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US 6,306,081 B1Granted
Hood for an endoscope
AssigneeOlympus Optical Co., Ltd.
InventorsMasahiro Ishikawa, Koichi Kawashima
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hood for an endoscope which is detachably mounted near a distal end portion of the endoscope. The hood has a balloon adapted to be expanded into a substantially cylindrical configuration by injecting a fluid into the balloon, and to be contracted by discharging the fluid out of the balloon. A visual field of the endoscope can be secured by expanding the balloon, and can be prevented from being shaded by contracting the balloon.
Claims16
A hood adapted to be mounted at a distal end portion of an insertion section of an endoscope, said hood comprising:
- a body member having an opening at a distal end side;
- an annular balloon mounted on the body member and having an inner space defined by an inner circumferential surface and an outer circumferential surface, said balloon being adapted to be expanded by injecting a fluid into the inner space so that at least an external diameter is enlarged and to be contracted by discharging the fluid out of the inner space so that the balloon is shrunk to a substantially cylindrical configuration;
- and
- at least one passageway through which the fluid may be injected into the inner space of the balloon, and through which the fluid may be discharged out of the inner space of the balloon;
- wherein said balloon comprises a rearward wherein a rearward portion of said inner circumferential surface of said balloon is connected to an outer peripheral surface of the body member at a position close to a forward end of the body member.
2 more elements
A hood adapted to be mounted at a distal end portion of an insertion section of an endoscope, said hood comprising:
- a body member having an opening at a distal end side;
- an annular balloon mounted on the body member and having an inner space, said balloon being adapted to be expanded by injecting a fluid into the inner space so that at least an external diameter is enlarged and to be contracted by discharging the fluid out of the inner space so that the balloon is shrunk to a substantially cylindrical configuration;
- and
- at least one passageway through which the fluid may be injected into the inner space of the balloon, and through which the fluid may be discharged out of the inner space of the balloon;
- wherein said balloon comprises a rearward inner surface portion connected to an outer peripheral surface of the body member;
- and
- wherein a small-diameter annular section is formed on an inner side of a forward end opening of the balloon, and when the balloon is expanded the small-diameter annular section is adapted to anchor a high-frequency snare wire and hold the wire in place.
4 more elements
A hood adapted to be mounted at a distal end portion of an insertion section of an endoscope, said hood comprising:
- a body member having an opening at a distal end side;
- an annular balloon mounted on the body member and having an inner space, said balloon being adapted to be expanded by injecting a fluid into the inner space so that at least an external diameter is enlarged and to be contracted by discharging the fluid out of the inner space so that the balloon is shrunk to a substantially cylindrical configuration;
- and
- at least one passageway through which the fluid may be injected into the inner space of the balloon, and through which the fluid may be discharged out of the inner space of the balloon;
- wherein said balloon comprises a rearward inner surface portion connected to an outer peripheral surface of the body member;
- wherein said balloon comprises a portion which, when the balloon is expanded by injecting the fluid into the inner space, extends forward relative to a forward end of the body member and is expanded into a substantially annular configuration so that an observation space and operation field can be secured;
- and
- wherein a small-diameter annular section is formed on an inner side of a forward end opening of the portion of the balloon expanded into the substantially annular configuration, and said small-diameter annular section is adapted to anchor a looped high-frequency snare wire and hold the wire in place.
5 more elements
A hood adapted to be mounted at a distal end portion of an insertion section of an endoscope, said hood comprising:
- a body member having an opening at a distal end side;
- an annular balloon mounted on the body member and having an inner space, said balloon being adapted to be expanded by injecting a fluid into the inner space so that at least an external diameter is enlarged and to be contracted by discharging the fluid out of the inner space so that the balloon is shrunk to a substantially cylindrical configuration;
- and
- at least one passageway through which the fluid may be injected into the inner space of the balloon, and through which the fluid may be discharged out of the inner space of the balloon;
- wherein said balloon comprises a rearward inner surface portion connected to an outer peripheral surface of the body member;
- and
- wherein said balloon comprises an inelastic inner peripheral surface portion and an elastic outer peripheral surface portion.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.