JP2015188504A - electronic endoscope and electronic endoscope system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic endoscope and an electronic endoscope system capable of moving a tip (a display image) in a direction intended by an operator, irrespective of an electronic endoscope holding state.SOLUTION: An electronic endoscope having a holding part 150 and an insertion part includes: an image pickup device disposed at the tip for picking up an image of an inside of a body; an image processing part for processing the image picked up by the image pickup device; a control part for controlling the image pickup device and the image processing part; and an attitude detection part disposed in the holding part for detecting an attitude of the holding part 150. According to the attitude of the holding part 150 detected by the attitude detection part, the control part controls the image processing part so as to rotate the image picked up by the image pickup device.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope for observing the inside of a body cavity of a patient and an electronic endoscope system having the electronic endoscope.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic endoscope system using an electronic endoscope that can perform observation and imaging in a body cavity of a patient has been widely used. The electronic endoscope includes a connector unit connected to a light source device and a video processor, a grip unit including an operation unit including an operation button operated by an operator, and an insertion unit inserted into a body cavity of a patient at the time of observation. Become. In addition, the insertion portion includes a rigid distal end portion where an image sensor (CCD image sensor, CMOS image sensor, etc.) and a light guide for irradiating illumination light into the body cavity are disposed, and the position of the distal end portion in the body cavity Is composed of a bending portion for changing the angle in four directions (up, down, left and right), and a long flexible tube positioned between the bending portion and the gripping portion. Light emitted from the tip of the electronic endoscope and reflected by the target portion is photoelectrically converted by the image sensor and output as an image signal. Then, video signal processing is performed by a video processor connected to the electronic endoscope and displayed on a monitor. The surgeon can move the image displayed on the monitor vertically and horizontally by bending the bending portion using the operation portion.

  Usually, when observing with an electronic endoscope system, the operator can easily operate the operation buttons on the operation unit (for example, the operation button or knob comes to the fingertip side while holding the grip unit with one hand) ) And the electronic endoscope is inserted into the patient lying on the examination table. Therefore, with this state as a reference, the electronic endoscope is designed so that the operation direction of the bending portion in the operation portion matches the movement direction of the display image due to the change in the position of the distal end portion. However, the observation may be performed in various states other than the above-described reference state depending on the observation target and the operator's preference. For example, when the electronic endoscope is gripped in the direction opposite to the reference state, the operation direction of the bending portion in the operation portion may not match the movement direction of the display image due to the change in the position of the distal end portion. Specifically, when the operator operates the operation unit to move the image displayed on the monitor to the right, the distal end portion is Move left instead of right. As a result, the image displayed on the monitor moves to the left, making it impossible for the operator to see the part that the operator wants to observe.

  As a method for solving the above problem, it is conceivable to rotate and display a displayed image using an image rotation function provided in a video processor or a monitor. In this case, the operator manually operates the video processor or monitor as necessary to rotate the image. Patent Document 1 also describes that an image to be displayed on a monitor is rotated as necessary in a video camera for object observation. Specifically, the observation camera described in Patent Document 1 is configured to rotate or invert an image to be displayed according to a position sensor attached to the camera.

Japanese National Patent Publication No. 08-500039

  However, the camera described in Patent Document 1 requires a complicated operation in which the operator manually switches the setting of the image display direction according to the method of grasping the electronic endoscope. In addition, when another operator uses the same electronic endoscope system with the setting of the image display direction switched by a manual operation, the image does not need to be rotated and displayed. The surgeon will be confused. In particular, when a treatment is performed during observation, the operation direction and the moving direction of the image do not match, which may cause a delay in the treatment. Further, Patent Document 1 does not specifically describe a position sensor attached to a camera, and it is unclear what kind of position sensor is used and how the position is detected. Furthermore, since the distal end portion of the electronic endoscope has a small diameter, it is difficult to detect the observation direction by providing a position sensor at the distal end portion.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to move the tip (display image) in the direction intended by the operator regardless of the grasping state by the operator. To provide an electronic endoscope system and an electronic endoscope system.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, an electronic endoscope having a gripping part and an insertion part, which is arranged at the tip, picks up an image inside the body, and processes an image picked up by the image pickup element An electronic endoscope is provided that includes an image processing unit, a control unit that controls the image sensor and the image processing unit, and a posture detection unit that is disposed on the grip unit to detect the posture of the grip unit. Further, the control unit of the electronic endoscope according to the present invention controls the image processing unit to rotate the image picked up by the image pickup device according to the posture of the gripping unit detected by the posture detecting unit. To do.

