Needle-Type Endoscope Sliding Camera Tube Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical endoscopes face challenges in acquiring high-quality images due to signal distortion and noise, and existing designs cause discomfort and pain during insertion due to large diameters and the need for incisions and sheaths.
Innovation Solution
A needle-type endoscope with a camera tube that slides within a needle, featuring a sharp tip with an inclined portion for safety and a fixing mechanism to prevent backward movement, eliminating the need for cannulas or sheaths and allowing for high-quality image capture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If an electronic endoscope with objective lens, image sensor, and light source provided at inner end of scope is used, then image acquisition capability is improved, but diameter of distal end portion becomes large causing severe rejection feeling and pain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent places the camera tube inside the needle structure, with the image sensor and optical components nested within the needle's hollow space. This nested configuration allows the endoscope to maintain a small outer diameter comparable to a needle while incorporating all necessary imaging components, thereby reducing insertion trauma and patient discomfort while preserving image acquisition capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a traditional lateral arrangement of imaging components to a longitudinal arrangement along the needle axis. The camera tube extends along the needle's length with the image sensor positioned at the distal end, utilizing the longitudinal dimension to accommodate imaging components without increasing the radial diameter, thus maintaining small size while enabling image acquisition
2Loss of information
If a fiberoptic endoscope with relay rod lens or optical fiber is used, then image transmission is achieved, but high-quality image acquisition is limited due to distortion and noise in signal transmission process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the fiberoptic mechanical transmission system with a direct electronic digital imaging system. Instead of using optical fibers that suffer from signal distortion and noise, the patent employs a camera sensor that directly captures and digitally transmits image data, eliminating the information loss inherent in fiberoptic transmission while maintaining image quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the image sensor from the traditional handle position and relocates it to the distal end of the needle, close to the imaging target. This extraction and repositioning eliminates the need for long-distance signal transmission through the body, thereby removing the source of distortion and noise that occurs during extended signal transmission through fiberoptic bundles
3Ease of operation
If incision instrument and sheath are used to provide insertion path, then endoscope insertion is enabled, but pain of test subject is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the incision-making function and the endoscope insertion function into a single integrated needle structure. The needle serves dual purposes: it creates the insertion path through its sharp tip and simultaneously provides the protective sheath for the camera tube. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate incision instruments and external sheaths, reducing the number of invasive steps and associated patient pain
Solution Approach 2:
The needle is designed as a multi-functional component that performs both incision and protective sheath functions. The same needle structure that penetrates the tissue to create the insertion path also serves as the protective housing for the camera tube during insertion and imaging. This universal design eliminates the need for additional separate components, thereby reducing procedural complexity and patient discomfort
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a needle-type endoscope, including a camera tube having an image capturing means accommodated therein; a needle covering the camera tube from the outside and having a sharp tip formed in a front end thereof to make an incision in a human body; and a handle, wherein a length of the camera tube is formed to be longer than a length of the needle. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a needle-like endoscope configured such that a camera tube for acquiring an image is disposed inside a needle for making an incision in the human body in such a manner as to be moved forward and backward in a sliding manner inside the needle, thereby excluding constituents such as a cannula or a sheath for providing an insertion path for an endoscope, and an incision instrument.