JPH0411684Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to an endoscope whose insertion portion is inserted into a body cavity for observation.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, the insertion portion of an endoscope has a structure in which a curved portion and a distal end portion are successively connected to a flexible tube. In addition, internal components such as an image guide fiber (in the case of a fiberscope), a light guide fiber, an air tube, a water tube, and a channel tube are inserted into the insertion tube for observation and treatment. There is. In addition, in an electronic scope, a solid-state imaging device (SID, etc.) is installed at the tip instead of the image guide fiber, and an electric wire that connects to the solid-state imaging device is inserted into the insertion section.

By the way, in these endoscopes, the curved section is bent in the up, down, left and right directions using an angle knob etc. provided on the operation section, but since the deformation at the curved section is large and strong, it is difficult to use the image guide. Fibers and light guide fibers are bent, and air tubes and water tubes are buckled, concentrated at curved portions.

Therefore, as a preventive measure, conventional techniques have been to cover the fibers and tubes with protective tubes to increase their durability. Specifically, one end of the protective tube is fixed to the distal end, and the other end is extended to a part of the flexible tube that is past the curved part to protect the part built into the curved part (possible). It does not extend over the entire length of the flexible tube, as it rarely breaks.)

[Problems that the invention aims to solve] However, with these flexible tubes, there is no protective tube on the proximal side (operating section side) compared to the tip side, so the total area occupied by the built-in components is smaller. First, conventionally, the thickness of a flexible tube is constant over its entire length.

For this reason, no consideration was given to reducing the patient's pain by making the diameter as small as possible. Specifically, when inserting the insertion part from the patient's oral cavity,
If the diameter of the flexible tube that passes through the mouth and throat is large, it places a corresponding burden on the mouth and throat, causing pain.

This invention was made with attention to such problems, and the purpose is to provide an endoscope that can reduce patient pain.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] In this endoscope, the proximal side of the flexible tube 1 is made thinner than the distal end side, and the lengths of the protective members 23 and 24 are made thinner than the flexible tube 1. By making the diameter of the part with a low filling rate, excluding the necessary part, smaller, the burden on the patient can be reduced as much as possible.

[Example] This invention will be described below based on a first example shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 shows an insertion section of an endoscope (electronic scope), in which 1 is a flexible tube, 2 is a curved section, and 3 is a distal end section. A curved section 2 and a distal end section 3 are successively connected to the distal end of the flexible tube 1, thereby forming an insertion section 4.

That is, the flexible tube 1 has a structure in which the outer periphery of a flex 5 made of a plate material wound into a coil shape is covered with a braid 6 (reticular body) and an outer skin 7 made of resin. Then, on the tip side of Flex 5,
A plurality of rotatable curved pieces 8 in series are connected in a freely connectable manner, and the outer periphery of the curved pieces 8 is sequentially covered with the blade 6 and an outer skin 10 made of rubber to form a curved part 3. Further, a tip metal portion 12 whose tip end side is covered with an insulating cover 11 is connected to this foremost bending piece 8 to form a tip portion 3 .

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an objective optical system 13, an illumination optical system 1
4, a nozzle 15 and a forceps mouth 16 are provided, and each lens surface and opening are exposed to the outside from the tip of the insulating cover 11. As shown in FIG. 2, behind the objective optical system 13, a solid-state image sensor 17 (SID, etc.) is installed together with an electrical component 18 (consisting of a board etc. on which electrical components are mounted), and an illumination optical system The output end of a light guide fiber 19 is installed behind the light guide fiber 14, and both can be used to observe the inside of the body cavity. That is, the entrance end side of the electric wire 20 and the light guide fiber 19 that connect to the electrical equipment section 18 is connected to the insertion section 4.
Inside, there is a connector part (not shown) that can be connected to a video processor and a light source through an operating part (not shown) connected to the proximal end of the insertion part 4 and a universal cord (not shown) connected to the operating part. (both not shown). Note that 21 is a shield cover for shielding the area around the solid-state image sensor 17 and the electrical equipment section 18.

Further, the nozzle 15 is connected to a water supply tube and an air supply tube (both not shown) inserted into the insertion section 4, and the forceps port 16 is connected to the insertion section 4 as well.
It is connected to a channel tube 16a inserted into the body cavity, so that air and water can be supplied through the insertion section 4 from the proximal side, and treatment tools (not shown) such as forceps can be inserted into the body cavity. Note that the water supply tube and the air supply tube reach the connector part, and the channel tube 16a leads to the operation part.

Each of these built-in objects is coated with a protective member over the length of the inside of the flexible tube 1 that extends beyond the curved portion 3 from the tip side to a certain extent, increasing the durability of each built-in object. .

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, around the electric wire 20, a wire protection tube 22 fixed to the rear end of the shield cover 21 is provided across the tip inside the flexible tube 1, and Around the outer skin 19a of the guide fiber 19, there is a tip metal portion 1.
A light guide protection tube 23 fixed to the rear end of the tip metal part 12 is provided across the distal end side of the flexible tube 1, and a channel protection tube 24 fixed to the rear end of the tip metal part 12 is provided in the channel tube 16a. 3) is similarly provided across the distal end side of the flexible tube 1. Of course, although not shown, there are also
An air protection tube and a water protection tube are provided with similar lengths.

As shown in Fig. 1, the diameter of the proximal side of the flexible tube 1 is made thinner than the distal end portion of the flexible tube 1, which contains each protective tube, due to the lack of protective tubes. . The reduced diameter structure is shown in FIG.

Specifically, the flex 5 of the flexible tube 1 is divided at a point slightly away from the rear end of the protective tube toward the proximal side. Then, on the distal end side of the split, a first flex 5a having the same diameter as the conventional one is used, and on the proximal side, since there is no protective tube, the first flex 5a is used.
A second flex 5b is used which is thinner than the diameter (inner and outer) of a. In addition to connecting the two flex ends with a connecting member 25 made of a tapered cylindrical body, a blade 6 is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the connecting member 25.
Coating the outer skin 7 is carried out. Of course, the end of each protective tube is located in front of the connecting member 25.

Thus, the insertion section 4 of the endoscope configured in this manner becomes thinner from the distal end section 3 to the operation section side, excluding the distal end side of the flexible tube 1. In other words, parts that absolutely require a required outer diameter to accommodate built-in things remain the same, while other parts that occupy a small total area occupied by built-in things become smaller in diameter.

It can be seen that the narrower diameter of the flexible tube 1 reduces the burden on the mouth and throat when inserting the insertion portion 4 from the patient's oral cavity (as the tube becomes thinner). Therefore, the patient's pain can be reduced as much as possible.

Furthermore, this invention is not limited to the first embodiment described above, but also applies to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the third embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. You can do as in the example.

That is, the second embodiment has a structure in which not only the flex 5 but also the entire flexible tube 1 is divided into a thick part (distal end side) and a narrow diameter part (proximal side), and these are joined together. This is a transition from a thick diameter to a thin diameter.

Specifically, a cylindrical first connecting member 30 that can be inserted into the male first flex 5a is provided protruding from the end face of the small-diameter proximal side flexible tube portion, and a cylindrical first connecting member 30 that can be inserted into the male first flex 5a is provided. A female second connecting member 31 that can be fitted onto the outer periphery of the flexible tube portion on the proximal side is protrudingly provided on the end face of the flexible tube portion. By fitting them together, the flexible tube portion on the distal end side and the flexible tube portion on the proximal side are connected, and a heat shrink tube 32 is provided on the tapered surface formed on the outer periphery of the second connecting member 31. The divided first outer skin 7a on the distal end side and the second outer skin 7b on the proximal side are connected together.

Note that 9a indicates the first divided blade on the distal end side, and 9b similarly indicates the second blade on the proximal side.

In the third embodiment, the diameter of the flex 5 of the flexible tube 1 is gradually made thinner and transitions from the thicker portion to the thinner portion of the flexible tube 1 without using the above-mentioned connecting member. There is.

In the fourth embodiment, instead of the protective tube, the channel tube, the air supply tube, the water supply tube, and the light guide fiber are made thicker and used as a protective member. in particular,
In this embodiment, the outer skin 19 of the light guide fiber
a and the channel tube 16a are made thicker from the distal end side to the distal end side of the flexible tube 1. Of course, in this embodiment as well as in the above-mentioned embodiments, the length of the protective member is set to just before the thinner portion of the flexible tube 1.

Further, in all of the embodiments described above, this invention was applied to an endoscope (electronic scope) using a solid-state image sensor, but as in the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. Needless to say, it may be applied to the endoscope (fiberscope) used. Of course, this embodiment is similar to the embodiment described above, and the proximal side of the flexible tube 1 is made thinner than the distal end side, and an image guide protection tube 37 and an air supply tube are provided around the outer skin 36a of the image guide fiber 36. 38 air supply protection tubes
The length of the protective tubes such as the water supply tube 38a and the water supply protection tube 39a of the water supply tube 39 is set to just before the flexible tube 1 becomes thin. However, 38b indicates a connection pipe for fixing the air supply tube 38, and 39a indicates a connection pipe for fixing the water supply tube 39.

In each of the embodiments, tubes were used to protect each built-in object, but other protective members, such as coil-shaped or flexible members, may also be used as the protection member. Anything is fine.

[Effects of the device] As explained above, according to this device, the diameter of the low filling rate portion of the flexible tube, excluding the necessary portion, is made smaller, thereby reducing the burden on the patient as much as possible. become.

Therefore, the patient's pain can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the distal end side of the insertion section;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the distal end thereof, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the portion where the diameter changes on the distal end side of the flexible tube, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the main parts of the second embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the main parts of the third embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a main part of a fourth embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a main part of a fifth embodiment of this invention. 1... Flexible tube, 16a, 19, 20... Channel tube, light guide fiber, electric wire (built-in), 22, 23, 24... Electric wire protection tube, light guide protection tube, channel protection tube (protection member) , 25...Connecting member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In an endoscope that has a flexible tube and in which at least one built-in item in the flexible tube is covered with a protective member from the distal side, the proximal side of the flexible tube is made thinner than the distal side, The endoscope is further characterized in that the length of the protective member extends to just before the narrowing portion of the flexible tube.