A magnetic handle for an endoscope guide, in particular for a colonoscope, and an endoscope system incorporating said handle

Claims

1. A magnetic handle system (1) comprising a magnetic handle (2) and a housing (3), characterized in that the magnetic handle (2) includes a magnetic field source consisting of one or more permanent magnets, and wherein the magnetic handle (2) includes a hollow housing (5) having a longitudinal axis (XX), a first end (5a) and a second end (5b), in which a movable support element (6) of the magnetic field source is movably located by means of a screw connection, wherein the movable support element (6) can move along the longitudinal axis between a raised or non-working position and a plurality of lowered working positions.

2. The system (1) according to claim 1, in which the housing (5) comprises a closing element (7) in the upper part, which comprises a central part of the sleeve (7a) having an axial hole (7b) into which the shaft (8) is inserted, the inner end (8a) of the shaft (8) is connected to the movable support element (6), and the outer end (8b) of the shaft (8) is connected to the handle (9), wherein the handle (9) preferably has a spiral shape, for example in a clockwise direction, in order to make the correct direction of rotation more intuitive for screwing and unscrewing the movable support element (6) and thus increasing or decreasing the applied attractive force of the magnetic field.

3. The system (1) according to claim 1 or 2, in which the movable support element (6) comprises a hollow cylindrical part (6a) containing an external thread (10) and an internal surface containing a plurality of ribs (11), wherein the hollow cylindrical part (6a) defines a hollow internal part (12) configured to accommodate a source of a magnetic field; and wherein the housing (5), in turn, has a thread (13) on the internal surface that can be connected to the thread (10) of the movable support element (6).

4. The system (1) according to any one of paragraphs 1-3, in which the magnetic field source has a magnetization equivalent to a disk-shaped permanent magnet with magnetization N52, having a diameter from 50 to 100 mm, a thickness from 30 to 80 mm and a mass from 1.8 to 4.5 kg, is selected from: a) a cylindrical magnet (4) with axial magnetization; b) a Halbach grid type configuration comprising a plurality of magnets (4'), preferably eight magnets (4'), arranged in a crown shape around a central cylindrical magnet (4); c) a Halbach grid type configuration comprising four magnets (4') arranged along the sides of a parallelepiped-shaped central magnet (4), i.e. peripheral with respect to said central magnet (4); d) a Halbach grid type configuration comprising two magnets (4') located on either side of a central magnet (4) in the shape of a parallelepiped, in this case: - in configuration b) the central magnet (4) is located with its poles along the axis, while the poles of the plurality of magnets (4') in the crown are located along rays converging to the longitudinal axis of the central magnet (4); - in configuration c) the central magnet (4) is arranged with axial magnetization, while the four peripheral magnets (4') are magnetized parallel to a plane perpendicular to the direction of magnetization of the central magnet (4); - in configuration d) the central magnet (4) and two magnets (4') located on the sides are arranged with magnetization along directions at an angle of 90° to each other.

5. The system (1) according to clause 4, in which - the magnetic field source according to configuration a) consists of a magnet (4) having dimensions of approximately D85-86 mm × Sp45-45.5 mm, while the total mass of the magnetic field source is approximately 2 kg; - the magnetic field source according to configuration b) consists of a central magnet (4) with a diameter of about 74 mm and a thickness of about 35 mm and eight parallelepiped magnets (4') with dimensions of about Lc15 × Lu26 × Sp35 mm, where the total mass of the magnetic field source is about 2 kg, and where the eight magnets (4') in the crown are spaced from the central magnet (4) by about 1 mm; - the magnetic field source according to configuration c) consists of a central magnet (4) with dimensions Lc=Lu60-61 mm × Sp35-44 mm and four peripheral magnets (4') with dimensions Lc15-16 × Lu60-61 × Sp35-44 mm, while the total mass of the magnetic field source is from 2 to 2.5 kg; - the magnetic field source according to configuration d) consists of a central magnet (4) having dimensions of approximately Lc44 × Lu45 × Sp58 mm and two magnets (4') located on the sides having dimensions of approximately Lc28-16 × Lu45 × Sp58 mm, where the total mass of the magnetic field source is approximately 2 kg, where Lc = short side, Lu = long side, Sp = thickness, and D is the base diameter of the cylinder (6).

6. The system (1) according to any one of claims 1-5, in which the magnetic handle (2) comprises elements of a magnetic field concentrator (14) constructed using screens made of ferromagnetic material located along the walls of the movable support element (6) or the housing (5) and, optionally, above the magnetic field source, in the form of a plurality of plates or in the form of a continuous or discontinuous annular strip, and may consist of a single sheet of ferromagnetic material or a plurality of sheets placed in contact or at a distance from each other.

7. The system (1) according to claim 6, wherein said ferromagnetic material is a metal alloy containing 76-80% or about 80% nickel, about 14.5-15% iron, 3-6% or about 5% molybdenum, 4-55% copper and traces of silicon.

8. The system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the housing (3) comprises a protective shell (15) placed on a stand (16) comprising a base (16a) and a post (16b), wherein the base (16a) preferably comprises wheels (17), the protective shell (15) comprises a basket (18) and a lid (19) provided with a handle (21), wherein the lid (19) is hingedly fixed to the basket (18) by two hinges (20) located at diametrically opposite points, and in which the lid (19) and, optionally, the basket (18) also have the shape of a spherical cap, so that the protective shell (15) as a whole has a substantially spherical or semi-oval shape.

9. The system (1) according to claim 8, in which the basket (18) comprises a toroidal body (23), which is preferably empty inside to create space (25), and the toroidal body (23) comprises a central socket (24), the size of which allows for the placement of a magnetic handle (2).

10. The system (1) according to claim 8 or 9, in which the lock (26), including an inclined bar (26a), fixed on hinges at its midpoint on a projection (27) located on a surface (18a), is placed on the outer surface (18a) of the basket (18) in a position close to the upper edge (18b), wherein the first and second locking teeth (28a, 28b) are placed close to the two ends of the bar (26a), wherein the first locking tooth (28a) is configured to snap into a socket (29) recessed in the surface (18a) of the basket (18), while the second locking tooth (28b) is configured to connect with a projection (30) located along the edge (19a) of the lid (19), in a middle position relative to the hinges (20).

11. The system (1) according to any one of claims 8 to 10, in which the basket (18) comprises magnetic field shielding elements (31) consisting of plates of ferromagnetic material, preferably a metal alloy containing 76-80% or about 80% nickel, about 14.5-15% iron, 3-6% or about 5% molybdenum, 4-55% copper and traces of silicon, wherein the total thickness of the shielding elements (31) is preferably from 3 to 6 mm.

12. The system (1) according to claim 11, in which the shielding elements (31) comprise an annular sheet (31a) and a plurality of U-shaped sheets (31b) configured to also cover the bottom of the basket (18), wherein the shielding elements (31) are preferably located in the space (25) inside the toroidal body (23).

13. Magnetic handle (2) as defined in any of paragraphs 1-7.

14. A housing (3) for a magnetic handle as defined in any of paragraphs 8-12.

15. Endoscopy kit, including: - a magnetic handle (2) as defined in any of paragraphs 1-7. - an endoscopic guide including a tubular guide element and a fixing head, wherein the tubular guide element includes a longitudinal cavity, and the fixing head is provided with an expandable container configured to accommodate a ferromagnetic substance, - a pre-filled syringe filled with an aqueous suspension of a given amount of a ferromagnetic substance or a glass vial filled with a powdered ferromagnetic agent, preferably carbonyl iron, and a pre-filled syringe filled with a physiological solution (aqueous solution of NaCl and / or sodium citrate), or a glass vial with a suspension of a ferromagnetic substance, preferably carbonyl iron, and an empty syringe.