JPH02206419A - Angle apparatus for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the diameter of an angle part by forming the angle part from a soft tube integrally providing a wire insertion part to the soft tube while providing a notch having an almost V-shape to said tube so as to direct the same inwardly in the radial direction of the tube from the forming position of the wire insertion part. CONSTITUTION:An angle part 11b is formed from a soft tube composed of fluorinated carbon resin in the same way as a soft part 11a and thick ridge parts are formed to the upper and lower parts of the soft tube 13 in the axial direction of said tube to become wire insertion parts 13a. Through-holes 14, 4 are provided to the wire insertion parts 13a in the axial direction thereof and angle operation wires 15 performing angle operation are inserted through the through-holes 14. A plurality of V-shaped notches 18 are formed to the upper and lower positions of the angle part 11b and cut in up to the almost central part of the tube 13 so as to be directed in the radial direction of the tube 13 from the forming positions of the wire insertion parts 13a provided up and down, and upper and lower notches are cut in a zigzag pattern so as to be shifted by one pitch interval. Therefore, when the angle operation wires are subjected to push and pull operation, the angle part 11b can be curved up and down.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an endoscope angle device used as an endoscope guide device for guiding a narrow endoscope inserted into a narrow body canal, such as a nephroscope. It is related to. [Prior Art] An endoscope that is inserted into the body is provided with an angle device for controlling the tip of the endoscope in a desired direction. The structure includes an angle portion that can be bent by pushing and pulling the operation wire. Here, one type of endoscope is the nephroscope, which is used to perform internal examinations and diagnoses of the kidney.This nephroscope is inserted into the kidney through the urethra. There is. Here, since the urethra is a narrow body tube, the insertion portion thereof is made as thin as possible. Therefore, this type of endoscope is constructed by connecting a main body portion having an eyepiece mechanism to a narrow-diameter insertion portion that includes only a light guide and an image guide. When the insertion section is inserted into the body, it is guided by an endoscope guide device. Therefore, an endoscope guide device will be described below as an example of an endoscope angle device. The endoscope guide device is composed of a guide tube through which the insertion section of the endoscope is inserted, and a main body operation section that operates the guide tube, and most of the guide tube is made of flexible parts. An angled portion is connected to the tip of the flexible portion. The angle part has a ring assembly formed by sequentially pivoting a plurality of angle rings using pins, a protective net is attached to this ring assembly, and an outer skin layer is further provided on the outside of this protective net. is starting to form. In addition, in order to bend this angle part by remote control, one or more operating wires are inserted through the guide tube, one end of which is fixed to the tip of the angle part, and the other end extends into the main body operating section and is connected to an angle operating mechanism operated by an angle knob provided on the main body operating section. Therefore, an angle device for an endoscope is formed by the angle portion and the angle operation mechanism for bending the angle portion. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, when the angle portion of the guide tube is constructed as described above, not only does the structure of the angle portion become complicated, but also the overall thickness increases, making it difficult to The pipe becomes larger in diameter. In this way, when the guide tube becomes large in diameter,
There are other problems such as difficulty in inserting the endoscope into a narrow body canal, poor operability of the insertion operation, and increased pain for the patient when performing examination 1 diagnosis using this endoscope. The need to reduce the diameter of this angle part is particularly strong when used as a guide device for the nephroscope that is inserted into the urethra, but it is also used in general endoscopes that are inserted through narrow areas. The same thing can be said because it is The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an angle device for an endoscope that allows the diameter of the portion inserted into the body to be reduced.

[Means to solve problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an angle portion formed of a flexible tube, a through hole through which an angle operation wire is inserted through the flexible tube, and a hole extending radially inward from the position where the through hole is formed. It is characterized by the formation of a roughly square-shaped notch. [Effect]

With this configuration, when the angle operation wire inserted through the angle part is pushed or pulled, the notches formed in the angle part are deformed in the direction of approaching or separating from each other, and the angle is The part will be bent in the direction of pulling of the angle operation wire. and,
The angle portion does not need to have a structure including a ring assembly having an angle ring as in the prior art, and is formed from a single flexible tube. Moreover,
Since the flexible tube is integrally provided with a through hole through which the angle operating wire is inserted, there is no need to provide a mechanism for positioning the angle operating wire. As a result, the structure of the angle portion can be significantly simplified and its diameter can be reduced.

【Example】

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the angle device of the present invention is configured as an endoscope guide device for guiding a small-diameter endoscope, but it may also be configured as an angle section in the insertion section of other endoscopes. It goes without saying that it can be done. In FIG. 1, 1 indicates an endoscope, 10 indicates an endoscope guide device, and the endoscope 1 includes an insertion section 2 to be inserted into the body and an eyepiece mechanism 3 equipped with an optical system. The insertion section 2 is formed into an extremely thin structure with only a light guide and an image guide built into the insertion section 2. On the other hand, the endoscope guide device 10 includes a guide tube 11 and a main body operation section 12. The endoscope 1 has an insertion section 2
By inserting the main body part 4 into the guide v11 and fixing the main body part 4 to the main body operation part 12, the endoscope guide device 10 and the endoscope are integrated. Guide tube 11
is for inserting the insertion section 2 of the endoscope 1 into the body, for example through the urethra, and guiding it into the kidney, and most of the part from the part connected to the main body operation section 12 is inserted along the insertion route. It is a flexible part 11a that can be bent freely.
A is formed of a resin tube such as fluororesin. The flexible portion 11a has an angled portion 11b that can be bent so that the tip of the insertion portion 2 can be directed in a desired direction. Here, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the angle portion 11b is formed of a flexible tube 13 made of fluororesin or the like like the flexible portion 11a, and the flexible tube 13 is integrally formed with the flexible portion 11a. It may be formed into a separate body, or may be formed separately from this, and connected by an appropriate connecting member. As is clear from FIG. 4, the flexible tube 13 is made as thin as possible, except for the upper and lower positions in the circumferential direction, so that it will not get wet when inserted into the body. On the other hand, thick protrusions are formed in the upper and lower portions in the axial direction, and these protrusions serve as wire insertion portions 13a. The wire insertion part 13
A is provided with a through hole 14.14 in the axial direction,
An angle operation wire 15 for performing angle operation is inserted through each of these through holes 14. One end of the angle operation wire 15 is fixed to a retaining ring 16 connected to the tip of the flexible tube 13, and the other end extends into the main body operating section 12. Push and pull operations can be performed using an angle knob 17 provided at. Therefore, when the angle operation wire 15 is pushed or pulled, the angle portion 11b can be bent vertically. A plurality of 7-shaped notches 18 are formed in the holder. As is clear from FIG. 2, this notch 18 is cut radially inward from the formation position of the wire insertion portions 13 provided above and below to approximately the center.
In addition, the upper and lower notches 18.18 are each provided at a distance of approximately one pitch, and as a result, the angle portion 11.
The flexible tube 13 forming b has a zigzag cut shape. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 19 is a water supply port that supplies cleaning water and the like to the observation target area. This embodiment is configured as described above, and the insertion section 2 of the endoscope 1 is connected to the guide tube 11 of the endoscope guide device 10.
Insert the endoscope into the body and guide it to a position that is approximately the same as the distal end surface of the guide tube 11 at the distal end of the insertion section 2 or to a position that slightly peeks outside from this distal end surface, and operate the main body of the endoscope guide device 10. By fixing the main body part 4 of the endoscope 1 to the part 12, the two are connected. In this state, the guide tube 11 is inserted into the patient's body, and by irradiating illumination light from the light guide built into the insertion section 2, a prescribed path is observed while observing the insertion route from the image guide through the eyepiece a3. Guide tube 1 to the observation target area
By guiding the tip of 1, the observation target part can be observed. Here, in order to smoothly guide the guide tube 11 along the insertion path to the observation target area and to change the observation field of view, the endoscope guide device 1
The angle knob 17 provided on the main body operation section 12 of 0 is operated to push and pull the angle operation wire 15. As a result, the angle portion 11 that constitutes the distal end portion of the guide tube 11
The notch 18 provided in a is deformed in the direction of approaching and 14, allowing the angle operation wire 15 to be smoothly bent toward the pulling side, and changing the desired direction of the tip portion of the guide tube 11. Can be done. Here, in order to accurately observe the observation target part,
It is necessary to clean the vaginal wall, etc., but in order to do this, a cleaning water supply means is connected to the water supply port 19 of the endoscope guide device 10, and water is supplied from this cleaning water supply means, and the guide Washing water will be supplied into the body through the tube 11. However, although the notch 18 is formed in the angle part Llb, this angle part 11b is short, and the entire part enters almost completely into the inside of the kidney or the like to be observed. Even if cleaning water leaks from the notch 18, it will not cause any particular problem. In addition, when treating the affected area, the endoscope 1 is detached from the endoscope guide device 10, a treatment tool such as forceps is inserted into the guide tube 11, and its tip is attached to the tip of the angle portion 11b. If it protrudes from the body, it will be possible to remove the affected area. Further, when inserting the treatment instrument into the guide tube 11 in this way, the angle operation wire 15 and the mechanism for positioning and guiding the angle operation wire 15 are not exposed inside the guide tube 11, so that the treatment instrument can be inserted into the guide tube 11. The insertion of the treatment instrument and the insertion operation of the insertion section 2 of the endoscope 1 which is to be inserted again in exchange for the treatment instrument can be performed extremely smoothly. The angle portion 11b is formed of a flexible tube 13 with a notch 18 for positioning and guiding the angle operation wire 15 for angle operation of the angle portion 11b. Since the wire insertion portion 13a is provided in the flexible tube 13, its structure is significantly simplified. For example, the main body portion of the flexible tube is formed by extrusion molding of resin, and a notch is provided in this. The angle portion 11b can now be formed by extremely simple means. Moreover, unlike the conventional technology, there is no need to use a three-layer structure consisting of a ring assembly in which the angle ring is pivotally connected with a pin, a protective net, and an outer skin layer, or to provide a mechanism for positioning the angle operation wire. The angle portion 11b can be made thinner. As a result, it becomes possible to smoothly insert the device into a narrow body canal such as the urethra, and the patient's pain can be alleviated. Further, the angle portion 11b is formed of a flexible tube 13, and the notches 18 are formed in the upper and lower portions of the flexible tube 13, and the formation pitch of the notches 18 is shifted by l pitch on each upper and lower side. Therefore, the flexible tube 13 maintains sufficient strength, and there is little risk of damage to the flexible tube 13 even if the angle operation is repeated. In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the flexible tube constituting the angle portion is provided with a protrusion, and the protrusion is provided with a wire insertion portion through which the angle operation wire is inserted. Alternatively, the flexible tube may have a uniform thickness, and a through hole may be formed in the thick portion to allow the angle operation wire to be inserted. Also,
Although a configuration is shown in which a pair of angle operation wires are provided at the top and bottom, only one angle operation wire may be provided at the top, or four angle operation wires may be provided, each pair at the top and bottom and left and right. can. When four angle operation wires are provided, a notch is provided in the angle portion radially inward from the insertion position of each angle operation wire, and each of these notches 21 is They may be formed so as to be shifted by pitches. Also, for boat fishing, the left and right angle operations are smaller than the up and down angles, so
The width of the left and right notches can be made smaller than the upper and lower notches. [Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention includes forming the angle portion with a flexible tube, integrally providing the wire insertion portion with the flexible tube, and radially inwardly forming the wire insertion portion from the position where the wire insertion portion is formed. By providing a substantially V-shaped notch toward the angle, the configuration of the angle portion is extremely simple, and the wall can be made thinner, making it possible to reduce the diameter. become.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an external view showing an endoscope and an endoscope guide device separated, and FIG.
The figure is a cross-sectional view of the angle part of the guide tube of the endoscope guide device, Figure 3 is the external view of Figure 2, and Figure 4 is the
−■ It is a sectional view. ■=endoscope, 2: insertion section, 3: eyepiece section, 4: main body section, 1
0: Endoscope guide device, 11 guide tube, 11a: Soft part, 11b: Angle part, 12: Main body operation part, 13: Soft tube, 13a: Wire insertion part, 14: Through hole, 15
: Angle operation wire, 16: Retaining ring, 17: Ankle knob, 18: Notch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An angle device for an endoscope that allows the tip end to be directed in a predetermined direction by wire operation, has a through hole through which an angle operation wire is inserted, and a generally V-shaped shape extending radially inward from the position where the through hole is formed. An angle device for an endoscope, characterized in that an angle portion is formed of a flexible tube with a notch formed therein.