WO2016056416A1

WO2016056416A1 - Endoscope

Info

Publication number: WO2016056416A1
Application number: PCT/JP2015/077283
Authority: WO
Inventors: 究藤谷
Original assignee: オリンパス株式会社
Priority date: 2014-10-06
Filing date: 2015-09-28
Publication date: 2016-04-14

Abstract

The present invention is provided with: a tip end hard part (11); an imaging unit (20); a first active bending part (41) that is a tubular member (41k), that has a prescribed length (E1), that has formed therein at a set interval (E2) a plurality of slits (60) that have a prescribed width in the circumferential direction (C), and that has one part of the imaging unit (20) inserted therein; and a second active bending part (42) that has a plurality of joint pieces (42a, 42b) that are rotatably connected to each other in an extension direction (E) and that have an imaging cable (22) inserted therein.

Description

Endoscope

The present invention relates to an endoscope having a bending portion at an insertion portion to be inserted into a subject.

In recent years, endoscopes inserted into a subject have been widely used in the medical field. Endoscopes used in the medical field observe an organ in a body cavity by inserting a long and thin insertion portion into a body cavity as a subject, and insert a channel for a treatment tool provided in the endoscope as necessary Various treatments can be performed using the treatment tool inserted in the inside.

In addition, endoscopes are used not only in the medical field but also in the industrial field. Endoscopes used in the industrial field include wounds, corrosion, etc. of the test site in the subject by inserting the elongated insertion part of the endoscope into the test engine such as a jet engine or factory piping. Can be observed and various treatments can be inspected.

Further, a configuration in which a bending portion that can be bent in a plurality of directions, for example, is provided in the insertion portion of the endoscope is well known. In addition to improving the advanceability of the insertion portion at the bent portion in the duct, the bending portion is positioned closer to the distal end side in the extending direction of the insertion portion than the bending portion (hereinafter simply referred to as the distal end side). The observation direction of the observation optical system in the imaging unit provided in the hard tip portion is varied.

Here, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-144382, a plurality of joint pieces formed in a short tube shape are connected to each other along an extending direction so as to be rotatable, so that an insertion portion of an endoscope can be provided. A configuration is disclosed in which the provided bending portion can be bent in, for example, four directions, up, down, left, and right.

Specifically, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-144382 discloses a distal end in the extending direction (hereinafter referred to as the first joint piece, which is inserted in the insertion portion and is located on the most distal side among the plurality of joint pieces). A configuration is disclosed in which the bending portion can be bent in any of the up, down, left, and right directions by pulling any of the four wires fixed to each other) simply from the operation portion of the endoscope. Has been.

Further, in a configuration in which a plurality of joint pieces such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-144382 are connected, the first joint piece is provided in order to shorten the distal end hard length in the extending direction of the distal end hard part. A configuration is known that extends forward in the extending direction to the inside of the hard tip portion (hereinafter simply referred to as the front) and is fixed to the tip frame in the hard tip member.

However, in this configuration, the first joint piece and the second joint piece located behind (in the following, simply referred to as the rear) in the extending direction of the first joint piece are rotatably connected to the front side of the bending portion. The rivet to be placed will be positioned.

Therefore, if the distal end side of the imaging unit is tilted and fixed with respect to the distal end frame, or if the first joint piece is tilted and fixed with respect to the distal end frame, in the imaging unit located in the first joint piece. There is a problem that the rivet comes into contact with the imaging main body having the observation optical system and the imaging element and the connection portion at the distal end of the imaging cable with respect to the imaging main body, and the imaging main body and the connection portion are damaged.

Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the diameter of the first joint piece in order to prevent the rivet from coming into contact with the imaging main body. However, in this case, there is a problem that the distal end hard portion is increased in diameter.

In view of such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-19570 discloses that the bending portion has a length extending from the nickel titanium alloy to at least the entire length in the extending direction without using a plurality of joint pieces. There is disclosed a configuration in which a plurality of slits having a predetermined width in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion and having a set interval along the extending direction are formed on the outer periphery of the tubular member.

In the tubular member disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-19570, the distal end of the wire inserted into the insertion portion is connected to the distal end of the tubular member, and either of the wires is pulled from the operation portion. Accordingly, the tubular member is bent by the plurality of slits, so that the bending portion can be freely bent. Further, in order to shorten the distal end rigid length, the distal end side of the tubular member extends forward into the distal end rigid portion, covers the imaging body, and is fixed to the distal end frame.

According to such a configuration, since it is not necessary to use a rivet for the curved portion, it is possible to prevent the imaging main body and the imaging cable connecting portion from being damaged due to the contact of the rivet without increasing the diameter of the hard tip portion. it can.

Further, since the contact of the rivet with the imaging main body and the imaging cable connecting portion can be ignored, the distal end of the curved portion with the slit located at the most distal end side as a reference in the tubular member is based on the configuration of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-144382. Can also be moved forward, the hard end length can be made shorter than that of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-144382.

Incidentally, the tubular member disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-19570 has the same diameter from the distal end to the proximal end in the extending direction (hereinafter simply referred to as the proximal end) along the extending direction. Yes.

Here, an imaging cable extending rearward from the imaging main body in the imaging unit is inserted into the tubular member in the bending portion, but the imaging cable is smaller in diameter than the imaging main body. The insertion space for the imaging cable may be smaller than the insertion space for the imaging main body in the tubular member.

However, as described above, since the tubular member has the same diameter from the distal end to the proximal end along the extending direction, the tubular member located in the distal end hard portion is secured in order to secure an insertion space for the imaging body. If the diameter is used as a reference, the insertion space for the imaging cable of the tubular member located in the curved portion becomes larger than necessary. That is, there is a problem that it is difficult to reduce the diameter of the imaging cable insertion portion of the curved portion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can prevent damage to the imaging main body and the imaging cable connecting portion in the imaging unit, and can realize a reduction in the diameter of the imaging cable insertion portion in the curved portion. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope.

An endoscope according to one aspect of the present invention is provided at a distal end side in an extending direction of an insertion portion to be inserted into a subject, and has a distal end rigid portion having a distal end frame, and the distal end frame within the distal end rigid portion. An imaging unit including an imaging body having an imaging element and an imaging cable extending rearward in the extending direction from the imaging body, and a tubular member connected to the proximal end of the distal end frame And a plurality of slits having a predetermined length along the extending direction and having a predetermined width in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion are formed with a set interval along the extending direction. A first active bending portion in which a part of the imaging unit is inserted, and a distal end of the extending direction connected to a proximal end of the first active bending portion, the extending direction of the tubular member When pivotally connected to the base end of Comprising a second active bending section having a plurality of joint pieces which the imaging cable is inserted therein rotatably connected to each other also along the extending direction, the.

The perspective view which shows roughly an example of the external appearance of the endoscope of this Embodiment Sectional view of the distal end side of the insertion section along line II-II in FIG. Sectional view of the tip hard part along line III-III in Fig. 2 Sectional view of the tip of the curved part along line IV-IV in Fig. 2 The partial perspective view which shows the 1st active bending part and the front end side of a 2nd active bending part in the bending tube of FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing the entire bending tube of FIG. Partial sectional view of the second active bending portion along line VI-VI in FIG. Sectional drawing which shows schematically the structure of the front end side of the insertion part of the conventional endoscope which comprised the bending tube of FIG. 2 only from the several joint piece. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a modified example in which the diameter is partially varied in one joint piece of FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The drawings are schematic, and it should be noted that the relationship between the thickness and width of each member, the ratio of the thickness of each member, and the like are different from the actual ones. Of course, the part from which the relationship and ratio of a mutual dimension differ is contained.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an example of the appearance of the endoscope of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope 1 extends from the operation unit 3, an insertion unit 10 that is inserted into the subject, an operation unit 3 that is connected to the proximal end of the insertion unit 10, and the operation unit 3. The main part is composed of the universal cord 8 and the connector 9 provided at the extended end of the universal cord 8.

Note that the endoscope 1 can be connected to the external device because the connector 9 is detachable from the external device such as a control device or a lighting device.

The insertion portion 10 is provided on the distal end side, and is connected to the distal end rigid portion 11 having the distal end rigid length α in the extending direction E and the proximal end of the distal end rigid portion 11 as shown in FIG. A main portion is configured by including a bending portion 12 and a flexible tube portion 13 having flexibility and continuously extending along the extending direction E, which is connected to the base end of the bending portion 12.

Here, the distal end hard length α is a length from the distal end of the insertion portion 10 to a position where a slit 60s on the most distal end side to be described later is formed.

In the distal end hard portion 11, an illumination unit (not shown) that supplies illumination light to the distal end side of an imaging unit 20 (see FIG. 2) to be described later or the subject is provided.

Further, the bending portion 12 can be bent in two directions, for example, up and down, when the bending lever 4 provided in the operation unit 3 is rotated. Note that the bending portion 12 may be freely bent in two left and right directions.

Also, a treatment instrument insertion port 5 is provided in the operation unit 3. The treatment instrument insertion port 5 is inserted into the insertion portion 10 and communicates with a treatment instrument insertion channel 71 (see FIG. 2) having an opening in the distal end surface 11s (see FIG. 2) of the distal end hard portion 11.

Therefore, the treatment instrument inserted into the treatment instrument insertion channel 71 via the treatment instrument insertion port 5 is projected from the opening of the distal end surface 11 s of the distal end rigid portion 11 into the subject.

Next, the internal configuration on the distal end side of the insertion portion 10 will be schematically shown with reference to FIGS. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the distal end side of the insertion portion taken along line II-II in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the hard end portion taken along line III-III in FIG. 2, and FIG. It is sectional drawing of the curved part front end along an IV-IV line.

5 is a partial perspective view showing the first active bending portion and the distal end side of the second active bending portion in the bending tube of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 schematically shows the entire bending tube of FIG. FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the second active bending portion along the line VI-VI in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a conventional internal view in which the bending tube of FIG. FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a modification in which the diameter is partially varied within one joint piece of FIG. 6. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the distal end hard portion 11 has a distal end frame 30 inside. The distal end side of the imaging unit 20 is fixed in the distal end frame 30.

The imaging unit 20 includes an imaging optical body 21 having an observation optical system composed of a plurality of lenses including an objective lens 21a exposed on the front end surface 11s, an imaging element 21s composed of a CCD, a C-MOS, and the like. An imaging cable 22 extending rearward from the connection portion 23 of the main body 21 is provided.

In addition, the distal end frame 30 is configured with a treatment instrument insertion channel 71 and a base 71k having a distal end opened to the distal end surface 11s. The distal end side of the treatment instrument insertion tube 71c in which the treatment instrument insertion channel 71 is formed is fixed to the outer periphery of the proximal end side in the extending direction E of the base 71k (hereinafter simply referred to as the proximal end side). Yes.

Although not shown, the distal end frame 30 is provided with the illumination unit described above, the distal end side of a fluid supply conduit for supplying fluid to the objective lens 21a, and the like.

Here, the bending portion 12 includes a bending tube 40 as shown in FIGS. 2, 5, and 6. The bending tube 40 has a main part composed of a first active bending portion 41 and a second active bending portion 42.

The first active bending portion 41 is composed of a tubular member 41k. The tubular member 41k is made of a super elastic pipe material, specifically, nickel titanium.

The superelastic pipe material constituting the tubular member 41k may be titanium alloy, β titanium, pure titanium, 64 titanium, A7075, or the like, and is not limited to these as long as it is a superelastic material.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 5, and 6, the tubular member 41k has a predetermined length E1 along the extending direction E and a diameter K1.

Further, a partial arc-shaped slit 60 having a predetermined width in the circumferential direction C so as to communicate with the inside of the tubular member 41k along the outer periphery is formed on the outer periphery of the tubular member 41k from the proximal end of the tubular member 41k by, for example, laser processing. For example, four lines are formed in the front with a set interval E2 over a predetermined range 41e.

The number of slits 60 is not limited to four. That is, the predetermined range 41e can be freely set by changing the number of slits 60 formed and the length E1 of the tubular member 41k.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, in the tubular member 41k, a range 41e where the slit 60 is formed is located in the bending portion 12.

That is, in the tubular member 41 k, the position where the most distal slit 60 s is formed among the plurality of slits 60 is the distal end of the bending portion 12 where the bending portion 12 starts to bend.

Further, in the tubular member 41k, a portion in front of the slit 60s is extended into the distal end hard portion 11 in order to shorten the distal end hard portion 11 in the same manner as in the conventional case described above. The tubular member 41k is connected to the proximal end of the distal end frame 30 by fixing the distal end of 41k to the outer periphery of the proximal end of the distal end frame 30.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, in the tubular member 41 k, a portion in front of the slit 60 s is located in the distal end hard portion 11.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the distal end side of the imaging unit 20 is inserted into the tubular member 41k.

Specifically, the imaging main body 21 positioned in front of at least the portion including the connection portion 23 in the imaging unit 20 in the distal end hard portion 11 is inserted into the tubular member 41k.

In other words, the distal end side of the imaging unit 20 is inserted into the tubular member 41k so that at least the imaging main body 21 and the connection portion 23 are located in the tubular member 41k.

That is, the predetermined length E1 of the tubular member 41k is set to a length that covers at least the imaging body 21 and the connection portion 23. In FIG. 2, in the imaging unit 20, the imaging body 21, the connection portion 23, and the distal end side of the imaging cable 22 are inserted into the tubular member 41 k.

Further, the most distal slit 60 s is formed on the proximal end side with respect to the connection portion 23.

By providing the slit 60s in this manner, the imaging main body 21 and the connection portion 23, which are hard portions in the imaging unit 20, are disposed in the distal end hard portion 11 and are subjected to stress generated when the bending portion 12 is bent. Absent. Therefore, the imaging unit 20 is not damaged by the stress caused by the curvature.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the tubular member 41 k, the space A through which the imaging body 21 is inserted is larger than the space B through which the imaging cable 22 is inserted, and the imaging body 21 is more than the imaging cable 22. Since it has a large diameter, it is large (A> B).

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the tubular member 41k, for example, two wires 70 are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the tubular member 41k at a position shifted by approximately 180 ° in the circumferential direction C. The wire 70 is inserted in a state of being held along the inner peripheral surface by the wire receiver 77, and the tip of each wire 70 is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the tubular member 41 k in the distal end hard portion 11.

As a result, when the bending knob 4 is rotated in one direction, one of the two wires 70 is pulled, so that the bending portion 12 becomes the tip of the bending portion 12, that is, the slit. When the bending knob 4 is bent upward from 60 s and the bending knob 4 is rotated in the other direction, the other wire 70 of the two wires 70 is pulled, so that the bending portion 12 becomes the tip of the bending portion 12. Curving downward from.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the tubular member 41k, in addition to the imaging unit 20 and the wire 70, a treatment instrument insertion tube 71c in which a treatment instrument insertion channel 71 is configured, and an objective lens 21a. A fluid supply conduit 72 for supplying fluid to the light guide, a light guide 73 for supplying illumination light to the illumination unit described above, and the like are inserted.

2, 5, and 6, the second active bending portion 42 has a plurality of joint pieces 42 a to 42 z, and adjacent joint pieces in the extending direction E are in two directions by rivets 50. Are connected to each other so as to be freely bent. Note that the number of joint pieces is not limited to the number shown in FIGS. 2, 5, and 6.

In addition, the joint piece 42a located on the most distal side is connected to the proximal end of the tubular member 41k via the rivet 50 in the bending portion 12 so as to be rotatable, thereby connecting to the proximal end of the tubular member 41k. It is installed.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, for example, with respect to the joint piece 42y having the diameter K1 located second from the base end among the plurality of joint pieces, the diameter K2 (K2 < By connecting the joint piece 42z having K1) to the inside via the rivet 50, the diameter of the plurality of joint pieces may be partially made smaller than the diameter K1.

For example, in the plurality of joint pieces 42a to 42z, as described above, the space B through which the imaging cable 22 is inserted may be smaller than the space A through which the imaging main body 21 is inserted (B <A). The joint pieces 42a to 42z having a diameter K2 may be connected to the portion through which the cable 22 is inserted using the same configuration as in FIGS. According to this, the diameter of the second active bending portion 42 can be made smaller than the diameter of the first active bending portion 41.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, one joint piece, for example, a joint piece 42a, has a shape whose outer diameter is narrowed inward in the joint piece 42a, so that the inside of the joint piece 42a The diameter K2 on the proximal end side may be smaller than the diameter K1 on the distal end side.

One joint piece having a shape with the outer diameter narrowed inward is not limited to the joint piece 42a, and may be any one or all of 42a to 42z.

Although not shown in the drawings, the two joints 42a to 42z also have two wires 70, the imaging cable 22, a treatment instrument insertion tube 71c in which a treatment instrument insertion channel 71 is configured, and a fluid supply conduit. 72, a light guide 73 and the like are inserted.

Furthermore, wire receivers (not shown) for holding the wires 70 along the inner peripheral surface are also provided on the inner peripheral surfaces of the plurality of joint pieces 42a to 42z.

From the above, the bending tube 40 of the present embodiment has a tubular shape in which a portion located in the distal end hard portion 11 and a portion located on the distal end side of the bending portion 12 are formed with a plurality of slits 60 made of a superelastic pipe material. The other part that is configured by the member 41k and is located in the bending portion 12 is configured by a plurality of joint pieces 42a to 42z that are connected to the proximal end of the tubular member 41k.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the outer periphery of the plurality of joint pieces 42a to 42z is covered with a blade 55. The distal end side of the blade 55 also covers the outer periphery of the proximal end side of the tubular member 41k, and is fixed at a position ahead of the slit 60s on the outer periphery of the tubular member 41k.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the outer periphery of the blade 55 is covered with an outer skin 53, and the front end of the outer skin 53 is fixed to the outer periphery of the front end frame 30 by thread winding adhesion or the like.

In addition, since the structure of other endoscopes is well-known, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the bending tube 40 used for the bending portion 12 has a portion located in the distal end hard portion 11 and a portion located on the distal end side of the bending portion 12 in order to shorten the distal end hard length α. However, it is comprised from the tubular member 41k which consists of a superelastic pipe material in which the some slit 60 is located in the bending part 12, and the other site | part located in the bending part 12 was connected with the base end of the tubular member 41k. It is shown that it is composed of a plurality of joint pieces 42a to 42z.

Moreover, it showed that the front end side of the imaging unit 20 was penetrated in the tubular member 41k so that at least the imaging main body 21 and the connection part 23 in the imaging unit 20 may be located in the tubular member 41k in the front-end | tip hard part 11. .

According to this, as shown in FIG. 2, the rivet 50 that connects the base end of the tubular member 41 k and the joint piece 42 a is positioned in the bending portion 12 without being positioned in the distal end hard portion 11. Therefore, the imaging main body 21 and the connecting portion 23 are not damaged by the rivet 50.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 8, compared to the case where the entire bending tube 40 is constituted by a plurality of joint pieces, the distal end of the bending portion 12 has a predetermined range 41 e of the slit 60 formed in the tubular member 41 k. Since the distal end rigid length α can be moved forward by an amount equivalent to the conventional distal end rigid length β shown in FIG. 8, it can be shortened by a predetermined range 41e (α <β).

Furthermore, if the entire bending tube 40 is formed of a superelastic pipe material, it can be formed only to the same diameter as described above. For this reason, since it is necessary to match the diameter of the bending tube 40 with a size that allows the imaging main body 21 to be inserted, it is difficult to reduce the diameter of the portion of the bending tube 40 through which the imaging cable 22 having a smaller diameter than the imaging main body 21 is inserted. There was a problem.

However, in the present embodiment, the bending tube 40 located in the bending portion 12 is composed of a plurality of joint pieces 42a to 42z. Therefore, as described above, the curved tube through which the imaging cable 22 is inserted is obtained by fitting the joint pieces having a diameter K2 smaller than the diameter K1 of the tubular member 41k to each other so as to be pivotally connected to each other. Forty parts can be partially reduced in diameter.

Furthermore, since the super elastic pipe material is expensive, the bending tube 40 can be formed at a lower cost than the entire use by partially using the super elastic pipe material.

From the above, it is possible to prevent the endoscope 1 having a configuration that can prevent the imaging main body 21 and the imaging cable connecting portion 23 in the imaging unit 20 from being damaged, and that the diameter of the imaging cable insertion portion in the bending portion 12 can be reduced. Can be provided.

In the above-described embodiment, the bending portion 12 has been illustrated by taking a configuration that can be bent in two directions as an example. However, the configuration is not limited to this, and the configuration can be bent in four directions or more. Of course, it may be applied to.

This application is filed on the basis of a priority claim based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-205854 filed in Japan on October 6, 2014, and the above contents include the present specification, claims, and drawings. Is quoted in

Claims

A distal end rigid portion provided on the distal end side in the extending direction of the insertion portion to be inserted into the subject and having a distal end frame;
An imaging unit including an imaging body having an imaging device and an imaging cable extending rearward in the extending direction from the imaging body, and being fixed to the distal end frame inside the distal end hard portion;
A tubular member continuously provided at the base end of the distal end frame, and has a predetermined length along the extending direction, and a slit having a predetermined width in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion extends in the extending direction. A plurality of first active bending portions formed with a set interval along the inside, and a part of the imaging unit inserted therein;
The distal ends in the extending direction, which are connected to the proximal end of the first active bending portion, are rotatably connected to the proximal ends in the extending direction of the tubular member and are mutually connected along the extending direction. A second active bending portion having a plurality of joint pieces that are rotatably connected and through which the imaging cable is inserted;
An endoscope comprising:
The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a distal end side in the extending direction of the tubular member extends into the distal end hard portion and is fixed to the distal end frame.
The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a connection portion of the imaging cable with respect to the imaging main body in the imaging unit is located in the tubular member.
The slit located in the most distal end side in the extending direction among the plurality of slits is formed on a proximal end side in the extending direction with respect to the connecting portion. Endoscope.
The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tubular member is a super elastic pipe material.
The endoscope according to claim 5, wherein the super elastic pipe material is made of nickel titanium.
In the second active bending portion, out of the plurality of bending pieces, two bending pieces adjacent to each other in the extending direction are more in the extending direction than the inner diameter of the bending piece located on the distal end side in the extending direction. An inner diameter of the bending piece located on the proximal end side is formed small, and the bending piece located on the proximal end side is fitted inside the bending piece located on the distal end side. The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
7. The inner wall according to claim 1, wherein, in the second active bending portion, at least one of the plurality of bending pieces has a partially different inner diameter. Endoscope.
A part of the bending operation wire is inserted into the first active bending portion, and the distal end of the bending operation wire in the extending direction is fixed, and the bending operation wire is connected to the second active bending portion. The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the endoscope is inserted into the plurality of bending pieces.