JP2000014629A - Endoscope spectroscopic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope spectroscopic apparatus enhancing measuring accuracy by acquiring measuring condition data for improving S/N. SOLUTION: A measurement control means 10 comprises a control parameter feeding-out means 11 for feeding-out parameters controlling measuring action to a spectroscope 24, a data evaluation means 12 to which measurement data measured with the spectroscope 24 in accordance with the parameters fed-out from the control parameter feeding-out means 11 are outputted and which then evaluates the measurement data on the basis of a preset criterion for evaluation to feed-out the measurement data evaluated as being optimum to the spectral data processing means 48 of a data registration means 41, and a control parameter setting means 13 for setting the plurality of parameters fed out from the control parameter feeding-out means 11 to the spectroscope 24 and for outputting the set parameters to the control parameter feeding-out means 11. The operating state of a spectral means is controlled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an endoscope spectroscopic device,
More specifically, the present invention relates to an endoscope spectroscope that measures a spectrum of a living mucous membrane by combining with an electronic endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic endoscope which has an elongated insertion portion to be inserted into a lumen, images a subject at the tip of the insertion portion, displays the subject on a monitor, and observes and treats the endoscope has been widely used. ing.

In recent years, as one of diagnostic support techniques, a technique for performing spectroscopic measurement of a living mucous membrane using an endoscope has been developed. In order to perform a spectroscopic measurement by transendoscopy, a fiber bundle for illumination and a fiber bundle for light reception are generally used.

Then, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-181028
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-28044, an endoscope spectroscope in which a spectroscope is combined with a fiberscope is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8 (Kokai) No. 8 discloses an apparatus for estimating a spectral characteristic of a subject from a video signal output from an electronic endoscope in which a plurality of narrow band filters are combined.

[0005] In recent years, in clinical practice, electronic endoscopes have been used more frequently than fiberscopes, and there has been a demand for an endoscope spectroscope that can be used in combination with an electronic endoscope and a spectroscope. In addition, in an endoscope spectroscope combined with a narrow band filter, it is necessary to change the specification of the electronic endoscope main body, and to obtain a desired wavelength resolution for high-precision spectroscopic measurement, it is necessary to change the filter characteristics. Required
It was difficult in the manufacturing process.

[0006] For this reason, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-248281 discloses that a high-precision spectroscopic measurement can be performed by combining with an electronic endoscope without greatly changing the specifications of the endoscope apparatus. Endoscope spectroscopy system that can be performed in a dynamic manner is proposed.

That is, this endoscope spectroscopic device is used in combination with an endoscope device having an imaging unit and an observation device, and irradiates a measurement light onto a living body surface and receives a reflected light from the living body surface. A probe, and a spectroscopic unit that performs spectroscopic measurement of reflected light from the body surface received by the measurement probe,
By providing a timing control means for controlling the operation timing of the spectroscopic means, by controlling the timing of the measurement by the timing control means, without significantly changing the specifications of the endoscope device, in the observation device And spectroscopic measurement can be performed by spectroscopic means from reflected light from the living body surface received by the measurement probe.

[0008]

However, when the spectroscopic measurement is performed by the endoscope spectroscopic device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-248281, when the optical characteristics of the subject change significantly, or when the measuring means such as the subject and a measuring probe are used. If the distance from the measurement probe is not constant, the amount of light emitted from the measurement probe, reflected on the gastric mucosa, for example, and returned to the measurement probe changes, so the measurement conditions of the spectroscopic means are appropriately changed according to the situation. Need to be done. In some cases, the spectrometer may not be equipped with an automatic gain control (which may be abbreviated as AGC) that enables the measurement conditions to be automatically changed. In such a case, the measurement is performed with the gain of the optical sensor fixed. Therefore, as described above, if the measurement is performed with the sensor gain fixed at a fixed value while the measurement situation changes, the S / N may be extremely poor, that is, the collected data may be too large in some cases. There was a problem that desired observation data could not be obtained because of the noise.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope spectroscopic device which improves measurement accuracy by acquiring measurement condition data for improving S / N. I have to.

[0010]

An endoscope spectroscopic device according to the present invention is an endoscope spectroscopic device used in combination with an endoscope device having an endoscope, an image pickup section, and an observation device. So,
The measurement probe irradiates the measurement light onto the living body surface and receives the reflected light from the living body surface, the spectral means for performing the spectral measurement of the reflected light from the living body surface received by the measurement probe, and the operation timing of the spectral means. The apparatus includes timing control means for controlling, data processing means for processing output data of the spectroscopic means, and measurement control means for controlling an operation mode of the spectroscopic means.

According to this configuration, the measurement control unit adjusts the operation mode of the spectroscopy unit so as to correspond to the measurement situation and performs the measurement, so that the inspection can be always performed in the best S / N state.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope spectroscopy system, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of measurement control means,
Fig. 3 shows the gain setting and MO of the image intensifier.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which the gain setting of the S-line sensor is performed by a mouse operation, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of evaluation criteria.

As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope spectroscopic system 1
Is composed of an electronic endoscope device 2 and an endoscope spectroscopic device 3. The electronic endoscope device 2 has a CCD as an imaging unit.
An electronic endoscope 4 having a built-in 22 and an observation illumination lamp as an observation light illumination light source that emits broadband light, for example, from ultraviolet light to infrared light, for observation (imaging) on the electronic endoscope 4. An observation device 7 having a built-in observation light source device 5 as observation light illuminating means and a signal processing unit 6 for performing signal processing on an electric signal transmitted from the CCD 22, and a video signal output from the observation device 7 It mainly comprises an observation monitor 8 for displaying. In addition, as the observation illumination lamp, a general xenon lamp, a strobe lamp, or the like can be used. These xenon lamps and strobe lamps emit not only visible light but also ultraviolet light and infrared light.

On the other hand, the endoscope spectroscopic device 3 includes a measuring light source device 9 which is a measuring light illuminating means having a white light source,
Spectroscope 2 which is spectroscopic means for spectroscopically reflecting light reflected from a subject
4, a measuring probe 25 for irradiating the subject with the measuring light from the measuring light source device 9 and guiding the reflected light from the subject to the spectroscope 24, and a timing for controlling the operation timing of the spectroscope 24 Control means 26;
And data processing means 27 for processing the output data of No.4.

The electronic endoscope 4 has an elongated insertion portion 28 inserted into the subject 30.
An operation unit (not shown) is provided at the rear end of the camera, and a universal cable (not shown) extends from the operation unit. The universal cable is detachably attached to the observation device 7 via a connector provided at the end of the universal cable. Is to be connected to.

A light guide 29 is inserted into the insertion portion 28, and by connecting the connector of the universal cable to the observation device 7, illumination light is supplied from the observation light source device 5 to the incident end face of the light guide 29. You. The illumination light is transmitted by the light guide 29,
The light is emitted toward the target portion of the subject 30 from the emission end surface desired for the illumination window at the distal end portion 28a of the insertion portion 28.

The target portion illuminated by the illumination light passes through the objective lens 21 which is an observation window provided at the distal end portion 28a, and is placed at the image forming position of the objective lens 21.
An image is formed on the CD 22 and photoelectrically converted. The image signal photoelectrically converted by the CCD 22 is subjected to signal processing by the signal processing unit 6 in the observation device 7 to generate a video signal, and the video signal is output to the observation monitor 8.

The objective lens 21 and the CCD 2
2 form an imaging unit 23 as imaging means, and a driving pulse from a driver (not shown) in the signal processing unit 6 is applied to the CCD 22 via a signal line. An electrical signal (image signal) corresponding to the image of the subject after photoelectric conversion is read out. This driving pulse is not applied during the period when the observation light is irradiated on the subject and charges are accumulated in the CCD 22, but is applied to the CCD 22 during the period when the observation light is not irradiated on the subject and accumulated. The read charge is read. The electric charge read out from the CCD 22 is input as an electric signal through a signal line to a preamplifier provided in, for example, the observation device 7, amplified by the preamplifier, input to a process circuit, and subjected to γ correction and After signal processing such as white balance is performed, the signal is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter.

