JP2012065850A - Endoscope cooling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope cooling device having a cooling mechanism for an endoscope tip end which can monitor the temperature of the tip end for preventing the temperature from exceeding a predetermined temperature without an increase in the size of the endoscope tip end.SOLUTION: The endoscope cooling device includes an endoscope tip end member 8 having at least one or more electric drive mechanisms 19, and a cooling mechanism 14 for cooling the endoscope tip end member 8. The endoscope cooling device is characterized in that an endoscope tip end member temperature monitoring mechanism is provided to prevent the temperature of the endoscope tip end member 8 from exceeding the predetermined temperature by an electric wiring of the electric drive mechanisms 19.

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope cooling device that cools the distal end portion of an endoscope.

Many parts are arranged in the endoscope distal end member, and some of the parts generate heat due to electric power for driving. The heat generated from each component is transferred to the endoscope tip member, and the temperature of the endoscope tip member rises. The heat generating members are cooled by indirectly cooling the heat generating members introduced into the endoscope front end member by using the heat transfer state and cooling the endoscope front end member.
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 7 of Patent Document 1, a configuration in which a temperature sensor is buried in a metal member at the distal end of the endoscope has been proposed in order to grasp the heat transfer state of the endoscope distal end member.

JP 2006-14925 A

  However, in the conventional method including a temperature sensor at the tip, there is a problem that it is difficult to measure the temperature without increasing the size of the endoscope, considering the processing for introducing the temperature sensor and the space at the tip of the endoscope. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a cooling mechanism for an endoscope tip that can be monitored so that the temperature of the tip does not exceed a predetermined temperature without increasing the size of the tip of the endoscope. It is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope cooling apparatus having the same.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention includes an endoscope tip member having at least one electrical drive mechanism and a cooling mechanism for cooling the endoscope tip member. In the endoscope cooling device,
Consists of electrical wiring with an electrical drive mechanism, equipped with an endoscope tip member temperature monitoring mechanism for monitoring the endoscope tip member so as not to exceed a predetermined temperature,
The illumination driving condition or the imaging element driving condition is changed when the temperature of the endoscope distal end member is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the endoscope tip member temperature monitoring mechanism monitors the temperature according to the resistance value.

  Further, according to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the endoscope tip member temperature monitoring mechanism uses electrical wiring of at least one electric drive mechanism introduced into the endoscope tip member.

  In another preferable aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the electric drive mechanism is an LED.

  In another preferable aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the electric drive mechanism is an image sensor, an image sensor drive driver, or illumination.

  In another preferable aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the cooling mechanism includes a water cooling mechanism and a tube.

  The endoscope cooling device according to the present invention has an effect that the temperature of the endoscope tip member can be monitored and cooled without increasing the size of the endoscope tip.

It is a figure which shows the structure of an endoscope system. It is sectional drawing of an endoscope longitudinal direction. It is sectional drawing of an endoscope radial direction. It is a figure which shows the structure of the cooling mechanism of an endoscope. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an electric drive mechanism. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a temperature monitoring mechanism. It is a figure explaining the relationship between resistance value and temperature. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement in the endoscope after temperature monitoring.

  Embodiments of an endoscope cooling apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Example)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope system having an endoscope cooling device according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope system 5 is an observation apparatus that observes the inside of a subject. The endoscope 1 is a device having means for entering the body of a subject and acquiring in-vivo images, living cells, and treatment. The light source device 2, the video processor 3, and the monitor 4 are electrically and mechanically connected to the endoscope 1 and play various roles. The light source device 2 is a device that drives the light of the endoscope 1. The video processor 3 performs processing of images sent from the endoscope 1 and synchronization and processing of each circuit. The monitor 4 outputs an image of the endoscope 1. Here, the light source device 2, the video processor 3, and the monitor 4 are collectively referred to as an endoscope system 5.

The configuration of the endoscope tip will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. 2 is a cross-sectional view in the longitudinal direction of the endoscope, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the endoscope radial direction, and FIG. 4 is a view showing the configuration of the cooling mechanism.
In FIG. 2, an image sensor 6 for acquiring an image is introduced at the distal end of the endoscope 1, and power is supplied to the image sensor drive driver 16 through the image sensor power supply line 7. The image sensor drive driver 16 is a mechanism for controlling the drive conditions of the image sensor 6. An image sensor power supply line 7 connects the endoscope system 5 to the image sensor 6 in FIG. Similarly, the illumination part 18 (LED etc.) is controlled by the electrical wiring connected from the endoscope system 5 of FIG.

  The image sensor 6 is introduced into the endoscope tip member 8. The endoscope distal end member 8 is disposed at the distal end of the endoscope 1 and includes a large number of components such as an air supply, a water supply tube, an illumination fiber, and an introduction port for a treatment device. The forceps hole 17 and the illumination unit 18 shown in FIG. 3 have such a role. The forceps hole 17 is a hole into which a treatment device is introduced. Further, the illumination unit 18 is connected to, for example, an illumination fiber.

An observation window 9 for observing an observation target is disposed on the front surface of the endoscope distal end member 8. The endoscope tip member 8 is disposed on the rigid portion 10 in the endoscope 1. The rigid portion 10 refers to a portion located on the distal end side of the endoscope 1 with respect to the bending piece 12 and is a portion having no flexibility. On the rear side of the curved piece 12, the curved piece 12 has flexibility, and this portion is called a soft portion 11.
There are various types of the endoscope 1, and the endoscope 1 includes only the rigid portion 10 without the flexible portion 11, and the imaging element 6 is not mounted in the endoscope distal end member 8. There is also a thing arranged behind.

A cooling mechanism 13 is attached to one end of the endoscope distal end member 8. The cooling mechanism 13 will be described with reference to FIG. The cooling mechanism 13 includes a water cooling mechanism 14 and a tube 15. The water cooling mechanism 14 has a flow path formed therein, and heat exchange is performed by a liquid such as water passing through the inside. At this time, the liquid flowing in the water cooling mechanism 14 may not be water. However, fluid such as air is not suitable because it needs to be liquid-cooled in consideration of cooling efficiency. A tube 15 is connected to circulate water through the water cooling mechanism 14. Water is moved by a pump (not shown).
As the pump, a pump used for air supply and water supply of the endoscope 1 is branched and used, or a small pump is connected separately. Since this pump is introduced into the endoscope system 5, the size restriction is not so severe.

  Water is circulated in the order of the endoscope system 5 → the tube 15 → the water cooling mechanism 14 → the tube 15 → the endoscope system 5 by the pump. Since the water cooling mechanism 14 is thermally coupled to the endoscope tip member 8, the heat of the endoscope tip member 8 is moved. The water cooling mechanism 14 and the endoscope distal end member 8 are coupled with, for example, an adhesive.

  As described above, a number of parts are arranged in the endoscope distal end member 8, and some of the parts generate heat due to electric power for driving. The heat generated from each component is transferred to the endoscope tip member 8 and the temperature of the endoscope tip member 8 rises. Cooling of these heat generating members is indirectly performed using this heat transfer state. That is, by cooling the endoscope distal end member 8, the heat generating member in the endoscope distal end member 8 can be cooled.

Next, a method for monitoring the temperature of the endoscope distal end member 8 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
As described above, there are several heat generating members in the endoscope distal end member 8. Such a member that is electrically driven and generates heat will be referred to as an electrical drive mechanism 19. The electrical drive mechanism 19 may be not only the image sensor 6 and the image sensor drive driver 16 but also an LED 18 or the like.

  The embodiment will be described in the case where the endoscope tip member temperature monitoring mechanism 27 uses the image sensor drive driver 16 as the electrical drive mechanism 19. Note that the endoscope tip member temperature monitoring mechanism 27 is not limited to the LED 18 or the like as well as the image pickup device 6 and the image pickup device driver 16 as long as it is an electrical mechanism introduced into the endoscope tip member 8. Absent.

  The electric drive mechanism 19 is introduced into the endoscope distal end member 8, shows a member that generates heat by electric drive, and becomes a member indirectly cooled by the cooling mechanism 13 described above. The electrical drive mechanism 19 changes its electrical resistance value as the temperature rises. The increase in the resistance value according to the temperature becomes a constant determined by the material of the resistance. Here, this constant is defined as a temperature characteristic α. If the temperature characteristic α of the resistance value and the resistance value are known, the temperature of the electrical drive mechanism 19 at that time can be predicted.

  In the embodiment, measurement of the resistance value when the image pickup device driving driver 16 is applied as the electrical driving mechanism 19 will be described. In FIG. 5, the image sensor drive driver 16 is electrically coupled to the image sensor power supply line 7. The image sensor power supply line 7 is extended from the endoscope system 5 and supplies power to the image sensor drive driver 16. The electric power is generated by the voltage generator 29, adjusted to a predetermined voltage value by the voltage adjusting unit 20 according to the driving state of the image sensor 6, and supplied. The current value supplied to the image sensor driving driver 16 is measured by the current measuring mechanism 28. When the image sensor driving driver 16 is driven, the electrical resistance value inside the image sensor driving driver 16 increases due to a temperature rise. For this reason, the power value supplied to the image sensor drive driver 16 decreases unless the resistance value increase due to the temperature increase is taken into consideration.

  In FIG. 6, the power value is monitored by the voltage adjusting unit 20 and the current measuring mechanism 28, and the voltage value is adjusted to be constant at a predetermined power. The predetermined voltage is stored in the voltage memory 26 in advance. Simultaneously with the start of driving, the voltage memory 26 passes the value of V0 to the voltage adjusting unit 20 and causes the voltage generator 29 to generate it.

  At this time, since the voltage value and the power value are known, the resistance value can be calculated from Ohm's law. The resistance value is calculated by sending the voltage value from the voltage adjusting unit 20 and the current value from the current measuring mechanism 28 to the resistance value calculating unit 23. The calculated resistance value is sent to and stored in the resistance value memory 22. The temperature is calculated from the temperature characteristic α of the resistance value and the change in the resistance value stored in the resistance value memory 22. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining temperature calculation.

The temperature is represented by Tn = T0 + (Rn−R0) / α, where T0 represents the initial temperature. In this case, T0 is the same as the body temperature of the subject.
Since the resistance values Rn and R0 need only be known in order to calculate the temperature Tn as expressed by the above equation, R1 to R (n−1) may be deleted from the resistance value memory 22.

  The temperature calculation unit 23 receives the resistance values Rn and R0 from the resistance value memory 22 at the place where the temperature calculation is performed, and calculates the temperature. Thereafter, the calculated temperature is sent to the temperature comparison unit 24. The temperature comparison unit 24 compares the temperature value stored in advance in the temperature memory 25 with the temperature value sent from the temperature calculation unit 23.

  Next, the operation in the endoscope system 1 after temperature monitoring will be described using the flowchart of FIG. In step S801, when the endoscope 1 is driven, the voltage adjustment unit 20 drives the voltage generator 29 under the condition of V = V0 in the voltage memory 26. Thereafter, the temperature is calculated by the above method.

  In step S <b> 802, the temperature comparison unit 24 compares the output temperature of the temperature calculation unit 23 with the temperature of the temperature memory 25. When the output temperature of the temperature calculation unit 23 is lower than the temperature of the temperature memory 25, the process returns to step S802, the drive at the voltage V0 is continued, the resistance value is stored, and the temperature calculation is continued.

In step S803, the voltage V and the voltage V1 are compared.
When the output temperature of the temperature calculation unit 23 is higher than the temperature of the temperature memory 25, in step S805, the voltage memory 26 instructs the voltage adjustment unit 20 to generate a voltage under the condition of V1 that is lower than the voltage V0. Put out. That is, assuming that the temperature of the image sensor driving driver 16 is higher than a predetermined temperature, driving with a low voltage V1 is performed to suppress the temperature rise.

  The driving with the voltage V1 is continued, the resistance value is stored, and the temperature calculation is continued.

When the output temperature of the temperature calculation unit 23 is higher than the temperature of the temperature memory 25, in step S804, the voltage memory 26 instructs the voltage adjustment unit 20 to generate a voltage under the condition of the voltage V2 lower than the voltage V1. put out. That is, assuming that the temperature of the image sensor driving driver 16 is higher than a predetermined temperature, driving with a low voltage V2 is performed to suppress the temperature rise.
In this manner, the temperature of the image sensor drive driver 16 can be calculated based on the resistance value of the image sensor drive driver 16, and the supplied power can be controlled. Monitoring is performed so that the temperature of the endoscope distal end member 8 does not exceed a predetermined temperature, and when the temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, the driving condition of the image sensor 6 can be changed.

As described above, according to the embodiment, the endoscope tip member 8 is not provided with a new temperature sensor, and the electric wiring of the driving system already in the endoscope tip member 8 is used. It becomes possible to control the temperature of the tip member 8. Therefore, it is possible to provide an endoscope apparatus having an endoscope tip cooling mechanism capable of monitoring the tip temperature so as not to exceed a predetermined temperature without increasing the size of the endoscope tip.
In the embodiment, the electrical wiring of the image sensor drive driver 16 is used, but a plurality of pieces of resistance value information can be obtained using a plurality of electrical drive mechanisms 19. For example, it is a case where a plurality of CCD or LED lines are measured. In that case, more accurate temperature monitoring becomes possible.

  As described above, the endoscope cooling device according to the present invention is useful for an endoscope having an electric drive mechanism and a cooling mechanism at the endoscope distal end portion, and in particular, cooling without increasing the size of the endoscope distal end. It is suitable for endoscopes that are desired.

1 Endoscope
2 Light source device
3 Video processor
4 Monitor
5 Endoscope system 6 Image sensor
7 Imaging Element Power Supply Line 8 Endoscope End Member 9 Observation Window
10 Hard part 11 Soft part
12 Curved top
13, 14 Water cooling mechanism 15 Tube
16 Image sensor driver
17 Forceps hole
18 Illumination unit 19 Electric drive mechanism 20 Voltage adjustment unit
21 Resistance calculation unit
22 Resistance memory
23 Temperature calculator
24 Temperature comparison part
25 Temperature memory
26 Voltage memory
27 Endoscope member temperature monitoring mechanism
28 Current measuring mechanism 29 Voltage generator

Claims (6)

An endoscope cooling device comprising: an endoscope tip member having at least one electric drive mechanism; and a cooling mechanism for cooling the endoscope tip member.
It is composed of electrical wiring that the electrical drive mechanism has, and includes an endoscope tip member temperature monitoring mechanism that monitors the endoscope tip member so as not to exceed a predetermined temperature,
An endoscope cooling apparatus, wherein an illumination driving condition or an imaging element driving condition is changed when a temperature of the endoscope tip member becomes a predetermined temperature or more.   The endoscope cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endoscope tip member temperature monitoring mechanism monitors temperature according to a resistance value.   The endoscope according to claim 2, wherein the endoscope tip member temperature monitoring mechanism uses electrical wiring of at least one or more electric drive mechanisms introduced into the endoscope tip member. Mirror cooling device.   The endoscope cooling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the electrical drive mechanism is an LED.   The endoscope cooling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the electrical drive mechanism is an image sensor, an image sensor drive driver, or illumination. The endoscope cooling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cooling mechanism includes a water cooling mechanism and a tube.

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