JP2003235784A - Sterile sheath - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a sterile sheath for an endoscope which hardly develops a habit of bending at a thin, long, and flexible insertional part of the endoscope by the heat at the time of autoclave sterilization. <P>SOLUTION: When the endoscope 1 is sterilized with autoclave after use of the endoscope, the sterile sheath 17 is put over the insertional part 2 at the time of placing the endoscope in an autoclave sterilization device, and the sterile sheath 17 is secured to an operational part 3. As a result, the insertional part 2 is kept straight and hardly develops the habit of bending by the heat of autoclave sterilization. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sterilization sheath used in an endoscope that is put into an autoclave sterilizer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope capable of observing a deep part in a body cavity by inserting a slender insertion part into the body cavity or the like and performing a medical treatment or the like by using a treatment tool as needed. It has become widely used in the medical field. In the case of a medical endoscope, it is essential to surely disinfect and sterilize the used endoscope in order to prevent infections and the like. Therefore, recently, autoclave sterilization (high-temperature high-pressure steam sterilization), which can be used immediately after sterilization without complicated work and has a low running cost, is becoming mainstream in endoscopic equipment. As a prior art document relating to such a conventional technique, there is JP-A-6-178755.

Autoclave sterilization (high pressure steam sterilization)
When performing, a negative pressure step is performed as a front step and a rear step to make the inside of the sterilizer a negative pressure. For this reason, the endoscope (or scope) is equipped with a check valve to prevent rupture of the flexible part of the elongated insertion part and to prevent gas and vapor from entering. The gas is allowed to pass through, but the gas is not passed from the outside to the inside. In general, an endoscope has a light guide, which is an illumination light transmitting means formed by covering a large number of optical fibers bundled with a flexible tube, and an image guide, which is an optical image transmitting means. It is arranged.

[0004]

Generally, an endoscope is used during autoclave sterilization (autoclave sterilization) when the endoscope is subjected to autoclave sterilization (high-temperature high-pressure steam sterilization) after use. It is necessary to prevent the slender and flexible endoscope insertion part from being bent due to the heat of.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a sterilization sheath used for an endoscope so that the elongated and soft insertion portion does not have a bending tendency due to heat during autoclave sterilization. To aim.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the sterilizing sheath of the present invention is used in an autoclave sterilizer when performing autoclave sterilization on an endoscope in which a flexible portion is provided in an elongated insertion portion. It is characterized in that the insertion portion of the endoscope is maintained in a straight state by covering the insertion portion of the endoscope at the time of insertion.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an endoscope of a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a structure of a check valve cap of FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view for explaining, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining the sterilization sheath of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view for showing a tray used in place of the sterilization sheath of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment.
Is an elongated and flexible insertion part 2 having an imaging device (not shown) such as a CCD built in at its tip, and an operation part 3 which is connected to the proximal end side of the insertion part 2 and which is gripped by an observer for various operations. And the universal cord 4 extending from the operation section 3 is a water-tight electronic endoscope. In the present embodiment, an endoscope (electronic endoscope) 1 having an image pickup device built in at the tip of the insertion section 2 will be described, but the object captured from the tip of the insertion section 2 by an inserted image guide. It may be an optical endoscope that guides an optical image inside the specimen and observes it at the eyepiece.

At the end of the universal cord 4, a light source device and a camera control unit (not shown below)
CCU) is provided with a detachably connectable connector part 5, and this connector part 5 is provided with a light guide connector 6 connected to the light source device and a camera connector 7 connected to the CCU. . The internal spaces of the insertion portion 2, the operation portion 3, the universal cord 4, and the connector portion 5 communicate with each other. That is, one internal space is formed with respect to the endoscope exterior.

The insertion section 2 is a flexible flexible tube section 8 having flexibility, and a bending section 9 provided on the distal end side of the flexible tube section 8 and bendable by the operation of the operation section 3. It is composed of a tip portion 10 provided at the tip and provided with an observation optical system, an illumination optical system, etc., which are not shown. The operation section 3 includes a bending operation lever 11 for controlling the operation of the bending section 9.
A treatment tool insertion opening 12 for inserting a treatment tool such as forceps, and a plurality of switches 13 for performing image freeze, release, and the like are provided. The bending operation lever 11 is rotatable and is assembled in a watertight state by an O-ring (not shown).

When the light guide connector 6 of the endoscope 2 is connected to the light source device and the camera connector 7 of the endoscope 2 is connected to the CCU, the illuminating light from the light source device is universal code 4 Also, the light is guided to the tip through a light guide fiber, which will be described later, which is inserted through the endoscope 2, and illuminates an object such as a diseased part from the tip (FIG. 5).
reference). Then, the reflected light of the illuminated subject is reflected by the endoscope 2
An image is picked up by an image pickup device inside and photoelectrically converted. The electrical signal photoelectrically converted by the image pickup device is a universal code 4
After being transmitted to the CCU via the CCU, various signal processing is performed by the CCU to generate a video signal, the video signal is transmitted to a monitor (not shown) to display an observation image on the monitor screen. ing.

A vent hole 14 is formed inside the camera connector 7 for communicating the internal space with the outside. In addition, a waterproof cap 15 is attached to the camera connector 7.
Can be detachably attached. The waterproof cap 15 is used by being attached to the camera connector 7 when the used endoscope 1 is washed or immersed in a chemical solution. The camera connector 7 allows a gas to pass from the internal space of the endoscope to the outside, but also has a check valve cap 16 having a check valve function for preventing the gas from passing from the outside to the inside, which is also detachable. Can be attached.

When performing autoclave sterilization (high-temperature high-pressure steam sterilization) on the endoscope 1 after use, when inserting the endoscope 1 into an autoclave sterilizer (not shown), the insertion portion 2 is not bent. Need to do so. Therefore, in the endoscope 1, the sterilization sheath 1 is attached to the insertion portion 2.
7, the sterilized sheath 17 is fixed to the operating portion 3. As a result, the insertion portion 2 is maintained in a straight state when the endoscope 1 is put into the autoclave sterilizer, and the insertion portion 2 is heated by the heat during the autoclave sterilization.
It is designed so that it does not bend. The sterilization sheath 17 and the check valve cap 16 are connected by a chain 18
It is possible to urge the user not to forget to attach the check valve cap 16 at the time of sterilization.

Next, the check valve cap 16 and the sterilization sheath 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the check valve cap 16 includes a metal check valve cap body 22 provided with a valve seat 21 and a rubber seal member 23.
A metal valve body 24 in which the valve seat 21 and the valve seat 21
And a valve spring 25 for urging the valve body 24, and a metallic mounting portion 2 attachable to the camera connector 7.
6 and a rubber seal member 27 that maintains the watertightness between the mounting portion 26 and the outer peripheral surface of the camera connector 7.

The check valve cap 16 is attached to the camera connector 7 in place of the waterproof cap 15 when the endoscope 1 is autoclaved. By attaching the check valve cap 16, high temperature and high pressure steam during autoclave sterilization is prevented from entering through the vent hole 14.

The valve body 24 is constantly pressed in the seating direction by the urging force of the valve spring 25, and the check valve cap 16
In the normal state in which is attached to the camera connector 7, the valve body 24 is pressed and closely attached to the valve seat 21 via the seal member 23. When the pressure difference becomes relatively high and the pressure difference becomes equal to or greater than the urging force of the valve spring 25, the valve spring 25
The valve body 2 moves in the valve opening direction against the biasing force of
4 separates from the valve seat 21 and opens the communication port 21a.
Then, the pressure inside the endoscope 1 changes to the check valve cap 16
The pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the endoscope 1 disappears. The valve body 2
The opening timing of No. 4 can be set to a force amount that can release the bias of the valve body 24 toward the valve seat 21 by the spring constant of the valve spring 25. Further, the valve body 2 is attached to the cap body 22.
An on-off valve (not shown) protruding from the upper surface of the cap 4 to the outside of the cap may be provided so that the operation of the valve body 24 is not disturbed even when the check valve cap 16 is in contact with another member.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the sterilizing sheath 17 for covering the endoscope insertion portion 2 fixes a sheath body 31 formed of a hard resin or metal pipe and the sheath body 31 to the operating portion 3. It is composed of a fixed part 32. The fixing portion 32 has a plurality of convex members 33 provided therein,
The positional relationship between the sterilization sheath 17 and the operation unit 3 is defined, and the sterilization between the sterilization sheath 17 and the operation unit 3 is surely performed.

As shown in FIG. 4, instead of the sterilizing sheath 17, a tray 35 for accommodating the endoscope 1 with the insertion section 2 in a straight state may be used. The check valve cap 16
May be integrally formed with the tray 35.

After the check valve cap 16 described above is attached to the camera connector 7, the sterilization sheath 17 is put on the insertion portion 2 or the endoscope 1 is placed in a tray and the endoscope 1 is installed in the autoclave sterilizer. Is put in and autoclave sterilization is performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an endoscope in which a slender and flexible endoscope insertion portion does not have a bending tendency due to heat during autoclave sterilization.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the structure of the check valve cap of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view illustrating the sterilized sheath of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a tray used in place of the sterilization sheath of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Endoscope (electronic endoscope) 2 ... insertion part 3 ... Operation part 4 ... Universal code 5 ... Connector part 6 ... Light guide connector 16 ... Check valve cap 17 ... Sterile sheath 35 ... Tray

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. When performing autoclave sterilization on an endoscope having a slender insertion portion provided with a flexible portion, the endoscope is inserted into the autoclave sterilizer and covered with the insertion portion of the endoscope. A sterilized sheath that keeps the insertion part straight. 2. A sheath main body formed of a hard resin or metal pipe that covers the insertion portion of the endoscope, and a fixing portion that fixes the sheath main body to the operation portion of the endoscope, The sterilization sheath according to claim 1, wherein a positional relationship of the endoscope with respect to an operation unit is regulated by the fixing unit.