JPS62298333A - Infrared transmitting type 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 3. Detailed Description of the Invention [Purpose of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention is an infrared transmission type endoscope capable of non-invasively detecting a thermal image of a part to be measured. Regarding mirrors.

(Prior Art) Today, cancer is the leading cause of death, and there is an urgent need to investigate its pathogenic mechanisms and to establish diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.

By the way, endoscopes, especially fiberscopes, have been commonly used for such diagnosis inside body cavities such as the stomach and large intestine. However, fiberscopes have drawbacks such as low resolution and the ability to be observed by only one person through the eyepiece.Recently, an electronic endoscope with a solid-state Ia image element mounted at the tip of the scope has been developed to overcome these drawbacks. Mirrors have been developed.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, all of these conventional endoscopes still observe optical images in the visible light region inside the body cavity, and their analysis requires advanced experience. In fact, it has been difficult to perform specific diagnosis of premature cancer and cancer immersion in the ζ1 range.

Under these circumstances, the present inventors verified that a relatively large amount of thermal energy is radiated from a diseased site such as a carcinogenic site compared to a normal site.

Therefore, the present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned difficulties of conventional endoscopes by focusing on such thermal phenomena, and aims to identify and diagnose early cancer and identify the range of cancer invasion, which is difficult with conventional endoscopes. The objective is to provide an infrared transmitting endoscope that can improve and establish new technologies for diagnosis and internal medicine.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The infrared transmitting endoscope of the present invention uses a light beam formed by bundling a large number of optical fibers with high infrared transmittance that can be inserted into the vicinity of the target area to be measured. A fiber bundle, a heating/cooling load device that heats or cools the part to be measured, and a heating/cooling load device that is attached to the rear end of the optical fiber bundle and transmits heat of the part to be measured through the optical fiber bundle. It is characterized by comprising a thermal image capturing device that captures an image, and an image processing device connected to the thermal image capturing device that visualizes the thermal image.

Note that 5ulf is an optical fiber with high infrared transmittance.
Examples include arsenide glass fibers and various fibers for infrared radiation.

(Function) In the infrared transmitting endoscope of the present invention, information on the radiant heat energy at each point on the surface of the part to be measured is transmitted to the outside via an optical fiber bundle, which is attached to the rear end of the optical fiber. The image is captured by a thermal imaging device, visualized by an image processing device, and extracted as a thermal image.

However, the infrared transmitting endoscope of the present invention is based on the physiological fact demonstrated by the present inventors that a relatively large amount of thermal energy is radiated from a lesion site such as a carcinogenic site inside a living body. This is an attempt to distinguish between a lesion site and a normal site.

However, since the target area is a closed heat exchange system that mainly emits heat radiation within the cavity, the difference in thermal energy radiation ω between the lesioned area and the normal area is canceled out, resulting in under-observation.

So, what about the infrared transmission type of the present invention? -! In 2 mirrors,
In addition to the above basic configuration, a heating/cooling load device is provided. In other words, this load device applies a heating or cooling load to the part to be measured, and its aging 1) = lff
By obtaining a pattern of thermal images from moment to moment during the recovery process, it was possible to distinguish between lesioned areas and normal areas.

Note that by recording the information obtained by the infrared transmitting endoscope of the present invention through an appropriate information processing system, the above-mentioned identification can be made easier and the breadth and quality of diagnosis can be improved.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an infrared transmitting endoscope for the large intestine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, a flexible tube 1 for insertion into the body that is inserted into the large intestine is equipped with optical fibers in which 10,000 to 40,000 optical fibers with high infrared transmittance are focused, although not shown. A bundle is inserted, and air and water pipes and exhaust and drain pipes for supplying air or water for heating or cooling are arranged along the optical fiber bundle. A scanning infrared camera 2 and a heating/cooling load device 3 are connected to the rear ends of these optical fiber bundles, air supply pipes, water supply pipes, exhaust pipes, and drainage pipes, respectively. The display device 6 is connected to the display device 6 via the display device 6 .

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a VTR 7 is used as an information processing means.
A computer 10 equipped with a frame memory 8 and simulation software 9 is installed 33, and information from the heating/cooling load device 3 is inputted to the ProReno 1/5 via the imposer 11. .

In the figure, reference numeral 4 indicates the scanning-type infrared camera section.

Further, the main body of the heating/cooling load device 3 has built-in a pressure regulating device for adjusting air and water supply pressures, a temperature regulating device for regulating temperature, and the like.

In the infrared transmitting endoscope configured as described above, the flexible tube 1 is inserted into the large intestine, and the heating/cooling load device 2 heats or cools the surface of the target region to be measured through the air and water pipes. A scanning infrared camera 3 converts the thermal image of the surface of the part to be measured transmitted via the optical fiber bundle into an R image.

These thermal images are outputted on the display device 6 in real time via the processor 5 to obtain a visualized thermal image.

Further, the measured thermal image information is sent to the lined up computer 10 directly or via a storage device. Here, using the thermal load response data, a thermal motion simulation is performed on a three-dimensional model of the measurement target constructed by the finite element method, etc., and a final diagnosis can be made based on the results. Furthermore, by accumulating such data, it becomes possible to qualitatively differentiate lesions.

Examples of diagnosis using this endoscope will be explained below along with its effects.

In this case, a 65-year-old male patient with colorectal cancer had thermal images obtained during colorectal cancer removal surgery using the endoscope of the above example.

Figure 2 shows the thermal image (actually, a more detailed and clearer image can be obtained by coloring).
, FIG. 3 shows a comparison of the items necessary for reading this thermal image.

The site of the cancer was the hepatic curvature, and the X-ray contrast photograph showed that it formed a so-called apple core.

The high temperature region (a) in FIG. 2 corresponds to the outer periphery of this apple core. There is a low-temperature area (b) (displayed at 33.2°C) that appears to be a necrotic area, and a high-temperature area (c) (displayed at 35.6°C) that appears to be the most active cancerous growth area. Note that this high-temperature area showed cancer immersion in the f7I range according to the results of a later pathological examination of the excised area.

This fact indicates that this information is extremely important in identifying the extent of cancer invasion during surgical operations.

There are also two island-shaped low temperature areas (d) apart from the high temperature area.
(Displayed at 32.0°C) is a colonic lymph node, which is a colonic lymph node that has become inflamed due to progression of cancerous lesions.

This case shows that the infrared transmitting endoscope of the present invention is extremely useful for identifying and diagnosing cancer and (1) definitively diagnosing the extent of cancer invasion.

Although the above embodiment is an example of a colonoscope, the infrared transmitting endoscope of the present invention includes all medical endoscopes such as endoscopes, bronchoscopes, and laparoscopes. .

Further, in the present invention, an ordinary television camera may be attached to the thermal imaging device so that image information in the visible light region can also be obtained at the same time.

The infrared transmitting endoscope of the present invention is extremely useful for definitive diagnosis of flat early disease and early colorectal cancer, identification diagnosis of whether a raised lesion such as a polyp is cancer, diagnosis of specific diagnosis of the extent of cancer invasion, etc. I'll go.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the infrared transmitting endoscope of the present invention, a relatively large amount of thermal energy is radiated from a diseased site such as a cancerous site compared to a normal site. By using this phenomenon, information inside the body can be obtained as a thermal image outside the body, making it extremely easy and accurate to identify and diagnose early diseases and determine the extent of cancer invasion, which were difficult to do with conventional endoscopes. This makes it possible to improve and establish internal diagnostic techniques.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an infrared transmitting endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a thermal image obtained by the endoscope according to the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the thermal image. This is a comparison of the items necessary for reading.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical fiber bundle formed by converging a large number of optical fibers with high infrared transmittance that can be inserted into the vicinity of the target part to be measured, a heating/cooling load device that heats or cools the target part to be measured, and the optical fiber bundle. a thermal image capturing device attached to the rear end portion and configured to capture a thermal image of the target area to be measured and transmitted via the optical fiber bundle; and an image processing device connected to the thermal image capturing device to visualize the thermal image. An infrared transmitting endoscope comprising: