CN218870241U - Access assembly for an endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is an access assembly for receiving an endoscope, comprising: a tubular body extending along a longitudinal axis of the access assembly and for receiving an endoscope; a proximal seal in sealing connection with the proximal end of the tubular body; a distal seal member sealingly connected to the distal end of the tubular body; one or more fluid supply passageways including a fluid input port for receiving fluid from a fluid source, a fluid exhaust port for exhausting fluid received from the fluid source into the cavity, and a fluid conduit fluidly connecting the fluid input port and the fluid exhaust port; one or more fluid control members disposed at locations corresponding to respective fluid discharge ports.

Description

Access assembly for an endoscope

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of medical instruments, particularly to an access assembly for receiving an endoscope, and more particularly to an access assembly for receiving an endoscope capable of automatically stopping and starting the ejection of cleaning and/or drying fluids in response to the endoscope being extended and retracted from a distal end of the access assembly, respectively.

Background

Minimally invasive surgery, such as endoscopic surgery, may reduce the invasiveness of the surgical procedure. Endoscopic surgery involves surgery through the body wall, for example, to view and/or operate on the ovary, uterus, gallbladder, intestines, kidney, appendix, etc. There are many common endoscopic surgical procedures including, for example, arthroscopy, laparoscopy, gastroenterology, and laryngobronchoscopy. In these methods, a puncture cone through an access assembly is used to create an incision in a body surface of a patient to a target location, and endoscopic surgery is performed through the incision. After forming the puncture, the access assembly extends through the incision into the body cavity and remains in the body cavity, while the puncture cone is withdrawn from the access assembly to provide access to the endoscopic surgical tool. A camera or endoscope is inserted through the access assembly to allow visual inspection and magnification of the body cavity. The surgeon may then perform diagnosis and/or treatment at the surgical site with the aid of specialized instruments (such as forceps, graspers, cutters, applicators, etc.) designed to fit through the additional cannula.

In use, the lens of the endoscope may become covered by aggregates, tissues, blood, other bodily fluids, etc. within the body cavity. It is difficult to keep the lens of the endoscope clean during the procedure. Conventionally, a surgeon (such as an endoscope operator) withdraws the endoscope from an incision in the patient's body via the access assembly and washes the lens with a pre-prepared saline solution at body temperature, and then wipes the endoscope body with a disinfectant such as iodophor and reinserts it into the incision in the patient's body via the access assembly. The time required to clean the lens during the surgical procedure may increase the overall time of the procedure and the amount of time the patient needs to remain anesthetized, and this may result in an increased risk of infection and increased recovery time due to the repeated withdrawal and insertion of the endoscope into the incision on the patient's body. While some access assemblies exist that are capable of irrigating the lens of an endoscope with fluid within the body cavity, these access assemblies are not accepted by most surgeons and are not in widespread use because they directly drain irrigation fluid with condensate, tissue, blood and other body fluids, etc. into the body cavity of the patient. In addition, the starting and stopping of the operation fluid jet usually requires the provision of corresponding valves in the tubing or the frequent operation of the pump switches, thereby increasing the complexity of the endoscope access assembly system and making the operation cumbersome. It can be seen that there exists a need in the art for an improved access assembly that enables easy and quick intraoperative cleaning of the lens of an endoscope.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

An access assembly for receiving an endoscope may include a tubular body, a proximal seal, a distal seal, one or more fluid supply passages, and one or more fluid controls. The tubular body may be configured to extend along a longitudinal axis of the access assembly and for receiving an endoscope. The proximal seal may be configured to sealingly couple with the proximal end of the tubular body. The distal seal may be configured to sealingly couple with the distal end of the tubular body. The inner wall of the tubular body, the distal surface of the proximal seal, and the proximal surface of the distal seal collectively define a cavity of the access assembly as an interior space surrounded by the access assembly. In some embodiments, the proximal seal may be configured to form a seal against a sidewall of the endoscope when the endoscope is inserted therethrough to prevent substances external to the access assembly from entering the cavity of the access assembly. In some embodiments, the distal seal may be configured to form a seal by closure of its shape structure when the endoscope is not passed therethrough to prevent the contents of the lumen of the access assembly from flowing out of the distal end of the access assembly. In some embodiments, the distal seal may also be configured to form a seal against a sidewall of the endoscope as the endoscope is extended therethrough from the distal end of the access assembly (e.g., into a body cavity of a patient) to prevent material within the cavity of the access assembly from flowing out of the distal end of the access assembly.

The one or more fluid supply passageways can include a fluid input port for receiving fluid from a fluid source, a fluid exhaust port for exhausting fluid received from the fluid source into the cavity, and a fluid conduit fluidly connecting the fluid input port and the fluid exhaust port. One or more fluid control members may be disposed at locations corresponding to respective fluid discharge ports. Here, it should be understood that a corresponding position refers to a position at which the fluid control member disposed is capable of producing a corresponding blocking and patency restoring effect on a corresponding fluid outlet port, as will be described in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying figures. When the distal end of the endoscope protrudes distally from the lumen through the distal seal, the fluid discharge ports are blocked by being clamped between the respective fluid control member and the side wall of the endoscope. When the distal end of the endoscope is proximally retracted into the cavity through the distal seal, the fluid discharge ports are released from the respective fluid control members to restore patency to the respective fluid discharge ports. The spraying and stopping of fluid can be automatically achieved without the need to operate any pump switches or valves, by automatic clamping and release of the respective fluid discharge ports by the fluid control member in response to the extension and retraction of the endoscope through the distal seal, thereby simplifying the complexity and corresponding operation of the access assembly system.

In some embodiments, the one or more fluid control members may include one or more protrusions, and the one or more protrusions may be disposed on the inner wall of the tubular body at axial and circumferential locations corresponding to the respective fluid discharge ports. Here, it should be understood that the respective axial and circumferential positions refer to the fact that the projections provided at such positions may have a corresponding blocking and patency-restoring effect on the respective fluid discharge ports, as will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In some embodiments, the one or more protrusions may include at least one ring-shaped protrusion, which may be circumferentially disposed on the inner wall of the tubular body at an axial location corresponding to the fluid discharge port. Here, it should be understood that a corresponding axial position refers to the ability of the annular ring-shaped protrusion disposed at that position to produce a corresponding blocking and patency-restoring effect on a corresponding fluid discharge port (e.g., all of the plurality of fluid discharge ports), as will be described in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In some embodiments, each of the one or more projections may not be disposed on an inner wall of the tubular body, but rather on an outer surface of the respective fluid discharge port. In the case where the fluid control member is formed separately from, for example, the fluid line on the inner wall of the tubular body, one or more projections as the fluid control member formed on the outer surface of the corresponding fluid discharge port may not necessarily be considered in circumferential alignment with the fluid discharge port.

In some embodiments, any two or more of the one or more fluid control members, the one or more fluid egress ports, and the distal seal may be integrally formed from a flexible material. In this case, the assembly installation process is simplified and alignment between the fluid discharge port and the fluid control member is facilitated.

In some embodiments, the flexible material may be a medical grade silicone to facilitate opening and closing of the distal seal and to facilitate blocking of the fluid outlet port when clamped by the fluid control member against the inner wall of the tubular body of the access assembly and to restore patency when released by such clamping.

In some embodiments, the one or more fluid supply passages may include a plurality of fluid supply passages that may each provide a cleaning liquid, a gas for at least partially drying an endoscope or for licensing an artificial pneumoperitoneum, and a gas-liquid mixture for enhancing the cleaning effect by the impact force of the gas-liquid two-phase flow.

In some embodiments, the access assembly may further comprise a vacuum suction for drawing fluid from the cavity to remove the liquid, gas or enterprise mixture from the cavity of the access assembly after the endoscope is washed and/or dried.

In some embodiments, the fluid discharge outlet may be arranged to point in a proximal direction along the longitudinal axis of the access assembly, as will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this case, the fluid ejected from the fluid ejection port may be directed toward the lens at the distal end of the endoscope, thereby improving the cleaning effect, and is not affected by the orientation of the endoscope and access assembly relative to gravity.

