KR101356708B1 - Multi-modal Confocal Endo-microscope for Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multi-modal confocal endoscope microscope for scar-free endoscopy, comprising a plurality of optical systems and photodetectors to scan the light emitted from the laser of various wavelengths, the light emitted from the light generator in a confocal manner Confocal microscopy unit for obtaining a two-dimensional image through synchronization, a coupling optical system for receiving the light emitted from the confocal microscope, the optical fiber bundle and the optical fiber bundle to receive and transmit the light transmitted through the coupling optical system Light emitted from is characterized in that it is configured to include a small probe.

Description

Multi-modal Confocal Endo-microscope for Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery}

The present invention relates to a multi-modal confocal endoscopy microscope for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery, NOTES, and more particularly, to obtaining a high resolution optical image for early diagnosis of residual lesions and endoscopic examination during surgery. A microconfocal endoscope microscope for NOTES that can be used.

A confocal microscope is a microscope having a resolution in the depth direction, and can obtain three-dimensional information of a specimen. As a non-invasive optical microscope, it is currently used in various fields in industrial and bio-imaging research.

Endoscopic microscopy is a microscopic microscope that can be inserted into the human body using a high-resolution microscopic objective lens in order to compensate for the disadvantage that the commonly used endoscopy equipment cannot be diagnosed at the cell level due to low resolution. It is the equipment to diagnose early.

The confocal endoscope means a high resolution endoscope capable of acquiring three-dimensional images by integrating the confocal function and the endoscope function described above.

Recently, due to the improvement of the quality of life and the development of medical technology, minimally invasive surgery that removes lesions without leaving a scar on the human body during surgery has become an important topic. Among these minimally invasive surgeries, the Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (Notes), which performs a procedure for organs in the human body using a multi-articulated robot, has been conducting various researches and developments. However, even with endoscopy, there is no endoscopy technique that can determine the boundary and disease presence in real time.

Meanwhile, Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) is an endoscopic surgical method that minimizes scarring in the human body after surgery by making minimal incisions during surgery. In recent years, a lot of research is being done and various surgical methods are emerging.

In general, scarless endoscopic surgery involves the insertion of surgical instruments into the human body through the mouth, incision of the stomach wall to create a passageway to the surgical site, and access of the surgical tool and microscope through the connected passages to the affected area.

However, in order to acquire confocal microscopy images in the NOTES operation, the human body structure has a length of more than 1 meter and a flexible structure, so that a function that can pass through a curved passage is essential and thus requires technical development.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to develop a confocal endoscope that can move along a curved path in the human body by integrating an ultra-small high-resolution objective lens with an optical fiber bundle and a confocal microscope, and diagnose the lesion in real time. .

The present invention for achieving the above object is composed of a plurality of optical systems and photodetectors to synchronize the light generation unit for emitting a laser of various wavelengths, the light emitted from the light generation unit in a confocal manner through synchronization A confocal microscope for acquiring a two-dimensional image, a coupling optical system for receiving the light emitted from the confocal microscope, an optical fiber bundle for receiving and transmitting the light transmitted through the coupling optical system, and a light emitted from the optical fiber bundle It is characterized by including a probe.

The light generating unit may include a light generating unit having three wavelengths in which both fluorescence and reflection images can be obtained.

In addition, the confocal microscope portion is characterized in that it comprises a wavelength filter is driven to selectively filter the light wavelength to enter the measurement unit and the galvano mirror is driven to scan the output light to the measurement object.

In addition, the optical fiber bundle is characterized in that it is configured to be inserted into the flexible over-tube.

In addition, the compact probe is characterized in that it is configured to be bonded by a sponge tube for protection from vibration and external force, a silicon tube applied to couple the sponge tube and the objective lens, and optical bonding for harmlessness in contact with the human body. .

In addition, the confocal microscope portion, characterized in that the quater wave plate and polarizing beam splitter for the reflection image acquisition.

In addition, the coupling optical system is configured to minimize the light loss between the confocal microscope portion and the optical fiber bundle.

In addition, the light generating unit is characterized in that the light generating unit having three wavelengths of 488 nm, 660 nm and 810 nm, respectively.

In addition, the coupling optical system is characterized by consisting of an objective lens having the same NA as NA of the optical fiber bundle.

In addition, the confocal microscope, characterized in that for transmitting the light reflected from the scanning mirror to the coupling optical system through the scan lens and the tube lens.

The present invention configured and operated as described above has the advantage of ensuring the stability of the surgery by performing minimal incisions during surgery by examining lesions in real time during Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NoteS). .

In addition, even if it is not used for NOTES surgery, by integrating with the general endoscope in real time to diagnose the tissue in the human body has the advantage that can be determined at the same time with the endoscopy without the conventional biopsy method of the disease of the rehabilitation.

Accordingly, the present invention has the advantage of leaving no scar after surgery on the human body by transferring the surgical tool and the endoscope microscope through the mouth using a hollow articulated robot, the ultra-small objective lens and flexible optical fiber bundle and multi-wavelength ball By incorporating a focus microscope and moving the surgical site along the path of the surgical robot using a flexible optical fiber and acquiring a high resolution image of the affected part, there is an effect of real-time examination of the presence of disease and lesions.

1 is a schematic diagram of a multimodal confocal endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a confocal endoscope at the time of Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery, NOTES according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the external structure of the endoscope probe for the probe of the endoscope to pass through the over-tube and prevent damage during insertion according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing in detail the principle of showing the characteristics of the confocal endoscope combined with the endoscope microscope confocal microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of a multi-modal confocal endoscope microscope for scarless endoscopy according to the present invention will be described in detail.

The multimodal confocal endoscope microscope for scarless endoscopy according to the present invention includes a light generation unit for emitting lasers of various wavelengths, and a plurality of optical systems and light detection units to scan light emitted from the light generation unit in a confocal manner. A confocal microscope unit configured to acquire a two-dimensional image through synchronization, a coupling optical system that receives the light emitted from the confocal microscope unit, an optical fiber bundle that receives and transmits the light transmitted through the coupling optical system, and the optical fiber bundle The light emitted is characterized by including a small probe.

The multi-modal confocal endoscope microscope according to the present invention acquires fluorescence and reflection images using a confocal microscope and a bundle of optical fibers, applies a flexible fiber bundle to be inserted into an over-tube during NOTES, and vibrates when inserting a tube. And to provide an endoscope that can protect the micro probe from external force there is a major technical gist thereof.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a confocal endoscope for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (Notes) according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in detail.

A confocal endoscope for scarless endoscopy according to the present invention is a confocal microscope that can simultaneously acquire fluorescence and reflection images of a specimen using three wavelengths of 488 nm, 660 nm and 810 nm, and an optical fiber bundle for image guide. It is characterized by the fabrication of a confocal endoscope for NOTES that can be inserted into the human body by combining it with an optical system designed and manufactured to minimize light loss and requesting a microscopic objective lens using a GRIN lens at one end of the optical fiber bundle.

1 is a schematic diagram of a confocal endoscope according to the present invention.

The present invention is largely composed of the confocal microscope 31, the optical fiber bundle 22 and the micro probe 23.

Light irradiated from the light generating unit 10, which is a laser of various wavelengths, passes through the optical system and is scanned using the galvano mirror 17, which passes through the scan lens 19 and the tube lens 20, and then combines the optical system 21. ) Is injected. The light scanned by the coupling optical system is transmitted to the micro probe 23 through the optical fiber 22 and irradiates the specimen, and the light reflected from the specimen passes through the micro probe 23 and the optical fiber 22 to the confocal microscope. Will come back. The reflected light is reflected back through the galvano mirror 17 to the optical detectors 11a to 11b and obtains a two-dimensional image of the specimen through synchronization between the signal measured by the optical detector and the galvano mirror 17.

The coupling optical system uses an objective lens having an NA equal to that of an optical fiber bundle in order to prevent loss of the irradiated light passing through the optical fiber. Coupling optics used for confocal endoscopy are characterized by scanning optical fiber bundles with a scanning microscope, which minimizes the loss of light when light is applied to each bundle. It is the use of coupled optical systems.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram conceptually showing an example of using a confocal endoscope according to the present invention for a scarless endoscopy operation. The optical fiber bundle portion of FIG. 1 has a flexible structure, so that the radius of curvature can be inserted into the curved over-tube (30).

Confocal endoscopy according to the present invention is to guide the micro probe (23) to the surgical site and the affected area through the Over-tube for NOTES to obtain a high resolution image of the specimen.

FIG. 3 is a simplified structural diagram showing a method for protecting a micro probe to prevent the micro optical probe 23 from being broken while passing through the over-tube of NOTES. In order to protect the micro probe using the silicon tube 32 and to protect the probe from vibration and external force generated when passing through the over-tube, the sponge tube 33 is used to wrap the outer shell of the probe. do. In addition, as a method for bonding the tubes described above, optical bonding with excellent instantaneous adhesion was used.

4 is a schematic diagram for explaining how an endoscope microscope using a microscopic optical probe and an optical fiber bundle has confocal characteristics. Light reflected or emitted at different depths of the specimen (S) causes light to form at one point of the optical fiber bundle 22 in the case of light originating from the focal point, but light emitted outside the focal plane is applied to the entire image guide area of the optical fiber. Light will be concentrated over. The condensed light passes through the core in the fiber bundle and transmits the light to the confocal microscope on the opposite side. The transmitted light is detected by the optical detector 11c while passing through the confocal microscope, and only the light starting from one core has the characteristic of a confocal microscope that finally detects only the light starting from the focal plane.

Confocal endoscope for NOTES according to the present invention configured as described above can be configured as a simple system and freely accessible to the human body during surgery, and diagnose the disease in real time through the endoscope function or determine the presence of lesions during surgery It has the advantage of being useful.

The foregoing has been described and illustrated with reference to preferred embodiments for illustrating the principles of the invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and operation as shown and described as such. On the contrary, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. And all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of the present invention are therefore to be regarded as being within the scope of the present invention.

10: light generating unit
11a ~ 11c: optical measuring part
12: collimating lens
13: beam combiner
14: wavelength filter
15: Quater wave plate
16a-16b: dichroic mirror
17: scanning mirror
18: polarized beam splitter
19: Scan lens
20: tube lens
21: coupling optical system
22: optical fiber bundle
23: micro probe
30: Over-tube for NOTES procedure
31: confocal microscope
32: silicone tube
33: sponge tube
34: optical glue
35a to 35b: objective lens
37: pinhole
S: Psalm

Claims (10)

Light generating unit for emitting a laser of various wavelengths;
A confocal microscope comprising a plurality of optical systems and a photodetector configured to scan light emitted from the light generator in a confocal manner to obtain a two-dimensional image through synchronization;
A coupling optical system that receives light emitted from the confocal microscope;
An optical fiber bundle that receives and transmits light transmitted through the coupling optical system; And
And a small probe for emitting light emitted from the optical fiber bundle.
The small probe,
Sponge tubes for protection from vibration and external forces;
A silicon tube applied to couple the sponge tube and the objective lens; And
It is configured to be bonded by optical bonding for harmlessness to human body contact,
The light generation unit is composed of a light generation unit having three wavelengths that can acquire both fluorescence and reflection images,
And the confocal microscope portion selectively filters a wavelength of light and is driven to scan the output light to a measurement object and a galvano mirror driven to scan the output light to a measurement object.
The confocal microscope unit transmits the light reflected from the scanning mirror to the coupling optical system through the scan lens and the tube lens, and further includes a quater wave plate and a polarizing beam splitter for obtaining a reflected image.
The coupling optical system is a multi-modal confocal endoscope microscope for scar-free endoscope surgery consisting of an objective lens having the same NA as the NA of the optical fiber bundle. delete delete The method of claim 1, wherein the optical fiber bundle,
Multimodal confocal endoscope microscope for scarless endoscopy surgery configured to be inserted into a flexible over-tube. delete delete The method of claim 1,
A multimodal confocal endoscope microscope for scarless endoscopy surgery, wherein a combined optical system is configured to minimize light loss between the confocal microscope unit and the optical fiber bundle. The method of claim 1, wherein the light generating unit,
A multimodal confocal endoscope microscope for a scarless endoscopy operation, each of which consists of a photogenerator having three wavelengths of 488 nm, 660 nm and 810 nm. delete delete

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