CN114271766A - Endoscope device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of endoscopes, and provides an endoscope device, which comprises: a light exit system for emitting a plurality of kinds of narrow-band light within a single period of time; an imaging unit for acquiring an image signal after each kind of narrow-band light irradiates an object; an image processing unit for processing the image signal corresponding to each of the narrowband lights and generating a spectral image. The endoscope device provided by the invention can emit various narrow-band lights in a single time period, and further can generate a plurality of image signals in the single time period to obtain a plurality of narrow-band spectral imaging images, thereby shortening the examination time, and reducing the influence of long examination time and internal peristalsis on the examination accuracy.

Description

Endoscope device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of endoscopes, in particular to an endoscope device.

Background

Today, the propagation of light within tissues is an important topic for the development of medical applications and diagnostic methods. According to research, human tissues have different characteristics, and the human tissues have different photosensitivities to different wavelengths, so that specific tissues can be identified according to spectral characteristics when the narrow-band light is used for illumination. For example, the 420nm band is the first absorption peak of oxyhemoglobin and the 540nm band is the second absorption peak of oxyhemoglobin. The 660nm wave band is one of the wavelengths with the largest absorption difference between the deoxidized blood red pigment and the oxygenated blood red pigment, and the deoxidized blood red pigment has the absorption far higher than that of the oxygenated blood red pigment. While lipids present a significant absorption peak at 930 nm.

In modern medical endoscopy, white light is typically used to view the lesion, and narrow band imaging techniques are used to more clearly view the lesion. For example, the existing olympus narrow-band imaging technology applied in clinic adopts two kinds of narrow-band light of a blue wave band (415nm) and a green wave band (540nm), the penetration force of the blue wave band (415nm) is weak, the good display effect is realized on the glandular microstructure and superficial blood vessels of a mucosa layer, the penetration force of the green wave band (540nm) is slightly strong, and the good display effect is realized on blood vessels of an inherent layer, so that the contrast and the definition of mucosal epithelium and blood vessels under the mucosa can be increased by using the two narrow-band light sources together, and the early cancer diagnosis of doctors is facilitated.

Patent CN204379226U combines a plurality of narrow-band LED lamps at the same time, and then uses a light splitter to image the narrow-band lights separately, so as to obtain a combined image of several kinds of narrow-band lights at the same time. Patent CN102920420A adds a narrowband filter turntable on the basis of a common endoscope illumination light source, and acquires a series of narrowband lights during switching, but only one narrowband light is imaged at the same time.

The endoscopic device disclosed in the above patent can only acquire a single narrow-band spectral image at the same time, increasing the time for acquiring a full-spectrum image.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides an endoscope device, which is used for solving the defect that the endoscope device in the prior art can only obtain a single narrow-band spectral imaging picture in a single time period.

The present invention provides an endoscope apparatus including: a light exit system for emitting a plurality of kinds of narrow-band light within a single period of time; an imaging unit for acquiring an image signal after each kind of narrow-band light irradiates an object; an image processing unit for processing the image signal corresponding to each of the narrowband lights and generating a spectral image.

According to an endoscope apparatus provided by the present invention, the light emitting system includes: a light emitting unit; the light-emitting unit is arranged on the light-emitting side of the light-emitting unit and used for emitting at least two kinds of narrow-band light in a single time interval and emitting a series of narrow-band light in the whole multispectral imaging time interval; and the light splitting unit is arranged on the light emitting side of the light emitting unit or the light emitting side of the light filtering unit and is used for separating each narrow-band light.

According to the endoscope device provided by the invention, the light filtering unit is a rotating wheel mechanism, the rotating wheel mechanism is arranged on the light incidence side of the light splitting unit, the rotating wheel mechanism comprises a plurality of first light filters, the first light filters are multi-channel narrow-band light filters, and the rotating wheel mechanism rotates at a constant speed in a multispectral imaging period.

According to an endoscope apparatus provided by the present invention, the light emitting unit is plural, and the filter unit includes: each second optical filter is arranged on the light emergent side of one light emitting unit, and each second optical filter is a single-channel narrow-band optical filter; the plurality of dichroic plates are arranged along the propagation direction of light rays and are used for combining a plurality of monochromatic narrow-band lights into a composite narrow-band light; wherein the light splitting unit is positioned at the light emitting side of the last dichroic sheet.

