JPS633611B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus, and particularly to an endoscope apparatus having a signal transmission path.

Recently, in endoscope devices, exposure signals for automatic exposure photography, temperature signals representing the temperature inside the body cavity, pressure signals representing the pressure inside the body cavity, etc. are transmitted between the endoscope, the endoscope camera, and the light source unit. An endoscopic device has been developed. However, such endoscope devices are configured to transmit analog signals, and require a D/A converter and an A/D converter to transmit digital signals. In addition, if you try to transmit digital signals in parallel, you will need a large number of electric wires, which will make the flexible tube of the endoscope thick. The number of pins in the connector increases, making the connector larger. Serial transmission can solve these problems, but serial transmission takes several to several tens of times as long as parallel transmission. For this reason, the strobe light reception signal from the endoscopic camera,
It is difficult to A/D convert and serially transmit high-speed analog signals such as video signals from a television camera and output signals from an ultrasonic transducer installed in an endoscope. A method of serially transmitting digital signals at high speed is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-27736, but according to this method, a high-speed A/D converter and a high-speed D/A converter are required, and the speed is increased. However, compared to parallel transmission, the transmission time is still several times longer. Furthermore, in the past, external cables were required to transmit signals from television cameras and ultrasonic transducers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope device that can transmit various types of analog signals at high speed with a small number of transmission lines.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the eyepiece 2 of the endoscope 1
An adapter 3 is attached to the adapter 3, and a television camera 4 and a still camera 5 are attached to the adapter 3. The flexible tube 6 of the endoscope 1 is connected to the connector 7
It is connected to the light source unit 8 by. The endoscope 1 has a light guide 9, air supply, water supply, and suction tube 1.
0 is set. A pressure transducer 15, a temperature transducer 16, and an objective lens 38 are provided at the tip. The light source unit 8 is provided with an illumination knob 13 for adjusting illumination light and a monitor display 14 for displaying an image taken by the television camera 4. Further, a display 17 is provided to display the intra-body cavity pressure, the intra-body cavity temperature, etc. measured by the pressure transducer 15 and the temperature transducer 16. The selection knob 18 is used to select the type of data to be displayed on the display 17, and the selected unit is displayed on the unit display section 37.

FIG. 2 shows a block circuit of the endoscope apparatus shown in FIG. It is provided to connect the still camera 5 and the light source unit 8 to each other. An image pickup tube 19 of the television camera 4 is connected to a television controller 20, and the television controller 20 is connected to an analog signal transmission path 11 and a digital signal transmission path 12. still camera 5
is provided with a film 21, and this film 21
A beam spiriter 22 is provided opposite to.
A light receiving element 23 is placed on the side of this beam spiriter 22.
is provided, and this light receiving element 23 is connected to a camera controller 24. A release switch 25 is connected to this camera controller 24, as well as analog and digital signal transmission lines 11 and 1.
Connected to 2. The adapter 3 is an adapter controller 2 to which an auxiliary release switch 26 is connected.
7 is provided, and this adapter controller 27 is connected to the digital signal transmission line 12.

In the light source unit 8, a strobe tube 28 is connected to a strobe tube control circuit 29, and an automatic exposure circuit 30 is connected to this strobe tube control circuit 29. A display control circuit 31 is connected to the monitor display 14 . Analog signal transmission line 3
The analog signal distributor 32 connected to the 2 is connected to an automatic exposure circuit 30, a display control circuit 31, and a display controller 35. The analog signal distributor 32 also includes a light source controller 33.
is connected. The light source controller 33 includes a digital signal transmission line 33 and a strobe tube control circuit 29.
is connected. A selection switch 34 actuated by the selection knob 18 is connected to a display controller 35 which is connected to the display 1
Connected to 7.

