JPH06304127A - Endoscope insertion auxiliary device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the endoscope insertion auxiliary device by which even an operator scarcely having experience can insert smoothly an endoscope into a celom of an examinee. CONSTITUTION:The device is provided with a surgical operation selecting switch 7 for selecting a surgical operation at the time of inserting an endoscope into a celom, an insertion amount detecting sensor 3 for detecting the insertion amount of the endoscope into the celom, and a control circuit 6 for displaying the surgical operation selected by the surgical operation selecting switch 7 and the surgical operation to be performed in accordance with the insertion amount detected by the insertion amount detecting sensor 3, on a display device 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope insertion assisting device used when inserting an endoscope into a body cavity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a means for giving information to an operator about an insertion operation of an endoscope, for example, a plurality of sensors are provided at a tip portion of the endoscope, and a bending direction of the endoscope is generated by signals from these sensors. For determining and controlling (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-49
No. 124), a device for displaying the current position information of the endoscope, check information of the site of interest in the inspected organ, etc. (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-23636), or a sensor for detecting the insertion direction of the endoscope. And magnetically guides the endoscope based on the output of this sensor (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-2232).
No. 5), etc.

[0003]

Although the above-mentioned known technique allows the operator to recognize the current position and target position of the endoscope, the endoscope is inserted into the target position. Therefore, it is up to the operator to decide what kind of operation should be performed, and there is a problem that there is a large difference in the insertion efficiency of the endoscope between an experienced operator and an inexperienced operator.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an endoscope capable of smoothly inserting an endoscope into a body cavity of a subject even by an inexperienced operator. It is to provide a mirror insertion assisting device.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a procedure selecting means for selecting a procedure for inserting an endoscope into a body cavity, and an insertion amount of the endoscope into the body cavity. An insertion amount detecting means for detecting, a display means for displaying a procedure selected by the procedure selecting means and a procedure to be performed according to the insertion rate detected by the inserting rate detecting means are provided. .

[0006]

In the present invention, when the operator selects a procedure for inserting the endoscope into the body cavity of the subject, the procedure to be performed is displayed according to the insertion amount of the endoscope.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an endoscope insertion assisting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is an endoscope, and on the surface of the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1, as shown in FIG. 3, strip-shaped indicators 2a, 2b, and 2c having different widths are attached to the insertion portion 1a. It is repeatedly provided at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction. These indexes 2a, 2b, 2c are for detecting the insertion amount of the endoscope 1 into the body cavity by the insertion amount detection sensor 3, and have different reflectances from the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1. In this embodiment, the index 2a has the narrowest width and the index 2c has the widest width.

The insertion amount detection sensor 3 detects the insertion amount of the endoscope 1 from the indexes 2a, 2b and 2c provided on the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 and is closely fixed to a patient (not shown). And is formed in a ring shape so that the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 can be inserted therethrough. The insertion amount detection sensor 3 is connected to a control circuit 6 (see FIG. 2) built in the light source device 5 that supplies illumination light to the endoscope 1. As shown in FIG. 2, a procedure selection switch 7, a rotation amount detection sensor 8, an air injection amount detection sensor 9, a memory 10, and a display device 11 are connected to the control circuit 6. Inside the insertion amount detection sensor 3, an LED (not shown) for irradiating the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 which passes through the insertion amount detection sensor 3 with light and a CCD line sensor 4 are provided. The CCD line sensor 4 is configured to optically detect the indexes 2a, 2b, 2c provided on the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1.

The above-mentioned procedure selection switch 7 indicates the procedure (for example, one-man method, two-man method, hooking hold method, etc.) to be performed when the operator inserts the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 into the body cavity of the patient. This is for selection, and the procedure selection information selected by the procedure selection switch 7 is input to the control circuit 6. Although the procedure selection switch 7 is provided in the light source device 5 in this embodiment, it may be provided in the operation unit 1b of the endoscope 1 or a display device (monitor TV) 11 for displaying an endoscope image. You may make it selectable by the touch screen provided in.

The rotation amount detecting sensor 8 detects the amount of rotation of the operating portion 1b of the endoscope 1 by the operator when the endoscope 1 is inserted, and is output from the rotation amount detecting sensor 8. Signal is input to the control circuit 6. Although not shown, the rotation amount detection sensor 8 is not included in the operation unit 1b of the endoscope 1.
It is provided inside.

The air injection amount detection sensor 9 detects the amount of air injected into the body cavity of the patient via the endoscope 1. The signal output from the air injection amount detection sensor 9 is a control circuit. 6 is input.

The control circuit 6 includes an insertion amount detection sensor 3,
The operation selection switch 7, the rotation amount detection sensor 8, and the air injection amount detection sensor 9 are used to determine an insertion operation that is supposed to be actually executed. The output of the control circuit 6 is the display device 11. Is output to.

In such a structure, when the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 is inserted into the body cavity of the patient through the insertion amount detection sensor 3, the indicators 2a, 2b, 2c provided on the insertion portion 1a.
A signal indicating the insertion amount of the insertion portion 1a, the advancing / retracting direction, and the insertion speed is output from the insertion amount detection sensor 3 in accordance with the movement of the. That is, when the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 is moved in the direction of arrow A (insertion direction) shown in FIG. 3 with respect to the insertion amount detection sensor 3, the signal waveform output from the insertion amount detection sensor 3 is shown in FIG. It changes in the order of a) → (b) → (c). on the other hand,
When the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 is moved with respect to the insertion amount detection sensor 3 in the direction of arrow B (withdrawal direction) shown in FIG. 3, the signal waveform output from the insertion amount detection sensor 3 is shown in FIG. →
It changes in the order of (b) → (a). Therefore, the amount of insertion of the endoscope 1 into the body cavity, the insertion speed, etc. can be recognized by detecting the change in the signal waveform output from the insertion amount detection sensor 3 by the control circuit 6 based on the degree of time correlation. it can.

At this time, the control circuit 6 samples the signal output from the insertion amount detection sensor 3 at regular intervals to detect how much the signal corresponding to the index 2a changes during a unit time. The insertion / extraction speed of the endoscope 1 is detected. Further, the movement amount of the endoscope 1, that is, the insertion amount is calculated from the number of the indexes 2a that have passed the insertion amount detection sensor 3 within a unit time, the moving direction, and the known pitch of the indexes 2a.

By the way, if the length of the biological Gastrointestinal considered without considering extension, when the lower digestive tract, characterized by the length of l ₁ to l ₅ shown in FIG. These values may be numbers obtained statistically, or may be set to values read from an X-ray photograph taken before the endoscopic examination.

If the distal end portion of the endoscope 1 which has passed the insertion amount detection sensor 3 reaches the position of l ₁ shown in FIG. 5, the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 may be inserted as it is.
_The insertion portion 1a cannot be inserted into the portion having the length of ₂ . For this reason, first, it is necessary to confirm the deployment direction of the lumen in the direction of l ₂ , that is, to perform the angle operation of the endoscope 1.

Therefore, an instruction for an angle operation and an instruction for confirming the connection of the lumens to be expanded in the l ₂ direction are displayed on the monitor television 11 based on a database built in the control circuit 6 according to a preselected procedure. At this time, when the operator can confirm the connection of the lumens in the l ₂ direction by the angle operation, for example, the operator presses a confirmation switch (not shown) provided on the operation unit 1b of the endoscope 1. Then, the end of the confirmation work is transmitted to the control circuit 6 built in the light source device 5.

In the control circuit 6, since the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 has been inserted up to l ₁ and the connection in the l ₂ direction has been confirmed, an operation method for the next passage of l ₂ (for example, a patient Posture change) is displayed on the monitor television 11 in accordance with the preselected procedure. Note that a scrip switch may be provided so that the operation method and the like are not displayed until a portion where the operator is familiar with the insertion of the endoscope 1. Furthermore, a switch for setting the start position of the output of the auxiliary information may be provided separately so that the auxiliary information is output when the insertion auxiliary information is needed.

Regarding the insertion of the endoscope 1, since the insertion target is a living body, it has extensibility, and also the adhesiveness of the lumen wall,
Insertion is very difficult by simply pushing the endoscope 1.
Therefore, pulling back and twisting the endoscope 1 are also important operations. Therefore, the target values of the twist amount and the twist speed may be displayed as insertion auxiliary information. Further, the value displayed as the target and the value actually operated by the operator may be compared and displayed as shown in FIG.

