JP3283128B2 - Fluorescence observation 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 a fluorescence observation apparatus for irradiating an object to be inspected with excitation light and diagnosing a diseased part based on fluorescence emitted from the object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, autofluorescence from a living body or a drug is injected into a living body using an endoscope or the like, and the fluorescence of the drug is detected as a two-dimensional image. There is a technique for diagnosing a disease state (eg, disease type and invasion range).

When a living tissue is irradiated with light, fluorescent light having a wavelength longer than that of the excitation light is generated. Examples of a fluorescent substance in a living body include NADH (nicotinamide adenine nucleotide), FMN (flavin mononucleotide), and pyridine nucleotide. Recently, the correlation between such endogenous substances and diseases has become clear. In addition, HpD (hematoporphyrin), Photofri
n, ALA (δ-amino levulinic a
cid) has an accumulation property in cancer, and can be diagnosed at the diseased site by injecting it into a living body and observing the fluorescence of the substance.

[0004] Since such fluorescence is extremely weak, an extremely sensitive photographing is required for its observation. An image intensifier is well known for performing this high-sensitivity photographing.

On the other hand, in fluorescence observation using an endoscope,
In addition to the fluorescent image, observation of a normal screen is also important in performing orientation and the like. Conventionally, to capture both a fluorescent image and a normal image, multiple cameras are used,
The same camera was shot in a time-sharing manner.

[0006]

However, in a conventional fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus for performing fluorescence observation using an endoscope, observation is performed while manually switching between a normal observation image and a fluorescence image. While guiding the insertion section of the endoscope into the body cavity based on the observation image , cut off the normal observation image and the fluorescence image as needed.
Must be carried out Rikae, working this switching is complicated, also, incorrect timing of switching, there is a problem miss disease site.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and simplifies the switching between a normal observation image and a fluorescent image with a simple structure, and enables a fluorescent image to reliably detect a diseased site. It is an object of the present invention to provide an observation endoscope device.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a normal light supply means for generating normal illumination light for normal observation of a subject; Excitation light supply means for generating excitation light for fluorescence observation of the sample, switching means for continuously and time- switching the normal illumination light and the excitation light to irradiate the subject, the normal illumination light and An imaging unit having an imaging element capable of imaging the subject image illuminated with the excitation light,
Observation image generation means for generating a normal image based on an output signal of the imaging device imaged by the normal illumination light,
Based on an output signal of the imaging device imaged by the excitation light, a fluorescence image generating unit that generates a fluorescence image, and detects fluorescence intensity information of a predetermined wavelength in the fluorescence image ,
Based on this detection result, the observation site of the subject
And a light amount detecting means for outputting an identification signal indicating whether or not the normal image obtained by the observation image generating means or the fluorescent light image generating means based on the identification signal output by the light amount detecting means. Selecting means for selecting a fluorescent image and outputting the selected image to a display for displaying the subject image.

[0009]

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

FIGS. 1 and 2 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus, and FIG. 2 is an excitation light by the fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus of FIG. FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram showing a fluorescence characteristic of a tissue in a body cavity when irradiated with λ0.

The fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus of the first embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope 1 which is inserted into a body cavity to obtain a normal observation image and a fluorescence observation image of an observation site such as a diseased site, and a white color for normal observation via the first adapter 2 on the endoscope 1 A normal illumination light source 3 for supplying light and excitation light λ 0 (for example, 350 n
laser m to 500 nm light) (e.g. an excimer laser, krypton laser, the He-Cd laser, a fluorescent laser device 4 for supplying a dye laser), normal illumination light source 3
A normal TV camera 6 that captures a normal observation image obtained by the endoscope 1 with white light from the lamp 3a via the second adapter 5, and an excitation light λ0 from the fluorescent laser device 4 And a CCU (camera control camera) for performing signal processing on a normal observation image pickup signal picked up by the normal TV camera 6 to generate a normal image. Unit) 8
And a fluorescent image processing apparatus 9 for processing a fluorescent image signal captured by the fluorescent image capturing camera 7 to generate a fluorescent image
A video switching controller 10 for detecting the amount of fluorescent light having a longer wavelength than the excitation light of the fluorescent image signal processed by the fluorescent image processing device 9 to identify a diseased part, and a video switching controller 10 for inputting a normal image and a fluorescent image A video switcher 11 for outputting a normal image or a fluorescent image according to an identification signal from
And a monitor 12 for displaying an output image from the monitor 1.

The first adapter 2 drives a movable mirror 14 with a driver 13 so that the white light from the lamp 3 a of the normal illumination light source 3 and the excitation light λ from the fluorescent laser device 4 are emitted.
0 (in FIG. 1, the position of the movable mirror 14 in the case of white light is a solid line, and the movable mirror 1 is in the case of excitation light λ 0.
The position 4 is indicated by a broken line), and the light is guided to a light guide 15 inserted through the endoscope 1. The light guide 15 transmits light from the first adapter 2 to the distal end of the endoscope 1 and irradiates the distal end forward. The return light from the observation site by the irradiated light is transmitted to the eyepiece 17 of the endoscope 1 as an observation image (normal observation image or fluorescence observation image) by the image guide 16 inserted through the endoscope 1.

The second adapter 5 is detachably connected to the eyepiece 17 , and the second adapter 5 switches between a normal observation image and a fluorescence observation image by driving a movable mirror 19 with a driver 18. Movable mirror 1 for normal observation image
9 is a solid line, and the position of the movable mirror 19 in the case of a fluorescence observation image is a broken line).
The observation image is guided to the fluorescent image imaging camera 7. Normal TV camera 6
Then, the normal observation image is taken by the built-in CCD 20,
The normal observation imaging signal is transmitted to the CCU 8.

In the fluorescent image capturing camera 7, the fluorescent observation image is optically amplified by an image intensifier (II) 22 through a rotating filter 21 and captured by a CCD 23, and a fluorescent image signal is transmitted to a fluorescent image processing device 9. Transmit.

FIG. 2 shows the fluorescence characteristics when the excitation light λ 0 is irradiated. For example, the fluorescence of the tissue obtained with the excitation light λ0 of 442 nm is strong at a normal site, and weaker at a lesion at a shorter wavelength than normal. In other words, in the figure, the ratio of the fluorescence intensity is different between λ1, λ2 and the normal and the lesion, so that the lesion can be distinguished from the normal by calculating the ratio of λ1, λ2. For this reason, the fluorescent images of λ1 and λ2 are separated by the rotary filter 21 and imaged by the CCD 22.

In FIG. 1, the movable mirror 14,
Reference numeral 19 is driven by the drivers 13 and 18 in synchronization with the timing controller 25, and the drive timing of the motor 24 for rotatingly driving the rotary filter 21 is also controlled by the timing controller 25.

The video switcher 11 outputs a normal image or a fluorescent image according to the identification signal. The normal image or the fluorescent image can be switched by the foot switch 26.

As described above, according to the fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus of the first embodiment, the video switching controller 10 determines the ratio of λ 1, λ 2 to discriminate between lesion and normal.
Since the video switcher 11 outputs a normal image or a fluorescent image according to the identification signal from the video switching controller 10 and displays the output image on the monitor 12, switching between the normal observation image and the fluorescent image is automatically performed, and Disease sites can be reliably detected by the fluorescent image.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. 3 to 5 relate to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a modification of the laser probe of FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating laser irradiation, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating supply of a treatment laser to a laser probe according to a modified example of the first adapter in FIG. 3. Since the second embodiment is almost the same as the first embodiment, only different configurations will be described, and the same configurations will be assigned the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the second embodiment, a laser probe 32 is inserted into a treatment instrument channel 31 of the endoscope 1. The laser probe 32 has a first
The first adapter 33 is detachably connected to the adapter 33. The first adapter 33 separates the excitation light from the fluorescent laser device into two light beams by the beam splitter 34, and one of the light beams to the laser probe 32 and the other to the light guide 15. It is designed to guide light. The two light beams are supplied to the laser probe 32 and the light guide 15 by switching between white light and the driver 14 by the movable mirror 14 similarly to the excitation light of the first embodiment. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

With this configuration, in the second embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the tip of the laser probe 32 inserted into the treatment instrument channel 31 is made to protrude from the tip of the endoscope 1. Accordingly, the fluorescence observation region can be enlarged, and the vicinity of the endoscope end and the region far from the endoscope can be simultaneously observed, so that the diseased part can be more reliably detected. Although not shown in FIG.
As with the excitation light, the white light from
To guide light to both the light guide 15 and the light guide 15.
In this case, you can usually enlarge the observation area
it can.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG.
By providing a condensing lens 35 having a short focal length at the tip of No. 2, fluorescence observation over a wide range as shown in FIG. 4A is performed, and when a diseased part of the living tissue 36 is detected, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the laser ablation treatment can be performed immediately by bringing the tip of the laser probe 32 closer to the diseased part. Also, as a method of performing laser ablation treatment,
As shown in FIG. 5, the movable mirror 37 is attached to the first adapter 33.
May be configured so that the laser light from the therapeutic laser device 38 is switched and supplied to the laser probe 32. The switching timing is determined when the fluorescent laser device 4 detects a diseased part. This is controlled by the driver 14 so as to be performed. In this case, the excitation light from the fluorescence laser device 4 is incident on the laser probe 32. A to increase the N.A. By making A smaller, the emission angle of the excitation light becomes larger, the observation area becomes wider, and the emission angle of the therapeutic laser becomes smaller, so that a laser with a large power density can be irradiated to the diseased part.

Next, a third embodiment will be described. 6 to 8 relate to a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a fluorescence observation endoscope device, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a fluorescence light amount detection device of FIG. FIG. 8 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the fluorescence light amount detection device of FIG. Since the third embodiment is almost the same as the first embodiment, only different configurations will be described, and the same configurations will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, a beam splitter 41 for separating a fluorescent image is provided between the second adapter 5 and the fluorescent image capturing camera 7, and the amount of fluorescent light of the fluorescent image separated by the beam splitter 41 is determined by the amount of fluorescent light. By detecting with the detection device 42, the display image is controlled by the image display control device 43 instead of the video switcher 11 of the first embodiment based on the amount of fluorescent light.

As shown in FIG. 7, the fluorescent light amount detecting device 42 divides the fluorescent image into two wavelength bands λ1 and λ2 by a dichroic mirror 45, and outputs a high-sensitivity photodiode (A
PD) 46 and 47 sample and hold circuits (S / H) 48 and 49 by using the amounts of fluorescent light in the two wavelength bands λ 1 and λ 2 respectively.
Sampling at Sampled wavelength band λ1
, .Lambda.2 are calculated by the arithmetic circuit 50, and it is determined whether or not the fluorescent light amount indicates a lesion.
The timing controller 25 and the image display control device are controlled.

When the fluorescent light amount detecting device 42 does not detect the fluorescent light amount indicating the lesion, the fluorescent light amount detecting device 42 transmits the white light from the normal observation light source 3 to the timing controller 25 as shown in FIG. Is controlled so that the irradiation period of the excitation light from the fluorescence laser device 4 is shortened as shown in FIG. As a result, when there is no lesion, an observation image having sufficient brightness can be obtained,
Endoscope insertion procedures and the like are facilitated. When the fluorescent light amount indicating the lesion is detected, the timing controller 2
As shown in FIG. 8C, the normal observation light source 3
8D, the irradiation period of the excitation light from the fluorescence laser device 4 is controlled to be long, as shown in FIG. As a result, when there is a lesion, a fluorescent image with sufficient brightness can be obtained, and diagnosis of the lesion can be facilitated.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. 9 and 10 relate to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus, and FIG.
FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a modified example of the fluorescence observation endoscope device of FIG. Since the fourth embodiment is almost the same as the first embodiment, only different configurations will be described, and the same configurations will be assigned the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

