WO2020080223A1

WO2020080223A1 - Medical system, light guide and light multiplexing method

Info

Publication number: WO2020080223A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/039833
Authority: WO
Inventors: 古川　昭夫
Original assignee: ソニー株式会社
Priority date: 2018-10-19
Filing date: 2019-10-09
Publication date: 2020-04-23
Also published as: JP2020062326A

Abstract

Provided is a medical system comprising a medical device equipped with an imaging unit for imaging an object to be observed and a light source device (1000) for generating a light to be directed onto the object to be observed, wherein the light source device (1000) comprises a first light source (100) for emitting incoherent light, a second light source (200) emitting coherent light, and a light guide (300) into which the incoherent light and the coherent light enter and from which the incoherent light and the coherent light are emitted multiplexed, the light guide (300) comprises a plurality of light entrance ends (310, 320) that branch out from the light emission end (330), and the coherent light enters via one of the light entrance ends.

Description

Medical system, light guide, and light multiplexing method

The present disclosure relates to a medical system, a light guide, and a light multiplexing method.

Conventionally, in Patent Document 1 below, a first light source unit that emits white light, and a second light source unit that emits laser light in at least one predetermined wavelength band included in the wavelength band of white light, An illuminating device including a combining member that combines white light and the laser light is described.

JP, 2016-120104, A

In the method described in Patent Document 1, the broadband light and the narrowband light are combined by a polarization beam splitter, the combined light is condensed by a common condenser lens, and is incident on a single light guide. Here, in order to match the irradiation range of the wide band light and the narrow band light in the light emitted from the light guide, it is necessary that the wide band light and the narrow band light have an equal incident angle distribution at the incident end of the light guide. It is necessary to make the beam diameters incident on the lens equal. The laser light source used for the narrow-band light source is originally capable of entering with a smaller beam diameter, but it is necessary to match the beam diameter of the white LED used for the wide-band light source. The optical system that magnifies is used. Therefore, there is a problem that the optical system becomes large in size because a laser light source that can be incident on the light guide with a small beam diameter is used by expanding it to a large beam diameter required for a white LED.

Therefore, it was required to combine the wideband light, which is incoherent light, and the narrowband light, which is coherent light, with the irradiation range to the light guide with a simple structure.

According to the present disclosure, a medical device that includes an imaging unit that images an observation target, and a light source device that generates light with which the observation target is irradiated are provided, and the light source device emits incoherent light. A light source, a second light source that emits coherent light, and a light guide that the incoherent light and the coherent light are incident on, and that the incoherent light and the coherent light are combined and emitted. The light guide is provided with a medical system in which a light incident end is branched into a plurality of light emitting ends and the coherent light is incident on one of the light incident ends.

Further, according to the present disclosure, a light guide that receives incoherent light and coherent light, combines the incoherent light and the coherent light, and outputs the combined light, wherein an incident end of the light with respect to an emission end of the light is included. Is divided into a plurality of parts, and a light guide is provided in which the coherent light enters one of the entrance ends.

Further, according to the present disclosure, there is provided a method of multiplexing incoherent light and coherent light with a light guide, wherein the incoherent light and the coherent light are incident on the light guide, and the incoherent light and the coherent light are incident. Is combined and emitted, and the coherent light is incident on the one incident end of the light guide in which the incident end of the light is branched into a plurality of with respect to the emission end of the one light. Provided.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a light source device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It is a schematic diagram for explaining the relationship between the incident angle and the outgoing angle of the light ray to the light guide. It is a characteristic view which shows an example of the output according to the diameter of the light guide made to enter in a broadband light source and a narrowband light source. FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram showing how the spatial color variation (standard deviation of hue) of the illumination light emitted from the emission end changes according to the irradiation distance. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an endoscopic surgery system to which a light source device according to the present disclosure can be applied. It is a figure which shows an example of a schematic structure of the microscope surgery system to which the light source device which concerns on this indication can be applied.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, constituent elements having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

The description will be given in the following order.
1. Outline of the present disclosure 2. Configuration example of light source device 3. Uniformity of broadband light and narrowband light at the output end 4. Example of multiplexing other light with the first light source 4.1. Example of combining narrow-band light inside the first light source 4.2. 4. Example of combining near-ultraviolet light LED with first light source Configuration example of medical system 5.1. Example of configuration of endoscope system 5.2. Example of microscope system configuration

1. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE In medical illumination light sources used for endoscopes and surgical microscopes, various diagnostic functions can be obtained by combining wide band light with a wide emission wavelength band and narrow band light with a narrow emission wavelength band. Can be added. Conventionally used broadband light illumination allows normal observation for recognizing the overall appearance and morphology of the living body to be observed.

In addition to this, narrow band light illumination is used to emphasize specific tissue sites such as superficial blood vessels of the abdominal cavity, and autofluorescence that occurs at specific tissue sites, or luminescence that excites a fluorescent drug administered for diagnostic purposes. By using, it is possible to perform special light observation that acquires diagnostic information that cannot be obtained by normal observation. Further, since different diagnostic information can be obtained according to the wavelength of the narrow band light, it is possible to provide a plurality of diagnostic functions by using the narrow band light of a plurality of different wavelengths.

As a method of realizing a light source device that selectively uses broadband light and narrowband light according to the purpose, there are a filter method that extracts narrowband light by applying an optical filter to the broadband light source, and a narrowband light only with a light source independent of the broadband light source. Can be broadly divided into an independent light source method using a narrow band light source. From the viewpoint of coherency, the filter method is an incoherent narrow band light source, and the independent light source method is generally a coherent narrow band light source.

In order to efficiently obtain narrow-band light with sufficient intensity, the independent light source method is desirable. In order to increase the intensity of narrow-band light in the filter method, it is necessary to increase the output of the entire broadband light source including the wavelength region that does not require intensity. On the other hand, in the independent light source method, only the narrow band light source needs to have high output, which is advantageous in terms of light source size and power consumption.

On the other hand, as a means for guiding the illumination light from the light source device to an optical device such as an endoscope and a surgical microscope, from the viewpoint of realizing a simple system configuration, a single light guide cable is used and the output broadband It is desirable that the light and the narrow band light have the same radiation angle distribution, and that the ranges illuminated by the respective lights match. By matching the illumination ranges, it becomes possible to perform normal observation and special light observation in the same range. To make the emission angle distributions of the output light of the broadband light and the narrowband light equal, within the acceptance angle range of the light guide with a small incident loss, for the light guide cable in which the light distribution is preserved and the light propagates. It is desirable that the wideband light and the narrowband light be incident with the same incident angle distribution.

In the filter-type light source described above, the filter for extracting the narrow band light is detached between the light guide cable and the wide band light emitting element such as a lamp or a white LED in the light source, so that the incident angle is relatively simple. Broadband light and narrowband light can be incident on the light guide cable without changing the distribution.

On the other hand, in the case of the independent light source method, it is necessary to use an optical system which is relatively complicated and difficult to be miniaturized in order to make lights from respective independent light sources have the same incident angle distribution and enter the light guide cable. . This is because a wide band light emitting element such as a lamp or LED emits light with a wide emission angle distribution from a relatively large light emitting area, whereas a narrow band light emitting element such as a laser has a narrow light emitting area from a relatively small light emitting area. This is due to the difference in characteristics of emitting light with a radiation angle distribution.

The present disclosure provides a light source device in which an incident optical system can be downsized in an independent light source using a broadband light source and a narrowband light source, and the illumination ranges of the broadband light and the narrowband light match. Has an aim.

2. Configuration Example of Light Source Device First, with reference to FIG. 1, a schematic configuration of a light source device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the light source device 1000 includes a first light source (broadband light source) 100 including a light emitting element that emits light in a wide wavelength range such as a lamp and an LED, and a light source that emits light in a narrow wavelength range such as a laser. The second light source (narrow band light source) 200 configured by the light emitting element and the light guide 300 are configured. The illumination light from the first light source 100 and the illumination light from the second light source 200 are incident on the two incident ends 310 and 320 of the light guide 300 and guided through the light guide 300. Then, the light is emitted from the emission end 330.

The condenser lens 150 for condensing the light emitted from the first light source 100 at the incident end 310 of the light guide 300 has a relatively large light emitting area, a wide radiation angle distribution, and a relatively large beam diameter. Collimated light (incoherent light) from the first light source 100 enters. The condenser lens 150 has an effective diameter D1 and a focal length f1 capable of collecting the collimated light from the first light source 100 with a desired incident angle distribution θ.

The condenser lens 250 for condensing the light emitted from the second light source 200 at the incident end 320 of the light guide 300 has a relatively small light emitting area, a narrow radiation angle distribution, and a relatively small beam diameter. Collimated light (coherent light) from the second light source 200 enters. The condenser lens 250 has an effective diameter D2 and a focal length f2 capable of condensing the collimated light from the second light source 200 with the same incident angle distribution θ as the collimated light from the first light source 100.

The second light source 200 may be composed of a single light emitting element, but may be composed of a plurality of narrow band

light emitting elements

202, 204 and 206 having different wavelengths as shown in FIG. When the second light source 200 is composed of a plurality of narrow band

light emitting elements

202, 204, 206, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, the light from each of the narrow band

light emitting elements

202, 204, 206 has the same beam diameter. It is conceivable that the

lenses

208, 210 and 212 are collimated so that they are coaxially multiplexed by the

dichroic mirrors

214, 216 and 218. In this way, the second light source 200 and the condenser lens 250 can be configured by an optical system based on a small beam diameter, so that the size can be greatly reduced.

The light guide 300 has a structure in which a large number of multi-component glass fiber strands having a diameter of several 10 μm are bundled in a main body portion 340 that does not branch to a diameter of about 5 mm, has excellent flexibility, and is visible from the light source device Excellent handling when wiring to a mirror or surgical microscope.

The two incident ends 310 and 320 of the light guide 300 are configured by distributing fiber strands into two systems at an appropriate distribution ratio. As a distribution method, the light collecting performance is low, and it is relatively difficult to collect light onto a spot diameter of 5 mm or less. The diameter of the incident end 310 of the first light source 100 is large, and the light collecting performance is high and the spot diameter is up to about 1 mm. The incident end 320 of the second light source 200 capable of narrowing the aperture is made thin.

As an example, in the light guide 300 in which the diameter of the main body 340 (emission end 330) is 5 mm, if the diameter of the incident end 320 is branched to 1 mm, the diameter of the incident end 310 will be about 4.9 mm. This relationship can be obtained from the following conditional expression that indicates that the area of the exit end 330 is equal to the total area of the entrance ends 310 and 320.
π (5/2) ² = π (1/2) ² + π (4.9 / 2) ²

In this case, both the first light source 100 and the second light source 200 can be distributed with a diameter that provides sufficient incidence efficiency. In addition, since the diameter of the unbranched main body 340 of the light guide 300 is 5 mm used in a general-purpose conventional light source device, the existing light can be maintained without changing the characteristics of the light guide 300 such as flexibility. It can be replaced with a guide.

Therefore, for example, with respect to the existing light source device that includes the first light source 100, the condenser lens 150, and the light guide shown in FIG. 1 and emits broadband light from the light guide, the light guide 300 and the second light guide according to the present embodiment are provided. It is also possible to configure the light source device 1000 according to the present embodiment in which the wide band light and the narrow band light are combined by adding the light source 200 later.

In the present embodiment, the incident end 320 on which the narrow band light is incident is composed of one branch. It is also possible to divide the incident end on which the narrow band light is incident into two or more branches and to make the narrow band light incident on each of the incident ends to combine them, but in such a configuration, the second light source is used. While the total area of the incident ends on which the narrow band light from 200 is incident increases, the area of the incident end 310 on which the broadband light from the first light source 100 enters decreases, and the output of the broadband light decreases. . Further, in the case of a configuration in which the incident end on which the narrow band light is incident is divided into two or more branches, it is necessary to provide a lens equivalent to the condenser lens 250 on each of the incident ends on which the narrow band light is incident, and the device becomes large. Will end up. On the other hand, when the light from the plurality of narrow band

light emitting elements

202, 204, 206 is previously combined in the narrow band light source 200, one of the incident ends 320 on which the narrow band light from the second light source 200 enters. Since the area can be minimized and the area of the incident end 310 on which the broadband light from the first light source 100 is incident can be secured large, the output of the broadband light does not decrease and the efficiency is maximized. Can be increased. Further, in this case, it is only necessary to provide one small condenser lens 250, the space efficiency is improved, and the size of the apparatus can be further reduced. Therefore, it is preferable that the incident end 320 on which the narrow band light is incident is configured by one branch.

On the other hand, in FIG. 1, the incident end 310 on which the broadband light is incident is configured by one branch, but there may be a plurality of branches on which the broadband light is incident.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the relationship between the incident angle and the outgoing angle of a light beam on the light guide 300. Here, the linear light guide 400 will be described as an example, but the contents described below can be similarly applied to the light guide 300 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that light having a diameter D is condensed by a lens 450 at an incident end 410 of the light guide 400 and is incident on the incident end 410 of the light guide 400. If the incident angle 2θ _in of light is smaller than the acceptance angle 2α of the light guide 400, the emission angle 2θ _out of the light emitted from the emission end 420 is equal to the incident angle 2θ _in . That is, the relationship of 2θ _in = 2θ _out is established.

The acceptance angle 2α shown in FIG. 2 is a value determined from the characteristics of the light guide 400 itself. When the incident angle 2θ _in is larger than the acceptance angle 2α, the incident angle to the light guide 400 is limited to the acceptance angle 2α. It

As described above, the narrow-band light emitted from the second light source 200 has a high degree of freedom in adjusting the incident angle and has a high light-collecting performance, so that the spot diameter can be narrowed down to about 1 mm at the incident end 410. it can. On the other hand, the broadband light emitted from the first light source 100 has a low condensing performance, and it is relatively difficult to condense it to a spot diameter of 5 mm or less. Therefore, for broadband light, by making the incident angle 2θ _in slightly larger than the acceptance angle 2α shown _in FIG. 2, the incident angle of the light that actually enters the light guide 400 exactly matches the acceptance angle 2α. To do. Since the narrow band light has a high condensing performance, it is possible to match the incident angle 2θ _in with the acceptance angle 2α.

Therefore, in the light guide 300 of the present embodiment, the incident angle of the broadband light at the incident end 310 is made slightly larger than the acceptance angle 2α, and the incident angle of the narrow band light at the incident end 320 is adjusted to the acceptance angle 2α. Thus, the emission angle of the broadband light at the emission end 330 and the emission angle of the narrow band light can be matched. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to completely match the irradiation range A (l) of the broadband light and the narrowband light at the position of the irradiation distance 1 from the emitting end 320.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of outputs in the first light source 100 and the second light source 200 according to the diameter of the light guide 300 to be incident. The horizontal axis of FIG. 3 indicates the diameter of the light guide on which the broadband light or the narrowband light is incident. In FIG. 3, the xenon lamp and the LED are broadband light, and the laser is a narrow band light. The vertical axis of FIG. 3 shows the relative output with respect to the light guide output when the light enters the light guide having a diameter of 5 mm in each of the broadband light and the narrow band light source.

As shown in Fig. 3, in xenon lamps and LEDs, the smaller the diameter of the light guide on the horizontal axis, the smaller the relative output on the vertical axis. This is because the spot diameter when the light source is made incident on the light guide cannot be made sufficiently smaller than the light guide diameter, resulting in a decrease in coupling efficiency. It can be seen that with a xenon lamp or LED, the light guide output with a diameter of 1.5 mm is reduced by about 80% with respect to the light guide output with a diameter of 5 mm. Therefore, in the xenon lamp and the LED, the output can be suppressed from decreasing by setting the light guide diameter to about 5 mm.

On the other hand, since the laser light can be focused on a relatively small spot diameter, the light guide output with a diameter of 1 mm is reduced by about 10% compared to the light guide output with a diameter of 5 mm. Therefore, the diameter of the laser light can be reduced to about 1 mm.

Therefore, as described above, both the broadband light and the narrowband light are output by setting the diameter of the broadband light incident end 310 to about 4.9 mm and the diameter of the narrowband light incident end 320 to about 1 mm. Can be suppressed.

When the light guide 300 having a diameter of 5 mm is branched into two and the incident ends 310 and 320 are distributed to the first light source 100 and the second light source 200, the two incident ends 310 and 320 have three different diameter ratios, respectively. Table 1 below shows the results of comparing the relative outputs of the above. In Example 1, Example 2 and Example 3 shown in Table 1, the incident ends 310 of the branched LED and the incident end 320 of the laser are different in diameter (branch diameter). The diameter of the emitting end 330 is 5 mm in each of Examples 1 to 3. As shown in Example 1, the diameter assigned to the laser light source can be made as small as 1 mm, and in a distribution in which a larger diameter can be assigned to the LED, both the laser and the LED can obtain high relative output, that is, high coupling efficiency. .

3. Uniformity of Broadband Light and Narrowband Light at the Emitting End In order to increase the degree of coincidence between the irradiation ranges of the broadband light and the narrowband light emitted from the light guide 300, the fiber strands from the incident end 310 and the incident end 320, respectively, can be increased. However, it is desirable that they are randomly mixed at the time of merging in the main body 340 and are uniformly dispersed at the emission end 330. The fiber strands from each of the incident end 310 and the incident end 320 are uniformly dispersed at the emitting end 330, so that the centers of the broadband light and the narrow band light can be matched.

Therefore, when the fiber strands from the incident end 310 and the fiber strands from the incident end 320 are mixed and integrated in the main body 340, at the emission end 330, the fiber strands from the incident end 310 and the emission ends. The distribution of fiber strands from the end 320 should not be biased.

However, the method of increasing the matching degree between the irradiation ranges of the broadband light and the narrowband light is not limited to this, and for example, a mixing element such as a light pipe (rod integrator) may be inserted at the tip of the emitting end 330. . The light pipe is made of, for example, columnar or hexagonal columnar glass. Even when the fiber strands from the branched entrance ends 310 and 320 are not mixed at the exit end 330, the lights emitted from the exit end 330 are mixed by passing through the light pipe, and the broadband light and The degree of coincidence of the irradiation range of the narrow band light can be increased.

Also, in order for the broadband light and the narrowband light to be sufficiently mixed in the light pipe, it is desirable to cause the light to be reflected more than once when propagating in the light pipe. Therefore, the length of the light pipe is set to be at least 6 times the diameter of the light pipe or more. For example, when the light from the emission end 330 of the light guide 300 having a diameter of 5 mm is incident on the light pipe having a diameter of 6 mm to be mixed, the length of the light pipe is preferably 36 mm or more.

On the other hand, if the irradiation distance between the emitting end 330 and the illumination target (irradiation distance 1 shown in FIG. 2) is sufficiently long, no countermeasure is required. This is because when the irradiation distance is sufficiently long, the emitted light spreads to several tens of times the diameter of the main body 340, which affects the nonuniformity of the wire arrangement at the emitting end 330. Because it will disappear. In such a case, the influence of the spatial distribution of the broadband light and the narrowband light on the irradiation range at the exit end 330 is sufficiently small, so that the light source device 1000 can be used without taking the above-mentioned measures such as the light pipe. It is possible to use.

In order to explain this point, when green monochromatic light is incident on the bifurcated incident end 310 of the light guide 300 and red monochromatic light is incident on the incident end 320, the incident end 310 and the incident end 320 emit light. It is assumed that the fiber strands of (1) are bundled at the emission end 330 without being mixed. Here, the diameter of the entrance end 310 is 4.9 mm, the diameter of the entrance end 320 is 1.0 mm, and the diameter of the exit end 330 is 5 mm. FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing how the spatial color variation (standard deviation of hue) of the illumination light emitted from the emission end 330 changes in accordance with the irradiation distance in this case.

As shown in Fig. 4, it can be seen that the variation in color is reduced as the irradiation distance becomes longer. When the irradiation distance is 150 mm or more, the standard deviation of the hue is 1 or less, and the color uniformity in the irradiation range A is the same as when the fiber strands from each branch are randomly mixed. This means that when the irradiation distance is 150 mm or more, the irradiation ranges of the light from the two branched incident ends 310 and 320 coincide with each other without taking any special measures at the emitting end 330. .

Therefore, in a surgical microscope or the like using the light source device 1000, when it is not expected to be used at a working distance of 150 mm or less, there is no need to take measures to increase the degree of coincidence between the irradiation range of the wide band light and the narrow band light.

4. Example of multiplexing other light with the first light source 4.1. Example in which narrowband light is combined inside the first light source In the above example, the first light source 100 is a light source that emits only broadband light. However, wideband light and narrowband light are combined inside. It may be used as a light source for extracting with a relatively large beam diameter. In such a case, for example, it is possible to configure a light source in which additional narrowband light is added to the existing wideband / narrowband composite light source. FIG. 1 shows an example in which an additional narrow band light source 110 is added inside the first light source 100. The additional narrow-band light source 110 may be provided separately from the first light source 100, and combines the broadband light and the narrow-band light so that light having a relatively large beam diameter enters the condenser lens 150. If it is, the configuration is not particularly limited.

For example, when the light source device 1000 is used for an ICG (indocyanine green) test for fluorescence observation, a near infrared laser may be combined inside the first light source 100. Further, in order to visualize the blood flow using the light source device 1000, a near infrared laser may be combined inside the first light source 100. Alternatively, a blue laser may be combined inside the first light source 100 for fluorescence observation. Further, a blue or green laser having a higher intensity may be combined inside the first light source 100 for narrow band imaging in which blood vessels are emphasized for observation.

As described above, the light emitted from the first light source 100 is not limited to broadband light from a lamp, LED, or the like, and may be broadband light combined with narrowband light such as laser light. .

4.2. Example in which near-ultraviolet LED is combined with the first light source Further, near-ultraviolet LED may be combined with the first light source 100. LEDs of near-ultraviolet light have higher output than laser light, and are particularly suitable for applications such as fluorescence diagnosis and treatment. Even when the near-ultraviolet LED is combined with the first light source 100, the emitted light is incoherent light.

In the case of combining a near-ultraviolet light LED with the first light source 100, the entrance end 310 is further branched into two, and the light from the first light source 100 is entered into the entrance end of one branch. The near-ultraviolet light from the LED is made incident on the incident end of the other branch. Therefore, in this case, the light guide 300 has a structure branched into three. As described above, the number of branches of the light guide 300 may be three or more. Alternatively, when the broadband light source of the first light source 100 is a white LED and the wavelength band is separated from the near-ultraviolet light LED to be combined with the white LED, a dichroic mirror is used to emit light from both LEDs. The emitted light may be combined into a single beam. In this case, the combined single beam can be incident on the light guide 300 by the collimator lens 150 without branching the incident end 310.

5. Configuration example of medical system 5.1. Configuration Example of Endoscope System FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an endoscopic surgery system 3000 to which the light source device 1000 according to the present disclosure can be applied. The endoscopic surgery system 3000 is configured to include an endoscope 2000, a support arm device 2100 that supports the endoscope 2000, and a light source device 1000.

The support arm device 2100 includes an arm portion 2120 extending from the base portion 2110. In the illustrated example, the arm section 2020 includes a plurality of joint sections and a plurality of links, and is driven by the control of the arm control device. The endoscope 2000 is supported by the arm portion 2120, and its position and posture are controlled. Thereby, stable fixing of the position of the endoscope 2000 can be realized.

The endoscope 2000 includes a lens barrel 2010 into which a region having a predetermined length from the distal end is inserted into a body cavity of a patient, and a camera head 2020 connected to the base end of the lens barrel 2010. The endoscope 2000 may be configured as a so-called rigid mirror having a rigid barrel 2010, or may be configured as a so-called flexible mirror having a flexible barrel 2010.

An opening in which the objective lens (observation optical system 600) is fitted is provided at the tip of the lens barrel 2010. A light source device 1000 is connected to the endoscope 2000, and the light generated by the light source device 1000 is guided to the tip of the lens barrel 2010 by a light guide 300 extending inside the lens barrel 2010, so that the patient It is irradiated toward the observation target in the body cavity.

An optical system and an image pickup device are provided inside the camera head 2020, and the reflected light (observation light) from the observation target is focused on the image pickup device by the optical system. The observation light is photoelectrically converted by the imaging element, and an electric signal corresponding to the observation light, that is, an image signal corresponding to the observation image is generated. The image signal is transmitted as RAW data to the camera control unit (CCU). The camera head 2020 has a function of adjusting the magnification and the focal length by appropriately driving the optical system.

It should be noted that the camera head 2020 may be provided with a plurality of image pickup elements in order to cope with, for example, stereoscopic vision (3D display). In this case, a plurality of relay optical systems are provided inside the lens barrel 2010 in order to guide the observation light to each of the plurality of image pickup devices.

5.2. Configuration Example of Microscope System FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a microscope operation system 6000 to which the light source device 1000 according to the present disclosure can be applied. Referring to FIG. 6, the microscopic surgery system 6000 includes a microscope device 4000 and a light source device 1000.

The microscope apparatus 4000 includes a microscope section 4010 for magnifying and observing an observation target (a surgical site of a patient), an arm section 4020 that supports the microscope section 4010 at the tip, and a base section 4030 that supports the base end of the arm section 4020. With.

The microscope unit 4010 is an electronic imaging type microscope unit (a so-called video type microscope unit) that electronically captures a captured image by the imaging unit. Light from the observation target (hereinafter, also referred to as observation light) enters the imaging unit inside the microscope unit 4010.

The imaging unit is composed of an optical system that collects the observation light and an imaging device that receives the observation light that is collected by the optical system. The optical system is configured by combining a plurality of lenses including a zoom lens and a focus lens, and its optical characteristics are adjusted so as to form observation light on the light receiving surface of the image sensor. The imaging device receives the observation light and photoelectrically converts the observation light to generate a signal corresponding to the observation light, that is, an image signal corresponding to the observation image. As the image pickup device, for example, a device having a Bayer array and capable of color imaging is used. The image pickup device may be various known image pickup devices such as a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor or a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor.

The arm portion 4020 is configured by a plurality of links (first link 4022a to sixth link 4022f) being rotatably connected to each other by a plurality of joint portions (first joint portion 4024a to sixth joint portion 4024f). To be done. Each joint is rotatable about a rotation axis indicated by a chain line.

The number and shape (length) of the links that form the illustrated arm portion 4020, the number of joint portions, the arrangement position, the direction of the rotation axis, and the like are appropriately designed so that a desired degree of freedom can be realized. Good. Further, each of the first joint portion 4024a to the sixth joint portion 4024f may be provided with a drive mechanism such as a motor and an actuator equipped with an encoder or the like that detects a rotation angle of each joint portion. Then, the posture of the arm unit 4020, that is, the position and posture of the microscope unit 4000 can be controlled by appropriately controlling the driving of each actuator provided in the first joint unit 4024a to the sixth joint unit 4024f.

The light source device 1000 is built in the base portion 4030, for example. The light guide 300 of the light source device 1000 is guided to the microscope section 4010 through the inside or outside of the first link 4022a to the sixth link 4022f. By irradiating the observation target with light from the tip of the light guide 300 guided to the microscope unit 4010, the brightness of the observation target when the imaging unit inside the microscope unit 4010 images the observation target (affected part) of the patient. It is possible to raise the height and clearly image the observation target.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the broadband light from the first light source 100 is incident on one of the two incident ends 310 of the light guide 300, and the second light source is incident on the other incident end 320. Since the narrowband light from 200 is incident, the broadband light and the narrowband light can be combined and emitted at the emitting end 330.

The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the present disclosure can come up with various changes or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. Of course, it is understood that the invention also belongs to the technical scope of the present disclosure.

Also, the effects described in the present specification are merely explanatory or exemplifying ones, and are not limiting. That is, the technique according to the present disclosure may have other effects that are apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of the present specification, in addition to or instead of the above effects.

Note that the following configurations also belong to the technical scope of the present disclosure.
(1) A medical device including an imaging unit for imaging an observation target,
A light source device for generating light for irradiating the observation target,
The light source device,
A first light source that emits incoherent light;
A second light source that emits coherent light;
The incoherent light and the coherent light are incident, a light guide that combines and outputs the incoherent light and the coherent light,
The light guide is a medical system in which a light incident end is branched into a plurality of light emitting ends and the coherent light is incident on one of the light incident ends.
(2) The medical system according to (1), wherein the second light source emits laser light as the coherent light.
(3) The two incident ends are branched from the emission end of the light guide, the coherent light is incident on one of the incident ends, and the incoherent light is incident on the other of the incident ends. The medical system according to (1) or (2).
(4) The medical system according to (3), wherein a diameter of the one incident end is smaller than a diameter of the other incident end.
(5) The light guide is composed of a plurality of fiber strands, and the fiber strands extending from each of the plurality of entrance ends are mixed at the exit end. (1) to (4) The medical system according to any one of 1.
(6) The medical system according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein an irradiation distance of light from the emission end of the light guide to the observation target is 150 mm or more.
(7) The medical system according to any one of (1) to (6), further including an optical element that guides the light emitted from the emission end of the light guide and irradiates the observation target.
(8) The medical system according to (7), wherein the optical element has a length of 6 times or more the diameter.
(9) The medical system according to any one of (1) to (8), wherein the first light source multiplexes broadband light with laser light and emits the combined laser light.
(10) The medical system according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein the second light source combines and emits a plurality of narrowband lights having different wavelengths.
(11) The medical system according to any one of (1) to (10), wherein the emission angles of the incoherent light and the coherent light emitted from the emission end are the same.
(12) A light guide that receives incoherent light and coherent light, combines the incoherent light and the coherent light, and outputs the combined light.
A light guide in which a light incident end is branched into a plurality of light emitting ends and the coherent light is incident on one of the light incident ends.
(13) The light guide according to (12), wherein a laser beam is incident on the one incident end as the coherent light.
(14) The two incident ends are branched with respect to the emission end, the coherent light is incident on one of the incident ends, and the incoherent light is incident on the other of the incident ends, (12) or The light guide according to (13) above.
(15) The light guide according to (14), wherein a diameter of the one incident end is smaller than a diameter of the other incident end.
(16) In any one of the above (12) to (15), wherein the fiber strands composed of a plurality of fiber strands and extending from each of the plurality of incidence ends are mixed at the emission end. The described light guide.
(17) The light guide according to any one of (12) to (16), wherein the emission angles of the incoherent light and the coherent light emitted from the emission end are the same.
(18) A method of combining incoherent light and coherent light with a light guide,
The incoherent light and the coherent light are made incident on the light guide, and the incoherent light and the coherent light are combined and emitted,
A method of combining light, wherein the coherent light is made incident on one of the incident ends of the light guide having a plurality of branched light incident ends with respect to one light emitting end.

100 Broadband light source 200 Narrowband light source 300 Light guide 310,320 Incident end 330 Exit end 1000 Light source device

Claims

A medical device including an imaging unit for imaging an observation target,
A light source device for generating light for irradiating the observation target,
The light source device,
A first light source that emits incoherent light;
A second light source that emits coherent light;
The incoherent light and the coherent light are incident, a light guide that combines and outputs the incoherent light and the coherent light,
The light guide is a medical system in which a light incident end is branched into a plurality of light emitting ends and the coherent light is incident on one of the light incident ends.
The medical system according to claim 1, wherein the second light source emits laser light as the coherent light.
The two incident ends are branched with respect to the emission end of the light guide, the coherent light is incident on one of the incident ends, and the incoherent light is incident on the other of the incident ends. The medical system described.
The medical system according to claim 3, wherein a diameter of the one incident end is smaller than a diameter of the other incident end.
The medical system according to claim 1, wherein the light guide is composed of a plurality of fiber strands, and the fiber strands extending from each of the plurality of incident ends are mixed at the output end.
The medical system according to claim 1, wherein an irradiation distance of light from the emission end of the light guide to the observation target is 150 mm or more.
The medical system according to claim 1, further comprising an optical element that guides light emitted from the emission end of the light guide to irradiate the observation target.
The medical system according to claim 7, wherein the length of the optical element is 6 times or more the diameter.
The medical system according to claim 1, wherein the first light source multiplexes laser light into broadband light and emits the combined light.
The medical system according to claim 1, wherein the second light source multiplexes and outputs a plurality of narrow band lights having different wavelengths.
The medical system according to claim 1, wherein the emission angles of the incoherent light and the coherent light emitted from the emission end are the same.
A light guide that is incident with incoherent light and coherent light, combines and emits the incoherent light and the coherent light,
A light guide in which a light incident end is branched into a plurality of light emitting ends and the coherent light is incident on one of the light incident ends.
The light guide according to claim 12, wherein a laser beam is incident on the one incident end as the coherent light.
The light guide according to claim 12, wherein the two incident ends are branched with respect to the emission end, the coherent light is incident on one of the incident ends, and the incoherent light is incident on the other of the incident ends. .
The light guide according to claim 14, wherein a diameter of the one incident end is smaller than a diameter of the other incident end.
The light guide according to claim 12, wherein the fiber strands formed of a plurality of fiber strands and extending from each of the plurality of incident ends are mixed at the output end.
The light guide according to claim 12, wherein the emission angles of the incoherent light and the coherent light emitted from the emission end are the same.
A method of combining incoherent light and coherent light with a light guide,
The incoherent light and the coherent light are made incident on the light guide, and the incoherent light and the coherent light are combined and emitted,
A method of combining light, wherein the coherent light is made incident on one of the incident ends of the light guide in which a plurality of incident ends of the light are branched with respect to an emitting end of the light.