JP2022095547A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a small-sized endoscope cable having a structure that can increase an amount of light and increase the length of a cable compared with those in a conventional structure.SOLUTION: An endoscope cable 1 is configured so that an imaging part 2, a transmission cable 3, and a connector part 4 are arranged sequentially in a row. The transmission cable 3 includes a plurality of insulation electric wires 6 for connecting an image sensor 5 integrated into the imaging part 2 to external equipment M1, and a plurality of optical fibers 7 for illuminating an object. An LED 9 is integrated in the connector part 4 as a light source for the optical fibers 7. Emission sides of the optical fibers 7 are disposed at a plurality of places outside the image sensor 5 on one end side of the transmission cable 3. The central part of the transmission cable 3 is covered with a jacket 8 in a state where the optical fibers 7 are wound spirally in a longitudinal direction outside the insulation electric wires 6 aggregating around an axis line, and are covered with a heat shrinkable tube 16.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an endoscope cable and an endoscope.

Of the endoscopes, the configuration that irradiates the observation target with light, receives the reflected light with an image sensor, converts it into an electrical signal, and displays the image on a monitor, etc., allows the observation target to be observed efficiently in a short time and is observed. Since it is easy to store image data, it is widely used in industrial and medical applications.

Conventionally, there has been proposed an endoscope in which a communication path is provided at the peripheral edge of a solid-state image pickup device and an optical fiber bundle is inserted and arranged (Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-088923). Further, there has been proposed an image pickup apparatus in which an optical fiber bundle is arranged on the outer periphery of a CMOS camera and a circular protective tube is arranged on the outer periphery of the optical fiber bundle (Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-099485). Further, there has been proposed an endoscope in which an image pickup element is arranged in a holder provided with a hole for passing a guide wire for a catheter and optical fibers are arranged on both sides of the image pickup element (Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-01744). Gazette). Some commercially available endoscopes are equipped with an ultrafine outer diameter cable (Non-Patent Document 1: "Ultrafine Industrial Endoscope Catalog" Internet <URL: https://www.spieng.com/ product / pdf / catalog # 0.95 # 1.8.pdf>).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-08923 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-099485 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2020-01744

"Catalog for ultra-fine industrial endoscopes" Internet <URL: https://www.spieng.com/product/pdf/catalog#0.95#1.8.pdf>

In recent years, the demand for endoscopes has been increasing, and there is a demand from the market that the size of the endoscope is small and the cable is lengthened according to the observation conditions such as the increase in the amount of light for observing the details and the observation position. However, due to the structure of the current endoscope cable, it is difficult to achieve both a small size, an increased amount of light, and a long cable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope cable having a small size and a structure capable of increasing the amount of light and lengthening the cable as compared with the conventional structure.

As an embodiment, the above-mentioned problem is solved by the solution disclosed below.

The endoscope cable according to the present invention is configured by connecting an image pickup unit, a transmission cable, and a connector portion in order, and the transmission cable has a plurality of insulations for connecting an image sensor built in the image pickup unit to an external device. It has an electric wire and a plurality of optical fibers for illuminating an object, an LED is built in the connector portion as a light source of the optical fiber, and one end side of the transmission cable is a plurality of outside the image sensor. The emission side of the optical fiber is arranged at a location, and the central portion of the transmission cable is covered with a heat-shrinkable tube by winding the optical fiber spirally in the longitudinal direction on the outside of the insulated wire gathered around the axis. It is characterized in that it is covered with an outer cover in a state of being covered.

According to this configuration, the amount of light can be increased by providing a plurality of optical fibers. Since the spirally wound optical fiber is covered with a heat-shrinkable tube, fraying can be prevented and the transmission cable can be easily assembled. Then, by making it a double structure that is tightened with a heat-shrinkable tube and covered with an outer cover, a thin and durable structure can be obtained. Further, since the LED is built in the connector portion as the light source of the optical fiber, the size can be small and the configuration can have high flexibility even in the configuration where the transmission cable is long. Therefore, the image pickup unit can be brought closer to an object in a complicated and narrow space.

