JPS5969027A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an endoscope that can display a viewfinder field of view and external sounds 1 (indicators such as arrows and crosshairs on a monitor).

A conventional endoscope is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, 1 is an endoscope, 2 is a tip, 3 is a curved part, 4 is a flexible part,
Reference numeral 5 denotes an operating section, and 6 an image guide for observation, and the viewfinder field of view 9 has an observation image 9a located at its center, as shown in FIG. When using an endoscope configured in this way to perform, for example, reflexology or discassociation, conventionally, a viewing attachment or a TV right camera pad is attached to the eyepiece portion of the operating section 5 of the endoscope 1. The image observed by the endoscope was made visible on the viewfinder or monitor screen, and practical instruction on endoscopic techniques or group case studies were conducted.

In this case, it would be easier to explain if indicators such as a crosshair indicating the center of the observed image and/or an arrow that can be moved to any position indicating the affected area, etc. could be displayed in the viewfinder field of view and on the monitor. Very preferred. however,
There has never been an endoscope like this before.

゛In view of the above points, the present invention provides an electronic finder that can be used in place of the optical finder of a conventional endoscope, which can be used in place of the optical finder. The purpose is to provide an endoscope capable of displaying indicators such as the following. This will be explained below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. In FIG. 3, 10 is an image guide 6 of the endoscope. 12 is a camera control unit that converts the signal from the solid-state image sensor into a video signal, and 13 is incorporated in the operation section of the endoscope. A display device, 14 is an external monitor, 15 is a half mirror, and 116 is an indicator board equipped with indicators such as crosshairs and arrows, which is illuminated by a lamp 17 and is imaged onto the solid-state image sensor 10 via the half mirror 15. If the indicator is an arrow, it can be moved arbitrarily in the stopping direction with respect to the optical axis.

Since the embodiment of the present invention is constructed as described above, when the lamp 17 is turned on, the index plate 16 is connected to the solid-state image sensor 1.
0, and an index is displayed within the field of view 18 on the display device 13 and external monitor 14 as shown in FIG. When the indicator is an arrow, the arrow is displayed as indicated by reference numeral 1.8a in FIG. 4(A) and can be moved to any position. When the indicator is a crosshair, the crosshair is displayed at the center of the observation image as shown by reference numeral 18b in FIG.
, the crosshair 18b' may be displayed outside the frame of the observed image.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the same constructional elements as in the embodiment of FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals and their explanations will be omitted. 19 is an index manual control device, 20
21 is a video pattern generator that outputs video signals for the indicators 18a, 18b, 18b' such as crosshairs and arrows based on the signal from the indicator input control device 19; An index adding circuit 22 is a recording device that superimposes the index video signal from the pattern generator, and the video signal from the camera control unit 12 or the video signal from the index adding circuit is selectively inputted via the switching circuit 23. It has become so.

Since this embodiment is constructed as described above, the display device 13 and external monitor 14 are displayed as shown in FIG. An indicator is displayed within the field of view 18. In this case, it is possible to display fixed indicators such as crosshairs and movable indicators such as arrows at the same time, and the number of movable indicators can be increased arbitrarily. It is also easy to display these, and any of these can be input by the index input control device 19. Incidentally, since the signal input to the recording device 22 can be switched by the switching circuit 23,
It is possible to record the observation image itself with the endoscope, or to record the observation image with added indicators.

As described above, according to the present invention, indicators such as arrows and crosshairs are added optically or electrically to the viewfinder field of view, O/external monitor, etc., so that it is possible to add indicators such as arrows and crosshairs optically or electrically to the viewfinder field of view and the external monitor. By indicating a specific part of the image with an index, it is possible to easily and reliably indicate, for example, the affected area, which is very effective. still,
When the indicator is not needed, it is possible to easily turn off the indicator by turning off the lamp or by bypassing the indicator adding circuit.

Although the above embodiments all show endoscopes equipped with an electronic finder instead of a conventional optical finder, they may be used in place of the conventional optical finder. Various switching mechanisms are possible, such as a sliding type and a movable reflective mirror flip-up type. The pattern shown in FIG. 6 can also be used as an index, and these have the advantage that the patterns do not overlap at the center of the indicator, so they do not interfere with observation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conventional endoscope, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the viewfinder field of the conventional endoscope, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the endoscope according to the present invention. 4 is a view showing the viewfinder field of the endoscope shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing a second embodiment of the endoscope according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of another shape of the index. 10... Solid-state image sensor, 11... Imaging lens,
12... Camera control unit, 13...
...Display device, 14...External monitor, 1
5...Half mirror-1I゛6...Index plate, 17
... Lamp, 18 ° ... Viewfinder field of view, 19
- Middle finger input control device, 20... video pattern generator, 21... index addition circuit, 22...
- Recording device, 23... switching circuit. Agent Yasushi Shinohara Figure 2 Q Figure 3 Figure 4 18C115 [) Figure 5 23 22 Figure 6 (A) (B) (C)-1-○ [
] Within Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd., 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (special inventor: Yasuhiro Ueda; within Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd., 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (?ne); inventor: Susumu Nishigaki; Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd., 43-2, Hatagaya 2, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 7♀) Inventor: Atsushi Atsushi, 43-2, Hatagaya 2, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. ≧゛Inventor: Yuzuki Yutaka, 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. 2) Inventor: Kaimei Nakamura, 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A removable solid-state image sensor installed opposite to the exit end of the image guide via an imaging lens so that it can be used instead of or in conjunction with the optical finder;
The endoscope is equipped with an electronic viewfinder consisting of a display device that is removably integrated into the operating section of the endoscope, and further includes fixed indicators such as a crosshair and/or a crosshair in the field of view of the viewfinder and an external sensor. An endoscope comprising an indicator display device capable of displaying a movable indicator such as an arrow that can be moved to an arbitrary position. (2) The index display device is composed of an index plate arranged to form an image on a solid-state image sensor and movable in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis, and the index is optically inputted. The endoscope according to claim (1), characterized in that: (3) The index display device corresponds to the index input control device, the video turn generator that outputs four video signals based on the signal from the index input control device, and the video output from the camera control unit. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the endoscope comprises an index adding circuit for superimposing a video signal from a video pattern generator, and the index is electrically inputted.