JP2011200357A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve the secure protection and the excellent bending followability of an internal object.SOLUTION: The internal objects such as light guides 55a, 55b are inserted through the inserting section 10 of an electronic endoscope 2. The light guides 55a, 55b are internally inserted through coil springs 60a, 60b in a curved section 14 of the inserting section 10 respectively. The coil springs 60a, 60b have elasticity extendable in the axial direction of the inserting section 10. The parts shown by signs 61a, 61b of the outer peripheral surfaces of the coil springs 60a, 60b are fixed to the inner peripheral surfaces of a wholly curbed piece 20 by brazing or welding. The coil springs 60a, 60b have an inner diameter D2 substantially equal to the outer diameter D1 of the light guide 55a, 55b, wherein D2>D1. The light guides 55a, 55b remain in the inner peripheral surface of the curved piece 20 being the fixed positions of the coil springs 60a, 60b and do not move in a radial direction no matter how the curved section 14 is curved.

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope having a bending portion.

  Conventionally, examination using an endoscope has been widely used in the medical field. The endoscope includes an insertion unit that is inserted into a patient's body (subject) and an operation unit that is operated by a doctor (operator). The insertion portion is composed of a hard tip portion having a built-in image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS image sensor, a bending portion formed by connecting a plurality of bending pieces in series, and a flexible portion having flexibility.

  An operation wire that is pushed and pulled in conjunction with the operation of the angle knob of the operation unit is provided in the insertion unit. By operating the angle knob, the bending portion is bent in the vertical direction or the left-right direction, and the tip rigid portion is directed in a desired direction. Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe that an elastic member such as a coil spring is fixed to a bending piece, an operation wire is inserted into the elastic member, and the bending portion is bent from the distal end side.

  In addition to the operation wire, built-in components such as a signal cable connected to the image sensor, a light guide for illumination, a forceps channel through which a treatment tool is inserted, or an air / water supply channel are disposed in the insertion portion. . The tip of the built-in object is fixed to the tip hard portion. For this reason, when the bending portion is bent, the built-in object moves in the axial direction of the insertion portion. When there is a gap in the curved portion, the built-in object moves not only in the axial direction but also in the radial direction (direction orthogonal to the axial direction). Since the built-in objects move in accordance with the bending of the bending portion as described above, they may be damaged by being twisted or entangled with each other. In order to solve this problem, Patent Document 3 discloses a structure in which a protective coil is wound around an outer peripheral surface of a built-in object for protection.

JP 09-294711 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-012725 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-201698

  In Patent Documents 1 and 2, for the purpose of bending the bending portion from the distal end side, the elastic member is fixed to the bending piece and the operation wire is inserted through the elastic member, and the purpose is not to protect the built-in object. Further, since the operation wire is originally fixed to the bending piece by the wire guide, fixing the elastic member to the bending piece is only a natural requirement.

  Patent Document 3 can prevent damage to the built-in object, but cannot prevent the bending operation from being hindered by twisting or entanglement of the built-in object.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object thereof is to realize reliable protection of built-in objects and good curve following ability.

  In order to achieve the above object, an endoscope of the present invention includes an insertion portion having a bendable bending portion formed by connecting a plurality of bending pieces, and a plurality of built-in objects inserted into the insertion portion, It is a protective member having elasticity in the axial direction, and among the plurality of built-in objects, at least one built-in object other than the wire operated when bending the bending portion is inserted and fixed to the bending piece. And a protective member.

  The protection member is preferably a coil spring. Other than the coil spring, for example, a rubber tube may be used. Alternatively, the portion fixed to the bending piece is a hard pipe, and a coil spring or a rubber tube may be arranged in the gap between the bending pieces.

  In a preferred embodiment, the protective member is fixed to the entire bending piece. The protective member only needs to be fixed to at least the leading and trailing bending pieces.

  The protective member preferably has an inner diameter that is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the built-in object.

  A lubricant may be disposed between the protective member and the built-in object. The protective member is preferably fixed to the bending piece by brazing or welding.

  According to the present invention, since the built-in object is inserted into the protective member having elasticity in the axial direction and the protective member is fixed to the bending piece, reliable protection of the built-in object and good curve following ability can be realized.

It is an external view of an endoscope. It is sectional drawing which made the insertion part the longitudinal cut. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the connection structure of a bending piece. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the curved portion taken along the line AA in FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing which made the insertion part which shows another example of a protection member longitudinally.

  In FIG. 1, an electronic endoscope 2 includes an insertion portion 10 to be inserted into the body, an operation portion 11 connected to a proximal end portion of the insertion portion 10, and a universal cord 12 connected to the operation portion 11. Prepare. The insertion portion 10 includes a distal end rigid portion 13, a bendable bending portion 14 provided continuously with the proximal end of the distal end rigid portion 13, and a flexible flexible portion 15 provided continuously with the proximal end of the bending portion 14. And have. The flexible part 15 has a length of several meters in order to allow the distal rigid part 13 to reach a target position in the body.

  An imaging element such as an objective lens, CCD, or CMOS image sensor is built in the distal end rigid portion 13. An image of the site to be observed in the body captured from the objective lens is captured by the image sensor. The image signal obtained by the image sensor is sent to a processor device (not shown) connected to the universal cord 12 via a signal cable 57 (see FIG. 4) inserted into the insertion unit 10 and the operation unit 11. Sent. The processor device performs various types of image processing on the image signal, and displays the image as an observation image on a monitor (not shown).

  Further, the distal end rigid portion 13 is provided with an illumination window. Illumination light from a light source device (not shown) connected to the universal cord 12 is guided to the illumination window through light guides 55a and 55b (see FIG. 4) inserted into the insertion portion 10 and the operation portion 11. Then, the region to be observed is irradiated from the illumination window.

  A forceps port 16 is provided in the operation unit 11. A treatment instrument such as a forceps or an injection needle used for treatment of the affected area is inserted into the forceps port 16. The forceps port 16 is connected to a forceps channel 17 (shown by a dotted line, see FIG. 4) disposed in the insertion portion 10, and the forceps channel 17 is a forceps outlet (not shown) provided in the distal end rigid portion 13. ).

  The operation unit 11 is provided with an air / water supply button 18 and a suction button 19. The air / water supply button 18 is operated when flowing a liquid such as air or water through an air / water supply channel 56 (see FIG. 4) provided in the insertion portion 10. The air or liquid that has flowed into the air / water supply channel 56 is ejected from a nozzle (not shown) provided in the distal end rigid portion 13. The suction button 19 is operated when a suction target such as a liquid or tissue in the body is sucked through the forceps channel 17.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the bending portion 14 has a configuration in which a plurality of (for example, 16) bending pieces 20 are connected in series and the outer periphery of the bending piece 20 is covered with a flexible angle rubber 21. . The leading bending piece 20 is fixed to the distal end rigid portion 13. The bending portion 14 bends in the vertical direction (see FIG. 4) in conjunction with the operation of the up / down angle knob 22 provided in the operation unit 11, and in the left / right direction (see FIG. 4) in conjunction with the operation of the left / right angle knob 23. To bend). Thereby, the front-end | tip hard part 13 can be orient | assigned to the desired direction in a body.

  In FIG. 2, the soft portion 15 has a configuration in which a coil 25 is covered with a tube 26. The coil 25 is fixed by a fixing member 27 at a connection portion between the flexible portion 15 and the bending portion 16 (the rear bending piece 20).

  In FIG. 3, the bending piece 20 constituting the bending portion 14 includes a cylindrical portion 30, a pair of inner tongues 31 and an outer tongue 32. The inner tongue 31 protrudes from the end of the cylindrical portion 30 and the outer tongue 32 protrudes from the opposite end of the proximal end.

  The inner tongue 31 is formed in a substantially disc shape, and a connection hole 33 is formed in the center thereof. The outer tongue 32 is formed in a substantially disk shape that is slightly smaller than the inner tongue 31, and has a connection hole 34 that is slightly smaller than the connection hole 33 of the inner tongue 31. The inner tongue 31 and the outer tongue 32 are alternately arranged at intervals of 90 ° in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion 30. The inner tongue 31 is positioned one step away from the outer tongue 32 on the inner side in the radial direction of the cylindrical portion 30. The amount of deviation is about the thickness of the cylindrical portion 30.

  The bending pieces 20 are connected to each other via a connecting pin 35. The connecting pin 35 includes a small diameter portion 37, a large diameter portion 38, a contact portion 39, and a wire guide portion 40 formed in a truncated cone shape each having a circular shape.

