JP3892696B2 - Ultrasound endoscope - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic endoscope provided with an ultrasonic probe for obtaining an ultrasonic tomographic image in a body cavity and an optical observation window for obtaining an optical observation image.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, an ultrasonic endoscope has a configuration in which an ultrasonic probe is disposed in a front half of a distal end body connected to a distal end of a flexible insertion portion, and an optical observation window is disposed in a rear half. It has become.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since the tip body with the ultrasonic probe and the optical observation window arranged side by side is inevitably very long, when the tip body passes through the throat etc., the patient usually There are many cases of feeling greater pain than an endoscope.
[0004]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic endoscope having a good insertion property capable of reducing pain given to a patient when the distal end body passes through the throat and the like.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic endoscope according to the present invention has an ultrasonic probe disposed in a front half of a distal end body connected to a distal end of a flexible insertion portion, and a rear half. In the ultrasonic endoscope in which the optical observation window is arranged, the tip body can be bent between the front half where the ultrasonic probe is arranged and the rear half where the optical observation window is arranged. Thus, the front half can be arbitrarily bent with respect to the rear half by remote control from the proximal end side of the insertion portion.
[0006]
The driving means for bending the front half may be an electric motor, and the electric motor may be built in the tip body.
Further, a bending portion that is bent by remote operation is provided adjacent to the rear side of the tip portion main body, and the front half of the tip portion main body with respect to the rear half is interlocked with the bending operation of the bending portion. The bending part may be bent in the same direction as the bending direction.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a side view of the ultrasonic endoscope, and a bending operation knob (for up and down bending) disposed in the operation unit 1 is located near the distal end of the flexible insertion unit 2 connected to the lower end of the operation unit 1. The bending portion 2a is bent by rotating the operation knob 5a and the left / right bending operation knob 5b), and the distal end portion body 3 is connected to the distal end thereof.
[0008]
As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 4, the front half of the tip body 3 is an ultrasonic scanning unit 3a in which the ultrasonic probe 11 is disposed, and the rear half is an optical observation window. 12 and the illumination window 13 are arranged in the optical observation unit 3b.
[0009]
The ultrasonic probe 11 is of a so-called convex type, and is arranged in an arc shape on the side surface of the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a so that the side of the distal end of the insertion unit 2 is ultrasonically scanned in a fan shape. A is a center line in the ultrasonic scanning direction.
[0010]
A solid-state image sensor (not shown) is disposed at the imaging position of the subject by the objective optical system in the optical observation window 12, and an imaging signal is transmitted from the solid-state image sensor. However, the observation image may be transmitted by an image guide fiber bundle. B is the center line in the optical observation direction.
[0011]
FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of a portion of the tip body 3 where the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a and the optical observation unit 3b are adjacent to each other, and FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a and the optical observation unit 3b. Are connected to the universal joint 20 so as to be rotatable in all directions.
[0012]
The universal joint 20 of this embodiment has a joint arm 24 fixedly attached to the optical observation unit 3b with respect to a joint ring 22 attached to the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a so as to be rotatable in the left-right direction by an outer pin 21. The tip of each is connected by an inner pin 23 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction.
[0013]
The rear end surface of the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a is formed in a hemispherical shape, and the upper / lower drive roller 27 that is in pressure contact with the surface has a rotational axis directed in the left-right direction. When the lower drive roller 27 is rotationally driven, the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a bends in the vertical direction with respect to the optical observation unit 3b in the universal joint 20 portion.
[0014]
Similarly, the left / right drive roller 29 that is in pressure contact with the rear end surface of the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a has a rotational axis directed in the vertical direction, and the left / right drive roller 29 is rotated by the electric left / right drive motor 28. By being driven, the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a is bent in the left-right direction with respect to the optical observation unit 3b at the universal joint 20 portion.
[0015]
The signal cable 9 connected to the ultrasonic probe 11 is inserted and arranged near the central axis of the distal end body 3 so as not to interfere with members constituting the universal joint 20, but in FIG. It is omitted and is shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
[0016]
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control circuit for controlling the operation of the upper / lower drive motor 26 and the left / right drive motor 28. The changeover switch 6 disposed on the outer surface of the operation unit 1 shown in FIG. The control unit 30 is disposed in the operation unit 1.
[0017]
Further, the output ends of the encoders 31 and 32 for the upper / lower knob and the left / right knob for detecting the rotation angle of the bending operation knobs 5a and 5b and outputting a signal corresponding to the rotation angle are connected to the control unit 30. ing. As the encoders 31 and 32, those having a known structure such as a light reflection type or a light transmission type can be used. However, it may be a mechanical type or a magnetic type.
[0018]
When the changeover switch 6 is on, the control unit 30 controls the rotation of the up / down drive motor 26 in accordance with the rotation angle of the up / down bending operation knob 5a input from the up / down knob encoder 31. The left / right drive motor 28 is rotationally controlled in accordance with the rotation angle of the bending operation knob 5b.
[0019]
When the changeover switch 6 is turned off, the control unit 30 causes the up / down drive motor 26 and the left / right drive motor 28 to be in a neutral state (that is, bent between the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a and the optical observation unit 3b). In the absence of). Note that such control can be executed by an extremely simple circuit, and therefore, a specific circuit configuration of the control unit 30 is not shown.
[0020]
When the bending operation knobs 5a and 5b are operated in a state where the changeover switch 6 is turned on, the ultrasonic endoscope according to the embodiment configured as described above can bend the bending portion 2a as shown in FIG. In addition, the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a bends in the same direction as the bending unit 2a with respect to the optical observation unit 3b.
[0021]
As a result, the throat and the like can be easily passed, and the tip portion can be easily guided even in the gastrointestinal tract.
When it is not necessary to bend the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a with respect to the optical observation unit 3b, the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a is optically observed by turning off the changeover switch 6 as shown in FIG. Only the bending portion 2a is bent without bending with respect to the portion 3b.
[0022]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 8, the essential point is that the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a can be arbitrarily bent with respect to the optical observation unit 3b. For example, the up / down knob encoder 31 and the left / right knob encoder 32 shown in FIG. 6 are replaced with manual switches, and the space between the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a and the optical observation unit 3b is irrelevant to the bending unit 2a. It may be possible to bend arbitrarily.
[0023]
The means for driving the bending operation of the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a is not limited to the electric motor, and various actuators can be used, and mechanical driving by wire pulling or the like may be used. Further, the bending direction of the ultrasonic scanning unit 3a may be only in the vertical direction (or only in the horizontal direction).
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the distal end body can be arbitrarily bent by remote control between the front half where the ultrasonic probe is disposed and the rear half where the optical observation window is disposed. In addition to reducing the pain given to the patient when the tip body passes through the throat and the like, it has an excellent effect that it can be easily guided by turning around in the gastrointestinal tract and the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view showing an operation of a distal end portion of an ultrasonic endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing the operation of the distal end portion of the ultrasonic endoscope according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing an overall configuration of an ultrasonic endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the distal end portion of the ultrasonic endoscope according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a partial side cross-sectional view of the distal end body of the ultrasonic endoscope according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a partial plan sectional view of the distal end body of the ultrasonic endoscope according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a circuit block diagram of an ultrasonic endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a side view of a distal end portion of an ultrasonic endoscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation part 2 Insertion part 2a Bending part 3 Tip part main body 3a Ultrasonic scanning part (front side half part)
3b Optical observation part (rear half)
5a, 5b Bending operation knob 6 Changeover switch 11 Ultrasonic probe 12 Optical observation window 20 Universal joint 26, 28 Drive motor 27, 29 Drive roller

Claims (3)

The front side half portion of the flexible insertion tip linked tip body of the ultrasonic probe is placed, the optical observation window is placed in the upper half rear, the tip body, the ultrasonic The front side is configured so that it can be bent between the front half where the probe is arranged and the rear half where the optical observation window is arranged. In an ultrasonic endoscope in which a half can be arbitrarily bent with respect to the rear half ,
A bending portion that is bent by remote operation is provided adjacent to the rear side of the distal end portion body, and the front half portion of the distal end portion body is linked to the rear half portion in conjunction with the bending operation of the bending portion. An ultrasonic endoscope characterized by bending in the same direction as the bending direction of the bending portion . 2. The ultrasonic endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the driving means for bending the front half is an electric motor. The ultrasonic endoscope according to claim 2, wherein the electric motor is built in the tip body.

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