In the above embodiment, the analog signal transmission line 11
An analog signal A as shown in FIG. 3 is transmitted to the digital transmission line 12, and a digital signal B is transmitted to the
is transmitted. The analog signal A includes a pressure signal from the pressure transducer 15, a temperature signal from the temperature transducer 16, and a vertical synchronization signal and a brightness signal from the television camera 4 in a time division multiplexed manner. There is. The digital signal B includes digital signals A, U, O, K, and KE representing the signals S, S, S, and SE contained in the analog signal A. In such a signal form, the pressure signal S and the temperature signal S are input to the analog signal distributor 32 via the analog signal transmission line 11, and the pressure signal qualification signal A and the temperature signal qualification signal C are input to the digital signal transmission line 12. When the signals are input to the light source controller 33 via the signal recognition signals A and C of the light source controller 33, the analog signal distributor 32 recognizes that the input analog signals S and C are pressure signals and temperature signals. Ru. Once the signals have been qualified, the analog signal distributor 32 separates the pressure signal S and the temperature signal S and inputs them to the display controller 35 via separate signal lines. The display controller 35 selects a pressure signal or a temperature signal according to the state selected by the selection switch 34, amplifies or attenuates the signal to a signal level suitable for display, performs A/D conversion, and inputs the signal to the display 17.
As a result, the pressure value or pressure value is displayed on the display 17, and the unit corresponding to the displayed value is displayed on the unit display section 37. Next, when the television controller 20 inputs the image signal recognition signal O to the light source controller 33 via the digital signal transmission path 12, the image signal transmitted to the analog signal distributor 32 is sent to the display control circuit 31.
The display control circuit 31 amplifies or attenuates the image signal to an appropriate signal level and inputs it to the monitor display 14 for display.

Next, when the release switch 25 is closed to take a photograph with the still camera 5, the camera controller 24 connects the digital signal transmission line 12.
Transmits the release signal key. In this case, the release signal key is transmitted after waiting until one frame or one field of the image signal transmitted from the television controller 20 to the analog signal transmission line 11 has been transmitted. When the light source controller 33 receives the release signal key, the light source controller 33 controls the illumination lamp and strobe tube 2.
Switch the optical path with 8. This optical path switching device (not shown) consists of a mirror installed between the light guide and the strobe tube 28 to guide the light of the illumination lamp to the light guide, and a solenoid that drives this mirror. It is carried out by. Further, the light source controller 33 instructs the analog signal distributor 32 to transfer the release signal of the analog signal transmission line 11 to the automatic exposure circuit 30, and also instructs the strobe tube control circuit 29 to cause the strobe tube 28 to emit light. do. Further, the camera controller 24 transmits the light reception signal of the light receiving element 23 to the analog signal transmission path 11. When the strobe tube 28 emits light in this state, this light is sent to the tip of the endoscope 1 via the light guide 9 and illuminates the subject. The reflected light enters the beam splitter 22 of the still camera 5 via the objective lens 38, image guide, and imaging lens (not shown). A part of the reflected light incident on the beam splitter 22 is incident on the light receiving element 23, and most of it exposes the film 21. The light-receiving signal S of the light-receiving element 23 is transmitted to the analog signal distributor 32 via the analog signal transmission line 11. The analog signal distributor 32 inputs the received light signal S to the automatic exposure circuit 30. Automatic exposure circuit 3
At 0, the light reception signal is integrated, and when the integrated value reaches a predetermined value, an instruction is given to the strobe tube control circuit 29 to stop the emission of light from the strobe tube 28, and photographing ends.
After photographing is completed, for example, 50 ms after the strobe tube 28 starts emitting light, the light source controller 33 activates the optical path switching device to return the optical path to the illumination optical path. Thereafter, the image signal of the television camera 4 is transmitted to the analog signal transmission line 11 again. Note that when the release is performed by the auxiliary release switch 26 provided on the adapter 3, the release signal is transmitted from the adapter controller 27 to the digital signal transmission line 12, and the rest is the same as the release operation in the still camera 5. A photo is taken with the action.

In the above operation, since the pressure signal S and the temperature signal C do not need to be transmitted frequently, the image signals S and C may be transmitted for several frames or several fields and then transmitted once. In this way, flickering in the image on the monitor display 14 can be practically ignored. In addition, various information signals, such as camera model code, still camera data copy, etc., are used in time slot portions A, E, C, C, C, etc. other than when transmitting digital signals A, U, O, K, and KE. Control signals for internal use, failure information signals, endoscope type codes, etc. are transmitted to the camera controller 24, television controller 20,
Endoscope controller 36 and light source controller 3
It is only necessary to allow digital information to be exchanged between the three.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In this embodiment, the distal end 3 of the endoscope 1
At 9, an ultrasonic transducer 40 is disposed facing a reflecting plate 42 which is rotated by a rotation joint 41. A window 43 is provided in a portion of the endoscope tip 39 that corresponds to the reflector plate 42. An objective lens 38 is optically coupled to the tip of the light guide 9 and the image guide 47 near this window 43.
is installed.

1 of the analog signal distributor 32 of the light source unit 8
The output is introduced into an ultrasonic monitor control circuit 44 , and the output end of this ultrasonic monitor control circuit 44 is connected to an ultrasonic monitor 45 .

In this embodiment, an ultrasonic tomographic image can be displayed, and in this case, by emitting ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer 40 and rotating the reflector plate 41, tissues in the body cavity are exposed to the ultrasonic waves. The scanned echo waves are converted into echo signals by the ultrasonic transducer 40 and sent to the endoscope controller 3.
6 is input. The echo signal is sent to the controller 36
The signal is processed by the analog signal transmission line 11 and transmitted to the analog signal transmission line 11 as shown in FIG. 6C. Furthermore, digital signals T and T for identifying echo signals are transmitted to the digital signal transmission line 12. An echo signal C and a digital signal D are sent to the analog signal distributor 32 and light source controller 33 of the light source unit 8, respectively.
is input, and when the echo signal C is recognized, the echo signal C is input to the ultrasound monitor control circuit 44. In this ultrasonic monitor control circuit 44, the echo signal is amplified or attenuated to a displayable level and input to an ultrasonic monitor 45, where it is displayed as a tomographic image. A television camera can be attached to this embodiment, and the television image signal and the echo signal can be transmitted to the analog signal transmission line 11 simultaneously or in a time division multiplexed manner, and the intra-body cavity surface image and the tomographic image can be displayed on the ultrasound monitor 45 at the same time. You can see it. Further, by using an ultrasonic transducer, it is possible to measure the distance between the body cavity wall and the endoscope from the point of emission of ultrasonic waves and the point of reception of surface reflected waves, and to provide an automatic focusing function. Furthermore, a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD is incorporated into the distal end portion 39 of the endoscope 1, and the image signal of this solid-state imaging device is transmitted to the light source unit 8 via the analog signal transmission line 11, so that images inside the body cavity can be monitored. can do. In the digital signal D, various digital information can be inserted into the time slot portions T, T, T, as in the previous embodiment.

As explained above, according to the present invention, since an analog signal transmission line for transmitting a plurality of analog signals and a digital signal transmission line for transmitting a digital signal representing the type of the analog signal are provided, fewer transmission lines are required. Can transmit signals at high speed. Therefore, the flexible tube of the endoscope does not have to be thick, and the connector can be made small, improving the operability of the endoscope, reducing the time required for endoscopic examination, and reducing the pain of the person being examined. Furthermore, it becomes possible to view an endoscopic television image and an endoscopic ultrasound tomographic image at the same time without an external connection cable, allowing the doctor to concentrate on observation and diagnosis without worrying about the external connection cable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an endoscope device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of the endoscope device of FIG. 1, and FIG. A diagram showing analog signals and digital signals used in the endoscopic device, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the endoscopic device according to another embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram of the endoscopic device shown in FIG. 4. , and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing analog signals and digital signals used in the endoscope apparatus of FIGS. 4 and 5. 1... Endoscope, 3... Adapter, 4... Television camera, 5... Still camera, 8... Light source unit, 11... Analog signal transmission line, 12... Digital signal transmission line, 14... Monitor Display, 15...Pressure transducer, 16...Temperature transducer, 17...Display, 19...
Image pickup tube, 20...TV controller, 23...
Light receiving element, 24...Camera controller, 25...
... Adapter controller, 29 ... Strobe tube control circuit, 30 ... Automatic exposure circuit, 31 ... Display control circuit, 32 ... Analog signal distributor,
33... Light source controller, 35... Display controller, 36... Endoscope controller, 40...
...Ultrasonic transducer, 44... Ultrasonic monitor control circuit, 45... Ultrasonic monitor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an endoscope apparatus having at least an endoscope and a light source unit, an analog signal transmission line connected between at least the endoscope and the light source unit and transmitting a plurality of analog signals to the light source unit. and a digital signal transmission path for transmitting a digital signal indicating the content of the analog signal transmitted to the analog signal transmission path to the light source unit. 2. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a video signal from a television camera as a camera attached to the endoscope is transmitted to the analog signal transmission path. 3. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a light reception signal of an endoscope camera as the camera is transmitted to the analog signal transmission path. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an output signal of a transducer provided in the endoscope is transmitted to the analog signal transmission path. Viewing device. 5. Claim 4, wherein the transducer is an ultrasonic transducer.
The endoscopic device described in Section 1. 6. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the transducer is a solid-state imaging device that images the inside of a body cavity. 7. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the transducer is a pressure transducer. 8. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the transducer is a temperature transducer.