JP2511220Y2 - Endoscope - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope, and more particularly to an endoscope which is provided with a face plate image sensor at its tip and outputs an optical image obtained by an objective optical system as a video electric signal. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In addition to an endoscope which uses a so-called optical fiber bundle as an image guide, a TV which uses a face plate-shaped image sensor in which charge transfer elements typified by a CCD, in which minute light receiving elements are arranged in a matrix, are combined. Endoscopes have been proposed. Such a TV endoscope is more durable than a conventional endoscope using an image guide fiber, can perform various processing on an electric signal as a video output, and has a cost advantage. It is excellent in terms of its practical application.

By the way, the face plate image sensor used as the tip image pickup device of the TV endoscope has been considerably miniaturized recently due to the improvement of the manufacturing technology and the degree of integration thereof. Still not enough. As is well known, the outer diameter of the endoscope must be made small so that it can be inserted into the body cavity. For example, in a gastroscope, an outer diameter of about 10 mm or less is desirable. further,
Even if the size of the image sensor provided is downsized to a satisfactory level, there is also a demand for improved resolution, that is, to increase the number of pixels on the image sensor, which increases or decreases the size of the image sensor. It works in the direction to make it.

Under such a background, so-called TV
In constructing an endoscope, how to efficiently arrange the distal end structure of the endoscope, in particular, the image sensor or the objective optical system for forming an optical image on the endoscope is important point. Will be. As a typical tip end form that has been proposed so far, in a direct-view endoscope, a face plate-shaped image sensor is arranged according to a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction (insertion direction) of the endoscope. Then
A device that directly forms an optical image from a direct-viewing objective optical system, or in a side-viewing type endoscope, an image sensor is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the endoscope and closer to one side wall surface of the endoscope. It is known to form an optical image from a visual objective optical system on this. However, the above-mentioned conventional type tip structure is very unreasonable when a realistic image sensor is incorporated. In the former case, considering the cross section of the distal end portion, the area occupied by the image sensor face plate in that plane becomes the majority, and other members required for the endoscope, such as the light guide channel and the forceps channel, It becomes very difficult to provide an air / water channel. On the other hand, in the latter, the image sensor face plate is brought closer to one side of the endoscope and an optical image from the side-viewing objective optical system provided on the other side is imaged on the image sensor face plate. Looking at it, the area occupied by the side-viewing objective optical system becomes large, and moreover, because the image sensor face plate is placed close to one side wall of the endoscope, which is said to have a shape that is preferably circular in cross section, the sectional shape is also A considerable amount of deformation will be expected.

In view of the above circumstances, the applicant has already proposed that the face plate image sensor be arranged in the longitudinal direction of the endoscope in order to arrange the face plate image sensor without thickening the tip of the insertion portion of the endoscope. We have proposed an endoscope placed on a plane including the central axis of the. By the way, the tip of the endoscope insertion portion is composed of a tip hard portion that holds the objective optical system and the like, and a soft portion connected to the rear end. The distal end rigid portion is made incapable of being bent by a tubular distal end fitting, and in a direct-view endoscope, an observation window or the like is opened on the front side thereof. Further, the flexible portion is composed of a plurality of node rings and can be freely bent in any direction by the operation wire.

When changing the observation direction, the flexible portion is bent and the direction of the tip hard portion is changed. In this case, since the tip hard part cannot be bent and only follows the bending of the soft part, if the length of the tip hard part is long, the turning radius becomes large, and contact with the affected part in the body cavity may occur. May cause patient distress. Furthermore, if the length of the non-bendable distal end portion is long, it is inconvenient for the surgeon to perform a moving operation to a desired observation position.
Therefore, in an endoscope, it is desirable to make the tip rigid portion as short as possible.

Further, a lead wire must be connected to the image sensor, and the arrangement of the lead wire also poses a problem in the tip portion of the endoscope having a diameter of 10 mm or less.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an endoscope which is provided with a face plate image sensor at its tip and outputs an optical image obtained by an objective optical system as a video electric signal. In this regard, it is an object of the invention to propose an endoscope in which the length of the rigid end portion of the insertion portion is short and the lead wire connected to the face plate image sensor can be easily arranged.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an endoscope according to the present invention, a rear end portion of a substrate of a face plate image sensor is bent and formed, and a lead wire for signal transmission is connected to the rear end portion of the bent substrate. Composed. That is, by making the rear end portion of the substrate for connecting the lead wire protruding rearward into a bent configuration, the length of the substrate in the insertion portion longitudinal direction can be reduced and the length of the tip hard portion can be shortened.

Further, the bending direction is on the rear side of the optical path changing member, whereby the lead wire can be arranged in the space behind the optical path changing member.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of an endoscope according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 show an example in which the present invention is applied to a direct-viewing endoscope, as a side sectional view and a schematic front view of a distal end portion, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, the distal end portion 10 of the endoscope insertion portion includes a distal end rigid portion 12,
It is composed of the flexible portion 14. The tip rigid portion 12 is composed of a tip fitting 16 and is not bendable. The tip fitting 16 includes a tubular fitting 16a that forms the main part of the rigid portion 12,
It is composed of a disc-shaped metal fitting 16b fitted to the tip thereof. The flexible portion 14 is formed of a plurality of node rings 18 connected to each other, and can be bent vertically and horizontally by the operation wire 17. As shown in FIG. 2, in addition to the objective optical system 20, a light guide channel 22 is provided on both sides of the endoscope distal end portion 10,
24, a forceps channel 26 and an air / water feeding channel 28 are inserted upward in the longitudinal direction of the endoscope (horizontal direction in FIG. 1). As is apparent from FIG. 1, the objective optical system 20 generally has a plurality of lens configurations, but in the present invention, a right-angle prism 30 is provided behind the objective optical system 20.
The optical path of is converted by 90 °, and a rectangular and face plate image sensor 32 is joined to the light exit surface thereof.

The image sensor 32 is located along the vicinity of the plane including the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the endoscope (the line X-X in FIG. 1 and the line X1-X1 in FIG. 2). Can be used effectively. Each optical component forming the objective optical system 20 is fixed to the tip fitting 16 directly or via the lens frame 34 or the like. Openings are formed in the metal fitting 16b in accordance with the other various channels, for example, a forceps tube 36 is connected to the forceps channel 26 as shown in FIG. 1, and forceps are inserted and used here. The substrate 38 of the image sensor 32 is formed to be slightly longer than the image sensor 32 in the width direction (diameter direction of the endoscope insertion portion), as is clear from FIGS. (Longitudinal direction), they are formed to have substantially the same length. The rear end side of the substrate 38 is formed so as to be longer than the image sensor 32 in advance, and is bent substantially at right angles to the axial direction of the tip of the insertion portion. That is, the rear end portion 38a of the substrate 38 is bent and formed on the same side as the prism 30 (lower side in FIG. 1). The lead wire 40 sends a drive signal from a drive circuit of a control unit (not shown) to the image sensor 32, and at the same time, the image sensor 3
The video signal from 2 is sent to the control unit. The lead wire 40 is composed of an extremely fine conductive wire, and is composed of a non-binding portion 42 in which the individual conductive wires are not bound and in a state of being unbound, and a binding portion 44 which is continued from the non-binding portion 42 and is covered with a tube or the like. . The unbundled portion 42 of the lead wire 40 of the image sensor 32 is connected to the back surface of the bent rear end portion 38a of the substrate 38, and is connected to each minute light receiving body of the image sensor 32. As is clear from FIG. 1, the non-bundling portion 42 as the connecting portion of the lead wire 40 is located linearly along the longitudinal direction of the tip portion 10, and is not particularly bent in the tip portion 10 and 38. In this way, the lead wire 44 can be easily arranged by utilizing the space behind the objective optical system 20.

The storage area 32a of the image sensor 32 is arranged closer to the front end than the image area 32b. That is, the storage area 32a is arranged by utilizing the space on the side of the objective optical system 20, and the length of the image sensor 32 is shortened by that much. Further, a heat conductive material 39 is interposed between the substrate 38 of the image sensor 32 and the tip fitting 16. This thermal conductive material 39
Is made of, for example, epoxy resin mixed with metal powder such as aluminum, and is filled in the upper space of the substrate 38 in FIG.

It should be noted that the tip of the substrate 38 has a disc-shaped metal fitting 1
It is inserted in a groove 43 formed in 6b, and a heat conductive material 39 is filled in a gap between the groove 43 and the insertion portion of the substrate 38. As a result, the tip portion of the substrate 38 is brought into direct contact with the disc-shaped metal fitting 16b to easily release heat, and the substrate 38 is arranged forward by the amount inserted into the groove 43. It contributes to the shortening of the tip hard part 12 by reducing the number.

According to the embodiment of the endoscope of the present invention constructed as described above, the rear end portion of the substrate 38 of the solid-state image pickup device is bent and formed at a substantially right angle to the central axis X--X line. Since the lead wire 40 is connected to the bent rear end portion 38a, the length of the substrate 38 is shortened, and the tip rigid portion 12 on which the substrate 38 is arranged can be shortened accordingly. Therefore, the turning radius of the rigid tip portion 12 when the observation direction is changed is reduced, and the patient's pain due to contact in the body cavity can be reduced. Also, the substrate 3
Since the lead wire 40 can be connected to the substrate without especially bending at the bent rear end portion 38a of 8, the lead wire 40 is not subjected to an excessive force, and is therefore effective in preventing peeling or disconnection of the connection portion. It will be

In the above embodiment, the rear end portion 38a of the substrate 38 is used.
Is bent substantially at right angles to the axis X--X, the rear end portion 38a may be bent at an obtuse angle in the clockwise direction with respect to the axis X--X, that is, toward the prism 30 side. In the above embodiment, the direct view type endoscope is explained,
The present invention can also be applied to a side-view endoscope. In the side-view endoscope, in addition to the prism 30 of the direct-view endoscope in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is necessary to change the arrangement of the side-view prism in the front part of the objective optical system 20.

[0017]

As described above, according to the endoscope of the present invention, since the rear end portion of the substrate of the image sensor is bent, the length of the substrate can be reduced and the tip hard portion can be shortened. be able to. As a result, the patient's pain can be alleviated during the operation of the endoscope.

Further, since the bent portion of the substrate is bent to the rear of the optical path changing member, the space behind the optical path changing member can be effectively used, and the raid line can be easily arranged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a case where an embodiment of an endoscope according to the present invention is applied to a direct-viewing endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference numeral 10 ... End portion of endoscope 12 ... Hard portion of tip 14 ... Soft portion 20 ... Objective optical system 30 ... Prism 32 ... Image sensor 38 ... Substrate 38a ... Rear end portion of substrate 40 ... Lead wire 42 ... Lead wire non-binding portion

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A face plate image sensor is provided at a tip end,
In an endoscope that outputs an optical image obtained by an objective optical system as a video electric signal, a substrate on which the face plate image sensor is attached is disposed along an axis of a distal end portion of the endoscope, and the objective optical system. Is disposed on one side of the substrate, and the optical path from the objective optical system is converted to change the face plate image.
The optical path conversion member to be incident on provided Jisensa endoscope, characterized in that the substrate rear end to form a connecting portion of the lead wire to the rear of the bent form to the optical path conversion member at the rear of the optical path conversion member .