  The posture detection unit may include an acceleration sensor and a distance measurement sensor. Further, the distance measuring sensor may be able to detect the distance to the operator when the grasping portion is grasped in a predetermined state. Furthermore, the acceleration sensor may be used to detect the top and bottom of the grip portion.

  In addition, the control unit includes 1) when the top and bottom of the gripping part detected by the acceleration sensor is normal and the distance to the operator is not detected by the distance measuring sensor, and 2) the gripping part detected by the acceleration sensor When the top and bottom are reversed and the distance to the operator is detected by the distance measuring sensor, the image processing unit may be controlled to rotate the image 180 degrees.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an electronic endoscope system comprising an electronic endoscope having a gripping portion and an insertion portion and a processor connected to the electronic endoscope, An image sensor that is arranged at the tip of the mirror and captures an image inside the body, an image processor that processes an image captured by the image sensor, a controller that controls the image sensor and the image processor, and a posture of the gripper An electronic endoscope system is provided that includes an attitude detection unit that is disposed in a gripping unit for detection. Further, the control unit of the electronic endoscope system according to the present invention controls the image processing unit to rotate the image picked up by the image pickup device in accordance with the posture of the gripping unit detected by the posture detecting unit. And

  The electronic endoscope system may further include an operation unit for changing the tip position of the electronic endoscope and a monitor for displaying an image processed by the image processing unit. Further, the control unit may control the image processing unit to rotate the image captured by the image sensor so that the operation direction of the operation unit matches the moving direction of the image displayed on the monitor. .

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to move the tip (display image) in the direction intended by the operator regardless of the grasping state of the electronic endoscope, causing confusion to the operator. It is possible to perform observation appropriately.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an electronic endoscope system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the holding state of the electronic endoscope assumed in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the image rotation process in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the detection of the operator in an image rotation process.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic endoscope system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic endoscope system 1 of this embodiment includes an electronic scope 100, an electronic endoscope processor 200, and a monitor 300.

  The electronic endoscope processor 200 includes a system controller 202 and a timing controller 206. The system controller 202 executes various programs stored in the memory 204 and integrally controls the entire electronic endoscope system 1. Further, the system controller 202 changes various settings of the electronic endoscope system 1 in accordance with instructions from the user (surgeon or assistant) input to the operation panel 208. The timing controller 206 outputs a clock pulse for adjusting the operation timing of each unit to various circuits in the electronic endoscope system 1.

  The electronic endoscope processor 200 includes a light source device 230 that supplies illumination light, which is a white light beam, to an LCB (Light Carrying Bundle) 102 of the electronic scope 100. The light source device 230 includes a lamp 232, a lamp power source 234, a condenser lens 236, and a light control device 240. The lamp 232 is a high-intensity lamp that emits illumination light when supplied with driving power from the lamp power supply 234. For example, a xenon lamp, a metal halide lamp, a mercury lamp, or a halogen lamp is used. The illumination light emitted from the lamp 232 is collected by the condenser lens 236 and then introduced into the LCB 102 via the light control device 240.

  The dimmer 240 is a device that adjusts the amount of illumination light introduced into the LCB 102 based on the control of the system controller 202, and includes a diaphragm 242, a motor 243, and a driver 244. The driver 244 generates a drive current for driving the motor 243 and supplies it to the motor 243. The diaphragm 242 is driven by a motor 243, and changes the opening through which the illumination light passes to adjust the amount of illumination light passing through the opening.

  Illumination light introduced into the LCB 102 from the incident end propagates through the LCB 102 and is irradiated onto the subject from the exit end disposed at the tip of the electronic scope 100 via a light distribution lens (not shown). The reflected light from the subject forms an optical image on the light receiving surface of a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) 108 via the objective lens 106. In FIG. 1, illustration of the LCB 102 in the electronic scope 100 is omitted for simplification of the drawing.

  The CCD 108 is a single-plate color CCD image sensor in which various filters are arranged on the light receiving surface, and generates imaging signals of the three primary colors R, G, and B corresponding to the optical image formed on the light receiving surface. The generated imaging signal is input to the image processing unit 130 via the scope controller 120. The image processing unit 130 performs image processing such as gamma correction and gain adjustment on the input imaging signal, converts it to a digital image signal, and outputs it to the electronic endoscope processor 200. In addition, the scope controller 120 accesses the memory 110 (ROM or nonvolatile memory) and reads the unique information of the electronic scope 100. The unique information of the electronic scope 100 recorded in the memory 110 includes, for example, the number of pixels of the CCD 108, sensitivity, and operable frame rate. The scope controller 120 outputs the unique information read from the memory 110 to the system controller 202.

  The system controller 202 performs various calculations based on the unique information of the electronic scope 100 and generates a control signal. The system controller 202 operates various circuits in the electronic endoscope processor 200 so that processing suitable for the electronic scope 100 connected to the electronic endoscope processor 200 is performed using the generated control signal. And control timing.

  The image processing unit 220 generates a video signal for monitor display based on the image signal transmitted from the electronic scope 100 under the control of the system controller 202, and outputs the video signal to the monitor 300. Thus, the surgeon performs insertion of the electronic scope 100 and observation or treatment of the body (for example, digestive organs) while confirming the endoscopic image displayed on the monitor 300.

  In addition, the grip unit 150 of the electronic scope 100 is provided with an operation unit 152, an acceleration sensor 154, and a distance measuring sensor 156. In addition to various operation buttons, the operation unit 152 includes an angle knob for bending the bending unit 140 provided in the vicinity of the distal end portion of the electronic scope 100 in four directions (up, down, left, and right). By operating the angle knob of the operation unit 152, it is possible to change the tip position of the electronic scope 100 during observation and move the image displayed on the monitor 300. The acceleration sensor 154 and the distance measuring sensor 156 are used to detect the gripping state (posture) of the electronic scope 100. The acceleration sensor 154 and the distance measuring sensor 156 will be described in detail later.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a gripping state of the electronic scope 100 assumed in the present embodiment. FIG. 2 (a) shows a case where the grasping unit 150 is grasped in a state in which the operator can easily operate the operation buttons and the like of the operation unit 152 (hereinafter referred to as “hands”), and the patient is in an electronic state with respect to the patient lying on the examination table. A state in which the endoscope is inserted (hereinafter referred to as “basic state”) is shown. As described above, the electronic scope 100 is designed so that the operation direction of the angle knob of the operation unit 152 matches the moving direction of the displayed image with reference to the basic state shown in FIG. However, depending on the observation target and the operator's preference, for example, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), FIG. 2 (c) or FIG. 2 (d), observation may be performed in a state other than the basic state. . Specifically, FIG. 2B shows a case where the electronic scope 100 is gripped in the reverse direction with respect to the basic state (hereinafter referred to as “reverse hand”). 2 (c) and 2 (d) show a case where the electronic scope 100 is inserted into a patient sitting at the time of nasal insertion or in otolaryngology. In this case, the electronic scope 100 is held with the top and bottom reversed with respect to the basic state. FIG. 2C shows a case where the electronic scope 100 is gripped with good hands, and FIG. 2D shows a case where the electronic scope 100 is held with reverse hands. 2A to 2D, the tip of the electronic scope 100 is inserted into the patient's body in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure.

  When observation is performed in the state shown in FIGS. 2B to 2D, if the bending portion 140 is bent using the operation portion 152, the distal end portion moves in a direction different from the direction intended by the operator. There is. As a result, the image displayed on the monitor 300 may also move in a direction different from the direction intended by the operator. Specifically, for example, in the state shown in FIG. 2B, since the electronic scope 100 is gripped in the opposite direction to the basic state, the bending direction of the bending portion 140 is also opposite to the basic state. Yes. Therefore, when the surgeon performs an operation of moving the image to the right using the operation unit 152 to move the image to the right, the distal end portion moves to the left instead of the right. As described above, when observation is performed in a state other than the basic state which is a standard for designing the electronic scope 100, the operation direction of the bending portion 140 in the operation unit and the moving direction of the display image due to the change in the position of the distal end are determined. It may not match. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the acceleration sensor 154 and the distance measurement sensor 156 are used to detect the gripping state of the electronic scope 100 (specifically, the posture of the gripping unit 150) and perform image processing according to the gripping state. Thus, the moving direction intended by the surgeon is matched with the moving direction of the displayed image.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of image rotation processing for performing image processing in accordance with the gripping state of the electronic scope 100. This processing is executed by the scope controller 120, and is started when the electronic scope 100 is connected to the electronic endoscope processor 200 and the lamp power source 234 is turned on. In this process, first, based on the output of the acceleration sensor 154, it is determined whether or not the top and bottom of the gripper 150 is normal (S101).

  The acceleration sensor 154 is a triaxial acceleration sensor that can detect the X-axis component, the Y-axis component, and the Z-axis component (gx, gy, gz) of the gravitational acceleration vector g. As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, when the gripping unit 150 is normally gripping the top and bottom, the Y-axis component (gy) of the gravitational acceleration vector G detected by the acceleration sensor 154 is , Negative value. On the other hand, when the top and bottom are gripped reversely as shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D, the Y-axis component (gy) of the gravitational acceleration vector G detected by the acceleration sensor 154 is a positive value. It becomes. The scope controller 120 determines whether the top and bottom are normal based on the positive / negative of the Y-axis component (gy) of the gravitational acceleration vector G output from the acceleration sensor 154.

  If it is determined that the top and bottom are normal (S101: YES), it is then determined whether or not an operator has been detected based on the output of the distance measuring sensor 156 (S102). FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the detection of the operator by the distance measuring sensor 156. The distance measuring sensor 156 is a sensor that projects infrared rays and measures the distance to the object based on the light receiving position and the light receiving time of the reflected light. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the grasping portion 150 is grasped with good hands, the distance is measured to a position facing the operator (position where the distance to the operator can be measured). A sensor 156 is provided. That is, when the grasping unit 150 is grasped with good hand, the distance measuring sensor 156 measures and outputs the distance to the operator. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the grasping unit 150 is grasped by the reverse hand, the distance measuring sensor 156 cannot measure the distance to the operator and is on the side opposite to the operator. Measure and output the distance to the object. The distance output in this case is longer than the distance to the operator in FIG.

  The scope controller 120 determines whether or not an operator has been detected based on the distance output from the distance measuring sensor 156. Specifically, when the output from the distance measuring sensor 156 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the operator is detected, and when the output is larger than the threshold, it is determined that the operator is not detected.

  If it is determined that an operator has been detected (S102: YES), it is considered that the grasping unit 150 is grasped in the basic state as shown in FIG. Therefore, the scope controller 120 controls the image processing unit 130 so as to output an image on which normal image processing has been performed to the electronic endoscope processor 200 (S103). Thereby, the direction of the image photographed by the CCD 108 is displayed on the monitor 300 without being changed.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the operator is not detected (S102: NO), the gripping unit 150 is considered to be gripped with a reverse hand, although the top and bottom are normal as shown in FIG. In this case, the scope controller 120 controls the image processing unit 130 to output to the electronic endoscope processor 200 after performing a process of rotating 180 degrees on the image on which the normal image processing has been performed ( S104). As a result, an image rotated 180 degrees is displayed on the monitor 300. In this state, when the surgeon operates the angle knob of the operation unit 152, the operation direction and the actual movement direction of the distal end portion are different, but the image is rotated 180 degrees. Match. This makes it possible to move the image in the direction intended by the operator.

  In S101, if the scope controller 120 determines that the top and bottom are not normal (that is, the top and bottom are reversed) (S101: NO), it is then determined whether or not an operator has been detected (S105). ). In S105, as in S102, based on the output from the distance measuring sensor 156, it is determined whether or not an operator has been detected by the scope controller 120.

  If it is determined that an operator has been detected (S105: YES), the gripping unit 150 is gripped in a reverse manner with respect to the basic state, as shown in FIG. 2 (c). It is thought that. In this case, although the gripping part 150 is gripped by hand, the top and bottom are reversed, so that it is substantially the same gripping state as when gripped by the hand as shown in FIG. 2B. . Therefore, in this case, as in S104, the scope controller 120 performs a process of rotating 180 degrees on an image on which normal image processing has been performed, and then outputs the processed image to the electronic endoscope processor 200. The image processing unit 130 is controlled (S106). Thereby, an image rotated 180 degrees is displayed on the monitor 300, and the operation direction and the moving direction of the image can be matched.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the operator is not detected (S105: NO), the grasping unit 150 is grasped with the reverse hand and upside down with respect to the basic state, as shown in FIG. 2 (d). It is judged that In this case, although the gripping part 150 is gripped with the reverse hand, since the top and bottom are reversed, the gripping state is substantially the same as the basic state shown in FIG. Therefore, in this case, similarly to S103, the scope controller 120 controls the image processing unit 130 to output an image on which normal image processing has been performed to the electronic endoscope processor 200 (S107), and the monitor 300. The direction of the image photographed by the CCD 108 is displayed without being changed.

