JP2002291685A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent damage such as buckling by almost equally compressing a contact coil over the full length when the contact coil is compressed for making hard a soft part by having a prescribed dimension between the diameter of the contact coil and an operating wire comprising a soft part hardness control means and the inner diameter of a flexible sleeve covering the contact coil. SOLUTION: A soft part hardness control means 40 provided inside a soft part 2c has a contact coil 41 fixing both terminals between first and second attaching members 42 and 43, an operating wire 45 inserted inside and a flexible sleeve 53 covering the contact coil 41. The top ends of the operating wire 45 and the flexible sleeve 53 are fixed on the first attaching member 42, the contact coil 41 is linked through the second attaching part 43 to a push/pull operating means 47 and in front of the second attaching member 43, the flexible sleeve 53 is supported by a guide member 55 so that it can be moved in the direction of the axial line. An inner diameter Dt of the flexible sleeve 53 is made almost triple as large as a diameter Da of the operating wire 45 and a coil wire diameter Db of the contact coil 41, namely, is made into Dt≈Da+3Db.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope having a flexible insertion portion used for medical purposes and the like, and more particularly, to a bending direction of a flexible portion in the insertion portion of the endoscope. The present invention relates to an endoscope whose hardness can be adjusted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an endoscope generally includes a main body operation section for an operator or the like to grasp and operate by hand, an insertion section connected to the main body operation section and inserted into a body cavity or the like, and a light source. And a universal cord detachably connected to a device or the like. The insertion portion has a length corresponding to the insertion path, and the distal end portion is a rigid distal end portion provided with endoscope observation means including at least an illumination portion and an observation portion. An angle portion that can be operated to bend vertically or vertically and horizontally by remote operation from the main body operation portion is connected to the distal end hard portion, and the angle portion can be connected in any direction along the insertion path. The flexible portion that bends is connected, and the proximal end of the flexible portion is connected to the main body operation portion.

[0003] Here, when inserting the insertion portion into the body of a subject or the like, the surgeon operates to grasp the flexible portion and push it into the body. A large resistance occurs during insertion. For this reason, the flexible portion needs to have flexibility in the bending direction, but when the resistance at the time of insertion is large, unless the flexible portion is hardened to some extent, a sufficient pushing thrust cannot be obtained. In a severe case, insertion may not be performed. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately set the degree of flexibility in the bending direction of the flexible portion in consideration of the operability of inserting the insertion portion into the body and reducing the pain of the subject. Also, depending on the surgeon's preference and personality, and the state of the insertion path in the subject, etc.
The required or desirable hardness in the soft part will vary.

[0004] In view of the above, there has been proposed a structure in which the hardness of the soft portion in the insertion portion can be adjusted, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No.
No. 43802 or the like. As a hardness adjusting mechanism for a soft portion according to this conventional technique, an operation wire that is pushed and pulled is inserted into an inside of a contact coil fixed at one end to a connection portion to an angle portion of the soft portion or in the vicinity thereof. . The distal end of the operation wire has a fixed relationship with the close contact coil, and the close contact coil through which the operation wire is inserted extends into the main body operation unit. The base end of the close contact coil is fixedly held by the main body operating section, and the operation wire inserted therein is pulled out from the fixed section of the close contact coil and connected to push / pull operation means such as an operation lever. Therefore, when the operation wire is pulled, the distal end portion of the flexible portion is drawn to the main body operation portion, and the distance between the fixed portions at both ends of the close contact coil is reduced, so that the close contact coil has a low hardness in the bending direction. Get higher. By fixing the push-pull operation means while the operation wire is pulled to a desired degree in this manner, the hardness of the flexible portion can be changed.

The reason why the soft portion becomes hard is that the close contact coil is compressed in the axial direction. When the contact portion is extremely compressed, the coil partially crosses and becomes entangled with each other, so that the compressive force is reduced. Even if it is released, the close contact coil does not return to its original state, resulting in a so-called buckling state. If the resilience of the contact coil is impaired in this way, it is no longer possible to exert a normal hardness adjusting function. In view of this point, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-305005 discloses a configuration in which the movable range of the push / pull operation means of the operation wire is limited to a range in which the above-described close contact coil does not buckle.

[0006]

The flexible portion occupies most of the entire length of the insertion portion, and the hardness adjusting means has a length extending over the entire length of the flexible portion. As described above, when the push-pull operation means is operated within the limited movable range, the entire contact coil must be uniformly compressed in order not to buckle the contact coil. However, various members are inserted into the inside of the flexible portion. For example, when the insertion portion is bent, the insertion portion is pressed against these insertion members. As a result, the stability of the movement when the operation wire is actuated and the close contact coil is compressed is impaired, and a situation may occur in which the compressed portion of the close contact coil is concentrated in one part and the other part is not compressed. is there. Therefore, even if the movable range of the push-pull operation means is limited, there arises a disadvantage that buckling of the close contact coil due to intensive compression cannot be reliably prevented.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to compress a contact coil in order to harden a soft portion, so that the coil is almost uniformly compressed over its entire length. To prevent damage such as buckling.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, an insertion portion is connected to a main body operation portion, and the insertion portion is provided with an endoscope observation means from a distal end side. A flexible portion hardness adjusting means, which is configured by a distal end hard portion, an angle portion that is bent by the main body operation portion, and a flexible portion that bends in an arbitrary direction along an insertion path, and that makes the hardness of the flexible portion variable in the bending direction. An endoscope provided with: a first attachment portion fixed to a distal end portion of the flexible portion or a proximal end portion of an angle portion; A second mounting portion, a contact coil having both ends fixed to the first and second mounting portions, and a tip fixed to the first mounting portion and inserted into the close contact coil, A proximal end extends through the second mounting portion, and a push-pull operating hand is provided. An operating wire connected to the tip is fixed to the first mounting portion and the other end becomes a free end,
A flexible sleeve into which the close-contact coil is inserted, and an inner diameter of the flexible sleeve is smaller than a total size of four times a wire diameter of the close-contact coil and a wire diameter of the operation wire. It is characterized by having the following configuration.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows the entire configuration of an endoscope. In the figure, 1 is a main body operation unit, 2 is an insertion unit, and 3 is a universal cord. The main body operation unit 1
The main body operation unit 1 is provided with an angle knob 4, a treatment instrument introduction unit 5, an air / water supply button 6, a suction button 7, and the like, for the operator to grasp and operate the endoscope. Have been. The universal cord 3 extends from the main body operation unit 1 and has a light source connector at its distal end, which is not shown but is at least detachably connected to the light source device. Also, in the case of an electronic endoscope, the universal cord 3 is branched in the middle, and has a light source connector at one end and an electric connector detachably connected to the processor at the other end. I have.

[0010] The insertion portion 2 includes a distal end hard portion 2a,
It is composed of an angle part 2b and a flexible part 2c. The distal end hard portion 2a is provided with an endoscope observation means described later,
In addition, a distal opening or the like of the treatment instrument insertion channel is provided,
The treatment instrument insertion channel is connected to a treatment instrument introduction section 5 provided in the main body operation section 1. The angle section 2b is operated to bend vertically or vertically and horizontally by operating an angle knob 4 provided on the main body operation section 1, thereby controlling the direction of the distal end of the insertion section 2,
Control for changing the observation field of view by the endoscope observation means provided on the distal end hard portion 2a is performed. The flexible portion 2c occupies most of the length of the insertion portion 2, and the flexible portion 2c has a structure that bends in an arbitrary direction along an insertion path into a body cavity or the like.

FIG. 2 shows a cross section of a portion near the distal end of the insertion section 2. The distal end hard portion 2 constituting the foremost portion of the insertion portion 2
a comprises a distal end body 10 and an insulating cap 11 which covers the front surface of the distal end body 10. And the illumination part and observation part 12 which comprise an endoscope observation means are provided in the front-end hard part 2a. Although the exit end of the illumination light in the illumination unit is not shown in the illustrated cross-sectional position, the illumination unit is a light guide 13 made of an optical fiber bundle.
And the tip of the light guide 13 is disposed to face the illumination lens. The light guide 13 extends from the universal cord 3 to the light source connector, transmits illumination light from a light source lamp incorporated in the light source device, and can illuminate the inside of a body cavity through an illumination lens. ing. The observation unit 12 includes an objective optical system 14 and a solid-state imaging unit 15 disposed at an image forming position in the objective optical system 14. A signal cable 16 is connected to the solid-state imaging means 15, and the signal cable 16 is guided into the universal cord 3, and the other end is connected to an electric connector. Therefore, by connecting this electrical connector to the processor, the solid-state imaging means 1
5 is driven, and a video signal obtained by the solid-state imaging means 15 is transmitted to a processor, where necessary signal processing is performed, and an image of the body is displayed on a monitor screen. In the optical endoscope, the incident end of the image guide is arranged at the image forming position of the objective optical system 14 instead of the solid-state imaging means 15.

The insertion section 2 is provided with a treatment instrument insertion channel 17 in addition to the endoscope observation means described above.
The treatment instrument insertion channel 17 is opened at the distal end surface of the distal end hard portion 2a. The treatment tool insertion channel 17 includes a passage 17 a formed of a through hole extending from the distal end main body 10 to the insulating cap 11, and a connection pipe 1 inserted into the passage 17 a.
7b and a flexible tube 17c fitted to the connection pipe 17b, and the flexible tube 17c extends to the treatment instrument introduction section 5 provided in the main body operation section 1.
Further, reference numeral 18 denotes a cleaning fluid ejection nozzle, and when the surface of the objective optical system 14 provided in the observation unit 13 is contaminated with a body fluid or the like, the cleaning fluid ejection nozzle 18 ejects a cleaning fluid to remove contaminants. It is designed to wash away. Also, pressurized air can be jetted to remove droplets attached after cleaning the surface of the objective optical system 14.

The angle portion 2b has a structure in which a predetermined number of angle rings 20 are sequentially connected by pivot pins 21, and the pivot pins 21 are attached as a pair in the order of up, down, left and right. The whole has a node ring structure that can be bent vertically and horizontally. A net 22 and an angle rubber 23 are mounted on the angle ring 20 constituting the node ring structure so as to cover the entire length thereof. The operation wire 24 is inserted into each of the upper, lower, left and right positions inside the angle portion 2b. When the upper and lower pairs of operation wires are pushed and pulled, the angle portion 2b bends up and down, and when the left and right pairs of operation wires are pushed and pulled, the angle portion 2b bends left and right. These four operation wires 24 extend through the flexible portion 2c into the main body operation portion 1, are disposed inside the main body operation portion 1, and are operated by an angle knob 4 to be rotated by an angle pulley (not shown). Z)
It is wound around. Therefore, the bending operation of the angle part 2b can be performed by remote control from the main body operation part 1 side.

The most proximal angle ring 20B in the angle portion 2b is longer than the previous angle ring 20, and the structure of the flexible portion 2c is connected to this angle ring 20B via a connection ring 25. Is done.
Here, the structure of the flexible portion 2c is formed of a spiral tube in which a metal strip is spirally wound, and usually includes a double spiral tube 30 wound in the opposite direction. The spiral tube 30 has a net 31 attached thereto.
It is covered with 2. The tip of the spiral tube 30 is a connecting ring 2
5, is fixed to the inner surface of the connecting ring 25 by spot welding or the like.

Here, the spiral tube 30 is wound at a pitch P, as shown in FIG.
When c is bent, the pitch interval P changes.
That is, when the flexible portion 2c is bent, the pitch interval of the inner portion is reduced, and the pitch interval of the outer portion is increased. The hardness of the flexible portion 2c in the bending direction changes mainly depending on the material, thickness, pitch interval, and the like of the metal strip constituting the spiral tube 30. Therefore, the spiral tube 30
The resistance to bending of the flexible portion 2c due to the above, that is, the hardness in the bending direction of the flexible portion 2c is initially given, and does not substantially change during use.

The hardness of the flexible portion 2c in the bending direction greatly affects the operability of inserting the insertion portion 2 into the body cavity. When the insertion part 2 is inserted into a path having a large resistance to insertion, for example, a large intestine, the flexible part 2c needs to have high hardness in the bending direction in order to increase the pushing thrust by the flexible part 2c. However, if the flexible portion 2c is difficult to bend, the pain of the subject increases, and it becomes difficult to insert the flexible portion 2c into a path that is bent at a sharp angle such as an S-shaped colon. Therefore, it is desirable that the hardness of the flexible portion 2c in the bending direction can be adjusted to some extent according to the magnitude of resistance to the insertion portion 2 being pushed and the state of the insertion path.

For this purpose, at least one soft portion hardness adjusting means 40 is provided inside the soft portion 2c.
The soft part hardness adjusting means 40 is configured as shown in FIGS. First, in FIG. 4, reference numeral 41 denotes a close contact coil. The close contact coil 41 is formed by spirally winding a metal wire, and is wound in a close contact state having substantially no pitch interval. At both ends of the contact coil 41, they are fixed to first and second mounting members 42 and 43, respectively. The first mounting member 42 is provided with a support 44 fixed to the inner surface (or the most proximal angle ring 20B) of the connection ring 25 connecting the flexible portion 2c and the angle portion 2b by welding or the like. It is fixed to. Further, the second mounting portion 43 is provided inside the main body operation portion 1.
The casing of the main body operation unit 1 or the main body operation unit 1
And is fixed to a structural member or the like built in.

The first mounting member 42 is provided with a distal end of an operation wire 45 fixed thereto. Operation wire 45
Passes through the inside of the contact coil 41 and
Extends through the second mounting member 43 to which the other end is fixed. As shown in FIG. 5, the end of the operation wire 45 is connected to a slide pipe 46, and the slide pipe 46 can be displaced in the axial direction by a push-pull operation member 47. . Therefore, the push-pull operation member 47 has a lever 48, and the lever 48 is provided with a long hole 48a.
A drive pin 49 is attached to the slide pipe 46, and the drive pin 49 is fitted in a long hole 48 a of the lever 48. The lever 48 is provided with the swing fulcrum 5 at its intermediate position.
0, the other end of which is projected from the main body operation unit 1 to the outside, and an operation unit 51 operable by a finger or the like is provided. Further, a lock mechanism 52 for locking the lever 48 at a desired angle and a mechanism for releasing the lock are provided at the position of the pivot 50 of the lever 48. As the mechanism for locking and unlocking, for example, the same mechanism for locking and unlocking the angle knob 4 can be used. Therefore, illustration and description of the details of the mechanism are omitted.

An operation wire 45 is provided inside the close contact coil 41.
Are inserted, but the close contact coil 41 is inserted into the flexible sleeve 53. The distal end of the flexible sleeve 53 is fixed to the first mounting member 42. A hard pipe 54 is connected to the base end of the flexible sleeve 53. The hard pipe 54 is slidably inserted into a guide member 55 provided at a position forward of the second mounting member 43. Have been. Therefore, the flexible sleeve 53 covers most of the portion from the distal end side of the close contact coil 41 except for a portion on the proximal end side connected to the second mounting member 43. Here, the flexible sleeve 53 is flexible in the bending direction and less stretchable, that is, a metal braid or PTFE that does not compress or expand is suitably used.

In the endoscope configured as described above,
The flexible portion 2c of the insertion portion 2 has flexibility in the bending direction. The degree of flexibility is determined mainly by the structure of the spiral tube 30 and the configuration of the flexible portion 2c itself. However, since the soft portion hardness adjusting means 40 is provided, the initial portion is provided when the endoscope is actually used, including when the insertion portion 2 is inserted into the body cavity. The flexibility provided can be easily changed. However, the possible change in flexibility is in the direction of making the flexible portion 2c harder.

