JPH1033464A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust the hardness of the inserted portion without suspending the operation of an endoscope. SOLUTION: This endoscope consists of a close-contact coil 31 and a wire 32 put into it in a soft section 7 of an inserted portion 2 of this electronic endoscope 1, firmly connecting the tips of wire 32 and coil 31 to a connecting tube 24 to connect between the warped 6 and soft 7 sections, and this side of the coil 31 to part of a rear end opening fitting 34 to connect the soft part 7 to an operating section 3 as well, by such a connecting means as a brazing 33 and the like. The wire 32 is not fixed to any other location than its tip. A wire stopper 35 located in the vicinity of this side end of the coil 31, is firmly fixed to this side end of the wire 32. The size of this wire stopper 35 is now larger than the inside diameter of the coil 31.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope, and more particularly, to an endoscope having a feature of adjusting a hardness of a flexible portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, by inserting an elongated insertion portion into a body cavity, a site to be inspected in the body cavity can be observed without requiring an incision, and a treatment can be performed using a processing tool if necessary. Endoscopes that can be used have become widely used.

The insertion portion of the endoscope has flexibility so that the insertion portion can be inserted into a bent insertion path. May not be determined, and it may be difficult to introduce in the target direction. To cope with this, for example,
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos.-30211 and 58-10162, a flexible adjusting member (sometimes referred to as a stylet or a reading cord) is provided in an endoscope insertion portion so as to be freely inserted and removed. A technique has been disclosed in which the flexibility of the insertion portion is changed to improve the insertion control for expansion or the like.

However, when a hard stylet is inserted into the insertion portion, other built-in components such as an image guide, a light guide, and an air / water tube are easily damaged. In particular, when a stylet is inserted into a curved part, when it is bent, weakly built-in objects such as image guides and light guides may come in contact with the tube through which the hard stylet is inserted, and the durability of these built-in materials is serious. May cause serious damage. Further, in some cases, there is a risk that the bending tube itself forming the bending portion may be damaged. In the worst case, inserting the stylet in a curved state may break through the curved tube.

In order to solve this problem, the present applicant has disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
In JP-A-151433, an insertion channel for a flexible adjustment member is provided in the insertion portion, and a flexible adjustment member that is detachable is inserted into the channel to adjust the flexibility.

In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-151433,
A flexible adjustment member insertion channel is provided in addition to the curved portion of the insertion portion. For example, in the case of a large intestine scope, the length of the insertion portion has a variation of about 600 to 1700 mm depending on the application.

However, since the cross-sectional area occupied by the insertion channel for the flexible adjustment member occupies a large amount and the diameter of the endoscope cannot be reduced, the pain of the test object cannot be reduced.

In addition, it takes time and effort to insert and remove the flexible adjusting member during the endoscopic examination, and it is necessary to drain the scope after immersing the scope in a chemical solution.

Further, it is necessary to prepare and store the flexible adjusting member having a desired length as described above in advance.

When the colonoscope is inserted by one person, the left hand is used for angle operation and the right hand is used for advancing / retracting and twisting of the soft part. , Release your right hand and do it yourself
It is not preferable in terms of inspection efficiency.

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has disclosed Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-4380.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2 (1993) -213, one end side is fixed to a connecting pipe portion with a curved portion and a flexible portion, but the other end side is fixed to a periphery of a rear end of the flexible portion, and the flexibility changes due to expansion and contraction. By providing a member, a wire connected to the flexibility changing member, a link provided near the bending knob and connected to the wire, and an operating lever connected to the link and applying tension to the wire, An endoscope that allows an operator performing an endoscopy to adjust the flexibility of an insertion portion with a simple operation has been proposed to solve the above problem.

[0012]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the publication, as described above, the hardness adjusting means including the coil and the wire provided in the insertion portion is adjusted by the lever of the operation portion. Also, usually, for example, for endoscope insertion into the large intestine, the right hand has an insertion portion, always pushes and pulls the insertion portion, twisting operation, the left hand has an operation portion,
The operation of the bending device knob, air supply, water supply, and suction operation are always performed.

However, when a hardness adjustment operation is performed with a lever as in the prior art, an operation such as a bending operation must be stopped at that time. As described above, stopping the necessary operation that is normally performed may deteriorate the insertability.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope capable of adjusting the hardness of an insertion portion without stopping the operation of the endoscope.

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An endoscope according to the present invention comprises an endoscope having an insertion portion having a flexible portion and an operation portion, and the bending rigidity is increased when a compressive force is applied to the flexible portion in the axial direction. It is constructed by providing an additional tubular body and a wire inserted through the tubular body.

In the endoscope according to the present invention, when the flexible portion is changed from the straight state to the loop state, the movement of the wire with respect to both ends of the tubular body is controlled so that a compressive force is applied to the tubular body. The operation of adjusting the hardness of the insertion section can be performed without stopping the operation of the endoscope.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of an electronic endoscope, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the coils and wires of FIG. Figure,
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining the operation of the electronic endoscope in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a procedure using the electronic endoscope in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment includes an elongated insertion portion 2, a large-diameter operation portion 3 connected to the rear end of the insertion portion 2, A universal cable 4 extending from the side of the operation unit 3.

At the distal end of the insertion portion 2, a rigid distal end 5 is provided, and at the rear side adjacent to the distal end 5, a bendable portion 6 is provided. Further, the curved portion 6
A flexible soft portion 7 is continuously provided behind the. The bending section 6 can be bent in up / down / left / right directions by operating a bending operation knob (not shown) provided on the operation section 3.

At the rear end of the universal cable 4,
A control device provided with a connector 9 and having a light source unit (not shown) for supplying illumination light to the electronic endoscope 1 and a signal processing unit for performing signal processing on an image signal transmitted from the electronic endoscope 1 It can be connected to.

The distal end portion 5 is provided with a distal end main body 10 formed of a hard material into a substantially cylindrical shape. The distal end main body 10 has a forceps channel for a forceps channel parallel to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion 2. A through hole 11 and an observation through hole 12 are provided. A connecting tube 13 is fitted in the through-hole 11 for the forceps channel, and a flexible forceps channel forming a forceps channel 14 is formed at a rear portion of the connecting tube 13 protruding rearward from the distal end body 10. Tube 15 is connected. The forceps channel tube 15 is inserted through the insertion section 2 and communicates with a forceps port 16 provided in the operation section 3.

An objective lens system 17 is provided in front of the observation through-hole 12, and a solid-state image sensor 18 is provided at an image forming position of the objective lens system 17. A signal line 1 capable of transmitting an image signal is provided at the rear end of the solid-state imaging device 18.
The signal line 19 extends through the insertion section 2 and is connected to the contact 20 provided on the connector 9 via the operation section 3 and the universal cable 4.

The connector 9 has a light guide 21 so that illumination light emitted from a light source (not shown) can be incident thereon.
A light guide connector 22 is provided at an end of the light guide connector.
The light guide 21 is inserted into a light guide through hole (not shown) provided in the distal end body 10 via the universal cable 4, the operation unit 3, and the insertion unit 2, and can irradiate the observation site with illumination light. It has become.

A plurality of substantially annular joint pieces 23 are rotatably arranged in the bending section 6 in the longitudinal direction of the insertion section 2 and are fitted to the distal ends of the joint pieces 23. Fixed. The plurality of joint pieces 23,.
An annular connection pipe 24 provided at the distal end of the flexible portion 7 is fitted into 3. Although not shown, a flexible stranded wire connected to the rear end of the distal end body 10 and extending through a curved knob in an angle wire guide formed by a metal coil pipe is connected to the connection tube 24. And the like are supported so that they can be pulled and loosened, and the bending portion 6 is bent by rotating the bending knob, so that the front end portion 5 in front thereof can be directed in the up / down / left / right directions. .

The flexible portion 7 is constituted by a spiral tube 25, which is covered with a braided tube 26, and further, the braided tube 26 is covered with an outer skin 27.
The bending portion 6 also has a structure in which the joint piece 23 is covered with an outer skin 28.

In the flexible section 7 of the insertion section 2 of the electronic endoscope 1, a coil 31 having a close contact and a wire 32 are provided therein, and the distal end of the wire 32 and the coil 31 are connected to the bending section 6 and the flexible section. The connecting pipe 24 for connecting the portion 7 is firmly fixed by a connecting means such as a wax 33 or the like, and the proximal side of the coil 31 is also provided on a part of the rear end base 34 for connecting the flexible portion 7 to the operating portion 3. Is firmly fixed by the connecting means.

The wire 32 is not fixed except at the distal end, and a wire stopper 35 provided near the proximal end of the coil 31 is firmly fixed to the proximal end of the wire 32. Here, the size of the wire stopper 35 is the coil 31
Larger than the inner diameter of

The wire stopper 35 is connected to the coil 31
In some cases, the wire stopper 35 may be in contact with the proximal end, or in some distance from the proximal end, and the wire stopper 35 may be firmly fixed to the proximal end of the coil 31.

The wire 32 is made of, for example, a stainless steel wire and is flexible against bending, but hardly cut or plastically deformed by tension.

Further, although the coil 31 is in close contact,
It may be a coil that is in close contact in the natural state, or a loosely wound coil that has a slight distance between the strands in the natural state, but may be in a close contact when it is installed in the flexible portion 7. . Further, depending on the case, it is conceivable to attach it in a loosely wound shape.

Further, the wire 32 and the coil 31 do not enter the bending portion 6, and more precisely, a bendable portion of the bending portion 6, that is, between a certain bending piece 23 and another bending piece 23. It is provided so as not to enter.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

FIG. 2 shows the state and action of the wire 32 and the coil 31 when a part of the flexible portion 7 is bent in an arc at a certain angle.
Shown in In FIG. 2, the angle at which the wire 32 and the coil 31 are bent is a °. Coil 31 from arc center
The radius from the center axis to the center axis is R, and the radius of the arc connecting the contact point of the arc inner coil from the arc center is r.

Since the coil 31 is a close contact coil in the straight state, the arc length of the inner coil in FIG. 2 is the same as that in the straight state. However, if it is more outward, it will be longer when it bends than when it is straight.

That is, based on the inner coil, the wire 32 is drawn into the coil. X
Then, x can be calculated as in equation (1).

[0037]

X = {2πa (R−r)} / 360 (1) If R−r = 0.7 mm, if a ° = 90 °, x is about 1.1 mm, and R−r = 1 If it is 0.0 mm, x is about 1.
6 mm.

Therefore, if the coil 31 is in a straight state and the wire stopper 35 is in contact with the proximal end of the coil 31 without applying a load to the wire, the xmm wire is pulled to the coil by bending by a °. Become. This means that a compressive force is applied to the coil.

As a result, not only the bent portion of the coil 31 but also other straight portions are hardened.
Therefore, the soft part 7 is also hardened.

If there is a gap between the proximal end of the coil 31 and the wire stopper 35 or between the wires of the coil 31, bending the coil 31 hardly hardens until the gap disappears. When the coil 31 is bent further after the loss, the coil 31 is hardened in accordance with the amount of bending.

Normally, when one operator inserts an endoscope into a living body, the operator holds the insertion section 2 with the right hand and the operation section 3 with the left hand.
have. The right hand continually pushes and pulls and twists the insertion section 2, and the left hand uses the bending operation knob 36 and the air supply / water supply button 37 provided on the operation section 3 to perform the air supply / water supply operation, as shown in FIG. The suction operation by the button 38 is constantly performed.

In the present embodiment, when the operating portion 3 is bent with respect to the insertion portion 2, the soft portion 7 can be hardened by the above-described operation. In other words, the hardness of the flexible part 7 can be adjusted only by changing the positional relationship between the left and right hands, even while each of the right hand and the left hand is performing a normal operation. In some cases, almost all of the insertion portion 2 may enter the living body. In this case, the surgeon cannot adjust the hardness of the flexible portion 7, but in most cases, the entire insertion portion 2 cannot be used. Since there is no such adjustment, the above-described operation of adjusting the hardness of the flexible portion 7 is possible.

FIG. 4 shows an electronic endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment.
The following shows an example in which is inserted into the colon. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the insertion portion 2 is inserted into the meandering sigmoid colon 41. Here, when the distal end portion 5 and the curved portion 6 pass through a bent portion formed by the rectum 42 and the sigmoid colon 41, the flexible portion 7 bends at a certain angle. As a result, the flexible portion 7 is slightly hardened as it bends. In other words, it is easy to bend because it is still flexible at the beginning of bending, but when it bends to a certain extent, it gradually becomes harder and more resilient to linearize. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the curved portion 6 is hooked on a bent portion formed by the sigmoid colon 41 and the descending colon 43, the flexible portion 7 having increased elasticity is pulled while being twisted. Flexible part 7 and sigmoid colon 4 as in b)
1 can be easily operated in a substantially linear state. As described above, the action of the wire 32 and the coil 31 described above also helps to quickly straighten the flexible portion 7 bent to some extent.

Thereafter, when the distal end portion 5 passes through the spleen curve 44, the transverse colon 45, the liver curve 47, and the ascending colon 46, the sigmoid colon 41 which has been brought into a substantially linear state once again becomes as shown in FIG. If it bends, even if it pushes the hand side of the flexible part 7, it is difficult for the force to be transmitted to the distal end side. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Adjust hardening. By inserting the distal end portion 5 deeper than the spleen curve 44 in this manner, the flexible portion 7 draws a large curve (without small bending in the middle) as shown in FIG. 48 can be reached.

Since the bent portion of the sigmoid colon 41 is usually at an angle of 90 ° or more, the flexible portion 7 is set at 90 °.
If the flexible portion 7 starts to be hardened by the action of the wire 32 and the coil 31 before bending, even if the angle between the insertion portion 2 and the operation portion 3 is almost straight, the sigmoid colon 51 is formed.
Can be easily prevented from bending again as small as the original shape. Therefore, when there is a gap between the proximal end of the coil 31 and the wire stopper 35 or when there is a gap between the strands of the coil 31, the gap disappears while bending the flexible portion 7 by 90 °, and the coil 31 It is desirable to start hardening.

When the loosely wound coil is attached in close contact, the flexible portion 7 is always (even in a straight state).
It provides resilience, which is good for operators who prefer a resilient insertion portion. Further, the loosely wound coil may be attached in close contact with the coil surrounding the wire for bending operation.

As described above, in this embodiment, the hardness of the insertion section 2 can be adjusted without stopping the normal operation performed by the left and right hands of the electronic endoscope.

FIGS. 5 to 10 relate to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of an electronic endoscope.
6 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section taken along line AA and a cross section taken along line BB of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a view showing a specific example of the cam cylinder of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is an operation of the electronic endoscope of FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of the hardness of the coil and the wire in FIG. 5, and FIG.
0 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the hardness of the soft part in FIG.

Since the second embodiment is almost the same as the first embodiment, only different points will be described, and the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, a wire 32 is provided in a soft tube 37 forming the outer skin of the soft portion 7.
And a coil 31 are provided.

A rigid connecting tube 24 connecting the bending portion 6 and the flexible portion 7 has a wire 32 projecting from the tip of the coil 31.
Is firmly fixed by a connecting means such as a braze 33 or the like. The connection pipe 24 is fixed to the rearmost bending piece 23. Alternatively, the rearmost bending piece 23 may also function as the connection pipe 24. The bending piece 23 including the connection pipe 24 is covered with an elastic outer skin 28 such as a rubber tube.

The distal end of the wire 32 is firmly fixed to the rigid tube 24 by a connecting means such as a solder 33 or solder. In order to fix the wire 32 to the rigid tube 24, the fixing means such as the brazing 33 is sufficient up to the portion C in FIG. 5, but in the present embodiment, the brazing 33 and the solder are applied to the wire 32 until the portion D in FIG. I'm soaked. In the middle of the wire 32, only the tip of the coil 31 is firmly fixed by a solder 33 or the like. In this case, it is sufficient to attach a brazing, for example, about 5 mm from the tip of the coil 31 to the hand side, but in the present embodiment, the brazing 33 is soaked in the wire 32 up to the portion E in FIG.

The tip of the coil 31 is desirably about 20 to 35 cm from the tip of the insertion section 2.

The hand end of the coil 31 is
8 and is fixed non-rotatably. The coil stopper 38 is fixed to the rear end base 34 with a screw 39,
The rear end cap 34 is fixed to the cylindrical tube 40 with a nut 41.

On the other hand, the proximal end of the wire 32 is
2 is firmly fixed. The traction member 42 is fixed to the moving ring 43. The moving ring 43 is axially movable inside the cylindrical tube 40.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6B, the pulling member 42 for passing the wire 35 in the radial direction is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical moving ring 43 by the screw 44.

Returning to FIG. 5, a cam cylinder 51 covers the outside of the cylindrical tube 40. In this cam cylinder 51,
Cam grooves 52a, 52b are provided at two opposite locations of the cylindrical portion.
Are provided spirally. The cylindrical tube 40 is also provided with a long hole 53 in the longitudinal direction. Moving ring 43
The two moving pins 54 that move together with the moving ring 43 include the cam grooves 52a or 52b and the long holes 5 outside the cam grooves 52a or 52b.
It is fixed by a screw part through 3.

A hardness adjusting knob 55 is fixed to the outer side of the cam cylinder 51 by pins 56 at a plurality of positions in the circumferential direction. That is, the hardness adjustment knob 55 is formed with a pin hole that reaches the cam cylinder body 51 inside the hardness adjustment knob 55, the pin 56 is fitted therein, and the hardness adjustment knob 55 is closed with the filler 57.

The front end of the hardness adjusting knob 55 abuts against an annular contact member 58, and its forward movement is restricted. The contact member 58 is disposed outside the vicinity of the front end of the cylindrical tube 40, and is fixed to the outer periphery of a support member 60 that supports the rear end of the buckling member 59 with screws 61.

On the rear end side of the hardness adjusting knob 55, the inner peripheral surface of the front end of the gripping cylinder 62 is fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the cam cylinder 51, and the front end of the gripping cylinder 62. The outer peripheral surface is fitted to the notched inner peripheral surface at the rear end of the hardness adjusting knob 55. In other words, the hardness adjusting knob 55 is controlled to move in the front-rear direction and the cylindrical tube 4 via the cam cylinder 51.
0 and is rotatably disposed (around the cylindrical tube 40). Thus, the hardness adjusting knob 55 can be rotated, but the contact member 58 is fixed by the screw 61 so as not to rotate.

An O-ring 63 is provided between the inner peripheral surface of the front end of the hardness adjusting knob 55 and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical tube 40 facing the inside thereof.
Are arranged, and the inner peripheral surface of the front end of the hardness adjusting knob 55 is pressed against the O-ring 63. An O-ring is also provided between the outer peripheral surface near the rear end of the cam cylinder 51 and the inner peripheral surface of the gripping frame 62 fitted to the outer peripheral surface, for example, in a peripheral groove provided on the cam cylinder 51 side. 64 is housed therein, and the inner peripheral surface of the holding frame 62 is pressed against the O-ring 64.

That is, the water tightness is ensured by the O-rings 63 and 64, and a friction force is applied to the cam cylinder 51 and the hardness adjustment knob 55. Even if it is released, it can be locked (or held) in that state.

As described above, even if the hardness adjusting knob 55 is rotated to operate to apply a compressive force to the coil 31, even if the hand is released from the hardness adjusting knob 55, the O-rings 63, 6
The state of the hardness adjusting knob 55 can be maintained (locked) by the frictional force of the knob 4.

In other words, when the hardness adjusting knob 55 is rotated by hand to increase the hardness of the soft portion 7 and the hand is released from the hardness adjusting knob 55, the hardness adjusting knob 55 is operated by the operation. By locking in the state, the coil 31 can be locked in the hardness state corresponding to the operation state.

Note that an O-ring for generating a frictional force for locking the hardness adjusting knob 55 may be provided at a place other than a place where a watertight seal is performed. FIG. 7A shows the shapes of the cam grooves 52 a and 52 b of the cam cylinder 51. Cam groove 5
2a and 52b are two-section cams, one of which is a cam groove 52.
a The other is indicated by 52b.

The cam grooves 52a and 52b have the same shape and are provided at symmetrical positions such that one is rotated by 180 degrees with respect to the axis of the cam cylinder 51 and the other is overlapped. In FIG. 7A, the cam grooves 52a and 52b have a simple smooth groove shape (smooth spiral shape).

Instead of the structure shown in FIG.
For example, as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to provide a structure in which there is a or a concave portion 65b is provided at the end of the groove 52b so that the operator can feel a click when the moving pin 54 is set at these positions.

As shown in FIG. 5, a forceps opening frame 72 for forming the forceps opening 16 is provided at a front position adjacent to a grip portion 71 provided on the operation section 3. This forceps opening frame 72
Are the forceps port 16 side and the suction conduit 73 inside the operation unit 3
The front end of the branching member 74 is connected to the proximal end of the forceps channel 14 provided in the insertion section 2 by a connecting portion 75.

The branch member 74 is fixed to the cylindrical tube 40 with screws. The cylindrical tube 40 has a rear end connected to a frame 75 to which a bending operation mechanism of the operation unit 3 is attached by a screw. The cylindrical tube 40 has a structure that does not rotate even when the hardness adjustment knob 55 side is rotated.

As shown in FIG. 6A, various built-in components are arranged in the insertion section 2. That is, four bending wires 76 arranged at positions corresponding to the up, down, left and right,
Two signal lines 19 arranged near the center, two light guides 21 arranged near the upper center, a forceps channel 14 arranged below, a coil 31 and a wire 32 arranged near the left, A water supply tube 77 for supplying air and a water supply tube 78 for supplying water, which are arranged adjacent to each other, are built in. Also, a built-in component as shown in FIG. The arrangement of the built-in components is substantially the same as that shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

FIG. 5 shows the case where the traction member 42, the moving ring 43, and the moving pin 54 are at the frontmost position, and do not move any further forward (the soft part 7 is in the softest state). Therefore,
In this state, as in the first embodiment, by looping the insertion portion 2, the rear end of the wire 32 does not move forward, so that the coil 31 is hardened. That is, the hardness of the flexible portion 7 can be adjusted in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

In the present embodiment, by further rotating the hardness adjusting knob 55, the pulling member 42 and the moving ring 4
3. By moving the moving pin 54 rearward, the wire 32 can be actively pulled. In the first embodiment, when it is desired to harden the flexible portion 7 and keep the hardness for a long time, the operation portion 3 is always bent with respect to the insertion portion 2 as shown in FIG. (The side is bent), but in the present embodiment, the hardness adjustment knob 5
5 can be maintained to maintain the soft portion 7 at a certain level of hardness. The hardness adjusting knob 55 is connected to the contact member 58 or the O-ring 6.
Due to the friction between the hardness adjusting knob 55 and the cam groove 52a, 52b, the hand can be held at that position even if a hand is spoken from the hardness adjusting knob 55 at an arbitrary rotational position.

As shown in FIG. 7B, the concave portions 65a,
With 65b, a click feeling is obtained there, so that when the operator operates the hardness adjusting knob 55, the operator can recognize at what level the soft portion 7 is hardened. When the hardness adjustment knob 55 is turned with the right hand while holding the grip 71 of the operation unit 3 with the left hand, the limit that can be turned by one operation is 200 degrees.
Therefore, the (maximum) operation stroke of the hardness adjusting knob 55 is desirably 200 ° or less.

Further, in FIG. 4, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, there is a case where an instantaneous and delicate operation feeling is required such that the flexible portion 7 in the loop state is quickly straightened. When the delicate hardness adjustment is repeated many times, the hardness (elasticity) is easily adjusted by changing the positional relationship between the left and right hands of the operator as in the first embodiment. When it is desired to maintain a certain hardness during the deep insertion of the large intestine as shown in FIGS. 4B to 4C, the desired hardness can be maintained by the hardness adjustment knob 55. It is not necessary to always keep the proximal side of the flexible portion 7 in a bent state as in the above.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the flexible portion 7
While pulling it out to the right to remove the soft part 7 and sigmoid colon 41.
Is an insertion technique (RIGHT TURN SHORTENING method) that is often performed. In this case, the position of the operation unit 3 is positively moved with respect to the insertion unit 2 as shown in FIG. Even without adjusting the hardness of the flexible portion 7, as shown in FIG. 8, the elasticity of the flexible portion 7 can be increased with almost no ordinary operation without moving the operation portion 3 so much.

That is, in the state shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4B, the operation section 3 makes an angle of about 90 ° with the flexible section 7, thereby slightly increasing the elasticity of the flexible section 7.
When the soft part 7 is pulled while being twisted to the right (for example, the operation is performed by holding the right hand insertion part gripping position 81 in FIG. 8 and the operation part 3 gripped by the left hand is hardly moved) in FIG.
As shown in (b), a loop of about 270 ° is naturally formed on the proximal side of the flexible portion 7 (there is a difference of about 180 ° between the loops of FIGS. 8A and 8B).

As a result, the sigmoid colon 4 in FIG.
Since the loop is formed near the flexible portion 7 while the loop in FIG. 1 is released, the flexible portion 7 and the sigmoid colon 41 are linearized while maintaining appropriate elasticity (or increasing elasticity). Operation can be performed quickly. in this way,
An appropriate hardness adjustment is performed while performing a normal operation.

When a compression force is applied to the coil 31 by operating the hardness adjustment knob 55, the coil 31 tends to rotate in a direction in which the outer diameter increases. If it rotates, the total length of the coil 31 will shrink according to the rotation speed. Initially, it occurs as a function of elastic deformation, but as this is repeated, plastic deformation occurs and the entire length of the coil 31 remains contracted. Then, the hardening function of the coil 31 is deteriorated.

Therefore, when the coil 31 is provided from the middle of the flexible portion 7 to the hand, it is necessary to provide a means for restricting the rotation of the tip of the coil 31. In the present embodiment,
In fixing the wire 32 and the connection tube 24, the brazing 33 and the solder were soaked up to the D portion of the wire 32, and in fixing the tip of the coil 31 and the wire 32, the brazing 33 was soaked up to the E portion of the wire 32. Thereby, the length of the flexible portion of the wire 32 is shortened. This makes the wire 32 difficult to twist. Wire 3 to D and E
2, a wire 32 has a considerably smaller diameter than the flexible tube 37. Therefore, even if a certain hard portion is formed, the flexibility of the flexible tube 37 is not impaired.

Further, the wire 32 is, for example, a stranded wire made of stainless steel, but the skewed direction is such that when the coil 31 tries to rotate in the direction in which the outer diameter increases, the stranded wire is tightened (reverse to the direction in which the coil 31 is unraveled). The winding direction of the coil and the twist direction of the wire are set. Even when another coil is used instead of a wire to connect the distal end of the coil 31 and the flexible tube 37, the winding direction of the coil is preferably opposite to the winding direction of the coil 31. If members other than coils are used, the members should be soft against bending and strong against twisting. Further, instead of connecting the tip of the coil 31 to the connecting tube 24, the tip of the coil 31 may be fixed directly in the middle of the flexible tube 37, or the tip of the coil 31 may be fixed to another internal component such as the forceps channel 14. You can also control the rotation.

When the coil 31 shrinks by, for example, 1 mm plastic deformation, the hardening function (maximum hardness) decreases by 10%
In order to prevent the functional deterioration of (1), the amount of rotation is controlled so that the coil 31 contracts by 1 mm or less. If the pitch of the coil 31 is 0.5 mm, the rotation of the coil 31 is 1 mm.
When the hardness adjusting knob 55 is operated so that 1 is hardened to the maximum, a regulating means is provided so that the tip of the coil 31 is suppressed to 2 rotations or less. In this case, since the operation of the hardness adjusting knob 55 causes the elastic deformation and the plastic deformation to shrink by 1 mm at first, the rear end of the coil 31 is pushed into the soft tube 37 by 1 mm or more with respect to the rear end base 34 and fixed. Also, the coil 31
Even when both ends are fixed completely non-rotatably, the hardness adjustment knob 5
Assuming that the element wire of the coil 31 is slightly crushed by the compression by the operation of 5 and the entire length is reduced by 0.5 mm, the coil is pushed into the flexible tube 37 by 0.5 mm or more (meandering).

Since the cam cylinder 51 is made of a harder material than the moving pin 54, wear caused by repeatedly operating the hardness adjusting knob 55 mainly occurs on the moving pin 54, but the cam grooves 52a, 52b Rarely occurs in Thus, the shapes of the cam grooves 52a and 52b as shown in FIG. 7 are maintained. Note that the shape greatly affects the amount of operating force and the operational feeling of the hardness adjusting knob 55. For example, if the angle of the groove is changed due to abrasion on the way, the operation for hardening the groove cannot be further performed, or the operational feeling changes completely. There is a risk of confusing the surgeon.

The wire 3 by the pulling member 42 in the operation unit 3
2 is performed in a direction substantially coaxial with the axial direction of the wire 32 in the flexible tube 37. If the wire 32 in the flexible tube 37 is
When the trailing end of the wire 32 is towed by the pulling member 42 while being displaced from the axis, the wire 32 is subjected to an extraordinary frictional force, which increases the amount of operation force. However, in order to secure the space in the cylindrical tube 40 (the space through which the internal components pass), the pulling position of the wire 32 by the pulling member 42 is set closer to the inner wall of the cylindrical tube 40 than the wire 32 in the soft tube 37. It is possible to do.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a certain level of hardness can be easily maintained in addition to momentary fine adjustment of hardness.

Note that in the second embodiment,
The sizes of the coil 31 and the wire 32 greatly affect the degree of hardening of the coil 31 when the flexible portion 7 is bent at an angle. That is, the coil 31 and the wire 3
2 can be hardened more for a certain angle.

As a usage of the endoscope as in the second embodiment, a hardness adjusting knob 5 is used to maintain the soft portion 7 at a certain hardness.
5, the bending operation of the flexible portion 7 is performed to finely adjust the hardness of the flexible portion 7. The coil 31 used at this time is a coil A, and FIG. 9 shows the hardness adjustment width.
The wavy arrow indicates the hardness adjustment by bending (for example, 180 °) of the flexible portion 7, and the straight arrow indicates the hardness adjustment width by operating the hardness adjustment knob 55. For example, in FIG. 4B, the hardness of the soft portion 7 is controlled by operating the hardness adjustment knob 55 in order to make the sigmoid colon 41 always have a hardness necessary to keep the sigmoid colon 41 in a substantially linear state. However, up to FIG. 4 (a), since the flexible portion 7 is inserted into the sigmoid colon 41 while being looped to some extent, it is better that the flexible portion 7 does not become too hard by bending (fine adjustment is possible). As described above, the hardness can be easily controlled by the hardness adjusting knob 55 when the hardness is largely adjusted, and the soft portion 7 can be bent when the hardness is finely adjusted.

Here, there is a coil B having a size larger than that of the coil A, and the characteristic of the hardness adjustment width is shown in FIG. Since the coil B is larger than the coil A, an angle (for example, 18
The bending of 0 °) makes the hardness adjustment knob 55 harder than the maximum operation.

In FIG. 3, when the operating portion 3 is moved with respect to the flexible portion 7 to bend the proximal side of the flexible portion 7, the bending range that can normally occur is 180 ° at the maximum (in FIG. 3, the bending range is approximately 130 °). Shown). If the bending state of the flexible portion 7 on the hand side causes the hardness to exceed the maximum hardness by the hardness adjusting knob 55, it is difficult to selectively use the hardness adjustment by the bending and the hardness adjustment by the hardness adjusting knob 55. (Not clear), it will be difficult for the surgeon to control the hardness.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, the coil B shown in FIG. 9 is not of an appropriate size, and even if the proximal side of the flexible portion 7 is bent by 180 ° like the coil A, the operation of the hardness adjusting knob 55 is not performed. Should be sized such that the maximum hardness of the coil 31 (and wire 32) is not exceeded.

Further, the insertion procedure for passing through the sigmoid colon 41 in FIG. 4 may be different depending on the operator. For example, a certain surgeon inserts the sigmoid colon 41 while folding the sigmoid colon 41 while hardly looping the flexible part 7,
A method of further pushing the flexible part 7 in the sigmoid colon 41 in a loop state. The optimal hardness of the flexible portion 7 varies depending on the difference between these insertion techniques. Thus, there are models A and B as shown in FIG.

There is a minimum hardness required to keep the sigmoid colon 41 in a substantially straight state when inserted deeply from the spleen curve 44, and this is the “hard” level in FIG. In the model A, since the hardness is variable from “soft A” to “hard”, the model B whose soft portion 7 is originally harder than the model A can be made harder than the “hard” level by the same technology. However, if it is too hard, there is a possibility that the patient's pain may increase when the patient passes through the transverse colon 45. Therefore, the maximum hardness of the model B should be as high as that of the model A. That is, model A and model B
And the hardness adjustment width is different. Thus, the operation stroke of the hardness adjustment knob 55 is shortened in the model B, and the hardness can be adjusted to the required hardness more quickly than in the model A.

[0093] Even in models having different hardnesses in the soft state, the required hardness can be adjusted without increasing the patient's pain.

Note that, not only a helical tubular body such as the coil 31, but also a single elastic pipe material which increases bending rigidity by being slightly contracted by compression in the axial direction may be used. Also,
It may be a tubular body in which a plurality of rigid pipe members having a length of about 5 mm to 10 mm are stacked around the wire in the axial direction. In this case, as the gap between the pipe members is closer to 0 mm, the bending rigidity of the tubular body becomes larger (hardens more quickly) for a certain amount of bending of the flexible portion 7.

[Supplementary Notes] (Additional Item 1) In an endoscope including an insertion portion having a flexible portion and an operation portion, a tubular body and a tubular member which increase bending rigidity when a compressive force is applied to the flexible portion in an axial direction. A wire inserted into the body is provided, and when the flexible portion is changed from a straight state to a loop state, movement of the wire is regulated with respect to both ends of the tubular body so that a compressive force is applied to the tubular body. Endoscope.

(Additional Item 2) The endoscope according to Additional Item 1, wherein the tubular body is provided on the hand side from the middle of the flexible portion.

(Additional Item 3) The endoscope according to Additional Item 1, wherein both ends of the tubular body are attached non-rotatably.

(Additional Item 4) The endoscope according to Additional Item 1, wherein the tubular body is closer to a hand than a curved portion provided at a distal end of the flexible portion.

(Additional Item 5) The endoscope according to Additional Item 1, wherein a pulling operation means for pulling the rear end of the wire is provided in the operation section.

(Additional Item 6) The endoscope according to additional item 5, wherein the towing operation means can be held at one or more locations during towing.

(Additional Item 7) The soft portion is formed into a loop when the wire is not pulled, rather than the hardness increase width of the tubular body when the wire is pulled to the maximum in the slate state. 6. The endoscope according to claim 5, wherein the size of the tubular body is set so that the increase in the hardness of the tubular body due to the reduction in size is reduced.

(Additional Item 8) The endoscope according to additional item 1, wherein the loop state is a state in which the flexible portion is bent at least 90 °.

(Additional Item 9) The endoscope according to Additional Item 1, wherein the tubular body is mounted in a tightly wound state from a loosely wound state.

(Additional Item 10) An insertion portion having a flexible portion and an operating portion are provided, and a coil and a wire inserted through the coil are provided in the flexible portion, and the wire is pulled to apply a compressive force to the coil. In an endoscope provided with an operating means provided in the operating portion for hardening over, in a model in which the hardness of the flexible portion is different before the hardening operation by the operating means, the hardness variable width is different. Endoscope.

(Additional Item 11) The endoscope according to Additional Item 10, wherein the maximum hardness is substantially the same for different models.

(Additional Item 12) An additional item 10 characterized in that the operation stroke of the operating means is made different.
An endoscope according to claim 1.

Heretofore, the hardness of the insertion section of the endoscope has been originally soft or slightly harder in order to meet the user's preference. Although the endoscope in which the hardness of the insertion portion can be adjusted is shown in the conventional example, it is not shown how the hardness can be adjusted for a model whose original hardness is different. If the insertion part which is originally stiff and has the same width as making the soft insertion part stiff with a certain width is too stiff, it may become too stiff and cause great pain to the patient.

Therefore, in the endoscope according to the additional items 10 to 12,
Even if the insertion part has a different hardness, appropriate hardness adjustment is possible.

(Additional Item 13) An insertion portion having a flexible portion and an operation portion are provided, and a coil and a wire inserted through the coil are provided in the flexible portion, and the wire is pulled to apply a compressive force to the coil. In an endoscope provided with operation means for hardening over the operation portion, the coil to be hardened is arranged from the middle of the flexible portion to the hand side, and the coil is hardened when the coil is hardened. An endoscope comprising a rotation restricting means for restricting rotation.

(Additional Item 14) The additional item 13 is characterized in that the rotation restricting means is formed by providing a hard portion on at least a part of a member connecting the coil distal end and the flexible portion distal end side. An endoscope according to claim 1.

(Supplementary Note 15) The rotation restricting means connects the tip of the coil and the tip of the flexible portion with a spiral member, and the spiral direction of the spiral member is opposite to the winding direction of the coil. 14. The endoscope according to claim 13, wherein the endoscope is formed as described above.

(Additional Item 16) The endoscope according to Additional Item 13, wherein the rotation restricting means restricts the rotation of the coil to 1 / P or less when the pitch of the coil is Pmm.

(Additional Item 17) The endoscope according to Additional Item 13, wherein the rotation restricting means is formed by fixing the tip of the coil to a part of the flexible portion.

(Additional Item 18) The endoscope according to Additional Item 13, wherein the rotation restricting means is formed by fixing the tip of the coil to another internal component.

Conventionally, a coil to be hardened is provided up to the tip of the soft part. Hardening of the entire soft part can increase patient distress. However, when the tip of the coil is set in the middle of the soft part, the coil rotates and contracts when a compressive force is applied to the coil. As the operation is repeated, the coil remains shrunk, and the hardening function decreases.

Therefore, in the endoscope according to additional items 13 to 18,
It is possible to ensure the durability (hardening function) of the coil without increasing the patient's pain.

[0117]

As described above, according to the endoscope of the present invention, when the flexible portion is changed from the straight state to the loop state, the movement of the wire relative to both ends of the tubular body is performed so that a compressive force is applied to the tubular body. Since the regulation is performed, there is an effect that the hardness adjustment operation of the insertion portion can be performed without stopping the operation of the endoscope.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the coil and the wire in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic endoscope in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a procedure using the electronic endoscope in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a section taken along line AA and a section taken along line BB of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a specific example of the cam cylinder shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic endoscope in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the hardness of the coil and the wire in FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the hardness of the flexible portion in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic endoscope 2 ... Insertion part 3 ... Operation part 4 ... Universal cable 5 ... Tip part 6 ... Bending part 7 ... Flexible part 9 ... Connector 10 ... Tip part main body 11 ... Through-hole for forceps channel 12 ... Transparency for observation Hole 13 ... Connection tube 14 ... Forceps channel 15 ... Forceps channel tube 16 ... Forceps port 17 ... Objective lens system 18 ... Solid-state imaging device 19 ... Signal line 20 ... Contact point 21 ... Light guide 22 ... Light guide connector 23 ... Joint piece 24 ... connecting pipe 25 ... spiral pipe 26 ... knitted pipe 27, 28 ... outer skin 31 ... coil 32 ... wire 33 ... wax 34 ... rear end cap 35 ... wire stopper 36 ... bending operation knob 37 ... air supply and water supply button 38 ... suction button

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope having an insertion portion having a flexible portion and an operation portion, comprising: a tubular body which increases bending rigidity when a compressive force is applied to the flexible portion in an axial direction; and a wire inserted through the tubular body. When the flexible portion is changed from a straight state to a loop state,
An endoscope wherein the movement of the wire is regulated with respect to both ends of the tubular body so that a compressive force is applied to the tubular body.