Endoscope package system, manufacturing method of endoscope, and holding body

#The present disclosure relates to an endoscope including a bending portion, a manufacturing method of the endoscope, and a holding member of an endoscope body, where the bending portion is provided in part of an insertion portion having flexibility and configured to be actively bendable via pulling operations of bending wires.

#Conventionally, endoscopes have been widely used, for example, in the medical field and the industrial field. Medical endoscopes used in the medical field include an insertion portion provided with flexibility, formed in an elongated tubular shape, and equipped with an image pickup unit and the like in a distal end portion; and an operation portion installed consecutively on a proximal end side of the insertion portion and equipped with various types of operation members and the like on an outer surface.

#Regarding this form of conventional endoscope, endoscopes, the insertion portion of which is, for example, around 2 meters in total length have generally been put to practical use. Generally, such conventional endoscopes are stored in a container or the like of a predetermined form in a predetermined manner after manufacture, and then undergo a predetermined sterilization process (e.g., ethylene oxide gas (EOG) sterilization process or high-pressure steam sterilization process).

#FIG. 1 is an external perspective view outlining an endoscope body included in an endoscope according to each embodiment of the present disclosure.

#FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing, in a simplified manner, a bending mechanism of a bending portion incorporated in the endoscope body of FIG. 1.

#FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, where an insertion portion of an endoscope body is stored in a first holding sheath.

#Generally, when a sterilization process is performed with respect to an endoscope stored in a container or the like with an insertion portion looped in a predetermined direction, bending wires (formed mainly of metal wire rod) tend to slacken while the insertion portion (formed mainly of resin or the like) shrinks under influence of heating and the like resulting from the sterilization process.

#This may result in changes in amounts of hauling of the bending wires corresponding to amounts of operation of a bending operation knob. Amounts of shrinkage of the insertion portion differ between inside and outside a loop shape, which is a storage form. This might result in imbalance among the amounts of operation of multiple bending wires. This causes a problem that operability of the endoscope in terms of bending operation will become unstable.

#Thus, various embodiments of the present disclosure can provide an endoscope that can reduce imbalance in the shrinkage of the insertion portion and prevent imbalance in slackening of bending wires even if a sterilization process involving heating is performed with respect to the endoscope stored in a container or the like and can thereby maintain stable operability while realizing compact storage of the endoscope in the container or the like as well as provide a manufacturing method of the endoscope and a holding member of an endoscope body.