The operation unit has a channel entrance 2.
0 is provided, and a channel 49 is constituted by an elongated tube communicating with the channel entrance 20 and the opening of the distal end portion 28a.

Further, a timing generator 40 is provided in the observation device 7, and generates a signal for controlling the timing of the entire system based on a synchronization signal output from the observation light source device 5.

The configuration of the electronic endoscope device 2 is the same as that of the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-248281. By combining the endoscope spectroscopic device 3 and the image recording means 88 for recording an image signal output from the observation device 7, the endoscope spectroscopic system 1 capable of obtaining data of the spectroscopic measurement transendoscopically is configured. are doing.

The measuring probe 25 is connected to the light source device 9 for measuring light and the spectroscope 24, and an illumination for guiding white light for spectral measurement from the light source device 9 for measuring light is provided in the measuring probe 25. And a light receiving fiber bundle 52 for guiding the reflected light from the subject to the spectroscope 24.

The illumination fiber bundle 51 and the light receiving fiber bundle 52 are covered by an insertion tube 69 and a probe branch 61, and the illumination fiber bundle 51 is covered by a measurement light tube 65 after the probe branch 61. The light receiving fiber bundle 52 is covered by a light receiving coil 66 after the probe branch portion 61.

The measuring fiber bundle 51 is supplied with measuring light from a measuring light source device 9 via a measuring light source connector 53, and the light receiving fiber bundle 52 is connected to a spectroscope 24 via a spectroscopic device connector 57. Is supplied to the light source.

The measuring light source device 9 comprises a spectrometry lamp 54 as a white light source for spectrometry, and a lamp power supply circuit 55 for supplying power to the lamp 54 for spectrometry. The spectrometry lamp 54 is a light source lamp that emits white light having a spectral intensity in the observation wavelength range.

The spectroscope 24 includes the measurement probe 25
A measuring light input unit 94 for condensing reflected light from a subject guided by a light receiving fiber bundle 52 provided on a spectrometer (hereinafter abbreviated as a spectrometer) 56, and converting the measuring light into spectral data. And a spectroscopic data converter 56.

The spectral data conversion section 56 is a dispersion element 58 for dispersing the reflected light from the subject condensed by the measuring light input means 94, and converts the light dispersed by the dispersion element 58 into an electric signal for amplification. Light detecting means 59 for controlling the operation of the light detecting means 59
It is composed of The light detection control means 60
Are connected to the data processing means 27 and the timing control means 26.

Incidentally, an appropriately mounted diffraction grating or the like is used for the dispersion element 58. In addition, an image intensifier (hereinafter referred to as I.I.
I. ) And a photoelectric sensor such as a MOS are widely used. Further, the light detection means 59 can change the degree of spectral data amplification (spectral data gain) by the light detection control means 60.

The timing control means 26 generates a measurement control signal for controlling the spectroscopic measurement operation on the basis of the timing signal output from the timing generator 40 in the observation device 7 as the observation means. Send to

The data processing means 27 includes a data registration means 41, a data file 42, a measurement control means 10
And a trigger means 31.

The trigger means 31 includes a light detection control means 6
0 and connected to the image recording means 88 to output a spectral data trigger signal and an image recording trigger signal, respectively.

The data file 42 includes an auxiliary data file 43, an image data file 44, and a spectral data file 45.

The data registration means 41 comprises an auxiliary information processing means 46, an image data processing means 47, and a spectral data processing means 48.
The image data file 44 and the spectral data file 45 are connected.

The measurement control means 10 is connected to the spectroscope 24 and the data registration means 41.

As shown in FIG. 2, the measurement control means 10 includes a control parameter sending means 11 for sending parameters for controlling the measuring operation to the spectroscope 24, and a spectroscope 24 based on the parameters sent from the control parameter sending means 11.
The data evaluation means 12 outputs the measurement data measured in the step (a), evaluates the evaluation data according to a preset evaluation criterion, and sends the measurement data evaluated as being optimum to the spectral data processing means 48 of the data registration means 41; The control parameter setting means 13 sets a plurality of parameters to be sent from the sending means 11 to the spectroscope 24 and outputs setting parameters to the control parameter sending means 11.

The incidental information processing means 46 holds the spectral data gain parameter of the light detecting means 59, sends it to the light detection control means 60, and stores it in the incidental data file 43. Further, the incidental information processing means 46
Information on the subject 30 and the measurement probe 25 is sent to the spectral data processing means 48. Further, the image data processing means 47 stores the digital image data in the image data file 44. Further, the spectral data processing means 48
Performs storage and retrieval of spectral data with respect to the spectral data file 45. The image recording unit 88 is connected to the timing generator 40 and the trigger unit 31.

The operation of the endoscope spectroscopic system 1 configured as described above will be described. When the insertion section 28 of the endoscope 4 is inserted into a predetermined site in a body cavity to perform spectroscopic measurement of a digestive tract mucosa,
The measuring probe 25 for spectrometry is inserted through the channel 49 of the insertion portion 28, and white light emitted from the lamp 54 for spectrometry is transmitted from the measuring light source connector 53 to the fiber bundle 51 for illumination of the measuring probe 25. The light is guided to illuminate the subject 30. Then, the measurement is performed in a state where the measurement probe 25 is not in contact with the mucous membrane, that is, in a state where the measurement probe 25 is separated from the mucous membrane or is in contact with the mucous membrane.

When the measurement probe 25 is separated from the mucous membrane, the distance between the mucous membrane and the measurement probe 25 changes each time the measurement is performed, so that the amount of light changes, so that satisfactory measurement cannot be performed. . That is, the spectroscope 2
4 provided in I.4. I. When the gain of the MOS line sensor is fixed, the S / N varies extremely depending on the distance between the mucous membrane and the measurement probe 25. For this reason, in the present embodiment, in order to cope with the measurement under such a situation, the measurement control means 10 changes the gain of the sensor, for example, from a low sensitivity state to a high sensitivity state, and the dynamics of the sensor is changed. The optimum measurement condition data within the range is acquired as the measurement value.

In order to acquire the optimum measurement condition data, the control parameter setting screen 1 is displayed on the screen of the observation monitor 8 shown in FIG.
4 is displayed, and the combination of parameters to be measured is specified. That is, I. I. Set the gain of I. I. Selection is made by, for example, mouse operation from the gain 14a and the AMP gain 14b for setting the gain of the MOS line sensor.

That is, first, the control parameter setting means 1
In step 3, a plurality of preset parameter sets or parameter sets set by the operator are selected from the control parameter setting screen 14 and transmitted to the control parameter transmitting means 11. Then, the control parameter sending means 11 sends all the selected parameter sets to the spectroscope 24 one by one in order. In the present embodiment, since five parameters No. 1 to No. 5 shown in the parameter setting screen 14 are set, the control parameter sending means 11 sends the parameters to the spectroscope 24 in order from the No. 1 parameter having the lowest sensitivity.

The spectroscope 24 receiving the No. 1 parameter
Then, measurement is performed according to this parameter. And
The measurement result at this time is sent to the data evaluation means 12.
The data evaluation means 12 receiving this data temporarily records the measurement result in a storage medium such as a memory in the measurement control means 10.

Next, the process proceeds from the No. 1 parameter to the No. 2 parameter, and the No. 2 parameter is transmitted from the control parameter transmitting means 11 to the spectroscope 24. Then, in the same manner as when the above-mentioned No. 1 parameter is transmitted, the spectroscope 24 performs measurement according to the transmitted No. 2 parameter. Then, the measurement result at that time is sent to the data evaluation means 12, and the measurement result is stored in the No. 1
Is recorded in a storage medium in the measurement control means 10 together with the measurement result data. Subsequently, the parameters are shifted, the measurement is performed according to all the parameters, and all the measurement results obtained by each parameter are recorded in the storage medium in the measurement control unit 10.

Next, in a state where the measurement results corresponding to all the parameters are recorded in the storage medium in the measurement control means 10, the five measurement data are evaluated by the data evaluation means 12 in accordance with the evaluation criterion, and the optimum measurement is performed. Only the resulting measurement data is sent from the measurement control means 10 to the spectral data processing means 48.

