JP2014232222A - Endoscope device and photographing method of endoscope image - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope device that enables an endoscope observation work for cyclopaedically grasping a status of an inner part of an analyte to be easily performed, and enables prevention of an occurence of recording omission of an imaging image.SOLUTION: An endoscope device 1 has: an insertion part 2 that has a CCD 5 provided at a tip part 4; a curvature part 7 that is provided on a base end side of the tip part 4, and causes the tip part 4 to be curved in a desired direction; an automatic curvature process part 32 that calculates a pitch of an amount of a curvature operation instruction for curving the tip part 4 at an interval of a prescribed angle of curvature on the basis of an angle of view of an optical adapter 8 to be attached to the tip part 4, and zoom magnification thereof, and a corresponding relation between the amount of the curvature operation instruction and a curvature amount of the tip part 4; and an image signal process part 16 that controls so as to automatically record an imaging image imaged by the CCD 5 for each pitch of the amount of the curvature operation instruction calculated by the automatic curvature process part 32.

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus and an endoscopic image capturing method.

  Conventionally, endoscope apparatuses have been widely used in the industrial field and the medical field. An endoscope apparatus includes an insertion unit that is inserted into an observation object and a main body unit that includes a display unit that displays an endoscopic image that is an observation image obtained by imaging the inside of the object. Is common. In an industrial field, an endoscope apparatus is used for inserting and inserting an elongated insertion portion into a boiler, a turbine, an engine, or the like to observe and inspect internal scratches and corrosion.

  As such an endoscope apparatus, an endoscope apparatus having a bending mechanism at the distal end of an insertion portion and having a variable visual field direction is generally widely used. The endoscope apparatus has this bending mechanism, so that it is possible to widely observe the space inside the subject with a generally used lens with a narrow viewing angle without using a special optical system such as a fish-eye lens. It becomes possible. In addition, the endoscope apparatus can maintain a high imaging resolution particularly in an observation area to be watched by observing a wide space inside a subject with a lens having a narrow viewing angle.

  As a method for realizing this bending operation, a method is generally known in which a plurality of wires connected to the bending portion at the distal end of the insertion portion are pulled from the root portion of the insertion portion. By changing the pulling amount of each of the plurality of wires in accordance with the output instruction of the bending amount operation means of the operation part provided at the base of the main body part or the insertion part, the distal end of the insertion part can be moved in an arbitrary direction. It can be curved.

  In general, the amount of traction force of the wire increases as the insertion portion becomes longer, so that the wire may not be pulled by the operator's finger force. In such a case, a method using the force of the electric motor is effective as means for generating the amount of traction force of the wire.

  For example, JP 2002-315719 A discloses changing the output of a motor drive circuit according to the difference between the output of a joystick for adjusting the amount of bending and the output of a potentiometer attached to a motor that pulls the wire. An electric bending endoscope that performs a so-called servo control operation is disclosed. Thereby, the tip bending operation according to the instruction of the joystick can be performed while the wire is pulled using the force of the motor.

  On the other hand, Japanese Patent No. 4624802 discloses an endoscope apparatus that repeatedly captures images while bending the distal end of an insertion portion to generate a panoramic image. This endoscopic device generates such a panoramic image and then detects the moving image that occurs within the observation field of view, enabling control of the curvature tracking of the scope tip in accordance with the movement of the moving object. It is going to be.

JP 2002-315719 A Japanese Patent No. 4624802

  However, the electric bending endoscope disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-315719 is basically based on the premise that an examiner performs photographing while manually operating the operation unit. Therefore, for example, when it is desired to comprehensively capture and record the state of the inside of the subject, the examiner needs to repeat the imaging and recording while confirming the observation image and adjusting the curvature amount little by little. A lot of effort was required. In addition, if this operation is not performed accurately, there is a possibility that recording of captured images may occur and a serious defect of the subject may be overlooked.

  On the other hand, in the endoscope apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4624802, it is disclosed that bending control is automatically performed, but a bending instruction value for providing an overlapping portion for creating a panoramic image is determined. No specific method is disclosed.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides an endoscope apparatus that can easily perform an endoscope observation work for comprehensively grasping the state inside a subject and can prevent occurrence of recording omission of a captured image. And it aims at providing the imaging | photography method of an endoscopic image.

  An endoscope apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes an insertion portion having an imaging portion at a distal end portion, a bending portion that is provided on a proximal end side of the distal end portion of the insertion portion and curves the distal end portion in a desired direction. The bending portion is bent at an interval of a predetermined bending angle based on an optical characteristic of an optical adapter attached to the tip portion, a zoom magnification, and a correspondence relationship between a bending operation instruction amount and a bending amount of the tip portion. A bending operation instruction amount calculation unit for calculating a pitch of the bending operation instruction amount for the imaging operation, and a captured image captured by the imaging unit for each pitch of the bending operation instruction amount calculated by the bending operation instruction amount calculation unit. And an image signal processing unit that controls to automatically record.

  An endoscopic image capturing method according to an aspect of the present invention includes an optical characteristic of an optical adapter attached to a distal end portion of an insertion portion having an imaging portion, a zoom magnification, a bending operation instruction amount, and a bending amount of the distal end portion. The bending operation for bending the bending portion provided on the proximal end side of the distal end portion of the insertion portion, which bends the distal end portion in a desired direction at intervals of a predetermined bending angle based on the correspondence relationship of Calculating the pitch of the command amount, and controlling to automatically record a captured image captured by the imaging unit for each calculated pitch of the bending operation command amount.

  According to the present invention, an endoscope apparatus that can easily perform an endoscopic observation operation for comprehensively grasping the state of the inside of a subject and can prevent occurrence of a recording omission of a captured image. In addition, an endoscopic image capturing method can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the endoscope apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the detailed circuit structure relevant to curvature control. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the angle of view of the optical adapter 8 and the bending angle of the bending portion 7. It is a figure for demonstrating the recording timing of a captured image. It is a figure for demonstrating the example at the time of displaying a captured image on LCD12. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the flow of the process at the time of the endoscopy by the endoscope apparatus 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the flow of a process of automatic bending operation observation of step S4. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the flow of a calculation process of the pitch of the bending operation instruction | indication amount of step S11. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of the process which learns the correspondence of the bending operation instruction | indication amount and the bending amount of the front-end | tip part. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the flow of the process at the time of the endoscopy by the endoscope apparatus 1 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the flow of a learning process of tip curvature amount. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the flow of a calculation process of the pitch of the bending operation instruction | indication amount which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an endoscope apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope apparatus 1 includes an elongated insertion portion 2 having flexibility and a main body portion 3 to which the insertion portion 2 is connected. A distal end portion 4 of the insertion portion 2 is provided with a CCD 5 as an imaging portion and an objective lens 6 arranged on the imaging surface side of the CCD 5. A bending portion 7 that bends the distal end portion 4 in a desired direction is provided on the proximal end side of the distal end portion 4 of the insertion portion 2.

  Further, an optical adapter 8 that converts optical characteristics such as a viewing direction and viewing angle characteristics can be attached to the distal end portion 4 of the insertion portion 2. The inspector can select the optical adapter 8 having a different viewing direction and viewing angle characteristics according to the location and situation of the inspection and attach it to the distal end portion 4. The optical adapter 8 is provided with ID information 9 for identifying the type of the optical adapter 8, an LED 10 for illuminating the subject, and an objective lens 11. The ID information 9 is, for example, a resistance, and the type or the like of the optical adapter 8 is identified by detecting the resistance value by the optical adapter identifying unit 18 described later.

  The main body 3 includes a liquid crystal panel (hereinafter abbreviated as LCD) 12 as a display unit on which an endoscopic image, an operation menu, and the like are displayed. The LCD 12 may be provided with a touch panel. The main body 3 has an operation unit 13 for performing various operations. The operation unit 13 includes a mode selection switch 13a as a mode switching unit for selecting a manual bending mode and an automatic bending mode, which will be described later, and a bending joystick 13b for bending the bending unit 7.

  Further, the main body 3 includes a light source driving unit 14, a CCD signal processing unit 15, an image signal processing unit 16, an image recording unit 17, an optical adapter identification unit 18, a curvature control processing unit 19, and a central processing unit. (Hereinafter referred to as a CPU) 20, a memory 21, an operation unit processing unit 22, a bus 23, and a battery 24. The light source driving unit 14, the CCD signal processing unit 15, the image signal processing unit 16, the optical adapter identification unit 18, the bending control processing unit 19, the CPU 20, and the operation unit processing unit 22 are connected to each other via a bus 23. .

  The light source drive unit 14 outputs a drive signal for driving the LED 10 as a light source to the LED 10. The CCD signal processing unit 15 outputs a drive signal to the CCD 5, performs predetermined signal processing on the image signal captured by the CCD 5, and outputs the signal to the image signal processing unit 16.

  The image signal processing unit 16 performs predetermined image signal processing on the imaging signal from the CCD signal processing unit 15 to generate a signal to be displayed on the LCD 12 and / or a signal to be recorded on the image recording unit 17. And / or output to the image recording unit 17. Further, the image signal processing unit 16 includes zoom processing for changing the size of the captured image, and can expand or reduce the captured image data based on the setting from the operation unit 13. Furthermore, the image signal processing unit 16 includes a matching process for detecting a specific image pattern included in the captured image, a motion amount detection process for detecting the motion amount of the captured image, and the like.

  The LCD 12 displays the captured image from the image signal processing unit 16. Further, the image recording unit 17 records the captured image from the image signal processing unit 16. The image recording unit 17 may be a memory provided in the main body 3 or a memory card that can be attached to and detached from the main body 3.

  The optical adapter identification unit 18 reads the ID information 9 of the optical adapter 8 attached to the distal end portion 4. As described above, the ID information 9 is, for example, a resistor, and the optical adapter identifying unit 18 identifies the type and optical characteristics of the optical adapter 8 attached to the distal end portion 4 from the resistance value. The optical adapter identification unit 18 outputs the type and optical characteristics of the identified optical adapter 8 to the operation unit processing unit 22 via the bus 23.

  The bending control processing unit 19 controls the bending of the bending unit 7 in accordance with a bending control signal from the operation unit processing unit 22 described later. The details of the bending control processing unit 19 will be described with reference to FIG. 2, but servo control is performed so that the bending instruction amount from the operation unit processing unit 22 matches the rotation angle of the gear output via the potentiometer. Done.

  The CPU 20 performs overall control of the main body unit 3. The memory 21 stores a program that is executed when the CPU 20 performs overall control of the main body 3. The memory 21 temporarily stores data, calculation results, and the like when the CPU 20 executes the program.

  The operation unit processing unit 22 outputs a bending control signal to the bending control processing unit 19 in accordance with operation signals from the mode selection switch 13a and the bending joystick 13b of the operating unit 13. The battery 24 supplies power to various circuits of the main body unit 3.

  Next, a detailed circuit configuration related to the bending control of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a detailed circuit configuration related to bending control.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the operation unit processing unit 22 includes a manual bending processing unit 31, an automatic bending processing unit 32, and a switching unit 33. The bending control processing unit 19 includes a subtraction unit 34, a filter processing unit 35, a drive circuit 36, a motor 37, a gear 38, a potentiometer 39, and an AD converter 40. Further, as described above, the operation unit 13 includes the mode selection switch 13a and the bending joystick 13b.

  The inspector selects the manual bending mode or the automatic bending mode by operating the mode selection switch 13a. A mode selection signal from the mode selection switch 13 a is input to the switching unit 33 of the operation unit processing unit 22.

  The switching unit 33 switches the connection destination of the manual bending processing unit 31 and the automatic bending processing unit 32 according to the mode selection signal from the mode selection switch 13a. Specifically, when the manual bending mode is selected by the mode selection switch 13a, the manual bending processing unit 31 is connected to the bending control processing unit 19, and when the automatic bending mode is selected by the mode selection switch 13a, the automatic bending is performed. The processing unit 32 is connected to the bending control processing unit 19.

  When the manual bending mode is selected by the mode selection switch 13a, the examiner can manually bend the bending portion 7 using the bending joystick 13b. The bending operation amount from the bending joystick 13 b is input to the manual bending processing unit 31. The manual bending processing unit 31 outputs an appropriate bending amount instruction (bending operation instruction amount) to the bending control processing unit 19 in accordance with the bending operation amount from the bending joystick 13b.

  In addition, information about the zoom magnification from the image signal processing unit 16 and the angle of view (optical characteristics) of the optical adapter 8 from the optical adapter identification unit 18 are input to the automatic bending processing unit 32. When the automatic bending mode is selected by the mode selection switch 13a, the automatic bending processing unit 32 as the bending operation instruction amount calculating unit calculates the angle of view, the zoom magnification, and the bending operation instruction amount of the optical adapter 8 and the distal end portion 4 when the mode selection switch 13a is selected. Based on the correspondence with the bending amount, an appropriate bending amount instruction pitch (bending operation instruction amount pitch) is calculated and output to the bending control processing unit 19. Further, the automatic bending processing unit 32 outputs a timing instruction for recording the captured image at an appropriate timing according to the bending amount to the image signal processing unit 16. This timing is every pitch of the bending operation instruction amount calculated by the automatic bending processing unit 32. The image signal processing unit 16 controls to automatically record the captured image captured by the CCD 5 in the image recording unit 17 for each pitch of the bending operation instruction amount calculated by the automatic bending processing unit 32.

