JP3772138B2 - Endoscope system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention Endoscope system More specifically, there is a characteristic in the hardness adjustment part of the soft part Endoscope system About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, an endoscope capable of observing a site to be inspected in a body cavity without needing an incision by inserting an elongated insertion portion into the body cavity, or performing a therapeutic treatment using a processing tool as necessary Became widely used.
[0003]
The insertion part of the endoscope is flexible so that it can be inserted into a bent insertion path, but because of this flexibility, the orientation of the distal end side is not fixed with respect to the proximal side. , It may be difficult to introduce in the target direction. In order to cope with this, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-30211 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-10162, a flexible adjustment member (a stylet or a leading cord or the like is called in the endoscope insertion portion). In other words, a technique is disclosed in which the flexibility of the insertion portion is changed to improve the insertion system for expansion and the like.
[0004]
However, when a hard stylet is inserted into the insertion portion, other built-in objects such as an image guide, a light guide, and an air / water supply tube are liable to be damaged. In particular, when a stylet is inserted into the curved part, weakly built-in objects such as image guides and light guides may come into contact with the tube through which the hard stylet is inserted, which is critical for the resistance of these built-in objects. May cause serious damage. Furthermore, there is a risk of damaging the bending tube constituting the bending portion depending on circumstances. Further, if the stylet is inserted in a curved state, in the worst case, the curved tube may be broken.
[0005]
In order to solve this problem, the present applicant can provide a flexible adjusting member insertion channel in the insertion portion in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-151433, and insert a flexible adjusting member that can be inserted and removed into the channel. The flexibility is adjusted.
[0006]
In JP-A-1-151433, a flexible adjusting member insertion channel is provided in addition to the bending portion of the insertion portion. For example, in the large intestine scope, the length of the insertion portion varies from 600 to 1700 mm depending on the application.
[0007]
However, since the cross-sectional area occupied by the built-in object of the flexible adjustment member insertion channel is large and the endoscope cannot be reduced in diameter, the pain of the test object cannot be reduced.
[0008]
Further, it takes time to insert / remove the flexible adjustment member into / from the flexible adjustment member during the endoscopic inspection, and it is also necessary to drain the scope after the chemical solution is immersed therein.
[0009]
Furthermore, it is necessary to prepare and store a flexible adjustment member having a desired length as described above.
[0010]
Also, when the colonoscope is inserted by one person, the left hand is used for angle operation and the right hand is used for the advancement / retraction and twisting of the soft part. It is not possible for the efficiency of the examination because it is performed by the surgeon himself.
[0011]
Therefore, in the Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-43802, the present applicant has one end side fixed to the connecting pipe portion with the bending portion and the soft portion, but the other end side is fixed to the rear end peripheral portion of the soft portion, The flexibility changing member whose flexibility changes, the wire connected to the flexibility changing member, the link provided near the bending knob, connected to the wire, and connected to the link to apply tension to the wire By providing an operation lever for this purpose, an endoscope that allows an operator who performs endoscopy to adjust the flexibility of the insertion portion with a simple operation has been proposed to solve the above problems.
[0012]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A 62-302111
[0013]
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-10162
[0014]
[Patent Document 3]
JP-A-1-151433
[0015]
[Patent Document 4]
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-43802
[0016]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Until now, the hardness of the insertion portion of the endoscope has been originally a soft model or a slightly harder model in order to respond to the user's preference. Although the endoscope in which the hardness of the insertion portion can be adjusted is shown in the conventional example, it is not shown how the hardness can be adjusted for models with different original hardness. If a hard insertion portion is hardened at the same width as the soft insertion portion is hardened at a certain width, the insertion portion may become too hard and cause great pain to the patient.
[0017]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and enables appropriate hardness adjustment even for models with different insertion section hardnesses. Endoscope system The purpose is to provide.
[0018]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An endoscope system according to the present invention includes an insertion portion having a soft portion and an operation portion, and a coil and a wire inserted into the coil are provided in the soft portion, and the wire is pulled and compressed into the coil. The first endoscope and the second endoscope provided with operation means for hardening by applying force can be connected to the first endoscope and the second endoscope. In an endoscope system having a control device, a first operating means provided on the first endoscope for hardening an insertion portion of the first endoscope to a predetermined hardness, A second operating means provided on the second endoscope for hardening the insertion portion of the second endoscope, which is harder than the insertion portion of the first endoscope, to the predetermined hardness; It is characterized by having.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0020]
1 to 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic endoscope, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the coil and wire of FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic endoscope of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of the procedure by the electronic endoscope of FIG.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment includes an elongated insertion portion 2, a large-diameter operation portion 3 connected to the rear end side of the insertion portion 2, and the operation portion. 3 and a universal cable 4 extending from the side portion.
