The present invention relates to a surgical device having a clipping instrument to be inserted through a forceps channel of an endoscope.
Generally, in a clipping instrument for endoscopic surgeries, specifically in a sequencing clip instrument with a plurality of detachable clips being aligned in line inside a flexible sheath, the clips are configured such that one of the clips at a distal end opens and closes as an operation wire, arranged in an axial direction of the flexible sheath, is advanced toward the distal end and retracted toward a proximal end. The clip at the distal end can be thus detached from a succeeding clip with its arms closed as the operation wire is further advanced forward and the succeeding clip opens. Such a configuration of the clipping instrument is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2006-87537, for example.
When the conventional clipping instrument disclosed in the above-referenced publication is in use, operations of the clipping instrument, of which clips are opened/closed and advanced/retracted, are observed in images obtained through a display unit for the endoscope.
In such observation through the display unit, the clip being advanced is viewed from the rear portion; therefore, an operator may not be able to accurately recognize a posture and an attitude of the clip such as whether the clip is in a fully-open state, or amount of the clip being protruded from the sheath. The difficulty may cause an erroneous operation particularly when substantial clearness of the images is not ensured.
In view of the foregoing drawback, the present invention is advantageous in that an endoscopic surgical device with a clipping instrument, in which conditions of the clips can be accurately recognized so that smooth operations can be conducted, is provided.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clipping instrument for an endoscope. The clipping instrument includes a flexible sheath to be inserted into an instrument channel of the endoscope, an operation wire, which is configured to be forwarded and retracted in an axial direction of the flexible sheath, at least one detachable clip assembly, including a pair of openable and closable clipping arms. The at least one detachable clip assembly is arranged in vicinity of a distal end portion of the flexible sheath with the clipping arms closed. The clipping arms are configured to be projected forward to open outside the flexible sheath and to be closed to clip onto a treatment object outside the flexible sheath according to forwarding and retracting movements of the operation wire. The clipping instruments further include frictional members, which are configured to generate frictional resistance between each other inside the flexible sheath. The frictional resistance is generated while the clipping arms of the clip assembly in the vicinity of the distal end portion of the flexible sheath are forwarded by the forwarding movement of the operation wire to project out of the flexible sheath to be fully opened.
Hereinafter, referring to the accompanying drawings, an illustrative embodiment of the invention will be described.
The flexible sheath 1 is provided with a sleeve 2 at a distal end, and a resilient C-shaped ring (C-ring) 3 made of a metal is arranged inside the sleeve 2. The C-ring 3 is restricted from moving in an axial direction of the flexible sheath 1, but can be resiliently expanded radially within the sleeve 2.
Inside the flexible sheath 1, an operating wire 4 to be advanced and retracted in parallel with the axial direction of the flexible sheath 1 is provided. The operating wire 4 is connected to an operating unit (not shown) at a proximal end thereof and can be advanced and retracted in accordance with an operation given to the operating unit. The operating wire 4 is fixedly connected to a connecting loop 5 through a connecting pipe 6.
Further inside the flexible sheath 1, in vicinity to a distal end portion thereof, a plurality of clip assemblies 10 are aligned in line.
Each of the arms 11 is formed to have a through hole 13 in vicinity to a proximal end thereof. A shaft 14 supporting the arms 11 is penetrated through the through holes 13 of the arms 11 so that the arms 11, rotated about the shaft 14, can be arbitrarily opened and closed.
The clip assembly 10 is further provided with a tail portion 15, which includes an open-ringed connecting loop 15a at a proximal end thereof, a pair of plate portions 15b, which are parallel to each other and loosely sandwich the proximal end portion of the arms 11 therebetween, and through holes 16 through which the shaft 14 is penetrated. The tail portion 15 is connected to the operating wire 4 through another clip assembly 10 being aligned at a proximal side and a connecting clip 20, which will be described later.
Furthermore, the clip assembly 10 includes a fastening ring 18, by which the arms 11 are forcibly closed. When the arms 11 are allowed to be open, the fastening ring 18 is loosely fit around the proximal portion of the arms 11, as shown in
When one of the clip assemblies 10 is projected out of the flexible sheath 1, the fastening ring 18 becomes in contact with the C-ring 3 at the distal portion thereof and is stopped thereat; therefore, the arms 11 can be opened. If the clip assembly 10 is forwarded further with more pressure, the fastening ring 18 outstretches the C-ring 3 and is projected forward from the sleeve 2 through the C-ring 3.
In reverse, when the fastening ring 18 is forwarded, as shown in
Referring back to
The clipping instrument 100 includes an undetachable clip assembly 20, which is undetachably connected to the connecting loop 5. Unlike the clip assemblies 10, the undetachable clip assembly 20 does not include the fastening ring 18; however, the remaining configuration of the detachable clip assembly 20 is identical to the clip assembly 10. The undetachable clip assembly 20 is connected to the tail portion 15 of the clip assembly 10 being located at the rear end of the aligned clip assemblies 10, i.e., the arms 11 of the undetachable clip assembly 20 are closed to clutch the tail portion 15 of the clip assembly 10 at the rear end.
The arms 11 of the plurality of mutually connected clip assemblies 10 and the undetachable clip assembly 20 are closed inside the flexible sheath 1 so that the clipping instrument 100 is inserted into the forceps channel of the endoscope.
The clipping instrument 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a frictional ring 31 and frictional cylinders 32, which serve to generate friction resistance with an inner surface of the flexible sheath 1 according to motions of the operation wire 4 being advanced and retracted.
The frictional ring 31 and the frictional cylinders 32 can be arranged in positions rather closer to the proximal end of the flexible sheath 1 than a position in which the flexible sheath 1 can be bended according to remote control by the operator through the operation unit.
The frictional ring 31 is configured to have an inner diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the flexible sheath 1 and an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the flexible sheath 1. The frictional cylinders are configured to have outer diameters smaller than the inner diameter of the flexible sheath 1 and slightly larger (e.g., 0.05-0.1 mm) than the inner diameter of the frictional ring 31.
Therefore, when one of the frictional cylinders 32 passes through inside the frictional ring 31, the resilient frictional ring 31 is deformed to outstretch radially, a predetermined amount of friction resistance is generated between the frictional ring 31 and the frictional cylinder 32. Meanwhile, no friction resistance is generated when the frictional cylinder 32 is not included in the frictional ring 31.
As shown in
In addition, lengths of the frictional cylinders 32 and the positions on the operation wire 4 are determined in relation with the open/close operations of the clipping assemblies 10. More specifically, the lengths and the positions are configured such that the friction resistance starts to be generated when the operation wire 4 is advanced (i.e., from top to bottom in
Operations of the clipping instrument 100 configured as above in use in the forceps channel will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 7-11.
When the flexible sheath 1 is inserted into the forceps channel of the endoscope, as shown in
When the flexible sheath 1 in the forceps channel is brought in the vicinity of the treatment area, as shown in
When the operation wire 4 is further advanced so that the front clip assembly 10 is projected out of the flexible sheath 1 and the fastening ring 18 passes through the C-ring 18, as shown in
With the arms 11 opened, when the flexible sheath 1 is advanced, the arms 11 are closed to clutch the treatment area. Further, when the operation wire 4 is withdrawn toward the proximal end, as shown in
Thus, when the clipping operation is accomplished, the operation wire 4 can be again advanced from the proximal end, as shown in
Next, as the operation wire 4 is further advanced and the distal end of the next clip assembly 10, which is second from the front end, comes to the position to substantially align with the distal end of the flexible sheath 1, the distal end of the frictional cylinder 32 at second from the front becomes in contact with the proximal end of the frictional ring 31. The contact can be conveyed to the operator so that the operator can recognize the position of the second clip assembly 10, which is entirely but scarcely included in the flexible sheath 1 so that the distal end of the clip assembly 10 is nearly aligned with the distal end of the flexible sheath 1.
When the operation wire 4 is further advanced, as shown in
The above-described procedure can be repeatedly applied to the second and the following clip assemblies 10 as may be necessary.
Although an example of carrying out the invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments. For example, a single clip assembly 10 may be provided instead of two or more clip assemblies 10 in the clipping instrument 100. For another example, the frictional cylinders 32 may be configured to be resilient while the frictional ring 31 is configured to be rigid.
The present disclosure relates to the subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. P2007-152343, filed on Jun. 8, 2007, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2007-152343 | Jun 2007 | JP | national |