JPH0795148B2 - Endoscope - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope which is inserted into a body cavity of a subject at an insertion portion for observation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional general endoscope is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the operation body 110 has the grip portion 111. A flexible insertion part 120 extends from one end of the grip 111, and the eyepiece 1 is attached to the other end of the grip 11.
19 are provided. The grip 111 is further provided with operation dials 114 and 115. Insertion part 12
0 has a curved portion 121 on the tip side. Then, the insertion section 120 is inserted into the body cavity of the subject, and the insertion section 120 is inserted.
Observation window and optical fiber bundle (not shown)
The inside of the body cavity is observed from the eyepiece 119 via the.

The operation of the endoscope includes an operation of pushing the insertion portion 120 into the body cavity, an operation of rotating the grip portion 111 to change the orientation of the insertion portion 120 to rotate (twist) the insertion portion 120, and an operation dial. 114, 115 are turned to insert part 12
Operation of bending the bending portion 121 via the wire in 0,
There are push button operations for sending air and water into the body cavity, suction valve operations, etc. (the above-mentioned mechanisms for air feeding, water feeding, and suction are not shown), and these operations were performed while looking into the eyepiece 119. .

It should be noted that the grip portion 111 is rotated to insert the insertion portion 120.
Even if the operation of applying a twist to the eyepiece 119 is performed, the optical axis of the eye A does not deviate from the optical axis of the eye A.
The first axis 111a and the axis 120a of the insertion part 120 are arranged in a straight line, and the axes 111a, 120
It is necessary to provide an eyepiece on the same axis as a.

When such a structure is adopted, the gripping method is inevitably decided. That is, since it is necessary to bring the eye A close to the eyepiece 119, the elbow B is bent and the grip 111 is gripped with a so-called reverse hand, as shown in FIGS. This grip is similar to the grip of a spear when throwing. And
For example, the grasping portion 111 is grasped by the ring finger and the little finger, and the thumb, the index, and the middle finger perform the bending operation and other operations by the operation dials 114 and 115.

[0006]

However, a fatal drawback of the above gripping method is that the bending operation and other operations are significantly affected by the twisting operation. In detail,
When the grip 111 is naturally gripped as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the operation dials 114, 115 and the like can be easily operated, but the grip 111 is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG. If the insertion portion 120 is twisted by rotating the insertion portion 120 by rotating the insertion portion 120 clockwise or by rotating the insertion portion 120 clockwise as shown in FIG. 8, the wrist C is bent outward or inward. Is significantly impaired, and it becomes difficult to operate the operation dials 114, 115 and the like. Further, the gripping force between the ring finger and the little finger is weakened, the gripping of the gripping portion 111 is likely to be unstable, and the endoscope may be dropped. Therefore, the angle range in which the twist is possible is narrow.

In recent years, a solid-state image pickup device is provided at the tip of the insertion portion of an endoscope, and an image in the body cavity projected on the solid-state image pickup device is projected by a receiver, or an optical fiber bundle for image transmission. A device has been developed that is derived from the operation main body and connected to a TV camera so that an image inside the body cavity is displayed by a receiver. A feature of these endoscopes is that the endoscope is operated while observing the image of the receiver. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to provide an eyepiece at the end of the grip,
There is no need to bring your eyes close to the grip. In fact, the inspector operates the grip part away from the eyes. However, these endoscopes still adopt the conventional configuration in which the shaft center of the grip portion and the shaft center of the insertion portion are arranged in a straight line, and therefore the grip method is also the same. Although many surgeons may be accustomed to the conventional grasping method, there was an envy that was not devised based on the features of the new endoscope.

Incidentally, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-139235 discloses an endoscope in which the grip portion is gripped like a pistol. However, in this endoscope, an eyepiece is provided on the operation main body, and when twisting the insertion part, the eye is brought close to this eyepiece, and the elbow is bent while bending the elbow and grasping the grasping part. Since the axis of the gripping part and the axis of the inserting part are orthogonal to each other, the configuration is different from that of the present invention and the effect of the present invention cannot be obtained.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the gist thereof is an operation main body having a grip portion, and the operation main body extending forward and inserted into a body cavity. In an endoscope having a power insertion portion and a cable extending backward from the operation body and incorporating an image transmission system, the axis of the gripping portion is inserted downward with respect to the axis of the insertion portion. Tilted away from the tip of the part, the insertion part and the cable are located almost in line with each other,
In addition, the endoscope is characterized in that it is arranged so as to be positioned away from the central portion of the grip portion.

[0010]

[Operation] The operator grips the grip portion with a pistol in a so-called normal manner. In this case, since the gripping portion is inclined with respect to the axis of the insertion section, the arm can be gripped so that the axis of the arm is substantially parallel to the axis of the insertion section. In such a grasped state, the insertion portion can be twisted by rotating the arm around the axis of the insertion portion, and the wrist need not be bent. Therefore, it is possible to perform a reliable and stable operation and grasp of the endoscope without lowering the mobility of the finger or the grip force.

Further, since the axis of the cable is aligned with the axis of the insertion section, when the arm is rotated about the axis of the insertion section, the arm rotates about the axis of the cable.
Therefore, the cable does not wind around the arm, and the arm can be easily rotated.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1
0 is the operation body. The operation body 10 includes a grip portion 11
And a support portion 13 provided at the upper end of the grip portion 11 and extending in the front-rear direction. The base end portion of the insertion portion 20 is connected to the tip end portion of the support portion 13. The insertion part 20 is
It has flexibility, has a curved portion 21 on its tip side, and further has a hard tip forming portion 22 on its tip side.

The shaft core 11a of the grip portion 11 is the support portion 1
The shaft core 13a of FIG. 3 and the shaft core 20a of the insertion part 20 that is coaxial with the shaft core 13a are inclined downward so as to be distant from the tip of the insertion part 20. These shaft cores 11a, 2
The crossing angle θ of 0a is preferably 40 ° to 80 °,
More preferably, it is 55 ° to 75 °.

The bending portion 21 has two operation dials 1
The bending operation is performed by the wires 4 and 15 via a wire (not shown) in the insertion portion 20. The operation dials 14 and 15 are rotatably supported by a boss portion 16 formed on a side surface of a central portion of the support portion 13 so as to be coaxial with each other. When the operation dial 14 having a smaller diameter is turned, the bending portion 2
1 is curved in the XX direction in FIG. 1, and when the outer operation dial 15 having a large diameter is turned, it is curved in a direction orthogonal to the XX direction.

An observation window 23 and an illumination window 24 are provided on the end surface 22a of the tip forming portion 22. Tip component 2
A solid-state image sensor 25 including a MOS, a CCD, a SIT, etc. is arranged in the image pickup device 2. The solid-state image sensor 25 and the observation window 23 are optically connected via an objective optical system 26. A signal line 27 (image transmission system) is connected to the solid-state image sensor 25. The illumination window 24 is optically connected to the end of the optical fiber bundle 28.

A cable 3 is provided at the rear end of the support portion 13.
One end of 0 is connected. The cable 30 is arranged in a straight line so that its axis 30a is coaxial with the axis 20a of the insertion portion 20. The other end of the cable 30 is connected to the processing device 31. Processor 31
Incorporates a scan control circuit and a light source. This scanning control circuit is electrically connected to the solid-state imaging device 25 via the signal line 27 described above, and the light source is the optical fiber bundle 2 described above.
It is optically connected to the illumination window 24 via 8. The signal line 27 and the optical fiber bundle 28 reach the processing device 31 through the insertion portion 20, the operation body 10, and the cable 30. A freezer 33, a receiver 34 including a CRT display, and a video tape recorder 35 are connected to the processing device 31.

The operation of the endoscopic device having the above structure will be described. The operator holds the grip 11 of the endoscope with his left hand and
0 is inserted into the body cavity of the subject. For example, it is inserted into the stomach through the mouth. The light from the light source in the processing device 31 passes through the optical fiber bundle 28 and is emitted from the illumination window 24 into the body cavity. The reflected light from the inner wall of the body cavity reaches the solid-state image sensor 25 through the observation window 23 and the objective optical system 26. As a result, the image of the inner wall of the body cavity is formed on the light receiving surface of the solid-state image sensor 25.

In the solid-state image pickup device 25, the projected image is photoelectrically converted based on the scanning control signal from the scanning control circuit in the processing device 31 to generate a video signal. The scanning control circuit receives the video signal from the solid-state image sensor 25 and sends the video signal to the receiver 34 via the freezer 33. As a result, the image on the inner wall of the body cavity is displayed on the receiver 34.

The operator operates the endoscope while looking at the image receiver 34 to observe the inside of the body cavity. If necessary, the freezer 33 is operated to temporarily stop the image on the image receiver 34, or the video tape recorder 35 records the image.

The operator grasps the grasping portion 11 of the endoscope with a so-called normal hand having a pistol as shown in FIG. The grip 11 is applied to the palm and is supported by the ring finger and little finger. In this gripped state, the elbow B is bent. By turning the operation dial 14 with the thumb and forefinger and turning the operation dial 15 with the thumb and the middle finger, the bending portion 21
The bending operation is performed as described above.

Here, the shaft core 11a of the grip portion 11 is directed downward with respect to the shaft core 20a of the insertion portion 20.
Since it is inclined away from the tip of 0, when the grip 11 is grasped, the axis D of the arm on the tip side of the elbow B and the axis 20a of the insertion section 20 are substantially parallel to each other. In addition, in this specification, the term “substantially parallel” includes not only the case of being completely parallel but also a slight angular error.
The ideal crossing angle θ at which the axes 20a and 20D are parallel to each other when the grip portion 11 is naturally gripped is in the range of 55 ° to 75 °, although there are individual differences in the shape of the hand and how to grip. Further, even if the grip is a little unnatural, when the arm is twisted while the wrist is slightly rotated up and down in FIG. 1, the operability and grip of the finger are not deteriorated. It doesn't matter.

When changing the direction of the insertion section 20 in the body cavity, the gripping state as described above is maintained and the arm is rotated about the axis 20a of the insertion section 20 to rotate the insertion section 20. Twist. When the insertion portion 20 is twisted, the wrist need not be bent so that the motility and the grip force of each finger do not decrease. Therefore, the operation of the operation dials 14 and 15 by the thumb, the index finger, and the middle finger can be reliably and stably performed, and the grip portion 11 by the ring finger and the little finger can be performed.
The grip can be performed reliably and stably without dropping the endoscope.

Further, when the arm is rotated to twist the insertion portion 20, the axis 30a of the cable 30 is coaxial with the axis 20a of the insertion portion 20, so that the arm does not move the axis 30a of the cable 30. Since the cable 30 is rotated around it as a center, the cable 30 does not get caught in the arm. Therefore, the arm can be smoothly rotated, and the insertion portion can be twisted smoothly.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the operation body 40 is
It is composed of only the grip portion 41, and the insertion portion 20 and the cable 30 extend coaxially from the lower end portion of the grip portion 41. An operation dial 44 is provided above the grip portion 41. The shaft core 41a of the grip portion 41 is inclined with respect to the shaft core 20a of the insertion portion 20 and the shaft core 30a of the cable 30, and forms a crossing angle θ as in the above-described embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment and various modes are possible. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the mechanism of air supply, water supply, suction, etc. is omitted, but it is needless to say that the operation section of these mechanisms can be applied to the operation body. Further, instead of using the solid-state image sensor and the signal line, an optical fiber bundle for image transmission (image transmission system) is housed in the insertion portion, and light incident from the observation window through the objective optical system is
Received on one end surface of this optical fiber bundle, guide this optical fiber bundle to the outside of the operation body through the cable in the same manner as the optical fiber bundle for illumination, and take the image appearing on the other end surface with the TV camera,
It can also be applied to a device which displays an image of the inside of a body cavity with a receiver.

[0026]

As described above, when the endoscope of the present invention is used, the operator can grasp the grasping portion in a so-called normal manner such as holding a pistol, and the axial center of the arm beyond the elbow can be grasped. It can be parallel to the axis of the insertion part. Therefore, by twisting the arm around the axis of the insertion portion, the insertion portion can be twisted. On this occasion,
Since it is not necessary to bend the wrist, the motility and the grip force of the finger are not impaired, and operations such as bending operation and grasping of the endoscope can be performed reliably and stably. Moreover, since the axis of the cable is coaxial with the axis of the insertion portion, the cable does not get entangled with the arm when the arm is rotated,
The arm can be smoothly rotated, and accordingly, the insertion portion can be smoothly twisted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention is gripped.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the endoscope shown in FIG. 1 and its accessory device.

3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a conventional endoscope and a gripping method thereof.

FIG. 6 is a rear view showing the endoscope of FIG. 5 in a partial cross section.

FIG. 7 is a rear view showing the insertion portion twisted in one direction from the state of FIG.

8 is a rear view showing the state in which the insertion portion is twisted in the direction opposite to that in FIG. 7 from the state of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Operation Main Body 11 Gripping Part 11a Gripping Part Shaft Core 20 Inserting Part 20a Inserting Part Shaft Core 27 Signal Line (Image Transmission System) 30 Cable 30a Cable Shaft Core 40 Operation Main Body 41 Gripping Part 41a Gripping Part Shaft Core

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An operation main body having a grip portion, an insertion portion extending forward from the operation main body to be inserted into a body cavity, and a cable extending rearward from the operation main body and incorporating an image transmission system therein. In the endoscope, the axis of the gripping part is inclined with respect to the axis of the insertion part so as to move away from the tip of the insertion part toward the lower side, and the insertion part and the cable are positioned substantially in line with each other, Further, the endoscope is arranged so as to be positioned away from the central portion of the grip portion. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a crossing angle between an axis of the grip portion and an axis of the insertion portion is 40 ° to 80 °. 3. The endoscope according to claim 2, wherein a crossing angle between an axis of the grip portion and an axis of the insertion portion is 55 ° to 75 °.