CN115553696A - Light guide structure, endoscope and illumination method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a light guide structure, an endoscope and an illumination method. The light guide structure comprises at least two light-emitting surfaces, the light-emitting surfaces are inclined towards one side relative to the length direction of the light guide structure, and the light-emitting surfaces form included angles, so that at least part of the light-emitting surfaces have different illumination ranges. Above-mentioned light guide structure can increase the angle between single light guide element's emergent ray and the length direction of light guide element to increase the light-emitting scope after two at least light guide element superposes, promote light guide structure's illumination zone, in order to satisfy the lighting requirements of endoscope.

Description

Light guide structure, endoscope and illumination method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of endoscopes, in particular to a light guide structure, an endoscope and an illumination method.

Background

With the development of endoscope technology, endoscopes are also more and more widely used in the field of medical diagnosis or treatment. Because the image-taking environment of the endoscope is usually darker, in order to improve the imaging quality of the endoscope, the endoscope is usually provided with a light source and a light guide structure to illuminate a shot object, so that the imaging brightness and the imaging quality of the endoscope are improved. However, the illumination range of the current light guide structure is small, and the illumination requirement of the endoscope is difficult to meet.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the problems that the illumination range of the existing light guide structure is small and the illumination requirement of an endoscope is difficult to meet, the light guide structure, the endoscope and the illumination method are provided.

A light directing structure, comprising:

the light guide structure comprises at least two light-emitting surfaces, wherein the at least two light-emitting surfaces are inclined towards one side relative to the length direction of the light guide structure, and included angles are formed between the at least two light-emitting surfaces, so that at least partial illumination ranges of the at least two light-emitting surfaces are different.

In one embodiment, at least two of the light exit surfaces are inclined in opposite directions.

In one embodiment, the light guide structure includes at least two light guide elements, and an end face of each light guide element forms one light exit surface.

In one embodiment, the light guide structure further includes a distance adjuster configured to adjust a shortest distance between the light emitting surfaces of the two light guide elements.

In one embodiment, the light guide structure further includes an angle adjustment assembly, and the angle adjustment assembly is configured to drive the light exit surface of the light guide element to rotate around the length direction of the light guide element.

In one embodiment, the angle adjusting assembly comprises at least two hollow cup motors, the hollow cup motors correspond to the light guide elements one by one, and the end parts of the light guide elements are at least partially accommodated in the hollow cup motors.

In one embodiment, the light guide structure includes four light emitting surfaces, each of the four light emitting surfaces corresponds to each other, and the light emitting surfaces of the two corresponding light guide elements are inclined in opposite directions.

In one embodiment, one of the two corresponding light-emitting surfaces and one of the other two corresponding light-emitting surfaces are located on the same side, the other one of the two corresponding light-emitting surfaces and the other one of the other two corresponding light-emitting surfaces are also located on the same side, and the two light-emitting surfaces located on the same side are parallel to each other.

In one embodiment, the four light-emitting surfaces are inclined at equal angles relative to the length direction of the light guide structure.

In one embodiment, an inclination angle of the light exit surface with respect to the length direction of the light guide structure is greater than or equal to 10 ° and less than or equal to 30 °.

In one embodiment, the shortest distance between the two light emitting surfaces is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1mm.

In one embodiment, at least two light-emitting surfaces are formed on the end surface of the same main body, and an included angle is formed between the at least two light-emitting surfaces.

An endoscope comprising a lens assembly and a light guide structure of any of the embodiments described above, the light guide structure configured to illuminate a subject, the lens assembly for capturing an image of the subject.

In one embodiment, the light guide structure includes four light guide elements, two of the light guide elements correspond to each other, and the light exit surfaces of two corresponding sets of light guide elements are respectively disposed on two sides of the lens assembly.

An illumination method for adjusting an illumination effect of a light guide structure, the light guide structure including at least two light guide elements, light exit surfaces of the light guide elements being inclined to a length direction of the light guide elements, the illumination method comprising the steps of:

rotating the single light guide element to obtain illumination areas of the light guide element under different rotation angles;

acquiring the centroid position of the illumination area of the single light guide element under different rotation angles;

repeating the two steps to respectively obtain the centroid positions of the illumination areas of the at least two light guide elements under different rotation angles;

respectively acquiring data conversion matrixes of the centroid positions of the illumination areas of at least two light guide elements and the rotation angles of the light guide elements;

setting a target illumination area;

adjusting the rotation angles of at least two light guide elements according to the target illumination area and the data conversion matrix;

verifying whether the actual illumination area of the light guide structure is matched with the target illumination area.

Above-mentioned light guide structure, light guide element's play plain noodles is inclined to light guide element's length direction, can increase the angle between light guide element's emergent ray and the length direction of light guide element to can increase the light-emitting scope after two at least light guide element superposes, with the illumination zone who promotes light guide structure, and then make light guide structure can satisfy the illumination demand of endoscope.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view illustrating light emitting surfaces of two light guiding elements disposed opposite to each other in some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the endoscope in some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the internal structure of the endoscope in some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of another end of the light guide element integrated in some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the light guide structure in an initial state in some embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a light guide element rotated relative to an initial state according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a light guide element rotated relative to an initial state in some embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the illumination effect of the light guide structure in some embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of illumination effects of light guide structures in further embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a lighting effect of a light guide structure according to still other embodiments;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the illumination effect of a light guide structure in further embodiments;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of an illumination range of a light guiding structure in some embodiments;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of illumination ranges of light guide structures in further embodiments;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of an illumination range of a light guiding structure in further embodiments;

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of some embodiments in which a plurality of light-emitting surfaces are disposed on the same main body;

fig. 16 is a schematic view illustrating an illumination effect of the light guide structure in the embodiment shown in fig. 15.

Reference numerals:

10. an endoscope; 11. a light guide structure; 111. a light guide element; 1111. a light-emitting surface; 112. an angle adjustment assembly; 1121. a coreless motor; 12. a lens assembly; 121. and a camera lens.

Detailed Description

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "central," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," and the like are used in the orientations and positional relationships indicated in the drawings for convenience in describing the invention and to simplify the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the referenced device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and are not to be considered limiting of the invention.

Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly and can, for example, be fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intervening media, or they may be connected internally or in any other suitable relationship, unless expressly stated otherwise. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the first feature "on" or "under" the second feature may be directly contacting the first and second features or indirectly contacting the first and second features through an intermediate. Also, a first feature "on," "over," and "above" a second feature may be directly or diagonally above the second feature, or may simply indicate that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature may be directly under or obliquely under the first feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and the like as used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not denote a unique embodiment.

Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments, the light guide structure 11 includes at least two light guide elements 111, the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the at least two light guide elements 111 in the light guide structure 11 are inclined to the respective length directions, and the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the at least two light guide elements 111 can emit light toward the same side, for example, toward the side of the subject, so as to illuminate the subject located at one side of the light guide structure 11.

In the present application, the light guide element 111 may be any light-conductive element such as an optical fiber, and the light may propagate inside the light guide element 111 by total reflection. The light guide element 111 has two ends, one of which is used for emitting light and the other of which is used for receiving light. In the present application, the light exiting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111 may be understood as an end surface of the light guiding element 111 at one end for emitting light, and the other end of the light guiding element 111 may be understood as an end of the light guiding element 111 for receiving light. The light guide structure 11 may be used with a light source (not shown), including but not limited to a Light Emitting Diode (LED), a laser light source, and other elements capable of emitting light. The light emitted from the light source can enter the light guide element 111 from the other end of the light guide element 111, and propagate to one end of the light guide element 111 for emitting light by total reflection in the light guide element 111, and at least part of the light emitted from the light source is emitted from the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111. When the light guide structure 11 includes a plurality of light guide elements 111, the other ends of the plurality of light guide elements 111 can receive light emitted from the same light source, and the other ends of the plurality of light guide elements 111 can also receive light emitted from different light sources.

In the present application, the lengthwise direction of the light guide element 111 is described, which can be understood as the axial direction when the light guide element 111 extends in a straight line. When the light guide element 111 does not extend along a straight line, for example, the middle portion or the other end of the light guide element 111 is bent, the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 is inclined to the length direction of the light guide element 111, which can be understood as the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 is inclined to the axial direction of the portion of the light guide element 111 close to the light emitting surface 1111. The length directions of the light guide elements 111 may be parallel to each other, and the length direction of the light guide structure 11 may be parallel to the length direction of the light guide elements 111. In addition, describing that the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111 is inclined to the length direction of the light guiding element 111, it can be understood that the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111 is inclined to one side relative to the length direction of the light guiding element 111.

It can be understood that, the light guide structure 11 illuminates the object located on the side of the light exit surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 through the light emitted from the light guide elements 111, and the light guide elements 111 can emit light toward the same side of the light guide structure 11, that is, the light is emitted toward the side of the illuminated object. Therefore, the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the at least two light guiding elements 111 may be even in position in the longitudinal direction, or may be staggered, as long as the at least two light guiding elements 111 can emit light to the side where the same illuminated object is located. Moreover, an included angle is formed between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two light guiding elements 111 emitting light toward the same side, for example, the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two light guiding elements 111 are inclined or perpendicular to each other, so that at least some of the illumination ranges of the two light guiding elements 111 are different, in other words, the emitted light beams of the two light guiding elements 111 are not overlapped at least partially.

It can be understood that the light-emitting surface of the conventional light guiding element is generally perpendicular to the length direction of the light guiding element, and thus the principal ray emitted from the light-emitting surface of the conventional light guiding element is generally parallel to the length direction of the light guiding element, so that the illumination range of the conventional light guiding element is limited to be right in front of the light-emitting surface of the light guiding element. As shown in fig. 1, in the present application, the light-emitting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111 is inclined to the longitudinal direction of the light guiding element 111, so as to change the incident angle of the light inside the light guiding element 111 when the light is refracted on the light-emitting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111, thereby increasing the angle between the emergent light of the light guiding element 111 and the longitudinal direction of the light guiding element 111, for example, the main light a emitted from the light guiding element 111 shown in fig. 1 is inclined to the longitudinal direction of the light guiding element 111, and the illumination range of the light guiding element 111 is no longer limited to the front of the light-emitting surface 1111.

Therefore, the light guide structure 11 can increase the angle between the emergent light of a single light guide element 111 and the length direction of the light guide element 111, so that when the light emergent surfaces 1111 of at least two light guide elements 111 emit light towards the same side, the illumination ranges of at least two light guide elements 111 can be overlapped, and the effect of increasing the illumination range of the light guide structure 11 is achieved. It can be understood that, the light guide structure 11, by arranging the light guide element 111 with at least two light emitting surfaces 1111 inclined to the length direction, realizes the effect of increasing the illumination range, can break through the limitation of the illumination range of a single light guide element 111, effectively increases the illumination range of the superposition of a plurality of light guide elements 111 without greatly changing the structure of the light guide element 111, and has simple setting process and low manufacturing cost. In addition, the light guide structure 11 does not need to be provided with an intermediate element for diffusing light while increasing the illumination range, and is beneficial to reducing the loss of light, thereby being beneficial to improving the illumination brightness and the light utilization rate.

Further, in some embodiments, the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the at least two light guiding elements 111 are disposed opposite to each other, in other words, the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the at least two light guiding elements 111 are inclined in opposite directions, for example, the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two light guiding elements 111 are distributed in a mirror symmetry manner. It can be understood that, when the light-emitting surfaces 1111 of the two light-guiding elements 111 are disposed oppositely, the principal rays emitted from the two light-guiding elements 111 are respectively inclined towards the direction away from the other light-guiding element 111 due to the refraction effect of the light rays at the light-emitting surfaces 1111 of the light-guiding elements 111, so that the superimposed illumination range of the two light-guiding elements 111 can be maximized, and the illumination range of the light-guiding structure 11 can be maximally improved. In some embodiments, the number of the light guide elements 111 in the light guide structure 11 is a multiple of two, for example, the light guide structure 11 may include two, four, six or more light guide elements 111, and the light guide elements 111 in the light guide structure 11 correspond to each other two by two, and the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two corresponding light guide elements 111 are disposed oppositely, so as to improve the illumination range of the light guide structure 11 to the greatest extent. Of course, when the number of the light guide elements 111 in the light guide structure 11 is greater than 2, the light emitting surfaces 1111 of two or four light guide elements 111 may be disposed oppositely, and the light emitting surfaces 1111 of other light guide elements 111 may be disposed asymmetrically, so as to adjust the illumination range, the illumination brightness and the illumination uniformity of the light guide structure 11, thereby satisfying different illumination requirements.

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, in some embodiments, the light guide structure 11 may be employed in an endoscope 10. Specifically, the endoscope 10 may further include a lens assembly 12, the light guide structure 11 may emit light toward a side of the lens assembly 12 where the subject is located, the illuminated object of the light guide structure 11 is the subject of the lens assembly 12, the light guide structure 11 may illuminate the subject, and the lens assembly 12 may receive light reflected by the subject to obtain an image of the subject. Adopt foretell light guide structure 11 in endoscope 10, light guide structure 11's illumination zone can be promoted to can throw light on to the shot object of wider scope, in order to satisfy endoscope 10's the requirement of getting for instance on a large scale.

The lens assembly 12 is not limited in arrangement, and may be specifically arranged according to the image capturing requirement of the endoscope 10, as shown in fig. 2, in some embodiments, the lens assembly 12 may include two cameras 121 arranged side by side, and the two cameras 121 cooperate with each other to achieve a good image capturing effect.

The setting relationship between the light guide structure 11 and the lens assembly 12 is not limited, as long as the good lighting effect can be realized on the object to be shot of the lens assembly 12, so as to improve the image capturing effect of the lens assembly 12. In some embodiments, the light guide elements 111 in the light guide structure 11 are spaced apart along the circumference of the lens assembly 12 to illuminate the subject from different orientations of the lens assembly 12. In some embodiments, the light-emitting surface 1111 of each light-guiding element 111 in the light-guiding structure 11 may face the lens assembly 12, in other words, the chief ray emitted from each light-guiding element 111 diverges away from the lens assembly 12, so as to maximize the illumination range of the light-guiding structure 11, and meet the requirement of the lens assembly 12 for taking images in a large range.

Further, referring to fig. 2, in some embodiments, the light guiding structure 11 includes four light guiding elements 111, the four light guiding elements 111 correspond to each other two by two, and the light emitting surfaces 1111 of two corresponding light guiding elements 111 are respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the lens module 12, in other words, the light emitting surfaces 1111 of one corresponding light guiding element 111 are disposed on one side of the lens module 12, and the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the other corresponding light guiding element 111 are disposed on the other opposite side of the lens module 12.

It can be understood that, no matter how the relative positions of the light guide structure 11 and the lens assembly 12 are adjusted, the surface of the lens assembly 12 receiving the light rays faces the same side as the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 in the light guide structure 11, so that the light guide structure 11 can illuminate the object to be shot of the lens assembly 12. Referring to fig. 2 and 4, the light exits from the light exiting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 to illuminate the object, but the relative relationship between the other sides of the light guide elements 111 and the lens assembly 12 are not limited, for example, the other end of each light guide element 111 may be integrated in the same tube and receive the light emitted from the same light source, and the other end of each light guide element 111 may also be bent in different directions. Therefore, in the present application, only the positional relationship between the light-emitting surfaces 1111 of the light guide elements 111 and the positional relationship with respect to the lens assembly 12 are defined.

It can be understood that, the four light guide elements 111 are respectively disposed on the two opposite sides of the lens assembly 12, and the superposition of the illumination ranges of the four light guide elements 111 can realize the large-range illumination of the object to be photographed of the lens assembly 12, thereby satisfying the illumination requirement of the lens assembly 12. Meanwhile, the light guide elements 111 correspond to each other in pairs, and the illumination range, the illumination brightness and the illumination uniformity of the light rays superposed by the two light guide elements 111 can be adjusted by adjusting the position relationship between the two corresponding light guide elements 111, so that different illumination effects can be realized, and the requirements of different illumination scenes can be met.