It is preferable that the outer periphery of the insulated wire is branched from the incident side of the optical fiber in a state where the tape is wound, the heat-shrinkable tube is made of an elastomer, and the jacket is made of silicone. .. According to this configuration, the other end side of the transmission cable is branched into a bundle on the incident side of the optical fiber and an insulated wire wound with tape, so that the connector portion can be easily assembled. The double structure of the heat-shrinkable tube made of elastomer and the outer cover made of silicone provides the stretchability, bendability, and kinkability required for the transmission cable, and can be easily sterilized.

In the image pickup unit, a first tubular body having a polygonal opening is arranged so as to surround the image sensor, and an emission side of the optical fiber is arranged outside the first tubular body, and the optical fiber is arranged. It is preferable that the second tubular body is arranged so as to surround the emission side of the optical fiber, and the connector portion is arranged so that the third tubular body is arranged so as to surround the bundle on the incident side of the optical fiber. According to this configuration, the image sensor and the optical fiber can be easily protected and positioned by the first cylindrical body and the second tubular body. Moreover, it is possible to efficiently inject the light from the LED in a state where the third tubular body is arranged so as to surround the bundle on the incident side of the optical fiber. And, by using one LED, it can be made rational and compact. The first cylindrical body has an opening having a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the image sensor, and as an example, the opening has a quadrangular shape. The second cylindrical body has a shape that makes it easy to approach a narrow place where the opening is complicated, and as an example, the opening has a circular shape. The third cylindrical body has an opening corresponding to the emission surface of the LED, and as an example, the opening has a circular shape.

As an example, in the transmission cable, a core wire made of a material having a Young's modulus larger than that of the conductor of the insulated wire is arranged on the axis. According to this configuration, even when the transmission cable is lengthened, it is easy to take advantage of the flexibility required for the transmission cable to bring the image pickup unit closer to an object in a complicated narrow space and to improve the resilience of the transmission cable. Therefore, it is possible to easily reduce the outer diameter of the transmission cable and increase the length. As an example, the core wire is a piano wire. Here, the central axis may be a hollow or a core material made of resin or a material having a Young's modulus smaller than that of the conductor of the insulated wire.

According to the present invention, the amount of light can be increased by providing a plurality of optical fibers. Since the spirally wound optical fiber is covered with a heat-shrinkable tube, fraying can be prevented and the transmission cable can be easily assembled. Then, by making it a double structure that is tightened with a heat-shrinkable tube and covered with an outer cover, a thin and durable structure can be obtained. Further, since the LED is built in the connector portion as the light source of the optical fiber, the size can be small and the configuration can have high flexibility even in the configuration where the transmission cable is long. Therefore, it is possible to bring the image pickup unit closer to an object in a complicated and narrow space, and it is possible to realize an endoscope that is easier to use than the conventional product and can observe details.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an example of an endoscope cable according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2A is a schematic plan view of FIG. 1 as viewed from the tip end side of the imaging unit, and FIG. 2B is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the tip end side of the imaging unit in FIG. 3A is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line IIIA-IIIA showing the first example of the transmission cable in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3B is a schematic internal structural view of the connector portion in FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing a second example of the transmission cable, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing the third example of the transmission cable. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an endoscope to which the endoscope cable according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is an endoscope cable 1 applicable to an endoscope used in a manufacturing line such as a factory, a defect analysis room for products, or a medical site. As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope cable 1 is configured by connecting an image pickup unit 2, a transmission cable 3, and a connector unit 4 in order. The transmission cable 3 has a plurality of insulated wires 6 for connecting the image sensor 5 built in the image pickup unit 2 to the external device M1 and a plurality of optical fibers 7 for illuminating the object. The image sensor 5 is, for example, a CMOS sensor. As an example, the external device M1 includes a processing circuit that converts an output signal from the image sensor 5 into a video signal, and a display monitor that displays an image based on the video signal.

