Abstract:
Disclosed is a medical tissue extraction instrument, which can allow an inspector to accurately locate a fine needle at a desired tissue extraction position without any need for assistance while assuring stable tissue extraction. The medical tissue extraction instrument includes a tissue extraction controller to control the pressure of a suction tube connected to a fine needle during extraction of tissue. The tissue extraction controller includes a suction pressure generator taking the form of a footboard and adapted to control a suction operation of the suction tube by being pushed downward.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a medical tissue extraction instrument, and more particularly to a tissue extraction instrument, which can accurately locate a fine needle at a desired tissue extraction position and perform stable control of a suction operation thereof when attempting to extract tissue from a patient&#39;s body. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Generally, collection or extraction of biological tissue is required to perform diagnosis, biochemical analysis, genetic analysis, and the like. 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a view illustrating fine needle aspiration cytology inspection performed under ultrasonic guidance using a conventional tissue extraction instrument. During the needle aspiration cytology inspection, an operator attempts to insert a fine needle  11  of the tissue extraction instrument into a tissue extraction region of the patient&#39;s body using one hand while gripping an ultrasonic transducer  50  in the other hand. 
         [0006]    Then, if an assistant pulls a piston of a syringe  31  of the tissue extraction instrument, tissue is extracted through a suction tube  21  connecting the fine needle  11  to the syringe  31 . 
         [0007]    When using the above described conventional tissue extraction instrument, however, the operator has difficulty extracting tissue without an assistant. 
         [0008]    In addition, since the assistant is allowed to pull the syringe, but the syringe functions to control a suction operation during extraction of tissue, there is a risk of unintentional position change or separation of the fine needle. Moreover, it is difficult for the operator to directly control suction pressure and suction period based on different tissue extraction conditions, which results in deterioration in the stability of extraction of tissue. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is one object of the present invention to provide a medical tissue extraction instrument, which allows an inspector to accurately aim a fine needle at a tissue extraction region of a patient&#39;s body without the help of an assistant and to perform stable extraction of tissue. 
         [0010]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a medical tissue extraction instrument, which includes a suction pressure generator enabling easy control of the pressure of a suction tube. 
         [0011]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a medical tissue extraction instrument, which further includes a tissue collector to easily collect extracted tissue. 
         [0012]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a medical tissue extraction instrument, which includes a suction adjustor to keep a suction tube at a constant pressure. 
         [0013]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a medical tissue extraction instrument, which includes a suction adjustor to easily set suction pressure and suction period. 
         [0014]    It is a further object of the present invention to provide a medical tissue extraction instrument, which includes two or more pressure boards to selectively perform a continuous suction operation and a discontinuous suction operation, which enables ease in operation. 
         [0015]    In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a medical tissue extraction instrument including a tissue extraction controller to control the pressure of at least one suction tube connected to a fine needle during extraction of tissue. 
         [0016]    The tissue extraction controller may include a suction pressure generator taking the form of a footboard and adapted to control a suction operation of the suction tube by being pushed downward. 
         [0017]    The tissue extraction controller may include a suction adjustor to set the pressure applied to the suction tube. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]    The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0019]      FIG. 1  is a view illustrating an operation using a conventional medical tissue extraction instrument; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a view illustrating a configuration of a medical tissue extraction instrument according to the present invention; and 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a view illustrating an operation using the medical tissue extraction instrument according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    Hereinafter, practical application of a medical tissue extraction instrument according to the present invention will be described in detail. 
         [0023]      FIG. 2  is a view illustrating a configuration of the medical tissue extraction instrument according to the present invention. As illustrated, the medical tissue extraction instrument includes a fine needle  13 , suction tubes  23  and  25 , a tissue collector  33 , and a tissue extraction controller  40 . 
         [0024]    The fine needle  13  takes the form of a metal tube to be inserted into a tissue extraction region of a patient. One end of the fine needle  13  is inserted into the body of the patient and the other end of the fine needle  13  is connected to the first suction tube  23 . 
         [0025]    The first suction tube  23  connected to the fine needle  13  serves as a movement tube of biological tissue extracted via the fine needle  13 . Changing the air pressure of the suction tube  23  may control whether or not the fine needle  13  begins to extract tissue. 
         [0026]    The extracted biological tissue is moved into the tissue collector  33  through the first suction tube  23 . 
         [0027]    The tissue collector  33  provides a space for receiving the extracted biological tissue. Preferably, the tissue collector  33  is externally provided with scales or other graduations to aid in easy recognition of the quantity of the extracted biological tissue. 
         [0028]    In an embodiment of the present invention, the tissue collector  33  is provided at the top thereof with connection holes for connection of the first suction tube  23  and the second suction tube  25 . Preferably, the first and second suction tubes  23  and  25  are tightly inserted into the connection holes with rubber packing members  35  interposed therebetween, so as to prevent leakage of the extracted biological tissue or the interior air of the suction tubes  23  and  25 . 
         [0029]    In addition, the tissue collector  33  is further preferably provided at the top thereof with an opening/closing lid  37  to help the operator to easily inspect the tissue received in the tissue collector  33 . 
         [0030]    The second suction tube  25  is connected at one end thereof to the top of the tissue collector  33  and at the other end thereof to the tissue extraction controller  40 . 
         [0031]    The tissue extraction controller  40  serves to control the pressure of the second suction tube  25 . Preferably, according to the present invention, the tissue extraction controller  40  is externally provided with a suction adjustor to adjust pressure applied to the interior of the suction tube  25 . 
         [0032]    The suction adjustor according to the present invention includes a pressure adjustor  41  and a suction period adjustor  43 . 
         [0033]    The pressure adjustor  41  serves to adjust the pressure inside the suction tubes  23  and  25 . 
         [0034]    The suction period adjustor  43  serves to adjust a suction period of tissue extracted into the first suction tube  23 . 
         [0035]    When the suction period adjustor  43  is used, furthermore, it is possible to set a generation period of pressure applied to the interior of the suction tubes  23  and  25 , which enables automatic extraction of tissue at regular intervals. 
         [0036]    The tissue extraction controller  40  according to the present invention includes a suction pressure generator  60  in the form of a footboard. 
         [0037]    The suction pressure generator  60  includes upper pressure boards  61  and  63  by which the operator generates suction pressure. That is, the suction operation of the suction tubes  23  and  25  is controlled by controlling force applied to the pressure boards  61  and  63 . 
         [0038]    The pressure boards  61  and  63  may include two or more pressure boards. In the embodiment of the present invention, the pressure boards  61  and  63  may be a continuous suction pressure board  61  and a discontinuous suction pressure board  63 . 
         [0039]    The continuous suction pressure board  61  serves to allow the suction tubes  23  and  25  to perform successive suction operations. 
         [0040]    The discontinuous suction pressure board  63  serves to allow the suction tubes  23  and  25  to perform intermittent suction operations. 
         [0041]      FIG. 3  is a view illustrating an operation using the medical tissue extraction instrument according to the present invention. During operation, as illustrated, the operator or the inspector attempts to insert the fine needle  13  into a tissue extraction region of the patient&#39;s body using one hand while gripping an ultrasonic transducer  50  in the other hand. 
         [0042]    In this case, the interior pressures of the suction tubes  23  and  25  are adjusted based on the suction pressure and the suction period set by the pressure adjustor  41  and the suction period adjustor  43  of the tissue extraction controller  40 . 
         [0043]    Through the suction operation of the suction tubes  23  and  25 , the biological tissue extracted via the fine needle  13  is moved into the tissue collector  33  through the first suction tube  23 . 
         [0044]    In this case, the operator or the inspector may control the suction operation by selectively pushing any one of the continuous suction pressure board  61  and the discontinuous suction pressure board  63  of the suction pressure generator  60 . 
         [0045]    For example, if the continuous suction pressure board  61  is pushed, the suction operation may be performed successively and periodically based on the suction period set by the suction period adjustor  43 . On the other hand, the operator may control the suction operation as occasion demands by selectively pushing the discontinuous suction pressure board  63 . 
         [0046]    As is apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a medical tissue extraction instrument according to the present invention, which allows an operator (or an inspector) to control a suction operation thereof without any need for assistance. Accordingly, the operator is capable of accurately aiming a fine needle at a tissue extraction region of the patient&#39;s body and stably performing tissue extraction. 
         [0047]    Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.