JP2005342401A - Endoscope and endoscopic treatment system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize an endoscope and to reduce the weight of the endoscope in the endoscope for automatically inserting into/pulling out a treatment instrument by a motor. <P>SOLUTION: Flexible shafts 25 and 26 are rotatably inserted into a universal cord 13 extending from the endoscope. The distal ends of the flexible shafts 25 and 26 are made to project out of a connector 14 at the distal end of the universal cord 13, and connection parts 42 are disposed at the respective projecting distal ends. The connection parts 42 are structured to be engaged with respective output shafts 40 of two drive sources 35 and 36 disposed on a control device 4 side. When the drive sources 35 and 36 are rotated to be driven, the flexible shafts 25 and 26 are rotated and the treatment instrument inside the endoscope is driven. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope used by being inserted into a body cavity or the like and an endoscope treatment system.

As means for performing an examination in the digestive tract, an endoscope inserted into a body cavity or the like is known. Here, some endoscopes are capable of performing treatment on a living body by inserting a treatment tool for an endoscope. In this case, it is known that an electric roller is provided in the endoscope and the treatment instrument is electrically inserted (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Specifically, a pair of rollers is disposed so as to be in pressure contact with the flexible insertion portion of the treatment instrument, and the rollers are driven by rotation of a motor.
JP-A-57-117823

However, this type of endoscope is provided with a motor and a roller in the operation unit, which increases the size of the operation unit of the endoscope and increases its weight. The operation part of the endoscope is the part that the endoscope operator holds and operates, so if the size of the operation part increases, the operability of the endoscope deteriorates and burdens the endoscope operator. It takes.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to reduce the size and weight of an endoscope in an endoscope that automatically inserts and removes a treatment instrument electrically. It is.

The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention that solves the above-described problem has an operation unit that is operated by an endoscope operator, and an insertion unit that is inserted into a body is provided at a distal end of the operation unit, In an endoscope provided with a channel so as to penetrate the operation part and the insertion part, a driving means provided in the operation part for inserting and removing an endoscope treatment tool into and from the channel, and extending from the operation part A cord, a connector provided at a tip of the cord and connected to a control device for controlling the endoscope, and a drive force from a drive source that is rotatably inserted into the cord. And an flexible driving force transmitting means for transmitting to the endoscope.
In this endoscope, a drive source is provided outside the operation unit of the endoscope. When driving an endoscopic treatment tool used with an endoscope, the driving source is driven and the driving force transmitting means is rotated. Since the driving force transmitting means is rotatably inserted into the cord, the rotational driving force of the driving source is transmitted to the driving means in the endoscope via the driving force transmitting means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the endoscope according to the first aspect, the drive source is provided in the connector.
In this endoscope, a drive source is provided in a connector. The drive source is rotationally driven by the electric power supplied from the control device to the connector, and the drive means drives the endoscope treatment tool via the drive force transmission means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the endoscope according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the endoscopic treatment tool has a treatment portion for treating a living body provided at a distal end of a flexible sheath. And an operating member that operates the treatment portion penetrates through the sheath so as to freely advance and retreat, and the driving means includes a first driving means that drives the sheath, and a second that drives the sheath and the operating member. Drive means, and the drive force transmission means drives at least one of the first drive means and the second drive means.
This endoscope has a first drive means and a second drive means, and when the first drive means and the second drive means are driven in synchronization by the drive force transmission means, the endoscope treatment instrument is moved into the interior. It is inserted and removed from the endoscope. When only the second drive means is driven, the operation member can be advanced and retracted with respect to the sheath, and only the treatment portion connected to the operation member can be driven.

An invention according to claim 4 is an endoscope treatment system comprising the endoscope according to claim 1 and the control device, wherein the drive source is provided in the control device. .
In this endoscope treatment system, when the connector is connected to the control device, the driving source and the driving force transmitting means are connected so as to rotate integrally. When the drive source is rotationally driven in this state, the driving force transmission means rotates, and the endoscope treatment tool is driven by the driving means in the endoscope.

The invention according to claim 5 is the endoscope treatment system according to claim 4, wherein the treatment instrument for endoscope is provided with a treatment portion for treating a living body at a distal end of a flexible sheath, An operating member that operates the treatment portion penetrates through the sheath so as to be able to advance and retreat, and the driving means includes a first driving means that drives the sheath, and a second driving means that drives the sheath and the operating member. The driving force transmission means drives at least one of the first driving means and the second driving means.
In this endoscope treatment system, when the driving force transmitting means is rotationally driven by a drive source provided in the control device, and the first driving means and the second driving means are driven in synchronization, the endoscope treatment tool Is inserted into and removed from the endoscope. When the drive source drives only the second drive means, the operation member can be advanced and retracted with respect to the sheath, and only the treatment portion connected to the operation member can be driven.

  According to the present invention, the driving means for driving the endoscope treatment tool is provided in the endoscope, and the driving force transmitting means for inputting the driving force to the driving means extends from the endoscope and is connected to the control device. Since the cord is rotatably inserted into the cord, the drive source can be disposed outside the operation portion of the endoscope. Therefore, since the operation part of the endoscope can be reduced in size and weight, the operability is improved and the procedure is facilitated.

The best mode for carrying out the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope treatment system 1 includes an endoscope 2, an endoscope treatment tool 3 (hereinafter referred to as a treatment tool) inserted through the endoscope 2, and an endoscope 2. It is comprised from the control apparatus 4 connected to.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the endoscope 2 has a flexible insertion portion 5 to be inserted into a body cavity. The insertion portion 5 is provided with a CCD (charge coupled device), illumination (not shown), etc. at the tip. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, a distal end opening 7 of a treatment instrument channel 6 through which the treatment instrument 3 is inserted is provided at the distal end of the insertion portion 5.
As shown in FIG. 1, an operation portion 8 is provided at the proximal end of the insertion portion 5. The operation unit 8 includes a knob and a switch, and can receive an operation of an endoscope operator. An accommodation portion 10 of the treatment instrument 3 inserted through the endoscope 2 is attached to the proximal end portion of the operation portion 8. Further, an insertion port 11 through which another treatment instrument can be inserted into another treatment instrument channel is provided on the distal end side of the operation unit 8. The insertion opening 11 is provided with a forceps plug 12 so that it can be sealed when not in use. Furthermore, a universal cord 13 is extended from the side surface of the main body portion of the endoscope 2 including the insertion portion 5 and the operation portion 8.

The universal cord 13 is a long cord having flexibility, and a connector 14 is attached to the tip thereof. The connector 14 is connected to the control device 4 and a suction device (not shown), and a bend preventing member 15 for preventing the universal cord 13 from buckling is attached to the base end portion of the connector 14.
The connector 14 has a casing 16, and various bases such as a vent base 17, a suction base 18, a ground base 19, a pressure base 20, and a water supply base 21 are provided on the outer surface of the casing 16. Is arranged.
As shown in FIG. 3, electrical contacts 22 and 23 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the casing 16. The electrical contacts 22 and 23 are used for supplying power to the endoscope 2 and outputting data acquired by the CCD. And from the front-end | tip part of the casing 16, the light guide base 24 and the two flexible shafts 25 and 26 which are power transmission means are extended in the axial direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 4 to which such a connector 14 is connected includes a water supply device, a light source device, a data processing device, and the like. The water supply device is connected to the water supply base 21 via a water supply pipe 28 and is connected to the pressurization base 20 via a pressure pipe 29. This water supply device is used to send liquid from the distal end of the endoscope 2 to the body cavity. The light source device is connected to a light guide base 24 (see FIG. 3). The control device 4 is grounded, and a ground wire 30 is connected to the ground base 19. A vent passage 31 is connected to the vent cap 17. The ventilation passage 31 is used when the endoscope 2 is sterilized with ethylene oxide gas. Further, the suction device has a suction pump and is connected to the suction base 18 via the suction pipe 27. This suction device is used for sucking a suction substance in a body cavity from the distal end of the endoscope 2. Note that the suction device may be provided integrally with the control device 4.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the control device 4 is provided with a first drive source 35 and a second drive source 36. Each of the drive sources 35 and 36 includes a motor 37 and a speed reducer 38. Power supply to the motor 37 is performed via a driver circuit 39. The driver circuit 39 performs control to drive only one of the drive sources 35 and 36 or to drive both of the drive sources 35 and 36 in synchronization. The output shaft 40 of each drive source 35, 36 has a cylindrical shape at the tip. Further, two slits 41 are provided in the axial direction from the opening of the tip, and the connecting portion 42 at the tip of the flexible shafts 25 and 26 is detachably engaged. In FIG. 3, the output shaft 40 of the first drive source 35 is shown rotated by 90 degrees from the rotational position of the output shaft 40 of the second drive source 36.

The flexible shafts 25 and 26 are members that transmit rotation while having flexibility, and include, for example, a multi-strand coil. Each flexible shaft 25, 26 protrudes from the front end surface of the casing 16 of the connector 14, and a connection portion 42 is provided at the front end. The connecting portion 42 has a hard rod-like member 43, and two engagement protrusions 44 are extended from the rod-like member 43 toward the radially outer side. The engagement protrusion 44 has a size and a shape that can be engaged with the slit 41 of the output shaft 40 on the side of each drive source 35, 36. In FIG. 3, the connection portion 42 of the flexible shaft 25 is illustrated as being rotated 90 degrees from the rotational position of the connection portion 42 of the flexible shaft 26.
The flexible shafts 25 and 26 are inserted into the universal cord 13 substantially in parallel, and are rotatably supported by a bearing (not shown) or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the base end portions of the flexible shafts 25 and 26 are guided into the operation unit 8 of the endoscope 2. In addition, in the universal cord 13, a light guide, a cable line for energization, a suction conduit, and an air / water supply conduit are disposed.

A base end portion of the flexible shaft 25 is rotatably supported by two bearings 50 in the operation unit 8. A bevel gear 51 is attached between the bearings 50. The bevel gear 51 is meshed with the bevel gear 53 of the first drive means 52. The first drive means 52 has a rotating shaft 54 that is rotatably supported by the operation unit 8, and a bevel gear 53 and a roller 55 are attached to the rotating shaft 54. The roller 55 is pressed together with the rollers 56 arranged to face each other so that the treatment tool 3 is sandwiched between the outer peripheral surfaces. The roller 56 is rotatably supported by a rotation shaft 57.
A second drive unit 60 is provided on the proximal end side of the first drive unit 52. The second drive means 60 has a pair of rollers 61 and 62 that are arranged so as to sandwich the treatment instrument 3. The rotating shaft 63 of the roller 61 and the rotating shaft 64 of the roller 62 are supported rotatably on the operation unit 8, respectively. A bevel gear 65 is attached to the rotation shaft 63 of the roller 61, and the bevel gear 65 is meshed with the bevel gear 66. The bevel gear 66 is attached to the base end portion of the flexible shaft 26, and the base end portion of the flexible shaft 26 is rotatably supported by two bearings 67 arranged so as to sandwich the bevel gear 66.

Here, the configuration of the treatment instrument 3 will be described.
The treatment instrument 3 is provided with a distal treatment section 71 for treating a living body at the distal end. The distal treatment section 71 has a support member 72, and a pair of gripping pieces 73 are supported on the support member 72 so as to be freely opened and closed. A long insertion portion 74 extends from the proximal end of the distal treatment section 71. As shown in FIG. 4, in the insertion portion 74, an operation wire 76 that is an operation member is inserted into a flexible sheath 75 so as to freely advance and retract. The distal end of the operation wire 76 is connected to a pair of gripping pieces 73 via a link mechanism (not shown). The proximal end portion of the operation wire 76 protrudes from the proximal end of the sheath 75, and the operation tube 77 is attached thereto. The operation tube 77 has substantially the same outer diameter as the sheath 75 and is connected to the sheath 75 by an elastic member 78.
The sheath 75 and the operation tube 77 are accommodated so as to be wound around a reel 79. The reel 79 is rotatably supported by the cassette 80 of the storage unit 10. The cassette 80 is fixed to the proximal end of the operation unit 8 of the endoscope 2.

Next, the operation of the endoscope treatment system 1 will be described.
First, the connector 14 of the universal cord 13 is connected to the control device 4. Pipes 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 extending from corresponding devices are attached to the respective bases 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. At this time, each connection portion 42 at the tip of each flexible shaft 25 and 26 shown in FIG. 3 is engaged with each output shaft 40 of each drive source 35 and 36. Specifically, the rod-like member 43 of the connection portion 42 is inserted into the cylindrical portion of the output shaft 40, and the engagement protrusion 44 of the connection portion 42 is engaged with the slit 41 of the output shaft 40. As a result, the flexible shafts 25 and 26 are engaged with the output shafts 40 of the drive sources 35 and 36 and rotate integrally with the output shafts 40.

  Further, the insertion portion 5 of the endoscope 2 is inserted into the body cavity of the patient, and the treatment tool 3 is inserted through the endoscope 2. When the switch of the operation unit 8 of the endoscope 2 is operated, the drive command passes through the universal cord 13 and is transmitted to the control device 4 via the electrical contacts 22 and 23. The control device 4 supplies current to the drive sources 35 and 36 to drive the drive sources 35 and 36 in synchronization. As a result, each flexible shaft 25, 26 rotates. As shown in FIG. 2, the bevel gear 51 at the base end of the flexible shaft 25 rotates the bevel gear 53 of the first drive means 52, and the roller 55 attached to the rotating shaft 54 is rotated. The roller 55 rotates so as to push the insertion portion 74 of the treatment instrument 3 toward the distal end, and the roller 56 rotates accordingly. Similarly, the roller 61 is rotated by the rotation of the flexible shaft 26, the insertion portion 74 of the treatment instrument 3 is pushed out toward the tip, and the roller 62 rotates accordingly. Since the rollers 61 and 62 are rotated synchronously, the treatment instrument 3 is sent out toward the tip at the same speed. Then, when the distal treatment section 71 is projected from the distal end of the endoscope 2 by a predetermined length, the drive sources 35 and 36 are stopped. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the pair of rollers 55 and 56 of the first drive means 52 are in pressure contact with the sheath 75, and the pair of rollers 61 and 62 of the second drive means 60 are in pressure contact with the operation tube 77. .

When driving the distal treatment section 71, only the second drive source 36 shown in FIG. 3 is driven. The rotational motion generated by the second drive source 36 is transmitted to the rollers 61 and 62 of the second drive means 60 through the flexible shaft 26, and the operation tube 77 sandwiched between the rollers 61 and 62 moves forward and backward. When the operation tube 77 is advanced, the operation wire 76 is advanced relative to the sheath 75, and the pair of gripping pieces 73 are opened. When the operating tube 77 is retracted from this state, the pair of gripping pieces 73 are closed.
When the treatment instrument 3 is removed, the drive sources 35 and 36 are driven in synchronization to generate a rotational motion in the same direction. As a result, the driving means 52 and 60 are driven so as to pull back the treatment instrument 3 synchronously, and the insertion portion 74 pulled back from the treatment portion channel 6 is wound around the reel 79.

