Soft endoscope cleaning device

Abstract

The utility model discloses a soft endoscope cleaning device which comprises a fixing part, a cleaning cavity and a control unit. The cleaning cavity is of a vertically-arranged cylindrical barrel structure and is arranged below the fixing part. A plurality of cleaning nozzles are arranged on the cleaning cavity, the cleaning nozzles are arranged at intervals in the height direction of the cylindrical barrel, an acute included angle is kept between the cleaning nozzles and the axis of the cleaning cavity, and the cleaning nozzles conduct surface moistening spraying and pressurized spraying washing through cleaning media; the control unit is connected with the cleaning nozzle and the cleaning medium supply unit and used for controlling the spraying operation of the cleaning nozzle and the supply operation of the cleaning medium. The flexible endoscope cleaning device can effectively improve the cleaning efficiency and the cleaning quality of a flexible endoscope, has wide application prospects and development space, and can be widely applied and popularized in the fields of medical treatment, scientific research and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of disinfection of medical instruments, in particular to a flexible endoscope cleaning device which can be used for cleaning flexible endoscope instruments. Background Art

[0002] In the field of modern medicine, medical probes including ultrasound probes and transesophageal ultrasound probes and medical endoscopes including gastroscopes, colonoscopes, and colposcopes are often used in the process of examining patients. These medical probes and medical endoscopes, as flexible endoscopes, usually include a functional structure part that contacts the human body and a connecting tube part that connects the functional structure part to the device body. In order to prevent cross infection during use, before testing, at least the functional structure part of the device that contacts the human body and the part of the tube that extends into the human body need to be cleaned and disinfected. The correct cleaning and disinfection methods can not only reduce the risk of cross infection of patients, but also extend the service life of the device.

[0003] In the prior art, there are two main cleaning methods for cleaning the above components:

[0004] The first is a manual cleaning method using tools such as soft-bristle brushes and sponge brushes in combination with cleaning media such as clean water and enzyme cleaning agents. This cleaning method requires the operator to control the cleaning force during the operation to ensure the cleaning effect while avoiding damage to the instrument. This requires a high level of operator operation and will result in low cleaning efficiency during the entire cleaning process. At the same time, during the scrubbing process, tools such as soft-bristle brushes and sponge brushes need to rely on contact and friction between the tool and the surface to be cleaned to achieve cleaning, which also causes body fluids and environmental dirt to adhere to the tool surface. If the dirt is not cleaned thoroughly, it is easy to cause a series of problems such as cross contamination and incomplete cleaning.

[0005] There are also cleaning machines on the market. This type of equipment mostly uses an immersion treatment method when cleaning, that is, the medical devices / components that need to be cleaned are immersed in the cleaning liquid to achieve the cleaning operation. This type of cleaning machine equipment is mostly a direct structural appropriation of similar equipment in other fields. It has not been improved according to the equipment characteristics of medical probes and medical endoscopes. It has poor adaptability and many defects: for example, a large amount of cleaning medium is consumed during use; the use and maintenance costs of the equipment are high; the equipment is difficult to achieve all-round cleaning of medical devices / components during the cleaning process, especially the subtle corners, gaps and small probe parts that are difficult to clean, which cannot be cleaned in place; in addition, long-term immersion in this type of cleaning machine equipment can easily cause the functional structure of the above-mentioned medical probes and medical endoscopes to be corroded and damaged, affecting the service life of the relevant medical devices / components.

[0006] Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, it is necessary to design a new device dedicated to the cleaning of flexible endoscopes to solve the problems of low cleaning efficiency, incomplete cleaning, cross infection, environmental pollution, etc. existing in traditional cleaning methods and cleaning equipment on the market, and fill the gap in existing market demand. Utility Model Content

[0007] The technical problem solved by the utility model is to provide a flexible endoscope cleaning device and a cleaning method thereof, which can be used to solve the defects in the above technical background.

[0008] The technical problem solved by the utility model is achieved by the following technical solutions:

[0009] A flexible endoscope cleaning device comprises a fixing part, a cleaning chamber and a control unit:

[0010] The fixing part is used to fix the handle of the probe-type instrument to be cleaned;

[0011] The cleaning chamber is a vertically arranged cylindrical barrel structure, the top of the cleaning chamber is open, and is arranged below the fixing part, so that the part to be cleaned of the probe-type instrument fixed by the fixing part can extend downward into the cleaning chamber by gravity; the cleaning chamber is provided with a plurality of cleaning nozzles facing the cleaning chamber, and the cleaning nozzles use cleaning media to perform surface lubrication spraying and pressure-boosting spraying on the part to be cleaned extending into the cleaning chamber; the cleaning nozzles are arranged at intervals along the height direction of the cylindrical barrel, and an acute angle is maintained between the direction of the cleaning nozzle and the axis of the cleaning chamber;

[0012] The control unit is connected to the cleaning nozzle and the cleaning medium supply unit, and is used for controlling the spraying operation of the cleaning nozzle and the supply operation of the cleaning medium.

[0013] As a further limitation, the fixed part includes a fixed head and a lifting bracket, and the fixed head is one or a combination of a clamping structure, a card-mounted structure, a plug-in structure, a holding structure, a pin connection structure, a hook structure, a magnetic structure, and an adhesive structure; the lifting bracket is fixed to the side of the cleaning chamber, and the fixed head is assembled on the lifting bracket, and can be moved up and down through the lifting bracket.

[0014] As a further limitation, the cleaning nozzle is fixedly mounted on the cleaning chamber, and the cleaning chamber is mounted on a lifting device, and the lifting device can drive the cleaning chamber and the cleaning nozzle fixedly mounted on the cleaning chamber to achieve overall up and down movement along the axial direction of the cleaning chamber.

[0015] As a further limitation, a lifting device is provided on the cleaning chamber, and the cleaning nozzle is assembled on the lifting device, and can be driven by the lifting device to move up and down along the axial direction of the cleaning chamber.

[0016] As a further limitation, the cleaning nozzles are arranged in groups, the cleaning nozzles in the same group are arranged on the same horizontal annular plane, and the cleaning nozzles in different groups are arranged on different horizontal annular planes in the height direction of the cleaning chamber;

[0017] The cleaning nozzles of the same group are arranged on a nozzle seat, which is annular and assembled on the cleaning chamber through a detachable structure.

[0018] As a further limitation, the cleaning nozzles are independently assembled on the cleaning chamber and are arranged at intervals and staggered on the chamber wall of the cleaning chamber.

[0019] As a further limitation, the cleaning nozzle is preferably a fan-shaped adjustable pressure nozzle.

[0020] As a further limitation, the acute angle maintained between the direction of the cleaning nozzle and the axis of the cleaning chamber is 45-60°.

[0021] As a further limitation, the cleaning medium used in the cleaning nozzle is clean water or a cleaning agent solution, wherein the cleaning agent solution can be any one or more combinations of enzyme cleaning agents, alkaline cleaning agents, acidic cleaning agents, neutral cleaning agents, and chlorine-containing disinfectants.

[0022] As a further limitation, the cleaning medium supply unit includes a premixing device, which is externally connected to a water supply device and a cleaning agent container, and is directly mixed in the pipeline by a diaphragm pump or pumped into a capsule structure for premixing and then pumped out to the cleaning nozzle end.

[0023] As a further limitation, the cleaning medium supply unit further includes a heating unit for heating and keeping the cleaning medium warm; the heating unit is controlled by a control unit.

[0024] As a further limitation, the flexible endoscope cleaning device further comprises a cleaning medium recovery device, the cleaning medium recovery device being connected to the bottom of the cleaning chamber and being used to collect cleaning medium waste generated during the cleaning process;

[0025] The cleaning medium recovery device is externally connected to a filter unit and a purification unit, and the recovered cleaning medium waste is recovered after being processed by the filter unit and the purification unit to achieve the reuse of the cleaning medium and reduce the cleaning cost.

[0026] As a further limitation, the flexible endoscope cleaning device further comprises a drying device, which is used to dry and maintain the probe-type instrument after cleaning;

[0027] The drying device uses air flow or inert gas flow that has been purified and disinfected as a drying medium.

[0028] Beneficial effects: The flexible endoscope cleaning device of the utility model has a simple structure, reasonable arrangement and high degree of automation. It can efficiently and comprehensively clean the functional structural parts of medical probes and medical endoscopes that are in contact with the human body and the connecting tube parts that partially extend into the human body. It has the advantages of simple operation and easy maintenance when combined with the automated operation mode. It can effectively improve the cleaning efficiency of flexible endoscopes, avoid the problems of low cleaning efficiency and easy cross contamination in traditional manual cleaning methods, and improve the cleaning quality; it also avoids the problems of large cleaning medium consumption, incomplete cleaning, and easy damage to instruments in cleaning machines on the market. It is suitable for use in medical institutions and laboratories of various sizes, and provides a strong guarantee for the health and safety of the medical industry. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the utility model.

[0030] Among them: 1. Probe handle; 2. Fixing part; 3. Lifting bracket; 4. Assembly plate frame; 5. Nozzle seat; 6. Cleaning chamber; 7. Cleaning nozzle; 8. Connecting pipe body; 9. Functional structure part; 10. Receiving plate; 11. Cleaning medium recovery pipeline; 12. Recovery container; 13. Control unit; 14. Electric control circuit; 15. Cleaning medium supply pipeline; 16. Tee; 17. Cleaning medium supply unit; 18. Water supply device; 19. Cleaning agent supply device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] In order to make the technical means, creative features, objectives and effects achieved by the present invention easy to understand, the present invention is further described below with reference to specific illustrations.

[0032] It should be noted that if the embodiments of the present invention involve directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back...), the directional indications are only used to explain the relative position relationship, movement status, etc. between the components under a certain specific posture (as shown in the accompanying drawings). If the specific posture changes, the directional indication will also change accordingly.

[0033] In the following embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical terms and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as generally understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs.

[0034] See also Figure 1A preferred embodiment of a flexible endoscope cleaning device and a cleaning method thereof is provided. In this embodiment, the flexible endoscope cleaning device includes a fixing part 2, a cleaning chamber 6, a cleaning medium supply unit 13 and a control unit 13. The fixing part 2, the cleaning chamber 6 and the control unit 13 are packaged in the same casing to be used as a complete machine. At the same time, the complete machine is also provided with circuits and pipelines for realizing the corresponding functions of the fixing part 2, the cleaning chamber 6 and the control unit 13.

[0035] In this embodiment, the cleaning chamber 6 and the control unit 13 are encapsulated in the housing of the equipment, and the top surface of the housing is closed by the assembly plate frame 4; a feed port is opened on the assembly plate frame 4, and the cleaning chamber 6 is a vertically arranged cylindrical barrel, and the barrel cavity of the cylindrical barrel is used as the cleaning area; the top and bottom surfaces of the cylindrical barrel are open, and the top surface opening is correspondingly arranged at the lower part of the above-mentioned feed port, and a receiving tray 10 is arranged at the bottom opening position. The fixing part 2 is eccentrically arranged on one side of the feed port on the assembly plate frame 4 through the lifting bracket 3. The fixing part 2 has a fixing head for fixing the handle part of the probe-type instrument to be cleaned. The probe-type instrument to be cleaned fixed by the fixing head can directly extend the connecting pipe body 8 and the functional structure part 9 to be cleaned on the instrument downward into the cleaning chamber 6 through the feed port on the assembly plate frame 4 by gravity for cleaning operation; during the cleaning operation, the fixing part 2 can drive the lifting bracket 3 to perform a lifting action through the electronic control unit, and this lifting action can make the fixing part 2 move up and down relative to the cleaning structure in the cleaning chamber 6, thereby driving the connecting pipe body 8 and the functional structure part 9 to perform cleaning operation through the cleaning structure during the up and down movement in the cleaning chamber 6.

[0036] In different embodiments, the fixing method of the fixing head on the fixing part 2 to the above-mentioned handle part can be one or a combination of clamping, carding, plugging, holding, pin connection, hooking, magnetism, and gluing, which only needs to achieve the position fixation of the probe-type instrument to be cleaned on the handle part.

[0037] In other embodiments, the lifting bracket 3 for realizing the vertical position movement of the fixing part 2 relative to the cleaning structure in the cleaning chamber 6 can also be realized in other structural forms; that is, while keeping the position of the fixing part 2 different, the cleaning structure in the cleaning chamber 6 can also achieve a similar effect of relative position movement, and such technical solutions should also be included in the technical protection scope disclosed in the present utility model. Specifically, its implementation forms are:

[0038] 1. The cleaning structure is fixedly mounted on the cleaning chamber 6 and the cleaning chamber 6 is moved up and down;

[0039] Second, the cleaning structure is movably mounted on the cleaning chamber 6 by moving the cleaning structure as a whole along the axial direction of the cleaning chamber 6.

[0040] The cleaning structure on the cleaning chamber 6 is three groups of cleaning nozzles 7. A single group of cleaning nozzles 7 is arranged on the same horizontal annular surface of the cleaning chamber 6, while different groups of cleaning nozzles are arranged on different horizontal annular surfaces of the cleaning chamber 6 at high, medium and low positions as shown in the figure.

[0041] The cleaning nozzle 7 is evenly mounted on the inner ring surface of the nozzle seat 5, and has two working modes, one of which is a moist spraying in a non-pressurized state, which is intended to use the cleaning medium to wet the surface of the part to be cleaned to reduce the waste of the specific cleaning medium participating in the reaction; and the other working mode is a spray washing in a pressurized state, which is intended to use the cleaning medium that does not participate in the reaction to wash the surface of the part to be cleaned by pressurizing and take away the dirt that is separated after the reaction. In different embodiments, the former type of cleaning medium participating in the reaction can be any one or more combinations of enzyme cleaning agents, alkaline cleaning agents, acidic cleaning agents, neutral cleaning agents, and chlorine-containing disinfectants; and the latter type of cleaning medium that does not participate in the reaction is clean water.

[0042] In order to ensure the overall structural stability of the cleaning nozzle 7 assembly and to achieve rapid assembly and disassembly of the same group of cleaning nozzles 7, a nozzle seat 5 is also provided in this embodiment. The nozzle seat 5 is an annular detachable assembly structure on the cleaning chamber 6, and its assembly method can be existing known methods such as card assembly, buckle assembly, and combined assembly.

[0043] After the nozzle holder 5 is assembled on the cleaning chamber 6, the cleaning nozzle 7 is directed toward the inside of the cleaning chamber 6 through the reserved hole on the cleaning chamber 6, and the direction of the cleaning nozzle (i.e., the extension line of the nozzle axis of the nozzle) maintains an acute angle with the axis of the cleaning chamber (corresponding to the angle α in the figure, and the optimal range of the angle α is 45~60°). This acute angle can improve the adhesion effect, adhesion uniformity, and adhesion ratio of the cleaning medium on the surface of the part to be cleaned during the moistening spraying process, as well as the flushing and removal efficiency of the cleaning medium during the pressurized spraying process. In order to further optimize the above-mentioned use effect, the cleaning nozzle 7 can also be replaced with a fan-shaped adjustable pressure nozzle.

[0044] In another embodiment, the nozzle holder 5 may not be provided, and the cleaning nozzle 7 may be directly formed on the inner wall of the cleaning chamber 6. In addition, the cleaning nozzles 7 may not be arranged in multiple groups in an annular direction, but may be independently assembled on the wall of the cleaning chamber 6 in a staggered interval arrangement, which can also achieve the effect of uniformly wetting and flushing the surface of the connecting pipe body 8 and the functional structure part 9 to be cleaned.

[0045] The cleaning medium supply unit 17 is used to provide cleaning medium to the cleaning nozzle 7 through the cleaning medium supply pipeline 15. The cleaning medium is switched through the three-way 16 with a valve on the cleaning medium supply pipeline 15. There are two types of cleaning medium:

[0046] One is the above-mentioned clean water that does not participate in the reaction, which is obtained by connecting the water supply device 18 to an external clean water source;

[0047] The other type is the cleaning agent type cleaning medium participating in the reaction as mentioned above, which is obtained by connecting the cleaning agent container to the cleaning agent supply device 19; this type of cleaning agent type cleaning medium can be directly used as a finished product pre-prepared according to needs or usage instructions in different embodiments, and then poured into the cleaning agent container and directly connected to the cleaning agent supply device 19 for supply, or a pre-mixing device can be set, the pre-mixing device is connected to the concentrated cleaning agent container, and a branch is set to connect to the water supply device 18. When in use, it is directly mixed in the pipeline through a diaphragm pump or pumped into the capsule structure for pre-mixing and then pumped out to the cleaning nozzle end.

[0048] The control unit 13 of this embodiment is connected to the cleaning nozzle 7 and the cleaning medium supply unit 17 through the electric control circuit 14, and is used to control the spraying operation of the cleaning nozzle and the supply operation of the cleaning medium; specifically, the control unit 13 can control the parameters such as the cleaning mode, spraying force, spraying time and spraying angle of the cleaning nozzle 7 according to the specific type of equipment to be cleaned and the type of cleaning medium, and can also control the parameters such as the type, proportion, supply amount, supply time and the like of the cleaning medium provided in the cleaning medium supply unit 17, so as to realize accurate control of the entire cleaning process. At the same time, in order to improve the convenience of operation, the control unit 13 has a manual control mode and an automatic control mode, which can be switched according to different cleaning needs.

[0049] In another embodiment, in order to improve the continuity and ease of operation of the above-mentioned cleaning method, the flexible endoscope cleaning device also includes a temperature control device, which includes a cleaning medium temperature control device and / or a cleaning chamber temperature control device, which are respectively used to control the temperature of the cleaning medium in the cleaning medium supply unit 17 and the temperature inside the cleaning chamber 6, thereby achieving temperature control of the cleaning process, and creating reaction conditions that are more conducive to the cleaning medium participating in the reaction, including enzyme cleaning agents, to improve the cleaning effect.

[0050] In another embodiment, the flexible endoscope cleaning device also includes a drying device, which is arranged below the cleaning chamber and is used to dry and maintain the probe-type instruments that have been cleaned; the drying device uses an air flow or an inert gas flow that has been purified and disinfected as a drying medium, thereby avoiding problems such as bacterial growth during storage of the probe-type instruments after cleaning due to moisture or environmental reasons.

[0051] The utility model can also be further improved and optimized:

[0052] For example, the structure and layout of the cleaning nozzle 7 can be customized according to different types of probe-type instruments to meet the cleaning requirements of different shapes and sizes. In addition, the control unit can be intelligently upgraded and matched, and by introducing sensors, a better control unit 13 and a matching algorithm, the probe-type instrument to be cleaned can be automatically identified and the cleaning parameters can be adjusted to further improve the cleaning effect.

[0053] In addition, in order to reduce energy consumption and wastewater discharge, a circulating cleaning method can be considered, that is, during the cleaning process, the used cleaning medium is recovered using the receiving tray 10 and the cleaning medium recovery pipeline 11 connected to the receiving tray 10, and after being recovered to the recovery container 12, it is processed by the necessary filtering unit and purification unit and then recovered to achieve the reuse of the cleaning medium and reduce the cleaning cost.

[0054] In addition, the soft endoscope cleaning device of the utility model can also be integrated with existing medical equipment, for example, connected or integrated with ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, endoscopes and other equipment to achieve automatic cleaning and disinfection of probe-type instruments, further improving the hygiene and safety level of medical equipment.

[0055] The above shows and describes the basic principle, main features and advantages of the utility model. Those skilled in the art should understand that the purpose of these embodiments is only to illustrate the utility model and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the utility model. In addition, it should also be understood that after reading the technical content of the utility model, those skilled in the art can make various changes, modifications and / or variations to the utility model, and all of these equivalent forms also fall within the scope of protection defined by the claims attached to this application.

Claims

1. A flexible endoscope cleaning device, It is characterized in that It includes a fixed part, a cleaning chamber and a control unit: The fixing part is used to fix the handle of the probe-type instrument to be cleaned; The cleaning chamber is a vertically arranged cylindrical barrel structure, the top of the cleaning chamber is open, and is arranged below the fixing part, so that the part to be cleaned of the probe-type instrument fixed by the fixing part can extend downward into the cleaning chamber by gravity; the cleaning chamber is provided with a plurality of cleaning nozzles facing the cleaning chamber, and the cleaning nozzles use cleaning media to perform surface lubrication spraying and pressure-boosting spraying on the part to be cleaned extending into the cleaning chamber; the cleaning nozzles are arranged at intervals along the height direction of the cylindrical barrel, and an acute angle is maintained between the direction of the cleaning nozzle and the axis of the cleaning chamber; The control unit is connected to the cleaning nozzle and the cleaning medium supply unit, and is used for controlling the spraying operation of the cleaning nozzle and the supply operation of the cleaning medium.

2. The flexible endoscope cleaning device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The fixing part includes a fixing head and a lifting bracket, wherein the fixing head is one or a combination of a clamping structure, a card-mounted structure, a plug-in structure, a holding structure, a pin connection structure, a hook structure, a magnetic structure, and an adhesive structure; the lifting bracket is fixed to the side of the cleaning chamber, the fixing head is assembled on the lifting bracket, and can be moved up and down through the lifting bracket.

3. The flexible endoscope cleaning device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The cleaning nozzle is fixedly mounted on the cleaning chamber, and the cleaning chamber is mounted on a lifting device. The lifting device can drive the cleaning chamber and the cleaning nozzle fixedly mounted on the cleaning chamber to move up and down along the axial direction of the cleaning chamber.

4. The flexible endoscope cleaning device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that A lifting device is arranged on the cleaning chamber, and the cleaning nozzle is assembled on the lifting device, and can be driven by the lifting device to move up and down along the axial direction of the cleaning chamber.

5. The flexible endoscope cleaning device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The cleaning nozzles are arranged in groups. The cleaning nozzles in the same group are arranged on the same horizontal annular plane, while the cleaning nozzles in different groups are arranged on different horizontal annular planes in the height direction of the cleaning chamber.

6. The flexible endoscope cleaning device according to claim 5, It is characterized in that The cleaning nozzles of the same group are arranged on a nozzle seat, which is annular and assembled on the cleaning chamber through a detachable structure.

7. The flexible endoscope cleaning device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The cleaning nozzles are independently assembled on the cleaning chamber and are arranged at intervals and in a staggered manner on the chamber wall of the cleaning chamber.

8. The flexible endoscope cleaning device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The cleaning nozzle is a fan-shaped pressure-adjustable nozzle.

9. The flexible endoscope cleaning device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The acute angle maintained between the direction of the cleaning nozzle and the axis of the cleaning chamber is 45-60°.

10. The flexible endoscope cleaning device according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The cleaning medium used in the cleaning nozzle is clean water or a cleaning agent solution, wherein the cleaning agent solution can be any one or more combinations of enzyme cleaning agents, alkaline cleaning agents, acidic cleaning agents, neutral cleaning agents, and chlorine-containing disinfectants.

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