JP3385661B2 - Endoscope fouling prevention mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope antifouling mechanism in which an insertion portion is covered with a disposable antifouling sleeve.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope must be cleaned after each use because it is inserted into the body cavity of a patient. Of these endoscopes, the one that is most heavily contaminated is the insertion portion that is directly inserted into the body cavity.
In order to avoid the problem of secondary infection, it must be thoroughly cleaned thoroughly. However, this cleaning operation of the insertion portion requires a long time and a lot of labor, and it is impossible to immediately reuse it after using it for one case. For this reason, a flexible sheath member is fitted to the insertion portion and provided, and after insertion into the body cavity and use,
It is also known in the related art to replace the sheath member so as to protect the insertion portion from being contaminated.

[0003]

By the way, in the case of the above-mentioned structure, the sheath member must be removed and a new sheath member must be attached each time it is used. The removal of the sheath member may be simply pulled out from the insertion portion, but it is rather difficult to mount a new sheath member, and the replacement work is considerably troublesome. In particular, the sheath member must be flexible, and the insertion part can be several meters depending on the application.
The length of the sheath member makes it extremely difficult to mount the sheath member. Moreover, if air is present between the sheath member and the insertion portion, the portion where the air has entered at the time of insertion swells up, causing great pain to the patient when passing through the narrowed portion, etc. There are also problems such as damage to the sheath member.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has been made for the purpose of providing a disposable type antifouling function that allows the insertion portion to be replaced easily and quickly. .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, a sleeve made of a flexible film having a predetermined length is provided at a base end side portion of an insertion portion to be inserted into a body cavity. There is a stock section to stock only, and pull from this stock section.
The feature is that the sleeve is exposed to cover the insertion portion .

[0006]

The sleeve is pulled out from the stock portion to the tip of the insertion portion, and the tip portion is fixed by an appropriate means.
In this state, when the insertion part is inserted into the body cavity for diagnosis / inspection and taken out of the body cavity, the sleeve is soiled, but the insertion part itself covered by this sleeve is kept clean. Has been done. Therefore, the used portion of the sleeve is pulled out. Then, when the used sleeve is completely pulled out, it is cut at a predetermined position and the tip is fixed to the tip portion of the insertion portion,
A clean, unused sleeve has been placed over the insert.

As described above, if the sleeve is pulled out, the used portion is cut, and then fixed to the distal end portion of the insertion portion, the endoscope can be reused as it is. Operability is significantly improved.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the endoscope. As is clear from the figure, the endoscope is roughly composed of an insertion portion 1, a main body operation portion 2 and a light guide connector 3, and the light guide connector 3 is a light source device (not shown). It is detachably connected, and the operator grips the main body operation unit 2 to perform an operation, and the insertion unit 1 is inserted into the body cavity.

FIG. 2 shows the construction of the insertion portion 1 and the connecting portion between the insertion portion 1 and the main body operating portion 2. A protection member 10 that exhibits a function of preventing the base end portion of the insertion portion 1 from being bent is provided in a portion of the insertion portion 1 that is continuous with the main body operation portion 2. The protective member 10 is composed of a ring-shaped connecting fitting 11 and a cover rubber 12 fixedly provided on the connecting fitting 11, and the connecting fitting 11 is screwed into the casing of the main body operating portion 2 to protect it. The member 10 is removable. When the protective member 10 is attached, the tip of the cover rubber 12 comes into contact with the vicinity of the base end of the insertion section 1, and the elasticity of the cover rubber 12 causes the transition from the insertion section 1 to the main body operation section 2. It prevents the hardness of the parts from changing rapidly.

The connecting fitting 11 of the protective member 10 is incorporated in the insertion portion 1 so as not to be in contact therewith. Therefore, a predetermined annular space is formed between the inner surface of the connecting fitting 11 and the base end of the insertion portion 1. A cassette-shaped sleeve cartridge 21 for stocking a flexible film sleeve 20 formed by forming a soft resin film into a cylindrical shape is provided in this space.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sleeve cartridge 21 is composed of a hollow cylindrical member, the inner diameter of which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the insertion portion 1, and the outer diameter of which is smaller than the inner diameter of the connecting fitting 11. It is getting smaller. A sleeve 20 having a length of about ten to several tens of times the length of the insertion portion 1 is accommodated in the sleeve cartridge 21, and a slit-shaped outlet is provided at the end of the sleeve cartridge 21. 21a is formed. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the sleeve 20 is formed with a fragile portion 20a such as a perforation at each portion slightly longer than the entire length of the insertion portion 1, and the front side of the fragile portion 20a. Is provided with a thick portion 20b having a substantially circular cross section. The tip of the sleeve 20 is the sleeve cartridge 2
It is held in a state of protruding a predetermined length from the first outlet 21a, and its tip portion is a thick-walled bottomed tubular portion 22, and a pulling knob 22a is formed in this tubular portion 22. ing.

The tip of the sleeve 20 is attached to the tip of the insertion portion 1.
A tip cap 23 as a means for fixing the portion is detachably screwed. This tip cap 23
As shown in FIG. 4, the front surface is made of transparent glass 23a, and a thread groove is formed on the inner surface of the peripheral body portion 23b. Further, at the tip of the thread groove forming portion of the peripheral body portion 23b,
The cover portion 23c is continuously provided. A step portion 24 is formed at a portion of the distal end portion of the insertion portion 1 where the cover portion 23c of the distal end cap 23 is located, and when the sleeve 20 is completely covered with the insertion portion 1, the thickness at the distal end portion thereof is increased. The meat portion 20b is adapted to enter the step portion 24.

The present embodiment is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described below. When the insertion portion 1 of the endoscope is inserted into the body cavity, it can be covered with a disposable sleeve 20 so that the surface thereof is not contaminated. A protective member 10 is provided at a portion of the base end portion of the insertion portion 1 that is connected to the main body operation portion 2.
Release the screwing state of the main body operation unit 2 to the casing,
Remove it by pulling it out to the tip side of the insertion part 1. Further, the tip cap 23 is also detached from the tip of the insertion section 1.

In this state, first, the sleeve cartridge 2
The cylindrical portion 22 of No. 1 is fitted to the tip of the insertion portion 1. After that, as shown in FIG. 5, the protective member 10 is attached to the tubular portion 22.
And the sleeve cartridge 21 is engaged with the protective member 10. In this state, when the protective member 10 is displaced toward the main body operating portion 2 side, the sleeve cartridge 21
While the sleeve 20 is pulled out from the sleeve cartridge 21, the sleeve cartridge 21 also moves to the main body operation unit 2 side. Then, when the protective member 10 is screwed into the casing of the main body operating portion 2, the sleeve cartridge 21 is fixed at a predetermined position together with the protective member 10. At the same time, the outer surface of the insert 1 is completely covered by the sleeve 20.

Here, the cover rubber 12 which constitutes the protective member 10 serves to prevent the base end portion of the insertion portion 1 from being bent, and the tip portion 12a thereof is in contact with the outer surface of the insertion portion 1. . For this reason, the cover rubber 12 is inserted into the insertion portion 1.
When moving to the main body operation part 2 side along the
When 0 is squeezed and a predetermined tension is applied, the sleeve 20 comes into close contact with the insertion portion 1 and air is not present therebetween. And
The thick portion 20b formed on the sleeve 20 is inserted into the step portion 24, and the knob 22a is pulled so that the tubular portion 2
2 are separated and the tip cap 23 is screwed onto the tip of the insertion portion 1. By mounting the tip cap 23, the thick portion 20b of the sleeve 20 that has entered the step portion 24 is covered with the cover portion 23c of the tip cap 23,
In addition, by driving the tip cap 23, the thick wall portion 20b can be enclosed in the step portion 24, and the function as a sealing member can be exerted.

As a result, the entire insertion portion 1 is completely covered by the sleeve 20. Moreover, since the sleeve 20 is squeezed by the cover rubber 12 and air is not present between the sleeve 20 and the outer surface of the insertion portion 1,
As a result, unevenness does not occur on the outer surface portion, so that the smoothness of the insertion operation into the body cavity and the pain of the patient can be reduced. As described above, since the sleeve 20 is tensioned in its longitudinal direction, it is preferable to use the sleeve 20 having strength in this direction.

After inserting the insertion portion 1 into the body cavity of the patient for diagnosis and inspection, and after removing the insertion portion 1 from the patient's body, the tip cap 23 and the sleeve 20 are contaminated with body fluid or the like. However, since the insertion portion 1 itself does not come into contact with the body cavity or the like, it is kept in a clean state. Therefore, the tip cap 23 is detached from the tip portion of the insertion portion 1 and the tip portion of the sleeve 20 is pulled out.
As a result, the sleeve 20 is pulled out from the pull-out port 21a of the sleeve cartridge 21. Then, in this sleeve 20, when the next thick portion 20b is pulled out to the position of the step portion 24 at the tip of the insertion portion 1,
The thick portion 20b is pushed into the step portion 24, and the unused portion of the newly drawn sleeve 20 is pressed by a hand to exert a strong pulling force on the already used portion. Thus, the fragile portion 20a formed at the front of the thick portion 20b is cut. Then, the tip cap 23 is newly screwed into the tip portion of the insertion portion 1. Of course, when pulling out this sleeve 20,
Since it passes through the cover rubber 12, the sleeve 20 is fed while being squeezed by the cover rubber 12 so as to come into close contact with the outer surface of the insertion portion 1. Also, cover rubber 1
Since 2 is composed of an elastic member, the thick portion 20b
Even though there is some resistance, it is possible to pass through the contact portion of the cover rubber 12 with the insertion portion 1.

