A front-end component, an insertion part, and an endoscope

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of endoscopes, and particularly relates to a front-end component, an insertion portion, and an endoscope. The disclosed front-end component includes a lens holder and a fitting provided at the proximal end of the lens holder. The lens holder is provided with an instrument tube hole and a wire harness hole, and the instrument tube hole and the wire harness hole are respectively offset from the edge position of the lens holder. The fitting has a tubular structure, and a first avoidance opening corresponding to the instrument tube hole is provided at the distal end of the fitting, and / or a second avoidance opening corresponding to the wire harness hole is provided at the distal end of the fitting. In the above solution, by providing the first avoidance opening for avoiding the instrument tube and / or the second avoidance opening for avoiding the wire harness at the distal end of the fitting, a part of the distal end of the instrument tube can be located within the first avoidance opening and / or a part of the distal end of the wire harness can be located within the second avoidance opening. This way is beneficial to the miniaturization development of the front-end component of the endoscope.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of endoscopes, and in particular to a front end component, an insertion portion and an endoscope. Background Art

[0002] An endoscope is a commonly used medical device, comprising an operating handle and an insertion part. The insertion part can enter the human body through a human cavity or a surgical incision. By turning the lever on the operating handle, the active bending section at the distal end of the insertion part can be driven to adjust its posture. The camera module at the distal end of the insertion part can observe the internal tissues of the human body, helping doctors determine the location of lesions in the patient's body and the tissue structure characteristics of the lesion location.

[0003] The distal end of the insertion portion has a front end assembly, which generally includes a lens mount and a camera module, an illumination module and a front end portion of an instrument tube disposed on the lens mount. The prior art endoscopes have the following problems: Due to the narrow operating environment of the endoscope, the outer diameter of the insertion portion of the endoscope must be maintained at a smaller size. However, the smaller size requirement inevitably makes the instrument channel of the instrument tube smaller, resulting in a smaller flow rate of the fluid during the suction process, and the narrow instrument channel places higher requirements on the size of the disposal instrument. Summary of the invention

[0004] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a front section component, an insertion part and an endoscope to address the above technical problems.

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a front-end component, the front-end component comprising:

[0007] A lens mount, wherein the lens mount is provided with an instrument tube hole and a harness hole, wherein the instrument tube hole and the harness hole are respectively offset to the edge of the lens mount;

[0008] The mating piece is a tubular structure, the mating piece is arranged at the proximal end of the lens mount, the distal end of the mating piece is provided with a first avoidance opening corresponding to the instrument tube hole, and / or the distal end of the mating piece is provided with a second avoidance opening corresponding to the wiring harness hole.

[0009] Furthermore, the matching piece forms a smooth transition surface at the first avoidance opening and / or the second avoidance opening, and the smooth transition surface is a convex arc surface.

[0010] Further, the first avoidance opening and the second avoidance opening are distributed in the same radial direction of the fitting.

[0011] Furthermore, the bottom of the first avoidance opening is in an arc shape.

[0012] Further, the proximal end of the lens holder is connected to the distal end of the fitting, or there is a gap between the proximal end of the lens holder and the distal end of the fitting.

[0013] Further, the proximal end of the lens holder has an instrument tube docking portion communicating with the instrument tube hole. The instrument tube docking portion has a tubular structure. The instrument tube docking portion is provided with a guiding portion at its proximal end. In the direction from the proximal end to the distal end of the lens holder, the diameter of the guiding portion gradually increases.

[0014] In a second aspect, the present application further provides an insertion portion, which includes the aforementioned front-end assembly. The insertion portion further includes an instrument tube and / or a wire harness. A part of the instrument tube is located within the first avoidance opening, and a part of the wire harness is located within the second avoidance opening.

[0015] Further, the width of the first avoidance opening is greater than the radius of the instrument tube.

[0016] Further, the width of the second avoidance opening is greater than the width of the wire harness.

