A flexible mechanical arm and endoscope assembly

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of medical devices, and discloses a flexible mechanical arm and an endoscope assembly. The flexible mechanical arm includes a main body, a transmission mechanism and a driving mechanism. A clip assembly is provided at the free end of the main body. The driving mechanism drives the clip assembly to deflect and telescopically move relative to the main body through the transmission mechanism, and drives the clip assembly to open or close. A clip is provided on the mechanical arm, and the clip has multiple degrees of freedom, and can freely clamp and lift the surface mucosa of the lesion area. The endoscope assembly corresponding to the mechanical arm can install the flexible mechanical arm to the endoscope and move together with the endoscope, and has a lifting function while maintaining the original structure of the endoscope.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of medical devices, and in particular to a flexible mechanical arm and an endoscope assembly. Background Art

[0002] Traditional endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD surgery) is a surgical procedure in which a gastroenterologist performs a resection of submucosal lesions with the help of a gastrointestinal endoscope. Currently, the gastrointestinal endoscope systems used in hospitals are all single-channel. During ESD surgery, after the electric knife is inserted through the channel, no other auxiliary surgical cutting tools can be added from the inside of the endoscope to help avoid or lift up the surface mucosal tissue. When the electric knife removes the submucosal lesions, the endoscope's field of view is easily obscured by the surface mucosa. This type of surgery requires very high experience and skills from the operating physician, the surgical efficiency is relatively low, and there is also a high risk of complications and perforations. Therefore, in order to avoid obstruction by the surface mucosa, the surface mucosa needs to be lifted during surgery. Therefore, a flexible robotic arm that can lift the surface mucosa of the lesion area and a corresponding endoscope component are needed. Summary of the invention

[0003] In order to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a flexible robotic arm and an endoscope assembly, which solves the problem in the prior art that there is no suitable tool to lift the surface mucosa of the lesion area in endoscopic submucosal dissection.

[0004] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve its technical problem is:

[0005] A flexible robotic arm is provided, comprising a main body, a transmission mechanism and a driving mechanism. A clamp assembly is provided at the free end of the main body, and the driving mechanism drives the clamp assembly to deflect and telescope relative to the main body through the transmission mechanism, and drives the clamp assembly to open or close.

[0006] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the clip assembly includes a clip that can be opened or closed, and a bracket connected to the clip, and the bracket drives the clip to deflect and telescope relative to the main body.

[0007] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the main body is provided with a spring tube along the axial direction, and the spring tube is connected to the bracket. The expansion and contraction of the spring tube drives the bracket to move away from or approach the main body.

[0008] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the main body is axially provided with a spring tube, and a spring tube core shaft separated from the spring tube is provided inside the spring tube. The spring tube core shaft enters the interior of the bracket and is connected to the clamp, and the movement of the spring tube core shaft drives the clamp to open or close.

[0009] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, a pair of steel wire ropes are connected to two sides of the bracket, and the steel wire ropes drive the bracket to deflect relative to the main body.

[0010] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the transmission mechanism includes a base plate, a plurality of guide rods installed on the base plate and a plurality of slider assemblies that can move along the guide rods, the slider assembly includes a wire slider, a first slider and a second slider, the wire slider is fixedly connected to the wire rope, each wire slider corresponds to one guide rod, the first slider is connected to the spring tube, the second slider is connected to the spring tube core shaft, and the first slider and the second slider move along the same guide rod.

[0011] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, it also includes a motor assembly, which includes a clamp motor, a telescopic motor and a deflection motor. The deflection motor drives the wire slider to move, the telescopic motor drives the first slider and the second slider to move synchronously, and the clamp motor drives the relative movement of the first slider and the second slider to control the opening and closing degree of the clamp.

[0012] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the driving mechanism includes a motor and a screw slide, and the screw slide is equipped with a force sensor. The force sensor is connected to the slider and can drive the slider to move. The force sensor can monitor the current condition of the clamp by measuring the force condition of the slider.

[0013] An endoscope assembly is also provided, comprising the flexible robotic arm described above, and an endoscope, wherein the endoscope is detachably connected to the flexible robotic arm.

[0014] As a further improvement of the above technical solution, a mounting cap is provided on the main body, and the mounting cap is sleeved with the endoscope.

