CN117617878A - Endoscope device and system thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An endoscope device comprises a long tube, a heat source, a phase change heat conduction member and a heat insulation member; the long tube is of a tubular structure, the inside of the long tube is hollow, and the heat source, the phase change heat conduction piece and the heat insulation piece are arranged inside the long tube; the heat source generates heat during the use of the endoscope device; the phase change heat conduction piece extends along the axial direction of the long pipe; the phase change heat conducting piece is thermally coupled with the heat source and the long tube; the heat insulation piece is arranged between the outer surface of the phase change heat conduction piece and the inner surface of the long tube, extends along the axial direction of the long tube, and has an extension length which is greater than half of the length of the long tube. The heat insulation piece is arranged, so that heat is reduced to spread towards the distal end of the endoscope, and a patient is prevented from being burned.

Description

Endoscope device and system thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to medical products, and more particularly to an endoscopic device and system therefor.

Background

Heating devices such as a camera module of a traditional hard tube endoscope are arranged on an endoscope handle, but the electronic endoscope is arranged, so that a heat source is arranged at the far end of the endoscope. The endoscope distal end insertion part can be inserted into a patient, the temperature is not too high, otherwise, the damage to the patient can be caused, and the endoscope distal end is also provided with precise electronic components such as a sensor, and the normal work of the electronic components can be influenced by the too high temperature.

In order to effectively reduce the temperature of the distal end of the endoscope, a scheme of adopting a heat pipe, a metal piece and the like to be thermally coupled with a heat source so as to realize the conduction of heat to the proximal end is adopted. However, in the conventional scheme, the conduction efficiency is not high, the temperature cannot be effectively and rapidly reduced to be within a proper working range, and in order to improve the conduction efficiency, a scheme of radiating heat by using the outermost tube is adopted, but the outermost tube part is inserted into the patient body, and the temperature of the outermost tube part is not excessively high.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the present invention proposes an endoscope apparatus and a system thereof to achieve high-efficiency heat conduction, ensure that the temperature of the portion of the endoscope apparatus inserted into the patient is maintained within a proper range, and that heat is not accumulated in the heat source portion, causing a phenomenon in which the temperature of a certain portion is significantly higher than that of other portions.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an endoscope apparatus and a system thereof:

in one embodiment, an endoscopic device includes a long tube, a heat source, a phase change heat transfer member, and a thermal shield; the long tube is of a tubular structure and hollow, and the heat source, the phase change heat conduction piece and the heat insulation piece are arranged in the long tube; the heat source generates heat during use of the endoscopic device; the phase change heat conduction piece is arranged in an extending way along the axial direction of the long tube; the phase change heat conducting element is thermally coupled with the heat source and the long tube; the heat insulation piece is arranged between the outer surface of the phase change heat conduction piece and the inner surface of the long tube, and extends along the axial direction of the long tube, and the extending length of the heat insulation piece is larger than half of the length of the long tube.

In one embodiment, the heat insulating member is disposed around the phase change heat conductive member in an outer circumferential direction of the phase change heat conductive member.

In one embodiment, the heat insulating member is disposed around the phase change heat conducting member in a fully enclosed manner along the peripheral direction.

In an embodiment, the thermal insulation member comprises at least two separate thermal insulation singlets, the total length of which is greater than half the length of the long tube, the thermal insulation singlets extending along the phase change thermal conductive member axial direction.

In one embodiment, the long tube includes a first receiving cavity and a second receiving cavity, the phase change heat conductive member and the heat insulating member being disposed within the first receiving cavity, the second receiving cavity being for placement of a circuit board.

In one embodiment, the device further comprises a support, wherein the support is arranged inside the long tube, and the outer surface of the support part is contacted with the outer surface of the phase-change heat conducting piece part.

In an embodiment, the long tube comprises a first accommodating cavity and a second accommodating cavity, wherein the phase change heat conducting element, the heat insulating element, the support and the circuit board are arranged in the first accommodating cavity, and the second accommodating cavity is used for accommodating the optical fibers.

In an embodiment, the shape of the support contact surface and the shape of the phase change heat conduction member contact surface are matched with each other in the peripheral direction of the phase change heat conduction member at the portion where the support contacts the phase change heat conduction member.

In one embodiment, at least a portion of the stent is in contact with the inner surface of the elongate tube.

In an embodiment, the portion of the stent contacting the long tube, the shape of the stent contacting surface and the shape of the long tube contacting surface are fitted to each other in the inner circumferential direction of the long tube.

