JPS62284634A - Direct sight type ultrasonic endoscope 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] 3. Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to a direct-viewing endoscopy device, particularly a direct-viewing ultrasound endoscope device with a built-in ultrasound probe. Regarding.

[Prior art 1] This endoscope has two types: a direct-viewing type, that is, an endoscope that observes images obtained from the distal end surface of the distal end of the endoscope, and a side-viewing type, that is,
There is an endoscope that observes images obtained from the side of the distal end of the endoscope. Endoscopes with built-in ultrasound probes are generally side-viewing, but as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-57632, a solid-state image element is placed on the +111 side of the ultrasound probe. This solid-state image element allows N images to be obtained from the tip of the endoscope, and a direct-view ultrasonic endoscope bag that scans the side surface by ultrasonic exploration is also available.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] According to the conventional direct-view ultrasound endoscope, a solid-state side image element is provided in front of the ultrasound probe, and a signal line of the solid-state positive image element is connected to the case of the endoscope. The wires are routed along the outer wall and across the scanning area of the ultrasound probe. For this reason, the image obtained by ultrasonic scanning is crowded with the signal lines of the solid-state image carrier, resulting in the disadvantage that an ultrasonic image of that portion cannot be obtained.

[Means and Effects for Solving the Problems 1] According to the present invention, an ultrasonic probe that is rotatably provided at the tip of an endoscope and performs ultrasonic scanning in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis; A semiconductor line sensor that is arranged toward the axial direction of the mirror tip and rotates together with the ultrasound probe, a rotation angle detector that detects the rotation angle of the ultrasound probe and the line sensor, and a rotation angle detector that detects the rotation angle of the ultrasound probe and the line sensor. An ultrasonic endoscope apparatus is provided that includes an ultrasonic probe and a monitor that displays an image signal obtained by rotating a solid-state imaging device according to rotation angle information.

Since the semiconductor line sensor is rotated together with the ultrasonic probe, the signal line of the line sensor can be wired along the rotating shaft that rotates the sensor and the ultrasonic probe. For this reason, the signal, g! il does not enter the scanning area of the ultrasound probe and does not affect the ultrasound image.

Embodiment 1 According to FIG. 1, a lens 12 is attached to the distal end surface of the distal end portion 11 of the endoscope, and a solid B image element 13 is disposed facing the rear of the lens 12. The solid-state image sensor 13 is configured as a line sensor as shown in FIG.
One end portion is coupled to rotating shaft 15 . An ultrasonic probe 14 is mounted on the rotating shaft 1 adjacent to this line sensor 13.
5. At this time, the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving surface of the ultrasonic probe 14 is oriented in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotating shaft 15.

The rotating shaft 15 passes through the endoscope insertion section and is coupled to the rotating shaft of a motor 16 provided in the endoscope operating section. A rotation detector 17 for detecting the rotation angle of the crawling sensor 13 and the ultrasonic probe 14 is provided in the endoscope operating section.

The rotation detector 17 can be configured by, for example, an optical sensor using a photoelectric element, a mechanical sensor using a contactor, or a magnetic sensor.

The signal line 13a of the line sensor 13 is passed through the rotary shaft 15 and guided to the endoscope operating section. In the endoscope m operation section, the signal line 13a is guided to the outside by means such as a brush.

As shown in FIG. 3, line sensor 13 is coupled to frame memory 18 via signal processing circuit 22. As shown in FIG.

Similarly, the ultrasound probe 14 is coupled to the frame memory 19 via the signal processing circuit 23. Frame memories 18 and 19 are coupled to a rotation detector 17, which
The image signal insertion and readout are controlled by the rotation detection signal No. 7. Frame memories 18 and 19 are coupled to CRT monitors 20 and 21, respectively.

In the above-mentioned direct view endoscope, the motor 16 is rotated,
Along with this, the rotating shaft 15 rotates, and the line sensor 13 and the ultrasonic probe 14 rotate. Line sensor 1
3 is an optical image projected by the mud image lens 12 during rotation;
That is, a direct endoscopic image is converted into an image signal. This image signal is transmitted through the signal line 1 passing through the rotating shaft 15.
The signal is inputted to the signal processing circuit 22 via 3a and subjected to signal processing. The image signal passed through the signal processing circuit 22 is stored in the frame memory 18 in accordance with the rotation angle signal from the rotation detector 17 so that one rotation constitutes one frame. That is, an image signal is stored in a corresponding address of the frame memory 18 according to the rotational position of the rotating line sensor 13.

The image f& signal stored in the frame memory 18 is read out as a television signal, input to the CRT monitor 20, and displayed as a transendoscopic image.

The ultrasonic probe 14 outputs an ultrasonic beam in a direction perpendicular to the rotating shaft 15, and converts reflected waves from the object into an ultrasonic image signal. In this case, the transmission and reception timing of the ultrasound probe is controlled so that the transmission angle of the ultrasound beam and the reception angle of the reflected wave are equiangular. This transmission/reception timing is determined in response to a detection signal from the rotation detector 17.

The ultrasonic image signal obtained from the ultrasonic probe 14 is processed by the ultrasonic signal processing circuit 23 and stored in the frame memory 19 . In this case, the ultrasound image signal is addressed in accordance with the rotation signal of the rotation detector 17 and stored in the frame memory 19. The image data in the frame memory 19 is read out as a television signal and displayed on the CRT monitor 2.
1 is input. The CRT monitor 21 is the endoscope tip 11
Displays a complete ultrasound image obtained from the entire circumference.

In the above embodiment, the line sensor 13 is constituted by a solid-state image sensor array having a length corresponding to the radius of rotation, but may be configured to have a length corresponding to the diameter of rotation.

In this case, the image signal is switched and processed every half rotation. Similarly, the ultrasonic probe 14 may also be composed of two ultrasonic transducers combined back to back. In this case as well, the output of the ultrasonic transducer is switched every half cycle.

[Effect of the invention 1] The line sensor is arranged so as to image the optical color obtained directly at the tip of the endoscope, and is rotated together with the ultrasonic probe, and the signal line of the line sensor is connected to the rotating shaft. Since the signal line of the line sensor does not enter the ultrasonic scanning area, a good ultrasonic image can be obtained for the entire circumference, and it is possible to obtain a direct-view optical image and a side-view ultrasonic image of the entire circumference. Together with j! 7, screening can be easily performed in endoscopic diagnosis. In addition, since the rotational positions of the line sensor and the ultrasound probe can be detected using a single rotation angle detector, the positional relationship between the two will not be detected incorrectly, and the correspondence between the optical image and the ultrasound image will always be maintained. 1. Can be maintained at the same level.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasound endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a line sensor and an ultrasound probe, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an ultrasound endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of an endoscope device. 11... Endoscope tip, 13... Line sensor, 1
4... Ultrasonic probe, 15... Rotating shaft, 16
... Motor, 17... Rotation detector, 18.19...
・Frame memory, 20.21...CRT monitor, 2
2.23...Signal processing circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ultrasonic probe is rotatably provided at the tip of the endoscope and performs ultrasonic scanning in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis; a semiconductor line sensor that rotates together with the tentacle; a rotation angle detection means for detecting rotation angles of the ultrasonic probe and the line sensor; and a rotation angle detection means for detecting rotation angle information of the rotation angle detection means. and a display means for displaying an image signal obtained from the solid-state image sensor.