[0017] In a third aspect, the present application further provides an endoscope, which includes a handle and the aforementioned insertion portion. The proximal end of the insertion portion is connected to the handle.

[0018] The technical solution adopted by the present invention can achieve the following beneficial effects:

[0019] First, for the front-end assembly, insertion portion and endoscope of the present application, the fitting is the front end of the active bending section or an intermediate adapter for connecting the front end of the active bending section and the lens holder. By providing a first avoidance opening for avoiding the instrument tube at the distal end of the fitting, when the instrument tube is docked with the instrument tube hole offset from the lens holder, a part of the instrument tube can be received within the first avoidance opening or even pass through the first avoidance opening and radially protrude from the outer wall of the fitting, so that the layout space of the instrument tube is no longer limited to the area defined by the fitting alone, the space for arranging the instrument tube is expanded, and thus a larger-sized instrument tube can be selected, the suction flow rate of the instrument tube can be increased, and the size requirement for the treatment instrument can be reduced;

[0020] Second, by providing a second avoidance opening for avoiding the wire harness at the distal end of the fitting, when the wire harness is docked with the wire harness hole offset from the lens holder, a part of the wire harness can be received within the second avoidance opening or even pass through the second avoidance opening and radially protrude from the outer wall of the fitting. In this way, the accommodation space within the fitting can be vacated for the instrument tube to be docked with the instrument tube hole, so that a larger-sized instrument tube can be selected;

[0021] Thirdly, the distal end of the instrument tube is not directly inserted into the instrument tube hole, but can be sleeved on the instrument tube docking part at the proximal end of the lens holder. In this way, the limitation of the instrument tube hole on the radial dimension of the instrument tube can be eliminated, which is beneficial to selecting an instrument tube with a larger size.

[0022] Fourthly, the mating part forms a smooth transition surface at the first avoidance opening. The smooth transition surface is a convex arc surface, which can prevent the first avoidance opening from wearing and damaging the instrument tube. Description of the Drawings

[0023] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0024] Figure 1 is one of the structural schematic diagrams of the front-end assembly according to the embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 2 is another structural schematic diagram of the front-end assembly according to the embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 3 is the structural schematic diagram of the lens holder according to the embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 4 is the structural schematic diagram of the mating part according to the embodiment of the present application;

[0028] In the figure:

[0029] 100 - lens holder, 110 - instrument tube hole, 120 - wire harness hole, 130 - instrument tube docking part, 131 - guiding part; 200 - mating part, 210 - first avoidance opening, 211 - smooth transition surface, 220 - second avoidance opening; 300 - instrument tube; 400 - wire harness; 500 - active bending section. Detailed Embodiments

[0030] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the present invention will be described in detail below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described here, and the objects distinguished by "first", "second", etc. are generally of one type, and the number of objects is not limited. For example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "and / or" in the specification and claims represents at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated with each other are in an "or" relationship.

[0032] In the present invention, "proximal" and "distal" refer to the distance between the structure and the human body in the use environment, so as to facilitate the description of the positional relationship between the components and facilitate understanding; "proximal" and "distal" are relative positional relationships, not absolute ones.

[0033] The following is combined with Figures 1 to 4 , the front end assembly, insertion portion and endoscope provided in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail through specific embodiments and their application scenarios.

[0034] See also Figures 1 to 2 The embodiment of the present application discloses a front end assembly, which is applied to an endoscope. The disclosed front end assembly includes a lens holder 100 and a matching piece 200.

[0035] Among them, the lens holder 100 is the basic component of the front end assembly of the endoscope, which can provide an installation basis for the front end of the camera module, the lighting module and the instrument tube 300 of the endoscope. The matching piece 200 is a tubular structure, and the matching piece 200 is arranged at the proximal end of the lens holder 100. The matching piece 200 is the front end of the active bending section 500 of the endoscope, or the matching piece 200 is an intermediate adapter for connecting the active bending section 500 of the endoscope and the lens holder 100. The active bending section 500 can be a snake bone formed by riveting a plurality of snake bone units in sequence.

