JP2843332B2 - Stereoscopic endoscope - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a stereoscopic endoscope having a plurality of observation systems and capable of stereoscopic viewing.

[Problems to be solved by conventional technology and invention] In recent years, by inserting an elongated insertion portion into a body cavity,
2. Description of the Related Art Endoscopes capable of observing organs in a body cavity and the like and performing various treatments using a treatment tool inserted into a treatment tool channel as necessary are widely used.

By the way, in the detection of early cancer, etc., it is sometimes important to identify fine irregularities on the surface.However, with a conventional endoscope, an observable image is planar, and it is necessary to identify the fine irregularities. Was difficult.

Therefore, as shown in JP-A-57-69839,
A stereoscopic endoscope provided with two observation systems has been proposed.
The directions of the two observation systems are determined so that their UP (up) directions coincide with the UP direction of the endoscope.

However, conventionally, as described in the above-mentioned publication, in a stereoscopic endoscope, illumination unevenness has not been regarded as important. For example, in the endoscope disclosed in the above publication, the illumination system is provided at a position deviated in the horizontal direction with respect to the two image guides. As described above, if the positions of the illumination systems are not uniform with respect to the two observation systems, the observation system that is farther from the illumination system is likely to have uneven illumination. In addition, since the direction of the illumination system is different in the images of the respective observation systems, uneven illumination due to the difference in the illumination direction is likely to occur.

In addition, the influence of the difference in illumination unevenness between images of each observation system will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

FIG. 9 shows the distal end of the insertion section of the endoscope. This tip 101 has an image guide 1 as two observation systems
02 and 103, and a distal end portion of a light guide 104 as an illumination system. One image guide 102 is for the left eye, and the other image guide 103 is for the right eye.
In the figure, a region indicated by reference numeral 105 is a range where a stereoscopic image can be obtained. In the drawings, the objective lens, the light distribution lens, and the like are omitted. The amount of illumination light emitted from the light guide 104 is strongest when the center axis of the light guide 104 is extended, and becomes weaker as the distance from the center increases.

When a stereoscopic image is obtained, for example, an image of an observation system having two parallaxes is alternately displayed on a monitor image, and in synchronization with this display, a pair of eyeglasses having a liquid crystal shutter that opens and closes alternately on the right and left, through the right observation system. The obtained image is viewed with the right eye, and the image obtained with the left observation system is viewed with the left eye.

At this time, for example, as shown in FIG.
When the 104 is biased, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), the light quantity on the left side becomes weaker in the left image, and as shown in FIG. 10 (b), the light quantity on the right side ( And the light quantity on the left side is also slightly reduced). Therefore, when a two-dimensional image is obtained by superimposing the two images, the dark portions on the left and right are alternately exchanged with each other, which causes a problem that the image is flickered and it is very difficult to observe. In addition, it becomes unnatural as a stereoscopic image.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stereoscopic endoscope capable of obtaining a natural and easy-to-view image as a stereoscopic image.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A stereoscopic endoscope according to the present invention, which has a plurality of observation systems, obtains at least a pair of observation systems used for stereoscopic vision by using the pair of observation systems. Line symmetry with respect to the vertical bisector, on a vertical bisector of a line connecting the centers of the pair of observation systems, so that at least the luminance distribution of the illumination light in the horizontal direction in each image obtained is substantially the same. And at least one pair of illumination systems arranged apart from each other.

[Operation] In the present invention, at least the luminance distribution of the illumination light in the horizontal direction becomes substantially the same in each image obtained by each observation system used for stereoscopic vision.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view of a distal end portion of an endoscope insertion portion, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA 'of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the entire endoscope apparatus, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of the endoscope apparatus, and FIG.
(A) and (b) are explanatory diagrams showing left and right images obtained by the endoscope.

As shown in FIG. 3, the endoscope apparatus includes an endoscope 1 capable of stereoscopic viewing. The endoscope 1 is a first video processor (hereinafter, referred to as a video processor (1)).
A light source device 20 having a built-in 21 and a second video processor (hereinafter, referred to as a video processor (2)) 22 are connected. The light source device 20 includes a monitor
23 are to be connected.

The endoscope 1 includes a slender, for example, flexible insertion section 2, and a large-diameter operation section 3 is connected to the rear end of the insertion section 2. A flexible universal cord 4 extends laterally from the operation unit 3, and a first connector 5 connected to a connector receiver 25 of the light source device 20 is provided at an end of the universal cord 4. Have been. A signal code 6 extends from a side of the first connector 5, and an end of the signal code 6 is connected to the video processor (2) 22.
A second connector 7 is provided to be connected to the connector receiver.

On the distal end side of the insertion portion 2, a rigid distal end portion 9 and a bending portion 10 which can be bent rearward adjacent to the distal end portion 9 are sequentially provided. The operating section 3 is provided with a bending operation knob 11, and by rotating the bending operation knob 11, the bending section 10 can be bent in the up / down / left / right directions. Further, the operation section 3 is provided with a treatment instrument insertion port 12 communicating with a treatment instrument channel provided in the insertion section 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the distal end portion 9 has a rigid and cylindrical distal end portion main body 31 and a cover member 32 fitted on the distal end side of the distal end portion main body 31. The distal end main body 31 and the cover member 32 have two observation through-holes 33, two illumination through-holes 34, one treatment tool through-hole 35, and a treatment tool through-hole 35 that penetrate in parallel with the axial direction of the insertion portion 2. Two air / water feed holes are formed.

Each observation through-hole 33 has a lens frame 36a and 36b, respectively.
Are mounted so as to show a predetermined parallax. Note that the objective lens system 37R corresponds to the right eye, and the objective lens system 37L corresponds to the left eye.
An O-ring 38 is provided between the lens frame 36a and the tip body 32.
Is interposed. An element frame 39 is connected to the rear end of the lens frame 36b, and solid-state image sensors 40R and 40L such as CCDs arranged at image forming positions of the objective lens systems 37R and 37L are held by the element frame 39. Have been. The lead legs 41, 41 of the solid-state imaging devices 40R, 40L are connected to substrates 42, 42, and the substrates 42, 4
Electronic components 43, 43 are mounted on 2. The substrates 42, 4
2, the signal lines 44R and 44L are connected. The signal line 44L on the solid-state imaging device 40L side corresponding to the left eye is connected to the insertion unit 2, the operation unit 3
And is connected to the first connector 5 through the universal cord 4, and is connected to the video processor (1) 21 in the light source device 20 via the connector 5 and the connector receiver 25. ing. The signal line 44R on the solid-state imaging device 40R side corresponding to the right eye includes the insertion unit 2, the operation unit 3,
It is inserted into the universal cord 4 and the signal cord 6 and is connected to the second connector 7, and is connected to the video processor (2) 22 via the connector 7. The solid-state imaging device 40L is driven by a video processor (1) 21, and the output signal of the solid-state imaging device 40L is processed by the video processor (1) 21 for video signal processing. Similarly, the solid-state imaging device 40R is driven by a video processor (2) 22, and an output signal of the solid-state imaging device 40R is processed by the video processor (2) 22 for video signal processing.

The solid-state imaging devices 40R, 40L and the substrates 42, 42 are housed in shielding frames 46, 46.

On the other hand, the light distribution lens systems 52R and 52L held by the lens frame 51 are mounted in the respective illumination through holes 34. The light distribution lens system 52R is mainly for irradiating illumination light to the field of view of the right-eye side objective lens system 37R, and the light distribution lens system 52L is mainly for the field of view of the left-eye side objective lens system 37L. To irradiate the illumination light. In the present embodiment, the illumination through holes 34, 34 are disposed substantially vertically above the observation through holes 33, 33, and are disposed with respect to the objective lens system 37R as shown in FIG. The light lens system 52R is arranged such that the light distribution lens system 52L is substantially the same as the objective lens system 37L in terms of the amount of light, the number, the direction, and the distance between the objective lens system and the light distribution lens system. Have been.

At the rear end of each of the light distribution lens systems 52R and 52L,
Light guides 54R and 54L formed of fiber bundles are provided continuously. The light guides 54R, 54L are inserted into the insertion section 2, the operation section 3, and the universal cord 4, and the incident end side is integrated and connected to the connector 5. The integrated light guide is indicated by reference numeral 54.

Further, nozzles 55, 55 are provided at the tip ends of two air / water supply through holes (not shown), respectively. Each of the nozzles 55, 55 is open toward the distal end surface of the objective lens system 37R, 37L, respectively. In addition, the through hole 35 for the treatment instrument channel
A treatment instrument channel tube (not shown) is connected to the rear end of the treatment instrument. The treatment instrument channel tube is inserted into the insertion section 2 and connected to the treatment instrument insertion port 12.

Further, a tubular body 56 is connected to a rear end of the distal end main body 31. A plurality of annular joint pieces 57, 57,... Are connected to the rear end of the cylindrical body 56 in the longitudinal direction of the insertion section 2 so as to be rotatable with each other. Are linked. The outer periphery of the curved tube 58 is covered with a curved blade 59 formed by braiding a thin wire of metal or the like in a net shape, and the outer periphery of the curved blade 59 is covered with a curved rubber 60. The distal end of the curved rubber 60 is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the distal end body 31 by, for example, bonding after thread winding.

By the way, when the bending operation is performed, the bending tube 58 normally bends from the near side, so that the distal end side of the bending tube 58 does not bend very much, and the curved shape is deteriorated. Therefore, curved rubber 60
By making the thickness of the distal end side thinner and increasing the thickness of the proximal side so that the proximal side of the bending portion 10 is hard to bend, the curved shape can have a uniform curvature. But curved rubber
If a change in thickness (step) of 60 is suddenly applied, a large wrinkle is generated in the curved portion when the portion is curved. This is not only unsightly in appearance, but is also dangerous because the curved blade 59 is wrinkled, causing the blade to be broken.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the curved rubber 60 is gradually changed within a predetermined length indicated by the symbol a in FIG. Therefore, problems such as generation of large wrinkles and broken wires of the blade do not occur.

As shown in FIG. 4, the light source device 20 includes:
A lamp 62 is provided, and light emitted from the lamp 62 is condensed by a condenser lens 63 and is incident on a light guide 54 incident end of the first connector 5 connected to the connector receiver 25. ing. Further, inside the light source device 20,
A video signal from a video processor (1) 21 in the light source device 20 and a video processor (2) separate from the light source device 20
There is provided a video signal switching means 65 for inputting the video signal from the monitor 22 and alternately outputting the video signal to the monitor 23 at a predetermined cycle. Accordingly, on the monitor 23, at a predetermined cycle, a subject image captured by the right-eye solid-state imaging device 40R,
The subject image captured by the left-eye solid-state imaging device 40L is displayed alternately.

Further, in this embodiment, a switching signal from the video signal switching means 65 is input, and portions corresponding to the left and right eyes are alternately opened and closed in synchronization with the switching of the left and right images displayed on the monitor 23. A pair of glasses 67 with a liquid crystal shutter is provided. By observing the screen of the monitor 23 through the glasses 67, stereoscopic viewing becomes possible.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The light emitted from the lamp 62 in the light source device 20 is incident on the incident end of the light guide 54 of the endoscope 1, is emitted from the distal ends of the branched light guides 54R, 54L, and is distributed by the light distribution lens system 52.
The object is irradiated through R and 52L. The return light from the subject is imaged on the solid-state imaging devices 40R and 40L by the objective lens systems 37R and 37L. The output signals of the solid-state imaging devices 40L and 40R are subjected to video signal processing by a video processor (1) 21 and a video processor (2) 22, respectively.
The video signals from the video processors 21 and 22 are alternately output to the monitor 23 at a predetermined cycle by the video signal switching means 65, and are output to the monitor 23 at a predetermined cycle in FIG.
The subject image picked up by the right-eye solid-state imaging device 40R as shown in FIG. 5 and the subject image picked up by the left-eye solid-state imaging device 40L as shown in FIG. 5A are displayed alternately. Then, by observing the screen of the monitor 23 through the glasses 67, the subject can be three-dimensionally observed.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, light distribution lens systems 52R and 52L are disposed substantially vertically above the objective lens systems 37R and 37L. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the luminance distribution of the illuminating light in the horizontal direction of the screen becomes substantially uniform, but in the vertical direction of the screen, both the left and right images become dark on the lower side. However, since the same direction becomes dark in both the left and right images, even if these two images are superimposed, the dark portion remains dark, so that the images do not flicker. Therefore,
The three-dimensional image does not become unnatural and becomes an easy-to-view image.

In this embodiment, the luminance distribution of the illumination light is substantially the same between the left and right images as a whole, but only the luminance distribution in the horizontal direction may be substantially the same.

Note that the video signal switching means 65 is replaced by a video processor (2).
It may be provided on the 22nd side. In this way, when the endoscope having one observation system is used and normal observation other than stereoscopic observation is performed, only the light source device 20 is used. When stereoscopic observation is performed, the endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment is used. And the addition of the video processor (2) 22 enables stereoscopic observation. Further, the video signal switching means 65 may be provided separately from the light source device 20 and the video processor (2) 22. Further, the light source device, the video processor (1) 21, and the video processor (2) 22 may be all separate.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion section according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, two light distribution lens systems 52R, 52R, 52L, 52L are provided for each of the objective lens systems 37R, 37L. The light distribution lens systems 52R, 52R are arranged vertically above and below the objective lens system 37R. Similarly,
The light distribution lens systems 52L, 52L are arranged vertically above and below the objective lens system 37L. The conditions such as the amount of light, the number, the direction, and the distance of the illumination system are substantially the same for each of the objective lens systems 37R and 37L.

According to the present embodiment, illumination unevenness is reduced as compared with the first embodiment, and an image that is easier to see is obtained.

Other configurations, operations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

The number of illumination windows is not limited to two or four, but may be three, five or more, or may be an odd number. For example, a common illumination window is provided for the left and right observation systems at the center of two observation windows, and one illumination window is provided outside each of the left and right observation systems. You may make it uniform.

7 and 8 relate to a third embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is an explanatory view showing the configuration of the endoscope, and FIG. 8 is a front view of the distal end of the endoscope insertion section.

This embodiment is an example in which an image guide is used for an observation system.

As shown in FIG. 7, the endoscope 71 includes an elongated and flexible insertion section 72, for example, and a large-diameter operation section 73 is connected to the rear end of the insertion section 72. A flexible light guide cable 74 extends laterally from the operation unit 73, and a connector (not shown) connected to a light source device such as the light source device 20 is provided at an end of the light guide cable 74. Have been.
Further, at the rear end of the operation unit 73, two eyepieces 75L and 75R corresponding to the left and right eyes are provided.

The distal end portion 79 of the insertion portion 72 has a predetermined parallax
Two objective lens systems 80R and 80L are provided. At the imaging positions of the objective lens systems 80R and 80L, the tip surfaces of the image guides 81R and 81L made of fiber bundles are arranged. The image guides 81R and 81L are inserted into the insertion section 72, and their rear ends are guided to the eyepieces 75R and 75L, respectively. On each rear end face of this image guide 81R, 81L,
The eyepieces 83R, 83L provided in the eyepieces 75R, 75L face each other.

A light guide 85 is inserted into the insertion section 72 and the light guide cable 74. The distal end of the light guide 85 is branched into two parts, and the distal ends of the branched light guides 85R and 85L are connected to the outer peripheral portions of the objective lens systems 80R and 80L, respectively, as shown in FIG. Are arranged in a ring shape. An end of the light guide 85 is connected to a connector provided at an end of the light guide cable 74.

As shown in FIG. 8, the distal end portion 79 is provided with a through hole 35 for a treatment tool channel forming a treatment tool channel, and nozzles 55, 55 opening toward the objective lens systems 80R, 80L. Is provided.

Further, external television cameras 90, 90 can be detachably attached to the eyepieces 75R, 75L, respectively. The external television camera 90 includes an imaging lens 91 for imaging light from an eyepiece, and a solid-state imaging device 92 disposed at an imaging position of the imaging lens 91. The solid-state imaging device 92 of one external television camera 90 is connected to the video processor (1) 21 and the other external television camera 90
Is connected to the video processor (2) 22. Incidentally, the two external television cameras 90, 90 may be integrated.

In the endoscope 71 having the above configuration, each light guide 85R, 85L
The objective lens system 80R, 80L
Is illuminated. The return light from the subject is imaged on the distal end surfaces of the image guides 81R and 81L by the objective lens systems 80R and 80L. The images formed on the distal end surfaces of the image guides 81R and 81L are guided to the eyepieces 75R and 75L by the image guides 81R and 81L. And this eyepiece 75
By observing from R and 75L with both eyes, the subject can be observed three-dimensionally. Further, external television cameras 90, 90 are attached to both eyepieces 75R, 75L, and left and right images taken by the external television cameras 90, 90 are alternately displayed on the monitor 23 as in the first embodiment. By displaying the image and observing the screen of the monitor 23 through glasses 67 with a liquid crystal shutter, stereoscopic viewing is also possible.

In this embodiment, the light emitting surfaces of the light guides 85R and 85L are
Since it is arranged in a ring shape on the outer periphery of each objective lens system 80R, 80L, the field of view of each objective lens system 80R, 80L is
It is almost uniformly illuminated. Therefore, when both the left and right images are overlapped, an image that is more easily viewable is obtained.

Other configurations, operations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and for example,
Three or more observation systems may be provided. In this case, the luminance distribution of the illumination light in each image obtained by this observation system is substantially the same as at least the observation system used for stereoscopic vision (for example, two observation systems). What is necessary is just to arrange an illumination system so that it may become.

The means of stereoscopic vision is not limited to the one used in the embodiment. For example, left and right images may be displayed simultaneously on the left and right of the same monitor or on separate monitors, and the left and right images may be displayed on polarized glasses or the like. And may be viewed by each of the left and right eyes. Further, a lenticular lens may be used.

When the endoscope according to the present invention is used, in addition to stereoscopic viewing, the video signal switching means 65 alternately sends video signals of the left and right images to the computer, and performs image processing on the computer, thereby obtaining a three-dimensional image. , And measurement can be performed one after another.

The color imaging method may be a field sequential method in which illumination light is sequentially switched to R, G, B, or the like, or a color filter that transmits R, G, B, or other color light on the front surface of the solid-state imaging device may be a mosaic. A simultaneous type in which filter arrays arranged in the same manner may be used.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, for at least a pair of observation systems used for stereoscopic vision, the luminance distribution of at least the horizontal direction illumination light in each image obtained by the pair of observation systems is reduced. At least one pair of illumination systems which are spaced apart from each other at positions symmetrical with respect to the vertical bisector on a vertical bisector which connects the centers of the pair of observation systems so as to be substantially the same. With such a configuration, there is an effect that a natural and easily viewable image can be obtained as a stereoscopic image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 5 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the entire endoscope apparatus, and FIG. FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) are explanatory diagrams showing left and right images obtained by the endoscope, and FIG. 6 is an endoscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 7 and 8 relate to a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of an endoscope, and FIG. 8 is an endoscope insertion section. FIG. 9 is a front view of the distal end portion of FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the distal end portion of the insertion portion of the endoscope in which the illumination system is biased and the luminance distribution of the illumination light, and FIGS. It is explanatory drawing which shows each image on either side obtained by the endoscope of FIG. 1 endoscope, 9 distal end 20 light source device 21, 22 video processor 23 monitor 37R, 37L objective lens system 40R, 40L solid-state image sensor 52R, 52L Optical lens system 54R, 54L …… Light guide

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stereoscopic endoscope having a plurality of observation systems and capable of stereoscopic vision, wherein at least a pair of observation systems used for stereoscopic vision, each image obtained by the pair of observation systems is provided. At least in the horizontal bisector of the line connecting the centers of the pair of observation systems, so that the luminance distribution of the illumination light in at least the horizontal direction is substantially the same, at a line symmetric position with respect to the vertical bisector. A stereoscopic endoscope comprising at least a pair of illumination systems arranged apart from each other.