Fully-swallowable endoscopic system
First Claim
1. An endoscospic system comprising:
- a rod-shaped endoscope body which can be entirely swallowed by a patient to be examined so as to be located in a body cavity, at least part of said rod-shaped endoscope body comprising a bendable portion which is bendable along a curve of said body cavity; and
an external device provided separately from said rod-shaped endoscope body without a mechanical connection with said rod-shaped endoscope body;
said rod-shaped endoscope body comprising a light emitter, an observing system, a transmitter for transmitting a radio wave which carries an image formed by said observing system, and a power supplying device, and said external device comprising a receiver that receives said radio wave which carries said image, said bendable portion comprising a bending portion that is configured to be bent by radio control from the external device so as to orient said light emitter and said observing system in a predetermined direction, and a flexible portion that is configured to be bent by an external force so as to bend said flexible portion along a curve of the body cavity, said bending portion being configured to be more flexible than said flexible portion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fully-swallowable endoscopic system includes a rod-shaped endoscope body which can be swallowed entirely by a patient to be examined so as to be placed in a body cavity, at least part of the rod-shaped endoscope body includes a bendable portion which is bendable along a curve of the body cavity; and an external device provided separately from the rod-shaped endoscope body having no mechanical connection with the rod-shaped endoscope body. The rod-shaped endoscope body is provided therein with a light emitter, an observing system, a transmitter for transmitting a radio wave which carries an image formed by the observing system, and a power supplying device. The external device includes a receiver for receiving the radio wave which carries the image.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An endoscospic system comprising:
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a rod-shaped endoscope body which can be entirely swallowed by a patient to be examined so as to be located in a body cavity, at least part of said rod-shaped endoscope body comprising a bendable portion which is bendable along a curve of said body cavity; and
an external device provided separately from said rod-shaped endoscope body without a mechanical connection with said rod-shaped endoscope body;
said rod-shaped endoscope body comprising a light emitter, an observing system, a transmitter for transmitting a radio wave which carries an image formed by said observing system, and a power supplying device, and said external device comprising a receiver that receives said radio wave which carries said image, said bendable portion comprising a bending portion that is configured to be bent by radio control from the external device so as to orient said light emitter and said observing system in a predetermined direction, and a flexible portion that is configured to be bent by an external force so as to bend said flexible portion along a curve of the body cavity, said bending portion being configured to be more flexible than said flexible portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17)
said external device includes an operation portion which transmits said radio operation signal to said radio-controlled driving device. -
3. The endoscopic system according to claim 2, wherein said rod-shaped endoscope body further comprises a hard portion, and wherein said hard portion, said bending portion and said flexible portion are arranged in that order from one of the opposite ends of said rod-shaped endoscope body in a longitudinal direction thereof, said light emitter and said observing system being positioned in said hard portion.
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4. The endoscopic system according to claim 2, wherein said radio-controlled driving device comprises a plurality of drive wires made of a shape memory alloy, and a selective-heating device which selectively heats said plurality of drive wires to bend said bending portion.
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5. The endoscopic system according to claim 1, wherein said rod-shaped endoscope body further comprises a hard portion, and wherein said hard portion and said bendable portion are arranged in that order from one of the opposite ends of said rod-shaped endoscope body in a longitudinal direction thereof, said light emitter and said observing system being position in said hard portion.
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6. The endoscopic system according to claim 1, wherein said power supplying device comprises a built-in battery.
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7. The endoscopic system according to claim 1, wherein said external device comprises a microwave transmitter for transmitting a microwave to said rod-shaped endoscope body, and
wherein said power supplying device converts said microwave into electrical current to supply the electrical current to said rod-shaped endoscope body. -
8. The endoscopic system according to claim 1, wherein said observing system comprises an objective optical system and a CCD image sensor.
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9. The endoscopic system according to claim 1, wherein said external device comprises a monitor which visually indicated said image.
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10. The endoscopic system according to claim 1, said flexible portion being bendable along a curve of the body cavity independently of said external device.
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17. The endoscopic system according to claim 1, said bending portion comprising a plurality of adjacently positioned articulated joints.
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11. An endoscopic system comprising:
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a rod-shaped endoscope body which comprises a hard portion, a bending portion and a flexible portion which are arranged in that order; and
a radio controller for manipulating said bending portion so as to bend by radio-control, said rod-shaped endoscope body comprising a light emitter that illuminates a target inner portion of a living body;
an image pick-up device that takes an image of said target inner portion illuminated by said light emitter; and
a transmitter that transmits a radio wave which carries said image taken by said image pick-up device, said bending portion being configured to be bent by radio control from the external device so as to orient said light emitter and said observing system in a predetermined direction, said flexible portion being configured to be bent by an external force so as to bend said flexible portion along a curve of the body cavity, said bending portion being configured to be more flexible than said flexible portion. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An endoscope system comprising:
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a rod-shaped endoscope body which can be swallowed by a patient to be examined so as to be located in a body cavity, at least part of said rod-shaped endoscope body comprising a bendable portion which is bendable along a curve of said body cavity;
said rod-shaped endoscope body comprising a light emitter, an observing system, a transmitter that transmits to an external device, a radio wave which carries an image formed by said observing system, and a power supplying device, said bendable portion comprising;
a bending portion configured to be bent by radio control from the external device to orient the light emitter and observing system in a predetermined direction; and
a flexible portion configured to be bent when an external force is applied to said flexible portion so as to bend along a curve of the body cavity, said bending portion being configured to be more flexible than said flexible portion;
said rod-shaped endoscope body comprising a radio-controlled driving device which receives a radio operation signal transmitted from the external device to bend said bending portion in accordance with the radio operation signal. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification