JP2010068891A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a cable or a tube inserted into an insertion section from being damaged without using cost. <P>SOLUTION: Two connection pins 13 and two connection pins 32 are arranged on the inner circumference of a curved piece 22 at an interval of 90°. Each connection pin 31 comprises a cylindrical small-diameter section 33, a cylindrical large-diameter section 34, an abutting section 35 and a wire guide 36 of a truncated conical shape with a round end. Each connection pin 32 comprises a cylindrical small-diameter section 37, a cylindrical large-diameter section 38, an abutting section 39, a wire guide 40 of a truncated conical shape, and a cylindrical projection 41 with a round end. A forceps tube 16 having the largest profile among built-in elements is arranged within the curved section 18 at a position dislocated from the center in the direction of the two connection pins 31. A light guide optical fiber 51, an air and water supply tube 52, a signal line 53 and a light guide optical fiber 54 are arranged to surround the forceps tube 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope including a bendable bending portion.

  Conventionally, medical diagnosis using an endoscope has been actively performed in the medical field. The endoscope includes an insertion portion that is inserted into a body cavity and an operation portion that is provided at the proximal end of the insertion portion. The distal end of the insertion portion is a rigid portion with a built-in image sensor such as a CCD, and the image of the body cavity is observed on the monitor by performing signal processing on the image signal acquired by the CCD with a processor device. be able to. In addition, a forceps tube into which the treatment tool is inserted is disposed in the insertion portion, and it is possible to perform a biopsy or the like for collecting the affected tissue using the treatment tool while observing an image in the body cavity. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In the insertion portion, the base end side of the hard portion is a bending portion configured by connecting a plurality of (for example, 16) bending pieces in series. The bending piece includes a cylindrical portion, a pair of outer velos that protrude in the axial direction of the insertion portion from one end edge of the cylindrical portion, and a pair of inner velves that protrude in the axial direction from the other end edge. The outer tongue and the inner tongue are arranged so as to be shifted by 90 ° in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion, and a connecting hole is formed in each. The adjacent bending pieces are connected to each other so that the outer tongue and the inner tongue overlap each other and the coupling pin is passed through the coupling hole so as to freely rotate. A pair of operation wires for operating in the vertical and horizontal directions are provided in the bending piece, and the bending pieces rotate by bending each operation wire to bend the entire bending portion.

  The operation section is provided with an angle knob for pushing and pulling the operation wire. By operating the angle knob, the bending portion is bent up and down or left and right, and the rigid portion is directed in a desired direction. Due to the bending of the bending portion, the cable or tube inserted through the bending portion moves in the longitudinal direction. When there is a gap in the curved portion, the movement moves not only in the longitudinal direction but also in the radial direction (direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction). When moved in the radial direction, the cables and tubes are twisted and entangled, which interferes with the bending operation and may be damaged in some cases.

Therefore, in order to prevent problems due to twisting or entanglement of the cable or tube, the invention described in Patent Document 2 restricts the cable or tube from getting over the connecting pin by arranging a regulating member. In the invention described in Patent Document 3, the movement range of the cable and the tube is limited by arranging the regulating member.
Japanese Patent No. 3590199 (paragraph number [0037], FIG. 5) JP 2002-320587 (paragraph number [0016], FIG. 1) JP 2001-137178 A (paragraph number [0017], FIG. 1)

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1, the forceps tube is made thicker by making the connecting pin close to the forceps tube smaller than the other connecting pins, but it does not prevent the cable and the tube from being damaged. In the inventions described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, a regulating member is required separately.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope in which a cable and a tube inserted into an insertion portion are prevented from being damaged without incurring costs.

  In order to achieve the above object, an endoscope of the present invention has a bendable bending portion, an insertion portion that is inserted into a body cavity, a plurality of built-in objects that are inserted into the insertion portion, A plurality of wires inserted into the insertion portion and pushed and pulled during the bending operation of the bending portion; and a plurality of wire guides arranged along the inner periphery of the insertion portion to pass through the wire. The plurality of wire guides restrict the movement of the built-in object in the radial direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion.

  In the invention according to claim 2, at least one of the wires is different from the other wires in the size of the outer shape of the wire guide to be inserted.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the wire guide is different in the size of the outer shape in the radial direction.

  In the invention according to claim 4, the wire guide is different in the size of the outer shape of the insertion portion in the circumferential direction.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a forceps tube for inserting a treatment instrument into a body cavity, wherein one of the built-in objects is provided at a position deviated from the center of a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion. The wire guide disposed on the opposite side of the radial direction from the position where the forceps tube is provided has a larger outer shape than the wire guide disposed on the forceps tube side.

  In a sixth aspect of the present invention, the wire guide is provided integrally with a connecting pin that connects a plurality of bending pieces constituting the bending portion to each other.

  In the invention according to claim 7, the wire guide has a continuous and smooth outer shape.

  According to the endoscope of the present invention, since the plurality of wire guides limit the movement of the built-in object in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion, the built-in object is prevented from being damaged. Is done. In addition, since the movement of the built-in object is limited by the existing wire guide without providing any separate parts, the cost is low.

[First Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic endoscope (hereinafter simply referred to as an endoscope) 11 includes an insertion portion 12 that is inserted into a body cavity and an operation portion 13 that is connected to the proximal end portion of the insertion portion 12. And a universal cord 14 provided in the operation unit 13. The operation unit 13 is provided with a forceps port 15 through which a treatment tool is inserted. The forceps port 15 is connected to a forceps tube 16 disposed in the insertion portion 12 as indicated by a dotted line.

  The insertion portion 12 has a rigid portion 17 provided at the distal end thereof, a bendable bending portion 18 provided continuously with the proximal end of the rigid portion 17, and a flexibility provided continuously with the proximal end of the bending portion 18. And having a soft part 19.

  The rigid portion 17 includes an objective lens and an imaging unit having an imaging element (both not shown), and the image light of the observed site in the body cavity captured by the objective lens is captured by the imaging element. The The image signal in the body cavity obtained by the imaging device is sent to a processor device (not shown) connected to the universal cord 14 via a signal line 53 (see FIG. 3) inserted into the insertion unit 12 and the operation unit 13. Sent. The image signal sent to the processor device is subjected to predetermined image processing and displayed as an endoscopic image on a monitor (not shown).

  The rigid portion 17 is provided with an illumination window (not shown), and the illumination light from a light source device (not shown) connected to the universal cord 14 is inserted into the insertion portion 12 and the operation portion 13. The light is guided to the illumination window through the guide optical fibers 51 and 54 (see FIG. 3), and irradiated from the illumination window to the site to be observed. The rigid part 17 is provided with a forceps outlet and a nozzle (both not shown), which are connected to a forceps tube 16 and an air / water supply tube 52 (see FIG. 3) provided in the insertion part 12, respectively. ing. The forceps tube 16 is inserted with a treatment tool such as a forceps or an injection needle used to treat the affected area.

  The operation unit 13 is provided with a push button type air / water supply button 20 and a suction button 21. The air / water supply button 20 is operated when flowing a liquid such as air or water through the air / water supply tube 52. The suction button 21 is operated when a suction target such as liquid or tissue in the body cavity is sucked through the forceps tube 16.

  The bending portion 18 has a configuration in which a plurality (for example, 16) of bending pieces 22 are connected in series, and the outer periphery of these bending pieces 22 is covered with a flexible angle rubber 23. The leading bending piece 22 is fixed to the rigid portion 17. The bending portion 18 bends in the vertical direction in conjunction with the operation of the up / down angle knob 24 provided in the operation portion 13, and bends in the left / right direction in conjunction with the operation of the left / right angle knob 25. The bending portion 18 is bent by operating the up and down and left and right angle knobs 24 and 25, and the rigid portion 17 can be directed in a desired direction in the body cavity. The soft part 19 has a length of several meters in order to allow the hard part 17 to reach a target position in the body cavity.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the bending piece 22 constituting the bending portion 18 is provided with a cylindrical portion 26 and a pair of inner tongues 27 which are provided so as to protrude from the end portion on the distal end side of the cylindrical portion 26 and face each other. And a pair of outer tongues 28 provided so as to protrude from the end portion on the base end side and facing each other.

  The inner tongue 27 is formed in a substantially disk shape and has a connecting hole 29 at the center thereof. The outer tongue 28 is formed in a substantially disk shape that is slightly smaller than the inner tongue 27, and has a connection hole 30 that is slightly smaller than the connection hole 29 of the inner tongue 27. The inner tongue 27 and the outer tongue 28 are alternately arranged at 90 ° intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion 26. The inner tongue 27 is positioned one step away from the outer tongue 28 inward in the radial direction of the cylindrical portion 26. The amount of deviation is about the thickness of the cylindrical portion 26.

  The bending pieces 22 are connected to each other via connecting pins 31 and 32. The connecting pin 31 includes a thin-diameter portion 33, a large-diameter portion 34, and an abutting portion 35 each formed in a cylindrical shape, and a wire guide portion 36 formed in a truncated cone shape with a rounded tip. Each of the connecting pins 32 is formed in a cylindrical portion with a small diameter portion 37, a large diameter portion 38, a contact portion 39, a wire guide portion 40 formed in a truncated cone shape, and a rounded tip. It consists of a protruding portion 41.

  The connecting pin 31 is configured such that the outer tongue 28 of the bending piece 22 on the distal end side and the inner tongue 27 of the bending piece 22 on the proximal end side overlap with each other, and the narrow diameter portion 33 is connected to the coupling hole 30 and the large diameter portion 34. Are inserted into the connecting holes 29 and the end faces of the large-diameter portions 34 are brought into contact with the inner surface of the outer tongue 28, thereby connecting the bending pieces 22 to each other in a rotatable manner. After the bending pieces 22 are connected to each other, the rear end of the small-diameter portion 33 is crimped, and the connecting pin 31 is prevented from falling off the bending pieces 22. Further, the thickness in the axial direction of the large-diameter portion 34 is larger than the plate thickness of the inner tongue 27, and accordingly, between the inner tongue 27 and the outer tongue 28 and between the inner tongue 27 and the contact portion 35. A gap is created between the two, and the base-side bending piece 22 can be smoothly rotated. The connection pin 32 has the same configuration as the connection pin 31, and a description thereof is omitted.

  The wire guide portions 36 and 40 are respectively formed with guide holes 42 and 43 penetrating in the radial direction. Up and down or left and right operation wires 44 and 45 are inserted into the guide holes 42 and 43 (see also FIG. 3). Each operation wire 44, 45 is fixed to the rigid portion 17 at one end, passes through the bending portion 18, the flexible portion 19, and is turned to a pulley (not shown) that rotates together with the vertical and left / right angle knobs 24, 25 in the operation portion 13 It is hung and folded, and the other end is also fixed to the rigid portion 17. When the vertical angle knob 24 is operated, the vertical operation wire 44 is pushed and pulled. When the left / right angle knob 25 is operated, the left / right operation wire 45 is pushed and pulled.

  As shown in FIG. 3, two connecting pins 31 and two connecting pins 32 are arranged at intervals of 90 ° along the inner circumference of the bending piece 22 constituting the bending portion 18. A forceps tube 16 having the largest outer shape among the built-in objects is arranged in the bending portion 18 at a position deviated from the center toward the two connecting pins 31. Further, a light guide optical fiber 51, an air / water supply tube 52, a signal line 53, and a light guide optical fiber 54 are arranged so as to surround the forceps tube 16.

  When the air / water supply tube 52 moves upward in the drawing and the signal line 53 moves downward in the drawing, the forceps tube 16 having the largest outer shape among the built-in components is formed in the upper right (the forceps tube 16 is provided). May move to the opposite side with respect to the position and radial direction), and the alignment of the built-in objects may be greatly disturbed. However, since the protrusion 41 is formed on the connecting pin 32, the air / water supply tube 52 is prevented from moving upward in the drawing and the signal line 53 is prevented from moving downward in the drawing. Thereby, the forceps tube 16 does not move to the upper right of the drawing, and the alignment state of the built-in objects is not disturbed.

  As described above, the protrusion 41 is formed on the connecting pin 32 and the space generated in the bending piece 22 is closed, so that the movement of the built-in object is restricted by all the wire guides 31 and 32. The arrangement of the built-in objects can be prevented from being disturbed without devising the arrangement of the built-in objects. That is, by optimizing the size and shape of each connecting pin in accordance with the arrangement of each built-in object and the space restriction in the bending piece 22, it is possible to prevent the arrangement of the built-in objects from being disturbed.

  Further, since the connecting pins 31 and 32 for connecting the bending pieces 22 to each other also have a function as a wire guide for positioning the upper and lower and left and right operation wires 44 and 45, it is not necessary to provide a separate wire guide and cost. Reduction is possible.

  In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the connecting pin 32 disposed on the side opposite to the position where the forceps tube 16 is provided in the radial direction has the protrusion 41, and the forceps Compared with the connecting pin 31 arranged on the tube 16 side, the outer shape is larger in the radial direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion 12, but the outer shape is larger in the circumferential direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion 12. It may be a thing. In order to prevent the relative positional relationship between the light guide optical fibers 51 and 54, the air / water supply tube 52, the signal line 53, and other built-in objects from being shifted according to the space generated in the bending piece 22, The size and shape of the connecting pin may be appropriately selected (optimized). Further, the number of connecting pins having different sizes and shapes is not limited to the case of the above-described embodiment, and the outer diameter of the wire guide to be inserted is larger than that of the other operation wires for at least one operation wire. It is sufficient if the shape and shape are different.

  Moreover, since the connection pin 32 is the structure which the protrusion part 41 formed in the column shape continues in connection with the wire guide part 40 formed in the truncated cone shape, the external shape is discontinuous. For this reason, there exists a possibility that a built-in thing may be damaged by the contact of the connecting pin 32 and a built-in thing. Therefore, the outer shape of the connecting pin may be continuous and smooth to prevent damage to the built-in object due to contact between the connecting pin and the built-in object. For example, the connection pins 61, 71, 81 (see FIGS. 4 to 6) of the second to fourth embodiments described below can be cited.

[Second Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting pin 61 of the second embodiment includes a thin diameter portion 62 and a large diameter portion 63 each formed in a columnar shape, and a wire guide portion formed in a columnar shape with a rounded tip. 64. A guide hole 65 penetrating in the radial direction is formed in the wire guide portion 64. The wire guide portion 64 corresponds to the contact portion 39 and the wire guide portion 40 in the first embodiment.

[Third Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 5, the connecting pin 71 of the third embodiment includes a narrow diameter portion 72 and a large diameter portion 73 each formed in a cylindrical shape, and a wire guide portion formed in a cylindrical shape with a rounded tip. 74. A guide hole 75 penetrating in the radial direction is formed in the wire guide portion 74. The wire guide portion 74 corresponds to the contact portion 39 and the wire guide portion 40 in the first embodiment.

[Fourth Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 6, the connecting pin 81 of the fourth embodiment is formed in a truncated cone shape with a narrow diameter portion 82, a large diameter portion 83, an abutting portion 84, and a rounded tip. Wire guide portion 85. The wire guide portion 85 is formed with a guide hole 86 penetrating in the radial direction. 4 to 6, the connecting pin 31 is indicated by a two-dot chain line for comparison.

  In each of the above embodiments, it has been described that the space generated in the bending piece 22 is closed. However, in order to smoothly perform the bending operation of the bending portion 18, a certain amount of space needs to be generated in the bending piece 22. There is. In each of the above embodiments, it goes without saying that a certain amount of space for smoothly performing the bending operation of the bending portion 18 is secured in the bending piece 22.

  By the way, in order to maintain the alignment state of the built-in objects in the bending portion 18, it is necessary to limit the movement of the built-in objects in a direction in which a large force is applied or a direction in which a force is frequently applied. For example, when a large force is applied downward or when a force is frequently applied downward, it is necessary to block the lower space. On the other hand, in order to ensure a smooth bending operation, a certain amount of space needs to be secured on the upper side which is the opposite side. The size and shape of the connecting pin may be appropriately selected (optimized) in consideration of the force applied to the built-in object. The same can be said for not only the relationship between the connecting pins arranged in the circumferential direction of the bending piece 22 but also the relationship between the connecting pins arranged in the longitudinal direction of the bending portion 18.

  Further, the endoscope 11 shown in each of the above embodiments is merely an example, and can be appropriately changed to any aspect without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is an external view of an endoscope. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the connection structure of a bending piece. It is sectional drawing which rounded the curved part. It is a top view of the connecting pin of a 2nd embodiment. It is a top view of the connecting pin of a 3rd embodiment. It is a top view of the connecting pin of a 4th embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

11 Electronic endoscope (endoscope)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Insertion part 16 Forceps tube 18 Bending part 22 Bending piece 31, 32, 61, 71, 81 Connecting pin 36, 40, 64, 74, 85 Wire guide part 41 Protrusion part 44 Vertical operation wire 45 Left and right operation wire 51, 54 Light Optical fiber for guide 52 Air supply / water supply tube 53 Signal line

Claims (7)

An insertion portion having a bendable portion and inserted into a body cavity;
A plurality of built-in objects inserted through the insertion portion;
A plurality of wires inserted into the insertion portion and pushed and pulled during the bending operation of the bending portion;
A plurality of wire guides that are arranged along the inner periphery of the insertion portion and allow the wire to pass therethrough;
The plurality of wire guides all limit the movement of the built-in object in the radial direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion.   The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the wires has an outer shape of the wire guide that is inserted different from that of the other wires.   The endoscope according to claim 2, wherein the wire guides have different sizes in the radial direction.   The endoscope according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the wire guide has different outer sizes in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion. One of the built-in objects is a forceps tube for inserting a treatment instrument into a body cavity, provided at a position deviated from the center of a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion,
The wire guide disposed on the opposite side of the radial direction with respect to the position where the forceps tube is provided has a larger outer shape than the wire guide disposed on the forceps tube side. The endoscope according to any one of claims 2 to 4.   The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the wire guide is provided integrally with a connection pin that connects a plurality of bending pieces constituting the bending portion.   The endoscope according to any one of 1 to 6, wherein the wire guide has a continuous and smooth outer shape.

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