Endoscope with disposable camera shaft and reuseable handle

An endoscope, comprising:

• a handle and an insertion shaft;
• the insertion shaft having an illumination emitter and a solid state imaging sensor at or near a distal tip of the shaft, the illumination emitter and imaging sensor designed to provide illumination and imaging of an interior of a body cavity for a surgeon during surgery;
• a proximal portion of the handle having electronics designed to drive the illumination emitter and to receive an imaging signal from the imaging sensor, the proximal handle portion being designed to permit sterilization of the proximal handle portion between uses;
• a separation joint between the proximal handle portion and the insertion shaft, the separation joint having handle portions attached to the proximal handle portion and insertion shaft portions attached to the first insertion shaft designed to separably connect the insertion shaft to the proximal handle portion:
• when the handle portions and the insertion shaft portions are separated, the separation joint permitting removal of the insertion shaft for disposal and replacement of the insertion shaft;
• and
• when the handle portions and the insertion shaft portions are connected, the separation joint designed to provide mechanical force transfer applied by a surgeon's hand to the insertion shaft,
• the separation joint designed to transfer roll torques,
• the separation joint having a lock designed to lock the insertion shaft and proximal handle portion of the endoscope to each other,
• the separation joint having facing flat force-transmittal surfaces at or near a periphery of the separation joint that, when the separation joint is connected and locked, abut to transmit insertion and withdrawal forces across the separation joint, the separation joint's lock and peripheral flat force-transmittal surfaces designed to provide stiffness in bending across the separation joint to transfer pitch and yaw torques across the separation joint,
• the separation joint having an electrical connector designed to provide separable electrical connectivity between the proximal handle electronics and the illumination emitter and imaging sensor;
• the separation joint designed to bring the peripheral flat force-transmittal surfaces together via a motion compatible with connection of the electrical connector;
• one or more ultraviolet LEDs internal to the endoscope and designed to sterilize a region of an interior of the endoscope.

An endoscope, comprising:

• a handle and a plurality of insertion shafts;
• the insertion shafts having respective illumination emitters and solid state imaging sensors at or near respective tips of respective shafts, the illumination emitters and imaging sensors designed to provide illumination and imaging of body cavities for a surgeon during surgery;
• a proximal portion of the handle having electronics designed to drive the illumination emitter and to receive an imaging signal from the imaging sensor, the proximal handle portion being designed to permit sterilization of the proximal handle portion between uses, and having one or more ultraviolet LEDs internal to the endoscope and designed to sterilize a region of an interior of the endoscope;
• the endoscope insertion shafts of the plurality having, respectively, differing dimensions, differing optical properties, or differently-configured imaging sensors at their respective tips, respectively specialized to surgery of different organs of the body;
• a separation joint having handle portions at the distal end of the proximal handle portion, the handle portions designed to permit removal of a first one of the plurality of insertion shafts for disposal and replacement and, to reconnect a second one of the plurality of insertion shafts, and to separably connect a respective one of the insertion shafts to the proximal handle portion at the separation joint;
• the separation joint permitting removal of the first one of the plurality of insertion shafts for disposal and replacement
• the separation joint designed to provide mechanical force transfer applied by a surgeon's hand to the connected insertion shaft, the separation joint having roll torque transfer means for transferring roll torques, the separation joint having locking means for locking the connected insertion shaft and proximal handle portions of the endoscope to each other, the separation joint having flat force-transmittal means, surfaces at or near a periphery of the separation joint that, when the separation joint is connected and locked, abut flat force-transmittal means, surfaces at or near a periphery of the one of the plurality of the insertion shafts, of one of the plurality of insertion shafts to transmit insertion and withdrawal forces across the separation joint, the separation joint's locking means and peripheral flat force-transmittal surfaces designed to provide stiffness in bending across the separation joint to transfer pitch and yaw torques across the separation joint,
• the separation joint having an electrical connector designed to provide separable electrical connectivity between the proximal handle electronics and the illumination emitter and imaging sensor;
• mechanical means of the separation joint designed to bring the peripheral flat force-transmittal surfaces together via a motion compatible with connection of the electrical connector;
• the handle having a rotation collar having surface means for assisting the surgeon in rotating the first one of the plurality of insertion shaft in a roll dimension about a central axis of the insertion shaft relative to the proximal handle portion.

An endoscope, comprising:

• a handle and a plurality of endoscope insertion shafts;
• each endoscope insertion shaft having an illumination emitter and a solid state imaging sensor at or near its respective tip, the illumination emitter and imaging sensor designed to provide illumination and imaging of an interior of a surgical cavity for a surgeon during surgery, the endoscope insertion shafts of the plurality having, respectively, differing dimensions, differing optical properties, or differently-configured imaging sensors at their respective tips, the difference in dimension, optical property, or sensor configuration between the insertion shafts specializing the respective insertion shaft to, respectively, different types of surgery;
• the handle having electronics designed to drive the illumination emitter and to receive an imaging signal from the imaging sensor, the handle being designed to permit sterilization of a proximal handle portion between uses;
• a separation joint between the handle and an endoscope insertion shaft of the plurality of endoscope insertion shafts designed to separably connect the endoscope insertion shaft of the plurality of endoscope insertion shafts to the handle:
• the separation joint having handle portions attached to the handle and insertion shaft portions respectively attached to each of the plurality of endoscope insertion shafts;
• when the handle portions and the insertion shaft portions of the separation joint are separated, the separation joint permitting removal of the endoscope insertion shaft of the plurality of endoscope insertion shafts for disposal and replacement of the endoscope insertion shaft of the plurality of endoscope insertion shafts;
• and
• when the handle portions and one of the insertion shaft portions of the separation joint are connected, the separation joint designed to provide mechanical force transfer applied by a surgeon's hand to the endoscope insertion shaft of the plurality of endoscope insertion shafts,
• the separation joint having an electrical connector designed to provide separable electrical connectivity between the handle electronics and the imaging sensor;
• and
• one or more ultraviolet LEDs internal to the endoscope and designed to sterilize a region of an interior of the endoscope.