JP3088240B2 - Variable diameter endoscope - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a variable-diameter endoscope, and more particularly to a structure of an endoscope having a small diameter for insertion into a body cavity or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A CCD (Charge Cou) which is a solid-state image sensor is used.
2. Description of the Related Art An electronic endoscope for observing an image in a body to be observed by a pled device) and an endoscope for observing the body to be observed only by optical means are well known. Since these endoscopes are inserted into a body cavity such as a gastrointestinal tract for observation or treatment of an affected part, the diameter of the endoscope has been reduced as much as possible. ) Has been manufactured with an endoscope of 10 mm or less. According to this reduction in diameter, there is an advantage that insertion of the endoscope into the body cavity becomes easy, and operability is improved.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned endoscope, there is a problem that the air introduced into the observation body easily comes out of the body due to the small diameter. That is, when observing an affected part in a gastrointestinal tract or the like, air is introduced into the body to be observed, and the inside is maintained at a predetermined pressure, thereby maintaining the affected part in a state where observation or treatment is easy. At this time, although the endoscope itself is a predetermined position in the body to be observed and is not perfect, it functions as a plug, and the existence of the endoscope has prevented air leakage to some extent. However, as the diameter is reduced, the function of the endoscope itself as a plug is reduced, air easily leaks to the outside, and it becomes impossible to maintain the inside of the observation target at a predetermined internal pressure.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a variable diameter endoscope which can efficiently maintain the internal pressure in an object to be observed.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention is the
A flexible portion to be inserted into the observation body, solid outer periphery of the flexible portion
A bag-like membrane (bag-like body) that is fixed and inflatable
A plurality of inflatable portions, and each of the plurality of inflatable portions.
Connected air or liquid supply paths and via these supply paths
To separate air or liquid into each of the multiple expansion sections
And supplying means for supplying the same.

[0006]

According to the above construction, a thin bag-like film made of rubber or resin is attached to the flexible portion disposed behind the angle portion, and the inside of the endoscope is extended from the surface of the expanded portion of the flexible portion. particular feed channel (pipe) is disposed to a predetermined position
Thus, a plurality of inflated portions are formed. Therefore, these expansions
Select any of the parts as appropriate, and select any expansion
When air or water by pump to the parts supplied from the supply path, the bag-shaped film is inflated to a predetermined size, the diameter (diameter) of the endoscope Ru extended to for example 10mm and forth. When the air is introduced into the body to be observed, the inflated portion functions as a stopper for preventing the air from leaking.

[0007]

1 and 2 show a configuration of a variable diameter endoscope (electronic endoscope) according to a first embodiment. As shown in FIG. Is a solid-state image sensor C
CD11 is arranged. An angle portion 12 and a flexible portion 13 that enable a bending operation are connected to the distal end portion 10, and the distal end portion 10, the angle portion 12, and the flexible portion 13 are connected.
Is formed as an insertion part into the body. The diameter (diameter) of the insertion portion is, for example, about 5 mm to 10 mm.

The flexible section 13 is connected to an operation section 14, which has a forceps port 15 for introducing a treatment tool such as forceps to the distal end section 10, a photographing button, an air supply /
An operation button 16 for water supply or the like is arranged. That is, a supply path for sending air or water to the distal end portion 10 is provided in the electronic endoscope, and air or water can be introduced into the body to be observed by the air / water supply operation button 16. It is configured as follows. The light source device 20 is connected to the operation unit 14 via a cable 17 and a connector unit 18. For example, a halogen lamp 21 is provided in the light source device 20, and light from the halogen lamp 21 is guided to the distal end portion 10 by a light guide 22.

In such an electronic endoscope, a first inflatable portion (balloon) B1 is provided around the distal end of the flexible portion 13.
And the second expanding portion B2. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, thin bag-like films 24 and 25 made of rubber or resin are separated and fixed on the surface of the flexible portion 13 by the separation thread 26. A first inflatable portion B1 and a second inflatable portion B2 are formed by the membranes 24 and 25. When the bag-like films 24 and 25 are made of rubber, they expand due to their elasticity, so that they are arranged exactly along the outer periphery of the flexible portion 13.

The first inflatable portion B1 has a flexible portion 1
A supply path (tube) 29 is provided from the inside of the endoscope to the light source device 20 by being connected to the opening 28 of the third light source device 30, and the supply path 29 is connected to the pump P 1 in the light source device 20. On the other hand, the second expanding portion B2 is connected to the opening 30 of the
Is provided to the light source device 20, and this supply path 31 is connected to the pump P2. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a switch S for controlling air supply / intake of air is provided in the connector section 18.
W1 and SW2 are provided, and the switches SW1 and SW2 are provided.
By switching the SW2 to the intermediate (off) position, the air supply side position and the intake side position, the air supply operation and the intake operation of the pumps P1 and P2 can be performed. Therefore, in the first embodiment, it is possible to inflate the two inflated portions B1 and B2 individually. When the inflated portions B1 and B2 are inflated, the diameter thereof is about 10 mm (even if the diameter is 10 mm or more). Good).

The first embodiment has the above-described structure. When the endoscope is used, the distal end portion 10 and the angle portion 1 are used as described above.
2 and the flexible portion 13 are inserted into the body. When the switch SW1 is moved from the intermediate position to the air supply side position, the pump P
1 performs an air supply operation, and air is supplied into the bag-like film 24 from the opening 28 through the supply path 29, so that the first inflatable portion (balloon) B1 is inflated as shown in FIG. Also, the switch SW2
Similarly, when the airbag is moved to the air supply side, the pump P2 performs an air supply operation, and air is supplied from the opening 30 through the supply passage 31 to the bag-like membrane 2.
5, the second expanding portion B2 expands.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which the electronic endoscope is applied to the stomach. In this case, the diameter of the electronic endoscope is 10 mm.
From the following, the insertion of the electronic endoscope into the stomach 33 becomes easy. Thereafter, when only the switch SW1 is tilted toward the air supply side, only the first inflation portion B1 is inflated, whereby the entrance (cardia) of the stomach 33 is closed. As a result, the first inflatable portion B1 functions as a stopper, but the first inflatable portion B1 is more flexible than the conventional case where the endoscope itself is used as a stopper, There is an advantage that the function as a stopper is enhanced because it comes into close contact with the opening site. The inflated portions B1 and B2 can also exert a function of fixing the electronic endoscope itself.

Next, air is introduced into the stomach 33 from the distal end portion 10 by the operation button 16 for air supply, and this air leaks outside due to the presence of the first inflatable portion B1. This makes it possible to maintain a predetermined internal pressure. In this manner, observation of the distal end portion 10 by the CCD 11 and various treatments by the treatment tool introduced into the distal end portion 10 from the forceps port 15 are performed favorably.

Here, when the observation object is further in the back, the endoscope is inserted further in the back, and not the first inflation portion B1, but the second inflation portion B2 is inflated by the operation of the switch SW2. It will be good. Therefore, in the first embodiment, 2
There is an advantage that by appropriately selecting the inflatable portions B1 and B2, it is possible to match the observation target and its position. After the observation is completed, the switches SW1, S
When W2 is tilted toward the intake side, the first inflatable portion B1 and the second inflatable portion B2 are deflated, and the diameter of the endoscope is reduced. Therefore, the operation of extracting the endoscope is easily performed.

In the first embodiment, an example is shown in which two independent expansion portions B1 and B2 are provided, but the number of expansion portions may be three or more. Also, the pumps P1 and P2 are provided by the number of the expansion sections B1 and B2. However, the number of the pumps may be one, and air may be supplied to the expansion sections B1 and B2 using a switching valve or the like.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of a second embodiment. This second embodiment is an example in which an expansion portion is provided on the entire flexible portion. That is, in the electronic endoscope having the same configuration as above,
A bag-like film 34 forming an inflated portion Bo is attached to the entire outer periphery of the flexible portion 13. Then, as in the case of the first embodiment, a supply path is provided inside the bag-like membrane 34, and a pump is attached to this supply path. Therefore, also in the second embodiment, by supplying air to the bag-like film 34, the inflatable portion Bo of the entire flexible portion 13 can be inflated.

In the above embodiment, the expansion portions B1, B2, Bo
Although air is introduced into the air, a liquid such as water may be used instead of the air.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Multiple inflatable parts consisting of a bag-like membrane are fixedly arranged around the outer periphery of the flexible part
And separate air or liquid into the multiple inflators
Supply path and supply means for supplying
Even an endoscope with a reduced diameter can be made to function as a plug by expanding the inflatable portion to partially increase the diameter of the endoscope. Therefore, there is an advantage that a predetermined internal pressure in the body to be observed can be efficiently held, and observation and treatment can be performed well.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a variable diameter electronic endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an expansion section and air and liquid supply means of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the electronic endoscope of the first embodiment is applied to a stomach.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference numeral 10: tip portion, 12: angle portion, 13: flexible portion, 20: light source portion, 24, 25: bag-like film, 29, 31: supply path (tube), B1, B2, Bo: expansion portion, P1, P2 ... Pump, SW1, SW2 ... Switch.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-138430 (JP, A) JP-A-6-54798 (JP, A) JP-A-2-58402 (JP, U) JP-A-2- 17105 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 1/00-1/32

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] (1)A flexible part inserted into the body to be observed, On the outer periphery of this soft partFixedly arranged and inflatable formed
Multiple pouch-shaped membranesAn inflating section,Air or liquid connected to each of the plurality of inflation portions
Supply channel, The air or liquid is supplied to the plurality of expansion sections through these supply paths.
Independently of each other Diameter with supply means
A strange endoscope.