JPH04220231A - Endoscope catheter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the diameter of the endoscope catheter for medical treatments to be applied to blood vessels, etc., or the industrial endoscope catheter used for inspection of capillary equipment, etc., while providing a mechanism for curving the front end of the catheter by an external operation on the above- mentioned catheter. CONSTITUTION:Four pieces of lumens for directional control are provided at the front end of a catheter tube body 11 and four balloon 13 for directional control communicating with each of the four lumens are provided. Fluid is fed into the above-mentioned lumens from the rear ends thereof to expand the balloons 13 to generate tension in an elastic member 28 fixed at one end to the expanded balloons 13. The front end of the catheter body 11 fixed to the other end of the elastic member 28 is then curved in the direction where the expanded balloons 13 are formed. The endoscope catheter of this invention is simplified in the mechanism for bending the front end and the diameter of the catheter is extremely reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [0001] [Industrial Application Field] This invention is used for medical endoscope catheters for observing or treating the inside of blood vessels or the digestive tract, or for inspecting thin tube equipment. The present invention relates to an industrial endoscopic catheter that has a reduced diameter while having a mechanism for bending the tip of the catheter by external manipulation. [Prior Art] Recently, medical endoscopic catheters (hereinafter referred to as
BACKGROUND ART Catheters (abbreviated as catheters) have undergone remarkable development, and have come to play a major role in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, particularly those in the blood vessels and gastrointestinal tract. [0003] Particularly when the above-mentioned catheter is inserted into a thin tube such as a blood vessel for observation or treatment, the diameter of the catheter used is required to be further reduced. Conventionally, as a bending mechanism for the distal end of the catheter, for example, a bending mechanism shown in FIG. 8 has been known. This bending mechanism consists of two sets of four wires 3, 3 connected near the head part 2 at the tip of the endoscope body 1, and each set is wound around two drums 4 that are perpendicular to each other.
By rotating a knob 5 wound around the drum 4, one side of a pair of wires 3, 3 wound around the drum 4 is pulled, the other side is loosened, and the tips are bent. [0005] Furthermore, this bent portion is constructed by connecting a large number of joint rings 7 side by side with a pivot 6 interposed therebetween, as shown in FIG. 9, and passing wires 3, 3 through holes 8 provided in each joint ring 7. When tension is applied to one side of a pair of wires 3, 3, the tension causes the node ring 7 to tilt at a certain angle with respect to the axis of the catheter body 1, with the pivot 6 as the center, and the catheter body 1 The tip is bent. [0006] However, since the above-mentioned conventional bending mechanism has a complicated structure in which a large number of joint rings 7 are connected via the pivot 6, the entire bending mechanism has to have a large diameter. However, since the outer diameter is at least 5 mm or more, it has been difficult to provide this bending mechanism in an extremely small diameter catheter (1 mm or less) that is applied inside a blood vessel. In addition, with the bending structure using this nodal ring, it is possible to obtain a gentle bending state of the tip of the catheter, but it is impossible to obtain a sharp bending state. The present invention was developed in view of the above circumstances, and includes a catheter tip bending mechanism that allows the catheter tip to be bent into a sharp bending state by an external operation, and is provided with a catheter tip bending mechanism that allows the catheter tip to be bent into a sharp bending state in a small diameter tube such as a blood vessel. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a catheter whose diameter is as small as possible for use. [Means for Solving the Problems] This problem is solved by providing at least one direction control balloon communicating with one of the lumens at the distal end of a synthetic resin catheter tube body having a plurality of lumens. , and an elastic member having one end fixed to the balloon and the other end fixed to the distal end of the catheter tube body, and when the balloon is inflated by feeding fluid from the rear end side of the lumen communicating with the direction control balloon, This problem can be solved by creating a structure in which tension is generated in the elastic member fixed to the balloon. [Operation] Since the endoscopic catheter of the present invention has the above structure, a fluid such as physiological saline is injected into the direction control balloon through the direction control lumen, and the balloon is Inflate. As the balloon expands, tension is applied to the elastic member fixed to one end of the balloon.
The tip of the catheter fixed to the other end of the elastic member is bent in the direction of forming the inflated balloon. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and reference numeral 10 in the figure is an endoscopic catheter. The endoscopic catheter 10 includes a catheter body 11, a balloon 12 disposed on the side circumferential surface of the catheter body 11 on the distal end side, and a balloon 12 disposed on the side circumferential surface near the distal end of the catheter body 11. Four directional control balloons 13, a TV monitor 14, a light source 15, and a laser device 1 are arranged.
6, pumps 17 and 18, and external devices such as a swing direction control device 19. [0012] The catheter body 11 is formed by molding a material such as a highly flexible synthetic resin into a tube-like and elongated shape. For example, a synthetic resin material such as polyurethane, silicone, or fluororesin is suitably used. . Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, inside the catheter body 11, there are three optical fiber lumens 20, 21, 22.
(hereinafter abbreviated as fiber lumen), lumen 23 for blood flow suppression balloon, and four directional control lumens 24
is provided. Among the lumens, the fiber lumens 20, 21, 22 are provided to penetrate the catheter body 11 along the longitudinal direction of the catheter body 11,
An image fiber 25, a light guide fiber 26, and a laser optical fiber 27 are disposed within each lumen. Furthermore, external devices such as a TV monitor 14, a light source 15, and a laser oscillation device 16 are connected to the rear end sides of the image fiber 25, light guide fiber 26, and laser optical fiber 27, respectively. [0014] The lumen 23 is connected to the catheter body 11.
The rear end side is open, and a pump 17 for injecting pressurized fluid is provided into this opening, and as shown in FIG. are doing. The direction control lumens 24 are opened at the rear end of the catheter body 11, and each opening is connected to the pump 18, which is controlled by the oscillation direction control device 19.
It is connected to the. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, four direction control balloons 13 are disposed on each distal end side, and are opened to the side surface of the catheter body 11 corresponding to the position where these balloons are disposed. The balloon 12 is a donut-shaped bag made of an elastic material such as polyurethane or fluororesin, and is provided on the distal end side of the catheter body 11. Similarly to the balloon 12, the four balloons 13 are dome-shaped bags made of an elastic material such as polyurethane or fluororesin, and are disposed on the side peripheral surface near the tip of the balloon 12. The balloon 12 is connected to the distal end of the catheter tube by an elastic member 28 made of silicone rubber or the like. To remove, for example, intravascular atheroma using the oscillating endoscopic catheter 10 configured as described above,
As shown in FIG. 5, first, the catheter 10 is gradually inserted into the blood vessel 29, and the blood vessel wall 30 is observed with an image fiber. If the presence of an atheroma is confirmed, stop the insertion and operate the pump 17 to inject fluid such as physiological saline into the balloon 12 before the atheroma 31 as shown in FIG. to stop the blood flow. Once the blood flow has been stopped in this way, a fluid such as physiological saline is injected into the direction control balloon 13A through the direction control lumen 24 as shown in FIG. 7 to inflate the direction control balloon 13A. . As a result, as the direction control balloon 13A expands, tension is applied to the elastic member 28 whose one end is fixed to the direction control balloon 13A, and the tip of the catheter main body 11, to which the other end of the elastic member 28A is fixed, moves toward the atheroma 31 side. bend. Furthermore, after this, a laser beam is oscillated from the laser oscillation device 16, and the atheroma 31 is irradiated with the laser beam through the laser beam fiber and from the laser beam emitting port provided at the distal end of the catheter.
1 can be evaporated and removed. Note that a CO2 laser, a CO laser, an Ar laser, a YAG laser, an excimer laser, or the like is suitably used for the laser oscillation device 16. Endoscopic catheter 10 in this embodiment
has four directional control lumens 2 in the catheter body 11.
4, four direction control balloons 13 are provided at the distal end of the catheter body 11, and an elastic member 28 is provided, one end of which is fixed to the direction control balloon 13 and the other end of which is fixed to the distal end of the catheter body, and Each of the four direction control lumens 24 is configured to open on the side surface of the catheter body corresponding to the formation position of each of the four direction control balloons 13.
Pour fluid such as saline through one of the four tubes into this one.
The direction control balloon 1 is injected into the direction control balloon 13 provided at a position corresponding to the side opening near the catheter tip body 11 of the direction control lumen.
3 is inflated, and as the direction control balloon 13 expands, tension is applied to the elastic member 28 whose one end is fixed to the direction control balloon 13, and the catheter body is attached to the side to which the other end of the elastic member 28 is fixed. 11 The tip is bent. [0022] Therefore, the mechanism for bending the distal end of the catheter body is simplified, and the diameter of the catheter can be made extremely small, resulting in an extremely small diameter endoscopic catheter used for observing inside blood vessels, etc. It is also applicable to Furthermore, since four direction control lumens are provided at the distal end of the catheter body 11, the distal end of the catheter can be freely bent in all directions by appropriately adjusting the pressure applied by the fluid to these balloons. . Furthermore, in the endoscopic catheter of this embodiment, most of the components such as the catheter body and the balloon are molded from inexpensive synthetic resin materials such as polyurethane, so it is possible to mass produce the catheter at low manufacturing costs. , can be manufactured as a disposable endoscopic catheter. In this embodiment, a pump was used to inject pressure fluid into the balloon, but a device such as a cylinder may also be used. Effects of the Invention The endoscopic catheter of the present invention has the following advantages:
At least one directional control balloon communicating with one of the lumens is provided at the distal end of a synthetic resin catheter tube body having a plurality of lumens, one end of which is fixed to the balloon, and the other end of which is attached to the catheter tube. An elastic member fixed to the tip of the main body is provided, and when the balloon is inflated by introducing fluid from the rear end side of the lumen communicating with the direction control balloon, tension is generated in the elastic member fixed to the balloon. Therefore, the mechanism for bending the distal end becomes simple, and the diameter of the catheter can be made extremely small. Therefore, it is also applicable to ultra-thin diameter endoscopic catheters used for observing inside blood vessels. [0027] Furthermore, with the above configuration, a sharp bending state can be obtained when the distal end of the catheter is bent. Therefore, it is convenient for observing sharply curved parts such as branching parts of blood vessels or for performing laser beam therapy inside blood vessels.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an endoscopic catheter of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA' of the endoscopic catheter main body shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB' of the endoscopic catheter body shown in FIG. 1;

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC' of the endoscopic catheter body shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

5 is a diagram for explaining an example of use of the endoscopic catheter shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a diagram for explaining an example of use of the endoscopic catheter shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

7 is a diagram for explaining an example of use of the endoscopic catheter shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional endoscopic catheter.

9 is a diagram showing a tip bending mechanism of the conventional endoscopic catheter shown in FIG. 8. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Endoscopic catheter 11 Catheter tube body 13 Balloon for direction control 24 Lumen for direction control 28 Elastic member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. At least one directional control balloon communicating with one of the lumens is provided at the distal end of a synthetic resin catheter tube body having a plurality of lumens, one end of which is fixed to the balloon, and the other end of the catheter tube main body made of synthetic resin. An elastic member whose end is fixed to the distal end of the catheter tube body is provided, and when the balloon is inflated by introducing fluid from the rear end side of the lumen communicating with the direction control balloon, tension is applied to the elastic member fixed to the balloon. An endoscopic catheter characterized by: