JP2002233497A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope which facilitates operation to insert an insertion portion of the endoscope into a lumen. SOLUTION: An endoscope 1 has a long-sized insertion portion 2 which can be inserted into the lumen, a control section 3 which is disposed on the base end side of the insertion portion 2 and a juncture 6 for a light source processor unit 100. A rotating member 4 which is rotatably installed and a motor 5 which rotationally drives the rotating member 4 are installed inside the end portion of the insertion portion 2. The rotating member 4 is adapted to exist at a point where its centroid is offcentered from the central axis of rotation. The rotating member generates vibrations by rotating. The insertion portion 2 is vibrated in a direction approximately perpendicular to its longitudinal direction by the generated vibrations of the rotating member 4. As a result, the tight contact of the insertion portion 2 with the inner wall of the lumen is prevented (lessened) and the friction resistance that the insertion portion 2 receives from the inner wall of the lumen is lessened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the medical field, endoscopes are used for examination, treatment and the like of the digestive tract and the like. Such an endoscope has a long and flexible insertion portion, and an operation portion provided on the proximal end side of the insertion portion, and the insertion portion is inserted into a body lumen (tubular organ). Insert and use.

When the insertion portion of the endoscope is inserted into the lumen, a pushing force or a twist is applied to the proximal end side (hand side) of the insertion portion of the endoscope, whereby the endoscope is inserted. The insertion section is advanced within the lumen.

However, since the insertion portion of the endoscope receives resistance due to friction with the inner wall of the lumen, it does not smoothly advance in the lumen.
It's not easy. In particular, the operation of inserting the body into a deep part of the body such as the small intestine and the large intestine is difficult and requires a high degree of skill.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope which can easily perform an operation of inserting an insertion portion of the endoscope into a lumen.

[0006]

This and other objects are achieved by the present invention which is defined below as (1) to (11).

(1) An endoscope comprising: an elongated insertion portion that can be inserted into a lumen; and a vibration source that is installed inside the insertion portion and generates vibration.

Accordingly, it is possible to provide an endoscope which can easily perform an operation of inserting the insertion portion of the endoscope into the lumen.

(2) The endoscope according to (1), wherein the vibration source generates vibration in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the insertion portion.

As a result, the frictional resistance (insertion resistance) that the insertion portion of the endoscope receives from the inner wall of the lumen is further reduced, and the insertion operation can be further facilitated.

(3) The vibration source is a rotating member whose center of gravity is located at a position eccentric from a rotation center line.
Or the endoscope according to (2). Thereby, the size of the vibration source can be reduced.

(4) The endoscope according to (3), further including a driving source for driving the rotating member to rotate. Thereby, the size of the vibration source can be reduced.

(5) The endoscope according to (4), wherein the driving source is installed inside the insertion section. Thereby, the structure can be simplified.

(6) The endoscope according to the above (4) or (5), wherein a plurality of the rotating members are provided, and the driving source is provided for each rotating member.

Thus, the insertion portion of the endoscope can be vibrated as a whole, and the insertion operation can be further facilitated.

(7) The endoscope according to any one of (1) to (6), wherein a plurality of the vibration sources are provided along a longitudinal direction of the insertion portion.

Thus, the insertion portion of the endoscope can be vibrated as a whole, and the insertion operation can be further facilitated.

(8) The endoscope according to (7), wherein each of the vibration sources is provided at a position eccentric from a center axis of the insertion portion.

Thus, the vibration generated by the vibration source is transmitted to the outer peripheral surface of the insertion portion with high efficiency.

(9) The vibration source is provided at least at the distal end of the insertion section.
An endoscope according to any one of the above.

As a result, the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope vibrates mainly, so that the followability of the insertion portion of the endoscope with respect to the lumen can be enhanced, and the insertion operation can be further facilitated. I can do it.

(10) The endoscope according to any one of the above (1) to (9), further comprising a vibration adjusting means for adjusting the intensity of the vibration generated by the vibration source. Thereby, the vibration of the insertion portion can be obtained with the optimum strength according to the situation.

(11) The endoscope according to any one of the above (1) to (10), further comprising a display means for indicating an operation state of the vibration source at a position other than the insertion portion.

Thus, the operator can easily grasp the operation state of the vibration source, and higher operability and safety can be obtained.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an endoscope according to the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a side view showing a first embodiment of an endoscope according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view showing one end of an insertion portion 2 of the endoscope 1 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view of the rotating member 4 and the motor 5 in the endoscope 1 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows an energizing circuit for the motor 5 in the endoscope 1 shown in FIG. It is a circuit diagram. In the following description, the left side in FIGS. 1 and 2 is referred to as a “proximal end”, and the right side is referred to as a “distal end”.

The endoscope (electronic scope) shown in these figures
Reference numeral 1 denotes a long insertion section 2, an operation section 3 provided on a base end side of the insertion section 2, a rotating member (weight) 4 provided inside a distal end of the insertion section 2, and a motor (drive source). ) 5 and a connection portion 6 to the light source processor device (light source device) 100. Hereinafter, the configuration of each unit will be described.

The insertion portion 2 is a portion to be inserted into a lumen (tubular organ) of a living body, and has a structure in which various built-in components described later are disposed inside a long tubular member. .

The main part (excluding the vicinity of the tip) of the entire length of the insertion portion 2 is a flexible tube portion 21 having flexibility (elasticity).
It is composed of The exterior of the flexible tube portion 21 is formed of a flexible tube for an endoscope. The flexible tube for an endoscope includes, for example, a spiral tube formed by spirally winding a belt-like material,
It is formed by braiding a thin wire made of metal or non-metal, and is composed of a mesh tube covering the outer periphery of the spiral tube, and an outer skin made of an elastic material such as synthetic resin and covering the outer periphery of the mesh tube. .

The portion near the distal end of the insertion section 2 is
It is composed of That is, the bending portion 22 is provided on the distal end side of the flexible tube portion 21. The exterior of the bending portion 22 is formed of a bending tube. This curved tube, for example,
It is composed of a plurality of node rings that are rotatably connected to each other, a mesh tube covered on the outer periphery of the node ring, and an outer shell covered on the outer periphery of the mesh tube. As described later, the bending portion 22 can be remotely controlled in bending.

An image pickup device (CCD) (not shown) for picking up an image of a subject at an observation site is provided at the distal end of the insertion section 2 (curved section 22).

Although not shown, a light guide formed by an optical fiber bundle, built-in components such as an image signal cable, a bending operation wire, and an air / liquid feeding tube are respectively provided in the insertion section 2 in the longitudinal direction. It is inserted and installed along.

The base end of the insertion section 2 is connected to the operation section 3
It is connected to the. The operation unit 3 is a part that is operated by the operator to operate the endoscope 1 as a whole. On the side of the operation unit 3,
An operation knob 31 is provided near the base end. When the operation knob 31 is operated, the bending operation wire provided in the insertion section 2 is pulled, and the bending direction and the degree of bending of the bending section 22 can be freely controlled.

At the lower part of the operation unit 3 in FIG. 1, one end of a connection unit 6 to the light source processor 100 is fixed. The main part of the connecting portion 6 has a flexible outer tube made of a long connecting portion and has flexibility.

A light source insertion portion 61 is provided at the other end of the connection portion 6. The light source insertion portion 61 is provided with an image signal connector (not shown) and a light source connector (not shown).

The light source insertion part 61 of the connection part 6 is
The endoscope 1 and the light source processor 100 are detachably attached to the light source processor 100, and the light source insertion unit 61 is connected to the light source processor 100.
Are electrically and optically connected. The endoscope 1 is used in a state where it is connected to the light source processor 100 in this way.

The light source processor 100 is connected to a monitor (not shown) via a cable (not shown).

A light source (not shown) is provided inside the light source processor 100, and light emitted from the light source is continuously transmitted into the connection section 6, the operation section 3, and the insertion section 2. The light passes through the light guide arranged in this manner and is illuminated from the distal end of the insertion section 2 (curved section 22) onto the observation site.

The reflected light (subject image) from the observation site illuminated by the illumination light is picked up by the image pickup device.
An image signal corresponding to the subject image picked up by the image pickup device is output via a buffer (not shown).

This image signal is continuously provided in the insertion section 2, the operation section 3 and the connection section 6, and is connected via the image signal cable connecting the image pickup device and the image signal connector. Are transmitted to the light source insertion portion 61.

Then, predetermined processing (for example, signal processing, signal processing, etc.) is performed in the light source insertion portion 61 and the light source processor device 100.
Image processing, etc.), and then input to the monitor device. The monitor device displays an image (electronic image) captured by the image sensor, that is, a moving image of an endoscope monitor image.

The endoscope 1 has a rotating member 4 as a vibration source for generating vibration and a motor 5 as a driving source for rotating the rotating member 4 inside the insertion section 2. are doing.

That is, as shown in FIG.
The rotating member 4 and the motor 5 are installed inside the distal end portion of the (bending portion 22).

The motor 5 has a rotating shaft (output shaft) 51 and is fixedly installed on the insertion section 2. The motor 5 is arranged in such a direction that its rotating shaft 51 is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the insertion section 2.

The rotating member 4 is fixed (fixed) to the rotating shaft 51 of the motor 5. Thus, when the motor 5 is driven, the rotating member 4 rotates about the rotation center line 43 (the center of the rotation shaft 51) together with the rotation shaft 51.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotating member 4 includes a large diameter portion 41 having a relatively large radius from the rotation center line 43,
The large diameter portion 41 and the small diameter portion 42 have a relatively small radius from the rotation center line 43.
Each of them is formed almost half way. Thus, the rotating member 4 has a larger weight on the large-diameter portion 41 side than on the small-diameter portion 42 side. Therefore, the center of gravity of the rotating member 4 is located at a position eccentric from the rotation center line 43 toward the large-diameter portion 41 (to the right in FIG. 3) by a predetermined distance.

As described above, the rotation member 4 is configured such that its center of gravity is located at a position eccentric from the rotation center line 43.

As a result, the rotation member 4 is moved to the rotation center line 43.
, The rotational member 4 is rotated by the rotational center line 43 due to the unbalance of the centrifugal force acting on the rotational member 4.
Vibration in a direction substantially perpendicular to (the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion 2) is generated.

In the present embodiment, the rotation center line 43 of the rotating member 4 is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the insertion section 2, but the rotation center line 43 (the rotation shaft 51 of the motor 5) is 2 may be inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction. in this case,
The rotating member 4 generates vibration in a direction inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the insertion section 2.

The constituent material of the rotating member 4 is not particularly limited, and both a metallic material and a nonmetallic material can be used. Examples of the material include iron, stainless steel, titanium, tungsten, brass, and copper. A metal material having a relatively large specific gravity is preferably used. Thus, sufficient vibration can be obtained even when the outer shape of the rotating member 4 is reduced. Further, the outer surface of the rotating member 4 may be covered with a film such as a resin.

The rotating member 4 is not limited to the one shown in the drawing, but may be any member as long as its center of gravity is eccentric from the rotation center line 43 (rotational balance is not obtained). Any shape and structure may be used.

Power is supplied to the motor 5 for rotating the rotating member 4 from a DC power supply 110 installed inside the light source processor 100.

A switch 11 for controlling the operation of the motor 5 and a variable resistor 12 are provided inside the operation unit 3.

A lead (conductive wire) 13 for electrically connecting the motor 5, the switch 11, and the variable resistor 12 is provided inside the insertion section 2 and the operation section 3. The lead wire 13 is further provided continuously inside the connection portion 6 and extends to the inside of the light source insertion portion 61.

By connecting the light source insertion portion 61 of the connection portion 6 to the light source processor 100, the lead wire 13 in the endoscope 1 and the DC power source 1 in the light source processor 100 are connected.
10 is electrically connected to the motor 5 as shown in FIG.
Is formed.

That is, the current supply circuit to the motor 5 is as follows.
It has a DC power supply 110, a switch 11, and a variable resistor 12.

A knob 32 is rotatably provided outside the operation unit 3. The on / off (open / close) of the switch 11 and the adjustment of the resistance value of the variable resistor 12 are controlled by the knob 32.
Can be operated by turning.

An index 321 is attached to the knob 32. On the other hand, “OFF”, “MIN”, and “MAX” marks are provided at predetermined positions along the circumferential direction of the knob 32 on the main body of the operation unit 3 near the knob 32. Then, the knob 32 moves from the state where the index 321 is at the position of the “OFF” mark to the “MIN”.
It is rotatable in a range from the position of the mark to the position at the position of the “MAX” mark.

The index 321 of the knob 32 is "OFF".
When it is at the position of the mark, the switch 11 is opened and the motor 5 is not energized, and the motor 5 stops.

From this state, the index 321 changes to the above-mentioned “MIN”.
When the knob 32 is turned until the position coincides with the position of the mark, the switch 11 is closed (turned on) and the motor 5 is energized.
The rotation shaft 51 of the motor 5 rotates in a predetermined direction. At this time, the direction of rotation of the rotating shaft 51 may be any direction.

When the motor 5 is driven in this manner, the rotating member 4 rotates along with the rotating shaft 51, whereby the rotating member 4 generates vibration. Then, the insertion portion 2 also vibrates accordingly.

As described above, (at least a part of) the insertion portion 2
By vibrating, it is possible to prevent (reduce) the close contact (sticking) of the insertion portion 2 with the inner wall of the lumen. Thereby, the frictional resistance (insertion resistance) that the insertion portion 2 receives from the inner wall of the lumen is reduced, so that the operation of inserting the insertion portion 2 into the lumen can be facilitated.

In the present embodiment, as described above,
Since the rotating member 4 generates vibration in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion section 2, the vibration direction of the insertion section 2 is a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. This makes it possible to more reliably prevent (reduce) the adhesion (sticking) of the insertion section 2 to the inner wall of the lumen, and thus further reduce the frictional resistance (insertion resistance) that the insertion section 2 receives from the inner wall of the lumen. Reduction can be achieved.

The index 321 of the knob 32 indicates the "MIN"
In the state at the position of the mark, the resistance value of the variable resistor 12 becomes maximum, whereby the rotating shaft 51 of the motor 5 and the rotating member 4 rotate at a relatively slow speed. At this time, the vibration generated by the rotating member 4 is relatively small, and therefore, the insertion portion 2 vibrates relatively weakly.

When the knob 32 is further turned clockwise in FIG. 1 from this state, the resistance value of the variable resistor 12 gradually decreases, whereby the rotation of the rotating shaft 51 of the motor 5 and the rotating member 4 are reduced. Speed gradually increases. Accordingly, the vibration of the insertion portion 2 gradually increases.

Then, the state in which the knob 32 is fully turned clockwise in FIG.
The variable resistor 12 is aligned with the position of the “AX” mark.
Is minimized, and at this time, the rotating shaft 5 of the motor 5
The rotation speed of the rotating member 1 and the rotating member 4 is the highest. Therefore, in this state, the insertion portion 2 vibrates most strongly.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the strength of the vibration generated by the rotating member 4 can be freely adjusted. Therefore, the vibration of the insertion section 2 can be obtained with the optimum strength according to the situation.

For example, when the insertion site in the body is relatively shallow, the vibration is reduced, and when the insertion site is relatively deep, the vibration is increased. In the case where it becomes difficult to perform further insertion during the operation, the strength of vibration of the insertion portion 2 can be increased to facilitate insertion.

In this embodiment, since the rotating member 4 is installed at the distal end of the insertion section 2, the distal end side of the insertion section 2 vibrates mainly. For this reason, especially on the distal end side of the insertion section 2, close contact (sticking) to the inner wall of the lumen is performed.
Is more effectively prevented (reduced), and the followability of the insertion section 2 to the lumen is high.

In this embodiment, the power supply (DC power supply 110) for supplying electric power to the motor 5 is provided in the light source processor 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The power supply (battery) supplied is the endoscope 1
(For example, inside the operation unit 3).

Further, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to an electronic endoscope such as the endoscope 1, but can be applied to various endoscopes including a fiber endoscope.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 5 is a side view showing a second embodiment of the endoscope of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a front view of the insertion section 2 in the endoscope 1 'shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing an energizing circuit for the motor 5 in the endoscope 1 ′ shown in FIG. In the following description, the left side in FIG. 5 is referred to as “proximal end”, and the right side is referred to as “distal end”.

Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the endoscope of the present invention will be described with reference to these drawings, but the description will focus on differences from the above-described embodiment, and the description of the same items will be omitted. I do.