According to the endoscope device provided by the invention, the light splitting unit comprises a plurality of third filters, and in a single period of time, the composite narrowband light passes through the third filters and then emits out narrowband light.

According to the endoscope device provided by the invention, the light splitting unit is a color wheel, the color wheel is arranged between the light emitting unit and the light filtering unit, a plurality of fourth light filters are arranged on the color wheel, each fourth light filter is used for emitting monochromatic light with different colors, and the fourth light filters are single-channel narrow-band light filters.

According to the endoscope apparatus provided by the present invention, the wavelength of the light emitted by the light emitting unit is 400nm to 1000 nm.

According to the endoscope device provided by the invention, the bandwidth of the series of narrow-band light emitted by the filter unit is less than 20 nm.

According to the endoscope device provided by the invention, the number of narrow-band lights of the series of narrow-band lights is more than 9.

According to the endoscope apparatus provided by the present invention, when the light emitted from the light emitting unit is normal white light, the filter unit is an infrared filter.

The endoscope device provided by the invention can emit various narrow-band lights in a single time period, and further can generate a plurality of image signals in the single time period to obtain a plurality of narrow-band spectral imaging images, thereby shortening the examination time, and reducing the influence of long examination time and internal peristalsis on the examination accuracy.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings needed for the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings according to the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is one of the schematic structural views of an endoscopic device provided in the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a second schematic view of the endoscope apparatus provided by the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a third schematic view of the endoscope apparatus provided by the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a fourth view showing the construction of the endoscope apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a broad spectral band diagram;

FIG. 6 is one of the graphs of the transmittance of a multi-channel narrowband filter;

FIG. 7 is a second graph of the transmittance of the multi-channel narrowband filter;

FIG. 8 is a third graph of the transmittance of a multi-channel narrowband filter;

FIG. 9 is a graph of Bayer filter transmittance;

FIG. 10 is a graph of the transmittance of a multi-channel narrowband filter;

FIG. 11 is a graph of the transmittance of a multi-channel narrowband filter;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural view of the rotating wheel mechanism;

FIG. 13 is a view showing the position of the light spot during rotation of the rotating wheel mechanism;

fig. 14 is an exposure timing chart of the image sensor;

FIG. 15 is a graph of the transmittance of a multi-channel narrowband filter;

FIG. 16 is a graph of the transmittance of a multi-channel narrowband filter;

FIG. 17 is a graph of transmittance of a dichroic sheet;

reference numerals:

10: a light emitting unit; 20: a light filtering unit; 21: a second optical filter; 22: a dichroic sheet; 23: an infrared filter; 30: an image storage unit; 40: an image processing unit; 50: a display unit; 60: a color wheel; 100: light spots; 200: and (3) a filter.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The features of the terms first and second in the description and in the claims of the invention may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of these features. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

The endoscopic device of the present invention is described below with reference to fig. 1 to 17.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an endoscopic device includes: a light exit system, an imaging unit and an image processing unit 40. The light emitting system is used for emitting various narrow-band lights in a single time period, the imaging unit is used for collecting image signals of the detected body irradiated by each narrow-band light, and the image processing unit is used for processing the image signals corresponding to each narrow-band light and generating spectral images.

Specifically, the light-emitting system includes: the device comprises a light emitting unit, a filtering unit and a light splitting unit. The wide-spectrum illumination light emitted by the light emitting unit emits at least two kinds of composite narrow-band light in a single time period after passing through the filtering unit, the light splitting unit is used for separating each kind of narrow-band light in the composite narrow-band light, the wavelength of each kind of narrow-band light is different, different image signals can be generated after the narrow-band light with different wavelengths irradiates a detected body, the imaging unit collects different image signals and sends the collected image signals to the image processing unit 40, and the image processing unit 40 processes the image signals to generate a spectrum image.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present invention, the filtering unit is a multi-channel narrowband filter, which can filter out at least two kinds of composite narrowband light in a single time period, so that at least two kinds of image signals can be obtained in a single time period.

Optionally, in another embodiment of the present invention, the filtering unit is a single-channel narrow-band filter. In this embodiment, the number of the light-emitting units is multiple, each light-emitting unit is correspondingly provided with a single-channel narrowband filter, and monochromatic narrowband light emitted by the single-channel narrowband filter is combined by the multiple dichroic filters to become composite narrowband light.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present invention, the imaging unit may be a color image sensor or a black and white image sensor.

The endoscope device provided by the embodiment of the invention can emit various narrow-band lights in a single time period, and further can generate a plurality of image signals in the single time period to obtain a plurality of narrow-band spectral imaging images, thereby shortening the examination time, and reducing the influence of long examination time and internal peristalsis on the examination accuracy.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a display unit 50 is connected to the image processing unit 40, and the display unit 50 is used for displaying a spectrogram of the subject.

As shown in fig. 1, in one embodiment of the present invention, the light exit system comprises: a light emitting unit 10, a filtering unit 20, and a light splitting unit. The filtering unit 20 is disposed on the light emitting side of the light emitting unit 10, and the filtering unit 20 is configured to emit at least two or more kinds of composite narrowband light in a single period and emit a series of narrowband light in the whole spectral imaging period. The light splitting unit is arranged on the light emitting side of the light emitting unit or the light emitting side of the filtering unit and used for separating each narrow-band light in the composite narrow-band light.

Specifically, fig. 1 is an embodiment provided by the present invention. In this embodiment, the filter unit 20 is a rotating wheel mechanism, the rotating wheel mechanism is disposed on the light incident side of the light splitting unit, the rotating wheel mechanism includes a plurality of first filters, and the first filters are multi-channel narrow-band filters.

Specifically, when the light emitted by the light emitting unit 10 is the broad spectrum illumination light, the rotating wheel mechanism is provided with a plurality of first filters, the rotating wheel rotates, the broad spectrum illumination light can emit at least two or more kinds of composite narrow-band light in a single period after passing through the rotating wheel mechanism, and the light splitting unit is used for splitting each kind of narrow-band light in the composite narrow-band light.

Further, as shown in fig. 11 and 12, the number of the first filters provided in the rotating mechanism may be three or more. Taking the number of the first optical filters arranged on the rotating wheel mechanism as three as an example, each optical filter 200 is a multi-channel narrow-band optical filter, and in the rotating process of the rotating wheel mechanism, no matter which position of the rotating wheel mechanism the light spot irradiates, the rotating wheel mechanism can emit at least more than two kinds of narrow-band light, so that in the embodiment of the invention, the rotating wheel mechanism can rotate at a constant speed in the multispectral imaging time period.

As shown in fig. 3, when the light emitted by the light emitting unit 10 is normal white light, the wavelength thereof is 400-650nm, and at this time, the filter unit 20 is an infrared filter 23, and the infrared filter 23 is disposed on the light emitting side of the light emitting unit 10, so that the filter unit 20 emits infrared light.

In an embodiment of the invention, the light splitting unit is a plurality of third filters, and in a single period of time, the composite narrowband light passes through the third filters and then emits a narrowband light.

Specifically, the following description will be given taking the light emitted from the light emitting unit 10 as visible light, and the wavelength range thereof is 400-650nm as an example.

Fig. 5 is a broad spectral band diagram and fig. 6, 7 and 8 are graphs of the transmittance of a multi-channel narrowband filter. In this embodiment, the third filter is a color bayer filter, and fig. 9 is a transmittance graph of the color bayer filter. The broad spectrum light source emits composite narrow-band light after passing through the filtering unit 20, the third filter can analyze three channels of red light, green light and blue light, red light, green light and blue light are separated, then red pixels are respectively extracted, a red light spectrogram is synthesized, green pixels are extracted, a green light spectrogram is synthesized, blue pixels are extracted, and a blue light spectrogram is synthesized. As shown in fig. 6 and 7, the wavelengths of the light passing through different filters are different, and when the filters are switched, different red, green and blue narrow-band diagrams can be obtained, so that multispectral photographing can be performed in the visible light 400-650nm band.

Further, when the wavelength of the light emitted by the light emitting unit 10 is 400-1000nm, the blue pixel image contains blue light narrow-band information and infrared light narrow-band information, the green pixel image contains blue light narrow-band information and infrared light narrow-band information, and the red pixel image contains infrared light narrow-band information in the composite narrow-band light emitted by the filtering unit 20. After the composite narrow-band light passes through the third optical filter, red light, green light and blue light are separated, then red pixels are respectively extracted, a red light spectrogram is synthesized, green pixels are extracted, a green light spectrogram is synthesized, blue pixels are extracted, and a blue light spectrogram is synthesized. Then, the blue light spectrogram data is used for subtracting the red light spectrogram data, so that only blue narrow-band light information remains, and the green light spectrogram data is also used for subtracting the red light spectrogram data, so that only green light narrow-band light information remains, so as to achieve the purpose of separating each narrow-band light.

