Handheld surgical endoscope

An endoscope comprising:

• a disposable portion for a single use on a patient, comprising a cannula with an injection needle that is permanently mounted in the cannula for motion between a retracted position and a releasably locked protruded position;
• a reusable portion comprising a handle configured to be grasped by a user's hand;
• an electrical connector and a mechanical connector on each of the disposable portion and the reusable portion, said connectors releasably mating with each other to integrate the disposable portion and the reusable portion and to establish electrical connection between them;
• wherein each of electrical connectors is spaced in a proximal direction from each of the mechanical connectors thereby facilitating prevention of contamination of the electrical connectors from material in or on the disposable portion;
• a needle actuation hub at the disposable portion of the endoscope, intermediate the connectors of the disposable portion and the cannula, wherein the needle actuation hub is remote in a distal direction from the handle;
• a needle actuator tab mounted to the hub at the disposable portion, remote in a distal direction from the handle, and movable by hand between a retracted position and an extended position, said actuator being coupled with the needle to move the needle between its retracted and protruded positions as the tab moves between its retracted and extended position;
• an injection fluid port at the disposable portion, coupled with the injection needle for conveying thereto via the cannula fluid introduced into the port;
• an illumination source and an imaging module including a video camera mounted to a distal part of the cannula, a video screen mounted to the reusable part to move therewith and to rotate and/or tilt relative to the reusable part, and controls on the reusable portion to control video camera;
• and
• electrical connections between the reusable portion and the camera and illumination source to control the illumination source and the camera and to convey images from the camera for display on the screen;
• wherein when integrated, the endoscope is configured for selective operation with one hand to move the tab and the needle between their positions, to control the illumination source and camera, and to push the needle into tissue by jabbing at least the disposable portion when the needle is in its protruded position.

A method of using an endoscope, comprising:

• removing a disposable distal portion of the endoscope from sterile packaging and releasably attaching a connector at a proximal part of the disposable portion tool-free to connector at a reusable portion of the endoscope to thereby assemble the endoscope, the reusable portion comprising a handle configured to be grasped by a user's hand;
• introducing a cannula that is a part of the distal portion of the endoscope into a patient until a tip of the cannula reaches a selected region in the patient;
• illuminating the selected region with a light source mounted in the tip of the cannula and visualizing the region with a video camera mounted in the cannula tip and supplying images to a video screen mounted to the reusable portion of the endoscope;
• operating a tab movably mounted to a needle actuation hub at the disposable portion of the endoscope to thereby move an injection needle that is permanently mounted to the cannula tip from a retracted position in which the needle is entirely within the cannula to a releasably locked protruding position in which the needle protrudes from the cannula, the needle actuation hub being intermediate the connectors of the disposable portion and the cannula, and each of the needle actuation hub and the tab being remote in a distal direction from the handle;
• jabbing the needle into tissue by moving the reusable and disposable portions as a unit while the needle is in its protruding position;
• and
• injecting fluid through the needle from a fluid source that is connected to the endoscope;
• retracting the needle to its retracted position by operating the tab and withdrawing the cannula from the patient;
• wherein a single user operates the endoscope to introduce the cannula into the patient, visualize the region, jab the needle, inject fluid through the needle, and retract the needle and withdraw the cannula from the patient, using one or both hands;
• and
• detaching the disposable portion from the reusable portion by hand, tool-free, and disposing of the disposable portion.