JP2003284673A - Cover type endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve inexpensive production of an endoscope cover which simplifies the structure thereof by arranging a therapy accessory erecting mechanism which perform operations of erecting treating instruments guided out of a treating instrument insertion channel. <P>SOLUTION: When a tip hardened part 3a is housed into a tip cap 21 of the endoscope cover 20, a lighting window 29 and an observation window 30 are formed at positions facing a lighting part 6 and an observation part 7 thereof. An opening 31 with the shape thereof the same in substance as that of the opening of an erecting base housing part 8 is formed at the position corresponding to the opening thereof on which is mounted a therapy accessory erecting base 9 for erecting operation by the operation of an operation wire 12 and a flexible film 32 is mounted on the opening part 31. The flexible film 32 is fixed on the side of the internal surface of an endoscope housing part 26 by adhesion or the like being slightly tensioned and is made deformable as it thrusts upward from the side of the inside of the endoscope housing part 26. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cover type endoscope which is detachably attached to an insertion portion of an endoscope and is inserted into a body cavity or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since an endoscope is inserted into a body cavity such as a human body, it is necessary to clean and disinfect each time it is used.
Moreover, it must be able to be completely sterilized. Since this cleaning and disinfection requires a lot of time and labor,
2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope, in particular, a so-called cover-type endoscope that is inserted into a body cavity or the like in a state in which the insertion portion is covered with a cover has been developed. The cover-type endoscope has a great advantage in that the endoscope can be reused without cleaning and disinfecting by replacing the cover.

[0003] Since an endoscope basically inspects the inside of a body cavity, as a minimum endoscope observation mechanism, an illuminating section for illuminating the inside of the body cavity and an illumination from this illuminating section are used. An observation section for observing the inside of the body cavity is attached to the distal end portion of the insertion section. Further, as a result of observing the inside of the body cavity, the endoscope is provided with a treatment instrument insertion channel through which a treatment instrument such as forceps is inserted in order to perform an appropriate treatment as necessary. Here, since the distal end of the treatment instrument insertion channel is open, dirt, body fluid, etc. in the body cavity will adhere. In particular, when the treatment instrument insertion channel is also used as the suction passage, the inner surface of the passage is significantly soiled. Therefore, the treatment instrument insertion channel is not provided on the endoscope side, but a passage functioning as a treatment instrument insertion channel is provided on the cover side.

Here, the treatment instrument insertion channel is a passage in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of the insertion portion of the endoscope, and the treatment instrument is led out from the distal end portion in its extension direction. Here, when an appropriate treatment is performed by the treatment instrument inserted through the treatment instrument insertion channel, the treatment instrument is operated under observation by the endoscope observation mechanism. When the endoscope observation mechanism provided at the tip of the insertion portion of the endoscope is provided on the tip surface of the insertion portion, that is, the direct-viewing endoscope, the observation direction is in front of the insertion portion, The front of the treatment instrument insertion channel can be included in the visual field. However, in a so-called side-view type endoscope in which the endoscope observation mechanism is provided on the side surface of the insertion section, or in a so-called perspective type endoscope in which the observation field is diagonally forward, the treatment instrument insertion channel is If the treatment tool is led out in the axial direction of the insertion portion, the treatment tool may not be in the visual field of the endoscope observation mechanism. For this reason, the direction of the treatment instrument must be changed when the treatment instrument is pulled out. Even in a direct-viewing endoscope, it may be desirable to be able to control the direction of the distal end portion of the treatment instrument in order to control the directionality of the treatment instrument.

For the above reasons, the treatment instrument standing mechanism is provided in the side-view type endoscope and the like. In this treatment instrument standing mechanism, a cavity is formed in a portion facing the tip opening of the treatment instrument insertion channel, and a treatment instrument stand is provided in the cavity, and the cavity is in the direction of the observation visual field, that is, the side-view type. In the case of the endoscope, the opening is made on the side surface of the distal end of the insertion portion. The treatment instrument stand is inserted in the axial direction of the insertion section to change the direction of the treatment instrument guided into the cavity. It is possible to stand up by operating it. That is, in order to allow the treatment instrument stand to rise and fall, the treatment instrument stand is mounted on a pivot shaft provided at a predetermined position and the standing operation wire is connected to the treatment instrument stand. Then, the upright angle of the treatment tool is controlled by pushing and pulling this operation wire.