That is, when the operating portion 51 of the push / pull operating member 47 constituting the soft portion hardness adjusting means 40 is operated by a finger or the like to rotate the lever 48 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. It is pulled to the operation unit 1 side. The distal end of the operation wire 45 is fixed to a connecting ring 25 by a first
, The first mounting member 42 is drawn toward the main body operation unit 1. At this time, the soft part 2c is compressed by that much,
Since the pitch interval P is provided in the spiral tube 30 of the flexible portion 2c, the pitch interval P is reduced.

When the operation wire 45 is pulled into the main body operation 1, the first mounting member 42 is displaced in a direction approaching the second mounting member 43. The operation wire 45 passes through the second mounting member 43, but since both ends of the close contact coil 41 are fixed to the first and second 42 and 43,
Is compressed. When the close contact coil 41 is compressed, the hardness in the bending direction increases, and as a result, the hardness of the flexible portion 2c increases. Therefore, the lever 48 is set at a desired angle,
If locked at that angular position, the soft part 2c is adjusted so as to have a desired hardness.

The soft portion hardness adjusting means 40 has a close contact coil 41, and the close contact coil 41 has flexibility in the bending direction. That is, when the cross section in the axial direction of the close contact coil 41 is taken, as shown in FIG. 6, the coil cross sections Ca, Cb, Cc,... Since it is a close contact coil, FIG.
As shown by, these coil cross sections are arranged in the axial direction in a close contact state. In this state, the contact coil 41 has the highest flexibility in the bending direction. Even if a gap is provided between the coil cross sections, the flexibility of the close contact coil 41 in the bending direction does not substantially change. Therefore, the contact coil 4
When 1 is compressed, the coil cross sections Cb are displaced in the direction of floating from between Ca and Cc while keeping the respective coil cross sections in close contact with each other. As a result, the hardness of the close contact coil 41 in the bending direction increases. Will be. Contact coil 41
The maximum hardness is as shown in FIG.
In this state, the coil section Cb completely rides between the coil sections Ca and Cc, and the coil sections Ca and Cc are in contact with each other.
When this state is further compressed, as shown in FIG. 6C, the raised coil section Cb becomes the coil section Ca
Alternatively, even if the compression force is released by overcoming Cc, the close contact coil 41 enters a buckling state in which the original state is not restored.

The flexible portion 2c is long, and the flexible portion hardness adjusting means 40 including the close contact coil 41 has a length which extends at least over the entire length of the flexible portion 2c. Moreover, the light guide 13, the treatment tool insertion channel 17, the signal cable 16 and the like are inserted into the inside of the flexible portion 2c, and the operation wire 24 for performing an angle operation is inserted. Therefore, if the close contact coil 41 is in direct contact with the above-described insertion member when the close contact coil 41 is compressed, for example, when the flexible portion 2c is bent, the uniform state is maintained over the entire length of the close contact coil 41. May not be compressed. For this reason, when the lever 48 is moved by the same angle, it is necessary to prevent the contact coil 41 from partially reaching the state shown in FIG. 6C.

The contact coil 41 is inserted through a flexible sleeve 53. On the other hand, when a part of the contact coil 41 rises, the outer diameter partially expands. Therefore,
The flexible sleeve 53 has flexibility in the bending direction, but does not expand or contract, or is formed of a metal braid or the like whose degree of expansion and contraction is extremely small. The dimensional relationship between the inner diameter of the flexible sleeve 53 and the outer diameter of the close contact coil 41 in a natural state is set so as not to be in the state shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG.
Is at least the diameter Da of the operation wire 45.
And four times the wire diameter Db of the close contact coil 41, and more preferably, the diameter Da of the operation wire 45 and the inner diameter of about three times the coil diameter Db of the close contact coil 41, that is, Let Dt と す る Da + 3Db. This allows
When the contact coil 41 is compressed, not only is the compression state substantially uniform over its entire length, but also the compression force is quickly transmitted to the entire length of the contact coil 41. Therefore, the hardness of the flexible portion 2c does not partially change, but can be changed so that the hardness becomes substantially uniform over the entire length.

However, when the operation wire 45 is pulled, not only the contact coil 41 but also the flexible sleeve 5
If 3 is also compressed, wrinkles and the like are generated in the flexible sleeve 53, or the flexible sleeve 53 is partially meandered and meandered, so that the inner diameter cannot be controlled to an appropriate value. For this reason, when a pulling force acts on the operation wire 45, only the close contact coil 41 is compressed, and the flexible sleeve 53 is kept in a non-compressed state. The distal end of the flexible sleeve 53 is fixed to the first mounting member 52, and the proximal end thereof is guided so as to be movable in the axial state. That is, when the operation wire 45 is pulled into the main body operation unit 1 side, the hard pipe 54 connected to the base end portion of the flexible sleeve 53 slides in the guide member 55, so that the main body operation unit 1 side Will be drawn to. As a result, the flexible sleeve 53 does not partially change its cross-sectional shape,
Since the inner diameter substantially equal to the sum of three times the coil wire diameter of the close contact coil 41, that is, the relationship of Dt ≒ Da + 3Db, is maintained, partial bulging of the close contact coil 41 is suppressed, and the buckling thereof is reliably prevented. Can be prevented.

More preferably, the flexible sleeve 53 is pulled into the main body operation section 1 in conjunction with the movement of the operation wire 45 by the operation of the lever 48. To this end, the rigid pipe 54 and the slide pipe 46 connected to the end of the operation wire 45 may be connected by a connecting member. The guide member 55 and the second attachment member 43 are both arranged in the main body operation unit 1, and between them,
Is held straight, the connecting member does not necessarily need to be formed of a hard member, and the connecting member can be formed of a wire such as a piano wire.

[0028]

As described above, the present invention is constructed as described above, and when the close contact coil is compressed in order to harden the soft portion,
It is almost uniformly compressed over its entire length, and has an effect that damage such as buckling does not occur.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a distal end portion of an insertion portion.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of a flexible part.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of a soft part hardness adjusting means.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a push-pull operation device constituting the soft portion hardness adjusting device.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of a close contact coil shown in a cross-sectional state.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body operation part 2 Insertion part 2a Tip hard part 2b Angle part 2c Soft part 30 Spiral tube 40 Soft part hardness adjustment means 41 Adhesive coil 42 First mounting member 43 Second mounting member 45 Operation wire 46 Slide pipe 47 Push and pull Operating means 48 Lever 51 Operating part 53 Flexible sleeve 54 Hard pipe 55 Guide member

Claims (3)

[Claims] An insertion section is connected to a main body operation section, and the insertion section includes a distal end hard section to which an endoscope observation means is mounted from an end side, an angle section which is bent by the main body operation section, and an insertion path. An endoscope comprising a flexible portion that bends in an arbitrary direction along the flexible portion, and a flexible portion hardness adjusting device that varies the hardness of the flexible portion in the bending direction. A first attachment portion fixedly provided at a distal end portion of the portion or a base end portion of the angle portion; a second attachment portion fixedly provided in the main body operation portion; A contact coil fixed to the attachment portion, a tip fixed to the first attachment portion, inserted into the contact coil, a base end extending through the second attachment portion, and pushed. An operation wire connected to the pull operation means, and a tip of the operation wire is connected to the first mounting portion. And a flexible sleeve having the other end free and the tight coil inserted therein. The inner diameter of the flexible sleeve is four times the wire diameter of the tight coil and the operating wire An endoscope having a configuration that is smaller in size than the total size of the endoscope. 2. The flexible sleeve according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter of the flexible sleeve is substantially equal to a total dimension of three times a wire diameter of the close contact coil and a wire diameter of the operation wire.
The endoscope as described. 3. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the flexible sleeve has low elasticity and flexibility in a bending direction.