JPH07275195A - Electronic endoscope apparatus for separating image pickup part - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To observe the inside of an object to be observed from any arbitrary direction regardlessly of the operating direction of the top end part of an endoscope and to easily move/arrange an image pickup part to be separated. CONSTITUTION:An image pickup part 12 provided with a CCD 22 and a CCU 23 equipped with a signal processing circuit and a transmission part is separatably housed in a housing part 11 at the main body of the electronic endoscope, and an electromagnet 14 for connecting the image pickup part 12 at the housing part 11, antenna 26 and receiver 27 for receiving transmitted image signals sent from a transmitter are provided on the main body side of the endoscope. Concerning this image pickup part 12, a self-advancing means such as a flagellum driving part or an infinite track driving part is also available. Thus, since the image pickup part 12 is separated after the endoscope is inserted at a prescribed position inside the object to be observed, an attected part or the like can be observed from any direction different from the direction of a treatment tool from the main body of the endoscope.

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, and more particularly to an apparatus configured so that an image pickup section can be separated from an endoscope main body in a body cavity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A CCD (Charge Cou
pled device), an electronic endoscopic device for observing an image inside a body to be observed is well known. In this electronic endoscopic device,
An electronic endoscope (scope) is inserted into a body to be observed, and an affected part in a body cavity such as a digestive tract is observed and treated. The insertion portion of the electronic endoscope includes a tip portion provided with the CCD, an angle portion that bends up and down and left and right by operating the operation portion,
It is composed of a flexible portion, and the angle portion allows the tip portion to be bent to a desired portion.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned electronic endoscope apparatus, since the inside of the object to be observed is observed within the range of the bending angle of the angle portion, there is a problem that there is a range that cannot be observed. That is, it is difficult to bend the front surface of the distal end portion so as to face the rear side in the insertion direction, and a protrusion such as a polyp cannot be seen from the back side. Further, in the conventional device, the positional relationship between the observation direction of the CCD and the direction in which the treatment instrument is led out from the treatment instrument insertion channel cannot be changed, but when treating the affected area, the observation direction and the treatment instrument lead-out direction are changed. In many cases, the treatment is easier, and it is convenient if the affected area can be observed from any direction other than the treatment direction.

Conventionally, it has also been proposed to orally administer a capsule-shaped micromachine equipped with an image pickup unit alone. However, when using this micromachine alone, it is necessary to move to the affected part position by the driving means provided in the device itself while utilizing the biological function.
There is a problem that this moving operation is not easy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to observe an inside of an object to be observed from an arbitrary direction regardless of an operation direction of a distal end portion of an endoscope, and an image pickup section to be separated. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic endoscope apparatus that separates an imaging unit that facilitates the movement and arrangement of the.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic endoscope apparatus for separating an image pickup section according to the present invention comprises:
An image pickup unit provided with an image pickup device and a transmitter is configured to be separated from the endoscope body, and a holding means for holding the image pickup unit at the distal end portion is provided on the endoscope body side, and the transmitter from the transmitter. And a receiver for receiving the transmitted image signal. The image pickup unit may be provided with a self-propelling or self-position correcting means such as a flagella drive unit and a caterpillar (trademark) drive unit.

[0007]

According to the above construction, the image pickup section is connected to the endoscope main body by the storage section provided as holding means and, for example, the electromagnet, so that the image pickup section can be inserted to a desired position in the body under observation.
At the time of movement, the imaging unit is separated by turning off the electromagnet. Then, the imaging unit, which has been the eye of the tip of the endoscope until now, captures an image of the inside of the observed body as an independent imaging device separated from the endoscope.

