JP2000131622A - Stereoscopic endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a stereoscopic endoscope easily small-sized and low in cost by alternately supplying power to a pair of light sources for lighting capable of separately lighting an object to be imaged by a video-camera from oblique both sides. SOLUTION: Power is alternately supplied to a pair of the light sources LG1 and LG2 by a power circuit PS, switches SW1 and SW2 and a control circuit CTL. Then it is repeated that the object OB is sometimes lighted from the oblique right side facing the object OB by the light source for lighting LG1 and on another occasion, the object OB is lighted from the oblique left side facing the object OB by the light source LG1 for lighting. An imaging signal from the camera CM is supplied to a signal processor SP through a cable LC to be signal-processed to obtain a color picture signal and the color picture signal is supplied to a monitor image receptor MR to picture the stereoscopic image of the object OB. Thus the endoscope uses only one camera to be easily small-sized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a stereoscopic endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional stereoscopic endoscope will be described with reference to FIG. CM1 and CM2 are a pair of video cameras (including a solid-state image sensor such as a CCD) for imaging the object OB. LG1 and LG2 are illumination light sources that simultaneously illuminate the subject OB imaged by the pair of cameras CM1 and CM2 from diagonally opposite sides.

[0003]

In such a conventional stereoscopic endoscope, since two video cameras CM1 and CM2 are provided, it is difficult to reduce the size of the stereoscopic endoscope, and the stereoscopic endoscope is difficult to be used. There was a disadvantage that the price was high.

[0004] In view of the above, the present invention seeks to propose an inexpensive stereoscopic endoscope that can be easily miniaturized.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A stereoscopic endoscope according to the present invention comprises a single video camera, a pair of illumination light sources capable of separately illuminating a subject imaged by the video camera from both oblique sides, And a power supply for alternately supplying power to the pair of illumination light sources.

According to the present invention, a pair of illumination light sources alternately illuminate one and the other of the diagonally opposite sides of the subject, so that a single video camera performs pseudo stereoscopic imaging of the subject. Can be.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention relates to a single video camera, a pair of illumination light sources capable of separately illuminating a subject imaged by the video camera from both oblique sides, and a pair of illumination light sources. This is a stereoscopic endoscope having a power supply that alternately supplies power.

[Specific Example of Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, a stereoscopic endoscope according to a specific example of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the block diagram of FIG. CM is subject O
This is a single video camera (including a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD) for imaging B. LG1 and LG2 are camera CMs
Are a pair of illumination light sources (light bulbs, light emitting diodes, etc.) that can individually illuminate the object OB to be imaged from diagonally opposite sides.

L1 and L2 are illumination light sources LG1 and LG2
And LC are two cables each for deriving an image signal from the camera CM and supplying power to the camera CM. These cables L1, L2, and LC are bundled to form a flexible cord FC.

The illumination light sources LG1 and LG2 are connected to a power supply circuit (DC power supply) PS through the above-mentioned cables. On / off switches SW1 and SW2 are inserted into the cables L1 and L2, respectively,
W1 and SW2 are alternately turned on by the control circuit CTL.
N, is controlled to be OFF. The power supply circuit PS, the switches SW1, SW2, and the control circuit CTL constitute a power supply that alternately supplies power to the pair of illumination light sources LG1, LG2.

For this reason, the object OB is sometimes
As shown in A, the object OB is generated by the illumination light source LG1.
2B is illuminated diagonally right towards
As shown in the figure, the diagonally left side of the subject OB is illuminated by the illumination light source LG1, and this is alternately repeated. In FIG. 2, when the inside of the frame showing the illumination light sources LG1 and LG2 has the same color as the paper, the light is on, and when black, the light is off.

To the camera CM, a driving power is supplied from a power supply unit in the signal processor SP through a cable LC, and an image signal from the camera CM is supplied to the signal processor SP through the cable LC to be processed. Thus, a color video signal is obtained, and the color video signal is supplied to the monitor receiver MR, and a stereoscopic video of the subject OB is displayed.

In this case, the image when the illumination light source LG1 on the screen of the monitor receiver MR is turned on, and the illumination light source L1
The ON frequency of each of the switches SW1 and SW2 is selected to be, for example, about 60 Hz or more so that the image when G2 is turned on can be visually recognized simultaneously by human eyes.

The pair of illumination light sources LG1 and LG2 are
Each light from a pair of light sources which alternately flashes may be led out to the vicinity of the object OB by each different optical fiber, and the object OB may be alternately illuminated.

[0015]

According to the present invention described above, a single video camera, a pair of illumination light sources capable of separately illuminating a subject imaged by the video camera from both oblique sides, and a pair of illumination light sources Since there is a power supply for alternately supplying power to the light source, only one video camera is required, so that a small-sized and inexpensive stereoscopic endoscope can be easily obtained. On the other hand, when the stereoscopic endoscope itself is considerably reduced in size, the stereoscopic endoscope of the present invention requires only one video camera, so that the video camera can be reduced in size. Therefore, the cost for the video camera can be reduced, and in this case, a low-priced stereoscopic endoscope can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a stereoscopic endoscope according to a specific example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a layout diagram for explaining the operation of a stereoscopic endoscope according to a specific example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a layout view showing a conventional stereoscopic endoscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

OB subject, CM video camera, LG1, LG2
A pair of light sources for illumination, L1, L2 LC cable, FC
Flexible cord, SW1, SW2 alternately ON, OFF
Switch, CTL control circuit, PS power supply circuit, S
P signal processor, MR monitor receiver.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H040 BA15 CA02 CA06 GA03 GA05 GA11 4C061 AA00 BB01 BB06 CC06 DD00 FF40 LL02 MM02 NN01 QQ06 QQ07 QQ09 RR03 RR26 WW04 XX02 5C061 AA11 AA14 AA29 AB03 AB17 AB24

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A single video camera, a pair of illumination light sources capable of separately illuminating a subject imaged by the video camera from diagonally opposite sides, and alternately supplying power to the pair of illumination light sources A stereoscopic endoscope having a power supply.