[0036] See also Figure 3 The lens mount 100 is provided with an instrument tube hole 110 and a harness hole 120, which are respectively offset at the edge of the lens mount 100, wherein the instrument tube hole 110 passes through the lens mount 100, and the front end of the instrument tube 300 is connected to the instrument tube hole 110, and the treatment instrument can be extended into the lesion site in the human body through the instrument channel of the instrument tube and the instrument tube hole 110; the lens mount 100 has an accommodating space, the camera module and the lighting module are arranged in the accommodating space, the harness hole 120 is connected to the accommodating space, and the harness 400 connecting the camera module and the lighting module extends into the accommodating space through the harness hole 120.

[0037] In an alternative embodiment, please refer to Figure 4 , a first avoidance opening 210 corresponding to the instrument tube hole 110 is provided at the distal end of the fitting 200. Here, "corresponding" means that the instrument tube hole 110 and the first avoidance opening 210 are distributed at the same circumferential position of the front-end assembly, and the projection area of the instrument tube hole 110 in the axial direction of the lens holder 100 overlaps with the projection area of the first avoidance opening 210 in the axial direction of the lens holder 100.

[0038] Based on the above technical solution, when docking the instrument tube 300 with the instrument tube hole 110, a part of the instrument tube 300 can be accommodated in the first avoidance opening 210, or even protrude radially out of the outer wall of the fitting 200 through the first avoidance opening 210, so that the layout space of the instrument tube 300 is no longer limited to the area defined by the fitting 200 only. The space for arranging the instrument tube 300 is expanded. Furthermore, a larger-sized instrument tube 300 can be selected, the suction flow rate of the instrument tube 300 can be increased, and the size requirement for the treatment instrument can be reduced.

[0039] It is easy to understand that, compared with traditional endoscopes, when the radial dimension of the front-end assembly of the endoscope is fixed, a larger-sized instrument tube 300 can be selected; and when the radial dimension of the instrument tube 300 is fixed, that is, when the size of the instrument tube 300 can meet the suction flow rate and the insertion of the treatment instrument, this method can reduce the radial dimension of the front-end assembly of the endoscope, which is beneficial to the miniaturization development of the front-end assembly of the endoscope.

[0040] In another alternative embodiment, please continue to refer to Figure 4 , a second avoidance opening 220 corresponding to the wire harness hole 120 is provided at the distal end of the fitting 200. When docking the wire harness 400 with the wire harness hole 120 offset from the lens holder 100, a part of the wire harness 400 can be accommodated in the second avoidance opening 220, or even protrude radially out of the outer wall of the fitting 200 through the second avoidance opening 220. In this way, when the wire harness 400 bends outward, the accommodation space inside the fitting 200 can be vacated for the instrument tube 300, so that the instrument tube 300 and the instrument tube hole 110 of the lens holder 100 can have a larger docking diameter. Furthermore, a larger-sized instrument tube 300 can be selected, or the radial dimension of the front-end assembly of the endoscope can be reduced.

[0041] It should be understood that only the first avoidance opening 210 can be provided at the distal end of the fitting 200 to avoid the instrument tube 300, or only the second avoidance opening 220 can be provided to avoid the wire harness 400, or both the first avoidance opening 210 and the second avoidance opening 220 can be provided at the same time. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this. All these methods are beneficial to selecting a larger-sized instrument tube 300 or reducing the radial dimension of the front-end assembly.

[0042] During the research process, the inventor found that since the fitting 200 has a certain wall thickness, when forming the first avoidance opening 210, sharp bending parts will be generated at the joints between the inner wall and the outer wall of the fitting 200 and the groove wall of the first avoidance opening 210. When the instrument tube 300 passes through the first avoidance opening 210, the instrument tube 300 contacts the bending part and wears, and the instrument tube 300 is likely to rupture.

[0043] Based on this, in the embodiment of the present application, the fitting 200 is formed with a smooth transition surface 211 at the first avoidance opening 210. The smooth transition surface 211 is a convex arc surface, and the smooth transition surface 211 can be formed by mechanical processing or manual polishing. The smooth transition surface 211 can eliminate the sharp bending part, thereby reducing or even avoiding the wear of the instrument tube 300.

[0044] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the fitting 200 can also form a smooth transition surface 211 at the second avoidance opening 220 to reduce or even avoid the wear of the wire harness 400.

[0045] In the embodiment of the present application, the instrument tube hole 110 and the wire harness hole 120 are distributed in the same radial direction of the lens holder 100. Correspondingly, when the first avoidance opening 210 and the second avoidance opening 220 are simultaneously provided at the distal end of the fitting 200, the first avoidance opening 210 and the second avoidance opening 220 can be distributed in the same radial direction of the fitting 200; in this way, compared with the setting method in which the first avoidance opening 210 and the second avoidance opening 220 are not distributed in the same radial direction, the wire harness 400 extends radially outward through the second avoidance opening 220, which can vacate more docking space for the instrument tube 300.

[0046] In a further technical solution, please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 4 , the bottom of the first avoidance opening 210 is arc-shaped. When the front end of the instrument tube 300 is bent and partially accommodated in the first avoidance opening 210, the bottom of the first avoidance opening 210 has a good fit with the instrument tube 300, which can play a certain constraining role on the instrument tube 300.

[0047] As can be seen from the foregoing, the fitting 200 can be the snake bone unit at the farthest end of the snake bone, or an intermediate adapter connecting the snake bone unit at the farthest end of the snake bone and the lens holder 100.

[0048] In an alternative embodiment, the proximal end of the lens holder 100 can be directly connected to the distal end of the mating member 200. For example, they can be connected and fixed by snap connection or bonding. After the lens holder 100 and the mating member 200 are docked, an injection molding method can be used to keep the front end of the internal instrument tube 300 and the front end of the wire harness 400 in relatively fixed positions.

[0049] In another alternative embodiment, please refer to Figure 2 , there is a gap between the proximal end of the lens holder 100 and the distal end of the mating member 200. Due to the existence of this gap, a part of the front end of the instrument tube 300 extends beyond the distal end face of the mating member 200. This part is not constrained within the mating member 200 and has a certain margin of movement, which facilitates the docking and assembly with the instrument tube hole 110. At the same time, the part of the instrument tube 300 that extends beyond the distal end face of the mating member 200 may still have a tendency to extend outward, which can further expand the area occupied by the docking of the instrument tube 300 and the instrument tube hole 110, so as to select a larger-sized instrument tube 300.

[0050] The inventor found during the research process that the instrument tube 300 of the prior art is usually inserted into the instrument tube hole 110. Therefore, the flow area of the instrument tube hole 110 is larger than the flow area of the instrument tube 300, resulting in the suction flow rate of the endoscope depending on the flow area of the instrument tube 300.

[0051] In the embodiment of the present application, the proximal end of the lens holder 100 has an instrument tube docking portion 130 communicating with the instrument tube hole 110. The instrument tube docking portion 130 has a tubular structure, and the instrument tube 300 can be sleeved on the instrument tube docking portion 130. Compared with the assembly method of inserting the instrument tube 300 into the instrument tube hole 110, this method can eliminate the radial dimension limitation of the instrument tube hole 110 on the instrument tube 300, make the suction flow rate of the endoscope depend on the flow area of the instrument tube hole 110, and is conducive to selecting a larger-sized instrument tube 300.

[0052] The embodiment of the present application also provides an insertion portion. The insertion portion includes the aforementioned front end assembly. The insertion portion may further include the instrument tube 300 and / or the wire harness 400. A part of the front end of the instrument tube 300 is located within the first avoidance opening 210, and a part of the wire harness 400 is located within the second avoidance opening 220.

[0053] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, if the opening width of the first avoidance opening 210 is relatively small compared to the diameter of the instrument tube 300, it is difficult for a part of the instrument tube 300 to be caught in the first avoidance opening 210, and the layout space of the instrument tube 300 is difficult to be expanded. Based on this situation, in the embodiments of the present application, the width of the first avoidance opening 210 can be greater than the radius of the instrument tube 300, so that a part of the instrument tube 300 can be located in the first avoidance opening 210, effectively expanding the layout space of the instrument tube 300.

[0054] The layout space occupied by the wire harness 400 is smaller than the layout space occupied by the instrument tube 300. Based on this, please refer to Figure 2 , in a further technical solution, the width of the second avoidance opening 220 is greater than the width of the wire harness 400; with such a setting, the constraint effect of the distal end of the fitting 200 on the front end of the wire harness 400 is greatly weakened, making the front end of the wire harness 400 have high flexibility in layout.

[0055] The embodiments of the present application also provide an endoscope, including a handle and the aforementioned insertion portion, and the proximal end of the insertion portion is connected to the handle.

[0056] The endoscope of the embodiments of the present application can be a gastroscope, a colonoscope, a laryngoscope, a fiber bronchoscope, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the types of endoscopes.

[0057] It should be noted that in this article, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not expressly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, the element defined by the statement "including one..." does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, and may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in a reverse order according to the functions involved. For example, the described methods can be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps can also be added, omitted, or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to certain examples can be combined in other examples.

[0058] The above is only the specific implementation manner of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, and all should be covered by the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A front-end component, characterized in that, Comprising: A lens holder (100), the lens holder (100) being provided with an instrument tube hole (110) and a wire harness hole (120), the instrument tube hole (110) and the wire harness hole (120) being respectively offset to the edge positions of the lens holder (100); A fitting (200), the fitting (200) being of a tubular structure, the fitting (200) being provided at the proximal end of the lens holder (100), a first avoidance opening (210) corresponding to the instrument tube hole (110) being provided at the distal end of the fitting (200), and / or a second avoidance opening (220) corresponding to the wire harness hole (120) being provided at the distal end of the fitting (200).

2. The front-end component according to claim 1, characterized in that The fitting (200) forms a smooth transition surface (211) at the first avoidance opening (210) and / or the second avoidance opening (220), the smooth transition surface (211) being a convex arc surface.

3. The front-end component according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first avoidance opening (210) and the second avoidance opening (220) are distributed in the same radial direction of the fitting (200).

4. The front-end component according to claim 1, characterized in that The bottom of the first avoidance opening (210) is arc-shaped.

5. The front-end component according to claim 1, characterized in that The proximal end of the lens holder (100) is connected to the distal end of the fitting (200), or there is a gap between the proximal end of the lens holder (100) and the distal end of the fitting (200).

6. The front-end component according to claim 1, characterized in that The proximal end of the lens holder (100) has an instrument tube docking portion (130) communicating with the instrument tube hole (110), the instrument tube docking portion (130) being of a tubular structure, a guiding portion (131) being provided at the proximal end thereof, and the diameter of the guiding portion (131) gradually increasing in the direction in which the lens holder (100) extends from the proximal end to the distal end.

7. An insertion part, characterized in that, Comprising the front-end assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the insertion portion further comprising an instrument tube (300) and / or a wire harness (400), a part of the instrument tube (300) being located within the first avoidance opening (210), and a part of the wire harness (400) being located within the second avoidance opening (220).

8. The insertion part according to claim 7, wherein The width of the first avoidance opening (210) is greater than the radius of the instrument tube (300).

9. The insertion part according to claim 7, characterized in that, The width of the second avoidance opening (220) is greater than the width of the wire harness (400).

10. An endoscope, characterized in that, Comprising a handle and the insertion portion according to any one of claims 7 to 9, the proximal end of the insertion portion being connected to the handle.

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