Endoscope system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An endoscope system comprising:
- a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; and
an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope includingan insertion unit having a distal part,a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, andan operation unit for handling a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part, said operation unit having a locking mechanism for locking a position of a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part.
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Abstract
An endoscope system in accordance with the present invention comprises a plurality of endoscope modules having different treatment instruments mounted therein, an endoscope to which the endoscope modules can be attached, and a coupling member fixed to the distal part of an insertion unit of the endoscope and used to make the plurality of endoscope modules freely exchangeable. The plurality of endoscope modules having the different treatment instruments mounted therein are freely exchangeable to be coupled to the distal part of the insertion unit of the endoscope.
658 Citations
69 Claims
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1. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; and an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, and an operation unit for handling a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part, said operation unit having a locking mechanism for locking a position of a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part.
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2. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, an operation unit for handling a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part, an operation channel extending along the length of the endoscope, and a suction channel extending along the length of the endoscope; and an operation force transmitter disposed in said operation channel for coupling said operation unit to a treating element mounted in an endoscope module to be attached to said distal part.
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3. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, an operation unit for handling a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part, and a channel extending along the length of the endoscope; and an operation force transmitter disposed in said channel for coupling said operation unit to a treating element mounted in an endoscope module to be attached to said distal part, wherein said channel in which said operation force transmitter is disposed also serves as a suction channel in said endoscope.
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4. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, and an operation unit for handling a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part; and
an operation force transmission wire for coupling said operation unit to a treating element mounted in an endoscope module to be attached to said distal part, said transmission wire including a connecting member located in said operation unit of said endoscope for connecting said transmission wire to a treating element mounted in an endoscope module to be attached to said distal part.
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5. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, and an operation unit for handling a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part; and an operation force transmitter for coupling said operation unit to a treating element mounted in an endoscope module to be attached to said distal part, wherein said operation force transmitter is capable of transmitting a torque.
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6. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, an operation unit for handling a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part, and an operation channel extending along the length of the endoscope; and an operation force transmitter for coupling said operation unit to a treating element mounted in an endoscope module to be attached to said distal part, wherein said operation force transmitter includes a transmission wire, a piston fixed along the length of said transmission wire so as to be in close contact with the inner circumference of said operation channel, a liquid to be poured into a space defined by said piston and said operation channel, and a liquid compression means for compressing the liquid.
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7. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein, each endoscope module including a first coupling mechanism formed thereon; and an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, and a second coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said second coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, such that said first coupling mechanism in each endoscope module matingly corresponds to said second coupling mechanism, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said first and second coupling mechanisms, and wherein at least one of said first and second coupling mechanisms is a magnet.
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8. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein, each endoscope module including a first coupling mechanism formed thereon; and an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part; and a second coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said second coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules such that said first coupling mechanism in each endoscoite module matingly corresponds to said second coupling mechanism, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said first and second coupling mechanism, and wherein said first coupling mechanism includes an elastic member and said second coupling mechanism includes a hard member on said distal part of said endoscope.
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9. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; and an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, and an operation unit which is capable of moving a treating element mounted in an endoscope module attached to said distal part to a position within a field of view permitted by said endoscope so that the treating element can be observed.
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10. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules each including a body member and a treating element mounted in the respective body member, wherein each of the treating elements are mutually different from each other; and an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, and wherein said distal part of said endoscope is covered by said body member of a corresponding endoscope module when said corresponding endoscope module is attached to said distal part. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; and an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, and a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, wherein said distal part of said insertion unit includes a convex part, and wherein said convex part includes an observation window, an illumination window, an aeration/perfusion nozzle, and a treatment channel. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein, each endoscope module being provided with an identifier for identifying the treating element associated with said each endoscope module; and an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of groups each comprised of an endoscope and a corresponding plurality of endoscope modules used in combination with the endoscope, wherein each of said groups are provided with a matching system for determining if a particular endoscope module and endoscope combination is possible, wherein the endoscope modules of each plurality thereof have mutually different treating elements mounted therein, and wherein each endoscope includes an insertion unit having a distal part, and a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each endoscope module in the corresponding plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said corresponding plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; and a plurality of endoscopes to which each endoscope module can be attached, wherein each of said endoscopes is of a mutually different type from the others and includes an insertion unit having a distal part, a locking member at the distal part of the insertion unit, and a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism, wherein each endoscope module includes a fitting member capable of being fitted on said locking member of each of said endoscopes. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules having different treating elements mounted therein; an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, and a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism; and an attached state checking means to indicate whether a selected one of said endoscope modules is attached to said endoscope properly. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules, each endoscope module including a module body and a treatment instrument placement member having a treating element that can be mounted in the module body in a freely discountable fashion, wherein the treating elements provided with the endoscope modules are mutually different from each other; and an endoscope to which said endoscope modules can be attached, said endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part, a coupling mechanism located at said distal part of said insertion unit, said coupling mechanism being exchangeably attachable to each of said plurality of endoscope modules, wherein said plurality of endoscope modules having said different treating elements are interchangeably attachable to said distal part of said insertion unit via said coupling mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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69. An endoscope system comprising:
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a plurality of endoscope modules each having a body member and a treating element mounted in the respective body member; an endoscope including an insertion unit having a distal part to which said endoscope modules can be attached; and coupling means via which said plurality of endoscope modules can be attached to said distal part of said insertion unit of said endoscope, wherein said body members of said endoscope module each has an outer configuration dimensioned so as to be substantially the same as that of said distal part of said insertion unit of said endoscope.
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Specification