JP3091211B2 - Endoscope device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus having an electromagnetic driving means for driving a bending portion of an endoscope to bend.

[Related Art] In recent years, a slender insertion portion having a curved portion that can be bent at the distal end is inserted into a body cavity to observe the inside of the body cavity, and perform a treatment process using a treatment tool as necessary. Endoscope devices capable of observing the inside of a lumen by inserting the insertion portion into the lumen are widely used. However, in order to improve insertability and operability, an endoscope apparatus has been widely used. Electromagnetic means, for example, an endoscope apparatus using a motor has been proposed as a means for bending the bending portion of the endoscope insertion section. Further, an endoscope device having a built-in solid-state imaging device such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) at the tip and using the imaging device as an imaging means is rapidly spreading. Recently, the endoscope apparatus has been focused on not only observing and diagnosing its purpose but also on treatment using various treatment tools inserted into a forceps channel in the endoscope. Examples of various treatment tools include a biopsy forceps and a high-frequency treatment tool that cuts a polyp or cuts a nipple by flowing a high-frequency current.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, an endoscope apparatus which can use a solid-state imaging device at an end as an imaging means and bends a bending portion of an endoscope insertion section with a motor is an electric signal from the solid-state imaging device. Although it is configured by a processing device for performing imaging processing, for example, a video signal system to be transmitted to a video processor, and a motor drive system including a control unit that drives and controls the motor and the bending unit adjacent to the video signal system. However, in such an endoscope device, noise enters the motor drive system outside the motor drive system, for example, from an adjacent video signal system, so that the motor drive system malfunctions and the tip of the endoscope moves in a desired direction. The curving part to be turned may become uncontrollable.

Further, in an endoscope apparatus having a motor drive system including a motor and a control section for driving and controlling the bending section and having a forceps channel in an insertion section, a high-frequency treatment instrument is inserted into the forceps channel to perform high-frequency treatment. When a high-frequency current is passed through the tool,
When noise from the high-frequency current enters the motor drive system, the motor drive system malfunctions in the same manner as described above, and the bending portion for directing the end of the endoscope in a desired direction may become uncontrollable.

As a result of the inability to control the bending portion, not only does the operator's diagnosis and biopsy become seriously hindered, but there is also a risk of damaging the body cavity wall.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an endoscope apparatus that can prevent a malfunction of a driving unit that drives a bending portion due to noise from a high-frequency treatment instrument. The purpose is.

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] An endoscope apparatus according to the present invention includes an endoscope provided with an insertion channel, driving means for electromagnetically driving a bending portion of the endoscope, and the insertion device. A high-frequency treatment instrument inserted into the channel and a control means for stopping the operation of the driving means in accordance with a state of supplying a high-frequency current to the high-frequency treatment instrument are provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing a side surface of an endoscope operation unit. It is.

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment includes:
An endoscope in which an insertion section 3 having a slender end and a bending section 2 which can be bent at an end thereof for easy insertion into the body and an operation section 4 capable of bending the bending section 2 are formed near the insertion section 3. A mirror 5, a display monitor 6 for displaying an image of the inside of the body cavity with a signal captured by the endoscope 5, a drive control device 7 for controlling the bending portion 2, and irradiating the endoscope 5 inside the body cavity And a light source device 9 provided with a light emitting unit 8 for supplying illumination light to be emitted.

The endoscope 5 includes a light guide 10 including a plurality of optical fibers for transmitting illumination light into the insertion unit 3 and an imaging device for transmitting a photoelectric conversion signal of a solid-state imaging device 11 provided at a tip of the insertion unit 3. The signal cable 12 is inserted. A first motor 13 for bending the bending portion 2 in a certain direction and a second motor 13 for bending the bending portion 2 in a direction perpendicular to this direction are provided in the operation portion 4.
A motor unit 15 including a motor 14 is provided, and a universal cord 16 into which the light guide 10 and the like are inserted is extended to the operation unit 4 to the outside. A light source connector 17 is attached to an end portion of the universal cord 16. The light source connector 17 is attached to the light emitting portion 8 of the light source device 9, whereby the light source connector 17 is attached.
Light including a visible light region is applied to the end face of the light source. The emitted light is transmitted by the light guide 10 in the universal cord 16 or the like, and is emitted from the illumination window 18 facing the distal end surface of the insertion portion 3 to the front of the end surface, so that the front can be illuminated.

The light source connector 17 includes an imaging connector receiver 19 and a drive connector receiver 20. Imaging connector receiver
Reference numeral 19 denotes an imaging code through which the imaging signal cable 12 is inserted.
An imaging connector 22 formed at an end of the drive cord 21 is connected to the drive connector receiver 20, and a drive connector 24 formed at an end of the drive cord 23 is connected to the drive connector receiver 20. The drive cord 23 has a drive signal cable 25 for transmitting a drive control signal to the motor unit 15 inserted therethrough.

The solid-state imaging device 11 is provided behind an objective lens system 27 disposed in an observation window 26 adjacent to the illumination window 18,
An optical image of an observation site (not shown) illuminated from the illumination window 18 is formed on an end surface of the solid-state imaging device 11. The tip of the image signal cable 12 is connected to the solid-state image sensor 11. By connecting an imaging connector 28 provided at the rear end of the imaging cord 21 to an imaging connector receiver 30 of a video signal processing device 29, the solid-state imaging device
The photoelectric conversion output of 11 is transmitted through the imaging signal cable 12 in the imaging code 21 and the like, and is input to the video signal processing device 29. Further, the video signal is converted into a video signal by the video signal processing device 29 and can be displayed on the display monitor 6.

The distal end of the drive signal cable 25 drives and operates the motor unit 15 in the operation unit 4 and the first motor 13 and the second motor 14 on the side surface of the operation unit 4 in FIG. , For example, are connected to slide volumes 31 and 32. By operating these slide volumes 31 and 32, the first motor 13 and the second motor 13 pass through a motor control circuit 35 for controlling the motor unit 15.
14 is controlled to rotate forward and reverse, so that the bending portion 2 can be bent in the up-down (UD) or right-left (RL) direction. The driving portion of the motor section 15 is connected to the bending section 2 via a reduction gear (not shown) by an angle wire (not shown) so that the bending section 2 can be bent. By connecting the drive connector 33 provided at the rear end of the drive cord 23 to the drive connector receiver 34 of the drive control device 7, the control signal of the motor control circuit 35 The signal is transmitted by a drive signal cable 25 so that the drive of the motor unit 15 can be controlled. The drive control device 7 includes a motor main power supply that supplies power to the motor control circuit 35 and the motor unit 15.
It consists of 36. Power is supplied to the motor main power supply 36 from an AC power supply via a transformer T.

The motor unit 15 is a conductive material, for example, housed in a box-shaped shield box 37 made of a brass plate, and the drive signal cable 25 is a conductive material, for example, Brass braided braided braid 38
Covered in. The shield box 37 and the blade 38 are electrically connected to each other, and the potential of the blade 38 is grounded via the drive control device 7.

The first motor 13 and the second motor 14 are, for example,
What is necessary is just to have a means using an electromagnetic action like an ultrasonic motor, a stepping motor, or a DC motor.

The operation of the first embodiment thus configured will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the insertion section 3 of the endoscope 5 inserted into the body cavity, illumination light including visible light is supplied from the light emitting section 8 of the light source device 9 and passes through the insertion section 3 via the light source connector 17. The light is transmitted to the light guide 10 and irradiated inside the body cavity. The optical image inside the body cavity is formed on the end face of the solid-state imaging device 11, and the photoelectric conversion output of the solid-state imaging device 11 is input to the video signal processing device 29 via the imaging signal cable 12, and the video signal processing device It is converted into a video signal by 29 and displayed on the display monitor 6.

The bending section 2 at the distal end of the insertion section 3 is driven and controlled by a motor section 15 via a drive control device 7 by operating slide volumes 31 and 32 in FIG. Curve if necessary.

The photoelectric conversion output of the solid-state image sensor 11 is
When transmission is performed, electromagnetic noise is generated around the imaging signal cable 12, but the motor unit 15 and the drive signal cable
25 is electromagnetically shielded by the shield box 37 and the blade 38, so that it is not affected by this electromagnetic noise, but is also affected by electromagnetic noise generated by devices other than the endoscope device 1. The driving of the motor unit 15 is controlled without malfunction.

Therefore, the surgeon can perform bending operation of the bending portion 2 without malfunction due to electromagnetic noise as necessary while observing the inside of the body cavity, and easily insert the insertion portion 3 to a position near a desired observation site (not shown). The observation site can be observed.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. The present embodiment is an improvement of the first embodiment in which the object of the present invention is reliably achieved even when a high-frequency processing device is used.

FIGS. 3 to 5 relate to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the second embodiment, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams of the second embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cross section of the imaging signal cable according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the endoscope 5 of the present embodiment has a forceps channel through which various treatment tools (not shown) can be inserted into the insertion portion 3.
39 and an insertion port 40 through which a treatment tool can be inserted into the operation unit 4. The high-frequency treatment device 41 includes a high-frequency treatment device 42, a high-frequency power supply 43, and a high-frequency current control circuit 44. The high-frequency treatment device 42 is inserted into the forceps channel 39. The imaging signal cable 12 inserted into the insertion section 3
As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of core wires 50-1 to 50-n are formed, and the plurality of core wires 50-1 to 50-n are electrically insulated from each other. -N
Cotton yarns 51-1 to 51-m are provided between them, and the surrounding area is covered with an insulating member that keeps electrical insulation, for example, an EPTFE (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene) member 52. The FPTFE member 52 is covered with a shield member 53 whose potential is grounded via a video signal processing device 29 with a conductive material, for example, a brass mesh tube. Further, the shield member 53 is covered with an insulating member that electrically insulates the outside, for example, an FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene) member 54. The plurality of core wires 50
One of -1 to 50-n is a core line (hereinafter referred to as a dummy code) 45 dedicated to reading noise. The video signal processing device 29 includes a noise reading circuit 46 to which a dummy code 45 is connected and which can detect noise on the dummy code 45 and remove the noise component from signals of other core wires, and a display monitor. 6 comprises a signal processing circuit 47 for outputting a video signal.

The imaging signal cable 12 may be formed of four core wires 50a to 50d and one cotton thread 51a as shown in FIG.

When using the high-frequency treatment device 41, the noise reading circuit 46 detects high-frequency noise generated by the high-frequency treatment instrument 42 inserted into the forceps channel 39, and removes the noise component from signals of other core wires. At the same time
A motor power control signal is output by detecting noise on the dummy code 45. The output motor power control signal is input to the drive control device 7 through the signal cable 48. The drive control device 7 turns off the motor main power supply 36 according to the input motor power control signal, thereby forming a malfunction preventing means of the bending portion 2.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, even when using the high frequency processing device 41 that outputs a high frequency much higher than the level to the video signal, the motor unit 15 Malfunction can be reliably prevented. Further, in the present embodiment, a plurality of core wires 50-1 to 50-n, 50a
There is no problem with using a coaxial cable instead of ~ 50d.

Other configurations, operations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

Next, a third embodiment will be described. As in the second embodiment, the present embodiment is an improvement of the first embodiment in which the object of the present invention is reliably achieved even when a high-frequency processing device is used.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of the third embodiment.

The endoscope 5 of the present embodiment is provided with a forceps channel 39 through which various treatment tools (not shown) can be inserted into the insertion section 4, and an insertion port 40 through which the treatment tools can be inserted into the operation section 4. High frequency power supply 41
Is a foot switch 49 provided externally for controlling a high-frequency current flowing through the high-frequency treatment instrument 42 via the control cable 55.
It is connected to the. The foot switch 49 outputs a motor power control signal while a high-frequency current is supplied to the high-frequency treatment instrument 42. The motor power control signal is input to the drive control device 7 through the signal cable 48. The drive control device 7 turns off the motor main power supply 36 according to the input motor power control signal, thereby preventing the bending section 2 from malfunctioning. Is formed.

In the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, similarly to the second embodiment, even when the high-frequency processing device 41 is used, the motor main power supply
By turning OFF 36, the malfunction of the motor unit 15 can be reliably prevented.

Other configurations, operations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

In the third embodiment, while the operation of the drive control device 7 is stopped and the high-frequency processing device 41 is operated, the drive signal cable 25 connected to the motor control circuit 35 is disconnected. A signal level (noise level) may be detected, and the bending drive may be stopped only when the level is equal to or higher than an allowable level.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the bending portion can be driven without malfunction without being affected by noise from the high-frequency treatment instrument, and the endoscope distal end portion is oriented in a desired direction. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 and 2 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a side view showing a side surface of an endoscope operation unit, and FIGS.
FIG. 3 relates to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of the second embodiment. FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of an image signal cable in the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the third embodiment of the present invention, which relates to the third embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Bending part, 4 ... Operation part 7 ... Drive control device, 11 ... Solid-state image sensor 12 ... Imaging signal cable 15 ... Motor part, 25 ... Drive signal cable 29 ... Video signal processing device 36 …… Motor main power supply, 37 …… Shield box 38 …… Blade

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An endoscope provided with an insertion channel, driving means for electromagnetically driving a curved portion of the endoscope, a high-frequency treatment instrument inserted through the insertion channel, and a high-frequency treatment instrument Control means for stopping the operation of the driving means in accordance with the state of current supply of the high-frequency current.