Endoscope gas delivery system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9155455-B2
Application number	US-201113179431-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2011
Priority date	Jul 14, 2010
Publication date	Oct 13, 2015
Grant date	Oct 13, 2015

Abstract

Gases are smoothly and automatically switched when using two gas supply sources, that is, an air pump and a carbon dioxide gas cylinder. By using a gas supply flow rate adjusting unit, a carbon dioxide gas is supplied to an endoscope, and a gas using a carbon dioxide gas and water are delivered. When the remaining amount of the carbon dioxide gas of the cylinder is detected and the detected pressure of the carbon dioxide gas becomes less than a predetermined value, the air pump is rotated to supply pressurized air. The rotation number of the air pump is controlled, and the same amount of pressurized air is supplied as that of the supplied carbon dioxide gas. The switching to the pressurized air is automatically performed. The supply amounts before and after the switching become equal to each other, and a surgical operator does not feel any discomfort.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An endoscope gas delivery system delivering a gas from a conduit connection portion connected with a gas supply tube of a universal cord to an endoscope including an insertion section inserted into a body of a subject, a main body manipulation section continuous to the insertion section, and the universal cord connected to the main body manipulation section, the endoscope gas delivery system comprising:
a pressurized air supply device comprising an air pump that generates a pressurized air and supplies the pressurized air to the conduit connection portion;
a pressurized air supply flow rate adjusting unit that adjusts a supply flow rate of the pressurized air by controlling the air pump;
a gas cylinder that supplies a gas to the conduit connection portion;
a depressurizing mechanism that depressurizes the gas;
a flow rate control valve that is provided adjacent to an outlet of the depressurizing mechanism and adjusts a flow rate of the gas;
a gas supply control section that controls the flow rate control valve;
a pressure gauge that is provided adjacent to an inlet of the depressurizing mechanism, measures a pressure of the gas and transmits a pressure signal which indicates an output pressure of the gas to the gas supply control section; and
a gas switching control section that controls the pressurized air supply flow rate adjusting unit and the gas supply control section, delivers one of the pressurized air and the gas to the conduit connection portion, and performs a switching control using a supply flow rate setting value of the other of the pressurized air and the gas before the switching,
wherein when the pressure of the pressure gauge becomes a first value PS 1 , the gas supply control section transmits a gas switching signal to the gas switching control section, and
when the gas switching control section receives the gas switching signal, the gas switching control section controls the flow rate control valve by controlling the gas supply control section in order to stop the supply of the gas, and drives the air pump by controlling the pressurized air supply flow rate adjusting unit to switch the gas to the pressurized air automatically which is supplied to the conduit connection portion.

2. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a supply flow rate setting value storing section that stores the supply flow rate setting value of the pressurized air supply flow rate adjusting unit and the supply flow rate setting value of the gas supply control section,
wherein the gas switching control section performs the switching by reading out the supply flow rate setting value before the switching from the supply flow rate setting value storing section.

3. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the depressurizing mechanism includes:
a first depressurizing valve and a second depressurizing valve that are connected to each other in series.

4. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 3 ,
wherein when the pressure of the pressure gauge becomes a second value PS 2 (PS 2 >PS 1 ), the gas supply control section idly rotates the air pump.

5. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the pressurized air supply flow rate adjusting unit includes a pump driving circuit that controls the rotation number of the air pump.

6. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a concentration sensor that detects the concentration of the carbon dioxide gas,
wherein when the concentration of the concentration sensor becomes a first value CS 1 , a gas switching signal is transmitted to the gas switching control section, and the gas switching control section turns off the flow rate control valve and drives the air pump to switch the carbon dioxide gas to the pressurized air.

7. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 6 ,
wherein when the detected concentration of the concentration sensor becomes a second value CS 2 (CS 2 <CS 1 ), the gas supply control section idly rotates the air pump.

8. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 7 ,
wherein when the detected concentration of the concentration sensor becomes a third value CS 3 (CS 3 <CS 2 ), the gas supply control section transmits a gas switching signal to the gas switching control section, stops the air pump, and turns on the flow rate control valve.

9. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 2 , further comprising:
an imaging unit that is disposed to face an observation window of a front end of the insertion section; and
a processor that receives an image signal from the imaging unit, performs an image process on the imaging signal, and displays the result on a monitor,
wherein a control section of the processor constitutes the gas switching control section.

10. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the gas is a carbon dioxide gas, and the gas cylinder is first used at an initial setting.

11. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 10 , further comprising:
a concentration sensor that detects the concentration of the carbon dioxide gas,
wherein when the detected concentration of the concentration sensor becomes a first value CS 1 , a gas switching signal is transmitted to the gas switching control section, and the gas switching control section turns off the flow rate control valve and drives the air pump to switch the carbon dioxide gas to the pressurized air.

12. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 11 ,
wherein when the detected concentration of the concentration sensor becomes a second value CS 2 (CS 2 <CS 1 ), the gas supply control section idly rotates the air pump.

13. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 12 ,
wherein when the detected concentration of the concentration sensor becomes a third value CS 3 (CS 3 <CS 2 ), the gas supply control section transmits a gas switching signal to the gas switching control section, stops the air pump, and turns on the flow rate control valve.

14. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the depressurizing mechanism includes:
a first depressurizing valve and a second depressurizing valve that are connected to each other in series.

15. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 14 ,
wherein when the pressure of the pressure gauge becomes a second value PS 2 (PS 2 >PS 1 ), the gas supply control section idly rotates the air pump.

16. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the pressurized air supply flow rate adjusting unit includes a pump driving circuit that controls the rotation number of the air pump.

17. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an imaging unit that is disposed to face an observation window of a front end of the insertion section; and
a processor that receives an image signal from the imaging unit, performs an image process on the imaging signal, and displays the result on a monitor,
wherein a control section of the processor constitutes the gas switching control section.

18. The endoscope gas delivery system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the conduit connection portion forms a chamber between the conduit connection portion and a conduit connection connector, and includes a relief valve communicative connected with the chamber and releasing a gas when the pressure of the chamber becomes a predetermined pressure or more.

Assignees

• Hayashi Kentaro
• Fujifilm Corp

Inventors

• Hayashi Kentaro

Classifications

• A61B1/015 Primary

  Control of fluid supply or evacuation · CPC title

• A61B1/126

  provided with means for cleaning in-use · CPC title