JPH08146305A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the front end of the insertion part of an endoscope from being caught by the inside wall of a space to be observed or fitting it hard. CONSTITUTION: This endoscope has the insertion part 10, an observing means 22, a curvilinear operating part 28 and forward and backward operating part 32. The insertion part 10 has an observing part 14, a shaft body 12, the curvilinear operating part 16 and an external cylindrical body 30. The shaft body 12 has an image transmitting means 18 which is connected to the observing part 14 and transmits the image obtd. in the observing part 14. The shaft body is freely curvable. The curvilinear operating part 16 is arranged in a position near the observing part 14 of the shaft body 12 and is freely curvable. The external cylindrical body 30 is arranged relatively movably in an axial direction relative to the shaft body 12 on the outer periphery of the shaft body 12 inclusive of at least the curvilinear operating part 16 and is curvable and has a higher shape retaining property than the shape retaining property of the shaft body 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope for guiding an image acquired by an observation section inserted in an observation space to the outside of the observation space for observation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally used endoscopes include a thin bendable tube having an optical fiber inside, which is inserted into the space to be observed such as a human body or a mechanical device, and an optical fiber is inserted at the tip of the tube. The image of the space under observation captured by the camera can be observed with the naked eye from the rear end of the tube pulled out of the space under observation or photographed by a camera.

The tube, that is, the insertion portion, which is inserted into the space to be observed, is flexible and can be freely bent, so that the complicated and narrow internal space of a human body or a mechanical device can be bent or bent to the back. It is inserted so that it can be observed. The distal end of the insertion portion is provided with a bending operation portion that can be bent in an arbitrary direction by operating the hand operation portion connected to the rear end of the insertion portion. By bending the bending motion part, you can change the direction in which the tip of the insertion part goes,
Change the direction of the field of view observed by the observation section at the tip. The bending operation unit can be bent by a lever or the like provided in the hand operation unit through a wire or the like that is passed through the inside of the insertion unit.

[0004]

In the conventional endoscope, it is attempted to observe the internal condition by inserting the insertion portion and the observation portion into the internal organs of the human body or deep inside the complicatedly bent duct of the mechanical device. Then, there are problems that the tip of the insertion portion is caught on the inner wall of the organ or the tube wall and cannot be inserted deeply, or the inner wall of the organ or the tube wall is strongly rubbed and damaged.

Particularly in the medical field, if the tip of the insertion part hits the inner wall of the organ strongly, it will cause great pain to the patient, and if the inner wall of the organ is damaged at the insertion part, the examination and treatment will reversely affect the patient. It will hurt you. Not only in the medical field but also in various industrial inspections, if the tip of the insertion part gets caught in the unevenness of the observed space, move the insertion part back a little, change the direction of the tip bending part a little, and then move it forward again. It requires troublesome labor and operation technique, and the workability and efficiency of endoscopic work are greatly impaired.

The reason why such a problem occurs will be described with reference to FIG. The insertion portion T of the endoscope advances to the curved portion of the observed space H. In order to change the advancing direction of the insertion section T, first, the bending operation section B is bent so that the distal end of the insertion section T faces a desired direction. In this state, the insertion portion T is pushed forward by operating from the hand operation portion side. The force applied from the hand operation part acts as a force for advancing the insertion part T in its axial direction. The insertion portion T on the rear side of the bending operation portion B naturally tries to move in the axial direction. However, the distal end side of the bending operation section B faces a direction different from the rear side of the insertion section T.
Therefore, the bending operation section B remains curved and the center of the rear portion of the insertion section T advances in the direction toward which it goes (state indicated by a chain double-dashed line). That is, the bending motion part B does not proceed in the direction in which the tip end faces. When the tip of the tip bending portion B hits the inner wall of the observed space H or the like, the insertion portion T cannot proceed any further. Therefore, the insertion portion T faces toward the tip side of the tip bending portion B by the reaction received from the inner wall. Turn in the direction and proceed.

Therefore, in the conventional endoscope, the advancing direction of the insertion section changes only when the tip of the insertion section hits the inner wall of the space to be observed. In addition, since a strong force for bending and changing the advancing direction of the insertion portion is applied as a reaction to the inner wall of the space to be observed, the inner wall is damaged or the patient is distressed. In particular, when the observed space is made of a soft material such as the internal wall of a human body or has a wall surface with irregularities, the tip of the insertion portion is likely to slip into the soft wall or get caught in the irregularities.
No matter how much the insertion part is pushed forward on the side of the hand operation part, the tip of the insertion part may not be bent at all, and it may not be possible to change the advancing direction of the insertion part.

An object of the present invention is to prevent the tip of the insertion portion from being caught or strongly hitting the inner wall of the observation space in such an endoscope.

[0009]

An endoscope according to the present invention is an endoscope for guiding an image acquired by an observation section inserted in an observation space to the outside of the observation space for observation. It is provided with an insertion section, an observation means, a bending operation section, and an advance / retreat operation section.
The insertion section includes an observation section, a shaft, a bending operation section, and an exterior cylinder, and is inserted into the observation space. The shaft body is bendable by having an image transmission unit that is connected to the observation unit and transmits the image acquired by the observation unit. The bending operation unit is arranged at a position near the observation unit of the shaft body and is bendable. The outer cylindrical body is arranged on the outer periphery of the shaft body including at least the bending operation portion so as to be movable in the axial direction relative to the shaft body, and can be curved, and has a larger shape retention property than the shaft body. The observing means observes the image transmitted by the image transmitting means, disposed outside the observed space behind the insertion portion. The bending operation section is arranged behind the insertion section and outside the observed space, and bends the tip bending section. The advancing / retreating operation unit
The exterior cylindrical body, which is disposed outside the observed space behind the insertion portion, is moved forward and backward with respect to the shaft body.

The observed space may be a medical endoscope whose inside is a human body.

[0011]

The endoscope of the present invention is provided with the exterior cylindrical body which is operated by the advancing / retreating operation section, so that the tip of the insertion section can be reliably advanced in the intended direction. The operation of changing the advancing direction of the insertion portion will be described step by step. First, the bending operation section is operated to direct the distal end of the bending operation section in the direction in which the insertion section should move. This operation is similar to that of a conventional endoscope. As the bending part bends,
The exterior cylindrical body that covers the bending operation unit also bends.

Next, the shaft body including the bending operation portion and the observation portion is moved forward inside the exterior cylindrical body. This operation may be performed by relatively moving the shaft body while the exterior cylinder body is fixed by the advancing / retreating operation unit. At this time, the bending operation section is operated so that the bending operation section can be freely bent. The shaft body is guided by an exterior cylinder body having a shape retention property larger than that of the shaft body, and advances so that the tip side of the shaft body projects from the tip of the exterior cylinder body. The protruding direction of the shaft body and the direction in which the tip of the outer cylindrical body faces are the same. The shaft body including the bending operation portion bends in accordance with the curved portion of the exterior cylinder body. Further, when the curved portion of the shaft body that has once been curved comes to a straight portion of the tip of the curved portion of the exterior tubular body, the curve is returned so as to become straight according to the exterior tubular body. This is because the shape retention of the exterior cylinder is greater than the shape retention of the shaft, and the shaft is deformed according to the exterior cylinder. The tip portion of the shaft protruding from the tip of the exterior cylinder advances straight along the direction in which the tip of the exterior cylinder is facing.

When the tip of the shaft body projects from the exterior cylinder body by a certain distance, this time, only the exterior cylinder body is advanced with the shaft body fixed. At this time, the bending operation section is operated to maintain the state in which the bending operation section is first bent according to the exterior cylinder. If the exterior tubular body is advanced in this state, the exterior tubular body advances while curving in accordance with the curved shape of the bending operation unit, and the tip of the exterior tubular body returns to the original position on the tip side of the shaft body. At this time, since the external cylindrical body has a smaller shape retention than the bending operation section held in the curved state by the bending operation section, the external cylindrical body is deformed.

In this way, the step of bending the bending operation part of the insertion part together with the exterior tube body, the step of fixing the exterior tube body and advancing the shaft body including the bending operation part according to the exterior tube body, the bending operation part. And a step of fixing the shaft body and advancing while curving the outer cylindrical body according to the bending operation unit,
By repeating the operation in sequence, the shaft body and the outer cylinder body are alternately advanced, and the entire insertion portion can be advanced in the intended direction.

With the above operation, even if the tip of the insertion portion does not hit the inner wall of the space to be observed, the direction in which the insertion portion advances can be changed to the intended direction.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The endoscope shown in FIG. 1 comprises a bendable thin shaft-shaped insertion portion 10 and a hand operation portion 20. The hand-side operation section 20 has an eyepiece section 22 for observing with the naked eye and attaching a camera. Further, it has a bending operation knob 28 for operating a bending operation unit described later. A light guide cable 24 for sending illumination light is attached. A connector 26 for connecting to the light source device is provided at the end of the light guide cable 24.

The insertion portion 10 has a soft-structured shaft body 12 through which optical fibers for observation and illumination are passed and is deformed flexibly, and an observation part 14 arranged at the tip of the shaft body 12 and having an observation window and an illumination window. And an outer cylindrical body 30 that covers the outer periphery of the shaft body 12 from the rear of the observation unit 14 to the vicinity of the hand operation unit 20. The shape retention of the outer cylindrical body 30 depends on the shaft body 1.
Greater than 2. Here, the shape-retaining property refers to the property of resisting the original shape when an external force is applied to deform it. However, it can be deformed by applying a force of a certain magnitude or more. The shaft body 12 bends even if a relatively small force is applied, but the outer cylindrical body 30 does not bend even if the same force is applied.

An advancing / retreating operation portion 3 for advancing / retreating the outer tubular body 30 is provided at an end portion of the outer tubular body 30 on the hand operation portion 20 side.
2 The advancing / retreating operation unit 32 is composed of a ring that is connected to an end portion of the outer cylindrical body 30 and is slidably fitted to the outer periphery of the shaft body 12, and is grasped by a hand to move the outer cylindrical body 30 back and forth. Move back and forth. As shown in FIG.
0 and the shaft body 12 are attached to each other so as to be movable in the axial direction. A bending operation unit 16 is provided at a tip portion of the shaft body 12 near the observation unit 14. The bending operation unit 16 is
The tip end of the shaft body 12 can be bent at an arbitrary bending angle up to an angle close to a right angle in an arbitrary direction of 360 °.

The bending operation mechanism of the bending operation section 16 is as follows.
A required bending operation can be performed by pulling or loosening a plurality of wires attached to the inside of the bending operation section 16 back and forth with the above-described bending operation knob 28. Therefore, the bending operation knob 28 is configured such that a plurality of knobs and levers are combined to perform a complicated bending operation of the bending operation section 16. Also, the bending operation knob 2
8 also incorporates a bending release lever that releases the bending operation of the bending operation unit 16 to allow the bending operation unit 16 to freely deform. The operation of the bending operation unit 16 and the specific structure of the bending operation knob 28 are the same as those in the case of a normal endoscope, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

An optical fiber 18 for image transmission is arranged on the front end surface of the observation section 14, and an image in the front end direction of the observation section 14 is sent to the eyepiece section of the hand operation section 20 via the optical fiber 18. An optical fiber 19 for illumination is arranged side by side with an optical fiber 18 for image transmission.
The light emitted from the tip of 9 illuminates the direction of the tip of the observation unit 14.

Next, the operation of the endoscope will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, the insertion portion 10 of the endoscope
Is inserted into the intestinal space H of the human body. When the curved portion of the intestinal space H is reached, the direction in which the insertion section 10 advances must be changed. As shown in FIG. 4, the bending operation unit 16 is bent. Along with the bending of the bending operation unit 16, the bending operation unit 16
The outer cylindrical body 30 that covers the outer periphery of is also curved. The observation part 14 at the tip of the insertion part 10 faces the bending direction of the intestinal space H.

As shown in FIG. 5, the shaft body 12 is moved forward with respect to the exterior cylinder body 30. The tip of the shaft body 12 following the observing section 14 projects from the tip of the outer tubular body 30. Bending motion unit 1
6 is in a state in which it can be freely bent by operating the bending operation knob 28, and moves forward while bending along the curve of the outer tubular body 30. As shown in FIG. 6, with the shaft body 12 and the bending operation section 16 fixed, the exterior tubular body 30 is advanced. At this time, the bending operation section 16 is fixed in a bent state by operating the bending operation knob 28. Exterior cylinder 30
Moves forward while curving according to the curving shape of the curving operation unit 16. The operation of one cycle is completed when the tip of the outer cylindrical body 30 advances to near the rear end of the observation section 14 and returns to the original position.

Comparing the state of FIG. 6 with the state of FIG. 4, it can be seen that the distal end of the insertion portion 10 is curved and advanced along the curved direction of the intestinal space H. That is, unlike the conventional example shown in FIG. 7, even if the distal end of the insertion portion is curved, it does not move forward and hit the wall in the direction of advance. By repeating the above-described operations of FIGS. 3 to 6 in order, the distal end of the insertion portion 10 can be curved in an arbitrary direction and can be smoothly advanced in the curved direction.

If the direction of the distal end of the insertion portion 10 is determined to some extent, the entire insertion portion 10 may be moved forward with the shaft body 12 and the outer tubular body 30 integrated in that state. This means that if the distal end side of the insertion portion 10 has advanced to a desired length to some extent, the intestinal space H is less likely to be damaged even if the middle part of the insertion portion 10 hits the inner wall of the intestinal space H. This is also because it is unlikely that the insertion section 10 will stop moving forward. If it is in the middle of the insertion portion 10, it can be slidably moved along the wall of the intestinal space H by the force of advancing. Other Examples (a) The basic structure of the endoscope can be freely configured by appropriately combining the same structures as those of a normal endoscope.
For example, the material forming the shaft body 12 of the insertion portion 10 may be a combination of a flexible synthetic resin tube, a metal mesh tube, a spiral tube in which a flexible metal band is spirally wound, or the like. As the internal mechanism of the hand-side operation unit 20 and the structure of the eyepiece unit 22, various structures can be adopted according to the purpose and use of the endoscope.

(B) In the above embodiment, the image obtained by the observation section 14 is transferred to the rear eyepiece section 2 by the optical fiber 18 for image transmission.
2, the image acquisition element such as a CCD element is arranged in the observation section 14, and the image signal of the CCD element is electrically sent to the hand operation section 20 to display the image on the electric display device. You can also let it. (c) As a motion mechanism of the bending motion unit 16, a mechanism similar to that of a normal endoscope can be adopted. As described above, the bending operation unit 16
In addition to the structure for mechanically operating by connecting to the bending operation unit 28 of the hand operation unit 20 with a wire, a structure for electrically or magnetically operating an actuator arranged in the bending operation unit 16 may be used. The actuator can also be operated with fluid pressure. As a specific structure of the operating mechanism, a technique of a remote control mechanism in a known endoscope or various mechanical devices can be applied.

(D) The structure and material of the outer cylinder 30 may be basically the same as the structure and material of the shaft body 12. However, among the characteristics, the shape retention property is set so that the material of the outer cylindrical body 30 is larger than the material of the shaft body 12. Specifically, a material having a relatively large shape-retaining property may be used for the outer cylindrical body 30, or the same material may have a large thickness to enhance the shape-retaining property.

(E) The outer cylindrical body 30 may be provided in a range that covers at least the outer periphery of the bending operation portion 16. The shaft body 12 on the rear side of the bending operation unit 16 may not be covered with the exterior cylinder body 30. (f) The outer cylindrical body 30 is provided only around the bending operation section 16, and the outer cylindrical body 30 is provided by the rearward / backward operation section 32 via a motion transmission mechanism such as a wire passing through the inner space of the shaft body 12. Can also be operated.

(G) As a mechanism for advancing / retreating the exterior cylinder 30, the exterior cylinder 30 is operated by the hand operation unit 2 as in the above-described embodiment.
A structure is simple in which the ring-shaped advancing / retreating operation portion 32 connected to the end portion of the exterior tubular body 30 is moved back and forth by extending it near 0. However, instead of the ring-shaped advancing / retreating operation section 32, the exterior cylindrical body 30 can be advanced / retreated by an operation of a lever or a dial. It is also possible to move the external cylindrical body 30 back and forth mechanically by electromagnetic force, fluid force or the like, instead of manually.

(H) The observation section 14 is not only for observing the observation space H, but also for medical purposes, for example, a mechanism for treating the affected area with a laser beam and a mechanism for cutting out the affected area and the test sample. It is also possible to provide the above, or to be able to supply the drug to the affected area. Further, various sensors may be incorporated, or a manipulator for work may be incorporated.

(I) Endoscopes are medical applications such as inspection and treatment of the inside of the human body, industrial inspection applications such as internal inspection of various mechanical devices and piping equipment, and other various techniques in which endoscopes have been used in the past. It can be used in the field. Further, the endoscope of the present invention can also be applied to applications where the endoscope could not be used due to the problem that the tip of the insertion portion hits the inner wall of the space to be observed.

[0031]

According to the endoscope of the present invention, the direction in which the tip of the insertion part advances can be easily changed without contacting the tip of the insertion part with the inner wall of the space to be observed. You can insert parts smoothly. The inner wall of the observed space is not damaged by the tip of the insertion part. It is possible to prevent a patient who has an endoscope inserted therein from suffering great pain and injuring the patient. It is possible to prevent the problem that the tip of the insertion portion is caught by the inner wall of the space to be observed and cannot proceed any further.

If the observed space is a medical endoscope in which the inside of the human body is, the pain to the patient can be reduced.
It can greatly contribute to the improvement of medical technology.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial sectional view of an essential part showing a distal end portion of an insertion portion.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a first step of the drawings for explaining the insertion operation of the endoscope step by step.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a second stage.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a third stage.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a fourth step.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of a conventional endoscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Insertion part 12 Shaft body 14 Observation part 16 Bending operation part 20 Hand operation part 28 Bending operation part 30 Exterior cylindrical body 32 Advance / retreat operation part H Observed space

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope for guiding an image acquired by an observation unit inserted in an observation space to the outside of the observation space for observation, wherein the observation unit and the observation unit are connected to the observation unit. A bendable shaft having image transmitting means for transmitting an image acquired by a bending section, a bendable bending section arranged at a position close to the observation section on the axis, and at least the bending operation section. An outer cylindrical body that is arranged so as to be relatively movable in the axial direction with respect to the shaft body and that can be curved and that has a large shape retention compared to the shaft body is included in the observed space. An insertion part to be inserted, an observation means arranged outside the observed space behind the insertion part and observing an image transmitted by the image transmission means, and outside the observed space behind the insertion part. A bending operation section that is arranged in An endoscope provided with a forward / backward operation section that is disposed behind the insertion section and outside the observed space to move the external cylinder body forward / backward with respect to the shaft body. 2. A medical endoscope in which the observed space is inside the human body.