JP2012040414A - System for acquiring subject body's internal information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the size of a device (relay unit 3) carried by a subject.SOLUTION: Radio signals from a capsule-type endoscope, which are received through receiving antennas A1-An electrically connected to the relay unit 3, are subjected to frequency conversion processing in a frequency conversion unit 35, and then wirelessly relayed to an external device 4 out of the subject 1 through a transmission unit 37, whereby recording on a recording device provided in the external device and display on a display device can be performed. Accordingly, arrangement of a high-capacity recording device for recording all image data in the relay unit 3 is dispensed with.

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-subject information acquisition system including a relay unit that relays a signal transmitted from within a subject to an external device outside the subject.

  In recent years, in the field of endoscopes, swallowable capsule endoscopes have been proposed. This capsule endoscope is provided with an imaging function and a wireless communication function. Capsule endoscopes are used to observe the inside of a body cavity, such as the stomach and small intestine, after being swallowed from the mouth of the subject (human body) for observation (examination) and before being spontaneously discharged. It has a function of moving in accordance with a peristaltic motion and sequentially imaging.

  While moving inside the body cavity, image data captured inside the body by the capsule endoscope is sequentially transmitted to the outside by wireless communication, received by a receiving device provided outside, and subjected to predetermined processing. Saved with. Thus, by using the receiving device having the receiving mechanism, the signal processing mechanism, and the storage mechanism in a portable state, the subject can swallow the capsule endoscope until it is discharged. Can act freely. In the conventional capsule endoscope system, after the capsule endoscope is ejected, an image of the organ is displayed on the display based on the image data stored in the memory, and a diagnosis by a doctor or nurse is performed. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-19111

  Usually, it takes about 8 hours to image a body cavity with a capsule endoscope, and the receiving apparatus is provided with a large and large-capacity recording apparatus for recording image data during this time. Because of this configuration, conventionally, there is a problem that the receiving device is increased in size, and in particular, it is preferable to reduce the burden on the subject during introduction of the capsule endoscope into the body. It is not appropriate that the receiving device carried by the subject is enlarged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an in-subject information acquisition system including a relay unit that can reduce the size of an apparatus carried by a subject. .

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a relay unit according to the present invention is provided on the body surface of a subject, and a plurality of receiving antennas that receive signals wirelessly transmitted from the in-subject information acquisition device Receiving means for performing signal processing of a signal received via the receiving antenna, and transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting the signal processed by the receiving means to an external device outside the subject. Features.

  In the relay unit according to the present invention, in the above invention, as the signal processing, the receiving means converts the signal received at a specific frequency into another frequency, and the transmitting means is the receiving means. A signal converted to another frequency is wirelessly transmitted to the external device.

  In the relay unit according to the present invention as set forth in the invention described above, the receiving unit performs a process of modulating the received signal and adding an error detection code as the signal processing, and the transmitting unit performs the error detection. A signal to which a code is added is modulated and wirelessly transmitted to the external device.

  The relay unit according to the present invention further includes storage means for temporarily storing the signal received by the receiving means in the above invention, wherein the receiving means is wirelessly intermittently transmitted from the in-vivo information acquiring apparatus. The signal to be transmitted is received, and as the signal processing, while the signal is being received, the signal is temporarily stored in the storage means, and while the reception of the signal is completed, A process of outputting the signal stored in the storage unit to the transmission unit is performed.

  According to the present invention, since the signal from the in-subject information acquisition device received via the receiving antenna is subjected to signal processing and then wirelessly transmitted to an external device outside the subject, image data is transmitted to the relay unit. There is no need for a recording device for recording, and the device (relay unit) carried by the subject can be reduced in size.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of an in-vivo information acquiring system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the relay unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing an internal configuration of the external device shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing an internal configuration of the relay unit according to the second and third embodiments. FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing the internal configuration of the relay unit according to the fourth embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings of FIGS. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of an in-vivo information acquiring system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the in-subject information acquisition system according to the present embodiment includes a capsule endoscope 2 that is introduced into a body cavity of a subject 1 and moves along a passage route, and a capsule-type endoscope. A relay unit 3 that relays a radio signal including a video signal transmitted from the mirror 2, and an external device 4 that displays an in-vivo image based on the video signal included in the radio signal received by the relay unit 3. Information exchange between the relay unit 3 and the external device 4 is performed directly by wireless communication. The receiving antennas A1 to An are formed using, for example, a loop antenna. Such a loop antenna is used in a state of being fixed at a predetermined position on the body surface of the subject 1, and the receiving antennas A1 to An preferably include fixing means for fixing the loop antenna to the body surface of the subject 1. Prepare. Each of the receiving antennas A1 to An may be provided, for example, in a jacket that can be worn by the subject 1, and the subject 1 may wear the receiving antennas A1 to An by wearing this jacket. . In this case, the receiving antennas A1 to An may be detachable from the jacket.

