JPH0410326B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an endoscope with an improved bending operation mechanism.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems] In general, the insertion section of an endoscope used in the stomach, small intestine, etc. consists of a distal end component attached to the distal end of a flexible tube section via a curved tube section. The curved tube section can be remotely curved by operating a curve operation mechanism in the proximal operation section of the endoscope. The specific operating means for operating the curved tube section is to connect the operating mechanism and the curved tube section by means of an operating wire passed through the flexible tube section, and to push and pull the operating wire. The part is curved.

However, in actual use, if the tip component is already in contact with the inner wall of the body cavity, if you perform a bending operation further toward the inner wall without noticing this, the tip component will be strong against the wall of the body cavity. There was a risk of being pushed against it and damaging the walls of the body's internal canals. Furthermore, while the bending operation mechanism is fixed while the bending tube section is being bent, the bending operation mechanism is fixed to continue maintaining the bending state. In some cases, the patient may make the mistake of pulling the needle out of the body cavity, which not only causes great pain to the patient, but also causes unforeseen consequences such as the tip biting into the inner wall of the esophagus, causing injury. There is a risk of inviting

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an endoscopic system which ensures the safety of the bending operation by detecting the amount of bending of the bending pipe section and issuing an alarm. It's about providing a mirror.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a curved amount detection device such as a magnetoresistive element that detects the curved amount of the curved tube section based on the amount of movement of an operating wire, for example, in a curved component built in the curved tube section. An alarm device is activated by the output signal from the curve amount detector.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, numeral 1 is an operating section of the endoscope, and numeral 2 is an insertion section. The insertion section 2 is formed by attaching a distal end component 5 to the distal end of a flexible tube section 3 via a curved tube section 4, and the curved tube section 4 is operated by a bending operation mechanism 6 of the operation section 1 as described later. It is now possible to operate it remotely.

Inside the curved tube section 4, a large number of pieces 7 as curved members are connected via pins 7a, respectively, so that the tube can be curved over its entire length. On the other hand, four operating wires 8 are attached to the upper, lower, left, right, and inner ends of the frontmost piece 7, respectively.
The tips of each of the above operating wires 8... are connected to each other.
... is a guide ring 9 formed on the inner surface of each piece 7...
It is attached so that it can be inserted into the shaft and slid in the longitudinal direction. Furthermore, each operating wire 8... is connected to an operating wire insertion channel 10 provided in the flexible tube section 3.
... is guided to the bending operation mechanism 6 of the operation section 1.

On the other hand, each of the operating wires 8 is wound around a pulley for vertical bending operation (not shown) and a pulley for left and right bending operation (not shown) provided in the main body 11 of the operating section. However, angle knob 12,1
By rotating each of the pulleys by the lever 3, one of the operating wires 8, 8 is wound in, and the other is let out, thereby bending the curved tube portion 4 of the insertion portion 2 toward the winding side.

A fixing device (not shown) is incorporated in the bending operation mechanism 6, so that the bending tube section 4 can be maintained in the bent state. The above fixing device is the fixing lever 1 shown in FIG.
Fixing and releasing operations are performed by 4 and 15.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
A predetermined one of the plurality of pieces 7 consecutively arranged in the
Four guide rings 9 on top, bottom, left and right sides provided on each piece 7
... is formed by a magnetoresistive element (Hall element) 16 as a curvature amount detector. On the other hand, the operation wire 8 inserted through the magnetic resistance element 16...
Magnetic bodies 17, 17 are formed to be magnetized in a part of the area. In this case, the magnetic body 17 is magnetized to a position opposite to the magnetic resistance element 16 when the operating wire 8 is moved to bend the curved tube section 4 to the maximum extent.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the magnetoresistive element 16 is connected to an alarm device 20 via an amplifier 18 and a comparison circuit 19, and a reference voltage circuit 21 is connected to the comparison circuit 19. When the magnetic body 17 moves with the movement of the operating wires 8 and faces the magnetoresistive element 16, the magnetoresistive element 16 generates an electromotive force, and this voltage is transferred to the amplifier 18.
Amplify with. This amplified voltage is applied to the comparator circuit 1
9, the voltage is compared with a preset reference voltage in the reference voltage circuit 21. When the level exceeds the reference voltage, the voltage from the comparator circuit 19 operates the alarm device 20 to display an alarm. That is, when the curved tube section 4 is bent, the distal end component 5 presses against the inner wall of the body cavity, and is set according to the reaction force before reaching a dangerous pressure.

Note that specific display means of the alarm device 20 include, for example, a sound from a buzzer, light from a lamp,
Instructions using a meter pointer may be considered.

However, in the above configuration, the bending operation mechanism 6
By rotating the angle knob 12 of
One operating wire 8 is wound around a pulley, and the other operating wire 8 is let out from the pulley. Therefore, the curved tube portion 4 of the insertion portion 2 is curved in the winding direction, and the direction of the tip portion 5 can be changed. In actual use, when the distal end component 5 is already in contact with the inner wall of the body cavity, when the distal end component 5 is further bent toward the inner wall of the body cavity, the distal end component 5 is strongly pressed against the inner wall of the body cavity. try to However, when the amount of movement of the operating wire 8, that is, the amount of curvature of the curved tube section 4 reaches a dangerous state, the magnetic body 17 opposes the magnetoresistive element 16.
Therefore, the magnetoresistive element 16 generates an electromotive force, and when this voltage exceeds a certain level, the alarm device 20 is activated as described above. This warning makes it possible to know the dangerous bending operation state, and it is possible to prevent the dangerous operation from occurring. It should be noted that the bending direction of the above-mentioned curved pipe portion 4 operates in the same manner whether it is up or down or left or right.

In the above embodiment, the magnetoresistive element 16 is used as a curvature detector for detecting the curvature of the curved tube portion 4, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be applied to the following curvature. A quantity detector may also be provided.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a coil 22 is provided between the guide rings 9 and 9 of the piece 7 to fit into the operating wire 8, and a magnetic material 1 is attached to a part of the operating wire 8.
7 is magnetized. With this configuration, when the operating wire 8 moves and the magnetic body 17 faces the coil 22, the coil 22
An electromotive force is generated, which can activate an alarm device.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a piezoelectric film 23 as a pressure sensor is interposed between the outer circumferential surface of the piece 7 of the curved tube section 4 and the exterior body 4a. With this configuration, when the curved tube section 4 is bent, the sheathing body 4a on the opposite side to the direction of curvature is tensed, so that the piezoelectric film 23 is strongly pressed by the sheathing body 4a. Therefore, a voltage can be generated from the piezoelectric film 23 to activate the alarm device. Note that a balloon or pressure-sensitive rubber may be provided in place of the piezoelectric film 23 to sense pressure fluctuations and activate the alarm device.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a band-shaped piezoelectric film 24 is used as the pressure sensing body in the exterior body 4a of the curved tube section 4.
It is attached to the inner or outer surface of the material in its longitudinal direction. As a result, when the curved tube section 4 curves, the piezoelectric film 24 on the opposite side to the direction of the curve is tensed, so that an electromotive force is generated and the alarm device can be activated. Note that instead of the piezoelectric film 24, a balloon or pressure-sensitive rubber is interposed between the piece 7 and the exterior body 22 in the longitudinal direction of the curved tube section 4, and pressure fluctuations are sensed to activate the alarm device. It is also good to insert it between pieces 7 and 7,
The structure may be such that it senses the pressure generated by the pieces 7 coming into contact with each other as the pieces curvature.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, strain gauges 26 are provided between the tip forming portion 5 and the tips of the operating wires 8 through elastic members 25. With this configuration, when the elastic member 25 is deformed due to the tensile force of the operating wires 8, the amount of strain can be detected by the strain gauge 26. The output signal can activate an alarm device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when the curved tube section is curved so that the tip of the insertion section strongly touches the inside of the body cavity, this dangerous curve operation state is warned by the alarm device beforehand and immediately displayed. be able to. Therefore, dangerous conditions can be known in advance and the device can be used safely without damaging the inner wall of the body cavity or causing pain to the patient. Moreover, a curve amount detector is attached to the curved component of the curved pipe section,
Since the amount of curvature is detected and an alarm is issued, the configuration is extremely simple and an economical endoscope can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 4 show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal side view of the curved tube section, Figure 2 is a side view of the entire endoscope, and Figure 3 is a side view of the endoscope. Figure 4 is a block diagram of the alarm circuit.
5 to 8 show different embodiments of the present invention, in which FIGS. 5 and 6 are longitudinal sectional side views of the curved tube section, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the distal end of the endoscope, FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view of the distal end of the endoscope. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Operation part, 2... Insertion part, 3... Flexible tube part, 4... Curved tube part, 5... Tip configuration diagram, 6...
Curving operation mechanism, 8... Operating wire, 9... Piece (curving component), 16... Magnetic resistance element (curving amount detector), 20... Alarm device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A bending operation mechanism provided in the operation section and a curved tube section of the insertion section are connected by an operation wire, and the bending operation mechanism is operated to bend the curved tube section via the operation wire. In the endoscope, a curvature amount detector for detecting the amount of curvature of the curved tube portion is provided in the curvature component built in the curved tube portion, and an output signal from the curvature amount detector is provided. An endoscope characterized by being equipped with an alarm device that is activated when 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the curvature amount detector is a magnetoresistive element that detects the amount of movement of the operating wire.