KR20170062830A - Endoscope system using multi wavelength light source - Google Patents

Abstract

The endoscope system includes a light source portion, a light focusing portion, a light transmission portion, a filter portion, and an image input portion. The light source unit includes a white light source, a narrow-band light source in which a white light source overlaps the wavelength region, and a near-infrared light source. The light focusing unit focuses the light generated in the light source unit. The light transmitting unit transmits the focused light to the object. The image input unit inputs an image of light transmitted from the filter unit. The white light generated from the white light source and the narrow backlight generated from the narrowband light source have an optical path overlapping with each other, And is selectively incident on the light focusing section.

Description

[0001] ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM USING MULTI WAVELENGTH LIGHT SOURCE [0002] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an endoscope system for observing a living body, and more particularly, to an endoscope system capable of capturing a blood vessel, a pattern, and the like of a living body clearly.

In endoscopy, the lesion is diagnosed by collectively judging the state of the tissue, color, shape, distribution and pattern of blood vessels, and changes in color tone. It is difficult to detect minute changes in the lesion early. Endoscopic techniques are being developed to provide various improved functional images, such as special image processing techniques and novel optical techniques using special filters.

Accordingly, a narrow band imaging (NBI) wavelength of the visible light is applied using different optical properties of the biological tissue depending on the wavelength, and different layers such as the surface, middle, and deep part of the mucosa are selectively The technique of observing the surface structure and microvessels of the mucosa more closely than the general endoscope is provided by observing the fluorescence of the actual pigment or pigment such as indocyanine green (ICG) The location of the lymph node around the lesion, which was difficult to identify, has been provided to observe the flow of the lymphatic fluid drained from the lesion.

In addition, endoscopic techniques that together provide a general endoscopic inspection function using white light and an endoscopic inspection function using special light such as narrow backlight are also being developed. For example, the subject is irradiated with a narrow-band light having a wavelength band narrower than the illumination light in the normal observation mode and a normal observation mode in which white light is irradiated onto a subject in the living body and an image of the subject is picked up, And the narrow-band mode is provided. In this case, the normal observation mode and the narrow-band mode are individually controlled. In order to acquire clearer biometric information from the suspected region after the normal observation, So that the subject is photographed and observed.

Thus, when endoscopic images using light of different characteristics can be used together in surgery or diagnosis, it is possible to directly identify and use the affected part or abnormal part and the blood vessel information that have a specific difference in different images It is possible to provide a variety of information.

However, in spite of the fact that it requires technology to simultaneously view white light image, narrow backlight, and fluorescence in the medical field, endoscopic examination using white light and endoscopic examination using special light are performed sequentially And it is not provided simultaneously in real time, so that medical application has been limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope system capable of simultaneously providing an endoscope inspection function by white light and an endoscope inspection function by narrow backlight or near infrared ray fluorescence in real time .

In order to achieve the above object, an endoscope system according to the present invention includes a light source unit, a light focusing unit, a light transmission unit, a filter unit, and an image input unit.

The light source unit includes a white light source, a narrow-band light source in which a white light source overlaps the wavelength region, and a near-infrared light source. The light focusing unit focuses the light generated in the light source unit. The light transmitting unit transmits the focused light to the object. The image input unit inputs an image of light transmitted from the filter unit. The white light generated from the white light source and the narrow backlight generated from the narrowband light source have an optical path overlapping with each other, And is selectively incident on the light focusing section.

According to such a configuration, since the white light source and the illumination light source of the narrow-band light source are configured differently and selectively transmitted to the object, the endoscopic image obtained by white light or narrow backlight can be selectively displayed in real time with the near- It can be provided at the same time.

In this case, the optical path overlapping unit may further include a light path overlapping unit that overlaps the path of light by reflecting or transmitting light incident from different light sources according to wavelengths. At this time, the light path superimposing unit can superpose the near-infrared light and the plurality of narrow backlight optical paths. According to such a configuration, it is possible to further simplify the configuration of the light source system by superimposing the optical paths on the lights having different wavelength regions.

In addition, the optical path superimposing unit can selectively inject the optical isolator, which transmits the near-infrared light and reflects the white light, into a region where the optical path overlaps. According to such a configuration, the white light and the narrow backlight can be selectively used only by a simple structure in which the optical isolator is selectively placed on the optical path.

Further, the optical path overlapping section can sequentially inject the optical isolator according to a preset time. According to such a configuration, it is possible to combine specific wavelengths of narrow backlight in a pulse shape to improve the color of white light, and sequentially collect information of near-infrared fluorescence information and narrow backlight to clearly distinguish and express biometric information do.

The filter unit may further include a plurality of filters, and may further include a light splitting unit that splits the light input from the object according to wavelengths and transmits the separated light to a predetermined filter. According to this configuration, the light input from the subject can be input to the camera through the set filter to obtain an optimal image according to the wavelength.

The endoscope system may further include an image processing unit for processing the image input to the image input unit according to predetermined conditions, and an image output unit for outputting the image processed by the image processing unit. According to such a configuration, it is possible to combine the acquired endoscopic images in various forms according to preset conditions using the light of various characteristics, and to output them.

The apparatus may further include an optical characteristic analyzer for analyzing the characteristics of light transmitted to the subject and a light output controller for controlling the light output of the light source according to the characteristics of the light analyzed by the optical characteristic analyzer. In particular, the optical output controller can control relative outputs of a plurality of narrowband light sources having different wavelength ranges. According to this configuration, it is possible to obtain an optical output suitable for an endoscopic image that is required even when the endoscopic inspection purpose or the characteristic of the individual light source changes.

According to the present invention, since the white light source and the illumination light source of the narrow-band light source are configured differently and are selectively transmitted to the object, the endoscopic image by the back light or the narrow back light can be selectively converted to the endoscopic image by near- It can be provided at the same time.

In addition, by superimposing the optical paths on the lights having different wavelength regions, the structure of the light source system can be further simplified.

In addition, the white light and the narrow backlight can be selectively used only by a simple structure in which the optical isolator is selectively placed on the optical path.

In addition, it is possible to improve the color of the white light by combining specific wavelengths of the narrow backlight in a pulse form, and sequentially collect the information of the near-infrared fluorescence information and the narrow backlight to clearly distinguish and express the biometric information.

In addition, the light input from the subject can be input to the camera through the set filter so as to obtain an optimal image according to the wavelength.

Further, it is possible to combine and output endoscopic images obtained in various forms using light of various characteristics according to preset conditions in various forms.

Further, even when the endoscopic inspection purpose or the characteristic of the individual light source changes, it becomes possible to obtain an optical output suitable for the endoscopic image required.

1 is a schematic block diagram of an endoscopic system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an actual implementation of the endoscopic system of Figure 1;
Figures 3A and 3B illustrate an embodiment of a light separator selectively injected by the optical path superimposition of Figure 2;
Fig. 4A and Fig. 4B schematically show the configuration of the filter section. Fig.
FIG. 5 is a table showing the photographing mode of the endoscope system of FIG. 1 and the light sources and filters used in performing each photographing mode.
6 shows an example for performing an endoscopic examination using white light and narrow backlight in a pulse mode.
7 is a graph showing an example of a wavelength spectrum of white light and RGB narrow-band backlight of an LED.
8 is a diagram illustrating an example of performing an endoscopic examination using near-infrared light and white light in narrow backlight and pulse mode.
9 is a graph showing the degree of absorption of blood vessels according to the wavelength of light.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic block diagram of an endoscope system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, the endoscope system 100 includes a light source unit 110, a light focusing unit 120, a light transmitting unit 130, a filter unit 140, an image input unit 150, a light path superimposing unit 160, And a light output unit 200. The light source unit 110 includes a white light source 112 and a narrowband light source 114, The filter unit 140 includes a filter 142 and a light separation unit 144 and the optical path overlap unit 160 includes a light separator 162. The near-

The light source unit 110 includes a white light source 112, a narrowband light source 114 in which a wavelength region overlaps with a white light source, and a near infrared light source 116.

The white light may be implemented by a combination of R, G, and B monochromatic light, and the narrow backlight may be implemented by applying a narrow band filter to a single white light source. However, since the white light source and the narrow band (NBI) And it is not easy to sequentially use narrow backlight in a short period of time. Accordingly, in the present invention, the white light source 112 and the narrow-band light source 114 are separately provided, and quick sequential observation by white light and narrow backlight becomes possible.

The light focusing unit 120 focuses the light generated from the light source unit, the light transmitting unit 130 transmits the focused light to the subject, the filter unit 140 filters the light input from the subject according to the wavelength, The image input unit 150 inputs the image of the light transmitted from the filter unit 140.

At this time, the white light generated from the white light source 112 and the narrow backlight generated from the narrowband light source 114 have an optical path overlapping with each other, and are selectively incident on the light focusing unit 120. This is because the white light and the narrow backlight can not be realized at the same light path simultaneously because the light source spectrum is overlapped at the visible light (VIS) wavelength.

According to such a configuration, since the white light source and the illumination light source of the narrow-band light source are configured differently and are selectively transmitted to the object, the endoscopic image by the back light or the narrow back light can be displayed simultaneously with the endoscopic image by the near- .

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an actual implementation of the endoscopic system of Figure 1;

2 has the same optical path as that of the white irradiation light source 112, the narrow band irradiation light sources G and B 114 and the near infrared light source 116, and the white light and the narrow backlight are optically transmitted (130), as shown in FIG. As described above, when the white light source 112 and the narrowband light source 114 are selectively irradiated through the same optical path, it is possible to simultaneously observe near infrared light and white light or narrow backlight.

However, since the near-infrared light generated by the near-infrared light source 116 is different from the white light or the narrow backlight, the near-infrared light can be transmitted simultaneously in the same light path as the white light or the narrow backlight.

To this end, the optical path superimposing unit 160 superimposes the paths of light by reflecting or transmitting light incident from different light sources according to wavelengths. At this time, the optical path overlap unit 160 can overlap the optical path of the near-infrared light and the plurality of narrow backlight. According to such a configuration, it is possible to further simplify the configuration of the light source system by superimposing the optical paths on the lights having different wavelength regions.

In addition, the optical path superimposing unit 160 can selectively apply the optical isolator 162, which transmits the near-infrared light and reflects the white light, to an area where the optical path overlaps. 2, an example in which the white light and the narrow backlight are selectively incident on the light focusing unit 120 can be confirmed by selectively injecting the light separator 162 onto the optical path overlapping in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the optical isolator A functions to transmit light of all wavelengths, and may be implemented as a light separator that transmits all wavelengths, but may also be implemented as an empty space. It can be seen that the optical isolator B is implemented as a light separator in which white light is totally reflected and light of other wavelengths is transmitted.

2, when the optical isolator B is located on the optical path, the narrowband light source 114 must be kept off to prevent white light and narrow backlight from being transmitted simultaneously on the optical path will be.

According to this configuration, the white light and the narrow backlight can be selectively used only by a simple structure in which the optical isolator 162 is selectively placed on the optical path.

3A and 3B are views showing an embodiment of a light separator selectively injected by the optical path superimposing unit of FIG.

3A is a diagram showing an embodiment of a rotatable optical isolator in which the A region of the rotatable optical isolator can be realized as an empty space as a region transmitting all the wavelengths of light, The light is realized as a transmitting region.

The optical path overlapping unit 160 can selectively introduce the optical isolator by rotating the rotatable optical isolator and placing the required rotatable optical isolator region on the optical path when white light or narrow backlight is required.

3B is a view showing an embodiment of a toggle type optical isolator in which a light separator A which transmits all the wavelengths of light and a light separator B which totally diffracts white light and transmits different wavelengths of light are separately provided, The optical isolator 162 can be selectively placed on the optical path in such a manner that the optical isolator 162 is charged onto the optical path. Of course, in this case also, the optical isolator A can be implemented as an empty space.

The filter unit 140 includes a plurality of filters 142. The optical separation unit 144 separates the light inputted from the subject according to the wavelength and transmits the separated light to the predetermined filter 142. [

4A and 4B are diagrams schematically showing the configuration of the filter section. In FIG. 4A, an optical splitter is positioned between a camera 1 to which white light or narrow backlight is input and a camera 2 to which a near-infrared image is input. In FIG. 4B, It can be seen that examples are shown which are input through different paths without separating sections.

4A and 4B, according to the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously detect white light or narrow backlight and near infrared light (NIR) image through a single camera or a plurality of cameras, It is possible to input each image to a suitable camera through the set filter.

FIG. 5 is a table describing a photographing mode of the endoscope system of FIG. 1 and a light source and a filter used in performing each photographing mode. In the table of FIG. 5, an example is shown in which white light or white light NBI is used in combination with independent or near infrared (NIR) light, and a light source and a filter used in each mode can be identified.

As shown in the table of FIG. 5, in a mode in which the position of the filter 142 can be output in a continuous mode in which the position of the filter 142 is fixed, there are the following two types: 1. color image (White ON -> color area sensor) (R or G, R + G, R + G on -> color area sensor) and 4. single color + near infrared ray image ] + NIR ON -> color area sensor + near infrared ray area sensor). According to this configuration, it is possible to acquire information of the blood vessels of the living body or the like more accurately simultaneously or separately through the endoscope apparatus.

Endoscopy may be performed in a pulsed mode fashion that sequentially changes the filter 142 in a manner other than the manner in which the filter 142 is continuously performed in a fixed state. In this case, the optical path superimposing unit 160 can repeatedly insert the optical isolator sequentially in accordance with a preset time. According to such a configuration, it is possible to combine specific wavelengths of narrow backlight in a pulse shape to improve the color of white light, and sequentially collect information of near-infrared fluorescence information and narrow backlight to clearly distinguish and express biometric information do.

To this end, the rotation type or toggle type of the optical isolator 162 is controlled in accordance with time, and the related light source is turned on / off to acquire the related data over time through the sensors of the respective regions and through the color reconstruction and merging A clearer color representation can be achieved.

(1), (2), (3), (3), (3) and (4) show the color mode and the color mode, respectively. , Green on (t2) -> Color area sensor + Near-infrared area sensor), 3. Color image + Monochrome image (White on (t1), Monochrome On (t2) -> Color area sensor).

6 is a diagram illustrating an example of performing an endoscopic examination using white light and narrow backlight in a pulse mode.

In FIG. 6, it can be seen that the narrow backlight of white light, green, and red is sequentially output with time. The white light is transmitted through the optical isolator B, the narrow backlight is transmitted through the optical isolator A on the optical path, and both the white light and the narrow backlight use the color area sensor. Subsequently, images acquired sequentially are merged and used. At this time, the time at which the image is acquired or the processing time may be set by the endoscope system or the user.

7 is a graph showing an example of a wavelength spectrum of white light and RGB narrow-band backlight of LED. In Fig. 7, it can be seen that the cold white is high at the output, but Day light White is good at the color temperature.

In the case of the present invention, the related data can be acquired over time through the sensors of the respective regions, and through the color reconstruction and merging, a clearer color representation can be performed. Therefore, in the case of FIG. 7, This can be solved by a combination of Cold White and Green pulses. That is, when applying a cold white having a high output value, the color temperature can be increased by sequentially applying the G and R values.

8 is a diagram showing an example for performing an endoscopic inspection using near-infrared light and white light in narrow backlight and pulse mode.

In FIG. 8, the near-infrared light and the white light are outputted at the same time, and an example is shown in which the green and red narrow backlight are sequentially output according to time. The white light and the near-infrared light are transmitted through the optical splitter B, the narrow backlight is transmitted through the optical splitter A, and the white light, the narrow backlight, and the near-infrared light are detected by the color-

This configuration sequentially collects near-infrared fluorescence information and narrow backlight information, and blood vessels and the like are used to clearly distinguish and express biometric information from existing images. In the simultaneous detection of white light and near-infrared fluorescence, Blur) phenomenon, information on G and R is acquired in order to more accurately represent information on a vein that is not visible.

9 is a graph showing blood vessel absorption according to the wavelength of light.

As can be seen from FIG. 9, in the case of the narrow backlight R, the absorbance is low, so that the information about the blood vessel can be compared and merged with the near infrared light (NIR) to transmit information in more detail. Also, for more accurate image acquisition, only the information about the internal reflection can be collected by applying a polarizing filter in front of the R light source. At this time, it is necessary to apply a polarizing filter to the color image collecting unit.

The endoscope system may further include an image processor 170 for processing an image input to the input unit according to predetermined conditions and an image output unit 180 for outputting an image processed by the image processor 170. According to such a configuration, it is possible to combine the acquired endoscopic images in various forms according to preset conditions using the light of various characteristics, and to output them.

In this way, when functional images are obtained in real time simultaneously with a conventional endoscopic image (white light image) by white light to provide a composite image through independent image or image processing, specific differences in abnormal lesion sites can be easily observed Accurate diagnosis and operation can be performed.

The optical characteristic analyzer 190 analyzes the characteristics of the light transmitted to the subject and the optical power controller 200 controls the optical output of the light source 110 according to the characteristics of the light analyzed by the optical characteristic analyzer 190 . At this time, the optical output controller 200 can control relative outputs of a plurality of narrowband light sources having different wavelength ranges. According to this configuration, it is possible to obtain an optical output suitable for an endoscopic image that is required even when the endoscopic inspection purpose or the characteristic of the individual light source changes.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of some preferred embodiments, the scope of the present invention should not be limited thereby but should be modified and improved in accordance with the above-described embodiments.

100: Endoscopic system
110: light source
112: white light source
114: Narrowband light source
116: near-infrared light source
120: light focusing part
130:
140:
142: filter
144:
150:
160:
162: optical isolator
170:
180: Video output unit
190: Optical Characteristic Analysis Unit
200: optical output control section

Claims (9)

A white light source, and a narrow-band light source having a wavelength region overlapping with the white light source, and a near-infrared light source;
A light focusing unit for focusing the light generated by the light source unit;
A light transmitting unit for transmitting the focused light to an object;
A filter unit for filtering the light inputted from the subject according to a wavelength; And
And an image input unit for inputting an image of light transmitted from the filter unit,
Wherein the white light generated from the white light source and the narrow backlight generated from the narrowband light source have an optical path overlapping with each other and are selectively incident on the light focusing unit.
3. The method of claim 2,
And an optical path overlapping section for overlapping paths of light by reflecting or transmitting light incident from the different light sources according to wavelengths.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the light path overlapping section overlaps a plurality of narrow-band light paths having different wavelength regions from the near-infrared light.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the light path superimposing unit selectively injects the light separator that transmits the near-infrared light and reflects the white light into a region where the light path overlaps.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the optical path superposing unit sequentially injects the optical isolator according to a predetermined time.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the filter portion includes a plurality of filters,
Further comprising a light separating unit for separating the light inputted from the subject according to a wavelength and delivering the light to a predetermined filter.
The method according to claim 1,
An image processing unit for processing an image input to the image input unit according to preset conditions; And
And an image output unit for outputting an image processed by the image processing unit.
The method according to claim 1,
An optical characteristic analyzer for analyzing characteristics of light transmitted to the subject; And
And an optical output controller for controlling an optical output of the light source according to characteristics of light analyzed by the optical characteristic analyzer.
9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the optical output control unit controls relative outputs of a plurality of narrowband light sources having different wavelength ranges.

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