory portion is connected to the shaft of the hinge. Further, another one of the medical mirror is characterized by being formed in the shape of a cone with the connection portion with the shape-memory portion being the vertex, where an inner surface of the cone is a mirror surface.
To attain the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a medical instrument characterized by having a rod-shaped grasp portion at a base end thereof, a functional portion used in medical practice at a front end thereof, a shape-memory portion comprised of a rod-shaped shape-memory alloy provided between the grasp portion and the functional portion, and a holding portion formed in the grasp portion to cover an entire outer surface of a part of the shape-memory portion on the base end side with a flexible material, where the shape-memory portion is subjected to memory treatment in a linear state, is bent within a predetermined range as necessary to use, and after using, is returned to an original memory-treated shape by heating the shape-memory portion to a memory recovery temperature, and in bending the shape-memory portion, an elastic force of the holding portion restricts deformation of the shape-memory portion beyond the predetermined range.
Then, it is a feature that a thickness of a cover portion to cover the shape-memory portion in the holding portion is formed to be thinner toward the functional portion.
According to the medical instrument of the invention, it is possible to secure largely the dimension in the longitudinal direction by inserting a part of the shape-memory portion in the inside of the holding portion, and it is possible to largely displace the functional portion even in a small bending angle of the shape-memory portion.
Further, in bending the shape-memory portion, the shape-memory portion is restricted to the deformation limit when the outer surface of the shape-memory portion comes into contact with the inner edge portion at the front end of the opening of the holding portion, and it is thereby possible to prevent the shape-memory portion from being bent beyond the predetermined rage.
An Embodiment of the present invention will specifically be described below with reference to drawings.
The grasp portion 1 is a portion for a user to grasp in using, and is a rod-shaped member made of metal such as a titanium alloy and stainless steel. Knurling processing and/or satin finish is provided around the grasp portion 1 in order for fingers not to slip when the user grasps to operate.
The shape-memory portion 2 is a rod-shaped member made of a shape-memory alloy such as Nitinol (nickel-titanium alloy). The shape-memory alloy is a specific alloy which remembers some shape by heat treatment, and when deformed, returns to the pre-deformed shape by heating to a predetermined temperature or more. As shown in
The functional portion 3 is herein a knife body, and is disposed at the front end of the shape-memory portion 2. Then, the functional portion 3 is provided with a receiving portion 3A, in which the shape-memory portion 2 is inserted, on the connection side to the shape-memory portion 2, and as shown in
The holding portion 1A has the shape of a pipe, and is integrally formed as apart of the grasp portion 1. Then, apart of the shape-memory portion 2 on the base end side is inserted in the inside of the holding portion 1A, and as in connection with the functional portion 3 as shown in
The grasp portion 1, shape-memory portion 2 and functional portion 3 are connected mutually detachably, and as the connection method, as well as the screw scheme as described above, it is possible to apply various schemes such as a fit scheme. Further, the receiving portion 3A may be configured as a different form from the functional portion 3 to be detachable by a screw scheme, fit scheme or the like. Furthermore, the holding portion 1A may also be configured as a different form from the grasp portion 1 to be detachable by a screw scheme, fit scheme or the like.
Thus, both ends of the shape-memory portion 2 are respectively inserted in hollow portions of the holding portion 1A and receiving portion 3A, and gaps d1, (
Thus, by largely securing the dimension length in the longitudinal direction of the shape-memory portion 2, when the dimension is long in bending, as compared with the case of being short, the shift amounts of both ends of the shape-memory portion 2 are larger in the case of being long in bending with the same curvature radius. Accordingly, with respect to the grasp portion 1 side of the shape-memory portion 2 as a reference, the functional portion 3 is relatively displaced larger as the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the shape-memory portion 2 is longer. Therefore, as the shape-memory portion 2 is longer, versatility is higher in displacement of the functional portion 3 by adjustments of the bending angle, and it is possible to adjust a bend of the functional portion 3 from the grasp portion 1 to an optimal angle easy to conduct an operation.
Further, while the length dimension of the shape-memory portion 2 is secured by providing the holding portion 1A and the receiving portion 3A, it is further effective increasing the substantial dimension of the shape-memory portion 2 within the scope of not resulting in deterioration of operability.
On the other hand, when the shape-memory portion 2 becomes long, since it is made possible to bend from both ends by a small force, there is the risk that the portion may be bent more than the deformation limit angle, and that it is not possible to return to the original linear state.
Thus, in bending more than the deformation limit angle beyond the predetermined range, the outer surface of the shape-memory portion 2 comes into contact with an inner edge portion 1B at the front end of the opening of the holding portion 1A, and then, comes into contact with an inner edge portion 3B at the front end of the opening of the receiving portion 3A, and it is restricted bending more than the deformation limit angle. Further, since the shape-memory portion 2 is supported by the holding portion 1A, it is possible to transfer the force from the grasp portion 1 or holding portion 1A to the functional portion 3 reliably in operating the instrument.
Accordingly, dimensions of the gap d1 are set so that the bend, such that the outer surface of the shape-memory portion 2 comes into contact with the inner edge portion at the front end of the opening of the holding portion 1, remains within the predetermined range of the deformation limit angle or less of the shape-memory portion 2, in grasping the grasp portion 1 and the receiving portion 3A and bending the shape-memory portion 2 from both ends. Similarly, at the other end of the shape-memory portion 2, dimensions of the gap d2 are set so that the bend, such that the outer surface of the shape-memory portion 2 comes into contact with the inner edge portion at the front end of the opening of the receiving portion 3A, is the deformation limit angle of the shape-memory portion 2.
Further, as shown in
In this Embodiment, by the holding portion 1A and receiving portion 3A, it is restricted that bending of the shape-memory portion 2 is more than the deformation limit angle, and the restriction may be made only by the holding portion 1A. However, by adding restrictions from both ends of the shape-memory portion 2, it is intended to reliably prevent bending from being more than the deformation limit angle. Moreover, since both ends of the shape-memory portion 2 are supported by the holding portion 1 and the receiving portion 3A in bending, the force in bending is distributed over the whole of the shape-memory portion 2, and it is possible to prevent the shape-memory portion 2 from bending at an acute angle by the bending force concentrating on one point of the shape-memory portion 2.
At this point, the thickness of the cover portion to cover the shape-memory portion 2 is configured to be thinner toward the functional portion 3 so as to gradually decrease the elastic force exerted on the shape-memory portion 2, and the shape-memory portion 2 is thereby prevented from bending sharply in the boundary portion with the holding portion 1. In this Example, the thickness of the cover portion is made thinner stepwise, and may also be formed in the shape of a taper.
In using the medical knife of above-mentioned this Embodiment, as shown in
After using, the functional portion 3 is removed, and the shape-memory portion 2 is heated to the memory recovery temperature, and then, returns to the original shape i.e. straight shape as shown in
In addition, in the above-mentioned description, as the medical knife, the blade protruding substantially in the shape of a triangle is illustrated as an example, and as well as the shape, it is possible to attach various shapes of blades.
Further, in the above-mentioned description, the medical knife is described as the medical instrument, and as well as the knife, it is possible to apply various members to the functional portion 3. As described above, in the medical instrument according to the invention, the functional portion 3 is adjusted optimally to a position facing the observation site, and therefore, by making a mirror body used in the functional portion 3 a particular shape, it is possible to perform further effective observation.
A specific example of such a mirror body will be described.
Described next is the case of using the medical instrument according to the invention as a medical retractor. As shown in
In the case of using the medical instrument according to the invention as a dilator, as shown in
By configuring as described above, the medical instrument of this Embodiment is provided with the holding portion 1A in which is inserted one end of the shape-memory portion 2, thereby (1) secures the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the shape-memory portion 2 to increase versatility of the position to displace the functional portion 3 by bending, (2) is capable of restricting deformation of the shape-memory portion 2 beyond the predetermined range by the holding portion 1A, and (3) enables the force from the grasp portion 1 or holding portion 1A to be transferred reliably to the functional portion 3 in operating the instrument with the shape-memory portion 2 supported by the holding portion 1A. Then, by further providing the functional portion 3 with the receiving portion 3A, the advantages in above-mentioned (1) and (2) are further enhanced.
In the above-mentioned description, the Embodiment of the present invention is described, but the invention is not limited to the above-mentioned Embodiment, various modifications thereof are capable of being made based on the subject matter of the invention, and the modifications are not excluded from the scope of the invention.
The present invention relates to medical instruments such as a knife, mirror, hook, retractor and dilator used in the medical field, and more particularly, to medical instruments that enable a functional portion provided at the front end of the instrument to be detachable, while enabling the angle between the functional portion and the grasp portion to be changed freely, and has industrial applicability.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012-122777 | May 2012 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2013/055157 | 2/27/2013 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2013/179707 | 12/5/2013 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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Translation JP3498092 Accessed Sep. 19, 2015 from https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/web/all/top/BTmTopEnglishPage. |
Translation KR2010008030 WO 2011129508 Accessed Apr. 18, 2016 from https://patentscope/wipo.int/search/en/. |
PCT/ISA/237, “Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority for PCT/JP2013/055157”, dated May 21, 2013. |
PCT/ISA/210, “International Search Report for PCT/JP2013/055157”, dated May 21, 2013. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20140343588 A1 | Nov 2014 | US |