JPS6247534B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an endoscope that detects microwaves emitted from the inner wall of a body cavity and orally detects lesions under the surface of the body cavity wall.

In general, an endoscope is used to visually observe the surface of the mucous membrane within a living body cavity, and in order to discover a lesion, etc., it is necessary that it be visible. On the other hand, it has recently been known that lesions such as tumors that occur in living tissues exhibit higher temperatures than other normal tissues.Based on this, for example, temperature sensing elements can be inserted into body cavities to measure the temperature of the walls of body cavities. Attempts have been made to detect lesions by directly measuring the temperature of body cavity walls or by measuring far-infrared rays emitted by living tissues. However, with these conventional methods, it is only possible to discover lesions that appear on the surface of the body cavity wall, and it is difficult to discover lesions hidden inside the body cavity wall, compared to visual inspection with an endoscope. In the end, there was no big difference.

Therefore, the present inventors focused on the microwave region of electromagnetic waves that are emitted by living tissues at an intensity that corresponds to their temperature state. In other words, although the radiation intensity of microwaves emitted from living tissues is lower than that of far infrared rays, they can easily penetrate living tissues.
By detecting the strength of microwaves emitted from within tissues at a certain wavelength, it is possible to discover deep lesions. However, the receiver for receiving microwaves has directivity, so in order to measure at various measurement points, it is necessary to change the direction of the tip of the endoscope insertion section for each measurement point, or to make measurements at various measurement points. Since the sensor must be moved, there is a problem in that the measurement work is quite time-consuming in order to measure a wide range.

This invention was made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an endoscope that can efficiently discover lesions, etc. that exist under the surface of body cavity walls over a wide range. It is something.

The present invention will be described below based on an illustrated embodiment. In the figure, 1 indicates an endoscope, 2 is an operating section of this endoscope 1, and 3 is an insertion section. This insertion part 3
is composed of a flexible portion 4, a curved portion 5, and a tip forming portion 6. In addition, the operation section 2 includes:
A bending operation knob 7 for bending the bending portion 5 is provided, and a universal cord 8 is provided.
is led out, and this universal cord 8 is connected to a light source device 9.

Further, the tip forming portion 6 is configured as shown in FIG. 3. That is, 10 is a tip case, and this tip case 10 is made of a thin transparent plastic material and covers the tip of the tip component 6 in a watertight manner. And this tip case 1
A rotor 11 is rotatably attached to the inside of the shaft 12 by a shaft 12. This rotator 11 is formed of a highly conductive material, and has an end 13a on the light output side of a light guide fiber 13 serving as an illumination optical system.
is fixed, and one end side of an observation window 14 and an image guide fiber 15 as an observation optical system are fixed. The other end of the image guide fiber 15 is guided to an eyepiece 16 provided in the operating section 2. The other end of the light guide fiber 13 is led to a light source device 9 through a universal cord 8.

Further, an antenna section 17 for microwave reception is opened in the rotator 11, and this antenna section 1
A resonant portion 18 is formed to communicate with the resonator 7 and form a cavity. A detector 19 converts the resonant microwave into an electrical output, and the detector 19, the resonator 18, and the antenna 17 constitute a microwave receiver 20. A conductive wire 21 is connected to the detector 19, and the conductive wire 21 passes through the universal cord 8 and the guide tube 22 and is connected to the processing display device 23. The processing display device 23 includes, as an example, an amplifier 24, a converter 25 that processes the amplified signal and converts it into a temperature display signal, and a display 26 that visually displays display contents. It is configured. 27 is an operation switch.

The rotator 11 is connected to the rotary operation wire 28
The rotation operation is performed by the .
That is, the rotator 11 is always biased to rotate in one direction by an elastic body (not shown), and the wire 28 rotates the rotator 11 against the biasing force when the wire 28 is pulled. It is. This wire 2
The towing operation 8 is performed by a rotation operation knob 29 provided on the operation section 2.

In the endoscope 1 configured as described above, the insertion section 3 is inserted into the body cavity, and the distal end component 6 is positioned on the inner surface of the body cavity wall to be examined. Then, microwaves with an intensity corresponding to the tissue temperature are emitted from below the surface of the area to which the microwave receiver 20 is directed.
The light is taken in from the antenna section 17 and enters the resonant section 18, where a specific wavelength resonates and is converted into an electrical output by the detector 19. The output is amplified by an amplifier 24, converted to a temperature display by a converter 25, and displayed on a display 26. When there is a lesion such as cancer, the temperature at the lesion site is about 1°C higher than the surrounding normal tissue, so by detecting this temperature difference, it is possible to detect the temperature deep below the surface of the body cavity wall. Hidden lesions can be discovered.

After performing microwave measurement at a certain measurement point as described above, by operating the rotation operation knob 29, the rotation element 11 is rotated somewhat to change the direction of the microwave receiver 20. At the same time, the observation window 14 and the end portion 13a of the light guide fiber 13 are also moved in the same direction, allowing observation in the same direction as the microwave reception direction. While observing the surface of the body cavity wall through the observation window 14, the microwave receiver 20 oriented in this direction receives microwaves below the surface, and the temperature is displayed on the display 26 in the same manner as above. Ru. When the measurement at this measurement point is completed, the rotator 11 is further rotated to carry out microwave measurement at the next measurement point and visual observation of the surface of the corresponding part.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by rotating the rotator 11 while the tip component 6 is fixed at one location, it is possible to conduct microwave measurements over a wide range of locations. The efficiency of measurement work can be significantly improved. Since the observation window 14 moves in the same direction in conjunction with the microwave receiver 20, the surface of the temperature measurement point can always be observed at the same time, and the state of the mucosal surface containing the lesion can be determined. It has the advantage of being always visible to the naked eye at the same time.

Although this embodiment has been constructed as described above, various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. For example, the microwave receiver may be integrally attached to a base, which is a separate rotatable member, and rotated together with the base. Further, the microwave receiver may be provided in the middle of the curved portion or the flexible portion. Further, the mechanism for rotating is not limited to the wire system as in this embodiment, but may be rotated by, for example, a hydraulic mechanism. Alternatively, only the microwave receiver may be rotated.

As described above, the present invention includes a rotatably provided microwave receiver capable of arbitrarily changing the reception direction in the insertion portion of the endoscope, and an observation window of the observation optical system that is connected to the microwave receiver. Since the microwave receiver is mounted on a rotator that moves in unison with the microwave receiver, it is possible to receive microwaves over a wide range while keeping the insertion tube fixed, without having to move or bend the insertion tube. Moreover, it is now possible to simultaneously visually observe the state of the surface structure at the location where the microwaves have been received, and inspection efficiency can be significantly improved. Therefore, it is possible to accurately test a wide range in a short period of time, and the insertion time can be shortened, resulting in great effects in endoscopic biological cavity testing using microwaves.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an endoscope and its ancillary equipment, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a microwave measuring device, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tip of the endoscope. , FIGS. 4 to 6 are perspective views of the rotator cut away at different parts, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the rotator. 1... Endoscope, 2... Operation section, 3... Insertion section,
11...Rotator, 14...Observation window (observation optical system), 15...Image guide fiber (observation optical system), 20...Microwave receiver.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A rotatable microwave receiver whose reception direction can be arbitrarily changed by remote control from an operating section is provided in the insertion section of an endoscope having an observation optical system, and an observation window of the observation optical system is provided. An endoscope characterized in that the above-mentioned endoscope is attached to a rotator that moves together with the microwave receiver so as to face the same direction as the microwave receiver.