JPS632003Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a flexible tube of an endoscope, and aims to improve the ease of inserting the endoscope into a body cavity and reduce the pain caused to the patient. The purpose of this invention is to provide a flexible tube for an endoscope that can be used as a flexible tube.

In general, an endoscope has an eyepiece for observing the lesion, an air supply/suction device for sending or suctioning gas into the cavity, and an operating device for bending the tip body to search for the lesion. , an operating unit body equipped with a forceps hole, etc., into which forceps, etc. are inserted. A bundle of optical fibers for illumination is connected in series with the main body of the operating section and illuminates the outside through the illumination window of the main body of the distal end, and an optical fiber for observation that guides the image incident from the objective lens of the main body of the distal end to the eyepiece section of the main body of the operating section. Guide for fiber bundles, curved operation wires in the curved portions of the operating device, air supply in the air suction device, air supply for suction, forceps channels inserted through the suction pipe or forceps holes in the operation unit main body, and other treatment instruments. A flexible tube with internal pipes, etc. Furthermore, the illumination window and observation window installed at the tips of the optical fiber bundle for illumination and the optical fiber bundle for observation housed inside this flexible tube, as well as the tips of air supply, suction pipes, forceps, and other guide tubes, are connected. The main body is connected in series to the distal end of the flexible tube, and has air supply, suction holes, forceps holes, and other treatment instrument holes that are opened by the flexible tube.

Therefore, the flexible tube in the endoscope is coated with the optical fiber bundle for illumination and observation, the operation wire, the air supply pipe, the suction pipe, the guide pipe such as forceps, and other various devices. breakage of these contents;
It is possible to prevent damage and to follow the movement of the curved part related to the operation of various internal devices or the movement such as curvature required in connection with the operation when inserting the endoscope into the body cavity. Flexibility is required, especially when inserting an endoscope deep into a body cavity such as the duodenum or large intestine. It is desired that the flexible tube be made flexible and become harder as it gets closer to the outside of the body. For example, for an endoscope for observing the duodenum, the flexible tube portion corresponding to the duodenal region may be made flexible, and the flexible tube portion corresponding to the stomach region may have a medium flexibility that is stiffer than the duodenal region. Insertion into the duodenal region can be facilitated by making the flexible tube flexible, with the portion of the flexible tube corresponding to the esophagus region being more rigid and flexible than the region of the stomach.

As shown in Fig. 1, the flexible tube includes a flex (a spiral tube formed by winding a metal strip in a spiral shape) 2 and a blade (a spiral tube formed by knitting thin metal wires into a cylindrical shape) around the outer periphery of the flex 2. A middle cap 4 and a rear cap 5 are attached and fixed to the tip A and the operation side B of a flexible tube body 1 surrounding a knitted tube 3, respectively, and the outer periphery of the flexible tube body 1 is made of synthetic resin. The coil pipe 7 is coated with an outer skin 6 such as the above, and its both ends 6a and 6b are fixed to the caps 4 and 5, and a coil pipe 7 is brazed and fixed to the inner surfaces of the caps 4 and 5.

However, since the flexible tube has the same flexibility over the entire area from the distal end A to the operating section side B, the flexibility that allows the distal end A to curve along the shape inside the body cavity is limited. If applied to the tube, there is a risk that the flexible tube will buckle due to external pushing force, making it impossible to reliably transmit the pushing force to the tip A, and also preventing the buckling from occurring. If flexibility is imparted to the flexible tube, there is a risk that the distal end portion A will have difficulty bending along the shape inside the body cavity, which may cause great pain to the subject.

FIG. 2 shows the flex in the flexible tube of the present invention. This flex 12 gradually widens the width of the strip from one end C to the middle part D to the other end E. It is formed so that
In addition, flexible tube 1 using Flex 12 is shown in FIG.
1, and the other parts are the same as those of the above-described flexible tube, so the same numbers are given, and the base etc. are omitted. This flex 12 gives softness to the flexibility of the flexible tube 11 when the flexible tube is bent, and the narrower the width of the flex 12, the more flexibility is imparted to the flexibility. That is, compared to the flexibility of the width l ₃ part, the width l ₂ part and the width l ₁ part become softer and more flexible, and the flexibility when the flex 12 is doubled is An explanation of softness and hardness is shown in Figure 4.

FIG. 4a shows the narrow part of the flex 12. Since the width of the flex 12 is narrow, the inner flex 12a and the outer flex 2b do not interfere with each other and can be bent smoothly. For the wide part of the flex shown in b,
Not only does the inner flex 12a and the outer flex 12b interfere with each other, but also the inner flex 12a and the outer flex 12b interfere with each other, resulting in less bending and flexibility.

In this way, the flexibility of the flexible tube for endoscopes of the present invention can be changed simply by changing the width of the flexible tube.
A flexible tube can be constructed in which the tip end F of the illustrated flexible tube is more flexible than the operating section G, and when an endoscope made of such a flexible tube is inserted into a body cavity for observation. The distal end side F part of the flexible tube bends flexibly according to the shape of the body cavity, so it does not cause much pain to the subject, and the operation part side G part of the flexible tube is relatively hard. Since it is difficult to bend, the flexible tube does not buckle due to the pushing force of the endoscope into the body cavity, and the pushing force can be reliably transmitted to the distal end F of the flexible tube. The tip of the endoscope can be easily guided to a predetermined site.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a conventional flexible tube for endoscopes, Figure 2
The figure is a front view of the flex used in the flexible tube for an endoscope according to the present invention, and FIG. FIGS. 4a and 4b are partial vertical cross-sectional views of the flex formed by multiple windings when the flex is bent. 1, 11... Flexible tube, 2, 12... Flex, 3... Blade, 4, 5... Mouthpiece, 6... Outer skin, 7... Coil pipe.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) Flex in a flexible tube for an endoscope formed by spirally winding a metal band plate, by changing the width of the band plate in the length direction. A flexible tube for an endoscope, characterized in that: (2) The flexible tube for an endoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that the width of the band plate changes steplessly. (3) The endoscope according to claim 1 or 2 of the utility model registration claim, characterized in that the width of the band plate becomes narrower as it approaches the distal end of the flexible endoscope tube. Flex in flexible tubes for mirrors. (4) The flexible tube for an endoscope according to claim 1, 2, or 3 of the utility model registration claim, characterized in that a portion of the length of the band plate is changed. Flex in. (5) Claims 1, 2, and 3 of the utility model registration characterized in that the band plate is wound multiple times.
Flex in the flexible tube for an endoscope according to item 1 or 4.