[0022]
A rigid distal end portion 5 is provided on the distal end side of the insertion portion 2, and a bendable bending portion 6 is provided on the rear side adjacent to the distal end portion 5. Further, a flexible soft portion 7 is provided behind the curved portion 6. The bending portion 6 can be bent in the up / down / left / right directions by operating a bending operation knob (not shown) provided in the operation portion 3.
[0023]
A connector 9 is provided at the rear end of the universal cable 4. Although not shown, a light source unit that supplies illumination light to the electronic endoscope 1 and an image signal sent from the electronic endoscope 1 are signals. It can be connected to a control device having a signal processing unit for processing.
[0024]
The distal end portion 5 is provided with a distal end portion main body 10 formed of a hard material in a substantially cylindrical shape. The distal end portion main body 10 has a forceps channel through hole 11 parallel to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion 2. And an observation through-hole 12 are provided. A connecting tube 13 is fitted in the forceps channel through-hole 11, and a flexible forceps channel forming a forceps channel 14 at the rear portion of the connecting tube 13 protruding rearward from the distal end main body 10. A tube 15 is connected. The forceps channel tube 15 is inserted through the insertion portion 2 and communicates with a forceps port 16 provided in the operation portion 3.
[0025]
An objective lens system 17 is provided in front of the observation through-hole 12, and a solid-state image sensor 18 is provided at the image forming position of the objective lens system 17. A signal line 19 through which an image signal can be transmitted extends from the rear end of the solid-state imaging device 18. The signal line 19 is inserted into the insertion portion 2 and passes through the operation portion 3 and the universal cable 4 to be a connector. 9 is connected to a contact 20 provided at 9.
[0026]
The connector 9 is provided with a light guide connector 22 at the end of the light guide 21 so that illumination light emitted from a light source (not shown) can enter. The light guide 21 is inserted into a light guide through-hole (not shown) provided in the distal end body 10 through the universal cable 4, the operation unit 3, and the insertion unit 2, and can irradiate the observation site with illumination light. It is like that.
[0027]
In the bending portion 6, a plurality of substantially annular joint pieces 23,... Are rotatable with respect to each other and arranged in the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion 2. The joint pieces 23,. Yes. An annular connecting pipe 24 provided at the tip of the soft part 7 is fitted in the joint piece 23 at the rear end of the plurality of joint pieces 23. Although not shown, the connecting pipe 24 is connected to the rear end of the tip end body 10 and is a flexible stranded wire that extends in an angle wire guide formed by a metal coil pipe and extends to a bending knob. An angle wire such as an angle wire is supported so that it can be pulled and relaxed, and the bending portion 6 is bent by turning the bending knob so that the front end portion 5 of the bending portion 6 can be directed in the up / down / left / right directions. .
[0028]
The flexible portion 7 is constituted by a spiral tube 25, which is covered with a knitted tube 26, and further the knitted tube 26 is covered with an outer skin 27. The bending portion 6 also has a structure in which the joint piece 23 is covered with the outer skin 28.
[0029]
An adhesive coil 31 and a wire 32 are provided in the flexible portion 7 of the insertion portion 2 of the electronic endoscope 1, and the distal end of the wire 32 and the coil 31 includes the bending portion 6 and the flexible portion 7. The connecting pipe 24 to be connected is firmly fixed by connecting means such as a solder 33, and the proximal side of the coil 31 is also connected to a part of the rear end cap 34 that connects the flexible part 7 to the operation part 3. It is firmly fixed with.
[0030]
The wire 32 is not fixed except at the tip, and a wire stopper 35 provided in the vicinity of the proximal end of the coil 31 is firmly fixed to the proximal end of the wire 32. Here, the size of the wire stopper 35 is larger than the inner diameter of the coil 31.
[0031]
Note that the wire stopper 35 may be in contact with the proximal end of the coil 31 or may be slightly spaced, and the wire stopper 35 may be firmly fixed to the proximal end of the coil 31. .
[0032]
Further, the wire 32 is made of, for example, a stainless steel wire and is flexible with respect to bending, but is difficult to be cut or plastically deformed with respect to tension.
[0033]
Furthermore, although the coil 31 is in a close contact state, it may be a close contact coil in the natural state, or in the natural state, it is a loosely wound coil having a slight distance between the strands. It may be in a close contact state when it is installed in 7. Moreover, depending on the case, attaching with a loose winding shape is also considered.
[0034]
Further, the wire 32 and the coil 31 are not contained in the bending portion 6, and precisely, the bending portion of the bending portion 6, that is, the bending piece 23 and the other bending piece 23 are not included. Is provided.
