JP6489631B2 - Endoscope system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope system including a plurality of endoscopes having different application sites in a body cavity.

  In general, a body fluid or the like adheres to an observation window which is an outer surface of an observation optical system provided at the distal end of an insertion portion of an endoscope when inserted into a body cavity. The adhering matter adhering to the surface of the observation window can be washed away by supplying water from an air / water supply nozzle arranged opposite to the observation window, as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. Residual water remaining in the window can be wiped off by air supply.

JP-A-8-106052

  However, when observing a body cavity in a high humidity environment, if the residual water of the observation window washed away by water supply is blown away by excessive air supply, the surface of the observation window is exposed to the high humidity environment. Therefore, the vapor in the body cavity may condense on the surface of the observation window, resulting in cloudiness. For example, in an endoscope for observing the inside of the stomach, the observation target is in a large space and in a high humidity state, so that the observation window is likely to be clouded by a temperature change caused by air / water feeding.

  On the other hand, in an endoscope for observing the inside of the large intestine, a relatively large amount of water-soluble laxative is used before the examination, so that a large amount of water remains in the intestine and fogging is unlikely to occur in the observation window. Therefore, in an endoscope used in such an environment, higher wiping properties are required to remove dirt on the observation window than the antifogging property of the observation window.

  That is, conventionally, the relationship between the application site of the endoscope and the wiping and anti-fogging properties of the observation window due to air supply / water supply is not particularly taken into consideration, and fogging occurs due to excessive air supply of the observation window. There is a risk that the observation window may be insufficiently cleaned due to insufficient air supply, or the observation may be hindered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and for a plurality of endoscopes having different application sites in a body cavity, the wiping property and anti-fogging property of an observation window by air / water feeding are optimized and always good. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope system capable of obtaining observability.

An endoscope system according to one aspect of the present invention is an endoscope system including an endoscope that uses a stomach as an application site and an endoscope that uses a large intestine as an application site, and includes an endoscope that uses the stomach as an application site. each of the endoscope for the large intestine and application site and endoscope, which comprises an air water conduit communicating with a nozzle and the nozzle for air and water supply to the surface of the observation window, the air supply By reducing the air flow rate by reducing the inner diameter of the air supply line that merges with the water supply line at the proximal side of the water supply line, the flow rate of the air supply from the nozzle is reduced, thereby making the stomach an application site. The wiping performance of the endoscope on the surface of the observation window with respect to moisture is lower than the wiping performance of the endoscope on the surface of the observation window of the endoscope with the large intestine as the application site, and at least the stomach is applied to the application site. To maintain the presence of a water film on the surface of the observation window of the endoscope In, the flow rate of air from the nozzle of the endoscope to the site of application of the stomach, and set slower than the flow rate of air from the nozzle of the endoscope to the site of application of the large intestine, further, The larger the inner diameter of the air supply pipeline, the longer the air supply / water supply pipeline.
An endoscope system according to another aspect of the present invention is an endoscope system including a plurality of endoscopes having different application sites, and each of the plurality of endoscopes is sent to the surface of an observation window. A nozzle for supplying air and an air / water supply pipe communicating with the nozzle, and reducing the inner diameter of the air supply pipe joining the water supply on the proximal side of the air / water supply pipe By reducing the air flow rate and slowing down the air flow rate from the nozzle, the wiping property against the moisture on the surface of the observation window of the endoscope having the body cavity that tends to be cloudy as the application site, and the application site in the other body cavity Maintains a state in which a water film is present on the surface of the observation window of an endoscope that is lower than the moisture wiping property of the surface of the observation window of other endoscopes and that has at least the body cavity that is likely to be cloudy. Endoscope that uses the body cavity that tends to cloud as much as possible The flow rate of air from the nozzles, the set slower than the flow rate of the air from the other of the nozzle of another endoscope to the body cavity and the application site, further, the greater the inner diameter of the feed conduit The air / water supply pipeline is lengthened.

  According to the present invention, for a plurality of endoscopes having different application sites in a body cavity, it is possible to optimize the wiping property and antifogging property of the observation window by air / water feeding and always obtain good observation properties. .

Configuration diagram of endoscope system Front view of the distal end side of the insertion part of the endoscope AA line sectional view of FIG. Explanatory drawing schematically showing the situation where fogging occurs in the observation window Explanatory drawing schematically showing the situation where fogging does not occur in the observation window Explanatory drawing which shows the result of having simulated the change of the amount of supplied air and the flow velocity with respect to the change of the pipe diameter

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an endoscope system configured for a plurality of endoscopes 2_n (n = 1, 2,...) Having different application sites in a body cavity such as the stomach or large intestine of a human body. . The endoscope system 1 includes a light source device 3 that supplies illumination light for observation to an endoscope 2_n, an air / water supply device 4 that sends fluid such as air and water to the endoscope 2_n, and an endoscope 2_n. It includes a video processor device 5 that processes various signals including an imaging signal, and an external device such as a monitor 6 that receives a signal output from the video processor device 5 and displays an image of an observation site.

  In addition, as for the external device included in the endoscope system 1, corresponding types of device groups are combined for each group of endoscopes 2_n having the same function. FIG. 1 exemplifies one of a plurality of endoscopes 2 — n as a representative, and will be simply referred to as “endoscope 2” below.

  The endoscope 2 includes a long and thin insertion portion 7 to be inserted into a body cavity, an operation portion 12 connected to the proximal end side of the insertion portion 7 and also serving as a gripping portion, and a side portion of the operation portion 12 And a universal cord 17 extending from the inside, and an image sensor is built in the distal end portion of the insertion portion 7. At the tip of the universal cord 17, an endoscope connector 18 is provided for connection to external devices such as the light source device 3, the air / water supply device 4, and the video processor device 5.

  The insertion portion 7 of the endoscope 2 includes a hard distal end portion 8 formed at the distal end thereof, a bending portion 9 formed at the proximal end of the distal end portion 8, and the operation portion 12 from the proximal end of the bending portion 9. And a flexible tube portion 10 having flexibility that is formed up to. In the insertion portion 7, a light guide, a signal cable, a bending operation wire (not shown), and tubes forming various channels (treatment instrument channel, air / water channel, suction channel) are inserted.

  The operation section 12 is provided with a bending operation knob 13 for bending the bending section 9 of the insertion section 7, an operation button 14a for air / water supply, a suction button 14b, a switch 15 for various endoscope functions, and the like. Yes. The bending operation knob 13 includes an up / down bending operation knob 13a for bending the bending portion 9 in the up / down direction and a left / right bending operation knob 13b for bending the bending portion 9 in the left / right direction. . A treatment instrument insertion port 16 is provided on the insertion portion 7 side of the operation portion 12. The treatment instrument insertion port 16 is an opening communicating with the treatment instrument channel, and various treatment instruments are inserted into the treatment instrument channel via the treatment instrument insertion opening 16.

  The universal cord 17 extended from the operation unit 12 is detachably connected to the light source device 3 via an endoscope connector 18 provided at an end thereof, and a channel for air supply / water supply of the universal cord 17 is provided. The air / water supply device 4 is connected via the endoscope connector 18. Furthermore, the video connector 19B of the video cable 19 is detachably connected to the endoscope connector 18, and the video cable 19 is connected to the video processor device 5 via the processor connector 19A provided at the other end. Removably connected.

  The video processor device 5 is electrically connected to a monitor 6 that displays an endoscopic image. The video processor device 5 processes the imaging signal that has been photoelectrically converted by the imaging device of the endoscope 2 and transmitted to the optimal video signal, and outputs it to the monitor 6.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of the distal end portion 8 of the endoscope 2 as viewed from the distal end side. In FIG. 2, an observation window 20 made of an objective lens is disposed on the distal end side of the distal end portion 8 in FIG. 2, and a suction channel 21 is disposed on the other lateral side. A large illumination window 22 made up of an illumination lens is arranged on the lower side, and a small illumination window 23 made up of a small illumination lens is arranged respectively. Further, an air / water nozzle 24 is disposed adjacent to the observation window 20, and a discharge port 24 a of the nozzle 24 is disposed toward the observation window 20. A small illumination window 23 is provided adjacently obliquely below the observation window 20.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2 and shows a cross section from the nozzle 24 to the observation window 20. As shown in FIG. 3, a distal end hard member 30 is provided at the distal end portion 8, and a distal end cover 31 is covered on the distal end side of the distal end rigid member 30. Further, a bending member 32 is fitted to the rear end side of the distal end hard member 30, and a cover member 33 serving as an outer skin is covered from the rear end of the end cover 31 to the bending member 32.

  A nozzle 24 is fixed to the distal end hard member 30 via a nozzle support frame 34 on the distal end side, and a pipe 35 that forms a conduit communicating with the nozzle 24 is fitted on the rear end side. The pipe 35 is fitted with a tube 36 that forms an air / water supply conduit serving as an air / water supply channel, and a distal end side of a connection pipe 37 is fitted to the rear end of the tube 36.

  The other end of the connection pipe 37 is bifurcated, and a tube 38 that forms a water supply conduit that becomes a channel for water supply and a tube 39 that forms an air supply conduit that becomes a channel for air supply are fitted. ing. The water supply pipe line and the air supply pipe line formed by these tubes 38 and 39 are merged on the proximal side of the air supply / water supply pipe line formed by the tube 36 and communicated with the air / water supply nozzle 24.

  In addition, an objective lens support tube 40 is fixed to the distal end hard member 30, and a lens group such as a first lens 41 that forms the observation window 20 is disposed on the objective lens support tube 40 in order from the distal end side. Has been. An imaging unit 50 is disposed behind these lens groups. The imaging unit 50 is a unit obtained by electrically connecting a circuit board portion 54 on which a plurality of electronic components such as capacitors, resistors, and transistors are mounted to a solid-state imaging device 51 made of CMOS, CCD, or the like.

  A protective cover glass 52 is bonded to the imaging surface of the solid-state imaging device 51, and a centering cover glass 53 is bonded to the cover glass 52 and bonded thereto. The circuit board portion 54 is disposed on the back side (the back side of the imaging surface) of the solid-state imaging element 51 and is integrally formed with the solid-state imaging element 51 by an insulating sealing resin.

  On the other hand, on the tip side of the tip cover 31, there is a flat portion 60 that forms a reference surface, and this flat portion 60 occupies most of the tip surface of the tip portion 8. A window surface 20a that is the surface of the observation window 20 protrudes from the flat portion 60 by, for example, about 0.3 mm. An inclined portion 61 is provided toward 20a. In short, the portion around the observation window 20 of the tip cover 31 is tapered toward the outer peripheral edge of the observation window 20. When a slight gap is generated between the periphery of the window surface 20a of the observation window 20 and the inclined portion 61, the gap is filled with an adhesive or the like.

  And the discharge port 24a of the nozzle 24 for air / water supply is installed so that it may get on the flat part 60. FIG. Further, the suction channel 21 is opened in the flat portion 60 as shown in FIG. The large illumination window 22 and the small illumination window 23 also protrude to the same height as the observation window 20 with respect to the flat portion 60 that forms the reference plane, and an inclined wall 63 is formed at the boundary with the flat portion 60. Yes.

  Here, the adhering matter adhering to the window surface 20 a of the observation window 20 can be removed by operating the air / water operation button 14 a of the operation unit 12 and supplying water from the nozzle 24. The water sent out from the nozzle 24 is sent out from the flat part 60 to the window surface 20a of the observation window 20 that protrudes through the inclined part 61, and moves from the observation window 20 to the flat part 60 through the inclined part 61 while sweeping the deposits. To do.

At this time, excess moisture remaining on the window surface 20 a of the observation window 20 can be removed by supplying air from the nozzle 24. However, depending on the endoscope 2, since the flow rate of the air supply is too high , the thin water film formed on the window surface 20a is wiped off, and the window surface 20a exposed by the wiping of the water film is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the vapor Wp in the body cavity adheres and forms condensation, which may cause clouding.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, if a thin water film Wd exists on the window surface 20a of the observation window, clouding does not occur, but the water film Wd on the surface of the observation window 20 is removed while the flow rate of air is high. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the vapor Wp adheres to the window surface 20 a of the observation window 20 to cause condensation, resulting in cloudiness.

Such fogging of the observation window 20 is more likely to occur as the volume of the application site where the endoscope is used increases. For example, in a portion of a large space such as the stomach that is in a high humidity state, cloudiness is likely to occur due to temperature changes caused by air / water feeding. Therefore, as in the stomach such that saturated steam of high humidity is filled, the larger the volume of the body lumen in which the endoscope 2 is applied, to slow down the flow rate of the air from the nozzle 24, the observation window 20 The wiping property with respect to moisture on the surface is lowered to maintain the water film Wd, and the antifogging property is ensured.

In addition, in an endoscope that uses a stomach or the like in which high-humidity air is filled in a wide space at the time of observation as an application site, other body cavities such as the large intestine where a lot of moisture remains at the time of observation are used as other application sites. Compared with the endoscope, the observation window 20 is more likely to be fogged. For this reason, when the endoscope 2 is applied to a body lumen that tends to be cloudy, the flow rate of air supplied from the nozzle 24 is compared with other endoscopes that are applied to a body lumen that is difficult to cloud. and then slow, with a lower wiping against water film Wd of the observation window 20 surface to ensure antifogging.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the flow velocity of the air supply from the nozzle 24 is set appropriately by setting the inner diameter d (the inner diameter of the air supply conduit) d of the tube 39 according to the application site of the endoscope. Adjust to. That is, when the volume of the body lumen to which the endoscope 2 is applied is large, or when the application site is a body lumen that is easily cloudy, the volume of the application site is small or the body tube that is difficult to cloud the application site. The flow path resistance is increased by reducing the inner diameter d (the inner diameter of the air supply conduit) d of the tube 39 as compared to the case of the cavity, and the flow velocity of the air supply from the nozzle 24 is decreased to wipe the moisture on the surface of the observation window 20. The anti-fogging performance.

  At that time, the larger the inner diameter d of the tube 39 (the diameter of the air supply conduit), the longer the effective length L of the tube 36 (the length of the air supply / water supply conduit) L, thereby avoiding a decrease in the antifogging property. That is, in the air / water supply pipeline where the air supply pipeline and the water supply pipeline join together, water droplets remain when water is supplied, so by increasing the length of this air / water supply pipeline, the air supply pipeline is thicker Even in this case, sufficient moisture can be included in the air supply, and the removal of moisture on the surface of the observation window 20 by the air supply such as dry air can be avoided to prevent the occurrence of cloudiness.

  FIG. 6 shows a simulation result of calculating the air supply amount Q when the inner diameter d of the air supply conduit and the length L of the air supply / water supply conduit are changed. In this simulation, the nozzles 24 are common (nozzle diameter constant), and the air supply amount Q when d = 1 mm and L = 100 mm is used as a reference for comparison (Q = 100). However, Q is not a numerical value indicating an actual flow rate but a numerical value indicating a reference for comparison.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the inner diameter d of the air supply conduit is increased to 1.5 times and 2 times thicker than the reference, the air supply amount Q becomes 1.31 times and 1.37 times, respectively. . Assuming that the flow velocity V at the reference air supply amount Q is 100, the flow velocity is obtained by dividing the air supply amount by the cross-sectional area. Therefore, if the inner diameter d of the air supply conduit is increased by 1.5 times or 2 times, Even if the air volume Q increases to 1.31 times and 1.37 times, the flow velocity V decreases to 0.58 times and 0.34 times. Also, if the length L of the air supply conduit is doubled with respect to the reference, the amount of air supply when the inner diameter d is doubled is the same as that when the inner diameter d is 1.5 times longer than the length L. The air volume is almost the same (Q = 131), and the flow velocity is also reduced by a factor of 0.58.

  Thereby, by setting the inner diameter d of the air supply conduit for each endoscope having different application sites in the body cavity and optimizing the flow rate of the air supply from the nozzle 24, unnecessary moisture on the surface of the observation window 20 is supplied. , While avoiding the loss of the water film on the surface of the observation window 20 due to excessive wiping, the anti-fogging performance can be ensured.

  In this case, the flow rate of the air supply may be changed by changing the pipe cross-sectional area of the nozzle 24 by providing a restriction in the nozzle 24. Furthermore, in the air / water supply device 4, the air supply pressure is controlled by changing the pressure of the air supply according to the application site of the connected endoscope, and the flow rate of the air supply from the nozzle 24 is adjusted appropriately. You may do it.

Thus, in this embodiment, to the plurality of endoscopes application site it is different in the body cavity, to water of the surface of the slow to the observation window of the flow rate of the air from the nozzle as the volume of the application site increases Reduce wiping properties. As a result, it is possible to prevent fogging from being easily generated due to excessive air supply of the observation window, and conversely, it is possible to avoid insufficient cleaning of the observation window due to insufficient air supply. By optimizing the wiping property and the anti-fogging property of the observation window, it is possible to always obtain a good observability.

1 Endoscope system 2_n Endoscope (multiple endoscopes)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Light source device 4 Air supply / water supply apparatus 5 Video processor apparatus 6 Monitor 7 Insertion part 8 Tip part 9 Bending part 10 Flexible pipe part 12 Operation part 13 Bending operation knob 13a Vertical bending operation knob 13b Left and right bending operation knob 14a Operation button 14b Suction Button 15 Switch 16 Treatment tool insertion port 17 Universal code 18 Endoscope connector 19 Video cable 19A Processor connector 19B Video connector 20 Observation window 20a Window surface (observation window surface)
21 Suction channel 22 Large illumination window 23 Small illumination window 24 Nozzle (nozzle for air / water supply)
24a Discharge port 30 Tip hard member 31 Tip cover 32 Curved member 33 Cover member 34 Nozzle support frame 35 Pipe 36 Tube (air supply / water supply conduit)
37 Connection pipe 38 Tube (water supply conduit)
39 Tube (air supply line)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 40 Objective lens support cylinder 41 1st lens 50 Imaging unit 51 Solid-state image sensor 52 Cover glass 53 Cover glass 54 Circuit board part 60 Flat part 61 Inclined part 63 Inclined wall Wp Vapor Wd Water film d Inner diameter Q Air supply amount V flow velocity

Claims (3)

An endoscope system including an endoscope having an application site of the stomach and an endoscope having an application site of the large intestine,
Each of the endoscope using the stomach as the application site and the endoscope using the large intestine as the application site includes a nozzle for supplying and supplying water to the surface of the observation window and an air supply / water supply conduit communicating with the nozzle. Has
By reducing the air flow rate by reducing the inner diameter of the air supply line that merges with the water supply line on the proximal side of the air / water supply line, the flow rate of the air supply from the nozzle is reduced, thereby reducing the stomach. The wiping property of the surface of the observation window of the endoscope as the application site is lower than the wiping property of the surface of the observation window of the endoscope as the application site of the large intestine, and at least the stomach The flow rate of the air supply from the nozzle of the endoscope to which the stomach is applied is kept to the extent that the water film is present on the surface of the observation window of the endoscope having the application site. Set slower than the flow rate of air from the nozzle of the endoscope as the application site ,
Furthermore, the endoscope system is characterized in that the larger the inner diameter of the air supply conduit, the longer the air supply / water supply conduit . An endoscope system composed of a plurality of endoscopes having different application sites,
Each of the plurality of endoscopes includes a nozzle for supplying and supplying water to the surface of the observation window, and an air / water supply conduit communicating with the nozzle,
A body cavity that tends to become cloudy by reducing the amount of air supply by reducing the inner diameter of the air supply conduit that merges with the water supply conduit on the proximal side of the air supply / water supply conduit, thereby reducing the flow rate of the air supply from the nozzle The wiping property of the surface of the observation window of the endoscope having the application site is lower than the wiping property of the surface of the observation window of the other endoscope using the other body cavity, and at least The air supply from the nozzle of the endoscope having the easily-cloudy body cavity as the application site is maintained to the extent that the water film is present on the surface of the observation window of the endoscope having the easily-cloudy body cavity as the application site. The flow rate is set to be slower than the flow rate of air supplied from the nozzle of another endoscope that uses the other body cavity as an application site ,
Furthermore, the endoscope system is characterized in that the larger the inner diameter of the air supply conduit, the longer the air supply / water supply conduit .   The endoscope system according to claim 1, wherein the wiping property is adjusted by changing a pressure of air supply.