JP2894656B2 - Endoscope device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus in which the amount of light emitted from a lamp of a light source device is reduced when an endoscopic examination is not performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, endoscopes are widely used in medical and industrial fields, as is well known. FIG. 12 shows a conventional endoscope apparatus 1. This device 1
Is a fiberscope 2 as an endoscope and the endoscope 2
Are connected to the light source device 3. The endoscope 2 includes an insertion section 6, an operation section 7 continuously provided at a rear end of the insertion section 6, and an eyepiece section 17 provided on the top of the operation section 7.
And a light guide cable 8 extending laterally from the operation unit 7.

[0003] The insertion portion 6 has a distal end portion 9, a curved portion 11,
The flexible portion 12 is sequentially formed from the distal end side, and the bending portion 11 can be bent in a desired direction by operating the bending knob 13.

[0004] When a connector 14 provided at the end of the light guide cable 8 is connected to the light source device 3, illumination light is supplied from the light source device 3. That is, illumination light from a lamp (not shown) stored in the lamp house 19 is supplied to the incident end face of the light guide by the condenser lens 23. In the lamp house 19, a high-pressure generating unit 22 for emitting a lamp is housed, and is connected to a lighting circuit 21 via a connection cable 28. The lamp house 19 and the lighting circuit 21 are provided with cooling fans 27 and 31, respectively. Further, a circuit board 24 is also provided in the light source device 3.

As shown in the front view of FIG. 13, when performing an endoscope inspection, the light source device 3 first turns on the main switch SW1, then turns on the lighting circuit control switch SW2.
Is turned on to turn on the lamp. In FIG. 23, reference numeral 25 denotes a connector receiver to which the connector 14 is connected.

When performing an endoscopic examination using the medical endoscope configured as described above, the main switch SW1 is turned on first in the morning, and the lighting circuit control switch SW2 is turned on before the first patient examination. I do. After that, the lamp was almost left unattended, and the lamp was automatically turned off by turning off the main switch SW1 after the diagnosis of the last patient was completed.

[0007]

In such a conventional state of use of the endoscopic device in endoscopy, there is a few minutes or tens of minutes of non-use between patient and patient diagnosis.
During that time, the lamp is still emitting light, and the amount of lamp light is extremely deteriorated.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide an endoscope apparatus capable of preventing deterioration of the amount of lamp light when an endoscope inspection is not performed.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An endoscope apparatus according to the present invention includes an endoscope that can be inserted into a subject, a light source that supplies illumination light to the endoscope, and illumination using the illumination light. imaging means for imaging an image of the subject that is, a video signal processing means for generating a video signal by processing a signal output from the imaging means, the image generated by the video signal processing unit
Extracting a color signal containing color information specific to the subject from a signal
A color signal extracting means for extracting color signal information
Reference signal that outputs a reference signal set to a predetermined value
Output means; and the color signal extracted by the color signal extraction means.
Signal and the reference signal output from the reference signal output means.
Comparison means for comparing the signal levels of
The color signal is the signal level of the reference signal based on the comparison result.
And light source control means for reducing the amount of illumination light of the light source when it is determined that the light source does not reach the threshold.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope device, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a motion detecting device of an operation knob shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. And FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram showing the operation of the red detector shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, whether or not an examination is being performed is detected based on the movement of the operation switch of the endoscope, the movement of the endoscope image, the red signal component included in the image signal, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope 301 is connected to a light source device 304 via a universal cord 303 extending from an operation unit 302. The CCU 307 is connected to a CCU 307 via a curl cord 305 extending from the light source side end of the universal cord 303.
The imaging device 30 provided in the endoscope by the CU 307
The processing of various video signals with respect to the photoelectric conversion output from the CPU 6 is performed. The CCU 307 is connected to a motion detection device 308 that detects the motion of the endoscope image and a red detection device 309 that detects a red signal component included in the video signal, and outputs a video signal to these devices. ing. Then, the image motion detection signal 310 and the red detection signal 311 generated by these devices are transmitted to the controller 3.
12 is supplied.

The endoscope 301 is provided with a scope switch 313 for giving instructions such as freeze and release, and an operation knob 314 for performing a bending operation and the like. A potentiometer 315 is connected to the operation knob 314,
The output signal of the potentiometer 315 is supplied to the operation knob movement detecting device 316. The operation knob movement detection device 316 is connected to the controller 312, and receives an operation knob movement signal 317 generated by the operation knob movement detection device 316. On the other hand, the scope switch 313 is connected to the scope switch motion detection device 318 via the CCU 307,
A scope switch motion detection signal 319 generated by the scope switch motion detection device 318 is supplied to the controller 312.

