Surgery – Endoscope – Having flexible tube structure
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-08
2004-03-02
Paik, Sang Y. (Department: 3742)
Surgery
Endoscope
Having flexible tube structure
C600S146000, C600S149000, C600S208000, C600S104000, C600S106000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06699183
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to an endoscope, particularly a flexible endoscope with the features of the preamble of claim
1
.
Endoscopes of this kind, for example duodenoscopes, whose lens is usually arranged at the side of the endoscope head, comprise a mechanism, in particular an Albarran mechanism with an Albarran lever, which makes it possible to move the probes, which are introduced into the endoscpoe through the working channel thereof, in the angle of view of the lens. The Albarran lever can be moved by means of a Bowden wire device extending between the distal and the proximal ends via an operating lever arranged at the outside of the endoscope's housing.
In commonly known endoscopes of the type described in the document U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,959, the Albarran mechanism or the Albarran lever is a fixedly integrated component of the endoscope head, and the sheathing of the Bowden wire device is embodied as a channel in the endoscope's introduction shaft and housing, which is sealed off from the inside of the endoscope. The traction wire of the Bowden wire device extending therethrough is usually sealed off from the outside at the distal and the proximal ends of the Bowden wire device with the aid of sealing rings. As these seals are seals through which a movable wire extends, at least the distal end may be contaminated as a result of pulling a piece of wire which is soiled e.g. with blood to the inside when an endoscope of this kind is used. Endoscopes or heads of endoscopes soiled in such a manner are difficult to clean and, when used again, lead to problems regarding hygiene or to spreading of germs and to increased sluggishness of the Bowden wire device or of the entire operating mechanism of the Albarran lever.
In another type of endoscope, the Bowden wire device can be irrigated for cleaning purposes through an opening for a syringe at the proximal end thereof. During irrigation, the liquid can emerge at the distal end of the Bowden wire device, which is not sealed. In case of inexpert handling, however, some of the irrigation liquid may leak into the inside of the endoscope as a result of too high pressure exerted on the inner seals. Mostly, such cases occurring in practice result from already existing contamination which causes a reduction of the cross-section of the channel to be irrigated and thus a lower rate of flow; here, the maximum permissible pressure may easily be exceeded if the operating personnel exerts too much pressure on the syringe. As a consequence of this, the endoscope will have to be repaired, which is both time-consuming and expensive.
Furthermore, both these known types share the disadvantage that the Albarran mechanism is difficult to clean because of the fact that it is integrated in the instrument. In practice, this mechanism has to be cleaned with a small brush, and it turned out that damage to the delicate Albarran mechanism is often caused thereby. Moreover, because of the integrated construction of the Albarran mechanism, any necessary repair thereof is time-consuming and expensive, as the entire encapsulated head, which also includes the lens, has to be exposed and, after the Albaran mechanism has been repaired, the head has to be encapsulated again.
In another endoscope known from the document JP Sho 62 42 606, the Albarran mechanism can be screwed off the endoscope head and can be removed after the traction wire of the Bowden wire device has been released at the proximal end by loosening a screw connection. After a distal stop plate has been loosened by screwing it off, the sheathing of the Bowden wire device can be pulled out.
This kind of loosening of the connection, however, requires technically skilled personnel—for reasons of liability, this is usually even done by a maintenance engineer of the company that produces the endoscope—, as such complex loosening of the connections can neither be expected from unskilled operating personnel such as a doctor's assistant nor can it be done by him or her.
If this endoscope should not have any seals to ensure that no contaminating material will enter at the distal end thereof, the endoscope would have to be cleaned after each use by loosening all the above-mentioned connections. As it is necessary to have this done by technically skilled personnel, this type of cleaning is complicated, expensive and time-consuming, and is thus not practical in medical working routine.
This problem was solved by an endoscope described in the document DE 196 27 016 C1; here, a support device for the Albarran mechanism can be removed from the head of the endoscope in the longitudinal direction by the operating personnel by loosening a quick-acting clamping device for the traction wire of the Bowden wire device, so both the support device, the traction wire of the Bowden wire device, the sheathing of the Bowden wire device, and the channel of the Bowden wire device can be cleaned easily by the operating personnel.
In practice, however, it turned out that a quick-acting clamping device which did not exist in known prior art was difficult to realize, as the necessary accuracy when moving a mechanism located at the distal end requires that the working area of the distal mechanism and the operating mechanism at the proximal end for this purpose always remains the same, irrespective of the number of loosening and attachment actions.
Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope with a quick-acting clamping device which guarantees the required accuracy when moving a mechanism located at the distal end irrespective of the number of loosening and attachment actions, including the removal of the distal mechanism, pulling out the traction wire of the Bowden wire device and the sheathing thereof by the operating personnel, and easy loosening of the mechanism located at the distal end for cleaning purposes by the operating personnel.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features of claim
1
.
By providing a quick-acting clamping device in the form of a quick-acting closure, with a locking position for loosening and attaching the traction wire of a Bowden wire device by means of an attachment unit, it is ensured that the attachment is always effected in the same exact position regarding the longitudinal displacement of the traction wire of the Bowden wire device. Hereby, the working area for the entire operating mechanism (both proximal and distal) for a mechanism to be operated, particularly an Albarran mechanism, remains the same at the distal end irrespective of the number of previous attachment and loosening actions.
At the same time, by providing a second quick-acting closure, it is possible for the operating personnel to easily remove the mechanism located at the distal end and to pull out the traction wire of the Bowden wire device. Thus, each time the endoscope has been used, it can easily be cleaned as necessary by the operating personnel. For this purpose, by loosening the first and the second quick-acting closures, the endoscope can quickly and easily be disassembled into the components traction wire of the Bowden wire device and distal mechanism; due to the fact that sealing elements are not necessary, all the contaminated parts as well as the inner space of the sheathing of the Bowden wire device can easily be cleaned by the operating personnel themselves, using e.g. effective cleaning and—as the case may be—sterilization methods such as ultrasonic waves, an autoclave, etc.
Furthermore, in case of wear, damage, etc., the Albarran mechanism can easily be replaced with a new Albarran mechanism by the operating personnel, potentially with further developments of Albarran mechanisms or other types thereof, without a time-consuming and expensive disassembly of the endoscope head and the proximal end of the endoscope by a technician being necessary.
If an individual channel of the Bowden wire device is formed inside the endoscope, as described in the document DE 196 27 016 C1, it is possible to additionally pull out the sheathing of the Bowden wire device and t
Dahbour Fadi H.
Paik Sang Y.
Shaffer & Culbertson L.L.P.
XION GmbH
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