Here, the operation in the data evaluation means 12 will be described. According to each parameter, the spectral intensity data necessary to draw a graph corresponding to the relationship between the channel corresponding to the wavelength of the sensor and the intensity is output from the spectroscope 24 to the data evaluation means 12 and stored.

A graph of the spectral intensity data obtained by the spectroscope 24 is as shown in FIG.
The spectral intensity data obtained by measuring the fourth parameter gives a graph with a prominent central portion, and the spectral intensity data obtained by measuring the fourth parameter gives a graph with a substantially flat central portion.

The data evaluation means 12 focuses on, for example, data of the l-th, m-th, and k-th channels among these spectral intensity data, and determines whether the difference between these three data is equal to or less than a preset threshold value. Has been determined.
In other words, it can be seen that the measurement light is saturated beyond the dynamic range of the sensor because there is a substantially flat region in the graph obtained with the fourth parameter in FIG. That is, when the measurement is performed by setting the fourth parameter, it is determined that the dynamic range of the sensor is exceeded.

Therefore, in the data evaluation means 12, the result obtained by measuring with the parameter immediately before the data determined to be in the saturated state, that is, the final result by the third parameter shown in FIG. The actual measurement data is sent to the spectral data processing means 48.

As described above, a plurality of parameter sets previously set in the control parameter setting means are repeatedly sent from the control parameter sending means to the spectroscope, and the measurement is performed according to the parameters sent in the spectrometer. The measurement result is sent to the data evaluation means and recorded on the storage medium, and the plurality of measurement data is evaluated in the data evaluation means according to the evaluation criterion, and the optimum measurement data is transmitted from the measurement control means to the spectral data processing means. By sending out, when measurement is performed in a state where the measurement probe is away from the mucous membrane, the measurement data obtained by performing the best observation with the best S / N even in the spectroscopic means without the AGC is obtained. Can be.

Further, the operator can set parameter setting and data evaluation criteria according to the characteristics of the object to be measured and the spectroscopic means, so that effective data can be obtained efficiently.

According to the above-described evaluation criteria, for example, when extremely dark light enters, there is a possibility that the data is determined as a saturated state because there is no difference between data even within the dynamic range. . For this reason, the threshold value (θ1) shown in FIG. 4 may be set in advance, and the saturation determination may be performed on the data having the threshold value or more.

As described above, in addition to the evaluation criterion based on the saturation determination as to whether or not the data is within the dynamic range, the viewpoint of data S / N, that is,
Since data varies when the S / N ratio is poor, the variation may be quantitatively determined and evaluated. The evaluation criteria will be described.

Equation (1) is an equation showing a method of calculating S / N.

ΔMi (λ) = | Mi (λ) −mi (λ) | S / N = Var−1 (ΔMi (λ)) (1) where Mi (λ) is measured with the i-th parameter. Result mi (λ): smoothed data of Mi (λ) Var (): variance First, smoothed data mi (λ) of data Mi (λ) measured with a certain parameter i as shown in equation (1) Ask for. The smoothing may be performed by a method such as a moving average method or frequency filtering, or by measuring data a plurality of times with one parameter, and considering the integrated average as smoothed data.

Next, the absolute value of the difference between the measurement data Mi (λ) and the smoothed data mi (λ) is calculated, and this dispersion is calculated in the channel direction (wavelength direction). In the case where the smoothed data is calculated by an integrated average of a plurality of measurements, a certain number of data is defined as Mi (λ). And finally, S /
Calculate N as the reciprocal of the variance.

According to this algorithm, if there is much noise in the measurement data, the variance increases and the SN decreases, that is, the S / N deteriorates. Therefore, the evaluation criterion in the data evaluation means 12 is to calculate the S / N of the data measured with a plurality of parameters by the above-mentioned method, and to use the result having the best S / N as the measurement result from the calculation result as the spectral data processing means 48.

The method of the evaluation criteria in the data evaluation means 12 is not limited to the method shown in the present embodiment, but can be set arbitrarily by the operator according to the measurement object and the characteristics of the spectroscopic means. Alternatively, it can be changed.

In the present embodiment, all the parameters once set are sequentially transmitted to perform measurement, and all the measurement results corresponding to each parameter are recorded, and then the data is evaluated. Is determined and sent to the spectroscopic data processing means as measurement data. The cycle of sending parameters, measuring data, and evaluating data is performed once, and this cycle is repeated. Alternatively, the configuration may be such that the parameter transmission is stopped when the evaluation criteria are cleared, and the measurement result is transmitted to the spectral data processing means.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the data evaluation means according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the first embodiment, when obtaining measurement data, during measurement, data due to specular reflection is obtained due to the influence of halation or the like occurring on the mucous membrane of the stomach, and the measurement data becomes invalid. There was something. For this reason,
After the measurement, it is necessary to determine whether the measurement data is valid or invalid, and by making this determination instantly,
When the measurement result data is invalid, re-measurement can be performed before changing the distance or position between the mucous membrane and the measurement probe 25.

For this reason, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the data evaluation means 12 is connected to a database 15 having a plurality of reference data. That is, the data evaluation unit 12 determines the validity of the measurement data by comparing the similarity between the plurality of reference data recorded in the database 15 and the measurement data.

That is, in the database 15, a plurality of reference data which are treated as invalid data such as spectral data of a measurement light source are recorded in advance as reference data for detecting invalid data due to halation, for example.

For this reason, the measurement data output from the spectroscope 24 to the data evaluation means 12 is
In step 2, the similarity between the measurement data transmitted from the spectroscope 24 and one or more reference data recorded in the database 15 is compared.

The calculation of the similarity is performed, for example, by using the equation for calculating the correlation coefficient of equation (2).

[0064]

(Equation 1) For example, when the correlation coefficient between the measurement data and the halation data is equal to or greater than a preset threshold, the measurement data is treated as halation data due to specular reflection or the like, and is determined as invalid data. Then, the data evaluation unit 12 notifies the operator that the measurement data is invalid data, for example, by displaying a warning message on the monitor, or by sounding a buzzer or blinking a lamp. Upon receiving this notification, the surgeon can instantaneously determine that the currently measured data is invalid, and can perform re-measurement without immediately setting conditions again for the same subject.

As described above, when the measurement data of the spectroscope is input to the measurement control means, the measurement data is immediately compared with the invalid data which is reference data previously recorded in the database by the data evaluation means. By judging whether the measurement data is valid or invalid data, if the measurement data is invalid, the operator can instantaneously perform re-measurement at the same measurement position. As a result, the best measurement data can be collected without prolonging the examination time and without increasing the burden on the subject.

The reference data is not limited to the spectral data of the measurement light source for detecting invalid data due to halation. For example, a unique pattern of a lesion of interest to the surgeon may be registered as reference data. Alternatively, a data having a high correlation coefficient may be extracted from the data being measured.

FIGS. 6 and 7 relate to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another configuration of the endoscope spectroscopic system, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of a filter turret.

In the first embodiment, in order to perform the measurement in the optimum state, the measurement is performed by changing the measurement parameters in order to control the measurement operation of the spectroscope. However, depending on the system used in the spectroscope, the measurement is performed. In some cases, the parameter cannot be switched at high speed. Further, when the subject is moving, it takes time to switch the parameters, so that it may be difficult to apply the method of the first embodiment. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the optimum measurement can be performed without changing the parameters for controlling the measurement operation.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, a filter turret 16a is provided on the optical path of the measurement light source device 9 for spectroscopic measurement. This filter turret 1
6a is connected to a motor 16b.
6b is provided with a power supply 16c.

As shown in FIG. 7, the filter turret 16a has a plurality of filters 9a, 9b,
... is provided. The plurality of filters 9a, 9b,
Are neutral density filters (so-called ND filters) having different transmittances.

As described above, the filter turret 16a provided with the plurality of ND filters 9a, 9b,... Having different transmittances is rotated by the motor 16b in synchronization with the spectroscope 24 by the timing control means 26. Therefore, a plurality of filters 9 can be generated by one measurement trigger.
Measurement data based on the illumination intensity corresponding to a, 9b,. At this time, the gain of the sensor of the spectroscope 24 is fixed, and measurement data corresponding to a plurality of illumination light intensities is input to the data evaluation unit 12 in the measurement control unit 10. As a result, the data evaluation means 12 uses the evaluation criterion shown in the above-described embodiment,
Determine the filter that provides the best data within the dynamic range of the sensor.

As the evaluation method, the method described in the first embodiment is applied as it is. Instead of a plurality of data corresponding to the sensor parameters in the first embodiment, the parameter is a plurality of illumination light. The data corresponds to the level.

As described above, even in the case of a system in which the operation of changing the measurement parameters of the spectroscopic means takes a long time and cannot be easily performed, a plurality of filters provided on the optical path of the measurement light source device are exchanged. The same operation and effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained by obtaining measurement data and determining a desired filter.

As described in the present embodiment, the change of the illumination intensity is not limited to the method using a plurality of filters provided on the filter turret, and the timing control means 26 controls the illumination power supply. Even if the illuminance of the measurement light is directly controlled, the same operation and effect can be obtained.

By the way, in the above-mentioned system, a part of system components may be exchanged or changed, such as exchanging a measurement probe with a different type. In such a case, it is necessary to change the measurement parameters of the spectrometer due to the characteristic difference of the measurement probe, etc., so that the measurement parameters are repeatedly changed and measured, the measured values are checked for each, and the measurement parameters are re-read. Since the adjustment has been performed, a system that can easily readjust the measurement parameters when a part of the system component is replaced or changed has been desired.

Therefore, when re-adjustment of the measurement parameters accompanying replacement or change of the system components such as replacement of the measurement probe, the measured value in the original state (standard state)
The parameter after readjustment is determined by comparing the measured value after exchange / change.

That is, the database 1 shown in FIG.
5 records the measurement data measured with the plurality of measurement parameters in the standard use state as reference data of a combination of the measurement parameter and the measurement data. As the reference data, for example, a subject having a stable characteristic such as a standard white plate is measured.

For example, when the measurement probe is replaced, measurement is performed using a plurality of parameters using the same subject as that used to record the reference data in the database 15, and the measurement data is recorded in the data evaluation means 12. Is the evaluation data.

Next, the evaluation data is compared with the reference data in the database 15 to extract evaluation data close to the reference data, and the measurement parameters corresponding to the evaluation data are used as parameters after readjustment.

This makes it possible to readjust the necessary measurement parameters simply and in a short time.

FIGS. 8 to 10 relate to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a more detailed configuration of the endoscope spectroscopy system. FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing association of examination contents on an examination list screen.

The measurement data measured and collected by the transendoscopic spectroscopic measurement system is managed for each examination. For this reason, when checking the test contents such as what kind of case was included in the measurement data, the surgeon browses and checks the test data measured by that test, but only checks the outline of the test contents Even if it is desired to do so, the user must perform a data browsing operation including inspection data, which is a troublesome operation. For this reason, there has been a demand for a means for grasping the outline of the inspection content included in the measurement data without browsing the inspection data in the measurement data.

As shown in FIG. 8, the data processing means 27
It includes a measurement data management unit 84, a link information generation unit 85 that generates link information for linking image data and spectral data highly relevant to the incidental information processing unit 46, and an examination content management unit 100.

The measurement data management means 84 includes a measurement data browsing means 86 for providing a user interface for the user to browse the data stored in the data file 42, and a measurement for analyzing the measurement data according to the user's request. Data analysis means 87 and measurement data output means 89 for outputting measurement data and / or measurement data analysis results to a display monitor or an external file in response to a user request
It is composed of

An operator using the endoscope spectroscopy system 1
Before performing the spectroscopic measurement and the image recording, incidental information regarding the measurement is input. The supplementary information includes information such as the patient's first and last name, gender, age and date, and the information is processed by the supplementary information processing means 46.

On the other hand, the link information generating means 85 passes through the image data processing means 47 and the spectral data processing means 48,
Link information for linking a highly relevant data file among the image data and the spectral data stored in the data files 42 is generated.

Further, link information between the spectral data and data such as an optimum measurement reference necessary for the correction processing performed by the spectral data processing means 48 is also generated. By using this link information, the spectral data processing means 4
8 can perform highly accurate correction processing.

Further, the inspection content management means 100
The test content registering means 101 associates the expression indicating the test content with the meaning of the test content, that is, associates the abstract expression of the test content with its specific meaning, and registers the test registered in advance by the test content registering means. And a test content providing unit 102 for associating the test content with the specified test content, and a test content display unit 86 for displaying the content of the test content is provided in the measurement data browsing unit 86.

The examination content is an abstract expression such as an image such as a symbol or a number or an icon representing the examination content set by the operator, and this abstract expression is managed in association with a specific meaning. Things. When the type of the abstract expression is, for example, a numeral, numeral 1 is the inspection content including important cases such as early cancer, numeral 2 is the inspection content.
Is an inspection including data of a stained image, numeral 3 is an inspection of only image data without performing spectroscopic measurement data, numeral 4 is test data only and is not particularly required, and numeral 5 is unnecessary data. It is set to be good.

When actually registering the test content and its meaning, the test content is registered on the test content registration screen 103 displayed by the test content display means of the measurement data browsing means 86 as shown in FIG. The work shown in this figure is to register the meaning of “including an important case in the examination” for the content “3”, and the examination content thus registered has the content and the corresponding meaning. It is managed in the accompanying data file as a correspondence table.

Then, the test content providing means provided in the test content management means associates the test with the test content. Inspection list screen 104 shown in FIG.
Done on In this screen, the test content “3” is associated with the tester with the test ID “250”.

Thus, the examination and the examination content are associated by the examination content providing means, and the information is registered in the accompanying data file.

As described above, for the examination to which the examination content has been once provided, the operator can grasp the outline of the contents of the examination only by looking at the examination list screen.

Note that the inspection content can be used as a deletion flag. That is, if a certain test content is registered as unnecessary data, if the test content is associated with the test content meaning unnecessary data at the stage of displaying the test list on the screen, the test content is displayed on the screen. To be displayed. As a result, the contents are not displayed on the screen viewed by the operator without being physically deleted as data, so that observation can be performed as if the data were deleted. Naturally, the contents are not physically deleted, so that the inspection contents can be reflected on the screen by changing the inspection contents as necessary.

FIGS. 11 and 12 relate to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the structure of a data file.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the operation.

The transendoscopic spectroscopic measurement system manages incidental information such as patient information and image data and spectroscopic data which are measurement data. In some cases, it is necessary to browse the external data, for example, a microscope image of a physiological specimen, in association with the measurement data and the supplementary information. In such a case, separate systems were operated, such as the display of measurement data and additional information from the transendoscopic spectroscopic measurement system, and the display of external data by an external application. Means for browsing data managed by the measurement system in association with external data has been desired.

As shown in FIG. 11, in the present embodiment, the link information generating means 8 is stored in the data file 42.
5 is provided with an external file information unit 105 serving as external file link management means. The external file information unit 105 does not record the file itself of the external file 106, but stores the external files 107 and 10 which are data other than the internal data generated by the endoscope spectroscope.
8, 109... Etc., which has information for associating internal data with a position on a file system including a network form of external data associated with incidental data and measurement data.

That is, in the present embodiment, for example, a tissue specimen image collected at the stage of performing spectroscopic measurement is used as an external file. The operator selects a certain examination from the examination list and displays the measurement data therein. Then, image data and spectral data to be associated with the tissue image created by another system are selected.

Therefore, "external file link" is selected from a menu composed of a plurality of types of commands. Then, a window for designating the external file is opened, and the operator selects and determines the corresponding tissue image. As a result, the link information between the image data and the spectral data and the tissue image is recorded in the external file information unit 105.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, first, as shown in FIG.
Select the test "0". Then, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the measurement data included in the inspection is displayed. At this time, for the data 110 that has a link to the external file, a marker 111 indicating that a link to the related external file exists is displayed near the measurement data display. As shown in FIG. 4D, when the operator displays a menu 112 of commands with the measurement data 110 on which the marker 111 is displayed, and selects “external file display” from the menu, the screen shown in FIG. As described above, the viewer for viewing the external file is activated, and the tissue specimen image 113 is displayed on the screen.

Here, a viewer for displaying the external file may be incorporated as a part of the display function in the transendoscopic spectrometry system. If the external file has a plurality of file formats, it is possible to activate and display an application other than the present system only when browsing the external file.

As described above, by managing the measurement data and the supplementary information and the information of the link to the external file as the position information of the external file in the file system, the link can be generated and managed without selecting the file format of the external file. can do.

FIGS. 13 and 14 relate to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a view for explaining the measurement data management means, and FIG. 14 is a view for explaining the operation thereof.

A system for managing and browsing data within the system, such as a transendoscopic spectroscopic measurement system, is excellent in terms of data maintainability, operability, data access speed, and the like. However, once the data managed by the above system is used by an external application such as a statistical analysis package, the data conversion has been a complicated operation for the surgeon. It has been desired to provide a data conversion means necessary for using data managed by the measurement system in an external application.

As shown in FIG. 13, in this embodiment, the data conversion means 12 is provided in the measurement data management means 84.
1 is provided. This data conversion means 121
A data designating unit 122 for designating data to be output to the outside of the system, a log creating unit 123 for creating a log of the data to be output, and a data conversion output for converting the data into a data format designated by the operator and outputting the data as an external file And means 124.

In the examination list 124 shown in FIG. 14A, the operator selects an examination to be output as an external file. This figure shows a state in which a plurality of tests are selected. The data in the inspection may be individually selected.

Next, "output to external file" is selected from the command menu 125. Then, first, a log file 127 as shown in FIG.

This log file is columnar data composed of supplementary information such as the patient ID, name, examination date, measurement site, diagnosis information, etc., and the measurement data file name shown in FIG.

When considering the use of an application such as a statistical analysis, such a log file classifies a large amount of data according to the attribute (for example, a measurement site or diagnostic information) of the data, and in some cases, the application may use a large amount of data. This is because the attribute information itself may be used.

After such a log file is created by the log creating means, necessary data is extracted from the data file by the log converting means, and the external file is specified in a file format designated by the operator, such as an ASCII format or a binary format. Is output as

As described above, in consideration of use in an external application such as a statistical analysis package, a large amount of data can be easily output as an external file, and a log file is created to improve the use efficiency of the application. Can be. By outputting such a log file, the efficiency of using data by an external application is improved.

FIGS. 15 to 17 relate to a seventh embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an endoscope spectroscopic system, and FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a relationship between measurement control means, a spectroscope, and a data file. FIG. 17 is an explanatory view showing a schematic configuration of the measurement reference means.

Conventionally, when measuring the common white plate in the measurement reference means by the measurement probe, the operation of pushing the measurement probe into the measurement reference means and the operation of transmitting the measurement start trigger to the spectral means must be performed simultaneously. Was. In addition, there is a problem that a correct measurement value cannot be obtained by transmitting a measurement start trigger in a state where the measurement probe is not arranged at a predetermined measurement position in the measurement reference means. For this reason, there has been a demand for labor saving in measurement of a common white plate and improvement in accuracy of measured values of a common white plate.

The endoscope spectroscopy system 1 of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 comprises an electronic endoscope device 2 and an endoscope spectroscopy device 3. The endoscope spectroscopic device 3 includes:
A measuring light source device 9 having a white light source, a spectroscope 24 which is a spectroscopic means for separating and measuring reflected light from a subject,
The measurement light from the measurement light source device 9 is applied to the subject, and the measurement probe 25 for guiding the reflected light from the subject to the spectroscope, and the operation timing of the electronic endoscope device 2 and the spectroscope 24 are controlled. Timing control means 26 and spectroscope 2
4, an information display device 131 that is an information display device for displaying information,
And a reference device 130 having a built-in common white plate as a standard measurement subject.

The data processing means 27 comprises a data registration processing means 41, a data file 42, a measurement control means 10, and a trigger means 31. Further, a measurement button 6a is connected to the observation device 7. The timing controller 26 controls the spectroscope 2 based on the signal from the observation device 7.
4. Trigger means 31 is controlled.

As shown in FIG. 16, the measurement control means 10
A control parameter sending unit 11 and a data evaluation unit 12 are built in. Further, the data registration unit 41 has a built-in spectral data processing unit 48.

The light emitted from the measurement light source device 9 is applied to the subject 30 by the measurement probe 25, and the reflected light is guided to the spectroscope 24. When the measurement button 6a is turned on, the trigger unit 31 transmits a measurement start trigger to the spectroscope 24, and the measurement operation is performed according to the measurement timing controlled by the timing control unit 26. The spectroscope 24
The measurement value obtained by the measurement operation of
The data processing is performed in the spectral data processing means 48 in the data registration means 41 incorporated in the data processing means 27. The data processed information is displayed on the information display device 131.

In the structure and operation of the present embodiment, the same members as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 17, a reference device 130 serving as a measurement reference means includes a common white plate holder 133 having an insertion hole 132 through which the measurement probe 25 is inserted, a common white plate 134 and a stopper 135,
A measurement switch 136 is provided.

Then, the measurement probe 25 is inserted into the insertion hole 132.
When the probe tip is pressed against the stopper 135, the measurement can be performed by the common white plate 134, that is, the measurement probe 25 is connected to the stopper 135.
The position pressed against is the white plate measurement position.

For this reason, a switch member 137 formed of an elastic member protrudes from the inner peripheral surface of the insertion hole 132, and when the measurement probe 25 is disposed at a predetermined position in the insertion hole, the switch 137 of the measurement probe 25 The switch member 137 is pressed by the outer peripheral surface, and the measurement switch 136 becomes conductive.

The measurement switch 136 has the same wiring as the measurement button 6a, and transmits a measurement start trigger to the trigger means 31 in the data processing means 27 to the spectroscope 24 when the measurement switch 136 becomes conductive. Perform the operation of

As described above, when the measurement probe for spectroscopic measurement is inserted through the insertion hole of the common white plate holder and placed at the white plate measurement position, the measurement probe presses the switch member of the measurement switch. When the switch is turned on and the measurement start trigger is transmitted from the trigger means in the data processing means to the spectroscope and the spectrometer starts measurement, stable measurement can be reliably performed at a predetermined measurement position. it can. This prevents measurements at the wrong location.

Further, since the operation of transmitting the measurement start trigger and the operation of causing the measurement probe to reach the white plate measurement position are the same operation, the operation of the operator can be saved.

In this embodiment, the switch member 13 is used.
Although the measurement switch 136 is turned on when the switch 7 is pressed, the measurement switch 136 is turned on when the measurement probe 25 is disposed at a predetermined position so as to block the optical path of the photointerrupter. May be configured.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the configuration of the data processing means according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention.

The performance and characteristics of the components of the endoscope spectroscopic device change over time, such as breakage of the fiber of the measurement probe, decrease in the amount of light from the measurement light source, contamination of the common white plate, and fluctuation over time of the spectroscopic means. However, there is a problem that the measurement accuracy is reduced.

For this reason, it has been desired to detect a temporal change of the measuring device to cope with a decrease in the measuring accuracy.

As shown in FIG. 18, in this embodiment, the data evaluation means 12 in the measurement control means 10 has a built-in fluctuation detecting means 141 incorporated therein. This means for detecting variation over time 1
Reference numeral 41 reads data from the data file 42 and reads measurement data transmitted from the spectroscope 24.

First, when the common white plate 134 of the reference device 130 as the measurement reference means is measured, the measured value is used as a measurement reference value. At this time, the temporal fluctuation detecting means 141 acquires from the data file 42 the reference measurement value S at the wavelength λ of the common white plate measurement value and the threshold value T which is an allowable value for the reference measurement value S.

Next, the temporal fluctuation detecting means 141 acquires the measured value X of the measured value of the common white plate 134 at the wavelength λ from the spectroscope 24.

Next, | S
-X | and T are compared, and if the value of | SX | is greater than the value of T, the fiber breakage of the measurement probe 25;
Data accuracy such as a decrease in the amount of light from the measurement light source, dirt on the common white plate 134, aging of the spectroscope 24, misalignment of the measurement probe 25 with the spectroscopic device connector 57, and failure in measurement of the common white plate 134. It is determined that the decrease is of a size that cannot be ignored, and the information display device 131 is warned to that effect.