In the cover type endoscope, when the treatment instrument insertion channel is provided, since the treatment instrument insertion channel is provided on the cover side, the treatment instrument upright stand constituting the treatment instrument upright mechanism is provided on the cover side. Will be done. Such a configuration in which the treatment instrument raising mechanism is provided on the cover side is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 6-319678 and 6-64609.

[0007]

As described above, the treatment instrument erection mechanism is not limited to the treatment instrument erection base, and the operation wire for erected the treatment instrument erection base and the operation wire for pushing and pulling the operation wire at hand. And operating means for
If all of these members are provided on the cover side, the structure of the cover becomes extremely complicated and the manufacturing cost becomes extremely high. In the case of a cover-type endoscope, it is optimal from the viewpoint of hygiene that the cover side is disposed of after being used only once and then discarded. However, as described above, the cover configuration is complicated and expensive. Therefore, it is not always appropriate to use it as a disposable item.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points. An object of the present invention is to simplify the structure of the endoscope cover by providing a treatment tool raising mechanism on the endoscope side. To make it cheap to manufacture.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an endoscope having an insertion part in which an endoscope observation mechanism including an illuminating part and an observing part is attached to a distal end hard part, An endoscope including an endoscope insertion channel in which the insertion portion is insertably and removably inserted, the inside of which has a closed structure, and a distal end of which is opened as a treatment instrument lead-out portion, and a treatment instrument is inserted therethrough. A cover-type endoscope including a mirror cover, wherein a treatment tool stand is provided in an insertion portion of the endoscope so as to be retractable with respect to a mounting surface of the endoscope observation mechanism portion, and The endoscope cover is characterized in that a flexible film covering the upper part of the treatment instrument stand is provided.

In an endoscope insertion portion in which an angle portion and a flexible portion are connected to a distal end hard portion, the endoscope insertion channel is made of a hard member only at a portion covering the distal end hard portion of the insertion portion. However, the portion covering the angled portion and the flexible portion must have flexibility in the bending direction.
When the endoscope insertion channel is formed of a single member, it must have transparency and flexibility in the bending direction, and since it is observed inside the body cavity through the cover, it is extremely high. Transparency is required. Therefore, a portion of the insertion portion cover portion that covers the hard tip portion is formed by a tip cap, and the tip cap is entirely made of a transparent member or a non-transparent member, and the tip hard portion of the insertion portion is formed. It is desirable to provide a transparent window in each of the positions corresponding to the illuminating section and the observing section. In this case, since the treatment instrument stand must be made to project outward from the inside of the tip cap, an opening is formed at a position that covers the treatment instrument stand of the entire tip cap, so that the treatment instrument stand is flexible. The film is fixedly provided in this opening.
In particular, when the endoscope observation mechanism is applied to a side-viewing endoscope in which a flat surface portion is formed on the side surface of the distal end hard portion, a concave portion for accommodating the treatment instrument stand on the side surface of the flat surface end rigid portion. Is provided, an illumination window and an observation window are provided at the distal end portion of the endoscope cover, an opening is formed at the upper position of the recess, and the opening is covered with a flexible film. The treatment instrument lead-out portion of the treatment instrument insertion channel is provided in the distal end cap by being opened at a position near the attachment portion of the flexible membrane.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows the entire configuration of an endoscope that constitutes a cover-type endoscope of the present invention and an endoscope cover. In the figure, 1 is an endoscope and 20 is an endoscope cover.

The endoscope 1 is composed of a main body operating section 2 in which an insertion section 3 for inserting into a body cavity is connected, and a universal cord 4 is pulled out from the main body operating section 2. The insertion portion 3 is composed of a distal end hard portion 3a, an angle portion 3b and a flexible portion 3c in order from the distal end side, and the angle portion 3b can be bent at least in the up-down direction (or in the up-down and left-right four directions). There is.

The endoscope 1 is a side-view type endoscope, and is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a flat portion 5 is formed from the distal end side of the distal end hard portion 3a of the insertion portion 3 by a predetermined length, and the flat portion 5 is provided with an illumination unit 6 and an observation unit 7. There is. The exit end of the light guide faces the illumination unit 6, the objective lens is attached to the observation unit 7, and the solid-state image sensor (or image guide) is provided at the image forming position of the objective lens. . Although the endoscope observation mechanism is configured by these, since the internal structure itself of the endoscope observation mechanism and the entire insertion portion is well known in the related art, its illustration and detailed description are omitted.

The illuminating section 6 and the observing section 7 have a hard tip portion 3a.
In the flat surface portion 5, the illuminating portion 6 is provided in the front and the observing portion 7 is provided in the rear, and the upright stand accommodating portion 8 is formed so as to be aligned with the arrangement portion of the illuminating portion 6 and the observing portion 7. . As shown in FIG. 2, the upright stand accommodating portion 8 has an opening on the side surface of the distal end hard portion 3a, and a treatment instrument upright stand 9 is mounted therein. The treatment instrument stand 9 is made of a substantially triangular member, and the tip portion thereof protrudes, and this protrusion serves as the treatment instrument guide portion 9a. The treatment instrument stand 9 is rotatably supported on the wall surface of the distal end hard portion 3a by a pivot pin 10 at a portion located on the base end side of the stand stand housing portion 8, and is always shown by a solid line in FIG. As described above, the storage device is in the storage state in which it is located in the upright stand accommodating portion 8, and when performing the upright operation of the treatment tool, the treatment tool upright table 9 is moved as shown by phantom lines in FIG. The pivot pin 10 is rotated around the pivot support pin 10 so that the tip portion protrudes from the opening of the upright stand accommodating portion 8.

The raising operation of the treatment instrument stand 9 is performed by rotating the operation knob 11 provided on the main body operation portion 2. For this reason, the operation wire 12 is attached to the treatment instrument stand 9.
Are connected to each other, and by pulling the operation wire 12, the treatment instrument stand 9 can be raised so as to project from the stand holder 8. Moreover, by adjusting the pulling amount of the operation wire 12, the standing degree of the treatment instrument stand 9 can be controlled.

The endoscope cover 20 has a tip cap 21.
A flexible sleeve 22 connected to the distal end cap 21 and an introducing cylinder 23 provided at the proximal end of the flexible sleeve 22. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, an endoscope insertion channel 24 is provided on the endoscope cover 20.
And a treatment instrument insertion channel 25 are formed. Then, the introduction cylinder 23 is provided with the endoscope insertion channel 2
4 and the treatment instrument insertion channel 25 are formed with an endoscope insertion opening 23a and a treatment instrument insertion opening 23b.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cylindrical portion 21 is located on the side of the connecting portion of the tip cap 21 to the flexible sleeve 22.
a, the front end side is an arc-shaped portion 21b in which a flat surface portion 28 is formed by cutting out the cylindrical portion 21a in the axial direction, and the transition portion from the cylindrical portion 21a to the flat surface portion 28 is It is a step surface 21c. And
Inside the distal end cap 21, an endoscope housing portion 26 that communicates with the endoscope insertion channel 24 of the flexible sleeve 22 and a treatment instrument lead-out passage 27 that communicates with the treatment instrument insertion channel 25 are formed. The endoscope accommodating portion 26 is for accommodating the distal end hard portion 3a in the insertion portion 3 of the endoscope 1, is substantially in conformity with the outer shape of the distal end hard portion 3a, and has a closed structure. It constitutes the cavity. The angled portion 3b and the flexible portion 3c of the insertion portion 3 are positioned inside the flexible sleeve 22 provided in connection with the distal end cap 21. On the other hand, the treatment instrument lead-out passage 2
Reference numeral 7 denotes a passage having the same diameter as that of the treatment instrument insertion channel 25, which is open to the step surface 21c at the transition portion from the cylindrical portion 21a to the arc-shaped portion 21b.

The tip cap 21 is made of a non-transparent material,
When the tip rigid portion 3a of the insertion portion 3 is housed therein, the illumination portion 6 and the observation portion 7 provided on the tip rigid portion 3a.
An illumination window 29 and an observation window 30 made of a transparent member are formed at a position facing with. Further, an opening 31 of substantially the same shape is formed at a position corresponding to the opening of the upright stand accommodating portion 8 in the distal end hard portion 3a.
A flexible film 32 is attached to the device 1. This flexible film 3
2 is a state in which a slight tension is applied to the endoscope housing portion 26.
It is fixed to the inner surface side of the endoscope by means such as adhesion, and can be bulged and deformed when pushed up from the inside of the endoscope housing portion 26.

The present embodiment is configured as described above, and when the endoscope 1 is inserted into a body cavity and an endoscopic examination is performed, the insertion portion of the endoscope 1 is used. 3 is not directly inserted into the body cavity, but is inserted from the distal end hard portion 3a of the insertion portion 3 into the endoscope insertion opening portion 23a of the introduction cylinder 23 in the endoscope cover 20. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the distal end hard portion 3 a is fed into the endoscope housing portion 26 of the distal end cap 21. As a result, the insertion section 3 is completely covered by the endoscope cover 20 and is maintained in a hermetically sealed state. Even when the insertion section 3 is inserted into the body cavity, each section including the insertion section 3 and configuring the endoscope 1 Is not polluted.

Since the tip end cap 21 is provided with an illumination window 29 and an observation window 30, the illumination light from the illumination section 6 provided in the rigid tip end portion 3a is emitted from this illumination window 29 and the observation section 7 is also provided. The observation of the inside of the body cavity is performed through the observation window 30. Then, in the tip cap 21,
Since the parts other than the illumination window 29 and the observation window 30 are formed of non-transparent members, even if the illumination light from the illumination part 6 is reflected on the inner surface of the illumination window 29, the reflected light enters the observation part 7 as harmful light. There is no fear. If the illumination unit 6 and the observation unit 7 can be brought into complete contact with the illumination window 29 and the observation window 30, the entire tip cap may be formed of a transparent member.

In the insertion portion 3, the tip rigid portion 3a is a hard member, but the angle portion 3 on the proximal side of the tip rigid portion 3a.
The b and the soft part 3c have flexibility in the bending direction. In the endoscope cover 20, the distal end cap 21 for accommodating the distal end hard portion 3a is a hard member, but the flexible sleeve 22 is connected to the distal end cap 21, and the angle portion 3b and the flexible portion 3c described above are It is located within this flexible sleeve 22. As a result, even if there is a bent portion in the insertion path inside the body cavity, the bending can be smoothly followed. Further, when the angle portion 3b is operated to be bent, a great resistance does not occur.

When the distal end hard portion 3a of the insertion portion 3 of the endoscope 1 mounted in the endoscope cover 20 is inserted into the observation target portion, the endoscope observation mechanism including the illumination portion 6 and the observation portion 7 Inspect and diagnose the body cavity. Then, when the affected area or the like is found, a treatment such as extraction of the affected area or collection of cells is performed using forceps or a treatment tool such as a high-frequency treatment tool. Then, inserting forceps 33 as an example of a treatment tool in FIG.
A case where a treatment such as extraction of an affected area is performed will be described.

The forceps 33 is inserted into the treatment instrument insertion channel 25 from the treatment instrument introduction port portion 23b of the introduction cylinder 23 of the endoscope cover 20, and is led out into the body cavity from the treatment instrument lead-out passage 27 provided in the distal end cap 21. Let The insertion portion 3 of the endoscope 1 is provided with a treatment instrument stand 9, and the treatment instrument stand 9 pulls the operation wire 12 by operating an operation knob 11 provided on the main body operation unit 2. Operate in the direction. Then, the treatment tool stand 9 stands up around the pivot pin 10 and projects from the opening of the stand housing 8. Since this opening is located below the flexible film 32 covering the opening 31 in the distal end cap 21, the treatment instrument guide portion 9a of the treatment instrument upright 9 pushes up the flexible film 32. The flexible film 32 is bulged and deformed. As a result, the treatment instrument guide portion 9a covered with the flexible film 32 projects from the flat surface portion 28 of the distal end cap 21, and the forceps 33 can be lifted. As a result, the forceps 33 extending in the axial direction of the insertion portion 3 is erected,
The direction is changed so as to be within the field of view of the observation unit 7 obtained from the observation window 30 provided on the flat surface portion 28 of the tip cap 21.
Since the standing angle of the treatment instrument stand 9 changes according to the pulling amount of the operation wire 12, the forceps 33 are controlled to have an arbitrary angle within the range of this observation visual field.
Therefore, it is possible to surely aim at the target portion to be treated.