  The bending instruction amount from the operation unit processing unit 22 and the rotation angle of the gear 38 are input to the subtraction unit 34. The rotation angle of the gear 38 is detected by a potentiometer 39. The rotation angle of the gear 38 detected by the potentiometer 39 is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the AD converter 40 and input to the subtractor 34. The subtracting unit 34 subtracts the input bending instruction amount from the operation unit processing unit 22 and the rotation angle of the gear 38 and outputs the subtraction result to the filter processing unit 35.

  The filter processing unit 35 subjects the subtraction result from the subtraction unit 34 to predetermined filter processing such as PID control, and outputs the result to the drive circuit 36. The drive circuit 36 converts the signal input from the filter processing unit 35 into a current value, and drives the motor 37. The driving force of the motor 37 is transmitted to the bending wire that connects the gear 38 and the bending portion 7 via the gear 38, and the bending portion 7 is bent in a desired direction. That is, when the bending instruction amount from the operation unit processing unit 22 and the rotation angle of the gear 38 are the same, the output from the subtraction unit 34 is 0, and the bending angle of the bending unit 7 is maintained.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the angle of view of the optical adapter 8 and the bending angle of the bending portion 7.

  In a substantially straight shape in which the insertion unit 2 is not wound with a toggle, the correspondence between the bending operation instruction amount input from the operation unit processing unit 22 to the bending control processing unit 19 and the bending amount of the distal end portion 4 is designed, It is known in advance at the manufacturing stage, that is, at the time of factory shipment. Therefore, when the shape of the insertion portion 2 at the time of inspection is substantially straight, the bending amount of the distal end portion 4 can be controlled using this correspondence. This correspondence relationship is stored in the memory 21, for example.

  The visual field range that can be recorded by one imaging is determined by the angle of view θ1 of the optical adapter 8 and the zoom magnification α. After recording the captured image at a certain timing, the operation unit processing unit 22 outputs a bending operation instruction amount to the bending control processing unit 19 so as not to cause omission of recording of the captured image. As a result, the distal end portion 4 is bent at a bending amount corresponding to the bending operation instruction amount, that is, at the bending angle θ2.

  Here, the bending angle θ2 of the distal end portion 4 so as not to cause leakage of the recording of the captured image is set such that the objective distance from the distal end portion 4 to the subject is d, the distal end hard portion length of the distal end portion 4 is l, and d >> l. Can be calculated by θ2 = θ1 × 1 / α.

  That is, when the angle of view θ1 of the optical adapter 8 is 120 ° and the zoom magnification α is 1, the bending angle θ2 is calculated as 120 °. Further, when the angle of view θ1 of the optical adapter 8 is 120 ° and the zoom magnification α is double, the bending angle θ2 is calculated as 60 °.

  In order to prevent omission of recording of captured images, when calculating the bending angle θ2 of the distal end portion 4 so that the imaging ranges slightly overlap, it is calculated by θ2 = θ1 × 1 / α × β. However, β is a coefficient less than 1.

  When the automatic bending processing unit 32 of the operation unit processing unit 22 calculates the bending angle θ2 of the distal end portion 4 so as not to cause leakage of recording of the captured image in this way, the bending operation instruction amount corresponding to the bending angle θ2 is calculated. Output to the bending control processing unit 19. Then, the automatic bending processing unit 32 instructs the image signal processing unit 16 to record the captured image at the timing when the distal end portion 4 is bent at the bending angle θ2.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the recording timing of the captured image.

  As described above, the correspondence relationship between the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the distal end portion 4, that is, the bending angle θ2 of the distal end portion 4 is known at the time of shipment from the factory. Therefore, the automatic bending processing unit 32 instructs the image signal processing unit 16 to record the captured image at the timing of the bending operation instruction amount that becomes the value calculated as described above. The image signal processing unit 16 records the captured image in the image recording unit 17 at the timing instructed by the automatic bending processing unit 32. By performing such recording on the two axes of the UD direction and the RL direction, it is possible to automatically record the captured image without leaking inside the subject.

  Next, a process for displaying the captured image recorded in this way on the LCD 12 will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example when a captured image is displayed on the LCD 12.

  The image signal processing unit 16 reads the captured image recorded in the image recording unit 17 and displays the captured images 50a to 50i as thumbnails on the LCD 12, as shown in FIG. At this time, the image signal processing unit 16 displays thumbnails in an arrangement that takes into account the bending angles in the UD and RL directions during imaging.

  Specifically, the captured image 50e captured at 0 ° in the UD direction and 0 ° in the RL direction is arranged at the center of the LCD 12 without bending the distal end portion 4. Then, a captured image 50a obtained by bending the distal end portion 4 to + 90 ° in the UD direction and −90 ° in the RL direction is disposed on the upper left of the LCD 12, and the distal end portion 4 is −90 ° in the UD direction and +90 in the RL direction. A picked-up image 50i that is picked up by being bent at an angle is arranged at the lower right of the LCD 12.

  In addition, in order to grasp an accurate state inside the subject, it is originally desirable that information regarding the bending angle and the bending direction of the distal end portion 4 at the time of imaging is recorded together with the captured image. Therefore, the image signal processing unit 16 adds additional information to the captured images 50a to 50i, for example, the bending angle of the distal end portion 4 at the time of imaging, and displays it on the LCD 12. By performing such display, the examiner can comprehensively grasp the state inside the subject. Additional information such as the bending angle of the distal end portion 4 at the time of imaging is input from the operation unit processing unit 22 to the image signal processing unit 16, and the image signal processing unit 16 records the captured image in the image recording unit 17. In addition, it is added to the captured image and recorded.

  Further, the image signal processing unit 16 generates a panoramic image by combining the captured images 50a to 50i and displays the panoramic image on the LCD 12 so that the examiner can grasp the state inside the subject more effectively. The coordinate positions of the captured images 50a to 50i on the LCD 12 may be changed and displayed according to the curvature amount of 4.

  Next, the operation of the endoscope apparatus configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing flow at the time of endoscopy by the endoscope apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

  First, when an endoscopic examination is started, a change in optical characteristics is confirmed (step S1). In the confirmation of the change of the optical characteristics, the change of the angle of view, the zoom magnification, etc. of the optical adapter 8 is confirmed. Next, manual bending operation observation (manual bending mode) is executed (step S2), and it is determined whether or not the mode selection switch 13a is pressed (step S3). If it is determined that the mode selection switch 13a has not been pressed, the determination is NO, the process returns to step S1, and the same processing is repeated. on the other hand. If it is determined that the mode selection switch 13a has been pressed, YES is determined, automatic bending operation observation (automatic bending mode) is executed, the process returns to step S1, and the same processing is repeated.

  Here, the processing of the automatic bending operation observation in step S4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of the automatic bending operation observation process in step S4.

  First, when the automatic bending operation is disclosed, the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount is calculated (step S11). The process of step S11 will be described later. Next, based on the calculated pitch of the bending operation instruction amount, the bending angle of the distal end portion 4 is changed (step S12), and a still image is recorded in the image recording unit 17 (step S13). Finally, it is determined whether or not the entire range has been recorded (step S14). If it is determined that the recording of the entire range has not been completed, the determination is NO, the process returns to step S12, and the same processing is repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the recording of the entire range has been completed, the determination is YES, and the process ends.

  Next, the process of calculating the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount in step S11 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a process of calculating the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount in step S11.

  In the calculation process of the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount in step S11, the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount based on the correspondence relationship (factory shipment value) between the bending operation instruction amount and the tip bending amount and the optical characteristics (user setting value). Is calculated (step S21), and the process is terminated. In the process of step S21, a bending operation instruction amount that causes the distal end portion 4 to bend at the bending angle θ2 is calculated.

  As described above, when the automatic bending mode is selected by the mode selection switch 13a, the endoscope apparatus 1 includes the angle of view of the optical adapter 8, the zoom magnification of the captured image, and the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount. From the correspondence, the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount that does not cause omission of recording of the captured image is calculated, and the captured image is recorded for each pitch. Thereby, it is possible to automatically record a captured image that does not cause recording leakage.

Therefore, according to the endoscope apparatus of the present embodiment, it is possible to easily perform the endoscope observation work for comprehensively grasping the state of the inside of the subject, and occurrence of recording omission of the captured image Can be prevented.
(Modification)

  In the first embodiment, the objective distance from the distal end portion 4 to the subject is d, the distal end hard portion length of the distal end portion 4 is l, and d >> l is satisfied. However, in the modification, d> A case where> l is not satisfied will be described. This modification can also be applied to a second embodiment described later.

When d >> l does not hold, the bending angle θ2 of the tip portion 4 that does not cause leakage of recording of a captured image is θ2 = 2 × tan ⁻¹ ((d / l + d) tan (θ1 / 2)). Can be calculated. Here, the objective distance d from the distal end portion 4 to the subject is measured by a measurement processing unit 16a included in the image signal processing unit 16 using, for example, stereo measurement or a distance measurement sensor.

The automatic bending processing unit 32 calculates the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount from the bending angle θ <b> 2 of the distal end portion 4 so as not to cause a leakage of recording of the captured image calculated as described above, and outputs the calculated pitch to the bending control processing unit 19. . Thereby, even when the objective distance d is short, a picked-up image that does not cause recording leakage can be automatically recorded as in the first embodiment.
(Second Embodiment)

  Next, a second embodiment will be described.

  In the actual inspection scene, it is also assumed that the shape of the insertion portion 2 is not substantially straight. In this case, as described in the first embodiment, it is assumed that the correspondence relationship between the bending operation instruction amount determined in the design and manufacturing stage and the bending amount of the distal end portion 4 is insufficient. Therefore, in the second embodiment, when the endoscope apparatus 1 is activated or when an endoscopic examination is started, the correspondence relationship between the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the distal end portion 4 is learned, and The endoscope apparatus 1 that performs automatic bending operation observation based on the learned correspondence will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of processing for learning the correspondence relationship between the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the distal end portion 4.

  As shown in FIG. 9, it is assumed that, for example, a character “A”, which is a feature pattern, is displayed at the right end of the screen in a certain curved state. In this state, the bending operation is performed until the letter “A” moves to the left end portion of the screen, the bending instruction amount when moving to the left end portion, the bending amount of the distal end portion 4, that is, the bending angle θ2 of the distal end portion 4. Correlate with. At this time, the recognition of the character “A” can be realized by the image signal processing unit 16 performing image processing such as pattern matching. This operation is performed until the bending operation instruction amount becomes maximum, and a correspondence relationship (learning value) between the bending operation instruction amount in the entire operation range and the actual bending amount of the distal end portion 4 is obtained. This is performed in the biaxial direction of UD / RL, and at the time of subsequent inspections, inspection is performed by the same method as in the first embodiment using this correspondence (learned value).

  Note that the correspondence between the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the distal end portion 4 may be linearly interpolated from several measurement points, or the number of measurement points is increased in order to increase the accuracy. Another approximate interpolation may be performed. Further, in order to further improve the accuracy, the movement of the feature pattern (for example, “A”) as described above is not traced, but the motion vector and the motion amount are detected for the entire display image, and the bending operation instruction amount and the tip portion are detected. Finer association with the amount of curvature of 4 may be performed.

  Next, the operation of the endoscope apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of processing at the time of endoscopy by the endoscope apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 10, the same processes as those in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  First, when the endoscopy is started, the tip bending amount is learned (step S31). In the process of step S31, the correspondence relationship between the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the distal end portion 4 is learned. Thereafter, similarly to the first embodiment, the processes of steps S1 to S4 are executed.

  Here, the tip bending amount learning process in step S31 will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of learning processing for the tip bending amount.

  First, the bending operation instruction amount is set to an initial value (step S41), and a feature pattern at the right end of the screen is detected (step S42). Next, the value of the bending operation instruction amount is changed (step S43), and the screen position of the feature pattern is detected (step S44). Then, it is determined whether or not the feature pattern has reached the left end of the screen (step S45). If it is determined that the feature pattern has not reached the left edge of the screen, the determination is NO, the process returns to step S43, and the same processing is repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the feature pattern has reached the left end of the screen, the determination is YES, and the amount of bending of the tip 4 is calculated based on the optical characteristics (initial setting value) (step S46). Next, by associating the bending operation instruction with the tip bending amount, a correspondence relationship (learning value) between the tip operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the tip portion 4 is obtained (step S47). Finally, it is determined whether or not the entire range operation has been completed (step S48). If it is determined that the operation of the entire range has not been completed, the determination is NO, the process returns to step S42, and the same processing is repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the operation for the entire range has been completed, the determination is YES, and the process is terminated.

  In the present embodiment, the automatic bending operation observation process in step S4 is the same as that in FIG. 7 of the first embodiment, but the bending operation instruction amount pitch calculation process in step S11 is the first. Different from the embodiment.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a bending calculation instruction pitch calculation process according to the second embodiment.

  In the calculation processing of the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount in step S11, the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount is determined based on the correspondence (learning value) between the bending operation instruction amount and the tip bending amount, and the optical characteristic (user setting value). It is calculated (step S51), and the process ends.

  As described above, when the endoscopic examination is started, the endoscope apparatus 1 learns the correspondence relationship between the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the distal end portion 4, and the angle of view of the optical adapter 8 and the zoom of the captured image. From the correspondence between the magnification and the learned bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount, the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount that does not cause omission of recording of the captured image is calculated, and the captured image is recorded for each pitch. I made it. Thereby, even in a state where the insertion unit 2 is wound with a toggle, it is possible to automatically record a captured image that does not cause recording leakage.

  Therefore, according to the endoscope apparatus of the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent occurrence of recording omission of captured images in any actual use situation.

  It should be noted that each step of each procedure in the present embodiment may be executed in a different order for each execution by changing the execution order and executing a plurality of steps at the same time, as long as it does not contradict its nature.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope apparatus, 2 ... Insertion part, 3 ... Main-body part, 4 ... Tip part, 5 ... CCD, 6,11 ... Objective lens, 7 ... Curved part, 8 ... Optical adapter, 9 ... ID information, 10 ... LED, 12 ... LCD, 13 ... operation unit, 13a ... mode selection switch, 13b ... curved joystick, 14 ... light source drive unit, 15 ... CCD signal processing unit, 16 ... image signal processing unit, 17 ... image recording unit, 18 ... Optical adapter identification unit, 19: bending control processing unit, 20 ... CPU, 21 ... memory, 22 ... operation unit processing unit, 23 ... bus, 24 ... battery, 31 ... manual bending processing unit, 32 ... automatic bending processing unit, 33 ... switching unit, 34 ... subtraction unit, 35 ... filter processing unit, 36 ... drive circuit, 37 ... motor, 38 ... gear, 39 ... potentiometer, 40 ... AD converter.

Claims (6)

An insertion part having an imaging part at the tip part;
A bending portion that is provided on the proximal end side of the distal end portion of the insertion portion and that bends the distal end portion in a desired direction;
To bend the bending portion at a predetermined bending angle interval based on the optical characteristics of the optical adapter attached to the tip portion, the zoom magnification, and the correspondence relationship between the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the tip portion. A bending operation instruction amount calculation unit that calculates a pitch of the bending operation instruction amount of
An image signal processing unit that controls to automatically record a captured image captured by the imaging unit for each pitch of the bending operation instruction amount calculated by the bending operation instruction amount calculation unit;
An endoscope apparatus characterized by comprising:   The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bending operation instruction amount calculation unit learns a correspondence relationship between the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the distal end portion.   A mode switching unit that switches between an automatic bending mode in which a captured image captured by the imaging unit is automatically recorded for each pitch of the bending operation instruction amount and a manual bending mode in which the tip portion is manually bent. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endoscope apparatus is characterized. A display unit for displaying the captured image;
The image signal processing unit determines an image arrangement for displaying a plurality of captured images as thumbnails on the display unit according to a bending angle of the tip when the captured image is recorded. The endoscope apparatus according to Item 1.   The image signal processing unit generates a panoramic image obtained by pasting a plurality of captured images in accordance with a bending angle of the tip when the captured image is recorded, and displays the panoramic image on the display unit. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1. Based on the optical characteristics of the optical adapter attached to the distal end portion of the insertion portion having the imaging unit, the zoom magnification, and the correspondence relationship between the bending operation instruction amount and the bending amount of the distal end portion, at a predetermined bending angle interval, Calculating the pitch of the bending operation instruction amount for bending the bending portion provided on the proximal end side of the distal end portion of the insertion portion, bending the distal end portion in a desired direction;
Control to automatically record a captured image captured by the imaging unit for each calculated pitch of the bending operation instruction amount;
For taking endoscopic images including

Images