JPS61168338A - Balloon attached to ultrasonic endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION a. Technical Field The present invention relates to improvements in a balloon attached to an ultrasound endoscope used by being inserted into a body cavity.

b. Prior art and its problems Ultrasonic endoscopes have an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving scanning section provided at the tip of the insertion section of the endoscope that is brought into close contact with the body cavity wall during ultrasound diagnosis in order to propagate ultrasound waves. There is a need.

For this reason, conventionally, the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving scanning unit is surrounded by an expandable and deflated balloon filled with an ultrasonic propagation medium liquid, and the ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the body cavity wall via this balloon.

Therefore, it is necessary to bring the balloon into close contact with the subject without an intervening air space to reduce the attenuation of the ultrasonic waves, and to make the balloon into close contact with the subject with a large contact area to increase the scanning range.

However, when trying to attach a conventional balloon to the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver scanning section as shown by the solid line in Figure 7 and bring it into close contact with the body cavity wall, there are parts that do not come into close contact with the body cavity wall, resulting in an air gap. There is a risk that a reliable diagnosis may not be possible due to the attenuation of the ultrasonic waves in this air layer.

One possible solution to this problem is to position the ultrasonic transmitter/receiver scanning unit approximately halfway between the seals formed at both ends of the balloon, but in this case, the tip of the endoscope's insertion section is long. However, there remains the problem that the ease of insertion into body cavities deteriorates.

Furthermore, even in a balloon made with a uniform thickness, the balloon does not inflate uniformly, and is divided into parts that are easy to inflate and parts that are difficult to inflate.

For this reason, if the balloon is inflated from the beginning as shown by the dashed-dotted line in FIG. 7, a sufficient tomographic image cannot be obtained unless the balloon is inserted in the opposite direction and reattached.

C. eye target The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances.

By making it possible to reliably bring the balloon into close contact with the subject over a wide area without elongating the tip of the endoscope's insertion section, diagnosis by ultrasound can be performed reliably, and the balloon attachment is timely. Also, by providing directionality for balloon attachment, the balloon attachment work can be carried out efficiently.

d. Structure of Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
' Fig. 6 is an overall view of this ultrasonic endoscope. It consists of a sub-operation section 30, a main operation section 31, an eyepiece section 33, a long tubular light guide cable section 38, and an electric cable section 39, and the base ends of the light guide cable section 38 and the electric cable section 39 are - A connector 40 for connecting to a light source device (not shown) is provided at the tip of one of the light guide cable sections 38 which is connected to the side surface of the main operation section 31 and split into two in the middle. A connector 41 for connection to a power supply device (not shown) is provided at the tip of the other electric cable portion 39.

The insertion section 43 is composed of, in order from its base end, a flexible section 29, a curved section 28 that is operated for bending by a curve operation knob 32 provided on the main operation section 31, and a distal end section 1. As shown in the figure, it is comprised of an endoscope section 3 for observing a region to be examined through an optical fiber bundle, and an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving scanning section 2 screwed to the endoscope section 3 by a connecting member 5. An observation window section 20 for observing the region to be examined is arranged on the side surface of the endoscope section 3, and an objective lens system 21 necessary for observation is installed inside the observation window section 20. An incident end of an image guide 24 using an optical fiber or the like is opposed to the objective lens system 21, and the image guide 24 is connected to the insertion section 23. The emitting end passes through the sub-operation section 30 and the main operation section 31 and is guided to the eyepiece section 33 .

On the other hand, an illumination window (not shown) is also installed near the observation window section 20, and an illumination optical system is provided within the illumination window.

An output end of a light guide using an optical fiber or the like faces the illumination optical system, and the light guide is connected to the insertion section 23. Sub-operation unit 30. The light guide cable 38 passes through the main operating section 31° and the light guide cable 38, and its input end is connected to a connector 40 provided at the tip of the light guide cable.

The air supply nozzle 22 has a nozzle end facing the observation window 20 and is used to prevent the observation window 20 from fogging.

It is connected to the air supply tube 23, and the air supply tube 2
3 is an insertion portion 43. Sub-operation unit 30. It is connected to a connection port 42 provided in a connector 40 of the light guide cable 38 via the main operation section 31 and the light guide cable 38 .

Further, a water supply nozzle (not shown) for cleaning dirt and the like adhering to the observation window section 20 is also connected to the connection port 42 via an air supply tube (not shown) in the same way as the air supply nozzle. The air and water supply nozzles are configured to inject air or water by switching an air/water supply switching operation section 35 provided in the main operation section 31 .

Further, a suction port 19 is provided near the observation window portion 20, and a suction tube 25 is connected to the suction port 19, and the suction tube 25 is connected to the insertion portion 43. It is connected to a nipple (not shown) connected to the main operation section 31 through the sub-operation section 30 and through the suction operation section 34 of the main operation section 31, and a suction device is connected to the nipple for suction operation. By manually operating the part 34, unnecessary liquid accumulated inside the subject is suctioned from the suction port 19.

Furthermore, between the endoscope section 3 and the ultrasound transmitting/receiving scanning section 2,
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, two annular grooves 14 and 15 are formed, and the convex portion between the annular grooves 14 and 15 is the fifth groove.
As shown in the figure, a portion is cut out to form a communication path 27 connecting the annular grooves 14 and 15.

The annular groove 14 also has a supply port 17 for supplying and discharging an ultrasonic propagation medium liquid such as degassed water into the balloon 45.
and a discharge port 18 are open, and the supply port 17 is connected to the supply pipe 2.
G, and the supply pipe 26 passes through the insertion section 43 and communicates with a liquid feeding port 36 provided in the sub-operation section 30. cylinder is connected. On the other hand, like the supply port 17, the discharge port 18 is also connected to a discharge pipe (not shown), and the discharge pipe is connected to the nipple of the main operating section 31 integrally with the suction tube 25 via a suction switching device 37. , the suction force of the suction device is switched from the suction port 19 to the discharge port 18 by operating the suction switching device 37 and the suction operation portion 34 provided in the sub-operation portion 30, and at this time, the suction force from the suction device is removed via the communication path 27. The suction force is dispersed in the two annular grooves to effectively remove the air inside the balloon. 6 Ultrasonic transmitting/receiving scanning section 2 screwed to the distal end side of the endoscope section 3 equipped with the above mechanism. is an ultrasonic window portion 4 made of resin or the like.
, an ultrasonic transducer 10 accommodated in the ultrasonic window section, and a connecting member 5 for screwing together the ultrasonic window section 4 and the endoscope section 3, the ultrasonic window section 4 and the connecting member 5 The concave portion 6 of the ultrasonic window portion 4 and the convex portion 7 of the connecting member 5 are integrated by fitting together, and the gap between the fitting portions is sealed with an adhesive. Further, the screw-connected connecting portion 8 is filled with an adhesive that also serves as a seal to maintain liquid tightness.

A fixed part 11 to which an ultrasonic transducer 10 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is attached is disposed inside the ultrasonic window part 4, and the fixed part 11 is driven by a driving source provided in the sub-operation part 30. The tip of a rotationally driven drive shaft 13 is connected, and a signal line 12 is connected to the ultrasonic transducer 10, and the signal line 12 passes through the drive shaft 13 and is connected to a connector 41 of an electric cable section 39. It is connected.

The ultrasonic window is filled with an ultrasonic medium made of oil or the like, and a disk-shaped sealing member 16 prevents the ultrasonic medium from flowing into the endoscope section 3. This prevents the portion 4 from shrinking inward, and also strengthens the fit with the connecting member 5.

Further, the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving scanning section 2 is covered with a detachably attached balloon 45, and the balloon 45 is formed of a stretchable elastic material such as rubber into a cylindrical shape with both open ends. A ring-shaped seal portion 46 is formed on the periphery, and the seal portion 46 is connected to the annular balloon attachment groove 9 formed at the tip of the ultrasonic window portion 4 and adjacent to the annular groove 15.
are fitted water-tightly. The shape of the balloon 45 is such that the outer periphery is tapered so that the vicinity of one open end swells more than the vicinity of the other open end, as shown in FIG.

2 and 3 show a second embodiment of the balloon 45,
The balloon 45 is formed by changing the degree of taper on the outer periphery,
The larger taper is designed to swell in particular.

e. Effects of the Embodiments Since the present invention is constructed as described above, when performing a diagnosis of a subject using an ultrasound endoscope, the insertion portion 43 of the ultrasound endoscope jJII44 is inserted into the body cavity. Insert the tip into the
When the water reaches the target area, the ultrasonic propagation medium liquid such as degassed water is supplied from the supply port 17 through the supply pipe 26 into the balloon 45 by the liquid supply cylinder.
The air that enters inside is discharged to the outside through the discharge port 18 by operating the suction switching bag W137 and the suction operation section 34.

Since the outer periphery of the balloon 45 is tapered as described above, it comes into close contact with the body cavity wall as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 4, and a good ultrasonic tomographic image can be obtained without an intervening air space.

f. Effects As is clear from the above, the present invention has a tapered outer periphery so that the shape of the Paruno is larger in the vicinity of one open end than in the vicinity of the other open end, so that the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving scanning section The outer periphery of the diaphragm bulges out greatly, and the tomographic image of the subject that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves can be diagnosed without an intervening air layer, making it possible to perform good diagnosis with less attenuation of the ultrasonic waves.

Further, even when the balloon is attached, since the shapes near the open end of the balloon are different, there is an effect that there is no mistake in the attachment direction.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the balloon for an ultrasound endoscope according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of the balloon for an ultrasound endoscope according to the present invention. 3 is a side view of the second embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the tip of an ultrasound endoscope when the balloon of the first embodiment is attached to the tip and filled with ultrasound medium liquid. Figure 5 is a plan view of the tip of the ultrasound endoscope without a balloon attached, Figure 6 is an overall view of the ultrasound endoscope, and Figure 7 is a plan view of the tip of the ultrasound endoscope with a conventional balloon attached. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the distal end when the ultrasonic medium is filled with an ultrasonic medium liquid. 45... Balloon 46... Seal portion patent applicant Representative of Asahi Optical Industry Co., Ltd. Matsumoto Retired patent applicant Representative of Hitachi Medeico Co., Ltd. Hiroshi Kimura -

Claims (1)

[Claims] Both ends are open, and the periphery of both open ends is equipped with a ring-shaped seal part that fits into the balloon mounting groove of the ultrasound endoscope, so that the vicinity of one open end swells larger than the vicinity of the other open end. A balloon that can be attached to an ultrasound endoscope and has a tapered outer periphery.