JPS6137227A - Living body observation apparatus - 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] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is a biological observation device using light.
The present invention relates to a biological observation device that can be used in the medical field to diagnose tumors, etc. that occur in living organisms.

(Background of the Invention) Biological observation devices that use light to diagnose breast cancer and the like are known. Since such a device does not use X-rays, it has the advantage of no X-ray exposure.

This conventional living body observation apparatus diagnoses cancer by irradiating a breast with light from a surface light source and capturing an image of the breast using the transmitted light using an imaging device.

Because a surface light source is used, the light that passes through the cancerous tissue is affected by the light scattered by the surrounding normal tissue, reducing the contrast of the image, especially in cancerous tissue where the subject is far from the detector. Detection ability was an issue.

The inventors of the present invention conducted various basic experiments to solve the above problem.

FIG. 3 is a plan block diagram of an experimental model corresponding to a conventional biological observation device.

Pour milk into a thin glass container 20, and place a diameter 2.
A 6 mm metal rod is held upright to serve as a model of abnormal tissue in a living body.

Parallel light from a halogen lamp is projected from the right side of the container 20. The thickness of the container 20 in the parallel light direction is 40 mm.

A high-sensitivity television camera 2 such as a 5IT (Silicon Intensified Target) camera as an imaging device
1 to capture a transmission image.

The captured video is amplified by the video amplification circuit 22 and sent to the VTR.
It is recorded on 23. Note that the recording state is observed on the monitor 24.

The solid lines in Fig. 5 (A), (B), and (C) indicate that the metal rod is placed at the frontmost position A of the container 20, and the solid lines in Fig. 5 (B) indicate that the metal rod is placed at the center B of the container 20. At this time, FIG. 2C shows the output of the center part of the image when the metal rod is placed at the rearmost position C of the container 20.

As can be understood from FIG. 5, when the metal rod is placed at the rearmost position C of the container 20, the presence of the metal rod can be known, but in other cases, the presence of the metal rod cannot be confirmed.

FIG. 4 is a plan block diagram of an experimental model corresponding to the biological observation apparatus of the present invention.

The model of abnormal tissue in the living body is the same as the experimental model described above.

A helium-neon gas laser device 30 with a beam diameter of 1 mm and an output of 2 mW is used as a light source.

The slit 32 and the light receiver 33 are aligned and moved up and down in the figure, and the output of the light receiver 33 is recorded.

The output of the ammeter 34 is connected to a block 36 via a calculator 35 and recorded.

The output of the ammeter 34 when the metal rod is placed in the same position as in the experiment described above is shown by a broken line in FIG.

This experiment confirmed that the metal rod could be clearly detected no matter where it was located.

(Object of the Invention) Based on the results of the above studies, an object of the present invention is to provide a biological observation device that can observe a living organism with higher resolution using a light source that generates a light beam.

(Structure of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the biological observation device according to the present invention includes a light source that projects a light beam with a small cross-sectional area toward a subject, and a light beam that is part of the light that has passed through the subject. It consists of a detector that detects only light in the same direction.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings and the like.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a biological observation apparatus according to the present invention.

A helium-neon gas laser device with a beam of 141 mm and an output of 2 mW is used as the light source 1.

A photomultiplier tube with a multi-alkaline photocathode having sensitivity from visible light to infrared light is used as a detector 4 for detecting light from a light source transmitted through the subject 2.

The light source 1, collimator 3, detector 4, and detection unit drive unit W5 are integrated and can move on the pedestal 6 in the Y direction (vertical direction in the figure).

In addition, the pedestal 6 includes a light source 1, a collimator 3, and a detection unit driving device 5.
It is possible to move in the Z direction perpendicular to the subject 2 (direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper) with the test object 2 mounted thereon.

Furthermore, the pedestal 6 is capable of rotational movement with its center serving as a rotation axis.

A detector 4 placed opposite the light source 1 detects only light in the optical axis direction of the light source.

The output of the detector 4 is converted into digital data by an analog-to-digital converter 7, and then sent to an arithmetic unit 9 via an interface 8.
is input.

The detection unit driving device 5 causes the light source 1. The collimating 3° detector 4 integrally performs linear scanning of the subject in the Y direction, and repeats scanning in which it moves in the Z direction each time this scanning is completed, to obtain projection data.

These data are combined with the linear scanning position in the Y direction and the position in the Z direction by the arithmetic unit 9, stored in the storage device 11, and displayed on the image display device 10 to become diagnostic information.

Furthermore, due to the rotational movement with the center of the pedestal as the rotation axis,
Light transmittance data can be obtained from all directions over the entire subject.

Note that this data can also be used as data input to a CT calculation device.

A plurality of laser devices with different oscillation wavelengths are prepared, and a reflecting mirror placed on the emission axis is rotated to switch the laser light irradiated to the subject.

Tissue detection ability can be improved by determining the ratio or difference in light transmittance obtained by the spectra.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the biological observation apparatus according to the present invention.

This embodiment apparatus is configured to scan the beam of the light source 1 instead of scanning in the Y direction of the embodiment apparatus described above. □ The pedestal 6 includes a light source 1, a collimator group 15, a detector group 16,
It is provided so that it can rotate and move up and down with the scanning mirror 14 and mirror drive device 13 mounted thereon.

The optical axes of the collimators A1 to An forming the collimator group 15 are arranged to face the center of the scanning mirror "-14. The light from the light source 1 is scanned by the scanning mirror 14, and the optical axes of the collimators A1 to An form the collimator group 15. are made incident sequentially.

The light that is incident on each of the collimators A1 to An and transmitted through the subject is photoelectrically converted by the corresponding detectors B1 to Bn of the detector group 16, respectively.

The outputs of the detectors B1 to Bn are digitally converted by the corresponding analog-to-digital converters C5 to Cn of the analog-to-digital converter group 17 and input to the arithmetic unit 9 via the interface 8.

A tomographic image of the subject can be obtained by rotating the gantry 6 by a fixed angle each time the scanning is completed, accumulating data, and performing calculations.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention is configured to irradiate the object with a light beam and detect the transmitted light, so it has a higher resolution than the conventional case using planar parallel light beams. An image is obtained.

Although a laser was used as the light source 1 in the above embodiment, other light sources may be used as long as a light beam with a small cross-sectional area can be obtained, such as by focusing and collimating the light emitted from an incandescent light bulb.

Although the conventional type of living body observation device explained in connection with FIG. It has been confirmed that it can be detected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a biological observation apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the biological observation apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an experimental model corresponding to a conventional biological observation device. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an experimental model corresponding to the biological observation apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a graph showing a comparison of the measurement results of each experimental model. 1... Light a 2... Subject 3...
Collimator 4... Detector 5... Detection unit drive device 6... Frame 7... Analog-digital converter 8... Interface 9... Arithmetic device 10... Image display device 1
1... Memory word W 12... Frame drive unit 13
...Mirror drive device 14...Scanning mirror 15...
・Collimator group 16...Detector group 17...Analog-digital converter group 20...Container 21...TV camera 22
...Video amplifier 23...VTR24...Monitor 30...Laser 32...Slit
33... Light receiver 34... Ammeter 3
5... Arithmetic unit 36... Plotter patent applicant Hamamatsu Botonics Co., Ltd. agent Patent attorney Hisashi Inoro (y) -ST faction

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Consists of a light source that projects a light beam with a small cross-sectional area toward the subject, and a detector that detects only the light in the same direction as the light beam that passes through the subject, and the output of the detector A biological observation device that observes the internal state of a subject. (2) The biological observation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis of the light source and the optical axis of the detector are made to coincide with each other, and the relative positions of the light source and the detector with respect to the subject are variable. (3) The biological observation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the assembly of the light source and the detector is arranged on a pedestal whose rotation and vertical position can be adjusted with respect to the subject. (4) The biological observation device according to claim 1, wherein the spectral distribution of the light source is variable, and transmitted light corresponding to each spectral distribution is detected.