Ultrasound endoscope

摘要

An ultrasound endoscope includes: a bending portion; a distal end rigid portion which is located on a distal end side with respect to the bending portion; and a connection portion making up the distal end rigid portion, for connecting the ultrasound observation section with the bending portion, wherein the connection portion is inclined with respect to a central axis of the bending portion, an interface between the connection portion and the bending portion is perpendicular to the central axis, and the connection portion has a swept shape which is obtained by making a cross-section of the interface slide in a direction perpendicular to the central axis while keeping the perpendicularity along a straight line intersecting with the central axis.

主权项

1. An ultrasound endoscope comprising:
a bending portion having a bending portion central axis, wherein the bending portion is configured to be controlled to bend between:
a first arrangement in which the bending portion central axis is parallel with a predetermined direction; anda second arrangement in which the bending portion central axis is not parallel with the predetermined direction; an ultrasound observation housing comprising an acoustic lens through which an ultrasound signal is transmitted and an echo signal of the ultrasound signal is received; and a connection portion configured to connect the bending portion and the ultrasound observation housing, wherein an interface connects the bending portion and the connection portion, and wherein in the first arrangement:
the bending portion central axis is perpendicular to the interface;a plane is perpendicular to the interface and includes the bending portion central axis;the plane intersects with a periphery of the interface at a first interface point and a second interface point; andfor each cross-section of the connection portion that is perpendicular to the bending portion central axis:
a periphery of the each cross-section of the connection portion intersects the plane at a first connection portion point and a second connection portion point; anda first line directly connecting the first connection portion point and the first interface point intersects the bending portion central axis, and a second line directly connecting the second connection portion point and the second interface point intersects the bending portion central axis.