JPH0346721Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device] [Industrial field of application] The device can be inserted into a body cavity of a human body or a mechanical device to observe a predetermined observation target, and can be used for treatment, repair, etc. This relates to an endoscope for performing.

[Prior Art] An endoscope has an insertion section that is inserted into a body cavity or the like connected to an operation section main body, and most of the insertion section from the connection with the operation section main body to the vicinity of the tip is connected to the operation section main body. is a flexible portion that bends freely along the insertion path, and an angled portion and a hard end portion are successively connected to the flexible portion. An angle knob is provided on the main body of the operating section, and two to four operating wires are attached between the angle knob and the hard tip part, and by pushing and pulling the operating wires, the tip The angle can be manipulated to orient the hard part in a desired direction.

Here, since the insertion section is inserted while being bent along a predetermined insertion path such as a body cavity, one of the aforementioned operating wires is pulled.
When the object reaches the observation target, the hard tip may be tilted left and right or up and down. Therefore, when the angle knob is operated in this state, the hard end portion will be curved in an unintended direction. Therefore, it is necessary to have a guide to confirm the direction of the hard tip of the angle operation part, but since the soft part has a scale to confirm the depth of insertion into the body cavity, The direction of the hard tip was confirmed using this scale as a reference. That is, by operating the angle knob, the angle part is curved in an appropriate direction so that the flexible part faces within the field of view of the observation window provided in the hard tip part, and at this time, the By visually checking the scale, you can confirm the vertical and horizontal direction of the hard tip.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] By the way, the scale of the flexible part mentioned above is formed at predetermined intervals, and when the insertion part is angled to bring the flexible part into the field of view of the observation window, It is not always possible to position the scale within this observation field of view, and for this reason, there is a drawback that the task of confirming the directionality of the hard tip portion is extremely troublesome. Also, even if the directionality of this hard tip is confirmed, if you bend it left or right while operating at an angle, it will bend in the opposite direction than if you bend it left or right while it is in a straight state. In this respect, there is also a drawback that it may cause confusion in the operation of the endoscope.

The present invention was developed in view of the above points, and its purpose is to easily confirm the directionality of the rigid distal end of the insertion section when it is inserted into a body cavity, etc. The object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope that is easy to operate and has good operability.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a flexible portion of the insertion portion that is connected to the main body of the operating portion and is inserted into a body cavity or the like. An index section is provided in the axial direction to indicate the vertical and horizontal directions of the hard tip when the flexible section is brought into the field of view by manipulating the angle of the flexible section, and a display that displays an image of the observation target section. The device is characterized in that the means is provided with an indicator portion that corresponds to the display on the index portion and serves as an indicator of the directionality of the left/right angle operation of the hard tip portion.

[Function] When inserting the insertion section into a body cavity or the like, in order to confirm the directionality of the rigid distal end of the insertion section, perform an angle operation so that the flexible section is aligned with the field of view of the observation window provided in the rigid distal end. Let it go inside. Here, since the flexible portion is provided with an index portion in the axial direction thereof, its vertical and horizontal directions can be confirmed based on the display of the index portion.

In addition, when the rigid tip part is held at an angle and the display part of the image of the object to be observed is operated to bend it to the left or right, it is necessary to perform the operation based on the index on the indicator part. , can prevent operational confusion.

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

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the endoscope is constructed by connecting the insertion section 2 to the tip of the operation section main body 1.
The insertion section 2 has a flexible section 2a that bends along the insertion path from the connecting section to the operation section main body 1 to a position near the tip, and an angled section 2b and a hard tip are arranged at the tip of the flexible section 2a. The portion 2c is provided in series. On the tip surface of this hard tip portion 2c,
As shown in FIG. 3, an illumination window 3 that irradiates illumination light toward the observation target, an observation window 4 that allows an image of the observation target to enter, a treatment instrument outlet 5, and an air and water supply port 6 are provided. It is formed.

The angle portion 2b in the insertion portion 2 is
As shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to perform an angle operation to curve the tip in a desired direction, thereby allowing the rigid tip portion 2c to be oriented in any direction. . In order to perform the angle operation of the angle section 2b, an angle knob 7 is attached to the operating section main body 1, and an angle operation is performed up and down and left and right between the angle knob 7 and the hard end portion 2c of the insertion section 2. 4 to do
A book operating wire (not shown) is inserted therethrough.
Furthermore, an eyepiece section 8 that forms an image from the observation window 4 is connected to the operation section main body 1 .

Here, as is clear from FIG. 1, the flexible part 2a of the insertion part 2 has a predetermined length along its length in order to confirm the insertion depth of the insertion part 2 into the body cavity etc. from the outside. A scale 10 consisting of scale lines and their numerical values is formed at intervals. In addition, this flexible portion 2a has an index portion extending over substantially the entire length thereof in the longitudinal direction, that is, the axial direction.
Parallel lines 11a, 11b of books are provided. These lines 11a and 11b are formed at a predetermined distance from side to side at the upper position in the circumferential direction of the flexible portion 2a, and the line 11a on one side, that is, on the left side in FIG. 1, is a solid line. , and the line 11b on the other side, that is, on the right side in the figure, is a dotted line. Therefore,
By operating the angle so that the observation window 4 of the hard tip part 2c faces the soft part 2a and bringing the soft part 2a into the field of view, the vertical and horizontal directions of the hard tip part 2c can be confirmed. It's becoming like that.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the end face of an image guide 12 made of an optical fiber bundle that transmits the image of the observation target portion faces the eyepiece part 8, and the optical axis from the end face of the image guide 12 faces the eyepiece part 8. Sequentially aperture 1
3, prism 14, lens 15, cover glass 1
6 is provided so that an image of the observation target can be formed on the eyepiece section 8. As shown in FIG. 5, a position on the surface of the cover glass 16 outside the observation field serves as an indicator for the left and right operation direction of the rigid tip portion 2c when the insertion portion 2 is angled as described above. The indicator portion 17 is formed by means such as vapor deposition. That is, as shown in the figure, when the angle operation is performed to the left, the hard tip portion 2c moves in the direction of the dotted line 11b, and when the angle operation is performed to the right, the hard tip portion 2c moves in the direction of the solid line 11a. There is a display indicating that the vehicle is now facing the target.

This embodiment is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained next.

The insertion section 2 is inserted into a body cavity or the like, and the rigid distal end section 2c is guided to a predetermined observation target region. Here, since a scale 10 is provided on the outer surface of the flexible part 2a, the insertion depth of the insertion part 2 into the body cavity can be confirmed by the scale 10, and based on this, the tip The position of the hard part 2c can now be estimated. When the hard tip portion 2c reaches a predetermined observation target portion, it becomes possible to observe it through the observation window 4 formed in the hard tip portion 2c, and the treatment tool such as forceps can be used as a treatment tool. If it is led out from the outlet 5, it becomes possible to perform cell collection, treatment, etc.

By the way, in observing the observation target part described above and performing diagnosis, treatment, etc. based thereon, it is necessary to orient the tip hard part 2c in a desired direction. For this purpose, operate the angle knob 7 to
b may be bent in an appropriate direction, but since the soft part 2a in the insertion part 2 is long and can be bent freely, the hard tip part 2c
The insertion section 2 repeats meandering along the insertion path until it reaches the position of the predetermined observation target part. When the flexible portion 2a is bent in this way, the curvature of the operating wire located on the inner side of this curved portion is different from that of the operating wire located on the outer side. As a result of the wire shrinking, the rigid tip portion 2c is swung in either direction from its neutral position.

When the hard tip portion 2c is swung in any direction in this way, the vertical and horizontal directions of the image formed on the eyepiece 8 match the vertical and horizontal directions of the hard tip portion 2c. I'll end up not doing it. Therefore, if the angle knob 7 is operated in this state, the angle cannot be operated in the desired direction. For example, when viewing the eyepiece 8 and operating the angle knob 7 in an attempt to take the field of view to the left from that state, the field of view may move upward. Furthermore, when performing treatment using a treatment tool such as forceps, if the treatment tool is operated at an angle with the treatment tool protruding from the treatment tool outlet 5, the treatment tool cannot be guided to the desired position. , causing inconvenience such as injury to other parts.

Therefore, by first operating the angle knob 7 and directing the hard tip portion 2c in an arbitrary direction,
The flexible portion 2a is placed within the field of view of the observation window 4 in the hard tip portion 2c. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the position of the hard end portion 2c is adjusted so that the parallel lines 11a and 11b shown on the outer surface of the soft portion 2a are located at the center of the soft portion 2a. . This makes it possible to confirm the upper, lower, left and right positions of the hard tip portion 2c.

At this time, since the angle is being operated as shown in Fig. 1, the left and right sides of the hard tip portion 2c and the left and right sides of the image formed on the eyepiece section 8 are reversed. . Therefore, if you try to swing the hard tip portion 2c to the left or right in this state, it will end up moving in the opposite direction. However, an indicator section 17 is displayed on the eyepiece section 8 together with the image of the observation target, and the indicator section 17 is angled so as to correspond to the solid line 11a and dotted line 11b that constitute the index section. Since instructions regarding the direction of operation are displayed, operations can be performed based on this display, and confusion in angle operation will not occur. On the other hand, the rigid tip portion 2c and the eyepiece portion 8 are also upside down, but since operations in this direction are usually not so confusing, there is no need to provide any special indicators, but for example, an arrow It is also possible to attach a display as an indicator of operation in this direction.

In the above embodiment, an optical endoscope was described in which an image of the observation target part is formed in the eyepiece part 8, but the image of the observation target part is converted into an electrical signal by a solid-state image sensor. It can be configured as an electronic endoscope that can be displayed on a display such as a CRT. In this case, the indicator section may be displayed on the display screen. In addition, as the index portion, the solid line 11a and the dotted line 1
If you want to make it clear not only about 1b, but also about the left and right sides, for example, use wavy lines, dots, etc., use lines of different thicknesses and colors, or even add color bands between the two colors. It can also be formed by Further, although the index portion is provided at the upper part of the flexible portion 2a, the position where the index portion is provided is not limited to this upper position, but may be provided at the bottom, at any position on the left or right, or at both the upper and lower or left and right positions. , they can also be provided at these four positions. It goes without saying that when index portions are provided at a plurality of positions, it is necessary to change the type of index portion for each position.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, the flexible part of the insertion section is provided with an index part, and the display means for displaying an image of the observation target part, based on the display of the index part, Since the structure is provided with an indicator section that indicates the left and right direction of operation of the rigid tip, by operating the insertion section at an angle while inserted inside a body cavity, the vertical and horizontal directions of the rigid tip can be adjusted. This has various effects such as being able to easily confirm the position, and also being able to move the hard tip portion to either the left or right without confusion.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 is an external view of the insertion section of an endoscope, Fig. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of the endoscope, and Fig. 3 is an illustration of the hard part of the distal end of the insertion section. A front view, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of the eyepiece section, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of image formation of the observation target part. 1: Operating part main body, 2: Insertion part, 2a: Soft part,
2b: Angle part, 2c: Hard tip part, 10: Scale, 11a: Solid line, 11b: Dotted line, 17: Indicator part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] When the flexible part of the insertion part connected to the operation part main body and inserted into a body cavity etc. is brought into view by manipulating the insertion part at an angle,
An index section for indicating the vertical and horizontal directions of the rigid tip section is provided in the axial direction, and a display means for displaying an image of the observation target section is provided with an index section that indicates the vertical and horizontal direction of the rigid tip section. What is claimed is: 1. An endoscope characterized in that the endoscope is configured to include an indicator portion that serves as an indicator of the directionality of the left-right angle operation.