Snake bone unit, active bending segment and endoscope

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of endoscope technology, and in particular to a serpentine unit, an active bending section, and an endoscope, comprising a base, an external connecting portion provided at the distal end of the base, an internal connecting portion provided at the proximal end of the base, a first abutment provided on the side of the external connecting portion, a first arcuate abutment surface provided on the axial end face of the internal connecting portion, the first arcuate abutment surface being used to abut and cooperate with the first abutment of an adjacent serpentine unit to adjust the rotational damping between two adjacent serpentine units. This application does not increase the radial size of the serpentine unit, thereby ensuring the passability of the insertion portion of the endoscope, and can also ensure that the rotational damping changes constantly during the rotation process, allowing the operator to achieve more stable and complete control, thereby improving the control accuracy of the bending angle of the active bending section; on the other hand, the first arcuate abutment surface and the first abutment have a large processing space, few restrictions, and low processing difficulty, which can achieve low-cost production and processing of the serpentine unit and the active bending section.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of endoscopes, and in particular to a snake-bone unit, an active bending section and an endoscope. Background Art

[0002] An endoscope is a medical device that can directly enter the human body for examination, providing doctors with comprehensive diagnostic information. An endoscope typically consists of an insertion section for insertion into the human body, a handle that controls the bending of the front end of the insertion section, and a display device for displaying the natural internal environment of the human body's cavities. The coordination of these three components enables endoscopes to observe the human body, explore lesions, and treat them. The insertion section includes an active bending section and a passive bending section, with the active bending section located at the distal end of the insertion section. In related art, a traction rope is installed within the handle. The distal end of the traction rope is fixedly connected to the distal serpentine section of the active bending section, and the proximal end of the traction rope is fixedly connected to a dial or knob on the handle. By operating the dial or knob, the traction rope can be moved synchronously in opposite directions, thereby bending the active bending section of the insertion section. A camera module is located at the distal end of the active bending section. Once the insertion section is inserted into the human body, the bending of the active bending section adjusts the direction of the camera module, allowing it to focus on the lesion and provide diagnostic information to the doctor.

[0003] In the process of realizing the present invention, the applicant found that bending the distal end of the active bending section before the proximal end is beneficial for operation in the renal calyx, but how to improve production quality while ensuring that the radial size of the active bending section remains unchanged is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this application is to provide a snake bone unit, an active bending section and an endoscope to solve the above-mentioned technical problems existing in the prior art.

[0005] This application is implemented as follows:

[0006] In the first aspect, the present application provides a serpentine unit, which is applied to the active bending section of an endoscope, including a base, an external connecting part is provided at the distal end of the base, and an internal connecting part is provided at the proximal end of the base, the internal connecting part is used to rotate and connect with the external connecting part of an adjacent serpentine unit around a first axis, a first abutment is provided on the side of the external connecting part, and a first arc-shaped abutment surface is provided on the axial end face of the internal connecting part, the first arc-shaped abutment surface is located on the same circumference of the first axis, and the first arc-shaped abutment surface is used to abut and cooperate with the first abutment of the adjacent serpentine unit to adjust the rotational damping between the two adjacent serpentine units.

[0007] In a second aspect, the present application provides an active bending segment, comprising a plurality of snake bone units that are sequentially connected along the axial direction, wherein the snake bone unit at the proximal end is the above-mentioned snake bone unit.

[0008] In a third aspect, the present application provides an endoscope comprising a handle and an insertion portion, wherein the proximal end of the insertion portion is connected to the handle, and the insertion portion comprises an active bending section as described above, which is arranged at the distal end.

