JP3288504B2 - Electronic endoscope device using laser light irradiation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming process of an electronic endoscope apparatus using a laser beam irradiation device capable of irradiating a desired portion with a laser beam while observing the inside of an object to be observed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic endoscope apparatus includes a CCD (Charge) which is a solid-state image pickup device provided at the tip of an electronic endoscope as a scope.
The CCD captures an object to be observed, and an image of the object to be observed is displayed on a monitor. Further, in such an electronic endoscope apparatus, a laser scalpel or the like is introduced into a body to be observed through a treatment tool insertion channel in the electronic endoscope, and a laser scalpel or the like is used while observing the monitor image. Light irradiation treatment can be performed.

According to this laser light irradiation apparatus, for example, a marker probe is first emitted from a laser probe introduced into a body to be observed, and a laser light is irradiated after a treatment point is determined by the marker light. It has become.

[0004]

However, in an electronic endoscope apparatus using a conventional laser light irradiation apparatus, the above-described marker light is buried in the observation light irradiated onto the body to be observed, and the marker light is not emitted. There is a problem that it is substantially difficult to confirm the irradiation position on the screen. Also, when irradiating a strong laser beam for surgery or treatment, halation may occur on the screen.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a laser beam capable of satisfactorily confirming a marker light and a laser light irradiation position when using a laser light on a screen. It is to provide an electronic endoscope device using an irradiation device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic endoscope apparatus using a laser beam irradiation apparatus according to the present invention is designed to extract an image of a laser beam irradiation position into an object to be observed. A rotary filter provided with a dimming filter that diminishes the irradiation light of the rotary filter, and the observation light irradiated without passing through the dimming filter of the rotary filter is irradiated through a video signal and a dimming filter obtained by a solid-state imaging device. A selection circuit for separately extracting a video signal obtained by the observation light, an image signal processing circuit for processing a video signal when the above-mentioned dark filter is not used, and a video signal when the above-mentioned dark filter is used. A laser light irradiation position signal processing circuit for processing, and a mixing circuit for mixing the output of the image signal processing circuit and the output of the laser light irradiation position signal processing circuit,
Is characterized by the following.

[0007]

According to the above arrangement, for example, in the case of the frame sequential type, the R, G, B filters and the neutral density filter are formed in the rotary filter, and the object to be observed is based on the video signal when the RGB filter is used. An image of the inside of the body is obtained, and an image of the laser light irradiation position is obtained when the neutral density filter is used. That is, since the observation light is reduced by the neutral density filter, a video signal in which the marker light and the laser light are emphasized can be formed. Therefore, by combining these, the irradiation position of the laser light by the marker light or the laser light in the object to be observed is clearly displayed on the screen.

[0008]

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus using a laser beam irradiation device according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of a rotary filter. In FIG. 1, the electronic endoscope apparatus includes an electronic endoscope 10 as a scope, a processor device 11, and a light source device 12, and a laser probe 15 of a laser beam irradiation device 14 is an electronic endoscope 10.
Is passed through the treatment tool insertion channel 16 disposed in the first position. In the electronic endoscope 10, a light guide 17 is provided from the light source device 12 to the distal end portion, and is optically connected to the light guide 17, and a rotary filter 18 is provided in the light source device 12. A filter driving unit 19, a white light source 20, and a control unit 21 for controlling the filter driving unit 19 and the light source 20 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rotary filter 18 includes R (red), G (green), and B
The color filter 23 of (blue) and the dimming filter 24 for reducing the light amount of the light source are arranged alternately. Therefore, the output light of the light source 20 is converted into R, G, B light,
The light is illuminated from the light guide 17 into the body under observation as observation light in a state where the light is dimmed. In the rotary filter 18 of this embodiment, one vertical synchronization period is assigned to each 1/6 region, and a filter driving unit is provided so that an image signal of six vertical synchronization periods is obtained by one rotation of the rotation filter 18. 19 controls the rotation.

A CCD 26 is disposed at the tip of the electronic endoscope 10 so as to be optically connected to an observation window.
26, a first circuit for forming an image of the inside of the object to be observed as in the related art via a switching circuit 27 in the processor device 11.
A signal processing circuit 28 and a second signal processing circuit 29 for forming an image at the laser irradiation position are connected. And
The switching circuit 27 performs a switching operation every one vertical synchronization period. When the observation light is output by the R, G, and B color filters 23 of the rotary filter 18, the first switching is performed.
The signal is switched to the signal processing circuit 28 and the neutral density filter 24
When the observation light is output, the operation is switched to the second signal processing circuit 29 side.

Further, a memory 3 for R (red), G (green), and B (blue) signals is provided after the first signal processing circuit 28.
0, 31, 32 are provided, and an irradiation position memory 33 is provided at a stage subsequent to the second signal processing circuit 28, and mixers 34, 35, 36 are arranged at a stage subsequent thereto. Accordingly, in the mixers 34 to 36, the RGB video signals are mixed with the video signal of the irradiation position, and these RGB video signals are supplied to a monitor after output processing is performed.

The embodiment has the above-mentioned structure, and its operation will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the light source device 12
When the light source 20 is turned on, the rotary filter 18 is rotated by the filter driving unit 19 and the light guide 17
Light is supplied from the color filter 23 and the dimming filter 24 in the order of light → dimmed white light → G light → dimmed white light → B light. FIG. 3 shows an operation signal in each section. In the related art, a vertical synchronizing signal for a period of 1/60 second in FIG. 3A is used. An image is formed by a vertical synchronizing signal for a period of 120 seconds. Therefore, the rotation speed of the rotary filter 18 is the same as that of the conventional one, but the reading speed of the CCD 26 and the memory 3
The reading speed of 0, 31, and 32 is twice as fast as that of the related art. Of course, the rotation speed of the rotary filter 18 can be halved, the vertical synchronization period can be made the same as in the related art, and the reading speed can be made the same as in the related art.

In this way, the light that has passed through the light guide 17 is emitted as observation light from the irradiation window at the distal end of the electronic endoscope 10 into the object to be observed, and the object to be observed that emerges due to the observation light. Is captured by the CCD 26 through the observation window. At this time, the laser light irradiation device 14 is also operating, and the marker light is emitted from the tip of the probe 15 toward the body to be observed. Therefore, the CCD 26
As shown in FIG. 3 (C), the video signal obtained by R is an R signal obtained by irradiating R light, a marker signal M obtained by dimmed white light, and a G signal obtained by irradiating G light. , Marker signals M ...

The signal of FIG. 3C is distributed by the switching circuit 27, and the first signal processing circuit 28 is supplied with the RGB signals shown in FIG. The processing circuit 29 includes a marker (M) shown in FIG.
A signal is provided, where predetermined image processing, such as amplification,
Processing such as gamma correction is performed. After that, the output of the first signal processing circuit 28 is stored in the R signal memory 30, the G signal memory 31, and the B signal memory 32 for each of the RGB signals, and the output of the second signal processing circuit 29 is the irradiation position. Is stored in the storage memory 33. Then, as shown in FIG. 3F, the RGB signals are output from the memories 30 to 32 to 1/12.
The marker (M) signal shown in FIG. 3 (G) is similarly read out from the memory 33 every 0 seconds, and these signals are mixed by the mixers 34, 35 and 36.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3H, video signals in which marker signals are emphasized in the RGB signals are obtained from the mixers 34, 35 and 36. FIG. 4 shows the display state of the monitor screen 38. According to the video signal of FIG. 3H, the marker 200 is clearly displayed on the image 100 inside the body to be observed. In addition, after confirming the marker light, laser light irradiation is performed, but the above processing is also performed at the time of this laser light irradiation, the actual irradiation position of the laser light is easier to see than before, In this case, halation is also reduced.

In the above embodiment, the case of a frame sequential type electronic endoscope apparatus has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the case of a simultaneous type. In this case, for example, the color filter 23 of the rotary filter 18 is used. Can be realized by providing a portion through which the light from the light source passes as it is, and combining this with the neutral density filter.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In order to extract the image of the laser light irradiation position, a rotating filter having a dimming filter is provided, and a video signal when not passing through the dimming filter and a video signal when passing through the dimming filter are extracted. Since the signals are separately processed and then mixed, there is an advantage that the irradiation positions of the marker light and the laser light used for laser irradiation are clearly displayed on the screen. As a result, the laser beam irradiation position can be easily confirmed, and the treatment with the laser beam can be performed reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus using a laser beam irradiation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a rotary filter according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a signal waveform diagram showing operation signals of the circuit of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a display state of a monitor screen according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Electronic endoscope, 11 ... Processor device, 12 ... Light source device, 14 ... Laser irradiation device, 18 ... Rotating filter, 23 ... Color filter, 24 ... Dark filter, 27 ... Switching circuit, 28 ... First signal Processing circuit, 29 ... second signal processing circuit, 30-33 ... memory, 34-36 ... mixer.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-23832 (JP, A) JP-A-2-47619 (JP, A) JP-A-2-294609 (JP, A) JP-A-61- 94644 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 1/00-1/32 G02B 23/24

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotary filter provided with a dimming filter for dimming irradiation light to an object to be observed in order to extract an image of a laser beam irradiation position, and irradiating without passing through the dimming filter of the rotary filter. A selection circuit for separately extracting a video signal obtained by the solid-state imaging device by the obtained observation light and a video signal obtained by the observation light irradiated through the light reduction filter; and a video signal when the light reduction filter is not used. An image signal processing circuit for processing, a laser light irradiation position signal processing circuit for processing a video signal when using the neutral density filter, an output of the image signal processing circuit and an output of the laser light irradiation position signal processing circuit An electronic endoscope apparatus using a laser light irradiation device comprising: