JP2000279376A - Electric bending type endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric bending type endoscope capable of grasping the state of bending tube part correctly and having a good operability. SOLUTION: The electric bending type endoscope has an inserting part 1, which has a bending tube part 12 that has a bending mechanism, an angle wire 35, which is inserted into the inserting part 1 and operates the bending mechanism, electric motors 47a, 47b, which are used as an actuator that make the tube part 12 bent, and a joystick 52, which is used as a bending operation part that controls the electric motors 47a, 47b. The electric bending type endoscope also has a tension sensor 56, which detects the tension of angle wire 35, and a displacement sensor 60, which detects the displacement of angle wire 35, and the detection means, which detects the state of bending tube part 12 based on the information from both sensors 56, 60, is set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric bending endoscope in which a bending tube portion of an insertion section is driven to bend by an actuator such as an electric motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a bending tube portion of an insertion portion is driven by a driving force of an electric motor for the purpose of reducing the complexity of an operator performing the operation of bending the bending tube portion and improving the operability of the bending operation. 2. Description of the Related Art An electric bending endoscope that is bent has been proposed.

In general, an electric bending endoscope has an angle wire disposed in an insertion portion, and a pulley on which the angle wire is hung is rotated by an electric motor to pull the angle wire so as to bend the bending tube portion. It has become. Further, a rotary encoder is attached to a shaft portion of the electric motor, a bending angle is detected based on an output signal of the rotary encoder, and an operation of the electric motor is controlled to bend the bending tube portion to a predetermined bending angle. It has become.

[0004]

The angle at which the bending tube section bends in the conventional bending method is determined by the amount of pulling movement of the angle wire disposed in the insertion section. However, the angle wire is inserted into the coil sheath arranged in the long insertion portion and is guided to the tip of the curved tube portion.When the angle wire is pulled, the angle wire slides on the inner surface of the coil sheath and moves. receive.
In particular, when the coil sheath is bent, the angle wire strongly contacts the inner surface of the coil sheath and slidably contacts, so that a larger frictional force is received.

In general, if the insertion portion bends, the coil sheath also bends, and the shape of the coil sheath changes according to the shape of the insertion portion. Therefore, when the endoscope is used, the coil sheath together with the insertion portion bends into various complicated shapes, and the frictional force received by the angle wire slidingly contacting the end changes according to the shape. As described above, the tension that is gradually changed according to the change in the frictional force is applied to the angle wire, so that the elongation changes to some extent and the positional relationship with the coil sheath also changes. On the other hand, a large compressive force is applied to the coil sheath as a reaction of the tension applied to the angle wire, and it is inevitable that a certain degree of compressive deformation or distortion actually occurs. Further, when bending the bending tube portion also depending on the degree of external load applied to the insertion portion, the traction force to be applied to the angle wire changes, and the tension of the angle wire,
The frictional force and the compressive force on the coil sheath also vary.

As described above, when the bending tube is bent, the amount of bending operation by the angle wire is reduced due to the frictional force applied to the angle wire from the coil sheath, and the amount of bending is smaller than the original amount of bending. This causes a so-called angle-down phenomenon.

As a result, the bending angle of the bending tube portion, which is an output value with respect to the input value to the electric motor, does not always follow, and the bending angle differs depending on the degree of bending of the insertion portion. there were.

Therefore, in order to solve the problem as described above, an angle wire displacement sensor for detecting the amount of displacement of the angle wire is provided at the insertion portion, and is used as control information, or the angle operation means is provided with angle wire displacement information. Japanese Patent Application Hei 10-23
No. 5503.

[0009] However, Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 10-235503.
In the case of No. 1, tension is applied to the angle wire when the bending tube portion is bent by the angle operation means, and it is not possible to grasp whether the tension is caused by the angle operation or the bending tube portion hits an object and is caused by an external force. . Also, when the bending tube is bent, even if the bending angle of the bending tube is known from the amount of displacement of the angle wire, if the bending tube hits an object and receives an external force, the force sense is detected separately. Can not do.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to independently detect a bending angle of a bending tube portion of an insertion portion and an external force applied to the bending tube portion, and to detect a bending tube portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric bending type endoscope which can accurately grasp the state of the vehicle and has excellent operability.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is an insertion section having a bending tube section provided with a bending mechanism; An electric bending endoscope comprising: an angle wire for operating a bending mechanism; an actuator for pulling the angle wire and operating the bending mechanism to bend the bending tube portion; and a bending operation section for controlling the actuator. The mirror is provided with a tension sensor for detecting the tension of the angle wire and a displacement sensor for detecting a displacement of the angle wire, and a means for detecting a state of the bending tube portion based on information from the two sensors. And

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the tension sensor and the displacement sensor of the first aspect are both arranged inside the insertion portion.

According to the above construction, when the bending wire is bent by pulling the angle wire by the actuator,
Based on information from both the tension sensor and the displacement sensor, it is possible to distinguish and detect whether the operation is due to a bending operation or an external force.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a configuration of an electric bending endoscope. An operation unit 2 is connected to a hand side of an insertion unit 1 of an electronic flexible endoscope. The insertion portion 1 is a thin and long flexible tube portion 11 having flexibility, a curved tube portion 12 connected to the distal end of the flexible tube portion 11, and a rigid tube portion connected to the distal end of the curved tube portion 12. It is constituted by the tip portion 13. As shown in FIG.
And the like are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible tube portion 11
A spiral tube 15 is fitted with a blade tube 16, and the outer skin 1 is placed thereon.
7 is coated. The spiral tube 15 is formed by spirally winding a band-shaped metal plate into a cylindrical shape,
The blade tube 16 is formed by braiding a large number of metal wires into a cylindrical shape.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bending tube portion 12
It has a plurality of bending pieces 21 arranged in the longitudinal axis direction of the insertion portion 1, and the adjacent bending pieces 21 are rotatably connected to each other by a rivet-shaped shaft pin 22 so that a tubular bending that can be bent as a whole is formed. A tube core 23 is formed, a cylindrical blade 24 is fitted on the outer periphery of the curved tube core 23, and an outer skin 25 is coated on the outer periphery. The direction in which each bending piece 21 bends depends on the position where the shaft pin 22 is provided. In this case, the shaft pins 22 are alternately arranged at the right and left positions and the up and down positions or as appropriate to move the bending tube core 23 up and down as a whole.・ It can be bent to the left and right. The bending tube core 23 is formed of an angle wire 3 described later.
5 constitutes a bending mechanism 36 that bends in the direction of pulling.

On the inner surfaces of the other bending pieces 21 except for the bending piece 21 located at the forefront and the bending piece 21 located at the rearmost end, at positions corresponding to the angle wires 35 arranged vertically and horizontally, respectively. Angle Wire 35
, And a ring-shaped wire guide 37 is attached by brazing or the like so as to be guided individually and to be able to move forward and backward. The tip of each angle wire 35 is fixed to the leading end bending piece or the main body member of the tip portion 13 by brazing or the like. Therefore, when one of the angle wires 35 is selected and pulled, the bending tube portion 12 can be bent in the direction of the selected angle wire 35.

The flexible tube portion 11 and the curved tube portion 1 of the insertion portion 1
2 are connected by a metal connecting pipe 41. The stacking tip portion of the spiral tube 15 and the blade tube 16 in the flexible tube portion 11 is fitted into the rear end of the connection tube 41 and fixed by brazing or the like. The rear end of the bending piece 21 located at the end of the bending pipe core member 23 of the bending pipe portion 12 is fitted over the outer periphery of the distal end of the connection pipe 41, and is fixed by brazing or screwing.

The blade 24 and the outer skin 25 of the curved tube portion 12
The rear end side portion extends beyond the bending piece 21 located at the rearmost end to the outer peripheral portion of the connection pipe 41, and is fitted to the outer circumference of the connection pipe 41 and fixed by brazing or the like. The outer skin 17 of the flexible tube portion 11 and the outer skin 25 of the curved tube portion 12 are abutted, and the yarn 42 is tightly wound around the outer periphery of the abutted both end portions and fastened, and is adhered to the outer periphery of the wound portion. The abutting portion is liquid-tightly sealed by applying the agent 43. The connection between the flexible tube 11 and the curved tube 12 is usually a relatively hard region.

Each angle wire 35 is connected to the flexible tube 11
Inside, each guide sheath is individually inserted and guided into the operation unit 2. The guide sheath includes, for example, a coil sheath 45 formed by tightly winding a coil wire made of stainless steel (SUS) in a coil shape, and each angle wire 35 is individually inserted into each coil sheath 45. . Coil sheath 45
Is fixedly attached to the inner surface of the connection pipe 41 by brazing. The rear end side of the coil sheath 45 is the insertion portion 1
Is arranged in a free state in the flexible tube section 11 and is guided to the operation section 2 together with other internal components.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a pulley 46a wound with wires connected to upper and lower angle wires 35 at both ends and left and right angle wires 35 are provided in the operation unit 2. Pulley 46 wound with wires connected to both ends
b is installed. The pulleys 46a and 46b are rotated by electric motors 47a and 47b so as to be freely reversible. The electric motors 47a and 47b are driven by a motor drive unit 49 controlled by a control device 48. The pulleys 46a, 47b are driven by the electric motors 47a, 47b.
An actuator that rotates 46b to bend the bending tube section 12 via the angle wire 35 is configured.

The operating position of the actuator is detected by an actuator position detecting means. Here, the actuator position detecting means includes the electric motors 47a, 47b.
The rotary mechanism 51a, 51b attached to the shaft portion of the above, the bending mechanism 36 based on the output signals of the rotary encoders 51a, 51b.
Is detected. The control device 4
Numeral 8 controls the amount of bending operation by the actuator based on the position detection signal of the actuator position detecting means, and bends the bending tube portion 12 to a predetermined bending angle.

That is, the operation section 2 is provided with a joystick 52 as a bending operation section. The joystick 52 is used to specify the vertical and horizontal bending directions and give a command for the amount of bending operation. The vertical joystick motor 53a and the left / right joystick motor 53b rotate by designating the vertical and horizontal bending directions and instructing the amount of bending operation, and the rotation angle, that is, the amount of bending operation, is determined by the rotary encoder 54a.
54b, the rotary encoders 54a, 54
The detection signal of b is input to the control device 48 via the input driver 55.
Is input to

Next, means for detecting the state of the curved tube section 12 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the distal end 13 of the insertion section 1
A tension sensor 56 such as a strain sensor is fixed to each of the angle wires 35, and a tip end of the angle wire 35 is connected to the tension sensor 56.
Is detected. A signal line 57 of the tension sensor 56 is connected to the control device 48 via a tension sensor amplifier 58 and an A / D converter 59 in the operation unit 2 through the insertion unit 1.

Further, a displacement sensor 60 such as a magnetic induction sensor, a laser displacement sensor or the like corresponding to the angle wire 53 is provided inside the connection pipe 41 between the front end of the flexible tube 11 and the rear end of the curved tube 12. Are fixed, and the amount of displacement of the angle wire 35 in the axial direction is detected. Displacement sensor 6
Numeral 0 is incorporated in the coil sheath 45 for guiding the angle wire 35 through. Displacement sensor 6
A signal line 62 is led out to both ends of the zero sensor coil 61, and the signal line 62 is connected to the control device 48 through the insertion unit 1 via the displacement sensor amplifier 63 in the operation unit 2 and the A / D converter 64. ing.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. When the joystick 52 is rotated, for example, in the vertical direction, the joystick motor 53a rotates,
A command for the rotation is input to the control device 48 from the encoder 54a via the input driver 55. Then, the electric motor 47a rotates the pulley 46a in the rotation direction, pulls the angle wire 35, and bends the bending tube portion 12 in a desired direction. At this time, the electric motor 47a is servo-controlled.

At this time, as shown in FIG.
In the case where no external force is applied to 2, the tension increases with respect to the displacement as shown by a curve A indicating the relationship between the tension measured by the tension sensor 56 and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor 60. However, when the curved tube section 12 is bent and observed, or during treatment, the relationship between the tension measured by the tension sensor 56 and the displacement measured by the displacement sensor 60 is measured at the point B, the curve A
The external force is applied to the curved tube portion 12 by the difference C in tension from the external force.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, when the insertion portion 1 is inserted into the body cavity a and the bending tube portion 12 is bent, the displacement of the angle wire 35 is measured by the displacement sensor 60, and the measurement result is as follows. It is input to the control device 48 via the displacement sensor amplifier 63 and the A / D converter 64. Further, when the bending tube portion 12 is bent, when the distal end portion 13 hits the body cavity wall b and is further curved, or when an external force in the direction of the arrow c is applied from the body cavity wall b, the tension sensor 56 measures the tension, The measurement result is the tension sensor amplifier 58, A
It is input to the control device 48 via the / D converter 59. Then, the controller 48 calculates the tension difference C from the curve A, and operates the input driver 55 so as to feed back the joystick 52 with a force amount corresponding to the magnitude of C. Therefore, it can be understood that the distal end portion 13 of the insertion section 1 has received an external force with the sense of the hand of the operator who operates the joystick 52.

According to the above-described embodiment, the displacement sensor 60 for measuring the amount of displacement of the angle wire 35 in the insertion portion 1
Is installed, so that even if the shape of the insertion portion 1 changes, control for eliminating so-called angle-down can be reliably performed. Further, when the distal end portion 13 hits the body cavity wall b or the like and receives an external force c when the bending tube portion 12 is bent by installing the tension sensor 56 for measuring the tension of the angle wire 35, the tension sensor 56 is used. Measured by

The controller 48 calculates the difference C in the tension, and feeds back the amount of force corresponding to the tension difference C to the joystick 52 so that the operator can operate the joystick 52 with the sense of the hand. Since it is known that the distal end portion 13 of the portion 1 has received an external force, it is possible to perform operations such as returning the bending of the bending tube portion 12 or changing the bending direction by using the joystick 52, thereby improving operability. it can.

However, according to the present invention, the tension sensor 56 measures the tension of the angle wire 35 and determines the difference C in the tension.
Is calculated by the control device 48 and the amount of force corresponding to the tension difference C is fed back to the joystick 52. For example, an alarm lamp is turned on by a detection signal of the tension sensor 56, or an alarm is generated. The buzzer may be operated to notify that the tip portion 13 has received an external force.

In the above embodiment, the angle wire 3
Although the electric motor 47 is used as the driving means for pulling the pulley 5, another actuator may be used.

Further, the present invention is not limited to medical endoscopes, but can be applied to industrial endoscopes. In particular, in the case of an industrial endoscope that searches for a conduit or the like, when the curved tube portion of the insertion portion is bent, the angle wire is cut by further bending without knowing that the distal end portion is in contact with the tube wall or the like. Or cause damage to the curved tube and the tip, but by providing a tension sensor,
The above problem can be solved.

According to the above embodiment, the following configuration is obtained.

(Supplementary Note 1) An insertion portion having a bending tube portion provided with a bending mechanism, an angle wire inserted through the insertion portion to operate the bending mechanism, and pulling the angle wire, the bending mechanism An actuator for operating the actuator to bend the bending tube portion, and an electric bending endoscope including a bending operation section for controlling the actuator, a tension sensor for detecting a tension of the angle wire, and a tension sensor for detecting the tension of the angle wire. An electric bending endoscope comprising: a displacement sensor for detecting displacement; and means for detecting a state of the bending tube section based on information from both sensors.

(Supplementary note 2) The electric bending endoscope according to supplementary note 1, wherein the tension sensor is a strain sensor.

(Appendix 3) The electric bending endoscope according to appendix 1, wherein the displacement sensor is an electromagnetic induction sensor or a laser displacement sensor.

(Supplementary Note 4) The supplementary note 1, wherein the tension sensor is provided at a distal end of the insertion portion corresponding to each angle wire, and the distal end of the angle wire is connected to the tension sensor. Electric bending endoscope.

(Supplementary note 5) The displacement sensor is provided at a distal end portion of a flexible tube portion of an insertion portion corresponding to each angle wire, and a middle portion of the angle wire is inserted into the displacement sensor. 2. The electric bending endoscope according to claim 1, wherein

(Supplementary Note 6) The measurement result of the tension sensor is
2. The electric bending endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the electric bending endoscope is fed back to the bending operation unit via the control device.

(Supplementary note 7) The electric bending endoscope according to supplementary note 6, wherein the bending operation section is a joystick.

(Supplementary Note 8) The measurement result of the tension sensor is
2. The electric bending endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the input is input to a control device, and the control device calculates a difference from a normal tension at the time of bending, and feeds back the difference in strength to a joystick.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, the state of the bending tube portion can be accurately grasped by independently detecting the bending angle of the bending tube portion of the insertion portion and the external force applied to the bending tube portion. And an electric bending endoscope excellent in operability can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electric bending endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a flexible tube portion and a curved tube portion in the insertion section of the endoscope according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Insertion part 2 ... Operation part 12 ... Bending tube part 13 ... Tip part 35 ... Angle wire 36 ... Bending mechanism 52 ... Joystick (input means) 56 ... Tension sensor 60 ... Displacement sensor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Toshimasa Kawai 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshinari Maeda 2-34-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Norio Matsui 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Kazuhiko Arai 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2H040 BA21 BA23 DA14 DA19 DA43 4C061 AA00 BB00 CC00 DD03 FF32 HH35 HH51 JJ11

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An insertion section having a bending tube section provided with a bending mechanism, an angle wire inserted through the insertion section to operate the bending mechanism, and pulling the angle wire to operate the bending mechanism. An electric bending endoscope including an actuator that bends the bending tube section and a bending operation section that controls the actuator; a tension sensor that detects a tension of the angle wire; and a displacement of the angle wire. Equipped with a displacement sensor to detect
An electric bending endoscope, further comprising means for detecting a state of the bending tube section based on information from the two sensors. 2. The electric bending endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the tension sensor and the displacement sensor are both arranged inside the insertion section.