KR100673412B1 - An endoscope having insertion part easy for attaching and detach - Google Patents

Abstract

An endoscope having an insertion part for attachment and detachment is provided to improve a safety of a patient by replacing a contaminated inserting device. An endoscope having an insertion part for attachment and detachment includes a manipulation unit(100) having a manipulation lighting guide(250), a manipulation image guide(260), and a plurality of manipulation pipes, an inserting unit(300) having an insertion lighting guide, an insertion image guide, a plurality of insertion pipes, and a plurality of connectors(310) connected to the insertion lighting guide, the insertion image guide, the insertion pipes, a connecting unit(200) having a plurality of connecting devices having one end connected to the manipulation unit(100) and the other end to connect the manipulation lighting guide(250), the manipulation image guide(260), and the manipulation pipes to the corresponding connectors and detachably attached to the inserting unit, an image capturing device to capture an image transmitted from the insertion image guide, and a light source unit(500) connected to the manipulation unit(100) to generate an illuminating light.

Description

Medical endoscope with easy insertion and detachment {An endoscope having insertion part easy for attaching and detach}

1 shows a diagram according to a first embodiment of the invention;

2 is a view showing the connector for the image guide shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement structure of an optical fiber constituting the insertion unit image guide shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an arrangement structure of a solid-state imaging device constituting the imaging section shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

5 is a view showing in detail the structure of the light source unit shown in FIG.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: operation unit 200: connection unit

210: connector 211: connector for the image guide

250: control panel lighting guide 260: control panel image guide

270: imaging unit 281: first magnification lens

281 and 282: solid-state imaging element 282: second magnification lens

300: insertion portion 310: connector

360: insertion part image guide 361: optical fiber

500: light source 510: light source

520: infrared cut filter 530: condenser lens

600: image processing unit 700: monitor

The present invention relates to a medical endoscope configured to be detachable insertion part for easy insertion part replacement, and more particularly, connecting one end of the insertion part to the operation unit so that the insertion part is detachable, and the insertion part side duct and the optical cable to the operation part side duct and the optical cable. The connecting part is provided between the inserting part and the operating part, and the optical cable for transmitting the illumination light and the image is made of a low-cost plastic optical fiber, and the imaging element is provided inside the connecting part so that the insert inserted into the body cavity of the human body is contaminated or functionally abnormal. If this occurs, it relates to a medical endoscope that can be easily replaced by separating it.

Medical endoscopes (hereinafter referred to as 'endoscopes') are medical devices that can be inserted into internal organs or body cavities so that they can be seen without surgery, and since its inception in 1863 by Kussmaul, Has contributed. Endoscopic examination, which began in the form of early metal tubes, has been developed with the development of science and technology, with the introduction of electronic endoscopes and therapeutic endoscopes, and various treatment methods have been devised and used in various gastrointestinal diseases.

Endoscopy using the endoscope can directly determine the shape of the internal organs with the naked eye, and determine the possibility of surgery through histological diagnosis using a biopsy potato that can be connected to one end of the endoscope to collect biological tissue, If it is difficult to access the conventional method, it has the advantage of replacing laparotomy, and has recently been recognized as the most important test method for the diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases.

The flexible endoscope of the conventional endoscope, which can be freely curved, is configured to include an insertion part inserted into the body cavity of the human body and an operation part for controlling the insertion part.

The insertion part includes an imaging part for photographing the inside of the body cavity at the tip, an illumination lens for illuminating the inside of the human body, an air-supply nozzle for injecting air and water, and a suction port for sucking liquid in the human body, and the like. It has a functional part.

The operation unit is provided with operation means for each function unit, including a knob for adjusting the curvature of the insertion unit, and is equipped with a plurality of connectors connected to external devices such as a light source device, an aspirator, a video system, an external water pipe, and an external air pipe. have.

In addition, the inside of the insertion unit and the operation unit is provided with a plurality of conduits, lighting guides and image guides connecting the respective functional units at the end of the insertion unit and the corresponding operation unit connectors. Here, the illumination and image guide is for transmitting the illumination light generated from the light source or the image captured by the inside of the human body, and is generally configured by using a multi-core optical fiber cable in which a plurality of optical fibers that can efficiently transmit light are arranged. do.

As such, the conventional endoscope includes an insertion part inserted into a human body and an operation part for controlling the same, and a plurality of pipes and guides are built in through the inside of each part, and an expensive CCD and Since the same image pickup device and the like are provided, it is difficult to replace the insertion unit with the operation unit and replace it with a new one.

Therefore, the conventional endoscope must be performed for a long time disinfection for reuse after being used in a particular patient, if it is reused to a third party in the absence of sterile disinfection can cause infection of various diseases and germs There is a problem.

The present invention is to solve the problem of the endoscope according to the prior art. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a connection portion between the insertion portion and the operation portion which connects one end of the insertion portion to the operation portion so as to be detachable, and comprises an optical cable for transmitting the illumination light and the image as an inexpensive plastic optical fiber and at the same time connecting the imaging element. By providing therein, when the insert inserted into the body cavity of the human body is contaminated or functional abnormalities can be separated and easily replaced to provide a medical endoscope with improved safety.

The present invention as a technical idea for achieving the above object,
In the medical endoscope,
An operation unit configured to include an operation unit illumination guide, an operation unit image guide, and a plurality of operation unit pipelines;
An insertion unit including an insertion part illumination guide, an insertion part image guide, and a plurality of insertion part passages, and having a plurality of connectors at one end thereof connected to the insertion part illumination guide, the insertion part image guide, and the insertion part passage;
One end is connected to the operation unit, the other end is connected to the control unit is configured to be detachable and the insertion portion is formed a plurality of connectors for connecting the operation unit lighting guide, the operation unit image guide and the operation unit pipeline with the corresponding connector; And
An imaging unit configured to capture an image transmitted from the insertion unit image guide between the insertion unit image guide and the operation unit image guide connected in the connector;
It provides a medical endoscope having an easy insertion and detachment, characterized in that it further comprises a light source unit connected to the operation unit for generating illumination light.

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Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing a medical endoscope provided with a removable insert according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Medical endoscope equipped with a removable insert according to the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figure 1, the operation unit 100 to allow the examinee to perform various functions, and inserted into the body cavity of the human body The part 300, one end of which is attached to the operation unit 100, the other end of which is connected to the insertion unit 300 to be detachably connected, and a light source unit 500 connected to the operation unit 100 to generate illumination light. And an image processing unit 600 connected to the operation unit 100 for processing an image captured by the inside of the human body and transmitting the processed image to an external monitor 700.

The operation unit 100 is provided with operation means (not shown) for each function of the endoscope, a plurality of operation unit pipelines (not shown) for transmitting air, water, and the like, one end of the light source unit 500 and the image processing unit An operation unit illumination guide 250 and an operation unit image guide 260 connected to the 600 are respectively provided to transmit illumination light and an image. Here, the operation unit lighting guide 250 and the operation unit image guide 260 is an optical cable in which a plurality of optical fibers (Optical Fiber) that is a material that can efficiently transmit light is arranged as a type of optical fiber, such as glass optical fiber (GOF) ) Or both plastic optical fibers (POF) may be used, it is preferable to use a plastic optical fiber made of a transparent polymer material and low cost.

The inserter 300 includes a plurality of inserter pipe lines (not shown) for transmitting air, water, and the like, an inserter lighting guide (not shown) for transmitting illumination light and an image, and an inserter image guide 360 (FIG. 2), a plurality of connectors 310 are provided at one end of the connection part 200, respectively, which are connected to the insertion part conduit, the insertion part illumination guide, and the insertion part image guide 360, respectively. Here, the insertion unit illumination guide and the insertion unit image guide 360, such as the operation unit illumination guide 250 and the operation unit image guide 260, a plurality of optical fibers (Optical Fiber) that is a material capable of transmitting light efficiently arranged As the optical cable, preferably, a plastic optical fiber made of a transparent polymer material and using a low-cost plastic fiber may be used to lower the replacement cost of the insertion part 300 that can be attached to and detached from the connection part 200.

