CAPSULE MEDICAL APPARATUS

• US 20090306473A1
• Filed: 05/04/2009
• Published: 12/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Medical Systems Corporation (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: KAWANO, Hironao, TANAKA, Shinsuke, TAKAHASHI, Masaki, TAKIZAWA, Hironobu
• Granted Patent: US 8,517,917 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/106
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/041 Capsule endoscopes for imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/00234 for minimally invasive surgery A61B17/0218, A61B17/0469, A61B17/12013, A61B17/1285, A61B17/29, A61B17/320016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00345 Micromachines, nanomachines, microsystems
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/14284 with needle insertion means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 31/002 Devices for releasing a drug at a continuous and controlled rate for a prolonged period of time artificial gland structures or devices A61F2/022; intra-uterine contraceptive devices A61F6/14; tampons for introducing into the vagina A61F13/20, A61L15/00; suppositories or bougies for intra-vaginal or intra-uterine application A61K9/02; physical forms of medicinal preparations for sustained or differential drug release A61K9/20, A61K9/50

Abstract

A capsule medical apparatus includes a needle driving unit that punctures an internal region of a subject with an injection needle and pulls out the injection needle from the internal region, a liquid injection unit that injects a liquid into the internal region through the injection needle, and a leak prevention unit that prevents the liquid that is injected into the internal region from leaking from the internal region.

Claims

1. A capsule medical apparatus, comprising:

a needle driving unit that punctures an internal region of interest in a subject with an injection needle and pulls out the injection needle from the internal region of interest;

a liquid injection unit that injects a liquid into the internal region of interest through the injection needle that punctures the internal region of interest; and

a leak prevention unit that prevents the liquid injected into the internal region of interest from leaking from the internal region of interest.

2. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the leak prevention unit is a sealing unit that changes a state of a puncture hole that is made in the in-vivo region of interest by the injection needle into a sealed state during the period of time between when the liquid injection unit injects the liquid into the internal region of interest and when the needle driving unit pulls out the injection needle from the internal region of interest.

3. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the sealing unit is a needle-diameter changing unit that changes the outer diameter of the injection needle.

4. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the needle-diameter changing unit is a heating unit that heats the injection needle, which then contracts so that the state of the puncture hole becomes the sealed state.

5. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sealing unit comprises

a soft tube that is fitted to the injection needle in a manner such that the soft tube can slide and that is inserted into the puncture hole with the injection needle that punctures the internal region of interest;

and

a tube driving unit that protrudes the soft tube together with the injection needle, keeps the soft tube in the internal region of interest until the needle driving unit pulls out the injection needle from the internal region of interest, pulls out the soft tube from the internal region of interest after the injection needle is pulled out, and stores the soft tube inside a capsule casing, wherein

the soft tube maintains its tubular shape when the soft tube is fitted to the injection needle, and, when the needle driving unit pulls out the injection needle from the internal region of interest, contracts due to the contraction of the internal region of interest so that the state of the puncture hole becomes the sealed state.

6. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the sealing unit comprises a control unit that controls the needle driving unit so that the injection needle is pulled out from the internal region of interest at a speed that is lower than the speed of the contraction of the internal region of interest.

7. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the sealing unit further comprises a rotation driving unit that rotates the injection needle around the longitudinal direction of the injection needle, and

the control unit controls the rotation driving unit, when the injection needle punctures the internal region of interest, so that the front opening of the injection needle is directed toward the internal region of interest, and the control unit controls the rotation driving unit, when the injection needle is pulled out from the internal region of interest, so that the injection needle rotates with the front opening being directed in a reverse direction.

8. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the sealing unit comprises a cauterization unit that cauterizes living tissue around the injection needle so that the state of the puncture hole becomes the sealed state.

9. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 8, wherein

the cauterization unit is located on an outer surface of the capsule casing 2 and near a protrusion opening from which the injection needle protrudes.

10. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the cauterization unit comprises the injection needle.

11. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising

a cauterization-unit driving unit that protrudes the cauterization unit from the capsule casing when the cauterization unit is in contact with a surface of the internal region of interest near the injection needle so that the state of the puncture hole becomes the sealed state and that then stores the cauterization unit inside the capsule casing, wherein

the cauterization unit is a tube shape through which the injection needle can be inserted, and

the injection needle can protrude through the cauterization unit.

12. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the sealing unit changes the shape of the surface of the internal region of interest that is punctured by the injection needle so that the state of the puncture hole becomes the sealed state.

13. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the needle driving unit drives the injection needle as the injection needle punctures the injection needle in a manner such that the injection needle makes an acute angle, which is less than 90 degrees, with the surface of the internal region of interest.

14. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the needle driving unit protrudes the injection needle from the capsule casing of the capsule medical apparatus, punctures the internal region of interest of a subject with the injection needle, pulls out the injection needle that punctures the internal region of interest from the internal region of interest, and stores the injection needle inside the capsule casing.

15. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 1, comprising

a protrusion driving unit that protrudes the injection needle from the capsule casing of the capsule medical apparatus, wherein

the needle driving unit comprises a magnet that rotates itself due to an external magnetic field in order to puncture the internal region of interest of the subject with the injection needle, which is protruded by the protrusion driving unit, and also rotates itself in order to pull out the injection needle that punctures the internal region of interest from the internal region of interest.

16. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the leak prevention unit comprises a pressure suppressing unit that suppresses an increase in pressure of the liquid remaining inside the internal region of interest.

17. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the pressure suppressing unit comprises

a suction unit that sucks a backflow liquid that is the liquid injected into the internal region of interest and that then flows back from the internal region of interest through the injection needle;

and

a communicated-state switching unit that switches its state from a communicated state between the injection needle and the liquid injection unit to a communicated state between the injection needle and the suction unit and vice versa.

18. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the pressure suppressing unit comprises

a retrieval unit that retrieves the backflow liquid that is the liquid injected into the internal region of interest and that then flows back from the internal region of interest, through the injection needle;

and

a communicated-state switching unit that switches its state from a communicated state between the injection needle and the liquid injection unit to a communicated state between the injection needle and the retrieval unit and vice versa.

19. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the pressure suppressing unit comprises

a pressurizing unit that pressurizes the inside of the internal region of interest through the injection needle that punctures the internal region of interest so that the inside of the internal region of interest is extended;

an air discharge unit that causes internal gas in the internal region of interest to be discharged, which is pressurized by the pressurizing unit, through the injection needle; and

a communicated-state switching unit that switches its state from a communicated state between the injection needle and the liquid injection unit to a communicated state between the injection needle and the pressurizing unit and vice versa, wherein

the liquid injection unit injects the liquid into the internal region of interest through the injection needle when internal gas in the internal region of interest is discharged by the air discharge unit.

20. The capsule medical apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising

a control unit that controls an amount of the liquid injected into the internal region of interest so that the liquid does not cause the inside of the internal region of interest to extend.