[0035]
Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.
[0036]
FIG. 2 shows the behavior and action of the wire 32 and the coil 31 when a part of the flexible portion 7 is bent in an arc shape at an angle. In FIG. 2, the angle at which the wire 32 and the coil 31 are bent is defined as a °. Let R be the radius from the center of the arc to the central axis of the coil 31, and let r be the radius of the arc connecting the contact point of the arc-inner coil from the center of the arc.
[0037]
Since the coil 31 is a close contact coil in the straight state, the length of the arc of the inner coil in FIG. 2 is the same as that in the straight state. However, if it goes outside, it will be longer when bent than when straight.
[0038]
That is, with reference to the inner coil, the wire 32 is drawn into the coil. If the amount of pull-in is x, x can be calculated as in equation (1).
[0039]
[Expression 1]
x = {2πa (R−r)} / 360 (1)
If R−r = 0.7 mm and a ° = 90 °, x is about 1.1 mm, and if R−r = 1.0 mm, x is about 1.6 mm.
[0040]
Accordingly, if the coil 31 is in a straight state and the wire stopper 35 is in contact with the proximal end of the coil 31 without applying a load to the wire, the xmm wire is pulled with respect to the coil by bending a °. Then, a compressive force is applied to the coil accordingly.
[0041]
As a result, the coil 31 hardens not only the bent portion but also other straight portions. Therefore, the soft part 7 is also hardened.
[0042]
If there is a gap between the proximal end of the coil 31 and the wire stopper 35 or between the wires of the coil 31, the coil 31 is hardly hardened even if the coil 31 is bent until the gap disappears, but the gap disappears. When the coil 31 is further bent, the coil 31 becomes hard according to the bending amount.
[0043]
Usually, when one surgeon inserts an endoscope into a living body, the operator has the insertion part 2 with the right hand and the operation part 3 with the left hand. The right hand constantly pushes and pulls and twists the insertion portion 2, and the left hand, as shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIG. 3, the air supply / water supply operation by the bending operation knob 36 and the air supply / water supply button 37 provided in the operation portion 3, and suction The suction operation by the button 38 is continuously performed.
[0044]
In the present embodiment, when the operation portion 3 is bent with respect to the insertion portion 2, the soft portion 7 can be hardened by the above-described action. That is, the hardness of the flexible portion 7 can be adjusted by simply changing the positional relationship between the left and right hands even while the right hand and the left hand are normally performing operations. In some cases, almost all of the insertion portion 2 enters the living body. In this case, the operator cannot adjust the hardness of the flexible portion 7, but in most cases, the entire insertion portion 2 is not used. Therefore, the hardness adjustment operation of the soft part 7 mentioned above is possible.
[0045]
FIG. 4 shows an example in which the electronic endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment is inserted into the large intestine. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the insertion portion 2 is inserted into a sigmoid colon 41 that is winding. Here, when the distal end portion 5 and the curved portion 6 pass through the bent portion formed by the rectum 42 and the sigmoid colon 41, the flexible portion 7 bends at an angle. As a result, the soft part 7 becomes harder as it bends. In other words, it is still flexible at the beginning of bending, so it is easy to bend. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the bending portion 6 is applied to the bent portion formed by the sigmoid colon 41 and the descending colon 43, the flexible portion 7 having increased elasticity is pulled while being twisted. As shown in b), the soft part 7 and the sigmoid colon 41 can be easily operated in a substantially straight state. As described above, the action of the wire 32 and the coil 31 described above is useful for quickly straightening the flexible portion 7 bent to some extent.
[0046]
Thereafter, when the distal end portion 5 passes through the splenic curve 44, the transverse colon 45, the liver curve 47, and the ascending colon 46, the sigmoid colon 41 which has been once substantially straight is bent again as shown in FIG. Then, even if the proximal side of the soft part 7 is pushed, the force is not easily transmitted to the distal end side. To do. By inserting it deeper than the splenic curve 44 in such a manner, the flexible portion 7 draws a large curve as shown in FIG. 48 can be reached.
[0047]
Since the bent portion of the sigmoid colon 41 is usually at an angle of 90 ° or more, the flexible portion 7 starts to harden by the action of the wire 32 and the coil 31 before the flexible portion 7 is bent by 90 °. By doing so, it becomes easy to prevent the sigmoid colon 51 from attempting to bend again to the original shape even if the angle formed by the insertion portion 2 and the operation portion 3 is substantially straight. Therefore, when there is a gap between the proximal end of the coil 31 and the wire stopper 35, or when there is a gap between the strands of the coil 31, the gap disappears while the flexible portion 7 is bent by 90 °. It is desirable to start hardening.
