JP2545535B2 - Compound eye electronic endoscope - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a compound-eye electronic endoscope that is provided with a plurality of solid-state image pickup devices as image pickup means and is capable of stereoscopic viewing, for example.

[Problems to be Solved by Conventional Techniques and Inventions] In recent years, due to advances in electronic technology, charge coupled devices (CCD)
Electronic endoscopes using such solid-state image pickup devices as image pickup means have come into practical use.

This electronic endoscope has advantages such as higher resolution than a fiberscope, easy recording and reproduction of images, and easy image processing such as image enlargement and comparison of two images. .

On the other hand, with the spread of computers, image processing technology has advanced and its applications have expanded.

By the way, in the detection of early cancer and the like, it is sometimes important to identify fine irregularities on the surface, and it is desired that the subject can be observed three-dimensionally. In response to this request
By combining the electronic technology and the image processing technology,
It has become possible to stereoscopically view a subject with the electronic endoscope.

As the electronic endoscope capable of stereoscopic viewing, conventionally, a method of vibrating a solid-state image pickup element to pick up an image of a subject at two positions, and two or more solid-state image pickup elements are provided, and each solid-state image pickup element is used to obtain a subject. Has been proposed.

However, the former has a problem that the mechanism for vibrating the solid-state imaging device becomes complicated and the electronic endoscope becomes large.

FIG. 6 shows the latter structure, that is, a schematic structure of a conventional compound-eye electronic endoscope that adopts a method of providing two or more solid-state image pickup devices.

As shown in this figure, a pair of imaging optical systems 4 and 5 are provided in the distal end portion 3 of the insertion portion 2 of the electronic endoscope 1, and the imaging of each of the imaging optical systems 4 and 5 is performed. A pair of solid-state imaging devices 6 and 7 are arranged at the positions. Lead wire groups 8 and 9 are connected to the solid-state imaging devices 6 and 7, respectively.
Are inserted into the insertion part 2 and the connector 10
They are connected to separate connector parts 11 and 12 inside. The electronic endoscope 1 drives the solid-state image pickup devices 6 and 7 through the connector 10 and is connected to a control device 13 that processes an output signal of the solid-state image pickup devices 6 and 7 as a video signal. It has become. Then, the output signal of the solid-state imaging device 6, 7 is video signal processing in the signal processing circuit 14 in the control device 13, the video signal output from the signal processing circuit 14,
The stereoscopic image is displayed on this monitor 15 after being input to the television monitor 15.

As described above, in the conventional compound-eye electronic endoscope, when two or more solid-state image pickup devices are provided, the number of lead wires connecting the solid-state image pickup devices 6 and 7 and the signal processing circuit 13 is also required to be twice or more. Therefore, there is a problem that it hinders the reduction of the diameter of the insertion portion desired as an endoscope.

Furthermore, as the number of lead wires increases, the probability of disconnection also increases, and there is a greater risk of signals interfering between the lead wires, which reduces reliability.

Further, the number of contacts of the connector 10 that connects the electronic endoscope 1 and the control device 13 is increased, the reliability is lowered, and the manufacturing cost is increased.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a compound-eye electronic endoscope capable of reducing the diameter of an insertion portion and improving reliability. There is.

[Means and Actions for Solving Problems] A compound-eye electronic endoscope according to the present invention is a wire connecting means for connecting at least one set of lead terminals having the same function of a plurality of solid-state image pickup devices, and this wire connecting means. Is connected to each of the lead terminals having the same function via, and each of the lead terminals and the signal processing means corresponding thereto can be electrically connected, and a common lead wire is connected to each of the lead terminals. Each of the lead terminals having the same function and the corresponding signal processing means can be connected by the connecting means and the common conducting wire.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 relate to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the connection between the solid-state image sensor and the signal processing circuit, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the entire endoscope apparatus, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of the endoscope apparatus, and FIG. Is a block diagram showing an example of a signal processing circuit, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a stereoscopic image forming means.

As shown in FIG. 2, the compound-eye electronic endoscope 21 has an elongated, for example, flexible insertion portion 22 and a large-diameter operation portion 23 connected to the rear end thereof. A flexible universal cord 24 extends laterally from the rear end of the operation portion 23, and a connector 25 is provided at the tip of the universal cord 24. On the other hand, the control device 26 in which the light source device and the signal processing circuit are incorporated
Is provided with a connector receiver 28 to which the connector 25 can be connected. The electronic endoscope 21 is connected to the control device 26 by connecting the connector 25 to the connector receiver 28. ing. Further, a television monitor 27 as a display means is connected to the control device 26.

On the distal end side of the insertion portion 22, a hard distal end portion 29 and a bending portion 30 adjacent to the distal end portion 29 and capable of bending backward are sequentially provided. Further, by rotating the bending operation knob 31 provided on the operation portion 23, the bending portion 30
Can be curved up / down / left / right.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of imaging optical systems 41 and 5 are provided at two positions on the tip side of the tip portion 29 where stereoscopic viewing is possible.
1 are arranged such that their optical axes are parallel to each other or inclined inward, and solid-state image pickup devices 42 and 52 are provided as image pickup means at the image formation positions of the image formation optical systems 41 and 51, respectively. ing. Although not shown in the drawing, on the front surface of the solid-state image pickup elements 42 and 52, for example, a filter array in which color filters for transmitting the three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are arranged in a mosaic pattern or the like. Is stuck.

The same type of solid-state imaging devices 42 and 52 are used,
As shown in FIG. 1, six terminals are provided, namely, power supply voltage (E) application terminals 43 and 53, horizontal transfer clock pulse (VφS) application terminals 44 and 54, and vertical transfer clock pulse (VφP) application terminals. 45, 55, blooming suppression pulse (VAB) application terminals 46, 56, ground (GND) terminals 47, 57, and signal (Vout1, Vout2) terminals 48, 58. In this embodiment, except for the signal output terminals 48 and 58, the solid-state imaging devices 42 and 52
43,53; 44,54; 45,55; 46,56; terminals having the same function of
47 and 57 are connected near the tip portion 29 of the electronic endoscope 21 by connection cables 61, 62, 63, 64 and 65, respectively.
One lead wire (or one conductor wire such as a coaxial cable) 71, 72, 73, 74, 75 is connected to each of the connection cables 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, and the signal Output terminal 48,5
One lead wire (or one conductor wire such as a coaxial cable) 76, 77 is connected to each of the eight. The lead wires 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77 are bundled together to form a lead wire group 79, for example, as shown in FIG. Also, it is inserted into the universal cord 24 and connected to the signal connector 80 of the connector 25.

A light distribution lens system 81 is arranged in the tip portion 29, and a light guide 82 formed of a flexible fiber bundle is continuously provided behind the light distribution lens system 81.
The light guide 82 is inserted into the insertion portion 22 and the universal cord 24, and is connected to the light source connector 83 of the connector 25.

On the other hand, in the control device 26, a signal processing circuit 85 and a light source device 86 are provided. The signal processing circuit 85 is connected to the signal connector receiver 87 of the connector receiver 28, and by connecting the signal connector 80 of the electronic endoscope 21 and the signal connector receiver 87, the solid-state imaging The elements 42 and 52 are connected to the signal processing circuit 85.

The video signal processing portion of the signal processing circuit 85 is, for example,
It is configured as shown in FIG.

That is, a common driver 91 is provided for both the solid-state image pickup devices 42 and 52, and the horizontal transfer applied from the driver 91 to the horizontal transfer clock pulse applying terminals 44 and 54 and the vertical transfer clock pulse applying terminals 45 and 55. Clock pulse V
φS and the vertical transfer clock pulse VφP are output. The solid-state imaging devices 42 and 52 are driven by the driver 91 at the same timing. This solid-state image sensor 4
Output signal Vout output from the signal output terminals 48 and 58 of 2,52
1, Vout2 is amplified by preamplifiers 92 and 93, respectively,
Input to the process circuit 94,95, this process circuit 94,95
A video signal is generated at. The output signals of the process circuits 94 and 95 are stored in the memories 96 and 97, respectively, and the signal data read from the memories 96 and 97 are input to the stereoscopic image synthesis circuit 98 to generate a three-dimensional image signal. Then, this image signal is sent to the television monitor 27, and a stereoscopic image is displayed on the television monitor 27. The timing of the driver 91 and the process circuits 94 and 95 is controlled by the timing pulse output from the synchronization signal generator 99.

Further, the light source device 86 in the control device 26 has the light source connector receiver 88 of the connector receiver 28 in the electronic endoscope 21.
By connecting the light source connector 83, the illumination light can be supplied to the incident end of the light guide 82 of the electronic endoscope 21.

By the way, as a three-dimensional image forming means, for example, there is one as shown in FIG.

In the case shown in FIG. 5A, the monitor 27 is
For each field, the image picked up by the solid-state imaging device 42 and the image picked up by the solid-state imaging device 52 are alternately displayed, and the field switching slit 101 for alternately blocking the left eye and the right eye in synchronization with the switching of the images. The stereoscopic image of the subject is observed by observing the image on the monitor 27 through the.

In addition, in the one shown in FIG. 5B, a polarizing plate 102 that allows only the light beams of different polarization directions on the left side and the right side to pass through is provided on the front surface of the monitor 27, and the monitor 27 captures an image with the solid-state image sensor 42. The image and the image captured by the solid-state image sensor 52 are simultaneously displayed on the left and right. And this monitor
The image of 27 is observed through the polarizing glasses 103 whose left eye passes only light of the same polarization direction as the left side portion of the polarizing plate 102 and whose right eye side passes only light of the same polarization direction as the right side portion of the polarizing plate. Thus, a stereoscopic image of the subject is observed.

Further, in the one shown in FIG. 5 (c), the monitor 27 displays the image captured by the solid-state image sensor 42 and the image captured by the solid-state image sensor 52 on the left and right simultaneously. Then, the image on the monitor 27 is observed through a hood 104 provided with a partition plate 105 between the left and right eyes so that the left eye can observe only the left side portion of the image and the right eye can observe only the right side portion of the image. By doing so, a stereoscopic image of the subject is observed.

The means for forming a three-dimensional image is not limited to each of the above means, and for example, the image may be shaded so that the three-dimensional image is displayed three-dimensionally.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the electronic endoscope 21
A pair of solid-state image pickup devices 42 and 52 are provided as image pickup means at two positions where the tip portion 29 of the solid-state image pickup device 4 can be viewed stereoscopically.
By capturing an image of the subject at 2,52, a stereoscopic image of the subject can be observed.

The solid-state image pickup device 42, 52 is a terminal 43 having the same function as the solid-state image pickup device 42, 52 except for the signal output terminals 48, 58.
53; 44,54; 45,55; 46,56; 47,57 are connected near the tip portion 29 of the electronic endoscope 21 by connection cables 61,62,63,64,65, respectively. And these connection cables
61, 62, 63, 64, 65 are respectively connected to one lead wire (or one conductor wire such as a coaxial cable) 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, and these lead wires 71, 72, 73, 74, 75 are control devices 26
Is connected to the signal connector 80 of the connector 25 connected to.

As described above, in this embodiment, two solid-state image pickup devices each having six lead terminals are provided, so that there are a total of 12 lead terminals, but as described above, terminals having the same function are connected to each other. The number of lead wires to be inserted into the insertion portion 22 which has been conventionally required to be 12 can be reduced to 7 by connecting the wires. Therefore, the diameter of the insertion portion 22 can be reduced. Also, the signal interference between the lead wires is reduced,
Quality and performance are improved. Moreover, the probability of disconnection is reduced, and reliability is improved.

Moreover, since the number of contacts of the connector 25 can be reduced, reliability can be improved.

Furthermore, since the number of lead wires and the number of contact points of the connector are reduced, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

Also, the driver 91 and the like can be shared on the signal processing circuit 85 side, and the number of parts can be reduced.

Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, for example, the place for connecting terminals having the same function is preferably near the distal end portion 29 of the endoscope, for example, the diameter of the insertion portion is reduced. When it is not necessary, for example, it may be inside the insertion portion 22 or the operation portion 23 of the endoscope.

Further, the terminals having the same function except for the signal output terminals are not necessarily connected to each other, and at least one set thereof may be connected.

Further, the solid-state imaging devices 42 and 52 may be mounted on the same printed circuit board, and terminals having the same function may be connected by wiring of the printed circuit board.

Although the light source device 86 is provided in the control device 26 in the above embodiment, the light source device may not be provided.

Further, the imaging method is not limited to the simultaneous method, and may be a frame sequential method in which illumination light is sequentially switched to R, G, B and the like.

The present invention is not limited to an endoscope capable of stereoscopic viewing, but an endoscope that observes a plurality of places with a plurality of solid-state imaging devices, or a plurality of solid-state imaging devices capture images in different wavelength regions. It can also be applied to endoscopes and the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, in a compound-eye electronic endoscope provided with a plurality of solid-state image pickup devices as image pickup means, the number of conductors connecting the solid-state image pickup device and the signal processing means can be reduced. There is an effect that the number can be reduced, the diameter of the insertion portion can be reduced, and the reliability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 5 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a connection between a solid-state image sensor and a signal processing circuit,
2 is a side view showing the entire endoscope apparatus, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of the endoscope apparatus, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a signal processing circuit, and FIG. 5 is a stereoscopic image. And FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a schematic structure of a conventional compound eye type electronic endoscope. 21 …… Compound-eye electronic endoscope 26 …… Control device, 27 …… TV monitor 29 …… Tip 42, 52 …… Solid-state image sensor 43, 53 …… Power supply voltage application terminal 43, 53 44, 54 …… Horizontal transfer clock pulse application terminal 45,55 …… Vertical transfer clock pulse application terminal 46,56 …… Blooming suppression pulse application terminal 47,57 …… Grounding terminal 48,58 …… Signal terminal 61 to 65 …… Wiring cable 71 ~ 77 ...... Lead wire, 80 ...... Signal connector 85 …… Signal processing circuit 87 …… Signal connector receiver

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A compound-eye electronic endoscope provided with a plurality of solid-state image pickup devices of the same kind as image-pickup means, and connection means for connecting at least one set of lead terminals having the same function of the plurality of solid-state image pickup devices. , Which are connected to the lead terminals having the same function through the connection means, and the lead terminals and the signal processing means corresponding to the lead terminals can be electrically connected, and are common to the lead terminals. A compound-eye electronic endoscope, which is provided with a lead wire.