JPH0422092B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus, and particularly to an endoscope apparatus that images a subject and displays the image of the subject as a moving image in real time.

[Prior art]

Generally, in endoscopic diagnosis, a photograph of the affected area is taken during the examination, and a diagnosis is made later based on the photograph. However, if the subject is moving quickly, the image may become blurry if the photograph is taken as is. Therefore, in devices with the above-mentioned shooting function, the image on the monitor screen can be temporarily frozen.
You are taking a photo of the displayed still image.

Here, since only one monitor device is provided, the display of the moving image of the subject image is interrupted during photography. Therefore, not only is it inconvenient to insert the endoscope and determine the photographing angle, but also there is a risk of harm to the patient during the procedure.

〔the purpose〕

This invention was made to deal with the above-mentioned circumstances, and is used in an endoscope device that displays a moving image of a subject in real time after capturing an image of the subject. The purpose is to not interrupt the video display of the subject image even during the freeze operation.

〔overview〕

The endoscope apparatus according to the present invention includes means for displaying an image of a subject as a moving image based on a signal obtained by imaging the subject, and means for displaying one image among the images displayed as a moving image as a still image together with the moving image. .

〔Example〕

An embodiment of an endoscope apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment. This device consists of an endoscope main body 10 and a control unit 30. A light source lamp 32 is provided within the control unit 30, and illumination light emitted from the lamp is guided to the objective end of the endoscope body 10 via a light guide 20 made of an optical fiber bundle, thereby illuminating the inside of the body cavity.

The endoscope main body 10 is mainly divided into a flexible part that is inserted into a body cavity and an operating part that is not inserted into a body cavity. An objective optical system is provided at the tip of the flexible portion, and a focusing lens 12 that is slidable in the optical axis direction is provided in this objective optical system. The focusing lens 12 is connected via a wire 16 to a focusing knob 18 provided on the operating section. By rotating the focus knob 18, the focusing lens 12 is moved in the optical axis direction, and focusing is adjusted.

Inside the objective optical system is a solid-state image sensor (e.g.
A CCD (CCD) 14 is provided, and an optical image inside the body cavity that is incident on the solid-state image sensor 14 via the objective optical system and the focusing lens 12 is converted into an image signal.
The inside of the body cavity is imaged. The operation section of the endoscope body 10 includes a release switch 2 for instructing still image recording.
2. A multi-switch 24 is also provided which functions as a different operation switch for each operating mode.

The operation of the solid-state image sensor 14 is controlled by drive pulses from a solid-state image sensor driver (SID driver) 34 within the control unit 30. The output image signal of the solid-state image sensor 14 is supplied to a sample/hold (S/H) circuit 36 within the control unit 30. The output of the sample/hold circuit 36 is a low pass filter (LPF) 38, an auto gain controller (AGC) 40, and a gamma (γ) correction circuit 4.
2. Monitor device 46 via NTSC decoder 44
images inside the body cavity are displayed in real time as a moving image.

The output of the low pass filter 38 is supplied to a control circuit 52 via a high pass filter (HPF) 48 and an A/D converter 50. The control circuit 52 includes a release switch 22 provided on the endoscope body 10,
A signal from multi-switch 24 is also supplied. The function of control unit 30 when multi-switch 24 is turned on differs for each operating mode and is selectively determined by control circuit 52. Therefore, the control unit 30 includes a freeze switch 54 as a mode switch for specifying the operation mode, a focus-in freeze switch 56, and a focus-in freeze switch 56.
In trigger switch 58, focus in
A freeze-and-trigger switch 60 is provided, and signals from these switches 54, 56, 58, and 60 are also supplied to control circuit 52. here,
The mode switches 54, 56, 58, and 60 are self-illuminated switches that select from four modes.

On the other hand, the output of the gamma correction circuit 42 is sent to a frame memory 64 for freezing via an A/D converter 62.
is supplied to The frame memory 64 has a capacity to store one image, and is always read while being written, so it outputs the input signal as is, but when a freeze instruction is given, writing is prohibited and the last writing is performed. One image is repeatedly read out and output. The signal read from the frame memory 64 is sent to the D/A converter 66, the low pass filter 68,
The signal is supplied to a monitor device 72 via an NTSC decoder 70. Therefore, the monitor device 72 always displays a moving image, and switches to a still image display when a freeze instruction is received. The frame memory 64 has a control circuit 52
A write phrase signal F is supplied from the write phrase signal F, and writing is prohibited by this signal F. Here, it is assumed that the screen of the monitor device 72 is smaller than that of the monitor device 46.

The output of the NTSC decoder 70 is also supplied to a recording device 74, where a still image is recorded. Recording device 74
is comprised of, for example, a disk cartridge type magnetic storage device. A recording trigger signal T is supplied from the control circuit 52 to the recording device 74, and still image recording is executed by this signal T.

A timing generator 76 is provided for timing control of each part within the control unit 30.
Its output is the solid-state image sensor driver 34, sample/hold circuit 36, NTSC decoder 44, 7
0 is supplied to the control circuit 52 and frame memory 64.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, mode switches 54, 56, 58, 60
The case where both are off will be explained. When the focus knob 18 is turned, the wire 16 and the focusing lens 12 move in the optical axis direction, and the solid-state image sensor 14
The imaging conditions of the objective optical system are varied. As mentioned above, the monitor device 46 uses the solid-state image sensor 1
The output image of step 4 is constantly displayed as a moving image.

The control circuit 52 also includes switches 54, 56, 5
When both 8 and 60 are off, the write phrase signal F is not generated. Therefore, the frame memory 64
can be written to at any time, and the image signal from the solid-state image sensor 14 is written and read out frame by frame, and the data in the frame memory 64 is sequentially updated. Therefore, the monitor device 72 also displays the output image of the solid-state image sensor 14 as a moving image.

When the release switch 22 is turned on, a storage trigger signal T is supplied from the control circuit 52 to the recording device 74. Then, only one frame of the output image signal of the NTSC decoder 70 is supplied to the recording device 74, and a still image is recorded. Here, the recording device 7
4 is not limited to a disk cartridge magnetic storage device, but may also be an optical file, a normal photographic camera, or the like.

Note that when the release switch 22 is turned on,
A write phrase signal F is supplied from the control circuit 52 to the frame memory 64 for 0.3 seconds, and during this time writing to the frame memory 64 (data update) is stopped, and the monitor device 72 is frozen and displays a still image.

Next, mode switches 54, 56, 58, 60
The operation mode determined by the following will be explained.

In the freeze mode set by turning on the freeze switch 54, when the multi-switch 24 is turned on, the control circuit 52 supplies the write freeze signal F to the frame memory 64 and stops writing data to the frame memory 64. Therefore, the monitor device 72 is frozen and displays a still image.

When the multi-switch 24 is turned on again, the control circuit 52 stops generating the write freeze signal F, resumes writing data to the frame memory 64, and the monitor device 72 is unfrozen and resumes displaying the moving image.

In the focus-in-freeze mode, which is set by turning on the focus-in-freeze switch 56, first set the focusing lens 12 at an appropriate position using the focus knob 18, and then turn on the multi-switch 24. From there, the tip of the endoscope main body 10 is brought close to the body cavity wall to adjust focusing. Alternatively, while maintaining an appropriate distance between the tip of the endoscope body 10 and the body cavity wall, turn on the multi-switch 24 and then turn on the focus knob 18.
Turn to slide the focusing lens 12 and adjust the focusing. At this time, even if the multi-switch 24 is turned on, the control circuit 52 does not immediately supply the write freeze signal F to the frame memory 64.

A high frequency component of the output of the solid-state image sensor 14 is input to a control circuit 52 via a high-pass filter 48 and an A/D converter 50. The control circuit 52 determines the imaging state of the optical image formed on the solid-state image sensor 14 by the objective optical system from the amount of high frequency components of the image signal. When the image is out of focus, the amount of high-frequency components is small; as the image comes into focus, the amount of high-frequency components increases; and when the image is in focus (in-focus state), the amount of high-frequency components reaches its maximum. Furthermore, as the tip of the endoscope main body 10 approaches the body cavity wall, the amount of high frequency components decreases. Therefore, the endoscope body 1
If the tip of 0 is brought close to the body cavity wall and the maximum value of the high frequency component of the output of the solid-state image sensor 14 is detected,
The in-focus state can be detected. In reality, the frame in which the high frequency component changes from increasing to decreasing is the frame after the in-focus frame.
Since the photographing time for one frame is usually as short as 1/30 second, the deviation of one frame can be ignored.

When the control circuit 52 detects the focused state, it supplies a write freeze signal F to the frame memory 64 to stop writing data. As a result, the output image signal of the solid-state image sensor 14 is transferred to the frame memory 64.
A still image is recorded, and the monitor device 72 enters a frozen state and displays a still image.

In this state, the photographer fixes the endoscope body 10 and turns on the release switch 22 to transfer the still image displayed on the monitor device 72 to the recording device 7.
Can be recorded to 4. The control circuit 52 supplies a recording trigger signal T to the recording circuit 74 in response to a signal from the release switch 22.

In this way, when in the focus-in-freeze mode, you can check the contents of the frozen still image in focus and record only what you want to keep if necessary.

When the multi-switch 24 is turned on again, the generation of the write freeze signal F is stopped, data writing to the frame memory 64 is restarted, and the monitor device 7
The frozen state of 2 is released.

Even in the focus-in-trigger mode, which is set by turning on the focus-in-trigger switch 58, turn on the multi-switch 24 while maintaining an appropriate distance between the tip of the endoscope body 10 and the body cavity wall. Turn the focus knob 18 to slide the focusing lens 12 to adjust focusing. Alternatively, the focusing lens 12 is set at an appropriate position using the focusing knob 18, the multi-switch 24 is turned on, and the tip of the endoscope body 10 is brought close to the body cavity wall to adjust focusing.

When the control circuit 52 detects the focused state, it supplies a recording trigger signal T to the recording device 74 to record one frame of still image. At this time, the control circuit 52
The write freeze signal F is not generated, data writing to the frame memory 64 is not stopped, and the monitor device 72 is not frozen and continues displaying the moving image.

In the focus-in-freeze-and-trigger mode, which is set by turning on the focus-in-freeze-and-trigger switch 60, the operation in the focus-in-freeze mode and the focus-in-trigger mode described above are the same. Both actions are performed. That is, the focusing lens 12 is set at an appropriate position, the multi-switch 24 is turned on, and the endoscope main body 10 is turned on.
Bring the tip of the endoscope close to the body cavity wall, or while maintaining an appropriate distance between the tip of the endoscope main body 10 and the body cavity wall, turn on the multi-switch 24 and then turn the focus knob 18 to adjust the focusing while moving inside the body cavity. image.

When the control circuit 52 detects the in-focus state, writing to the frame memory 64 is stopped, the monitor device 72 is put into a frozen state, a still image is displayed, and the still image is recorded in the recording device 74. The frozen state of the monitor device 72 is released by turning on the multi-switch 24 again.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, by providing the monitor device 46 that constantly displays a video and the monitor device 72 that switches from video display to still image display when frozen, the subject image can be viewed even during freeze operation. An endoscope device that can continue displaying moving images and does not interfere with diagnosis is realized.

Note that this invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be modified in various ways. Although the above-described embodiment uses separate monitor devices for displaying a moving image and for freezing, the screen of one monitor device may be divided into two to display a moving image and a still image, respectively.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the endoscope device according to the present invention, a freeze operation is performed in which an image of a subject is imaged, the image of the subject is displayed as a moving image in real time, and one image among the images being displayed as a moving image is displayed as a still image. You can continue displaying the video of the subject image even when

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an endoscope apparatus according to the present invention. 14... Solid-state image sensor, 22... Release switch, 24... Multi switch, 46, 72... Monitor device, 52... Control circuit, 54... Freeze switch, 56... Focus in freeze switch, 58... Focus in trigger switch ,
60... Focus in freeze and trigger switch, 64... Frame memory, 74... Recording device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An imaging means for imaging a subject; a signal storage means into which an output signal of the imaging means is written; a display means for displaying an image of the subject based on a signal read from the signal storage means; an image recording means for recording a still image of a subject based on a signal read from the signal storage means; still image display instructing means for instructing the display means to display a still image of the subject; still image recording instruction means for instructing still image recording; and a first function for prohibiting writing to the signal storage means and displaying a still image of the subject on the display means based on the instruction from the still image display instruction means. ,
Recording a still image in the image recording means based on an instruction from the still image recording instruction means, and
a second device that prohibits writing to the signal storage means and causes the display means to display a still image of the subject for a predetermined period of time;
1. An endoscope apparatus comprising: a control means for selectively executing the functions of FIG.