Segmented Controllable Endoscope Tube Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing controllable endoscopes with diameters smaller than 5 mm become complex and expensive to manufacture, and there is a need for a structure suitable for endoscopes with diameters smaller than 2 mm that allows remote and controlled bending for minimally invasive procedures.
Innovation Solution
A controllable endoscope design featuring a hollow tube with alternating long and short segments, where the long segments have loops for pull wires and the short segments are attached by uncut sections of the tube, allowing for controlled bending by pulling the wires through compression coils and lever mechanisms, maintaining the wires on one side of the attachment sections to facilitate bending.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the endoscope diameter is reduced to smaller than 5 mm, then the invasiveness is reduced, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The endoscope tube is divided into multiple rigid segments separated by flexible inter-segment regions. Each segment can be independently positioned using pull-wires, allowing the distal end to be bent and steered without requiring the entire tube to be flexible. This segmentation enables reduced overall diameter while maintaining structural integrity and controllability.
Solution Approach 2:
The endoscope employs a dynamic structure where rigid segments are connected by flexible regions that allow relative motion. Pull-wires running through the lumen enable active control of segment positioning, creating a dynamically adjustable configuration that adapts to different navigation requirements while maintaining a compact diameter.
2Ease of operation
If traditional hinge structures are used for segment connection, then remote bending control is achieved, but the device becomes too complex for diameters smaller than 5 mm
Solution Approach 1:
The complex external hinge mechanisms are removed and replaced by internal pull-wire actuation. The flexible inter-segment regions provide the necessary articulation without requiring external hinges, extracting the bending function from the traditional hinge structure and implementing it through a simpler internal cable-driven mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
Flexible inter-segment regions connect the rigid segments, providing articulation through material flexibility rather than mechanical hinges. These thin-walled flexible regions allow bending and rotation while maintaining a compact structure suitable for small-diameter endoscopes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enables efficient and cost-effective manufacturing of endoscopes with diameters smaller than 2 mm, allowing for precise remote control of the distal portion, enhancing minimally invasive procedures by maintaining the wires on one side of the attachment sections for effective bending.
Implementation Method 1
at least one tensioning wire having a distal end and a proximal end slidingly passes through the opening of the at least one series of loop structures, the distal end of the at least one tensioning wire being secured inside the lumen to the distal long-segment of the tube such that controllably pulling the proximal end of the tensioning wire results in controllably bending the controllable section of the tube
Implementation Method 2
pulling the proximal end of each pull-wire with respect to a proximal end of the respective compression coil pulls the distal end of the pull wire toward a distal end of the respective compression coil
Data Source
AI summary
A controllable endoscope comprising a tube cut out radially to form at least three long segments having each loops for slidably receiving pull wires, separated by series of short segments having no loops; all the segments being attached to each other only by portions of the tube that were not cut out.