JP2575384B2 - Electronic endoscope device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope apparatus provided with an in-body illuminating unit and an extra-body illuminating unit.

[Prior Art] In recent years, by inserting an elongated insertion portion, it is possible to observe the inside of a living body without requiring incision using an observation means provided on the distal end side of the insertion portion, or to use a treatment tool as necessary. Endoscopes that can perform therapeutic treatment have become widely used.

Recently, an electronic endoscope in which an optical image is formed on an imaging surface of a solid-state imaging device by an objective lens without using an image guide by a fiber bundle, and a video signal subjected to photoelectric conversion is guided to signal processing means by a signal cable. Mirrors (hereinafter referred to as electronic endoscopes or electronic scopes) are in practical use.

As shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 53-90685, a conventional electronic endoscope sequentially passes illumination light from a light source lamp through R, G, and B color transmission filters and sequentially captures the image under three colors of illumination light. And
R, G, and B color component images are obtained, and three color component signals are synthesized for each pixel to generate a color image signal.

In Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-21678, it has been proposed to observe an object by illuminating it from outside the body and utilizing light transmitted through the tissue.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In reflection images obtained by conventional internal illumination, irregularities on the surface of the body cavity wall and color tone differences are detected, but the infiltration range of submucosal lesions and deep blood vessel running are not considered. It is impossible to detect it, and in the transmitted image by external illumination, contrary to the internal illumination image, the wet area of the submucosal lesion and deep blood vessel running are detected, but the unevenness of the surface of the body cavity wall and the color tone difference are detected. It was difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an endoscope apparatus capable of detecting an unevenness or a color tone difference on the surface of a body cavity wall and obtaining an image capable of detecting a submucosal lesion or the like. The purpose is to do.

[Means and Action for Solving the Problems] The electronic endoscope apparatus according to the present invention includes an in-body illuminating unit capable of intermittently emitting illuminating light from a distal end side of an insertion portion inserted into a body, and an illuminating light from outside the body. Extracorporeal illuminating means capable of intermittently emitting light, a solid-state imaging device disposed on the distal end side of the insertion portion, photoelectrically converting an image formed by the objective lens to output an image signal, and the solid-state imaging device A plurality of image memories for storing image signals from the first and the second image signals obtained by causing only the in-vivo illumination means to emit light within one frame or one field period; and causing only the extracorporeal illumination means to emit light. Means for reading out the obtained second image signal from the solid-state imaging device, generating a drive signal for taking in the image memory, and applying the drive signal to the solid-state imaging device; and 1st and 2nd images Means for reading and processing signals.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described specifically with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of outputting an image signal from a solid-state imaging device by performing extracorporeal illumination, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of outputting an image signal from the solid-state imaging device together with in-vivo or extracorporeal illumination.

As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment has an electronic endoscope 2 and a rear end side of the electronic endoscope 2, which are connected to each other.
Incorporating the internal light source unit 3 and the signal processing unit 4,
An endoscope control device 6 provided with an extracorporeal light source unit 5 and a monitor 7 which receives an image signal output from the (endoscope) control device 6 and displays an endoscope image.

The electronic endoscope 2 has an elongated insertion portion so that it can be inserted into the living body 8, and a light guide 11 that transmits illumination light and emits light from the distal end surface is inserted into the insertion portion.
Light for in-body illumination is supplied from the in-body light source unit 3 to the incident end face on the hand side of the light guide 11.

The internal light source unit 3 supplies power to the lamp 13 from the power supply unit 12 to cause the lamp 13 to emit light. The white illumination light of the lamp 13 is transmitted to the chopping device 16 including the motor 14 and the light-shielding disk 15. After that, the light is irradiated on the incident end face of the light guide 11.

The light-shielding plate 15 forming the chopping device 16 is formed by forming a radial cutout groove in a light-shielding disk member, or providing an opening in a circumferential direction in the disk member, for example, with the rotation, the light-shielding period and the illumination period. Are formed. still,
A light-shielding portion may be provided on the transparent disk by applying a light-shielding paint in the circumferential direction, and light may be shielded with rotation. The chopping motor 14 is driven by a chopping driver 17.

The chopping device 16 irradiates the incident end face of the ride guide 11 with illumination light as shown in FIG. 2 (a) or FIG. 3 (a). (Here, ON indicates a state in which illumination light is supplied, and OFF indicates a light-shielded state.) The irradiated light illuminates the living body 8 in the body.

FIG. 2 shows an in-body / out-body illumination mode for performing in-body illumination and extra-body illumination in one frame period (or one field period), and FIG. 3 performs only in-body illumination or only in-body illumination in this period. This is the case of the inside or outside lighting mode.

Further, the extracorporeal light source unit 5 includes a power supply unit 21 and a light emitting unit 22 that emits, for example, strobe light by power supplied from the power supply unit 21. The living body 8 is illuminated from outside the body by the illumination light of the light emitting unit 22.

The light emitting section 22 emits light during the light-shielding period in FIG. 2A in the in-body / external illumination mode as shown in FIG. 2B, while shown in FIG. To emit light.

The reflected light and transmitted light from the living body 8 illuminated from inside or outside the body form an image on an imaging surface of a charge-coupled device (CCD) 25 as a solid-state imaging device by the objective lens 24. The CCD 25 photoelectrically converts the optical image formed on the imaging surface. When the CCD drive signal is applied from the CCD driver 26, the CCD 25 outputs a photoelectrically converted image signal. The signal output from the CCD 25 is stored in the first or second memory 29 or 30 via the (signal) level detection circuit 27 and the process circuit 28.

The CCD driver 26 includes a first clock generator 3
The clock signal of the first or second clock generator 32 is input via the switch circuit 33. A switch signal is applied to the switch circuit 33 by operating a switch button (not shown) or the like, and the clock of the first clock generator 31 or the second clock generator 32
Is input to the CCD driver 26, and this CCD driver
26 generates a CCD drive signal synchronized with these clocks and applies it to the CCD 25. The above first clock generator 3
Reference numeral 1 denotes a clock for outputting a clock corresponding to the internal lighting mode or the external lighting mode. As shown in FIG.
A clock for reading and transferring once per frame or one field is output.

In the in-body lighting mode or the extra-body lighting mode, the color tone is adjusted through the process circuit 28, and the A / D-converted and output image signal is stored in the first memory 29 (for inside the body) or the second memory (for outside the body). Stored in 30. The image signals from the memories 29 and 30 are taken into the arithmetic processing section 34, whereby arithmetic processing such as contrast difference, color difference and edge component difference between these two types of images is performed and output as a television signal. Is displayed on the monitor 7. The arithmetic processing unit 34 can select the image processing such as the above-mentioned contrast difference and color difference by the switching signal, and can also display the image of only one of the memories 29 or 30 without performing the image processing.

By the way, the switching signal causes the second
When the side for inputting the clock of the clock generator 32 to the CCD driver 26 is selected, this clock is output at the timing shown in FIG. 2 (c).

That is, internal light emission (internal light) is performed intermittently as shown in FIG. 2A, and extracorporeal light emission is performed as shown in FIG. In this manner, time-division light emission is performed such that the other light emission is performed during the period in which one light emission is stopped. In this case, the stop of the internal light emission is caused by chopping the illumination light of the lamp 13 by the chopping device 16 to block the light while the lamp 13 is constantly turned on (the internal light emission stop period). The chopping of the illumination light by the chopping device 16 is synchronized with the clock of the second clock generator 32 input to the chopping driver 17 via the switch circuit 33.

The clock of the second clock generator 32 is
The strobe lamp, which is input to the power supply unit 21 of the extracorporeal light source unit 5 via the switch circuit 33 and forms the light emitting unit 22 in synchronization with the period in which the illumination light of the lamp 13 is shielded by the chopping device 16, is flashed for short time. A large amount of light energy is released at a time, and light is emitted at an extracorporeal light emission timing as shown in FIG.

Then, at the timing when the internal light emission and the external light emission are completed, the second clock generator 32 outputs a clock for reading and transferring to the driver 26 as shown in FIG. According to the CCD drive signal applied from the driver 26 to the CCD 25, the image signal captured by the CCD 25 under the non-internal illumination and the external illumination is input to the process circuit 28, and the first memory 29 and the Second
In the memory 30, an image signal captured under internal illumination and an image signal captured under external illumination are stored one screen at a time in one frame or one field period, which is a unit for forming one image. That is, for example, each image for 30 frames or 60 fields is obtained in one second.

The clock generator output in the internal / external illumination mode shown in FIG. 2 is different from the clock generator output in the internal or external illumination mode shown in FIG. 3, and the internal illumination light image is generated within one frame or one field period. And the external illumination light image are read out, transferred, and stored in the memories 29 and 30, respectively.
(Accordingly, the output of the clock generator 32 in this case is twice or more the frequency of the output of the first clock generator 31, and the reading and transfer are completed in a short time.) Arithmetic processing unit 34
After performing image processing such as contrast difference, color difference, and edge component enhancement that are optimal for lesion detection, the image data is output to the monitor 7 as a television signal and displayed as an image.

The level detection circuit 27 detects a peak value or an average value level in an image signal output from the CCD 25, and sends a control signal corresponding to the detected output level to the power supply unit 12.
21 to variably control the light-emission output of the lamp 13 and the light-emitting part 22 to adjust the light intensity to an appropriate amount.

The operation of the first embodiment thus configured will be described below.

The interior of the body cavity of the living body 8 is illuminated by the light guide 11, and the reflected light is formed as an optical image on the CCD 25 by the objective lens 24, photoelectrically converted by the CCD 25, and then a level detection circuit 27.
Signal for internal illumination so that signals are transmitted to the
And the power supply 12 and the light-emitting part of the external light source
22 and the power supply unit 21 are controlled.

Next, the color tone of the image signal is captured by the process circuit 28,
The A / D conversion is performed, the in-vivo illumination light is stored in the first memory 29, and the extracorporeal illumination light is stored in the second memory 30, and the arithmetic processing unit 34 calculates the contrast difference, color difference, edge component difference, etc. of the two types of images. It is subjected to arithmetic processing and output as a TV signal.

On the other hand, the CCD 25 of the electronic endoscope 2 inserted into the body cavity performs reading and transferring in synchronization with the clock generator 31 or 32 selected by the switch circuit 33 by the driver 26.

The first clock generator 31 is used for one field or one frame in the case of internal light only or external light only.
The general readout transfer is performed as shown in FIG. 3 (b) to obtain an image by internal or external illumination.

Next, when the second clock generator 32 is selected by the switch circuit 33 according to the switching signal, the in-vivo illumination is time-divisionally performed at the light emission timing shown in FIG. 2A and the extracorporeal illumination is emitted at the light emission timing shown in FIG. It is done. At this time, a chopping device which is disposed in front of the lamp 13 to turn on / off the internal illumination light at high speed and is driven by the chopping driver 17 synchronized with the second clock generator 32.
At 16, the in-body illumination light is emitted at the emission timing shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the light emitting section 22 of the extracorporeal illumination uses a strobe lamp and emits light so as to emit a large amount of light energy in a short time, and the light emission timing is as shown in FIG. 2B.

As shown in FIG. 2C, the second clock generator 32 converts the image obtained by the light emission of the light emitting section 22 and the lamp 13 into one frame or one field period, unlike the general read transfer as shown in FIG. External illumination image and internal illumination image 2
The different types of images are read out and transferred, and the memories 29 and 3 are passed through the level detection circuit 27 and the process circuit 28 as described above.
Store to 0. The image data in the memories 29 and 30 is read out, and after being subjected to processing such as contrast difference, color difference, and edge component enhancement which are optimal for lesion detection in the arithmetic processing unit 34, the image data is output to the monitor 7 as a television signal. Is displayed with.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the configuration and operation, two completely different images, that is, a reflection image by internal illumination and a transmission illumination image by extracorporeal illumination are displayed for one frame period or one frame.
Reading can be performed in the minimum screen configuration time of the TV signal, that is, the field period.

In other words, in the body illumination light, the lesion is detected from the unevenness of the surface of the body cavity wall or the color tone difference and the degree of blood vessel running on the very surface,
On the other hand, in transmitted illumination with extracorporeal illumination light, images with different advantages of detecting lesions from submucosal lesion infiltration range or deep blood vessel running due to differences in transmittance depending on the wavelength of each part can be displayed in the minimum screen construction time By obtaining the image, it is possible to obtain an image with a natural movement similar to the conventional one and high detection capability of the lesion.

FIG. 4 shows a main part of an electronic endoscope device 41 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this second embodiment, the lamp 13 in the
The infrared cut filter 44 can be inserted and retracted in the optical path of the lamp 13 by a filter insertion / removal circuit 43 on the front surface of the lamp 13. Further, in the extracorporeal light emitting section 45, a visible light cut filter 47 can be arranged or retracted by a filter insertion / removal circuit 46 in front of the light emitting section 22. These filters
Reference numerals 44 and 47 are provided so that they can be interposed in the optical path via the filter insertion / removal circuits 43 and 46 or retracted by turning on / off a selection button (not shown).

 Others are the same as the first embodiment.

The operation and effect of the second embodiment are almost the same as those of the first embodiment. However, since the illumination wavelength range can be further selected, the characteristics can be more remarkable depending on the symptom, which is advantageous for diagnosis.

 FIG. 5 shows a main part in a third embodiment of the present invention.

This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that two clock generators 31 and 32 are not used, and a second clock generator 32 and a frequency divider 51 for dividing the clock of the clock generator 32 are provided. Reference numeral 33 switches between high-speed driving and low-speed driving (through the frequency divider 51) (compared to high-speed driving) in the in-body / out-body lighting mode.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the in-vivo illumination period is long, and during this period, reading and transfer are performed with a low-speed clock through the frequency divider 51, and on the other hand, in the short extracorporeal illumination period, the second illumination without passing through the frequency divider 51 is performed. The high-speed driving that is directly driven by the clock of the clock generator 32 is performed. In this way, the transfer efficiency at low speed can be increased.

In each of the above-described embodiments, it is apparent that an image for each illumination light can be displayed by reading an image of only the internal light or the external light (that is, an image of only the first memory 29 or the second memory 30). It is. Further, image processing can be performed on only one image and displayed.

Note that the chopping device 16 and the chopping driver 17 do not have to be used as long as the internal light source lamp 13 uses a strobe light source that can be completely turned on and off. Conversely, a chopping device may be used for the light emitting unit for extracorporeal illumination.

It should be noted that the solid-state imaging device according to the present embodiment is not limited to the frame transfer and the interline transfer system, but may be a practically usable line transfer CCD. Also, C
Not only CDs but also other solid-state imaging devices may be used.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, an external illumination unit and an internal illumination unit are provided, and an image is captured under the two illumination units during one screen display period of a television signal displayed on a monitor. Since the image signal can be output from the solid-state imaging device, an image suitable for detecting a lesion can be obtained in a short time by processing two types of images having different information as needed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
During the period of displaying the screen, perform internal lighting and external lighting,
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of outputting an image signal from a solid-state imaging device, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of outputting an image signal from a solid-state imaging device together with internal or external illumination, and FIG. 4 is a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a main part of the example, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a main part of a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic endoscope apparatus, 2 ... Electronic endoscope 3 ... Internal light source part 4, ... Signal processing part 5 ... External light source part, 6 ... Control device 7 ... Monitor, 11 ... ... Light guides 12,21 ... Power supply unit, 13 ... Lamp 16 ... Chopping device 22 ... Light emitting unit, 26 ... Driver 29,30 ... Memory 31,32 ... Clock generator

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An in-body illuminating device capable of intermittently emitting illumination light from a distal end side of an insertion portion inserted into a body, an externally illuminating device capable of intermittently emitting illumination light from outside the body, and an insertion portion. A solid-state imaging device that is disposed at the tip end of the camera and outputs an image signal by photoelectrically converting an image formed by an objective lens; a plurality of image memories that store image signals from the solid-state imaging device; Alternatively, the first image signal obtained by causing only the in-vivo illumination unit to emit light and the second image signal obtained by causing only the extracorporeal illumination unit to emit light within one field period are used as the solid-state image sensor. Means for generating a drive signal for reading from the image memory and capturing the image signal in the image memory, and applying the drive signal to the solid-state imaging device; means for reading and processing the first and second image signals captured in the image memory; I set up Electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim.