Abstract:
An apparatus includes an endoscope and a surgical instrument guide device. An elongated surgical instrument is allowed to insert through a working channel of the endoscope to cooperate with a processor module of the endoscope. The surgical instrument guide device includes a base member, an adjustment member, a catch, a cap member, fasteners, and a tubing. Pegs of the catch are fitted in positioning holes of the base member. A tube of the endoscope is inserted through the tubing of the surgical instrument guide device so as to dispose in close proximity to a target.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to endoscopes and more particularly to a combined endoscope and surgical instrument guide device. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Epidural or extradural hematoma is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in which a buildup of blood occurs between the dura mater (the tough outer membrane of the central nervous system) and the skull. Often due to trauma, the condition is potentially deadly because the buildup of blood may increase pressure in the intracranial space and compress delicate brain tissue. Between 15 and 20% of epidural hematomas are fatal. For treating intracranial hematomas, a surgery may be performed to remove the blood mass and reduce the pressure it puts on the brain. The hematoma is evacuated through a burr hole or craniotomy. 
     There is a prior art endoscopic working channel for use in intracranial surgery. The endoscopic working channel comprises an inner solid tube and an outer tube. For removing intracranial hematomas, the endoscopic working channel is required to temporarily insert into the brain. Next, the inner tube is removed with the outer tube remained inside the skull during an endoscopy. However, the front end of the prior art endoscopic working channel is not capable of pivoting toward any one of north, east, south and west directions. Further, no medical instruments are allowed to insert into the endoscopic working channel. 
     There is a conventional surgical instrument guide device comprises a hollow base, a universal joint pivotably disposed in the base, an adjustment member through the universal joint, a catch provided within the base and contacted the universal joint, a cover having a hole, the cover being urged against the catch, and a support for stably holding the base on the skull. In a surgical operation, a medical employee may position a medical instrument using the surgical instrument guide device. Next, the medical employee may orient the medical instrument using an auxiliary device. Finally, the surgical instrument guide device is removed. As a result, the medical instrument is held in place. 
     A dentist may diagnose oral cavity of a patient using an intraoral camera in order to examine the conditions. The intraoral camera is a digital camera which is in data communication with a computer. Thus, a dentist may watch a monitor of the computer in order to find a solution to the patient&#39;s oral diseases. However, the front end of the conventional intraoral camera is not capable of pivoting toward any one of north, east, south and west directions. Further, the intraoral camera is not allowed to cooperate with any medical instruments. 
     Notwithstanding the prior art, the invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore one object of the invention to provide an endoscope comprising an elongated flexible tube; a housing integrally formed with a rear end of the tube and including a space; a working channel extending through both the tube and the housing; a tunnel extending from the space to a front end of the tube; a plurality of buttons disposed on the housing; a processor module disposed in both the space and the tunnel; and an electronic visual display disposed on top of the housing; wherein an elongated surgical instrument is allowed to insert through the working channel to cooperate with the processor module so that a clear image of a target can be taken by the processor module. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus comprising an endoscope comprising an elongated flexible tube; a housing integrally formed with a rear end of the tube and including a space; a working channel extending through both the tube and the housing; a tunnel extending from the space to a front end of the tube; a plurality of buttons disposed on the housing; a processor module disposed in both the space and the tunnel; and an electronic visual display disposed on top of the housing; and a surgical instrument guide device for temporarily securing the endoscope to an organ of a patient; wherein an elongated surgical instrument is allowed to insert through the working channel to cooperate with the processor module so that a clear image of a target within the organ can be taken by the processor module. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an endoscope according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a longitudinal sectional view of the endoscope; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken along lines  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the processor module, the display, and an extradural hematoma; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the surgical instrument inserted through the endoscope which is in turn inserted through a surgical instrument guide device; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the surgical instrument guide device; and 
         FIG. 7  is a longitudinal sectional view showing the surgical instrument guide device temporarily secured to the skull, the endoscope moveably guided by the surgical instrument guide device and inserted into the cranial cavity, and the surgical instrument inserted through the endoscope to contact an extradural hematoma during an endoscopy. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 7 , a combined endoscope and surgical instrument guide device in accordance with the invention comprises the following components as discussed in detail below. 
     An endoscope  1  is portable and comprises an elongated flexible tube  10 , a housing  11  integrally formed with a rear end of the tube  10  and including a space  111 , a hand grip  12  extending downward from the housing  11 , a working channel  13  extending through both the tube  10  and the housing  11 , a tunnel  14  extending from the space  111  to a front end of the tube  10 , an electronic visual display (e.g., liquid crystal display (LCD))  15  disposed on top of the housing  11 , and a plurality of buttons  16  disposed on the housing  11  and in front of the display  15 . 
     A processor module  18  is disposed in both the space  111  and the tunnel  14  and comprises a light source (e.g., light-emitting diode (LED))  181  disposed in the front end of the tunnel  14 , a lens  182  disposed adjacent to the light source  181 , an electronic image sensor  183  for recording images of a target (e.g., extradural hematoma)  5 , the electronic image sensor  183  being implemented as charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), an image processing unit  184  disposed in the space  111 , a switching member  185  disposed on the housing  11  and electrically connected to an external power source (not shown), and a mass storage unit (i.e., memory)  186  being a semiconductor memory (e.g., flash memory such as CompactFlash card, SmartMedia memory card, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital (SD) card), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or static random access memory (SRAM). 
     In an alternative embodiment, the processor module  18  is powered by an embedded battery so that the endoscope  1  can be made portable. 
     The buttons  16  are connected to one ends of first, second, third, and fourth wires  171 ,  172 ,  173 , and  174  respectively. The first, second, third, and fourth wires  171 ,  172 ,  173 , and  174  are adapted to slide by pressing the buttons  16  and equally spaced through an inner surface of the tube  10 . The other ends of the first, second, third, and fourth wires  171 ,  172 ,  173 , and  174  are secured to the front end of the tube  10 . 
     A surgical instrument guide device  2  comprises a base member  21 , an adjustment member  22 , a catch  23 , a cap member  24 , three screws  25 , and a tubing  26 . The base member  21  is a hollow, shallow cylinder and comprises a center hole  211  through the bottom, a threaded inner surface  212 , three through holes  213  through the bottom and equally spaced around the center hole  211 , three positioning holes  214  in the bottom and equally spaced around the center hole  211 , and three holed legs  215  extending downward from the underside, the holed legs  215  being cylindrical and communicating with the through holes  213 . 
     The elongated, hollow, cylindrical adjustment member  22  comprises a universal joint  221  at one end, a lower portion of the universal joint  221  being pivotably disposed in a half-spherical mouth at the top end of the center hole  211 , a cylindrical shank  222 , and a channel  223  through the shank  222 . 
     The catch  23  is a hollow, shallow cylinder and comprises a central hole  231  through the bottom, and three pegs  232  on the underside being equally spaced around the central hole  231 . The pegs  232  are fitted in the positioning holes  214 . The curved surface of the central hole  231  is fastened by an upper portion of the universal joint  221 . Thus, the catch  23  is fastened. Also, the universal joint  221  is held in place. 
     The cap member  24  is shaped as a nut and comprises a longitudinal through hole  241  and a threaded shank  242  secured to the threaded inner surface  212  to fasten the catch  23  in a lower portion of the through hole  241 . And in turn, the universal joint  221  is fastened by the catch  23 . As such, the adjustment member  22  is anchored. The shank  222  of the adjustment member  22  extends out of the through hole  241 . The three screws  25  are disposed through the through holes  213  and legs  215  into the skull  3  to secure the surgical instrument guide device  2  to the skull  3 . The tubing  26  comprises an enlarged head  261  and a longitudinal through hole  262 . The tubing  26  is disposed in the channel  223  to have its head  261  rested upon the annually flanged top of the shank  222 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 7 , an endoscopy is illustrated in a preferred embodiment of the invention. The endoscope  1  is disposed through the surgical instrument guide device  2 , the bottom of the surgical instrument guide device  2  is threadedly secured to the skull  3 , and the front end of the tube  10  is inserted through a hole  31  of the skull  3  and a cranial cavity to contact an extradural hematoma  5 . A medical employee (e.g., physician) may then activate the processor module  18  by pressing the switching member  185  to turn on the light source  181  and other components of the processor module  18 . And in turn, light rays emitted by the light source  181  may impinge on the extradural hematoma  5  (i.e., focusing). The physician may press one or more of the first, second, third, and fourth wires  171 ,  172 ,  173 , and  174  to pivot the front end of the tube  10  (i.e., the light source  181 ) until the extradural hematoma  5  is focused if the extradural hematoma  5  was not focused. Next, the physician may insert an elongated surgical instrument (e.g., electrical burning knife, sucking tube, or the like)  6  through the working channel  13  of the endoscope  1  to contact the extradural hematoma  5 . The lens  182  can take a video image of the extradural hematoma  5 . The image sensor  183  can record the images of the extradural hematoma  5  taken by the lens  182 . The image processing unit  184  can process the recorded images into digital images to be shown on the display  15 . Thus, the physician can manipulate the surgical instrument  6  by closely watching enlarged images of the extradural hematoma  5  shown on the display  15 . As a result, the extradural hematoma  5  can be successfully removed out of the brain. It is noted that the digital images of the extradural hematoma  5  can be stored in the mass storage unit  186  for future reference. 
     In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the surgical instrument guide device  2  can be eliminated from the operation if the target of a patient is throat, oral cavity, or the like. Detailed description of the operation is omitted herein because it is substantially the same as that described in above paragraph. 
     While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.