  Thereafter, it is determined whether or not to end the observation (S108). If the observation is not ended (S108: NO), the process returns to S101, and the subsequent processing is repeated until the observation is ended.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the posture of the grip unit 150 of the electronic scope 100 is detected from the outputs of the acceleration sensor 154 and the distance measuring sensor 156, and the grip state of the electronic scope 100 is determined based on the detected posture. Then, by rotating the image according to the gripping state, it is possible to match the movement direction intended by the operator with the movement direction of the image. Thereby, when the electronic scope 100 is not grasped in the basic state, it is possible to prevent the image from moving in a direction not intended by the operator. As a result, it is possible to prevent the observation or treatment from being delayed due to losing sight of the lesion, or performing treatment at an incorrect position. Further, by providing the gripping part 150 with a sensor for detecting the posture, the movement direction intended by the operator can be matched with the movement direction of the image while maintaining the small diameter of the distal end part.

  The above is the description of the embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the image rotation process is executed by the scope controller 120. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the system controller 202 of the electronic endoscope processor 200 may execute the image rotation process. good. In this case, the outputs of the acceleration sensor 154 and the distance measuring sensor 156 are sent to the system controller 202 via the scope controller 120 and used for detecting the posture of the gripping unit 150. In addition, the image rotation process of the above embodiment is configured to be repeated until the observation is finished. However, if the gripping state of the electronic scope 100 does not change during the observation, it is executed only once at the start of the observation. Also good. For example, an execution button for executing the image rotation process is provided on the grip unit 150 or the operation panel 208, and the image rotation process is executed when the execution button is operated. In this case, the rotation / non-rotation of the image determined in S103, S104, S106, and S107 of the process is also applied to the image captured in the subsequent observation.

1 Electronic Endoscope System 100 Electronic Scope 108 CCD
110 Memory 120 Scope Controller 130 Image Processing Unit 140 Bending Unit 150 Gripping Unit 152 Operation Unit 154 Acceleration Sensor 156 Distance Sensor 200 Electronic Endoscope Processor 202 System Controller 206 Timing Controller 220 Image Processing Unit 300 Monitor

Claims (7)

An electronic endoscope having a grip part and an insertion part,
An image sensor that is disposed at the tip and captures an image inside the body;
An image processing unit for processing an image captured by the image sensor;
A control unit for controlling the image sensor and the image processing unit;
A posture detection unit disposed on the grip unit to detect the posture of the grip unit,
The control unit controls the image processing unit to rotate the image picked up by the image pickup device according to the posture of the gripping unit detected by the posture detection unit. mirror.   The electronic endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the posture detection unit includes an acceleration sensor and a distance measurement sensor.   The electronic endoscope according to claim 2, wherein the distance measuring sensor is capable of detecting a distance to an operator when the grip portion is gripped in a predetermined state.   The electronic endoscope according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the acceleration sensor is used to detect the top and bottom of the grip portion. The controller is
1) When the top and bottom of the gripping part detected by the acceleration sensor is normal and the distance to the operator is not detected by the distance measuring sensor, and 2) When the top and bottom of the gripping part detected by the acceleration sensor is If the distance to the surgeon is detected by the distance measuring sensor,
The electronic endoscope according to claim 4, wherein the image processing unit is controlled to rotate the image by 180 degrees. An electronic endoscope system comprising an electronic endoscope having a grip portion and an insertion portion, and a processor connected to the electronic endoscope,
An image sensor that is disposed at the tip of the electronic endoscope and captures an image inside the body;
An image processing unit for processing an image captured by the image sensor;
A control unit for controlling the image sensor and the image processing unit;
A posture detection unit disposed on the grip unit to detect the posture of the grip unit,
The control unit controls the image processing unit to rotate the image picked up by the image pickup device according to the posture of the gripping unit detected by the posture detection unit. Mirror system. An operation unit for changing a tip position of the electronic endoscope;
A monitor for displaying an image processed by the image processing unit,
The control unit controls the image processing unit to rotate an image captured by the image sensor so that an operation direction of the operation unit matches a moving direction of an image displayed on the monitor. The electronic endoscope system according to claim 6, wherein:

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