JPH0795994B2 - Medical tube - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention relates to a medical tube used for a flexible tube for an endoscope, a catheter or the like.

[Prior Art] Recently, it has been considered to use a so-called multi-lumen tube particularly in an insertion portion of a small-diameter endoscope such as a blood vessel endoscope (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-171001). ).
Each routine is formed along the longitudinal direction of this multi-lumen tube. In addition, a partition is formed along the longitudinal direction of the multi-lumen tube between the routines. When this multi-lumen tube is used as an insertion portion of an endoscope, each lumen is used as a passage through which a liquid supply conduit, an air supply conduit and internal organs (light guide, image guide, etc.) are inserted.

By the way, this multi-lumen tube can be bent relatively easily when it is bent in a direction perpendicular to the partition wall surface, but when it is bent in a direction parallel to the partition wall surface, it is difficult to bend, and if it is forced to bend, May suddenly bend and break. In addition, when the resistance varies depending on the bending direction, the free bending in the three-dimensional space is obstructed, and it is difficult to guide the target portion in the body cavity.

Also, when this multi-lumen tube is bent, the outside of the curve is expanded and the inside of the curve is compressed so that each routine includes a non-stretchable internal organ such as a light guide or an image guide made of an optical fiber bundle (for example, In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-55609), particularly when the internal organs are compressed, they tend to kink and break, resulting in no resistance.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in the conventional tube structure, the easiness of bending differs depending on the direction, the bending operability is poor, and the tubing is easy to break, which damages the internal organs contained therein. It had the drawback of being easy.

The present invention was made in view of the above problems, and the purpose thereof is to easily bend in any direction without increasing the diameter while having a relatively simple configuration,
Another object of the present invention is to provide a medical tube capable of improving bending operability and preventing damage to internal organs.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to a bendable medical tube having a plurality of inner holes partitioned by partition walls, the partition walls being provided along the longitudinal direction of the tube. It is formed by twisting.

[Operation] Since the partition wall that partitions the plurality of inner holes is formed by twisting along the longitudinal direction of the tube, it can be easily curved in each direction. Therefore, bending operability can be improved and breakage of internal organs can be prevented.

[Embodiment] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a lumen tube 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This lumen tube 1 is formed by forming two inner holes 2, 2 in a flexible tube member 1a, and these two inner holes 2, 2 are diametrically straight partition walls as shown in FIG. It is divided by 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the strip-shaped partition wall 3 is arranged in a twisted manner along the longitudinal direction of the lumen tube 1, whereby the inner holes described above are formed.
2 and 2 are formed in a swirl shape. The twisting pitch is set in the range of 2 to 200 times the outer diameter of the lumen tube 1, and particularly preferably in the range of 5 to 100 times.

The lumen tube 1 formed in this way is used as, for example, a catheter, and its inner holes 2, 2
It is used as a medical tube for arranging various internal organs.

The lumen tube 1 is formed by forming two inner holes 2, 2 in the flexible tube member 1a, and the partition wall 3 separating the two inner holes 2, 2 is the lumen tube 1. Since it is twisted along the longitudinal direction, even if it is bent in any direction, it is easy to bend evenly and hard to break. Further, even if a light guide or an image guide made of, for example, an optical fiber bundle is built in the inner holes 2 and 2, the light guides and the image guides are alternately arranged on the inside and outside of the lumen tube 1 for bending. Therefore, a large amount of expansion and contraction does not occur in the length direction, so that it is possible to prevent a kink of the optical fiber bundle.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The lumen tube 1 of this embodiment is a flexible tube member 1a.
4 inner holes 2, ... and 4 diametrically straight bulkheads
It is divided by 3, ... The strip-shaped partition walls 3, ... are twisted and arranged along the longitudinal direction of the lumen tube 1,
As a result, the inner holes 2, ... Are formed in a swirl shape.
The pitch of this twist is set in the range of 2 to 200 times the outer diameter of the lumen tube 1, especially 5 to 100 times.
A double range is desirable. Others are the same as those in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The lumen tube 1 of this embodiment is a flexible tube member 1a.
It is formed by forming four inner holes 2, ... The partition walls 3, ... Partitioning the four inner holes 2, ... Are arranged twisted along the longitudinal direction of the lumen tube 1 as in the above-described embodiments, whereby the inner holes 2 ,. Has been done. Further, the pitch of this twist is set in the range of 2 to 200 times the outer diameter of the lumen tube 1, and particularly preferably in the range of 5 to 100 times. Others are the same as those in the first embodiment, but since the inner holes 2, ... Have a round cross section, when used as a small-diameter endoscope insertion portion, the inner holes 2 ,. It can be used as a built-in light guide or image guide, or as a channel.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, for example, a so-called lumen tube,
A partition wall, which is a separate member, may be provided inside the tube member.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention is a bendable medical tube having a plurality of inner holes partitioned by partition walls, wherein the partition walls are formed by twisting along the longitudinal direction of the tube. Therefore, the bending can be easily performed in each direction without difficulty, and the bending operability can be improved. In addition, since it exists alternately inside and outside the bend of the tube,
The expansion and contraction due to the curvature cancel each other out and the large expansion and contraction in the length direction does not occur. Therefore, the breakage of the internal organs such as the optical fiber bundle can be prevented. Moreover, the diameter is not increased with a relatively simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a tube showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tube of the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a view of the second embodiment. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the tube, and FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the tube of the third embodiment. 1 ... Tube, 2 ... Inner hole, 3 ... Partition wall.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bendable medical tube having a plurality of inner holes partitioned by a partition wall, wherein the partition wall is twisted along the longitudinal direction of the tube.