JP4253550B2 - Capsule endoscope - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a capsule endoscope that inspects a living body.

  In recent years, endoscopes have been widely adopted in the medical field and the industrial field. Recently, a capsule endoscope that does not require an insertion portion in an endoscope has been used in the medical field. The capsule endoscope does not require an insertion portion in the endoscope, and has a capsule shape so that the patient can easily swallow or insert it transanally.

As such a conventional capsule endoscope, for example, as described in PCT WO02 / 36007 A1, an apparatus for observing a region having chemical characteristics has been proposed.
However, the capsule endoscope described in PCT WO02 / 36007 A1 is not disclosed regarding a combination with narrow band observation and normal observation using visible light.

On the other hand, a conventional capsule endoscope, on the other hand, is provided on an image sensor that is an imaging means for taking first and second images having different focal lengths as described in PCT WO03 / 011103 A2, for example. Has proposed a device which can be focused. Furthermore, the capsule endoscope described in the PCT WO03 / 011103 A2 includes at least two light switching units.
However, the capsule endoscope described in PCT WO03 / 011103 A2 has not been clearly disclosed regarding narrow-band observation.

By the way, in general, narrow band imaging (NBI) is widely performed. Narrow-band observation uses light of a predetermined narrow band such as ultraviolet light and near-infrared light compared to normal observation using visible light.
Here, light with a short wavelength (for example, blue light) has a low depth of penetration into the living body. For this reason, narrow-band observation, when light having a short wavelength is used, captures reflected light obtained by absorption and scattering of light having a short wavelength near the surface to obtain an observation image near the surface.

On the other hand, light having a long wavelength (for example, red light) has a deep depth to the living body. For this reason, narrow-band observation, when using light with a long wavelength, captures the reflected light that has been absorbed and scattered inside the living body with a deep penetration by the light with a long wavelength, and the observation image inside the living body with a deep penetration Get.
Therefore, narrowband light observation has the following advantages.

  Narrow-band light observation, for example, clearly depicts capillaries on the surface of the mucosa without spraying pigments in the body (such as local injection of contrast media such as indocyanine green (ICG) around the tumor) Is possible. For this reason, in capsule endoscopes that are difficult to combine with pigment application, narrow-band light observation is used for early detection of Barrett's esophagus and adenocarcinoma, identification of early cancer differentiation, invasion range and depth of penetration, colon tumor It can be widely used for diagnosis of pit pattern and stage diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. Furthermore, narrowband light observation is more effective when combined with magnified observation.

However, the above publications are not disclosed regarding magnification observation, narrow band observation (NBI observation), and the like in a capsule endoscope.
For this reason, it cannot be said that the conventional capsule endoscope has sufficient observation capability for narrow-band light observation. Accordingly, it is desirable that narrow-band light observation can be easily performed even in a capsule endoscope.
PCT WO02 / 36007 A1 publication PCT WO03 / 011103 A2 Publication

  The problem to be solved is that the conventional capsule endoscope cannot easily perform narrow-band light observation.

The capsule endoscope of the present invention includes an imaging means for imaging and illumination means, a portion illuminated by the illumination means for illuminating a predetermined illumination light to the subject, distribution in front of the image pickup means In a capsule endoscope having a provided objective optical system and a transparent cover that covers at least the front of the objective optical system, a predetermined narrowness of an image including reflected light from a subject site illuminated by the illumination means A narrow-band acquisition unit that causes the imaging unit to image light in a band; and the narrow-band acquisition unit includes a white light emitting unit that generates white light, and a narrow band light emitting unit that generates light of a predetermined narrow band. Is provided in the illuminating unit, and each light emitting unit in the illuminating unit is caused to emit light sequentially, and an image including reflected light from a subject site illuminated by each of the light emitting units is sequentially captured by the imaging unit. Do

  Since the capsule endoscope of the present invention can easily perform narrow-band light observation, the diagnostic performance of the target site is improved. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a capsule endoscope that can be easily diagnosed with special light.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 8 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a capsule endoscope apparatus of the first embodiment, and FIG. 1 (A) shows a capsule endoscope. FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing a state when swallowing and performing an endoscopic examination, FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing a state when the extracorporeal unit of FIG. 1A is removed and connected to a personal computer, and FIG. 2 is a diagram 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of the capsule endoscope 1, FIG. 3 is a YY cross-sectional view of the capsule endoscope shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line Y-Y in FIG. 2 showing the state during normal observation when the narrow-band light emitter is turned off. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line YY in FIG. 2 showing a state during narrow-band observation during the operation, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the narrow-band light emitting unit FIG. 4A is an explanatory view showing the configuration of a narrow band light emitting section provided with a predetermined narrow band filter on the front surface of the white light LED, and FIG. 4B is a semiconductor that generates laser light of a predetermined narrow band. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a combination of light emitting units arranged on the illumination substrate, FIG. 6 is a display screen example of the display unit, and FIG. 7 is a display unit. Another display screen example, FIG. 8 is a display screen example in which a normal observation image and a narrow-band light observation image are alternately displayed, and FIG. 8A shows a normal observation image during normal observation. FIG. 8B shows an example of a display screen, FIG. 8B shows an example of a display screen on which a narrow-band light observation image at the time of narrow-band observation is displayed next to the normal observation image of FIG. 8A, and FIG. FIG. 8D shows an example of a display screen on which a normal observation image in normal observation is displayed next to the narrow-band light observation image in B). Is a display screen example narrowband light observation image at the next to the narrow band observation is displayed in the normal observation image of FIG. 8 (C).

    As shown in FIG. 1 (A), the capsule endoscope apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is in a body cavity duct when passing through the body cavity duct by being swallowed from the mouth of a patient 2. A capsule endoscope 3 that optically images a wall surface and wirelessly transmits an image signal obtained by the imaging, and an antenna unit in which a signal transmitted from the capsule endoscope 3 is provided outside the body of the patient 2 4 and an extracorporeal unit 5 (located outside the patient 2) having the function of receiving and storing images.

The extracorporeal unit 5 has a built-in compact flash (R) hard disk having a capacity of, for example, 1 GB in order to store image data. The image data stored in the extracorporeal unit 5 can be connected to the display system 6 in FIG. 1B during or after the examination to display an image.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1B, the extracorporeal unit 5 is detachably connected to a personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a personal computer) 7 constituting the display system 6 by a communication cable such as a USB cable 8. The

  Then, an image stored in the external unit 5 is captured by the personal computer 7 and stored in the internal hard disk or displayed, and the stored image can be displayed on the display unit 9. For example, a keyboard 10 is connected to the personal computer 7 as an operation panel for performing a data input operation.

  The USB cable 8 may be any communication standard of USB1.0, USB1.1, and USB2. In addition, serial data communication complying with RS-232C and IEEE 1394 standards may be performed, and the present invention is not limited to performing serial data communication, and parallel data communication may be performed.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (A), when the capsule endoscope 3 is swallowed to perform an endoscopic examination, a plurality of antennas 12 are attached to the inside of a shield shirt 11 having a shield function worn by the patient 2. The antenna unit 4 is mounted, is imaged by the capsule endoscope 3, receives a signal transmitted from the antenna incorporated therein, and stores the imaged image in the extracorporeal unit 5 connected to the antenna unit 4. ing. The extracorporeal unit 5 is attached to the belt of the patient 2 by a detachable hook, for example.

  The extracorporeal unit 5 has, for example, a box shape, and is provided with, for example, a liquid crystal monitor 13 as a display device for displaying an image and an operation button 14 for performing a control operation on the front surface. The extracorporeal unit 5 includes a transmission / reception circuit (communication circuit), a control circuit, an image data display circuit, and a power source.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the capsule endoscope 3 according to the first embodiment has a cylindrical shape and a hemispherical transparent cover 17 at the opening end which becomes the front end side of the outer case 16 which is closed by rounding the rear end thereof. Are connected and fixed in a watertight manner, and the inside thereof is sealed by a sealing member 18, and the following built-in items are accommodated in the sealed capsule-like container. The exterior case 16 is made of a synthetic resin such as polysulfone or polyurethane, and the transparent cover 17 is made of a synthetic resin such as polycarbonate, cycloolefin polymer, or PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate).

  On the illumination substrate 20 facing the transparent cover 17, an objective lens frame 21 is fitted and fixed to a through portion formed in the center portion. In the objective lens frame 21, an objective optical system 22 configured by attaching a first lens 22a and a second lens 22b is disposed.

  In addition, for example, a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imager 23 is disposed at the imaging position of the objective optical system 22 as imaging means. The CMOS imager 23 is attached to the front surface of the imaging board 24 disposed behind the illumination board 20. The CMOS imager 23 is protected by a cover glass 25 on the imaging surface.

  The imaging substrate 24 is configured integrally with the CMOS imager 23 and the cover glass 25, and receives a signal from the extracorporeal unit 5 on the back side to drive the CMOS imager 23 and output from the CMOS imager 23. A drive processing unit 26 that performs signal processing and control processing on the imaging signal is provided. The CMOS imager 23 and the cover glass 25 constitute an imaging unit 27 together with the objective optical system 22 and the objective lens frame 21.

Further, on the front side of the illumination substrate 20, an illumination unit 28 that is an illumination unit is attached symmetrically to the imaging unit 27. In the drawing, O ′ indicates the central axis (direction of the emission angle of 0 °) of illumination light emitted by each light emitting unit of the illumination unit 28, and O is illumination by each light emitting unit of the illumination unit 28. The light emission range is shown.
A power supply unit 31 that supplies operating power to each unit is provided on the rear side of the imaging substrate 24, and a wireless communication unit 32 that performs wireless transmission with the outside of the capsule is provided on the rear side of the power supply unit 31. ing.

  The power supply unit 31 is arranged such that two button-type batteries 31a as built-in power supplies for supplying operating power are stacked in the axial direction of the capsule container, and the operating power of these batteries 31a is supplied to the power supply board 31b. Connection is possible.

  The power supply board 31b is provided with, for example, an internal switch 31c formed of a bias magnet and a reed switch so that the operating power supplied from the battery 31a is turned on and off. A recording unit 33 for recording image data obtained by imaging with the CMOS imager 23 is provided on the front side of the power supply substrate 31b.

  The power supply substrate 31 b is connected to the imaging substrate 24 and the wireless substrate 32 a constituting the wireless communication unit 32 via the connecting flexible substrate 34. Further, the imaging substrate 24 is connected to the illumination substrate 20 via a connecting flexible substrate 34.

In the wireless communication unit 32, a wireless antenna 32b is provided on a wireless substrate 32a. The radio circuit board 32a selectively extracts the carrier wave of the radio wave received from the external unit 5 received by the radio antenna 32b, demodulates the control signal, outputs the control signal to each component circuit, and the like. For example, an information (data) signal such as image data from a circuit or the like is modulated with a carrier wave of a predetermined frequency, and a wireless communication circuit (not shown) is provided for transmitting as a radio wave from the wireless antenna 32b.
Further, on the illumination board 20, a chip component 20 a constituting an LED drive circuit (not shown) that drives the light emitting part of the illumination part 28 to intermittently flash light is mounted on the back side.

When the internal switch 31c of the power supply board 31b is turned on, the operating power from the battery 31a is supplied from the power supply board 31b to the imaging board 24 and the wireless board 32a via the connecting flexible board 34, and further to the illumination board 20. Supplied.
The wireless communication unit 32 receives the radio wave from the extracorporeal unit 5 by the wireless antenna 32b, and the wireless communication circuit demodulates and outputs a control signal to the drive processing unit 26 of the imaging board 24 and the LED drive circuit of the illumination board 20. To do.

  The LED drive circuit causes the light emitting unit of the illumination unit 28 to intermittently flash. In synchronization with this, the drive processing unit 26 drives the CMOS imager 23 to pick up an observation image illuminated by the illumination light from the light emitting unit and captured by the objective optical system 22.

  The drive processing unit 26 causes the recording unit 33 to record image data obtained by performing signal processing on the imaging signal from the CMOS imager 23. When the image data recorded in the recording unit 33 reaches a predetermined amount, the drive processing unit 26 reads out the image data from the recording unit 33 and outputs the image data to the wireless communication circuit of the wireless communication unit 32. The wireless communication circuit of the wireless communication unit 32 modulates image data and transmits it as radio waves from the wireless antenna 32b. The drive processing unit 26 may output the image data directly to the wireless communication circuit without transmitting it to the recording unit 33 and transmit the image data.

The extracorporeal unit 5 receives the signal transmitted from the capsule endoscope 3 by the antenna unit 4 and stores the image data. Next, the extracorporeal unit 5 is connected to a personal computer 7, image data stored under the control of the personal computer 7 is read, and the acquired image is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 9.
Here, it cannot be said that the conventional capsule endoscope has sufficient observation capability for narrow-band light observation.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a white light emitting unit that generates white light and a narrow band light emitting unit that generates light of a predetermined narrow band are provided in the illumination unit 28 as a narrow band acquisition unit. Each of the light emitting units is caused to emit light sequentially, and an image including reflected light from a portion illuminated by each of the light emitting units is sequentially captured by the CMOS imager 23.

  That is, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the illumination unit 28 includes a white light emitting unit 41 that generates white light with respect to the center of the longitudinal axis so as to surround the imaging unit 27, and And a narrow-band light emitting unit 42 that generates a predetermined narrow-band light. 3A and 3B are YY sectional views of the capsule endoscope 3 shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 3A is narrowed when the white light emitting unit 41 is turned on. FIG. 3B shows a state during normal observation when the band light emitting unit 42 is turned off, and FIG. 3B shows a narrow band when the white light emitting unit 41 is turned off and the narrow band light emitting unit 42 is turned on. The state at the time of observation is shown.

The white light emitting unit 41 uses, for example, a white light LED that generates white light. On the other hand, the narrow-band light emitting unit 42 is configured as shown in FIGS.
The narrow-band light emitting unit 42A shown in FIG. 4A is configured by providing a predetermined narrow-band filter 43 on the front surface of the white light LED 41A. Moreover, the narrow-band light emission part 42B shown to FIG. 4 (B) is comprised by the semiconductor laser element which generate | occur | produces the laser beam of a predetermined narrow band.

  4A and 4B, the narrow-band light emitting section 42 (42A, 42B) has, for example, red R (485 nm to 515 nm), green G (430 nm to 460 nm), a predetermined narrow band, Blue B (400 nm to 430 nm) light is generated.

  And as for each light emission part 41 and 42, as shown in FIG. 5, W (white), R (red), G (green), and B (blue) are arrange | positioned at the illumination board | substrate 20, for example. In the arrangement example shown in FIG. 5, R (red), G (green), and B (blue) that are narrow-band light emitting units 42 are alternately arranged with respect to W (white) that is the white light emitting unit 41. And four W (white), one R (red), one G (green), and two B (blue). In addition, how to combine these light emission parts is arbitrarily set according to the observation purpose.

  Each of the light emitting units 41 and 42 is individually controlled by an LED driving circuit so as to generate a predetermined narrow band light according to an observation purpose and enable narrow band light observation, and light is emitted sequentially. In synchronization with this light emission, the drive processing unit 26 drives the CMOS imager 23 to sequentially capture the observation images illuminated by the illumination light from the light emitting units 41 and 42 and captured by the objective optical system 22.

  Then, the drive processing unit 26 causes the wireless communication unit 32 to output the image data obtained by performing signal processing on the imaging signal from the CMOS imager 23 as described above. When the wireless communication unit 32 transmits image data as radio waves from the radio antenna 32b, the extracorporeal unit 5 receives the image data as radio waves from the antenna unit 4 and records the image data in the built-in hard disk.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, the extracorporeal unit 5 is connected to the personal computer 7 of the display system 6, and the display unit 9 displays the image data as an observation image.
Here, the display screen of the display unit 9 has a display configuration as shown in FIG. 6, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the display screen of the display unit 9, a normal observation image display area 51 is provided in the vicinity of the left central portion, and a normal observation image by white light is displayed. Further, a narrow band light observation image display area 52 is provided on the upper right side of the display screen of the display unit 9 to display a narrow band light observation image by narrow band light. Further, an information display area 53 is provided below the narrow-band light observation image display area 52, and information such as the passage time of the capsule endoscope 3 in the body cavity and position information in the body cavity is displayed.

The display screen of the display unit 9 may have a display configuration in which a normal observation image display area 51 and a narrowband light observation image display area 52 are displayed side by side as shown in FIG.
Further, the display screen of the display unit 9 may have a display configuration in which normal observation images and narrowband light observation images are alternately displayed as shown in FIGS.