Drawings

The access assembly for an endoscope and method of operation thereof disclosed in the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the drawings are solely for purposes of illustration and explanation and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Further, the drawings are merely schematic representations, not necessarily to scale, of the locations and combinations of elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of an access assembly for an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2A is an enlarged partial cross-sectional side view of the access assembly for an endoscope of FIG. 1 at the distal end of the endoscope with the endoscope extending distally;

FIG. 2B is a partially enlarged cross-sectional side view of the access assembly for an endoscope of FIG. 1 at the distal end with the endoscope retracted within the lumen;

fig. 3A-3C are partially enlarged bottom, side, cross-sectional, and top perspective views, respectively, of a distal end of an access assembly for an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

An access assembly capable of intra-operative cleaning of the lens of an endoscope is described in detail with reference to the drawings, in which like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding elements in each of the several views. As used herein, the term "distal" refers to a direction (such as below generally shown in the various figures) in which the endoscope, portion of the access assembly, or component thereof is remote from an operator (e.g., a physician), e.g., "distal" is the direction of insertion of the endoscope, and "distal" is one end of the direction of insertion of the endoscope; while the term "proximal" refers to a direction in which the endoscope, portions of the access assembly, or components thereof, are closer to the operator (such as generally upward as shown in the various figures), for example "proximal" is the direction in which the endoscope is withdrawn and "proximal" is one end of the direction in which the endoscope is withdrawn. In addition, the term "endoscope" is used interchangeably generally with laparoscope, arthroscope, gastroenteroscope, laryngobronchoscope, or any other device for viewing a body cavity of a patient through a small diameter incision or cannula. As used herein, the term "fluid" is intended to broadly refer to a substance having a fluidity, including, but not limited to, liquids (such as pure liquids, solutions, colloids, suspensions), gases, gas-liquid two-phase flow mixtures, plasmas, fluidized solid particles, and the like. As used herein, the term "about" means that the numerical values are approximate and that small variations will not significantly affect the practice of the disclosed aspects of the disclosure. Where numerical limitations are used, "about" means that the numerical values can vary by ± 10% and still be within the scope of the disclosure, unless the context indicates otherwise.

By using the access assembly for an endoscope according to the present disclosure, during operations such as intra-operative, device acceptance, maintenance and testing, the endoscope can be cleaned and dried without removing the endoscope in its entirety from the access assembly, and the spraying of fluid can be conveniently and automatically started and stopped in response to the retraction and extension of the endoscope from the distal end of the access assembly, respectively, without the need for a switch of a pump operating the fluid source or a corresponding valve on the tubing, thereby simplifying the operational procedure and saving cleaning fluid.

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of an access assembly for an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present application. In some embodiments, the access assembly may include a tubular body 100, a proximal seal 200, a distal seal 300, one or more fluid supply passages 400, and one or more fluid controls 500. The tubular body 100 can be configured to extend along a longitudinal axis Z-Z' of the access assembly and to receive an endoscope (e.g., endoscope 700 in fig. 2A-2B). The proximal seal 200 may be configured to sealingly couple with the proximal end of the tubular body 100, while the distal seal 300 may be configured to sealingly couple with the distal end of the tubular body 100. The inner wall of the tubular body 100, the distal surface of the proximal seal 200 and the proximal surface of the distal seal 300 collectively define the cavity of the access assembly as an interior space surrounded by the access assembly.

In some embodiments, the proximal seal 200 can be configured to form a seal against a sidewall of an endoscope (e.g., sidewall 710 of endoscope 700 in fig. 2A-2B) when the endoscope (e.g., endoscope 700 in fig. 2A-2B) is inserted therethrough into the cavity of the access assembly to prevent substances external to the access assembly from entering the cavity of the access assembly. In some embodiments, the distal seal 300 may be configured to close by its inherent shape structure to form a seal to prevent the contents of the lumen of the access assembly from flowing out of the distal end of the access assembly when an endoscope is not passed therethrough, as will be described further below with reference to fig. 2B. In some embodiments, the distal seal may also be configured to form a seal against a sidewall of the endoscope as the endoscope is extended therethrough from the distal end of the access assembly (e.g., into a body cavity of a patient) to prevent substances within the cavity of the access assembly from flowing out of the distal end of the access assembly, as will be described further below with reference to fig. 2A.