In this embodiment, in the endoscope 2 that automatically inserts and removes the treatment instrument 3 into and from the endoscope 2 automatically or drives the distal treatment section 71 of the treatment instrument 3, the treatment instrument 3 is rotationally driven. Since the driving means 52 and 60 for driving are provided in the endoscope 2, the driving sources 52 and 60 for driving the driving means 52 and 60 to rotate are provided in the control device 4 arranged away from the endoscope 2. The endoscope 2 can be reduced in size and weight. Therefore, the operability of the endoscope 2 is improved and the procedure is facilitated.
Further, the rotation of each drive source 35, 36 is transmitted to each drive means 52, 60 by two flexible shafts 25, 26, and these flexible shafts 25, 26 are inserted into the universal cord 13, so that There is no need to separately provide a member for transmitting the signal, the connection between the endoscope 2 and the control device 4 is simplified, and the operability of the endoscope 2 is further improved.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same component as 1st Embodiment. Moreover, the description which overlaps with 1st Embodiment is abbreviate | omitted.
As shown in FIG. 5, the connector 90 is provided with a first drive source 93 and a second drive source 94 in a casing 91. The distal end portion of the flexible shaft 25 is directly connected to the output shaft 95 of the first drive source 93. The distal end portion of the flexible shaft 26 is directly connected to the output shaft 95 of the second drive source 94. A current is supplied to the motors 37 of the drive sources 93 and 94 via the electrical contacts 22 and 23.

When the endoscope 2 is used, the connector 90 is connected to the control device. As a result, the drive sources 93 and 94 can be energized from the driver circuit 39 (see FIG. 3) via the electrical contacts 22 and 23.
According to this embodiment, since the first drive source 93 and the second drive source 94 are accommodated in the connector 90, the main body portion (insertion portion 5 and operation portion 8) of the endoscope 2 is reduced in size and weight. be able to. Further, by accommodating the drive sources 93 and 94 in the connector 90, it becomes possible to directly connect the drive sources 93 and 94 and the flexible shafts 25 and 26, compared with the first embodiment. Thus, the connector 90 can be easily attached and detached.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be widely applied.
For example, the base end portions of the flexible shafts 25 and 26 may be directly connected to the rotation shafts 54 and 65 of the rollers 55 and 61.
In addition, only the first drive sources 35 and 93, the flexible shaft 25 and the first drive means 52 interlocked therewith may be provided, and the operation wire 76 may be manually advanced and retracted when the pair of gripping pieces 73 are opened and closed. . In this case, the treatment tool 3 is provided with an operation unit for manually rotating the reel 79, for example.

It is a figure which shows the endoscope treatment system in embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows an endoscope and a treatment tool. With a flexible shaft protruding from the connector It is sectional drawing which shows an endoscope and a treatment tool, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the state which penetrated the treatment tool through the treatment tool channel. It is a partially broken figure which shows the connector in an endoscope treatment system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Endoscopic treatment system 2 Endoscope 4 Control apparatus 5 Insertion part 6 Treatment tool channel 8 Operation part 13 Universal cord 14, 90 Connector 25, 26 Flexible shaft (driving force transmission means)
52 1st drive means 60 2nd drive means 71 Tip treatment part 75 Sheath 76 Operation wire (operation member)

Claims (5)

An endoscope unit has an operation unit to be operated, an insertion unit to be inserted into the body is provided at the tip of the operation unit, and a channel is provided to penetrate the operation unit and the insertion unit. In the endoscope,
A driving unit provided in the operation unit and configured to insert / remove an endoscope treatment tool into / from the channel, a cord extending from the operation unit, and provided at a distal end of the cord to control the endoscope A connector connected to the control device; and a flexible driving force transmitting means that is rotatably inserted into the cord and transmits a driving force from a driving source to the driving means. Endoscope.   The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the drive source is provided in the connector. In the endoscope treatment tool, a treatment portion for treating a living body is provided at a distal end of a flexible sheath, and an operation member that operates the treatment portion penetrates the sheath so as to freely advance and retreat, The driving means includes first driving means for driving the sheath, and second driving means for driving the sheath and the operation member,
The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the driving force transmission unit drives at least one of the first driving unit and the second driving unit.   An endoscope treatment system comprising the endoscope according to claim 1 and the control device, wherein the drive source is provided in the control device. In the endoscope treatment tool, a treatment portion for treating a living body is provided at a distal end of a flexible sheath, and an operation member that operates the treatment portion penetrates the sheath so as to freely advance and retreat, The driving means includes first driving means for driving the sheath, and second driving means for driving the sheath and the operation member,
The endoscope treatment system according to claim 4, wherein the driving force transmission unit drives at least one of the first driving unit and the second driving unit.

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