The image signal obtained by the image pickup unit is transmitted from the transmitter to the endoscope body after a predetermined process is executed. In the receiver of the endoscope main body, the image signal is received via the antenna arranged at the distal end portion, and the image in the observed body is displayed on the monitor by performing a predetermined signal processing on the image signal. It The position of the image pickup unit at the time of separation may be corrected by flagella or the like as a self-propelling means, or by a correcting member using an air supply / water supply means on the endoscope side or a treatment instrument insertion channel. May be.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 show the configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus according to a first embodiment, in which an image pickup section is separated. Figure 1
2, a circular groove-shaped storage unit 11 is formed in the distal end portion 10 of the electronic endoscope, and an imaging unit 12 made of a cylindrical capsule stores about 1/3 of the storage unit 11 and is detachably arranged. To be done. The rear end surface 13 of the image pickup unit 12 is made of a metal plate or the like, and an electromagnet 14 is arranged at the bottom of the storage unit 11. An operation switch 16 and a power supply 17 are connected to the electromagnet 14.

Further, the electronic endoscope is provided with a treatment instrument insertion channel 18 for introducing a treatment instrument such as forceps and a supply passage 19 for supplying air and water, and these outlets are provided at the storage section 1.
It is provided at the bottom of 1. Therefore, the operation switch 16
When the electromagnet 14 is turned off by the
Although it will be separated from 1, the imaging unit 12 can also be blown away by the air or water supplied from the supply path 19 at this time. The image pickup unit 12 may be provided with a flagella drive unit including a flagella and a drive member, a caterpillar drive unit, or the like as a self-propelling unit or a self-position correcting unit.

A camera control unit (CCU) 2 having a lens section 21, a CCD 22 which is a solid-state image pickup element, an image signal processing circuit and a transmitting section in the image pickup section 12.
3 is arranged, and the transmitting antenna 2 is provided on the front surface of the imaging unit 12.
4 are provided. That is, the image inside the body to be observed is the lens portion 2
The image signal captured by the CCD 22 via 1 is subjected to predetermined processing such as amplification processing by the CCU 23 and then modulated, and the transmission image signal is output from the transmission antenna 24. To be done.

On the other hand, on the electronic endoscope side, a receiving antenna 26 is arranged on the surface of the tip portion 10, and a monitor 28 is connected to the receiving antenna 26 via a receiving section 27.
That is, in the receiving unit 27, the image signal input from the receiving antenna 26 is demodulated, and the image inside the observed body is displayed on the monitor 28 based on the image signal. Also, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
1 is provided, and irradiation light is supplied to the irradiation windows 30 and 31 from a light source unit (not shown) by a light guide.

The first embodiment has the above construction, and its operation will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 1, with the electromagnet 14 turned on by the operation switch 16 and the imaging unit 12 stored in the storage unit 11, the distal end portion 10 of the electronic endoscope is inserted into the body cavity in FIG. 3 ( Insertion direction 10
0) is done. For example, when observing the polyp P of FIG. 3 from the back side, after inserting the tip portion 10 to the chain line position,
The operation switch 16 turns off the electromagnet 14 and disconnects the imaging unit 12. When the imaging unit 12 comes out of the tip portion 10, by pushing the tip portion 10 a little toward the back,
The lens unit 21 of the image pickup unit 12 can be arranged so as to face the polyp P. Here, by injecting air or water from the air / water supply path 19, the image pickup unit 12 can be sent out or its position can be corrected. Further, when the image pickup unit 12 is provided with a self-propelling unit or a self-position correcting unit, the flagella, the caterpillar, etc. are driven to arrange the image pickup unit 12 at a desired position.

During the above operation, the CCD 22 in the image pickup unit 12
The image signal of the inside of the body to be observed captured in (3) is modulated into a transmission image signal by the CCU 23, and the transmission image signal is output from the transmission antenna 24. On the other hand, the image signal is received by the receiving antenna 26 on the endoscope body side, and this image signal is demodulated by the receiving unit 27 and then supplied to the monitor 28. In this way, in the arrangement state of FIG. 3, the polyp P and its peripheral portion are displayed as an image on the monitor 28. Then, while watching the image on the monitor 28, the distal end portion 10 is returned to, for example, the position indicated by the solid line, and the treatment instrument 33 is led out from the treatment instrument insertion channel 18 at this position. Therefore, in this case, the treatment with the treatment tool 33 can be performed while observing the polyp P from the back side.

After the observation / treatment is completed, the separated image pickup section 12 in FIG. 3 can be collected by the following method. That is, when the electromagnet 14 of the tip portion 10 is in a state where it can be pulled into the storage portion 11 and when it can be moved into the storage portion 11 by the self-propelling means, the imaging unit 12 is operated by the electromagnet or the self-propelling means. It is collected in the storage unit 11. If the storage section 11 cannot be stored, the basket type forceps 34 or the three-claw type forceps shown in FIG. 4 are inserted from the treatment instrument insertion channel 18 and the imaging section 12 is grasped by these forceps. And can be collected. Furthermore, it is also possible to leave the imaging unit 12 as it is and collect it by utilizing the excretion function of the living body.

In the above, the electronic endoscope main body of FIG. 1 may be used only for moving / arranging the image pickup section 12 at a predetermined position in the body to be observed. That is, the image pickup unit 1 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
After arranging 2, the endoscope is temporarily taken out, another electronic endoscope in which the image pickup section is integrally formed is inserted, and a predetermined treatment is performed while observing the polyp P from both the back side and the front side. Can be executed.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the second embodiment showing another example of the storage section for storing the above-mentioned image pickup section. In FIG. 5, the image pickup unit 12 has the same configuration as that described above, but a storage unit 36 for storing the entire image pickup unit 12 is formed at the distal end portion 35, and an electromagnet 37 is provided at the bottom of the storage unit 36. It is attached. On this bottom, the treatment instrument insertion channel 3
8 are arranged. Further, an air / water supply path 39 is formed up to the front surface of the tip end portion 35, and a nozzle 40 is provided on the front surface.
Is provided. Therefore, by ejecting air or water from the nozzle 40, the window of the lens unit 21 of the image pickup unit 12 can be washed. The receiving antenna 26 is also provided on the surface portion in the same manner, and a separate air / water feeding passage 41 may be arranged on the bottom surface of the storage portion 36, as in the first embodiment.

According to the second embodiment, since the image pickup section 12 is completely stored in the storage section 36, when the electronic endoscope is inserted, the image pickup section 12 comes into contact with the wall inside the body cavity or the like. It does not come off, and stable insertion is possible. And
In this case, if the electromagnet 37 is simply turned off,
Since it cannot be easily separated, the treatment tool inserted from the treatment tool insertion channel 38 or the supply path 4
By the air supply / water supply of 1, the imaging unit 12 is taken out from the storage unit 36.

In the above embodiment, the electromagnets 14 and 37 were used as the holding means of the image pickup unit 12, but by sucking air from the air / water supply passages 19 and 41 in a state of being stored in the storage units 11 and 36. The image pickup unit 12 may be held. Especially, in the case of the second embodiment, a sufficiently stable holding state can be obtained by this intake air.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The image pickup unit provided with the image pickup element and the transmitter is configured to be detachable from the endoscope main body, and the holding unit for holding the image pickup unit at the distal end portion and the receiver are provided on the endoscope main body side. Therefore, the separated image pickup unit can perform a single image pickup, and the inside of the observed object can be observed from any direction regardless of the operation direction of the endoscope distal end portion. Further, since the image pickup unit is introduced into the body to be observed by the endoscope, there is an advantage that the image pickup unit can be moved and arranged smoothly.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a front surface of a tip portion of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the electronic endoscope of the embodiment is applied inside a body cavity.

FIG. 4 is a view showing basket type forceps used in the example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a tip end portion of a second embodiment.

[Explanation of Codes] 10, 35 ... Tip part, 11, 36 ... Storage part, 12 ... Imaging part, 14, 37 ... Electromagnet, 18, 38 ... Treatment tool insertion channel, 19, 39 ... Air / water supply passage , 22 CCD, 23 CCU (camera control unit), 24 transmission antenna, 26 reception antenna.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup unit provided with an image pickup device and a transmitter is configured to be separated from an endoscope main body, and a holding means for holding the image pickup unit at a distal end portion is provided on the endoscope main body side. And a receiver for receiving a transmission image signal sent from the transmitter, and an electronic endoscope apparatus for disconnecting an imaging unit provided with the receiver.