JPH03275034A - Adapter for light source connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to feed a surface successive light even when a light source apparatus feeding only a white light color is used by providing a rotating filter performing spectrophotometry of an illuminating light into a plurality of wavelength regions. CONSTITUTION:In an adapter 5 for a light source connector, a light guide 34 guiding an illuminating light from a light source apparatus 6, a condenser lens 35 collecting and irradiating an irradiated illuminating light on an incident end face of a light guide 15 built in an endoscope 2, a rotating filter 33 inserted between the incident end face of the light guide 34 and the condenser lens 35 and performing successively spectrophotometry of the illuminating light into wavelength regions R, G and B, a motor 32 rotating and driving this rotating filter 33 and a servo circuit 31 controlling and driving this are built. The motor 32 rotating and driving the rotating filter 33 is driven by a servo circuit 31 controlled by a synchronized signal from a timing pulse generator 21. The rotating filter 33 is rotated so as to synchronize said video processor in such a way that an illuminating light in a wavelength region which the video processor 3 requires is fed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a light source connector adapter inserted into a light source plug of an endoscope and a receptor of a light source device.

[Prior Art] In recent years, endoscopes (scopes or fi-paths) that can diagnose and examine internal organs in body cavities by inserting their elongated insertion portions into body cavities have become widely used. It is being Moreover, it is used not only for medical purposes but also for industrial purposes to observe and inspect objects such as inside pipes of boilers, machines, chemical plants, etc., or inside machines.

Furthermore, various types of electronic endoscopes using solid-state imaging devices such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs) as imaging means are also used.

The endoscope is used, for example, as an endoscope device in combination with a light source device that supplies illumination light to the endoscope. The present applicant has proposed a connector for mechanically and electrically connecting the endoscope and the light source device, as shown in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-34823.

Further, the electronic endoscope may include, for example, in addition to the light source device described above, a video processor that drives the solid-state image device and converts an imaging signal from the solid-state image sensor into, for example, a standard video signal, and a video processor as described above. It is used as an electronic endoscope device in combination with a monitor that displays video signals.

The endoscope device is an electronic endoscope (hereinafter referred to as an endoscope) having an elongated insertion section 87 in which a solid-state image sensor 98 is disposed at the distal end, as shown by the reference numeral 81 in FIG. 3, for example. )8
2, and a light source device 86 that supplies illumination light to the endoscope 82.
a video processor 83 that drives the solid-state image element 98 and converts the video signal from the solid-state Wi image element 98 into a standard video signal; and an observation device that displays the aforementioned video signal from the video processor 83. It consists of a monitor 94.

The endoscope 82 includes an elongated insertion section 87 and an elongated insertion section 87.
7, a universal cord 89 extending to the side of this operation section 88, a connector 90 provided at the end of this universal cord 89, and It is composed of a light guide cable 91 extending to the side of the operating section 88 and a connector 92 provided at the end of the light guide cable 91.

An objective optical system 9 is provided at the distal end portion 93 at the distal end of the insertion portion 87.
7, an output end face of a light guide 95, etc. are provided. A photoelectric conversion surface of the solid-state image sensor 98 is disposed at the viscous image position of the objective optical system 97.

The light guide 95 is provided inside the front insertion portion 87 , the operating portion 88 , and the light guide cable 91 , and has an incident end surface protruding from the connector 92 .

A driving signal line 99 and an imaging signal line 100 are connected to the solid-state image sensor 98 . The drive signal line 99 and the image carrier signal line 100 are installed inside the insertion section 87, the operation section 88, and the universal cord 89, and the drive signal line 99 is connected to a contact pin arranged on the connector 90. 90b, and the imaging signal line 100 is connected to a contact pin 90a provided on the connector 90.

The connector 90 is provided with the contact pins 90a and 90b as described above, as well as a contact pin 90c, and a dimming signal line 96 is connected to the contact pin 90c. This dimming signal line 9
6 is installed inside the universal cord 89, the operating section 88, and the light guide cable 91, and is connected to a contact pin 92a provided in the connector 92.

The video processor 83 includes the video processor 8
3 and the light source device 86, which will be described later.
A timing pulse generator 101 that supplies a predetermined timing pulse to a servo circuit 111 installed in the servo circuit 111, a COD drive circuit 102 that drives the solid-state image sensor 98, and a standard A video signal processor 103 for converting into a video signal, and a video level detection circuit 104 for detecting the video level, which is, for example, brightness information, of the video signal from the video signal processor 103 are installed, Contact pins 90A to 90C disposed to face contact pins 90a to 90c of the connector to which the connector 90 is removably connected; a terminal 105 for outputting the timing pulse described above to the light source device 86; A terminal 106 dedicated to transmitting the aforementioned video signal to the observation monitor 84 is provided, for example, on the surface of the casing.

The light source device 86 includes a lamp 125 as a light source that supplies illumination light, a lamp drive circuit 124 that drives this lamp 125, and an aperture 123 that increases or decreases the brightness of the illumination light.
, a solenoid 122 that drives this aperture 123 , a dimming circuit 121 that controls and drives this solenoid 122 ,
A condenser lens 1 condenses the illumination light described above onto the incident end surface of the light guide 95 installed inside the endoscope 82.
26, is inserted between the condenser lens 126 and the incident end surface of the light guide 95, and directs the illumination light to, for example, R.
(red), G (green), and B (blue) wavelength regions in time series, and this rotating filter 113.
A motor 112 for rotating and driving the motor 112 and a servo circuit 111 for controlling and driving the motor 112 are installed inside the endoscope 82 so as to face contact pins 92a of the connector to which the connector 92 of the endoscope 82 is detachably connected. A contact bin 92A and a terminal 110 for introducing the above-mentioned 1 timing pulse from the video processor 83 are provided, for example, on the surface of the casing.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rotary filter 19 divides a substantially disk-shaped member into sections of 120 degrees, each with R, G,
An optical filter that transmits light in the wavelength range B is provided, and its center point is aligned with the axis of the motor 112.

A lamp 125 installed in the light source device 86 is driven by the lamp drive circuit 124, and the illumination light from the lamp 125 is adjusted to an appropriate amount of light by an aperture 123 as will be described later. The light is condensed and irradiated onto the incident end face of a light guide 95 installed inside the light guide 82 .

As described above, the illumination light supplied to the incident end face of the light guide 95 is guided through the light guide 95 and irradiated onto, for example, the subject 94 from the outgoing end face of the light guide 95 disposed at the tip portion 93. It has become so.

As described above, the image of the subject 94 irradiated with illumination light is focused on the photoelectric conversion surface of the solid-state image sensor 98 by the objective optical system 97 disposed at the tip 93. .

The solid-state image device 98 is driven by an imaging signal from the COD drive circuit 102 installed in the video processor 83 via the contact bins 90B, 90b and the imaging signal line 99, and this drive causes the above-mentioned As described above, the image of the subject 94 formed on the photoelectric conversion surface is photoelectrically converted and sent to the video signal processor installed in the video processor 83 via the image signal line 100 and the contact bins 90a, 90A as an image signal. 103.

As described above, the video signal processor 103 converts the image signal input from the solid-state image sensor 98 into a standard video signal and outputs it to the observation monitor 84 via the terminal 106.

By the way, the COD drive circuit 102 and the l! ! l
! The image signal processor 103 is supplied with a timing pulse, which is a synchronizing signal, from the timing pulse generator 101, and uses this timing pulse to perform the processing described above. Furthermore, this timing pulse is
The light is supplied to the servo circuit 111 installed inside the light source device 86 via the terminals 105 and 110.

The servo circuit 111 controls and drives the motor 112 in synchronization with the aforementioned timing pulse.

The motor 112 is connected to the servo circuit 11 as described above.
1, and the rotary filter 113 rotates in conjunction with this rotation.

Due to the rotation of the rotary filter 113 described above, the lamp 1 passes through the aperture 123 and the condenser lens 126.
The illumination light No. 25 is turned into illumination light in the R, G, and B wavelength regions in time series by an optical filter disposed in the rotary filter 113, and is disposed in the endoscope 82 as described above. The light is supplied to the incident end face of the light guide 82.

Therefore, the video signal processor 103 installed in the video processor 83 can process the time-series R,
The images of the subject 94 captured by the G and B illumination lights are synchronized and converted into a standard color video signal.

Further, a video level detection circuit 104 included in the video processor 83 obtains an image signal from the video signal processor 103, converts this image signal to a video signal level, which is a luminance signal level, for example, and outputs the signal as a dimming signal. The contact bins 90G, 90c, the dimming signal! ! 96
, and the contact bins 92a and 92A, the light is output to the dimming circuit 121 installed inside the optical i device 86.

The dimming circuit 121 controls and drives the lens nozzle 122 using the aforementioned dimming signal, and this lensoid 122 controls the aperture 123 by the aforementioned controlling drive, and uses the illumination light from the lamp 125 to capture an image of the subject 94. The amount of light increases or decreases to provide an appropriate amount of light.

Incidentally, the light source device 86 uses a simultaneous imaging method in which, for example, a mosaic color filter is provided in front of the photoelectric conversion surface of an image sensor to take an image at the end to which the endoscope 92 using a field sequential imaging method is connected. It is being considered to connect an endoscope and an endoscope that uses an image guide for observation. For this purpose, the light source device 86 needs to supply white light in addition to the field-sequential light separated into R, G, and B wavelength regions.

Therefore, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-274910, the applicant proposed a system in which the rotating filter 113 is removably attached to the light source device 86, thereby making it possible to switch between frame-sequential light and white light. are doing.

Furthermore, as shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-240019, the present applicant has proposed that the motor 11 installed inside the light source device 86
2 is made slidable as shown by the arrow, and is proposed to be able to switch between field-sequential light and white light.

As mentioned above, by making it possible to switch between the field sequential light and the white light, for example, an endoscope 1 using an image guide can be used.
Similarly to the connector 92 of the endoscope 82, the connector 134 provided at the end of the light guide cable 133 of No. 31 can be detachably connected to the light source device 86.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the light source device described above, the rotary filter must be configured to be detachably attached to the light source device, or the motor installed inside the light source device must be configured to be slidable. There is a problem in that a light source device that only supplies white light cannot handle this problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a light source connector adapter that can supply light sequentially even when using a light source device that supplies only white light.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A rotating filter that separates illumination light into a plurality of wavelength regions and a driving means for driving the rotating filter are connected to a light source plug provided at the end of a universal cord of an endoscope. It is provided in a light source connector adapter inserted between the light source device and the light source device that supplies illumination light to the endoscope.

[Function] With the above-described configuration, the light source connector adapter allows the illumination light from the light source device to be separated into a plurality of wavelength regions.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 relate to one embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus, and FIG. 2 being an explanatory diagram of a rotating filter.

An endoscope device using a light source connector adapter has a solid-state image element 1 at the tip, for example, as shown by reference numeral 1 in FIG.
an electronic endoscope (hereinafter referred to as an endoscope) 2 having an elongated insertion section 7 in which a light source 8 is disposed; a light source device 6 that supplies illumination light to the endoscope 2; and the light source device 6
A light source connector adapter 5 is inserted between the light source device 6 and the light source connector adapter 5, which spectrally covers the white illumination light from the light source device 6 into illumination light in a plurality of wavelength regions in time series, and a light source connector adapter 5 which drives the solid state imaging element 18 and A video processor 3 that converts the video signal from the image sensor 18 into a standard video signal, and an observation monitor 4 that displays the aforementioned video signal from the video processor 3.
It is made up of.

The endoscope 2 includes an elongated insertion section 7, a large-diameter operation section 8 connected to the rear end of the insertion section 7, and a universal cord 9 extending to the side of the operation section 8. , a connector 10 provided at the end of the universal cord 9, a light guide cable 11 extending to the side of the operating section 8, and a connector 12 provided at the end of the light guide cable 11. It is configured.

An objective optical system 17 is provided at the distal end portion 13 at the distal end of the insertion portion 7.
, and the output end face of the light guide 15 are disposed.

A photoelectric conversion surface of the solid-state ML image element 18 is disposed at the imaging position of the objective optical system 17.

The light guide 15 includes the insertion section 7 and the operation section 8.
and is installed inside the light guide cable 11, with the input end surface protruding from the connector 12.

A drive signal line 19 and a carrier signal line 20 are connected to the solid-state image sensor 18 . The drive signal line 19 and the imaging signal line 20 are installed inside the insertion section 7, the operation section 8, and the universal cord 9, and the drive signal line 19 is connected to a contact pin 10b arranged on the connector 10. The imaging signal line 20 is connected to a contact pin 10a provided on the connector 10.

The connector 10 is provided with the contact pins 10a and 10b as described above, as well as a contact pin 10c, and the dimming signal line 16 is connected to this contact pin IOC. This dimming signal line 1
6 is installed inside the universal cord 9, the operating section 8, and the light guide cable 11, and is connected to a contact pin 12a provided on the connector 12.

The video processor 3 includes a timing pulse generator 2 that supplies predetermined timing pulses to various parts installed in the video processor 3, which will be described later, and a servo circuit 31, which will be described later, installed in the light source connector adapter 5, which will be described later.
1, and a CC for driving the solid state 11fflli element 18.
A D drive circuit 22, a video signal processor 23 that converts the image signal from the solid-state image sensor 18 into a standard video signal, and a video level, which is, for example, brightness information, of the video signal described above from the video signal processor 23 is detected. contact pins 10A to 10C disposed to face contact pins 10a to 10c of a connector to which the connector 10 of the endoscope 2 is detachably connected; , a J8 terminal 25 for outputting the above-mentioned timing pulse to the light source connector adapter 5, and a terminal 26 for outputting the above-mentioned video signal to the observation monitor 4 are provided, for example, on the surface of the casing.

The light source device 6 includes a lamp 4 as a light source that supplies illumination light.
5, and a lamp drive circuit 44 that drives this lamp 45.
, a diaphragm 43 that increases or decreases the amount of illumination light described above, a solenoid 42 that drives this diaphragm 43 , a dimming circuit 41 that controls and drives this solenoid 42 , and a diaphragm 41 that controls and drives the solenoid 42 , and supplies the illumination light that is described above to the light source connector adapter 5 . A condenser lens 46 condensing light on the incident end face of a light guide 34 (described later) installed therein and a connector 38 (described later) of the light source connector adapter 5 are arranged so as to face contact pins 38a of the connector to which they are removably connected. A contact pin 38A is provided on the surface of the housing, for example.

The light source connector adapter 5 includes a light guide 34 that is, for example, a fiber bundle that guides the illumination light from the light source device 6, and a light guide 34 that is installed inside the endoscope 2 and that guides the illumination light emitted from the light guide 34. The light guide 15
A condenser lens 35 that condenses and irradiates light onto the 0-incidence end surface, a cover glass 36 inserted between the condenser lens 35 and the light guide 15, and the light guide 3.
4 and the condenser lens 35 to emit illumination light of, for example, R (red) and G (green).

A rotating filter 33 that performs spectroscopy in the B (divine) wavelength region in time series, and a motor 3 that rotationally drives this rotating filter 33.
2, a servo circuit 31 for controlling and driving this motor 32, and a signal line 37 for connecting contact pins 12Δ, 38a, which will be described later, are installed therein, and are detachably connected to the light source device 6, and are connected to the contact pins described below. 38a is provided, and the terminal 30 for introducing the timing pulse mentioned above from the video processor 3 and the contact pin 12a of the connector to which the connector 12 of the endoscope 2 is detachably connected are provided. Contact pins 12A arranged to face each other are provided, for example, on the surface of the casing.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rotary filter 19 divides a substantially disk-shaped member into sections of 120 degrees, each with R, G,
An optical filter that transmits light in the wavelength range B is provided,
The pressure is regulated at the center point on the shaft of the motor 32.

A lamp 45 installed in the light device 6 is driven by the lamp drive circuit 44, and the illumination light from the lamp 45 is converted into a suitable light i by a comparison 43, as described later, by the condenser lens 46. The light is condensed and irradiated onto the incident end surface of a light guide 34 installed inside the light source connector adapter 5.

The illumination light supplied to the incident end face of the light guide 34 is guided through the light guide 34 and is irradiated from the outgoing end face of the light guide 34 to the condenser lens 35 .
The light guide 1 is inserted into the endoscope 2 via
5 is condensed and irradiated.

As described above, the illumination light supplied to the incident end face of the light guide 150 is guided through the light guide 15 and is irradiated onto, for example, the subject 14 from the outgoing end face of the light guide 15 disposed at the tip portion 13. It looks like this.

As described above, the image of the subject 14 irradiated with illumination light is formed on the photoelectric conversion surface of the solid-state image sensor 18 by the objective optical system 17 disposed at the tip 13. ing.

The solid-state image sensor 18 is driven by an image signal from the COD drive circuit 22 internally included in the video processor 3 via the contact pins 10B, 10b and the image signal line 99, and as a result of this drive, as described above, The image of the subject 14 formed on the photoelectric conversion surface is photoelectrically converted and sent as a carrier signal to the video signal processor 23 internally stored in the video processor 3 via the carrier signal 11i120, contact pin 1Qa, and IOA. It is now entered.

As described above, the video signal processor 23 converts the image signal input from the solid-state image sensor 18 into a standard video signal and outputs it to the observation monitor 4 via the terminal 26.

Incidentally, a timing pulse, which is a synchronizing signal, is supplied to the COD drive circuit 22 and the video signal processor 234 by the timing pulse generator 21, and the above-described processing is performed using this timing pulse. Furthermore, this timing pulse is applied to the terminal 25.
The light is supplied to the servo circuit 31 provided inside the light source connector adapter 5 via the light source connector adapter 30 .

The servo circuit 31 controls and drives the motor 32 in synchronization with the above-mentioned timing pulse.

As described above, the motor 32 is rotated by the drive of the servo circuit 31, and the rotary filter 33 is rotated in conjunction with this rotation.

Due to the rotation of the rotary filter 33 described above, the lamp 45 of the light source device 6 passes through the light guide 34.
The illumination light is converted into illumination light in the R7G and B wavelength regions in time series by the optical filter disposed in the rotary filter 33, and is transmitted to the light guide disposed in the endoscope 2 as described above. The light is supplied to the incident end face of No. 15.

Therefore, as mentioned above, the video transmission processor 23 installed in the video processor 3 can process the time-series R, G,
The image of the subject 14 captured by the B illumination light is synchronized and converted into a standard color video signal.

Further, a video level detection circuit 24 installed in the video processor 3 obtains a carrier signal from the video signal processor 23, converts this imaging signal into a video signal level, which is, for example, a luminance signal level, and converts the image signal into a video signal level, which is a luminance signal level, and adjusts the brightness. A signal is sent to the contact pin IOC, 10C1, the dimming signal line 16, the contact pins 12a, 12, and the light source device 6 via the signal line 37 and the contact pins 38a, 38A.
The light is output to the dimming circuit 41 installed inside the dimmer.

The light control circuit 41 controls and drives the solenoid 42 using the light control signal described above, and this solenoid 42 controls the aperture 43 by the control drive described above, and directs the illumination light from the lamp 45 to the subject 14. The amount of light increases or decreases to provide the appropriate amount of light for the image.

The light source device 6 includes an endoscope 51 that uses an image guide, for example, and requires white illumination light, and a light guide cable 53 extending from the side of the endoscope 51.
The connector 54 provided at the end of the connector 54 connects the connector 54 removably. Eyepiece part 52 of this endoscope 51
In addition to observing with the naked eye, for example, five cameras for still photography may be detachably connected.

The light 8i configured in this way! The function of the connector adapter will be explained.

A lamp 45 installed in the light source device 6 is driven by the lamp drive circuit 44, and the illumination light from the lamp 45 is divided into appropriate pieces of light by a diaphragm 43 and passed through a condenser lens 4.
6, the light is focused and irradiated onto the incident end surface of the light guide 34 installed inside the light source connector adapter 5.

The illumination light supplied to the incident end surface of the light guide 34 is guided through the light guide 34 and irradiated from the exit surface of the light guide 34 to a condenser lens 35, which illuminates a cover glass 36. The light is condensed and irradiated onto a light guide 15 installed inside the endoscope 2 through the light beam.

Further, the rotary filter 33 inserted between the light guide 34 and the condenser lens 35 is connected to the motor 3.
It is rotationally driven by 2.

The motor 32 is driven by a servo circuit 31 that is controlled and driven by a timing pulse that is a synchronizing signal from a timing pulse generator 21 installed in the video processor 3.

Therefore, the light guide 1 installed inside the endoscope 2
The rotary filter 33 rotates in synchronization with the video processor 3 so that illumination light in the wavelength range required by the video processor 3 is supplied to the video processor 5 .

That is, the light source connector adapter 5 allows the light source connector to be connected to the light source connector. [The white light from the i2 device 6 is R and G in time series.

It becomes the plane-sequential light of B and is supplied to the endoscope @2, so
The light source device @6 does not need to be provided with a structure that generates field-sequential light; for example, an image guide may be used. This has the advantage that an optical #li device for JAm can be used.

Note that the light guide installed in the optical '#A connector adapter is not limited to a fiber bundle, and may be of any type as long as it can guide illumination light, such as using a Selfox lens.

Furthermore, the space between the light source connector adapter and the connector of the light source connector adapter may be a rigid structure made of metal, or a flexible structure such as a light guide cable. You can. Furthermore, the distance between the light source connector adapter and the connector of the light source connector adapter may be an appropriate length for configuring the endoscope.

Further, the servo circuit may be installed internally in the video processor.

Furthermore, if a signal line built into the endoscope is available, a timing pulse from a timing pulse generator may be supplied to the light source connector adapter via the endoscope.

Further, the dimming signal may be output directly from the video processor to the light source device or to the optical Nu device via a light source connector adapter.

Furthermore, the wavelength ranges that are analyzed in time series are R and G.

The wavelength range is not limited to B, and other wavelength ranges may be used.

In addition, the plurality of wavelength ranges is not limited to the three wavelength ranges of R, G, and B, for example, but may also be a combination of visible light and invisible light, even if it is more than three wavelength ranges including fluorescence, etc. Good too.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, a light source device that supplies white illumination light to an endoscope has a simple structure and can be easily used as a light source for a field-sequential electronic endoscope device. can,
This has the effect of reducing the burden on the user, such as not requiring a new light source device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope device, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a rotary filter, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are related to conventional technology. Regarding this, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a rotary filter. 2... Endoscope 6... Light source device 5...
Adapter for light source connector

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A light source connector adapter inserted between a light source plug provided at an end of a universal cord of an endoscope and a light source device that supplies illumination light to the endoscope, comprising: 1. An adapter for a light source connector, comprising: a rotating filter that separates illumination light into a plurality of wavelength regions; and a driving means for driving the rotating filter.