2A is a schematic plan view of FIG. 1 as viewed from the tip end side of the image pickup unit 2, and FIG. 2B is a schematic vertical sectional view of the tip end side of the image pickup unit 2 in FIG. On the tip end side of the image pickup unit 2, the emission side 7b of the optical fiber 7 is arranged at a plurality of places on the outside of the image sensor 5 on one end side of the transmission cable 3. In the example of FIG. 2A, the image pickup unit 2 surrounds the image sensor 5 and has a first cylindrical body 11 having a rectangular opening, and optical fibers are provided on four outer side surfaces of the first cylindrical body 11. The emission side 7b of 7 is arranged. A second cylindrical body 12 having a circular opening is arranged so as to surround the emission side 7b of the optical fiber 7, and both the outer cover 8 of the transmission cable 3 and the outer surface of the second tubular body 12 are arranged. A fourth cylindrical body 14 having a circular opening is arranged so as to surround the above. The outer cover 8 and the fourth tubular body 14 are adhesively fixed by an adhesive as an example. The configuration is not limited to the above, and the emission side 7b of the optical fiber 7 may be arranged on each of the two opposing side surfaces of the outer side surface of the first tubular body 11. Therefore, the emission side 7b of the optical fiber 7 is arranged at two or four locations along the outer side surface of the image pickup unit 2. The opening of the first cylindrical body 11 is not limited to a quadrangular shape, and may be a known polygonal shape such as a hexagonal shape or an octagonal shape.

In the example of FIG. 2A, a part of the side surface of the first tubular body 11 is an optical fiber at a place where the emission side 7b of the optical fiber 7 is arranged and a place where the emission side 7b of the optical fiber 7 is arranged. There is a place where the 7 is not arranged, and a gap is formed in which the connection portion between the image sensor 5 and the insulated wire 6 can be visually recognized. As a result, electrical connection such as soldering between the image sensor 5 and the insulated wire 6 can be easily performed by utilizing the gap. As shown in FIG. 2B, the first cylindrical body 11, the second tubular body 12, and the fourth tubular body 14 are arranged in rotational symmetry with respect to the axis P1. The first tubular body 11 and the second tubular body 12 are made of nickel, copper, aluminum, titanium, stainless steel, iron, or an alloy thereof, respectively. Further, if necessary, metal plating is applied to ensure high conductivity and high slidability. The first tubular body 11 partitions the image sensor 5 and the optical fiber 7, and by combining the first tubular body 11 and the second tubular body 12, heat conduction while positioning the optical fiber 7. The action can prevent the temperature of the imaging unit 2 from rising. The fourth tubular body 14 is made of nickel, copper, aluminum, titanium, stainless steel, iron, an alloy thereof, plastic, or the like. It is also possible to omit the fourth tubular body 14 by extending the second tubular body 12 to position the optical fiber 7 and adhesively fixing the outer cover 8.

FIG. 3A is a schematic sectional view taken along line IIIA-IIIA showing a first example of the transmission cable 3, and FIG. 3B is a schematic internal structural view of the connector portion 4. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the plurality of insulated wires 6 are composed of three coaxial cables, and the optical fiber 7 is arranged around the insulated wires 6 gathered around the axis P1. It is configured to be wound in a spiral shape in the longitudinal direction and covered with a heat-shrinkable tube 16 and then covered with an outer cover 8. The heat shrink tubing 16 is made of an elastomer and, for example, a polyolefin or nylon. The outer cover 8 may be made of a silicone tube, or the outer cover 8 may be made of a thermoplastic resin such as a copolymerized polyester resin or a thermosetting resin.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the LED 9 is built in the connector portion 4 as a light source of the optical fiber 7, and the outer periphery of the insulated wire 6 in the transmission cable 3 is such that the tapes partially overlap each other along the longitudinal direction. The tape 21 is wound and branched from the incident side 7a of the optical fiber 7. Inside the connector portion 4, the LED 9 is positioned on the rear end side of the holder 17, and the bundle of the incident side 7a of the optical fiber 7 is placed in the through hole of the third tubular body 13 positioned on the tip end side of the holder 17. The light emitted from the LED 9 is incident on the bundle of the incident side 7a of the optical fiber 7 in the penetrating state. Then, the internal conductor of the insulated wire 6 is electrically connected to the connection terminal portion 18 arranged on the rear end side of the connector portion 4 by soldering or the like. As an example, the tape 21 is composed of a resin film with a single-sided adhesive layer or a paper tape with a single-sided adhesive layer. The third tubular body 13 has a cylindrical shape having a flange as an example, and is composed of nickel, copper, aluminum, titanium, stainless steel, iron, or an alloy thereof as an example. The LED 9 has a chip shape as an example, and has a configuration that emits visible light. The transmission cable 3 is covered with an outer cover 8 in a state where an optical fiber 7 is spirally wound in the longitudinal direction on the outside of an insulated wire 6 in a state of being tape-wound on the outer circumference and is covered with a heat-shrinkable tube 16. It is a composition.

The insulated wire 6 has a configuration in which a conductor wire made of a copper wire, a copper alloy wire, or the like is covered with an insulating coating made of a polyester resin, a polyurethane resin, or the like, and supplies power to the image sensor 5 and outputs from the image sensor 5. The signal is transmitted. The optical fiber 7 is a fine fibrous material made of quartz glass or plastic, has a core in the center and a clad that covers the periphery of the core, and has a configuration in which visible light is incident and propagated and emitted.

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing a second example of the transmission cable 3. As shown in FIG. 4A, in the transmission cable 3, a core wire 15 made of a material having a Young's modulus larger than that of the conductor of the insulated wire 6 is arranged on the axis. As an example, a piano wire is arranged as a core wire 15 in the central portion of the transmission cable 3. According to this configuration, even when the transmission cable 3 is lengthened, the image pickup unit 2 is brought closer to an object in a complicated narrow place by utilizing the flexibility required for the transmission cable 3, and the restoreability of the transmission cable 3 is enhanced. Therefore, the outer diameter of the transmission cable 3 can be easily reduced and the length can be easily increased. FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing a third example of the transmission cable 3. As an example, the insulated wire 6 is composed of a plurality of conductor wires twisted together. This makes it possible to further increase the flexibility of the insulated wire 6 as compared with the configuration made of a single wire. A known material may be applied to the insulated wire 6, the optical fiber 7, the heat-shrinkable tube 16, and the outer cover 8. Further, as a configuration other than the above, it is also possible to have a configuration in which the self-bonding insulated wires 6 are fused to each other instead of the tape winding.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an endoscope 10 to which the endoscope cable 1 according to the present embodiment is applied. As an example, the endoscope 10 has a configuration in which the connector portion 4 of the endoscope cable 1 is connected to the interface portion 19, and the USB terminal 19a of the interface portion 19 is connected to a personal computer as an external device M1. According to this configuration, by connecting to a commercially available external device M1, it is possible to easily observe an object, which is highly versatile. In addition to the above configuration, the connector unit 4 having the function of the interface unit 19 may be used. Alternatively, as described above, the configuration may be such that it is connected to a dedicated external device M1 equipped with a processing circuit that converts an output signal from the image sensor 5 into a video signal and a display monitor that displays an image based on the video signal. .. According to this configuration, the handy type external device M1 enables observation of an object regardless of the observation location.

[Example]
As an example, the central portion of the transmission cable 3 is covered with a heat-shrinkable tube 16 made of an elastomer by winding an optical fiber 7 spirally in the longitudinal direction on the outside of an insulated wire 6 gathered around an axis to form a heat-shrinkable tube 16. It was configured to be covered with an outer cover 8 made of a silicone tube in a covered state. Then, a nickel square pipe is attached to a CMOS sensor having a side width of 0.65 [mm] and a substantially square shape when viewed from the tip side, and one end of the coaxial wire conductor in the transmission cable 3 is connected to the CMOS sensor. In addition, the emission side of the optical fiber 7 having a diameter of 50 [μm] in the transmission cable 3 is bundled in groups of 20 and arranged along the four side surfaces of the square pipe, and then the emission side of the optical fiber 7 is surrounded. A round pipe made of stainless steel was attached, and a protective pipe was attached to the outer periphery of each of the round pipe and the outer cover 8 of the transmission cable 3. Then, the other end of the conductor of the coaxial wire is connected to the external connection terminal in the connection terminal portion, and a bundle of 80 pieces on the incident side of the optical fiber 7 is passed through a cylindrical body built in the connector portion 4 to form one LED 9. The light emitted from the light beam is arranged at the position where it is incident.

