Flexible Bronchoscope

Overview

A flexible bronchoscope is a slim video endoscope that a pulmonologist threads through the nose or mouth, down the trachea and into the bronchial tree to see and sample the airways from inside. On its tip sit a camera and a light; running its length is a hollow working channel through which the operator suctions secretions, sprays saline, and passes forceps, brushes and needles to take biopsies. It is the core tool for diagnosing lung infection, bleeding, tumors and airway obstruction.

The instrument is a long, steerable tube with a handle. The Insertion Tube & Bending Section is the part that goes into the patient and bends on command; the Distal Tip Module carries the optics and the channel opening; the Control Body & Ports is the handle where the operator steers and works the ports; and the Light & Video Connector links it through a Image Processor Interface to the video tower that lights the scene and shows the image.

How it works

Vision comes from a chip-on-tip design. An CMOS Image Sensor and Lens Assembly in the Distal Tip Module sit directly at the end of the scope, lit by a distal Distal LED Illuminator, so the picture is captured where it is seen rather than relayed up a fiber bundle. The Image Processor Interface clocks the sensor and serializes the video back through the Light & Video Connector to the processor, which renders it on the tower monitor.

Steering is mechanical. The operator's thumb turns the Angulation Knob & Pulley, which winds a pulley that tensions the Angulation Pull Wire pull wires running the length of the shaft. Those wires terminate in the Articulating Bending Section, a chain of pivoting link rings under a sealed sheath, so tensioning one side flexes the tip up to 180° to aim into a chosen bronchus.

Work is done through the lumen. The Working Channel Lumen runs from the Biopsy/Instrument Port on the handle to the opening beside the camera. The operator suctions through the Suction Valve, instills saline, and passes biopsy forceps or a brush to collect tissue and cells. Because that channel and the whole exterior contact the airway, the scope is either single-use or goes through rigorous high-level disinfection between patients.