It should be noted that: the above-mentioned method is only one method for separating out each narrow-band light, and when the pixel information carried in each pixel image is different, the above-mentioned method can be used for extraction and separation.

The third filter is a color bayer filter in order to better distinguish narrow-band light information, and further, a filter having a transmittance curve as shown in fig. 10 may be used as the third filter. In this embodiment, the third filter has 4 channels that can be independently calculated, and can match the 4-channel filter, which can also satisfy imaging in the normal white light mode.

Further, in order to reduce the mutual crosstalk effect when the narrow-band light emitted from the light source is matched with the light splitting unit, the filter can only have 2 channels.

Further, in order to further reduce the number of filters, as shown in fig. 11, the filters have 4 channels, the blue channel can be subdivided by using a color bayer filter to distinguish narrow-band light, and the transmittance curve can also adapt to imaging in a normal white light mode without lacking color information.

The narrow-band light image processing analysis process is as follows:

each filter 200 correspondingly acquires 3 narrow-band light images, and 9 narrow-band light images can be acquired by rotating the rotating wheel mechanism. The image is transmitted to the light source through the endoscope and stored in the image storage unit 30, and then the image processing unit 40 matches the data of each point in the image through an image fusion algorithm, so that each image point has a series of narrow-band spectral information, and finally three-dimensional information data is formed. As shown in fig. 12, by increasing the number of the optical filters 200 on the rotating wheel mechanism, more independent narrow-band light imaging graphs can be obtained, and more analysis information can be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the filtering unit 20 is a rotating wheel mechanism, and adopts a uniform motion mode, which has the advantage of high reliability compared with a stepping motor. The specific implementation mode is as follows:

as shown in fig. 13, as the rotating wheel mechanism rotates, the relative position of the light spot emitted by the light emitting unit 10 with respect to the rotating wheel mechanism changes, and when the state transits from the left side state of fig. 13 to the middle state of fig. 13, the light spot 100 passes through the two optical filters 200, the outgoing light information is complicated, and at this time, the corresponding image sensor is not exposed; when the state is transited from the middle state in fig. 13 to the state on the right side in fig. 13, the light spot 100 only passes through one filter 200, and the image sensor is exposed at this time, fig. 14 is an exposure timing chart of the image sensor, and the ratio of the effective exposure time to the ineffective exposure time of the image sensor is (filter length-light spot diameter)/light spot diameter, when the ratio is greater than 2, the value is a reasonable value, otherwise, the image brightness is dark.

According to the endoscope device provided by the embodiment of the invention, the light splitting unit splits light in a space-splitting mode, the light splitting unit is a multi-channel narrow-band filter, and each narrow-band light can be separated after the composite narrow-band light passes through the multi-channel narrow-band filter, so that spectral images of single narrow-band light which can be acquired by a specific pixel can be known, and the pixel separation is carried out. In addition, a third optical filter can be manufactured by self to divide channels, so that a better distinguishing effect can be obtained. According to the endoscope device provided by the embodiment of the invention, the filter unit is the multi-channel narrow-band filter, the number of the filters is small, and the effective light passing size of the filter can be far larger than the size of a light spot under the condition that the size of the rotating wheel mechanism is small, so that the crosstalk influence between the filters is reduced, and better imaging exposure time can be obtained even if the rotating wheel mechanism rotates at a constant speed.

As shown in fig. 4, in another embodiment of the present invention, the light splitting unit employs a color wheel 60, the color wheel 60 is disposed between the light emitting unit 10 and the filtering unit 20, and a plurality of fourth filters are disposed on the color wheel 60, each of the fourth filters is used for emitting monochromatic light with different colors, where the fourth filter is a single-channel narrow-band filter.

Specifically, in the embodiment, the image sensor is a black-and-white image sensor, and the color wheel 60 can temporally match the composite narrowband light emitted from the multi-channel filter to perform differentiation to obtain a monochromatic narrowband light image, so that the resolution of the image is not lost.

Further, in one embodiment of the present invention, 3 filters 200 are disposed on the color wheel 60. When the wavelength of the light emitted by the light emitting unit 10 is 400-650nm, the transmittance curves corresponding to the three filters 200 on the color wheel 60 are shown in fig. 15, and when the wavelength of the light emitted by the light emitting unit 10 is 400-1000nm, the transmittance curves corresponding to the three filters 200 on the color wheel 60 are shown in fig. 16.

According to the endoscope device provided by the embodiment of the invention, the light splitting unit is set as the color wheel, the red light channel, the green light channel and the blue light channel can be formed in different periods along with the rotation of the color wheel, the composite narrow-band light emitted by the light filtering unit can be distinguished by the red light channel, the green light channel and the blue light channel, and for a black-and-white image sensor, the single-color narrow-band light can be imaged, so that a series of narrow-band light images can be obtained.

Fig. 2 is a view showing still another embodiment of the endoscope apparatus according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, the number of the light emitting units 10 is plural. The filter unit 20 includes: a plurality of second filters 21 and a plurality of dichroic plates 22. Each second filter 21 is disposed on the light emitting side of one light emitting unit 10, and the second filters 21 are single-channel narrow-band filters. The plurality of dichroic plates 22 are arranged along the propagation direction of the light, and the plurality of dichroic plates 22 are used for combining a plurality of monochromatic narrowband lights into a composite narrowband light, wherein the light splitting unit is located on the light emitting side of the last dichroic plate 22.

Specifically, in the embodiment, the light emitting unit 10 is 4 broad spectrum LED light sources respectively covering a red light band (600-. As shown in fig. 2, according to the traveling direction of light, a first dichroic filter combines infrared light and red light, a second dichroic filter combines green light and outgoing light, and a third dichroic filter combines blue light and outgoing light to form composite narrow-band light in which infrared light, red light, green light, and blue light are combined together. The graph of the transmittance of each dichroic sheet 22 is shown in fig. 17.

In this embodiment, when the composite narrowband light passes through the light splitting unit, the light splitting principle is the same as that of the above embodiment, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the series of narrow-band light emitted from the filter unit 20 has a bandwidth of less than 20nm to better distinguish lesions.

Further, in one embodiment of the present invention, the number of narrow-band lights of the series of narrow-band lights is greater than 9.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. An endoscopic device, comprising:

a light exit system for emitting a plurality of kinds of narrow-band light within a single period of time;

an imaging unit for acquiring an image signal after each kind of narrow-band light irradiates an object;

an image processing unit for processing the image signal corresponding to each of the narrowband lights and generating a spectral image.

2. The endoscopic device of claim 1, wherein the light exit system comprises:

a light emitting unit;

the light-emitting unit is arranged on the light-emitting side of the light-emitting unit and used for emitting at least two kinds of narrow-band light in a single time interval and emitting a series of narrow-band light in the whole multispectral imaging time interval;

and the light splitting unit is arranged on the light emitting side of the light emitting unit or the light emitting side of the light filtering unit and is used for separating each narrow-band light.

3. The endoscopic device of claim 2, wherein the filter unit is a rotating wheel mechanism disposed on the light incident side of the light splitting unit, the rotating wheel mechanism comprises a plurality of first filters, the first filters are multi-channel narrow-band filters, and the rotating wheel mechanism rotates at a constant speed in the multispectral imaging period.

4. The endoscopic device of claim 2, wherein the light emitting unit is plural, and the filter unit comprises:

each second optical filter is arranged on the light emergent side of one light emitting unit, and each second optical filter is a single-channel narrow-band optical filter;

the plurality of dichroic plates are arranged along the propagation direction of light rays and are used for combining a plurality of monochromatic narrow-band lights into a composite narrow-band light;

wherein the light splitting unit is positioned at the light emitting side of the last dichroic sheet.

5. An endoscope apparatus according to claim 3 or 4 and wherein said light splitting unit comprises a plurality of third filters through which the composite narrowband light passes to emit a narrowband light in a single time interval.

6. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the light splitting unit is a color wheel, the color wheel is disposed between the light emitting unit and the light filtering unit, a plurality of fourth filters are disposed on the color wheel, each of the fourth filters is configured to emit monochromatic light of different colors, and the fourth filter is a single-channel narrow-band filter.

7. The endoscopic device of claim 2, wherein the light emitted by the light emitting unit has a wavelength of 400nm to 1000 nm.

8. An endoscopic device according to claim 2, wherein said series of narrow band light exiting said filter unit has a bandwidth of less than 20 nm.

9. An endoscopic device as defined in claim 2 or 8, wherein the number of narrow-band lights of said series of narrow-band lights is greater than 9.

10. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the filter unit is an infrared filter when the light emitted from the light emitting unit is a normal white light.

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