WO2019048244A1

WO2019048244A1 - Processing device for endoscopes and endoscope carrier

Info

Publication number: WO2019048244A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/072728
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dennis AEHLIG; Benjamin Ottens
Original assignee: Olympus Winter & Ibe Gmbh
Priority date: 2017-09-05
Filing date: 2018-08-23
Publication date: 2019-03-14
Also published as: DE102017120344A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a processing device for endoscopes, having a processing chamber (2, 102), an endoscope carrier (10, 110, 210, 310) for receiving at least one endoscope (130, 230, 330), wherein the endoscope carrier (10, 110, 210, 310) has a separate receiving place (11, 12, 111, 112, 211, 212, 311, 312) for each endoscope (130, 230, 330) to be received, a tightness tester (8) that is or can be connected to each endoscope (130, 230, 330) to be received, and a control unit (9), wherein the control unit (9) is configured to determine a correct connection of the tightness tester (8) to each endoscope (130, 230, 330) to be received. The processing device is characterised in that the control unit (9) is further configured to determine for each receiving place (11, 12, 111, 112, 211, 212, 311, 312) whether an endoscope (130, 230, 330) is arranged at the receiving place (11, 12, 111, 112, 211, 212, 311, 312). The invention further presents an endoscope carrier of a corresponding processing device for endoscopes.

Description

Reprocessing device for endoscopes and endoscope carriers

The invention relates to a reprocessing device for endoscopes, with a preparation space, an endoscope support for receiving at least one endoscope, wherein the

Endoscope support for each endoscope to be recorded has a separate receiving space, a leak tester, which is connected or connectable to each male endoscope, and with a controller, wherein the controller is adapted to determine a correct connection of the leak tester with each endoscope to be recorded.

The invention further relates to an endoscope carrier of a corresponding

Reprocessing device for endoscopes.

Such processing equipment is known in the art, they are

For example, sold by the applicant under the name ETD,

Endoscopes have long been used in particular in medicine to access hard to reach areas in the body of a human or animal patient

examine and / or treat. For this purpose, endoscopes usually have one

elongated shaft, at the distal end of which is a lens through which a region of interest in the body of the patient can be viewed. At the proximal end of the shaft is usually a main body, which for

Handling of the endoscope is used. Endoscopes often have internal channels through which fluids can be delivered to the distal end of the endoscope for delivery. Alternatively, fluids can also be taken up at the distal end of the endoscope by corresponding channels and sucked off in the direction of the main body. Furthermore you can

Treatment instruments are advanced through corresponding channels of the endoscope to the distal end to make an engagement on the region of interest of the body.

Endoscopes are very expensive to manufacture and therefore expensive. To save costs endoscopes are therefore used multiple times. This requires thorough reprocessing of the endoscopes between two applications to prevent the transmission of disease.

Basically, a distinction is made between rigid and flexible endoscopes. rigidity

Endoscopes typically have a shaft and channels made from a medical grade stainless steel on and are largely or completely sealed by cohesive connections. Therefore, rigid endoscopes can be easily processed.

On the other hand, flexible endoscopes have a shell and channels made of a flexible plastic, at least in the region of the shaft. If this plastic is damaged, dirt can penetrate into the interior of the endoscope during use, which can hardly be effectively removed during preparation. Likewise, during the treatment, which is usually carried out using different Spülfiüssigkeiten,

Rinse liquid penetrate into the interior of the endoscope and cause lasting damage.

It is therefore mandatory to check that the envelope of the endoscope is intact before reprocessing flexible endoscopes. These modern processing equipment have a

Leak tester on.

The leak tester works on the principle that the interior of the endoscope is applied via a specially provided connection with a fluid, usually air. Then, the pressure curve is measured in the interior and from the pressure curve is closed, whether the endoscope is sufficiently tight.

During the reprocessing of the endoscope, the pressure in the interior is further maintained, even in the event of a defect occurring during processing

Prevent penetration of irrigation fluid into the endoscope.

When inserting endoscopes into a reprocessing device, the connections of the leak tester with the respective endoscopes must be made manually via connectors. It may happen that a connection is not made correctly or not at all. In this case, the corresponding endoscope can not be checked and / or protected against the penetration of rinsing fluid.

The leak tester is designed so that such a missing connection to an endoscope can be detected. For this purpose, the connectors of the leak tester are usually designed so that they automatically close in the absence of connection, so that the leak tester can not convey air through the appropriate line. This is detected by the controller.

By this known measure, however, the controller can not recognize a case in which no endoscope is arranged at one or more receiving locations of the endoscope carrier, because, for example, the endoscope carrier is only partially loaded. High automation grade processors are often equipped with automatic endoscopy detection to detect an endoscope

Select a wash program based on a detected endoscope type. For this purpose, an RFI D chip arranged on the endoscope is usually recognized by a reading device arranged on the processing device. Although such incomplete filling of the endoscope carrier can be detected with such a detection system. However, it can not always be determined exactly which seats are unoccupied.

In addition, not all endoscopes are equipped with RFID chips, so this detection does not always work. Even with treatment equipment with a lower

Degree of automation, which have no reader, such recognition is not available.

In many cases, therefore, the operator of the reprocessing device must manually enter on the controller, which seats of the endoscope carrier are occupied, and which are not. Such manual input is again error prone. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a reprocessing device for endoscopes, which is improved in terms of the described problem.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a treatment device for

Endoscopes, with a preparation space, an endoscope support for receiving at least one endoscope, wherein the endoscopist has a separate receiving space for each endoscope to be recorded, a leak tester, which with each

and a control, wherein the controller is arranged to determine a correct connection of the leak tester with each endoscope to be recorded, which is further developed in that the controller is further configured to determine for each recording location, whether at the respective endoscope Recording space an endoscope is arranged.

Characterized in that the controller can determine separately for each recording space, whether an endoscope is located at the appropriate location, can be dispensed with a manual input of this information. Incorrect entries can thus no longer occur. In one possible embodiment of the invention, each receiving station is assigned a sensor by means of which the presence of an endoscope at the receiving station can be determined. The sensors preferably function independently of specific ones Characteristics of the respective endoscopes, so that a special preparation or equipment of the endoscopes, such as with an RFID chip, can be dispensed with.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the sensors can be triggered by the weight of an endoscope, or of a part of an endoscope. Here, the knowledge is exploited that flexible endoscopes always have at least a certain weight, for example, at least i, 5kg or at least 2kg. Also, flexible endoscopes always have a main body, which is also a particular one

Minimum weight has, for example, at least 0.5kg or at least 0.8kg. Thus, if the sensors are triggered at a weight load which corresponds to the indicated minimum weights, triggering of the sensors is ensured independently of the respective endoscope arranged on the receiving station.

In one possible implementation of a treatment device according to the invention, the sensors each comprise a signal transmitter, which is arranged within the treatment room, and a signal sensor, which is arranged outside the treatment room. In this way, the structure of the sensors can be simplified, since only the signal generator can come into contact with flushing liquid during operation of the treatment device and must be designed to be resistant.

The signal generator may preferably be moved or movable by the weight of an endoscope or a part of an endoscope. In a particular embodiment of the invention, each receiving space of the

Endoskopträgers a movably mounted support member for a main body of a

Have endoscopes, wherein the signal transmitter is connected to the support element.

When arranging an endoscope in the receiving space, the main body of the endoscope is placed on the support element, so that the support element and thus also the signal generator is moved by the weight of the main body.

The support element may comprise a rocker and / or a spring in a preferred implementation of the invention. Corresponding elements are particularly uncomplicated and therefore have a high reliability.

The signal generator may preferably comprise a permanent magnet. The

Signal receiver may particularly preferably comprise a magnetic field sensor, in particular a field plate, a Hall effect sensor, or a reed contact.

A magnetic communication between the signal generator and the signal sensor is particularly straightforward. In particular, here are no cable bushings through the Wall of the treatment room required. Since the wall of the treatment room is usually made of non-magnetic stainless steel, the magnetic field of the signal generator is not affected by the wall.

The object is further achieved by an endoscope wearer of a treatment device according to the above statements. With regard to possible embodiments and the effects and advantages achieved thereby, reference is explicitly made to the above-mentioned reference.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to some examples. Show it:

1: A reprocessing device for endoscopes in a schematic side view,

2 shows a reprocessing device for endoscopes in a schematic front view,

3 shows an endoscope wearer of a reprocessing device for endoscopes;

4 shows another endoscope wearer of a reprocessing device for endoscopes.

FIG. 1 shows a reprocessing device 1 for endoscopes. The treatment device 1 comprises a treatment room 2, in which one or more reprocessed

Endoscopes can be introduced. The treatment room 2 can be closed by a door 3.

The treatment device 1 comprises a flushing unit 5, which with a in the

Processing space 2 arranged spray arm 6 and connected to a first coupling device 7. Furthermore, the treatment device 1 comprises a leak tester 8, which is also connected to the first coupling device 7.

The flushing unit 5 and the tightness tester 8 are controlled and monitored by a controller 9.

The reprocessing device 1 additionally comprises an endoscope carrier 10, which has one or more receiving places for endoscopes. In the example shown, the

Endoscope support 10 two receiving spaces in the form of baskets 1 1, 12, in each of which an endoscope can be placed.

The endoscope carrier 10 can be moved between a loading position (shown in FIG. 1) and a processing position (not shown in FIG. 1). For this purpose, the

Endoscope 10 in the example shown equipped with wheels 13 carriage 14.

A second coupling device 15 on the endoscope carrier 10 is used in the

Endoscope 10 arranged endoscopes with the flushing unit 5 and the To connect tightness tester 8. The second coupling device 15 is arranged on the endoscope support 10 so that it connects to the first coupling device 7 when the endoscope wearer 10 is moved to the processing position. The second coupling device 15 furthermore has a plurality of tubes 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d, which can be connected to connections on the endoscopes. In the illustrated example, four tubes 16a, 18b, 18c, 16d are provided to be connected to two terminals each at two endoscopes.

The actual number of tubes may vary with different endoscope types. For this purpose, the second coupling device 15 may comprise one or more interchangeable adapters (not shown), each of which comprises the number of tubes required for the type of endoscope to be reprocessed. In each case, a tube 16 a, 18 c per endoscope is provided to connect the interior of the endoscope with the leak tester 8.

Hoses 16a, 16c provided for connection to the interior of the endoscopes are equipped with plug-in connectors 17a, 17c which tightly close the hose end as long as the plug-in connectors 17a, 17c are not correctly attached to a terminal of the endoscope. The leak tester 8 can thus determine at the beginning of a treatment process, if all endoscopes are connected correctly. For example, if an endoscope accidentally not connected, so the leak tester 8 can not pump air through the appropriate hose. This is detected by the controller 9, which in this case terminates the rendering process and prompts the user to make the missing connection.

However, if in one of the baskets 1 1, 12 no endoscope is arranged, and the

corresponding hoses thus can not be connected, so the controller 9 can not distinguish this from an accidentally not connected endoscope. Nevertheless, in order to enable a reprocessing process with incompletely loaded endoscope trainer 10, the controller 9 is set up for each

Recording location determine whether an endoscope is located at the respective receiving place. For this purpose, each receiving station for an endoscope is assigned a sensor 20, 21, which is connected to the controller 9.

FIG. 2 shows a processing apparatus 100 in a schematic front view. The structure of the treatment device 100 corresponds in many parts to that of

Preparation device 1. Corresponding components are provided with a reference number increased by 100 and will not be described again. An endoscope support 10 is shown in FIG. 2 in the preparation position. The baskets 1 1 1, 1 12 of the endoscope support 1 10 are secured in the illustrated embodiment by means of springs 125,128 on the carriage 1 14, so that they are pressed down slightly when loaded with an endoscope 130. Here, the movement of the baskets 1 1 1, 1 12 is limited by a stop, not shown.

The springs 125,128 are designed so that the baskets 1 1 1, 1 12 are safely moved at the smallest expected weight of the endoscope 130 to be reprocessed. The smallest expected weight of the endoscope 130 may be, for example, 1, 5kg or 2.0kg. The sensors 120, 121 each comprise a signal generator 120a, 121a and a

Signal pickup 120b, 121b. The signal generator 120 a, 121 a are within the

Treatment room 102 arranged and attached to the baskets 1 1 1, 1 12. The

Signal pickups 120b, 121b are arranged outside of the processing space 102 so as to be aligned with the respective signal generators 120a, 121a when the baskets 11 1, 12 are pressed down by the weight of an endoscope 130. In the example shown, the basket 1 1 1 is empty, so that the signal generator 120 a and the signal sensor 120 b are not aligned.

In the signal generator 120a, 121a is in the example shown to

Permanent magnets. The magnetic field of these permanent magnets is hardly influenced by the wall 131 of the processing space 102, which consists of stainless steel, and can thus be well absorbed by the signal pickups 120b, 121b. Both

Signal transducers 120b, 121b are, for example, reed contacts, but alternatively or additionally, other magnetic field sensors such as Hall effect sensors or field plates may also be used. Now recognizes the controller 9 via one of the sensors 20,21, 120,121 that the

corresponding recording space is not occupied, then this is a recording space

assigned, not connected connection hose is not recognized as a fault, so that even when incompletely loaded endoscope support a treatment process can be performed. FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment of an endoscope carrier 210. Here are the baskets 21 1, 212 firmly attached to the relay. Each of the baskets 21 1, 212 is associated with a support member 241, 242 for a main body 231 of an endoscope 230. The support members 241, 242 are resiliently fixed to the carriage 214 so as to be pressed down by the weight of the main body 231. Is not a main body on the Loaded support member, this is pushed by the spring action upwards, as can be seen on the lower support member 242. The spring effect can be generated by torsion or bending springs, not shown. The path of movement of the support elements 241, 242 is preferably limited by stops, not shown. The springs, in turn, are designed so that the support elements 141, 142 are reliably deflected at the smallest expected weight of the main body 231 of an endoscope 230. For example, the smallest expected weight of a main body may be 0.5kg or 0.8kg.

On the support elements 241, 242, in turn, permanent magnets 220 a, 221 a are fixed, whose position is detected by magnetic field sensors, not shown in Figure 3.

FIG. 4 shows a further embodiment of an endoscope carrier 310, which is shown in FIG

Substantially corresponds to the embodiment of Figure 3. Corresponding elements are again provided with a raised by 100 reference oak.

The support elements 341, 342 of the endoscope carrier are pivotally mounted in this embodiment in the manner of a rocker on the Stafette 314. When unloaded support member 341, 342 this is lifted by the weight of the permanent magnet 320a, 321 a, as can be seen on the lower support member 342. On the other hand, if a main body 331 is arranged on the support element 341, 342, this tilts downwards and the permanent magnet 320a, 321a is raised. This can be seen on the upper support element 341. The position of the permanent magnets 320a, 321a is in turn not shown in FIG

Detected magnetic field sensors.

The design of the support elements 341, 342, in turn, is selected so that the support elements 141, 142 are reliably deflected at the smallest expected weight of the main body 231 of an endoscope 230. During the execution of a treatment process can not be excluded that the baskets 1 1 1, 1 12 or the support members 241, 242, 341, 342 move by the action of rinsing liquid, even if they are not with an endoscope or with the main body of an endoscope are loaded. It is therefore advantageous if the query of the respective sensors takes place only at the beginning of the preparation process, before

Rinsing fluid is passed into the treatment room.

Claims

Preparation device for endoscopes, with

a treatment room (2,102),

an endoscope support (10, 10, 10, 310, 1010) for receiving at least one endoscope (130, 230, 303), wherein the endoscope wearer (10, 10, 10, 30, 310) has a separate receptacle for each endoscope (130, 230, 30330) to be received

(1 1, 12, 1 1 1, 1 12.21 1, 212, 31 1, 312),

a leak tester (8), which with each endoscope to be recorded

(130,230,330) is connected or connectable, and

with a controller (9),

wherein the controller (9) is set up, a correct connection of the

To establish leak tester (8) with each endoscope to be recorded (130,230,330)

characterized in that the controller (9) is further configured to determine for each receiving location (1 1, 12,1 1 1, 1 12,21 1, 212,31 1, 312), whether at the respective receiving place (1 1, 12,1 1 1, 1 12,21 1, 212,31 1, 312) an endoscope (130,230,330) is arranged.

Processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that each

A sensor (20,21, 120,121) is assigned, by means of which the presence of an endoscope (130,230,330) at the receiving station (1 1, 12.1 1 1, 1 12.21 1, 212.31 1, 312) is detectable

Processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that the sensors (20, 21, 120, 121) function independently of specific features of the respective endoscopes (20, 21, 120, 121).

Processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the sensors (120, 121) are triggered by the weight of an endoscope (130, 230, 330) or a part (231, 331) of an endoscope (230, 330).

Processing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized

in that the sensors (120, 121) each have one inside the

Processing space (102) arranged signal generator

(120a, 121a, 220a, 221a, 320a, 321a) and a signal receiver (120b, 121b) arranged outside the processing space (102).

6. Processing device according to claim 5, characterized in that the signal transmitter (1203, 1213, 2203, 2213, 320, 32, 3218) is replaced by the weight of an endoscope

(130,230,330) or a part (231, 331) of an endoscope (230,330) is moved or is movable.

7. Processing device according to claim 8, characterized in that each

Receiving station (21 1, 212, 31 1, 312) of the endoscope carrier has a movably mounted support member (241, 242, 341, 342) for a main body (231, 331) of an endoscope (230,330), wherein the signal generator (220a, 221 a, 320a , 321 a) with the

Supporting element (241, 242, 341, 342) is connected.

8. Processing device according to claim 7, characterized in that the

Support member (241, 242, 341, 342) comprises a rocker and / or a spring.

9. Processing device according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the signal transmitter (120a, 121a, 220a, 221a, 320a, 321a) comprises a permanent magnet.

10. Processing device according to claim 9, characterized in that the

Signal pickup (120b, 121 b) comprises a magnetic field sensor, in particular a field plate, a Hall effect sensor, or a reed contact.

1 1. Endoscope support of a treatment device according to one of claims 1 to 10.