FIG. 7A is a flow showing the control operation of the control circuit 6 at the time of registration, and FIG. 7B is a flow showing the control operation of the control circuit 6 at the time of selecting a procedure. At the time of registration, the operator sets the control circuit 6 in the registration mode,
For example, the insertion procedure described below is input to the memory 10. Then, the insertion procedure stored in the memory 10 is read out so that another operator can use it. Then, at the time of registration, the following operation procedure (for the large intestine) is stored in the memory 10.

(1) Insert the endoscope 1 while slowly bending in the UP direction. Then, when resistance is felt, the insertion is stopped (first step). (2) Keep the angle unchanged and move the endoscope 1 to about 5 to 7
Remove slowly about cm (second step).

(3) Inject air (third step). (4) Twist the endoscope 1 slightly to the left (fourth step). (5) Insert the endoscope 1 by about 5 cm, and confirm that the lumen is no longer visible (fifth step).

(6) An angle is applied in the down direction.
Then, it is confirmed that the endoscope 1 is retracted by about 5 to 8 cm by hooking the distal end portion of the insertion portion 1a on the body wall to bend the body wall (sixth step).

(7) Inject air. At this time, if the lumen is not visible, the endoscope 1 is removed by about 5 cm, and the lumen is confirmed (seventh step). (8) Twist the endoscope 1 slightly to the right to return the angle to the straight position (eighth step).

(9) Air is injected to check the lumen (step 9). In each step described above, the control circuit 6 controls the bending angle,
The rotation amount (twisting amount) and the air injection amount are detected and stored in the memory 10. Then, when the operator presses the procedure selection switch 7 after registration, the control circuit 6 reads the insertion procedure stored in the memory 10 and executes the control flow shown in FIG. 7B.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the insertion procedure selected by the procedure selection switch 7 is displayed on the monitor television 11 as the display means according to the insertion amount of the endoscope 1, so that the operator has little experience. However, the endoscope can be smoothly inserted into the body cavity of the subject.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic configuration of an endoscope insertion image creating apparatus for magnetically detecting an endoscope inserted into a body cavity of a patient and displaying the insertion image together with an organ model on a display device. As shown in the figure, the endoscope insertion image forming apparatus includes an endoscope magnetic detection unit 20 and an insertion image forming circuit 2 as shown in FIG.
4, shape detection circuit 25, correction amount calculation circuit 31, memory 3
2, correction circuit 33, addition circuit 34, encoder 35, inverse correction circuit 36, correction value memory 37, correction drive circuit 38,
It is composed of a front panel 39 and the like.

The endoscope magnetism detecting means 20 is for magnetically detecting the endoscope 1 inserted into the patient P, and is a magnetic field generating means 21 for generating a magnetic field and this magnetic field generating means 21. And a magnetic field detecting means 22 arranged to face each other across the patient P, and the magnetic field generating means 21 and the magnetic field detecting means 2
2 is composed of a drive device 23 for driving the patient P in a horizontal direction with respect to the bed surface on which the patient P lies as shown by the scanning line S in FIG.

The magnetic field generating means 21 shown in FIG.
The magnetic field detecting means 22 are arranged on both sides of the patient P for the sake of explanation, but are actually arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the patient P so as to face each other. Further, the magnetic field detecting means 22 does not detect the magnetic field intensity during scanning of the line indicated by the broken line among the scanning lines S shown in FIG.

The insertion image producing circuit 24 produces an insertion image of the endoscope 1 inserted into the body cavity of the patient P from the change in the magnetic field intensity detected by the magnetic field detecting means 22, and is not shown. A storage unit that sequentially stores the magnetic field strength detected by the magnetic field detection unit 22 as image data for one screen;
The image forming unit is configured to read out the magnetic field strength stored in the storage unit in synchronization with the television synchronizing signal and create an insertion image of the endoscope 1 from the change in the read magnetic field strength.

The shape detection circuit 25 detects the insertion shape of the endoscope 1 from the endoscope insertion image created by the insertion image creation circuit 24, and as shown in FIG. A thinning processing circuit 26 for thinning the inserted image (see FIG. 10A) created in 24 as shown in FIG. 10B.
And the connected component processing circuit 27 for obtaining the connected component of the inserted image from the line data obtained by the thinning processing circuit 26, and the tip position of the endoscope 1 from the connected component obtained by the connected component processing circuit 27. The leading edge detection circuit 28 for detecting and the thinned data having the width of one data in the thinning processing circuit 26 are temporarily stored in the memory, and the adjacent data are sequentially obtained from the data of the final line, and the obtained data And a vector detection circuit 29 that obtains a difference between the x and y coordinate values of the coordinates of the data of interest and the obtained difference value of the x and y coordinates is a vector, and this vector detection circuit 2
And a bending point detection circuit 30 that detects a bending point of the endoscope 1 from the vector detected in 9.

The correction amount calculation circuit 31 corrects the organ model diagram so that the organ model diagram stored in the memory 32 matches the endoscope insertion image created by the insertion image creating circuit 24 (organ model diagram). Is calculated, and the output of the correction amount calculation circuit 31 is supplied to the correction circuit 33 and the inverse correction circuit 36.

The correction circuit 33 includes a correction amount calculation circuit 31.
Based on the correction amount obtained in step 1, the organ model diagram stored in the memory 32 is enlarged or reduced, and the vertical and horizontal directions are shifted.
The image data of the organ model corrected in 3 is added by the adding circuit 34.
And is combined with the output from the insertion image creating circuit 24, that is, the endoscope insertion image.

The encoder 35 adds a television synchronizing signal to the signal output from the adding circuit 34,
The signal output from the encoder 35 is supplied to a monitor television (not shown) as a composite video signal.

The inverse correction circuit 36 is a correction amount calculation circuit 3
1 output (the tip coordinate data of the endoscope obtained by the shape detection circuit 25 and a signal representing the amount of displacement and size ratio of the endoscope insertion image with respect to the organ model diagram) is inversely corrected and stored in the memory 32. This inverse correction circuit 3 is used to determine at which position in the stored organ model diagram the tip of the endoscope is located.
The signal output from 6 is supplied to a correction value memory 37 that stores various correction instruction signals (eg, angle correction signal, light adjustment correction signal, image quality correction signal, etc.) using the position data of the organ model diagram as an address. It has become so.

The correction drive circuit 38 includes a correction value memory 3
The correction instruction signal stored in 7 is read out, and the read correction instruction signal is output.
Among the various correction instruction signals output from 8, the angle correction signal is to the angle control circuit 40 for controlling the angle of the endoscope 1, the dimming correction signal is to the dimming circuit 42, and the image quality correction signal is the image quality correction. Each of them is supplied to the circuit 43.

The image quality correction circuit 43 is the process circuit 4
1 is for performing color correction, enhancement processing, and the like on the video signal output from the control circuit 1.
The aperture is adjusted so that the brightness of the video signal output from the device has a constant level.

The front panel 39 outputs a correction signal to the image quality correction circuit 43 and the light control circuit 42 in response to an instruction from the operator. According to such a configuration, the signal output from the magnetic field detecting means 22 is the inserted image creating circuit 2
4 and is stored in the memory section (not shown) of the inserted image creating circuit 24 as image data for one screen. Then, the magnetic field detection signal stored in the memory section of the inserted image creating circuit 24 is read out in synchronization with the television synchronizing signal, and the inserted image creating circuit 24 creates image data for one screen as shown in FIG. After the conversion, it is input to the shape detection circuit 25.

From the inserted image forming circuit 24 to the shape detecting circuit 25
The image data of the endoscope insertion image input to is converted into line data as shown in FIG. 10B by the thinning processing circuit 26, and then supplied to the connected component processing circuit 27 and the vector detection circuit 29. It

In the connected component processing circuit 27, the drive circuit 23
Insert the endoscope by analyzing whether or not there is a change in the magnetic field strength at the coordinates of the 8 points vertically and horizontally and diagonally adjacent to each coordinate sequentially from the data of the line Sn (see FIG. 9) last scanned in. The connected component of the image is obtained and supplied to the tip detection circuit 28. Therefore, the distal end detection circuit 28 determines that the coordinate having no connected component is the distal end position of the endoscope 1 based on the signal from the connected component processing circuit 27.

On the other hand, the vector detection circuit 29 obtains the data D _{1 of} eight points vertically and horizontally and diagonally adjacent to each coordinate from the data of the line Sn last scanned by the drive circuit 23 and adjoins the current data D ₁ . A vector is obtained from the data D ₂ and this vector is used as the vector of the current coordinate data D ₂ . Then, the adjacent data D ₃ is obtained based on the data D ₂ that was adjacent to the data D ₁ of the line Sn, and D ₂ ,
A vector is obtained from the coordinates of D ₃ , and this vector is taken as the vector of D ₂ . This work is sequentially advanced to the tip position of the endoscope, the vectors of each data are compared, and if the vector difference does not exceed the reference level, it is determined that the endoscope is not bent, and the vector difference becomes the reference. When the level exceeds the level, it is determined that the endoscope is bent, and the part exceeding the reference level is specified as the bent part of the endoscope. In other words, the vector detecting circuit 29, between the S ₁ -S ₂ in FIG. 9, it is determined that between S ₂ -S ₃ is bent, the middle point between S ₁ -S ₂ between the S ₂ -S ₃ Judge as a bending point and output each coordinate data. Also, the number of points determined to be bending points is output.

The coordinate data of the organ model diagram read out from the memory 32 will be described, for example, in the case of the lower digestive tract, Ax, Ay, Bx, By, Cx shown in FIG. 12 (b).
Is output to the correction amount calculation circuit 31.

In the correction amount calculation circuit 31, the shape detection circuit 2
A correction amount of the internal organ model diagram stored in the memory 32 is calculated based on the endoscope tip position coordinate data, bending point coordinate data, and bending point number data obtained in step 5. Here, as shown in FIG. 12A, the bending point coordinate data output by the shape detection circuit 25 is converted into D ₁ (x, y), D ₂ (x, y),
..., Dn (x, y), the tip position coordinate data is D
_{n + 1} (x, y), n is the number of inflection points, and coordinate data of the internal organ model diagram is Ax, Ay, Bx, By, Cx, C
Assuming that y, the correction amount calculation circuit 31 corrects the correction amount (a rate α, y for expanding / contracting the coordinate data of the organ model diagram output from the memory 32 from the Ax axis to the right hand) according to the flow shown in FIGS.
The ratio β for expansion / contraction in the direction, the ratio γ for expansion / contraction to the right of the Ax axis, and the amounts E (x), E (y) for shifting the entire image are obtained and output to the correction circuit 32.

For example, referring to FIG. 12A, the bending point coordinate data is D ₁ (x, y), D ₂ (x, y), D.
₃ (x, y), and the tip position coordinate data is D ₄ (x, y
y). In addition, the number of bending points data is n = 3.

FIG. 12B shows coordinate data of an organ model diagram, in which the x coordinate of the rectum is Ax and the y coordinate of the sigmoid colon is A.
y, the x coordinate of the descending rectum is Bx, the y coordinate of the transverse colon is B
The y coordinate of the ascending rectum is output as Cx.

According to the flow of FIG. 14, first, the coordinates D ₁ (x, y) of the first bending point and the coordinate data A of the organ model diagram are shown.
Based on the difference between x and Ay, shift amounts E (x) and E of the model diagram
Find (y). Next, the average value of the second and third inflection points is calculated to obtain the difference from Ax, and the x coordinate of the descending rectum and Ax are calculated.
Is calculated, and the scaling ratio α of the right hand is obtained with the x-coordinate of the rectum as the axis.

Next, since n = 3, the process proceeds to (d), the ratio of the difference between the y coordinate of the tip position and Ay and the difference between the y coordinate of the transverse colon and Ay is calculated, and the expansion / contraction ratio β in the y direction is calculated. Ask. Next, the ratio of the difference between the coordinates D ₄ (x) of the tip position and Ax and the difference between the x-coordinate Cx of the ascending rectum and Ax is calculated, and this value is compared with α.
If it is larger than α, the difference between the tip position x coordinate and Ax, and Cx
And the ratio of the difference between Ax and the scaling ratio γ to the left of the Ax axis
Ask for.

When the ratio of the difference between D ₄ (x) and Ax and the difference between Cx and Ax is smaller than α, that is, when the distal end of the endoscope is in front of the position of the ascending rectum α times Ax, The scaling factor γ is the same value as α.

