JPS6226773B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to the structure of a binocular endoscope that illuminates a field of view with laser light through fibers and performs diagnosis using fluorescence generated from an abnormal location in the field of view. Discovery and observation of affected areas using fluorescence has been proposed as one of the latest cancer diagnostic methods. In other words, a fluorescent substance such as hematoporphyrin is accumulated in cancer cells by intravenous injection, and then laser light is irradiated from the outside, or argon laser light or the like is directly irradiated to the affected area. A method for detecting and confirming cancer by observing the fluorescence emitted from the cancer has been disclosed. However, in the latter case, although the intensity of the laser light can be increased as much as desired, the intensity of the generated fluorescent light is small compared to the laser light, so it is quite difficult to reliably observe the fluorescent light. . Therefore, if it can be clearly identified by distinguishing it from a laser beam, it would be extremely useful because even small cancers could be easily detected at an early stage. The present invention has a conventional device of this type, for example, which irradiates an argon ion laser beam into the stomach and attempts to observe the yellow fluorescence generated in the affected area, but the blue light of the argon ion laser beam shines extremely brightly, making it extremely difficult to observe. The objective was to provide a binocular endoscope that freed the observer from the glare of laser light and allowed him to clearly see the fluorescent light in his field of vision. That is the purpose. The endoscope according to the present invention uses a binocular system.
That is, the light from the observation field is split into two by a beam splitter placed at the exit of the image guide, one of which can be observed by entering the right eyepiece and the other by the left eyepiece, or The image guide is separated into two parts so that the light can be separately incident on the right eyepiece or the left eyepiece for observation. Next, in the present invention, normal observation with both eyes by illumination light irradiation and observation of fluorescence excited with one eye through a filter that transmits only the fluorescence excited by laser light irradiation are alternately performed. A possible rotating plate is provided. This rotary plate rotates in front of the left and right eyepieces, so that when the laser beam irradiation to the observation area is on, the fluorescent filter part and the shutter part simultaneously appear in front of the right eyepiece or the left eyepiece, respectively. When the laser beam irradiation to the observation area is off, a space in the rotary plate appears at the front of both eyepieces so that the entire area can be observed using illumination light. Now, the observation state of the right eye, left eye, or both eyes as the rotating plate shown in FIG. 1 rotates is shown in Table 1.

[Table] As seen in the table above, the rotary plate rotates once in orders 1 to 8, and the rotation continues to return to order 1 from order 8. Further, the on/off of the laser beam and the rotation of the rotary plate are configured to be synchronized. That is, the laser oscillator repeatedly oscillates pulses, generates a synchronizing signal, and synchronizes with the pulse motor. These steps are carried out using known techniques. Observation of the field of view with both eyes is performed using illumination light from a tungsten lamp, etc. At the next moment, the laser light is turned on and either the right eye or the left eye transmits the fluorescent light excited by the laser light through a filter. The opposite left or right eye is protected from glare from the shutter. Usually, when this is repeated 10 times or more on each side for one second or more than 20 times in total, the fluorescent site becomes clearly visible in the entire observation field due to the afterimage phenomenon in human vision. A more detailed explanation will be given below based on embodiments with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a laser diagnostic endoscope to which the present invention is applied. The endoscope main body 1 has a built-in laser light guide 4 guided by a laser oscillator 3 connected to a power source 2, and the observation field is irradiated with laser light from its tip 4a. Although not shown, there is a built-in light guide for illumination light that illuminates the observation field through another route. Light from the observation field passes through an image guide 5 and enters a beam splitter 6, where it is separated into left and right parts, and passes through an optical system to enter a right eyepiece 7 and a left eyepiece 8. . Instead of providing the beam splitter 6, it is of course possible to separate the image guide 5 into two parts. An important feature of the invention resides in the rotating plates 10 located in front of the right and left eyepieces. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotating plate 10 rotates around a rotating shaft 11 and has symmetrical fan-shaped parts divided radially from the shaft 11, and has filter parts 12 and shutter parts 13 (shielding parts). A fluorescent window section A is formed having a fluorescent window section A, and the filter section and the shutter section are arranged so that they appear simultaneously in front of the right or left eye, and adjacent to this, a rotating plate has a left eye and a shutter section. Illumination light window section B consisting of a pair of symmetrical spaces 14 and 15 so as to appear simultaneously in front of the right eye
is provided. In this embodiment, when the rotary plate rotates in the same direction, the fluorescent windows are arranged so that two filter parts and a shutter part appear in succession through the illumination light window part B in front of the left and right eyes, respectively. Although portions B are formed, they may be created so as to appear alternately. In short, it is only necessary that the fluorescent window section A and the illumination window section B appear alternately in front of the glasses. Next, when the illumination light window of the rotating plate appears in front of the glasses, the laser light irradiation is turned off, and when the fluorescent window appears in front of the glasses, the laser light irradiation is turned on. Become. In this way, the observation of the entire field of view performed when the illumination window is in front of the glasses and the fluorescence observation performed when the fluorescence window is present are repeated alternately, and the laser light is turned on and off. and the rotation of the rotary plate for performing these observations are synchronized. The pulse motor indicated by reference numeral 16 in FIG. 1 is connected to a power source for operating a laser oscillator by a lead wire 17, and the shaft portion 11 of the rotary plate is inserted and fixed, and the rotary plate 10 is moved in accordance with the on/off of the laser beam. It rotates one by one. The pulse motor is driven by the pulse oscillation signal, rotates the rotary plate so that the fluorescent windows are in front of the left and right eyepieces, and the next moment the pulse oscillation stops and the rotary plate is rotated. The illumination light window section is rotated, and the illumination light window portion appears in front, and the illumination light is irradiated onto the viewing field. Known techniques can be applied to the synchronization device. The filter used in the present invention is preferably one that best transmits the fluorescent light generated depending on the type of laser light used, as shown in FIG. In addition, in the fluorescent window section, the left eye and right eye are used to observe the fluorescent light alternately, but this is because one eye is always paused to alleviate the stimulation received from the laser light, allowing the observer to This is to protect the eyes. Of course, being binocular helps to increase the three-dimensional effect, but this is the same as with an ordinary binocular stereomicroscope. The present invention utilizes the afterimage phenomenon that exists in human vision, and due to this phenomenon, which is also applied to movies, an image from about 1/20 second ago remains visible in the eyes, and this repeating phenomenon is applied. When the frequency is set to 20 times per second or more, the observation field becomes continuous, and fluorescent sites are clearly recognized within the field of view. Unlike this, I don't feel any glare. Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, it is possible to detect particularly small tumors in cancer diagnosis using laser light irradiation, and the location of the tumor can be clearly observed by using different colors. It is extremely useful as a device for early detection.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram of the endoscope according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the rotary plate according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the wavelength of fluorescent light and the transmittance. 1... Endoscope body, 2... Power source, 3... Laser oscillator, 4... Laser light guide, 5... Image guide, 6... Beam splitter, 7...
Right eyepiece, 8... Left eyepiece, 10... Rotating plate, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Shaft part, 12... Filter part, 13... Shutter part, 14, 15... Space part, A... Fluorescent window part, B... Illumination light window part, 16... Pulse motor, 17... …Lead.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A binocular endoscope for laser diagnosis that can observe fluorescent light generated in the observation field by laser light irradiated through a fiber, a fluorescent window section having a filter section for observing the fluorescent light when the laser light is turned on; The endoscope is equipped with a rotary plate having bilaterally symmetrical fan-shaped parts divided radially from the rotating shaft so that the illumination light window parts that can observe the entire observation field with the illumination light when the laser light is off appear alternately. A synchronizing device is provided in front of the glasses and rotates the rotating plate so that each window section of the rotating plate appears in front of the glasses in conjunction with the on/off of the laser beam, and the rotation of the rotating plate changes the observation field. A laser diagnostic endoscope characterized by being configured so that fluorescent light can be visually recognized inside.