  As a result, the capsule endoscope 3 according to the present embodiment can easily perform narrow-band light observation, so that the effect of improving the diagnostic performance of the target site is obtained.

  9 and 10 relate to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a graph showing the optical characteristics of the white light LED used in the capsule endoscope of the second embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a graph of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the imaging part which provided white light LED which has the optical characteristic shown, and the narrow-band filter, FIG. 10 (A) is explanatory drawing which shows white light LED, FIG.10 (B) provides a narrow-band filter. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image pick-up part.

  In the first embodiment, the white light emitting unit 41 and the narrow band light emitting unit 42 are provided in the illumination unit 28 as narrow band acquisition means, and the light emitting units 41 and 42 of the illumination unit 28 are caused to emit light sequentially. The CMOS imager 23 is configured to sequentially capture images including the reflected light from the parts illuminated by the light emitting units 41 and 42, but the second embodiment transmits a predetermined narrow band of light to the imaging unit. A narrow band filter is provided. Since the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted, and the same components will be described with the same reference numerals.

  That is, the capsule endoscope of the second embodiment is configured by providing a plurality of white light LEDs having optical characteristics as shown in the graph of FIG. In this case, in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 5 described in the first embodiment, a white light LED that is a white light emitting unit 41 is provided at the position of the narrow band light emitting unit 42. That is, the white light LED is provided on the entire circumference surrounding the imaging unit 27.

As shown in the graph of FIG. 9, the white light LED is configured to generate light in a blue wavelength band with the highest luminance having a peak wavelength near 415 nm as an optical characteristic as a predetermined narrow band, for example. Yes.
In normal observation with white light, the CMOS imager 23 is caused to capture an image including reflected light from a portion illuminated by the white light LED.

On the other hand, in narrow band light observation, the CMOS imager 23 is made to transmit only a predetermined narrow band with respect to the image including the reflected light from the part illuminated by the white light LED.
The white light LED 41B shown in FIG. 10A has the above optical characteristics.

  On the other hand, the imaging unit 27B shown in FIG. 10B is provided with a narrow band filter 43B that transmits only the predetermined narrow band on the tip side. The narrow band filter 43B is configured to be able to change a narrow band that is transmitted by application of electric power such as voltage and current or action of electromagnetic force.

  The white light LED 41B is flashed at an interval of 1 to 15 frames / second by the LED driving circuit, and the narrowband filter 43B is synchronized with the flash light emission of the white light LED 41B by the drive processing unit 26 at a predetermined interval. It has been changed.

Thereby, the capsule endoscope of the second embodiment obtains the same effect as that of the first embodiment.
The narrow band filter 43B may be provided on the front surface (light emission side) of the white light LED 41B to constitute a narrow band light emitting unit. In this case, although not shown, the capsule endoscope is provided with the white light LED 41B and the narrow-band light emitting unit in the illumination unit 28 as in the first embodiment, and the light emitting units of the illumination unit 28 are sequentially provided. The CMOS imager 23 is configured to sequentially capture an image including reflected light from a portion illuminated and illuminated by each of the light emitting units.

11 and 12 relate to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a front view showing the illumination substrate and the imaging unit front side of the capsule endoscope of the third embodiment. FIG. It is OB line sectional drawing.
In the first embodiment, a white light LED is used as the white light emitting unit 41, and a narrow band light emitting unit 42A in which a predetermined narrow band filter 43 is provided in front of the white light LED 41A as the narrow band light emitting unit 42, The narrow-band light emitting unit 42B, which is a semiconductor laser element that generates a narrow-band laser beam, is provided, but the third embodiment generates a predetermined narrow-band light as the narrow-band light emitting unit 42. A narrow band LED is used, and the white light emitting unit 41 is configured to generate a white light by providing a phosphor in front of the narrow band LED. Since the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted, and the same components will be described with the same reference numerals.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the capsule endoscope of the third embodiment is provided with a narrow band LED 61 as the narrow band light emitting unit 42 around the imaging unit 27 and the narrow band LED 61 as the white light emitting unit 41. The lighting unit 28C is provided with a white light LED 62 formed so as to generate white light by providing a phosphor on the front side.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, the illumination unit 28 </ b> C is provided with, for example, a blue light LED 63 as a narrow band LED 61 on the illumination substrate 20, and a phosphor 64 is provided on the front side of the blue light LED 63 to obtain a white color. A white light LED 62 formed to generate light is provided.