Referring to fig. 2 and 5, in some embodiments, the two corresponding light emitting surfaces 1111 are disposed opposite to each other, and one group of the light emitting surfaces 1111 is parallel to the other group of the light emitting surfaces 1111. Thus, the light rays emitted from the light guide elements 111 are all diffused toward the outside of the light guide structure 11, and a wide illumination range can be realized. Further, in some embodiments, the included angles between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the four light guide elements 111 and the length direction of the light guide elements 111 may be equal, which is beneficial to the batch design and manufacture of the light guide elements 111, and simultaneously, the light scattering effects of the four light guide elements 111 on the light rays are also the same, so that the lighting effect of the four light guide elements 111 stacked can be more easily adjusted. Of course, according to different lighting requirements, the included angles between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the four light guiding elements 111 and the length direction may also be different, or the included angles between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of some light guiding elements 111 and the length direction are the same, and the included angles between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of other light guiding elements 111 and the length direction are different.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 5, and fig. 6, in some embodiments, the relative position relationship of the light guiding element 111 shown in fig. 5 is used as the initial position of the light guiding structure 11, and in the initial position of the light guiding structure 11, two corresponding light exiting surfaces 1111 are disposed oppositely, and one group of the corresponding light exiting surfaces 1111 is parallel to the other group of the corresponding light exiting surfaces 1111.

In some embodiments, the light guide structure 11 further includes an angle adjustment component 112, and the angle adjustment component 112 is configured to drive the light exiting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 to rotate around the length direction of the light guide element 111. The angle adjusting assembly 112 may drive all the light guide elements 111 to rotate synchronously, and may also drive part of the light guide elements 111 to rotate. In the light guide structure 11 shown in fig. 6, the corresponding light guide elements 111 are rotated by β/2 degrees with respect to the initial state. It should be noted that, in the present application, it is described that the corresponding light guide elements 111 are rotated by a certain angle relative to the initial state, and it is understood that the two corresponding light guide elements 111 are rotated in a direction away from each other with the respective length directions as axes, and an included angle between the closest surfaces of the two corresponding light guide elements 111 after rotation is twice of the respective rotation angles. For example, each light guide element 111 is rotated by an angle β/2, and the angle between the closest surfaces of the two light guide elements 111 after rotation is β. The closest surface of the two light guide elements 111 after rotation may be the opposite side of the two light guide elements 111. In addition, two light guide elements 111 in one group of the corresponding light guide elements 111 are respectively opposite to two light guide elements 111 in the other group of the corresponding light guide elements 111 one by one, when the four light guide elements 111 rotate by a certain angle relative to the initial state, the rotation direction of any one light guide element 111 in one group of the corresponding light guide elements 111 is opposite to that of the light guide element 111 in the other group of the corresponding light guide elements 111 opposite to the position of the one light guide element 111, in other words, after the four light guide elements 111 rotate, the included angle between the two closest side faces of one group of the corresponding light guide elements 111 is opposite to the included angle between the two closest side faces of the other group of the corresponding light guide elements 111.

For example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 6, the four light guide elements 111 rotate by β/2 degrees, the included angles between the two closest side surfaces of the two corresponding light guide elements 111 after rotation are both β degrees, and the β angles formed by the two groups of light guide elements 111 are opposite to each other. Of course, fig. 6 is only one example of the light guide structure 11 after being rotated, and in other embodiments, the rotation angles or rotation directions of the two sets of light guide elements 111 can be set in other manners. For example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the included angle formed by the two sets of light guiding elements 111 after rotation faces the same side, and it can be understood that the light guiding elements 111 of one set are rotated by an angle β/2 with respect to the initial position, and the light guiding elements 111 of the other set are rotated by an angle- β/2 with respect to the initial position.

The rotation of the light-emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 driven by the angle adjustment assembly 112 is not limited, and can be realized by disposing a driving element such as a motor at the end of the light guide element 111. For example, referring to fig. 2, in some embodiments, the angle adjustment assembly 112 includes a plurality of hollow cup motors 1121, the number of the hollow cup motors 1121 may be equal to the number of the light guide elements 111, the hollow cup motors 1121 correspond to the light guide elements 111 one by one, and the ends of the light guide elements 111 are at least partially received in the hollow cup motors 1121. The side surface of the end of the light guide element 111 may be fixed to the inner wall surface of the coreless motor 1121, so that the rotation of the coreless motor 1121 may drive the light guide element 111 to rotate around the length direction.

It can be understood that, the angle adjusting assembly 112 adjusts the rotation angle of the light guide element 111, and the divergence direction of the emergent light of each light guide element 111 can be changed, so as to adjust the illumination range, illumination brightness and illumination uniformity of the four superimposed light guide elements 111, so as to adjust the illumination effect of the light guide structure 11, and further satisfy the requirements of different illumination scenes. The angle adjustment unit 112 is disposed to adjust the illumination effect of the light guide structure 11 in real time with respect to a change in an illumination scene during use of the endoscope 10, thereby increasing the application range of the endoscope 10. Of course, in other embodiments, the angle between the light guide elements 111 may also be determined during assembly of the endoscope 10 to enable the light guide structure 11 to achieve a particular illumination effect without configuring the angle adjustment assembly 112 to be adjusted during use.

