JPH0966021A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope with which a bending operation can be smoothly performed and the total outer diameter of a bent section is reduced. SOLUTION: An interior tube (flexible tube) 11 at the bent section of the endoscope is constituted in the shape of bellows, at least either the external part or the internal part of the interior tube 11 is electromagnetically shielded, at least either the thickness of bellows or the interval of bent gathers formed on the interior tube 11 is changed, and the interior tube 11 is prepared by plastics using an optical formation method.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope, and more particularly to an endoscope in which a scope is inserted into a body cavity of a patient and which can be smoothly moved in the digestive tract or bronchus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, fiberscope type endoscopes and electronic endoscopes have been known as medical endoscopes. A cylindrical curved portion is provided to move the curved portion. The inner pipe forming the curved portion has a peripheral edge portion of approximately 4 mm.
Guide holes for inserting wires are provided at equally divided positions, and the angle operation of the endoscope can be freely performed by manually operating the wires inserted through these guide holes.

As the structure of the interior pipe of the curved portion having such a function, for example, a plurality of ring segments having a constant width are connected by a pin, or as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-8436 (see FIG. 5). ), A cylindrical tube 100 integrally formed by extruding plastic or the like is provided with notches 101 in a uniform pattern on the side wall.

[0004]

However, in the conventional structure of the interior pipe of the curved portion, since there is a void in each joint, the bending operation is intermittent, and a large load is applied to the connecting portion, so that strength is increased. In addition to being fragile, there are drawbacks such that other components (for example, a light-guiding fiber that is installed) are caught in the void portion and protruded to the outside.

Further, the presence of the voids complicates the electromagnetic shield structure, which is an indispensable condition (protection against noise generated in the body) of the electronic endoscope, so that the total outer diameter of the cable (total outer diameter of the curved portion) becomes large. It tended to grow. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope in which the bending operation can be performed smoothly and the total outer diameter of the bending portion is small.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is an endoscope having a scope to be inserted into an object to be inserted, and an internal pipe of a curved portion constituting the scope. It is characterized in that it is configured in a bellows shape.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the inner pipe is formed into a closed tubular integral bellows shape, since there is no void portion in the bent portion as in the conventional case, the inner pipe has strength. No foreign matter is involved.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that at least either the outside or the inside of the interior pipe is subjected to an electromagnetic shield treatment. According to the second aspect of the invention, since the inner pipe is formed in a closed tubular shape, the outer circumference or the inner circumference can be electromagnetically shielded to have an electromagnetic shield effect. Therefore, since the electromagnetic shield net in the curved portion as in the conventional case can be removed, the outer diameter of the curved portion can be reduced.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the thickness of the bellows or the interval of the bending folds formed in the interior pipe is changed. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the operation of the endoscope can be facilitated by changing the thickness or bending folds of the tube wall of the inner tube in a segmented or continuous manner. For example, the bending elasticity of the inner tube can be reduced toward the distal end side of the endoscope to improve the operability of the distal end portion.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the inner tube is made of plastic by using a stereolithography method. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the stereolithography method can easily create a three-dimensional model, the guide hole for inserting the wire of the interior pipe can be easily formed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall view of the endoscope of this embodiment. This endoscope has a monitor 1 for displaying an endoscopic image, a main body 2 having 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 part 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 to equip the same.

On the other hand, on the rear end side of the flexible portion 4, an operation 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. Then, inside the flexible portion 4, a light guide fiber, an air feeding tube, a water feeding tube, a conducting wire and the like (not shown) are incorporated.

2 (A) and 2 (B) are an external view and a sectional view of an essential part of the flexible tube 11 installed in the bending portion 5. FIG.
As shown in (A) and (B), the flexible tube 11 is formed in a bellows shape, and thick wall inner wall portions 11a and thin wall inner wall portions 11b are alternately formed. The thick inner wall portion 11a is provided with guide holes 11c into which the peripheral portion is divided into four equal parts, and the four wires 1 inserted into the respective guide holes 11c.
When the angle operation section 7 is manually operated by 2, the bending section 5 performs a bending operation, and the angle of the endoscope can be operated vertically and horizontally.

Regarding the formation pitch of the thick inner wall portion 11a, the upper portion in the figure is slightly wider and the lower portion is slightly narrower.
According to this structure, the bendability of the portion having the wide formation pitch is better than the bendability of the portion having the narrow pitch.
The same effect can be obtained by changing the thickness of the thin inner wall portion 11b depending on the part.

The outside of the flexible tube 11 is plated with an electromagnetic shield (eg, copper, silver, gold, nickel, tin, zinc, lead plating, etc.). Next, the flexible tube 1
A method for manufacturing 1 will be described.

FIG. 3 is a principle diagram of an optical molding system for forming the flexible tube 11, and FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a process of forming the flexible tube by the optical molding method. As shown in FIG. 3, a liquid photocurable resin 22 is put in the resin tank 21. Inside the resin tank 21, a support elevator 23 whose vertical movement is controlled by a control device (not shown) is arranged.

On the other hand, a laser beam generator 26 is arranged on the upper left side of the resin tank 21, and the laser beam generated by the laser beam generator 26 is reflected by the mirror 24, and the photo-curable resin 2 below it.
Irradiate 2. The mirror 24 is angle-controlled and laterally controlled by the control of the mirror angle controller 25.

Next, the operation will be described. The control device and the mirror angle control unit 25 (hereinafter, both are collectively referred to as a computer) store three-dimensional data of a target model to be created (in this case, the flexible tube 11 shown in FIG. 2). The original data is sliced horizontally on a computer to create sliced data. The computer scans the photo-curable resin 22 with laser light along the sliced data to solidify it, and repeats this operation to stack the three-dimensional model (flexible tube 11 in this case).

That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, under the control of the computer, first, the support elevator 23 is positioned above, and the mirror 24 is moved to the left and right while the first stage of flexion is performed. The tube unit 30a is solidified. At this time, a guide hole for inserting the wire is also formed. Then, FIG.
As shown in (B), the support elevator 23 is lowered slightly and the second-stage flexible tube unit 30b is solidified under the control of the computer. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4 (C), the support elevator 23 is lowered slightly and the flexible tube unit 30c of the third stage is solidified under the control of the computer. By repeating such an operation, the flexible tube 11 shown in FIG. 2 is created.

Since the flexible tube 11 has a diameter of about 5 mm and a length of about 10 cm, even if the resin tank 21 is an optical molding apparatus having a single tank, a large number of diaphragms can be obtained by repeating computer software. It is possible to model simultaneously.

Epoxy resin, acrylic resin, acrylic urethane resin, etc. are known as the liquid photo-effect resin, but acrylic urethane resin is preferable as the resin used in this embodiment because of its excellent flexibility. Is. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case of a medical endoscope has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to an industrial endoscope.

[0023]

As described above, according to the invention described in each claim, the interior tube of the bending portion of the endoscope is formed in a bellows shape,
At least one of the outside or the inside of the inner pipe is electromagnetically shielded, and at least one of the thickness of the bellows formed on the inner pipe or the interval of the bending folds is changed,
Since the inner tube is made of plastic using the stereolithography method, the structure is very simple with no connecting pins or joints, the strength is improved, the winding of electric wires, etc. does not occur, and the electromagnetic shield is plated. The diameter of the curved portion can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus to which an embodiment example of the present invention is applied.

2A and 2B are diagrams showing the embodiment, in which FIG. 2A is a front view, and FIG. 2B is a view showing both a sectional view of a main part and a side view of the main part.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of a stereolithography method for producing the flexible tube of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a process of producing a flexible tube by a stereolithography method.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 curved part 11 flexible tube (interior tube) 11a thick inner wall part 11b thin inner wall part 11c guide hole 12 wire

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope having a scope to be inserted into an object to be inserted, wherein an interior tube of a curved portion constituting the scope is formed in a bellows shape. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the outside and the inside of the inner tube is electromagnetically shielded. 3. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the thickness of the bellows formed on the inner tube and the interval of the bending folds is changed. 4. The inner tube is made of plastic by using an optical molding method, and the inner tube is made of plastic.
The endoscope as described.