Rigid endoscope use and care

Rigid tube endoscopes are by far the most convenient, direct and effective medical device for medical staff to observe diseased tissues inside the human body. They have the advantages of high image clarity, realistic colors, and are easy to operate. As the scope of use of rigid endoscopes expands, doctors use rigid endoscopes more and more frequently. Rigid endoscopes are relatively delicate medical devices and can be easily damaged. The following is an introduction on how to use, maintain, and maintain a rigid tube endoscope to help medical staff better use this instrument and extend the service life of the rigid tube endoscope.

1. Structure of rigid tube endoscope
To use a rigid endoscope correctly, you should understand its structure. At present, although the products of various rigid tube endoscope manufacturers in the world have different light paths and different appearances, their basic structures are the same: they are composed of a working mirror tube part, a structural part, an eyecup part, and an optical cable interface part. The main part of the structure, the eye mask part, and the optical cable interface part are generally not easily damaged except for severe bumps. The most easily damaged part is the working mirror tube. Taking the φ4mm rigid tube endoscope as an example: the working endoscope tube mainly consists of four parts: outer endoscope tube, endoscope tube, optical lens, and optical fiber.

Optical lenses are placed in the endoscope tube to form an optical system, and optical fibers are placed between the inner and outer mirror tubes to provide lighting. The outer mirror tube is a 0.1mm thick φ4mm stainless steel tube, which will deform if it is bumped or squeezed. Most of the optical lenses are glass pillars with a diameter of 2.8mm and a length of about 25mm. They will crack, chip or shift the optical axis if they are slightly bumped and squeezed. Our common endoscopes have blurred vision and blackened edges. This is often the case. reason. Optical fibers are made of extremely fine optical glass. A φ4mm speculum needs to contain more than 1,500 fibres. The external force in the spectroscope tube will cause the filaments to break, affecting the illumination. Most of the connections between the various mechanisms of rigid endoscopes are bonded with epoxy resin glue. The quality of the glue and packaging technology also affect the service life of the endoscope. Although rigid endoscopes are delicate, they will not be damaged as long as they are used and maintained correctly.

2. Use and maintenance of rigid tube endoscopes

Precautions during use
Rigid endoscopes are rarely damaged during surgery. Although they may come into contact with human tissues such as muscles, mucous membranes, bones, etc., these bumps are minor and will not cause damage to the endoscope because It is only used for observation and is not the stress point of other instruments. However, when using other instruments, especially pliers and scissors with large biting force, you should be careful not to extend the front end of the tube into the bite area of the instrument to avoid accidentally damaging the tube. When using this type of instrument, sometimes the doctor extends the speculum very close to the tissue in order to see the tissue in the occlusion area clearly. The speculum does not move back when the instrument is engaged, accidentally damaging the speculum. Such accidents can be avoided by paying attention to keeping all the occlusal openings of the instruments within the observation range of the speculum during surgery.

Some surgical specula are used inside the sheath. When changing the speculum at other angles or inserting and removing instruments, care should be taken to move gently and not to use excessive force. Especially during the process of inserting and pulling out the speculum, if you encounter resistance and cannot pull out, you should carefully search for the reason. If necessary, pull out the sheath together without using brute force.

When the speculum is used for surgery with laser vaporization, high-frequency electrocution, microwave and other photoelectric technologies, attention should be paid to the distance between the front end of the speculum and the treatment point to ensure that the front end of the speculum is not shocked or burned. When using these instruments for the first time, the surgeon should practice repeatedly to master the relationship between the object distance in the speculum image and the actual object distance, and confirm the closest distance between the front end of the speculum and the treatment point, so that they can be used freely in actual operations.


Currently, planers have been widely used in clinical operations in otolaryngology and orthopedics to remove diseased tissue. The cutter head is sharp, has high hardness, fast rotation speed and large torque. If the endoscope is cut, the endoscope will be damaged. In this type of surgery, attention should be paid to adjusting the speed of flushing and suction to ensure that the speculum image is clear and not blocked by blood at all times. The rotating part of the knife head should always be controlled within the observation range of the speculum. When the scope of the operation is large, the operation should be stopped first. Rotate the cutter head, then move the sight glass, then move the cutter head under the supervision of the sight glass, and then turn on the machine for planing after reaching the appropriate location. When you feel that the planer is working abnormally or the illumination suddenly drops, it is possible that the sight glass has been damaged and should be replaced in time to avoid greater losses.

Generally, for important surgeries, there should be a set of spare speculum and key instruments, which can be easily replaced when problems are discovered; if a speculum with an inappropriate angle or unmatched instruments is used to force the operation, the speculum may be easily damaged.

3. How to maintain rigid endoscopes
Rigid endoscopes should be kept in dedicated counters and placed in special packaging boxes lined with soft sponge or polyurethane foam. All speculum and surgical instruments must be stacked neatly and not overlapped. Ensure that after the lid is closed, the speculum and instruments inside will not collide with each other during transportation. Because the endoscope tube is very thin, it will bend and deform when it is squeezed, bumped, bent, dropped, etc., resulting in lens damage or optical axis deviation, resulting in unclear images or unusability, so remove it from the packaging box Or when inserting a rigid endoscope, hold it flat with both hands and gently take it out or put it in. Do not lift a section and pull it out. When moving the speculum in a hard container such as a tray, be careful to place it separately from other instruments and avoid excessive bumps to avoid collision with the speculum. Desiccant should be provided in the packaging box to keep the box dry.

Ordinary rigid tube endoscopes are not resistant to high temperatures and pressures, mainly because the sealant will deteriorate and deform under high temperatures, and the endoscope will open and water will enter. Therefore, it cannot be sterilized by high temperature and high pressure methods such as boiling and high-pressure steam. Most of the damage to rigid endoscopes is caused by careless maintenance, bumps, falls, etc. There are also problems with the packaging glue, packaging technology, and packaging structure of some manufacturers, causing water to enter the sight glass and the glue to open. These can all be repaired.

Although rigid endoscopes are delicate medical devices, they are not prone to problems during normal clinical operations or observations. As long as it is used properly, maintained carefully, and maintained carefully, doctors can use it with confidence, and the rigid endoscope will also achieve maximum effectiveness.