JPH0698133B2 - Ultrasound endoscope - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ultrasonic endoscopic method in which a human body lumen or a machine tube is inserted into the inner space, and the inside thereof is optically observed and the surrounding area is ultrasonically inspected. The present invention relates to a mirror, more specifically, to a mechanism that enables optical observation in the front in the insertion direction, and also enables ultrasonic scanning of a 360 ° entire circumference of a cross section perpendicular to the insertion direction.

[Prior Art] A mechanical scanning ultrasonic endoscope has a structure in which a transducer is rotated around a rotation axis in the insertion direction at the tip of an insertion portion to perform a circular ultrasonic inspection around a lumen. . Therefore, the entire circumference (360 °) of the pipe can be inspected widely, which is very convenient. However, the observation optical system of the ultrasonic endoscope that can scan the entire 360 ° is a side-view type that has a right angle or an angle to the insertion direction. There is a mechanical scanning type that can observe the front in the insertion direction, but this is
There is a restriction on the scanning angle because it cannot scan the entire circumference of 360 °. This is because the observation optical system such as the objective lens has to be arranged avoiding the rotating oscillator, and therefore, if the observation optical system is provided in front of the oscillator, it has to be a side-view type. This is because if the observation optical system is guided to the tip of the insertion part by crawling the side of the vibrator to enable forward view, the observation optical system blocks the ultrasonic beam emitted by the vibrator and causes a defect in the scanning range.

Until now, ultrasonic endoscopes have been mainly used for examination around the stomach. The stomach has a wide lumen and the observation optical system can be used without any problem even when looking sideways. Therefore, a side-view type 360 ° scanning ultrasonic endoscope that can perform ultrasonic scanning without missing 360 ° all around once was extremely effective.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in recent years, there has been a demand for applying ultrasonic endoscopy to narrow lumen organs such as the large intestine. In a narrow luminal organ, in the lateral view type, the objective lens of the observing optical system immediately comes into close contact with the luminal wall, making it impossible to observe.In addition, it is difficult to confirm the safety in front of the insertion, making insertion difficult. Become. Therefore, a forward-looking ultrasonic endoscope is required. However, as mentioned above, it becomes 360
There is a problem that operability is greatly reduced because the entire circumference cannot be scanned. Therefore, it is desired to develop an ultrasonic endoscope that can scan 360 ° in the forward-looking type.

The idea to achieve this is to arrange the functional components of the endoscope tip, such as the observation optical system, on the central axis of the insertion part, guide the observation optical system to the tip end face of the insertion part, and create a hollow around the tip part. A hollow flexible shaft is provided which is provided with a rotary shaft, and a vibrator is disposed on one side peripheral surface of the shaft, and an endoscope functional component such as an observation optical system can be passed through the hollow rotary shaft. A method of connecting and transmitting the rotation of the drive source provided in the operation unit to a hollow rotary shaft at the tip by a flexible shaft and scanning is also conceivable. However, in this method, the rotation must be transmitted by a thick hollow flexible shaft that allows the functional components of the endoscope tip to pass through in the center, and the hollow thick flexible shaft is stiff and difficult to bend, and also bends when bent. There was a problem in that the difference in deformation between the inside and the outside became large and it was easy to buckle and smooth rotation transmission could not be obtained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and enables optical observation in the front in the insertion direction, and has a cross section perpendicular to the insertion direction.
Providing an ultrasonic endoscope capable of performing sonic scanning so that there is no 360 ° full-circumference, and further, a mechanism capable of achieving stable rotation and stable scanning, and achieving them with a simple structure. It is intended to be provided.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The ultrasonic endoscope of the present invention is characterized in that the distal end of the insertion portion is
A rotary shaft provided along the insertion direction and the rotary shaft are housed,
A distal end block having a shaft housing hole that opens to the distal end face side, and an endoscope distal functional component having at least an observation optical system component that is around the shaft housing hole and opens to the distal end face side, A distal end function of an endoscope such as an observation optical system constituent member, which has a vibrator holding portion rotatably provided on the outer periphery of the endoscope leading end functional component, and the vibrator holding portion and the rotation shaft. That is, they are connected by a connecting portion having an optical path securing portion in front of the open ends of the constituent elements.

[Operation] In the ultrasonic endoscope of the present invention, the connecting portion having the optical path securing portion in front of the opening end of the endoscope distal end functional constituent element such as the observation optical system constituent member for the transducer holding portion and the rotation axis. By connecting with, the transducer holder rotates while maintaining the optical path for optical observation in the front, and 360 ° ultrasonic scanning with full circumference is performed. Further, since the endoscope tip function constituent elements such as the observation optical system constituent members are provided around the shaft accommodating hole portion, that is, around the rotation axis, in the case of the method of transmitting the rotational force by the flexible shaft, In addition to a thick flexible shaft that allows the endoscope's advanced functional components such as observation optical system components to pass through, a thin flexible shaft with low rigidity and little deformation during bending that does not buckle easily can be used for stable rotation. Will be transmitted. Furthermore, since the endoscope tip functional components such as the observation optical system constituent members are provided around the rotation axis, in the case of a system in which a motor or the like is installed directly at the tip, rotation with the output shaft of the motor or speed reducer The shafts can be connected on the same axis and the structure is simple.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of the present invention.
An insertion section 4 including a bending section 2 and a flexible tube section 3, a bending operation section 5, an air / water / suction operation section 6, an eyepiece section 7, a channel opening 8, and an operation section 10 including an ultrasonic scanning drive section 9, Further, it is composed of a cable 11 through which an illumination light transmitting fiber bundle, an electric cable, etc. pass, a light source device (not shown), and a connector portion 12 for connecting the ultrasonic observation device.

FIG. 1 is a detailed view of the tip portion 1, which is taken along the line AA in FIG.
It is sectional drawing which synthesize | combined BB. 2 is C- of FIG.
It is C sectional drawing.

A tip block 13 is provided in the tip portion 1, a rotary shaft 14 is accommodated in the center of the tip block 13, and a shaft accommodation hole portion 15 that opens to the tip end face side is provided. The rotary shaft 14 shows a face on the end surface of the tip block 13. Is held by the bearing 16. Rotation axis 14 of tip block 13
On the outside of the, an observation optical system constituent member including an objective lens 17 as an endoscope tip functional constituent element and an image transmission fiber bundle 18, and an illumination optical system configuration including an illumination lens a19 and an illumination light transmission fiber bundle 20. The member is provided in the same direction as the rotating shaft 14 and on the end face of the tip block 13 so as to expose the face.
On the outer periphery of the tip block 13, there is a transducer holder 22 in which an oscillator 21 is attached so as to emit an ultrasonic beam at a right angle to the axial direction of the tip block 13.
14 is connected by a connecting portion 23 in front of the end surface of the tip block 13. This connecting portion 23 is a vibrator holding portion as shown in FIG.
It has a so-called arm-like shape in which only a part necessary for connecting 22 and the rotary shaft 14 is left. This part without meat is an optical path securing section 24 that secures the optical paths of the observation optical system and the illumination optical system.
Is. The connecting portion 23 may be a glass plate. In this case, the glass plate itself serves as the optical path securing portion.

A flexible shaft 26 is connected to the rear end side of the rotary shaft 14 via a connecting tool 25.
The reference numeral 26 passes through the inside of the insertion portion and is connected to the ultrasonic driving portion 9 so as to transmit the rotation to the tip. Oscillator 21 cable 27
Is guided to the operation portion side through the inside of the vibrator holding portion 22, the connecting portion 23, the rotary shaft 14, the connecting tool 25, and the flexible shaft 26. Reference numeral 28 is a rotation angle detector, preferably a magnetic or optical non-contact type.

The inside of the tip consisting of the vibrator holding portion 22, the connecting portion 23, the tip block 13, etc. is covered at its side with a tip cap 29 made of a good ultrasonic transmission material such as plastic, and the tip end face is covered with a lid 30. . The lid 30 is provided with a cover glass 31 and an illumination lens b32 which are aligned with the objective lens 17 and the illumination lens a19, respectively. The lid 30 and the tip cap 29 are connected to each other, and the lid lens 30 and the tip cap 29 are integrated to form an objective lens 17, a cover glass 31, and an illumination lens
And the illumination lens b32 are positioned coaxially and are detachably fixed to the tip block 13. 33 is a pin for positioning the same, and 34 is a screw ring for fixing.

The inside covered with the tip cap 29 and the lid 30 is filled with degassed water 35 in order to ensure transmission of ultrasonic waves. This deaerated water 35
Is injected from the water inlet a36, and the internal air and deaerated water are discharged from the outlet a37. The water injection port a36 and the exhaust port a37 are
It may be omitted by installing a tip cap and a lid in deaerated water so that the deaerated water is contained. 38 is a water inlet
A water injection tube connecting a36 to the operation section side, and 39 is an exhaust tube connecting the exhaust port a37 to the operation section side. Oil 40 is filled around the rotary shaft 14 and the flexible shaft 26 to smooth the rotation, and is separated from the degassed water 35 by a seal 41.

In addition, a tip cap 29 and a tip block 13 are provided around the tip.
A crotch balloon 42 is detachably provided on the side surface of the tip block 13 covered by the balloon 42, and a water injection port b43 for injecting deaerated water into the balloon and deaerated water or air inside the balloon. An exhaust port b44 is provided for discharging the. Four
Reference numeral 5 is a water injection tube connecting the water injection port b43 and the operation part side, and 46 is an exhaust water drain tube connecting the exhaust port b44 and the operation part side.

On the side surface of the distal end block 13 which is not covered by the balloon 42, a suction port 47 is provided as a functional component of the distal end of the endoscope for sucking dirty water, dirt, air and the like in the lumen. Reference numeral 48 is a suction channel tube for guiding dirty water and the like to the outside.

Reference numeral 49 is a bending piece of the bending portion, and 50 is a bending rubber tube that is the exterior of the bending portion.

In the present device configured as described above, the rotational force generated by the power of the ultrasonic drive unit 9 of the operation unit 10 causes the flexible shaft 26 to rotate.
Is transmitted to the tip, and the rotation shaft 14 is thereby rotated. As a result, the vibrator holding portion 22 connected to the rotating shaft 14 by the connecting portion 23 rotates. At this time, the connecting portion 23 crosses the front of the objective lens 17, but the connecting portion 23 is only a portion necessary for holding the transducer holding portion 22, and the front can be seen from the space portion of the optical path securing portion 24. Or you can see the front through the glass plate. Although degassed water intervenes in the optical path, the degassed water is transparent and the optical path can be secured. When the lens surface is soiled with water stains or the like, the tip cap portion may be removed for cleaning. Therefore, it is possible to perform optical observation in front while rotating and scanning the oscillator 21. Also, when devoting to optical observation, as shown in FIG. 2, the substantial portion of the connecting portion 23, and in the case of a glass plate, the portion through which the cable 27 passes is angled so that it stops at a position outside the objective lens 17 or the like. It is also effective to add a method of stopping power by a signal from the detector 28, a method of stopping the connecting portion 23 at a desired position, and the like.

Although the flexible shaft is used in the above embodiment,
Instead of this, a prime mover such as a motor may be provided directly at the tip. In this case also, since the rotating shaft is on the central axis, it is sufficient to connect the motor and the output shaft of the accompanying speed reducer to the rotating shaft. Easy to do.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rotating portion is covered with a tip cap or the like in consideration of safety when used on a human body, but these are not always necessary in the case of industrial use used for inspection of machine pipes,
Further, the endoscope end functional components such as the suction port and the air / water supply nozzle are arranged on the distal end face side of the distal end block side by side with the observation optical system or the like to enable suction or insertion of a treatment tool, or the like.
The surface of the objective lens may be cleaned.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, in the ultrasonic endoscope of the present invention, the transducer holding portion and the rotation axis are disposed at the opening end of the endoscope tip functional component such as the observation optical system component. By connecting with the connecting part having the optical path securing part in the front, it is possible to perform optical observation of the front and to enable ultrasonic scanning without 360 ° full-circumference. Further, since the endoscope tip function constituent elements such as the observation optical system constituent members are provided around the shaft accommodating hole portion, that is, around the rotation axis, in the case of the method of transmitting the rotational force by the flexible shaft, In addition to a thick flexible shaft that allows the endoscope's advanced functional components such as observation optical system components to pass through, a thin flexible shaft with low rigidity and little deformation during bending that does not buckle easily can be used for stable rotation. You can Furthermore, since the endoscope tip functional components such as the observation optical system constituent members are provided around the rotation axis, in the case of a system in which a motor or the like is installed directly at the tip, rotation with the output shaft of the motor or speed reducer The shafts can be connected coaxially and a simple structure can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a detailed view of a tip portion of an embodiment of the present invention, which is a cross-sectional view obtained by combining the cross-sections AA and BB of FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. 13 …… Tip block 14 …… Rotation axis 17 …… Objective lens 19 …… Illumination lens a 22 …… Transducer holding part 23 …… Coupling part 26 …… Flexible shaft

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotary shaft provided along the insertion direction at the tip of the insertion portion, a distal end block having a shaft accommodation hole for accommodating the rotation shaft and opening to the end face of the distal end, and the shaft accommodation hole. An endoscope tip functional component having at least an observation optical system component that is peripheral and is open to the tip end face side, and a vibrator holding portion rotatably provided on the outer periphery of the endoscope tip functional component. And wherein the oscillator holding portion and the rotating shaft are connected by a connecting portion having an optical path securing portion in front of the opening end of the endoscope tip functional component such as the observation optical system constituting member. Ultrasonic endoscopy.