The connection part 200 provided between the manipulation part 100 and the insertion part 300 is provided with a plurality of connectors 210 into which the connector 310 of the insertion part 300 is inserted at one end of the insertion part 300. In addition, the operation unit pipeline on the operation unit 100 side, the operation unit illumination guide 250 and the operation unit image guide 260 are extended and connected to the corresponding connector 210, respectively.

As such, each of the pipelines, the illumination guide 250, and the image guide 260 on the side of the operation unit 100 may correspond to each of the pipelines, the illumination guide, the image guide 360, and the connection unit 200 on the side of the insertion unit 300. It is configured to be connected and separated from each other via the connector 210 of the.

Inside the connector 210, an image guide connector 211 connected to the operation unit image guide 260 is provided with an imaging unit 270 (see FIG. 2) for capturing a body cavity of the human body, and displays the captured image in the operation unit image guide. It transmits to (260) side. As such, by providing the expensive imaging unit 270 to the connection unit 200 fixed to the operation unit 100 instead of the replaceable insertion unit 300 side, the replacement cost of the insertion unit 300 may be reduced. A structure in which the image guides 260 and 360 and the image capturing unit 270 on the manipulation unit 100 and the insertion unit 300 side are connected in the guide connector 211 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2. .

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a connector for an image guide shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the connector 211 for an image guide according to the present embodiment has a connector 310 connected to an insertion unit image guide 360 on an insertion unit side at one side thereof, and an operation unit on the other side thereof. An operation unit image guide 260 extending from 100 is connected. An image capturing unit 270 is provided between the both sides of the image guide connector 211 for capturing an image of the inside of the body cavity transmitted through the insertion unit image guide 360.

The imaging unit 270 has a configuration in which a plurality of solid-state imaging devices such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) are arranged. Since the solid-state imaging devices are relatively expensive, the tip portion of the connector as in the conventional endoscope is used. If it is provided with a problem that takes a lot of replacement cost of the insert.

Therefore, by lowering the unit cost of the insertion unit 300 by providing the imaging unit 270 in the connection portion 200 rather than the insertion unit 300 as in this embodiment, by separating only the insertion unit 300 after use of the endoscope The replacement cost of the replacement can be greatly reduced.

In addition, a first magnification lens 281 and a second magnification lens 282 are provided between the image capturing unit 270 and the image guides 260 and 360 on both sides to adjust the magnification of the transmitted image.

Here, the tip of the insertion unit 300 is provided with an objective lens (not shown), as in the conventional endoscope, it is a matter of course to focus the image inside the body cavity with the insertion unit image guide 360.

The insertion unit image guide 360 and the operation unit image guide 260 which transmit and receive an optical signal corresponding to the captured image with the imaging unit 270 are multi-core optical fiber cables as described above, and the insertion unit image guide 360 is an example. 3, a plurality of optical fibers 361 having a circular cross section are arranged in a honeycomb shape, and the insertion part image guide 360 is also configured in the same structure.

Correspondingly, as shown in Fig. 4A, the imaging unit has a conventional structure in which a plurality of solid-state imaging elements 281 having a rectangular cross section are arranged in a lattice shape.

However, when the image transmitted through the optical fibers 361 arranged in the honeycomb form of the insertion part image guide 360 is captured by the imaging elements 281 arranged in the lattice form, the image is captured. When distortion is generated to implement a high resolution image, there is a problem in that image quality is degraded.

Therefore, preferably, as shown in Figure 4b, by configuring the solid-state imaging device 282 in the same honeycomb form as the arrangement of the optical fiber 361, it is possible to implement a high quality image quality without distortion of the image. Here, it is preferable to make the cross section of the solid-state imaging element 282 into the form of a cube suitable for honeycomb arrangement so as to be arranged more densely.

5 is a view illustrating in detail the structure of the light source unit illustrated in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the light source unit 500 is provided between the light source 510 for emitting illumination light and the light source 510 and the operation unit illumination guide 250 to block infrared rays generated from the light source 510. It comprises an infrared cut filter 520, and a condenser lens 530 that focuses the illumination light passing through the infrared cut filter 520 toward the control panel illumination guide 250.

As described above, it is preferable that the operation unit lighting guide 250 uses a low-cost plastic optical fiber, and since the plastic optical fiber is less heat resistant than the glass optical fiber, damage due to the heat energy of the illumination light generated from the light source unit 500 and Deformation may occur.

Therefore, as shown in the present embodiment, the infrared ray having the highest thermal energy among the components of the illumination light generated by the light source 510 is blocked by using the infrared cut filter 520 and then transmitted to the operation unit illumination guide 250, thereby providing a plastic optical fiber. It is possible to reduce the possibility of damage due to heat of the control panel illumination guide 250 configured as.

On the other hand, the control panel illumination guide 250 connected to the light source 510 and embedded in the operation unit 100 is less expensive to replace than the insertion unit illumination guide embedded in the insertion unit 300, which is more expensive than a plastic optical fiber. In addition, it is also possible to use a glass optical fiber excellent in heat resistance.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible in the art without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be clear to those of ordinary knowledge.

As described above, the medical endoscope having an easy insertion and detachment according to the present invention has the effect of minimizing the risk of infection of various diseases and pathogens through the reuse of the endoscope.

In addition, the optical fiber that transmits the illumination light and the image is made of plastic optical fiber, and the imaging part is provided inside the connection part instead of the insert part, thereby greatly reducing the replacement cost of the insert part, so that it can be replaced without burden after one use, and thus has excellent safety endoscope. There is also an effect that can provide.

Claims (5)

In the medical endoscope, An operation unit including an operation unit illumination guide, an operation unit image guide, and a plurality of operation unit pipelines; An insertion unit including an insertion part illumination guide, an insertion part image guide, and a plurality of insertion part passages, and having a plurality of connectors at one end thereof connected to the insertion part illumination guide, the insertion part image guide, and the insertion part passage; One end is connected to the operation unit, the other end is connected to the control unit is configured to be detachable and the insertion portion is formed a plurality of connectors for connecting the operation unit lighting guide, the operation unit image guide and the operation unit pipeline with the corresponding connector; And An imaging unit configured to capture an image transmitted from the insertion unit image guide between the insertion unit image guide and the operation unit image guide connected in the connector; Medical endoscope provided with an easily removable insert, characterized in that it further comprises a light source unit connected to the operation unit for generating illumination light. The method of claim 1, A first magnification lens is provided between the imaging unit and the operation unit image guide to adjust the magnification of the image transmitted to the imaging unit. Medical endoscope provided with a removable insertion portion between the image pickup unit and the insertion unit image guide is provided with a second magnification lens for adjusting the magnification of the image transmitted to the insertion unit image guide. The method of claim 1, The imaging unit, Medical endoscope provided with a removable insert, characterized in that consisting of a plurality of solid-state imaging device arranged in a honeycomb form. The method of claim 3, The solid-state imaging device, Medical endoscope provided with an easy insertion and detachment, characterized in that the cross section is configured in the form of a cube. The method of claim 1, The light source unit, A light source for emitting illumination light, An infrared cut filter provided between the light source and the operation unit illumination guide to block infrared rays generated from the light source 510, and Medical endoscope provided with an easy insertion and detachment, characterized in that it comprises a condenser lens for focusing the illumination light passing through the infrared cut filter toward the control panel illumination guide.

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