JPH08262343A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the diameter of an insertion part by providing the above endoscope with shape detecting means for translucent members for detecting the shapes of these translucent members, thereby making it possible to incorporate a phase conjugation image forming technique into the soft endoscope. CONSTITUTION: The respective connecting rings (shape detecting means) 18 between the respective image transmission optical element 17 of a first image transmission optical system 7 are deformed when the insertion part 2 of the endoscope 1 is deformed at the time of inserting this part into the body and the first image transmission optical system 7 is deformed as well. At this time, the electric resistance values of the respective connecting rings 18 are changed according to the deformation rates of the respective connecting rings 18 and, therefore, the shape information of the first image transmission optical systems 7 is detected by a shape detector 20 in accordance with the change in the electric resistance values. The deformation of the second image transmission optical system 13 is made possible in such a manner that the same shapes are attained by the shape information of the first image transmission optical system 7. The respective connecting rings 18 are respectively electrically connected to each other and are further connected to the external shape detector 20 of the endoscope 1 via a signal line 19.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope in which an observing optical system is arranged at an insertion portion to be inserted into a lumen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an endoscope has an operation section on the proximal side connected to a proximal end portion of an insertion section to be inserted into a lumen. Here, in particular, in the insertion portion of the digestive tract endoscope for medical use, a non-bendable rigid tip portion is connected to the distal end side of a flexible flexible flexible elongated tube portion through a bending operation mechanism. Has been done.

In addition, each component such as a forceps insertion port, an air / water feeding nozzle, a light guide bundle including an illumination lens, and an objective optical system of an observation optical system is arranged in the hard end portion of the endoscope. ing. Further, as an optical image transmission device incorporated in an observation optical system of an endoscope, a device utilizing an optical fiber bundle (optical fiber bundle) in which a large number of optical fibers are bundled is conventionally known.

This optical fiber bundle is arranged in the insertion portion of the endoscope. Then, the observation image formed by the objective optical system disposed in the distal end hard portion of the insertion portion is made incident on one end face side of the optical fiber bundle, and the incident image is passed through the optical fiber bundle to the hand of the endoscope. The observation image sent to the operation unit side and sent to the other end surface side of the optical fiber bundle is visually observed by the eyepiece optical system on the operation unit side at hand, or is taken by a television and displayed on the TV monitor. .

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-175041 discloses an endoscope using an imaging technique using a phase conjugate mirror. The phase conjugate mirror is an optical element capable of receiving a large number of rays at random angles of incidence and redirecting these rays along an optical path essentially opposite to the path of the incident rays.

The above publication discloses a rigid endoscope having a hard insertion portion formed of a hard component such as a metal pipe. An image transmission path in which two optically transparent members having exactly the same characteristics are sandwiched between phase conjugate mirrors is incorporated in the rigid insertion portion. Then, the light transmitted from one of the light transmissive members is made incident on the phase conjugate mirror, the incident light is accurately reflected by this phase conjugate mirror, and the return light is returned at the time of returning along the incident path of the incident light. It is configured to lead to the light transmitting member.

[0007]

By the way, in an endoscope that is inserted into a lumen having a relatively complicated shape such as an endoscope for digestive tract, the insertion portion is compared according to the shape of the lumen to be inserted. It is necessary to be able to transform freely. Here, in order to ensure good insertability of the insertion portion of the endoscope, an endoscope having a small insertion portion and a non-curvable distal end hard portion disposed at the distal end thereof being as short as possible is required. To be

However, when an optical fiber bundle is used as the optical image transmission device, since a large number of optical fibers are bundled together, the outer diameter of the entire optical image transmission device becomes large, and When this optical fiber bundle is arranged in the insertion portion, there is a problem that it is difficult to significantly reduce the diameter of the insertion portion of the endoscope.

Further, in the phase conjugate imaging technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-175041, it is necessary to sandwich a phase conjugate mirror and pass an equivalent optical path between the incident optical path side and the outgoing optical path side. However, this Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-175041
In the case where the optical image transmission device using the phase conjugate mirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-2004-242242 is incorporated into the insertion part of the digestive tract endoscope having a flexible flexible long tube Since the light-transmissive members on the incident optical path side and the output optical path side of the phase conjugate mirror may be bent when is deformed, the shape of the light-transmissive members on the incident optical path side and the output optical path side of the phase conjugate mirror is changed. There is a risk that image transmission will be disabled due to a difference in the image quality. Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-17 incorporated in this rigid endoscope.
It is difficult to apply the phase conjugate imaging technique of Japanese Patent No. 5041 to an insertion portion of an endoscope for a digestive tract provided with a flexible and long flexible tube portion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to be able to incorporate the phase conjugate imaging technique into a flexible endoscope and to reduce the diameter of the insertion portion. To provide an endoscope.

[0011]

The present invention has flexibility,
In an endoscope in which a proximal operation portion is connected to a proximal end portion of an insertion portion that is inserted into a lumen, one of two optically transparent members that have the same composition and shape and are optically equivalent The first translucent member is disposed in the insertion portion, the phase conjugate light generator that generates the phase conjugate light of the incident light is disposed in the operation portion, and the image of the subject illuminated by the illumination light is displayed. First of the above
Image detecting means for causing the phase conjugate light generator to enter through the transparent member of the second embodiment and detecting the phase conjugate light output from the phase conjugate light generator at this time via the other second transparent member. And a means for detecting the shape of the transparent member is provided.

[0012]

When the endoscope is observed, the image of the subject transmitted through the first light-transmissive member of the insertion portion is made incident on the phase conjugate light generator on the operation portion side, and is output from the phase conjugate light generator at this time. The phase conjugate light is guided to the second transparent member side, and the image guided through the second transparent member is detected. As a result, the same image as the image incident on the incident end surface on the first transparent member side can be obtained on the emission end surface on the second transparent member side. Further, when the insertion portion is deformed, the shape of the transparent member can be detected by the shape detecting means of the transparent member, and the shape of the second transparent member can be adjusted according to the shape of the first transparent member. It was done like this.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to (B). FIG. 1A shows a schematic configuration of the entire endoscope 1. In this endoscope 1, a long flexible and flexible insertion portion 2 to be inserted into a desired observation site in the body, and a proximal end portion of the insertion portion 2 are provided. An operation unit 3 on the hand side for gripping the main body and performing a necessary treatment operation is provided. Further, the proximal end of the connecting cord 4 is connected to the operating portion 3. An eyepiece lens 5 is arranged at the tip of the connecting cord 4.

A first image transmission optical system (first translucent member) 7 and a light guide fiber 8 forming at least a part of the optical image transmission device of the observation optical system 6 are provided in the insertion portion 2. And are provided. Here, at the tip of the insertion portion 2, the tip of the light guide fiber 8 is positioned coaxially with the tip of the first image transmission optical system 7.

Further, the illumination light emitting end face 8a at the end of the light guide fiber 8 and the objective lens 9 of the observation optical system 6 are fixed to the end face 2a of the insertion portion 2. And
The base end side of the light guide fiber 8 is extended to the outside through the inside of the operation portion 3 and is optically connected to a laser light source 10 which emits laser light which is coherent light for illumination.

The incident end surface 7a at the tip of the first image transmission optical system 7 is arranged so as to face the objective lens 9. Further, the emission end face 7b on the rear end side of the first image transmission optical system 7
Are extended into the operating portion 3.

A phase conjugate optical element (PCM: phase conjugate light generator) 11 for generating a phase conjugate light of the incident light is provided in the operation section 3 with respect to the exit end face 7b of the first image transmission optical system 7. They are spaced apart and face each other. Further, a beam splitter 12 is provided between the exit end face 7b of the first image transmission optical system 7 and the phase conjugate optical element 11.

Here, the exit end face 7b of the first image transmission optical system 7 is positioned with respect to the beam splitter 12 in the operation section 3, and the beam is extended on the optical axis extension line of the first image transmission optical system 7. The phase conjugate optical element 11 is positioned at the position where it has passed through the splitter 12.

Further, the second image arranged in the connecting code 4 in the direction in which the phase conjugate light emitted from the phase conjugate optical element 11 is split by the beam splitter 12 (the direction reflected by the beam splitter 12). The incident end face 13a on the one end side of the transmission optical system (second translucent member) 13 is positioned. The emission end surface 13b on the other end side of the second image transmission optical system 13 is arranged to face the eyepiece lens 5.

An image detecting unit (image detecting means) 14 is provided at the tip of the connecting cord 4. An image forming lens 15 arranged to face the eyepiece lens 5 is positioned in the image detecting unit 14, and a screen 16 is arranged in front of it.

The image of the subject H passes from the objective lens 9 through the first image transmission optical system 7 to the beam splitter 12.
The mutual arrangement (distance) of the incident optical path sent to the eyepiece 5 and the outgoing optical path where the phase conjugate light reflected by the beam splitter 12 is sent to the eyepiece lens 5 through the second image transmission optical system 13 is centered on the beam splitter 12. The optical elements on the incident optical path side and the outgoing optical path side are also the same in shape and material. That is, the first image transmission optical system 7 and the second image transmission optical system 13 are formed of optical components having the same composition and shape and being optically equivalent, and the objective lens 9 and the eyepiece lens 5 have the same composition, It is formed by optical components having the same shape and optically equivalent.

Then, the image of the subject H illuminated by the coherent light is passed through the objective lens 9, the first image transmission optical system 7 and the beam splitter 12 to obtain the phase conjugate optical element 1.
1, and the phase conjugate light output from the phase conjugate optical element 11 at this time is detected by the image detection unit 14 from the beam splitter 12 via the second image transmission optical system 13 and the eyepiece lens 5. There is.

FIG. 1B shows the first image transmission optical system 7
3 shows a configuration example of the second image transmission optical system 13. Here, in the first image transmission optical system 7, a plurality of hard image transmission optical elements 17, such as glass rods, are arranged in parallel in series, and a pair of front and rear image transmission optical elements 17, 17 is formed of nickel, for example. They are connected by a connecting ring (shape detecting means) 18 made of a super elastic material such as titanium. Each connecting ring 18 has the characteristic that the electric resistance value changes depending on the amount of deformation, and also functions as an angle sensor.

Further, the connection rings 18 are electrically connected to each other, and further connected via a signal line 19 to a shape detection device 20 outside the endoscope 1. The second image transmission optical system 13 also has the same configuration as the first image transmission optical system 7.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1C, the shape detecting means of the first image transmission optical system 7 and the second image transmission optical system 13 has a plurality of ring shapes so as to cover the outer circumference of the optical fiber bundle 21. The angle sensor 22 may be arranged. In this case, the angle sensor 22 may be, for example, a superelastic pipe made of nickel-titanium or the like. further,
In this case, a single fiber may be used instead of the optical fiber bundle 21.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
First, the insertion portion 2 of the endoscope 1 is inserted into the body, and the tip of the insertion portion 2 is directed to the subject H to be observed. In this state, the illumination light emitted from the laser light source 10 is guided through the light guide fiber 8 to illuminate the observation target part of the subject H. The reflected light becomes image information,
After entering the first image transmission optical system 7 from the objective lens 9, the phase conjugate optical element 1 is passed through the beam splitter 12.
1 is incident. At this time, the phase conjugate optical element 11 emits phase conjugate light whose propagation direction is reversed (this light can be regarded as a time-reversal wave of the incident light) while maintaining the wavefront of the incident light due to its original property. .

The phase conjugate light emitted from the phase conjugate optical element 11 has its traveling direction reversed and travels backward in the optical path upon incidence. That is, this phase conjugate light is reflected by the beam splitter 12, then passes through the second image transmission optical system 13 and the eyepiece lens 5, and is imaged on the screen 16 by the imaging lens 15 of the image detection unit 14. In addition,
A CCD may be arranged on this screen 16 for a video image or for visual observation.

When the insertion portion 2 of the endoscope 1 is deformed when it is inserted into the body and the first image transmission optical system 7 is also deformed, each image transmission of the first image transmission optical system 7 is performed. Optical element 17,
Each connecting ring 18 between 17 is deformed. At this time, since the electric resistance value of each connecting ring 18 changes according to the deformation amount of each connecting ring 18, the shape detecting device 20 causes the shape of the first image transmission optical system 7 to change based on the change in the electric resistance value. Information is detected. Then, based on the shape information of the first image transmission optical system 7, the second image transmission optical system 13 can be deformed so as to have the same shape.

Therefore, the following effects are obtained with the above-mentioned structure. That is, even when the insertion portion 2 of the endoscope 1 is deformed when it is inserted into the body, and the first image transmission optical system 7 is also deformed, the shape information of the first image transmission optical system 7 Since the second image transmission optical system 13 can be adjusted to have the same curved shape, it is possible to prevent a difference in the shape of each optical element on the incident optical path side and the outgoing optical path side of the phase conjugate optical element 11. . Therefore, since there is no possibility that image transmission will be disabled, a clear image can be obtained even with an inexpensive optical system. Therefore, the optical image transmission device including the phase conjugate optical element 11 can be incorporated in the flexible endoscope 1, and the diameter of the insertion portion 2 can be reduced.

2A and 2B show the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. This is provided with an interference fringe recording device 31 which is detachably connected to an end portion of the operation unit 3 of the endoscope 1, and the first image transmission optical system 7 of the endoscope 1 is provided in the interference fringe recording device 31. The shape information and the image information sent through the first image transmission optical system 7 can be recorded.

Here, in the interference fringe recording device 31, a hologram film made of, for example, gelatin or the like, or B
A recording medium 32 such as SO (Bi ₁₂ SiO ₂₀ ) is mounted. Further, the laser light source 10 is mounted in the interference fringe recording device 31. Then, at the time of recording the observation image, as shown in FIG.
The operation portion 3 is connected, and the emission end portion 7b of the first image transmission optical system 7 is arranged to face the recording medium 32.

Further, a beam splitter 33 for splitting the laser light is provided in the laser light path in the middle of the laser light path between the laser light source 10 in the interference fringe recording device 31 and the incident end portion of the light guide fiber 8. Has been done. The beam splitter 33 guides a part of the laser light emitted from the laser light source 10 to the incident end portion of the light guide fiber 8 and reflects the rest in a direction different from that of the light guide fiber 8. A mirror 34 that reflects the laser light toward the recording medium 32 is provided in the direction in which the laser light is reflected by the beam splitter 33.

At the time of recording the observation image, the reference light of the laser light is applied to the light emitted from the emission end 7b of the first image transmission optical system 7 to the recording medium 32. The shape detection of the first image transmission optical system 7 requires the first
The same thing as the embodiment of is used.

The connecting cord 4 is detached from the operating portion 3 of the endoscope 1. Then, when reproducing an observation image,
As shown in (B), the interference fringe recording device 31 is detachably connected to the proximal end side of the connection cord 4 instead of the operation unit 3 of the endoscope 1, and the incident end portion of the second image transmission optical system 13 is connected. 13a is arranged to face the recording medium 32. At this time, the reference light is emitted from the laser light source 10 to the recording medium 32 through the beam splitter 33 and the mirror 34 in the interference fringe recording device 31 as in the recording, and the light reflected from the recording medium 32 is reflected in the connection code 4. The light is incident on the incident end 13a of the second image transmission optical system 13.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
First, at the time of recording an observation image, as shown in FIG. 2A, the operation portion 3 of the endoscope 1 is connected to the interference fringe recording device 31, and the emission end portion 7b of the first image transmission optical system 7 is connected to the recording medium 32. Is placed opposite to. In this state, part of the laser light emitted from the laser light source 10 passes through the beam splitter 33 and is guided to the incident end portion of the light guide fiber 8. This illumination light is guided through the light guide fiber 8 to illuminate the observation target part of the subject H. The reflected light becomes image information, enters the first image transmission optical system 7 from the objective lens 9, is transmitted through the first image transmission optical system 7, and is emitted from the first image transmission optical system 7. It is incident on the recording medium 32 from 7b.

At this time, at the same time, the reference light is emitted from the laser light source 10 to the recording medium 32 via the beam splitter 33 and the mirror 34, and the shape information of the first image transmission optical system 7 and the first image transmission optical system are obtained. The image information sent through 7 is recorded on the recording medium 32 in the interference fringe recording device as interference fringes.

Further, at the time of reproducing the observation image, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), the interference fringe recording device 31 is connected to the proximal end side of the connection cord 4 instead of the operation unit 3 of the endoscope 1 to form the second image. The entrance end 13a of the transmission optical system 13 is arranged to face the recording medium 32. At this time, the laser light source 1 is set in the interference fringe recording device 31.
The reference light is irradiated onto the recording medium 32 from 0 through the beam splitter 33 and the mirror 34, and the light reflected from the recording medium 32 is incident on the incident end portion 13a of the second image transmission optical system 13 in the connection code 4. . Then, the image information output from the recording medium 32 passes through the second image transmission optical system 13 and the eyepiece lens 5 as in the first embodiment, and passes through the image detection unit 1.
An image is formed on the screen 16 by the image forming lens 15 of No. 4.

Therefore, the following effects can be obtained with the above-mentioned structure. That is, at least the light guide fiber 8, one single fiber that also serves as the first image transmission optical system 7 and the second image transmission optical system 13, and the interference fringe recording device 3
If 1, the image can be recorded and reproduced. Therefore, the optical image transmission device of the endoscope 1 can be achieved by a simpler optical system.

Further, in the present embodiment, the example in which the objective lens 9 is provided at the distal end portion of the endoscope 1 is shown, but as a characteristic of the phase conjugate optical system, the phase conjugate optical element 1 on the optical path is provided.
Since the optical systems before and after 1 may be the same, the objective lens 9 and the eyepiece lens 5 can be omitted.

3 and 4A and 4B show a third embodiment of the present invention. In this configuration, an optical image transmission device using a phase conjugate optical system is provided only in the distal bending portion provided at the distal end portion of the insertion portion 2 of the endoscope 1.

In the optical image transmission apparatus of this embodiment, a plurality of glass rods (transparent members) 41 are provided behind the objective lens 9 disposed on the tip surface of the insertion portion 2, in this embodiment, four glass rods (transparent members) 41. The image transmission optical unit 42 is arranged in series on the optical axis of the objective lens 9 and is provided between the pair of front and rear glass rods 41, 41.
Are arranged respectively.

The image transmission optical unit 42 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), the phase conjugate optical element 43 that generates the phase conjugate light of the incident light, and the incident light sent from the glass rod 41 on the image incident side are incident on the phase conjugate optical element 43,
At this time, a light guide optical system (light guide unit) 44 for guiding the phase conjugate light output from the phase conjugate optical element 43 to the glass rod 41 on the image emission side is provided. Here, in the light guiding optical system, a first mirror 45 is arranged to face the image emitting end face of the glass rod 41 on the image incident side, and is arranged between the first mirror 45 and the phase conjugate optical element 43. The beam splitter 46, the second mirror 47 arranged in the direction in which the phase conjugate light output from the phase conjugate optical element 43 is reflected from the beam splitter 46, and the light sent from the second mirror 47 Image output side glass rod 41
And a third mirror 48 for reflecting in the direction of.

An image forming lens 49, which is optically equivalent to the objective lens 9, is provided on the image emitting end surface of the glass rod 41 at the rearmost position. A CCD 50 is arranged behind the imaging lens 49 so that the image of the subject H sent to the image emitting end surface of the glass rod 41 at the rearmost position is imaged on the CCD 50 by the imaging lens 49. There is. Each glass rod 4 of the optical image transmission device
1 and the image transmission optical unit 42 are fixed to independent bending pieces (not shown).

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
By performing an angle operation with an operation knob (not shown) of the operation unit 3 of the endoscope 1, the distal bending portion of the insertion portion 2 of the endoscope 1 is bent as shown in FIG. 4 (B). At this time, the angles formed by the end faces of the glass rods 41 and the central axis of the image transmission optical unit 42 are θ ₁ = θ ₁ ′, θ ₂ = θ ₂ ′, θ ₃
= Θ ₃ ′. As a result, the image of the subject H incident from the objective lens 9 is sequentially transmitted through each glass rod 41 and the image transmission optical unit 42 and appears as the same image on the image emission end surface of the glass rod 41 at the rearmost position.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned configuration, it is not necessary to lay out the image forming optical system and the CCD in the distal end hard portion closer to the distal end than the bending portion unlike the conventional endoscope 1.
The hard portion at the tip can be shortened, and the patient's pain can be reduced.

FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. This is the same as in the third embodiment, in which the distal end hard portion 53 is arranged via the curved portion 52 on the distal end side of the long flexible tube portion 51 that constitutes the insertion portion 2 of the endoscope 1, and An optical image transmission device using a phase conjugate optical system is arranged in the bending portion 52.

In this embodiment, in particular, the optical image transmission device is provided with two equivalent image guide fibers 54 and 55 having the same optical characteristics, and one of the first image guide fibers 54 is provided in the curved portion 52. The second image guide fiber 55 is arranged in the first half, and the other second image guide fiber 55 is arranged in the latter half of the curved portion 52, and the image transmission optics having the same configuration as that of the third embodiment is provided between the image guide fibers 54 and 55. The unit 42 is provided. In the bending portion 52, the bending pieces have the same shape configuration on the front half side and the rear half side.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
Since the bending pieces have the same shape configuration on the front half side and the rear half side of the bending portion 52, when the bending operation of the endoscope 1 is performed,
The front half side and the rear half side of the bending portion 52 are curved with the same shape around the image transmission optical unit 42. Therefore, both image guide fibers 54 and 55 inside the curved portion 52 are also deformed into the same shape, so that the light incident on the first image guide fiber 54 is emitted from the second image guide fiber 55 in the same state, An image is formed on the CCD 50 by the image forming lens 49 of the image pickup unit, and observation by the monitor becomes possible.

Therefore, the same effect as that of the third embodiment can be obtained even with the above structure. Although the example of the video endoscope using the CCD 50 is shown in this embodiment, the same effect can be obtained by disposing the conventional imaging optical system and the end portion of the image guide fiber at the position of the image pickup unit. it can.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Next, other characteristic technical matters of the present application will be additionally described as follows.

(Additional Item 1) An endoscope using a phase conjugate optical element, which is provided with a mechanism for detecting the shape of the optical element when inserted into the body.

(Additional Item 2) The endoscope according to Additional Item 1, wherein the detecting mechanism is provided with an angle detecting function in a connecting member of each optical element of the insertion portion.

(Additional Item 3) The endoscope according to Additional Item 1, wherein the detection mechanism is provided with an angle sensor around the optical element of the insertion portion.

(Additional Item 4) In the additional item 2, the angle detecting function is such that the connecting member is made of a superelastic material.

(Additional Item 5) The endoscope according to Additional Item 4, wherein the superelastic material is made of a nickel-titanium alloy.

(Additional Item 6) The endoscope according to Additional Item 3, wherein the angle sensor is made of a superelastic material.

(Additional Item 7) The endoscope according to Additional Item 6, wherein the superelastic material is made of a nickel-titanium alloy.

(Additional Item 8) An endoscope using a phase conjugate optical element, having at least one set of an image transmission optical system and an interference fringe recording device, and further detecting a shape of the optical element during insertion into the body. An endoscope characterized by being provided with.

(Additional Item 9) The endoscope according to Additional Item 8, wherein the detection mechanism is provided with an angle detection function in a connecting member of each optical element of the insertion portion.

(Additional Item 10) The endoscope according to Additional Item 8, wherein the detection mechanism is provided with an angle sensor around the optical element of the insertion portion.

(Additional Item 11) In the additional item 9, the angle detecting function is characterized in that the connecting member is made of a super elastic material.

(Additional Item 12) The endoscope according to Additional Item 11, wherein the superelastic material is made of a nickel-titanium alloy.

(Additional Item 13) The endoscope according to Additional Item 10, wherein the angle sensor is made of a superelastic material.

(Additional Item 14) The endoscope according to Additional Item 13, wherein the superelastic material is made of a nickel-titanium alloy.

(Additional Item 15) The endoscope according to Additional Item 8, wherein the interference fringe recording device is a holographic recording film.

(Additional Item 16) The endoscope according to Additional Item 15, wherein the holographic recording film is made of gelatin.

(Additional Item 17) In an endoscope using a phase conjugate optical element, when the number of image transmission optical elements is n, the number of phase conjugate optical elements is n-1. An endoscope that does.

(Additional Item 18) In the endoscope bending portion using the phase conjugate optical element, when the number of image transmission optical elements is n, the number of phase conjugate optical elements is n−1. The characteristic endoscope.

(Additional Item 19) In Additional Item 18, two image transmitting optical elements located at positions facing each other with respect to one phase conjugate optical element have the same angle with respect to the phase conjugate optical element. And an endoscope.

(Additional Item 20) The endoscope according to Additional Item 19, wherein the bending piece on which the phase conjugate optical element and the image transmission optical element are positioned has the same shoulder opening shape.

(Additional Item 21) An endoscope having flexibility and having the same composition and shape and having the same composition and shape in an endoscope in which an operating portion on the proximal side is connected to a proximal end portion of an insertion portion to be inserted into a lumen. Of the two light-transmissive members equivalent to the first light-transmissive member is disposed in the insertion portion, and the phase conjugate light generator that generates the phase conjugate light of the incident light is disposed in the operation portion. The image of the subject illuminated by the coherent light is made incident on the phase conjugate light generator through the one first transparent member,
At this time, image detecting means for detecting the phase conjugate light output from the phase conjugate light generator via the other second transparent member is provided, and the shape of the first transparent member is detected. Then, the endoscope is provided with a shape adjusting means of the transparent member for adjusting the shape of the second transparent member according to the shape of the first transparent member.

[0073]

According to the present invention, since the shape detecting means of the transparent member for detecting the shape of the transparent member is provided, the phase conjugate imaging technique can be incorporated in the flexible endoscope. The diameter of the insertion portion can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention (A)
Is a schematic configuration diagram of the entire endoscope, (B) is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image transmission optical unit, and (C) is a schematic configuration diagram showing a modified example of the image transmission optical unit.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention (A)
Is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state in which an endoscope is connected to the interference fringe recording device, and (B) is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state in which an image transmission optical unit is connected to the interference fringe recording device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a main part of an endoscope bending portion according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

4A is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image transmission optical unit of a third embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a schematic configuration diagram showing a bending state of an endoscope bending portion of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a main part of an endoscope bending portion according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

H ... Subject, 2 ... Insertion portion, 3 ... Operation portion, 7 ... First image transmission optical system (first light-transmissive member), 13 ... Second image transmission optical system (second light-transmissive member) ), 11 ... Phase conjugate optical element (phase conjugate light generator), 14 ... Image detection unit (image detection means), 18 ... Connection ring (shape detection means).

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Tetsuaki Mori 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Hiro Hiroshi Ishii 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Katsuya Ono 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masahiro Ohno 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Go Ogasawara 2-34-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope which is flexible and has the same composition and shape and is optically equivalent in an endoscope in which a proximal end portion of an insertion portion to be inserted into a lumen is connected to a proximal operation portion. One of the two light-transmissive members, the first light-transmissive member, is provided in the insertion portion, and the operation unit is provided with a phase conjugate light generator that generates phase conjugate light of incident light. , The image of the subject illuminated by the illumination light is made incident on the phase conjugate light generator through the one first translucent member, and the phase conjugate light output from the phase conjugate light generator at this time is transmitted to the other one. 2. An endoscope comprising: an image detecting means for detecting through the second transparent member, and a transparent member shape detecting means for detecting the shape of the transparent member.