Of course, the adjustment manner of the illumination effect of the light guide structure 11 is not limited to the variation of the angle of the light guide elements 111, and in some embodiments, the light guide structure 11 further includes a distance adjuster (not shown) configured to adjust the distance between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two corresponding light guide elements 111, so as to change the distance between the centroids of the emergent light rays of the two corresponding light guide elements 111, and further adjust the illumination effect of the light guide elements 111 after being superimposed. It should be noted that the distance adjusting element may adjust the distance between the light emitting surfaces of the two light guiding elements 111 by adjusting the relative position of the whole corresponding two light guiding elements 111, or may adjust the distance between the light emitting surfaces of the two light guiding elements 111 by only adjusting the relative position of the end portions of the two light guiding elements 111.

It should be noted that, in the present application, the centroid position of the light emitted from the light guide element 111 may be understood as the central position of the light beam emitted from the light guide element 111, and may be the position where the light intensity is maximum, or the geometric central position of the illumination area of the light guide element 111. In the present application, the distance between the light-emitting surfaces 1111 of the two light guide elements 111 can be understood as the shortest distance between the two closest side surfaces (opposite side surfaces) of the two light guide elements 111. For example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 6, the two closest side surfaces of the two corresponding light guide elements 111 are spaced apart from each other, so that the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two light guide elements 111 are spaced apart from each other, while in the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the two closest side surfaces of the two corresponding light guide elements 111 are partially abutted against each other, so that the shortest distance between the two side surfaces is 0, which can be understood that there is no space between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two light guide elements 111.

The process of adjusting the lighting effect by the light guide structure 11 is embodied by an example of the corresponding relationship between the change of the relative position relationship of the four light guide elements 111 and the lighting effect, of course, the light guide elements 111 are not limited to four, and may be specifically set according to the lighting requirement. The manner of changing the relative position relationship between the light guide elements 111 includes, but is not limited to, changing the distance and the rotation angle of the light emitting surface 1111.

Referring to fig. 2, 8, 9, 10 and 11 together, fig. 8-11 are diagrams illustrating the illumination effect of the light guiding structure 11 in different relative positions of the four light guiding elements 111, respectively, wherein a plane of the light intensity distribution diagram is located at the side of the light exiting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 11, the plane is perpendicular to the length direction of the light guiding element 11, and the shortest distance between the plane and the light exiting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111 is 50mm. In the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the included angles between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the four light guiding elements 111 and the length direction are all 10 °, the angles of the four light guiding elements 111 are at the initial positions, and there is no space between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two corresponding light guiding elements 111. In the embodiment shown in fig. 9, the angles between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the four light guiding elements 111 and the length direction are 20 °, the angles of the four light guiding elements 111 are at the initial position, and there is no space between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two corresponding light guiding elements 111. In the embodiment shown in fig. 10, the angles between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the four light guiding elements 111 and the length direction are all 25 °, the angles of the four light guiding elements 111 are at the initial position, and there is no space between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two corresponding light guiding elements 111. In the embodiment shown in fig. 11, the light exiting surfaces 1111 of the four light guiding elements 111 all have an included angle of 30 ° with the longitudinal direction, the angles of the four light guiding elements 111 are at the initial positions, and there is no space between the light exiting surfaces 1111 of the two corresponding light guiding elements 111.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the light is more diffused in the X direction relative to the Y direction, that is, the illumination range of the light guide structure 11 in the X direction is greater than that in the Y direction, the edge illumination uniformity is 12.8%, and the illumination mirror effect is 34.25%. In the embodiment shown in fig. 9, the diffusion degree of the light in the X direction is greater than that of the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the edge illumination uniformity is 18.8%, the lighting effect of the illumination mirror body is 47.13%, and the illumination requirement that the edge uniformity is less than or equal to 25% and the lighting effect of the illumination mirror body is greater than or equal to 40% can be met. In the embodiment shown in fig. 10, the diffusion degree of the light in the X-axis direction is greater than that of the embodiment shown in fig. 9, the edge illumination uniformity is 18.2%, the lighting effect of the illumination mirror body is 52.44%, and the illumination requirement that the edge uniformity is less than or equal to 25% and the lighting effect of the illumination mirror body is greater than or equal to 40% can be met. In the embodiment shown in fig. 11, the light is diffused more in the X direction than in the embodiment shown in fig. 10, but the light in the middle area between the two corresponding light guide elements 111 does not overlap, the illumination uniformity at the edge is 11.6%, and the illumination mirror effect is 528.84%. The X direction is parallel to the line between the two corresponding light guide elements 111, and the Y direction is perpendicular to the X direction. As can be seen from fig. 8 to 11, under the condition that the interval and the angle of the light guiding element 111 are not changed, the illumination effect of the light guiding structure 11 also changes with the change of the included angle between the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111 and the longitudinal direction, when a larger illumination range is required, the included angle between the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111 and the longitudinal direction can be correspondingly increased, but the included angle between the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111 and the longitudinal direction cannot be too large, so as to avoid the illumination effect of the middle area of the light guiding element 111 being affected by the too large diffusion degree of the light. When the lighting scene needs different edge lighting uniformity or lighting effect of the lighting mirror body, the included angle between the light-emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 and the length direction can be adjusted correspondingly according to fig. 8-11.

Of course, in some embodiments, the illumination effect can also be adjusted by adjusting the rotation angles of the four light guide elements 111 to meet different illumination requirements. Specifically referring to fig. 2, 12, 13, and 14, in the embodiment shown in fig. 12-14, the included angles between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the four light guiding elements 111 and the length direction are not changed, and the interval between the two corresponding light guiding elements 111 is also not changed. In the embodiment shown in fig. 12, the light emitting surfaces 1111 of one corresponding set of light guiding elements 111 are respectively rotated 90 ° relative to the initial state, in other words, after the two light guiding elements 111 are rotated, the included angle between the two opposite side surfaces is 180 °, and the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the other corresponding set of light guiding elements 111 are maintained in the initial state. In the embodiment shown in fig. 13, the light-emitting surfaces 1111 of one corresponding set of the light-guiding elements 111 are respectively rotated by 45 ° relative to the initial state, and the light-emitting surfaces 1111 of the other corresponding set of the light-guiding elements 111 are respectively rotated by 30 ° relative to the initial state. In the embodiment shown in fig. 14, the light exiting surfaces 1111 of one set of corresponding light guiding elements 111 are respectively rotated by 30 ° relative to the initial state, and the light exiting surfaces 1111 of the other set of corresponding light guiding elements 111 are respectively rotated by 45 ° relative to the initial state. As can be seen from fig. 12-14, the illumination range of the light guide structure 11 can be changed to adapt to different illumination requirements by only adjusting the angles of the four light guide elements 111. The light guide element 111 may have two end faces opposite to each other, one of the end faces is a light emitting face 1111, while the side face may be understood as a peripheral side face of the light guide element 111, and the light guide element 111 may have four side faces, in this embodiment, two side faces of one group of light guide elements 111 that are opposite to each other in position after rotation are described.

The following table 1 shows the lighting effects corresponding to different structures and position relationships of the four light guide elements 111, where the tangential angle represents an included angle between the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 and the length direction, RZ is an included angle between two opposite side surfaces of two corresponding light guide elements 111 after rotating relative to the initial state, and the interval represents the shortest distance between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of two corresponding light guide elements 111. In the embodiment shown by each reference numeral in table 1, the light exiting surfaces 1111 of the four light guiding elements 111 have the same included angle with the longitudinal direction, and the rotation angles of the two corresponding sets of light guiding elements 111 are also the same. The numbers 1-10 indicate that there is no space between the light exiting surfaces 1111 of the two corresponding light guiding elements 111 in the embodiment.

TABLE 1

As can be seen from table 1, the angle between the light-emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 and the longitudinal direction, the rotation angle of the light guide element 111, and the variation of the interval between the light-emitting surfaces 1111 of the light guide element 111 all affect the illumination effect of the light guide structure 11. As can be seen from table 1, an included angle between the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 and the length direction is greater than or equal to 20 ° and less than or equal to 25 °, a rotation angle of the light guide element 111 relative to the initial state is greater than or equal to 45 ° and less than or equal to 50 °, that is, an included angle between two opposite side surfaces of the end portions of two corresponding light guide elements 111 after rotation is greater than or equal to 90 ° and less than or equal to 100 °, edge uniformity of the light guide structure 11 is less than or equal to 25%, and lighting efficiency of the lighting mirror body is greater than or equal to 40%. Of course, the included angle between the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guiding element 111 and the longitudinal direction may also be any value greater than or equal to 10 ° and less than or equal to 30 °, as long as the overlapping of the illumination ranges can be achieved. The distance between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two corresponding light guiding elements 111 can be set according to the requirement of the illumination effect, for example, the distance can be greater than or equal to 0mm, and less than or equal to 0.5mm, so that the light guiding structure 11 has a good illumination effect, and the light rays are not too dispersed to affect the illumination effect of the middle area. Of course, the interval between the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the two corresponding light guiding elements 111 may also be any value greater than or equal to 0mm and less than or equal to 1mm, as long as the superposition of the illumination ranges can be achieved.

The above is only a partial example of the light guide structure 11 shown to show the effect of the change of the structure and the relative position of the light guide element 111 on the illumination effect, the arrangement of the light guide structure 11 is not limited to the above example, and the specific arrangement of the light guide structure 11 may be designed according to the actual illumination requirement as long as the light guide element 111 of the present application can be adopted to achieve the effect of expanding the illumination range. In order to adjust the setting of the light guiding structure 11 according to different lighting requirements, a lighting method is also provided below.

Specifically, in some embodiments, the lighting method comprises the steps of:

the single light guide element 111 is rotated to obtain the illumination areas of the light guide element 111 at different rotation angles with respect to the initial state.

The centroid position of the illumination area of the single light guiding element 111 at different rotation angles from the initial state is acquired.

The above two steps are repeated to respectively obtain the centroid positions of the illumination areas of the four light guide elements 111 at different rotation angles. It should be noted that, in the above three steps, when the illumination range of a single light guide element 111 is obtained, the influence of the light rays of other light guide elements 111 on the illumination range of the light guide element 111 should be excluded, for example, when the illumination range of a single light guide element 111 is obtained, only the light guide element 111 is made to emit light rays, and the rest light guide elements 111 do not emit light rays.

Data conversion matrixes of the centroid positions of the illumination areas of the four light guide elements 111 and the rotation angles of the light guide elements 111 relative to the initial state are respectively acquired. It can be understood that the data conversion matrix can list the corresponding relationship between the centroid position of a single light guide element 111 and the rotation angle of the light guide element 111 relative to the initial state, and the data conversion matrices of the four light guide elements 111 are respectively obtained, so that the subsequent step of simulating the superimposed illumination effect of the four light guide elements 111 can be easier.

And setting a target illumination area. Specifically, the illumination range meeting the requirements of the illumination scene can be set according to the requirements of the illumination scene on the illumination effect such as the illumination range, the illumination uniformity and the lighting effect of the illumination mirror body.

The rotation angles of the four light guiding elements 111 are adjusted according to the target illumination area and the data transformation matrix. For example, according to the requirement of the target illumination area, a relative position relationship between the centroid positions of the four light guide elements 111 that may satisfy the target illumination area may be simulated, and then the rotation angles of the four light guide elements 111 are selected according to the data conversion matrix, and the rotation angles of the four light guide elements 111 are adjusted by the angle adjusting component 112. It is understood that, in the present embodiment, only an example of adjusting the rotation angle of the light guide element 111 according to different lighting requirements is illustrated. In other embodiments, according to different illumination requirements, one, two, or three of the interval between the light guide elements 111, the included angle between the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 and the longitudinal direction, and the rotation angle of the light guide element 111 may be further adjusted, before this step, the corresponding relationship between the interval between the light guide elements 111, the included angle between the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 and the longitudinal direction, the change of one, two, or three of the rotation angle of the light guide element 111, and the centroid position of the illumination area of the light guide element 111 needs to be correspondingly obtained, and the structure and/or the relative position relationship of the light guide element 111 is further adaptively adjusted according to the target illumination area and the corresponding relationship.

It is verified whether the actual illumination area of the light guiding structure 11 matches the target illumination area. If the light guide structures 11 are matched with each other, the target illumination area can be illuminated by using the corresponding light guide structure 11, so as to meet the illumination requirement of the illumination scene corresponding to the target illumination area, and if the light guide structures are not matched with each other, the interval of the light guide element 111 and/or the included angle between the light emitting surface 1111 of the light guide element 111 and the length direction can be synchronously adjusted according to the steps until the actual illumination area is matched with the target illumination area.

In addition, it can be understood that, when the endoscope 10 is used with a medical device such as a needle, a forceps, etc. for diagnosis or operation, the light guide structure 11 can be used to illuminate the working area of the medical device, so as to facilitate the user to operate the medical device, and thus, in some embodiments, the relative position relationship of the four light guide elements 111 can be adjusted according to the position of the medical device, so as to adjust the illumination range of the light guide structure 11, so that the light guide structure 11 can illuminate the working area of the medical device.

Specifically, in some embodiments, the endoscope 10 may acquire an image of a subject through the lens assembly 12, and obtain a position of the medical instrument in the image through a visual judgment or an algorithmic analysis of the image, and further set a target illumination area according to the position of the medical instrument, which may be a working area of the medical instrument. Moreover, in the above-mentioned illumination method, the data conversion matrix can be obtained before the assembly process or the practical application of the endoscope 10, so in the practical application, after the target illumination area is set according to the position of the medical instrument, the rotation angles of the four light guide elements 111 can be adjusted by the above-mentioned illumination method, so that the actual illumination range of the light guide structure 11 is matched with the target illumination range, and further the working area of the medical instrument is better illuminated. Of course, the process of determining whether the actual illumination range of the light guide structure 11 matches the target illumination range may be performed through algorithm simulation, or the corresponding relationship between the data conversion matrix and the actual illumination range of the light guide structure 11 may be obtained before the practical application of the endoscope 10, so that the relative position relationship of the light guide element 111 is correspondingly adjusted according to the target illumination range and the corresponding relationship between the data conversion matrix and the actual illumination range in the practical application.

As can be seen from the above description, in the practical application process, the light guide structure 11 of the present application can adjust the illumination range of the light guide structure 11 in real time according to the position change of the medical instrument through the effect of the angle adjusting component 112 and the distance adjusting piece, so as to meet the requirements of different illumination scenes, and the endoscope 10 does not need to be detached in the adjustment process, so that the operation is simpler and more convenient.

Further, since the material of the medical device may be a reflective material, if the illumination range of the light guiding structure 11 is too concentrated on the medical device, the illumination effect is easily affected by the reflection of the medical device. Therefore, in some embodiments, it can be determined whether the medical device has a light reflection phenomenon through the image captured by the lens assembly 12, for example, when the brightness of a place of the captured image is greater than the brightness of light emitted from the light guide structure 11, it can be determined that the medical device has a light reflection phenomenon at the place. At this time, the target illumination area may be adjusted according to the position of the reflected light, for example, the brightness of the target illumination area at the reflected light position is reduced, and then the relative relationship between the four light guiding elements 111 is adjusted by the above-mentioned illumination method, so as to reduce the illumination brightness of the light guiding structure 11 at the reflected light position, and avoid the influence of the reflected light of the medical device on the illumination effect.

In the above embodiments, the light guide structure 11 includes at least two light guide elements 111, and an end surface of each light guide element 111 forms a light exiting surface 1111. Referring to fig. 15, in other embodiments, at least two light exiting surfaces 1111 may also be formed on an end surface of the same body, and the body may also be a light guiding element such as an optical fiber, for example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 15, one end surface of the body for exiting light is formed by four surfaces connected in sequence, and each surface forms one light exiting surface 1111. An included angle is formed between the at least two light emitting surfaces 1111, that is, the at least two light emitting surfaces 1111 are perpendicular to each other or inclined to each other, so that the illumination ranges of the at least two light emitting surfaces 1111 are at least partially different, and the illumination ranges of the at least two light emitting surfaces 1111 have a superposition effect.

In some embodiments, the light guiding structure 11 includes four light exiting surfaces 1111, and the four light exiting surfaces 1111 are formed on a main body, for example, on an end surface of an optical fiber for exiting light. In some embodiments, the four light emitting surfaces 1111 are two groups corresponding to each other, wherein one of the light emitting surfaces of one group is located on the same side as one of the light emitting surfaces 1111 of the other group, and the other light emitting surface of one group 1111 is located on the other side as the other light emitting surface of the other group 1111. Moreover, an included angle between two light emitting surfaces 1111 in one group is 140 degrees, an included angle between two light emitting surfaces 1111 in the other group is also 140 degrees, an included angle between two light emitting surfaces 1111 located on the same side is 166 degrees, and an included angle between two light emitting surfaces 1111 located on the other side is also 166 degrees. Referring to fig. 16, with such a design, when the four light-emitting surfaces 1111 are all formed on one main body, the illumination ranges of the four light-emitting surfaces 1111 can be overlapped to expand the overall illumination range of the light guide structure 11, and the light guide structure 11 can have a good illumination effect.

Of course, fig. 15 and 16 are only examples of the number and specific angle settings of the light-emitting surfaces 1111 formed on one main body, and the number of the light-emitting surfaces 1111 and the angle design between the light-emitting surfaces 1111 may also be the same as the design when the light-emitting surfaces 1111 are formed on different light guide elements 111, which can be obtained from the above descriptions and will not be described herein again.

All possible combinations of the technical features of the above embodiments may not be described for the sake of brevity, but should be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims (15)

1. A light directing structure, comprising:

the light guide structure comprises at least two light-emitting surfaces, wherein the at least two light-emitting surfaces are inclined towards one side relative to the length direction of the light guide structure, and included angles are formed between the at least two light-emitting surfaces, so that at least part of the light-emitting surfaces are different in illumination range.

2. The light-guiding structure of claim 1, wherein at least two of the light-exiting faces are tilted in opposite directions.

3. A light guide structure according to claim 1, comprising at least two light guide elements, wherein an end face of each light guide element forms one of the light exit faces.

4. A light guide structure according to claim 3, further comprising a distance adjuster capable of adjusting the shortest distance between the light exit surfaces of the two light guide elements.

5. The light guide structure of claim 3, further comprising an angle adjustment assembly, wherein the angle adjustment assembly is capable of driving the light emitting surface to rotate around the length direction of the light guide element.

6. The light guide structure of claim 5, wherein the angle adjustment assembly comprises at least two coreless motors, the coreless motors corresponding to the light guide elements one to one, and ends of the light guide elements are at least partially received in the coreless motors.

7. The light guide structure of claim 1, wherein the light guide structure comprises four light emitting surfaces, the four light emitting surfaces correspond to each other two by two, and the light emitting surfaces of the two corresponding light guide elements are inclined toward opposite directions.

8. The light-guiding structure of claim 7, wherein one of the two corresponding light-emitting surfaces and one of the two other corresponding light-emitting surfaces are located on the same side, the other one of the two corresponding light-emitting surfaces and the other one of the two other corresponding light-emitting surfaces are also located on the same side, and the two light-emitting surfaces located on the same side are parallel to each other.

9. The light guide structure according to claim 8, wherein the four light exit surfaces are inclined at equal angles with respect to the length direction of the light guide structure.

10. The light guide structure of claim 1, wherein the light exit surface is inclined by an angle greater than or equal to 10 ° and less than or equal to 30 ° with respect to the length direction of the light guide structure.

11. The light guide structure of claim 1, wherein the shortest distance between two light exiting surfaces is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1mm.

12. The light guide structure of claim 1, wherein at least two light exiting surfaces are formed on an end surface of the same main body, and an included angle is formed between the at least two light exiting surfaces.

13. An endoscope comprising a lens assembly and the light guide structure of any of claims 1-12, the light guide structure capable of illuminating a subject, the lens assembly for acquiring an image of the subject.

14. The endoscope of claim 13, wherein the light guide structure comprises four light guide elements, each of the light guide elements corresponds to each other two by two, and the light emitting surfaces of two corresponding sets of light guide elements are respectively disposed on two sides of the lens assembly.

15. An illumination method, wherein the illumination method is used for adjusting an illumination effect of a light guide structure, the light guide structure includes at least two light guide elements, and a light emitting surface of each light guide element is inclined to a length direction of the light guide element, and the illumination method includes the following steps:

rotating the single light guide element to obtain illumination areas of the light guide element under different rotation angles;

acquiring the centroid position of the illumination area of a single light guide element under different rotation angles;

repeating the two steps to respectively obtain the centroid positions of the illumination areas of the at least two light guide elements under different rotation angles;

respectively acquiring data conversion matrixes of the centroid positions of the illumination areas of at least two light guide elements and the rotation angles of the light guide elements;

setting a target illumination area;

adjusting the rotation angles of at least two light guide elements according to the target illumination area and the data conversion matrix;

verifying whether the actual illumination area of the light guide structure is matched with the target illumination area.

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