JPH0759725A - Cover type endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a cover type endoscope which enables the obtaining of a better observation visual field free from the effect of flair by eliminating reflectioon on illumination light emitted from a lighting means on an optical member. CONSTITUTION:An observation means 40 in which a CCD41 and a group of lenses for forming an image of an object are disposed and a lighting means 50 for irradiating a part to be inspected are arranged at the tip part 4a of an endoscope 4 for a cover inserted into a endoscope cover 3. A light guide 51 of the lighting means 50 is connected to a light source device 7 through a connector and a parallel flat optical member 52 is arranged at the most tip part of the lighting means 50 to emit illumination light as parallel light. On the other hand, a parallel flat optical member 31 for observation and a cover-side lighting lens 32 made up of a concave lens are arranged at the tip part 3a of the endoscope cover 3 at positions corresponding to the observation means 40 disposed in the endoscope 4 for the cover and the lighting means 50 so as to watertightly isolate the inside of the endoscope cover 3 from the outside.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises an endoscope for a cover provided with an observation optical system and an illumination optical system, and an endoscope cover for covering the endoscope for the cover. The present invention relates to a cover-type endoscope that can prevent flare that occurs when light enters an observation optical system and can obtain a good observation image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, endoscopes have been widely used in industrial fields, medical fields, and the like. In particular, endoscopes used in the medical field, when inserted into the body cavity of a patient, adhere to body fluid such as the insertion part or the tip, so when using the endoscope once used for other patients, wash it. -It was necessary to perform sterilization and other measures to reliably prevent infectious diseases through the endoscope.

For this reason, recently, after the endoscope itself is covered with a cover (hereinafter referred to as an endoscope cover) and inserted into the body cavity, and the endoscope cover is replaced or discarded for each floor example, after use. The so-called, which is designed to simplify the cleaning and disinfection of endoscopes,
A cover-type endoscope is used.

In this cover-type endoscope, a treatment tool insertion channel opening into a body cavity of a patient and an endoscope insertion channel in which various channels and openings are sealed with an optical member are provided on the endoscope cover side. An observation means and an illumination means which do not need to be opened in the body cavity of the patient are provided on the endoscope side for the cover,
The endoscope cover and the cover endoscope are configured to be used in combination.

That is, the cover-type endoscope is inserted into the body cavity of the patient while being insulated from the external environment by inserting the cover-use endoscope into the endoscope-inserting channel of the endoscope cover. Then, the inside of the body cavity is illuminated with the illumination light of the illuminating means provided in the cover endoscope, the examination site is observed by the observing means, and the cover type endoscope is taken out from the body cavity after the inspection / treatment is completed. Remove the endoscope cover from the cover endoscope and discard.

As described above, by disposing the endoscope cover for each case, it is not necessary to wash and disinfect the cover endoscope, and the endoscope can be kept clean at all times. It can be used continuously.

[0007]

However, the endoscope for a cover in which the endoscope cover is removed and reused is almost the same as a conventional endoscope used without a cover (hereinafter referred to as a general type). Therefore, the optical lens is arranged on the tip surface of the illumination means in consideration of the light distribution.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 13, the illuminating light from the illuminating means 92 of the cover endoscope 91 of the cover-type endoscope 90 is transmitted by the optical lens 93 arranged at the most distal end of the illuminating means 92. It was radiating in a wide angle. At this time, most of the illuminating light that is spread and emitted at a wide angle by the optical lens 93 is transmitted through the optical member 95 provided on the endoscope cover 94 to illuminate the site to be inspected. Reflected on the inner surface of the optical member 95 arranged on the endoscope cover 94,
When this reflected light enters the adjacent observation means 96, it causes flare, which may adversely affect the observed image on the monitor. Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-35
Japanese Patent No. 9218 proposes a device in which flare is made inconspicuous by arranging the edges of the reflected image outside the observation field of view, but flare cannot be prevented. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-244130 proposes a transparent tip cap for diffusing illumination light, which is incorporated in a general-type endoscope. Yes,
It was not related to the covered endoscope.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to eliminate the reflection of the illumination light emitted from the illumination means by the optical member and obtain a good observation field of view without the influence of flare. Is intended to provide.

[0010]

A cover type endoscope according to the present invention is provided with a cover endoscope provided with an observing means and an illuminating means, and an observing means and an illuminating means of the cover endoscope. A cover-type endoscope in combination with an endoscope cover provided with an optical member, wherein a parallel-plate optical member is provided at the most distal end of the illumination means provided in the cover endoscope. There is.

[0011]

According to this structure, since the illumination light emitted from the illumination means of the cover endoscope passes through the optical member of the parallel plate and is emitted, the illumination light is arranged in the state of parallel light on the endoscope cover. It is incident on the optical member.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 relate to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the overall structure of a cover-type endoscope, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the tip of a cover-type endoscope. .

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope apparatus 1 has a cover-type endoscope 2, and this cover-type endoscope 2 has various types of air supply, water supply, suction, treatment instrument channels, and the like. It is composed of a combination of an endoscope cover 3 provided with a channel and a cover endoscope 4 covered by the endoscope cover 3.

A cart 5 in which various peripheral devices connected to the cover-type endoscope 2 are installed in the endoscope apparatus 1.
And a cover holder 6 for holding the cover-type endoscope 2.

The cart 5 includes, for example, a light source device 7,
A video processor 8, a fluid control device 9, an endoscope cover extender (hereinafter abbreviated as an extender) 10, and the like are housed.

A monitor 11 for receiving an image signal from the video processor 8 and displaying an endoscopic image is mounted on the upper surface of the cart 5.

In the cover endoscope 4, the operation portion 13 also serving as a large-diameter grip portion is continuously provided at the proximal end portion of the elongated endoscope insertion portion 12 on the proximal side, and the side portion of the operation portion 13 is provided. The universal cord 14 extends from the. This universal code 1
A connector 15 for connecting to the light source device 7 is provided at the end of 4.
Is provided.

The light source device 7 is detachably connected to the cover endoscope 4 via the connector 15 and illuminates the inside of the body cavity by the illumination means provided in the cover endoscope 4.

Further, the video processor 8 is detachably connected to the cover endoscope 4 via a signal cable 16 extending from a side portion of the connector 15, and an image pickup built in the cover endoscope 4 is provided. It drives the device and processes the signal output from the image pickup device to convert it into a standard video signal and output it to the monitor 11.

The expander 10 is for sending air into the endoscope cover through the expansion tube 17, and by sending air to the endoscope cover 3 to expand it, the endoscope for cover is expanded. The mirror 4 can be easily attached to or removed from the endoscope cover 3. This cover endoscope 4
When the endoscope cover 3 is attached to or detached from, the cover holder 6 is used, and the base end side of the endoscope cover 3 is held by the cover holder 6.

The endoscope cover 3 includes a flexible insertion portion cover portion 18, a thin and flexible operation portion cover portion 19 and a universal cord cover portion 20 which are made of a polymer material such as vinyl chloride. It is provided and covers the endoscope insertion portion 12, the operation portion 13, and the universal cord 14 of the cover endoscope 4.

The fluid control device 9 includes an insertion portion cover portion 1
The air supply conduit 24, the water supply conduit 25, and the suction conduit 26 extending from 8 are connected to each other.

In addition, a laser device 29a is provided so that a laser probe 28 can be inserted into the forceps channel provided in the endoscope cover 3 from the forceps insertion port 27 to perform a medical treatment or the like when necessary during a case. There is. The reference numeral 29b is a foot switch for turning on / off the irradiation of the laser beam.

The structure of the tip of the cover-type endoscope 2 will be described with reference to FIG. A solid-state image sensor (hereinafter referred to as CCD) 41 such as a CCD and a lens group for forming a subject image on the CCD 41 are arranged at a tip portion 4a of the cover endoscope 4 to be inserted into the endoscope cover 3. Observing means 40 provided
And an illumination means 50 for irradiating the region to be inspected. The light guide 51 of the illuminating means 50 is connected to the light source device 7 via the connector 15, and a parallel plate is formed at the most distal end of the illuminating means 50 so as to emit illumination light as horizontal light. An optical member 52 is provided. In addition, a concave lens 42 is arranged at the tip of the observation means 40.

On the other hand, at the tip portion 3a of the endoscope cover 3, a parallel plate observation optical member 31 is provided at a position corresponding to the observation means 40 and the illumination means 50 arranged on the cover endoscope 4.
Further, the cover side illumination lens 32 formed of a concave lens is arranged so as to watertightly separate the inside and the outside of the endoscope cover 3.

The operation of the cover-type endoscope 2 described above will be described. First, the cover endoscope 4 is inserted into the endoscope insertion channel of the endoscope cover 3 to insulate the cover endoscope 4 from the external environment. Then, the inside of the body cavity of the patient is illuminated by the illuminating means 50, and the cover-type endoscope 2 is inserted to the site to be examined while observing the image of the body cavity displayed on the monitor screen.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the illuminating light emitted from the illuminating means 50 of the cover endoscope 4 passes through the parallel plate optical member 52 arranged at the most distal end of the illuminating means 50. The light enters the cover-side illumination lens 32 formed by the concave lens 32a provided in the endoscope cover 3 almost vertically, and the cover-side illumination lens 32 makes parallel light into a wide angle to illuminate the inside of the body cavity.

The subject image in the body cavity, which is illuminated and observed by the illumination means 50, is distributed to the most distal end portion of the observation means 40 through the observation optical member 31 which is a flat plate disposed on the endoscope cover 3. An image is formed on the CCD 41 through the provided concave lens 42 and a plurality of lens groups. The electric signal of the subject image formed on the CCD 41 is transmitted to the video processor 8 and converted into a video signal to display the subject image on the monitor screen.

Since the parallel plate optical member is arranged at the most distal end of the illuminating means of the cover endoscope, the light emitted from the illuminating means of the cover endoscope is covered by the endoscope cover. The light is incident on the cover-side illumination lens arranged in a substantially vertical direction. For this reason, the reflected light when entering the cover-side illumination lens is significantly reduced, and the reflected light that enters the observation means is eliminated, and a good endoscopic image without flare can be displayed on the monitor screen.

Further, since the cover side illumination lens is formed of a concave lens, the subject portion is irradiated with a wide angle.
At this time, a part of the reflected light is generated on the concave lens surface, but the reflected light is repeatedly reflected and attenuated until it enters the observation means, so that the observed image is not affected by flare. .

Further, in this embodiment, a space is formed between the parallel plate optical member arranged in the cover endoscope and the cover side illumination lens arranged in the endoscope cover.
Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the generation of reflected light by the optical member by bringing the concave lens provided in the cover endoscope into close contact with the optical member provided in the endoscope cover.
Since it is impossible to completely attach the cover endoscope and the endoscope cover to each other, and even if they are in a close contact state, there is a microscopic space portion, it is arranged in a close contact state. Even in the above-mentioned cover-type endoscope, by disposing the parallel plate optical member at the most distal end of the illumination means, the occurrence of flare due to the illumination light is drastically reduced, and a good endoscopic image without flare is displayed on the monitor screen. It can be projected.

As shown in FIG. 3, by changing the cover side illumination lens 32 disposed on the endoscope cover 3 from the concave lens 32a of the above embodiment to the meniscus lens 32b, the cover endoscope 4 is illuminated. The collimated light emitted from the means 50 can illuminate the test site at a wide angle without being incident on the meniscus lens 32b and being reflected.
Other configurations and effects are similar to those of the above-mentioned embodiment,
The same members are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the side-view cover-type endoscope 2a has the same structure as that of the above-described embodiment, so that the side-view cover-type endoscope without flare caused by the illumination light is generated. A mirror 2a can be provided. The cover-type endoscope is different from the side-view type and the direct-view type in other respects, and the other configurations are the same as those in the above-described embodiment. Reference numeral 43 is a triangular prism for bending the optical axis in a right angle direction.

Further, by forming the cover side illumination lens provided on the endoscope cover as a parallel plate optical member, it is possible to drastically reduce the occurrence of flare due to reflected light.
Further, by forming the cover side illumination lens by a Fresnel lens, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of flare.

By the way, in addition to the above-mentioned embodiment, the cover type endoscope is constructed as follows to prevent the light emitted from the illumination means of the cover endoscope from entering the observation means. it can.

First, by configuring the cover type endoscope as follows, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of flare due to the reflected light incident on the observation means. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the endoscope cover tip forming portion 61 of the direct-view type and side-view type cover endoscopes 2 and 2a is formed of a transparent optical member,
A cover-side illumination lens portion 62 is formed on the tip end forming portion 61 formed of this transparent optical member, and a cover-side observation lens disposing through hole 63 is formed.

Then, a cover side observation lens 64 is arranged in the cover side observation lens arrangement through hole 63. At this time, a light-shielding member 65 such as a ring member formed of an opaque member is disposed on the outer peripheral portion of the cover-side observation lens 64, or the cover-side observation lens 64 is provided with the light-shielding member 6.
5, a black adhesive is applied and arranged. In addition, in the other configurations, the same components as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

The illuminating light emitted from the illuminating means of the cover-type endoscope configured as described above is transmitted through the cover-side illuminating lens integrally formed on the endoscope cover to illuminate the subject part at a wide angle. . At this time, of the illumination light that passes through the cover-side illumination lens, the reflected light that is generated by being reflected within the cover-side illumination lens is blocked by the light blocking member and does not enter the observation optical system. It is possible to prevent flare from being generated.

Further, by forming the distal end constituting portion of the endoscope cover with the transparent optical member, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and provide an inexpensive disposable endoscope cover.

Even if the cover side observation lens is formed integrally with the endoscope cover and the cover side illumination lens is provided on the endoscope cover with a light blocking member interposed, the cover side illumination lens described above is used. It is possible to obtain the same operation and effect as those in which the lens is integrally formed on the endoscope cover.

Next, by forming the cover type endoscope 2 as follows, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of flare due to reflected light. As shown in FIG. 7, the cover-type endoscope 2
By changing the thicknesses of the cover-side observation lens 31 and the cover-side illumination lens 32 disposed at the endoscope cover distal end portion 71, a step portion 72 is formed between the cover-side observation lens 31 and the cover-side illumination lens 32. Is forming.

That is, conventionally, the observation optical system lens 32 having a large diameter and the illumination optical system lens 31 having a small diameter are formed to have the same thickness in spite of different outer diameters. In the above, the cover-side illumination lens 31 and the cover-side observation lens 32 are formed as lenses having an appropriate thickness and an appropriate thickness for the outer diameter.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the cover-side illuminating lens 31 having a smaller diameter than that of the cover-side observing lens 32 having a larger diameter can be formed thinner and can be disposed on the endoscope cover 3. The illuminating means 50 of the cover endoscope 4 is arranged so as to project in the space formed by the thinning of the cover side illuminating lens 31.

As described above, by forming the thickness of the optical member disposed on the endoscope cover side to be a thickness appropriate for the outer diameter, problems such as uneven light distribution and blindness can be improved. In addition, the stepped portion formed between the cover-side observation lens and the cover-side illumination lens can prevent the occurrence of flare due to the reflected light from the cover-side illumination lens sneaking into the observation optical system.

When the cover-side observation lens and the cover-side illumination lens arranged on the endoscope cover are formed as an integral lens cover, the thickness of the lens is partially changed to observe the reflected light. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of flare due to wraparound in the system.

Further, by forming the cover endoscope of the cover type endoscope as follows, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of flare due to reflected light. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, on the outer peripheral portion of the cover-side observation lens 31 arranged on the endoscope cover 3 around the distal end surface of the observation means 40 of the cover endoscope 4 to be inserted into the endoscope cover 3. An elastic light shielding member 81 is arranged so as to abut.

As described above, since the elastic light-shielding member is arranged around the tip end surface of the cover endoscope observing means, the cover endoscope is brought into contact with the endoscope cover via the elastic light-shielding member. By blocking the outer peripheral portion of the cover side observation lens of the endoscope cover with an elastic light shielding member, it is possible to prevent reflected light from entering the observation optical system, so that flare caused by light wraparound is prevented. You can

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, a lens frame for covering the observing means 40 of the cover endoscope 4 is formed by an elastic light shielding member 81, and the elastic light shielding member 81 is projected so that the lens frame shown in FIGS. It is possible to obtain the same operation and effect as the cover-type endoscope shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, an elastic light-shielding member 81 is provided at a predetermined position on either the cover endoscope 4 of the side-view type cover endoscope 2a or the endoscope cover 3. By arranging the same, the same operation and effect as those of the cover-type endoscope 2 described above can be obtained.

By the way, when the optical member is fixed to the endoscope cover, the optical member 85 is inserted into the endoscope cover tip forming portion 86 from the outside as shown in FIG. There was a risk that the optical member would fall off. Further, as shown in (b) of the same figure, there is no risk that the optical member 85 will fall off by inserting the optical member 85 into the endoscope cover distal end forming portion 86 from the inside and adhering and fixing it, but the step portion 87 has There was a risk that water drops would accumulate and narrow the field of view. Therefore, these problems can be solved by fixing the optical member to the endoscope cover distal-end constituent portion as follows.

As shown in FIG. 12C, the step portion 88 is formed on the optical member 85, while the endoscope cover tip forming portion 8 is formed.
The stepped portion 87 of the optical member 85 is also formed so as to fit into the optical member mounting portion 86a of No. 6. Therefore, the optical member 85 is inserted into and fixed to the endoscope cover distal end forming portion 86 from the inside.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the optical member from falling off, and by making the front end surface of the optical member flush with the front end surface of the endoscope cover, it is possible to eliminate the accumulation of water drops and improve the optical performance. You can

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, the reflection of the illumination light emitted from the illumination means on the optical member is eliminated,
It is possible to provide a cover-type endoscope that can obtain a good observation visual field without the influence of flare.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 relate to an embodiment of the present invention.
Is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of a cover-type endoscope

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a tip portion of a cover-type endoscope.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a tip portion of a cover-type endoscope when a cover-side illumination lens provided on the endoscope cover is a meniscus lens.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of a side-view type cover endoscope.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a front end portion of a direct-view type cover endoscope in which an observation optical system lens cover is covered with a light shielding member.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a distal end portion of a side-view type cover endoscope in which an observation optical system lens cover is covered with a light shielding member.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a distal end portion of a cover-type endoscope in which the thickness of a lens cover is changed.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an endoscope for a cover in which a light shielding member is arranged around an observing means and an endoscope cover.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the cover endoscope is attached to the endoscope cover.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a cover endoscope in which a lens frame that covers an observation optical system lens is formed of a light shielding member is attached to the endoscope cover.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a tip end portion of a side-view type cover-type endoscope provided with a light-shielding member.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating attachment of a lens cover to an endoscope cover.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration and operation of the tip of a conventional cover-type endoscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 ... Cover-type endoscope 3 ... Endoscope cover 4 ... Cover endoscope 40 ... Observation means 50 ... Illumination means 52 ... Parallel plate optical member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cover endoscope provided with an observing means and an illuminating means, and an endoscope cover provided with optical members facing the observing means and the illuminating means of the cover endoscope, respectively. In the cover-type endoscope to be combined, the cover-type endoscope is characterized in that a parallel plate optical member is arranged at the most distal end of the illuminating means arranged in the cover endoscope.