JP2539887B2 - Root canal endoscope - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a root canal endoscope used in the field of dentistry such as diagnosis during caries treatment, and particularly to not only a root canal and a pocket but also an oral cavity. The present invention relates to a root canal endoscope that can be viewed.

[Conventional technology]

Examples of conventional root canal endoscopes include, for example, Shokai Sho 61-190518.
There is something shown in the issue. This root canal endoscope includes a main body having an objective lens, an image fiber and a light guide, a transmission unit having a lamp for emitting light to the light guide of the main body and an image sensor for reading an image transmitted by the image fiber. It is configured with. During endoscopic viewing, the lamp is turned on and the illumination light is emitted from the light guide.
The image formed by the objective lens is transmitted by an image fiber and read by an image sensor, and this image is projected on a monitor television or the like.

On the other hand, when diagnosing periodontal disease or the like, it is necessary to observe the inside of the oral cavity, and an oral endoscope including an objective lens, a light guide, an image sensor and the like is separately used.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

As described above, the conventional root canal endoscope has a single function only for observing the inside of the root canal, and cannot be applied to oral endoscopy. This is because the focal length of the objective lens that forms an image on the image sensor is different between endoscopic and endoscopic views, so it is necessary to use multiple sets of lenses. This is because the instrument becomes large and the operability deteriorates when a focus adjustment mechanism is incorporated. In addition, the oral cavity is extremely wide with respect to the root canal,
This is because the illumination illuminance required for observation is extremely different between the two. That is, when the illumination of the root canal endoscopy is applied to the oral cavity endoscopy, the illuminance becomes insufficient, and the illuminance becomes excessive when the illumination of the endoscopic endoscopy is applied to the root canal endoscopy to deteriorate the image. From the above, endoscopic endoscopy and endoscopic endoscopy are performed with dedicated endoscopes, respectively, which increases the burden on the doctor who prepares them.

Therefore, the present invention provides a versatile root canal endoscope that can be applied not only to root canal endoscopy but also to oral endoscopy, and is provided for the convenience of use by a dentist.

[Means for solving the problem]

In the root canal endoscope according to the present invention, a mechanism as an oral endoscope is incorporated in a transmission part to which a main body part is attached, and it is possible to switch between root canal endoscopic view and oral endoscopic view. Therefore, the root canal endoscope according to the present invention includes an objective lens, an image fiber for transmitting an image formed by the objective lens,
A main body having a light guide for emitting light into the root canal,
An image sensor for reading the image transmitted by the image fiber, and a transmission part having a cable for transmitting the output signal of the image sensor and having the main body part detachably attached in the axial direction at the tip are provided in the transmission part. Is equipped with an objective lens for forming an image on an image sensor and a light guide for emitting light from the tip, and is characterized by performing an intraoral view with the main body removed.

[Action]

Since the root canal endoscope according to the present invention is configured as described above, it functions as a root canal endoscope in the connected state of the main body and the transmission section, and the oral cavity when the main body is removed from the transmission section. Functions as an endoscope.

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 17 of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the basic structure of a root canal endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention. A guide lens 3 and a transmission section 4 are provided in the optical axis direction on the rear side (right side) of the main body section 2 that gives an internal view of the root canal. As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 2 and the rear view of FIG. 3, the main body 2 has a body 20 having an umbrella-shaped side surface.
The outer shape is formed by the protective pipe 21 extending from the front end surface of the body 20, and the image fiber 22 is axially inserted into the body 20 and the protective pipe 21. Also,
An objective lens 23 that forms an image of the inside of the root canal on the end surface of the image fiber 22 is fitted into the tip of the protection pipe 21. The image fiber 22 transmits the image formed by the objective lens 23.

Further, a first light guide 24 made of an optical fiber or the like is inserted into the body 20 and the protection pipe 21. The light guide 24 is vertically branched inside the body 20, and is inserted into the protective pipe 21 so as to sandwich the objective lens 23 from above and below. The light guide 24 will be described later (11th
The light source 8 is connected to the light source 8 via the transmission unit 4 shown in FIG. 1) to transmit the light from the light source 8 and emit the light from the tip to illuminate the inside of the root canal. At the rear end of the body 20, a female screw 25 for connection with the transmission part 4 is formed, and at least two positioning pins 26 for positioning with the transmission part 4 are formed to project.

As will be described later (FIG. 8), the diagnostic probe 28 is replaceably attached to the tip of the main body 2, and the tip of the diagnostic probe 28 is inserted into the root canal of the tooth so that It is to see. In this case, the diagnostic probe 28 is provided with a protective coating, and a plurality of diagnostic probes 28 having various bending angles are prepared so as to correspond to the bending degree of the root canal. Further, a plurality of devices having various optical systems (objective lenses, image fibers, etc.) are prepared so as to be able to appropriately respond to the range of the visual field required for the purpose of observation. The outer shape and the optical system corresponding to such an observation purpose will be described later with reference to FIGS. 12 to 17.

The guide lens 3 is attached to the rear end surface of the body 20 of the main body 2 as shown in FIG. The guide lens 3 is fitted into a cylindrical lens holder 30, the lens holder 30 is screwed into a disc-shaped adjustment knob 31, and the adjustment knob 31 is fixed to the body 20 by a mounting screw 32. Is attached to. The guide lens 3 serves to guide the image transmitted from the image fiber 22 of the main body 2 to the objective lens 43 of the transmission unit 4 described later (FIG. 5). Therefore, the guide lens 3 is attached so as to be located on the same axis as the image fiber 22 of the main body 2.

FIG. 4 shows the mounting structure of the guide lens 3. As shown in the figure, the guide lens 3 is fixed in the lens holder 30 by a lens retainer 33. Further, the lens holder 30 and the adjustment knob 31 are screwed together by a screw portion 34. Further, the adjustment knob 31 is formed with an adjustment hole 35 having a larger diameter than the mounting screw 32 and into which the mounting screw 32 is loosely inserted. In such a structure, the guide lens 3 is fixed by tightening the mounting screw 32 and fixing the adjustment knob 31.
Is fixed, but when the mounting screw 32 is loosened, the adjustment knob 31
Can be moved to some extent along the rear end surface of the body 20, and the optical axis of the guide lens 3 can be made to coincide with the optical axis of the objective lens 43 of the transmission section 4 by moving the adjustment knob 31. You can Further, the lens holder 30 can be rotated with respect to the adjustment knob 31 fixed by the mounting screw 32, and this rotation causes the lens holder 30 to reciprocate in the optical axis direction, so that the focus adjustment of the guide lens 3 is also possible. Has become.

As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 and the front view of FIG. 6, the transmission unit 4 includes a substantially cylindrical body 40 having an open front end surface, a holder 41 fitted in the body 40, and a holder 41. It is provided with an objective lens 43 and an image sensor 44 which are arranged. In this case, the objective lens 43 and the image sensor 44 are provided on the same axis, and the image sensor 44 is located at the image forming point of the objective lens 43. A photoelectric conversion element such as a solid-state image sensor (CCD) can be used as the image sensor 44, and an image formed by the objective lens 43 is photoelectrically converted to a monitor television 7 described later.
And so on. Therefore, the cable 45 that transmits the output signal is connected to the image sensor 44. The objective lens 43 is fixed in the holder 41 by a lens presser 49.

The body portion 2 of FIGS. 2 and 3 is detachably attached to the tip of the transmission portion 4 as described above. Therefore, the body thread 40 is screwed into the female screw 25 of the body portion 2 at the tip of the body 40. A male screw 46 is formed. Further, a positioning hole 47 into which the positioning pin 26 of the main body 2 is inserted is formed at a predetermined position on the tip of the body 40. Further, a second light guide 48 is axially inserted in the body 40 of the transmission unit 4. The light guide 48 is provided so as to be located below the objective lens 43, and its tip reaches the tip surface of the body 40, and emits light from this tip.

As described above, the structure including the objective lens 43 and the light guide 48 is the same as that of the main body portion 2.
Since the tip of the body 40 to which the light guide 48 and the light guide 48 are attached is open, the transmission unit 4 can independently view the oral cavity. That is, the objective lens 43 forms an image of the inside of the mouth on the image sensor 44 by the illumination emitted from the light guide 48, and the image sensor 44 transmits this image to the monitor TV 7 or the like by the cable 45, and the image of the monitor TV 7 is displayed. It is possible to observe the oral cavity with the images. In this intraoral view, since the image sensor 44 is housed in the double-tube structure composed of the body 40 and the holder 41, the leak light is completely blocked,
The image sensor 44 can read an image only by reflected light.

The first light guide 24 of the main body 2 is optically coupled to the second light guide 48 of the transmission unit 4 as shown in FIG. 7, so that the light guides 24 and 48 penetrate the bodies 20 and 40. It will be equivalent to the one provided. For this reason, the above-described structure can be effectively prevented from leaking light from the connecting portion between the body 20 and the body 40, but both the rear end surface of the body 20 of the main body portion 2 and the front end surface of the transmission portion 4 are The non-reflective coating treatment makes it possible to further prevent leakage light.

The light guide 48 that penetrates the body 40 of the transmission unit 4
Is also the emitting end of the intraoral illumination during intraoral viewing, and the transmission unit 4 has two separate light guides 4 as shown in FIG.
8'is also provided. Therefore, since two light guides 48 'contribute to the illumination in addition to the light guide 48 during intraoral viewing, the illuminance can be sufficiently maintained.

Next, a method of using the endoscope according to the above embodiment will be described.

FIG. 11 is an overall configuration diagram in use, in which the main body portion 2 is attached to the tip of the transmission portion 4 to form the root canal endoscope 1. The cable 45 of the transmission unit 4 is inserted into the transmission pipe 9, and is connected to the control unit 6 via the branch box 5, and the control unit 6 is connected to the monitor television 7. On the other hand, the light guides 48, 48 ′ are also inserted in the transmission tube 9 and connected to the light source 8 via the branch box 5. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the connector 10 connected to the control unit 6 is attached to the rear end of the cable 45, and the light source 8 is attached to the rear end of the light guide 48, 48 '. A plug 11 to be connected is attached.

When the root canal A is viewed, the body portion 2 is attached to the tip of the transmission portion 4 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11. FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of such an attached state, in which the guide lens 3 (fixed in the lens holder 30) is located between the image fiber 22 of the main body 2 and the objective lens 43 of the transmission unit 4. . In such attachment, the adjustment knob 31 is slid to align the optical axes of the guide lens 3 and the objective lens 43, and the lens holder 30 is rotated with respect to the adjustment knob 31 to adjust the focus of the guide lens 3. This allows
The image formed by the objective lens 23 of the main body 2 and transmitted by the image fiber 22 is a guide lens 3 and a transmission unit 4.
The image can be read by the image sensor 44 through the objective lens 43, and can be displayed on the monitor TV 7.

On the other hand, when the mouth B is viewed, the transmitter 4 is inserted into the mouth B with the main body 2 removed as shown in FIG. Three light guides that emit light in the transmission unit 4
48, 48 ', since the objective lens 43 for forming an image is provided, the image is read by the image sensor 44,
It can be displayed on the monitor TV 7. Therefore, not only root canal endoscopy but also oral endoscopy can be performed with a single instrument.

As shown in FIG. 12, the main body 2 has a connecting pipe.
You may make it provide 100. This is a protective pipe 21
This is to prevent the objective lens 23 and the image fiber 22 from being displaced when the tip is hit by a hard tooth when it is inserted into the root canal. By this connecting pipe 100, the image fiber 22 and the objective lens 23 are fixed without axial misalignment.

13 to 17 show examples in which the optical system and the outer shape are changed according to the purpose of observation.

To observe the inside of the root canal, as shown in Fig. 13 (a),
A fixed pipe 101 may be attached to the protection pipe 21, and a mirror member 102 having a reflection surface at 45 ° with respect to the optical axis may be provided on the fixed pipe 101. In this way, the observation direction appears downward. In addition, as shown in FIG. 13 (b), the image fiber 22
The connection pipe 100 may be provided at the tip of the, and the fisheye lens 103 may be provided here. In this way, the field of view can be expanded by 180 °.

As shown in FIG. 14, the visual fields may be made different by providing objective lenses 23 having different viewing angles. FIG. 14 (a) is an example when the viewing angle of the objective lens 23 is increased, and FIG. 14 (b) is an example when it is decreased.
Further, when the image fiber 22 having a large number of pixels and a large diameter is used, or when the objective lens 23 having a large diameter is used, it may be thickened as shown in FIG. By doing so, it is possible to observe a portion that cannot be observed only by the ordinary transmission unit 2 even in the oral cavity.

FIG. 16 shows an example in which the shape of the diagnostic probe 28 is changed.
FIG. 16 (a) shows an example in which the diagnostic probe 28 is bent at about 45-60 °, and FIG. 16 (b) shows an example at which it is bent at about 90 °. In the case of FIG. 5A, the bending angle may be reduced, and for example, it is used for observation of the periodontal and root canal. In the case of FIG. 6B, the one having a large bending angle can be used for observation, for example, on the back side of the tooth, the back tooth, or the inside of the root canal. The tip portion 27 of the diagnostic probe 28 may be bendable as shown in FIG. In the same figure (a), the tip portion 27 is made of a flexible material such as a Teflon tube or a nylon tube, and is inserted into the root canal 109 in which the tooth 108 is bent as shown in the figure (b). It

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, since the objective lens and the light guide are provided in the transmission unit that transmits the image from the main body for endoscopic root canal endoscopic observation, Then, the transmission section can perform an endoscopic view of the mouth while the main body is removed, and both endoscopy can be performed by a single instrument. Further, by preparing a plurality of main bodies having an optical system and an outer shape according to the purpose of observation, the convenience of use can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the basic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention,
2 and 3 are a sectional view and a rear view showing the main body portion, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the mounting structure of the guide lens.
5 and 6 are a sectional view and a front view showing the transmission section, FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an assembled state of the main body section and the transmission section, and FIG. 8 is a side view showing an outer appearance of the main body section. Figure, No. 9
The figure is a side view showing the state of performing endoscopic view of the root canal.
A side view showing a state of performing an intraoral view, FIG. 11 is a side view of the entire configuration, FIG. 12 is a view for explaining a structure provided with a connecting pipe, and FIGS. 13 to 17 correspond to an observation purpose. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram when the outer shape or the optical system is changed by the above method. 1 ... Root canal endoscope, 2 ... main body, 3 ... guide lens, 4 ... transmission unit, 23,46 ... objective lens, 22 ... image fiber, 24 ... first light guide, 48,48 '...
… Second light guide, 44 …… Image sensor, 45 ……
cable.

Front page continued (72) Inventor Kenzo Ueshima 680 Higashihamanancho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture Morita Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (72) Shinichi Nishimoto 680 Higashihamanancho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto City Kyoto Prefecture ) Reference JP-A-63-267329 (JP, A) JP-A-62-246347 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An objective lens, an image fiber for transmitting an image formed by the objective lens, a main body having a first light guide for emitting light into a root canal, and the image fiber for transmitting the light. An image sensor for reading an image, a cable for transmitting an output signal of the image sensor, and a transmission unit to which the main body is detachably attached in the axial direction at the tip, and the image is provided in the transmission unit. A root canal endoscope which is provided with an objective lens for forming an image on a sensor and a second light guide for emitting light from a tip thereof, and performs oral endoscopy with the main body section removed. 2. A guide lens for guiding an image transmitted from an image fiber of the main body to an objective lens of the transmission unit, so that an optical axis adjustment and a focus adjustment can be performed between the image fiber and the objective lens of the transmission unit. The root canal endoscope according to claim 1, which is provided. 3. The main body section has an optical system corresponding to an observation purpose, or comprises a plurality of main body sections having a plurality of outer shapes corresponding to the observation purpose, and these are attached to and detached from the transmission section to be converted. The root canal endoscope according to claim 1.