KR20180134297A - Optical fiber probe and endoscope apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an optical fiber probe capable of identifying the position and progress of a lesion present in a blood vessel and eliminating the lesion, and an endoscope apparatus including the same. The optical fiber probe, which is installed in an endoscope apparatus provided with a photographing unit for photographing the interior of a body and obtaining a surface image of a measurement object, comprises an optical fiber, a driving unit, and a cover unit. The optical fiber receives a plurality of lights outputted from the outside and transmits the same to a measurement object, receives at least one of a first light signal reflected from the measurement object, a second light signal reflected and refracted from the measurement object, and a third light signal generated from the measurement object and transmits the same to the photographing unit or provides a treatment laser beam to the lesion of the measurement object. The driving unit is connected to one side of the optical fiber to control the moving direction of the optical fiber. The cover unit is configured to surround the optical fiber and the driving unit.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an optical fiber probe, and an endoscope apparatus including the optical fiber probe.

The present invention relates to an optical fiber probe having a fine tubular structure inserted into a body to obtain a surface image of a measurement object, and an endoscope apparatus including the optical fiber probe. More particularly, And to provide an optical fiber probe capable of providing a therapeutic laser beam for eliminating a lesion and an endoscope apparatus including the optical fiber probe.

In general, an endoscope is a medical instrument that can directly observe the internal organs or body cavity, and it is a medical instrument that can perform a surgical operation or a machine for an organ that can not detect a lesion without autopsy. It is an instrument designed to be inserted and observed.

Currently commonly used types are bronchoscopy, esophagoscopy, gastroscopy, duodenal, rectal, cystoscopy, laparoscopy, Mirror), and other special cases include thoracoscopic, mediastinal, and cardiac.

In the endoscope described above, there is a single tube called a direct-cadaver, which can be directly seen with the naked eye, a mold using a lens system, a type (a gastric camera) A fiber scope using glass fiber, and the like. Recently, an endoscope having a red optical interferometry technique has been developed and commercialized.

The optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a diagnostic device for non-invasively and real-timely outputting a resolution in micrometers and an internal structure image of a living body. The OCT can be scanned at a depth of about 1 to 2 mm at a high resolution, and is used in a method of early diagnosis of the onset of arteriosclerosis by observing the inner wall of a cardiovascular vessel in combination with a probe-type endoscope apparatus.

However, the non-OCT glass fiber-based endoscope apparatus can acquire reflected light and fluorescence signals, but has a disadvantage in that it is impossible to perform detailed diagnosis such as confirming the progress of the lesion in the depth direction.

In addition, due to the technological limitations of the signal transmission rate of the OCT endoscope, there is a problem in that a high-performance expensive equipment is required to acquire a forward optical field of view image or a level of less than a frame rate per second There is a problem that only an image can be obtained.

In addition, conventional endoscopic devices have limitations in that they can not be applied in terms of treatment other than diagnosis.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber probe having a double clad structure and capable of acquiring a reflected light image, a fluorescence image, and an OCT image with only one optical fiber, And an endoscope apparatus including the optical fiber probe.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical fiber probe including an optical fiber, a driving unit, and a cover unit, the optical fiber probe being installed in an endoscope apparatus provided with a photographing unit for photographing the inside of the body and acquiring a surface image of the measurement object. The optical fiber receives a plurality of lights output from the outside and transmits the light to a measurement object. The optical fiber transmits a first optical signal reflected from the measurement object, a second optical signal reflected and refracted from the measurement object, and a third optical signal Receives at least one of them and transmits it to the photographing unit, or provides a treatment laser beam to the lesion of the measurement target. The driving unit is connected to one side of the optical fiber to control the moving direction of the optical fiber. The cover portion is formed to surround the optical fiber and the driving portion.

According to one embodiment, the optical fiber includes a core, an inner clad, and an outer clad. The core transmits a plurality of lights to the measurement object and transmits the first optical signal to the photographing unit. The inner cladding is formed so as to surround the core and receives at least one of the second optical signal and the third optical signal and transmits the optical signal to the photographing unit or forms a path for providing the therapeutic laser beam to the lesion of the measurement target. The outer clad is formed to surround the inner clad.

According to an embodiment, the first optical signal includes optical coherence tomography (OCT) information of the measurement object, the second optical signal includes reflected light information of the measurement object, and the third optical signal includes fluorescence information of the measurement object .

According to one embodiment, the photographing unit receives the first optical signal from the core to obtain the OCT image, receives the second optical signal and the third optical signal from the inner clad, and obtains the reflected light image and the fluorescence image.

According to one embodiment, the photographing unit includes an image obtaining unit and an image matching unit. The image acquiring unit acquires an OCT image, a reflected light image, and a fluorescence image, respectively. The image matching unit matches at least two images among the OCT image, the reflected light image, and the fluorescence image acquired from the image acquiring unit.