Each of the one or more fluid feed passageways 400 can include a fluid input port 410 for receiving fluid from a fluid source (not shown), a fluid exhaust port 430 for exhausting fluid received from the fluid source into the cavity, and a fluid line 420 fluidly connecting the fluid input port 410 with the fluid exhaust port 430. In some embodiments, the one or more fluid supply passages 400 may include a plurality of fluid supply passages 400 that each provide one of a cleaning liquid, a drying gas, or a gas-liquid mixture. In some embodiments, the fluid discharge port 430 may be separately disposed on the inner wall of the tubular body 100 and connected to the distal end of the fluid line 420. In other embodiments, the fluid discharge port 430 may also be integrally formed with the distal seal 300 (not shown).

Each of the one or more fluid controls 500 may be disposed at a location corresponding to a respective fluid exhaust 430. It should be appreciated that the positional correspondence of fluid control member 500 with fluid discharge port 430 may include an alignment of an axial position and a circumferential position of the two. In particular, a corresponding position refers to a position at which fluid control member 500 is capable of engaging a side wall of an endoscope (e.g., side wall 710 of endoscope 700 in fig. 2A) to cause a corresponding blockage and patency restoration of a corresponding fluid ejection port 430. Fig. 2A is a partially enlarged sectional side view of the access assembly for an endoscope in fig. 1 at the distal end in a state where the endoscope 700 is extended from the distal end. The state shown in fig. 2A generally corresponds to a state when a body cavity of a patient is observed intra-operatively using the lens of the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700, or to an operation during equipment acceptance, maintenance, trial, and the like, which do not involve the patient. It will be appreciated that because the lens is not within the cavity of the access assembly, ejection of fluid from the fluid exit port 430 is not desired in this state. As shown in fig. 2A, when the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700 protrudes distally from the lumen through the distal seal 300, the fluid control member 500, along with the corresponding fluid ejection port 430, is pushed by the sidewall 710 of the endoscope 700 toward the inner wall of the tubular body 100. At this time, fluid ejection ports 430 are clamped between the respective fluid control members 500 and a sidewall 710 of endoscope 700 such that the respective fluid ejection ports 430 are blocked to automatically stop ejection of fluid.

Fig. 2B is a partially enlarged sectional side view of the access assembly for an endoscope in fig. 1 at the distal end in a state where the endoscope 700 is retracted within the cavity. The condition shown in fig. 2B generally corresponds to a condition during which the lens of the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700 is retracted within the cavity of the access assembly for cleaning thereof, or during operation of the device during acceptance, maintenance, testing, etc., without reference to the patient. It will be appreciated that in this state, it is desirable for the cleaning liquid or drying gas or gas-liquid mixture to be ejected from the fluid outlet 430 into the cavity of the access assembly to clean or at least partially dry the lens. As shown in FIG. 2B, when the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700 is proximally retracted within the lumen by the distal seal 300, the sidewall 710 of the endoscope 700 no longer pushes the fluid discharge port 430 against the inner wall of the tubular body 100. At this point, the clamping of the fluid ejection port 430 by the sidewall 710 of the endoscope 700 and the fluid control member 500 is released, and the fluid ejection port 430 returns to its original shape by its own elastic force to resume its clear state, thereby starting to eject fluid under the pressure of the fluid from the fluid source. When injecting fluid, the general flow direction of the fluid within the access assembly is shown by the arrows in fig. 2B.

The access assembly for an endoscope 700 according to the present application can automatically accomplish the spraying and stopping of the fluid without operating any switch or valve of the pump by automatically clamping and releasing the corresponding fluid discharge port 430 by the fluid control member 500 in cooperation with the sidewall 710 of the endoscope 700 in response to the extension and retraction of the endoscope 700 through the distal end seal 300, thereby simplifying the complexity of the access assembly system and the corresponding operation.

In some embodiments, an access assembly for an endoscope may further comprise a vacuum suction 600. The vacuum suction piece 600 may be connected to a vacuum suction source (such as a vacuum pump, a vacuum interface as operating room facilities, etc.) to evacuate fluids (e.g., cleaning liquids, drying gases, gas-liquid mixtures) from the cavity of the access assembly. The general flow direction of the fluid during the washing and drying operation is shown by the arrows in fig. 1.

