JPH03286733A - Scope for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the diameter of a leading-in tube thin and to reduce the unpleasantness and the pain given to a body to be examined by forming annulary the cross sectional shape of a light guide in the leading-in tube and providing it on the inner peripheral surface of the outer cylinder for housing the contents of a scope, and arranging the contents of the scope on the inner peripheral side of the light guide. CONSTITUTION:In a leading-in tube 4, a light guide 7 for leading the light from a light source provided in a device main body 3 into a body-cavity, an air feeding air tube 8 and a water feeding tube 9 for feeding air and feeding water into the body-cavity, and a forceps channel 10 for inserting a treatment tool such as a forceps into the body-cavity from an operating part 5 are arranged, and the light guide 7, the air feeding tube 8, the water feeding tube 9, and a signal line for sending an electric signal outputted from an image pickup element to the device main body 3 are provided while extending from the inside of the leading-in tube 4 to the operating part 5 and the inside of a universal cord 2. The light guide 7 is formed from plural optical fibers made of transparent rubber.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an endoscope for observing the inside of a body cavity of a living body, and particularly relates to an endoscope having a light guide in a guiding tube. Regarding endoscopes.

(Prior art) Endoscopes are widely used, which are equipped with a guiding tube that is introduced into the body cavity, and a light guide is provided in the guiding tube to guide light generated from a light source into the body cavity. has been done. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the leading end of a guide tube of a scope provided in an electronic endoscope device as this type of endoscope.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure inside the leading end of the guiding tube. In the figure, 100 indicates the leading end of the guide tube, and light guides 101g and 101 for guiding light from a light source (not shown) provided inside the device body into the body cavity.
b. Objective lens 1 for receiving reflected illumination light and obtaining an optical image.
02, CCD 10 for converting this optical image into an electrical signal
3. Air supply tube for supplying air and water into the body cavity 1.
04a, a water supply tube 104b and a forceps channel 105 for inserting a treatment instrument such as forceps into the body cavity are housed in an outer cylinder 106 made of a hard member.

The light guides 101a and 101b are made by bonding a plurality of optical fibers into a bundle using resin.
As shown in the figure, the air supply tube 104a, the water supply tube 104b, and the forceps channel 105 are arranged around the objective lens 102. Also, light guide 1
01 ts, 10 l b.

Air supply tube 104a, water supply tube 104b.

The forceps channels 105 each have a scope tip 10
an illumination window (not shown) formed on the distal end surface 100a of 0;
Air supply port 104A, water supply port 104B.

It communicates with the forceps port (not shown).

The objective lens 102 is disposed close to an observation window 102A formed at the center of the leading end surface 100a,
A cover glass 107 is provided on the light-receiving surface side and is fixed near the observation window 102A by a fixing jig 108.

The CCD 103 is attached to a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) 110 with a filter 109 adhered to its imaging surface side. The electrical signal output from the CCD 103 is taken out onto the FPCI 10 via the bonding wire 111, and sent from the FPCllo to an information processing section (not shown) in the main body of the apparatus via a signal line (not shown). In the figure, 112 is a resin that seals this CCD module.

During observation inside the body cavity, light generated from a light source inside the device main body is irradiated through the light guides 101g and 101b to the examination site in the body cavity from the illumination window on the distal end surface 100a of the guiding tube, and this illumination reflected light is reflected through the observation window 102A. is incident on the objective lens 102 through the cover glass 107, and this objective lens 10
The optical image formed by 2 is reflected by mirror 113 and CC
An image is formed on the imaging surface of D103. This optical image is then converted into an electrical signal by the CCD 103 and sent as an image information signal to the information processing section of the main body of the device, where the information processing section performs processing such as signal processing, and then displays it on a display such as a CRT. The surface condition of the inspection site is displayed as an image.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in the case of the above-mentioned conventional technology, the discomfort and pain of the subject when introducing the guiding tube into the body cavity of the subject (in most cases the subject) is reduced. However, even if the contents of the scope, including the bundled light guides 101g and 101b, are arranged closely around the objective lens 102, it is not possible to make the guide tube thinner. There is a problem in that it is difficult to reduce the diameter of the guide tube, especially when an imaging device such as a CCD is provided within the tip of the guide tube. The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art described above.
The purpose is to provide an endoscope that can reduce the discomfort and pain imparted to the subject by reducing the diameter of the guiding tube.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a light for guiding light from a light source into a body cavity into a conduit tube introduced into the body cavity. In the endoscopic scope provided with a guide, the light guide in the guiding tube is provided on the inner circumferential surface of an outer cylinder having an annular cross-sectional shape and accommodating the contents of the scope, and the contents of the scope are contained in the light guide. It is characterized by being arranged on the inner peripheral side of.

(Operation) In the endoscope of the present invention having the above configuration,
A light guide with an annular cross-sectional shape is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the outer cylinder, and scope contents other than the light guide are placed on the inner peripheral side of this light guide, so the light guides can be bundled to prevent other scope contents. Scope contents can be placed in the guide tube at a higher density than when placed together.

Furthermore, in the endoscopic scope of the present invention, the process of arranging the contents of the scope other than the light guide in the closest density and the process of forming the light guide with an annular cross-sectional shape and providing it on the inner circumferential surface of the outer cylinder are separated. As a process, the guiding tube can be assembled by storing the contents of the scope other than the densely arranged light guide inside the light guide, which simplifies the second assembly process of the guiding tube structure. In addition, scope contents can be placed in the guide tube at a higher density. Therefore, it is possible to arrange the contents of the scope at a high density and reduce the diameter of the guiding tube.

Further, in the present invention, even if the cross-sectional shape of the light guide is formed into an annular shape, there is no need to reduce the number of fiber strands constituting the light guide, so the amount of illumination light does not decrease.

(Example) Below, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. m1
The figure is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the leading end of the guiding tube of an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an electronic endoscope device equipped with an endoscope according to the same embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, this electronic endoscope device comprises an endoscope M scope 1 connected to a device main body 3 via a universal cord 2. The endoscope 1 consists of a guiding tube 4 that is introduced into a body cavity, and an operating section 5 provided at the proximal end of the guiding tube 4 for operating the scope. 2 are connected. At the distal end of the guiding tube 4, there is provided a rigid tip section 4a that houses an objective lens 6 and an image pickup device (v!J not shown) such as a CCD as shown in FIG. The surface 4b has an observation window, an air inlet, a water inlet, and a forceps inlet (not shown) similar to the conventional example.
is formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, inside the guide tube 4 is a light guide 7 for guiding light from a light source (not shown) provided in the device main body 3 into the body cavity, and a light guide 7 for supplying air into the body cavity.

Air tube for water supply 8. A water supply tube 9 and a forceps channel 10 for inserting a treatment tool such as forceps into the body cavity from the operating section 5 are arranged, and a light guide 7
, the air supply tube 8 , the water supply tube 9 , and a signal line (not shown) for sending electrical signals output from the image sensor to the main body 3 of the apparatus are connected from the inside of the guiding tube 4 to the operating section 5 and the universal cord 2 . It is provided throughout.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the state of the light guide 7 within the rigid tip portion 4a, and FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

The light guide 7 is made up of a plurality of transparent rubber optical fibers, and as shown in FIG. The portion 7a has a cylindrical shape with an annular cross section, and is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the outer cylinder 11 made of a hard member. That is, the guide ring outer cylinder 12 is made of a hard member such as stainless steel and is formed into a cylindrical shape with an annular cross section.
and a guide ring inner cylinder 13 made of the same material and shape and having a smaller diameter than the guide ring outer cylinder 12 are arranged parallel to each other with their centers coincident with each other, and the light guide 7 is formed into a single bundle halfway.
The bundle of optical fibers is divided into two parts, four parts, etc. from the middle, and each optical fiber strand is placed in the gap 14 between the guide ring outer cylinder 12 and the guide ring inner cylinder 13 with a rigid tip part 4a. Air supply tube inside 8. Water supply tube9. It is introduced so as to surround the forceps channel 10. The light guide tip 7a is formed by pouring an epoxy resin into the cavity 14 filled with the optical fiber and curing it.

In this embodiment, since a transparent rubber optical fiber is used as the optical fiber, it can be easily bent into a desired shape when molding the light guide 7 as described above. can.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the light guide dividing section 7c into which the optical fiber bundle shown in FIG. 3 is divided, as viewed from the operating section 5 side.

An annular illumination window 1 is provided on the leading end surface 4b of the guiding tube near its outer periphery.
5 is provided, and a similar annular cover glass 16 is disposed in this illumination window 15. The distal end surface 7b of the light guide distal end portion 7a is polished so as to be brought into close contact with the cover glass 16, and the outer peripheral surface of the guide ring outer cylinder 12 is provided so as to be brought into close contact with the inner peripheral surface on the distal end side of the outer cylinder 11. When assembling the rigid tip portion 4a, the contents of the scope other than the light guide 7 are arranged as close as possible, and the tip portion 7a of the light guide is inserted into the outer tube 11 as shown in FIG. Objects are stored on the inner circumferential side of the light guide tip 7a. Then, resin 20 is poured into the gap within the rigid tip portion 4a, and the contents of the scope are fixed.

When observing the inside of a body cavity with this endoscope l, after the guiding tube 4 is introduced into the body cavity of the subject, light generated from a light source in the device body 3 is passed through the light guide 7. Irradiation is applied to the examination site within the body cavity through the observation window 15 of the rigid tip portion 4a. This illumination reflected light enters the objective lens 6 from the observation window of the rigid tip portion 4a, and this optical image is converted into an electrical signal by an image sensor, and an information processing section (not shown) provided in the apparatus main body 3 is converted. sent to. The information processing section performs signal processing 1 display processing on this signal and then sends the image signal to a display 3a such as a CRT, and an image of the examined part of the subject is displayed on the screen of the display 3a.

In the above embodiment, the light guide tip 7a has a cylindrical cross section with an annular shape, and other scope contents are stored on the inner circumferential side of the light guide tip 7a. Since the step of arranging the light guide 7 during assembly is a separate step, the contents of the scope inside the rigid tip portion 4a, including the objective lens 6, the image sensor, etc., can be arranged at high density. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the diameter of the guide tube 4 by making the rigid tip portion 4a smaller in diameter.

Then, since the tip rigid portion 4a is assembled with the process of arranging the light guide 7 as a separate process, the tip rigid portion 4a
The configuration is simplified, and the assembly process is simplified.

In addition, since the number of optical fibers of the light guide 7 is the same at the light guide tip 7a, the amount of illumination light does not decrease. Since the illumination light is emitted in a ring shape from the guide tube, the illumination range is wider and the illumination light can be This has the effect that the diffusion angle required for diffusion is small.

[Effects of the Invention] The endoscopic scope of the present invention has the above-described configuration and function, and the contents of the scope can be arranged in a high density inside the guiding tube without reducing the amount of illumination light. By reducing the diameter of the guiding tube, it is possible to reduce discomfort and pain to the subject.

Furthermore, by making the installation of the light guide and the arrangement of other scope contents separate processes, the assembly process of the guiding tube structure 1 is simplified.

Furthermore, since the light guide has an annular cross-sectional shape and is installed on the inner circumferential surface of the outer cylinder, the illumination is a ring illumination from near the outer circumference of the tip of the guiding tube, which is much better than the illumination provided by a bundled light guide. The illumination range can be expanded, and the effect that the diffusion angle for diffusing the illumination light can be reduced is also obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the leading end of the guide tube of an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the state of the light guide inside the rigid distal end portion in the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the light guide divided portion in the same embodiment from the operation unit side. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the assembly of the rigid tip part in the same embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the state as seen. FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure inside the distal end of the guiding tube of the conventional example. 1... Endoscope scope 3... Device body 4...
Guide tube 4a...Rigid tip part 6...Objective lens 8...Air tube 10...Force channel 11...Outer cylinder 7...Light guide 9...Water tube attendant valve Hidekazu Shimiyoshi 1 endoscope scope 13 diagram

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An endoscope in which a light guide for guiding light from a light source into the body cavity is provided in a guide tube introduced into the body cavity, wherein the light guide in the guide tube has an annular cross-sectional shape. 1. An endoscope, characterized in that the light guide is provided on the inner circumferential surface of an outer cylinder which is formed to accommodate the contents of the scope, and the contents of the scope are arranged on the inner circumferential side of the light guide.