Surgical instrument

Claim 2

A surgical instrument comprising: an elongate insert section adapted to be inserted into the body of a patient, the insert section including a distal end portion having a distal end opening and a proximal end portion adapted to be located outside the patient's body; and an extracorporeal section connected to the proximal end portion and adapted to be located outside the patient's body, the insert section including an elongate, substantially tubular, rigid sheath, the sheath having therein a channel ranging from the proximal end portion of the insert section to the distal end portion thereof, and a bendable portion attached to the distal end portion of the sheath and bendable in any desired direction, said bendable portion including a flexible tubular body, and the extracorporeal section including a fixing portion for fixing an elongate flexible insert member in any desired insertion position in the channel of the insert section, and a bending section for optionally changing the curved shape of said bendable portion, said bending section including a control wire having one end fixed to a distal end portion of the tubular body and wire pulling means for pulling the control wire, thereby bending the bendable portion of the insert section.

Claim 3

The instrument according to claim 1, wherein said fixing portion includes sealing means for maintaining an airtightness of an interior of the channel of the insert section with the insert member in the desired insertion position in the channel.

Claim 4

The instrument according to claim 2, wherein: said fixing portion includes a ring-shaped elastic member, having a through hole with a diameter larger than an outside diameter of the insert member such that the insert member is passed through the through hole, and a screw member capable of elastically deforming the elastic member between an initial state in which the elastic member is kept substantially in a natural state and a compressed state in which the elastic member is pressed inward from outside so that the insert member passed through the through hole is fixed immovably; and said sealing means comprises the elastic member elastically deformed into the compressed state.

Claim 5

The instrument according to claim 1, wherein said flexible tubular body comprises a coil sheath capable of maintaining a substantially rectilinear initial shape in a natural state and adapted to be deformed into any desired curved shape when pulled by means of the wire pulling means, and said flexible tubular body is restored from the desired curved shape to the initial shape by means of an elastic force of the coil sheath after the bendable portion is bent into the desired curved shape by the wire pulling means.

Claim 6

The instrument according to claim 4, wherein said coil sheath comprises a closely-wound coil.

Claim 7

The instrument according to claim 4, wherein said bendable portion comprises the coil sheath and a soft sheetlike covering member covering an outer surface of the coil sheath.

Claim 8

The instrument according to claim 4, wherein said coil sheath is integrally molded in one niece with a tube formed of a flexible material.

Claim 9

The instrument according to claim 4, wherein said coil sheath is formed having a coating layer of a low-friction material on an inner surface thereof.

Claim 10

The instrument according to claim 1, wherein: said flexible tubular body of said bendable portion includes a flexible tube and slits extending substantially at right angles to a central axis of the tube, the slits being arranged side by side along the central axis of the tube, and the tube having a wire passage lumen on the open end side of the slits; and said control wire passes through the wire passage lumen.

Claim 11

The instrument according to claim 1, wherein said extracorporeal section further includes a grip portion, and said bending section includes a knob, rotatably mounted on the grip portion and capable of pulling the control wire, and knob fixing means capable of rotating the knob, thereby pulling the control wire, and adapted to fix a rotational position of the knob, thereby settling the curved shape of the bendable portion.

Claim 12

The instrument according to claim 10, wherein said grip portion includes a rotation regulating slot for regulating the rotation of the knob, and said bending section includes means for regulating a curvature of the bendable portion within a range of the rotation regulating slot.

Claim 13

The instrument according to claim 1, wherein the extracorporeal section further includes an infecting portion from which a fluid is injected, in a proximal end portion of the elongate flexible insert member, and a soft connecting tube for connecting a proximal end portion of the rigid sheath and the injecting portion.

Claim 14

The instrument according to claim 1, wherein: the insert section includes an injection needle for injecting a medical solution into a submucosal layer beneath a lesion of a mucous membrane, thereby separating a mucomembranous structure from a musclaris propriae; and the instrument further comprises: a semiconductor laser for incising the mucous membrane around the lesion, separated from the musclaris propriae, the semiconductor laser having substantially a same wavelength as an absorption spectrum of the injected medical solution; and a removing device arranged to remove the lesion excised by the semiconductor laser.

Claim 15

The instrument according to claim 3, wherein said medical solution comprises ICG (indocyanine green).

Claim 16

A surgical instrument comprising: an elongate insert section adapted to be inserted into the body of a patient, the insert section including a distal end portion having a distal end opening and a proximal end portion adapted to be located outside the patient's body; and an extracorporeal section connected to the proximal end portion and adapted to be located outside-the patient's body, the insert section including an elongate, substantially tubular, rigid sheath, the sheath having therein a channel ranging from the proximal end portion of the insert section to the distal end portion thereof, and a bendable portion attached to the distal end portion of the sheath and bendable in any desired direction, and the extracorporeal section including a fixing portion for fixing an elongate flexible insert member in any desired insertion position in the channel of the insert section and a bending section for optionally changing the curved shape of said bendable portion, wherein: said rigid sheath has a distal end opening, said fixing portion includes a projection length adjusting portion for optionally changing a length of a projection of the insert member projecting outward from the distal end opening of the sheath, and said bending section includes means for bending the projection of the insert member projecting from the distal end opening of the sheath, and a fixing portion for fixing the bendable portion of the insert member in a given curved shape.

Claim 17

A surgical instrument comprising: an elongate insert section adapted to be inserted into the body of a patient, the insert section including a distal end portion having a distal end opening and a proximal end portion adapted to be located outside the patient's body; and an extracorporeal section connected to the proximal end portion and adapted to be located outside-the patient's body, the insert section including an elongate, substantially tubular, rigid sheath, the sheath having therein a channel ranging from the proximal end portion of the insert section to the distal end portion thereof, and a bendable portion attached to the distal end portion of the sheath and bendable in any desired direction, and the extracorporeal section including a fixing portion for fixing an elongate flexible insert member in any desired insertion position in the channel of the insert section and a bending section for optionally changing the curved shape of said bendable portion, wherein: said rigid sheath has a distal end opening, said fixing portion includes a projection length adjusting portion for optionally changing a length of a projection of the insert member projecting outward from the distal end opening of the sheath, and said bending section includes means for bending the projection of the insert member projecting from the distal end opening of the sheath, and a fixing portion for fixing the bendable portion of the insert member in a given curved shape.

Claim 18

The instrument according to claim 15, wherein said insert member comprises a tube having a passage adapted to enable a fluid to be injected into the patient's body, and said extracorporeal section includes an injecting portion for injecting the fluid into the tube.

Claim 19

The instrument according to claim 16, further comprising a wire-shaped guide member adapted to be inserted into the tube through the injecting portion and a guide member fixing portion connected to a proximal end portion of the tube and adapted to fix the guide member in any desired position such that the guide member projects from the distal end portion of the insert member.

Claim 20

The instrument according to claim 16 wherein said tube includes an injection needle connected to a distal end portion thereof.

Claim 21

The instrument according to claim 18, wherein said needle has a large-diameter portion thicker than a distal end portion of the needle, at a junction with the tube, said tube moves along a central axis of the sheath, between a first position in which the needle projects from the distal end opening of the sheath and a second position in which the needle is hidden in the sheath, said sheath has an abutting portion in a peripheral edge region of the distal end opening thereof, the abutting portion having a diameter smaller than that of the large-diameter portion of the needle and serving to restrict the projection of the needle as the needle moves toward the first position, and said extracorporeal section includes means for fixing the needle in any desired position between the first and second positions.

Claim 22

The instrument according to claim 15, wherein said bending section includes a string for pulling the projection of the insert member to bend the projection, the string having a distal end portion fixed to the distal end portion of the insert member and a rear end portion guided to the extracorporeal section side via an interior of the sheath.

Claim 23

The instrument according to claim 20, wherein the distal end portion of said insert member has a ring-shaped string fixing groove formed covering an entire circumference of an outer peripheral surface thereof, and the distal end portion of said string has a string loop fixedly wound on the groove, the string loop having an inside diameter substantially equal to an outside diameter of the groove.

Claim 24

The instrument according to claim 20, wherein the distal end portion of said insert member has a ring-shaped projection formed covering an entire circumference of an outer peripheral surface thereof, and the distal end portion of said string has a string loop fixedly wound on a part of the distal end portion of the insert member nearer to the distal end than the projection.

Claim 25

The instrument according to claim 20, wherein said sheath includes a fixing portion for fixing the rear end portion of the string, the fixing portion having at least one slit with a width nearly equal to an outside diameter of the string, and said fixing portion fixes the projection in any desired curved shape in a manner such that the rear end portion of the string is anchored to the slit with the projection of the insert member bent by being pulled by means of the string.

Claim 26

The instrument according to claim 15, wherein said bendable portion of said insert member includes a rib protruding from an outer peripheral surface thereof and extending parallel to a central axis of the insert member.