JPH0638926A - Electronic endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate removal of obstacles on an inspection window and to enable reduction of diameter at a scope tip end. CONSTITUTION:In an electronic endoscope housing a rectangular CCD in its scope tip end 6 and having a circular inspection window 7 which has a rectangular effective optical range 13, an air-and-water supply nozzle 8 is provided on an axis crossing an opposite side of the effective optical range 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope, and more particularly to the arrangement of a structure at the tip of a scope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic endoscope of this type has a guiding tube introduced into a body cavity of a subject, and a distal end of the guiding tube has a scope tip portion 100 as shown in FIG. In the figure, an observation window 101 for observing the inside of a body cavity is formed in the distal end portion 100 of the scope.
An air / water supply nozzle 102 for removing the obstacles above is provided. In addition, the scope tip 100 has
Illumination window 1 for illuminating the inside of a body cavity with light from a light source
03, a forceps port 104 and the like for inserting the treatment tool into the body cavity are provided.

The air / water nozzle 102 has an observation window 1
Observation window 101 by injecting air and water into 01
Observing window 1
At the end of 01, it was difficult to completely remove the obstacle due to surface tension or the like. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the diameter of the observation window 101 is set to the optically effective diameter, that is, the objective optical system 1.
The diameter of the circle circumscribing the portion of the solid-state image sensor, which is incident on the rectangular CCD 106, is larger than the diameter of the circle. By doing this, the obstacle is observed through the observation window 10.
Even if it remains above 1, it was made not to be within the optically effective diameter so that it would not affect the electronic endoscopic image.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the CCD 106 and the air / water feeding nozzle 1 are used.
Since the positional relationship of 02 is not considered, the observation window 101
Has to be sufficiently larger than the optically effective diameter, which has been an obstacle to reducing the diameter of the scope tip.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to easily remove obstacles on the observation window, and An object is to provide an electronic endoscope that can be reduced in diameter.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a circular solid-state image pickup device is built in the distal end portion of a scope and a circular observation window having a square optically effective area. In the electronic endoscope comprising the above, an air / water feeding mechanism is provided on an axis orthogonal to the opposite side of the optically effective region. Further, the diameter of the observation window and the diameter of a circle circumscribing the optically effective region are configured to be substantially equal to each other.

[0007]

In the electronic endoscope of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, since the rectangular solid-state image pickup element is used for the circular observation window, the optically effective area becomes a square, and the optical non-existence area is formed on the outer side of the opposite side. Used space is generated. When removing the obstacle on the observation window, air and water are ejected by the air / water feeding mechanism so that the obstacle is driven into this optically unused area. Therefore, the obstacle disappears from the optically effective area, and the obstacle does not affect the electronic endoscopic image.
Further, by making the diameter of the observation window and the diameter of the circle circumscribing the optically effective region substantially equal, the diameter of the observation window can be minimized.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a distal end portion of a scope of an electronic endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an objective optical system of the electronic endoscope, and FIG. 3 is an electronic endoscope of the embodiment. It is a perspective view showing the whole composition of the electronic endoscope device provided with a mirror.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes an electronic endoscope, which is attached to a guiding central tube 2 to be introduced into a body cavity of a subject (not shown) and a proximal end portion of the guiding central tube 2 for performing a scope operation. The operation unit 3 is connected to the apparatus main body 5 by a universal cord 4. A scope tip 6 is provided at the tip of the guiding tube 2.
As shown in FIG. 1, an observation window 7 for observing the inside of the body cavity is formed, and an air / water feeding nozzle 8 for ejecting air and water to remove obstacles on the observation window 7 is provided in the observation window 7. Has been. In addition, the scope main body 5 is attached to the scope distal end portion 6.
An illumination window 9 for illuminating the inside of the body cavity with light from a light source provided therein, a forceps port 10 for inserting a treatment tool such as forceps into the body cavity, and the like are arranged.

In addition, at the distal end portion 6 of the scope, in the vicinity of the observation window 7, there is an objective optical system 11 and a rectangular C which is a solid-state image pickup device.
CD12 is provided. Since this CCD 12 is rectangular, the optically effective area 13 in the observation window 7 is also rectangular, and the diameter of the observation window 7 is this rectangular optically effective area 13.
Be sure to cover the diagonal length of. That is, the diameter of the observation window and the diameter of the circle circumscribing the optically effective area are made substantially equal. The air / water feeding nozzle 8 is provided on an axis orthogonal to the opposite side of the optically effective region 13, for example, in any of A, B, C, and D directions in FIG. Are arranged so as to face the observation window 7.

When observing the inside of the body cavity of the subject, first, the guiding tube 2 is inserted into the body cavity. Then, the light emitted from the light source provided in the device main body 5 irradiates the observation site in the body cavity from the illumination window 9 through the universal cord 4, the operation section 3 and the light guide provided in the guiding tube 2. To do. The illumination reflected light enters from the observation window 7 and forms an image on the CCD 12 via the objective optical system 11. The CCD 12 converts this optical image into an electric signal, and this signal is sent to the information processing section in the apparatus main body 5 via a signal line (not shown). Then, in the information processing section, after this signal is subjected to signal processing and display processing, the image signal is sent to the display 14 such as a CRT and the image of the observed region is displayed on the screen of the display 14.

Further, since the observation window 7 has a circular shape, whereas the CCD 12 has a square shape, the optically effective area 13 in the observation window 7 has a square shape, and an optically unused area 15 is formed outside the opposite side portion. The air / water nozzle 8 is provided on an axis orthogonal to the opposite side of the optically effective region 13,
Since the opening of the air / water feeding nozzle 8 is arranged so as to face the observation window 7, when removing the obstacle on the observation window 7,
An obstacle can be driven into the optically unused area 15 by ejecting air and water from the air / water feeding nozzle 8.

Therefore, the diameter of the observation window 7 can be kept to a minimum without the obstacle affecting the image of the electronic endoscope, and the diameter of the distal end portion 6 of the scope can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the pain of the patient and shorten the time required for the examination.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing the scope distal end portion 6. As shown in the figure, an observation window 7 for observing the inside of the body cavity, an air supply nozzle 8a and a water supply nozzle 8b, an illumination window 9 for illuminating the inside of the body cavity, and a treatment tool such as forceps for inserting the treatment tool into the body cavity. A forceps port 10 is provided. The air supply nozzle 8a and the water supply nozzle 8b are provided on an axis orthogonal to the opposite side of the optically effective region 13 of the observation window 7, and the openings of the air supply nozzle 8a and the water supply nozzle 8b are arranged so as to face the observation window 7. . This is applied when the structure of the scope tip portion 6 cannot share the air supply nozzle and the water supply nozzle.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

[0016]

The electronic endoscope of the present invention having the above-described structure and operation has the advantage that the diameter of the observation window can be reduced without affecting the image of the electronic endoscope, and therefore The diameter can be reduced, and the patient's pain can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a distal end portion of a scope of an electronic endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an objective optical system of the electronic endoscope in the example.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between an observation window and an air / water feeding nozzle in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a scope distal end portion of an electronic endoscope according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a distal end portion of a scope of an electronic endoscope in a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing an objective optical system of an electronic endoscope in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Electronic Endoscope 6 Scope Tip 7 Observation Window 8 Air / Water Supply Nozzle (Air / Water Supply Mechanism) 12 CCD (Solid-State Image Sensor) 13 Optically Effective Area

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic endoscope including a rectangular solid-state imaging device at the tip of a scope and having a circular observation window having a rectangular optically effective area, wherein the opposite side of the optically effective area is orthogonal to the opposite side. An electronic endoscope characterized in that an air / water supply mechanism is provided on the shaft. 2. The electronic endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the observation window and the diameter of a circle circumscribing the optically effective region are substantially equal to each other.