The controller 312 includes an image motion detection signal 310, a red detection signal 311 and an operation knob motion signal 3
17. Whether the endoscope is used is detected based on the scope switch motion detection signal 319, and the dimming signal 320 is output to the light source device 304 when not used. The light source device 304 is provided with a power source 321 and a light source lamp 322 driven by the power source, and the light amount of the light source lamp 322 is controlled by the dimming signal 320.

The endoscope 30 is controlled by the operation knob 314.
1. Operate the up, down, left and right bending operations. Operation knob 314
Is operated, the potentiometer 315 outputs a pulse. The operation knob movement detecting device 316 receives this pulse, generates an operation knob movement signal 317 for determining whether or not the endoscope is being operated, and outputs the signal to the controller 31.
Output to 2.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the operation knob movement detecting device 316. The operation knob movement detection device 316 includes a retriggerable one-shot 331 and a buffer 332, and the time constant of the retriggerable one-shot 331 is set to, for example, 10 seconds. Therefore, if the operation knob 314 is operated within 10 seconds, a pulse is input to the retriggerable one-shot 331, and this output becomes “H”.
As a result, the operation knob movement signal 317 becomes “H”. On the other hand, if the operation knob 314 is not operated for 10 seconds or more, the output of the retriggerable one-shot 331 becomes “L”, and the operation knob movement signal 317 becomes “L”. The controller 312 can determine whether or not the endoscope 301 is being operated based on the level of the operation knob movement signal 317.

Next, the operation of the red detector 309 will be described with reference to FIGS. Red detector 309
Is a clamp circuit 3 for clamping a red signal (R signal)
33, a comparator 334 for comparing the signal clamped by the clamp circuit 333 with a reference voltage, a comparator 33
Retriggerable one-shot 335 that detects the output of
And a buffer 336. The time constant of the retriggerable one-shot 335 is set to 1/60 second. RG of video signal output from CCU 307
Of the B signals, the R signal is clamped by the clamp circuit 333. Then, the comparator 334 determines whether or not the output of the clamp circuit 333 is equal to or higher than the reference voltage Vr.

At this time, the retriggerable one-shot 33
If the time constant of 5 is set to 1/60 second or more, FIG.
As shown in (a), when the red signal is sufficient (that is, it is considered that the endoscope 301 is used in the living body at this time), that is, when the R signal is equal to or higher than Vr, the red detection is performed. The signal 311 becomes “H”. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the number of red signals is small, the red detection signal 311 is "L" because it is equal to or lower than Vr.

The motion detecting device 308 detects general motion of an image by, for example, detecting a motion vector from an image signal. H ”. or,
In the case of an image having no motion, the image motion detection signal 310 becomes “L”.

The scope switch motion detecting device 318 is
It has almost the same configuration as the operation knob movement detecting device 316 of FIG. 2, detects whether or not the scope switch 313 has been operated, and outputs a scope switch movement detection signal 319. Here, the time constant of the retriggerable one-shot is set to a value slightly longer than that of the operation knob movement detecting device 316, for example, about 30 seconds.

The controller 312 receives the operation knob movement signal 317, the image movement detection signal 310, and the red detection signal 3
11. If any of the scope switch motion detection signals 319 is “H”, it is determined that the endoscope 301 is in use, and the dimming signal 320 is set to “L”. When the dimming signal 320 is “L”, the light source lamp 322 in the light source device 304
Emits light at a normal light amount. On the other hand, if all of the four detection signals are “L”, it is determined that the endoscope 301 is not used, and the dimming signal 320 is set to “H”. Dimming signal 3
When 20 becomes “H”, the light emission amount of the light source lamp 322 is reduced.

As described above, the red signal component, the motion of the image,
The endoscope is used because it detects whether or not the endoscope is used by detecting the movement of an operation member such as a switch, and reduces the light amount of the light source when the endoscope is not used. When there is no light source lamp, unnecessary current can be prevented from flowing to the light source lamp, and the life of the light source lamp can be extended. It also saves energy. Further, since the lamp is not turned off at the time of non-inspection, the number of times of turning on / off can be reduced, and the consumption of the lamp due to the load at the time of turning on can be prevented.

In this embodiment, the dimming signal is set to "H" when all four detection signals are "L". However, the present invention is not limited to this. The dimming signal may be set to “H” when one, three, or one detection signal becomes “L”. Further, when the four detection signals are "L" for a certain period of time (for example, 5 seconds) or more, the dimming signal is set to "H". May be.

By the way, when operating an existing endoscope device such as a light source device from a controller, it is necessary to add a circuit or a port for changing the signal flow and change the software. Interface with the controller may be simply performed using a circuit of the device operation unit.

FIG. 5 shows the case of the controller direct control system. The input / output parallel port (or expansion slot) 152 of the controller 151 composed of a personal computer etc.
It is connected to the input control unit 154 and the output control unit 155 of the panel interface 153.

The input control unit 154 and the output control unit 15
5 is connected to the display data key input 158 of the microcomputer unit 157 of the endoscope device 156 such as a light source device, and is also connected to the display data key input 160 of the panel unit 159 connected to the display data key input 158. ing.

The state of the endoscope device 156 is detected using a display signal of the panel unit 159 of the device 156. Input control unit 15 of panel interface 153
Numeral 4 integrates a dynamic lighting signal for display, converts the signal into a level signal, and reads the signal from an input port of the controller 151. The signal is sent to the controller 151
And the state of the device 156 is detected from the input port.

The control signal for the device 156 is
Use the device key input signal. The output control unit 155 of the panel interface 153 outputs the output port signal of the controller 151 in accordance with the timing at which the device 156 reads. The signal of the output control unit 155 is output to the key input 158 of the microcomputer unit 157 of the device 156, and the device 156 is operated. By taking such an interface, the endoscope device 156 can be remotely controlled. By using this method, the endoscope device 156 can be remotely controlled without changing the control program inside the endoscope device 156.

FIG. 6 shows the case of the intelligent panel interface system. ◎ Controller 161
Is connected to the serial port 164 of the panel interface 163. panel·
The interface 163 is provided with a control CPU 165, and the CPU 165 includes a serial port 164,
The memory 166, the input control unit 167, and the output control unit 168 are connected via a CPU bus.

The input control section 167 and the output control section 16
8 is connected to a display data key input 173 of the microcomputer unit 172 of the endoscope device 171 such as a light source device, and is also connected to a display data key input 175 of the panel unit 174 to which the display data key input 173 is connected. ing.

In this device, in the endoscope device 171 having the microcomputer unit 172, the signal of the interface of the panel unit 174 of the device 171 is transmitted to the panel device 171.
The interface 163 is read and connected to the controller 161 by serial communication.

The detection of the state of the device 171
The display signal of the first panel unit 174 is used. The input control unit 167 of the panel interface 163 reads the dynamic lighting signal for display, detects the state of the device 171, and sends the state of the device 171 to the controller 161 by serial communication.

The control signal for the device 171 is
Use the key input signal of the device. A control command is transmitted from the controller 161 to the panel interface 163 by serial communication. Panel interface 16
3 converts the signal into a control signal and outputs it to the key input 173 of the microcomputer unit 172 of the device 171 to output the control signal.
1 is operating. By taking such an interface, the endoscope device 171 can be remotely controlled. By using this method, the endoscope device 1 can be changed without changing the control program in the endoscope device 171.
71 can be remotely controlled. Since the control of the endoscope device 171 is performed by the panel interface 163, the load of the software of the controller 161 is reduced as compared with the method of FIG.

By the way, conventionally, when an abnormality occurs in the electric scalpel, the light source, etc. in the endoscope apparatus or system,
Since the abnormal display is displayed on the operation panel of each component device, it is difficult for the user to surely grasp their states. On the other hand, a configuration as shown in FIG. 7 may be adopted so that the information can be grasped by one centralized operation panel.

Referring to FIG. 7, an endoscope system 201 includes:
A video processor 202 that processes and outputs signals from an electronic scope (not shown), a video processor interface 203 that reads an LED display on a front panel of the video processor 202, a light source device 204 that supplies illumination to the electronic scope, and a light source device 204 A light source device panel interface 205 for reading an LED display on a front panel of the heat probe device 206 for performing hemostasis endoscopically; a heat probe panel interface 207 for reading an LED display on a front panel of the heat probe device 206; An electrosurgical device 208 as an endoscopic treatment device, an electrosurgical device panel interface 209 for reading an LED display on a front panel of the electrosurgical device 208, and a monitor image imaging device 210 as an endoscopic image imaging device , A monitor image capturing apparatus panel interface 211 to read the LED display on the front panel of the monitor image capturing apparatus 210, the computer 212
And a computer interface 213 for distributing port inputs and outputs of the computer 212 according to the connector specifications of each interface, and a display 214 for displaying data from the computer 212.

Each of the panel interfaces is basically composed of a device body side cable 216 provided with a device body side connector 215 as shown in FIG.
7 and a photocoupler 219. Also, the photo coupler 21
The LED 9 is connected to the LED display signal line 221, and the phototransistor is connected to the computer interface 213.

Next, the operation of the system 201 will be described. In FIG. 7, a video processor 202, a light source device 204, a heat probe device 206, an electric scalpel device 208, and a monitor image capturing device 210, which are constituent devices of the endoscope system 201, are all operating switches of devices not shown on the front panel. And a panel board provided with LEDs for indicating the status of the device, for example, running out of lamp or running out of film. The panel substrate is connected to a main substrate of a device (not shown) provided with, for example, a CPU or the like by a connector and a cable.

In this system 201, the main body of the device shown in FIG.
By connecting the device main body side connector 215 shown in (1) and the device panel side connector 217 to the panel side,
The LEDs can be turned on and off between the main board of the device and the panel substrate via the LED display signal line 221 of each device.

As shown in FIG. 9, each panel interface uses an LED for displaying the status of the device as a photocoupler.
23, the photocoupler 223 operates instead of turning on the LED of the device, and sends its output to the computer 212 via the computer interface 213. The computer 212 displays a message on the display 2 based on the LED information from each device.
14 is displayed.

Some devices dynamically turn on the LED, and the state cannot be accurately read by merely replacing the LED with the photocoupler 223. In this case, the output of the photocoupler 223 is connected to the one-shot multivibrator 2 as shown in FIG.
The pulse may be extended at 24 and sent to the computer interface 213 via the buffer 225.

According to the system 201, the system 2
Since the state of each device constituting the device 01 can be grasped at one place, the user does not need to look at the panel of each device as in the related art, so that the workload is reduced and the efficiency is improved. Furthermore, since it is only necessary to attach an interface having a simple configuration to a conventional device having no communication line or the like and combine it with a commercially available personal computer or the like, it can be realized at low cost.

FIG. 11 shows a system configuration different from that of FIG. 7, in which a message from the computer 212 is output not only by the display 214 but also by a speaker 232 via an amplifier 231 and is output in the form of a voice. It has an effect.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, the video signal generated by the video signal processing means is specific to the subject.
Color signal extraction means for extracting a color signal containing color information of
Set to a predetermined value for the color information specific to the subject
A reference signal output means for outputting a reference signal;
Output means and the reference signal output means
To compare the signal level of the reference signal output from
Comparison means, and the color signal based on a comparison result of the comparison means.
Is determined not to have reached the signal level of the reference signal.
When the endoscope is not inspected, the light source control means for reducing the light intensity of the light source is provided to reduce the light intensity of the light source when the endoscope is not inspected, so that the light emission characteristics of the light source lamp can be prevented from being deteriorated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the operation knob movement detecting device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a red color detection device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a waveform chart showing the operation of the red detector of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a system for controlling an endoscope device via a controller.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a system configuration example different from that of FIG. 5;

7 to 10 are related to an example of a system for centrally managing abnormalities and the like of system components, and FIG. 7 is a system configuration diagram;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a panel interface.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a panel interface.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a panel interface in the case of dynamic lighting.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a part of a system for outputting a message by voice;

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional endoscope device.

13 is a front view of the light source device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

301 endoscope 304 light source device 306 imaging unit 307 CCU (video signal processing unit) 309 red detection device 312 controller (light source) Control means) 333 Clamp circuit (color signal extraction means) 334 Comparator (comparison means) Vr Reference voltage (by reference signal output means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshiaki Nishikori 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside O-Limpus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Masahiko Hamano 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside the Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Mutsumi Oshima 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside the Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Kazushi Takamizawa 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. O-Limpus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akinobu Uchikubo 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O-limpus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Shinji Yamashita 2-43 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yudai Nakagawa 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Akihiro Miyashita 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O-limpus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Masahiko Sasaki 2-43-2, Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O Within the Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kenya Inomata 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Oh, the Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Hideyuki Shoji 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuyuki Kaneko 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-61-62438 (JP, A) JP-A-1-303122 (JP, A) JP-A-56-60526 (JP, A) JP-A-4-16814 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02B 23 / 24-23/26 A61B 1/06

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An endoscope that can be inserted into a subject; a light source that supplies illumination light to the endoscope; an imaging unit that captures an image of the subject illuminated with the illumination light; a video signal processing means for generating a video signal by processing a signal output from the imaging means, the object from the video signal produced by the video signal processing unit
Color signal extraction to extract color signals containing color information specific to the specimen
Means and a predetermined value for the color information specific to the subject.
Reference signal output means for outputting a reference signal, and the color signal extracted by the color signal extraction means and the reference signal
Signal level of the reference signal output from the signal output means
Comparing means for comparing, based on the comparison result of the comparing means, the color signal is the group
When it is determined that the signal level of the reference signal has not been reached,
An endoscope apparatus comprising: light source control means for reducing the amount of illumination of the light source.