In an embodiment, the support comprises at least two support singlets, the support singlets being distributed axially along the phase change heat conductive member.

In an embodiment, the heat insulation member is formed of a material having a shape similar to that of the heat insulation member, and the heat insulation member is formed of a material having a shape similar to that of the heat insulation member.

In an embodiment, the phase change heat conducting element is thermally coupled to the heat source via the thermal coupling element.

In an embodiment, a heat conducting material is filled between the thermal coupling element or/and the phase change heat conducting element and the heat source.

In an embodiment, the thermal coupling element is provided with a groove structure, and the phase change heat conducting member is provided in the groove structure.

In an embodiment, the shape of the groove structure and the shape of the contact portion of the phase change heat conducting element are matched with each other.

In an embodiment, the groove structure is provided with a chamfer for guiding the phase change heat conducting member into the groove structure when mounted.

In an embodiment, the heat source comprises at least two heat sources which are respectively arranged at different positions inside the long tube along the axial direction of the long tube.

In an embodiment, the phase change heat conducting member is a heat pipe or a soaking plate.

In one embodiment, an endoscope image capturing system includes a light source, a light guide beam, an image capturing host, a cable, and the endoscope apparatus according to any of the above embodiments, wherein the light source is connected to the endoscope apparatus through the light guide beam, and one end of the endoscope apparatus is connected to the image capturing host through the cable.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an endoscope system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional elevation view of an endoscopic device in an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view in cross-section of an endoscopic device configuration in one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a thermal coupling structure of an endoscopic device in an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a cross-sectional structure of an endoscopic device in an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a stent structure in an embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a cross-sectional structure of an endoscopic device in an embodiment;

fig. 8 is a schematic view of a stent structure in an embodiment.

1-a heat source; a 2-thermal coupling element; 3-optical fiber; 4-long tube; 5-a bracket; 6-phase change heat conducting piece; 7-an endoscope handle; 10-a heat shield; 1 ^/ -an image sensor; 1 ^// -a circuit board; 13-a thermally conductive material; 14-thermal coupling zone 1; a-a cavity region; b-phase change heat conducting element arrangement area

Detailed Description

The invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the drawings by means of specific embodiments. Wherein like elements in different embodiments are numbered alike in association. In the following embodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a better understanding of the present application. However, one skilled in the art will readily recognize that some of the features may be omitted, or replaced by other elements, materials, or methods in different situations. In some instances, some operations associated with the present application have not been shown or described in the specification to avoid obscuring the core portions of the present application, and may not be necessary for a person skilled in the art to describe in detail the relevant operations based on the description herein and the general knowledge of one skilled in the art.

Furthermore, the described features, operations, or characteristics of the description may be combined in any suitable manner in various embodiments. Also, various steps or acts in the method descriptions may be interchanged or modified in a manner apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the various orders in the description and drawings are for clarity of description of only certain embodiments, and are not meant to be required orders unless otherwise indicated.

The numbering of the components itself, e.g. "first", "second", etc., is used herein merely to distinguish between the described objects and does not have any sequential or technical meaning. The terms "connected" and "coupled" as used herein, unless otherwise specified, include both direct and indirect connection (coupling), and the terms "distal" and "proximal" as used herein are to be understood to mean distal from the end of the endoscope handle 7 and proximal to the end of the endoscope handle 7.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, an endoscope apparatus includes a long tube 4, a heat source 1, a phase change heat conductive member 6, and a heat insulating member 10; wherein the long tube 4 is of a tubular structure, the inside of the long tube 4 is hollow, and the heat source 1, the phase change heat conduction piece 6 and the heat insulation piece 10 are arranged inside the long tube 4; the heat source 1 generates heat during use of the endoscope apparatus; the phase change heat conducting member 6 extends along the axial direction of the long tube 4, and the phase change heat conducting member 6 is thermally coupled with the heat source 1 and the long tube 4, so as to conduct heat generated by the heat source 1 to the long tube 4 through the phase change heat conducting member 6, in this embodiment, the phase change heat conducting member 6 may be a heat pipe or a soaking plate, or other materials capable of absorbing heat through phase change; the heat generated by the heat source 1 can be conducted from the end, close to the heat source 1, of the phase-change heat conducting piece 6 to the end, far away from the heat source 1, and can be conducted to the long tube 4 through the thermal coupling relation between the phase-change heat conducting piece 6 and the long tube 4, so that the heat is prevented from being gathered near the heat source 1 to the greatest extent, the local temperature is overhigh, and the heat dissipation efficiency is improved; the heat insulating member 10 is disposed between the outer surface of the phase change heat conducting member 6 and the inner surface of the long tube 4, and the heat insulating member 10 is used for blocking heat of the phase change heat conducting member 6 from being conducted to the long tube 4, and because the distal end portion of the long tube 4 is inserted into the patient, the distal end portion of the long tube 4 is not suitable for heat dissipation, so the heat insulating member 10 is extended along the axial direction of the long tube 4, and the extension length is greater than half of the length of the long tube 4. In another embodiment, the insulation 10 may be a plurality of insulation units having a total length greater than half the length of the long tube 4; in another embodiment, a plurality of insulating singlets extend in the axial direction of the phase change heat conducting member 6. In another embodiment, at least one heat insulating single piece is arranged at the distal end of the long tube 4, and is inserted into a human body part to prevent heat generated by the heat source 1 from being conducted to the distal end of the long tube 4, so that the body of a patient is damaged.

In one embodiment, the heat insulating member 10 is disposed around the phase change heat conductive member 6 in the outer circumferential direction of the phase change heat conductive member 6. Further, the heat insulating member 10 is disposed around the phase change heat conductive member 6 in a fully closed manner in the peripheral direction.

In an embodiment, as shown in fig. 5-8, the support 5 is further included, the support 5 is disposed inside the long tube 4, and a part of the outer surface of the support 5 contacts with a part of the outer surface of the phase change heat conducting element 6 to form thermal coupling, so that heat on the phase change heat conducting element 6 can be conducted to the support 5, and two different structural forms of the support 5 are described in the drawings, but the invention is not limited to these two structural forms.

In one embodiment, the interior of the long tube 4 comprises an inner tube such that the interior of the long tube 4 may be divided into two regions; in one embodiment, the long tube 4 comprises a first receiving cavity in which the phase change heat conductive member 6 and the bracket 5 are disposed, and a second receiving cavity for placing a circuit board (not shown). In another embodiment, the long tube 4 comprises a first receiving cavity in which the phase change heat conducting member 6, the heat insulating member 10, the bracket 5 and the circuit board are disposed, and a second receiving cavity for placing the optical fiber 3.

In an embodiment, at the contact portion of the support 5 and the phase-change heat conducting member 6, the shape of the contact surface of the support 5 and the shape of the contact surface of the phase-change heat conducting member 6 are suitably matched in the peripheral direction of the phase-change heat conducting member 6, so that the contact area is increased, the heat conduction efficiency is improved, heat is accelerated to be conducted from the phase-change heat conducting member 6 to the support 5, heat accumulation is avoided, and the excessive temperature of a part of the endoscope device is caused, so that a patient is burned or the accuracy of the element is affected. Further, at least part of the support 5 is in contact with the inner surface of the long tube 4, so as to diffuse part of the heat conducted to the support 5 by the phase change heat conducting member 6 or the heat source 1 to the long tube 4, thereby further improving the heat conduction efficiency. In an embodiment, the contact surface of the support 5 and the contact surface of the long tube 4 are suitably matched in the inner circumferential direction of the long tube 4, so that the contact area is enlarged and the heat conduction efficiency is improved.

In an embodiment, the support 5 comprises at least two support singlets, which are distributed axially along the phase change heat conducting element 6. The support single pieces are axially distributed along the phase-change heat conducting piece 6, and the support single pieces are arranged at different positions, so that multi-point support can be provided for the phase-change heat conducting piece 6, and the heat dissipation scene of the multi-heat source 1 can be met. The single support piece can be arranged at the distal end and the proximal end of the endoscope respectively, and also can be arranged at the middle position of the long tube 4. In an embodiment, the support element may be fixed in a certain position or may slide relative to the tube 4.

In an embodiment, the heat conducting material 13 is further included, and the heat conducting material 13 is filled between the outer surface of the phase change heat conducting element 6, where the heat insulating element 10 is not arranged, and the inner surface of the long tube 4. The heat conduction efficiency can be improved.

As shown in fig. 4, in an embodiment, the heat source device further includes a thermal coupling element 2, the phase-change heat conducting member 6 is thermally coupled to the heat source 1 through the thermal coupling element 2, so as to conduct heat generated by the heat source 1 to the thermal coupling element 2, and then conduct the heat to the phase-change heat conducting member 6 through the thermal coupling element 2, where the thermal coupling element 2 has good heat conducting performance, and the phase-change heat conducting member 6 and the heat source 1 are thermally connected through the thermal coupling element 2. In another embodiment, a heat conducting material 13 is filled between the thermal coupling element 2 and/or the phase change heat conducting element 6 and the heat source 1, on one hand, the heat conducting area is increased by filling the gaps with the heat conducting material 13, and the heat conducting efficiency is improved; on the other hand, filling the gaps with the heat conductive material 13 can increase the connection stability of the heat source 1 and the thermal coupling element 2 or/and the phase change heat conductive member 6; the heat conductive material 13 may be a heat conductive silicone grease, a heat conductive glue, or the like.

The thermal coupling element 2 is provided with a groove structure in which at least a part of the phase change heat conducting member 6 is arranged. In an embodiment, the shape of the groove structure and the shape of the contact part of the phase change heat conducting element 6 are matched with each other, so that the contact area can be enlarged, and the heat dissipation efficiency can be improved. In another embodiment the groove structure is provided with a chamfer for guiding the phase change heat conducting element 6 into the groove structure during installation.

In an embodiment, the heat source 1 includes at least two heat sources, which are respectively disposed at different positions inside the long tube 4 along the axial direction of the long tube 4, and there may be a plurality of heat sources 1 in one endoscope, for example, an imaging module is disposed at the distal end of the electronic endoscope, and a heating element such as a signal processing module may be disposed at the proximal end of the electronic endoscope.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an endoscope imaging system according to an embodiment. The endoscopic camera system 10000 includes a light source 100, a light guide 200, a rigid tube endoscope 300, an optical bayonet 400, a camera head 500, a communication cable 810, a camera host 600, a display 700, and a video connection line 820.

The camera host 600 is connected with the camera 500 through a communication cable 810, and an image signal obtained by the camera 500 is transmitted to the camera host 600 through the communication cable 810 for processing. In certain embodiments, the communication cable 810 may be a pure optical communication cable, or an opto-electronic composite communication cable. When the communication cable 810 includes an optical communication cable, such as an optical fiber; the camera 500 converts an image signal (electrical signal) into an optical signal, and the optical signal is transmitted to the camera host 600 by the communication cable 810, and the camera host 600 converts the optical signal into an electrical signal. Or in another embodiment, the communication cable 810 is connected to the camera host 600 through an electrical signal interface, and the communication cable 810 converts an optical signal into an electrical signal at one end connected to the camera host 600, and then transmits the electrical signal to the camera host 600 through an electrical connector. The camera host 600 is connected to the display 700 through a video connection line 820, and is used for transmitting video signals to the display 700 for display. For another example, in other embodiments, camera head 500 is in wireless signal communication with camera host 600, rather than being communicatively coupled via communication cable 810.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that fig. 1 is merely an example of an endoscopic imaging system 10000 and is not limiting of the endoscopic imaging system 10000, and that the endoscopic imaging system 10000 may include more or fewer components than shown in fig. 1, or may combine certain components, or different components. For example, the endoscope camera system 10000 may further include a dilator, a smoke control apparatus, an input output device, a network access device, and the like. For another example, the hard tube endoscope 300 and the camera 500 shown in fig. 1 are optical hard tube mirrors, and the image sensor 1 ^/ Is arranged in the camera 500; in other embodiments, the hard tube endoscope 300 andthe camera 500 may be an integrated electronic endoscope (e.g. a 3D electronic endoscope), the image sensor 1 thereof ^/ Is provided at the head end of the rigid tube endoscope 300.

The light source 100 is used to provide an illumination source to the site 1000 to be observed. The illumination light source includes a visible light illumination light source and a laser illumination light source (e.g., near infrared excitation light) corresponding to the fluorescent agent.

In the present embodiment, the light source 100 includes a visible light source and a laser light source corresponding to a fluorescent agent. The visible light source is an LED light source. In an embodiment, the visible light source may provide a plurality of monochromatic lights with different wavelength ranges, such as blue light, green light, red light, and the like, respectively. In other embodiments, the visible light source may also provide a combined light of the plurality of monochromatic lights, or a broad spectrum white light source. The monochromatic light has a wavelength in the range of approximately 400nm to 700nm. The laser light source is used for generating laser. The laser is for example Near Infrared excitation light (NIR). For example, the peak wavelength of the laser light may take at least any 1 value in the range of 780nm to 808 nm. The light source 100 may simultaneously supply the continuous visible light and the laser light corresponding to the fluorescent agent to the site to be observed, or time-divisionally supply the visible light and the laser light to the site to be observed. The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be limiting. Several simple deductions, modifications or substitutions may also be made by a person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, based on the idea of the invention.

Claims (20)

1. An endoscope device is characterized by comprising a long tube, a heat source, a phase change heat conduction piece and a heat insulation piece; wherein,

the long tube is of a tubular structure and hollow in the inside, and the heat source, the phase change heat conduction piece and the heat insulation piece are arranged in the long tube;

the heat source generates heat during use of the endoscopic device;

the phase change heat conduction piece is arranged in an extending way along the axial direction of the long tube; the phase change heat conducting element is thermally coupled with the heat source and the long tube;

the heat insulation piece is arranged between the outer surface of the phase change heat conduction piece and the inner surface of the long tube, the heat insulation piece is arranged in an extending mode along the axial direction of the long tube, and the extending length of the heat insulation piece is larger than half of the length of the long tube.

2. The endoscopic device of claim 1, wherein said heat insulating member is disposed around said phase change heat conducting member in an outer circumferential direction of said phase change heat conducting member.

3. The endoscopic device of claim 2, wherein said heat insulating member is disposed entirely around the outer peripheral direction of said phase change heat conducting member.

4. The endoscopic device of claim 1, wherein said thermal shield comprises at least two separate thermal shield singlets having an overall length greater than half the length of said elongated tube, said thermal shield singlets extending along the axial direction of said phase change thermal conductor.

5. The endoscopic device of claim 1, wherein the elongated tube comprises a first receiving cavity and a second receiving cavity, the phase change heat conducting member and the heat insulating member being disposed within the first receiving cavity, the second receiving cavity being for placement of a circuit board.

6. The endoscopic device of claim 1, further comprising a stent disposed inside the elongated tube, wherein the stent portion outer surface is in contact with the phase change heat conductor portion outer surface.

7. The endoscopic device of claim 6, wherein the elongated tube comprises a first receiving cavity and a second receiving cavity, the phase change heat conducting element, the heat insulating element, the bracket and the circuit board being disposed within the first receiving cavity, the second receiving cavity being for receiving an optical fiber.

8. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a portion of the holder in contact with the phase change heat conductive member, a shape of the holder contact surface and a shape of the phase change heat conductive member contact surface are fitted to each other in an outer circumferential direction of the phase change heat conductive member.

9. The endoscopic device of claim 6 wherein at least a portion of said stent is in contact with an inner surface of said elongated tube.

10. The endoscopic device of claim 9, wherein a portion of said holder in contact with said elongated tube, a shape of said holder contact surface and a shape of said elongated tube contact surface are fittingly engaged with each other in an inner circumferential direction of said elongated tube.

11. The endoscopic device of claim 6, wherein said support comprises at least two support singlets axially distributed along said phase change heat conductive member.

12. The endoscopic device of claims 1-11, further comprising a thermally conductive material filled between the phase change thermally conductive member outer surface and the elongated tube inner surface where the thermal insulation is not disposed.

13. The endoscopic device of claim 1, further comprising a thermal coupling element through which the phase change heat conducting member is thermally coupled to the heat source.

14. The endoscopic device of claim 13, wherein a thermally conductive material is filled between the thermal coupling element or/and the phase change thermally conductive member and the heat source.

15. The endoscopic device of claim 13, wherein said thermal coupling element is provided with a groove structure, said phase change heat conducting member being at least partially disposed in said groove structure.

16. The endoscopic device of claim 15, wherein the shape of said groove structure and the shape of said phase change heat conducting element contact portion are adapted to fit each other.

17. The endoscopic device of claim 15, wherein said groove structure is provided with a chamfer for guiding said phase change heat conducting member into said groove structure when mounted.

18. The endoscopic device of claims 1-17, wherein said heat source comprises at least two of said heat sources disposed at different locations within said elongated tube along an axial direction of said elongated tube.

19. The endoscopic device of claims 1-18, wherein said phase change heat conducting member is a thermal tube or a soaking plate.

20. An endoscopic camera system comprising a light source, a light guide beam, a camera host, a cable and an endoscopic device according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the light source is connected to the endoscopic device via the light guide beam, and one end of the endoscopic device is connected to the camera host via the cable.