Fig. 3A-3C are partially enlarged bottom, side, cross-sectional, and top perspective views, respectively, of a distal end of an access assembly for an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present application. In some embodiments, any two or more of the one or more fluid controls 500, the fluid exhaust 430 of each of the one or more fluid supply passages 400, and the distal seal 300 may be integrally formed from a flexible material, as shown in fig. 3A-3C. In this case, the assembly installation process is simplified and alignment between the fluid discharge port 430 and the fluid control member 500 is facilitated. In some embodiments, the flexible material may be a medical grade silicone to facilitate opening and closing of distal seal 300 and to facilitate occlusion of fluid ejection port 430 when clamped by fluid control member 500 against the inner wall of access assembly tubular body 100, but to resiliently return to patency when released by such clamping.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3A and 3B, the fluid discharge port 430 may have an opening generally toward the proximal side of the access assembly to spray fluid to the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3A and 3B, fluid control member 500 may be located radially outward of fluid ejection port 430 and at an axial position along longitudinal axis Z-Z' that substantially corresponds to fluid ejection port 430, so as to engage sidewall 710 of endoscope 700 to effect clamping and release of fluid ejection port 430, as described in more detail with reference to fig. 2A and 2B. For example, in a state where the fluid discharge port 430 is pushed toward the inner wall of the tubular body 100 by the side wall 710 of the endoscope 700, the fluid control member 500 may be located at an axial and circumferential position corresponding to the middle section of the fluid discharge port 430 and radially proximate to the inner wall of the tubular body 100.

In some embodiments, the distal seal 300 may comprise a plurality of sealing petals, as shown in fig. 3C. When the endoscope 700 does not pass the distal seal 300, the plurality of sealing flaps may resiliently close and form a seal by virtue of their shape. As the endoscope 700 passes the distal seal 300, the plurality of sealing flaps may resiliently flare gradually against the endoscope 700 and remain sealed against the sidewall 710 of the endoscope 700, thereby preventing the contents of the lumen of the access assembly from flowing out of the distal end of the access assembly.

Although fig. 3A-3C show the fluid discharge port 430 as a separate part from the distal seal 300, in other embodiments, the fluid discharge port 430 may also be located on the distal seal 300, for example on a proximal surface of at least one sealing flap of the distal seal 300. Accordingly, fluid control member 500 may similarly engage side wall 710 of endoscope 700 to grip and release fluid ejection port 430. Additionally, although the fluid ejection ports 430 are shown in the various figures as being located near the distal end of the tubular body 100 along the longitudinal axis Z-Z ', in other embodiments, the fluid ejection ports 430 and corresponding fluid control members 500 may be located at a position that is in the middle or near the proximal end of the tubular body 100 along the longitudinal axis Z-Z'. In this case, automatic clamping and release of the fluid ejection port 430 can still be achieved by only having to adjust the distance by which the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700 is retracted along the longitudinal axis Z-Z' accordingly during operation.

In some embodiments, one or more fluid control members 500 may include one or more protrusions, and the number of the one or more protrusions may be equal to the number of one or more fluid supply passages 400 and corresponding one or more fluid exhaust ports 430. It will be appreciated that where the access assembly includes a plurality of fluid supply passageways 400 and a corresponding plurality of fluid exhaust ports 430, the corresponding fluid input port 410 of each fluid supply passageway 400 may be connected to a different fluid source, such as a source of cleaning fluid, a source of drying gas, or a source of gas-liquid mixture, to enable the access assembly to inject different fluids into the cavity of the access assembly as desired. Each protrusion may be provided on the inner wall of the tubular body 100 at an axial and circumferential position corresponding to the respective fluid discharge port 430. In this case, with the endoscope 700 extended through the distal seal 300, the shape of the protrusions of the fluid control member 500 may engage the sidewall 710 of the endoscope 700 to facilitate clamping of the respective fluid discharge ports 430, thereby stopping the ejection of fluid.

In some embodiments, the access assembly may include a plurality of fluid supply passageways 400, and each fluid supply passageway 400 may have a separate fluid input port 410, fluid exhaust port 430, and fluid line 420. In some embodiments, the fluid input ports 410 of each of the plurality of fluid supply channels 400 may be respectively connected to fluid sources that supply different fluids (e.g., cleaning liquids, drying gases, gas-liquid mixtures, etc.) to satisfy the multiple functions of cleaning, at least partially drying, the lens of the endoscope 700. It will be appreciated that during the cleaning and optional drying processes as described in more detail below, it may be desirable to automatically or manually stop the supply of liquid and switch to supply optional drying gas by a fluid supply system (not shown) after the cleaning meets cleanliness requirements, but the access assembly according to the present application may still automatically stop the ejection of drying gas after drying to a desired degree. More generally, during a multi-step cleaning procedure of the endoscope 700 (e.g., including steps of cleaning, drying, etc.), at least automatic initiation of the injection of fluid (inflow, cleaning liquid, gas-liquid mixture two-phase flow, etc.) in the first step and automatic termination of the injection of fluid (e.g., drying gas) in the last step may be achieved by the access assembly according to the present application by the fluid control 500 engaging the sidewall 710 of the endoscope 700 with automatic clamping and automatic release of the fluid discharge port 430 as the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700 is extended and retracted distally.

Further, in other embodiments, at least some of the fluid input ports 410 of each of the plurality of fluid supply passages 400 may be connected to the same fluid source (e.g., cleaning liquid, drying gas, gas-liquid mixture, etc.), but their respective fluid discharge ports 430 may be arranged differently in location. For example, the plurality of fluid discharge ports 430 may be distributed at different radial, axial, and/or circumferential locations about the longitudinal axis Z-Z' to better distribute the spray of fluid over the lens of the endoscope 700 to improve cleaning and drying effects.

In some embodiments, the one or more protrusions as fluid control members 500 may include an annular protrusion (not shown) that may be circumferentially proximate to the inner wall of tubular body 100 and located at an axial position corresponding to fluid ejection port 430. In some embodiments, the annular protrusion may be in the form of a closed or non-closed ring, such as a half ring. It will be appreciated that in embodiments (not shown) where the access assembly has a plurality of fluid supply channels 400 and a corresponding plurality of fluid exit ports 430 (e.g., each of the plurality of fluid supply channels 400 is used to exit the cleaning liquid, drying gas, and/or the like), that one annular protrusion may engage the side wall 710 of the endoscope 700 to effect clamping and release of all of the plurality of fluid exit ports 430 simultaneously, and also need not be considered circumferentially aligned with the plurality of fluid exit ports 430, respectively, when mounted to the tubular body 100. In some embodiments, a corresponding axial position refers to an effect that an annular protrusion disposed at that position can create a corresponding blockage and patency restoration for a corresponding fluid discharge port 430 (e.g., all of the plurality of fluid discharge ports 430). For example, the axial position of the annular ring-shaped protrusion along the longitudinal axis Z-Z' may generally correspond to the axial position of the middle section of the fluid discharge port 430 in a state where the fluid discharge port 430 is pushed toward the inner wall of the tubular body 100 by the side wall 710 of the endoscope 700.

In some embodiments, each of the one or more projections may not be disposed proximate an inner wall of the tubular body 100, but rather disposed on an outer surface 432 of the respective fluid ejection port 430 (not shown). It will be appreciated that where fluid control member 500 is formed separately from, for example, fluid conduit 420 on the inner wall of tubular body 100, forming one or more protrusions as fluid control member 500 on outer surface 432 of respective fluid ejection ports 430 may similarly achieve the above-described clamping and release effects, and need not be considered for circumferential alignment with fluid ejection ports 430 during installation.

In some embodiments, the fluid discharge port 430 may be disposed to point in a proximal direction (i.e., a generally upward direction in the figures) along a longitudinal axis (Z-Z' in fig. 1) of the access assembly, as shown in fig. 3A-3C. In this case, fluid ejected from the fluid discharge port 430 may be directed toward the lens at the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700 when retracted into the access assembly, thereby improving the cleaning effect, and is not affected by the orientation of the endoscope 700 and access assembly relative to gravity. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the fluid discharge ports 430 may be disposed in other orientations, such as partially radially inward orientations.

