Surgery – Endoscope – Having flexible tube structure
Patent
1998-08-10
2000-04-11
Dvorak, Linda C. M.
Surgery
Endoscope
Having flexible tube structure
600148, 600152, A61B 100
Patent
active
060483075
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an endoscope comprising an endoscope shaft having a movable section in the front to end portion.
Endoscopes have become an important auxiliary means in technology and medicine for inspecting channel-like cavities that are not accessible in different manner or with considerable operations only. Endoscopes are equipped at their distal ends with an illumination means and an optical system for visually inspecting the cavity region in front thereof. The optical information detected at the distal end in the front portion of the endoscope is normally transmitted either by a fiber optical system through the endoscope shaft rearwardly to its operating end, or is detected at the distal end by a camera chip and transmitted back by an electrical line through the endoscope shaft and made visible on a screen monitor. Endoscopes on the whole, apart from the rear operating end, usually have an elongate, flexible rod-like configuration.
A movable section in the front end portion of the endoscope provides enhanced possibilities in inspecting a channel-like cavity. In case of commercially available endoscopes, the movable section can be bent, especially for obtaining a frontal position of the wall portion of the cavity to be examined in front of the endoscope shaft end. Commercially available endoscopes are formed on their rear operating ends with rotatable wheels through which bending of the movable section can be effected by means of Bowden wires. Working with such rotatable wheels is quite inconvenient. In particular with relatively long endoscope shafts or with endoscope shafts located in bends during use, the considerable friction of the Bowden cables renders finely tuned and exact bending of the movable section more difficult.
The endoscope according to the invention is characterized in that the endoscope shaft has at least one miniaturized electric drive member provided therein for moving the movable section.
The electrical movement of the movable section according to the invention permits working in much more convenient and finely tuned manner. Due to the fact that the driving movements are transmitted to the movable sections via shorter distances, the problems in connection with friction are decreased. In addition thereto, those problems are eliminated that are connected with an exact transfer of movement by the Bowden wire across larger distances, in particular the empty run due to play of the Bowden wire in its enclosure, tendency to make the Bowden wire enclosure shorter and straight, and the like.
The at least one miniaturized electric drive member is provided preferably in the vicinity of the movable section of the endoscope shaft. This kind of expression also is to comprise the situation that the drive member is accommodated virtually directly adjacent the rear of the movable section, and even in the movable section itself. However, it also is to comprise the situation that the drive member is spaced rearwardly a certain distance from the movable section. However, this distance should not be too large so that the problems outlined in the preceding paragraph do not become too prominent.
It is preferred to use a piezoelectric drive member as miniaturized drive member. There are piezoelectric crystals and ceramics which change their length when a voltage is applied thereto. For practical application, a plurality of thin piezoelectric crystal or piezoceramic platelets is stacked onto each other with a conductive layer being applied between successive platelets. When a voltage is applied between two successive conductive layers each, e.g. an expansion of the stack of piezo-platelets in the longitudinal direction thereof results in case of a corresponding orientation of the piezoelectric material. Such piezoelectric elements may produce very high setting forces in relation to the size thereof.
Due to the fact that the expansion in length upon application of the voltage is only about 1 per mil of the length of the piezo-material, an advantageous possibility consists in producing the necessary
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Bob Alexander
Bob Konstantin
Grundl Andreas
Blaise Brad C.
Dvorak Linda C. M.
Jones William W.
STM Medizintechnik Starnberg GmbH
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