[0009] The technical solution provided by this application can achieve the following beneficial effects:

[0010] The present application adjusts the rotational damping between two adjacent serpentine units through the cooperation of the first abutment and the first arc-shaped abutment surface. Based on the change of the rotational damping between the active bending segments, especially when the rotational damping at the distal end of the active bending segment is smaller than the rotational damping at the proximal end, the distal end of the active bending segment will achieve bending deformation before the proximal end, and the introduction of the microstructure will not increase the radial size of the serpentine unit, thereby ensuring the passability of the endoscope insertion part, and can also ensure that the rotational damping changes constantly during the rotation process, allowing the operator to achieve more stable and complete control, thereby improving the control accuracy of the bending angle of the active bending segment; on the other hand, the first arc-shaped abutment surface and the first abutment have a large processing space, few restrictions, and low processing difficulty, which can achieve low-cost production and processing of the serpentine unit and the active bending segment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0012] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the snake bone unit of the present application;

[0013] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the connection structure of two adjacent snake-bone units of the present application;

[0014] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 A partial enlarged view of point A in the middle;

[0015] Figure 4 This is a cross-sectional view of the connection between two adjacent snake-bone units of the present application;

[0016] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the connection structure of multiple snake-bone units in the present application;

[0017] Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of the first abutment member of the Type II structure of the present application;

[0018] Figure 7 It is a structural schematic diagram of the endoscope of this application.

[0019] In the picture:

[0020] 10. Insertion portion; 11. Active bending section; 100. Base; 110. External connection portion; 111. First abutment member; 1111. Fixed end; 1112. Free end; 112. Second arcuate abutment surface; 120. Internal connection portion; 121. First arcuate abutment surface; 122. Second abutment member; 130. Transition portion; 140. First axis; 20. Handle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the technical solutions of the present invention will be described in detail below. Obviously, the embodiments described are only some of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other implementations obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0022] In the specification and claims, "and / or" means at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and subsequent related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0023] In each embodiment of the present application, "proximal end" and "distal end" refer to the position of the endoscope and its accessories relative to the user in the use environment, wherein the end closer to the user is designated as the "proximal end" and the end farther from the user is designated as the "distal end".

[0024] In the prior art, in order to achieve the bending of the distal end of the active bending section in the insertion part of the endoscope first and the bending of the proximal end later, damping can be added at the hinge of the two serpentine segments to change the bending damping difference between the proximal and distal ends of the active bending section, so that the distal end is easy to bend before the proximal end. However, due to the small size of the serpentine segments themselves, if a microstructure is added to achieve the change in damping, on the one hand, the addition of the microstructure will easily change the radial size of the active bending section, resulting in an increase in the radial size of the active bending section and a reduction in the passing ability of the insertion part of the endoscope; on the other hand, the position of the microstructure will increase the difficulty of processing due to limited processing space, resulting in increased production costs and reduced product quality stability.

[0025] In view of this, the present application provides a snake-bone unit, an active bending section and an endoscope. By setting a microstructure for adjusting the rotational damping in the axial direction, the radial size of the active bending section will not be changed. At the same time, the microstructure is set on the side of the external connection part, and the first arc-shaped abutment surface and the first abutment member can be processed from the outside with a high degree of freedom, providing ample processing space for the processing of the microstructure, reducing the processing difficulty, and improving the product production and processing quality and effect, as shown in the following embodiments.

[0026] Example 1

[0027] This embodiment provides a snake-bone unit, which is applied to the active bending section of an endoscope. Specifically, the active bending section can be composed of multiple snake-bone units connected in sequence along the axial direction. A camera module and an illumination module are set at the distal end of the active bending section. The proximal end of the active bending section is connected to the handle of the endoscope through the passive bending section. The proximal end of the traction rope is connected to the lever, and the distal end of the traction rope is connected to the distal end of the active bending section. The lever on the handle drives the traction rope to drive the active bending section to perform a fixed bending. Figure 1 As shown, the snake bone unit includes a base 100, the distal end of the base 100 is provided with an external connection portion 110, and the proximal end of the base 100 is provided with an internal connection portion 120. Figures 2 to 5 As shown, the inner connecting portion 120 is used to be rotatably connected with the outer connecting portion 110 of the adjacent snake bone unit around the first axis 140. The rotatable connection is a prior art and can be realized by adopting a micro bearing structure, an elastic hinge or a ball joint structure. The side of the outer connecting portion 110 is provided with a first abutment 111, and the axial end face of the inner connecting portion 120 is provided with a first arcuate abutment surface 121. The first arcuate abutment surface 121 is located on the same circumference of the first axis 140, and the first arcuate abutment surface 121 is used to abut with the first abutment of the adjacent snake bone unit. The connecting piece 111 is in abutment with each other to adjust the rotation damping between the two adjacent snake bone units. Based on the change of the rotation damping between the active bending segments 11, especially when the rotation damping of the distal end of the active bending segment 11 is less than that of the proximal end, the distal end of the active bending segment 11 will realize bending deformation before the proximal end under the drive of the traction rope. The introduction of the microstructure will not increase the radial size of the snake bone unit, thereby ensuring the passing performance of the endoscope insertion portion 10. At the same time, since the first arc-shaped abutment surface 121 is located on the same circumference of the first axis 140, the two snakes are When the bone units rotate, the first arcuate abutting surface 121 and the first abutting member 111 maintain stable abutment, and thus the rotation damping remains stable, thereby ensuring that the rotation damping fluctuates little during the rotation process, allowing the operator to achieve more stable control of the bending angle, thereby improving the control accuracy of the bending angle of the active bending section 11; on the other hand, since the first arcuate abutting surface 121 is provided on the axial end face of the inner connecting portion 120, during production, it can be freely processed from the axial end of the snake bone unit, specifically, it can be processed from the outer side of the inner connecting portion 120 The first arc-shaped abutting surface 121 is formed by laser cutting, and the laser source has a large movable space, small restrictions, and low processing difficulty; for the first abutting member 111, since it is arranged on the side of the external connecting part 110, the external connecting part 110 is also at the end of the snake-bone unit, and then it can be stamped from the outside to the inside to form the first abutting member 111, so that the first abutting member 111, the external connecting part 110 and the base 100 are formed as one piece, the processing technology is simple, the stamping equipment has a large movable space, small restrictions, and low processing difficulty, thereby realizing low-cost production and processing of the snake-bone unit and the active bending section 11.

[0028] In some embodiments, the first abutting member 111 , the outer connecting portion 110 , the base 100 , the inner connecting portion 120 , and the first arc-shaped abutting surface 121 are preferably integrally formed.

[0029] In some embodiments, in order to further reduce the processing difficulty of the first abutment 111, an external connection portion 110 can be provided to be connected to the base 100 through a transition portion 130, and the first abutment 111 is provided on the transition portion 130. Since the external connection portion 110 is generally a flat plate structure, and the base 100 is generally a tubular structure, there is a certain height difference between the side of the external connection portion 110 and the outer peripheral wall of the base 100, and the transition portion 130 is located at a position where there is a height difference, so that the transition portion 130 is exposed to the outside of the base, reserving processing space for the stamping forming of the first abutment 111, and realizing high-freedom stamping from the outside of the base 100 to the inside, effectively reducing the processing difficulty of the first abutment 111 and ensuring the molding quality of the first abutment 111.

[0030] In some embodiments, in order to achieve long-term realization of the function that the distal end of the active bending section 11 bends before the proximal end, the first abutment 111 can be set to an arc-shaped structure, and the opening direction of the first abutment 111 is radially away from the first axis 140 along the first axis 140. When the first abutment 111 abuts with the first arc-shaped abutment surface 121, the first abutment 111 of the arc-shaped structure can be forced to produce a certain elastic deformation. As the serpentine units continue to rotate, the first abutment 111 and the first arc-shaped abutment surface 121 will produce a certain wear. At this time, the first abutment 111 of the arc-shaped structure restores the elastic deformation to offset the wear, so that the first abutment 111 and the first arc-shaped abutment surface 121 can continue to maintain stable abutment after rotational wear occurs, so that the rotational damping can continue to exist stably during long-term work, thereby ensuring the long-term realization of the function that the distal end of the active bending section 11 bends before the proximal end.

[0031] In some embodiments, the first abutment member 111 has at least one fixed end, and the first abutment member 111 has at most one free end 1112, and the free end 1112 is used to adjust the rotation damping between two adjacent snake bone units. Accordingly, the first abutment member 111 has a type I structure and a type II structure. The type I structure of the first abutment member 111 is an arc-shaped structure, and both ends of the arc-shaped structure are fixed ends 1111 connected to the transition portion 130. Figure 6As shown, the type II structure of the first abutment 111 is an arc structure, one end of the arc structure is a fixed end 1111 connected to the transition portion 130, and the other end of the arc structure is a free end 1112; under the same arc structure, the deformation resistance of the type I structure is greater than the deformation resistance of the type II structure, and then when matched with the first arc-shaped abutment surface 121, the rotational damping brought by the type I structure is greater than the rotational damping brought by the type II structure. Subsequently, when assembled into an active bending section, the snake bone unit of the proximal part of the active bending section 11 can be set to the type I structure, and the snake bone unit of the middle or distal part of the active bending section 11 can be set to the type II structure, so that the rotational damping of the proximal end can be stably achieved to be greater than the rotational damping of the distal end, and the distal end of the active bending section can be bent before the proximal end, which effectively reduces the assembly precision requirements, reduces the processing difficulty and production cost.

[0032] In some embodiments, in order to reduce the influence of the cooperation between the first abutment 111 and the first arc-shaped abutment surface 121 on the rotational stability between the serpentine bone units, a second abutment 122 can be provided on the radial outer side of the inner connecting part 120, and a second arc-shaped abutment surface 112 is provided on the axial end face of the outer connecting part 110. The second arc-shaped abutment surface 112 is located on the same circumference of the first axis 140. The second arc-shaped abutment surface 112 is used to abut and cooperate with the second abutment 122 of the adjacent serpentine bone unit to achieve a coaxial rotational connection balance between the inner connecting part 120 and the outer connecting part 110 of the adjacent serpentine bone unit, so that the two adjacent serpentine bone units can not only ensure stable coaxial rotation cooperation, but also achieve the distal end of the active bending section 11 bending before the proximal end.

[0033] In some embodiments, in order to improve the rotational cooperation stability between the serpentine bone units, a plurality of first abutment members 111 can be evenly arranged on the side of the outer connecting part 110, and at least one second abutment member 122 is arranged on the radial outer side of the inner connecting part 120. The second abutment member 122 and the plurality of first abutment members 111 are evenly arranged around the first axis 140 and are arranged on the same circumference of the first axis 140 to achieve coaxial rotational connection balance between the inner connecting part 120 and the outer connecting part 110 of the adjacent serpentine bone unit.

[0034] Example 2

[0035] This embodiment provides an active bending section 11 comprising a plurality of serpentine units connected in series along the axial direction. The proximal serpentine unit is the serpentine unit described in Example 1. The first abutment member 111 and the first arcuate abutment surface 121 cooperate to increase the rotational damping at the proximal end of the active bending section 11. This ensures that when subjected to a bending traction force, the distal end of the active bending section 11 bends before the proximal end, without altering the radial dimensions of the active bending section 11, thereby ensuring the passability of the endoscope insertion portion 10.

[0036] Specifically, the rotational damping between two adjacent snake-bone units gradually decreases from the proximal end to the distal end.

[0037] In some embodiments, from the proximal end to the distal end, the active bending section 11 includes a first section, a second section and a third section, and the first abutment 111 in the first section has two fixed ends 1111 connected to the base 100, and the first abutment 111 in the second section has a fixed end 1111 connected to the base 100 and a free end 1112, that is, a serpentine unit with a type I structure is set in the first section, and a serpentine unit with a type II structure is set in the second section, so that the rotational damping between the serpentine units in the second section is smaller than the rotational damping between the serpentine units in the first section, and thus, there is no need to precisely control and install the handover pressure between the first abutment 111 and the first arc-shaped abutment surface 121 during the production process, so that the gradual setting of the rotational damping can be achieved, further reducing the difficulty of processing and assembly, ensuring product quality, and reducing production costs.

[0038] In some embodiments, a snake bone unit with type I structure can be set in the first segment, and a snake bone unit with type II structure can be set in the second segment and the third segment; or a snake bone unit with type I structure can be set in the first segment and the second segment, and a snake bone unit with type II structure can be set in the third segment.

[0039] Example 3

[0040] This embodiment provides an endoscope, such as Figure 7 As shown, it includes a handle 20 and an insertion portion 10, wherein the proximal end of the insertion portion 10 is connected to the handle 20, and the insertion portion 10 includes an active bending section 11 as in Example 2 provided at the distal end.

[0041] The endoscope provided in the embodiment of the present application can be a nephroscope, or it can be a bronchoscope, esophagoscope, gastroscope, colonoscope, otoscope, rhinoscope, stomatoscope, laryngoscope, colposcope, laparoscope, arthroscope, etc. The embodiment of the present application does not impose any specific restrictions on the type of endoscope.

[0042] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "includes," or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus comprising the element.

[0043] The above description is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with this technical field can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, which should be covered by the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A snake bone unit, applied to the active bending section of an endoscope, characterized in that: It includes a base, the distal end of the base is provided with an external connection part, the proximal end of the base is provided with an internal connection part, the internal connection part is used to rotate and connect with the external connection part of the adjacent serpentine unit around the first axis, the side of the external connection part is provided with a first abutment, the internal connection part is provided with a first arc-shaped abutment surface along the axial end face of the base, the first arc-shaped abutment surface is located on the same circumference of the first axis, the first arc-shaped abutment surface is used to abut and cooperate with the first abutment of the adjacent serpentine unit, the first abutment is a Type I structure or a Type II structure, the Type I structure is an arc-shaped structure with fixed ends at both ends, and the Type II structure is an arc-shaped structure with one end as a fixed end and the other end as a free end, the deformation resistance of the Type I structure is greater than the deformation resistance of the Type II structure, so as to adjust the rotation damping between the two adjacent serpentine units.

2. The snake bone unit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer connection portion is connected to the base through a transition portion, and the first abutment member is provided on the transition portion.

3. The snake bone unit according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first abutment member is an arc-shaped structure, and an opening direction of the first abutment member is away from the first axis along the radial direction of the first axis.

4. The snake bone unit according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first abutting member has at least one fixed end and at most one free end, and the free end is used to adjust the rotation damping between two adjacent snake bone units.

5. The snake bone unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: A second abutment is provided on the radial outer side of the inner connecting part, and a second arcuate abutment surface is provided on the axial end face of the outer connecting part. The second arcuate abutment surface is located on the same circumference of the first axis. The second arcuate abutment surface is used to abut and cooperate with the second abutment of the adjacent serpentine unit to achieve coaxial rotational connection balance between the inner connecting part and the outer connecting part of the adjacent serpentine unit.

6. The snake bone unit according to claim 5, characterized in that: A plurality of first abutment members are evenly arranged on the side of the outer connection portion, and at least one second abutment member is arranged radially outwardly of the inner connection portion. The second abutment member and the plurality of first abutment members evenly surround the first axis and are arranged on the same circumference of the first axis.

7. An active bending section, characterized in that: It comprises a plurality of snake bone units which are connected in sequence along the axial direction, and is characterized in that the snake bone unit located at the proximal end is the snake bone unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The active bending section according to claim 7, characterized in that: From the proximal end to the distal end, the rotational damping between two adjacent snake-bone units gradually decreases.

9. The active bending section according to claim 7, characterized in that: From the proximal end to the distal end, the active bending section includes a first section, a second section and a third section. The first abutment member in the first section has two fixed ends connected to the base, and the first abutment member in the second section has a fixed end connected to the base and a free end.

10. An endoscope, characterized in that: The invention comprises a handle and an insertion portion, wherein the proximal end of the insertion portion is connected to the handle, and the insertion portion comprises an active bending section according to any one of claims 7 to 9 arranged at the distal end.

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