Here, the treatment instrument stand 9 raises the treatment instrument such as the forceps 32 via the flexible membrane 32, but during this raising operation, the flexible membrane 32 is elastically deformed to generate tension. Due to this tension, a force that pushes the treatment tool upright table 9 in the upright state back into the upright table housing portion 8 acts. Therefore, even if the return spring or the like is not applied to the treatment instrument stand 9, if the pulling force of the operation wire 11 by the operation knob 11 is released, the treatment instrument guide portion 9 of the treatment instrument stand 9 is released.
a returns to the state of being accommodated in the upright stand accommodating portion 8.

When the examination of the inside of the body cavity by the endoscope 1 is completed with the endoscope cover 20 attached, the insertion portion 3 of the endoscope 1 is taken out from the body cavity, but of course the endoscope cover 2
It is taken out of the body while being covered with 0. afterwards,
By pulling out the insertion portion 3 of the endoscope 1 from the endoscope cover 20, the endoscope cover 20 which has been used and is soiled with body fluid or the like is separated from the insertion portion 3, but the endoscope 1 is Not polluted. Therefore, it is possible to reuse the endoscope 1 without cleaning or disinfecting the endoscope 1 after use.

Here, the endoscope cover 20 is basically 2
This is a simple configuration in which only two passages are formed, and the treatment instrument insertion channel 25 forming one of the passages is not provided with a treatment instrument raising mechanism and is simply a passage, so that the configuration is significantly simplified. And can be manufactured at low cost. Therefore, the endoscope cover 20 is preferably reused without being reused, which is extremely convenient in terms of hygiene.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the configuration of the endoscope cover is configured by providing the treatment instrument standing mechanism for standing up the treatment instrument drawn out from the treatment instrument insertion channel on the endoscope side. This has effects such as simplification and cost reduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an endoscope and an endoscope cover.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a treatment instrument standing mechanism mounting portion provided on a distal end hard portion of an insertion portion of an endoscope.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a distal end portion in a state where an endoscope is incorporated in an endoscope cover.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a tip cap of the endoscope cover.

5 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 and a nursery rhyme in which forceps are inserted as a treatment tool and the treatment tool upright mechanism is in an operating state.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Endoscope 2 Main body operation part 3 Insertion part 3a Tip hard part 5 Plane part 6 Illumination part 7 Observation part 8 Standing part accommodation part 9 Treatment tool stand 9a Treatment tool guide part 12 operation wire 20 endoscope cover 21 Tip Cap 22 Flexible Sleeve 23 introduction cylinder 24 endoscope insertion channel 25 treatment instrument insertion channel 26 endoscope accommodation section 27 Treatment Tool Outlet Path 28 Flat Surface 29 Illumination window 30 Observation window 31 Opening 32 Flexible Membrane

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope having an insertion section in which an endoscope observation mechanism including an illumination section and an observation section is attached to a distal end hard section, and the insertion section is insertably and removably inserted to form a sealed structure inside. A cover-type endoscope including an endoscope insertion channel and an endoscope cover having a distal end opened as a treatment instrument lead-out portion and a treatment instrument insertion channel through which the treatment instrument is inserted, In the insertion portion, a treatment tool stand is provided so as to be retractable with respect to the mounting surface of the endoscope observation mechanism portion,
Further, the cover endoscope is characterized in that the endoscope cover is provided with a flexible film covering the upper portion of the treatment instrument stand. 2. The insertion portion of the endoscope is configured by connecting an angle portion to the distal end hard portion and a flexible portion connected to the angle portion, and at least the endoscope insertion channel of the endoscope cover. A portion that covers the hard tip portion inserted therein is formed by a tip cap, and a portion that covers the angle portion and the soft portion is formed of a soft sleeve connected to the tip cap. The cover-type endoscope according to claim 1, wherein an opening is provided at an upper portion of the treatment instrument stand mounting portion, and the flexible film is fixedly provided at the opening. 3. The endoscope observation mechanism has a flat surface portion formed on a side surface of the distal end hard portion, the flat surface portion having a recessed portion for accommodating the treatment instrument stand, and the endoscope cover. Is formed with a tip cap, an illumination window and an observation window are formed at positions corresponding to the illumination portion and the observation portion of the rigid tip portion housed in the tip cap, and at the upper position of the recess. Forms an opening so as to cover the opening with a flexible film, and the distal end cap opens the treatment instrument lead-out portion of the treatment instrument insertion channel to a position in front of the attachment portion of the flexible membrane. The cover-type endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the cover-type endoscope has a structure.