JP2003334157A - Defogger for rigidscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively defog the lens surface of a rigidscope. <P>SOLUTION: A light guide 12 for illumination is inserted into a rigid scope inserting part, and a light guide 13 for heating is inserted threreinto independently of the light guide 12. The light guide 12 guides an illumination light to the tip of the rigidscope, and the light guide 13 guides the light for defogging to the tip of the rigidscope. Each of the lights can be independently controlled. In the control of the illumination light, since the amount of the light for the defogging is prevented from being changed, the lens surface can be appropriately heated so that the occurrence of fogging on the lens surface can be effectively prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rigid endoscope used for medical purposes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large amount of water cannot be used in laparoscopic surgery using a rigid endoscope, and water cannot be jetted onto the lens surface to prevent fogging as in the case of a flexible endoscope. Therefore, conventionally, as an anti-fog for the rigid endoscope, a part of the illumination light guided by the light guide is blocked by the distal end of the rigid mirror and converted into heat
Heat is conducted to the lens surface using metal.

In general, the illumination light has infrared rays removed by a cold filter or the like in order to suppress the temperature rise of the affected area, and the efficiency of conversion of light into heat is poor.
Therefore, in order to properly heat the lens surface, more illumination light must be blocked, and a thick light guide is required. Moreover, if the light amount is adjusted to obtain an appropriate image, the lens surface may not be sufficiently heated, and clouding may occur.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to effectively prevent the surface of a rigid mirror lens from being fogged.

[0005]

A defogging device for a rigid endoscope according to the present invention is provided with an illuminating light guide for guiding illuminating light to a distal end portion of a rigid endoscope insertion portion and the illuminating light guide independently. And a heating light guide for guiding light for preventing fogging of the lens provided at the tip portion to the tip portion.

[0006] Preferably, the light guided to the heating light guide comprises infrared light. Light including infrared rays is efficiently converted into heat, and it is possible to prevent fogging of the lens with a small amount of light.

A light source device is connected to the light guide for illumination,
The light guided by the illumination light guide may be dimmable by the light source device.

A light source device is connected to the heating light guide,
The light guided by the heating light guide may be dimmable by the light source device.

Further, the same light source device may be connected to the illumination light guide and the heating light guide so that at least light guided by the illumination light guide can be dimmed by the light source device.

A temperature detecting sensor for detecting the temperature near the lens may be attached to the tip. Thus, the light for preventing the fogging of the lens can be adjusted according to the temperature near the observation body.

Preferably, a metal plate for converting the light guided by the heating light guide into heat to heat the lens surface is provided at the tip.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Insertion part 11 of rigid endoscope
Light guide 12 for lighting and light guide 1 for heating
3 is inserted. The emission ends of the light guides 12 and 13 are located on the tip surface 14. The illumination light guide 12 and the heating light guide 13 are connected to the illumination light source section 16 and the heating light source section 17 in the light source device 15, respectively. In this embodiment, the illumination light source unit 16 and the heating light source unit 17 are provided in the same light source device 15, but they may be provided in separate light source devices.

In the illumination light source section 16, the light emitted from the light source 16a is adjusted in quantity by the diaphragm 16c controlled by the light quantity control section 16b and sent to the illumination light guide 12. The illumination light guide 12 guides the transmitted light as illumination light to the emission end. In the heating light source unit 17, the amount of light emitted by the light source 17a is adjusted by the diaphragm 17c controlled by the light amount control unit 17b and sent to the heating light guide 13. The heating light guide 13 guides the sent light to the emission end as light for preventing fogging.

The light guided to the emission end by the illumination light guide 12 illuminates the observation body, and the reflected light from the observation body passes through the light receiving lens 18 and the relay lens 19 and is guided onto the CCD in the CCD camera 20. Get burned. As a result, the reflected light is converted by the CCD into a video signal corresponding to the video of the observation object, and passes through the video signal cable 21 to the TV monitor 22.
And is displayed on the TV monitor 22 as an image. The brightness of the image read by the CCD is converted into a brightness signal, and the brightness signal is sent to the light amount control unit 16b in the illumination light source unit 16 through the brightness signal cable 23. The control unit 16b stores reference value data representing the reference luminance, and controls the diaphragm 16c so that an appropriate image can be obtained based on the received luminance signal and the reference value.

A temperature sensor 25 provided at the tip portion 24 detects the temperature in the vicinity of the light receiving lens 18, converts the detected information into a temperature signal, and the temperature signal is supplied via a signal line 26 to a heating light source. It is sent to the light amount control unit 17b of the unit 17. The control unit 17b stores a reference table indicating a reference temperature and an aperture driving amount corresponding to a difference between the detected temperature and the reference temperature, and controls the aperture 17c based on the received temperature signal and the reference table. Keep the temperature around the lens at the tip properly. A thermocouple, for example, is used as the temperature sensor 25.

The light receiving lens 18 is located at the center of the substantially circular tip surface 14. Six illumination light guides 12 and two heating light guides 13 are provided, and the emission ends of these heating light guides 13 are located on the same diameter of the tip surface 14 so as to sandwich the light receiving lens 18. . The light guides 12 and 13 are arranged at substantially equal intervals around the lenses such that the emission ends of the light guides 12 and the light receiving lens 18 have substantially the same radial distance, and the adjacent emission ends have substantially the same circumferential distance. It

The light-shielding / heat-conducting metal plate 27 has an annular portion 27a.
And a pair of light shielding plates 27b joined to the outer peripheral edge of the annular portion 27a and extending in opposite directions. The annular portion 27a is formed so that the inner circumference matches the outer circumference of the light receiving lens 18. Although the metal plate 27 does not block the emission end of the illumination light guide 12 at all, the light shielding plate 27b completely shields the emission end of the heating light guide 13 and prevents the light guided by the heating light guide 13. It blocks light and converts it into heat. The converted heat is conducted to the light receiving lens 18, warms the light receiving lens 18, and prevents the light receiving lens 18 from fogging.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the heating light guide 13 is provided independently of the illumination light guide 12, and the illumination light and the light for preventing fog can be adjusted independently. This makes it possible to sufficiently heat the lens surface even when the amount of illumination light is changed to obtain an appropriate image. Further, by providing a sensor at the tip, the temperature of the lens surface can be easily adjusted according to the temperature near the observation body.

It is desirable that the light guided by the heating light guide 13 for preventing fogging includes infrared rays. If infrared light is used as the light for preventing fogging, the light can be efficiently converted into heat, and the lens surface can be sufficiently heated even if a thin light guide is used as the heating light guide 13. .

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of fogging on the lens surface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a distal end portion of a rigid endoscope insertion portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 Light guide for lighting 13 Light guide for heating 15 Light source device 16 Light source for lighting 17 Heating light source 25 temperature sensor 27 Metal plate for shading and heat conduction

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An illumination light guide for guiding illumination light to a tip portion of a rigid endoscope insertion portion, and an illumination light guide provided independently of the illumination light guide for preventing fogging of a lens provided at the tip portion. A light guide for heating for guiding the light of the above to the tip portion, and a device for preventing fogging of a rigid endoscope. 2. The anti-fog device for a rigid endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the light guided by the heating light guide includes infrared rays. 3. The rigid endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a light source device is connected to the illumination light guide, and light guided by the illumination light guide can be dimmed by the light source device. Anti-fog device. 4. The light source device is connected to the heating light guide, and the light guided by the heating light guide can be dimmed by the light source device. Anti-fog device for rigid endoscope. 5. The same light source device is connected to the illumination light guide and the heating light guide, and at least light guided by the illumination light guide is dimmable by the light source device. Claim 1
The anti-fog device for a rigid endoscope as described in 2 above. 6. The defogging device for a rigid endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a temperature detection sensor for detecting the temperature near the lens is attached to the tip portion. 7. A metal plate which is provided at the tip and which heats the lens surface by converting light guided by the heating light guide into heat.
The anti-fog device for a rigid endoscope according to any one of 1.