JP2003038431A - Electronic endoscope and connecting cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make adjustable the length of a connecting cable connecting between an electronic endoscope and an image signal processor. SOLUTION: An image pickup part consisting of a CCD and a light source part consisting of an LED are provided at the tip 11A of an insert part 11 of an electronic endoscope body 10B. A signal line connecting the image pickup part and an image signal processing circuit in the image signal processor 20 and a signal line connecting the light source part and an LED drive circuit in the image signal processor 20 are disposed in a connecting cable 15. The connecting cable 15 is folded in two in the vicinity of the substantially central part and taken up by a connecting cable take-up device 50 having a take-up shaft 52 until the connecting cable 15 reaches a desired length.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope apparatus which irradiates illumination light to photograph an observed region with an image pickup device and displays the image on an image display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 5, an electronic endoscope apparatus is directly inserted into a body or the like, and an electronic endoscope 100 for photographing and treating an observation site and an electronic endoscope main body 100B are inserted. An image signal processing device 20 for processing an image captured by an image sensor 120 provided at the tip 110A of the section 110.
0 and a TV monitor (image display device) 300 for displaying a video imaged by the electronic endoscope 100 and processed in the video signal processing device 200. The video signal processing device 200 is provided with a video signal processing circuit 210 for processing a video signal and a light source unit 220 for supplying illumination light. To photograph the observation site, the light from the light source unit 220 provided in the video signal processing device 200 is converted into a light guide glass fiber bundle (LC).
B) It is performed by transmitting the light to the tip 110A of the insertion portion of the electronic endoscope main body 100B via 170 and irradiating this light into the body. Between the video signal processing device 200 and the electronic endoscope main body 100B, the signal line 160 for transmitting a video signal or the like from the image sensor 120 and the light guide 170 are flexible tubular connecting cables. Some L
Communication is performed through the inside of the CB tube (light guide cable) 150. One end of the LCB tube 150 is attached to the operation unit 130 of the electronic endoscope body 100B, and the other end is attached to the connector unit 140. The connection between the electronic endoscope 100 and the video signal processing device 200 is performed by mounting the connector section 140 on the video signal processing device.

[0003]

The proper length of the LCB tube 150 depends on the distance between the patient and the video signal processor 200. For example, in order to freely operate the electronic endoscope main body 100B regardless of the arrangement of the video signal processing device 200,
A full length LCB tube 150 is required. On the other hand, if the length of the LCB tube 150 is long even though the distance between the video signal processing device 200 and the patient is short, the loose LCB tube lies on the floor and becomes an obstacle for medical examinations and medical examinations.

It is an object of the present invention to obtain an electronic endoscope apparatus capable of adjusting the length of a connecting cable for connecting the electronic endoscope and the video signal processing apparatus.

[0005]

An electronic endoscope apparatus according to the present invention includes an electronic endoscope body having an elongated and flexible tubular insertion portion, an electronic endoscope body, and a video signal processing device. And a video signal processing device that performs signal processing of a video image captured by an imaging unit provided at the tip of the insertion unit, and a winding mechanism capable of winding the connection cable.
A lighting light source unit for capturing an image is provided in the main body of the electronic endoscope, and a signal line connecting the imaging unit and the video signal processing device to the connecting cable, and the light source unit and the video signal processing device. A signal line for communication is provided.

It is preferable that the light source of the light source section is composed of, for example, a small LED which consumes less power and is provided at the tip of the insertion section. As a result, the illumination light can be directly emitted from the light source to the observation site, and a configuration for transmitting light is not required at all. That is, it is easy to reduce the diameter of the insertion portion of the electronic endoscope, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

The electronic endoscope apparatus is provided with, for example, a connector section which can be detachably attached to the video signal processing apparatus, and the connector section can process the video signal from the image pickup section.
A signal processing circuit capable of outputting a signal for controlling the driving of the image pickup unit is mounted, and the connection cable and the video signal processing device are connected via this connector unit.

The winding mechanism is preferably electrically shielded by the casing. As a result, the influence of external noise and radiation noise on the connecting cable is suppressed.

The winding mechanism preferably winds the connecting cable by fixing the front end of a loop formed by folding the connecting cable in two to the winding shaft member and rotating the winding shaft member. This allows the connection cable to be wound with a simple structure.

The winding mechanism is formed, for example, as a winding device independent of the video signal processing device and the electronic endoscope main body. The winding mechanism is formed integrally with the video signal processing device, for example.

Further, the connection cable winding mechanism of the electronic endoscope of the present invention is an electronic endoscope main body having an elongated and flexible tubular insertion portion, an electronic endoscope main body and a video signal processing device. And a video signal processing device that performs signal processing of a video image captured by an imaging unit provided at the tip of the insertion unit, and the illumination light source unit for capturing the video is an electronic endoscope. An electronic endoscope provided in the mirror body and having a signal line connecting the image pickup unit and the video signal processing device and a signal line connecting the light source unit and the video signal processing device to each other in the connection cable. A winding mechanism used in an apparatus, comprising: a winding shaft member for fixing the tip of a loop formed by folding the connecting cable in half; and a shaft member rotating means for rotating the winding shaft member. The take-up rotates the take-up shaft member by the shaft member rotating means. It is effected by.

Furthermore, the video signal processing device for an electronic endoscope of the present invention comprises the above-mentioned connecting cable winding mechanism.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the circuit configuration of the electronic endoscope apparatus according to the first embodiment.

The electronic endoscope apparatus generally comprises an electronic endoscope 10, a video signal processor (processor) 20, and a TV monitor 30. The electronic endoscope 10 includes an electronic endoscope body 10B, a connecting cable 15, and a connector portion 14. The electronic endoscope body 10B includes an elongated and flexible tubular insertion portion 11 and an operation portion 13 for performing various operations of the electronic endoscope. The expansion / contraction mechanism of the connecting cable 15 will be described later with reference to FIG.

The electronic endoscope body 10B and the connector portion 14 are connected to each other via a connecting cable 15. One end of the connecting cable 15 is connected to the operation unit 13 of the electronic endoscope body 10, and the other end is connected to the connector unit 14.
The connector unit 14 is detachably attached to the processor 20.

An image pickup section 12 and a light source section 40 are arranged at the tip of the insertion section 11. For example, a CCD is used as an image pickup device in the image pickup unit, and the light source unit 40 includes, for example, a plurality of white L
LEDs of ED or RGB three primary colors are used as light emitting elements.

A signal processing circuit 18 is provided in the connector section 14.
Is provided, and the signal processing circuit 18 includes the processor 2
0 is connected to the video signal processing circuit 21. Imaging unit 12
The CCD provided in is connected to a signal processing circuit 18 in the connector unit 14 via a signal line 16 that passes through the electronic endoscope body 10B and the connection cable 15. As a result, the imaging unit 12 and the video signal processing circuit 21 of the processor 20 are electrically connected.

The video signal from the image pickup section 12 is sampled and held by the signal processing circuit 18, and after being subjected to processing such as color separation and white balance, it is output to the video signal processing circuit 21 as a luminance / color signal, for example. . The video signal processing circuit 21 performs conventionally known processes such as blanking, clamping, enhancing, white balance, and gamma correction, and then encodes, for example, a composite signal or an RGB component signal, and the TV monitor 30 via a video cable. Is output to. On the other hand, the CCD of the image pickup unit 12 outputs a CCD drive signal or the like from the signal processing circuit 18 to control the drive thereof.

On the other hand, the LED provided in the light source section 40 is
It is connected to the LED drive circuit 22 provided in the processor 20 via the signal line 17 arranged in the electronic endoscope main body 10B, the connection cable 15, and the connector portion 14. Electric power is supplied to the LEDs of the light source unit 40 from the LED drive circuit 22 via the signal line 17.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a schematic configuration of a length adjusting mechanism for a connecting cable applied to the electronic endoscope apparatus according to the first embodiment.

The vicinity of the central portion of the connecting cable 15 is attached to the connecting cable winding device 50. That is, the winding device 50 can wind the connection cable 15 to a required length, and the length can be adjusted according to the distance between the patient and the processor, for example. The winding device 50 is covered by the casing 51, and the connecting cable 15
Is wound by a winding shaft member 52 provided in the casing. The casing 51 or the winding device body is formed of, for example, a conductive member such as a metal or a resin member coated with a metal, and is grounded by a ground wire GND.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a winding mechanism for a connecting cable in the winding device 50.

The winding shaft member 52 is arranged so that the rotation axis L is substantially perpendicular to both side surfaces of the casing 51. Pivots are provided at both ends of the winding shaft member 52, and are rotatably supported by both side surfaces of the casing 51. Also,
Guide plates 53 formed in a flange shape perpendicular to the rotation axis L are provided at both ends of the winding shaft member 52. That is, the winding of the connecting cable 15 is guided by the guide plate 53. A hook-shaped member 54, for example, is provided substantially at the center of the winding shaft member 52. The winding of the connection cable 15 is performed by folding the connection cable in half at its substantially center and hooking the tip of the loop on the hook-shaped member 54.
One pivot of the winding shaft member 52 is inserted to the outside of the casing 51, and one end of a lever 55 is attached to the tip thereof. At the other end of lever 55,
The handle portion 56 is provided, and the operator can wind the connecting cable 15 by gripping and rotating the handle portion 56.

As described above, according to the first embodiment,
The length of the connecting cable can be adjusted by winding the connecting cable at any time according to the usage situation. That is, in the connecting cable according to the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to dispose the light guide glass fiber bundle in the connecting cable, the glass fiber bundle (the LCB tube which is the conventional connecting cable) is inserted through the connecting cable. It is not necessary to make the connecting cable (LCB pipe) a multilayer resin tube structure in order to prevent the LCB) from being broken, and further to form a net-like pipe by laminating the flat coil sheath. As a result, as the connecting cable of the present embodiment, it is possible to use a cable that can be bent with a small radius of curvature, like a normal signal cable. Therefore, the winding device of the present embodiment can be applied. Is possible.

Further, in the connection cable winding device of the present embodiment, the casing thereof is made of a conductive member, a resin member coated with a metal coat, or the like, and is electrically shielded, so that external noise, radiation noise, etc. The influence can be suppressed.

Next, an electronic endoscope apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4.
The electrical configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the difference from the first embodiment is the configuration of the winding device. Hereinafter, only parts different from the first embodiment will be described. In addition, a new reference number is given only to a portion different from that of the first embodiment, and the same reference number is used for the same configuration as that of the first embodiment.

Similar to the first embodiment, the electronic endoscope main body 10B is connected to the connector portion 14 via a connecting cable, and the connector portion 14 is attached to the processor 20. In the first embodiment, the winding device 50 is provided as a device independent of the processor 20 and the electronic endoscope 10. However, in the second embodiment, the winding device 50 is described in the first embodiment, for example. A winding mechanism is provided in the processor 20.

In the second embodiment, the winding device 5
0'is the connector unit 1 in the processor 20 ', for example.
It is arranged at a corner close to the position where 4 is attached. That is, the configuration excluding the casing 51 of FIG. 3 is attached to one corner of the processor 20 ′. The pivot provided at one end of the winding shaft member 52 is rotatably supported by inserting one side surface of the processor 20 which constitutes the above-mentioned corner portion. A lever 55 is attached to the tip of the pivot, and the connecting cable 15 is wound by gripping the handle portion 56 and rotating the lever 55. The casing of the processor 20 'is formed of a conductive member such as a metal member and is grounded, and the wound connection cable is electrically shielded.

As described above, also in the second embodiment,
The same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained. In the second embodiment, it is not necessary to separately provide the connecting cable winding device 50 as in the first embodiment, so that a more compact connecting cable winding mechanism can be provided.

In this embodiment, the signal line provided in the connecting cable is C provided in the image pickup section.
Although only the signal lines for the CD and the signal lines for the LEDs of the light source unit are illustrated, other signal lines for various operation switches provided in the operation unit may be provided.

Further, in the present embodiment, the light source section is provided at the tip of the insertion section of the electronic endoscope main body, but, for example, only the light source section is provided in the operation section of the electronic endoscope main body, and the illumination light is emitted by the light guide or the like. It may be configured to transmit to the tip of the insertion portion.
In the present embodiment, the LED drive circuit is provided in the processor, but the LED drive circuit may be provided on the side of the electronic endoscope such as the connector section.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain the electronic endoscope apparatus in which the length of the connecting cable for connecting the electronic endoscope and the video signal processing apparatus can be adjusted. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a connection cable length adjusting mechanism according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a winding mechanism of the connection cable winding device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a length adjusting mechanism for a connecting cable according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a conventional electronic endoscope apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 electronic endoscope 10B Electronic endoscope body 12 Imaging unit 15 connection cable 16, 17 signal line 20 Video signal processing device 30 TV monitor 40 light source 50 Connection cable winding device

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An electronic endoscope main body having an elongated and flexible tubular insertion portion, a connecting cable connecting the electronic endoscope main body and the video signal processing device, and a tip of the insertion portion. A video signal processing device that performs signal processing of a video image captured by an image capturing unit provided in the image capturing unit; and a winding mechanism that can wind up the connection cable, and the illumination light source unit for capturing the image is the A signal line for connecting the image pickup unit and the video signal processing device and a signal line for connecting the light source unit and the video signal processing device are provided in the connection cable provided in the main body of the electronic endoscope. An electronic endoscope device characterized by being provided. 2. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source section is provided at a tip of the insertion section. 3. The electronic endoscope apparatus includes a connector section detachably attachable to the video signal processing apparatus, the connector section being capable of processing a video signal from the imaging section, The signal processing circuit capable of outputting a signal for controlling driving of the image pickup unit is mounted, and the connection between the connection cable and the video signal processing device is performed via the connector unit. The described electronic endoscope apparatus. 4. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source of the light source unit is an LED. 5. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the winding mechanism is electrically shielded by a casing. 6. The winding mechanism fixes the front end of a loop formed by folding the connecting cable in two to a winding shaft member, and winds the connecting cable by rotating the winding shaft member. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1. 7. The electronic endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the winding mechanism is formed as a winding device independent of the video signal processing device and the electronic endoscope body. apparatus. 8. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the winding mechanism is formed integrally with the video signal processing device. 9. An electronic endoscope main body having an elongated and flexible tubular insertion portion, a connecting cable for connecting the electronic endoscope main body and the video signal processing device, and a tip of the insertion portion. And a video signal processing device that performs signal processing of a video image captured by an image capturing unit provided in, and an illumination light source unit for capturing the video image is provided in the electronic endoscope main body.
In the electronic endoscope device, a signal line that connects the imaging unit and the video signal processing device and a signal line that connects the light source unit and the video signal processing device are provided in the connection cable. A winding mechanism used, comprising: a winding shaft member that fixes the tip of a ring obtained by folding the connecting cable in half; and a shaft member rotating unit that rotates the winding shaft member, A connection cable winding mechanism for an electronic endoscope, wherein winding is performed by rotating the winding shaft member by the shaft member rotating means. 10. An image signal processing apparatus for an electronic endoscope, comprising the connection cable winding mechanism according to claim 9.