JPH0430831A - Enddoscope apparatus for measurement - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve an accurate measurement with a clear detection of a pattern for measurement by arranging a means to pick up an object illuminated by an observation lighting means and an image of an object separated in color by a color separation means and a computing means to perform a measurement and computation related to a position of measuring light on the object image by color information obtained by the pick-up means. CONSTITUTION:An image of an object is separated into multiple color information by an observation light projecting means which comprises a lamp 21, a condenser lens 22, a rotary filter 23, a motor 24 and a timing controller 25, illumination light (spot light) projected by a measuring light projecting means comprising a laser drive circuit 28 and a laser diode 8 is converted to a color signal in a wavelength area with a lower reflection factor of the object out of the multiple color information separated in color to perform a color separation and the image of the object separated in color by a color separation means is picked up, which enables clear detection of the spot light for measurement. This enables the accomplishing of measurement and computation accurately as related to a position of the measuring light on the object based on the color information obtained from the pick-up means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a measuring endoscope device that can measure the distance of a subject by irradiating the subject with measurement light for measurement.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, endoscopes have come to be widely used in the medical and industrial fields.

By the way, in multiple images obtained by multiple optical systems with parallax, points corresponding to the same point on the subject are
It is known that by detecting how far the two objects deviate from each other, it is possible to calculate the distance to the object using the principle of triangulation. It has also been proposed to apply this principle to obtain three-dimensional positional information of an arbitrary point on a subject using an endoscope.

On the other hand, the distance to the subject is measured by irradiating the subject with two-dimensional spot lights at regular intervals and applying the fact that the interval between the spot lights changes depending on the distance between the spot light irradiation source and the subject. Endoscopes that do this have also been proposed.

An endoscope that can perform measurements based on each of the measurement principles described above has the function of emitting a spot light for measurement and performing measurements based on this, and is also equipped with a light source that emits illumination light for observation. It is generally equipped with a function for normal observation.

However, while the spot light is being projected onto the subject, the observation illumination light is simultaneously irradiated.

, similar spot light is generated due to its reflected component,
In addition, when spot light hits living tissue and blurs, the difference in brightness between the area where the spot light is projected and other areas becomes less significant, and connections between spots occur, making it difficult to determine the exact center position of each spot. There was a problem in that it became difficult to perform accurate measurements.

In order to solve these problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-24
Publication No. 2232 discloses a transmission type fiber diffraction grating that is attached to the tip of a scope and diffracts laser light from a laser light source to project a desired diffraction pattern onto the object to be measured, and a transmission type fiber diffraction grating that is attached to the tip of the scope. The imaging means is mounted at a predetermined interval and captures a projected image of a diffraction pattern generated on the object to be measured, and from the output of the imaging means extracts color information specific to the laser light from the laser light source. An endoscope comprising a color information extraction means and a processing means for recognizing a diffraction pattern projected onto the object to be measured using the color information extracted by the color information extraction means and performing a required measurement of the object to be measured. A mirror device has been proposed.

According to this endoscope, color information specific to laser light is extracted, so the above-mentioned problem can be solved.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional endoscope described above that extracts and emphasizes color information unique to laser light, when the subject, such as biological mucous membrane, exhibits a red tone, using red (R) laser light will reduce the color information from the subject. There is a problem in that the amount of reflected light becomes very large, making it difficult to separate the observation image from the pattern image for measurement. Furthermore, in the above-mentioned endoscope, when a measurement pattern is projected using green (G) and blue (B) laser beams when the subject exhibits a red tone, absorption in the subject is reduced. Since there are so many patterns, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to detect the pattern projection position of the far point.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a measurement endoscope device that can clearly detect a measurement pattern and perform measurement with high accuracy.

[Means to solve the problem]

The measurement endoscope device of the present invention includes an observation irradiation unit that irradiates a subject with observation light, and a measurement light irradiation unit that irradiates the subject with measurement light for measurement. The object image is separated into a plurality of color information by the means, and the illumination light irradiated by the measurement light irradiation means is divided into at least a wavelength region of low reflectance in the object among the plurality of color information obtained by color-separating the object. a color separation means for converting into a color signal including a color signal and performing color separation; and an imaging means for capturing an image of the subject irradiated by the observation irradiation means and the subject color-separated by the color separation means;
It is characterized by comprising a calculation means for performing a measurement calculation related to the measurement light position on the subject image based on the color information obtained by the image pickup means.

[Effect]

In the present invention, when measuring the shape of a subject, the wavelength of the measurement light used is set to a wavelength that is less absorbed by the subject,
The obtained measurement light is subjected to the same processing as for images at wavelengths that are highly absorbed by living organisms to perform color separation, so that clear measurement light can be obtained, thereby obtaining highly accurate shape data.

〔Example〕

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

FIGS. 1 to 5 relate to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of the endoscope measuring device, FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the irradiation timing of observation light and laser light, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a spot image on the CCD.
FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams showing the principle of distance measurement.

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscopic measuring device of this embodiment is
It uses a frame-sequential imaging method, and includes an electronic endoscope 1 and a control unit 20 connected to the electronic endoscope 1.
, a television monitor 29R129L connected to this control unit 20, and the control unit 2.
The computer includes a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) 30 connected to the computer 0, and a personal computer monitor 31 connected to the personal computer 30.

The electronic endoscope 1 includes an elongated and visible insertion section 2, an operation section 3 connected to the rear end of the insertion section 2, and a universal cord extending from the side of the operation section 3. 4. A connector 5 connected to the control unit 20 is provided at the end of the universal cord 4. At the distal end of the insertion section 2, objective lenses 6R and 6L are provided at two positions with parallax. QcDs 7R and 7L are disposed at each imaging position of the objective lenses 6R and 6L, respectively. In addition, a laser diode 8 that emits measurement light is installed at the tip of the insertion section 2.
is provided. This laser diode 8 emits, for example, red light, and this light is focused by a condensing lens 9,
The light is projected onto the subject 10 as a spot light. The CCDD 7R, 7L and the laser diode 8
The signal line connected to is inserted through the insertion section 2, the operation section 3, and the universal cord 4, and is connected to the connector 5. In addition, a light guide 12 is provided at the distal end of the insertion section 2.
The distal end surface of is located. This light guide 12 is
It is inserted through the insertion section 2, the operating section 3, and the universal cord 4, and its input end is connected to the connector 5.

A lamp 21 that emits observation light is provided in the control unit 20, and on the optical path between the lamp 21 and the incident end of the light guide 12, from the lamp 21 side, a condenser lens 22, a rotating A filter 23 is provided. The rotating filter 23 has filters arranged along the circumferential direction that transmit light in red (R), green (G), and blue (B) wavelength regions, and is rotated by a motor 24 to Each filter is sequentially inserted into the illumination optical path.

In addition, the CCD 7 is provided in the control unit 20.
A video circuit 26R126L connected to R, 7L and a laser drive circuit 28 connected to the laser diode 8 are provided. The laser drive diagram 828 can be switched from a mode in which the oscillation timing is transmitted in synchronization with the timing controller 25 to a mode in which no oscillation is performed using a mode switching signal MS.

The video circuits 26R and 26L each have a CCD7R.
, 7L, and CCD 7R.

The output signal of 7L is subjected to video processing.

Further, a frame memory 27R is connected to the video circuit 26R, and a frame memory 27L is connected to the video circuit 26L.

A personal computer 30 and a television monitor 29R are connected to the frame memory 27R, and a personal computer 30 and a television monitor 29L are connected to the frame memory 27L.

Also, the laser drive circuit 28, frame memories 27R, 2
The timing of 7L is controlled by a timing controller 25.

Here, the color separation means selects the laser diode 8 that can output a laser beam with a wavelength that is often reflected from the subject, and when the observation illumination light obtained through the rotating filter 23 has a wavelength that is easily absorbed by the subject. Furthermore, by outputting a spot light from the laser diode 8, a spot reflected light having a wavelength that is easily absorbed by the subject can be obtained.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

The light emitted from the lamp 21 is condensed by a condenser lens 22, and transmitted through each filter of a rotating filter 23, thereby being separated in time series into light in the R, G, and H wavelength regions. R, G in this chronological order.

The observation illumination light separated into B is the light 1 of the electronic endoscope 1.
- The light enters the entrance end of the guide 12 and is irradiated toward the subject 10 from the distal end of the insertion section 2 of the electronic endoscope 1.

On the other hand, the laser drive circuit 28 can be switched between a measurement mode and an observation mode by a mode switching signal MS.

Here, when the observation mode is selected, the laser diode 8 does not oscillate as shown in FIG. 2, but performs normal observation. In this case, the video signals obtained by the CCDs 7R and 7L are It is processed by the circuit 26R126L and stored in the frame memories 27R and 27L. The data from the frame memories 27R and 27L are sent to the TV monitor 29R1.
Visualized on 29L.

When the measurement mode is selected at time t as shown in FIG. 2(c) by the mode switching signal MS, the observation light is switched to B as shown in FIG. 2(a) in synchronization with the timing controller 25. At the timing of color illumination, the laser drive circuit 28 drives the laser diode 8 to illuminate the subject 10 with spot light.

Here, when a living body mucous membrane is being measured as a subject, the subject exhibits a reddish tone due to the pigment contained in the living body.

This means that the reflection of R color is larger than the reflection of B and G colors, and conversely, the illumination light in the wavelength range of B and G colors is
This means that the absorption is large compared to the color. Therefore, the oscillation wavelength of the laser diode 8 is set to the general red color,
Alternatively, by selecting a long wavelength such as an infrared region, it is possible to obtain a spot light with a sufficient amount of light for measurement even if the oscillation intensity is weak with little absorption into the biological mucous membrane.

On the other hand, among the R, G, and H illumination lights that are illumination lights for observation, the reflected light of B illumination light is extremely weak for the above-mentioned reason. Therefore, by using the timing controller 25 to illuminate the substrate light with the long wavelength laser diode 8, which is less absorbed by biological mucous membranes, at the illumination timing of the B color of the observation light, a clear measurement spot can be created even in a distant view. You will get light.

A subject such as a biological mucous membrane is imaged by objective lenses 6R and 6L using observation light and laser light, and then captured on a CCD 7R.

After photoelectric conversion in 7L, video circuit 26R226L
A color image of the biological mucous membrane and a measuring spot light from the laser diode 8 are visualized.

Here, in the above embodiment, although the oscillation wavelength of the laser diode 8 is long-wavelength light that is difficult to be absorbed by the living body, since the observation light is irradiated at the timing of the B-color illumination, the B-color is processed as an image.

The processed images are stored in the frame memories 27R, 27L and displayed as images on the television monitor 29R129L. Further, the spot light images stored in the frame memories 27R and 27L are input to the personal computer 30, and the distance from the tip of the electronic endoscope 1 to the spot light on the subject is calculated.

When staining with methylene blue, Congo red, etc. during observation, if the level becomes smaller than the G or R component of the observed image due to a change in the spectral characteristics of the subject, check the timing control!・Roller 25
The emission timing of the laser light source 34 is changed from B color to G color by
The above change may be made automatically to the emission timing of the illumination light of the lowest image among each GB of the observed image.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2(d), measurement light is irradiated from the laser diode 8 at the timing of R color, which is reflected more by the living body, and B color, which is less reflected by the living body. , since the measurement light develops Mg (magenta) color,
Thereby, the measurement light may be separated from the illumination light.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the computer 30
The principle of distance measurement will be explained below.

In order to simplify the explanation, FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams cut along a plane including the optical axis of the objective lens 6R16L.

As shown in FIG.
The image is focused on points A and B above. The line segment connecting the center C of the objective lenses 6R, 6L and the point A is translated in parallel, and the 0 point is superimposed on the center of the objective lens 6R.

At this time, point A will be located at point A' on the CCDTR. Point A on CCD7L, point B, A on CCD7R
An example of ' is shown in 36(a) and 36(b), respectively. As shown in FIG.
are similar, and their heights h and f have the following relationship.

h:f=CD:A'B Therefore, h=fl/d...(1) Furthermore,
h is the distance between the point P and the line connecting the centers of the lenses 6R and 6L, f is the distance between the objective lenses 6R and 6L and the CCDs 7R and 7L, and 1 is the distance between the centers of the objective lenses 6R and 6L. Yes, d is A'B.

Also, as shown in FIG. 5, draw the optical axis from the center of the objective lens 6L, and mark the point where this optical axis intersects the CCD 7L as M,
Let Q be the intersection point of the point P perpendicular to the optical axis.

Triangle PQC and triangle AMC are similar, and their heights, f, have the following relationship.

h:f=PQ:AM Therefore, W=eh/f Note that W is the distance from point P to the optical axis of objective lens 6L (distance between points PQ), and e is the distance between points AM.

By substituting equation (1) into the above equation, the following equation (2) is obtained.

W=el/d...(2) As shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), if the laser spot light image 45 is focused on points A and H, the left and right sides on the CCD The image shift d and the distance e of the spot light image 45 on the CCD 7L from one optical axis can be easily calculated using the personal computer 30.

Further, f is derived from the positional relationship between the objective lenses 6R, 6L and the CCDs 7R, 7L, and the objective lens 6R.

The interval of 6L, or parallax 1, is known.

Therefore, by determining the distances d and e on the personal computer 30 and substituting them into the equations (1) and (2), h and W are calculated. That is, the positional relationship between the center of the objective lens 6L and the spot light on the subject is determined. the result,
The distance PC between the center of the objective lens 6L and the spot light P on the subject is determined as PC=(W2 + h2) 1/2. Similarly, the distance between the objective lens 6R and the spot light P on the subject can also be determined.

Note that the distance measurement results are displayed on the personal computer monitor 31.

The spot light image can also be displayed on the computer monitor 31 if necessary.
may be displayed.

In this way, in the first embodiment, as described above, the lamp 2
1, condensing lens 22, rotating filter 23, motor 24,
The observation light irradiation means consisting of the timing controller 25 separates the object image into a plurality of color information, and the laser drive circuit 28
By converting the illumination light (spot light) emitted by the measurement light emitting means consisting of the laser diode 8 into a color signal in a wavelength range where the reflectance of the subject is low among the plurality of color information separated by the color, By performing separation and capturing a color-separated subject image using a color separation means, it is possible to clearly detect the spot light for measurement.

Thereby, measurement calculations related to the position of the measurement light on the subject can be calculated with high accuracy based on the color information obtained from the imaging means.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a spot image on a CCD in a second embodiment of the present invention.

In the first embodiment, there was only one laser spot, but in this embodiment, by using two laser diodes 8 or by splitting the laser beam with a glass fiber or the like, it is possible to create a spot on the subject.・It is designed to emit two lights.

When you shine two lights on the subject like this,
The spot light images on CCD 7R and 7L are respectively 6th
It becomes as shown in the figure (a>, (b)).

In the figure, points J, S, and R correspond to the same spot I on the subject, respectively. Also, point J',
' is CCD7R corresponding to points J and K on CCD7L.
This is the point above.

Based on the same principle as in the first embodiment, the deviation between the left and right images on the CCD corresponding to each spot and the deviation from the optical axis of the spot light image on the CCD 7L, that is, e in FIG.
yl, ey2. exl, ex2. dxl, dx2. dy
Based on l and dy2, the positional relationship between the center of the objective lens 6L and the two spot lights on the subject is determined. the result,
The distance between two spotlights on the subject can be calculated.

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

7 to 10 relate to a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a measurement endoscope device according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the same embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the distal end component of the endoscope, FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the characteristics of the optical filter in COD, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the same embodiment.

First, the configuration of the measurement endoscope device will be explained using FIGS. 7 and 8. The light guide 35 guides the laser light from the laser light source 34, and the light guide guides the observation light from the white light source 36. The guide 37 is bundled, and the tip component includes a transmission type fiber analysis grating 38, an observation light illumination lens 39, a CCD 40, an optical filter 41 that separates the subject image into color information, and an objective lens 42. The electronic endoscope 43 is configured by providing the above.

In the electronic endoscope 43, the laser light from the laser light source 34 is guided to the transmission type fiber analysis grating 38 via the light guide 35, and is formed into a matrix of light spots 55 at regular intervals by the transmission type fiber analysis grating 38. The light is irradiated onto the subject 56. The observation light from the white light source 36 is transmitted through the light guide 37.
The light is guided through the lens 39 and irradiated onto the subject 56 .

Subject 5 illuminated with observation light and laser light spot light
6 is a CCD via an objective lens 42 and an optical filter 41.
40. The image on the CCD 40 is converted into an electrical signal and input to the camera control 44. The video signal formed by the camera control) roll 44 is
The decoder 45 converts the signals into R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color component signals, which are then digitized by the A/D converter 46. The output of the A/D conversion converter 46 is
It is stored in the frame memory 47. The data stored in this frame memory 47 is transferred to the D/A converter 48.
After being converted into an analog signal, it is displayed on the monitor 49.

A predetermined color signal, for example a B signal, from the decoder 45 is input to a comparison calculation section 50. A reference signal from a reference level generation section 51 is input to this comparison calculation section 50 . The result of the comparison by the comparison calculation section 50 is detected by the spot coordinate detection section 52 and stored in the memory 53 .

The data in this memory 53 can be read out and displayed on the monitor 54 or monitor 49.

Next, the operation will be explained using FIGS. 9 and 10.

First, as shown in FIG. 9, the optical filter 41 is composed of filters arranged in a mosaic pattern in which three colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow are arranged in a mosaic pattern. The filters other than the magenta filter are made to have infrared light cutting characteristics, and the laser light source 34 is made to be capable of outputting infrared laser light.

Under these conditions, the tip of the electronic endoscope 43 is positioned at the subject 56.
insert it into the section. Then, by operating the laser light source 34, the laser light is guided to the transmission type fiber analysis grating 38 via the light guide 35, and the transmission type fiber analysis grating 38 converts the laser light into a matrix of light spots 55 at regular intervals to the subject 56. is irradiated.

Observation light from the white light source 36 is guided by a light guide 37 and irradiated onto the subject 56 via a lens 39. The object 56 illuminated with observation light and laser light is
Objective lens 42, optical filter 41 having the characteristics shown in FIG.
The image is formed on the CCD 40 via the . When the video signal output from the CCD 40 is input to the camera control 44, the color calculation circuit (
(not shown) to obtain a luminance signal and a color difference signal, which are supplied to the decoder 45. The signal given to the horizontal decoder 45 is converted into R, 'G, B by the decoder 45.
The color component information is converted from A/D by an A/D converter 46 and stored in a frame memory 47. The data from the frame memory 47 is D/A converted by a D/A converter 48 and displayed in color on a monitor 49.

On the other hand, regarding the measurement of the subject 56, for example, the B-hull component information obtained by the decoder 45 is subjected to noise processing (step 57) and then guided to the comparison calculation section 50. The comparison calculation section 50 receives the reference level T from the reference level generation section 51.
Only level components higher than the reference level Th are extracted (step 58). The output from the comparison calculation unit 50 is input to the spot coordinate detection unit 52, and the spot coordinate detection unit 52 detects the level components higher than the reference level Th. 1"
Then, binarization processing is performed in which the small portion is set to "0" (step 59). The data thus obtained is further thinned in the spot coordinate detection unit 52 to obtain the center point of the spot (step 6).
0). Then, based on the image of the spot light pattern,
Detecting coordinates in the parallax direction corresponding to a predetermined interval set between the transmission type fiber analysis grating 38 and the CCD 40,
Coordinate data of each light spot is determined (step 61
), the coordinate data obtained in this way is stored in the memory 5.
3 (step 62).

The data thus stored in the memory 53 is read out as appropriate and displayed on the monitor 54.

This third embodiment uses a laser light source 34 that irradiates observation light from a white light source 36 onto a subject 56 and emits, for example, red laser light or infrared laser light that is well reflected by the subject.
, the object obtained by the observation light and the measurement light (laser light spot) is separated by the optical filter 41, the light spot is separated by passing through the light filter 41 of the color that reflects the least in the object, and this is transferred to the CCD 40. Take an image with By processing this captured video signal, the distance of the video can be determined.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a measurement endoscope device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a fiber scope 63 and two television cameras 64 are used instead of the electronic endoscope 1 in the first embodiment.
R,64L is used. Also, fiberscope 63
The color separation means of the third embodiment is adopted by the two television cameras 64R and 64L. That is, in the fourth embodiment, white observation light is used, red laser light/infrared laser light is used as measurement light to irradiate a laser spot, and the reflection of the subject is detected by filters for separating the three primary colors of the television cameras 64R and 64L. The laser spot is reliably extracted by extracting a color signal that includes color information in a wavelength range with few wavelengths.

Here, in the fourth embodiment, the fiber scope 63
At the rear end of the operation unit 3, an eyepiece 65R corresponding to the right eye and an eyepiece 65L corresponding to the left eye are provided. In addition, CCD 7R,
The tip surfaces of image guides 66R and 66L are arranged instead of 7L. This image guide 66R, 66
A tip surface of L is provided. This image guide 66
R and 66L are inserted through the insertion section 2 and the operating section 3, and the rear end portions are exposed to the eyepiece sections 65R and 65L. The objects imaged by the objective lenses 6R and 6L are transmitted to the eyepieces 65R and 65L by image guides 66R and 66L, respectively.
It can be observed from 5L. In addition, the eyepiece portions 65R and 65L are provided with the eyepiece portions 65R and 65L, respectively.
An ultra-small television camera 6 that captures images observed from
4R and 64L are connected. This TV camera 64
R and 64L are respectively connected to video circuits 7IR and 71L in a control unit 70 similar to the third embodiment. Further, in this embodiment, a laser light guide 69 is provided. This laser light guide 69
is inserted into the insertion section 2 , and the entrance section is connected to a laser unit 73 including a laser diode 72 . Further, the tip of the laser light guide 69 is bendable so that the laser spot can be projected to any position on the subject. This laser light guide 69
The fiberscope 63 may be provided with a means for bending it on its distal side, or it may be introduced into the distal end through the forceps channel of the fiberscope 63 and changed in the direction of the distal end using a forceps lifting device built into the fiberscope 63. You can also do it.

According to this embodiment, the position of the measurement laser spot can be changed while keeping the observation image fixed.

The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the operation,
The effect is similar to that of the third embodiment.

Next, FIGS. 12 and 13 relate to an application example of the present invention, FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an application example of the present invention, and FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an application example of the present invention.
The figure is an explanatory view showing the structure of the tip.

The application example shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 is an endoscopic measuring device that includes an observation irradiation unit that irradiates observation light onto a subject, and a measurement light irradiation unit that irradiates measurement light onto the subject for measurement. An imaging means for imaging the object irradiated by the observation irradiation means and the measurement light irradiation means, and a color for extracting the measurement light from two highly correlated color information among the color information of the object obtained by the imaging means. The apparatus includes a separation means and a calculation means for performing measurement calculations related to the measurement light position on the subject image, and the specific configuration is as follows.

That is, to explain the configuration of the measurement endoscope device using FIGS. 12 and 13, there is an optical fiber 75 that guides the laser light from the laser light source 74, and a light that guides the observation light from the white light source 76. The fibers 77 are bundled together, and a transmission type fiber analysis grating 78 is provided at the tip component.
An electronic endoscope 83 is configured by providing an observation light illumination lens 79, a CCD 80, an optical filter 81 in which R, G, and B are arranged in a mosaic pattern to separate a subject image into color information, and an objective lens 82. has been done.

In the electronic endoscope 83, laser light from a laser light source 74 is guided to a transmission type fiber analysis grating 78 via an optical fiber 75, and is formed into a matrix of light spots 95 at regular intervals by the transmission type fiber analysis grating 78. The object 96 is irradiated with the light. Observation light from a white light source 76 is transmitted through an optical fiber 77 and irradiated onto a subject 96 via a lens 79. The object 96 illuminated by the observation light and the laser spot is imaged on the CCD 80 via the objective lens 82 and the optical filter 81. The image on the CCD 80 is converted into an electrical signal and input to the camera control 84. The video signal formed by the camera control 84 is sent to the decoder 8
5, the signals are converted into signals of each color component of R (red), G (green), and B (blue), and are digitized by an A/D converter 86. The output of the A/D converter 86 is stored in a frame memory 87. The data stored in the frame memory 87 is converted into an analog signal by a D/A converter 88 and then displayed on a monitor 89.

Here, the output of the D/A converter 88 is input to an auto gain circuit 9o that adjusts the levels of the G and 8 images, which have particularly good correlation. In the auto gain circuit 90, G
Match the levels of the B image signals. Auto gain circuit 9
The GB image signals whose levels have been matched at o are sent to a difference detector 91
to detect level differences. The level difference image detected by the difference detector 91 is processed in a waveform shaping circuit 94 to remove noise components other than the spot light and to output a waveform of only the spot light pattern. This output is the pattern shaping circuit 9
3, and this pattern shaping circuit 93 inputs 2.
It is designed to perform processing such as value conversion and thinning. The spot light pattern obtained in this way is stored on the computer 94.
information about the shape is calculated. The data regarding the shape obtained by this personal computer 94 is
It is designed to be displayed on the monitor 97.

The operation of the application example configured in this way will be explained below.

Laser light from a laser light source 74 is transmitted to a transmission type fiber analysis grating 78 via an optical fiber 75, and is formed into a matrix of light spots 9 at regular intervals at the transmission type fiber analysis grating 78.
5 and irradiates the subject 96. On the other hand, white light source 7
The observation light 6 is transmitted through an optical fiber 77 and irradiated onto a subject 96 via a lens 79. In this state, when the laser light source 73 irradiates light in the infrared region, the spot light is converted into eight images. Here, it is known that among the RGB images in an endoscope device that images biological mucous membranes, the 08 images have a very high correlation. Therefore, D
Of the RGB image signals output from the /A conversion converter 88, the GB image signals with high correlation are input to the auto gain circuit 90.

In the auto gain circuit 90, in order to improve the correlation between the GB images, the levels of the two types of images are made equal and inputted to the difference detection circuit 91. The difference detection circuit 91 detects the difference between two types of images. Here, in a normal endoscope image, there is only a small nozzle component, but since the measurement spot light is irradiated in 8 images, the spot light is converted into a B color signal and sent to the CCD 80. is input. Therefore, the image output by the difference detection circuit 91 is a spotlight. Next, the spot light image outputted by the difference detection circuit 91 is input to a waveform shaping circuit 92 and subjected to nozzle processing to shape the waveform, and a pattern shaping circuit 93 performs binarization and thinning processing. The spot light pattern obtained in this manner is input to the personal computer 94 as shape data. The personal computer 94 performs arithmetic processing on the shape data and displays the shape data on the TV monitor 9.
7 can be displayed.

According to such an application example, since the spot illumination light for measurement is detected from the GB image data with good correlation, the observer can obtain shape data of the object while observing the normal image. .

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a second application example of the present invention.

This second application example includes a field-sequential electronic scope 101 that visualizes time-series color-separated images, a measurement endoscope device 102 that employs the field-sequential system, and an electronic scope 101.
A laser oscillation device 103 that illuminates a subject with a spot light in order to obtain shape data, and a measurement endoscope equipment W102.
a selector 104 that selects two types of images with high correlation among the respective RGB image signals output from the selector 104, and A/D conversion circuits 106 and 107 that convert the two image signals selected by the selector 104 into digital data, respectively. Then, the selector 104 is controlled to calculate the correlation between the image data output from the Δ/D conversion circuits 106 and 107 and select the two types of images with the highest correlation, and also to control the selector 104 so as to select the two types of images with the highest correlation. Correlation calculator 1 for calculating locations
08, a spot light coordinate detector 109 that calculates the coordinates of the spot light from the data of locations with poor correlation calculated by the correlation calculator 108, a memory circuit 110 that records the calculated spot light coordinates, and a memory circuit 110 that records the calculated spot light coordinates. a personal computer 111 that calculates data regarding the shape of the subject from the coordinates obtained;
It is composed of a TV monitor 112 that displays calculation results.

The operation of the second application example configured in this way will be explained below.

In order to calculate the shape of the subject using the electronic endoscope 101, which can also be used for normal observation, a measurement start signal is input to the timing controller 105 and the correlation calculator 108 using a foot switch. The correlation calculator 108 calculates the correlation between two types of images and selects the two types of images with the best correlation by switching between them using a selector. This correlation calculator 108
After the selection is completed, drives the laser oscillation device 103 via the timing controller 105 for one of the illumination timings of the two types of images with good correlation among the illumination timings of the illumination device installed in the measurement endoscope device 102. do. As a result, the measurement spot light is illuminated from the tip component. The illuminated spot light image is captured by the electronic endoscope 101, visualized by the measurement endoscope device 102, and then the selector 104 selects two images with good correlation, one of which is illuminated with the measurement spot light. Two types of images are selected with the selector, A / D = 77 barter 106.107 G
, : After being converted into a digital signal, a correlation calculator 1゜8
Calculate two types of correlation. Here, since the spot light illumination for measurement is irradiated on one of the two types of images with good correlation, the point where the correlation calculated by the correlation calculator 108 is extremely out of the range is detected as the spot light. Output to coordinate detector 109. A spot light coordinate detector 109 detects the coordinates of each spot light detected by the correlation calculator 108, and a memory 110 records the coordinates of each spot light. Thereafter, shape data of the subject is calculated by the personal computer 111 and then displayed on the TV monitor 112.

In an application example configured in this way, by calculating well-correlated images before spot light irradiation, it is possible to accurately calculate spot light even for normal images and various stained images, and to calculate each shape data of the subject. Calculation becomes possible.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the object image by the observation light irradiation means is separated into a plurality of color information, and the illumination light irradiated by the measurement light irradiation means is divided into a plurality of colors obtained by color-separating the object image. Among the information, color separation is performed as a color signal in the wavelength range where the reflectance of the object is low, and the measurement light beam is clearly obtained by imaging the color-separated object and the object image irradiated by the measurement light irradiation means. This has the effect that it becomes possible to detect the object, and that measurement calculations related to the position of the measurement light on the object can be calculated with high accuracy based on the color information.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 to 5 relate to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of the endoscope measuring device, FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the irradiation timing of observation light and laser light, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a spot image on the CCD.
4 and 5 are explanatory views showing the principle of distance measurement, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a spot image on a CCD in the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 7 to 10 are explanatory views showing the spot image on the CCD in the second embodiment of the present invention. Regarding the third embodiment, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a measuring endoscope device according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the distal end component of the endoscope according to the third embodiment. , FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the characteristics of the optical filter in the CCD, FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the same embodiment, and FIG. 11 is an illustration of the measurement endoscope device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. 12 and 13 are related to an application example of the present invention, FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an application example of the present invention, FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the tip, and FIG. The figure is an explanatory diagram showing a second application example of the present invention. 1...Electronic endoscope, 7R, 7L...CCD, 8...
・Laser diode, 21... Lamp, 23... Filter, 25... Timing controller, 34...
...Laser light source, 36...White light source, 38...Transmissive fiber analysis grating, 40...CCD, 41...
Filter, 44...Camera control, 45...
Decoder) → =Mishu Fig. 2 Fig. 3 (a) (b) Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 9111 Fig. 10 Fig. 13 Fig. 14

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An endoscopic measuring device comprising observation irradiation means for irradiating observation light onto a subject, and measurement light irradiation means for irradiating measurement light onto the subject for measurement, comprising: an image of the subject by the observation irradiation means; is separated into a plurality of color information, and the illumination light irradiated by the measurement light irradiation means is divided into a plurality of color information obtained by color-separating the subject.
A color separation means for performing color separation by converting into a color signal including at least a color signal in a wavelength range where the reflectance of the object is low, and an image of the object irradiated by the observation irradiation means and the object color-separated by the color separation means. A measuring endoscope apparatus comprising: an imaging means for performing a measurement operation, and a calculation means for performing a measurement calculation related to a measurement light position on the subject image based on color information obtained by the imaging means.