JPS6137934B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the structure of a soft tube in an endoscope.

Generally, an endoscope has an insertion section that is inserted into a body cavity,
and an operating section for operating and controlling the insertion section outside the body, and the insertion section is further formed by a soft tube, a curved section, and a distal end section. The flexible tube allows the distal end portion to be introduced into the body cavity, and can be bent in accordance with the bending of the cavity passageway along the way. However, for example, in the digestive system, the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, etc. have different degrees of curvature of the tubes along the way, so it is necessary to change the bending performance, or hardness, of the flexible tubes. Prepare endoscopes for the stomach, duodenum, and small intestine.
Each practitioner used them differently.
According to such a conventional method, many types of endoscopes are required, which makes the endoscopes expensive, and furthermore, the endoscopes must be selected depending on the location where they are to be used, making them difficult to handle.

This invention was made based on these circumstances, and its purpose is to create an endoscope that can be used in a single endoscope to increase its versatility by making it possible to freely select and adjust the hardness of the soft tube. The aim is to provide a flexible tube.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

An endoscope is generally composed of an insertion section 1 that is inserted into a body cavity and an operation section 2 that is operated outside the body cavity. It is formed of. Tip part 3
is provided with an observation optical system composed of an objective cover glass 6, an objective lens 7, and an image guide 8 made of fiberglass, and also composed of an illumination system cover glass 9 and a light guide 10 made of fiberglass. An illumination optical system is provided.

The curved portion 4 is constructed by arranging a spiral tube 12 within a bendable curved tube 11 and slidably locking wires 13 and 14 to the spiral tube 12.
Each of the wires 13 and 14 has one end connected to the distal end portion 3, and the other end connected so as to be pulled or loosened by an angle knob (not shown) provided on the operating portion 2. Therefore, when one wire 13 is pulled, the curved portion 4 is curved as shown by an imaginary line, and the direction of the tip portion 3 can be controlled remotely.

The flexible tube 5 is a flexible tube 1 made of thermoplastic synthetic resin.
A sheathed wire heater 17 as an electric heating element is placed within the synthetic resin layer.
is buried. The sheathed wire heaters 17 are spirally molded into the synthetic resin layer and are arranged at substantially uniform pitches from the tip to the rear end of the flexible tube 15. Both ends of this sheathed wire heater 17 are connected to a current control device 18 attached to the operating section 2. This current control device 18
has an operation knob 19 protruding from the operation part 2,
Turn on by rotating this operating knob 19.
Not only can it be switched OFF, but in the ON state, the amount of current to the sheathed wire heater 17 can be adjusted by changing the amount of rotation.

An eyepiece section 20 is attached to the end surface of the operation section 2, and the eyepiece section 20 has one end provided at the distal end section 3 and the other end of the image guide 8 connected to the curved section 4 and the flexible tube 5. It is connected by being guided through the inside. Further, a universal tube 21 is connected to one side of the operating section 2, and a connector section 22 is configured at the tip of the universal tube 21. The other end of the light guide 10, one end of which is connected to the distal end portion 3, is guided to the connector portion 22 through the curved portion 4, the flexible tube 5, the operating portion 2, and the universal tube 21. The entrance end 10a of this light guide 10 is connected to the connector section 22.
It is protruded from. The connector portion 22 is also provided with terminal pins 23a, 23b that protrude in the same direction as the incident end 10a of the light guide 10. ，
24b, respectively. The other ends of the lead wires 24a and 24b are connected to the current control device 18. Furthermore, light guide 10
The input end 10a of is connected to a light source (not shown), but at the time of this connection, the terminal pins 23a, 23
b is also connected to the power supply at the same time.

The operation of the embodiment based on such a configuration will be explained.

End portion 10a of the light guide 10 of the connector portion 22
is connected to the light source and the terminal pins 23a, 23
Connect b to the power supply. Then, the light from the light source is guided through the light guide 10 to the illumination system cover glass 9 of the tip part 3, and illuminates the front from this illumination system cover glass 9. Therefore, when the insertion section 1 is inserted into the body cavity, the affected area is irradiated with the above-mentioned illumination, and an image of the affected area is projected onto the tip of the image guide 8 via the objective system cover glass 6 and the objective lens 7. Therefore, by bringing the eye closer to the eyepiece 20 and looking into it, the condition of the affected area can be observed.

In addition, by operating an angle knob (not shown) to pull or loosen the wires 13 and 14, the curved portion 4 can be
Since the tip is curved, the direction of the distal end 3 changes, so operations such as searching for an affected area within a body cavity can be performed remotely.

Therefore, the operation knob 19 of the current control device 18
Turn on the sheathed wire heater 1 by turning it.
A current is supplied to the sheathed wire heater 17.
emits Joule heat due to electrical resistance. Since this Joule heat heats the flexible tube 15 of the flexible tube 5, the flexible tube 15 becomes soft and therefore has good bendability.

If the current value supplied to the sheathed wire heater 17 is changed by adjusting the amount of rotation of the operation knob 19, the amount of heat generated by the sheathed wire heater 17 will change, and the degree of flexibility of the flexible tube 15 will also change. It turns out. For this reason, for example, esophagus examination, gastric examination,
If the hardness of the flexible tube 5 is selected according to the examination location, such as duodenal examination or small intestine examination, one endoscope can be used for all of these examinations.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 above is a case in which one sheathed wire heater 17 is molded with a uniform pitch over substantially the entire length of the flexible tube 15; Although the material becomes uniformly soft, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be configured as shown in FIG. 2, for example.

That is, the one in FIG. 2 has independent sheathed wire heaters 31 and 32 at the front and rear parts of the flexible tube 15, respectively.
and mold these sheathed wire heaters 31, 32.
Each current control device 3 is provided in the operation section 2.
3 and 34. Each current control device 33, 34 has an operation knob 35, 36, and terminal pins 37a, 37 protruding from the connector portion 22.
b, 38a, 38b, each lead wire 39a, 39
40a, 40b.

In this way, it becomes possible to soften only the front part of the flexible tube 5 or, conversely, to soften only the rear part, depending on the bending state of the body cavity canal, thereby improving its ease of use. become.

Note that the current control devices 18, 33, and 34 are not necessarily limited to being attached to the operating section 2, and may be configured, for example, in a power source section to which the connector section 22 is connected. and current control device 18,
33 and 34 are not limited to ON-OFF switching and current value control by rotating the operation knobs 19, 35, and 36, but various modifications are possible. The power source is also connected to the terminal pins 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 38 of the connector section 22.
It is not limited to what is connected to a and 38b, and various modifications such as providing a connector for direct electrical connection to the operating section 2 are possible.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the flexible tube 1 of the flexible tube 5
5 was entirely composed of a thermoplastic synthetic resin layer, but
The present invention is not limited to this, and the flexible tube 15 may be formed of multiple layers, at least one layer of which is made of thermoplastic synthetic resin, and the heater may be embedded in the thermoplastic synthetic resin layer. good.

As described in detail above, the present invention includes forming at least one layer of a flexible tube that covers a spiral tube from a thermoplastic synthetic resin, providing an electric heating element on this thermoplastic synthetic resin layer, and providing a heat generating element to the electric heating element. The current supply is controlled via a current control device. Therefore, according to this method, by adjusting the current value, the hardness of the flexible tube can be freely selected because the Joule heat of the heating element is different, and the bending performance can be adjusted according to the degree of bending of the tube to the body cavity to be examined. Obtainable. Therefore, there is an advantage that one endoscope can be used for various purposes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view of an endoscope showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially sectional side view showing a modification thereof. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Insertion part, 2... Operation part, 3... Tip part, 4... Curved part, 5... Soft tube, 17, 31, 32... Sheathed wire heater (electrothermal heating element), 18, 33, 34... Current control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a flexible tube for an endoscope in which the outside of a spiral tube is covered with a flexible tube, the flexible tube has at least one layer made of thermoplastic synthetic resin, and an electric heating element is embedded in this thermoplastic synthetic resin layer. A flexible tube for an endoscope, characterized in that the hardness of the flexible tube is changed by heating and softening the thermoplastic synthetic resin layer by passing an electric current through the heating element via a current control device.