JPH07246183A - Electronic endoscope system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an electronic endoscope system that can easily perform a desired processing with the axis of display image matched with the actual axis by automatically compensating the rotation of axis of the display image on a monitor caused by an unwanted deflection at the inserted portion of an electronic endoscope. CONSTITUTION:This endscope system is composed of an electronic endoscope 1 which has an image optical system at its top end and outputs an image image- formatted at the image optical system as an image signal, a display means 4 which displays an image signal from the electronic endoscope 1, a deflection detecting means 2 which detects the deflection of the top end of the electronic endoscope 1, and an image processing means 3 which controls the direction of an image displayed on the display means 4 according to the output of the deflection detecting means 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system using an electronic endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A light guide is provided so as to extend in an insertion portion that can be inserted into a body cavity or an industrial machine.
An imaging optical system and a solid-state image sensor are provided at the tip of the insertion section, light from a light source is emitted from the tip side through a light guide to illuminate an observation site, and the image is passed through the image-pickup optical system to a solid-state image sensor. Conventionally, various electronic endoscopes have been proposed in which an image is formed, taken out as an image signal, and displayed on a monitor. Also, instead of providing a solid-state image sensor at the tip, an image guide is provided extending into the insertion part, and an image of the observation site illuminated through the light guide is formed on the incident end face of the image guide through the imaging optical system. There is also known an electronic endoscope in which an image is formed and an image formed on the exit end face of the image guide is taken out as an image signal by a video camera having a solid-state image pickup device or an image pickup tube and displayed on a monitor.

As an electronic endoscope system using such an electronic endoscope, the present applicant has disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-310.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 68, a bending portion driving means for driving a bending portion on the distal end side of an insertion portion of an electronic endoscope and a motion detecting means for detecting a motion of an observer are provided, and the bending is performed based on a detection signal by the motion detecting means. It is proposed that the curved portion is automatically driven by the portion driving means. According to such an electronic endoscope system, since the curved portion automatically bends in accordance with the movement of the observer, there is an advantage that the observer can easily observe a desired portion without performing a troublesome bending operation. is there.

[0004]

However, various experiments conducted by the present inventors have revealed that the electronic endoscope system described above has some points to be improved as described below. That is, when the insertion portion of the electronic endoscope is inserted into a body cavity or an industrial machine and the insertion portion is twisted and the tip portion is rotated, the axis of the image displayed on the monitor and the axis of the real world are aligned. Even if the scope is positioned on the same part, the displayed image will be different depending on the presence or absence of rotation.

Therefore, when the bending portion of the scope is automatically operated based on the movement of the observer, the tip of the scope appears to move according to the movement of the observer on the monitor, but the axis of the displayed image is It will be different from the axis of the direction of the real world. For example, when the distal end portion is rotated by 180 degrees during insertion, when the bending portion is driven to the right in response to the movement of the observer, the image moved to the right is observed on the monitor, but the scope itself. Will move to the left. Therefore, when observing the image displayed on the monitor and performing a desired treatment by inserting the treatment tool through the channel of the electronic endoscope, there is a problem that the processing becomes difficult.

The first object of the present invention was made in view of such a problem, and automatically rotates the axis of the display image on the monitor due to the undesired twist of the insertion portion of the electronic endoscope. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic endoscope system that can be corrected appropriately, and thus is appropriately configured so that desired processing can be easily performed in a state where the axis of a display image and the axis of the real world are matched.

Another object of the present invention is to appropriately display an image by an electronic endoscope so that an observer can easily observe the image and display an image in a direction corresponding to the direction of the observer. It is intended to provide an endoscope system.

[0008]

In order to achieve the first object, the electronic endoscope system of the present invention has an image pickup optical system at the tip end thereof, and an image formed by this image pickup optical system is formed. An electronic endoscope for outputting as an image signal, a display means for displaying an image signal from the electronic endoscope, a twist detecting means for detecting a twist of the tip portion of the electronic endoscope, and a twist detecting means of the twist detecting means. Image processing means for controlling the orientation of the image displayed on the display means based on the output.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the displacement detecting means for detecting the displacement of the observer, the bending means for bending the distal end portion of the electronic endoscope, the output of the displacement detecting means and the twist are further provided. Based on the output of the detection means,
A bending control means for controlling the drive of the bending means,
An undesired rotation of the axis of the image displayed on the display means is corrected so that the axis of the displayed image and the axis of the real world substantially coincide with each other, and the curved portion is automatically curved based on the displacement of the observer. .

In order to achieve the above second object, the electronic endoscope system of the present invention has an image pickup optical system at the tip and outputs an image formed by this image pickup optical system as an image signal. An electronic endoscope, and an image display device that is mounted on the head or face of the observer, displays an image signal from the electronic endoscope and magnifies and projects the image signal into the eyeball of the observer, Displacement detecting means for detecting the displacement of the head, bending means for bending the distal end portion of the electronic endoscope, and bending control means for controlling the drive of the bending means based on the output of the displacement detecting means. It is characterized by having.

[0011]

In the electronic endoscope system that achieves the first object, when the tip portion of the electronic endoscope is twisted, the twist is detected by the twist detecting means, and based on the output, the image processing means The orientation of the image displayed on the display means is controlled. Therefore, the rotation of the axis of the image displayed on the display means due to the undesired twist of the insertion portion of the electronic endoscope can be automatically corrected, and the axis of the image displayed on the display means and the axis of the real world match. It becomes possible.

In the electronic endoscope system that achieves the second object, the image obtained by the electronic endoscope is displayed on an image display device mounted on the observer's head or face, and the observation is performed. It is enlarged and projected into the eyeball of the person. Further, when the observer displaces his / her head, the displacement is detected by the displacement detecting means, and based on the output, the distal end portion of the electronic endoscope is bent through the bending control means and the bending means, and the bending is made. The image in the direction, that is, the direction corresponding to the direction of the observer is displayed on the image display device. Moreover, since the image display device is mounted on the observer's head or face, the image enlarged and projected on the observer's eyeball is always located in front of the observer's face, and therefore the observer's head By moving the part, it is possible to obtain an image as if the user were at the tip of the electronic endoscope.

[0013]

1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. This electronic endoscope system includes an electronic endoscope 1, a rotation detection sensor 2, a controller 3 and a monitor 4.
Have and. As described above, the electronic endoscope 1 is provided with a light guide extending in an insertion portion that can be inserted into a body cavity or an industrial machine, and an imaging optical system and a solid-state imaging device at the tip of the insertion portion. And a camera section having a light source, light from the light source is emitted from the tip end side through the light guide to illuminate the observation site, and an image thereof is formed on the camera section through the image pickup optical system to be extracted as an image signal. Alternatively, instead of providing a solid-state image sensor at the tip, an image guide is provided extending into the insertion part, and an image of an observation site illuminated through a light guide is image-guided through an imaging optical system. The image is formed on the incident end face of the image guide, and the image formed on the output end face of the image guide is taken out as an image signal by a camera unit having a solid-state image pickup device or a pickup tube. The image signal from the electronic endoscope 1 is supplied to the controller 3.

The rotation detecting sensor 2 is used as the electronic endoscope 1.
Is provided in the insertion tip of the electronic endoscope 1 so that the twist in the insertion tip, that is, the rotation around the insertion axis can be detected. The output of the rotation detection sensor 2 is the controller 3
Supply to. The controller 3 has a camera control unit that controls the camera unit of the electronic endoscope 1 and an image processing unit that processes an image signal from the electronic endoscope 1 based on the output of the rotation detection sensor 2. The image signal processed by the processing unit is configured to be displayed on the monitor 4. Further, the monitor 4 is mounted on a CRT or a head-mounted display device (Head) which is mounted on the face or the head to enlarge and display an observation image.
Mounted Display; hereinafter abbreviated to HMD).

In such an electronic endoscope system, the insertion portion of the electronic endoscope 1 is inserted into a body cavity or an industrial machine to display an image of an observed region on the monitor 4. Here, if the distal end portion of the electronic endoscope 1 is not twisted and the initial state is maintained, the monitor 4 is displayed, for example, as shown in FIG.
An image as shown in is displayed, and the up, down, left, and right directions of the image match the up, down, left, and right of the real world. However, when the distal end portion of the electronic endoscope 1 is twisted and rotated, for example, to the right, the image displayed on the monitor 4 becomes, for example, as shown in FIG. , U, D, L, R directions in FIG. 3, respectively, the vertical and horizontal directions of the display image are U ', D',
It becomes the L'and R'directions and is rotated with respect to the initial state. In this way, the image displayed on the monitor 4 is
Depending on whether the tip portion of the electronic endoscope 1 is rotated or not, the observation result at the same position is different.

In this embodiment, the rotation detecting sensor 2 detects the amount of rotation of the tip of the electronic endoscope 1, and the controller 3 outputs the image signal from the electronic endoscope 1 to the tip based on the output thereof. The rotation processing is performed so as to correct the image rotation due to the rotation of the image, and the image signal subjected to the image processing is displayed on the monitor 4 as shown in FIG.

As described above, if the image displayed on the monitor 4 is rotated according to the rotation of the tip, the display direction of the image is always in the initial state, that is, the axis of the image displayed on the monitor 4 and the reality. Since the field axis can always be made to coincide with each other, when observing the same portion, the same image can be observed without depending on the rotation state of the distal end portion when the electronic endoscope 1 is inserted. Therefore, when the treatment tool is inserted through the channel of the electronic endoscope 1 and the desired treatment is performed while observing the image displayed on the monitor 4, the processing can be easily performed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. This electronic endoscope system includes an electronic endoscope 11, a bending portion drive unit 12, a controller 13, and H.
It has an MD 14 and a displacement detector 15. The electronic endoscope 11 is the same as that described in FIG. 1, and supplies the image signal from the electronic endoscope 11 to the controller 13. Further, the bending portion drive unit 12 is configured to automatically bend the bending portion of the electronic endoscope 11 based on a control signal from the controller 13.

For this reason, the bending portion drive unit 12 is provided in the operation portion 17 of the electronic endoscope 11 as shown in FIG. 5 by way of example, and the bending portion is vertically and horizontally via wires. The angle knobs 18 and 19 for bending are coupled to the motors 22 and 23 via the joining units 20 and 21, respectively, and the motors 22 and 23 are further coupled to the encoders 24 and 2, respectively.
5, the motors 22 and 23 are driven based on the control signal from the controller 13, and the rotation amounts thereof are detected by the encoders 24 and 25 and fed back to the controller 13, so that the curved portion is moved in a desired direction. Configured to bend. In addition, the bending portion drive unit 12 is
The electronic endoscope 11 may be integrated with the motor, and a wire for bending the bending portion may be directly connected to the motor for driving.

In FIG. 4, the displacement detector 15 is an HMD.
It is provided integrally with the HMD 14 or separately from the HMD 14 so that the displacement of the head of the observer wearing the 14 can be detected. The displacement detector 15 has two sensors, for example, a sensor for detecting a vertical displacement and a sensor for detecting a horizontal displacement when detecting the vertical and horizontal displacements of the observer's head. The output of each of these sensors is supplied to the controller 13. Note that each sensor can be configured by, for example, an angular velocity sensor made of a piezoelectric vibration gyro.

Further, the controller 13 uses the electronic endoscope 1
The image signal from the electronic endoscope 11 is displayed on the HMD 14 by controlling the camera unit 1 and the movement amount of the observer is calculated based on the output of the displacement detector 15, and the bending is performed based on the movement amount. It is configured to control the partial drive unit 12.

According to this embodiment, when the observer wearing the HMD 14 is observing an image as shown in FIG. 6 (a), for example, the head is turned to the right when the head is turned to the right. Is detected by the displacement detector 15, and based on the output thereof, the bending portion of the electronic endoscope 11 is driven rightward in proportion to the displacement amount of the head by the controller 13 via the bending portion driving unit 12. To be done. As a result, the HMD 14 displays the image moved to the right, as shown in FIG. Subsequently, when the observer faces upward, the curved portion of the electronic endoscope 11 is similarly driven in the upward direction in proportion to the displacement amount of the head, and the HMD 14 is shown in FIG. Thus, the image moved upward is displayed. afterwards,
When facing the front again, the image shown in FIG. 6A is displayed.

As described above, by observing the image with the HMD 14 and automatically displacing the curved portion of the electronic endoscope 11 in accordance with the displacement of the head of the observer, the observer feels as if the electronic endoscope It is possible to obtain an image as if it were at the tip of the mirror 11. 6 (c) to 6 (a)
In the case of bending the curved portion so that the angle becomes, the conventional angle knob method is extremely difficult because the two angle knobs 18 and 19 must be operated at the same time. By displacing in one direction, the bending part automatically bends in that direction, so the operation becomes easy.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that a bending portion drive unit 12 that automatically bends the bending portion of the electronic endoscope 1 is provided, an HMD 14 is used as a monitor, and the HMD 14 is attached. In order to detect the displacement of the observer's head, the displacement detector 15 similar to that in the second embodiment is provided, and the controller 3
Thus, the image signal from the electronic endoscope 1 is rotated and displayed on the HMD 14 so as to correct the rotation of the tip of the electronic endoscope 1 based on the output of the rotation detection sensor 2. The bending portion drive unit 12 is controlled based on the output of 2 and the output of the displacement detector 15 to bend the bending portion of the electronic endoscope 1.

That is, when the image signal is rotated based on the output of the rotation detection sensor 2 and displayed on the HMD 14, the bending portion is simply bent based on the output of the displacement detector 15, for example, When the observer is displaced to the right while the image is rotated 90 degrees to the right, the bending portion drive unit 12 is driven to bend the bending portion to the right, but the tip portion is twisted to the right. Since the image is rotated by 90 degrees in the direction, the image observed by the HMD 14 has the tip portion moved downward.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the driving of the bending portion by the bending portion driving unit 12 is controlled based on the output of the rotation detecting sensor 2 and the output of the displacement detector 15. That is, as shown in FIG. 8A, the rotation angle of the image based on the R direction in the initial state based on the output of the rotation detection sensor 2 is θ1, and the head of the observer detected by the displacement detector 15 is As shown in FIG. 8B, when the displacement direction is the direction of the angle θ2 with the R direction as the reference, the direction of the angle θ3 = θ2-θ1 with the R direction in the initial state of the curved portion as the reference. Make it bend.

As described above, the undesired rotation of the axis of the image is corrected on the basis of the output of the rotation detection sensor 2, and the bending drive unit 12 operates on the basis of the output of the rotation detection sensor 2 and the output of the displacement detector 15. By controlling the drive of the bending portion, the bending portion can be automatically bent based on the displacement of the observer while always keeping the axis of the display image and the axis of the real world in agreement. Note that the angle θ3 of the bending direction
Does not necessarily have to be θ3 = θ2-θ1.
2- [theta] 1-10 [deg.] <[Theta] 3 <[theta] 2- [theta] 1 + 10 [deg.], Preferably [theta] 2- [theta] 1-5 [deg.] <[Theta] 2- [theta] 1 + 5 [deg.] So that the axis of the display image and the The axis of the field can be almost always matched. Therefore, when the treatment tool is inserted through the channel of the electronic endoscope 1 and a desired treatment is performed, the treatment can be performed more easily.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but the following embodiments are possible. (1) In the electronic endoscope system according to claim 1 or 2, the display means is attached to an observer's head or face,
An electronic endoscope system comprising an image display device for displaying an image signal from the electronic endoscope and enlarging and projecting the image signal in the eyeball of the observer. (2) In the electronic endoscope system according to (1) above,
An electronic endoscope system characterized in that displacement detecting means is provided integrally with an image display device. (3) In the electronic endoscope system described in (2) above,
An electronic endoscope system characterized in that the displacement detecting means comprises an angular velocity sensor for detecting the angular velocity of the observer's head. (4) In the electronic endoscope system described in (3) above,
An electronic endoscope system having a plurality of angular velocity sensors for detecting displacements of an observer's head in different directions. (5) In the electronic endoscope system according to claim 2, the above (1), (2), (3) or (4), the orientation of the display image controlled by the image processing means based on the output of the twist detection means. The control angle of θ1 from the reference direction in the initial state is
The displacement direction of the observer's head detected by the displacement detection means
When the angle is θ2 from the reference direction, the angle θ3 of the bending direction of the bending portion of the electronic endoscope driven through the bending control means and the bending means is θ2-θ1-10 ° <θ.
An electronic endoscope system characterized by being configured to satisfy the condition of 3 <θ2-θ1 + 10 °. (6) In the electronic endoscope system according to (5) above,
θ3 is θ2-θ1-5 ° <θ3 <θ2-θ1 + 5 °,
An electronic endoscope system characterized by being configured so as to satisfy the condition of. (7) The electronic endoscope system according to claim 3, wherein the displacement detecting means is provided integrally with the image display device. (8) In the electronic endoscope system according to (7) above,
An electronic endoscope system characterized in that the displacement detecting means comprises an angular velocity sensor for detecting the angular velocity of the observer's head. (9) In the electronic endoscope system according to (8) above,
An electronic endoscope system having a plurality of angular velocity sensors for detecting displacements of an observer's head in different directions.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the image processing for correcting the orientation of the display image is performed according to the rotation of the tip portion of the electronic endoscope. It can always be aligned with the real world axis. Therefore, when observing the same region, the same image can be observed without depending on the rotation state of the distal end portion when the electronic endoscope is inserted. When the treatment tool is inserted through the channel and a desired treatment is performed, the treatment can be easily performed.
Further, since the image is observed by the HMD and the curved portion of the electronic endoscope is automatically displaced according to the displacement of the observer's head, the observer feels as if the tip portion of the electronic endoscope. You can get images like
By displacing the head, the curved portion of the electronic endoscope is automatically curved in the displacement direction, which simplifies the operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of FIG.

FIG. 3 is also a diagram for explaining the operation of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an example of a bending portion drive unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation of FIG. 7.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Electronic Endoscope 2 Rotation Detection Sensor 3 Controller 4 Monitor 11 Electronic Endoscope 12 Curved Part Drive Unit 13 Controller 14 HMD 15 Displacement Detector

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Yoshihisa Suzuki 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electronic endoscope having an imaging optical system at its tip and outputting an image formed by this imaging optical system as an image signal, and a display for displaying the image signal from this electronic endoscope. Means, a twist detecting means for detecting the twist of the tip portion of the electronic endoscope, and an image processing means for controlling the orientation of the image displayed on the display means based on the output of the twist detecting means. An electronic endoscope system characterized by the above. 2. The electronic endoscope system according to claim 1, further comprising: displacement detecting means for detecting displacement of an observer, bending means for bending a tip portion of the electronic endoscope, and the displacement detecting means. And a bending control means for controlling the drive of the bending means based on the output of the above and the output of the twist detecting means, and an electronic endoscope system. 3. An electronic endoscope having an imaging optical system at its tip and outputting an image formed by this imaging optical system as an image signal; and an electronic endoscope mounted on the head or face of an observer, An image display device for displaying an image signal from the endoscope and enlarging and projecting the image signal into the eyeball of the observer, a displacement detecting means for detecting a displacement of the head of the observer, and a tip portion of the electronic endoscope. An electronic endoscope system, comprising: a bending means for bending the bending means; and a bending control means for controlling the driving of the bending means based on the output of the displacement detecting means.