JP7630241B2 - Extendable curved suction tube - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a medical suction device.

The blood, tissue fluid, and tissue fragments that are produced during endoscopic surgery significantly reduce the visibility of the surgical field, and therefore must be removed promptly. To ensure visibility, the surgical field must also be constantly washed with a cleaning fluid such as saline or artificial cerebrospinal fluid, and these fluids must also be removed successively. Currently, surgical suction tubes are used for this purpose. These are thin, metallic, cylindrical instruments connected to a negative pressure suction device by a hose-like tube, and apply suction from the tip to suck up and remove liquids and small tissue fragments.

When performing suction processing at a site away from the longitudinal direction of the suction tube, there are suction tubes whose tips are bent in advance or whose tips are bent manually before insertion into the surgical field.

Another suction tube has been devised that, after being inserted into the surgical field, allows the tip to be swiveled by operating a dial at the base, making it possible to perform suction treatment in an area away from the longitudinal direction of the suction tube.

Jitszen No. 55-170581 Jitszen No. 59-53039 JP 2005-261621 A

Surgical Equipment Catalog "Neurosurgery Vol. 18-20" Fujita Medical Instruments Co., Ltd.

In endoscopic surgery, particularly in transnasal endoscopic surgery performed via the nostrils, the space used for surgery is narrow and cylindrical, and the direction in which surgical instruments are inserted is limited to the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical entry path. When observing the surgical field, it is possible to observe the side of the cylindrical surgical field by using an endoscope (side-viewing scope) that can observe in directions of 30 degrees or 70 degrees from the longitudinal direction of the endoscope. However, in order to perform surgical operations on the lateral surgical field observed using the side-viewing scope, surgical instruments with bent tips that can reach the lateral side are required, because the axis of insertion of the instrument and the axis of operation toward the target are different.

There are suction tubes with pre-bent tips, or that are manually pre-bent before use, but because the angle of bending and tip length are fixed before insertion into the surgical field, multiple types of suction tubes must be prepared for each required degree of lateral reach, or the suction tube must be pulled back from the surgical field and manually deformed each time. Furthermore, if the tip is too long after the bend, it will become tethered to surrounding tissues on the way through a narrow entry path, making insertion difficult, so the length of the tip and the degree of lateral reach are limited.

A suction tube has also been devised that allows the tip of the treatment unit to be swiveled by operating a dial on the operating part at the base, making it possible to direct the suction hole to the side within a deep surgical field; however, bending the tip requires additional complex manual operations such as adjusting the dial. In endoscopic surgery, surgical instruments such as forceps and scissors are often held in the dominant hand and the suction tube is held in the non-dominant hand, and this makes it difficult to operate the suction tube, which requires complex operations with the non-dominant hand, making the surgery more difficult, increasing the burden on the surgeon, and may be a factor in increasing the risks of surgery.

The present invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and aims to provide a suction tube that can perform suction treatment at a site away from the longitudinal direction of the main body with a simple operation of the base in order to deal with bleeding, leakage of bodily fluids, and scattering of tissue fragments during surgery at a site away from the longitudinal direction of the endoscope.

In order to solve the above problems, the suction tube according to the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a processing section with a curved tip on one end, a hollow shaft section formed in a main body section, a flexible inner tube having a hollow section inserted into the hollow section of the main body and connected to the rear end of the main body, a suction mechanism connected to the rear end of the inner tube at an arbitrary rotation angle and performing suction on the hollow section of the inner tube, and an operating section having a mechanism for pushing out the inner tube, and the inner tube is extended at an angle from the curved processing section at the tip of the main body to the longitudinal direction of the main body shaft section by the pushing mechanism, thereby enabling suction treatment with a certain degree of spread around the end of the shaft section.Furthermore, the operating section is characterized in that an adjustment hole for adjusting the suction pressure and a protrusion for pressing down the inner tube are provided adjacent to each other, so that the suction pressure can be adjusted with the pad of one finger and the inner tube can be pressed down with the tip of the same finger.

In accordance with the present invention, the tip of the suction tube extends at an angle from the longitudinal direction, making it possible to suction bleeding, leakage of bodily fluids, and scattering of tissue fragments during surgery that occur at a site away from the longitudinal direction of the endoscope. The inner tube of the shaft can be connected to the control unit at a desired rotation angle, so it can be extended in a desired direction in the cross section of the main shaft, making suction possible. The action required to extend the inner tube is a simple one of pressing down the protrusion of the control unit, so treatment can be easily performed even with a non-dominant hand. As suction treatment can be performed around the end of the shaft with a certain degree of spread, it is not necessary to change the suction tube depending on the target site or to pull the suction tube out of the surgical field and reshape the tip, and surgery can be continued with the same suction tube.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a medical suction tube according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a rear view of the medical suction tube according to the first state of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the shaft portion 1, the coil spring 4, and the outer cylinder shell portion 6 shown in FIGS. FIG. 4 is a view showing the inner cylinder 7 and the outer cylinder second part 8 shown in FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the handle 14 shown in FIGS. FIG. 6 is a view showing the cover 19 shown in FIGS. FIG. 7 is a three-dimensional perspective view of the cover 19 shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a side view of the medical suction tube according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of surgery using the medical suction tube shown in FIGS.

Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following description, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, this suction tube, which is a medical treatment tool, has a shaft portion 1 made of a bendable flexible tube, a processing portion 2 at its tip, and an operating portion 3 at its rear end.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the main body shaft 1 has a hollow portion, and the tip of the shaft has a curved processing section 2 that opens at an angle in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, a coil spring 4 is fitted onto the rear end of the shaft 1, and the tip of the coil spring is welded to the main shaft and fixed at welded portion 5a. The rear end of the coil spring is connected to an outer tube shell 6 made of steel material at welded portion 5b.

As shown in Figures 1 to 4, a thin-diameter elastic cylindrical inner tube 7 made of silicone resin or the like is inserted into the hollow shaft 1. The inner tube 7 is connected at its rear end to an outer tube B part 8 made of steel, which is screwed into a connecting part 9 of an outer tube shell part 6 connected to the rear end of the shaft 1 via a coil spring 4. The inner tube 7 and the outer tube B part 8 made of silicone resin or the like can be detached at a connecting part 10, and when the inner tube is damaged or deformed, it can be replaced with a new inner tube as needed.

As shown in Figures 1 to 5, the outer tube part 8 connected to the inner tube 7 is inserted into the handle 14 at its rear end. The rear end of the handle 14 has a cylindrical sawtooth connector 15 molded integrally with the handle, which is used to connect a tube to a suction source 16. By connecting to the suction source 16, it becomes possible to apply suction pressure to the hollow part of the inner tube 7.

As shown in FIG. 5, the handle 14 has an adjustment hole 17, and the suction pressure can be adjusted by blocking the adjustment hole with the thumb to maximize the suction pressure applied to the inner tube 7, and by opening the adjustment hole to decrease the suction pressure. In addition, the handle 14 has a protrusion 18 on the tip side adjacent to the adjustment hole 17.

As shown in Figures 1 to 8, the coil spring expands and contracts in the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion 1 between a first state 4, which is at least its natural length, and a second state 11, which is more contracted than the first state. The longitudinal length of the coil spring 4 in the first state is longer than the longitudinal length of the coil spring 11 in the second state. Therefore, the longitudinal distance between the processing portion 2 and the protrusion 18 of the handle in the first state is longer than the longitudinal distance between the processing portion 2 and the protrusion 18 of the handle in the second state. Also, the longitudinal length of the coil spring 11 in at least the second state is shorter than the natural length of the coil spring 4.

