JP2010268906A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

The resin tube for air supply / water supply of an endoscope is improved in strength without increasing the tube thickness, and the diameter of the insertion portion of the endoscope can be reduced. By increasing the heat conductivity of the endoscope, the heat generation region at the distal end portion of the endoscope is cooled, so that the luminance of the observation light source is increased and the number of pixels of the image sensor is increased.
An endoscope including a cleaning nozzle that supplies air or water toward an observation window provided at a distal end of an endoscope insertion portion, and a resin tube 51 connected to a flow path of the cleaning nozzle. Then, a plurality of heat conductive wires 67 extending in the longitudinal direction of the resin tube 51 are included in the thickness of the resin tube 51, and the heat conductive wires 67 are arranged in parallel without crossing each other. It was.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope.

  The endoscope has an elongated endoscope insertion portion that is inserted into a body cavity, and an illumination optical system that illuminates the observation region at the distal end portion of the endoscope that is the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion And an imaging optical system including an imaging device for imaging the observation region. The illumination optical system includes a light guide that is disposed along the inner wall of the endoscope insertion portion and is formed by an optical fiber bundle. The light guide has a base end connected to the light source device, guides light from the light source device to the distal end portion of the endoscope, and emits illumination light from the distal end portion of the endoscope. The imaging optical system generates an observation image of the observation region by using an objective lens at the distal end portion of the endoscope and an imaging element arranged at the imaging position of the objective lens. In addition, the illumination optical system and the imaging optical system are respectively fixed by being inserted into the drilled holes of the distal end hard portion disposed at the distal end portion of the endoscope, and further, the imaging optical system is attached to the distal end portion of the endoscope. A cleaning nozzle for supplying water or supplying air to the objective lens is arranged.

  In the endoscope having the above configuration, an air / water feeding resin tube is connected to the flow path of the cleaning nozzle, and air and cleaning water are supplied from the cleaning nozzle toward the objective lens through the resin tube. The resin tube is desired to have high strength so that it can withstand deformation or friction generated in the endoscope insertion portion, but increasing the thickness and outer diameter of the resin tube This hinders diameter reduction. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe a configuration of a tube in which a metal wire for reinforcement is wound around an air / water supply tube of an endoscope.

Further, in the above endoscope, if the light quantity of the illumination optical system is increased and imaged, the noise of the captured image can be reduced, and the aperture diameter of the imaging optical system can be reduced, that is, the F number can be increased. It is possible to acquire a high-quality image focused from a long distance to a short distance. Therefore, it is desired to increase the luminance of the observation light source. Furthermore, in recent years, it has been desired to further reduce the diameter of the distal end portion of the endoscope so as to realize an uncomfortable insertion and to increase the number of pixels of the imaging element so that more detailed observation can be performed.
However, increasing the brightness of the observation light source and increasing the number of pixels of the image sensor increase the amount of heat generated by the endoscope, and reducing the diameter of the distal end of the endoscope that improves the insertion property of the endoscope decreases the heat dissipation characteristics. Therefore, there are concerns about deterioration of electronic components and increase in signal noise. Under such circumstances, various techniques for cooling the distal end portion of the endoscope have been studied. For example, Patent Document 3 describes a configuration in which a heat dissipating member is provided in the distal end portion of an endoscope to dissipate heat generated from an illumination optical system or an image sensor.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-95892 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-323210 JP 2008-29597 A

  The present invention improves the strength of an endoscope air / water feeding resin tube without increasing the tube wall thickness, and enables the endoscope insertion portion to be reduced in diameter. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope capable of cooling the heat generation region at the distal end portion of the endoscope by increasing the thermal conductivity in the direction, increasing the luminance of the observation light source, and increasing the number of pixels of the image sensor.

The present invention has the following configuration.
An endoscope comprising a cleaning nozzle that supplies air or water toward an observation window provided at the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion, and a resin tube connected to the flow path of the cleaning nozzle,
The resin tube includes a plurality of heat conductive wires extending in the longitudinal direction of the resin tube within a tube thickness,
An endoscope in which each of the heat conductive wires is juxtaposed without crossing each other.

  According to the endoscope of the present invention, the strength of the resin tube can be increased without increasing the tube thickness. Further, heat generated from the illumination optical system and the imaging optical system can be diffused in the longitudinal direction of the endoscope insertion portion via the resin tube, and the temperature rise at the endoscope distal end portion can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to obtain a high-quality observation image while preventing an increase in noise signal and performance deterioration of the image sensor. Further, even if the endoscope insertion portion is made thinner, the thermal resistance in the longitudinal direction of the endoscope insertion portion can be sufficiently reduced.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic external perspective view in the front-end | tip part of the endoscope insertion part shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration diagram in the AA cross section of FIG. 2. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view (a) and cross-sectional view (b) of an air / water supply tube. It is a schematic diagram which shows a mode that the heat conductive wire was arrange | positioned spirally along the axial direction of an air / water supply tube.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.
The endoscope 100 includes a main body operation unit 11 and an endoscope insertion unit 13 connected to the main body operation unit 11 and inserted into a body cavity. A universal cord 15 is connected to the main body operation unit 11, and a light guide (LG) connector (not shown) is provided at the tip of the universal cord 15. The LG connector is detachably connected to a light source device (not shown), thereby illuminating light to an illumination optical system of a distal end portion (hereinafter also referred to as an endoscope distal end portion) 17 which is a distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion 13. Will be sent. In addition, a video connector is connected to the LG connector, and this video connector is detachably connected to a processor that performs image signal processing and the like.

  The endoscope insertion portion 13 is composed of a flexible portion 19, a bending portion 21, and a distal end portion 17 in order from the main body operation portion 11 side, and the bending portion 21 rotates angle knobs 23 and 25 of the main body operation portion 11. The bending operation is performed remotely. Thereby, the front-end | tip part 17 can be orient | assigned to a desired direction.

  In addition to the angle knobs 23 and 25 described above, the main body operation unit 11 is provided with various buttons 27 such as an air / water supply button, a suction button, and a shutter button. Further, the continuous portion 29 extended to the endoscope insertion portion 13 side has a forceps insertion portion 31. The forceps insertion portion 31 guides the treatment tool such as the inserted forceps from a later-described forceps opening formed at the distal end portion 17 of the endoscope insertion portion 13.

FIG. 2 is a schematic external perspective view of the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion, and FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration diagram of the AA cross section of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the endoscope distal end portion 17 has an imaging optical system observation window 35 on the distal end surface 33, illumination optical system irradiation ports 37 </ b> A and 37 </ b> B, and a forceps port 39 on both sides of the observation window 35. Further, a cleaning nozzle 41 for supplying air and water toward the observation window 35 is arranged.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the endoscope distal end portion 17 includes a distal end hard portion 43 made of a metal material such as a stainless steel material and a hole 45 a formed in the distal end hard portion 43 with a lens barrel 45 inserted therein. An imaging section 47 fixed in place, a metal pipe 49 disposed in the other perforation hole 43b, and an air / water feeding resin tube (hereinafter referred to as an air / water feeding tube) 51 connected to the metal pipe 49; Furthermore, it has a light guide 53 of the illumination optical system, a forceps tube (not shown), and the like.

  The imaging unit 47 takes in light from the objective lens 36 serving as an observation window through the lens barrel 45 accommodated in the hard tip portion 43 and forms an image on the imaging element 59 mounted on the circuit board 57 via the prism 55. Image information is output from the image sensor 59. The imaging optical system including the objective lens 36, the prism 55, and the imaging element 59 is disposed in the internal space of the endoscope distal end portion 17. The optical member such as a lens and the light guide 53 arranged in the irradiation ports 37A and 37B (see FIG. 2) constitute an illumination optical system, and these are also arranged in the internal space of the endoscope distal end portion 17. Image information output from the image sensor 59 is sent to a processor (not shown) via the signal cable 58 and processed into a display image.

  An air / water supply tube 51 is connected to the cleaning nozzle 41 disposed with the discharge port facing the objective lens 36 via a metal pipe 49, and air or water is supplied to the objective lens 36 at a desired timing. The air / water supply tube 51 is connected at one end to a metal pipe 49 protruding from the hard end portion 43 and connected at the other end to a pump provided outside the endoscope so that air or washing water can be passed through the endoscope. Supply to the insertion destination.

  Further, a metal sleeve 61 is connected to the outer periphery of the distal end hard portion 43, and a node ring (not shown) disposed on the bending portion 21 (see FIG. 1) is pivotally attached to the metal sleeve 61. 21 can be bent freely. The outer periphery of the metal sleeve 61 is covered with a substantially cylindrical outer tube 63, and the distal end side of the distal end hard portion 43 is covered with a distal end cover 65, so that the outer tube 63 and the distal end cover 65 are not submerged inside. Are in close contact with each other.

Here, the air / water supply tube 51 will be described in detail.
FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal sectional view (a) and a transverse sectional view (b) of the air / water feeding tube. The air / water supply tube 51 includes a plurality of heat conductive wires 67 extending in the longitudinal direction of the air / water supply tube 51 within the tube thickness, and the heat conductive wires 67 are arranged in parallel without crossing each other. This is a flexible resin tube. The included heat conductive wire 67 has a heat conductivity of at least 100 W / (m · K), and is selected from, for example, aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper, and copper alloy that are particularly excellent in heat conductivity and economy. And at least one metal material.

  The air / water feeding tube 51 is, for example, one or more kinds selected from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA) having excellent heat resistance and wear resistance. It can be configured including a fluorine resin material.

  Here, if the thermal conductivity of the single member of the heat conductive wire 67 is less than 100 W / (m · K), heat diffusion along the endoscope insertion portion 13 is not sufficiently performed, and the endoscope distal end portion 17 is not formed. Therefore, it is desirable to use a material of 100 W / (m · K) or more.

  The heat conductive wire 67 of the air / water supply tube 51 is arranged in a straight line substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction (axial direction) of the air / water supply tube 51, and at a plurality of positions at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the tube. Has been placed. By arranging the heat conductive wire 67 made of a metal material in the wall thickness of the air / water supply tube 51, the strength of the air / water supply tube 51 is increased and various resistances such as wear resistance are improved. In addition, there is no need for a new installation space as the strength increases, and there is no space increase that affects the diameter of the endoscope. Furthermore, as the strength increases, the air / water tube 51 can be made thinner or thinner, and the outer diameter of the endoscope insertion portion can be kept small.

  Moreover, by providing the heat conductive wire 67 in the air / water supply tube 51, the thermal conductivity in the longitudinal direction of the air / water supply tube 51 can be increased, and the amount of heat applied to the air / water supply tube 51 is quickly increased in the longitudinal direction of the tube. Can diffuse. That is, the heat generated from the illumination optical system and the imaging optical system arranged at the endoscope distal end portion 17 shown in FIG. 3 is transmitted to the air / water supply tube 51 via the distal end rigid portion 43, and the heat source Although it is transmitted to the air / water supply tube 51 by radiation from one circuit board 57 or the image sensor 59, this transmitted heat is released along the endoscope insertion portion 13 through the air / water supply tube 51. be able to. As a result, the heat generation area of the endoscope distal end portion 17 can be cooled, the observation light source can be increased in brightness, the imaging element can be increased in pixels, and a high-quality observation image can be acquired.

  That is, the endoscope 100 has the heat generating portion concentrated on the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion 13, and the temperature distribution of the endoscope insertion portion 13 during the endoscope observation is determined by the endoscope distal end portion. There is a local temperature peak at 17, and it is important to equalize the temperature peak in order to maintain the performance of the endoscope. When the heat conductive wire 67 is provided in the air / water supply tube 51, the thermal diffusibility along the endoscope insertion portion 13 is improved, and the heat generated in the endoscope distal end portion 17 is actively cooled, and the built-in electron It is possible to extend the life of the parts and obtain a good observation image.

  In addition, the number of the said heat conductive wire 67 can be suitably increased in the range which can maintain the softness | flexibility of the air / water supply tube 51 irrespective of the number based on the arrangement | positioning space | interval shown in FIG. The increase in the number can improve the thermal conductivity of the air / water supply tube 51 and enhance the cooling effect of the endoscope distal end portion 17. Moreover, if the cross-sectional shape of the heat conductive wire 67 is not limited to a circle but is an ellipse or a rectangle that is wide in the circumferential direction of the air / water supply tube 51, the strength and the heat conductivity can be further increased. Further, the cross-sectional shape of the heat conductive wire 67 may be different at each position along the endoscope insertion portion 13. In other words, it is possible to eliminate waste by concentrating the cross-sectional area on the endoscope distal end 17 side and reducing it on the proximal end side so as to be concentrated on only necessary portions.

  Moreover, the heat conductive wire 67 is good also as an arrangement structure biased with respect to the circumferential direction of the air / water supply tube 51. In that case, if the heat source is arranged on the side where the arrangement density is high, even if it receives radiant heat from the heat source (for example, the circuit board 57 or the image sensor 59), it can be quickly diffused. And the flexible fall of the air / water supply tube 51 by arrangement | positioning of the heat conductive wire 67 can also be reduced.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the heat conductive wire may be disposed in a spiral shape along the axial direction of the air / water supply tube 51A. In this case, even if the number of the heat conductive wires 67A arranged in the circumferential direction of the air / water supply tube 51A is small, the presence length of the heat conductive wire 67A per unit length in the axial direction is increased, and the tube strength is increased. The received radiant heat can be quickly diffused. Moreover, the thermal conductivity in the circumferential direction and the thermal conductivity in the longitudinal direction of the air / water feeding tube 51A can be changed by changing the inclination angle with respect to the tube axis direction when the heat conductive wire 67A is arranged in a spiral shape. Can be adjusted as appropriate. Thereby, the required thermal conductivity can be easily obtained while increasing the degree of freedom in design.

  The air / water supply tubes 51 and 51A including the heat conductive wires 67 and 67A are formed by integrally forming the heat conductive wires 67 and 67A when the air / water supply tubes 51 and 51A are extruded. Thus, the air / water tubes 51, 51A can be made uniform in the longitudinal direction. Further, the present invention is not limited to this, and it can be manufactured by other processing methods such as injection molding.

  As described above, according to the endoscope 100, the strength of the air / water feeding tubes 51 and 51A can be increased without increasing the tube thickness, and the heat generated from the illumination optical system and the imaging optical system can be increased. It diffuses with high efficiency in the longitudinal direction of the endoscope insertion portion 13 through the air / water supply tubes 51 and 51A, and the temperature rise of the endoscope distal end portion can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to obtain a high-quality observation image by preventing an increase in noise signal and performance deterioration of the image sensor, and even if the endoscope insertion portion is further reduced in diameter, the thermal resistance in the longitudinal direction of the endoscope insertion portion is reduced. Can be sufficiently reduced.

As described above, the following items are disclosed in this specification.
(1) An endoscope comprising a cleaning nozzle that supplies air or water toward an observation window provided at the distal end of an endoscope insertion portion, and a resin tube connected to the flow path of the cleaning nozzle. And
The resin tube includes a plurality of heat conductive wires extending in the longitudinal direction of the resin tube within a tube thickness,
An endoscope in which each of the heat conductive wires is juxtaposed without crossing each other.
According to this endoscope, the strength of the resin tube can be increased by arranging the heat conductive wire within the thickness of the resin tube. For this reason, the resin tube can be thinned, and the diameter of the endoscope insertion portion can be reduced. Further, the thermal conductivity in the longitudinal direction of the resin tube is increased by the heat conductive wire, and the amount of heat applied to the resin tube is diffused in the longitudinal direction.

(2) The endoscope according to (1),
An endoscope in which the heat conductive wires are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the resin tube.
According to this endoscope, uniform heat conduction performance can be obtained in the circumferential direction of the resin tube.

(3) The endoscope according to (1) or (2),
An endoscope in which the thermally conductive wire is disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the resin tube.
According to this endoscope, heat can be transferred in the shortest path in the longitudinal direction of the resin tube, and the heat dissipation effect is enhanced.

(4) The endoscope according to any one of (1) to (3),
An endoscope in which the resin tube is an extruded product obtained by integrally extruding the heat conductive wire.
According to this endoscope, the heat conductive material can be easily disposed within the thickness of the resin tube.

(5) The endoscope according to any one of (1) to (4),
An endoscope in which the thermally conductive wire has a thermal conductivity of at least 100 W / (m · K).
According to this endoscope, the thermal conductivity in the longitudinal direction of the resin tube can be remarkably increased.

(6) The endoscope according to (5),
An endoscope in which the thermally conductive wire is made of a metal material.
According to this endoscope, by using a metal material having a high thermal conductivity, the thermal conductivity in the longitudinal direction of the resin tube can be reliably improved even for a thin thermal conductive wire.

(7) The endoscope according to (6),
An endoscope in which the metal material is at least one material selected from aluminum, an aluminum alloy, copper, and a copper alloy.
According to this endoscope, a resin tube having high thermal conductivity can be obtained at low cost by using a metal material that is particularly excellent in thermal conductivity and economical.

(8) The endoscope according to any one of (1) to (7),
An endoscope in which the resin tube includes a fluorine-based resin material.
According to this endoscope, a resin tube having excellent water resistance and chemical resistance can be obtained.

(9) The endoscope according to (8),
An endoscope in which the fluororesin material is one or more materials selected from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA).
According to this endoscope, by forming the resin tube using PTFE or PFA, it is possible to obtain a configuration excellent in heat resistance and wear resistance.

(10) The endoscope according to any one of (1) to (9),
A distal end hard portion constituting the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion;
An illumination optical system for illuminating the observation area with illumination light;
An imaging optical system including an imaging element that images the observed region from the observation window;
Endoscope equipped with.
According to this endoscope, the heat generated from the illumination optical system and the imaging optical system can be released along the endoscope insertion portion via the resin tube, and the heat generation region at the distal end portion of the endoscope can be cooled. . Thereby, it is possible to increase the brightness of the observation light source and increase the number of pixels of the image sensor, and a high-quality observation image can be acquired.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Endoscope insertion part 17 Tip part 35 Observation window 36 Objective lens 37A, 37B Irradiation port 41 Cleaning nozzle 43 Hard tip part 43a, 43b Drilling hole 47 Imaging part 49 Metal pipe 51, 51A Air supply / water supply tube (resin tube)
53 Light Guide 57 Circuit Board 58 Signal Cable 59 Image Sensor 61 Metal Sleeve 67, 67A Thermal Conductive Wire 100 Endoscope

Claims (10)

An endoscope comprising a cleaning nozzle that supplies air or water toward an observation window provided at the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion, and a resin tube connected to the flow path of the cleaning nozzle,
The resin tube includes a plurality of heat conductive wires extending in the longitudinal direction of the resin tube within a tube thickness,
An endoscope in which each of the heat conductive wires is juxtaposed without crossing each other. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein
An endoscope in which the heat conductive wires are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the resin tube. The endoscope according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
An endoscope in which the thermally conductive wire is disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the resin tube. The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An endoscope in which the resin tube is an extruded product obtained by integrally extruding the heat conductive wire. The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An endoscope in which the thermally conductive wire has a thermal conductivity of at least 100 W / (m · K). The endoscope according to claim 5, wherein
An endoscope in which the thermally conductive wire is made of a metal material. The endoscope according to claim 6, wherein
An endoscope in which the metal material is at least one material selected from aluminum, an aluminum alloy, copper, and a copper alloy. The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
An endoscope in which the resin tube includes a fluorine-based resin material. The endoscope according to claim 8, wherein
An endoscope in which the fluororesin material is one or more materials selected from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA). The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
A distal end hard portion constituting the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion;
An illumination optical system for illuminating the observation area with illumination light;
An imaging optical system including an imaging element that images the observed region from the observation window;
Endoscope equipped with.

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