JPH0577410B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an endoscopic diagnostic system.

Generally, when examining a patient using an endoscope,
The disease name is often determined by comparison with past diagnosed cases. By the way, when there is no past diagnosis (usually a photograph) or when an inexperienced doctor examines the patient, it is not possible to make an accurate comparative diagnosis. Therefore, unnecessary tests are often performed when determining the disease name.

The present invention was made in order to cope with the above-mentioned situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscopic diagnosis system that can instruct appropriate examinations according to the results of endoscopic examination.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the endoscopic diagnosis system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration. Endoscope 10
A television camera head 12 is connected to the eyepiece, and its output signal is supplied to a camera control unit (hereinafter referred to as CCU) 14. A light source unit 16 is also connected to the endoscope 10. The camera head 12 uses a CCD as an image sensor,
It has pixels arranged in a two-dimensional matrix and is used for color imaging. The output signal of the camera head 12 is color-adjusted by the CCU 14. The output signal of the CCU 14 is supplied to the CPU 20 via an interface 18 having functions such as A/D conversion.
ROM22, large capacity memory 24, CRT monitor 2
6. A keyboard 28 and a light pen 30 are connected to the CPU 20 via a system bus 32. ROM
22 is used for distance measurement, which will be described later. Mass memory 24 is used to store data for a large number of patients, and is comprised of magnetic disk memory or the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the endoscope 10 and the light source unit 16. Endoscope 10 has an image guide 36 and a light guide 38. A mask 40 having a mesh pattern is disposed at the tip of the light guide 38, and the other end of the light guide 38 is guided to the light source unit 16. Light source unit 16
It has two types of light sources: an illumination lamp 42 and a distance measuring laser oscillator 44, and light from both is incident on the light guide 38 via a half mirror 46. As a result, from the tip of the light guide 38, diffused light for illumination as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2 and spot light as shown by the broken line are emitted.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained. An overview of the operation is as follows.
First, an individual data table consisting of symptoms and disease names is created for each patient and filed in the large-capacity memory 24.Next, the symptoms of the patient to be diagnosed during endoscopic examination are filed in the large-capacity memory 24. The purpose is to determine the name of the disease by comparing it with all the data tables available. Symptoms obtained through endoscopic examination alone do not
If the disease name cannot be determined, specify the most necessary test items to determine the most likely disease name. After this, the test results are added to the individual data table and the comparisons described above are made. Here, the individual data table is roughly divided into medical record data, endoscopy data, and other examination data. Medical record data means name, gender, age, date of diagnosis, name of disease, etc. Endoscopic data refers to the site, shape, size, unevenness, color, etc. of the affected area. Other test data means the results of biopsy, dye reaction, contrast observation, fluorescence observation, stress test, etc.

Medical record data, excluding the disease name, are entered prior to the consultation. Endoscopic data is entered during an endoscopic examination. In endoscopic examination, an optical image of the inside of the body cavity formed on the objective lens is transmitted to the eyepiece section via the image guide 36, and is further imaged by the television camera head 12. The output image signal of the television camera head 12 is supplied to a CRT monitor 26, and an image inside the body cavity is displayed on the CRT monitor 26. Based on the image on the CRT monitor 26, endoscopic data such as the dimensions of the affected area can be obtained. Here, the image on the monitor 26 is often reduced in size compared to the real image, and this magnification is determined depending on the distance between the objective end of the endoscope and the wall of the body cavity. Therefore, unless the distance to the subject is known, the dimensions of the affected area cannot be determined.

Therefore, the distance measuring operation will be explained with reference to FIG. As described above, as the distance to the subject increases, the actual size that appears on the screen increases.
On the other hand, the spot light for distance measurement is emitted from the light guide 38 at a predetermined angle (in this case, along the light guide 38) within the field of view. Therefore, the spot light irradiation position within the screen varies depending on the distance to the subject, and distance measurement is possible by detecting this irradiation position. Specifically, if the spot light is irradiated on the diameter of a field of view (usually circular), the distance a between one end of this diameter and the irradiation position is
Use the fact that a′ is proportional to distance. These intervals a and a' are defined by the distance between a row of CCDs on the diameter of the field of view in the image sensor in the television camera head 12.
It is detected by which pixel in the array detects this irradiation position. The distance for this interval is determined in advance in consideration of various conditions of the optical system, etc., and is stored in the ROM 22. The CPU 20 sets a threshold value higher than the normal image signal level and lower than the reflected laser light level, and compares the output image signal of a predetermined row of CCD arrays with this threshold value to determine the image signal level. The interval a is determined at the timing when the level exceeds the threshold value. When the distance a is determined, distance information is read from the ROM 22 in accordance with the distance a.

Thereafter, when the length of the affected area on the screen is input using the light pen 30, the actual length is determined according to this input information and distance information. Data regarding the area of the affected area is similarly input by pointing the affected area on the screen with the light pen 30.

Data regarding the site and shape of the affected area are input using the keyboard 28.

The color of the affected area can be determined by specifying the affected area using the light pen 30, and then changing the color of the image signal of that area from R, G, and B.
It is determined as the ratio of the three primary color components.

The unevenness of the affected area can also be seen by observing it with the naked eye, but in order to detect it more objectively, in this embodiment a mesh pattern is projected onto the subject. If the mesh pattern on the object is curved outward as shown in FIG. 4, the object is convex as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the mesh pattern on the object is curved inward as shown in FIG. 6, the object is concave as shown in FIG.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the image information inside the body cavity obtained using the endoscope and the imaging equipment can be digitized to create a medical chart for each patient.

The overall operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the large-capacity memory 24 stores a large number of individual data tables in the format defined in this embodiment. First, as shown in step 102, an endoscope is inserted into a patient's body cavity and an examination is performed. step
At 104, endoscopic data is entered as described above. Here, an individual data table is created together with the medical record data that has already been input. At this stage, the patient has only undergone endoscopic examination, so other examination data are blank. Once all endoscopic data has been entered, the step
At 106, this patient's data table is compared to all data tables stored in mass memory 24. Specifically, an individual data table having the same endoscopic data as the patient's endoscopic data is extracted. The determination of whether they are the same or not is made by taking into consideration data such as age and gender. Next, the extracted data table is classified by disease name. Here, if most of the data table (this ratio can be changed using the keyboard 28) has the same disease name, the disease name of the patient is determined as the disease name. At step 108, it is determined whether the disease name has been determined.
If the disease name has not been determined, in step 110,
Specify the most characteristic test item in the data table with the most disease names in the extracted data table. That is, in such a case, the disease name cannot be determined due to insufficient data, and the most necessary test for determining the disease name is specified. This specified inspection item is displayed on the CRT monitor 26. For example, if the number of past patients with the same endoscopic data as the patient in question is 100, 60 of them had cancer and 30
Suppose one person has polyps and 10 people have other diseases. Then, it determines which test data among the other test data in the data table of 60 people with cancer is the most common, and instructs the test that has this data in common to be performed next.

This directed test is performed in step 112,
At step 114, this test data is added to the individual data table. Thereafter, step 106 is executed again and the populated data table is compared with the data table in mass memory 24 in the same manner as described above.
Test items are ordered one after another until the name of the disease is determined. When the disease name is determined in step 108,
At step 116, the disease name is entered into the individual data table. The individual data table in which the disease name is entered is stored in the large capacity memory 24.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, the disease name of the patient undergoing endoscopic examination is determined by comparing the image data obtained from the endoscopic examination with data of a large number of past patients. Alternatively, if a decision cannot be made, other tests necessary to make a decision may be ordered. Therefore, since the most necessary items are tested to determine the disease name, unnecessary tests are not performed, and the patient's pain does not increase.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but can be modified in various ways, and the types of data and data input method can be changed arbitrarily. In addition, large capacity memory 24
The format of the data table stored in the device is not an individual data table, but may be a data table showing standard symptoms for each disease name. Standard symptoms are the statistically most common symptoms. The gist of the present invention is a system that, when diagnosing a patient, determines the name of the disease by comparing it with past data, and after diagnosis, stores the patient's data as past data.

As described above, according to the present invention, an endoscopic diagnosis system is provided in which a disease name is automatically determined.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the endoscopic diagnostic system according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the endoscope and light source unit in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the operation of this embodiment. 4 to 7 are diagrams illustrating the principle of identifying irregularities in the affected area. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of this embodiment. 10...Endoscope, 12...Television camera head, 20...CPU, 24...Large capacity memory,
26...CRT monitor, 28...keyboard, 3
0...Light pen.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Multiple patient data consisting of image data regarding symptoms determined from images obtained through endoscopic examination, test data regarding test results obtained from various tests, and disease names, and image data during endoscopic examination storage means for storing patient data including: a comparison means for comparing the patient data being observed with the endoscope with a plurality of patient data stored in the storage means; means for extracting patient data corresponding to patient data being examined; and determining means for determining whether or not a disease name can be determined for patient data being observed with an endoscope based on disease name information in the patient data extracted by the extraction means; , a designating means for designating a test item having the most common test results in test data in patient data having a disease name that is most frequently included in the extracted patient data.