As described above, | SX | and T are compared by the time variation detecting means provided in the data evaluation means, and the fiber of the measuring probe is broken, the light amount of the measuring light source is reduced, the stain on the common white plate, the spectral In addition to time-dependent fluctuations of the means, detect the misalignment between the measurement probe and the connector for the spectrometer or the failure of measurement of the common white plate, and warn the operator that the data is of low accuracy. Can be.

It is to be noted that the optical characteristics of the measured values may fluctuate only within a certain wavelength range due to dirt on the tip of the measurement probe 25, dirt on the measurement light source connector, the spectrometer connector 57, dirt on the common white plate 134, and the like. Can be considered. In such a case, since the fluctuation cannot be detected in the above-described embodiment, when detecting the temporal fluctuation of the measured value in the specific wavelength range, the detection is performed as follows.

This embodiment is a modification of the above embodiment, and will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the temporal change detection means 141 in the measurement control means 10 can read data from the data file 42 and read measurement data from the spectroscope 24, so that λ1, λ2, λ3,
.., Λn are distributed within the measurement wavelength range of the spectroscope 24.

The temporal variation detecting means 141 obtains, from the data file 42, the reference measured values S1, S2, S3,..., Sn at the wavelengths λ1, λ2, λ3,. , Xn, X3,..., Xn at the wavelengths λ1, λ2, λ3,..., Λn of the measured values of the common white plate 134 from the spectroscope 24, and S1-X
1, S2-X2, S3-X3,..., Sn-Xn are calculated, and their standard deviation D (SX) is calculated.

Here, the standard deviation D (SX) is compared with a threshold value T. If the standard deviation D (SX) is larger than the threshold value T, it is determined that the reduction in data accuracy is not negligible, and a warning is issued to the information display device.

As described above, when dirt or the like adheres to the common white plate or when the measurement value in a specific wavelength range in which the dirt adheres to the tip of the measurement probe decreases, a plurality of samples distributed in the measurement wavelength range are reduced. In the measured value of the common white plate corresponding to the wavelength λ, a change with respect to a part of the wavelength can be detected to prevent the measurement accuracy from being deteriorated due to a decrease in the measured value in a specific wavelength range.

In this embodiment, the standard deviation D
Although (S−X) is used, the measurement may be performed using the variance S (S−X). Further, in the present embodiment, S1-X1, S2-
X2, S3-X3,..., Sn-Xn were calculated, and their standard deviations D (SX) were calculated. S1 / X1, S2 / X2, S3 / X3,
, Sn / Xn may be calculated, and the standard deviation D (S / X) or the variance S (S / X) thereof may be calculated and compared with the threshold T.

FIGS. 19 to 21 relate to a ninth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the configuration of a measurement light source device.
0 is a diagram showing a light shielding plate, and FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data processing unit.

The endoscope spectroscopy system of the above-described embodiment has a configuration in which a field sequential endoscope apparatus is combined with an endoscope spectroscopic apparatus. However, an endoscope spectroscopic system may be configured by combining an endoscope spectroscopic device and a simultaneous endoscope device. In the illumination light in the plane-sequential type endoscope device, since there is a period in which light is shielded, measurement was performed by the endoscope spectroscope during the light shielding period. Light is irradiated on the subject.

That is, in the simultaneous endoscope apparatus, there is no light-shielding period during the irradiation of the illumination light, so that the endoscope spectroscopic apparatus used in combination with the plane sequential endoscope apparatus is used. When the measurement is performed by the method, the light component of the endoscope light source is included, so that the measurement accuracy is reduced.

For this reason, in this embodiment, an endoscope spectroscopic system in which a simultaneous endoscope apparatus is combined with an endoscope spectroscopic apparatus is configured as follows.

The electronic endoscope apparatus of the present embodiment is a simultaneous endoscope apparatus, and continuously emits illumination light having a constant spectral distribution from the distal end. As shown in FIG. 19, a light shielding device 142 is built in the measurement light source device 9A used with the endoscope device. The light shielding device 142 includes a rotary filter or light shielding plate 143 divided into two parts, a motor 144 for rotating the light shielding plate 143, and a motor control device 145 for controlling the motor 144. The motor control device 145 detects the conduction of the measurement button 6a by the timing control means 26.

As shown in FIG. 20, the light-shielding plate 143 is rotated by the motor 144 so that the illumination light emitted from the measurement light source device 9A is emitted or shielded.

Reference numeral 27 shown in FIG. 21 denotes data processing means, and an endoscope light source component removing means 146 is provided in the spectral data processing means 48 of the data processing means 27 of the present embodiment.

The light emitted from the observation light source device 5 is
The light emitted from the measurement light source device 9A is continuously emitted from the distal end portion of the simultaneous endoscope device, but the light emitted from the measurement light source device 9A is rotated by the rotation of the light shielding plate 143 by the motor 144 of the light shielding device 142. It is emitted intermittently from the tip of the.

The rotation and stop of the motor 144 of the light shielding device 142 are controlled by a motor control device 145, and the operation of the motor control device 145 is controlled by timing control means 26. Therefore, while the measurement button 6a is not in the conductive state, the light blocking device 142 is in a state of blocking the light of the measurement light source device 9A under the control of the timing control unit 26.

At this time, the trigger unit 31 transmits a measurement start trigger to the spectroscope 24 at intervals of a predetermined time t.
The subject reflected light guided to the light receiving fiber 52 of the measurement probe 25 is measured by the spectroscope 24. The measured value X is held by the endoscope light source component removing unit 146, and is updated at regular time intervals t.

When the measurement button 6a is turned on,
The timing control means 26 controls the motor 1 of the light shielding device 142.
By rotating 44, the light emitted from the measurement light source device 9 </ b> A is emitted from the tip of the measurement probe 25 to the subject.

On the other hand, the trigger means 31 transmits a measurement start trigger to the spectroscope 24, and transmits the subject reflected light guided to the light receiving fiber 52 of the measurement probe 25 to the spectroscope 24.
Measure with This measured value is defined as Y.

Subsequently, the motor 144 of the light shielding device 142 rotates to block the light from the measurement light source device 9A. At this time, the measurement by the spectroscope 24 is not performed.

In the spectral data processing means 48, YX is calculated in the endoscope light source component removing means 146, and the difference Z is stored in the data file 42 as a subject measured value.

As described above, the value measured by the measurement probe using the simultaneous endoscope includes the light component (illumination light source light component) by the illumination light source device, but the endoscope light source component A spectral component can be measured by removing the illumination light source component by providing a removing unit. Also, since the measurement light source light emitted from the measurement probe can only be emitted during measurement,
Facilitates observation with a simultaneous endoscope.

By the way, the resolution of the output value obtained by the spectroscopic means is constant irrespective of the measured value. An upper limit is set for the output value. For this reason, when the spectral characteristics of the subject greatly differ depending on the wavelength, the output value of the spectral unit is low, but the resolution / output value is large. That is,
The number of significant digits decreases. For this reason, if the parameter of the measurement gain of the spectroscopic means is increased in order to increase the number of significant digits for the purpose of improving the accuracy, a value exceeding the upper limit value is output, so that a correct value cannot be obtained.

For this reason, there has been a demand for an improvement in the measurement accuracy of a device having a low output value from the spectroscopic means.

An embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 22 is a graph showing conventional spectral measurement values,
23 is a diagram showing a configuration of a measurement light source device, FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a configuration of a rotary filter, FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a spectral distribution of each filter, FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data processing unit, and FIG. It is a graph which shows the example of a measured value in each spectral distribution.

FIG. 22 shows an example of a spectroscopic measurement value, which is a value measured by a single light emitted from a conventional measurement light source device. As shown in the figure, if the gain parameter of the spectroscopic unit is further increased, the output value exceeds the upper limit U of the spectroscopic unit, resulting in a partially broken measurement value.

As shown in FIG. 23, the measurement light source device 9B of this embodiment has a built-in filter selection device 151.
The filter selection device 151 includes a motor 152, a rotary filter 153, and a motor control device 154. The operation of the motor control device 154 is controlled by the timing control means 26.

[0160] As shown in FIG.
Is provided with a first filter 155, a second filter 156, and a third filter 157. When the rotary filter 153 rotates, the spectral distribution of light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B is changed. I have.

That is, the first filter 155, the second filter 156, and the third filter 15
The spectral distribution of the light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B after passing through 7 is a spectral distribution 1, a spectral distribution 2, and a spectral distribution 3 as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 26, the spectral data processing means 27 of this embodiment has a data registration means 41 having a measured value synthesizing means 158.

The control parameter sending means 11 holds the gain parameter of the spectral means 24 corresponding to each spectral distribution as an initial value, and can change the gain parameter according to an instruction from the measured value synthesizing means 158. It has become.

First, in the filter selecting device 151,
Light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B by the motor 152 rotating the rotation filter 153 (measurement light source light)
Can be changed. The motor 152 of the filter selection device 151 is controlled by the motor control device 154 controlled by the timing control means 26 to control the rotational movement and the stop operation, and can switch the spectral distribution of the light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B. It has become.

When the measurement button 6a is turned on,
The filter selecting device 151 is controlled by the timing control means 26.
Is controlled, the spectral distribution of light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B is first switched to the spectral distribution 1, and under the control of the timing control unit 26, the trigger unit 31 transmits a measurement trigger to the spectral unit 24 to perform measurement. Subsequently, the timing control means 26 similarly performs the measurement by sequentially switching the spectral distribution of the light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B to the spectral distributions 2 and 3.

At this time, the gain parameter of the spectroscopic means in each measurement is determined by the control parameter transmitting means 11 transmitting its own parameter initial value.

Next, in the measured value synthesizing means 158, the maximum value M of the spectral means output value in each of the spectral distributions 1, 2, and 3 is obtained.
1, M2 and M3 are compared with the spectroscopic means output value upper limit U.
Here, if the maximum values M1, M2, and M3 are smaller than the upper limit U, the gain parameters of the measurements in the corresponding spectral distributions 1, 2, and 3 are increased. The control parameter sending means 11 is instructed to lower the gain parameters of the measurements in 2 and 3, respectively.
The gain parameter corresponding to each spectral distribution held by itself is changed.

Next, the measurement value synthesizing unit 158 issues a request for a measurement operation to the timing control unit 26, and performs measurement again in the spectral distributions 1, 2, and 3.

Then, the above measurement operation is repeatedly performed, and
The gain parameter in the measurement of each spectral distribution is adjusted such that the maximum values M1, M2, and M3 of the spectral means output values of each spectral distribution are lower than the upper limit U of the spectral means output value and closer to the upper limit U. .

Here, the gain parameters in each spectral distribution are assumed to be, for example, G1, G2, G3. G1, G2, G
The gain coefficients of the gain parameters of H3, H2,
H3, and the output value of the spectral means at the gain G0 is H
It is assumed that the output values of the spectroscopic means are 1 times, H2 times, and H3 times.

As shown in FIG. 27, the measured value synthesizing means 1
At 58, a value obtained by multiplying the value from λ1 to λ2 by 1 / H1 when the measurement light source light has the spectral distribution 1 indicated by the solid line, and from λ2 to λ3 when the measurement light source light has the spectral distribution 2 indicated by the one-dot chain line.
The value from λ3 to λ4 when the measurement light source light has the spectral distribution 3 indicated by the two-dot chain line is 1 / H2.
A composite measurement value is created using the value multiplied by H3.

As described above, by changing the gain parameter in accordance with the spectral reflectance of the subject for each wavelength range, the number of significant digits of the measured value is increased even at wavelengths where the spectral reflectance of the subject is low. Accuracy can be improved.

In the above-described embodiment, the parameters of the spectroscopic means are changed each time the filters 155, 156, 157 of the filter selecting device 151 are changed. There is a problem that it takes time to obtain a value. Therefore, a method for acquiring a measurement value with a large number of significant digits in a short time will be described.

In this case, the first filter 155, the second filter 156, the third filter 15
28, the spectral distribution of light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B is a spectral distribution 1A, a spectral distribution 2A, and a spectral distribution 3A, respectively, as shown in FIG. Is different. This difference in transmittance is determined based on the spectral reflectance distribution prediction data of each subject.

First, in the filter selection device 151,
Light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B by the motor 152 rotating the rotation filter 153 (measurement light source light)
Can be changed.

The motor 15 of the filter selecting device 151
2, the motor control device 154 controls the rotational movement and the stopped state, and can switch the spectral distribution of light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B.

FIG. 22 shows the spectral reflectance distribution of the subject.
Is assumed to be similar to the example of the spectroscopic measurement value. There is an upper limit to the output value of the spectral means, and this upper limit is defined as an upper limit U.

FIG. 22 shows the values measured by a single light emitted from the conventional measuring light source device. If the gain parameter of the spectroscopic means is further increased, the output exceeds the upper limit U of the spectroscopic means. You will get broken measurements.

The first filter 15 is added to the rotation filter 153.
5, when the second filter 156 and the third filter 157 are mounted, the spectral distribution of light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B is spectral distribution 1A, spectral distribution 2A, and spectral distribution 3A.
Become like

Here, when the measurement button 6a is turned on, the timing control means 26 causes the filter selection device 1 to operate.
51 is controlled to switch the spectral distribution of light emitted from the measurement light source device 9B to the spectral distribution 1A, and the trigger unit 31 transmits a measurement trigger to the spectral unit 24 under the control of the timing control unit 26 to perform measurement.

Subsequently, the timing control means 26 performs measurement by sequentially switching the spectral distribution of light emitted from the measuring light source device 9B to the spectral distributions 2A and 3A in the same manner.

In this series of measurements, the control parameter sending means 11 receives an instruction from the measured value synthesizing means 158.
Indicates the same gain parameter G1 to the spectroscopic means.

As shown in FIG. 29, the measured value synthesizing means 1
At 58, the spectral unit output value from λ1 to λ2 when the measurement light source light has the spectral distribution 1A shown by the solid line, and the spectral unit output value from λ2 to λ3 when the measurement light source light has the spectral distribution 2 shown by the dashed line. Then, a combined measurement value is created using the output values of the spectral means from λ3 to λ4 when the measurement light source light has the spectral distribution 3A indicated by the two-dot chain line. At this time, since the composite measurement value by the gain parameter G1 is smaller than the upper limit U of the output value of the spectroscopic means, the gain parameter can be further increased, and the same measurement and processing can be performed with the gain parameter G2. Become.

As described above, the spectral distribution of the measurement light source is changed in accordance with the spectral reflectance of the subject for each wavelength range, and the effective digit of the measured value is increased even at a wavelength where the spectral reflectance of the subject is low. Accuracy can be improved. Also,
Since the gain parameter is constant irrespective of the measurement light source light, no time is required for changing the gain parameter.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the invention.

[Appendix] According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the following configuration can be obtained.

(1) In an endoscope spectroscopy apparatus used in combination with an endoscope apparatus having an endoscope, an imaging unit, and an observation device, measurement light is irradiated on the surface of a living body, and A measuring probe for receiving the reflected light of the light, a spectroscopic means for performing spectroscopic measurement of the reflected light from the living body surface received by the measuring probe, a timing control means 26 for controlling the operation timing of the spectroscopic means, An endoscope spectroscope comprising: a data processing unit for processing output data; and a measurement control unit for controlling an operation mode of the spectroscopic unit.

(2) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein the measurement control means 10 includes control parameter sending means for controlling measurement conditions of the spectroscopic means.

(3) The endoscope spectroscope according to Appendix 1, wherein the measurement control means 10 includes data evaluation means for evaluating a plurality of measurement data obtained from the spectroscopy means.

(4) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to appendix 3, wherein the data evaluation means determines the validity of the measurement data output from the spectroscopic means.

(5) The endoscope spectroscopic device according to appendix 4, wherein the validity determination is performed by comparing measured data output from the spectroscopic means with a preset threshold value.

(6) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to appendix 4, wherein the validity determination is performed by determining whether or not the measurement data is within the measurable range of the spectroscopic means.

(7) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to appendix 6, wherein the determination of the saturation is a threshold processing of a difference value between outputs from the light detecting means constituting the spectral means corresponding to a plurality of wavelengths.

(8) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to appendix 4, wherein an SN is calculated for the validity determination, and if the SN is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value, the data is regarded as valid data.

(9) The endoscope spectroscope according to item 1, wherein the parameter sending means allows the operator to specify the parameters to be sent.

(10) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to appendix 4, wherein the validity determination is performed based on a similarity determination with data recorded in advance in reference data.

(11) The endoscope spectroscopic device according to appendix 4, wherein the validity judgment is performed by combining a plurality of validity judgments.

(12) The endoscope spectroscopic device according to appendix 1, wherein the measuring light illuminating means used in the spectroscopic means is provided with a light quantity adjusting means.

(13) The light amount adjusting means includes a filter turret having a plurality of optical filters arranged on an optical path and having different transmittances, and a rotating means for rotating the filter turret. Endoscope spectroscopy.

(14) The endoscope spectroscopic device according to attachment 13, wherein the plurality of optical filters are neutral density filters having different transmittances from each other.

(15) The endoscope spectroscope according to appendix 1, wherein the light quantity adjusting means controls a power supply of the measuring light illuminating means to adjust the light quantity.

(16) The endoscope spectroscope according to item 1, wherein the parameter sending means automatically determines a parameter to be sent based on a result measured in advance.

(17) The data processing means is composed of a measurement data management means, a data registration means, and a data file, and the data registration means is an auxiliary information processing means, an image data management means, a spectral data processing means. 2. The endoscope spectroscopy apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said auxiliary information processing means comprises inspection content management means.

(18) The examination content management means is
18. The endoscope spectroscopic device according to claim 17, comprising an examination content providing unit, an examination content registration unit, and an examination content display unit.

(19) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 18, wherein the content registration means creates a table for associating the expression indicating the test content with the meaning of the test content.

(20) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 18, wherein the content providing means associates the test content registered by the test content registration means with the test registered in advance.

(21) The inspection content display means includes:
19. The endoscope spectroscopy apparatus according to claim 18, wherein display control is performed on the test content registered in advance based on the content of the test content.

(22) The display control performed by the test content display means is such that a specific test content is
Supplementary note 2 to prevent the inspection from being displayed on the display device
2. The endoscope spectroscopic device according to 1.

(23) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 17, wherein the supplementary information processing means has link information generating means, and the link information generating means has an external file link managing means.

(24) The external file link management means associates a position in the file system including a network form of data other than the internal data generated by the endoscope with the internal data with the internal data. The endoscope spectroscopic device according to any one of the preceding claims.

(25) The endoscope spectroscopic device according to appendix 1, wherein a data conversion means is provided in the data management means provided in the data processing means.

(26) The endoscope spectroscope according to appendix 25, wherein the data conversion means outputs data generated by the endoscope spectroscope to the outside of the system.

(27) The data conversion means includes data designation means for designating data to be processed, log creation means for creating a log file representing the contents of data to be output, and data conversion into a file format designated by the operator. Supplementary note 25 comprising data conversion output means for converting and outputting
The endoscope spectroscopic device according to any one of the preceding claims.

(28) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to the appendix 1, further comprising: a measurement switch for instructing the spectroscopic means to start measurement and a measurement reference means including a common white plate serving as a reference for measurement. Endoscope spectrometer.

(29) The endoscope spectroscope according to attachment 28, wherein the measurement switch is in a conductive state when the measurement probe is arranged at a predetermined position.

(30) The endoscope spectroscope according to attachment 28, wherein the measurement switch is turned on when the optical path of the photointerrupter is interrupted by the measurement probe.

(31) The endoscope spectroscopic device according to appendix 1, wherein the determination of the validity of the measurement data performed by the data evaluation unit is performed by the temporal change detection unit that detects the temporal change of the measured value.

(32) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 31, wherein the time-varying change determination is a threshold process of a difference value between measured data at a plurality of wavelengths and corresponding past measured data.

(33) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 31, wherein the time-varying determination is a threshold process of a variance value of a ratio between measurement data at a plurality of wavelengths and corresponding past measurement data.

(34) The endoscope spectroscopic device according to appendix 1, wherein the measuring light illuminating means used in the spectroscopic means includes a light shielding device.

(35) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 34, wherein the light shielding device has a light shielding plate and a moving means for moving the light shielding plate.

(36) The endoscope spectroscopic device according to attachment 34, wherein the light shielding device intermittently transmits and blocks light by moving a light shielding plate disposed on an optical path.

(37) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein the spectral data processing means includes endoscope light source component removing means.

(38) The endoscope light source component removing means includes:
The endoscope according to Supplementary Note 37, wherein an endoscope illumination light source component is removed from a difference between a measurement value when the light shielding device emits light and a measurement value when the light shielding device blocks light to measure. Spectroscopy device.

(39) The measuring light illuminating means used in the spectroscopic means includes a filter selecting device, and the filter selecting device includes a filter turret in which a plurality of bandpass filters having different optical characteristics are arranged. An endoscope spectroscopic device according to attachment 1.

(40) The apparatus includes the spectral data processing means,
An endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 39, wherein the spectral data processing means is provided with a measurement value synthesizing means.

(41) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 40, wherein the measurement value synthesizing means synthesizes, from a plurality of divided measurement values having a limited wavelength range, measurement values covering the wavelength range of each of the divided measurement values. .

(42) The endoscope spectroscope according to attachment 41, wherein the divided measurement values are measurement values obtained by switching the optical filter.

(43) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 42, wherein the measured value synthesizing means changes the parameters of the spectroscopic means by the measurement parameter sending means every time the optical filter is switched.

(44) The endoscope spectroscopic apparatus according to attachment 43, wherein the measured value synthesizing unit multiplies the divided measured value by a constant according to a change in the parameter of the spectroscopic unit by the measurement parameter sending unit.

(45) The endoscope spectroscope according to attachment 39, wherein the optical characteristics of the plurality of bandpass filters are determined according to the optical characteristics of the subject.

[0232]

As described above, according to the present invention, S
By obtaining measurement condition data that makes / N better, it is possible to provide an endoscope spectroscopic device that improves measurement accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope spectroscopic system.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a measurement control unit.

FIG. 3 shows gain setting and M of an image intensifier.
Explanatory diagram showing an example in which gain setting of an OS line sensor is performed by mouse operation

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of evaluation criteria.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data evaluation unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6 and 7 relate to a third embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another configuration of the endoscope spectroscopy system.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a filter turret.

FIGS. 8 to 10 relate to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a more detailed configuration of the endoscope spectroscopic system.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the operation of the examination content means.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing association of examination contents on an examination list screen.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 relate to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data file.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the operation.

FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 relate to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the operation thereof.

15 to 17 relate to a seventh embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an endoscope spectroscopy system;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a relationship between a measurement control unit, a spectroscope, and a data file.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a measurement reference unit.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data processing unit according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

19 to 21 relate to a ninth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a configuration of a measurement light source device.

FIG. 20 is a view showing a light shielding plate;

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data processing unit.

FIG. 22 illustrates an embodiment with reference to FIGS. 22 to 27; FIG. 22 is a graph showing conventional spectral measurement values.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a configuration of a measurement light source device.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a configuration of a rotary filter.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a spectral distribution of each filter.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data processing unit.

FIG. 27 is a graph showing an example of measured values at each spectral distribution.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing another spectral distribution of the filter.

FIG. 29 is a graph showing an example of measured values in each spectral distribution.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Measurement control means 11 ... Control parameter sending means 12 ... Data evaluation means 13 ... Control parameter setting means 24 ... Spectroscope 48 ... Spectral data processing means

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Claims (1)

[Claims] In an endoscope spectroscopic device used in combination with an endoscope having an endoscope, an imaging unit, and an observation device, a measurement light is irradiated to a surface of a living body, and A measuring probe for receiving the reflected light; a spectroscopic means for performing spectroscopic measurement of the reflected light from the living body surface received by the measuring probe; a timing control means for controlling an operation timing of the spectroscopic means; output data of the spectroscopic means An endoscope spectroscopy apparatus comprising: a data processing unit that processes an image; and a measurement control unit that controls an operation mode of the spectroscopic unit.