Α, β, γ, E (x), E obtained here
(Y) is output to the correction circuit 33. In the correction circuit 33,
The coordinate data of the organ model diagram read from the memory 32 is temporarily stored in the image memory, and the horizontal reading time of the image is shifted according to E (x). Next, the vertical read time is shifted according to E (y), and the entire image is
Shift by (x) and E (y).

Further, the read image data is set to α, β, γ.
According to the above, thinning or repeating is performed to perform reduction / enlargement (see FIGS. 13A to 13D). In this way, the image of the organ model whose position and dimensions are matched with the output image of the endoscope insertion image is superimposed on the endoscope insertion image by the adding circuit 34, and the television signal is added by the encoder 35 to add the television synchronizing signal. When the image is converted into the image and output to the external TV monitor, the endoscope insertion image is displayed on the screen of the external TV monitor as shown in FIG. In this case, the endoscope insertion image is displayed as a broken line instead of a solid line.

From the correction amount calculation circuit 31 to the inverse correction circuit 36, the tip position coordinate data D _{n + 1 of the} endoscope obtained by the shape detection circuit 25 and A obtained by the correction amount calculation circuit 31.
x, Ay, E (x), E (y), α, β, γ are input.

In the inverse correction circuit 36, the coordinates Dm (x, y) on the organ model diagram at the distal end position of the scope are obtained as follows. When D _{n + 1} <Ax Dm (x) = (D _{n + 1} (x) −Ax) / γ + (Ax−E
(X)) When D _{n + 1} > Ax Dm (x) = (D _{n + 1} (x) −Ax) / α + (Ax−E
(X)) Dm (y) = (Dn + 1 (y) -Ay) / β + (Ay-
E (y)) Dm (x, y) thus obtained is used as the correction value memory 3
The correction value data stored in No. 2 is output to the correction drive circuit 38. In the correction drive circuit 38, the correction data from the correction value memory 32 is output to the angle control circuit 40 as an angle correction signal and the dimming correction signal is output as a dimming correction signal.
It is converted into an image quality correction signal to be output to the image quality correction circuit 43.

The angle control circuit 40 performs the angle correction with the angle correction signal output from the correction drive circuit 38 in preference to the signal from the angle knob. After that, when a signal is input from the angle knob, the angle operation is performed according to the value.

The dimming circuit 42 switches the reference level of dimming in accordance with the dimming correction signal output from the correction driving circuit 38 prior to the operator's dimming correction signal output from the front panel 39. Switches the peak / average metering method. Further, when the dimming correction signal is input from the front panel 39, the dimming circuit 42 performs the correction according to the value.

The image quality correction circuit 43 performs the color balance switching and the enhancement level switching by giving priority to the output of the correction driving circuit 38. However, if there is an input from the front panel 39, it responds to the instruction from the front panel 39. Correction is performed.

Further, it is also possible to adopt a system in which the correction signal output from the correction drive circuit 38 is converted into a character signal and displayed on the TV monitor, and the operator confirms the content and inputs permission to execute.

As described above, according to the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, it is determined which part of the body cavity the tip part of the endoscope is, and the angle operation, the light control, and the correction of the image quality are performed on the part of the organ. By performing according to, it does not greatly depend on the skill of the operator,
It is possible to improve inspection accuracy and shorten the required time.

By reading which part of the large intestine is read from the output of the tip detection circuit 28 and inputting the angle correction amount from the current position to the memory ahead of it, the correction is made as effective data for automatic insertion. You can call.

The angle correction amount and the image quality correction data may not be automatically performed, but may be instructed to the operator by outputting them on the screen. By doing so, it will be helpful for the manual correction according to the operator's preference, and the amount can be adjusted by himself.

FIG. 21 is a view showing the schematic arrangement of the endoscope insertion system. In the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1, a plurality of pressure sensors 50 are incorporated at regular intervals. The operation unit 1b of the endoscope 1 has a camera control unit (C
A light source device 56 incorporating a CU) 57 is connected.

FIG. 22 is a view showing the internal structure of the operating portion 1b of the endoscope 1, in which the wire 51 for operating the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 at an angle engages with the operating gear 52. The operation gear 52 meshes with the drive gear 53, and the operation gear 52 has a potentiometer 55.
A motor 54 is connected to each of these.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing the configuration of the camera control unit (CCU) 57 built in the light source device 56. The angle angle detection circuit 58 is the operation portion 1 b of the endoscope 1.
The angle of the insertion portion 1a is detected from the output of the potentiometer 55 provided in the. In addition, the insertion length detection circuit 5
Reference numeral 9 detects the insertion length of the insertion portion 1a from the output of the pressure sensor 50 incorporated in the endoscope insertion portion 1a.

The angle angle detected by the angle angle detection circuit 58 and the insertion length detected by the insertion length detection circuit 59 are recorded in the ID card 63 through the memory 60. This I
For recording the angle and insertion length of the D card 63, see CP
It is sent to the angle control circuit 61 through the U 62 and the memory 60. In the angle control circuit 61, when the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 is inserted into the body cavity of the patient, the insertion length detection circuit 59 detects the insertion length and drives the motor 54 so as to set the angle angle accordingly.

According to such a configuration, the endoscope insertion portion 1
If the angle angle of a and the insertion length are recorded on the ID card 63 of each patient, the insertion operation of the endoscope can be performed smoothly when inserting the endoscope into the same patient regardless of the skill level of the operator. be able to.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, the procedure selecting means for selecting the procedure when inserting the endoscope into the body cavity, and the insertion amount detecting means for detecting the insertion amount of the endoscope into the body cavity. And the display unit for displaying the procedure selected by the procedure selection unit and the procedure to be performed according to the insertion amount detected by the insertion amount detection unit. Is displayed on the display means according to the insertion amount. Therefore, it is possible to provide an endoscope insertion assisting device that enables even an inexperienced operator to smoothly insert the endoscope into the body cavity of the subject.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an endoscope insertion assisting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the insertion amount detection sensor shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a waveform of a signal similarly output from the insertion amount detection sensor.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a model of large intestine.

6 is a diagram showing information displayed on the display device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

7 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the control circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an apparatus for magnetically detecting the position of the tip of an endoscope inserted into the body.

9 is a diagram showing the scanning directions of the magnetic field generation means and the magnetic field detection means shown in FIG.

10 is a created image of the insertion image creation circuit shown in FIG.
The figure which shows the line data which carried out the thinning process of the image data.

11 is a block configuration diagram of the shape detection circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory view of the correction amount calculation circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of the operation of the correction amount calculation circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a part of the calculation procedure of the correction amount calculation circuit.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a part of the calculation procedure of the correction amount calculation circuit.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a part of the calculation procedure of the correction amount calculation circuit.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a part of the calculation procedure of the correction amount calculation circuit.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a part of the calculation procedure of the correction amount calculation circuit.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a part of the calculation procedure of the correction amount calculation circuit.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a part of the calculation procedure of the correction amount calculation circuit.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an endoscope insertion system.

FIG. 22 is a view showing the internal structure of the operation unit of the endoscope.

23 is a block diagram of the camera control unit shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope 3 ... Insertion amount detection sensor 6 ... Control circuit 7 ... Manipulation selection switch 8 ... Rotation amount detection sensor 9 ... Air injection amount detection sensor 11 ... Display device

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 8, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0018

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

In the control circuit 6, since the insertion portion 1a of the endoscope 1 has been inserted up to l ₁ and the connection in the l ₂ direction has been confirmed, an operation method for the next passage of l ₂ (for example, a patient Posture change) is displayed on the monitor television 11 in accordance with the preselected procedure. It should be noted that the operation method and the like should not be displayed until the part where the operator is familiar with the insertion of the endoscope 1.
A skip switch may be provided. Furthermore, so that the auxiliary information will be output when the insertion auxiliary information is needed,
A switch for setting the output position of the auxiliary information may be provided separately.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A procedure selecting means for selecting a procedure when inserting an endoscope into a body cavity, an insertion amount detecting means for detecting an insertion amount of the endoscope into the body cavity, and the procedure selecting means. An endoscope insertion assisting device, comprising: a procedure for displaying a procedure to be performed according to the insertion amount detected by the insertion amount detecting means.