A method of using the above-described access component is described below with reference to fig. 2A and 2B. The above described access assembly according to the present application can be operated using the method according to the application, either when the field of view of the endoscope becomes obscured by contamination during surgery or during operations such as device acceptance, maintenance and testing that do not involve the patient, to perform operations such as cleaning, drying, etc. of the endoscope.

In some embodiments, a method according to the present application may include connecting respective fluid input ports 410 of one or more fluid supply passageways 400 each to a respective fluid source. In this method, an access assembly of any of the embodiments described above is provided, and an endoscope 700 is threaded through the access assembly. As mentioned above, the fluid source may include a cleaning fluid source, a drying gas source, a gas-liquid mixture source, etc. to achieve different purposes of cleaning, drying, etc. When it is desired to expel fluid from the fluid discharge port 430 to wash or dry the lens of the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700, the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700 is proximally retracted into the cavity through the distal seal 300, such that the fluid discharge port 430, which would otherwise be pinched on both sides by the fluid control 500 and the inner wall of the tubular body 100 of the access assembly, is restored to patency to allow fluid to be ejected from the fluid discharge port 430, thereby washing the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700.

The method according to the present application may further include, after completing the cleaning and/or drying of the lens of the endoscope 700, extending the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700 distally out of the cavity through the distal seal 300 (e.g., it is desired to continue using the endoscope 700 to view the patient's body cavity) such that the fluid ejection port 430 is blocked on both sides by the fluid control 500 and the inner wall of the tubular body 100 of the access assembly to stop the ejection of fluid into the cavity of the access assembly.

In some embodiments, each fluid source provides one of a liquid, a gas-liquid mixture, in order to wash and dry the lens of the distal end 720 of the endoscope 700.

It should be understood that various modifications may be made to the disclosed methods and apparatus. Accordingly, the above description should not be construed as limiting, but merely as exemplifications of aspects of the disclosure. Other modifications will occur to those skilled in the art within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. For example, any and all features of one described aspect may be incorporated into another aspect as appropriate.

Claims (8)

1. An access assembly for an endoscope, the access assembly comprising:

a tubular body configured to extend along a longitudinal axis of the access assembly and for receiving the endoscope;

a proximal seal in sealing connection with the proximal end of the tubular body;

a distal seal in sealing connection with the distal end of the tubular body, wherein an inner wall of the tubular body, a distal surface of the proximal seal, and a proximal surface of the distal seal collectively define a cavity of the access assembly;

one or more fluid feed passages including a fluid input port for receiving fluid from a fluid source, a fluid exhaust port for exhausting the fluid received from the fluid source into the cavity, and a fluid conduit fluidly connecting the fluid input port and the fluid exhaust port; and

one or more fluid control members disposed at locations corresponding to respective ones of the fluid ejection ports,

wherein when the distal end of the endoscope protrudes distally from the cavity through the distal seal, the fluid discharge ports are blocked by being clamped between the respective fluid control member and the sidewall of the endoscope, and

wherein the fluid discharge ports are released to resume clearance from between the respective fluid control member and the side wall of the endoscope when the distal end of the endoscope is proximally retracted into the cavity through the distal seal.

2. The access assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more fluid control members comprise one or more protrusions disposed on the inner wall of the tubular body at axial and circumferential locations corresponding to the respective fluid discharge ports.

3. The access assembly of claim 2, wherein the one or more protrusions include at least one annular protrusion circumferentially disposed on the inner wall of the tubular body at an axial location corresponding to the fluid discharge port.

4. The access assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more fluid control members include one or more protrusions disposed on an outer surface of the respective fluid ejection port.

5. The access assembly according to any of claims 1-4, wherein any two or more of the one or more fluid control members, the one or more fluid egress ports, and the distal seal are integrally formed from a flexible material.

6. The access assembly of claim 5, wherein the flexible material is medical grade silicone.

7. The access assembly of claim 1, further comprising a vacuum suction for drawing the fluid from within the cavity.

8. The access assembly of claim 1, wherein the fluid exit port is disposed to point in a proximal direction along a longitudinal axis of the access assembly.

Images