JPH06269406A - Electronic endoscope apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the electronic endoscope apparatus which can easily grasp orientation and can easily perform manual operations by performing control so as not to rotate an image on a monitor corresponding to the detected rotation of the main body of an endoscope. CONSTITUTION:Corresponding to an image pickup signal from a CCD 20, a shape or the like recognizing means 35 recognizes the rotating amount of an abdominal mirror according to shift from a reference shape stored in a storage means 36 and detects the rotating amount (phase difference) and rotating direction of an optical image formed on the image pickup plane of the CCD 20. Then, since a motor control means 38 drives a motor 39 and an image rotator 19 is rotated through a transmission gear mechanism at '45 deg.' oppositely, the image to the image pickup plane of the CCD 20 is rotated at '90 deg.' in a clockwise direction and the image to the image pickup plane of the CCD 20 is turned to an erect normal state. Therefore, the erect normal image can be always provided on the screen of a TV monitor 27, the orientation can be easily grasped and the manual operations can be facilitated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope apparatus for displaying an endoscopic image picked up by an image pickup device incorporated in an endoscope body on a TV monitor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an electronic endoscope (so-called videoscope) in which a solid-state image pickup device such as a CCD is incorporated in an endoscope insertion portion or an operation portion main body. In this electronic endoscope, when the endoscope body is rotated around the optical axis during a surgical operation, the direction of the image of the subject is rotated on the TV monitor,
The vertical direction (top-bottom direction) of the image changes.

When performing an operation in a body cavity using an endoscope, the insertion portion of the endoscope may be rotated around the optical axis in order to change the visual field direction of the endoscope. At this time, on the TV monitor, the image is rotated and tilted or upside down, so orientation is not easy and manipulation of the procedure is difficult. In particular, in the case of a side-viewing type or a perspective type endoscope, the observation direction greatly changes, so that it is easy to grasp the orientation.

[0004]

As described above, in the electronic endoscope incorporating the solid-state image pickup device, when the insertion portion is rotated around the optical axis while the endoscope is being operated, it is displayed on the TV monitor. The image rotates and tilts upside down or upside down. In particular, in the case of a side-viewing type or a perspective type endoscope, it is not easy to grasp the orientation as a result of a large change in the observation direction.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to obtain an image on a monitor even if the endoscope body is rotated around the optical axis during operation of the endoscope. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic endoscope apparatus that can always maintain the vertical (up and down) direction without rotating, its orientation can be easily grasped, and the operation of a procedure can be easily performed.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention takes an endoscopic image with an imaging optical system and an imaging device provided in an endoscope body, and monitors this image on an external monitor. In the electronic endoscope apparatus shown in FIG. 2, rotation detecting means provided in the endoscope body for detecting rotation of the endoscope body rotating about the axis of the endoscope body by utilizing gravity, The endoscope image rotation correction means is provided for controlling not to rotate the image on the monitor according to the rotation of the endoscope body detected by the rotation detection means. When the endoscope main body is rotated around the optical axis during operation of the endoscope, the rotation of the endoscope main body around the optical axis is automatically detected, without requiring special operation by the operator. It is possible to maintain the vertical (up and down) direction of the endoscopic image without rotating the endoscopic image on the monitor.

[0007]

1 to 6 show a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a case of performing laparoscopic surgery using a trocar will be described. FIG. 1 shows a perspective-type laparoscope 1 as a rigid endoscope as an electronic endoscope, which has an insertion portion 2 and a hand operation portion 3.

The insertion section 2 of the laparoscope 1 is formed by inserting and arranging an inner tube 5 inside a straight tube-shaped outer tube 4, and an observation support tube 6 is inserted in the inner tube 5. An objective frame 8 holding a perspective type objective lens system 7 is attached inside the tip of the support tube 6. The tip of the outer tube 4 is hermetically sealed by a transparent observation window 9 which the objective lens system 7 faces.

The main body of the hand-side operation section 3 has a first main body section 11 for fixedly attaching the proximal side end of the outer tube 4 and a first main body section 11 for fixedly attaching the proximal side end of the inner tube 5. The second main body 12 and the third main body 13 fixedly attaching the proximal end of the CCD frame tube 18 on the proximal side, which will be described later, are provided.
13 are integrally connected.

A light guide base 14 is provided on the lower wall portion of the first body 11. The outer pipe 4 and the inner pipe 5
A light guide fiber bundle 15 is housed in the space between and, and one end of this fiber bundle 15 is attached to the light guide base 14. The other end of the fiber bundle 15 is attached to the tip surface of the insertion section 2. Then, the illumination light guided through the fiber bundle 15 is irradiated into the visual field. A light guide cable 16 from a light source device (not shown) is detachably attached to the light guide base 14 (see FIG. 4).