[0015] The beneficial effects of the present invention are: providing a flexible robotic arm and endoscope assembly, wherein a clip is provided on the robotic arm, the clip has multiple degrees of freedom, can freely clamp and lift the surface mucosa of the lesion area, and the endoscope assembly corresponding to the robotic arm can install the flexible robotic arm to the endoscope and move together with the endoscope, having a lifting function while maintaining the original structure of the endoscope. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0017] Figure 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a flexible mechanical arm in one embodiment of the invention;

[0018] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A magnified schematic diagram of the middle A area;

[0019] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 A magnified schematic diagram of the middle B area;

[0020] Figure 4 is an exploded schematic diagram of a driving mechanism in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the working principle of a parallelogram mechanism in one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] This section will describe in detail the specific embodiments of the present invention. The preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings. The purpose of the accompanying drawings is to supplement the description of the text part of the specification with graphics, so that each technical feature and the overall technical solution of the present invention can be understood intuitively and figuratively, but it cannot be understood as a limitation on the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] In the description of the present invention, if it involves a description of orientation, such as "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", etc., the orientation or position relationship indicated is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, which is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present invention. When a feature is referred to as "set", "fixed", or "connected" to another feature, it can be directly set, fixed, or connected to the other feature, or it can be indirectly set, fixed, or connected to the other feature.

[0024] In the description of the present invention, if "several" is involved, it means one or more, if "multiple" is involved, it means more than two, if "greater than", "less than" or "exceed" is involved, it should be understood as not including the number itself, if "above", "below" or "within" is involved, it should be understood as including the number itself. If "first" or "second" is involved, it should be understood as being used to distinguish technical features, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features or implicitly indicating the order of the indicated technical features.

[0025] In addition, unless otherwise defined, the technical terms and scientific terms used in the present invention have the same meanings as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art. The terms used in the present invention are only for describing specific embodiments, not for limiting the present invention.

[0026] Reference Figure 1, shows a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a flexible robotic arm in an embodiment of the present invention. It includes a main body 1, a transmission mechanism 2 and a driving mechanism 3. The main body 1 is detachably connected to the endoscope 4. A clip assembly is provided at the end of the main body 1. The clip assembly and the endoscope 4 move synchronously. Therefore, when the endoscope 4 is used for detection, the surface mucosal tissue of the lesion area can be lifted with the help of the main body 1 to expose the lesion tissue to the endoscope field of view. Since the endoscope has the characteristics of elasticity and flexibility (adapting to the human body), the main body 1 also has the properties of elasticity and flexibility.

[0027] Reference Figure 2 , showing Figure 1 A magnified schematic diagram of area A in the middle. Figure 2 What is shown in the figure is the specific structure of the end of the main body 1. The clip assembly includes a clip 11 located at the end of the main body 1 and a bracket 13 connected to the clip 11. The main body 1 is detachably connected to the endoscope through the mounting cap 5, and the endoscope is sleeved in the mounting cap 5, thereby realizing the synchronous movement of the main body 1 and the endoscope.

[0028] The clip 11 is connected to the spring tube 14 through a bracket 13. The spring tube 14 includes a spring tube core shaft 15. A parallelogram structure 12 is provided in the bracket 13. The specific structure of the parallelogram structure 12 is described later. The axial movement of the spring tube core shaft 15 causes the clip 11 to open or close through the parallelogram structure 12.

[0029] A pair of steel wires 16 are led out from both sides of the bracket 13. Pulling the steel wires 16 can cause the clip 11 to deflect relative to the main body 1 (the deflection in this application includes both the static bending state of the clip 11 relative to the main body 1 and the movement process of the clip 11 swinging relative to the main body 1). The steel wire 16 passes through the through hole on the mounting cap 5 and through the thin steel tube 17 fixed to the through hole (the steel wire 16 corresponds to the thin steel tube 17 one by one), and the spring tube 14 passes through the support shell 18 fixed to the mounting cap 5. The thin steel tube 17 limits the shaking of the steel wire 16, and the support shell 18 limits the shaking of the spring tube 14. The thin steel tube 17 and the support shell 18 are wrapped by the outer sleeve 19 of the main body 1. In actual situations, only the clip 11 is exposed at the end of the main body 1. This figure only intercepts a part of the outer sleeve 19 in order to show the internal structure of the main body 1.

[0030] In addition, the spring tube 14 can contract and extend independently of the spring tube core shaft 15, thereby driving the clip 11 to approach and move away from the mounting cap 5 (that is, approach and move away from the main body 1).

[0031] In summary, the clamp 11 can be controlled to open and close by the spring tube core shaft 15, can be driven to swing and bend by a pair of steel wire ropes 16, and can be driven by the spring tube 14 to approach and move away from the mounting cap 5 (or the main body 1), that is, the clamp 11 can be extended and shortened relative to the main body 1.

[0032] Reference Figure 3 , showing Figure 1 The enlarged schematic diagram of area B in the middle. Figure 3 The figure shows the specific structure of the transmission mechanism 2, which includes a base plate 21, on which a first slider 221 and a second slider 222 are provided, and a wire slider 223 is also provided. Each slider corresponds to a corresponding guide rod, and the wire slider 223 drives the wire rope 16 to move along the guide rod, thereby pulling the wire rope 16. Since the wire ropes 16 are arranged in pairs, the wire sliders 223 are also arranged in pairs accordingly, and the two wire ropes do not interfere with each other.

[0033] The first slider 221 is fixedly connected to the spring tube 14 , and the second slider 222 is fixedly connected to the spring tube core shaft 15 . Since the spring tube 14 and the spring tube core shaft 15 are coaxial, the first slider 221 and the second slider 222 move along the same guide rod.

[0034] In addition, a positioning plate 211 is provided on the substrate 21, and the positioning plate 211 is positioned and installed on the substrate 21 by a positioning block 212. The different installation positions of the positioning plate 221 on the substrate 21 can change the maximum strokes of the first slider 221, the second slider 222 and the wire slider 223, thereby changing the opening and closing degree, swing degree, bending degree and telescopic length of the chuck.

[0035] Reference Figure 4 , shows an exploded schematic diagram of a driving mechanism in one embodiment of the present invention, and the driving mechanism is used to drive the various sliders in the transmission mechanism to move. The bottom plate 31 is fixedly connected to the cover plate 32 through a positioning column 311, and the cover plate 32 is provided with a plurality of slide grooves so that the driving mechanism can drive the slider to move. The lead screw slide 35 is fixed to the bottom plate 31 through a threaded connection, and the photoelectric switch 34 serves as a starting switch of the motor assembly. The motor assembly drives the lead screw slide 35, and the lead screw slide 35 is equipped with a force sensor 36. The force sensor 36 corresponds to and is fixedly connected to the slider mentioned above, thereby driving the slider to move, and at the same time monitoring the force conditions of the slider, including the force conditions of the clamp after clamping and the force conditions of the clamp maintaining a bent state (pulling one side of the wire rope to a predetermined position to balance the two wire ropes).

[0036] Combination Figure 3 and Figure 4The motor assembly includes a deflection motor 331, a telescopic motor 332 and a clamp motor 333. The deflection motor 331 drives the wire slider 223 to move, the telescopic motor 332 drives the first slider 221 and the second slider 222 to move synchronously, and the clamp motor 333 drives the relative movement of the first slider 221 and the second slider 222 to control the degree of opening and closing of the clamp. In a certain embodiment, the clamp motor 333 is fixed on the first slider 221, and the clamp motor 333 controls the position of the second slider 222 relative to the first slider 221 to drive the clamp to open to different degrees. When the telescopic motor drives the first slider 221 to move, the position of the second slider 222 relative to the first slider 221 remains fixed, thereby driving the entire clamp assembly to extend and retract.

[0037] Reference Figure 5 , shows a schematic diagram of the working principle of a parallelogram mechanism in an embodiment of the present invention, the mechanism includes a hinge 125, the third link 123 and the fourth link 124 can rotate around the hinge 125, the hinge 125 is fixed inside the bracket of the clamp assembly, the third link 123 and the fourth link 124 correspond to the upper and lower parts of the clamp, and the rotation of the third link 123 and the fourth link 124 around the hinge 125 corresponds to the opening and closing of the clamp.

[0038] The parallelogram mechanism is located inside the bracket. The axial movement of the spring tube core shaft 15 is the left and right movement of the spring tube core shaft 15 in the figure. The connecting part of the first connecting rod 121 and the second connecting rod 122 is rotatably connected to the end of the spring tube core shaft 15. Since the hinge 125 is fixed, when the spring tube core shaft 15 moves to the left, the first connecting rod 121 and the second connecting rod 122 move away from each other, that is, the first connecting rod 121 and the second connecting rod 122 open, driving the third connecting rod 123 and the fourth connecting rod 124 to move away from each other, corresponding to the opening of the clamp.

[0039] When the spring tube core shaft 15 moves to the right, the first connecting rod 121 and the second connecting rod 122 approach each other, that is, the first connecting rod 121 and the second connecting rod 122 close together, driving the third connecting rod 123 and the fourth connecting rod 124 to approach each other, corresponding to the closure of the clamp.

[0040] Thus, the axial movement of the spring tube core shaft 15 can drive the opening and closing of the clamp.

[0041] The above is a specific description of the preferred implementation of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and technicians in the relevant field can make various equivalent modifications or substitutions without departing from the purpose of the present invention. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.

Claims

1. An endoscope assembly, characterized in that: It comprises a flexible mechanical arm and an endoscope, wherein the endoscope is detachably connected to the flexible mechanical arm; the flexible mechanical arm comprises a main body, a transmission mechanism and a driving mechanism, a clip assembly is provided at the free end of the main body, and the driving mechanism drives the clip assembly to deflect and telescope relative to the main body through the transmission mechanism, and drives the clip assembly to open or close; The main body is provided with a mounting cap, and the mounting cap is detachably sleeved on the free end of the endoscope; The clip assembly includes a clip that can be opened or closed, and a bracket connected to the clip. The main body is axially provided with a spring tube connected to the bracket, and the extension and contraction of the spring tube drives the bracket to move away from or close to the main body; The outer peripheral surface of the clamp in the closed state and the outer peripheral surface of the bracket are both arc surfaces; Two spaced-apart convex blocks are convexly disposed on one side of the outer periphery of the mounting cap, and the convex blocks are provided with through holes; A pair of steel wires are connected to both sides of the bracket, and the steel wires drive the bracket to deflect relative to the main body; the steel wires are sequentially passed through the through holes and the thin steel tubes fixedly connected to the through holes; the steel wires correspond to the thin steel tubes one by one, and correspond to the protrusions one by one; The spring tube is located between the two protrusions outside the mounting cap and is inserted through a support shell fixedly connected to the mounting cap; The main body also includes an outer sleeve, which is covered on the spring tube, the mounting cap and the thin steel tube, and the clip is exposed outside the outer sleeve.

2. The endoscope assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main body is axially provided with a spring tube, and a spring tube core shaft separated from the spring tube is provided inside the spring tube. The spring tube core shaft enters into the bracket and is connected with the clamp, and the movement of the spring tube core shaft drives the clamp to open or close.

3. The endoscope assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that: The transmission mechanism includes a base plate, a plurality of guide rods mounted on the base plate and a plurality of slider assemblies capable of moving along the guide rods, the slider assembly includes a wire slider, a first slider and a second slider, the wire slider is fixedly connected to the wire rope, each wire slider corresponds to one guide rod, the first slider is connected to the spring tube, the second slider is connected to the spring tube core shaft, and the first slider and the second slider move along the same guide rod.

4. The endoscope assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that: It also includes a motor assembly, which includes a clamp motor, a telescopic motor and a deflection motor. The deflection motor drives the wire slider to move, the telescopic motor drives the first slider and the second slider to move synchronously, and the clamp motor drives the first slider and the second slider to move relative to each other to control the degree of opening and closing of the clamp.

5. The endoscope assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that: The driving mechanism includes a motor and a screw slide, and a force sensor is installed on the screw slide. The force sensor is connected to the steel wire slider, the first slider and the second slider and can drive the steel wire slider, the first slider and the second slider to move. The force sensor can monitor the current status of the clamp by measuring the force conditions of the steel wire slider, the first slider and the second slider.

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