Abstract
The small intestine is a component of the gastrointestinal tract; its approximate length is 3 m, and it is divided into the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Since the small intestine is fixed to the posterior abdominal wall only via the mesentery, the jejunum and ileum have high mobility; therefore, it was difficult to observe them by conventional endoscope. In recent years, the development of the double balloon endoscope and the capsule endoscope has enabled the inspection of all areas inside the small intestine. However, both these devices are inapplicable for the investigation of ileus patients. Therefore, we developed a new small intestine endoscope with an optimal fiber scope of 1 mm outer diameter and an ileus tube; this endoscope can be applied to investigate ileus patients. By this technique, in case the ileus tube is drawn outside the body, the all inspection inside a small intestine is due to be conducted. However, when the ileus tube has reached the small intestine end part, it is in the state where an intestinal tract is drawn in. Therefore, if the amount of water poured into the balloon is reduced rapidly, the part of the small intestine would be released, and the previously unobservable portion would be visible. In this paper, we developed a system to control the pressure within the balloon of the ileus tube and verified its performance.
