JPH06237886A - Bending part structure of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control the curvature of a flexible tube without using a sliding tube by using a spiral tube with interlock structure in which a plate with a cross section of S-shape is made spiral and its both edges are interlocked each other. CONSTITUTION:A spiral tube 11 in a flexible tube 4 is made by a method in which a band plate is folded to have a cross section of almost S-shape and its both edges are formed to have cross sections of U-shape to interlock each other. A space 13 exists between a pair of tips at folded parts 11a and 11b in this folded part 12. When this is bent or curved, the tips of the bending part 11a and 11b approach each other and the space 13 comes to a nonexisting state 14. In this state, the tips 11a and 11b play a role of lock and do not allow the tube to bend or curve any more. A distance L of the space 13 determines the least curvature radius of the spiral tube 11. By using this property, a depth of bending at each part of the spiral part 11 can be set up.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used for diagnosing and treating diseases by inserting a flexible tube of a scope into an object to be inspected or an object to be inspected. In the endoscope scope, the flexible tube of the scope, in which the flexible tube is able to move smoothly within the object or the subject, in particular,
The present invention relates to improvement of a spiral tube in a flexible tube.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Endoscope devices include fiberscope type and electronic endoscopes, which will be briefly described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, this endoscope apparatus includes a main body 2 including a monitor 1 for displaying an endoscopic image and an operation control switch.
And a scope 3 used by being inserted into the body cavity of the subject. At the tip of the flexible tube 4, which is the insertion portion of the scope 3, a rigid portion 5 equipped with an optical system such as a video camera, forceps, a cleaning nozzle, and the like is provided. On the other hand, on the proximal end side of the flexible tube 4, an operation section 6 for performing an angle operation, which is a bending operation of the flexible tube 4 of the scope 3, and a main body 2 are provided.
And a universal cord 7 for transmitting a video camera signal. Although not shown, inside the flexible tube 4, a light guide fiber, an air supply tube, a water supply tube, a lead wire and the like are incorporated.

Conventionally, the flexible tube 4 of the scope 3 is, as shown in FIG. 6, from the outside, an outer cover 8 made of an elastic member such as rubber, a mesh-shaped blade 9 made of metal fiber, and stainless steel inside thereof. The spiral tube 10 is made of metal. The spiral tube 10 is provided with a plurality of wire guide holes (not shown) in the circumferential direction of the spiral tube, and the wires are inserted into the guide holes to communicate with each other.
Then, the operation section 6 for performing an angle operation or the like winds this wire to perform a bending operation of the flexible tube 4,
The distal end portion 5 of the scope is guided to the affected area in the body cavity, and the portion to be viewed is displayed on the monitor 1.

Problems in the case of performing an endoscopic examination of the large intestine using the conventional flexible tube 4 will be described. FIG. 7 shows the constitution of the large intestine. In the large intestine,
It consists of the anal canal, rectum, sigmoid colon, descending colon, transverse colon, ascending colon and cecum. The sigmoid colon and the transverse colon are movable without being fixed to the abdominal wall. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the conventional flexible tube 4 is inserted into the large intestine. The flexible tube 4 is inserted from the hip, and advances toward the cecum in the above order. In this case, when the distal end 4a of the flexible tube 4 is present from the transverse colon portion to the ascending colon portion, it is desirable that the sigmoid colon portion be linear as shown by the solid line. However, the spiral tube 10 of the conventional flexible tube 4
Then, since its curvature cannot be controlled freely,
As shown by the broken line in the figure, in the sigmoid colon, the restoring force of the sigmoid colon causes a large bending again, and even if the operator tries to insert the flexible tube 4 into the body of the subject,
There is a problem that the tip 4a of the flexible tube 4 does not move forward.

To solve this problem, conventionally, when the flexible tube 4 is inserted into the body of a subject, a sliding tube is used to prevent the flexible tube 4 from curving in the sigmoid colon, or the outer skin 8 is used. The flexible tube 4 was made difficult to bend by increasing the thickness of at least the portion located in the sigmoid colon.

[0006]

However, in the conventional scope having a flexible tube of this type, if a sliding tube is used, the subject suffers from pain when the flexible tube is inserted into the body of the subject. However, there is a limit in the method of changing the thickness and hardness of the rubber of the outer cover to reduce the flexibility of the flexible tube and making it difficult to bend, and in the actual inspection there is a limit. There was a problem that it ended up.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to control the curvature of a flexible tube without using a sliding tube when inserting the flexible tube into a subject. It is to provide the endoscope scope which did.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a structure of an endoscope apparatus in which the curvature of a flexible tube can be controlled as follows. That is, in an endoscope scope including an insertion portion to be inserted into an object to be inspected or a subject and an operation portion provided on the proximal end side of the insertion portion to perform gripping / operation, an S-shaped It is characterized by using a spiral tube having an interlock structure in which a plate having a cross-sectional shape is made spiral and the bent portions on both sides are engaged. Further, this endoscope scope is characterized by using a spiral tube in which the bending depth of the interlock structure is changed depending on the position of the flexible tube portion.

Further, in this endoscope scope, the flexible tube portion is divided into a plurality of segments, each of which is formed with a different bending depth, and the distal end of the flexible tube portion is more easily bent and the rear end is formed. It is characterized by making it difficult to bend.

Furthermore, in the above endoscope, the bending depth is continuously changed from the tip to the rear end of the flexible tube portion so that the tip of the flexible tube portion is more easily bent. It is characterized by making it difficult to bend.

[0011]

According to the above structure, since the spiral tube in the flexible tube of the scope has an interlock structure and the bending depth can be changed depending on the position of the flexible tube, the curvature of the flexible tube can be easily adjusted. Can be controlled.

Also, the flexible tube is divided into a plurality of segments,
By forming each with a different bending depth or by continuously changing the bending depth from the tip to the rear end of the flexible tube, the flexible tube tip is easier to bend and the rear end is curved. Since it is made difficult, the flexible tube can be safely inserted into the subject at the operator's discretion when performing the angle operation with the operation unit.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The configuration other than the flexible tube that is the insertion portion of the scope is the same as that of the endoscope device described in the related art, and thus the description thereof is omitted. The same members as those of the prior art are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a flexible tube of an endoscope according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, an upper cross section of the flexible tube 4 is shown. The flexible tube 4 is provided from the outside with an outer cover 8 made of an elastic member such as rubber and a mesh blade 9 made of metal fibers (see FIG. 1). (Not shown), and a spiral tube 11 made of metal such as stainless steel inside thereof
It is similar to the prior art in that it is composed of and. The difference is the structure of the spiral tube 11. In this spiral tube 11, one strip is bent so that its cross-sectional shape is substantially S-shaped, and both ends thereof are engaged with each other in a U-shaped cross-section. This is called an interlock structure. Bending part 12 of this interlock structure
Will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Figure 2 (a)
Shows the state of the bent portion 12 when the spiral tube 11 is not bent or curved. At this time, in the bent portion 12, a pair of bent tip portions 11a and 11
b has a U-shaped cross section, and a space 13 exists between the tip portions 11a and 11b. FIG. 2B shows the state of the bent portion 12 when bent or bent in the direction of the arrow from this state. By bending or bending from the state of FIG. 2 (a) in the direction of the arrow, the pair of bending tip portions 11a and 11b come close to each other, and as a result, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the space 13 does not exist. It becomes 14. In this state 14,
Since the pair of bent tip portions 11a and 11b play the role of a lock, it cannot be further bent or curved. If the radius of curvature of the spiral tube 11 at this time is defined as the minimum radius of curvature, the minimum radius of curvature is the space 1 when the spiral tube 11 shown in FIG. 2A is not bent or curved.
Depends on 3. That is, the smaller the distance L of the space 13,
The minimum radius of curvature of the spiral tube 11 becomes large. That is, in this way, the spiral tube 11 is less likely to bend or curve. On the contrary, if the distance L of the space 13 is set large, the minimum radius of curvature of the spiral tube 11 becomes small, and the spiral tube 1
1 is likely to bend or curve.

A spiral tube 1 having this interlock structure
1 is used to determine the minimum radius of curvature required for each part of the flexible tube 4 in consideration of the structure of the large intestine and the commonly used insertion procedure, and the spiral tube 11 is determined according to the minimum radius of curvature. Bending depth of each part of the space (space 1 in FIG. 2A)
3 distance L) is determined. For example, the flexible tube 4 is divided into a plurality of segments, and each segment is a spiral tube 11 having a different bending depth. Then, in the segment of the distal end portion of the flexible tube 4, the minimum radius of curvature is made smaller in order to facilitate bending, and in the latter half segment of the flexible tube 4, the distal end 4a of the flexible tube 4 is separated from the transverse colon portion. When the flexible tube 4 is present in the ascending colon, the minimum radius of curvature of the portion located in the sigmoid colon may be set so that the flexible tube 4 is less likely to bend.

An example of the flexible tube 4 of the large intestine endoscope thus obtained is shown in FIG. In this case, consider the flexible tube 4 by dividing it into two segments according to its structure.
A and the second half are 4B. In the tip portion 4A, the bending depth of the interlock structure of the flexible tube 4 is made sufficiently large to make the minimum radius of curvature small, and in the latter half portion 4B, the bending depth is made small to make the minimum radius of curvature large. is doing.

When using this endoscope for large intestine,
An example shown in FIG. 4 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4 (a), when the tip 4a of the flexible tube 4 is present from the transverse colon portion to the ascending colon portion, as in FIG. It is the second half 4B. The minimum radius of curvature of the spiral tube 11 in this portion is large. Therefore, unlike the conventional flexible tube, it does not bend, so that the insertion operation by the operator is smoothly performed, and as shown in FIG.
The tip 4a of the flexible tube 4 can reach the cecum.

Here, the portion 4A having a small minimum radius of curvature of the flexible tube 4 is preferably set 40 to 50 cm from the tip of the flexible tube 4 in consideration of the size of the large intestine of an adult. Further, a portion 4B having a large minimum radius of curvature in the latter half of the flexible tube 4.
In the above, it is not necessary to make the minimum radius of curvature constant, but the flexible tube 4 may be made difficult to bend by gradually increasing it toward the rear end side.

Further, since the method for manufacturing the spiral tube 11 according to the present invention is a method of spirally winding a strip-shaped metal such as stainless steel as described above, it is easy to continuously change the minimum radius of curvature. is there. Therefore, as in the above example,
Without thinking of dividing the flexible tube 4 into a plurality of segments,
The bending depth may be continuously changed from the front end to the rear end of the flexible tube so that the front end of the flexible tube is more easily bent and the rear end is less likely to be bent.

Further, in the above embodiment, the colonoscope was described as an example, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, even in an industrial endoscope used for the purpose of inspecting the inside of an industrial tube, considering the structure of the tube to be inspected, by using the endoscope scope according to the present invention, the inspection efficiency can be improved. . In this case, the inspection target is not an examinee who is a subject, but an object such as a tube, that is, a subject.

A structure similar to the interlock structure of the spiral tube according to the present invention is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-225819 (Japanese Patent Application No. 59-81969), in which an industrial endoscope is inserted. The present invention relates to a guide tube for performing the operation and is different from the endoscope of the present invention. Naturally, unlike the present invention, the technical idea of changing the bending depth of the interlock structure to set the minimum radius of curvature of the flexible tube is not disclosed.

[0022]

As described above, according to the endoscope of the present invention, it is possible to easily control the minimum radius of curvature of the flexible tube by changing the bending depth of the interlock structure of the spiral tube. it can. Therefore, since the minimum radius of curvature of the flexible tube is controlled, the straightened sigmoid colon is not curved again in endoscopic examination of the large intestine, so that the flexible tube can be inserted safely and smoothly. Can be done. As a result, in the endoscopic examination, there is an effect that the pain of the subject is reduced as compared with the conventional case.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a flexible tube of an endoscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a bent portion of an interlock structure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a flexible tube of a colonoscope.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a case of using a colonoscope.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the endoscope apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a conventional technique.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a structure of a large intestine.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a state of being inserted into the large intestine using a conventional flexible tube.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 monitor 2 main body 3 scope 4 flexible tube 5 rigid part 6 operating part 7 universal code 8 outer skin 9 mesh blade 10 conventional spiral tube 11 spiral tube 12 in the present invention bent part 13 interspace 13 14 space 13 Non-existing state 4A Part having a small minimum radius of curvature of the flexible tube 4B Part having a large minimum radius of curvature of the flexible tube

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope scope comprising an insertion portion to be inserted into a test object or a subject, and an operation portion provided on the proximal end side of the insertion portion for performing gripping / operation, wherein the insertion portion includes: An endoscopic scope characterized by using a spiral tube having an interlock structure in which a plate having an S-shaped cross section is formed into a spiral shape and bent portions on both sides are engaged. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a spiral tube in which the bending depth of the interlock structure is changed according to the position of the flexible tube portion is used. 3. The flexible tube portion according to claim 2, wherein the flexible tube portion is divided into a plurality of segments and formed with different bending depths, and the tip of the flexible tube portion is easier to bend and the rear end is curved. An endoscope scope characterized by making it difficult to do. 4. The flexible tube portion according to claim 2, wherein the bending depth is continuously changed from the front end to the rear end portion of the flexible tube portion so that the front end of the flexible tube portion is easier to bend and the rear end is less likely to bend. The endoscope scope characterized by doing so.