By the extremely simple operation as described above,
The insertion part 1 can be reused without cleaning. Moreover, the entire insertion portion 1 is kept in a completely clean state, and is rather clean rather than washed by washing each time it is used, which is extremely preferable in terms of hygiene. Thus, although the used sleeve 20 is disposable, the tip cap 23 may be reused by washing, and it is more hygienic to make the tip cap 23 also disposable. It will be preferable. Then, by repeating the above-described operation until the stock of the sleeve 20 in the sleeve cartridge 21 is used up, the endoscope can be used many times without cleaning. When the sleeve cartridge 21 is used up, the protective member 10 may be removed and replaced with a new sleeve cartridge 21.

By the way, in the endoscope, treatment or the like can be performed by using forceps or other treatment tools. As shown in FIG. 6, the treatment instrument 30 includes the insertion portion 3
1 through the treatment instrument insertion channel 32 provided in the distal end of the insertion portion 31, the treatment instrument lead-out port 32a provided at the tip end of the insertion portion 31.
If the distal end surface of the insertion portion 31 is completely covered by 3,
The treatment tool 30 cannot be led out.
Therefore, in an endoscope of the type that uses such a treatment tool 30, a tip ring 33 as shown in the figure is used instead of the tip cap 23. This tip ring 33
As a means for fixing the tip portion of the sleeve 20, a threaded portion is formed on the inner surface of the peripheral barrel portion 33b, and a cover portion 33c is continuously provided on the peripheral barrel portion 33b.
Similar to the tip cap 23, but the tip portion is open. And, apart from the tip surface of the insertion portion 31,
In order to protect the outer peripheral surface of the tip end portion where the screw is formed from being contaminated, a seal ring 34 is fitted to the inner surface on the tip end side of the peripheral body portion 33b of the tip end ring 33.

With the above construction, as in the first embodiment described above, by pulling out the sleeve 20, most of the long insertion portion 31 does not need to be washed each time it is used, and the tip thereof can be washed. Except for the surface and the treatment instrument insertion channel 32, there is no possibility of being contaminated with body fluid or the like. Therefore,
The treatment instrument insertion channel 32 has a treatment instrument introduction port 32.
When the cleaning / disinfecting solution is circulated from a to perform cleaning, the cleaning / disinfecting solution is spread to the tip surface and wiped off with a cloth or the like, the state becomes reusable.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the stock portion for stocking the sleeve for the predetermined length is provided at the base end side portion of the insertion portion, and the sleeve is stocked from the stock portion.
Use the endoscope because it is pulled out to cover the insertion part.
Each time, pull out the sleeve to cover the insertion part.
By doing so, it becomes possible to cover almost the entire length of the insertion part made of a long member with a sleeve for contamination prevention with an extremely simple operation, and the part covered by this sleeve does not need to be washed. In addition, it is more hygienic than cleaning.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a configuration explanatory view of an insertion portion equipped with a stain prevention mechanism and a continuous portion of the insertion portion and a main body operation portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a structural explanatory view of a sleeve cartridge.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a tip cap.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state when the sleeve cartridge is attached to the endoscope.

FIG. 6 is a structural explanatory view of a distal end portion of an insertion portion equipped with a stain prevention mechanism showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,31 insertion part 10 Protective member 11 Connecting bracket 12 cover rubber 20 sleeve 20a fragile part 20b thick part 21 sleeve cartridge 23 Tip Cap 24 Step 33 Tip ring

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-205049 (JP, A) Actual development 5-51301 (JP, U) Actual development 5-228114 (JP, U) Actual development 1- 140902 (JP, U) Actual Kaihei 7-9303 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 1/00-1/32

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stock portion for stocking a sleeve made of a flexible film for a predetermined length is provided at a base end side portion of an insertion portion to be inserted into a body cavity, and the stock portion is pulled out from the stock portion.
A stain prevention mechanism for an endoscope, characterized in that the insertion portion is covered with the sleeve . 2. The stock part is provided inside a protection member for preventing breakage, which has a cover rubber covering a base end part of the insertion part, and a sleeve can be pulled out from between the cover rubber and the outer surface of the insertion part. The contamination prevention mechanism for an endoscope according to claim 1. 3. The endoscope fouling according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve is formed with a fragile portion so that the sleeve can be easily cut at each portion that is longer than the length of the insertion portion. Prevention mechanism. 4. A means for fixing the tip of the sleeve is provided.
And these sleeves and their fixing means
Both are characterized by covering the entire outer peripheral surface of the insertion part.
The stain prevention mechanism for an endoscope according to claim 1, which is a characteristic of the endoscope.