JP2009045132A - Endoscope cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

In an endoscope cleaning apparatus having a plurality of cleaning tanks, it is possible to obtain cost merit by suppressing an increase in the number of RFID transmission / reception devices and to easily and centrally manage information related to cleaning sterilization history in a plurality of cleaning tanks. An endoscope cleaning apparatus is provided.
In an endoscope cleaning apparatus including a plurality of cleaning tanks, a signal is transmitted to a wireless tag attached to an endoscope set in the cleaning tank, having a communication area in one or two cleaning tanks. A signal transmitting / receiving unit (antenna) equal to or less than the number of cleaning tanks, a communication unit (reader / writer) less than the number of signal transmitting / receiving units communicating with the wireless tag via the signal transmitting / receiving unit, and a plurality of The above-described problem is solved by including a switching unit that switches a signal transmitting / receiving unit that performs signal transmission / reception.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope cleaning apparatus for automatically cleaning and disinfecting an endoscope, and more particularly to an endoscope cleaning apparatus capable of automatically cleaning and disinfecting a plurality of endoscopes separately.

  As is well known, an endoscope is inserted into a living body such as a human body and used for diagnosis and treatment of organs, collection of specimens, and the like. An endoscope is shared by a plurality of patients and used repeatedly. Therefore, it is necessary to perform thorough hygiene management for the endoscope after use. Careful washing (washing) and cleaning each time it is used to prevent bacterial infection using the endoscope as a medium. It is necessary to disinfect.

The endoscope cleaning apparatus automatically cleans and disinfects an endoscope. According to the endoscope cleaning apparatus, accurate cleaning and disinfection can be performed, and the labor of an operator can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to ensure the safety of the work by extremely reducing the possibility that the worker will be infected with bacteria attached to the endoscope after use.
For the purpose of traceability (history management) for cleaning and disinfecting with an endoscope cleaning device and management of cleaning and disinfecting programs, the endoscope is equipped with a wireless tag, and the endoscope cleaning device is equipped with an RFID transceiver device. ing.

  For example, Patent Document 1 communicates with a user ID tag that records user information related to a user of the apparatus and a scope ID tag that records endoscope information related to an endoscope attached to the endoscope. An endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus including a wireless ID transmission / reception unit is described. The wireless ID transmission / reception unit is provided on the upper surface or the front surface of the apparatus main body, and the scope ID tag is built in the connector unit of the endoscope. The endoscope is housed and disposed in the cleaning / disinfecting tank so that the connector portion is located within the wireless communication range of the wireless ID transmission / reception unit, thereby enabling wireless communication with the scope ID tag of the wireless ID transmission / reception unit. It is possible. The control unit of the endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus stores the information from the scope ID tag and the user ID tag received by the wireless ID transmission / reception unit and the information on the executed cleaning / disinfecting in association with each other.

  In Patent Document 2, an RFID tag is provided on an endoscope universal connector or a treatment tool that is an object of cleaning and disinfection, and the object of cleaning and disinfecting is provided inside, on the surface, or outside of the cleaning and disinfecting apparatus. It is described that an RFID transmission / reception circuit main body that can communicate with the RFID tag when set to is provided. In this automatic cleaning / disinfecting apparatus, an appropriate program is selected from a plurality of cleaning / disinfecting programs based on the identification data of the object to be cleaned / disinfected acquired through data communication with the RFID tag, and the selected program is started. The object is washed and disinfected.

JP 2006-230491 A International Publication No. 02/032468 Pamphlet

  By the way, in a medical facility where the use frequency of an endoscope is high, a plurality of endoscopes are used, and cleaning and disinfection are sequentially performed. Since it takes a considerable amount of time to clean and disinfect the endoscope, it is convenient if a plurality of endoscopes can be cleaned simultaneously. On the other hand, an apparatus capable of setting two endoscopes in one washing tank has been put into practical use. However, in this apparatus, only the same cleaning and disinfecting treatment can be performed on two endoscopes at the same time. In addition, it is not possible to wash and disinfect each endoscope at an independent timing, or to perform different cleaning and disinfecting processes depending on the usage mode of each endoscope.

  As a method for solving this problem, it is conceivable to provide a plurality of cleaning tanks in one apparatus so that the cleaning and disinfection processing can be executed independently in each cleaning tank. However, a cleaning apparatus including a plurality of cleaning tanks that can perform cleaning disinfection traceability (history management) and cleaning / disinfecting program management for each cleaning tank has not yet been studied. Assuming that the configuration of the above prior art is mounted according to the number of cleaning tanks, it is necessary to prepare as many reader / writers as RFID transmission / reception devices as the number of cleaning tanks, which is not excellent in cost. In addition, since data is transmitted and received by a plurality of RFID transmission / reception devices, it takes time to centrally manage data.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and in an endoscope cleaning apparatus including a plurality of cleaning tanks, an RFID transceiver device (communication unit that communicates with a wireless tag attached to an endoscope) ( An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope cleaning apparatus that can obtain cost merit by suppressing the number of RFID readers / writers to be smaller than the number of cleaning tanks. A further object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope cleaning apparatus capable of easily and centrally managing information related to cleaning / disinfecting history in a plurality of cleaning tanks.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an endoscope cleaning apparatus comprising a plurality of cleaning tanks and capable of independently cleaning the endoscope set in the cleaning tank for each tank,
Same or less than the number of the cleaning tanks having a communication area in one or two of the cleaning tanks and transmitting / receiving signals to / from a radio tag attached to the endoscope set in the cleaning tank A plurality of signal transmission / reception units (antennas),
Communication units (readers / writers) less than the number of signal transmission / reception units, wherein the signal transmission / reception units are connected wirelessly or by wire, and communicate with the wireless tag via the signal transmission / reception units;
An endoscope cleaning apparatus comprising: a switching unit that switches a signal transmission / reception unit among the plurality of signal transmission / reception units.

Here, it is preferable to include one communication unit to which all of the plurality of signal transmission / reception units are connected.
In addition, three or more cleaning tanks are arranged in a row, the number of the signal transmission / reception units that is one less than the number of the cleaning tanks is disposed between the cleaning tanks, It is preferable to have a communication area in the cleaning tank.

Furthermore, a detection unit that detects that an endoscope to be communicated is set in the cleaning tank, and a control unit that specifies the wireless tag with which the communication unit is to communicate,
The controller is
When the cleaning tank detected by the detection unit is other than the end of the row of the cleaning tank, the identification information of the wireless tag is received by the two signal transmitting / receiving units on both sides of the cleaning tank, and the received identification Identifying the wireless tag that transmits duplicate identification information among the information as the wireless tag that the communication unit should communicate with,
When the cleaning tank detected by the detection unit is at the end of the row of the cleaning tanks, the first signal transmitting / receiving unit closest to the cleaning tank on one side of the cleaning tank and the next closest Identification that does not overlap with the identification information received by the second signal transmission / reception unit among the identification information received by the first signal transmission / reception unit by receiving identification information of the wireless tag by a second signal transmission / reception unit It is preferable that the wireless tag that transmits information is specified as the wireless tag with which the communication unit is to communicate.

Alternatively, a detection unit that detects that an endoscope to be communicated is set in the cleaning tank, and a control unit that specifies the wireless tag with which the communication unit is to communicate,
The controller is
The communication history information of the wireless tag is received by the one signal transmitting / receiving unit closest to the cleaning tank detected by the detecting unit,
It is preferable that the wireless tag with the oldest history among the received communication history information or the wireless tag with no communication history is specified as the wireless tag with which the communication unit is to communicate.

  Further, it is preferable that the same number of signal transmission / reception units as the number of the cleaning tanks are arranged for each cleaning tank, and the signal transmission / reception units have a communication area only in one of the cleaning tanks.

  According to the present invention, the number of cleaning devices (readers / writers), which is a communication unit that communicates with a wireless tag attached to an endoscope, is less than the number of cleaning tanks, preferably one. Cost merit can be obtained in an apparatus capable of managing the cleaning / disinfecting history in each tank. In particular, in a mode in which one reader / writer is used, history information across a plurality of cleaning tanks can be easily managed in an integrated manner.

  An endoscope cleaning apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail based on a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the first embodiment of the endoscope cleaning apparatus of the present invention. The endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is an apparatus capable of separately cleaning and disinfecting three endoscopes, including three cleaning tanks 12A, 12B, and 12C, two antennas 14A and 14B, and one An RFID reader / writer (R / W) 16, an antenna switching unit 18 that switches an antenna through which the RFID reader / writer 16 transmits and receives signals, and a control unit 20 that controls the RFID reader / writer 16 and the antenna switching unit 18. And lids 22A, (22B), (22C) of the respective cleaning tanks, lid open / close detection sensors 24A, 24B, 24C, and endoscope detection sensors 26A, 26B, 26C arranged in the respective cleaning tanks. . In order to clearly show the configuration of other parts, only lid 22A is shown in lids 22A to 22C, and lids 22B and 22C are not shown in FIG. .

  Each of the washing tanks 12A to 12C can accommodate one endoscope. Into the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C, independent lids 22A to (22C) are attached, and the lids 22A to (22C) are opened and closed to the portions that are not in contact with or in contact with the lids 22A to (22C). Lid opening / closing detection sensors 24A to 24C are attached. For example, an optical sensor or a magnetic sensor can be used as the lid opening / closing detection sensors 24A to 24C.

In addition, endoscope detection sensors 26A to 26C are attached to the inside of the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C at positions where the endoscope can be detected when the endoscope is set. An optical sensor or a weight sensor can be used as the endoscope detection sensors 26A to 26C.
The lid open / close detection sensors 24A to 24C and the endoscope detection sensors 26A to 26C function as detection units that detect that the endoscope to be communicated is set in the cleaning tank. In other words, the detection signals of the lid open / close detection sensors 24A to 24C indicate in which cleaning tank the endoscope has been inserted and removed, and the detection signals of the endoscope detection sensors 26A to 26C in the tank indicate the current cleaning tank. It can be seen whether or not an endoscope is set.

  Although not shown, each of the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C is connected to equipment necessary for cleaning and disinfecting the endoscope, for example, an opening of each channel inside the endoscope, and is sent to each channel. A port for performing air, water supply, and liquid supply, a port for performing air supply, water supply, and liquid supply in the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C, and various sensors such as a drain outlet and a water level sensor are provided.

  The antennas 14A and 14B transmit and receive signals to and from wireless tags (RF tags and IC tags) attached to endoscopes set in the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C. The antenna 14A is disposed between the cleaning tank 12A and the cleaning tank 12B, and the antenna 14B is disposed between the cleaning tank 12B and the cleaning tank 12C. The antennas 14A and 14B have communication areas 28A and 28B straddling the two cleaning tanks on both sides. Therefore, in the cleaning tank 12B, the communication areas of the antenna 14A and the antenna 14B overlap.

  Thus, the number of antennas can be made smaller than the number of cleaning tanks by using antennas having communication areas in the two cleaning tanks. However, in this embodiment, since one antenna receives a signal from a wireless tag attached to an endoscope set in two cleaning tanks, the information itself received from the antenna itself is a certain cleaning tank. The endoscope set to (the wireless tag attached thereto) cannot be specified. In contrast, the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 specifies a wireless tag to be communicated by a method described later. This specifying method will be described in detail later.

  When the endoscope is set in the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C, the endoscope is arranged so that the wireless tag attached to the endoscope enters the communication areas 28A and 28B of the antennas 14A and 14B. For example, when the wireless tag is built in or externally attached to the connector portion of the endoscope, the endoscope is set so that the connector portion enters the communication areas 28A and 28B. It is preferable that the cleaning tanks 12 </ b> A to 12 </ b> C indicate a position where the connector portion is to be placed, or a guide that places the connector portion at a predetermined position.

  Further, the antennas 14A and 14B can transmit and receive data with respect to a wireless tag possessed by the operator. Data transmission and reception with the operator's wireless tag may be performed by the operator holding his / her wireless tag over the communication areas 28A and 28B of the antennas 14A and 14B.

  The RFID reader / writer 16 performs radio communication by RFID (Radio Frequency Identification System), communicates with the radio tag of the endoscope via the antennas 14A and 14B, and identifies identification information of the radio tag from the radio tag. It is possible to read past cleaning / disinfecting history information and write information related to cleaning / disinfecting performed this time to the wireless tag. Further, the information can be read out from the wireless tag to which the identification information of the operator in charge of cleaning the endoscope 12 is input, and the history of cleaning performed by the operator can be written in the wireless tag of the operator. Reading and writing of information by the RFID reader / writer 16 is controlled by the control unit 20. The RFID reader / writer 16 sends the data read from the wireless tag to the control unit 20 and writes the data sent from the control unit 20 to the wireless tag.

Antennas 14A and 14B are connected to the RFID reader / writer 16 wirelessly or by wire. Between the antennas 14A and 14B and the RFID reader / writer 16, an antenna switching unit 18 is disposed.
The antenna switching unit 18 switches the antenna that performs transmission / reception among the antennas 14A and 14B so that the RFID reader / writer 16 does not simultaneously transmit and receive signals from the plurality of antennas 14A and 14B. Switching in the antenna switching unit 18 is controlled by the control unit 20.

  The control unit 20 controls a cleaning / disinfecting process in the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C. The control unit 20 controls transmission / reception and recording of data for managing cleaning / disinfecting history data of endoscopes that have been cleaned / disinfected in the cleaning tanks 12 </ b> A to 12 </ b> C. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the circuit configuration of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 20 includes a CPU 32, a RAM 34, a ROM 36, an I / O control circuit 38, a communication I / F circuit 40, a panel I / F circuit 42, a clock 44, a reset circuit 46, and a load drive circuit 48. A sensor I / F circuit 50, an A / D conversion circuit 52, and a switching control circuit 54.

  The CPU 32 controls each part of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 in order to control the cleaning / disinfecting process and the cleaning / disinfecting history management in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10, and for the three tanks of the cleaning tanks 12A to 12B. One CPU 32 is used. The controller 20 controls each process of cleaning and disinfecting in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10. The control unit 20 controls each part of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 such as a pump, a valve, a valve, and a sensor according to a preset cleaning / disinfecting program, and executes each process of cleaning / disinfecting.

  The ROM 36 stores various application programs including a cleaning / disinfecting process control program. Only the cleaning / disinfecting process control program corresponding to the number of cleaning tanks provided in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 may be stored in the ROM 36, and the CPU 32 may always read the program. Alternatively, the ROM 36 stores a plurality of cleaning / disinfecting process control programs corresponding to each configuration of one to a plurality of tanks, and the CPU 32 selects a program corresponding to the actual configuration and reads it from the ROM 36. Also good. Further, a variation of the cleaning / disinfecting process control program is prepared and stored in the ROM 36, and the CPU 32 selects and reads out an appropriate program in accordance with an instruction from an operator or selection of the CPU 32 corresponding to the apparatus configuration. Also good.

  Various application programs including a cleaning program stored in the ROM 36 are read from the ROM 36 by the CPU 32 and set in the RAM 34. The CPU 32 executes a cleaning / disinfecting process according to a program set in the RAM 34. Further, the RAM 34 stores history data of cleaning / disinfecting in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10.

The load drive circuit 48 is a drive circuit for pumps, electromagnetic valves, and heaters for executing endoscope cleaning and disinfection.
The sensor I / F circuit 50 includes various sensors such as lid open / close detection sensors 24A to 24C, endoscope detection sensors 26A to 26C, and a level sensor that detects a water level of a tank or a cleaning tank in the endoscope cleaning device 10. Interface.
The A / D conversion circuit 52 performs A / D conversion on the analog output values of the temperature sensor and the pressure sensor in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10.

  The communication I / F circuit 40 is a communication interface circuit with the RFID reader / writer 16, the LAN connection unit 56, and the printer 57 provided in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10. The CPU 32 reads information read from the wireless tag by the RFID reader / writer 16 (for example, identification information of the wireless tag read from the wireless tag of the endoscope, past cleaning / disinfecting history information, identification of the operator read from the operator's wireless tag) Information) and information on cleaning / disinfecting performed in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 can be stored in the ROM 36 as cleaning / disinfecting history data, and can be transmitted to a hospital network or the like via the LAN connection unit 56. it can. From the printer 57, the cleaning / disinfecting history data can be printed. This printer 57 may be mounted on the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 or may be an external printer.

The panel I / F circuit 42 is an interface with the display / operation panel 58 of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10. The display / operation panel 58 displays information related to the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10, and also functions as a touch panel that can input instructions from an operator.
The switching control circuit 54 controls the switching operation of the antenna switching unit 18.

Next, the cleaning / disinfecting history management in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 will be described.
First, as a first example, cleaning and disinfection history management in an endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A similar to the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a state where the antennas 14A and 14B read the wireless tag in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A. FIG. 4 is a diagram of a plurality of cleaning tanks arranged in a row except for both ends. FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram for specifying a communication target wireless tag when an endoscope to be communicated is set in the cleaning tank, and FIG. 5 illustrates that the endoscope to be communicated is set in the cleaning tank at both ends thereof. FIG. 11 is a process flow diagram for specifying a communication target wireless tag in the case of a failure. In the example of FIG. 3, since there are three cleaning tanks, the cleaning tanks at both ends are the cleaning tanks 12A and 12C, and the cleaning tanks other than both ends are the central cleaning tank 12B.

  As shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the endoscope 100 is set in each of the three cleaning tanks 12A to 12C of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A. In the endoscope 100, for example, a wireless tag 102 is built in or externally attached to a connector portion, and an identification ID (identification information) of the tag is recorded in the wireless tag 102. In addition, it is preferable that the wireless tag 102 also stores information such as the type, model, performance, and cleaning / disinfecting history of the endoscope to which the wireless tag is attached. In the example of FIG. 3, the identification IDs of the wireless tags 102 of the endoscope 100 set in the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C are A1234, B5678, and C9876, respectively.

  As described above, the antennas 14A and 14B are disposed between the two cleaning tanks and have the communication areas 28A and 28B in the cleaning tanks on both sides. The endoscope 100 is set so that the wireless tag 102 enters the communication areas 28A and 28B. Therefore, the antenna 14A between the cleaning tank 12A and the cleaning tank 12B receives A1234 and B5678 as identification IDs from the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 set in the cleaning tank 12A and the cleaning tank 12B. The antenna 14B between the cleaning tank 12B and the cleaning tank 12C receives B5678 and C9876 as identification IDs from the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 set in the cleaning tank 12B and the cleaning tank 12C.

The method of specifying the communication target wireless tag by the control unit 20 is divided into a case where the endoscope 100 is set in the cleaning tank 12B other than both ends and a case where the endoscope 100 is set in the cleaning tanks 12A and 12C at both ends. And it demonstrates according to FIG.
First, the case where the endoscope 100 is set in the cleaning tank 12B will be described with reference to FIG.

  The controller 20 monitors the outputs of the lid open / close detection sensors 24A to 24C, and maintains the idle state S11 when there is no output (when No is determined in step S12). If any of the lid open / close detection sensors 24A to 24C detects that the lids 22A to (22C) are opened, a determination of Yes is made in step S12, and the process proceeds to step S13.

  When it is detected by the lid open / close detection sensor 24B that the lid (22B) is opened, the control unit 20 checks the output of the endoscope detection sensor 26B in step S13, and the endoscope 100 is placed in the cleaning tank 12B. Determine if there is. If the endoscope 100 is not detected here, the determination of No is made in step S13, and the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, whether or not the lid (22B) of the cleaning tank 12B is closed is detected by the lid open / close detection sensor 24B. If it is closed, a determination of Yes is made in step S14 and the process returns to the upstream of step S11. The endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A is again in an idle state. On the other hand, if it is not detected in step S14 that the lid (22B) is closed, a determination of No is made in step S14, and the process returns between steps S12 and S13 to wait for the endoscope 100 to be set. It becomes a state.

  If the endoscope 100 is detected in the cleaning tank 12B in step S13, the process proceeds to step S15, the output of the lid open / close detection sensor 24B is checked, and it is determined whether the lid (22B) is closed. 22B) will wait until it is closed. If it is detected in step S15 that the lid (22B) is closed, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to step S16.

  In step S16, the wireless tag is read by the antenna 14A on one side, for example, the left side of the corresponding cleaning tank, that is, the cleaning tank 12B here. As shown in FIG. 3, the antenna 14A reads A1234 as an identification ID from the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 in the cleaning tank 12A, and B5678 as an identification ID from the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 in the cleaning tank 12B. Read.

  Next, in step S17, the wireless tag is read by the antenna 14B on the other side of the cleaning tank 12B, that is, the right side. Switching of the antennas 14A and 14B is performed by the antenna switching unit 18. The antenna 14B reads B5678 as the identification ID from the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 in the cleaning tank 12B, and reads C9876 as the identification ID from the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 in the cleaning tank 12C.

  In subsequent step S18, the control unit 20 determines whether there is an overlap between the identification ID read in step S16 and the identification ID read in step S17. Since the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 set in the cleaning tank 12B is included in the communication areas 28A and 28B of the antennas 14A and 14B on both sides of the cleaning tank 12B, it is read by both antennas 14A and 14B. It should be. Therefore, the identification ID read by 14A and 14B by both antennas can be identified as the identification ID of the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 set in the cleaning tank 12B.

If there is a duplicate identification ID in step S18, a determination of Yes is made, and in step S19, the wireless tag 102 that has transmitted the duplicate identification ID is specified as a communication target, that is, the wireless tag 102 is attached. The endoscope 100 is specified as a cleaning / disinfecting management target, and communication with the wireless tag 102 for cleaning / disinfecting history management is performed.
The communication for cleaning / disinfecting history management by the control unit 20 includes receiving (reading) information related to the endoscope 100 from the wireless tag 102, and cleaning / disinfecting performed by the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A and the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A. Information on processing (endoscope ID, operator ID in charge, washing machine ID, washing tank No., contents of washing / disinfecting, total number of times of washing / disinfecting, etc.) to the wireless tag 102 and writing.
Further, the control unit 20 may select and set a cleaning / disinfecting process to be performed on the endoscope 100 when the wireless tag 102 to be communicated is specified.

  On the other hand, if there is no duplicate identification ID in step S18, a determination of No is made. In this case, there may be a communication failure such as that the endoscope 100 set in the cleaning tank 12B is not attached with a wireless tag or the attached wireless tag cannot communicate. Since communication for management cannot be performed, an error is output in step S20.

  Next, the case where the endoscope 100 is set in the cleaning tank 12A or 12C will be described with reference to FIG. Regarding the cleaning tanks 12A and 12C at both ends of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A, the wireless tag to be communicated is specified by the same similar method. Therefore, here, the cleaning tank 12A will be described as a representative of both.

In the flow of FIG. 5, steps S21 to S25 are the same as steps S11 to S15 of FIG. That is, when the lid opening / closing detection sensor 24A detects that the lid 22A is opened, the determination in step S12 is Yes, the idle state in step S21 is released, and the process proceeds to step S23.
When it is detected by the lid opening / closing detection sensor 24A that the lid 22A has been opened, the control unit 20 checks the output of the endoscope detection sensor 26A in step S23, and whether the endoscope 100 is in the cleaning tank 12A. Judge whether. If the endoscope 100 is not detected here, the determination of No is made in step S23, and the process proceeds to step S24. If it is detected in step S24 that the lid 22A is closed, the process returns to the idle state (step S21), and if it is not detected that the lid 22A is closed, the routine of steps S23 and S24 is performed. Waiting for set.

  If the endoscope 100 is detected in the cleaning tank 12A in step S23, the process proceeds to step S25, the output of the corresponding lid open / close detection sensor 24A is checked to determine whether the lid 22A is closed, and the lid 22A. It will be in a state of waiting until is closed. If it is detected in step S25 that the lid 22A is closed, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to step S26.

In step S26, the wireless tag is read in the antenna 14A closest to the corresponding cleaning tank, that is, the cleaning tank 12A here. Next, in step S27, the wireless tag is read by the antenna 14B next to the cleaning tank 12A.
In step S28, the control unit 20 determines whether there is an identification ID read in step S26 that does not overlap with the identification ID read in step S27. The wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 set in the cleaning tank 12A enters the communication area 28A of the antenna 14A closest to the cleaning tank 12A, but does not enter the communication area 28B of the antenna 14B closest to the next. Should only be read by 14A. Therefore, the identification ID read by the nearest antenna 14A and not read by the next nearest antenna 14B can be specified as the identification ID of the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 set in the cleaning tank 12A. .

  If there is a corresponding identification ID in step S28, a determination of Yes is made. In step S29, the wireless tag that has transmitted the identification ID is identified as a communication target, and the cleaning and disinfection history management with the wireless tag is performed. Implement communication. On the other hand, if there is no corresponding identification ID in step S28, No is determined, and an error is output in step S30.

  In this way, the control unit 20 (the CPU 32) selects the cleaning tank in which the endoscope 100 as the object to be cleaned is set among the plurality of cleaning tanks 12A to 12C, and the lid open / close detection sensors 24A to 24C and the internal The identification of the wireless tag 102 detected by the endoscope detection sensors 26A to 26C and attached to the endoscope 100 set in the cleaning tank is specified, and communication for cleaning and disinfection history management is performed. it can. Further, the control unit 20 (CPU 32) reads out information related to the endoscope 100 and past cleaning / disinfecting history data from the wireless tag 102 having the specified identification ID, and selects a cleaning / disinfecting program to be applied to the endoscope 100. And can be executed.

  In the above description, for easy understanding of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A in FIG. 3, when the endoscope 100 is set in a cleaning tank other than both ends (FIG. 4), it is set in the cleaning tanks at both ends. In the case of FIG. 5 (FIG. 5), the description has been made using different flowcharts. However, steps S11 to S15 in FIG. 4 and steps S21 to S25 in FIG. 5 are made common, and steps S12 to S15 (S22 to S25). If the cleaning tank in which the endoscope 100 detected in step S is set is not at both ends, steps S16 to S20 may be performed, and if it is at both ends, steps S26 to S30 may be performed.

  The endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A according to the above embodiment includes three cleaning tanks 12A to 12C, and includes two antennas 14A and 14B, one between each cleaning tank. The endoscope cleaning apparatus 10A may include four or more cleaning tanks. In this case, each time the cleaning tank is increased by one, the number of antennas is increased by one, and transmission / reception of signals is controlled in the same manner as described above. Just do it.

  Next, as a second example of cleaning / disinfecting history management in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10, referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, in an endoscope cleaning apparatus 10B similar to the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 in FIG. The cleaning / disinfection history management will be described. In this second example, the history information of the identification ID read from the wireless tag is searched in the control unit 20, and the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 that is about to execute the cleaning / disinfecting process is specified based on the information. To do. FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating how the antenna 14A reads the wireless tag in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10B, and FIG. 7 illustrates one cleaning tank among a plurality of cleaning tanks arranged in a row. FIG. 10 is a process flow diagram for specifying a communication target wireless tag when an endoscope to be communicated is set in

  In the flow of FIG. 7, steps S31 to S35 are the same as steps S11 to S15 of FIG. 4 described in the first example. The control unit 20 monitors the outputs of the lid open / close detection sensors 24A to 24C, and maintains the idle state S31 when there is no output (when No is determined in step S32). If any of the lid opening / closing detection sensors 24A to 24C detects that the lids 22A to (22C) are opened, a determination of Yes is made in step S32, and the process proceeds to step S33.

  For example, when the lid opening / closing detection sensor 24B detects that the lid (22B) is opened, the control unit 20 checks the output of the endoscope detection sensor 26B of the corresponding cleaning tank 12B in step S33, It is determined whether or not the endoscope 100 is in the cleaning tank 12B. If the endoscope 100 is not detected here, the determination of No is made in step S33, and the process proceeds to step S34. If it is detected in step S34 that the lid (22B) is closed, the process returns to the idle state (step S31). If it is not detected that the lid (22B) is closed, the routines in steps S33 and S34 are performed. The endoscope 100 is in a waiting state for setting.

  When the endoscope 100 is detected in the cleaning tank 12B in step S33, the process proceeds to step S35, and the output of the corresponding lid open / close detection sensor 24B is checked to determine whether the lid (22B) is closed, It will be in the state which waits until a cover (22B) closes. If it is detected in step S35 that the lid (22B) is closed, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to step S36.

  In step S36, the wireless tag is read by the antenna 14A closest to the corresponding cleaning tank, that is, the cleaning tank 12B here. In the case of the cleaning tank 12B, since the antennas 14A and 14B are arranged on both sides, the antenna 14B may be used as the nearest antenna. When the antenna 14A is used, as shown in FIG. 6, the antenna 14A identifies the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 in the cleaning tank 12A and the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 in the cleaning tank 12B. A1234 and B5678 are read as IDs. At this stage, the control unit 20 cannot identify which identification ID belongs to the endoscope 100 set in the corresponding cleaning tank 12A. Therefore, in the next step S37, the control unit 20 refers to the past communication history recorded in the ROM 36, and compares the identification ID read in step S36 with the past communication history.

  In step S38, it is determined whether or not the identification ID read in step S36 has no registration information in the past communication history. The wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 set for the first time in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10B does not have an identification ID registered in the control unit 20 and its communication history is not recorded. If there is no communication history, the wireless tag to be communicated cannot be specified. If it is determined in step S38 that there is no registration information, an error is output in step S39, indicating that the registration work should be performed. To notify.

If registration information exists in the ROM 36 of the control unit 20 for both of the two identification IDs, the determination of No is made in step S38 and the process proceeds to step S40.
In step S40, as a result of the processing in step S37, the wireless tag that has transmitted the identification ID having the older past communication history recorded in the ROM 36 among the two identification IDs read in step S36 is specified as the communication target. Communication with the wireless tag for cleaning / disinfecting history management is performed. In the example of FIG. 6, among the identification IDs read by the antenna 14A, the communication history recorded in the ROM 36 is older for B5678 than for A1234, so the wireless tag 102 of B5678 is specified as the communication target.

  In an apparatus having a plurality of cleaning tanks, it is basically not the case that an endoscope is set in two cleaning tanks at the same time. The wireless tag of the endoscope set first is registered in the control unit 20 first. Then, history management is started. For this reason, the history information of the wireless tag of the endoscope set previously is updated and is newer than the history information of the wireless tag of the endoscope newly set in the cleaning tank. Therefore, by selecting the wireless tag with the older communication history in step S30, the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 that is currently the communication target can be specified.

  Although the case where the endoscope 100 to be communicated is set in the cleaning tank 12B has been described above, the same processing is performed by the antenna 14A in the case of the cleaning tank 12A and the antenna 14B in the case of the cleaning tank 12C. By performing the above, it is possible to specify the wireless tag 102 that is the communication target of the control unit 20 and the RFID reader / writer 16, and thereby the endoscope 100 that is the management target of the cleaning / disinfecting history can be specified. .

  In the above example, two antennas having communication areas are used in two cleaning tanks, but the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10B of the second example uses one antenna having communication areas in three cleaning tanks. You can also In that case, the identification IDs of the radio tags of the endoscopes of all the three washing tanks are read by the one antenna. The control part 20 should just specify the thing with the oldest communication history recorded on ROM36 as communication object among identification ID of the wireless tag read via the antenna.

  Moreover, although the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10B is configured to include the three cleaning tanks 12A to 12C, the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10B may include two or four or more cleaning tanks. In any case, it is only necessary to use one or more antennas having communication areas in two or more cleaning tanks so that all the cleaning tanks can communicate with the wireless tags.

  In the endoscope cleaning apparatuses 10, 10 </ b> A, and 10 </ b> B of the first embodiment, two antennas 14 that are smaller than the number of cleaning tanks 12 and one RFID reader / writer that is smaller than the number of antennas for three cleaning tanks. Therefore, the cost merit is high as compared with the case where one antenna and one reader / writer are used for each washing tank. Furthermore, in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10B of the second example, the number of antennas can be reduced to one by using antennas having communication areas in three or more cleaning tanks. Further, since the communication for cleaning / disinfecting history management is performed for all the cleaning tanks 12 by one reader / writer, the history information across a plurality of cleaning tanks can be easily and centrally managed.

  In addition, as in the above example, the cost merit can be maximized by using one RFID reader / writer, but at least one RFID reader / writer can be obtained by reducing the number of RFID reader / writers by one even than the number of antennas. By using a configuration in which a plurality of antennas are connected to each other, the cost can be reduced as compared with a conventional one-to-one antenna that uses the same number of readers / writers.

  Further, as in the above-described example, RFID communication is performed in conjunction with lid opening / closing detection by the lid opening / closing detection sensors 24A-24C provided for the cleaning tanks 12A-12C and endoscope detection by the endoscope detection sensors 26A-26C. Since it is possible to identify the cleaning tank 12 that has performed cleaning and disinfection, it is also possible to store the identification ID (cleaning tank No) of the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C in association with the management data of the cleaning / disinfection history. The opening / closing detection of the lids 22A to (22C) may be performed by detecting the operation of the hinge portions of the lids 22A to (22C) in addition to the detection by the lid opening / closing detection sensors 24A to 24C.

  In the above example, one endoscope is set in each of the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C. However, each of the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C has a plurality of inner parts to be subjected to the same cleaning and disinfection process. It is good also as a structure which can accommodate an endoscope. Even in that case, the wireless tag specified by the above method only becomes a wireless tag of a plurality of endoscopes housed in the same washing tank, and each of the information obtained from the plurality of wireless tags And the information of the cleaning / disinfecting executed this time may be recorded in association with each other, and the same cleaning / disinfecting history data may be written in the plurality of wireless tags.

  In the above description, the plurality of cleaning tanks are arranged in a line in the same direction. However, the present invention is also applied to a form in which the plurality of cleaning tanks are arranged in different directions, for example, in a square shape or a circular shape. can do. For example, in order to apply the first embodiment of the present invention to the endoscope cleaning apparatus having such a configuration, a plurality of antennas are prepared for three or more cleaning tanks, What is necessary is just to set so that it may enter into the communication area | region of two antennas of a different combination, and specify the radio | wireless tag of communication object according to the flow shown in FIG.4 and FIG.5 or FIG.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the second embodiment of the endoscope cleaning apparatus of the present invention. The endoscope cleaning apparatus 60 shown in FIG. 8 has the same number of the three antennas 62A to 62C as the cleaning tank 12 in each of the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C. Although different from the apparatus 10, other components are the same as those of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10. In FIG. 8, the same components as those in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 of FIG.

  Each of the antennas 62A to 62C has communication areas 64A to 64C only inside the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C in which the antennas are arranged. That is, in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 60, antennas 62A to 62C having a shorter communication distance than the antennas 14A and 14B used in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 of FIG. 1 are used.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a circuit configuration of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 60. 2 is different from the circuit configuration of the endoscope cleaning apparatus 10 in FIG. 2 in that the antennas 62A to 62C are provided in the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C and the antenna switching unit 18 can be switched among the three antennas 62A to 62C. The others are the same.

The identification of the communication target wireless tag in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 60 is performed as follows. FIG. 10 is a processing flowchart for specifying a communication target wireless tag in the endoscope cleaning apparatus 60.
In the flow of FIG. 10, steps S41 to S45 are the same as steps S11 to S15 of FIG. When it is detected that the endoscope 100 is set in any of the cleaning tanks 12A to 12C and the lid 22 corresponding to the cleaning tank 12 is closed by the processing of steps S42 to S45, the corresponding process is performed in step S46. The RFID tag is read with the antenna closest to the washing tank. For example, when the endoscope 100 is set in the cleaning tank 12A, the wireless tag 102 attached to the endoscope 100 is read by the antenna 62A provided inside (for example, the bottom surface) of the cleaning tank 12A.

  In this embodiment, each antenna 62 </ b> A to 64 </ b> C has a communication range that remains in one washing tank 12, and therefore does not read the wireless tag 102 of the endoscope 100 set in another washing tank 12. No action is required. Therefore, in step S47, the wireless tag 102 that issued the identification ID read in step S46 is specified as a communication target, and communication with the wireless tag 102 for cleaning and disinfection history management is performed.

  Also in this second embodiment, since only one RFID reader / writer is used for a plurality of cleaning tanks, it is possible to obtain cost merit and to manage history information easily and centrally. Can be obtained. Further, in the second embodiment, since the communication areas 64 of the antennas 62 do not overlap with each other, no crosstalk handling process is required, and the wireless tag to be communicated can be specified very easily.

  Further, the configuration of the endoscope cleaning device 60 can be used when there are two or more cleaning tanks 12 and can also be used when there is one cleaning tank 12.

  Although the endoscope cleaning apparatus according to the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various improvements and modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a circuit structure of the endoscope cleaning apparatus of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows typically an example of the endoscope cleaning apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram for specifying a communication target wireless tag in the endoscope cleaning apparatus of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram for specifying a communication target wireless tag in the endoscope cleaning apparatus of FIG. 3. It is a block diagram which shows typically the other example of the endoscope cleaning apparatus of FIG. FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram for specifying a communication target wireless tag in the endoscope cleaning apparatus of FIG. 6. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a circuit structure of the endoscope cleaning apparatus of FIG. FIG. 9 is a process flow diagram for specifying a communication target wireless tag in the endoscope cleaning apparatus of FIG. 8.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10A, 10B, 60 Endoscope cleaning device 12A, 12B, 12C Cleaning tank 14A, 14B, 62A, 62B, 62C Antenna 16 RFID reader / writer 18 Antenna switching unit 20 Control unit 22A, (22B), (22C) Lid 24A, 24B, 24C Lid opening / closing detection sensor 26A, 26B, 26C Endoscope detection sensor 28A, 28B, 28C Communication area 100 Endoscope 102 Wireless tag

Claims (6)

An endoscope cleaning apparatus comprising a plurality of cleaning tanks, and capable of independently cleaning the endoscope set in the cleaning tank for each tank,
Same or less than the number of the cleaning tanks having a communication area in one or two of the cleaning tanks and transmitting / receiving signals to / from a radio tag attached to the endoscope set in the cleaning tank A plurality of signal transmitting and receiving units,
The signal transmission / reception unit is connected wirelessly or by wire, and communicates with the wireless tag via the signal transmission / reception unit, and communication units less than the number of the signal transmission / reception units;
An endoscope cleaning apparatus comprising: a switching unit that switches a signal transmission / reception unit among the plurality of signal transmission / reception units.   The endoscope cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising one communication unit to which all of the plurality of signal transmission / reception units are connected. Three or more cleaning tanks are arranged in a row,
The signal transmission / reception unit having a number one less than the number of the cleaning tanks is disposed between the cleaning tanks,
The endoscope cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal transmission / reception unit includes a communication area in two adjacent cleaning tanks. A detection unit for detecting that an endoscope to be communicated is set in the cleaning tank;
A controller that identifies the wireless tag with which the communication unit is to communicate;
The controller is
When the cleaning tank detected by the detection unit is other than the end of the row of the cleaning tank, the identification information of the wireless tag is received by the two signal transmitting / receiving units on both sides of the cleaning tank, and the received identification Identifying the wireless tag that transmits duplicate identification information among the information as the wireless tag that the communication unit should communicate with,
When the cleaning tank detected by the detection unit is at the end of the row of the cleaning tanks, the first signal transmitting / receiving unit closest to the cleaning tank on one side of the cleaning tank and the next closest Identification that does not overlap with the identification information received by the second signal transmission / reception unit among the identification information received by the first signal transmission / reception unit by receiving identification information of the wireless tag by a second signal transmission / reception unit The endoscope cleaning apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the wireless tag that transmits information is specified as the wireless tag with which the communication unit is to communicate. A detection unit for detecting that an endoscope to be communicated is set in the cleaning tank;
A controller that identifies the wireless tag with which the communication unit is to communicate;
The controller is
The communication history information of the wireless tag is received by the one signal transmitting / receiving unit closest to the cleaning tank detected by the detecting unit,
The wireless tag with the oldest history among the received communication history information or the wireless tag with no communication history is specified as the wireless tag with which the communication unit should perform communication. Endoscope cleaning device. The same number of signal transmission / reception units as the number of cleaning tanks are arranged for each cleaning tank,
The endoscope cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal transmission / reception unit has a communication area only in one cleaning tank.

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