Endoscopy device having an electrical control system

Inventors

Espinosa, Alejandro

Assignees

Evoendo Inc

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for an endoscope for use in a surgical procedure, e.g., a pediatric trans-nasal endoscopy procedure. The endoscope may include a handle for gripping by a user, and a shaft extending from the handle. The shaft may have a working channel extending longitudinally therethrough and a distal region configured to be inserted into a patient. The distal region of the shaft may include a printed circuit board with a perpendicular portion having an illumination source mounted thereon so as to face distally. The printed circuit board may also have an imaging device mounted thereon, and the imaging device and the illumination source may be located at the same longitudinal position of the endoscope shaft, e.g., flush-mounted. The endoscope may also include, on the handle, an electronic control module having first and second buttons that are mapped to a menu of functions, e.g., white balancing and/or image capture functions, in an external video control unit.

Core Innovation

The disclosed invention is an endoscope suitably configured and sized for use in an unsedated trans-nasal endoscopy procedure. It includes a handle for gripping by a user, where steering is achieved by opposing roller knobs located on opposite sides of the handle and a rotatable thumb knob rotatable about the same axis as the roller knobs. A flexible shaft extends from the handle and maintains a generally constant outer diameter that is less than 4.5 mm while providing a generally constant working channel diameter between 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm extending longitudinally therethrough.

The distal region of the flexible shaft maintains the generally constant outer diameter and is configured to be inserted into the nose of a patient and steered through the patient's nasal cavities in a left/right direction by the opposing roller knobs and in an up/down direction by the thumb knob. Steering is achieved via a plurality of steering wires extending along the flexible shaft between the outer diameter of the flexible shaft and the working channel. A circuit board is located at the distal region of the shaft, with a longitudinally-extending proximal portion and a distal leg bent radially inwardly about 90 degrees relative to the longitudinally-extending proximal portion.

An illumination source is mounted on the distal leg of the circuit board and is arranged radially outside the working channel so that it does not impede the working channel while facing distally. In the claimed surgical configuration, the shaft includes an outer shaft wall and a working channel disposed along a longitudinal axis, and the spacing between the working channel wall and the outer shaft wall is maintained by braided filaments to be 1 mm or less. The circuit board is located in a distalmost region such that the imaging device and a distal illumination source, with the illumination source mounted on a distal leg generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, are situated in the same 1 mm or less space, so the working channel extends along the longitudinal axis of the shaft in the distalmost region.

The invention addresses unsedated trans-nasal endoscopy in pediatric or small-patient contexts by providing an endoscope with a minimized shaft outer diameter while preserving a relatively large working channel, and by arranging illumination and imaging components so the working channel remains unobstructed. The disclosed distal circuit board structures, including radially inwardly bent or generally perpendicular distal legs, are used to position the illumination source relative to the working channel, including arrangements where the distal faces of the camera sensor and illumination source are flush-mounted at the same longitudinal location.

Claims Coverage

The document includes two independent claims. Across these claims, there are four main inventive feature themes: unsedated trans-nasal sizing and one-handed steering, distal circuit board geometry with a radially positioned illumination source, preserved working-channel dimensions and spacing via structural placement, and packing imaging and illumination components within a limited working-channel wall-to-outer-wall space for surgical use.

Overall, the claim set combines a small-diameter flexible endoscope with a working channel dimension range, a steering handle using opposing roller knobs and a rotatable thumb knob, and a distal circuit board arrangement that positions illumination outside or within a constrained working-channel space while maintaining an unobstructed working channel along the distalmost region.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications