JPH0550287B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a flexible tube for an endoscope that can be easily inserted into a body cavity.

[Conventional technology]

In general, an endoscope consists of a distal end section that has an observation window, an illumination window, a forceps port, etc., an insertion section that has a curved section and a flexible section that are remotely controlled, a bending operation mechanism section, and an operation section that has an eyepiece section. , an optical fiber bundle for observation, an optical fiber bundle for illumination, a forceps passage, etc. are provided inside. The distal end portion is inserted into the body cavity through the insertion portion to enable observation and treatment of a desired region.

There are endoscopes for observing the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, and large intestine.In particular, flexible endoscopes are used to insert deep into body cavities such as the duodenum, small intestine, and large intestine. It has been clinically confirmed that the degree of elasticity and flexibility of the flexible part inserted deep into the body cavity greatly influences the ease of insertion, as well as the amount of pain caused to the patient.

As a conventional technology, for example,
As shown in Publication No. 101301, a portion of the outer skin of a flexible tube for an endoscope has a two-layer structure, making the tip side flexible and the operation part side relatively hard, improving ease of insertion into body cavities. Furthermore, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 55-112505, the outer skin of the flexible tube for an endoscope has a two-layer structure consisting of a soft layer and a hard layer, and the thickness of the hard layer increases from the operation section side to the tip. It is known that the wall becomes gradually thinner toward the side.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Conventional flexible tubes for endoscopes have a partially or entirely double-layered outer skin, with the distal side of the insertion section being soft and the operation section side being hard, making insertion easier and reducing pain to the patient. However, since the elasticity of the insertion part, which most affects the ease of insertion into a body cavity, has not been improved in any way, the difficulty of insertion and the pain caused to the patient still remain.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and by improving the elasticity of a flexible tube for an endoscope as an insertion section, it can be easily inserted into a body cavity and pain caused to the patient can be reduced. The purpose is to reduce

[Means and actions for solving problems]

This flexible tube for an endoscope has an outer skin 9 having a two-layer structure of at least an outer layer 10 and an inner layer 11. The outer layer 10 is made of a flexible material such as polyurethane, and the inner layer 11 is made of a highly elastic material such as polyester. configure,
The reason is that elasticity and flexibility are properly combined.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional structure of a flexible tube for an endoscope, and FIG. 2 shows the entire endoscope. The configuration of the endoscope will be explained based on FIG. 2. 1 is an operating section, 2 is an insertion section, and 3 is a distal end section. The insertion section 2 includes a bending section 4 and a flexible section 5, and the bending section 4 is configured to be bent by an operation knob 6 provided on the operation section 1. The flexible portion 5 of the endoscope configured in this manner includes a flex 7 formed by spirally winding a band-shaped metallic material from the inside, a blade 8 formed by knitting the outer periphery of the flex 7 into a net shape, and It consists of an outer skin 9 that covers the outer periphery of the blade 8.

The outer skin 9 has a two-layer structure of an outer layer 10 and an inner layer 11, and the outer layer 10 has good flexibility.
Furthermore, it is made of polyurethane that is hard to scratch and has good printability, and the inner layer 11 is made of polyester that has excellent elasticity. This outer layer 10
and inner layer 11 are tightly bonded to each other by adhesive or the like.

The flexible tube for an endoscope constructed in this manner has a suitable elasticity because the inner layer 11 of the outer skin 9 is made of a material such as polyester which has excellent elasticity. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the relationship between displacement and reaction force when a flexible tube for an endoscope having a certain span is pushed in to a certain depth is shown in FIG. 4. That is, the curve a shows the pushing state and the curve b shows the restoring state, and elasticity is defined as the ratio of internal loss when this hysteresis is removed = 1 - restoring time/pushing state. According to this, while the conventional one is 0.3 to 0.2, the one of this invention is 0.1
The following is true.

In addition, according to the above embodiment, since the inner layer 11 was made of polyester and the outer layer 10 was made of polyurethane,
The outer surface is made of polyurethane, making it scratch resistant.
Although it has the effect of the example that printability is good,
Not limited to the above embodiments, the outer layer 10 can be made flexible even if it is made of polyolefin, vinyl chloride, or chlorinated polyethylene.
Even if the inner layer 10 is made of polyamide, it can have elasticity.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the outer skin of the flexible tube has a two-layer structure of at least an outer layer and an inner layer, the outer layer is made of a flexible material, and the inner layer is made of a material with good elasticity. It has a good combination of flexibility and flexibility, making it easier to insert into body cavities and reducing the pain caused to patients.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view of a flexible tube for an endoscope, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the endoscope. Figure, 3rd
The figure is an explanatory diagram for testing the degree of elasticity, and FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between displacement and reaction force when the flexible tube is pushed. 7...Flex, 8...Blade, 9...Outer skin, 10...Outer layer, 11...Inner layer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A flexible tube for an endoscope consisting of a flex, a blade, and an outer skin from the inside, the outer skin having a two-layer structure of at least an outer layer and an inner layer, the outer layer being made of a flexible material and the inner layer being made of an elastic material. A flexible tube for an endoscope, characterized in that it is made of a material with good resiliency. 2. The flexible tube for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the outer layer is made of polyurethane and the inner layer is made of polyester.