According to one embodiment, when the therapeutic laser beam is provided to the measurement object, the imaging unit can acquire the OCT image.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is further provided a lens unit for condensing a plurality of lights output from the optical fiber and transmitting the condensed light to a measurement object.

According to one embodiment, the driving unit is formed of a tube-shaped piezo ceramic actuator deformed by receiving power from the outside.

According to one embodiment, a piezoelectric ceramic actuator is divided into four parts, electrodes are attached to each surface, and a drive voltage in the form of a sinusoidal wave is applied to a pair of electrodes facing each other in the electrodes, Type driving voltage to control the movement of the optical fiber.

According to one embodiment, a piezoelectric ceramic actuator is divided into four parts, electrodes are attached to each surface, a drive voltage of sine wave form is supplied to a pair of electrodes arranged to face each other in the electrodes, A driving voltage of a cosine wave form is supplied to the electrode of the optical fiber to control the movement of the optical fiber.

According to one embodiment, the driving unit has a rest at a predetermined interval and provides a therapeutic laser beam to the measurement object at a resting time.

According to one embodiment, the optical fiber probe further includes an auxiliary optical fiber and a secondary cover portion. The plurality of auxiliary optical fibers are disposed along the circumference of the optical fiber to receive a plurality of lights and transmit the plurality of lights to the measurement object and receive at least one of the second optical signal and the third optical signal to transmit the optical signals to the photographing unit. The auxiliary cover portion is formed so as to surround the auxiliary optical fiber.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an endoscope apparatus including an optical device, an optical fiber probe, and a photographing unit. The light providing unit outputs a plurality of lights. The optical fiber probe includes a first optical signal reflected from a measurement object, a second optical signal reflected and refracted from the measurement object, and a second optical signal reflected from the measurement object, , Receives the third optical signal generated in the measurement object, and transmits it to the outside. The photographing unit receives the first optical signal, the second optical signal, and the third optical signal from the optical fiber probe to acquire a plurality of different images for the object to be measured. The light providing unit includes a light source unit for outputting a plurality of lights for acquiring an image to an optical fiber probe, and a laser providing unit for providing a therapeutic laser beam with an optical fiber probe for eliminating a lesion of a measurement target.

According to one embodiment, an optical fiber probe includes an optical fiber, a lens portion, a driving portion, and a cover portion. The optical fiber transmits a plurality of light beams to the measurement object and includes a core for transmitting the first optical signal to the photographing unit and a second optical signal receiving unit for receiving at least one of the second optical signal and the third optical signal, And an outer cladding formed to surround the inner clad. The lens unit is disposed on one side of the optical fiber, and collects a plurality of lights output from the core and transmits the collected light to a measurement object. The driving unit is connected to one side of the optical fiber to control the moving direction of the optical fiber probe. The cover portion is formed to surround the optical fiber, the lens portion, and the driving portion.

According to one embodiment, the optical fiber further comprises a secondary optical fiber and a secondary cover part. The plurality of auxiliary optical fibers are disposed along the outer circumferential surface of the outer clad, receive the plurality of lights, transmit the plurality of lights to the measurement object, and receive at least one of the second optical signal and the third optical signal to transmit to the photographing unit. The auxiliary cover portion is formed so as to surround the auxiliary optical fiber.

According to an embodiment, the first optical signal includes OCT information of the measurement object, the second optical signal includes reflected light information of the measurement target object, and the third optical signal includes fluorescence information of the measurement target object.

According to one embodiment, the photographing unit receives the first optical signal from the core to obtain the OCT image, receives the second optical signal and the third optical signal from the inner clad, and obtains the reflected light image and the fluorescence image.

According to one embodiment, the photographing unit includes an image obtaining unit and an image matching unit. The image acquiring unit acquires an OCT image, a reflected light image, and a fluorescence image, respectively. The image matching unit matches at least two images of the OCT image, the reflected light image, and the fluorescence image acquired from the image acquiring unit.

According to one embodiment, when the therapeutic laser beam is provided to the measurement object, the imaging unit can acquire the OCT image.

According to one embodiment, the driving unit has a rest at regular intervals, and the laser providing unit provides the therapeutic laser beam to the measurement object at a resting time.

According to one embodiment, the driving unit is formed of a tube-shaped piezo ceramic actuator having four parts and electrodes attached to each surface.

According to an embodiment, when the image pickup unit acquires an OCT image, the driving unit supplies a driving voltage of a sinusoidal wave form and a driving voltage of a cosine wave form to a pair of electrodes arranged to face each other, A driving voltage of a sinusoidal waveform is supplied to a pair of electrodes disposed opposite to each other in an electrode when the imaging unit acquires a reflected light image and a fluorescent image, And a driving voltage of a cosine wave form is supplied to the remaining pair of electrodes to control movement of the probe.

According to the present invention, since the optical fiber included in the optical fiber probe is formed into a double-clad structure, a plurality of lights can be transmitted in both directions using only one optical fiber. Accordingly, since the optical fiber probe can be manufactured in the form of a micro-tube, it can be inserted into a small-sized body tissue such as a blood vessel.

In addition, by acquiring a reflected light image and a fluorescence image through a reflected light signal and a fluorescence signal transmitted from an inner clad of an optical fiber, the position of a lesion present in the blood vessel is obtained, and the OCT signal transmitted through the core, By acquiring the image, the depth and progress of the lesion can be confirmed.

In addition, when a lesion is detected in the measurement object at the endoscopic photographing, the therapeutic laser beam can be provided through the inner clad for removing the lesion, thereby improving the convenience and shortening the examination time.

In addition, since fluorescence signals are acquired using the autofluorescence characteristic of a special lesion, it is possible to exclude the use of a fluorescent substance in endoscopic imaging, thereby improving economic efficiency and safety.

In addition, since the driving unit for controlling the movement of the optical fiber probe is formed of a micrometer-unit micro-piezo ceramic actuator, it is possible to minimize the invasion of the body and to apply the micro-tube structure such as blood vessels.

In addition, since the driving unit is formed of a tube-shaped piezo ceramic actuator which is deformed by receiving power from the outside, a manufacturing cost can be reduced since an expensive driving device is not required as in the prior art.

1 is a sectional view of an optical fiber probe according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an internal perspective view of the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the optical fiber shown in FIG. 1; FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a driving unit of the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. 1; FIG.
5 is a diagram illustrating a function of performing an optical signal transmitted through an optical fiber probe shown in FIG.
6 is a cross-sectional view of an optical fiber probe according to another embodiment of the present invention.
7 is an internal perspective view of the optical fiber probe shown in Fig.
FIG. 8 illustrates an operation for acquiring a reflected light image and a fluorescent image through the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. 6; FIG.
FIG. 9 illustrates an operation for acquiring an OCT image through the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. 6; FIG.
10 is a view showing an operation for removing a lesion through the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. 6;
11 is a block diagram of an endoscope apparatus including an optical fiber probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 12 is a configuration diagram of the endoscope apparatus shown in Fig. 11; Fig.

Hereinafter, an optical fiber probe and an endoscope apparatus including the same according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, the same reference numerals are used for the same components, and repeated descriptions and known functions and configurations that may obscure the gist of the present invention will not be described in detail. Embodiments of the invention are provided to more fully describe the present invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the shapes and sizes of the elements in the drawings and the like can be exaggerated for clarity.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an optical fiber probe according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an internal perspective view of the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the optical fiber shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the driving unit of the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating functions of the optical signal transmitted through the optical fiber probe shown in FIG.

1 to 5, the optical fiber probe 100 includes an optical fiber 110, a driving unit 120, and a cover unit 130. Here, the optical fiber probe 100 may be installed in an endoscope apparatus 1 provided with a photographing unit 20 for photographing the interior of the body and acquiring a surface image of the measurement object S. In the present embodiment, the optical fiber probe 100 is applied to the endoscope apparatus for convenience of explanation, but it is applicable to various endoscope apparatuses such as a gastrointestinal endoscope, a colonoscopy, and the like that photographs the inside of the body.

The optical fiber 110 is an optical transmission medium, and can receive a plurality of lights output from the outside and transmit the light to the measurement object S. The optical fiber 110 includes a first optical signal reflected from the measurement object S, a second optical signal reflected and refracted from the measurement object S, and a third optical signal generated from the measurement object S At least one of them can be received and transmitted to the photographing unit, or the treatment laser beam can be provided to the lesion of the measurement target S. [

At this time, the optical fiber 110 can receive a plurality of lights output from the optical data providing unit 10 provided in the endoscope apparatus 1 and transmit the same to the measurement object S. The light providing unit 10 may be provided in plural or may be formed to filter a single light and output a plurality of lights having different wavelengths. A detailed description of the optical device 10 will be described later.

Referring to FIG. 3, the optical fiber 110 includes a core 111, an inner clad 112, and an outer clad 113.

The core 111 transmits a plurality of lights to the measurement object S and transmits the first optical signal reflected from the measurement object S to the image capturing unit. The core 111 of the optical fiber 110 may be formed in a single mode. The single mode means a mode in which the diameter of the core 111 is very small, less than 10 mu m, and the light transmission path is one. That is, when a plurality of lights output from the optical data providing unit 10 are reflected from the measurement object S and return, only the light having a predetermined single path may be incident.

The first optical signal transmitted through the core 111 to the measurement object S has a wavelength of about 1300 nm and the optical signal transmitted to the imaging unit 20 through the optical fiber 110 is transmitted through the OCT Optical Coherence Tomography) information. Accordingly, the photographing unit 20 can receive the first optical signal from the core 111 and acquire the OCT image for the measurement object S.

The inner clad 112 is formed so as to surround the core 111 and receives at least one of the second optical signal reflected from the measurement target S and refracted and the third optical signal generated in the measurement target S To the imaging unit 20, or forms a path for providing a therapeutic laser beam to the lesion of the measurement target S.

The inner clad 112 may be formed in a multi-mode. The multi mode is a mode in which the diameter is larger than that of the core 111 and the light yield is good and a plurality of light transmission paths are provided. Accordingly, when a plurality of lights output from the optical data providing unit 10 are reflected by the measurement object S and are returned, a plurality of lights having different optical paths can be incident simultaneously.

The second optical signal transmitted through the inner clad 112 to the photographing unit 20 is transmitted to the measurement object S via the inner clad 112, And the like. The third optical signal transmitted through the inner clad 112 to the measurement unit 20 has a wavelength of about 650 nm and the third optical signal transmitted through the inner clad 112 is a measurement object S ) Fluorescence information. Accordingly, the photographing unit 20 can receive the second light signal and the third light signal from the inner clad 112 and obtain the reflected light image and the fluorescent image with respect to the measurement target S.

The inner clad 112 may provide a path of the optical signal for obtaining the surface image with respect to the measurement object S, but may also provide a path of the treatment laser beam for eliminating the lesion of the measurement target S do. That is, when a lesion appears on the image acquired through the photographing unit 20, a pulsed laser beam of high power is provided to the inner clad 112 to ablate and remove the lesion.

As a result, the image of the measurement object S can be obtained at the time of endoscopic examination, and the lesion can be removed, thereby improving the convenience and shortening the examination time. In addition, since the inner clad 112 is formed in a multimode mode, a plurality of light sources can be transmitted using only one optical fiber 110, and the optical fiber probe 100 can be used in a blood vessel .

When the therapeutic treatment laser beam is provided to the measurement object S through the inner clad 112, the imaging unit 20 can acquire the OCT image. That is, when the therapeutic laser beam is provided to the measurement object S, the core 111 provides only a single light for outputting the OCT signal, which is the first optical signal, to the measurement object S. Since the OCT image includes depth information by acquiring a tomographic image of the measurement object S, it is possible to check in real time whether the lesion is properly ablated through the OCT image.

The outer clad 113 is formed so as to cover the periphery of the inner clad 112 by guiding the total reflection to prevent light from leaking to the outside. The inner clad 112 and the core 111 can be protected from the external environment through the outer clad 113 and light can be prevented from leaking to the outside and the light receiving rate of the inner clad 112 can be improved.

The driving unit 120 is connected to one side of the optical fiber 110 to control the moving direction of the optical fiber 110 and can be provided in a micrometre size. Accordingly, it is possible not only to minimize the invasion of the optical fiber probe 100 into the body, but also to apply it to microvascular structures such as blood vessels.

 Referring to FIG. 4, the driving unit 120 may be formed of a tube-shaped piezo ceramic actuator deformed by external power supply. A through hole 120a through which the optical fiber 110 passes may be formed inside the piezo ceramic actuator. Accordingly, one end of the optical fiber 110 is exposed to the outside of the piezoceramic actuator through the through hole 120a and connected to the photographing unit 20, so that the optical signal can be transmitted to the photographing unit 20. [

Piezoelectric ceramic actuators can be divided into four parts so that electrodes 121 can be attached to each surface and four voltage signals V (+ x), V (-x), V (+ y) and V It is possible to position one end of the optical fiber 110 at the desired x, y position by applying it to the four divided surfaces. At this time, the electrodes 121 are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval along the periphery of the piezo-ceramic actuator so that they are not energized, and a cable 122 for receiving a voltage signal can be connected to each electrode 121.

The piezoelectric ceramic actuator is deformed according to a voltage signal and transmits the deformation value to the optical fiber 110 so that the optical fiber 110 can be spirally moved or rotated in the right or left direction or the up and down direction.

For example, when the optical fiber 110 is rotated in the left-right direction or the up-down direction, a pair of electrodes 121, which are disposed to face each other among the four electrodes 121 provided in the piezo-ceramic actuator, Type driving voltage or a cosine wave type driving voltage. Then, the piezoelectric ceramic actuator vibrates vertically or horizontally by a signal to the driving voltage, and this vibration is transmitted to the optical fiber 110, so that the optical fiber 110 can be rotated in the up-down or left-right direction.

When the optical fiber 110 is spirally moved, a drive voltage of sine wave form is supplied to a pair of electrodes 121 disposed to face each other among the four electrodes 121 provided in the piezo ceramic actuator And a driving voltage of a cosine wave form may be supplied to the remaining pair of electrodes 121. Then, the piezoelectric ceramic actuator is spirally vibrated by the signal on the driving voltage, and the vibration is transmitted to the optical fiber 110 to focus on a desired position, thereby capturing an image.

The cover 130 is formed to surround the optical fiber 110 and the driving unit 120. The cover 130 forms an outer shape of the optical fiber probe 100 and may be formed of a flexible material and protects the optical fiber 110 and the driving unit 120 from the external environment.

Referring to FIG. 5, the driving unit 120 may have a rest period. Here, the rest refers to a preparation time for acquiring a full-field image through a reflected light signal and a fluorescent signal transmitted by the inner clad 112, and then acquiring a next front image. In addition, it is possible to prevent the reflected light signal and the fluorescence signal from being mixed with each other by providing a treatment laser beam for treatment to the measurement object S in the resting period. That is, since the intensity of the therapeutic laser beam is considerably greater than the intensity of the reflected light signal or fluorescence signal, the signal may be crossed, so that the reflected light signal and the light for outputting the fluorescent signal are not transmitted from the core 111, It is preferable to provide a laser beam.

Meanwhile, a lens unit 140 may be installed on one side of the optical fiber 110 to collect a plurality of lights output from the optical fiber 110 and transmit the collected light to the measurement object S. The lens unit 140 may be composed of a plurality of small lenses so that the representative numerical aperture can be adjusted according to the required viewing angle and the degree of condensation. Accordingly, the plurality of light condensed through the small lens focuses on the object to be measured, and the light reflected from the object returns to the path and is incident on the core 111 or the inner clad 112, The image information of the measurement object S is obtained.

The lens unit 140 may be arranged to face the measurement object S when one surface is exposed to the outside and the optical fiber probe 100 is inserted into the inside of the body.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an optical fiber probe according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an internal perspective view of the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, differences from the above-described embodiment will be mainly described.

6 to 7, the optical fiber probe 200 may further include an auxiliary optical fiber 150 and an auxiliary cover portion 160. [

A plurality of auxiliary optical fibers 150 may be disposed along the outer circumferential surface of the outer clad 113 of the optical fiber 110. The auxiliary optical fiber 150 receives a plurality of lights output from the outside and transmits the light to the measurement object S and receives at least one of the second optical signal and the third optical signal and transmits the same to the photographing unit 20 have.

As the auxiliary optical fiber 150 is further provided, the light yield is increased. Therefore, if the amount of light for forming an image is insufficient, the number of auxiliary optical fibers 150 is appropriately adjusted and disposed around the outer clad 113, thereby increasing the light yield and improving the image pickup speed and image quality . The auxiliary optical fiber 150 may be formed to have the same structure as the optical fiber 110 described above. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the auxiliary optical fiber 150 may be formed of a general mode optical fiber of a multi-mode.

The auxiliary cover portion 160 may be formed to surround the auxiliary optical fiber 150. The auxiliary cover unit 160 can form the outer shape of the optical fiber probe 100 and protect the auxiliary optical fiber 150 from the external environment.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating an operation for acquiring a reflected light image and a fluorescence image through the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for acquiring an OCT image through the optical fiber probe shown in FIG. FIG. The operation for acquiring the reflected light image, the fluorescent image, and the OCT image will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 9. FIG.

First, the reflected light image and the fluorescence image must be acquired to locate the lesion existing in the blood vessel. The reflected light image and the fluorescence image can be obtained by driving the optical fiber 110 inserted in the blood vessel in a spiral direction in order to obtain a front wide field of view image. Specifically, when the optical fiber probe 200 is inserted into the blood vessel, the driving unit 120 applies a sine wave form to the pair of electrodes 121, which are disposed to face each other among the four electrodes 121 provided in the piezo ceramic actuator And the driving voltage of the cosine wave form is supplied to the remaining pair of electrodes 121, so that the optical fiber 110 can be driven in a spiral direction in a spiral direction.

At the same time, the core 111 receives a plurality of lights output from the optical data providing unit 10 and transmits them to the lens unit 140. The lens unit 140 condenses the received plurality of lights and transmits them to the inside of the blood vessel do. Here, a plurality of light beams incident on the core 111 are irradiated with OCT imaging light having a wavelength of about 1300 nm, reflected light imaging light having a wavelength of about 650 nm, and fluorescent stimulating light having a wavelength of about 633 nm . That is, since the wavelength of the OCT imaging light transmitted to the inside of the core 111 is about twice the wavelength of the reflected light imaging light source and the fluorescent light source, a single core 111 formed in a single mode, . ≪ / RTI >

At this time, since the wavelengths of the reflected light imaging light and the fluorescent stimulating light are small, it is possible to acquire a reflected light image with one light having a wavelength of about 650 nm and to stimulate fluorescence. That is, the light source unit may be configured to output the first light having a wavelength of about 1300 nm and the second light having a wavelength of about 650 nm into the core 111.

When the first light and the second light are transmitted to the inside of the blood vessel through the core 111, the second light is reflected on the inner wall of the blood vessel and output as a reflected light signal including the surface image information of the blood vessel. At this time, when there is thrombus in the blood vessel, autofluorescence is expressed by the stimulation of the second light in the necrotic nucleus of the vulnerable plaque contained in the thrombus, and the fluorescence signal including the surface image information about thrombus is outputted do.

Then, the photographing unit 20 receives the reflected light signal and the fluorescent signal through the inner clad 112, acquires the reflected light image and the fluorescent image inside the blood vessel, respectively, and outputs the reflected light image and the fluorescent image through the image matching unit 22 By matching, it becomes possible to acquire the blood clot image existing in the blood as shown in Fig.

Once the location of the lesion has been determined, OCT imaging can be performed to further diagnose the depth and progress of the lesion. At this time, since the OCT photographing necessarily includes a vast amount of information due to its technical structure, it is desirable to drive the probe in a spiral-shaped scanning method and a line-scanning method in order to solve the amount of such information and acquire a real- Do. A driving voltage or a cosine wave form of a sinusoidal wave form is applied to a pair of electrodes 121 arranged to face each other among four electrodes 121 provided in the piezo ceramic actuator of the driving unit 120. [ The optical fiber 110 can be rotated vertically or laterally.

At the same time, when the first light is transmitted to the inside of the blood vessel through the core 111, the first light is reflected from the thrombus in the blood vessel, and is output as a reflected light signal including the OCT image information of the blood vessel. Then, the photographing unit 20 receives the reflected light signal through the core 111 and obtains the OCT image for the blood vessel as shown in FIG. Since the OCT image includes the depth direction information of the inside of the blood vessel, it is possible to check the progress of the thrombus to perform detailed diagnosis such as arteriosclerosis.

10 is a view illustrating an operation for removing a lesion through the optical fiber probe shown in FIG.

When a lesion is detected through the optical fiber probe 200, the lesion can be removed through the optical fiber probe 200. Specifically, when pulsed laser light is supplied to the inner clad 112 through the optical fiber 10, pulsed laser light is output from the inner clad 112 and the clot can be ablated.

This ablation operation may be performed at the rest of the driving unit 120 for acquiring a single full-field image through the reflected light image and the fluorescent image as shown in FIG. 5 and then acquiring the next front image . That is, the rest is a period when the second light is not outputted. On the other hand, the OCT image can be obtained by outputting the first light during the resting period. That is, when the pulsed laser beam as the treatment laser beam is supplied to the measurement target object S, the imaging unit 20 acquires the OCT image, so that it is possible to confirm in real time whether or not the lesion is properly ablated.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an endoscope apparatus including an optical fiber probe according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of the endoscope apparatus shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, differences from the above-described embodiment will be mainly described.

1 to 12, an endoscope apparatus 1 includes an optical data providing unit 10, an optical fiber probe 100, and a photographing unit 20.

The light providing unit 10 can output a plurality of lights. Specifically, the optical data providing unit 10 may include a light source unit 11 that outputs first light and a second light, and a treatment laser supply unit 12 that outputs a treatment laser light. That is, it is possible to output both the first light, the second light, and the treatment laser light for removing the lesion, through the one optical data providing unit 10.

The light source unit 11 may include a dichroic beam splitter for separating the output light into a plurality of lights. For example, the light source section 11 may be formed to output first light having a wavelength of about 1300 nm and second light having a wavelength of about 650 nm through a dichroic beam splitter.

The therapeutic laser providing unit 12 may provide the therapeutic laser beam with the optical fiber probe 100 in order to remove the lesion of the measurement target S. [ Specifically, the therapeutic laser providing unit 12 transmits pulsed laser light to the inner clad 112 of the optical fiber probe 100 to remove lesions. When the therapeutic laser beam is supplied to the measurement target object S by the therapeutic laser providing unit 12, the imaging unit 20 may be configured to acquire an OCT image.

The optical fiber probe 100 is inserted into the body and transmits a plurality of light beams transmitted from the optical receiver 10 to a measurement object S within the body. The optical fiber probe 100 includes a first optical signal reflected from the measurement object S, Receives the second optical signal reflected from the measurement object S and refracted, and the third optical signal generated in the measurement object S, and transmits it to the outside. Here, the first optical signal includes OCT information of the measurement object S, the second optical signal includes reflected light information of the measurement target S, and the third optical signal includes fluorescence information of the measurement target S .

The optical fiber probe 100 may be formed of a double clad fiber. The optical fiber probe 100 may include an optical fiber 110 composed of a core 111, an inner clad 112 and an outer clad 113, a lens unit 140, and a driving unit 120.

The core 111 of the optical fiber 110 receives a plurality of lights from the light source unit 11 included in the optical data providing unit 10 and transmits the received light to the measurement object S, Signal. That is, the first light and the second light output through the light source unit 11 may be transmitted to the measurement object S through the core 111. [ Only the first light among the plurality of lights may be reflected by the measurement target S and transmitted to the photographing unit 20 through the core 111. [

The inner clad 112 is formed so as to surround the core 111 and is configured to receive a second optical signal reflected and refracted from the measurement target S and a third optical signal generated in the measurement target S Thereby forming a path. That is, the second light output through the light source unit 11 is reflected and refracted on the surface of the measurement object S, and the refracted reflected light is transmitted to the photographing unit 20 through the inner clad 112. In addition, autofluorescence is generated in the thrombus inside the blood vessel by the stimulation of the second light. The fluorescence signal can also be transmitted to the imaging unit 20 through the inner clad 112. Here, the fluorescence signal may be autofluorescence contained in a lesion expressed by the stimulation of the second light, more specifically a fluorescence signal of a necrotic nucleus of a vulnerable plaque contained in the thrombus. However, the third optical signal does not only mean the self-fluorescence emitted from the cell, but it may also be a fluorescence signal generated by forcibly injecting the fluorescent material into the target.

The outer clad 113 may be formed so as to surround the inner clad 112 by guiding the light so that the light does not leak to the outside.

The lens unit 140 is disposed in front of one side of the optical fiber 110 and collects a plurality of lights output from the optical fiber 110 and transmits the collected light to the measurement object S.

The driving unit 120 is connected to one side of the core 111 to control the moving direction of the optical fiber 110. Specifically, the driving unit 120 may be formed of a tube-shaped piezo ceramic actuator having four electrodes and electrodes 121 attached to the respective surfaces. For example, when the image capturing unit 20 acquires an OCT image, the driving unit 120 applies a driving voltage of a sinusoidal waveform to a pair of electrodes 121 disposed to face each other in the electrodes 121, And may be configured to control movement of the optical fiber 110 by supplying at least one of a driving voltage of a cosine wave form. Accordingly, the optical fiber 110 performs the linear sweep drive in the vertical direction or the left and right direction.

The driving unit 120 applies a driving voltage of a sinusoidal waveform to a pair of electrodes 121 disposed opposite to each other among the electrodes 121 when the photographing unit 20 acquires a reflected light image and a fluorescent image, And a driving voltage of a cosine wave form is supplied to the remaining pair of electrodes 121 to control the movement of the probe. As a result, the optical fiber probe 100 performs spiral driving in a spiral manner.

Meanwhile, the driving unit 120 may have a rest period at a predetermined interval. The therapeutic laser providing unit 12 may be configured to provide a therapeutic laser beam to the measurement target S at a resting time. Thus, it is possible to prevent the therapeutic laser beam provided in the inner clad from being mixed with the reflected light signal and the fluorescence signal.

The photographing unit 20 receives the first optical signal, the second optical signal, and the third optical signal from the optical fiber probe 100 to acquire a plurality of different images for the object S to be measured. That is, the photographing unit 20 receives the first optical signal from the core 111 to obtain the OCT image for the measurement object S, and receives the second optical signal and the third optical signal from the inner clad 112 Thereby obtaining a reflected light image and a fluorescent image for the measurement target object S.

The photographing unit 20 may include an image obtaining unit 21 and an image matching unit 22.

The image acquiring unit 21 can acquire an OCT image, a reflected light image, and a fluorescent image, respectively. The image acquiring unit 21 may be formed of a photodetector.

The image matching unit 22 can match at least two images among the OCT image, the reflected light image, and the fluorescence image acquired from the image acquiring unit 21. Specifically, the image matching unit 22 acquires a bright-field image of a thrombus contained in a blood vessel by matching the reflected light image transmitted from the inner cladding 112 with the fluorescence image, but is not limited thereto.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation and that those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and equivalent arrangements may be made therein. It will be possible. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the present invention should be determined only by the appended claims.

10. Photonics
11. Light source
12. Therapeutic laser offerings
20.
21,
22,
100 .. Fiber Optic Probes
110 .. Optical fiber
111 .. Core
112 .. inner clad
113 .. outer clad
120.
130.
140.
150 .. Auxiliary Fiber
160. Sub-

Claims (22)

An optical fiber probe provided in an endoscope apparatus provided with a photographing section for photographing the interior of the body to acquire a surface image of the object to be measured,
A first optical signal reflected from the measurement target object, a second optical signal reflected and refracted from the measurement target object, and a third optical signal generated in the measurement target object, An optical fiber for receiving at least one of the laser beam and the laser beam and transmitting the laser beam to the photographing unit or providing a treatment laser beam to a lesion of the measurement target;
A driving unit connected to one side of the optical fiber to control a moving direction of the optical fiber; And
A cover part formed to surround the optical fiber and the driving part;
And an optical fiber.
The method according to claim 1,
The optical fiber includes:
A core that transmits the plurality of lights to the measurement object and transmits the first optical signal to the photographing unit;
A first optical signal generating unit for generating at least one of the second optical signal and the third optical signal and for transmitting the laser beam to the imaging unit, Clad; And
An outer clad formed to surround the inner clad;
And an optical fiber.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the first optical signal includes optical coherence tomography (OCT) information of the measurement object, the second optical signal includes reflected light information of the measurement object, and the third optical signal includes fluorescence information of the measurement object Containing optical fiber probes.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein,
Receiving the first optical signal from the core to obtain an OCT image,
And receives the second optical signal and the third optical signal from the inner clad to obtain a reflected light image and a fluorescent image.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein,
An image acquiring unit acquiring the OCT image, the reflected light image, and the fluorescent image,
And an image matching unit for matching at least two images among the OCT image, the reflected light image, and the fluorescent image acquired from the image acquiring unit.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the photographing unit acquires the OCT image when the treatment laser beam is provided to the measurement object.
The method according to claim 1,
And a lens unit condensing a plurality of lights output from the optical fiber and transmitting the condensed light to the measurement object.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the driving unit is formed of a tubular piezo ceramic actuator deformed by receiving power from the outside.
9. The method of claim 8,
The piezo-ceramic actuator is divided into four parts, electrodes are attached to each surface,
Wherein at least one of a driving voltage in the form of a sine wave and a driving voltage in a cosine wave form is supplied to a pair of electrodes arranged opposite to each other to control the movement of the optical fiber.
9. The method of claim 8,
The piezo-ceramic actuator is divided into four parts, electrodes are attached to each surface,
A drive voltage in the form of a sine wave is supplied to a pair of electrodes disposed opposite to each other in the electrodes and a drive voltage in the form of a cosine wave is supplied to the remaining pair of electrodes to control the movement of the optical fiber Fiber optic probes.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the driving unit has a rest at a predetermined interval and provides the treatment laser beam to the measurement object in the resting period.
The method according to claim 1,
A plurality of optical fibers arranged along an outer circumferential surface of the optical fiber for receiving the plurality of lights and transmitting the plurality of lights to the measurement object and receiving at least one of the second optical signal and the third optical signal and transmitting the received light to the photographing unit Auxiliary optical fiber,
Further comprising a supplementary cover part formed to surround the auxiliary optical fiber.
An optical device for outputting a plurality of lights;
A second optical signal reflected from the measurement object and reflected from the measurement object; and a second optical signal reflected from the measurement object and reflected from the measurement object, An optical fiber probe for receiving a third optical signal generated by the measurement object and transmitting the third optical signal to the outside;
And a photographing unit which receives the first optical signal, the second optical signal, and the third optical signal from the optical fiber probe and acquires a plurality of different images for the measurement target,
The light-
A light source unit for outputting a plurality of lights for acquiring the image to the optical fiber probe; and a laser providing unit for providing a therapeutic laser beam with the optical fiber probe to remove lesions of the measurement target object.
14. The method of claim 13,
The optical fiber probe includes:
A core that transmits the plurality of lights to the measurement object and transmits the first optical signal to the photographing unit; and a control unit that receives at least one of the second optical signal and the third optical signal, An optical fiber including an inner clad forming a path for providing a laser beam for the inner clad and an outer clad surrounding the inner clad;
A lens unit disposed on one side of the optical fiber for condensing a plurality of lights output from the core and transmitting the collected light to the measurement object;
A driving unit connected to one side of the optical fiber to control a moving direction of the optical fiber probe; And
A cover portion surrounding the optical fiber, the lens portion, and the driving portion;
.
15. The method of claim 14,
The optical fiber includes:
And a second optical signal receiving unit for receiving at least one of the second optical signal and the third optical signal and transmitting the received optical signal to the photographing unit Auxiliary optical fiber,
And an auxiliary cover portion formed to surround the auxiliary optical fiber.
14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the first optical signal includes OCT information of the measurement object, the second optical signal includes reflected light information of the measurement target object, and the third optical signal includes fluorescence information of the measurement target object.
17. The method of claim 16,
Wherein,
Receiving the first optical signal from the core to obtain an OCT image,
And receives the second optical signal and the third optical signal from the inner clad to obtain a reflected light image and a fluorescence image.
18. The method of claim 17,
Wherein,
An image acquiring unit acquiring the OCT image, the reflected light image, and the fluorescent image,
And an image matching unit for matching at least two images among the OCT image, the reflected light image, and the fluorescence image acquired from the image acquiring unit.
19. The method of claim 18,
Wherein the photographing unit acquires the OCT image when the therapeutic laser beam is provided to the measurement subject.
15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the driving unit has a rest at a predetermined interval, and the laser providing unit provides the treatment laser beam to the measurement object at a resting time.
15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the driving part is formed of a tubular piezo ceramic actuator having four parts and electrodes attached to each surface.
22. The method of claim 21,
The driving unit includes:
Wherein at least one of a driving voltage in the form of a sinusoidal wave and a driving voltage in the form of a cosine wave is supplied to a pair of electrodes arranged opposite to each other of the electrodes when the imaging unit acquires an OCT image, Controlling the movement of the optical fiber probe,
A driving voltage of a sinusoidal wave form is supplied to a pair of electrodes disposed opposite to each other of the electrodes, and a cosine wave is applied to the other pair of electrodes when the imaging unit acquires a reflected light image and a fluorescent image. And the movement of the probe is controlled.

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