[0048]
In addition, when the loosely wound coil is attached in a close contact state, a resilient force is always applied to the flexible portion 7 (even in a straight state), which is good for an operator who prefers a highly resilient insertion portion. Furthermore, attaching the loosely wound coil in close contact may be applied to a coil surrounding a wire for bending operation.
[0049]
Thus, in the present embodiment, the hardness of the insertion portion 2 can be adjusted without stopping the normal operation performed with the left and right hands of the electronic endoscope.
[0050]
5 to 10 relate to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic endoscope, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines AA and BB in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of the cam cylinder of FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic endoscope of FIG. 5, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the hardness of the coil and wire of FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of the hardness of the soft part in FIG.
[0051]
Since the second embodiment is almost the same as the first embodiment, only different points will be described, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.
[0052]
As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, a wire 32 and a coil 31 are provided in a soft tube 37 that forms an outer skin of the soft portion 7.
[0053]
In the rigid connecting tube 24 that connects the bending portion 6 and the flexible portion 7, the tip of the wire 32 protruding from the tip of the coil 31 is firmly fixed by a connecting means such as a braze 33. The connecting pipe 24 is fixed to the bending piece 23 at the rearmost end. Alternatively, the rearmost bending piece 23 may also serve as the connection pipe 24. The bending piece 23 including the connecting pipe 24 is covered with an elastic outer skin 28 such as a rubber tube.
[0054]
The distal end of the wire 32 is firmly fixed to the rigid tube 24 by connecting means such as a solder 33 or solder. In order to fix the wire 32 to the rigid tube 24, the fixing means such as the solder 33 is sufficient up to C part in FIG. 5, but in this embodiment, the solder 33 and the solder are attached to the wire 32 up to D part in FIG. I'm soaked. In the middle of the wire 32, only the tip of the coil 31 is firmly fixed by a solder 33 or the like. In this case as well, it is originally sufficient to attach, for example, about 5 mm of solder from the tip of the coil 31 to the hand side, but in this embodiment, the solder 33 and the like are infiltrated into the wire 32 up to the E part in FIG.
[0055]
The tip of the coil 31 is preferably about 20 to 35 cm from the tip of the insertion portion 2.
[0056]
The proximal end of the coil 31 abuts against the coil stopper 38 and is fixed non-rotating. The coil stopper 38 is fixed to the rear end cap 34 with screws 39, and the rear end cap 34 is fixed to the cylindrical tube 40 with nuts 41.
[0057]
On the other hand, the proximal end of the wire 32 is firmly fixed to the pulling member 42. The pulling member 42 is fixed to the moving ring 43. The moving ring 43 is movable in the axial direction inside the cylindrical tube 40.
[0058]
That is, as shown in FIG. 6B, the pulling member 42 that passes the wire 35 in the radial direction is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the circular moving ring 43 by the screw 44.
[0059]
Returning to FIG. 5, a cam cylinder 51 covers the outside of the cylindrical tube 40. In the cam cylinder 51, cam grooves 52a and 52b are provided in a spiral shape at two opposing portions of the cylinder part. The cylindrical tube 40 is also provided with a long hole 53 in its longitudinal direction. Two moving pins 54 that move together with the moving ring 43 are fixed to the moving ring 43 at the screw portions through the cam grooves 52a or 52b and the long holes 53 on the outside thereof.
[0060]
A hardness adjustment knob 55 is fixed to the cam cylinder 51 on the outer side thereof by a plurality of pins 56 in the circumferential direction. That is, the hardness adjustment knob 55 is formed with a pin hole that reaches the inner cam cylinder 51, and the pin 56 is inserted and closed with the filler 57.
[0061]
The front end of the hardness adjustment knob 55 abuts against the annular contact member 58, and forward movement is restricted. The contact member 58 is disposed outside the vicinity of the front end of the cylindrical tube 40, and is fixed to the outer periphery of the support member 60 that supports the rear end of the bend preventing member 59 with screws 61.
[0062]
Further, on the rear end side of the hardness adjusting knob 55, the inner peripheral surface of the front end of the gripping portion cylindrical body 62 is fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the cam cylindrical body 51, and the outer peripheral surface of the front end of the gripping portion cylindrical body 62 is The hardness adjustment knob 55 is fitted to the notched inner peripheral surface of the rear end. That is, the hardness adjustment knob 55 is slidably contacted with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical tube 40 via the cam cylinder 51 in a state where movement in the front-rear direction is restricted, and is disposed rotatably (around the cylindrical tube 40). Has been. Thus, the hardness adjustment knob 55 can be rotated, but the abutting member 58 is fixed by screws 61 so as not to rotate.
[0063]
An O-ring 63 is disposed between the inner peripheral surface of the front end of the hardness adjusting knob 55 and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical tube 40 facing the inside thereof, and the inner peripheral surface of the front end of the hardness adjusting knob 55 is in pressure contact with the O-ring 63. Yes. Further, an O-ring is also provided between the outer peripheral surface near the rear end of the cam cylinder 51 and the inner peripheral surface of the gripping part frame body 62 fitted to the outer peripheral surface, for example, in a peripheral groove provided on the cam cylinder 51 side. 64 is accommodated, and the inner peripheral surface of the gripping part frame 62 is in pressure contact with the O-ring 64.
[0064]
In other words, water tightness is secured by the O-rings 63 and 64, and a frictional force is applied to the cam cylinder 51 and the hardness adjustment knob 55, so that the hand that operates the hardness adjustment knob 55 by the frictional force is released. It can be locked (or held) in this state.
[0065]
As described above, even if the hardness adjustment knob 55 is rotated to set a state in which a compressive force is applied to the coil 31, even if the hardness adjustment knob 55 is released, the hardness adjustment is performed by the frictional force of the O-rings 63 and 64. The state of the knob 55 can be maintained (locked).
[0066]
In other words, even if the hardness adjustment knob 55 is rotated by hand to increase the hardness of the soft part 7, even if the hardness adjustment knob 55 is released, the hardness adjustment knob 55 is locked in the operation state. Thus, the coil 31 can be locked in a hardness state corresponding to the operation state.
[0067]
In addition, you may make it provide the O-ring which generate | occur | produces a frictional force in order to lock the hardness adjustment knob 55 other than the location which performs a watertight seal.
FIG. 7A shows the shapes of the cam grooves 52 a and 52 b of the cam cylinder 51. The cam grooves 52a and 52b are two-line cams, one of which is shown by the cam groove 52a and the other by 52b.
[0068]
The cam grooves 52a and 52b have the same shape and are provided at symmetrical positions such that one of the cam grooves 52a and 52b overlaps the position rotated by 180 degrees with respect to the axis of the cam cylinder 51. In FIG. 7A, the cam grooves 52a and 52b have a simple smooth groove shape (smooth spiral shape).
[0069]
Instead of the structure shown in FIG. 7A, as shown in FIG. 7B, for example, a recess 65a is provided in the middle of the groove 52b, or a recess 65b is provided at the end of the groove 52b. When the moving pin 54 is set at these positions, the operator may be given a click feeling.
[0070]
As shown in FIG. 5, a forceps port frame 72 that forms the forceps port 16 is provided at a front position adjacent to the gripping unit 71 provided in the operation unit 3. The forceps port frame 72 is connected to a branch member 74 that branches into the forceps port 16 side and the suction conduit 73 side inside the operation portion 3, and is provided in the insertion portion 2 at the front end of the branch member 74. The proximal end of the forceps channel 14 is connected by a connecting portion 75.
[0071]
The branch member 74 is fixed to the cylindrical tube 40 with screws. The cylindrical tube 40 is connected at its rear end to a frame 75 to which a bending operation mechanism or the like of the operation unit 3 is attached by a screw. The cylindrical tube 40 has a structure that does not rotate even when the hardness adjustment knob 55 side is rotated.
[0072]
As shown in FIG. 6A, various built-in objects are arranged in the insertion portion 2. That is, four bending wires 76 arranged at positions corresponding to the upper and lower sides and the left and right, two signal lines 19 arranged near the center, two light guides 21 arranged near the upper center, lower side The forceps channel 14 disposed on the left side, the coil 31 and the wire 32 disposed on the left side, the air supply tube 77 for supplying air and the water supply tube 78 for supplying water disposed adjacent thereto are incorporated. .
Also, a built-in object as shown in FIG. The arrangement of the built-in objects is almost the same as that shown in FIG.
[0073]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.
[0074]
FIG. 5 shows the case where the pulling member 42, the moving ring 43, and the moving pin 54 are in the forefront, and do not move further forward (the soft portion 7 is in the softest state). Therefore, in this state, the coil 31 is hardened because the rear end of the wire 32 is not moved forward by looping the insertion portion 2 as in the first embodiment. That is, the hard adjustment of the flexible portion 7 can be performed as in the first embodiment.
[0075]
In the present embodiment, by further rotating the hardness adjustment knob 55, the pulling member 42, the moving ring 43, and the moving pin 54 can be moved rearward, and the wire 32 can be actively pulled. In the first embodiment, when the soft part 7 is hardened and it is desired to keep the hardness for a long time, the operation part 3 is always bent with respect to the insertion part 2 as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the hardness adjustment knob 55 can be operated to hold the flexible portion 7 at a certain level of hardness. The hardness adjustment knob 55 can be moved even if a hand is spoken from the hardness adjustment knob 55 at an arbitrary rotational position by the action of friction between the contact member 58 and the O-rings 63 and 64 and the cam angle of the cam grooves 52a and 52b. Can be retained.
[0076]
Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, if there is a recess 65a, 65b, a click feeling can be obtained, so when the operator operates the hardness adjustment knob 55, the level of the soft part 7 has become hardened. I can recognize. When holding the grip 71 of the operation unit 3 with the left hand and turning the hardness adjustment knob 55 with the right hand, the limit that can be turned in one operation is about 200 ° in angle. The operation strake is desirably 200 ° or less.
[0077]
Further, in FIG. 4, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4B, when a momentary and delicate operation feeling is required such that the soft portion 7 in the loop state is straightened quickly or many times. When delicate hardness adjustment is repeated, the hardness (elasticity) is easily adjusted by changing the positional relationship between the left and right hands of the operator as in the first embodiment. 4 (b) to 4 (c), when it is desired to maintain a certain hardness while the deep part of the large intestine is inserted, the hardness can be set to a desired hardness by the hardness adjustment knob 55. Thus, it is not necessary to keep the proximal side of the flexible portion 7 always bent.
[0078]
As shown in FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (b), the operation of making the flexible portion 7 and the sigmoid colon 41 substantially straight by twisting the flexible portion 7 to the right is generally performed as an insertion procedure (RIGHT TURN SHORTING). However, in this case, even if the position of the operation portion 3 is not moved positively with respect to the insertion portion 2 and the hardness of the soft portion 7 is not adjusted as shown in FIG. Even if the part 3 is not moved so much, the elasticity of the flexible part 7 can be improved with almost normal operation.
[0079]
That is, in the state of FIG. 4A, the operation unit 3 forms an angle of about 90 ° with respect to the soft part 7 as shown in FIG. When pulling the flexible portion 7 while twisting it to the right in FIG. 4B (for example, operating with the right hand insertion portion gripping position 81 in FIG. 8, the operation portion 3 gripped with the left hand hardly moves) As shown in FIG. 8B, a loop of about 270 ° is naturally formed on the proximal side of the flexible portion 7 (the loop of FIGS. 8A and 8B has a difference of about 180 °).
[0080]
As a result, while the loop in the sigmoid colon 41 of FIG. 4A is released, a loop is formed at the hand of the flexible portion 7, so that while maintaining moderate elasticity (or increasing elasticity) ), The straightening operation of the soft part 7 and the sigmoid colon 41 can be performed quickly. In this way, an appropriate hardness adjustment is made while performing a normal operation.
[0081]
When the hardness adjustment knob 55 is operated to apply a compressive force to the coil 31, the coil 31 tends to rotate in the direction in which the outer diameter increases. If it rotates, the full length of the coil 31 will shrink according to the rotation speed. Initially, it occurs as a function of elastic deformation, but as it is repeated, plastic deformation occurs and the entire length of the coil 31 remains contracted. If it becomes so, the hardening function by the coil 31 will deteriorate.
[0082]
Therefore, when the coil 31 is provided from the middle of the flexible portion 7 to the hand side, it is necessary to provide means for restricting the rotation of the coil 31 tip. In the present embodiment, when fixing the wire 32 and the connecting tube 24, the solder 33 or solder has been soaked to the D portion of the wire 32, or until the E portion of the wire 32 is fixed to the tip of the coil 31 and the wire 32. The length of the soft portion of the wire 32 is shortened by soaking the braze 33. This makes the wire 32 difficult to twist. The hard part is provided in the wire 32 up to the D part and the E part. However, since the wire 32 has a considerably small diameter with respect to the flexible tube 37, even if a certain amount of hard part is formed, the flexibility of the flexible tube 37 is impaired. Not a thing.
[0083]
Further, the wire 32 is a stranded wire made of stainless steel, for example, but the coil winding direction is such that when the coil 31 tries to rotate in the direction in which the outer diameter increases, the twisted wire is tightened (opposite to the fraying direction). The direction and the direction of the wire are set. Even when another coil is used to connect the tip of the coil 31 and the flexible tube 37, the winding direction of the coil is preferably opposite to the winding direction of the coil 31. In addition, if a member other than the coil is used, the member should be soft against bending and strong against twisting. Further, instead of connecting the tip of the coil 31 to the connection tube 24, the tip of the coil 31 may be fixed directly in the middle of the flexible tube 37, or the tip of the coil 31 may be fixed to another built-in object such as the forceps channel 14. And you can regulate the rotation.
[0084]
When the coil 31 is shrunk by, for example, 1 mm plastic deformation, if the hardening function (maximum hardness) is reduced by 10%, 10% of the function is not deteriorated. If the pitch of the coil 31 is 0.5 mm, it is 1 mm in 2 rotations. Therefore, when the hardness adjustment knob 55 is operated so that the coil 31 is hardened to the maximum, the restriction means that the tip of the coil 31 is suppressed to 2 rotations or less. To. In this case, the hardness adjustment knob 55 is first elastically deformed by the operation of the hardness adjustment knob 55 and eventually shrinks by 1 mm due to plastic deformation, so that the rear end of the coil 31 is pushed into the flexible tube 37 by 1 mm or more with respect to the rear end cap 34 and fixed. Further, even when both ends of the coil 31 are completely fixed to be non-rotating, if the wire of the coil 31 is slightly crushed by the compression by the operation of the hardness adjustment knob 55 and the total length is reduced by 0.5 mm, 0.5 mm or more is soft. Push into tube 37 (meander).
[0085]
Since the cam cylinder 51 is made of a harder material than the moving pin 54, wear due to repeated operation of the hardness adjusting knob 55 occurs mainly in the moving pin 54, but almost no cam groove 52a, 52b has. Does not occur. As a result, the shapes of the cam grooves 52a and 52b as shown in FIG. 7 are maintained. Since the shape greatly affects the amount of operation force and the operation feeling of the hardness adjustment knob 55, for example, if the groove angle changes due to wear during the operation, the operation to make it harder becomes impossible or the operation feeling changes completely. There is a risk of confusing the surgeon.
[0086]
The pulling of the wire 32 by the pulling member 42 in the operation unit 3 is performed in a direction substantially coaxial with the axial direction of the wire 32 in the flexible tube 37. If the pulling member 42 is pulled at the rear end of the wire 32 by shifting from the axis of the wire 32 in the flexible tube 37, a significant frictional force is applied by the wire 32, and the amount of operation force is increased. However, in order to secure a space in the cylindrical tube 40 (a space through which a built-in object passes), the pulling position of the wire 32 in the pulling member 42 is made closer to the inner wall of the cylindrical tube 40 than the wire 32 in the flexible tube 37. It is possible to do.
[0087]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to easily maintain a certain level of hardness continuously as well as instantaneously finely adjusting the hardness.
[0088]
In the second embodiment, the sizes of the coil 31 and the wire 32 greatly affect the degree of hardening of the coil 31 when the flexible portion 7 is bent at a certain angle. That is, the larger one of the coil 31 and the wire 32 can be made harder with respect to a certain angle.
[0089]
In order to use the endoscope as in the second embodiment, the hardness adjustment knob 55 is operated to keep the flexible portion 7 at a certain hardness, and the hardness of the flexible portion 7 is finely adjusted other than that. Bending operation of the soft part 7 is performed. The coil 31 used at this time is referred to as a coil A, and the hardness adjustment width is shown in FIG. The wavy arrow is the hardness adjustment by bending (for example, 180 °) of the soft portion 7, and the straight arrow is the hardness adjustment width by operating the hardness adjustment knob 55. For example, in FIG. 4B, the soft part 7 is hardened by operating the hardness adjustment knob 55 in order to make the sigmoid colon 41 hard enough to keep it in a substantially straight state. However, until the soft portion 7 is looped to some extent until it is inserted into the sigmoid colon 41 until FIG. 4A, it is better that the soft portion 7 is not hardened by bending (fine adjustment is possible). As described above, when the hardness is greatly adjusted, the hardness adjustment knob 55 can be used to bend the flexible portion 7 when the adjustment is finely performed, so that the operator can easily control the hardness.
[0090]
Here, there is a coil B larger in size than the coil A, and FIG. 9 shows the characteristics of the hardness adjustment width. Since the coil B is larger than the coil A, bending at a certain angle (for example, 180 °) makes it harder than operating the hardness adjustment knob 55 to the maximum to make it harder.
[0091]
In FIG. 3, when the operation unit 3 is moved with respect to the soft part 7 and the proximal side of the soft part 7 is bent, the bending range that can occur normally is a maximum of 180 ° (FIG. 3 shows about 130 °). ). If the hardness of the soft part 7 exceeds the maximum hardness by the hardness adjustment knob 55 due to the bent state on the hand side, it is difficult to properly use the hardness adjustment by the bending and the hardness adjustment by the hardness adjustment knob 55. (Not clear) Hardness control will be difficult for the surgeon.
[0092]
Therefore, in the second embodiment, the coil B shown in FIG. 9 is not an appropriate size, and the maximum hardness due to the operation of the hardness adjustment knob 55 even if the proximal side of the flexible portion 7 is bent 180 ° like the coil A. The size of the coil 31 (and the wire 32) should not exceed.
[0093]
Further, the insertion procedure for passing through the sigmoid colon 41 of FIG. 4 may differ depending on the operator. For example, a certain operator inserts the sigmoid colon 41 while folding the sigmoid colon 41 almost without looping the sigmoid colon 41, or pushes the flexible part 7 in the sigmoid colon 41 in a looped state. Etc. The optimum hardness of the flexible portion 7 varies depending on the difference in the insertion technique. Therefore, there are models A and B as shown in FIG.
[0094]
There is a minimum hardness required to keep the sigmoid colon 41 in a substantially straight state for insertion from the splenic curve 44 into the back, and this is the “hard” level in FIG. Since the hardness of the model A is variable from “soft A” to “hard”, the model B whose soft portion 7 is originally harder than the model A can be made harder than the “hard” level with the same technology. However, if it is too hard, it may increase patient pain, such as when the transverse colon 45 passes. Therefore, the model B should have a maximum hardness comparable to that of the model A. That is, the hardness adjustment range is different between the model A and the model B. Accordingly, the operation stroke of the hardness adjustment knob 55 is shortened in the model B, and the required hardness can be adjusted more quickly than the model A.
[0095]
Even models with different hardness in the soft state can be adjusted to the required hardness without increasing patient pain.
[0096]
In addition, not only a helical tube like the coil 31, but also one elastic pipe material that increases the bending rigidity by being slightly contracted with respect to the compression in the axial direction may be used. Further, it may be a tubular body in which a plurality of rigid pipe members having a length of about 5 mm to 10 mm are axially stacked around a wire. In this case, the closer the gap between the pipe materials is to 0 mm, the greater the bending rigidity of the tubular body with respect to a certain amount of bending of the soft portion 7 (hardens quickly).
[0097]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the present invention Endoscope system According to the above, there is an effect that appropriate hardness adjustment can be made even in a model in which the hardness of the insertion portion is different.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the coil and wire of FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic endoscope of FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a procedure using the electronic endoscope of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section taken along line AA and BB in FIG. 5;
7 is a view showing a specific example of the cam cylinder of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic endoscope of FIG.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of the hardness of the coil and wire of FIG.
10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of the hardness of the soft part in FIG. 5;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... Electronic endoscope
2 ... Insertion section
3. Operation unit
4. Universal cable
5 ... Tip
6 ... Curved part
7 ... Soft part
9 ... Connector
10 ... tip body
11 ... Through hole for forceps channel
12 ... Observation hole
13 ... Connection pipe
14 ... Forceps channel
15 ... Forceps channel tube
16 ... Forceps opening
17 ... Objective lens system
18 ... Solid-state imaging device
19 ... Signal line
20 ... Contact
21 ... Light guide
22 ... Light guide connector
23 ... Joint piece
24 ... Connection pipe
25 ... spiral tube
26 ... Woven tube
27, 28 ... outer skin
31 ... Coil
32 ... Wire
33 ... Deaf
34 ... Rear end cap
35 ... Wire stopper
36 ... Bending operation knob
37 ... Air / Water Button
38 ... Suction button

Claims (2)

An operation means comprising an insertion part having a soft part and an operation part, provided with a coil and a wire inserted into the coil in the soft part, and pulling the wire to apply a compressive force to the coil to make it hard. While having the provided first endoscope and second endoscope,
In an endoscope system having a control device capable of connecting the first endoscope and the second endoscope,
A first operating means provided on the first endoscope, for hardening the insertion portion of the first endoscope to a predetermined hardness;
A second operating means provided in the second endoscope for hardening the insertion portion of the second endoscope, which is harder than the insertion portion of the first endoscope, to the predetermined hardness; ,
An endoscope system comprising: An operation means comprising an insertion part having a soft part and an operation part, provided with a coil and a wire inserted into the coil in the soft part, and pulling the wire to apply a compressive force to the coil to make it hard. While having the provided first endoscope and second endoscope,
In an endoscope system having a control device capable of connecting the first endoscope and the second endoscope,
A first operating means provided in the first endoscope and having a predetermined operation stroke to harden an insertion portion of the first endoscope to a predetermined hardness;
In order to harden the insertion portion of the second endoscope, which is provided in the second endoscope and is harder than the insertion portion of the first endoscope, to the predetermined hardness, the predetermined endoscope A second operating means having an operation stroke shorter than the operation stroke;
An endoscope system comprising:

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