On the other hand, a rotatable rotary tube 17 is provided inside the support tube 6 of the insertion section 2, and the rotary tube 1 is further provided.
A CCD frame tube 18, which will be described later, is provided inside 7. The image rotator 1 is provided in the tip of the rotary tube 17.
9 is fixedly attached.

Further, a CCD 20 as a solid-state image pickup device for converting an image formed on an image pickup surface into an electric signal (image pickup signal) is fixedly mounted in the tip portion of the CCD frame tube 18. As described above, since the CCD frame tube 18 is fixedly connected to the third main body 13,
Similar to the objective lens system 20, the reference numeral 20 does not rotate with respect to the outer tube 4 and the inner tube 5 of the insertion section 2 and the main body sections 11, 12, 13 of the hand operation section 3, and is fixed.

The optical axes of the objective lens system 7, the image rotator 19 and the CCD 20 described above coincide with each other, and the objective lens system 7 passes through the image rotator 19 and the CCD.
A visual field image is formed on the imaging surface of 20. By rotating around the optical axis, the image rotator 19 has a function of rotating the field image formed on the imaging surface of the CCD 20 by twice the rotation amount.

The CCD 20 has an amplifier circuit 21 for amplifying the image pickup signal obtained thereby. The signal cable 22 connected to this is led through the inside of the CCD frame tube 18, and is further led through the flexible cable tube 24 from the base 23 attached to the proximal end of the CCD frame tube 18, and It is connected to the camera control unit 25 outside the mirror. Camera control unit 25
Controls the reading operation of the CCD 20, processes the image pickup signal and converts it into a video signal. This video signal is transmitted to the TV monitor 27.

Further, a field stop 28 is provided at the front end of the CCD frame tube 18, and the image rotator 19 and the CCD 2 are provided.
It is located between 0 and is fixed coaxially. Also, CC
An imaging lens 29 for CCD is coaxially installed between the D20 and the field stop 28.

Rotation detecting means for detecting the amount of rotation of the image formed on the image pickup surface of the CCD 20 about the optical axis when the endoscope body is rotated is incorporated in this optical system portion. That is, a level 30 described later is attached to the field stop 28. A plurality of round through holes 31 are arranged at the periphery of the opening of the field stop 28 at equal intervals on a circle concentric with the optical axis of the field stop 28.

The range in which each of the through holes 31 is provided is CC through the objective lens system 7 and the image rotator 19.
The periphery of the optical image introduced on the D20 side is a portion to be illuminated. Therefore, each of the through holes 31 directly transmits the light around the corresponding optical image. An index 32a is provided on the upper end of the peripheral edge of the aperture of the field stop 28.

A transparent hollow tube 32 rounded in a so-called donut shape is provided on the back side of the member of the field stop 28.
The hollow tube 32 contains transparent water 33 and relatively opaque oil 34. The oil 34 having a small specific gravity with respect to the water 33 is always located above the opposite side in the direction of gravity.

Therefore, the light leaking from the through hole 31 corresponding to the portion where the oil 34 is located is blocked there. Also, water 3
Light leaking from the through hole 31 corresponding to the portion where 3 is located passes through without being blocked there. That is, the light transmitted through the water 33 portion and the light transmitted through the oil portion 34 have different brightness and the like, and accordingly, the light is emitted in spots around the image pickup surface (light receiving surface) of the CCD 20.

In addition to the combination of water 33 and oil 34, the level 30 may be a combination as shown in FIG. The figure (a) is an example of the combination of the air 35a and the liquid 35b, and the figure (b) shows the water or the air 35a and the ball 3.
5C is an example of a combination of 5c, and FIG.
It is an example of a combination of a, liquid 35b, and ball 35c.

On the CCD 20 side, a spot-like optical image transmitted through each through hole 31 is also picked up on its image pickup surface (light receiving surface), and the brightness and pattern of the spot are also picked up at the same time. Then, the shape recognizing unit 35 of FIG. 6 recognizes the shape from the image pickup signal. The shape or the like when the laparoscope 1 is in the upright state is stored in the storage means (image memory) 36 as a reference shape, and then the reference shape and a newly recognized one are sequentially compared by the comparison means 37. Then
The rotation amount (phase difference) of the optical image formed on the image pickup surface of the CCD 20 is detected. The rotation around the axis of the endoscope main body is detected and detected according to this phase difference. The motor control means 38 drives the motor 39 of the endoscopic image rotation correction operation means described later.

Next, the operation mechanism for correcting the rotation of the endoscopic image will be described. That is, the base end of the rotary tube 17 is
It is located in the space between the second main body portion 12 and the third main body portion 13 of the hand operation portion 3, and the first gear 41 is fitted and fixedly attached to the outer circumference of the base end portion. To wear. The second gear 42 meshes with the first gear 41.
The rotation shaft 43 of the second gear 42 penetrates the third body portion 13, and the penetrating end portion is connected to the drive shaft of the motor 39. The drive of the motor 39 is controlled by the endoscopic image rotation correction operation means.

A rear end portion of a main body cover 46 is fitted on the outer circumference of a fixed tube 45 provided integrally with the third main body portion 13. The main body cover 46 is fitted and covers the outer peripheries of the main body portions 11, 12, and 13.

FIG. 4 shows a situation in which laparoscopic surgery is performed. Next, this will be described. In the figure, reference numeral 50 denotes an abdominal wall, and a plurality of trocar outer tube tubes 5 are provided in an abdominal cavity 51 that is insufflated.
2, 53 are installed to penetrate the abdominal wall 50, and the insertion portion 2 of the laparoscope 1 is inserted through one trocar outer tube 52. Further, for example, a grasping forceps 54 is inserted through the other trocar outer tube 53.

Then, the organ 55 and the like in the abdominal cavity 51 are observed through the laparoscope 1 for diagnosis, and laparoscopic surgery is performed using a treatment tool such as grasping forceps 54. The observation state of the laparoscope 1 in this case will be described.

First, in a normal posture in which the laparoscope 1 faces the front, a field image is displayed on the TV monitor 27 as shown in FIG. Recognize that it is upright. The rotation angle of the image rotator 19 at this time is “0 °”, and the CCD
An erect image is formed on the imaging surface of 20. At this time, the position of the oil 34 in the hollow tube 32 of the level 30 is near the index 32, and the oil 34 is in the upper several through holes 3
Block 1 The spot group 40 of light passing through the through hole 31 blocked by the oil 34 is compared with the spot group of light passing through the other through hole 31 on the imaging surface of the CCD 20 by the shape recognizing means 35. It is recognized as a reference shape. The shape or the like when the laparoscope 1 is in the upright state is stored in the storage means (image memory) 36 as a reference shape.

Consider the case where the entire laparoscope 1 is rotated from this state. Temporarily, the entire laparoscope 1, "90 °"
When rotated in the clockwise direction, the image rotator 19 and the CCD 20 are also "90" as shown in FIG.
° ”Rotate clockwise. Therefore, the screen of the TV monitor 27 is rotated counterclockwise by "90 °".

On the other hand, since the entire laparoscope 1 is rotated, the level 30 operates and the position of the oil 34 in the hollow tube 32 moves. Until then, the position of the oil 34 near the index 32 moves, and the oil 34 blocks the other through holes 31. The spot group 40 of the shadow of the through hole 31 which is blocked by the oil 34 moves according to the rotation amount of the laparoscope 1.

The image pickup signal from the CCD 20 at this time is
The shape recognition unit 35 can know the rotation amount of the laparoscope 1 from the deviation from the reference shape stored in the storage unit 36. CCD
The rotation amount (phase difference) and the rotation direction of the optical image formed on the imaging surface of 20 are detected.

In accordance with this detected value, the motor control means 38 drives the motor 39 to rotate the image rotator 19 via the transmission gear mechanism in the opposite direction by "45 °". Therefore, the image on the image pickup surface of the CCD 20 is "9" in the clockwise direction.
The image on the image pickup surface of the CCD 20 is rotated by 0 °
As shown in FIG. 5C, the upright state is established. Therefore, an erect image is always obtained on the screen of the TV monitor 27. That is, even if the insertion portion 2 of the laparoscope 1 may be rotated in a timely manner depending on the use situation, it is possible to always observe the laparoscope 1 in an upright state with respect to the body of the laparoscope 1.

In the structure of the above embodiment, the CCD
Although it was installed in the insertion part, it may be installed in the main body of the hand operation part. In this case, an image is normally transmitted using a relay lens, but the installation location of the image rotator may be in the insertion portion or in the main body of the hand operation portion.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, which is also an example of a perspective type laparoscope used when performing laparoscopic surgery. A prism 61 and a lens 62 forming a perspective objective optical system 60 are provided inside the distal end portion of the insertion portion 2 of the laparoscope 1, and a CCD 63 as an image pickup device is installed behind the objective optical system 60. The image pickup signal obtained by the CCD 63 is amplified by an amplifier circuit (not shown). Further, the insertion portion 2 is provided with a light guide fiber bundle 65.

The signal cable 64 is connected to a camera control unit outside the endoscope. The camera control unit controls the reading operation of the CCD 63,
The image pickup signal is processed and converted into a video signal. This video signal is also transmitted to a TV monitor (not shown) outside the endoscope. The TV monitor displays the endoscopic image captured by the CCD 63.

Further, a gravity direction detecting means (rotation detecting means) is provided in the distal end portion of the insertion portion 2. That is, an annular groove 66 is formed along the circumference of the insertion portion 2, and a roller-shaped detection object 67 is housed in the groove 66 so as to freely roll. The detection object 67 is positioned at the bottom of the annular groove 66 due to gravity. Further, a large number of detection sensors 68 are concentrically arranged adjacent to the annular groove 66.

Then, the detection sensor 68 closest to the detection object 67 located at the bottom detects it. Detected object 67
When the sensor 68 that detects the
By knowing the position of 7, the direction of the insertion part 2 can be indirectly known. That is, the orientation of the main body of the laparoscope 1 can be known. Utilizing this, the endoscope image rotation correction control means is operated by the rigid endoscope 1
The correction control is performed so that the image on the monitor is not rotated according to the rotation of. This endoscopic image rotation correction control means may be a system that uses an image rotator for correction as described above, or may be a system that performs electrical calculation processing to perform image correction.

When the entire laparoscope 1 is rotated,
Although the image displayed on the monitor rotates, the rotation of the endoscopic image on the monitor is corrected based on the rotation direction and the rotation amount known by the gravity direction detecting means so that the image is always displayed in an upright position.

As the detection sensor 68, a system in which a magnetic substance is used for the detection object 67 and the magnetic force is detected by a magnetic sensor such as a Hall element is also possible. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a proximity switch configured to detect a change in the induced current by the detection circuit unit 72 by crossing the magnetic force lines emitted from the magnet 71 to detect the detection object 73 made of a dielectric material such as iron is formed. Good. It also has an output circuit 74. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9, a combination of the reed switch 75 and the detection object 76 composed of a magnet may be used. It is also possible to use a magnetic fluid as the detection object.

Further, the present invention is not limited to this method in each of the above-described embodiments, but may be a method in which the image sensor is rotated and corrected instead of using the image rotator. Since the function of the image rotator is to rotate the image formed on the image sensor, a similar function can be obtained even if the image sensor is relatively rotated.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the image on the monitor does not rotate even if the endoscope body is rotated around its axis during operation of the endoscope. It can be automatically corrected to keep the vertical (up and down) direction automatically,
The orientation is easy to understand and the operation of the procedure is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a longitudinal sectional view of a laparoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration of an optical system and an imaging system.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rotation detecting unit of the laparoscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

3A, 3B, and 3C are explanatory views showing modified examples of different rotation detection units.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a usage state of the laparoscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an endoscopic image rotation correction operation of the laparoscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a block configuration of endoscopic image rotation correction means of the laparoscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 (a) is an explanatory view of a schematic configuration of a distal end portion of an insertion portion according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 (b) is A- in (a).
The figure which looked at the rotation detection part along the A line.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration of a modified example of the rotation detection unit.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration of another modification of the rotation detection unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Laparoscope, 2 ... Insertion part, 3 ... Hand operation part, 7 ... Objective lens system, 17 ... Rotating tube, 19 ... Image rotator, 2
0 ... CCD, 27 ... TV monitor, 28 ... Field stop, 30
... Level, 41 ... First gear, 42 ... Second gear.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yukio Kawase 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tetsumaru Kubota 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akihiro Taguchi 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hitoshi Mizuno 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kenji Yoshino 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinkichi Tanizawa 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinji Yamashita 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Asahi Ishikawa 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Iwao Kanemori 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Ori Inside Npus Optical Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electronic endoscope apparatus for picking up an endoscopic image with an image pickup optical system and an image pickup device provided in the endoscope main body and displaying the image on an external monitor. A rotation detecting means that is provided to detect the rotation of the endoscope body that rotates around the axis of the endoscope body using gravity, and the rotation detecting means detects the rotation of the endoscope body according to the rotation of the endoscope body detected by the rotation detecting means. An electronic endoscope apparatus, comprising: an endoscope image rotation correction means for controlling not to rotate an image on a monitor.