As shown in Figure 8, in the second state 11 where the coil spring is contracted, the inner tube 7 connected to the coil spring via the outer tube first part 6 and the outer tube second part 8 moves toward the tip of the shaft part 1, and the tip 13 of the flexible inner tube extends at an angle from the longitudinal direction of the shaft from the curved processing part 2 at the tip of the shaft part.

When the handle protrusion 18 is pressed in the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion 1, the coil spring is put into the contracted second state 11 via the outer tube first portion 6 and the outer tube second portion 8 connected to the handle, making it possible to push out the inner tube 7.

As shown in Figure 1, when the force pushing out the handle protrusion 18 is reduced, the coil spring returns to the first state 4 due to the force of the spring returning to its natural length, the inner tube 7 moves rearward in the shaft, and the tip 12 of the inner tube is stored in the opening at the tip of the shaft.

As shown in Figure 5, the adjustment hole 17 and protrusion 18 of the handle are adjacent, allowing the adjustment hole 17 to be opened and closed with the pad of the thumb while the protrusion 18 can be pressed down with the tip of the thumb.

As shown in Figures 6 and 7, a resin cover 19 is provided that has a cylindrical cross section formed into a C-shape with a gap in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder, and the cover is attached to the coil spring 4 as shown in Figure 1. The cover 19 is fixed by engaging with the welded portion 5a of the coil spring 4 and the main body shaft portion 1 at the fixing portion 20.

A flange 21 is integrally molded on the rear end of the cover 19, and when the protrusion 18 of the handle portion is pressed down with the thumb, the flange 21 serves as a fulcrum for supporting the main shaft portion with the middle finger, ring finger, or any other suitable combination of fingers.

As shown in Figure 9, for example, this medical suction tube is used to remove a tumor A from the pituitary gland. First, endoscope B is inserted from nostril C toward the pituitary gland, and the affected area is illuminated with endoscope B.

The surgeon holds the handle 14 and inserts the shaft 1 of the medical suction tube into the nostril C parallel to the endoscope. The serrated connector 15 at the rear end of the handle 14 is connected to a suction source via a tube, making it possible to apply suction pressure inside the hollow part of the inner tube 7. The suction pressure is maximized when the surgeon closes the adjustment hole 17 with the thumb of the hand holding the handle 14, and is minimized when the adjustment hole is opened.

Next, the flange 21 of the cover is held with the middle and ring fingers of the hand holding the handle 14, and the protrusion 18 is pressed down with the tip of the thumb to push out the inner tube 7, making it possible to push out the inner tube 7 from the processing section 2 at the tip of the shaft at an angle to the longitudinal direction of the shaft 1.

In this way, when the shaft portion 1 is inserted into the patient's body, the inner tube 7 can be pushed out at an angle from the longitudinal direction, so that the area around the end of the treatment portion 2 inside the patient's body can be treated with a certain degree of breadth.

LIST OF SYMBOLS 1 Shaft portion 2 Processing portion 3 Operation portion 4, 11 Coil spring 5a Welded portion between coil spring and shaft portion 5b Welded portion between coil spring and outer tube shell portion 6 Outer tube shell portion 7, 12, 13 Inner tube 8 Outer tube second portion 9 Connection portion between outer tube shell portion and outer tube second portion 10 Connection portion between inner tube and outer tube second portion 14 Handle 15 Serrated connector 16 Suction source 17 Adjustment hole 18 Protrusion 19 Cover 20 Fixation portion between cover and shaft portion 21 Flange

Claims (1)

A medical suction tube comprising a shaft having a hollow portion, a curved tip, an inner tube inserted into the shaft, and a base equipped with an operating part, the operating part having an adjustment hole capable of adjusting the suction pressure and a protrusion for pressing down on the inner tube, the adjustment hole being adjacent to the operating part, and the inner tube being capable of being pushed out and suction adjustment with the tip and pad of a single finger, and the tip of the inner tube inserted into the shaft being extended at an angle from the longitudinal direction of the shaft when the protrusion of the operating part is pressed down.