MEDICAL AID FOR INTESTINE EXAMINATIONS

Abstract

The present invention relates to a medical aid for intestine examinations, which can improve examination reliability by accurately and easily identifying intestinal transit time according to the lapse of time in the case of measuring/examining intestinal motility and thus can promote accurate diagnosis and prescription. Provided according to the present invention is a medical aid for intestine examinations, comprising: recording/measuring members, which comprise a polymer compound containing a radiopaque material and have different shapes; and a biodegradable accommodating body, which accommodates the recording/measuring members and comprises a biodegradable material.

Claims

1. A medical aid for intestine examination comprising: a plurality of recording/measuring members (100) formed of a polymeric composite containing a radioactive opaque material and having different forms; and a capsule type biodegradable accommodation body (200) accommodating the recording/measuring members (100) and formed of a material that is biodegraded after being taken, wherein the recording/measuring members are formed by mixing powder of polyethylene (C.sub.2H.sub.4(C.sub.2H.sub.4).sub.n) and powder of barium sulfate (BaSO.sub.4)at a weight ratio of 4:6 to 6:4, and performing at least one of a method of heating at 130 to 135 C. and injection-molding and a method of extrusion and cutting, wherein each of the recording/measuring members (100) includes an annular recording body (110), a ball-shaped recording body (120), and a polyhedral recording body (130), and when the ball-shaped recording body (120) and the polyhedral recording body (130) are viewed while being overlaid with each other on a plane with reference to the annular recording body (110), the distance between the concentric circle to the outermost surface of the annular recording body (110) is the largest, the distance between the concentric circle to the outermost surface of the polygonal recording body (130) is the second largest, and the distance between the concentric circle to the outermost surface of the ball recording body (120) is the smallest, and wherein a distance from the ball-shaped recording body (120) to an outermost surface of the polygonal recording body (130) is smaller than a diameter of a circular space in a ring of the annular recording body (110) such that a gap for accommodation is formed.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a medical aid for intestine examinations according to the present invention;

[0020] FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a recording/measuring member constituting the medical aid for intestine examinations according to the present invention; and

[0021] FIG. 3 is an X-ray picture according to lapse of time after the medical aid for intestine examinations is taken according to the present invention.

BEST MODE

[0022] The additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will be understood more clearly from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

[0023] Prior to a detailed description of the present invention, it should be understood that the present invention may be variously modified and may have various embodiment, and the examples described below and illustrated in the drawings are not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments and the present invention includes all changes, equivalents, or replacements included in the spirit and technical scopes of the present invention.

[0024] When it is mentioned that one element is connected to or electrically connected to another element, it should be understood that the first element may be directly connected or electrically connected to the second element but a third element may be provided therebetweeen. On the other hand, when it is mentioned that an element is directly connected to or directly electrically connected to another element, it should be understood that a third element is not present between them.

[0025] The terminologies used herein are provided only to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The terms of a singular form may include plural forms unless otherwise specified. The terms including and having are used to designate that the features, the numbers, the steps, the operations, the elements, the parts, or combination thereof described in the specification are present, and may be understood that one or more other features, numbers, step, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof may be added.

[0026] Further, the terms, such as unit, -er, -or, and module described in the specification mean a unit for processing at least one function or operation, and may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0027] Further, in the description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same element, and a repeated description thereof will be omitted. A detailed description of known technologies related to the present invention will be omitted to avoid making the technical essence of the present invention rather unclear.

[0028] Hereinafter, a medical aid for intestine examinations according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a medical aid for intestine examinations according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a recording/measuring member constituting the medical aid for intestine examinations according to the present invention.

[0029] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the medical aid for intestine examinations according to the present invention if formed of a polymeric composite containing a radioactive opaque material, and includes a plurality of recording/measuring member 100 having different forms; and a biodegradable accommodation body 200 accommodating the recording/measuring member 100 and formed of a degradable material.

[0030] The recording/measuring members 100 are formed by mixing powder of a polymeric composite, such as polyethylene, and powder of barium sulfate (BaSO.sub.4), which is a radioactive opaque material that is not harmful to the human body, at a weight ratio of 4:6 to 6:4, preferably, at a weight ratio of 5:4.5 and forming the recording/measuring members 100 into a specific form through heating, injection-molding and/or extrusion.

[0031] Here, when the ratio of the polymeric composite powder is less than 4 or the ratio of the barium sulfate powder exceeds 6, the formation performance of the recording/measuring members 100 is not good, and when the ratio of the polymeric composite powder exceeds 6 or the ratio of the barium sulfate powder is less than 4, the readability (discrimination) deteriorates.

[0032] According to the present invention, it is preferable that the ratio of the powder of a polymeric composite of polyethylene and the powder of barium sulfate (BaSO.sub.4), which is a radioactive opaque material that is not harmful to the human body, be 5.5:4.5 in consideration of the formation performance and readability (discrimination).

[0033] Each of the recording/measuring members 100 includes an annular recording body 110 formed through injection-molding or extrusion and cutting, a ball-shaped recording body 120 formed through extrusion, and a polyhedral recording body 130 formed through injection-molding or extrusion and cutting. Here, the injection-molding is achieved by manufacturing the recording/measuring members 100 while maintaining the external shapes thereof such that the sizes and shapes of the recording/measuring members 100 correspond to the original sizes and shapes thereof, and the recording/measuring members 100 are manufactured into the original sizes thereof by extruding the material into the shapes of a rod and cutting the rod by a specific length.

[0034] Although FIG. 1 illustrates that the annular recording body 110 is a circular ring, the present invention is not limited thereto but any annular shape is possible. That is, any annular shape having a circular, tetragonal, or polygonal section and having a circular space in the interior of the annular shape is possible.

[0035] Further, although the ball-shaped recording body 120 is a sphere, any circular sectional shape including an elliptical shape and accommodated in the space in the circular ring of the annular recording body 110 is possible.

[0036] Next, although it is most preferable that the polygonal recording body 130 is a hexahedron, any polyhedral shape, such as an octahedron, a dodecahedron, or a polyhedral shape having a section of star shape, having corner angles on the outside thereof is possible. Here, it is preferable that the contour of the outer line of the polyhedral recording body 130 be viewed clearly when the polyhedral recording body 130 is overlaid with the ball-shaped recording body, by making the size of the polyhedral recording body 130 large enough to be accommodated in the space in the circular ring.

[0037] In a description of the sizes of the annular recording body 110, the ball-shaped recording body 120, and the polyhedral recording body 130 constituting the recording/measuring member 100, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the sizes of the annular recording body 110, the polyhedral recording body 130, and the ball-shaped recording body 120 become smaller in their sequence. In other words, when the ball-shaped recording body 120, and the polyhedral recording body 130 are viewed while being overlaid with each other on a plane with reference to the annular recording body 110, the distance between the concentric circle to the outermost surface of the annular recording body 110 is the largest, the distance between the concentric circle to the outermost surface of the polygonal recording body 130 (the apex thereof may be viewed in FIG. 2) is the second largest, and the distance between the concentric circle to the outermost surface of the ball recording body 120 is the smallest. Then, it is preferable that the sizes of the outer sides of the polyhedral recording body 130 and the ball-shaped recording body 120 be smaller than the diameter of the ring of the annular recording body 110 such that the polyhedral recording body 130 and the ball-shaped recording body 120 may be accommodated in the annular recording body 110 while having a slight gap therebeween and the apexes of the outer corners of the polyhedral recording body 130 be exposed to the outside of the ball-shaped recording body 120 to be viewed through the gap when the polyhedral recording body 130 and the ball-shaped recording body 120 are overlaid with each other.

[0038] That is, the recording/measuring member 100 has the size differences, and thus even though the recording/measuring member 100 is overlaid in any direction, in particular, even though the recording/measuring member 100 is overlaid on a plane as illustrated in FIG. 2, the contour of the external appearance of the recording/measuring member 100 may be easily discriminated with an X-ray picture.

[0039] Next, the polymeric composite of polyethylene is polyethylene (C.sub.2H.sub.4(C.sub.2H.sub.4).sub.n), and polyethylene (C.sub.2H.sub.4(C.sub.2H.sub.4).sub.n) has no impurities and has no harmful property, is strong to the acidity of digestive juice, and has a melting point of 132 to 135 C. Then, it is preferable that the polymeric composite of polyethylene be LDPE.

[0040] The biodegradable accommodation body 200 is a material that is not harmful to the human body and may be biodegraded after being taken. In other words, the biodegradable accommodation body 200 refers to a capsule that is well known in the medical field and may be sufficiently understood by an ordinary person skilled in the art, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted. Because 20 to 24 pills of the recording/measuring members 200 are generally taken by the patient, the patient may easily take the recording/measuring members 200 through the biodegradable accommodation body 200 without feeling foreign substances.

[0041] The biodegradable accommodation body 200 is biodegraded if reaching the intestine through the esophagus, and the recording/measuring members 100 accommodated therein are introduced into the small intestine and the large intestine while the forms thereof is maintained.

[0042] FIG. 3 is an X-ray picture according to lapse of time after the medical aid for intestine examinations is taken according to the present invention.

[0043] If about twenty to twenty four recording/measuring members 100 are taken at an interval of twenty four hours for three days, for example, in the sequence of the annular recording body 110, the ball-shaped recording body 120, and the polyhedral recording body 130 in order to examine the motility of an intestine by using the medical aid for intestine examination according to the present invention, the examination of the intestine, for example, the motility of the intestine or constipation may be recognized by identifying at which location of the intestine which recording/measuring member is located as illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0044] The medical aid for intestine examinations according to the present invention may improve the reliability of an examination by accurately and easily identifying a pass time of an intestine according to lapse of time when the motility of the intestine is examined, and accordingly, an accurate diagnosis and an accurate prescription may be achieved.

[0045] The embodiments described in the specification and the accompanying drawings are provided simply to exemplarily describe a part of the technical spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, because the embodiments disclosed in the specification are provided not to limit but to describe the technical spirit of the present invention, it is apparent that the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited by the embodiments. All the modifications and detailed embodiments that may be easily derived by an ordinary person skilled in the art without departing from the technical spirit included in the specification and the drawings shall be construed to be included in the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0046] 100: recording/measuring member [0047] 110: annular recording body [0048] 120: ball-shaped recording body [0049] 130: polyhedral recording body [0050] 200: biodegradable accommodation body