Thermotherapeutic apparatus
AssigneeOlympus Optical Co., Ltd.
InventorsKoichiro Ishiwara, Shinji Hatta, Masashi Abe
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Abstract
A thermotherapeutic apparatus comprises an internal applicator adapted to be inserted into a body cavity of a patient. The internal applicator includes an electrode for warming the tissues of the patient's body with use of an applied voltage, a holding member for holding the electrode, a balloon surrounding the electrode and attached to the holding member, a feed/discharge unit for feeding into and discharging a fluid from the balloon, and a mechanism for situating a radiation source, used in radiotherapy on the body tissues, in the vicinity of the electrode.
Claims24
A thermotherapeutic apparatus comprising:
- a first elongated applicator adapted to be inserted along its direction of elongation into a body cavity, said first applicator including first electrode means for warming tissues of a living body with use of an applied voltage;
- holding means disposed inside the first electrode means for holding the first electrode means thereon;
- a first balloon surrounding the first electrode means and attached to the holding means;
- feed/discharge means for feeding into and discharging a fluid from the first balloon;
- means for selectively loading and removing a radiation source, used in radiotherapy on the body tissues, into and from an inner space in the holding means from outside of said body cavity;
- and
- means for situating the radiation source in the inner space of the holding means so that a distal end of the first electrode means extends, in said direction of elongation, at least to a distal end of the radiation source.
A thermotherapeutic apparatus comprising:
- a first applicator adapted to be inserted into a body cavity, said first applicator including an elongate member having a plurality of fluid passages, a first balloon attached to a distal end portion of the elongate member, a second balloon disposed in the first balloon and attached to the elongate member, feed/discharge means for feeding into and discharging a fluid from the second balloon through a first fluid passage of the elongate member, and first electrode means disposed between the first and second balloons and adapted to warm tissues of a living body with use of an applied voltage.
An internal applicator of a thermotherapeutic apparatus, comprising:
- heat generating means for warming tissues of a living body;
- holding means for holding the heat generating means;
- a first balloon surrounding the heat generating means and attached to the holding means;
- feed/discharge means for feeding into and discharging a fluid from the first balloon;
- and
- means for situating a radiation source, used in radiotherapy on the tissues, in the vicinity of the heat generating means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.