JPH0777580B2 - Transendoscopic spectroscopic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a transendoscopic spectroscopic diagnostic apparatus that performs spectroscopic diagnosis using an endoscope.

[Prior Art] There have been many proposals for the use of data measured using an endoscope as an auxiliary means for diagnosis, and the use of spectral data is one of them. For example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-260015 filed previously as a related technology example, in a field sequential electronic endoscope that sequentially illuminates with blue light, green light, and red light, a part of the blue light in the visual field is The chromaticity value is calculated from the green light and red light information, and the chromaticity value is output to the CRT for use in the diagnosis of normal and abnormal parts.

On the other hand, in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 57-55420, an image of a specific wavelength obtained by using a semi-transmissive mirror, a transmission filter and a reflection mirror to obtain reflected light from a subject is obtained by an image pickup tube, which is processed by a color encoder. By obtaining a blue image, a green image, and a red image, these are combined to obtain a high-contrast image, and a healthy part and an abnormal part can be easily distinguished.

In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 62-260015, the colorimetric calculation process is performed from the electromotive force of the CCD due to the reflected blue light, green light and red light of a part of the visual field specified on the monitor by the keyboard, and the chromaticity is calculated. Since the value is sought, in medical care and diagnosis where changes in adjacent boundaries or the aspect of a certain area are important,
There is room for improvement because it is necessary to measure each point one by one and the medical treatment time is extended.

Further, in the conventional example of Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-55420, since the tip of the endoscope is brought into contact with the mucous membrane of the living body and all the light in the visual field is used for measurement, the affected area of the size below the visual field is Accurate data cannot be obtained, and the field of view at the time of measurement cannot be secured by abutting, and the record of the measurement site cannot be recorded in photographs, etc., and it will not be useful for later conferences of doctors in the same hospital.
Only a three-color separated image is obtained with a semi-transmissive mirror, etc.
It does not merely make the visual image easier to see, nor does it determine the chromaticity value based on the spectral distribution or the like.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and in the clinical field, etc., without imposing a special burden on both the patient and the doctor, it can be used as a powerful auxiliary means for diagnosing a lesion site in the endoscope field of view. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transendoscopic spectroscopic diagnostic apparatus capable of providing highly accurate and objective two-dimensional spectral data for an image.

[Means and Actions for Solving Problems] According to the present invention, there are provided a sequential illumination unit that sequentially illuminates an object through a plurality of filters in different wavelength regions, and an imaging unit that corresponds to the sequential illumination of an object whose spectral distribution is known. A storage unit for calculating a predetermined constant based on each output signal and storing the calculated predetermined constant, and each output signal of the image pickup unit corresponding to the sequential illumination of an object whose spectral distribution is unknown and the storage unit. By providing a spectral distribution estimation means for estimating the spectral distribution of each part of the subject based on the stored predetermined constants, it is possible to include a subject region that has been supplemented in the visual field without repeating point-by-point measurement. Dimensional spectral characteristics can be obtained in a short time,
It is designed to improve the diagnostic accuracy.

EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 9 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a transendoscopic spectroscopic diagnosis apparatus according to the first embodiment,
FIG. 4 is a front view showing the first rotary filter, FIG. 3 is a front view showing the second rotary filter, and FIG. 4 is a characteristic showing the spectral transmittance distribution of a narrow band filter provided in the second rotary filter. 5 and 5 are configuration diagrams of a video process circuit, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which an endoscopic image and an estimated spectral distribution are displayed on the first color monitor, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing spectral distribution calculation. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a calculation circuit to be performed, FIG. 8 is a spectral distribution diagram showing a comparison between a spectral distribution of a known reflectance test chart and an estimated spectral distribution obtained by estimation, and FIG. 9 is obtained for all pixels. It is a chromaticity histogram figure which represented the estimated spectral distribution by the two-dimensional histogram on a chromaticity diagram.

As shown in FIG. 1, a diagnostic apparatus 1 for transendoscopic spectroscopy of the first embodiment is a frame sequential electronic scope 2 and a frame sequential light source unit for supplying illumination light to the frame sequential electronic scope 2. 3 and a signal processor 4 built-in, an external output unit 6 for displaying a video signal output from the video processor 5 and displaying a spectroscopic diagnosis result, and a desired process for the video processor 5. And an external input section 7 for performing

The frame sequential electronic scope 2 has an elongated and flexible insertion portion 8, and an objective lens 10 is provided at a tip portion 9 of the insertion portion 8.
And a charge-coupled device (CCD) 11 arranged on the focal plane of the objective lens 10. In addition, CCD is inserted in the insertion part 8.
A signal cable 12 connected to 11 and a flexible light guide 13 for transmitting illumination light are inserted, and these are operated by the operation unit 4.
The connector 16 attached to the end of the universal cord 15 is inserted into the universal cord 15 extending from the connector 16 and can be connected to the connector receiver 17 of the video processor 5.

By connecting the connector 16 to the connector receiver 17, illumination light is supplied from the light source unit 3 to the incident end surface of the light guide 13 in time series.

The light source unit 3 in the video processor 5 connects the lamp power source 20 for supplying driving power to the xenon lamp 18 serving as a light source through the lighting circuit 19, and the incident end of the xenon lamp 18 and the light guide 13. On the optical path, a diaphragm 21 for adjusting the light quantity of the xenon lamp 18, and a light guide connected to the connector receiver 17 for the light passing through the diaphragm 21.
A condenser lens 22 for converging and irradiating the incident end face of 13, movable reflecting mirrors 23, 24 for changing the optical paths, and first and second optical paths for forming these mirrors 23, 24, respectively. The fixed reflecting mirrors 25, 26 and 27, 28 and the first and second rotary filters 29, 30 provided on the optical path between the pair of fixed reflecting mirrors 25, 26 and 27, 28 are arranged. It is set up.

The diaphragm 21 can be controlled by the diaphragm control circuit 31. The movable reflecting mirrors 23, 24 are controlled by a known method, for example, by a rotary solenoid (not shown), so that the mirror surfaces can be rotationally displaced by 90 °. These mirrors 23 and 24 are interlocked and changed in rotation,
In the state shown by the solid line as shown in the figure, the light reflected by the mirror 23 passes through the fixed reflection mirror 27, the second rotary filter 30, the fixed reflection mirror 28, and the movable reflection mirror 24, and then the light guide 13
Is irradiated to the incident end surface of. On the other hand, when the mirrors 23 and 24 are set to the state shown by the dotted line, the light reflected by the mirror 23 enters the light guide 13 via the mirror 25, the first rotary filter 29, the mirror 26, and the mirror 24. The end face is irradiated.

The first rotary filter 29 is for performing normal frame-sequential illumination, and as shown in FIG. 2, three fan-shaped openings provided in the circumferential direction of the light-shielding disk have red, green, and Blue color transmission filters 32R, 32G, 32B are attached. This first
The rotary filter 29 is attached to the rotary shaft of the motor 34, which is controlled by the (first) rotary filter controller 33 so that its rotation speed is constant. Therefore, when the rotary reflecting mirrors 23 and 24 are set to the state shown by the dotted line, by passing through the first rotary filter 29,
Light of red, green, and blue wavelengths is sequentially incident on the light guide 13 at the incident end 13
Will be irradiated.

On the other hand, the second rotary filter 30 includes, for example, ten narrow band filters 35a, 35b, 35c,
35d, 35e, 35f, 35g, 35h, 35i, 35j are arranged (second)
It is attached to the rotary shaft of a motor 38 whose speed is controlled by a rotary filter controller 37.

FIG. 4 shows the spectral transmittance distributions of the ten narrow band filters 35a, ..., 35j provided in the second rotary filter 30. As is clear from FIG. 4, each narrow band filter 35k (k = a, b,
The spectral transmittance distribution 35k 'of ...) is configured to pass only in a narrow wavelength range. Therefore, when the movable reflecting mirrors 23, 24 are set in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, narrow band illumination light passing through the narrow band filters 35a, 35b, ..., 35j, that is, a plurality of different wavelength regions The wavelength light that has passed through the filter is sequentially applied to the incident end surface of the light guide 13.

On the other hand, the signal processing unit 4 of the video processor 5 uses the CCD 1
A driver 41 for driving 1 through the cable 12, a video process circuit 42 for taking in a signal from the driven CCD 11 through the cable 12, converting the signal into a desired video signal and outputting the video signal, and the video process. The first color monitor 46 has an NTSC output terminal 43 and an RGB output terminal 44 for sending the output of the circuit 42 to the external output section 6, and a measurement terminal 45. The first color monitor 46 has an NTSC output terminal 43 and an RGB output. It is connected to either one of the terminals 44.

The video process circuit 42 is a system controller that is connected via an operation panel 47 provided on the front surface of the video processor 5 and a panel controller 48 to perform various controls.
Connected with 49.

In addition, the operation panel 47 is provided with the first external output section 7 described above.
The keyboard 51 can be connected to the keyboard 51. The keyboard 51 is electrically connected to the system controller 49 via the keyboard controller 52. By operating the keyboard 51, the external output unit 6 is formed. The input data is displayed on the color monitor 46, the measurement area is designated, and the output data is controlled. The first color monitor 46 is an isolation transformer.
Power supply power is supplied via 53. Further, the system controller 49 is electrically connected to the first and second rotary filter controllers 33 and 37 and a rotary solenoid (not shown) that drives the movable reflecting mirrors 23 and 24. You can choose either.

Further, a communication circuit 55 connected to the system controller 49 is provided in the video processor 5 so that it can be connected to the endoscope filing system via the communication circuit 55, and the captured image data is Image data or the like is sent out, or image data or the like is retrieved from the filing system to be displayed and displayed on the first color monitor 46, and the chromaticity of the portion to be inspected can be calculated for the image.

Further, the video process circuit 42 is connected to the spectral characteristic calculation unit 56 via the measurement terminal 45.

An air supply pump 57 is provided in the video processor 5 to supply air to the electronic scope 2.

By the way, the video process circuit 42 has the configuration shown in FIG.

The output signal of the CCD 11 is input to the pro process circuit 60,
Operation panel after processing such as reset noise removal
A switch 62 that is switched in conjunction with the rotary filter selection button 61 on the board 52 is input to the normal processing circuit 63 or the spectral processing circuit 64.

The normal processing circuit 63 converts the analog signal into a digital signal by the A / D converter 65 and writes the digital signal in the memory unit 66. This memory unit 66 is a frame memory for R, G, and B.
66R, 66G, 66B. For example, one frame of image data captured under red illumination light is the R frame memory 66.
Written to R. Then, the expanded frame memory 66R, 66
When one frame is written to each of G and 66B, that is, three frames are written as a whole, these are read at the same time,
After being converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 67, it is input to the post-process circuit 68, subjected to signal processing such as contour enhancement, and then input to the superimpose circuit 69.
The superimposing circuit 69 also receives the signal data from the CPU 70 that constitutes the spectral characteristic calculation unit 56, superimposes the signal data on the output signal from the post-process circuit 68, and outputs the RGB output terminal 44.
Output to the NTSC output terminal 43.

On the other hand, in the spectral processing circuit 64, after being converted into digital signal data by the A / D converter 71, it is input to the memory unit 72. The memory unit 72 includes narrow band filters 35a, 35b,
..., 1st, 2nd, 3rd, which stores the image data taken under the illumination light of each narrow band wavelength passing through 35j for each frame
..., 10th frame memories 72a, 72b, ..., 72j. When 10 frames are written in the frame memories 72a, ... 72j, only the addresses designated by the first read circuit 73 are read out and input to the calculation circuit 74 to perform the calculation of the spectral distribution calculation. The output of the calculation circuit 74 is input to the superimpose circuit 69, is superimposed on the image signal output from the post-process circuit 68, and is displayed on the screen of the first color monitor 46, for example, as shown in FIG. Along with the endoscopic image 75, the spectral distribution characteristic 77 for the portion designated by the pointer 76 on the endoscopic image 75 is displayed.

In the first read circuit 73, the read address corresponding to the position of the pointer 76 shown in FIG. 6 is designated by the second keyboard 78 connected to the CPU 70. Further, the read address can be designated also by the first keyboard 51.

On the other hand, all the image data in the memory section 72 is sequentially passed through the measurement terminal 45 by the second readout circuit 79 and then the spectral characteristic calculation section 56.
Is transferred to the CPU 70 that forms the memory card and is written in the large-capacity memory 81 connected to the CPU 70 in the format specified by the second keyboard 78. The data in the large-capacity memory 81 is read out at any time, and the CPU 70 performs spectral characteristic calculation processing and arithmetic processing such as chromaticity point calculation by the designation of the second keyboard 78, and the result is stored in the spectral characteristic result memory 82. To be done.

The data of the spectral characteristic result memory 82 is called by the CPU 70, and is sent to the second monitor via the second monitor controller 83.
Displayed on screen 84.

By the way, the calculation circuit 74, for the site to be examined, Estimated spectral distribution represented by Is to calculate. Where αi is the estimation error Is a constant when i is the minimum, and i is the estimated spectral distribution Target wavelength range (eg 400 [nm] ~ 700
[Nm]) is a subscript representing a plurality of wavelength points selected so as to cover ([nm]). In this embodiment, the constants αi etc. are i = 1,
2, ..., 10 indicate that the wavelengths are those using the narrow band filters 35a, 36b ,.

Further, χi is a signal output obtained when each of the narrow band filters 35a, 35b, ..., 35j is used, and Ci (λ) represents a cubic spline function.

The calculation circuit 74 uses the estimated spectral distribution of equation (1). In order to obtain, the configuration shown in FIG. 7 is used.

The ROM85 is used to capture an image of an object with a known spectral distribution ρ (λ) and its estimated spectral distribution When the equation (1) is obtained, the constant αi obtained so as to minimize the error Δ in the equation (2) is stored. Then, the image data of the address designated by the pointer 76 is read from the frame memories 72a, 72b, ..., 72j for the actual test site, and the arithmetic circuit 86 multiplies the formula (1) and the sum of the multiplication results. Estimated spectral distribution at each wavelength λ by arithmetic processing Is required. This estimated spectral distribution , The estimated spectral distribution data supplemented by the spline function Ci (λ) is stored in the memory 87.
The estimated spectral distribution data stored in 87 is read by applying a read clock synchronized with the synchronizing signal and sent to the superimposing circuit 69.

Further, the spectral characteristic calculation unit 56 uses the first or second keyboard 5
Compared with the data of normal and lesion areas written in the memory such as ROM or RAM in advance within the range specified by 1,78 or the entire endoscopic image, the chromaticity point is calculated and the color monitor 84 etc. Display with. Also, for example, the frame memory 72
The spectral image data of each wavelength region of a, 72b, ..., 72j can be used as a material for determining which frame memory 72a ,. Therefore, by displaying an image with image data of a specific frame memory that is considered to have a high correlation, the variability of the lesion site can be examined in a short time at the brightness level.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

In normal observation, the first rotary filter 29 is selected by the operation panel 47. At this time, the information of the operation panel 47 is transmitted to the system controller 49 via the panel controller 48. Then, the system controller 49 rotates the movable reflecting mirrors 23 and 24 by 90 ° by the rotor solenoid and sets them to the state shown by the dotted line in FIG. In this state, the xenon lamp 18 that has been lit is adjusted in passing light amount by the diaphragm 21 by the power supplied from the lamp power source 20 through the lighting circuit 19, and then the movable reflection mirror 23 through the lens 22.
Is reflected by and travels along the optical path on the fixed reflection mirror 25 side.
The light reflected by the fixed reflection mirror 25 passes through the first rotation filter 29, and is fixed reflection mirror 26 and movable reflection mirror 24.
And is guided to the incident end surface of the light guide 13.

In the first rotary filter 29, as shown in FIG.
Color transmission filters 32R, 32G, 32B that pass red, green, and blue light
Since the first rotary filter 29 is rotated by the motor 34, these color transmission filters 32R, 32G, 32B are sequentially inserted in the optical path, and the first rotary filter 29 is attached. The illuminated light is red, green, and blue frame sequential illumination light.

Under the above-mentioned field-sequential illumination light, a subject image of the subject to be examined illuminated is formed by the objective lens 10 on the image pickup surface of the CCD 11 and accumulated as a video charge.

Then, this accumulated signal charge is transferred to the signal cable 12
Is read by application of a drive signal from a CCD driver 41 in the video processor 5 via a video signal, is input to a frame sequential video process circuit 42, image signal processing is performed, and NTSC is applied.
An NTSC composite image signal is output from the processing terminal 43,
R, G, B signals are output from the RGB output terminal 44. The scope image is displayed by the first color monitor 46 connected to one of the output terminals 43 and 44.

On the other hand, when performing the spectroscopic measurement, the selection button 61 of the operation panel 47 selects the side through which the second rotary filter 30 passes. At this time, the system controller 49 operates a rotary solenoid (not shown) to move the movable reflecting mirrors 23, 24.
Is rotated and set to the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, and the light from the xenon lamp 18 is reflected to the second rotary filter 30 side. By the second rotary filter 30, the illumination light becomes the field sequential illumination light of a plurality of color lights of different wavelength regions as shown in FIG. The respective colored lights pass through the light guide 13 to illuminate the subject. The reflected light is CC by the objective lens 10.
An image is formed on D11 and photoelectrically exchanged. The output signal photoelectrically converted by the CCD 11 is input to the pre-process circuit 60, is subjected to processing such as reset noise removal, is converted to digital data by the A / D converter 71, and is then input to the memory unit 72. The data written in the frame memories 72a to 72j of the images corresponding to the respective colored lights are stored in the first keyboard.
The ten image data read by the first reading circuit 73 that calls only the address designated by 51 or the second keyboard 78 is input to the calculation circuit 74, and the spectral distribution is calculated.
That is, spectral distribution, estimated spectral distribution On the other hand, by using the constant αi previously obtained so that the estimation error Δ represented by the equation (2) is minimized, the second rotary filter is used.
The output χi obtained from each channel of each of the filters 35a, ..., 35j of 30 and the cubic spline function Ci (λ) are represented by the above equation (1). To estimate the unknown spectral distribution. This calculation circuit 74
The superimposing circuit 69 performs superimposing specified by the first keyboard 51 or the second keyboard 78, and the output of is output to the first color monitor 46 via the NTSC output terminal 43 as shown in FIG. Displayed as shown. Regarding the accuracy of this estimated spectral distribution, as shown in FIG. 8 as an example, a known spectral reflectance distribution ρ (λ) and an estimated spectral reflectance distribution obtained by this method are obtained. From the comparison of and, it can be seen that the accuracy is practical.

On the other hand, all the image data of all the frame memories 72a to 72j read by the second reading circuit 79 are sent via the measuring terminal 45 and the mass memory 81 via the CPU 70 in the format designated by the second keyboard 78. Written in. These data are
The estimated spectral distribution of all pixels is read by the second keyboard 78 at any time and the spectral distribution estimation method described above is used. Is estimated, and the chromaticity point and the like are calculated by this, and recorded in the spectral characteristic calculation result memory 82. These data are read out to the CPU 70 by the second keyboard 78 and extracted on the second color monitor 84 via the second monitor controller 83.

Then, the chromaticity points of all pixels are represented by a histogram on the chromaticity diagram and displayed as shown in FIG. Here, the triangle part indicates the chromaticity range of the CRT, and the color outside the triangle is represented as the color on the side of the shortest triangle on the CRT.

Since the spectral distribution with high accuracy can be obtained as described above, the diagnosis based on the chromaticity point described in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-260015 can be performed objectively and in a short time, providing a powerful auxiliary means for lesion diagnosis. it can.

FIG. 10 shows the main part of the second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, instead of the electronic scope 2, a fiberscope 91 and a television camera 93 mounted on an eyepiece 92 of the fiberscope 91 are used.

In the fiberscope 91, a light guide 95 is inserted into an elongated insertion portion 94, and the light guide 95 is further operated.
By passing through the inside of the light guide cable 97 extending from 96 and connecting the incident end to the light source connector receiver of the video processor 5, the illumination light is supplied as in the first embodiment.

An objective lens 98 is attached to the tip of the insertion portion 94, and an optical image is formed on the focal plane of the objective lens 98. The incident end face of the image guide 99 faces this focal plane, and the optical image is transmitted to the emitting end face in the operation unit 96 or the eyepiece unit 92. An eyepiece 101 is disposed so as to face the exit end face, and the eyepiece 101
It is possible to observe with the naked eye through, and a television camera 93 can be attached to the eyepiece 92. This TV camera 93
An image forming lens 102 is disposed opposite to the eyepiece lens 101, and an image at the exit end of the image guide 99 is formed on the CCD 103 via the eyepiece lens 101 and the image forming lens 102. This CC
The D103 can connect the signal connector 105 provided on the cable 104 to the signal connector receiver of the video processor 5 via the signal cable 104.
A drive signal is applied to D103, and the photoelectrically converted signal is output to the video process circuit 42.

Others are the same as those in the first embodiment.

In addition, in each of the above-described embodiments, the number of filters for spectroscopic measurement is not limited to ten.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, in an endoscope including an image pickup unit, a sequential illumination unit that sequentially illuminates an object through a plurality of filters in different wavelength regions, and a spectral distribution are known. Storage means for calculating a predetermined constant on the basis of each output signal of the image pickup means corresponding to the sequential illumination of the object, and storing the calculated predetermined constant for the sequential illumination of the object whose spectral distribution is unknown. Since the spectral distribution estimating means for estimating the spectral distribution of each part of the subject based on the respective output signals of the image pickup means and the predetermined constants stored in the storage means is provided, it is a powerful auxiliary means for diagnosing a lesion area. It is possible to easily obtain such highly accurate and objective two-dimensional spectral data.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 9 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a transendoscopic spectroscopic diagnosis apparatus according to the first embodiment,
FIG. 4 is a front view showing the first rotary filter, FIG. 3 is a front view showing the second rotary filter, and FIG. 4 is a characteristic showing the spectral transmittance distribution of a narrow band filter provided in the second rotary filter. 5 and 5 are configuration diagrams of a video process circuit, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which an endoscopic image and an estimated spectral distribution are displayed on the first color monitor, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing spectral distribution calculation. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a calculation circuit to be performed, FIG. 8 is a spectral distribution characteristic diagram showing a comparison between a spectral distribution of a known reflectance test chart and an estimated spectral distribution obtained by estimation, and FIG. 9 is obtained for all pixels. A chromaticity histogram diagram showing the estimated spectral distribution as a two-dimensional histogram on the chromaticity diagram, and FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a fiberscope and a television camera connected to the fiberscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention. . 1 ... Transendoscopic spectroscopic diagnostic device 2 ... Electronic scope, 3 ... Light source unit 4 ... Signal processing unit, 5 ... Video processor 6 ... External output unit, 7 ... External input unit 18 ... Xenon Lamp 23,24 …… Movable reflection mirror 29 …… First rotary filter 30 …… Second rotary filter 35a, ・ ・ ・, 35j …… Narrow band filter 42 …… Video process circuit 46 …… First color monitor 56… … Spectral distribution calculator 74 …… Calculation circuit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope provided with an imaging means, a sequential illumination means for sequentially illuminating a subject through a plurality of filters of different wavelength regions, and an imaging means corresponding to the sequential illumination of an object having a known spectral distribution. Storage means for calculating a predetermined constant on the basis of each output signal and storing the calculated predetermined constant, each output signal of the image pickup means corresponding to the sequential illumination of an object whose spectral distribution is unknown, and the storage means. And a spectral distribution estimating means for estimating a spectral distribution of each part of the subject based on a predetermined constant stored in the transendoscopic spectroscopic diagnosis apparatus.