JPH0337605Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an endoscopic forceps that is inserted through an endoscope to perform operations such as collecting and extracting living tissue.

[Prior Art] Endoscopes are used to perform examinations, diagnoses, and treat affected areas by inserting them into body cavities of the human body. Forceps are used to collect living tissue or to remove the affected area. In order to insert the forceps into a predetermined site within the body cavity, the endoscope is provided with a forceps channel from the operation section main body to the distal end of the insertion section.

The endoscope forceps used as described above have a claw unit at the tip, which is equipped with a claw portion and an opening/closing mechanism consisting of a link mechanism for opening and closing the claw portion. A flexible portion having flexibility made of a close coil spring is integrally connected to each other, and an operating wire is passed through the inside of the flexible portion. The tip of the operating wire is connected to the opening/closing mechanism of the claw, and the proximal end is connected to an operating section for pushing and pulling the wire. Furthermore, by forming the aforementioned flexible part to be somewhat longer than the insertion part of the endoscope, the operating part can be positioned outside the endoscope and the claw part can be opened and closed from the outside. It is configured so that it can be done.

Since the aforementioned forceps are inserted into body cavities, if they are used in multiple beds, they are disinfected after each use to prevent nosocomial infections. However, due to the structure of the claws of these forceps, it takes a long time to completely disinfect them. Additionally, the size of the claws on the forceps may need to be different depending on the area to be used for tissue collection or treatment of the affected area, but in order to make this possible, multiple types of forceps must be prepared. It will not happen.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] By the way, if the claw unit is configured to be removably attached to the flexible part, it will be easier to change the type of claw each time it is used or when changing the type of claw. Since this claw portion can be removed from the flexible portion and replaced with another claw portion, the drawbacks of the prior art described above can be overcome.

However, if a detachable mechanism is provided between the claw and the flexible part in order to make the claw removable, the axial length of the hard part of the claw unit will be reduced by the provision of this mechanism. Make it longer. Here, as already explained, the forceps are inserted into the body through the forceps channel, and when the tip of the insertion section is angled, the tip of the forceps channel will be at a steep angle. It's curved. If the forceps are inserted into the forceps channel in this state, it will be extremely difficult for the elongated claw unit to pass through the sharply curved part, resulting in poor insertion operability. arise.

The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to provide an endoscope forceps whose claw unit can be replaced as needed. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention consists of a flexible part having a claw unit attached to the tip, with most of the part from the connecting part to the operating part being made into a rigid flexible part. The feature is that a soft flexible part connected to the claw unit is provided at the tip of the rigid flexible part, and the soft flexible part is detachably connected to the rigid flexible part. That is.

[Function] In the present invention, the flexible portion is a rigid flexible portion that has the necessary rigidity to improve the operability of opening and closing the claw portion, and the angle portion can easily pass through the flexible portion. It is also divided into a soft and flexible portion to reduce the load when angle operations are performed. Here, due to its nature, the soft flexible portion is preferably slightly longer than the length from the angle portion to the rigid distal end portion in the insertion portion.

In this way, by making the distal end portion of the flexible portion a soft flexible portion, it is easy to insert the forceps when the angle portion is curved at a steep angle, and it is also possible to insert the forceps easily. This makes it possible to reduce the load on angle operations in a tilted state. Furthermore, due to its nature, this soft flexible part does not need to be very long, so it has little effect on the operability of opening and closing the claws of the forceps and the operability of pushing the forceps into the forceps channel. do not have.

Moreover, the connecting portion between the two parts, the soft flexible part and the rigid flexible part, is configured to be detachable. That is,
A soft flexible portion is provided integrally with the pawl unit, and is configured to be removably connected to the rigid flexible portion. Therefore, the connecting part between the soft flexible part and the rigid flexible part can be removed and replaced with a new one, and the claw part can be replaced each time it is used, or the type of claw part can be changed. can be easily done.

By adopting such a structure, the hard part constituting the claw unit does not become elongated, which prevents the forceps channel from becoming difficult to insert, especially when angle operation is being performed. There isn't. Furthermore, a hard part that constitutes a connecting mechanism is interposed between the soft flexible part and the rigid flexible part, but this connecting mechanism is located proximal to the position of the angle part that is most difficult to insert. If so, the insertion operability will not be particularly affected. Also, even if the connecting part is structured to fit inside the angle part,
Since the hard part in this connecting part is relatively short and the hard part is dispersed in two places, the forceps can be easily inserted through the joint, compared to a structure having one long hard part.

Furthermore, during actual operation of the forceps, only the claw unit and the soft flexible portion directly touch the body cavity, and the rigid flexible portion is not led out from the forceps channel into the body cavity. Therefore, being able to replace the entire part that directly touches the body cavity means that
Extremely preferable from a sanitary point of view.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

First, FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of the forceps. This forceps has a claw unit 2 with a pair of claws 1 and 1 at its tip, and the claw unit 2 is guided into the body cavity through a forceps channel in an endoscope and directed in a desired direction. It has been made so that it can be done. For this purpose, the pawl unit 2 is connected to a flexible part 3, in which the pawl part 1 is disposed.
An operating wire 4 for opening and closing is inserted. The end of this operating wire 4 is connected to an operating section 5.
The claw portion 1 is opened and closed by grasping the slider 6 and the operating ring 7 and pushing and pulling the slider 6 and the operating ring 7.

Here, the above-mentioned flexible portion 3 is a close coil spring 8
Of this tight coil spring 8, the operating portion 5
Most of the part from the connection part to the tip side is formed by winding a large diameter wire rod, and is formed by a relatively high rigid coil spring part 8a, and the rigid coil spring part 8a
The tip of the flexible coil spring portion 8b is formed by winding a thin wire rod. By configuring the close coil spring 8 from the rigid coil spring part 8a and the soft coil spring part 8b in this way, the operating wire 4
When the rigid coil spring portion 8a is pushed or pulled,
Due to the rigidity, the claw part 1 can be opened and closed smoothly and reliably, and even when the distal end of the insertion part of the endoscope is angled, the soft coil spring part 8b can smoothly follow the angled shape. It's starting to curve. Furthermore, the angle operation with the forceps inserted can be easily performed with a light load.

The pair of claws 1, 1 in the claw unit 2 can be opened and closed so as to be in an occlusal state and an open state. As shown in the figure, the middle part of each claw part 1 is pivotally attached to a pivot pin 10 attached to a support member 9, and the other end part is pivoted to a pair of link plates 11 by a connecting pin 12. It is worn. A slide member 14 connected to the operating wire 4 via a connecting pin 13 is pivotally mounted on the other side of the link plate 11, and by pushing and pulling the operating wire 4, the slide member 14 is moved along its axis. By moving in the direction, the claw portion 1 can be opened and closed. Therefore, the link plate 11, the slide member 14, etc. constitute an opening/closing mechanism for the claw portion 1, and the aforementioned claw unit 2 is constituted by the claw portion 1 and its opening/closing mechanism.

Therefore, the support member 9 in this claw unit 2
is fixed to a connecting ring 15, and the tip of the soft coil spring 8b is fixed to this connecting ring 15 by soldering means or the like. A slide member 14 is slidably inserted through the connection ring 15, and the operating wire 4 is fixed to the base end thereof in a connected state by soldering. Therefore, the pawl unit 2 and the soft coil spring portion 8b constitute an integral body.

Next, the rigid coil spring portion 8a constituting the close coil spring 8 and the soft coil spring 8b integrally provided with the pawl unit 2 are removably connected by a connection mechanism 16. Therefore, this connection mechanism 16 will be explained below.

An end ring 2 is attached to the end of the rigid coil spring 8a.
0 is fitted and fixed by means such as soldering. Further, an end ring 21 is also fitted to the end of the soft coil spring portion 8b and fixed thereto by means such as soldering. A connecting ring 22 is fitted into the end ring 21, and a locking step 21a is formed on the end ring 21 to project outward, and the end of the connecting ring 22 is formed with a locking step 21a that extends inward. A protruding locking portion 22a is formed. A thread groove is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the connecting ring 22, and a thread groove is also formed on the outer peripheral surface of the end ring 20 on the side of the rigid coil spring portion 8a. In the end ring 20, the locking part 22a formed in the connecting ring 22 is connected to the locking step part 21 in the end ring 21.
The rigid coil spring portion 8 can be screwed in to the position where it abuts
a and the soft coil spring portion 8b can be removably connected to each other.

The operating wire 4 in the flexible section 3 is divided into a proximal wire 4a within a rigid coil spring section 8a and a distal end wire 4b within a soft coil spring section 8b. A connecting sleeve 24 is attached to the distal end wire 4b.
A screw rod 25 is connected to the distal end of the proximal wire 4a, and by screwing the screw rod 25 into the connecting sleeve 24, the proximal wire 4a is fixed in a fitted state. The side wire 4a and the tip side wire 4b are detachably connected.

In this way, the flexible part 3 is connected to the rigid coil spring part 8a.
and a soft coil spring part 8b, and by making most of the proximal part the rigid coil spring part 8a, the forceps can be smoothly pushed into the forceps channel in the endoscope. The function of opening and closing smoothly and reliably is not impaired.
Moreover, when the forceps are inserted into the forceps channel with the angle portion curved at a steep angle, the flexible coil spring portion 8b deforms, so that the flexible portion 3 can easily bend the angle portion. Since the forceps can be followed, the insertion operability of the forceps is improved. Furthermore, the load on the bending operation of the angle portion when the forceps are inserted through the forceps channel is reduced, and the operability of the forceps as a whole is improved.

Moreover, since the mechanism for attaching and detaching the pawl unit 2 is provided at a different position from the position of the pawl unit 2, that is, between the rigid coil spring portion 8a and the soft coil spring portion 8b, the hard portion is dispersed. When inserting forceps with the forceps channel bent,
The insertion operability is improved. In particular, the forceps channel may be bent at a steep angle at the angle portion, making it extremely difficult to pass a long hard member through the angle. This will avoid any inconvenience. If the length of the soft coil spring portion 8b is set to such a length that the connecting mechanism 16 does not enter into the angle portion, it is even more convenient for the insertion operation of the forceps.

Then, after dividing the structure of the flexible part 3 into two parts, the rigid coil spring part 8a and the soft coil spring part 8b, both the coil spring parts 8a, 8
By providing the connecting mechanism 16 between b, the connecting ring 22 that constitutes the connecting mechanism 16
At the same time, by attaching and detaching the threaded rod 25 at the distal end of the proximal wire 4a from the connecting sleeve 24, and separating the proximal wire 4a and the distal wire 4b, the rigidity can be increased. The coil spring portion 8a and the soft coil spring portion 8b can be separated.

Therefore, the claw unit 2 of the forceps that has been used once is removed together with the soft coil spring 8b.
If you replace this with a new one,
The forceps can be reused by simply cleaning them, and there is no risk of secondary infection. and,
The claw unit that has been used once in this way may be discarded as is, or it may be reused after thorough cleaning.

In addition, as mentioned above, the nail unit 2 is replaceable, so by using a single forceps and having replacement parts for the nail unit in stock, you can collect cells as needed or remove the affected area. It becomes possible to select and use a claw portion with the optimum size and shape depending on the site to be extracted, etc., and the operability thereof is improved.

Furthermore, this replacement is performed not only for the pawl unit 2 but also for the soft coil spring portion 8b in the flexible portion 3 at the same time. Here, when the forceps are inserted into the body cavity through the endoscope, the claw unit 2 is guided into the body cavity from the tip of the insertion section of the endoscope.
The rigid coil spring portion 8a is not led out from the insertion portion of the endoscope only in the portion of the flexible portion 3 that is close to the claw unit 2. Therefore, all parts that may come into contact with body cavities can be replaced and used, which is extremely advantageous from a sanitary standpoint.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the connection between the rigid coil spring 8a and the soft coil spring 8b was provided by screwing the connection ring 22, but this connection In addition to screw connections, it would be advantageous if the device was configured to be able to be attached and detached without the use of special tools, such as a bayonet mechanism, since it could be easily attached and detached at the operation site. etc. may be used to connect.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, the present invention provides the following effects.

(a) Most of the flexible part from the connecting part with the operating part is made into a rigid flexible part, and the tip of this rigid flexible part is provided with a soft flexible part connected to the pawl unit. It maintains the opening/closing operation of the claw part and the pushing action of the forceps itself into the forceps channel, and also allows the forceps to pass through the angle part smoothly even when the angle part is bent at a steep angle, and allows the forceps to be inserted. (b) In addition, after dividing the flexible part into two parts in this way, the claw unit and the soft flexible part are integrated, and this is made into a rigid flexible part. Since it is configured to be removably connected to the flexible portion, the claw unit and the soft flexible portion that may come into direct contact with the body cavity can be replaced each time the forceps are used, which is extremely desirable from a sanitary standpoint. It is possible to reliably prevent the risk of causing secondary infection in patients. In addition, by making the flexible part (of which the rigid flexible part) and the operating part common, and having replacement parts for multiple types of claw units (and the soft flexible part) available, we can select the claw part that is most suitable for operation. The claw unit can be attached and used, and it is much easier to store and carry the forceps than when preparing a large number of forceps.

(c) Moreover, since the attachment/detachment mechanism is provided in a part remote from the claw unit, the hard part of the forceps that is inserted into the forceps channel can be dispersed, even if the forceps channel is bent. The forceps can be inserted smoothly even if it is bent. In particular, since the angle part can be bent at a steep angle, it is extremely difficult to pass a long hard part through this part. Since this claw unit can be suppressed to a minimum length in the axial direction, the operability of inserting the claw unit into the forceps channel is improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention,
Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the forceps, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tip of the forceps, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken from Fig. 2, 1: claw portion, 2: claw unit, 3: flexible portion, 4:
Operation wire, 4a: Proximal wire, 4b: Distal wire, 8: Close coil spring, 8a: Rigid coil spring section, 8b: Soft coil spring section, 9: Support member, 11: Link plate, 14: Slide plate ,
22: Connection ring, 20, 21: End ring,
25: Screw rod, 24: Connection sleeve.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A claw unit including a claw portion and an opening/closing mechanism for the claw portion; a flexible portion connected to the claw unit and having an operating wire connected to the opening/closing mechanism inserted therein; and the flexible portion. and an operating section for opening and closing the claw section by pushing and pulling the operating wire, and the endoscope forceps is inserted into a forceps channel of an endoscope. Most of the flexible part from the connection part with the operating part is made into a rigid flexible part, and a soft flexible part connected to the claw unit is provided at the tip of the rigid flexible part, and the soft flexible part is Endoscope forceps, characterized in that the forceps are configured to be detachably connected to the rigid flexible portion.