  In normal observation with white light, the CMOS imager 23 is caused to capture an image including reflected light from a portion illuminated by the white light LED 62. On the other hand, in narrow-band light observation, the CMOS imager 23 is caused to capture an image including reflected light from a portion illuminated by the narrow-band LED 61.

  The narrow band LED 61 and the white light LED 62 are sequentially flashed at an interval of 1 to 15 frames / second by the LED driving circuit. In synchronization with the flash emission, the drive processing unit 26 drives the CMOS imager 23 to sequentially capture the observation images that are illuminated by the illumination light from each light emitting unit and captured by the objective optical system 22.

Thereby, the capsule endoscope of the third embodiment obtains the same effect as that of the first embodiment.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, as the imaging means, a CCD imager may be used instead of the CMOS imager, and the number and arrangement of the LEDs can be changed as appropriate, and a ring-shaped LED may naturally be used. Of course, the present invention may be applied to an endoscope provided with a plurality of imaging means and objective optical systems, or a capsule endoscope that is inserted transanally and inspected backward by a guiding means to the cecum.

[Appendix]
(Additional item 1)
In a capsule endoscope having an illuminating unit, an imaging unit that images a portion illuminated by the illuminating unit, an objective optical system in front of the imaging unit, and a transparent cover that covers at least the front of the objective optical system,
A capsule endoscope, comprising: a narrow band acquisition unit that causes the imaging unit to capture a narrow band of an image including reflected light from a portion illuminated by the illumination unit.

(Appendix 2)
The narrow-band acquisition unit includes a light-emitting unit that generates white light and a light-emitting unit that generates the predetermined narrow-band light in the illumination unit, and sequentially emits each light-emitting unit of the illumination unit. The capsule endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit sequentially captures an image including reflected light from a portion illuminated by the light emitting unit.

(Additional Item 3)
2. The capsule-type inside according to claim 1, wherein the narrowband acquisition unit includes a narrowband filter that transmits light of the predetermined narrowband in at least one of the illumination unit and the imaging unit. Endoscope.
(Appendix 4)
The capsule endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the illuminating unit includes a plurality of light emitting units arranged so as to surround the periphery of the imaging unit.

(Appendix 5)
The capsule endoscope according to appendix 1, wherein the predetermined narrow band is a blue wavelength band which is a wavelength having the highest luminance.
(Appendix 6)
The capsule according to appendix 1, wherein at least one of a recording unit that records image data obtained by imaging by the imaging unit or a wireless unit that wirelessly transmits image data to the outside of the capsule is provided in the capsule. Type endoscope.

(Appendix 7)
The light emitting part that generates white light is a white light emitting element, and the light emitting part that generates the predetermined narrow band light is at least one light emitting element of red, green, and blue, and these white, Item 3. The capsule endoscope according to Item 2, wherein the imaging unit sequentially captures an image including reflected light from a portion illuminated by sequentially emitting different colors of red, green, and blue.
(Appendix 8)
The light emitting section that generates the predetermined narrow band light is configured by providing a narrow band filter that transmits the predetermined narrow band light on a front surface side of the white light LED. The capsule endoscope as described.

(Appendix 9)
3. The capsule endoscope according to appendix 2, wherein the light emitting unit that generates the predetermined narrow band light is constituted by a semiconductor laser element.
(Appendix 10)
The light emitting section that generates white light is configured to generate white light by providing a phosphor on the front side of a narrow band LED that generates predetermined narrow band light. The capsule endoscope according to 1.

(Appendix 11)
4. The capsule endoscope according to claim 3, wherein the narrow band filter transmits the predetermined narrow band light with respect to the light from the illumination unit when the narrow band filter is provided in the illumination unit. .
(Appendix 12)
The narrow band filter transmits the predetermined narrow band image with respect to an image including reflected light from a part illuminated by the illumination unit when the narrow band filter is provided in the imaging unit. 3. The capsule endoscope according to 3.

(Additional Item 13)
13. The capsule endoscope according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the narrow band filter is controlled by a magnetic field or an electric field and transmits the predetermined narrow band light.
(Appendix 14)
In a capsule endoscope having an illuminating unit, an imaging unit that images a portion illuminated by the illuminating unit, an objective optical system in front of the imaging unit, and a transparent cover that covers at least the front of the objective optical system,
A light-emitting unit that generates white light and a light-emitting unit that generates light of a predetermined narrow band are provided in the illumination unit, and each light-emitting unit of the illumination unit is caused to emit light sequentially and is illuminated from each of the light-emitting units. A capsule endoscope in which an image including reflected light is sequentially picked up by the image pickup means.

(Appendix 15)
In a capsule endoscope having an illuminating unit, an imaging unit that images a portion illuminated by the illuminating unit, an objective optical system in front of the imaging unit, and a transparent cover that covers at least the front of the objective optical system,
A capsule endoscope, wherein a narrow band filter that transmits the predetermined narrow band light is provided in at least one of the illumination unit and the imaging unit.

(Appendix 16)
In a capsule endoscope having an illuminating unit, an imaging unit that images a portion illuminated by the illuminating unit, an objective optical system in front of the imaging unit, and a transparent cover that covers at least the front of the objective optical system,
A white light emitting element that generates white light and a light emitting element that generates at least one of red, green, and blue light as predetermined narrow band light are provided in the illumination unit, and the white, red, green, A capsule endoscope characterized in that the imaging means sequentially captures images including reflected light from a portion illuminated by sequentially emitting different blue light.

1 is an overall configuration diagram illustrating a capsule endoscope apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the internal structure of the capsule type | mold endoscope of FIG. FIG. 3 is a YY sectional view of the capsule endoscope shown in FIG. 2. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of a narrow-band light-emitting part. It is explanatory drawing which showed the combination of the light emission part arrange | positioned at an illumination board | substrate. It is an example of a display screen of a display part. It is another example of a display screen of a display part. It is an example of a display screen on which a normal observation image and a narrow-band light observation image are alternately displayed. It is a graph which shows the optical characteristic of white light LED used for the capsule type | mold endoscope of 2nd Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the imaging part which provided white light LED and the narrow-band filter which have the optical characteristic shown in the graph of FIG. It is a front view which shows the illumination board | substrate and imaging part front side of the capsule endoscope of 3rd Example. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AOB in FIG. 11.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Capsule type | mold endoscope apparatus 3 Capsule type | mold endoscope 17 Transparent cover 20 Illumination board 22 Objective optical system 23 CMOS imager (imaging means)
26 Drive processing unit 27 Imaging unit 28 Illumination unit (illumination means)
41 White light emitting part 42 (42A, 42B) Narrow band light emitting part 43 Narrow band filter

Attorney Susumu Ito

Claims (3)

Illumination means for illuminating a predetermined illumination light to the subject, an imaging unit for imaging the illuminated site by the illumination means, an objective optical system disposed in front of said imaging means, at least the In a capsule endoscope having a transparent cover covering the front of the objective optical system,
A narrow-band acquisition unit that causes the imaging unit to image a predetermined narrow-band light of an image including reflected light from the subject site illuminated by the illumination unit ;
The narrow band acquisition unit includes a white light emitting unit that generates white light and a narrow band light emitting unit that generates light of a predetermined narrow band in the illumination unit, and sequentially sets each light emitting unit in the illumination unit. A capsule endoscope characterized in that the imaging means sequentially captures an image including reflected light from a subject region illuminated by each of the light emitting units .   The white light emitting unit is configured by a white light emitting unit, the narrow band light emitting unit is configured by at least one light emitting unit of red, green, and blue, and the narrow band acquiring unit is configured to include the plurality of lights. 2. The capsule endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit sequentially captures an image including reflected light from a subject region illuminated by sequentially emitting light. The narrowband light emitting unit generates light of a plurality of wavelength bands as the predetermined narrowband light, and a wavelength band having a peak wavelength of 400 nm to 430 nm among the plurality of wavelength bands has the largest peak value The capsule endoscope according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the capsule endoscope has a wavelength band .

Images