JP2005046388A - Oral cavity illuminating device and oral cavity illuminating adapter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the photographing of the oral cavity using a standard camera by devising an illumination means. <P>SOLUTION: The oral cavity illuminating device includes light emitting elements 24 which are disposed at the circumference of a camera lens 12 and emit illumination light to the inside of the oral cavity which is a subject, and a light guide 20 made of an optical fiber which receives the illumination light from a strobe light emitting device 14 through one end to transmit and emits the illumination light from the strobe light emitting device 14 through the other end, wherein the other end part of the light guide 20 and the light emitting elements 24 are disposed to emit the illumination light into the oral cavity which is the subject. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an intraoral lighting device and an intraoral lighting adapter, and is used for dental examination and treatment, for throat examination and treatment, or for photographing an intraoral image. .

  In order to capture an intraoral image with a general camera, the camera must be capable of close-up photography. However, even if the camera is capable of close-up photography, it is difficult to take an intraoral image with a general camera due to lighting problems. The problem with lighting is that even if it is a camera with a strobe light emitter, the position of the shooting lens is far from the position of the strobe light emitter. It is a problem that light cannot be irradiated into the oral cavity.

To solve the above problems, place a ring-shaped light emitter on the outer periphery of the photographic lens, or place a strobe light emitter close to the side of the photographic lens, and aim at the oral cavity with the photographic lens. It is conceivable to irradiate the oral cavity with illumination light from a light emitter.
However, even if the illumination light of the strobe light emitter can be irradiated into the oral cavity by the above-mentioned means, it is irradiated from a distance very close to the oral cavity that is the object, so the illumination light is too strong and overexposed. There is a problem. Moreover, since it emits light in the immediate vicinity of the face, there is a problem that the illumination light enters the eyes of the subject and makes the subject uncomfortable.

As described above, since there are various problems in photographing the oral cavity with a general camera, a dedicated device for observation or photographing in the oral cavity has been proposed. For example, an objective lens and an image pickup device that converts an image formed by the objective lens into an electrical signal, such as a CCD, are arranged in a head portion that can be inserted into the oral cavity, and an image display device that passes the CCD image pickup signal through a lead One of them is an intraoral observation camera in which illumination in the oral cavity is performed by light emitted from the light emitting end of the light guide (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-140664

  According to the invention described in Patent Literature 1, the inside of the oral cavity can be observed or photographed under favorable illumination conditions. However, since it is configured as a dedicated device, the cost is high and the use is limited to intraoral imaging.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to enable photographing in the oral cavity by devising the illumination means while using a general camera.

  The present invention is a light-emitting element that is arranged around a photographing lens and emits illumination light toward the oral cavity that is a subject, and captures and transmits the illumination light of the strobe light emitter from one end and transmits the illumination light of the strobe light emitter from the other end. A light guide made of an optical fiber to be emitted, and the other end portion of the light guide emits illumination light toward the oral cavity as a subject together with the light emitting element from the outside. The most important feature is that it is enclosed.

The intraoral illumination device and intraoral illumination adapter of the present invention have an advantage that the intraoral image can be taken at a low cost while using a general camera.
Illumination light from the light emitting element functions as a modeling lamp, that is, illumination from a position substantially the same as the illumination light source position at the time of photographing, and the illumination condition including the shadow of the subject can be confirmed with a viewfinder before photographing.
In addition, according to the present invention, the illumination light quantity suitable for close-up photography can be obtained by taking the illumination light of the strobe light emitter from one end of the light guide and emitting the illumination light from the other end of the light guide into the oral cavity. There is also an advantage of being able to.

Hereinafter, embodiments of an intraoral lighting device and an intraoral lighting adapter according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, the code | symbol 10 has shown the common camera marketed. The camera 10 has a photographing lens 12 and a light emitter 14. The camera 10 also has various operation members such as a shutter button and a lens barrier opening / closing button, but the depiction is omitted because it is not directly related to the present invention. The light emitter 14 is composed of a strobe light emitter, for example.

  An intraoral lighting device is attached to the camera 10. The configuration of the intraoral lighting device is as follows. The intraoral illumination device includes a light shielding plate 16, a light guide 20, an illumination light capturing unit 21, and an illumination light emitting unit 22. The light shielding plate 16 covers the front surface of the light emitter 14 of the camera 10 and shields the illumination light from the light emitter 14 from leaking outside.

  The light guide 20 is composed of, for example, a bundle of many optical fibers. The light guide 20 is configured as follows so that the illumination light of the strobe light emitter 14 is taken in from one end and transmitted, and the illumination light of the strobe light emitter 14 is emitted from the other end. One end 21 of the light guide 20 is held by the light shielding plate 16 that covers and shields the light emitting surface of the strobe light emitter 14 so that the end surface is exposed to the strobe light emitter 14 side. Therefore, the illumination light emitted from the strobe light emitter 14 is shielded by the light shielding plate 16 and is prevented from leaking outside the camera 10, and a part of the illumination light is taken into the light guide 20 from one end thereof. It has become.

  In the illustrated embodiment, four light guides 20 are used, and one end portion 21 of each light guide 20 is held by the light shielding plate 16 as described above. The other end 22 of each light guide 20 is arranged around the taking lens 12 of the camera 10 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The illumination light of the strobe light emitter 14 taken from one end surface of each light guide 20 is transmitted through each light guide 20 and emitted from the other end. The other end 22 of each light guide 20 is positioned so that the direction of the emitted light is substantially parallel to the optical axis of the photographic lens 12.

  The configuration of the other end 22 of each light guide 20 is shown in FIG. The other end 22 of each light guide 20 is arranged such that a plurality of optical fibers constituting each light guide 20 form a cylinder, and are solidified with an adhesive or the like. Thus, the light emitting element 24 is arrange | positioned inside the other end part 22 of each light guide 20 which makes | forms a cylindrical shape. The light emitting element 24 is an element that emits white light, for example, a white light emitting diode (LED), and the illumination light emitted from the light emitting element 24 is in substantially the same direction as the illumination light emitted from the other end 22 of the light guide 20. Thus, the light emitting element 24 is arranged. The light emitting element 24 is turned on by turning on a switch (not shown).

  Next, the usage method and operation of the embodiment described above will be described. The subject's mouth is opened, and the photographing lens 12 is brought close to the subject's mouth to aim in the oral cavity. At this time, the light emitting element 24 is turned on. If the mouth is larger than the outer diameter of the taking lens 12, the inside of the oral cavity is illuminated by the illumination light from the light emitting element 24. In the case of a digital camera, the intraoral image formed on the image sensor through the photographing lens 12 is displayed on the display, and the angle, location, composition, etc. to be photographed can be confirmed. Similarly, in the case of a single-lens reflex camera, the intraoral image can be confirmed through the viewfinder. In addition, the illumination light from the light emitting element functions as a modeling lamp, that is, the illumination is from almost the same position as the illumination light source position at the time of shooting, and the lighting condition including the shadow of the subject can be confirmed with the viewfinder before shooting. .

  Next, when the shutter button of the camera is pressed, the shutter opens and closes to perform a photographing operation, and the strobe light emitter 14 emits light in synchronization with the photographing operation. A part of the illumination light emitted from the strobe light emitter 14 is emitted from the other end via the light guide 20, and the oral cavity is illuminated in synchronization with the photographing operation. The illumination light is reflected by the oral cavity surface and enters the photographing lens, and an image in the oral cavity is imaged on the imaging element surface or the photosensitive film surface and photographed.

  In this way, photographing is performed in a state where the photographing lens 12 is extremely close to the oral cavity as a subject. If the strobe light emitter 14 of the camera emits light in such a state that it is so close to the oral cavity as a subject, the amount of light is usually excessive. In the case of a general camera, the illumination light from the strobe light emitter 14 cannot be irradiated into the oral cavity as described above. In that regard, if the intraoral illumination device according to the present invention described so far is used, the illumination light of the strobe light emitter 14 is irradiated from the position close to the photographing lens toward the oral cavity by the light guide 20. Therefore, if the subject's mouth is opened to an extent larger than the outer diameter of the taking lens, it is possible to take an image of the oral cavity. In addition, since the intraoral illumination device can be attached to an existing general camera, a dedicated imaging device for intraoral imaging is unnecessary, and the intraoral imaging can be performed at low cost.

  As mentioned above, although the most desirable embodiment as an intraoral lighting apparatus was described, even if it is not the structure similar to this embodiment, the objective of this invention can be achieved by comprising as follows.

  If the light quantity of the light emitting element 24 can be sufficiently secured, the light guide 20 that guides the illumination light of the light emitter 14 into the oral cavity is unnecessary. One means for ensuring a sufficient amount of light from the light emitting elements 24 is to increase the number of light emitting elements 24. Another means is to increase the voltage applied to the light emitting element 24. However, according to these means, the amount of power consumption increases and the consumption of the power source battery is accelerated. In other words, the power supply circuit for the light emitting element 24 is provided with a switch element that operates in synchronism with the shutter opening / closing operation of the camera and causes a large current to flow through the light emitting element 24 instantaneously. FIG. 3 shows a power supply circuit for the light emitting element 24. A resistor 26 is connected in series with the light emitting element 24, and power consumption is saved by always supplying power from the power source V to the light emitting element 24 via the resistor 26. The resistor 26 is connected in parallel with a switch 28 that closes instantaneously in synchronism with the shutter of the camera, for example, a sync switch of the camera. In this way, at the moment when the shutter is operated and shooting is performed, the resistor 26 is short-circuited by the switch 28, and a large current flows instantaneously through the light emitting element 24. A good intraoral image can be obtained by exposure. The instantaneous large current that flows through the light emitting element 24 is in a range that does not destroy the light emitting element 24.

  The intraoral lighting device may be configured as an intraoral lighting adapter that can be attached to the camera with one touch, for example. When configured as an adapter, each member constituting the intraoral lighting device such as the light guide 20, the light shielding plate 16, and the light emitting element 24 as shown in FIG. By doing so, each of the constituent members is positioned with a predetermined relative position with respect to the camera.

  The direction of the central axis of the illumination light emitted from the other end of the light guide does not necessarily need to be substantially parallel to the optical axis of the photographing lens. When a plurality of light guides are used, the directions of illumination light emitted from the light guides may intersect with each other, and therefore may intersect with the photographing lens optical axis.

As seen in recent digital cameras, as the camera itself becomes smaller and the diameter of the photographic lens advances, the illumination light emitting part of the present invention can also be gathered in a narrow range, and the mouth of the subject cannot be opened so much. Even in the oral cavity can be taken.
In the present invention, the “camera” includes any device having a camera function, such as a mobile phone with a camera. In addition to a still camera, a video camera that captures a moving image is included.

  The present invention is useful, for example, for various diagnosis, prevention, treatment, etc. of a subject's teeth by a dentist, or for various diagnosis, prevention, treatment, etc. of otolaryngology.

It is a perspective view which shows embodiment of the intraoral lighting device concerning this invention. (A) which shows the example of the light guide edge part of the said intraoral lighting apparatus is a longitudinal cross-sectional view, (b) is a front view. It is a circuit diagram showing an example of a power supply circuit to a light emitting element that can be used in the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Camera 12 Shooting lens 14 Strobe light emitter 16 Light-shielding plate 20 Light guide 24 Light emitting element

Claims (6)

A device for illuminating the oral cavity to image the oral cavity,
An intraoral illumination device, wherein a plurality of light emitting elements that emit illumination light toward the inside of an oral cavity, which is a subject, are arranged around a photographing lens.   The intraoral illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the power supply circuit for the light emitting element is provided with a switch element that operates in synchronization with a shutter opening / closing operation of the camera and causes a large current to flow instantaneously through the light emitting element. A device for illuminating the oral cavity to image the oral cavity,
A light emitting element that is arranged around the photographing lens and emits illumination light toward the subject's mouth,
It has a light guide made of an optical fiber that takes in and transmits the illumination light of the strobe light emitter from one end and emits the illumination light of the strobe light emitter from the other end,
The other end part of the said light guide is arrange | positioned so that an illumination light may be inject | emitted toward the intraoral area which is a to-be-photographed object with the said light emitting element.   The intraoral illumination device according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged around the photographing lens, and the other end portion of the light guide is arranged so as to surround each light emitting element from the outside.   5. The intraoral illumination device according to claim 3, wherein one end portion of the light guide is held with a light-shielding plate that covers and shields the light emitting surface of the strobe light emitter so that the end surface is exposed to the strobe light emitter side.   An intraoral illumination adapter in which the intraoral illumination device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is integrally assembled together with an attachment / detachment means for the camera.

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