As shown in FIG. 5, the endoscope 1 ′ of this embodiment has a plurality of rotating members 4 inside the insertion section 2. These rotating members 4 are installed along the longitudinal direction of the insertion section 2, and in the configuration shown in the drawing, each rotating member 4 is arranged over substantially the entire length of the insertion section 2.

At least one of these rotating members 4
One is preferably installed at the tip of the insertion section 2. Thereby, close contact (adhering) to the inner wall of the lumen is more effectively prevented (reduced) at the distal end of the insertion section 2, and high followability of the insertion section 2 to the lumen is obtained.

A motor 5 for rotating the rotating member 4 is provided for each rotating member 4.

That is, in this embodiment, a plurality of sets of rotating members 4 and motors 5 are installed inside the insertion section 2 along the longitudinal direction.

The preferable number of the rotary members 4 (and the motor 5) and the intervals between the rotary members 4 (and the motors 5) are different depending on the type of the endoscope, the use and the like, but are usually as follows.

That is, in the case of an endoscope in which the entire length of the insertion section 2 is relatively short, it is preferable to install 2 to 5 rotating members 4 (and the motor 5) on the distal end side.

In the case of an endoscope in which the entire length of the insertion section 2 is relatively long, the rotating member 4 (and the motor 5) is inserted at intervals of preferably 5 to 40 cm, more preferably 10 to 20 cm. It is preferable to install over substantially the entire length of the part 2.

When three or more rotating members 4 (and motor 5) are provided, the intervals between adjacent rotating members 4 (and motor 5) may be constant or different.

As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of motors 5 are connected in parallel in a circuit for supplying power to the motors 5.
When the switch 11 is closed by operating the knob 32, the motors 5 are energized, and the rotating members 4 rotate to generate vibration.

In this embodiment, the plurality of rotating members 4 generate vibrations as described above,
The insertion part 2 can be vibrated in many places, especially almost entirely. This makes it possible to more reliably prevent (reduce) the close contact (sticking) of the insertion section 2 to the inner wall of the lumen over the entire length of the insertion section 2. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the frictional resistance (insertion resistance) that the insertion portion 2 receives from the inner wall of the lumen, and thus, even if the entire length of the insertion portion 2 is relatively long, for example, the insertion operation An endoscope which is easy to obtain is obtained.

As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, each set of the rotating member 4 and the motor 5 is installed at a position eccentric from the center axis 23 of the insertion section 2. That is, the rotating member 4 is installed at a position close to the outer peripheral surface of the insertion section 2, whereby the vibration generated by the rotating member 4 is transmitted to the outer peripheral surface of the insertion section 2 with high efficiency, and higher adhesion prevention is achieved. (Reduction) effect is obtained.

In the illustrated configuration, the directions in which the rotating member 4 and the motor 5 are eccentric from the center axis 23 of the insertion portion 2 are allocated in a plurality of directions (four directions in the illustrated configuration). This makes it possible to vibrate the entire insertion section 2 more nearly uniformly (particularly, nearly uniformly along the circumferential direction).

In the present embodiment, the outputs of the respective motors 5 may be made different by, for example, connecting resistors having different resistance values to the respective motors 5 in series in a circuit for energizing the motors 5. Good.

In the present embodiment, a part of the plurality of motors 5 is selectively operated so that a part of the plurality of rotating members 4 is selectively vibrated. May be adopted.

<Third Embodiment> FIG. 8 is a side view showing a third embodiment of the endoscope of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a circuit for energizing the motor 5 in the endoscope 1 ″ shown in FIG. FIG.

Hereinafter, the third embodiment of the endoscope of the present invention will be described with reference to these drawings, but the description will focus on the differences from the above-described embodiment, and the description of the same items will be omitted. I do.

The endoscope 1 ″ of the present embodiment is the same as the endoscope 1 of the second embodiment except that a pilot lamp 33 is provided as display means for indicating the operating state of the vibration source (rotary member 4). It is.

As shown in FIG. 8, the pilot lamp 33 is installed on the knob 32.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the circuit for supplying power to the motor 5, the pilot lamp 33
And the DC power supply 110.

With such a configuration, when the switch 32 is turned on by operating the knob 32, the pilot lamp 33 is turned on to indicate that the motor 5 (rotary member 4) is operating.

When the knob 32 is turned to adjust the intensity of the vibration generated by the rotating member 4, the current flowing through the pilot lamp 33 changes accordingly, and the brightness (light emission amount) changes. Thereby, the operator can grasp the strength of the vibration generated by the rotating member 4 based on the brightness (light emission amount) of the pilot lamp 33.

Since the insertion section 2 is inserted into the body, it may be difficult to confirm the presence or absence and strength of the vibration. However, in this embodiment, the pilot lamp 33 allows the operator to determine whether the rotating member 4 is operating. And the magnitude of vibration generated by the rotary member 4 can be easily grasped. Therefore, higher operability and safety can be obtained.

The location where the display means such as the pilot lamp 33 is installed is not limited to the configuration shown in the figure, and may be installed at any location other than the insertion section 2.

The display means is not limited to the pilot lamp 33, and may be, for example, a peak indicator or the like that indicates the intensity of vibration depending on the number of light-emitting elements.

The endoscope according to the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each part constituting the endoscope can exhibit the same function. It can be replaced with any configuration.

For example, a motor (drive source) for rotating the rotating member is installed in the operation section or the like, and the driving force is transmitted to the rotating member by a rotating shaft installed in the insertion section, so that the rotating member is driven. It may be configured to be driven to rotate.

When a plurality of rotating members are provided, the plurality of rotating members may share one motor (drive source). For example, a configuration in which a plurality of rotating members are provided along a longitudinal direction of a rotating shaft driven by one motor (drive source) and the plurality of rotating members are simultaneously rotated may be employed.

The vibration source that generates vibration is not limited to the rotating member described above, but may be a device using a piezo element (piezoelectric element).

[0102]

As described above, according to the present invention, the frictional resistance (insertion resistance) acting on the insertion portion of the endoscope when the insertion portion of the endoscope is inserted into the lumen can be reduced. Can be planned. Thereby, an endoscope with an easy insertion operation can be obtained.

In particular, a large-scale and complicated device is not required, and the above effects can be achieved with a small and simple structure. Therefore, excellent operability and easy handling can be obtained as in the conventional endoscope.

When the direction of vibration generated by the vibration source is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion, or when a plurality of vibration sources are installed along the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion, the above-described effect is obtained. It is more pronounced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a first embodiment of an endoscope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view of a distal end portion of an insertion section in the endoscope shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a rotating member and a motor in the endoscope shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit for energizing a motor in the endoscope shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a second embodiment of the endoscope of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of an insertion portion of the endoscope shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit for energizing a motor in the endoscope shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a third embodiment of the endoscope of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit for energizing a motor in the endoscope shown in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1 ', 1' 'Endoscope 11 Switch 12 Variable resistor 13 Lead wire 2 Insertion part 21 Flexible tube part 22 Bending part 23 Center axis 3 Operation part 31 Operation knob 32 Knob 33 Pilot lamp 4 Rotating member 41 Large Diameter part 42 Small diameter part 43 Center of rotation 5 Motor 51 Rotation axis 6 Connection part 61 Light source insertion part 100 Light source processor unit 110 DC power supply

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope comprising: an elongated insertion portion that can be inserted into a lumen; and a vibration source that is installed inside the insertion portion and generates vibration. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the vibration source generates vibration in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the insertion section. 3. The vibration source is a rotating member whose center of gravity is located at a position eccentric from a rotation center line.
An endoscope according to claim 1. 4. The endoscope according to claim 3, further comprising a driving source for driving the rotating member to rotate. 5. The endoscope according to claim 4, wherein the drive source is provided inside the insertion section. 6. A plurality of the rotating members are provided,
The endoscope according to claim 4, wherein the drive source is provided for each rotating member. 7. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the vibration sources are provided along a longitudinal direction of the insertion section. 8. The vibration source is provided at a position eccentric from a center axis of the insertion portion.
An endoscope according to claim 1. 9. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the vibration source is provided at least at a distal end of the insertion section. 10. The endoscope according to claim 1, further comprising a vibration adjusting means for adjusting the intensity of the vibration generated by the vibration source. 11. A display device for displaying an operation state of the vibration source at a position other than the insertion portion.
An endoscope according to any one of the above.