  The connecting pin 35 is configured so that the outer tongue 32 of the bending piece 20 on the distal end side overlaps the inner tongue 31 of the bending piece 20 on the proximal end side, and the narrow diameter portion 37 is connected to the coupling hole 34 and the large diameter portion 38. Are inserted into the connecting holes 33 and the end faces of the large-diameter portions 38 are brought into contact with the inner surface of the outer tongue 32 so that the bending pieces 20 are rotatably connected. After the bending pieces 20 are connected to each other, the rear end of the small diameter portion 37 is crimped, and the connecting pin 35 is prevented from falling off the bending pieces 20. Further, the thickness of the large diameter portion 38 in the axial direction is larger than the plate thickness of the inner tongue 31, and between the inner tongue 31 and the outer tongue 32 and between the inner tongue 31 and the abutting portion 39. A gap is generated, and the proximal-side bending piece 20 can be smoothly rotated.

  A guide hole 46 is formed in the wire guide portion 40 so as to penetrate in the radial direction. Up and down or left and right operation wires 48 and 49 are inserted into the guide hole 46 (see FIG. 4). Each operation wire 48, 49 has one end fixed to the distal end rigid portion 13, a pulley (not shown) that rotates with the up / down or left / right angle knobs 22, 23 in the operation portion 11 through the bending portion 14 and the flexible portion 15. And the other end is also fixed to the distal end hard portion 13. When the vertical angle knob 22 is operated, the vertical operation wire 48 is pushed and when the left and right angle knob 23 is operated, the left and right operation wire 49 is pushed and pulled.

  In FIG. 4, in which the AA cross section along the radial direction of the bending portion 14 is viewed from the distal end side, the connecting pins 35 are arranged at 90 ° intervals along the inner periphery of the bending piece 20 constituting the bending portion 14. Yes.

  A forceps channel 17 is disposed in the bending portion 14 at a position deviated from the center in the lower left direction. A light guide 55a, an air / water supply channel 56, a signal cable 57, and a light guide 55b are arranged so as to surround the forceps channel 17.

  The forceps channel 17 is located between the left and lower connecting pins 35. Similarly, the light guide 55a is positioned between the left and upper connecting pins 35, the light guide 55b is positioned between the lower and right connecting pins 35, and the signal cable 57 is positioned between the upper and right connecting pins 35. is there. The air / water supply channel 56 is located slightly above the center of the gap between these built-in objects.

  The light guides 55a and 55b have a configuration in which a fiber bundle in which a plurality of optical fibers are bundled is covered with a flexible tube.

  2 and 4, the light guides 55a and 55b are respectively inserted into the coil springs 60a and 60b in the bending portion 14 (only the light guide 55a and the coil spring 60a are shown in FIG. 2). The coil springs 60 a and 60 b are formed by, for example, densely winding a thin stainless steel wire at a constant pitch, and have elasticity that can expand and contract in the axial direction of the insertion portion 10. The coil springs 60a and 60b are partially fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the entire bending piece 20 by brazing or welding. In the gap between the bending pieces 20, the coil springs 60a and 60b are not fixed to anything. The coil springs 60 a and 60 b expand and contract in the axial direction of the insertion portion 10 following the bending operation of the bending portion 14 caused by the rotation of the bending pieces 20.

  The coil springs 60a and 60b have an inner diameter D2 (provided that D2> D1) that is substantially the same as the outer diameter D1 of the light guides 55a and 55b. For this reason, there is almost no gap between the light guides 55a and 55b and the coil springs 60a and 60b, and therefore there is little room for the light guides 55a and 55b to move in the radial direction within the coil springs 60a and 60b.

  When the bending portion 14 is bent, the built-in object extends or contracts in the axial direction of the insertion portion 10. Moreover, it moves in the radial direction substantially along the bending direction. However, since the light guides 55a and 55b are inserted into the coil springs 60a and 60b and the coil springs 60a and 60b are fixed to the bending piece 20, the coil springs 60a and 60b expand and contract in the axial direction of the insertion portion 10, Expansion and contraction in the axial direction of the insertion portion 10 of the light guides 55a and 55b itself is suppressed. In addition, no matter how the bending portion 14 is bent, the light guides 55a and 55b remain on the inner peripheral surface of the bending piece 20 where the coil springs 60a and 60b are fixed, and do not move in the radial direction.

  Since the forceps channel 17 and the signal cable 57, which are other built-in items other than the light guides 55a and 55b, are located between two of the connecting pins 35 at 90 ° intervals, their movement is restricted to some extent. The When the forceps channel 17 having the largest external shape among the built-in objects moves substantially upward, the air / water supply channel 56 moves upward, and the signal cable 57 moves downward due to the compression. However, since the upward movement of the forceps channel 17 is restricted, the air / water supply channel 56 moves upward and the signal cable 57 moves downward. This is also prevented.

  As described above, since the light guides 55a and 55b are inserted into the coil springs 60a and 60b and the coil springs 60a and 60b are fixed to the bending piece 20, an excessive load is applied to the light guides 55a and 55b by the bending operation of the bending portion 14. It is not hung and can maintain good curve following ability.

  Since the inner diameter D2 of the coil springs 60a and 60b is substantially the same as the outer diameter D1 of the light guides 55a and 55b, there is no room for the light guides 55a and 55b to move in the radial direction in the coil springs 60a and 60b. The buckling of the light guides 55a and 55b can be prevented.

  Note that a lubricant may be disposed between the coil springs 60a and 60b and the light guides 55a and 55b in order to improve the axial slidability of the light guides 55a and 55b in the coil springs 60a and 60b. For example, the outer peripheral surfaces of the light guides 55a and 55b and the inner peripheral surfaces of the coil springs 60a and 60b are coated with a lubricant such as molybdenum disulfide or fluorine resin, or lubricated between the coil springs 60a and 60b and the light guides 55a and 55b. Fill with agent.

  The aspect shown by the said embodiment is only an example, and can be suitably changed into any aspect, if it does not deviate from the meaning of this invention. For example, the built-in protection member is not limited to a coil spring, and may be a member having elasticity in the axial direction, such as a rubber tube.

  Moreover, you may use the protection member 65 shown in FIG. The protection member 65 has a configuration in which hard pipes 66 and coil springs 67 are alternately connected. A portion of the outer peripheral surface of the rigid pipe 66 is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the bending piece 20, similarly to the coil springs 60 a and 60 b of the above embodiment. The coil spring 67 is disposed in a gap portion between the bending pieces 20 and expands and contracts in the axial direction of the insertion portion 10 following the bending operation of the bending portion 14, similarly to the coil springs 60 a and 60 b. As in the above embodiment, it is preferable that the inner diameter D3 of the protection member 65 is substantially the same as the outer diameter D1 of the light guide 55a. Also with this configuration, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

  The hard pipe 66 and the coil spring 67 may be manufactured integrally, or may be integrated after being manufactured separately. Alternatively, a part of the stainless steel wire constituting the coil spring may be bonded and fixed to form a pipe. Further, instead of the coil spring 67, a rubber tube may be used.

  In consideration of the followability to the bending operation, it is more preferable to fix the protection member to all the bending pieces as in the above embodiment, but it is sufficient to fix the protection member to at least the leading and trailing bending pieces. The built-in object inserted into the protective member is not limited to the light guide of the above embodiment, but may be another built-in object such as a forceps channel or a signal cable.

  In the above embodiment, the electronic endoscope 2 is exemplified as the endoscope. However, a fiberscope using an image guide or an ultrasonic endoscope in which an ultrasonic transducer is arranged at the tip may be used. Further, the bending direction may be at least two directions.

2 Electronic endoscope 10 Insertion section 14 Bending section 17 Forceps channel 20 Bending piece 48, 49 Up / down and left / right operation wires 55a, 55b Light guide 56 Air supply / water supply channel 57 Signal cable 60a, 60b, 67 Coil spring 65 Protection member 66 Hard pipe

Claims (6)

An insertion portion having a bendable bending portion formed by connecting a plurality of bending pieces;
A plurality of built-in objects inserted through the insertion portion;
It is a protective member having elasticity in the axial direction, and among the plurality of built-in objects, at least one built-in object other than the wire operated when bending the bending portion is inserted and fixed to the bending piece. An endoscope comprising: a protection member.   The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the protection member is a coil spring.   The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the protection member is fixed to all bending pieces.   The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the protection member has an inner diameter substantially the same as an outer diameter of the built-in object.   The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a lubricant is disposed between the protective member and the built-in object.   The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the protection member is fixed to the bending piece by brazing or welding.

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