  The capsule endoscope 2 is introduced into the body cavity of the subject 1, acquires an image of the body cavity by imaging with an imaging device, and modulates a signal including a video signal to the relay unit 3 with a specific frequency. And wirelessly transmitted from the RF transmitter to the outside of the subject 1 as a wireless signal (not shown).

  FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the relay unit 3 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the relay unit 3 includes a plurality of reception antennas A1 to An, an antenna selection unit 31 that selects an appropriate reception antenna from the reception antennas A1 to An, and a subsequent stage of the antenna selection unit 31. The band pass filter 33 having a function of passing only the specific frequency component of the radio signal received via any one of the receiving antennas A1 to An and the frequency that has passed through the band pass filter 33. An amplification unit 34 that amplifies the intensity of the component, a frequency conversion unit 35 that converts the frequency of the frequency component amplified by the amplification unit 34 into a predetermined value, and a local transmission unit that supplies a predetermined local signal to the frequency conversion unit 35 36, a transmission unit 37 as a transmission unit that wirelessly transmits the radio signal frequency-converted by the frequency conversion unit 35 via the transmission antenna B, and these units Comprising power supply such as a battery and a (not shown) for supplying power to the. The band-pass filter 33, the amplifying unit 34, the frequency converting unit 35, and the local transmitting unit 36 described above constitute a receiving circuit 32 as receiving means according to the present invention. Of course, the power supply unit is also provided in the relay unit 3 according to the following embodiment.

  The antenna selection unit 31 has a function of selecting an antenna to be used for receiving a radio signal from the plurality of reception antennas A1 to An and outputting a radio signal received via the selected reception antenna to the bandpass filter 33. . A specific selection mechanism by the antenna selection unit 31 compares, for example, signal strengths of radio signals received by the reception antennas A1 to An, and selects a reception antenna having the highest signal strength.

  The band pass filter 33 is for allowing only the frequency component of the frequency band corresponding to the specific frequency of the radio signal transmitted from the capsule endoscope 2 to pass therethrough and outputting it to the amplifying unit 34.

  The frequency conversion unit 35 converts the frequency of the frequency component output from the amplification unit 34 into a predetermined value in order to avoid the occurrence of radio signal interference between the transmission side and the reception side, and then transmits to the transmission unit 37. It is for output to. Specifically, the frequency conversion unit 35 determines the frequency of the frequency component output from the amplification unit 34 based on the local signal output from the local transmission unit 36 and the difference between the frequency component at the time of input and the frequency of the local signal. Signal processing to convert to a frequency corresponding to is performed.

  The local transmitter 36 is for generating and outputting a local signal used for frequency conversion of the frequency converter 35. Specifically, the local transmitter 36 generates a local signal having a frequency at which a difference value from the frequency of the frequency component at the time of input from the amplifier 34 to the frequency converter 35 becomes a predetermined value, and the frequency converter 35. It has a function to output to

  The transmitter 37 is for wirelessly transmitting a signal such as a video signal of the frequency component converted by the frequency converter 35 as a radio signal. Specifically, the transmission unit 37 wirelessly connects the external device 4 that displays the in-vivo image captured by the capsule endoscope 2 by wireless, thereby wirelessly transmitting the frequency component after frequency conversion. Send a signal.

  The external device 4 is for displaying an in-vivo image taken by the capsule endoscope 2, and is received by the wireless device 50 via the antenna C as shown in the block diagram of FIG. The controller 51 causes the display device 52 to display an image such as an in-vivo image on the basis of the radio signal from the relay unit 3 and records the data such as the in-vivo image on the recording device 53. Have Specifically, the external device 4 may be configured to directly display an image using a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, or the like, or may be configured to output an image to another medium such as a printer.

  In the relay unit 3 described above, for example, when a radio signal of a specific frequency f is transmitted from the capsule endoscope 2, the radio signal passes only a frequency component having a frequency f and a value in the vicinity thereof. The signal is input to the amplifying unit 34 via the filter 33. The frequency component input to the amplifying unit 34 is amplified in intensity, and is further input by the frequency converting unit 35 at a frequency different from the specific frequency, in this embodiment, from the amplifying unit 34 to the frequency converting unit 35. Is converted into a difference value between the frequency of the frequency component and the frequency of the local signal from the local transmitter 36, and then wirelessly transmitted from the transmitter 37 to the external device 4 as a radio signal.

  In the external device 4, when the wireless device 50 receives a wireless signal from the relay unit 3, after performing demodulation, format conversion, and image processing of data such as an in-vivo image acquired by the capsule endoscope 2, the controller Under the control of 51, the data such as the intra-body cavity image is recorded in the recording device 53 and displayed on the display device 52 to enable observation or diagnosis by a doctor or the like.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the device worn by the subject consists of only the relay unit, and relays a radio signal such as an image in the body cavity from the capsule endoscope to the external device from this relay unit, Since recording on a recording device provided on an external device and display on a display device are performed, the relay unit does not require a large-capacity recording device, and the device carried by the subject can be miniaturized.

  In this embodiment, data demodulation and image processing are performed by an external device, so that a demodulation unit such as a tuner and an image processing unit are not required in the relay unit, and further downsizing of the device carried by the subject is carried out. Can be achieved.

  In this embodiment, since the relay unit attached to the subject and the external device having a commercial power source are connected in a non-contact manner using wireless communication, electrical insulation with respect to the human body can be ensured and safety can be ensured. There is also an effect of maintaining the sex.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since an external device provided outside the subject includes a recording device, restrictions on the size and power consumption of the recording device are relaxed, so that processing such as image processing of received data is performed. It is also possible to perform the operation at high speed and in real time with an external device.

(Embodiment 2)
By the way, in the capsule endoscope 2, the capacity of the battery is limited in order to reduce the size and the weight. On the other hand, the RF transmitter of the capsule endoscope 2 consumes a large amount of power. Therefore, the RF transmitter transmits only the minimum necessary radio signal and shortens the drive time, thereby suppressing power consumption in the capsule endoscope 2. Therefore, in the current capsule endoscope 2, no error detection code for correcting an error of the signal is added, and the external device 4 outside the subject is connected from the relay unit in the same form as this signal. If a wireless signal is transmitted to the mobile phone, it will be in the form of a signal weak against the disturbance when it is affected by the disturbance.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing an internal configuration of the relay unit 3 according to the second embodiment. The relay unit 3 according to this embodiment is configured to demodulate a radio signal in frame units received from the capsule endoscope 2 and then add a new error detection code and transmit it from the transmitter 37. Is done.

  For this reason, in the receiving circuit 32, in addition to the bandpass filter 33 and the amplifying unit 34 similar to those in the first embodiment, data such as an in-vivo image is obtained based on the frequency component signal amplified by the amplifying unit 34. A demodulating unit 38 for demodulating and a signal processing unit 39 for performing signal processing of the demodulated data are provided, and the data signal-processed by the signal processing unit 39 is temporarily stored in a recording unit 40 provided in the relay unit 3. After being recorded, it is read out, and, for example, frequency-modulated by the transmitter 37 and wirelessly transmitted from the antenna B as a radio signal.

  The signal processing unit 39 adds an error detection code such as a parity check to the data demodulated by the demodulating unit 38 to change the frame format, and then causes the recording unit 40 to record the data for one frame. When the communication between the relay unit 3 and the external device 4 is established, the data recorded in the recording unit 40 is read out and output to the transmission unit 37 to enable wireless transmission from the transmission unit 37.

  The external device 4 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and the wireless device 50 receives the wireless signal from the relay unit 3, and the in-vivo image acquired by the capsule endoscope 2 based on this signal. After the data is demodulated, the error correction of the data based on the error detection code, the image format conversion and the image processing are performed, the data such as the intracavity image is recorded in the recording device 53 under the control of the controller 51. At the same time, it is displayed on the display device 52 to enable observation and diagnosis by a doctor or the like.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the radio signal received from the capsule endoscope is demodulated, an error detection code is added to the demodulated signal (data), and then relayed, and the recording apparatus provided in the external device Since the recording and display on the display device are performed, the device carried by the subject can be miniaturized.

  Further, in this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, by using wireless communication, electrical insulation with respect to the human body can be ensured and safety can be maintained. Furthermore, since the external device is equipped with a recording device, restrictions on the size and power consumption of the recording device are relaxed, so that processing such as image processing of received data can be performed on the external device at high speed and in real time. It becomes.

(Embodiment 3)
By the way, the capsule endoscope 2 is not always performing a radio signal transmission operation, but is configured to intermittently transmit a radio signal in units of frames by alternately repeating a transmission period and a stop period. Has been. That is, from the viewpoint of reducing the power consumption of the capsule endoscope 2, in this embodiment, in order to reduce the data amount of an image acquired by an image sensor or the like, for example, the imaging interval is set to about 0.5 seconds. Yes. This means that the amount of data to be transmitted is reduced, and the RF transmission device of the capsule endoscope 2 is 0.28 in order to transmit individual image data acquired at intervals of 0.5 seconds. The transmission operation is performed for about 2 seconds, and the remaining period of about 0.22 seconds is a stop period in which the transmission operation is not performed.

  Since the relay unit 3 according to the third embodiment has the same configuration as the relay unit according to the second embodiment, it will be described in detail with reference to the block diagram of FIG. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the relay unit 3 is provided with a recording unit 40 having a small storage capacity as recording means for temporarily recording data received from the capsule endoscope 2, and the relay unit 3 is a capsule. While receiving a radio signal from the endoscope 2, data received from the capsule endoscope 2, for example, data for one frame, is established without establishing communication between the relay unit 3 and the external device 4. , Temporarily recorded in the recording unit 40, when reception of the radio signal from the capsule endoscope 2 is completed and communication between the relay unit 3 and the external device 4 is established, that is, in the stop period, the recording unit 40 The recorded data is transmitted together from the transmitter 37 by radio.

  For this reason, in the receiving circuit 32, in addition to the bandpass filter 33 and the amplifying unit 34 similar to those in the first embodiment, data such as an in-vivo image is obtained based on the frequency component signal amplified by the amplifying unit 34. A demodulating unit 38 for demodulating and a signal processing unit 39 for performing signal processing of the demodulated data are provided, and the data signal-processed by the signal processing unit 39 is temporarily stored in a recording unit 40 provided in the relay unit 3. After being recorded, it is read out during the stop period, and, for example, frequency-modulated by the transmitter 37 and wirelessly transmitted from the transmission antenna B as a wireless signal. In this embodiment, although the transmission time from the capsule endoscope 2 and the transmission time from the relay unit 3 are different, the data reading from the recording unit 40 and the signal transmission from the transmission unit 37 in the relay unit 3 are performed. It is possible to cope with the problem by using a timing clock having a short period, for example, by shortening the time required for the operation. In this embodiment, even if the frequency of the radio signal transmitted from the capsule endoscope 2 and the frequency of the radio signal transmitted from the transmission unit 37 are set to the same frequency component frequency, they are different. You may set to the frequency of a frequency component.

  The external device 4 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and the wireless device 50 receives the wireless signal from the relay unit 3, and the in-vivo image acquired by the capsule endoscope 2 based on this signal. After performing data demodulation, image format conversion, and image processing, the controller 51 controls the recording of the data such as the intracavitary image in the recording device 53 and the display device 52 to display the data. Enable observation and diagnosis.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the relay unit includes a recording unit with a small storage capacity, and the signal (data) transmitted from the capsule endoscope to the relay unit is temporarily recorded in the recording unit, When reception of radio signals from the capsule endoscope is completed and communication between the relay unit and the external device is established, the signal recorded in the recording unit is relayed to the recording device provided in the external device. Since the recording and display on the display device are performed, the device carried by the subject can be reduced in size.

  Also in this embodiment, similarly to Embodiments 1 and 2, by using wireless communication, electrical insulation with respect to the human body can be ensured and safety can be maintained. Furthermore, since the external device is equipped with a recording device, restrictions on the size and power consumption of the recording device are relaxed, so that processing such as image processing of received data can be performed on the external device at high speed and in real time. It becomes.

(Embodiment 4)
FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing the internal configuration of the relay unit according to the fourth embodiment. This embodiment is different from the third embodiment in that the relay unit 3 is connected to a mobile communication terminal 42 such as a mobile phone via an input / output interface 41 instead of the transmission unit 37. Then, data output from the signal processing unit 39 is wirelessly transmitted from the portable communication terminal 42 to the external device 4 via a communication infrastructure using, for example, an existing wide area network (WAN). The portable communication terminal 42 is electrically connected to the input / output interface 41 in a detachable manner through a connection connector.

  In this embodiment, similarly to the third embodiment, the relay unit 3 has a small storage capacity when the reception of the radio signal from the capsule endoscope 2 is completed and the communication with the external device 4 is established. Data recorded in the recording unit 40 may be collectively output to the mobile communication terminal 42 and wirelessly transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 42, or even when a radio signal is being received from the capsule endoscope 2, The recorded data may be collectively output to the mobile communication terminal 42 and wirelessly transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 42. However, in the latter case, it is necessary to set the frequency of the radio signal transmitted from the capsule endoscope 2 and the frequency of the radio signal transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 42 to frequencies of different frequency components. is there.

  The external device 4 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and the wireless device 50 receives the wireless signal from the relay unit 3, and the in-vivo image acquired by the capsule endoscope 2 based on this signal. After performing data demodulation, image format conversion, and image processing, the controller 51 controls the recording of the data such as the intracavitary image in the recording device 53 and the display device 52 to display the data. Enable observation and diagnosis.

  As described above, in this embodiment, as in the third embodiment, the relay unit includes a recording unit that temporarily stores data with a small amount of data, and the internal cavity acquired by the capsule endoscope in the external device. Since data such as images are recorded, the device carried by the subject can be reduced in size.

  Since signal transmission from the relay unit is performed by connecting a detachable portable communication terminal to the relay unit, for example, when the capsule endoscope is intended to observe only a specific part (organ), this specification While reaching the site, the mobile communication terminal can be removed from the relay unit, so that after the subject swallows the capsule endoscope and reaches the specific site, the mobile communication terminal becomes unnecessary The burden on the subject can be reduced.

  Also in this embodiment, similarly to Embodiments 1 and 2, by using wireless communication, electrical insulation with respect to the human body can be ensured and safety can be maintained. Furthermore, since the external device is equipped with a recording device, restrictions on the size and power consumption of the recording device are relaxed, so that processing such as image processing of received data can be performed on the external device at high speed and in real time. It becomes.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Subject 2 Capsule endoscope 3 Relay unit 4 External apparatus 31 Antenna selection part 32 Reception circuit 33 Band pass filter 34 Amplification part 35 Frequency conversion part 36 Local transmission part 37 Transmission part 38 Demodulation part 39 Signal processing part 40 Recording part 41 Input / Output Interface 42 Mobile Communication Terminal 50 Wireless Device 51 Controller 52 Display Device 53 Recording Device A1 to An Receiving Antenna B Transmitting Antenna C, D Antenna

Claims (3)

A plurality of receiving antennas provided on the body surface of the subject and receiving signals wirelessly transmitted from the in-subject information acquisition device inside the subject, and signal processing of signals received through the receiving antenna A relay unit comprising: a receiving unit that performs; and a transmitting unit that wirelessly transmits a signal processed by the receiving unit;
An external device that has a recording device that receives and records a signal wirelessly transmitted from the transmission unit, and that displays an intra-body image of the subject based on a video signal included in the received signal;
With
In-subject information acquisition system, wherein only the external device has the recording device. The receiving means converts the signal received at a specific frequency into another frequency as the signal processing,
The in-subject information acquisition system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit wirelessly transmits a signal converted to another frequency by the reception unit to the external device. The receiving means performs the process of modulating the received signal and adding an error detection code as the signal processing,
The in-subject information acquisition system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit modulates the signal to which the error detection code is added and wirelessly transmits the signal to the external device.

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