Then, an endoscope cable 1 having an outer diameter of 1.2 [mm] and a total length of 1200 [mm] was produced. The endoscope cable 1 can be set to have a total length of 50 [mm] or more, and can be set to 5000 [mm] or more, depending on the intended use. Further, by using a piano wire having a diameter of 0.2 to 0.5 [mm] as the core wire of the transmission cable 3, the image pickup unit 2 can be placed on a complicated object in a narrow place by taking advantage of the flexibility required for the transmission cable 3. It is possible to easily improve the resilience of the transmission cable 3 as it is brought closer. With this configuration, it was possible to secure a sufficient amount of light required for illuminating the object even if the outer diameter of the transmission cable 3 was reduced and the length was increased.

The present invention is not limited to the examples described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the present invention.

1 Endoscope cable 2 Imaging unit 3 Transmission cable 4 Connector unit 5 Image sensor 6 Insulated wire 7 Optical fiber 8 Outer cover 9 LED
10 Endoscope 11 1st cylinder 12 2nd cylinder 13 3rd cylinder 14 4th cylinder 15 Core wire 16 Heat shrink tube 17 Holder 18 Connection terminal 19 Interface 21 Tape M1 External device P1 Axis

The present invention relates to an endoscope .

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope having a small size and a structure capable of increasing the amount of light and lengthening a cable as compared with the conventional structure.

The endoscope according to the present invention is an endoscope having an endoscope cable in which an image pickup unit, a transmission cable, and a connector portion are connected in order, and the transmission cable is an image built in the image pickup unit. It has a plurality of insulated wires for connecting a sensor to an external device and a plurality of optical fibers for illuminating an object, and a chip-shaped LED is built in the connector portion as a light source of the optical fiber. The emission side of the optical fiber is arranged at a plurality of places on the one end side of the transmission cable on the outside of the image sensor, and the optical fiber is arranged on the outside of the insulated wire gathered around the axis at the center of the transmission cable. The insulated wire is wound in a spiral shape in the longitudinal direction and covered with a heat-shrinkable tube, and the insulated wire is covered with a tape around the outer periphery of the optical fiber inside the connector portion. A third tubular body is arranged so as to be branched from the incident side and to surround the bundle on the incident side of the optical fiber, and the image pickup unit surrounds the image sensor and has a polygonal opening. A first tubular body is arranged, an emission side of the optical fiber is arranged outside the first tubular body, and a second tubular body is arranged surrounding the emission side of the optical fiber. The fourth tubular body having a circular opening surrounding both the outer cover and the outer surface of the second tubular body is bonded and fixed .

Claims (5)

The image pickup unit, the transmission cable, and the connector section are connected in order, and the transmission cable is composed of a plurality of insulated wires for connecting an image sensor built in the image pickup section to an external device and for illuminating an object. It has a plurality of optical fibers, an LED is built in the connector portion as a light source of the optical fiber, and one end side of the transmission cable is arranged at a plurality of places outside the image sensor on the exit side of the optical fiber. The central portion of the transmission cable is covered with an outer cover in a state where the optical fiber is spirally wound in the longitudinal direction and covered with a heat-shrinkable tube on the outside of the insulated electric wire gathered around the axis. An endoscope cable characterized by being configured. The outer periphery of the insulated wire has a configuration in which the tape is wound and branched from the incident side of the optical fiber, the heat-shrinkable tube is made of an elastomer, and the outer cover is made of silicone. The endoscope cable according to claim 1. In the image pickup unit, a first tubular body having a polygonal opening is arranged so as to surround the image sensor, and an emission side of the optical fiber is arranged outside the first tubular body, and the optical fiber is arranged. The second tubular body is arranged so as to surround the emission side of the optical fiber, and the connector portion is characterized in that the third tubular body is arranged so as to surround the bundle on the incident side of the optical fiber. The endoscope cable according to claim 1 or 2. The endoscope cable according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the transmission cable has a core wire made of a material having a Young's modulus larger than that of the conductor of the insulated wire arranged on the axis. An endoscope provided with the endoscope cable according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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