In the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, an endoscope 61 is provided with a fluorescent image guide 62 separately from the image guide 16. Then, in the second adapter 63 which receives the images from the image guide 16 and the fluorescent image guide 62, the image from the image guide 16 is captured by the normal TV camera 6 via the slide switch 64 and the mirror 65, and the fluorescent image guide The image from 62 is captured by the fluorescent image capturing camera 7 via the slide switch 64. The slide switch 64 switches the image between the image from the image guide 16 and the image from the fluorescent image guide 62 by the driver 18 so that the normal TV is used.
The signal is transmitted to the camera 6 and the fluorescent image capturing camera 7, and the switching timing is the same as the switching timing of the movable mirror 19 in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, a simple configuration can be achieved without providing means for separating a normal observation image and a fluorescent image.

In the fourth embodiment, the image from the image guide 16 is picked up by the normal TV camera 6 via the slide switch 64 and the mirror 65. However, as shown in FIG. May be configured so as to capture a normal observation image.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the CCD 20 of the TV camera 6 is normally imaged based on white light. However, the CCD 20 is a CCD that captures a color image by providing a color mosaic filter on the incident surface. Can be. Further, by providing a color filter that separates white light into R, G, and B, a normal TV camera that captures a color image may be used, or the normal illumination light source 36 may sequentially supply R, G, and B illumination light. A normal TV camera that captures a color image by synchronizing with the supply timing may be used.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the observation image or the fluorescent image is selected by the selecting device based on the output of the light amount detecting device, so that the normal observation image and the fluorescent image can be obtained with a simple configuration. This makes it possible to simplify the switching and to surely detect the diseased part by the fluorescent image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing a fluorescence characteristic of a tissue in a body cavity when the fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus of FIG. 1 is irradiated with excitation light λ0.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating irradiation of a treatment laser to a lesion by a modified example of the laser probe of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating supply of a treatment laser to a laser probe according to a modified example of the first adapter of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the fluorescence light amount detection device in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the fluorescence light amount detection device of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a modified example of the fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus of FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope 2 ... 1st adapter 3 ... Normal illumination light source 4 ... Fluorescence laser device 5 ... 2nd adapter 6 ... Normal TV camera 7 ... Fluorescence image imaging camera 8 ... CCU 9 ... Fluorescence image processing device 10 ... Video switching Controller 11 Video switcher 12 Monitors 13 and 18 Drivers 14 and 19 Movable mirror 15 Light guide 16 Image guides 20 and 23 CCD 21 Rotary filter 22 I. I25 ... Timing controller

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masaya Yoshihara 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside O-Limpus Optics Co., Ltd. (72) Katsuya Suzuki 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Ueda 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O-limpus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-2-213362 (JP, A) (58) ) Surveyed field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 1/00-1/32

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A normal light supply unit for generating normal illumination light for normal observation of an object, an excitation light supply unit for generating excitation light for fluorescence observation of the object, and irradiating the object. Switching means for continuously switching the normal illumination light and the excitation light in a time-sharing manner; and an imaging unit having an imaging element capable of imaging the subject image illuminated with the normal illumination light and the excitation light. Observation image generation means for generating a normal image based on an output signal of the imaging device captured by the normal illumination light, and fluorescence image generation for generating a fluorescence image based on an output signal of the imaging device captured by the excitation light Means for detecting fluorescence intensity information of a predetermined wavelength in the fluorescence image
Then, based on this detection result, the observation site of the subject
A light amount detection unit that outputs an identification signal indicating whether or not the image is a strange part; and a normal image or a fluorescence image generation unit that is obtained by the observation image generation unit based on the identification signal output by the light amount detection unit. Selecting means for selecting the obtained fluorescence image and outputting the selected image on a display for displaying the subject image. A fluorescence observation endoscope apparatus, comprising: