ENDOSCOPE FOR PERFORMING A RETROFLEXION MANOEUVRE

Abstract

An endoscope capable of performing a retroflexion manoeuvre, including a handle having a control mechanism, a distal tip part having a vision device with a field of view, a bending section having a first state, a retroflexion state, an insertion tube including an exterior surface facing the surroundings of the endoscope, and at least one steering wire connecting the control mechanism with the bending section so that manipulation of the control mechanism causes the endoscope to perform a retroflexion manoeuvre by bending the bending section from the first state to the retroflexion state, wherein the exterior surface of the insertion tube includes a coloured area of a colour configured to reduce over- or underexposure of the vision device in the retroflexion state.

Claims

1. An endoscope capable of performing a retroflexion manoeuvre, comprising: a handle having a control mechanism, a distal tip part having a vision device with a field of view, and an illumination device for providing illumination for the vision device, a bending section having a first state, a retroflexion state, a proximal end and a distal end connected to the distal tip part, an insertion tube extending from the handle to the proximal end of the bending section and including an exterior surface facing the surroundings of the endoscope, and at least one steering wire connecting the control mechanism with the bending section so that manipulation of the control mechanism causes the endoscope to perform a retroflexion manoeuvre by bending the bending section from the first state to the retroflexion state, wherein the exterior surface of the insertion tube includes a coloured area, of a colour configured to reduce over- or underexposure of the vision device when the bending section of the endoscope is in the retroflexion state.

2. An endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the coloured area is visible within the field of view of the vision device in the retroflexion state of the bending section.

3. An endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the field of view of the vision device includes a view cone with a view cone angle (α.sub.col) of at least 40° encompassing the coloured area within the field of view when the endoscope is in the retroflexion state.

4. An endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a majority of the exterior surface of the insertion tube comprises a colour, and wherein the colour of the coloured area is different from the colour of the majority of the exterior surface of the insertion tube.

5. An endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the colour of the coloured area is a grey colour.

6. An endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a first section of the exterior surface is visible within the field of view of the vision device in the retroflexion state of the bending section, wherein the first section comprises a first section area, and wherein the coloured area forms part of the first section and covers at least 20% of the first section area.

7. An endoscope according to claim 6, wherein the first section has a proximal portion and a distal portion, the coloured area covering the distal portion of the first section, the distal portion having a longitudinal extent of at most 30% relative to a longitudinal extent of the exterior surface of the insertion tube.

8. An endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a bending angle of the bending section between the first state and the retroflexion state is between and including 200 and 220 degrees.

9. An endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the insertion tube comprises a plurality of depth marks, spaced along a longitudinal extent of the insertion tube, the depth marks being of the same colour as the coloured area.

10. An endoscope vision system comprising an endoscope according to claim 1 and a monitor, and wherein the endoscope is connectable to the monitor and the monitor includes a display unit configured for displaying images captured by the vision device of the endoscope.

11. A method for marking an area of an endoscope part for an endoscope capable of performing a retroflexion manoeuvre, the endoscope comprising: a handle having a control mechanism; a distal tip part having a vision device with a field of view and an illumination device for providing illumination for the vision device; a bending section having a first state, a retroflexion state, a proximal end, and a distal end connected to the distal tip part; an insertion tube extending from the handle to the proximal end of the bending section and including an exterior surface facing the surroundings of the endoscope; and at least one steering wire connecting the control mechanism with the bending section so that manipulation of the control mechanism causes the endoscope to perform a retroflexion manoeuvre by bending the bending section from the first state to the retroflexion state; wherein the method comprises the steps of: providing the insertion tube configured for insertion into a patient and including the exterior surface facing the surroundings, locating an area of the exterior surface of the insertion tube being visible within a field of view of the vision device of the distal tip part of the endoscope when the insertion tube forms part of the endoscope and the bending section is in the retroflexion state, and marking the area in a colour configured to reduce over- or underexposure of the vision device of the distal tip part of the endoscope, thereby providing a coloured area on the exterior surface of the insertion tube.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the insertion tube comprises one or more additives configured for being activated in a laser marking process.

13. A method according to claim 11, further comprising marking the coloured area with a laser in a laser marking process.

14. A method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of: marking two or more depth marks along a longitudinal extent of the insertion tube.

15. A method according to claim 14, further comprising a step of marking a quality inspection mark on the insertion tube indicating that the endoscope has passed quality inspection.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the coloured area, the two or more depth marks, and the quality inspection mark are marked using the same laser marking process, either sequentially by using the same laser or simultaneously by using different lasers.

17. An endoscope according to claim 1, wherein an area visible within the field of view of the vision device in the retroflexion state includes the coloured area, wherein the coloured area covers at least 20% of the area, and wherein a majority of the exterior surface has a colour different than the colour of the coloured area.

18. An endoscope according to claim 17, wherein a bending angle of the bending section between the first state and the retroflexion state is between and including 200 and 220 degrees, and wherein the colour of the coloured area is grey.

19. An endoscope according to claim 6, wherein the first section has a proximal portion and a distal portion having a longitudinal extent of at least 20% relative to a longitudinal extent of the first section, and wherein the coloured area covers the distal portion of the first section.

20. An endoscope according to claim 19, wherein a bending angle of the bending section between the first state and the retroflexion state is between and including 200 and 220 degrees, and wherein the colour of the coloured area is grey.

21. The endoscope of claim 1, wherein the coloured area comprises a surface marked with a laser marking process to reduce a reflectivity of the surface.

22. The endoscope of claim 21, wherein the surface marked with the laser marking process is at least partially melted to reduce the reflectivity of the surface.

23. The endoscope of claim 22, wherein the tube comprises an activatable additive configured to change from an original color to a gray color responsive to exposure to a laser beam, the gray color and the reduced reflectivity of the surface improving an image quality of an image generated by the vision device.

24. The endoscope of claim 21, wherein the vision device is configured to generate images and to change exposure levels to reduce the over- or underexposure in the images, and wherein the marked surface causes the vision device to produce the images with improved quality relative to the surface without said marking.

25. The endoscope of claim 1, wherein the insertion tube comprises an activatable additive configured to change color responsive to exposure to a laser beam.

26. The endoscope of claim 1, wherein an area visible within the field of view of the vision device in the retroflexion state, wherein a retroflexion state angle is 210°, includes a proximal portion and a distal portion, wherein the coloured area covers at least 80% of the area and all of the distal portion, wherein the distal portion includes at least 40% of the area, and wherein a majority of the exterior surface has a colour different than the colour of the coloured area.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0059] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described in more detail in the following with regard to the accompanying figures. The figures show one way of implementing the present disclosure and are not to be construed as being limiting to other possible embodiments falling within the scope of the attached claim set.

[0060] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective illustration of an endoscope according to this disclosure,

[0061] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective illustration of a monitor connectable to the endoscope,

[0062] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the endoscope in a retroflexion state, and

[0063] FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the distal end of the insertion tube in the retroflexion state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] FIG. 1 illustrates an endoscope 1 which is disposable and not intended to be cleaned and reused. The endoscope 1 comprises a distal tip part 50, a handle 20, an insertion tube 30, and a bending section 40. The handle 20 includes a handle housing 21 for gripping and a control mechanism 22 in the form of a control lever. The insertion tube 30 is for insertion into a patient and extends between the handle 20 and a proximal end 41 of the bending section 40. Two steering wires 24a, 24b connect the control lever 22 with the bending section 40. A vision device 42, which in this case is in the form of a camera, and illumination means, such as LED's or light guides/fibre optics 44, are positioned in the distal tip part 50. The insertion tube 30 has an exterior tubular surface 31 facing the surroundings of the endoscope 1. In the present embodiment, the camera has a field of view angle α.sub.FoV of about 60°. The control lever 22 is rotatable around a pivot axis to effect a bending movement of the bending section 40 in the plane of the FIGS. 1 and 3-4 by tensioning either of the steering wires 24a, 24b so as to bring the bending section 40 from the first state in which the bending section 40 is unbent and resting as shown in FIG. 1 to a retroflexion state as shown in FIGS. 3-4. The camera is in signal communication with a circuit (not shown) of the handle 20 via data and power cables (not shown). The bending section 40 comprises segments (not shown), hinges (not shown) connecting the segments, and a thin outer sleeve 42 covering the segments and hinges and providing an additional layer of sealing for the connection between the distal tip part 50 and the bending section 40 and also provides a smooth outer surface for the bending section 40 in order to improve the comfort of a patient undergoing endoscopy.

[0065] In FIG. 2, a monitor 11 is shown. The monitor 11 comprises a cable socket 12 to which a monitor cable 13 of the endoscope 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be connected to establish signal communication between the camera of the endoscope 1 and the monitor 11 via the circuit of the handle 20. The monitor 11 comprises a display unit 14 to display images captured by the endoscope 1. The monitor 11 thus allows an operator to view images captured by the camera.

[0066] As mentioned, FIG. 3 shows the endoscope 1 in the retroflexion state and FIG. 4 shows a more detailed view of the distal end of the endoscope 1 in the retroflexion state. In the retroflexion state, the bending section 40 is bent to a retroflexion angle α.sub.ret of about 210° by manipulation of the control lever 22 to an extreme position, i.e. either fully up or fully down, to cause maximum tensioning of one of the steering wires 24a, 24b (FIG. 1) so a first section 32 of the exterior surface 31 enters the field of view (FoV) of the camera. The first section 32 comprises a coloured area 33 covering approximately a distal third of the first section 32. In the retroflexion state, the field of view of the camera includes a view cone with an angle α.sub.col of about 45° in which the visible portion of the exterior surface 31 is fully covered by the coloured area 33. This ensures that in the retroflexion state, the majority of the field of view of the camera and in particular the part of the exterior surface 31 closest to the camera is occupied by the coloured area 33 instead of the non-coloured remainder of the exterior surface 31. The coloured area 33 is configured to reduce over- or underexposure of the camera by being of a grey colour with L* between 15 to 75, e.g. 50, a* between negative 10 to positive 10, e.g. 0, and b* between negative 10 to positive 10, e.g. 0, as measured by the CIE L*a*b* colour code system. The exterior surface 31 further comprises a plurality of, e.g. eight, depth marks 34 spaced equidistantly along the extent of the insertion tube 30. Further, a quality inspection mark 35 may be provided, e.g. at a proximal end of the exterior surface 31, indicating that the endoscope 1 has passed quality inspection. The depth marks 34 and/or the quality inspection mark 35 are preferably of the same colour as the coloured area 33.

[0067] The coloured area 33, the depth marks 34, and the quality inspection mark 35 are provided by the following method.

[0068] Firstly, the insertion tube 30, which is configured for insertion into a patient and which includes the exterior surface 31 facing the surroundings is provided. Then an area of the exterior surface 31, which is visible within a field of view of the camera of the endoscope when the insertion tube 30 forms part of the endoscope 1 and the bending section 40 is in the retroflexion state, is located. A laser then marks the area in the grey colour, thereby providing the coloured area 33 on the insertion tube 30. The grey colour has an L* between 15 to 75, e.g. 50, a* between negative 10 to positive 10, e.g. 0, and b* between negative 10 to positive 10, e.g. 0, as measured by the CIE L*a*b* colour code system. The intensity of the grey colour can be adjusted by adjusting the power of the laser to achieve the desired greyness. Further, the insertion tube 30 can comprise additives to obtain different colours when exposed to light from the laser. The same laser is also used to mark the depth marks 34 and the quality inspection mark 35.

LIST OF REFERENCES

[0069] The following is a list of reference numerals used throughout this disclosure. In case of any doubt, the reference numerals of the following list apply. [0070] 1 endoscope [0071] 11 monitor [0072] 12 cable socket [0073] 13 monitor cable [0074] 14 display unit [0075] 20 handle [0076] 21 handle housing [0077] 22 control lever [0078] 24a steering wire [0079] 24b steering wire [0080] 30 insertion tube [0081] 31 exterior surface [0082] 32 first section [0083] 33 coloured area [0084] 34 depth mark [0085] 35 quality inspection mark [0086] 40 bending section [0087] 41 proximal end [0088] 42 sleeve [0089] 44 vision device [0090] 46 illumination source [0091] 50 distal tip part [0092] α.sub.ret retroflex angle [0093] α.sub.FoV field of view angle [0094] α.sub.col field of view angle of the coloured area