JPH05305052A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an endoscope allowing a smooth bending action, capable of simplifying the angle operation technique, and allowing a scope to be safely inserted into a body cavity for a diagnosis and the like. CONSTITUTION:In an endoscope provided with curve sections 5a, 5b on the tip side of a scope and performing the bending action of the curve sections 5a, 5b via a wire action, the curve sections 5a, 5b are constituted with the spiral pipe which is provided with spiral notches (spiral interval S) with the constant width on a flexible tube made of resin such as plastic and gradially increases the belt width (W) of the spiral winding belt from its tip.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention allows a scope to be inserted into a body cavity of a patient so that the scope can be smoothly moved through an endoscope used for diagnosing and treating diseases, particularly in the digestive tract and bronchi. Regarding the endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Endoscopes include fiberscope type and electronic endoscopes, but a cylindrical curved portion is provided on the distal end side of the scope of these endoscopes in order to smoothly move in the body cavity. It is provided. The inner wall of the curved portion is provided with a guide hole for inserting a wire at a position that divides the peripheral portion into approximately four equal parts, and by manually operating the wire inserted through these guide holes, the endoscope is You can freely operate the angle of. In these endoscopes, as the structure of the curved portion on the distal end side of the scope, a plurality of ring segments having a constant width are connected by a pin, or as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-8436, by extruding plastic or the like. It is known that a side wall of an integrally molded cylindrical tube is provided with notches in a uniform pattern.

[0003]

However, in the curved portion on the distal end side of the scope of the endoscope, the width of the nodules is constant and the notches and the like are provided in a uniform pattern. The bending operation of the mirror may be intermittent.
In addition, there is a case in which the bending operation is caused by each endoscope, and the bending portion may be changed by the same wire operation. Therefore,
The angle operation for displaying the target lesion on the monitor requires a considerable amount of skill, and there are problems such as damage to the stomach wall and the like due to operation mistakes of the endoscope, and great pain to the patient.

The present invention has been made in order to solve these problems. It enables a smooth bending operation, simplifies the angle operation technique, and allows a scope to be safely inserted into a body cavity for diagnosis. The purpose is to provide an endoscope.

[0005]

An endoscope according to the present invention is provided with a bending portion on the distal end side of a scope in which a plurality of ring segments having wire guide holes are continuously provided, and a wire is inserted into the guide holes of each ring segment. In the endoscope in which the bending operation of the bending portion is performed by a wire operation, the bending portion is formed by gradually increasing the width of each nodule from the distal end side, and the bending operation is performed by the curvature of the equiangular spiral. To do.

Further, in an endoscope in which a bending portion is provided on the distal end side of the scope and the bending operation of the bending portion is performed by a wire operation, the bending portion is provided with a spiral notch having a constant width in the flexible tube. It is characterized in that it is constituted by a spiral tube in which the band width of the spiral winding band gradually increases, and the bending operation is performed by the curvature of the equiangular spiral.

[0007]

In the endoscope of the above-mentioned means, since the distal end side of the scope to be inserted into the body cavity is composed of the curved portion which is curved into an equiangular spiral, the bending lines of the curved portions which face each other by 180 degrees are parallel to each other. Becomes As a result, the expansion and contraction force of the bending portion that constitutes the endoscope is mechanically stabilized, so that the endoscope can be smoothly inserted into the digestive tract or the like with the distal end thereof being curved. Further, since the curved portion of the endoscope can maintain the curved state in a constant equiangular spiral shape, the angle operation can be reliably performed without relying on intuition. Further, since the connecting portion or the like is not used in the bending portion having the spiral cutout, the bending does not become intermittent, and the cause of skipping the visual field can be prevented.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the endoscope of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing the endoscope of this embodiment.

This endoscope has a monitor 1 for displaying an endoscopic image, a main body 2 provided with operation switches and the like, and a scope 3 used by being inserted into a body cavity of a patient.

A bending portion 5 for guiding the scope itself to the affected portion in the body cavity is provided on the tip side of the flexible portion 4 of the scope 3, and a video camera, forceps, and a cleaning nozzle are provided at the tip of the bending portion 5. A rigid part 6 is provided for equipping. On the other hand, on the rear end side of the flexible portion 4, an operating portion 7 for performing an angle operation of the scope 3 and a universal cord 8 for transmitting a video camera signal to the main body 2 are provided. And
Inside the flexible portion 4, although not shown, a light guide fiber,
The air supply tube, the water supply tube, the lead wire, etc. are incorporated.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bending portion 5 on the distal end side of the scope is formed by providing a flexible tube made of resin such as plastic with a spiral notch (helix interval S) having a constant width.
Although not shown, the spiral tube 5a is covered with a rubber tube or the like to be waterproofed, although the spiral tube 5a is configured so that the width (W) of the spiral winding band gradually increases from its tip. It

On the inner wall of the spiral tube 5a of the curved portion 5, guide holes 5b for inserting wires are provided at positions where the peripheral portion is divided into four equal parts, and four guide holes 5b are inserted into the guide holes 5b. When the wires a, b, c, and d are manually operated by the angle operation section 7, the bending section 5 simultaneously bends due to the curvature of the equiangular spiral wire, and the angle of the endoscope can be operated vertically and horizontally. ing.

The curved state shown in FIG. 2 is realized by feeding the wire a in the direction of the arrow and pulling the wire d in the direction of the arrow to operate.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the bending portion 5 of the scope 3
(W), spiral spacing (S)
Will be described.

When a flexible tube having a tube diameter (D) of 9 ^φ mm (inner diameter 8 ^φ mm) is used as a base, W = 2e ^{(θ / 10)} mm (e: natural constant, θ: radian) ... -(1) S = 9 ( ^phi ) * (pi) / 8 mm ... (2) A curved part is comprised with the spiral tube according to Formula (1) and Formula (2).

The result of calculating θ for each π / 8 is as shown in Table 1. When drawing is performed based on this calculation result, the curved portion shown in FIG. 4 is obtained.

[0018]

[Table 1] As a result, the bending section 5 of the scope 3 is bent by the wire operation of the angle operation section 7. In the bending operation, the spiral distance (S) is reduced to zero from the tip end side on the wire pulling side, and the extension side is separated by that amount. Then, by continuing this operation, the bending of the bending portion 5 advances.

Since the band width W of the spiral winding band is formed by the function of natural logarithm according to the equation (1), the sum thereof is also a function of natural constants, and therefore the curve formed by bending the bending portion 5 is also formed. It becomes a function of natural constants. That is, when expressed in polar coordinates, it can be expressed by equation (4).

R = R ₀ e ^kθ (4) where R is the bending radius of the curved portion, R 0 is the minimum radius, and k is a constant. Equation (4) is an equiangular (logarithmic) spiral line. Based on (1), the principle of similarity of the guiding curve (the principle that the stretched line is also an equiangular spiral) is established.

That is, k = 1/10 ... (5) If R ₀ is set to 5 mm, R = 5e ^{(θ / 10)} (6) where θ is the center of curvature Angle with the base line including
Can be expressed as

In the endoscope of the above embodiment, the scope 3
Although the curved portion 5 of the above is configured by a spiral tube and is bent into an equiangular spiral line, the present invention is not limited to this, and the flexible member 1 as shown in FIG.
The curved portion 5 may be formed by continuously connecting ring-shaped ring joints 11 with 0 as an axis. Also in such a case, the width of each ring segment 11 is formed by gradually increasing it from the distal end side of the scope 3.

[0023]

According to the endoscope of the present invention, the bending operation of the distal end side of the scope is surely performed by the curvature of the equiangular spiral by the angle operation. For this reason, the angle operation of the endoscope can be easily performed as the operator desires, and the scope of the endoscope can be smoothly inserted into the target portion in the body cavity, so that the operation mistake of the endoscope is reduced. It is possible to prevent accidents that damage the stomach wall or the like. Further, in the case of the curved portion having the spiral cutout, since the connecting pin or the like is not used, the curvature is not intermittent, and the cause of skipping the visual field is prevented, and as a result, the endoscope The field of view can be expanded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of an endoscope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a bending state of a bending portion of the scope of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a spiral tube which constitutes a bending portion of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the structure of the spiral tube of the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a curved portion of a scope of another example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Scope 4 Soft part 5 Bending part 5a Spiral tube 5b Guide hole 6 Hard part 7 Operation part a, b, c, d Wire

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A bending portion, in which a plurality of ring segments having wire guide holes therein are continuously provided, is provided on a distal end side of a scope, a wire is inserted through the guide holes of each ring segment, and the bending operation of the bending portion is performed by a wire operation. In the endoscope, the bending portion is formed by gradually increasing the width of each nodule from the distal end side, and bends by the curvature of the equiangular spiral. 2. An endoscope in which a bending portion is provided on a distal end side of a scope, and the bending operation of the bending portion is performed by a wire operation. In the bending portion, a flexible tube is provided with a spiral notch having a constant width. An endoscope characterized by being constituted by a spiral tube in which the width of a spiral winding band is gradually increased, and performing a bending operation by the curvature of an equiangular spiral.