JPH0541901A - Endoscope for three-dimensional measurement - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable to supply both the measuring light of a light source device and an ordinary illuminating light by single connection of connectors in an endoscope by incorporating the connectors of the measuring light-projecting system with the connectors of the illuminating optical system. CONSTITUTION:An integrating connector 11 attached to the end of the universal cable 9 of an electronic scope 2 is detachably connected to a light source and treating device 5. A light guide 16 and an image guide 17 are inserted into the universal cable, and a guide connector 16a and an image guide connector 17a at the ends are incorporatedly fixed to the integrating connector.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional measuring endoscope apparatus in which a measuring light transmitting connector on a measuring endoscope side and a normal illumination light transmitting connector are integrated or shared.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope is widely used in the medical field for observing a deep part in a body cavity by inserting it into a body cavity or the like, and performing a medical treatment by using a treatment tool if necessary. It came to be used. or,
In the industrial field, endoscopes are widely used for inspecting the inside of jet engines or the inside of plants. In the case of this observation with an endoscope, it is necessary to measure the size of an object to be inspected such as a tumor when making a diagnosis.

Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 1-342229
In this issue, the applicant proposed a measuring light projecting optical system for projecting measuring light for measurement and an apparatus capable of stereoscopic observation with normal illumination light.

[0004]

In this device, the connector of the image guide for transmitting the measuring light and the connector of the light guide for normally transmitting the illuminating light are not fixed (that is, they are separate bodies). However, there is a drawback in that the connector must be connected to two connector receivers for emitting the measurement light and the normal illumination light of the light source device, respectively.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the connector on the measuring endoscope side can be connected at one place.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscopic device for three-dimensional measurement with good operability, which can be connected so that the measurement light of a light source device and normal illumination light are supplied.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a measuring light projection optical system for projecting measuring light for measuring a distance or the like,
Measurement having an illumination optical system that emits illumination light in a wide range, a measurement light transmission member that transmits measurement light to the measurement light projection optical system, and an illumination light transmission member that transmits normal illumination light to the illumination optical system Measuring endoscope apparatus including a measuring endoscope, a connector of the measuring light transmitting member, and a light source device having a function of supplying measuring light and illuminating light to the connector of the illuminating light transmitting member. Can be integrated or shared to be connected to the light source device, and illumination and measurement light projection can be performed by a simple operation of connecting only one connector of the measuring endoscope.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the endoscope apparatus for three-dimensional measurement of the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows the distal end surface of an electronic endoscope. , Fig. 3
Is CC when the measurement light is scanned on the incident end face side.
Fig. 4 shows a light spot imaged by D, and Fig. 4 shows a state in which the uneven shape of the target portion is displayed on the monitor screen.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first embodiment (three-dimensional)
The measuring endoscope apparatus 1 includes a three-dimensional measuring electronic endoscope (hereinafter, referred to as an electronic scope) 2 having a built-in image pickup unit, a normal illuminating light supplying unit that supplies normal illuminating light to the electronic scope 2, and a measurement. A light source / processing device 5 having a light source means 3 and a signal processing means 4 for performing signal processing and distance calculation, and a color monitor 6 for displaying a standard video signal generated by signal processing by the signal processing means 4. Composed of and.

The electronic scope 2 has an elongated and flexible insertion portion 7 so that it can be inserted into a body cavity, a wide-width operation portion 8 connected to the rear end of the insertion portion 7, and this operation. A universal cable 9 extending from a side portion of the portion 8 and a general connector 11 attached to an end portion of the universal cable 9 can be detachably connected to the light source / processing device 5. The insertion portion 7 includes a hard tip portion 12, a bendable bending portion 13, and a flexible flexible tube portion 14 from the distal end side, and the bending knob 1 provided on the side surface of the operation portion 8 is provided.
By operating 5, the bending portion 13 can be bent.

A light guide 16 for transmitting normal illumination light and an image guide 17 as a measuring light transmitting means for transmitting the measuring light are inserted into the insertion portion 7, and the light guide 16 and the image guide 17 are universal. The light guide connector 1 at each end is also inserted through the cable 9.
6a and image guide connector 17a are integrated connector 1
1 is fixed integrally.

The light source / processing device 5 is provided with a light guide connector receiver 18 and an image guide connector receiver 19 to which the light guide connector 16a and the image guide connector 17a can be detachably connected.
Inside the light source / processing device 5, a lamp 21 and a condenser lens 22 for generating white light are arranged behind the light guide connector receiver 18, and white illumination light of the lamp 21 is condensed by the lens 22 to form a light guide connector. 16a.

Further, a semiconductor laser 23 for generating a laser beam and a condenser lens 24 are arranged at the back of the image guide connector receiver 19, and the condenser laser collects the laser beam, that is, the measurement light, by the condenser lens 24. Then, the end face of the fiber bundle forming the image guide connector 17a is irradiated with the measuring light which is linearly scanned as shown in FIG. 3A, for example. The illumination light supplied to the light guide connector 16a is the light guide 16
Is transmitted to the subject 26 side through the illumination lens 25 from the emission side end face fixed to the tip portion 12,
The subject 26 side is illuminated over a wide area. The illumination lens 25 is mounted at a distance different from the focus distance of the illumination lens 25 from the exit side end surface of the light guide 16.

The measuring light emitted to the image guide connector 17a is transmitted by the fiber irradiated with the measuring light in the image guide 17, and is further projected (projected) from the exit side end face fixed to the tip portion 12. Then, the light is emitted to the subject 26 side to form a minute light spot on the subject 26 surface. The projection lens 27 is attached at the focus distance of the projection lens 27 from the exit side end face of the image guide 17, and the measurement light emitted from the fiber of the exit side end face hardly spreads on the surface of the subject 26. A light spot can be formed.

The semiconductor laser 23 and the condenser lens 24 are vibratingly driven by a piezoelectric element 28.
9 is applied to the piezoelectric element 28 by applying a drive signal from the measuring light scanning control means 30 to the piezoelectric element 28, the piezoelectric element 28 vibrates vertically as shown by an arrow in FIG. By vibrating and moving in the vertical direction, the semiconductor laser 23 also vibrates and moves, and the projection lens 27
After that, the measurement light linearly scans the subject 26 side.

This piezoelectric element 28 is a measuring light scanning control means 3
The measurement light is driven by a drive signal of, for example, a staircase wave from 0, and by this drive, the measurement light emitted to the fiber bundle of the image guide connector 17a is sequentially emitted to the fibers at regular intervals, as shown in FIG. Thus, a substantially linear range of the fiber bundle is scanned stepwise and linearly. The subject 26 illuminated by the illumination light over a wide area is CC as an image pickup element arranged on the focal plane of the objective lens 31 attached to the observation window of the tip portion 12.
An image is formed on the image pickup surface of D32.

A mosaic color filter 33, for example, is attached in front of this image pickup surface to optically separate the colors.
This CCD 32 has a connector 1 through a signal cable 34.
1 is connected to the signal connector 35, and the signal connector 3
A signal processing circuit 37 and a distance calculation circuit 38 are connected via a signal connector receiver 36 to which 5 is connected.

In this embodiment, the objective lens 31 and the projection lens 27 are provided adjacent to each other at the tip portion 12 as shown in FIG. 2, and the illumination lens 25 is provided on one side or on both sides as shown by a dotted line. is there.

In this embodiment, when the table 29 is vibrated in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 1, the laser beam scans the fiber bundle in the vertical direction on the incident end face side of the image guide 17, and the laser beam is emitted by this scanning. On the end face side, the projection lens 27 corresponds to the state of scanning in the horizontal direction in FIG.
The measurement light projected to the subject 26 side via the plane m includes the optical axis of the objective lens 31 and the optical axis of the projection lens 27 shown in FIG.
The projection lens 27 radially emits the light.

Since the table 29 is scanned stepwise as described above, for example, when the surface of the subject 26 is a flat surface and the measurement light is scanned in a state where the end surface of the tip portion 12 faces perpendicularly to this surface, As shown in FIG. 3 (b), spot rows s having almost constant intervals appear on the image pickup surface of the CCD 32 in correspondence with the stepwise scanning. The interval between the spot rows s changes depending on the distance between the tip surface of the scope 2 and the subject 26, and the actual spot distance can be calculated from the principle of triangulation. The number of the spot trains s or the pitch of the stepped waves is set within the number or pitches in which each spot can be separately recognized from the output signal of the CCD 32 in one field or one frame period.

On the other hand, when the surface of the subject 26 is an uneven surface, spot rows that are not at regular intervals appear in a straight line according to the uneven surface. Even in this case, the CCD 32
From the position information of each spot above, the distance to the spot position actually formed on the surface of the subject 26 can be calculated by using the principle of triangulation, and the distance calculation circuit 38 calculates this distance. I do.

It should be noted that the object 26
Since the spots on the surface may overlap, the pitch size of the step wave can be variably set according to the use situation. The distance calculation circuit 38 is a CCD
The output signal of 32 is color-separated, for example, the signal component of the wavelength of the laser light is extracted, the envelope detection signal or the low frequency signal of this signal component is subtracted from this signal component to detect the spot, and the CCD 32 surface I try to find the spot position above.

Further, the distance calculation circuit 38 further calculates the distance direction component connecting the object 26 and the distal end surface of the scope 2, that is, the unevenness amount in the height direction of the object 26 surface, after calculating the distance. The unevenness data signal is output to the signal processing circuit 37. The signal processing circuit 37 superimposes the unevenness data signal on the video signal representing the endoscopic image, and the monitor 6
Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the calculated concavo-convex data is displayed in the lower portion of the endoscopic image display area 6a over the scanning range h of the measurement spot on the monitor display surface.

According to this embodiment, the light guide 16 for transmitting the normal illumination light and the image guide 17 for transmitting the measuring light are connected to the light source side by the general connector 11.
Since they can be integrated with each other and can be connected to the light source / processing device 5 with one touch, distance measurement and the like can be performed with a simple operation.
Further, according to this embodiment, in addition to the usual endoscopic observation,
It is possible to easily calculate and display the amount of unevenness of the affected area or the like, and obtain effective data when making a diagnosis. Therefore, it becomes easy to make an accurate diagnosis.

FIG. 5 shows an endoscope apparatus 41 for three-dimensional measurement according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the normal illumination light transmission means and the measurement light transmission means are both used (thus, the connector is also used). That is, in the electronic scope 2 ′ of this embodiment, the image guide 17 that transmits both the normal illumination light and the measurement light is inserted into the insertion portion 7, and the image guide 17 is further inserted into the universal cable 9. To the image guide connector 17a attached to the general connector 11.

The image guide connector 17a can be detachably connected to the image guide connector receiver 18 of the light source device 5 '. A half prism 42 is arranged opposite to the image guide connector receiver 18 in the light source device 5 ′, a frame-sequential normal illumination light generating means 43 is arranged opposite to one branch surface of the half prism 42, and the other. The measuring light generating means 44 is arranged so as to oppose the bifurcating surface.

In other words, the normal illumination light generating means 43, for example, the RGB rotating disk 46 which is rotationally driven by the motor 45 is irradiated with the white illumination light of the lamp 47, and this RG is generated.
The RGB light generated through the B rotary disc 46 is condensed by the condenser lens 48, is incident on one branch surface of the half prism 42, is transmitted through the half prism 42, and is supplied to the image guide connector 17a.

Further, as the measuring light generating means 44, the measuring light of the semiconductor laser 23 is condensed by the condenser lens 24, further reflected by the half prism 42 and supplied to the image guide connector 17a as in the first embodiment. .. In this embodiment, since the frame-sequential illumination light is used, the electronic scope 2'without the mosaic color filter 33 is used.

Further, in this embodiment, the light source device 5'does not have the signal processing circuit 37, and can be connected to an external signal processing circuit (not shown) by the connector 49. According to this embodiment, the electronic scope 2'uses the image guide 17 for transmitting both the normal illumination light and the measurement light in the insertion part 7, so that in addition to the effect of the first embodiment, The electronic scope 2'can be reduced in diameter.

FIG. 6 shows an endoscope apparatus 51 for three-dimensional measurement according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Similar to the second embodiment, this embodiment has a configuration in which the transmission means for normal illumination light and the transmission means for measurement light are combined. Similar to the second embodiment, in the electronic scope 2 ″, an image guide 17 for transmitting both normal illumination light and measurement light is inserted into the insertion portion 7, and the image guide 17 is further inserted in the universal cable 9. To the image guide connector 17a attached to the general connector 11.

The image guide connector 17a can be detachably connected to the image guide connector receiver 18 of the light source device 52. A rotating disk 54, which is rotationally driven by a motor 53, is arranged at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the optical path so as to oppose the image guide connector receiver 18 in the light source device 52. As shown in FIG. 7, the rotating disk 54 is provided with a transparent area 54a that transmits light and a reflective area 54b that reflects light in the circumferential direction.

Therefore, the white light of the lamp 47 arranged in the optical path direction along the mounting direction of the image guide connector 17a is condensed by the condenser lens 48, passes through the transparent area 54a of the rotating disk 54 and passes through the image guide connector 17a. Is supplied to. Further, the measurement light of the LED 55 arranged in the direction orthogonal to the optical path is condensed by the condenser lens 24, reflected by the reflection area 54b of the rotating disc 54, and supplied to the image guide connector 17a. In this embodiment, the illumination light is usually white light, so the electronic scope 2 ″ has a mosaic color filter 33.

This embodiment has the same effect as the second embodiment. Further, since the rotating disk 54 is used, the transmittance in the transparent area 54a and the reflectance in the reflective area 54b can be made larger than the transmittance and the reflectance of the half prism 42, and a signal or an image with a good S / N ratio can be obtained. Can be obtained. FIG. 8 shows an endoscope apparatus 61 for three-dimensional measurement according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Similar to the second embodiment, this embodiment has a configuration in which the transmission means for the normal illumination light and the transmission means for the measurement light are combined, and further, for example, means for moving the projection lens 27 in the optical axis direction for focusing / defocusing. Is provided.

For example, one end of a wire 64 for focusing / defocusing is fixed to the lens frame 63 to which the projection lens 27 of the electronic scope 2'in the second embodiment shown in FIG. The end is fixed to one end of an operation lever 65 provided on the operation portion 8, and the other end of the operation lever 65 is rotated as shown by an arrow so that the lens frame 63 can be moved in a direction parallel to the optical axis. Is becoming

In the state shown in FIG. 8, the distance of the projection lens 27 to the front end surface of the image guide 17 becomes a defocus position shown in FIG. 9A, which is shorter than the focus position shown in FIG. 9B. When the illumination light is emitted from the front end surface of the image guide 17 in the focused state, the illumination can be performed so that the front end surface of the image guide 17, that is, the mesh shape of the fiber bundle does not appear on the object side.

On the other hand, from the state shown in FIG.
When is operated, the projection lens 27, together with the lens frame 63,
By moving in the optical axis direction, the projection lens 27 can be set at a position away from the front end surface of the image guide 17 by the focus distance f as shown in FIG. 9B. When the measurement light is projected in this state, the measurement light emitted from each fiber on the front end surface of the image guide 17 is projected on the object surface with almost no spread, and a small light spot is formed.

Therefore, the position of the light spot can be accurately detected, and the unevenness of the affected area can be accurately calculated. Therefore, in this embodiment, the operating lever 65 may be set to the state shown in FIG. 8 when observing with normal illumination, and the state shown in FIG. 8 when performing distance measurement by irradiation of measuring light. The operating lever 65 may be operated to set the focus state.

FIG. 10 shows an endoscope apparatus 71 for three-dimensional measurement according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Similar to the second embodiment, this embodiment has a configuration in which both the normal illumination light transmission means and the measurement light transmission means are combined, and for example, the projection lens 27 is automatically moved in the optical axis direction to focus / defocus. A means for focusing is provided.

For example, a piezoelectric element 74 for focusing / defocusing is attached to the lens frame 73 to which the projection lens 27 of the electronic scope 2'in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is attached. Line 75
Through the contact point 76 of the general connector 11 and this contact point 76 is connected to the focus control circuit 77 through the contact point receiver of the light source device 5 '.

The focus control circuit 77 uses the signal line 75.
By outputting a drive signal to the piezoelectric element 74 via the lens frame 73, the projection lens 27 is moved in the optical axis direction, and the defocused state shown in FIG.
The focus state shown in 1 (b) can be set. The focus control circuit 77 is connected to the measuring light scanning control means 30 via a signal line (not shown),
The focus control circuit 77 outputs a drive signal to the piezoelectric element 74 via the signal line 75 during a period in which the measurement light scanning control means 30 drives the piezoelectric element 28 to scan the measurement light for performing distance measurement. Then, the projection lens 27 is moved in the optical axis direction to set the focus state, and the drive signal is not output to the piezoelectric element 74 except during this period, and the defocus state is set.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to obtain a color image which is less influenced by the mesh pattern and to perform distance measurement with high accuracy. FIG. 12 shows an endoscope apparatus 81 for three-dimensional measurement according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is the fifth
As in the embodiment, means for automatically moving the projection lens 27 in the optical axis direction to focus / defocus is provided.

For example, a piezoelectric element 74 for focusing / defocusing is attached to a lens frame 73 to which the projection lens 27 is attached in the electronic scope 2 ″ in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and this piezoelectric element 74 is a signal. An electronic scope 82 is used which is electrically connected to a contact 76 of the general connector 11 via a wire 75. This contact 76 is a light source
It is connected to the focus control circuit 77 via the contact receiver of the processing device 52 '. The focus control circuit 77 is connected to a sensor 83 such as a photo reflector for detecting the rotational position of the rotary disc 54, and the output of the sensor 83 causes the focus control circuit 77 to output a drive signal to the piezoelectric element 74.

For example, when the sensor 83 detects the timing when the reflection area 54b of the rotary disc 54 is located on the optical path, the detection output is transmitted to the focus control circuit 77. With this output, the focus control circuit 77 outputs a drive signal to the piezoelectric element 74 and sets the projection lens 27 in the focus state. During the period when the reflection area 54b of the rotating disk 54 is not on the optical path, the focus control circuit 77 does not output a drive signal to the piezoelectric element 74 and sets the projection lens 27 in the defocused state.

Further, in this embodiment, the detection output of the sensor 83 is input to the distance calculation circuit 38 and the signal processing circuit 37 via a signal line (not shown) to control the output timing of the CCD drive signal. In this embodiment, the CCD 32 is an interline transfer type CCD. For example, when the sensor 83 detects the reflection area 54b, the signal processing circuit 37 transfers the signal charge accumulated up to immediately before this to the adjacent vertical transfer line. After that, a CCD drive signal (readout signal) is output, and the image signal read by this drive signal is input to the signal processing circuit 37 and is used for signal processing to form a color image on the monitor 6. Be done.

On the other hand, when the sensor 83 outputs a signal indicating that the reflection area 54b has ended to the signal processing circuit 37, the signal processing circuit 37 outputs the transfer pulse and then the CCD drive signal ( A read signal) is output, and the image signal read by the drive signal is input to the distance calculation circuit 38 and used for distance calculation and unevenness amount calculation.

According to this embodiment, the illumination period by the normal light and the projection period by the measurement light are time-divided, and the illumination light can be emitted in the defocused state during the illumination period in synchronization with this time division. On the other hand, since the measurement light can be emitted in the focused state during the projection period and the image signals captured during each period are used separately for normal color display and distance measurement, a good quality color without a mesh pattern is obtained. An image can be obtained, and highly accurate distance measurement or unevenness amount calculation can be performed.

The present invention is not limited to the case of an electronic scope, and the same applies to an optical endoscope such as a fiberscope equipped with a TV camera having a built-in image pickup means such as CCD. The applicability is clear. Further, in each of the embodiments, a gradient index lens or a relay lens system may be used instead of the image guide used for transmitting at least the measurement light, and one end face and the other of the other end face like the light guide may be used. It is also possible to use a light guide provided with a correlating means for those having irregularity in the arrangement of fibers on the end face.

In each of the above embodiments, the measuring light is mechanically scanned by the light source device side, for example, by a piezoelectric element,
Although the incident position on one end face of the image transmission means is changed,
It is also possible to use an optical element such as KDP instead of the piezoelectric element and control the optical characteristics of this element with respect to an electric signal so as to have the same function. Instead of scanning mechanically, a plurality of LEDs may be arranged in a line or the like facing one end surface of the image transmission means at regular intervals, and these LEDs may be turned on at the same time (selectively driven). May be).

Further, although the measurement light spot is described as being formed along a straight line in FIG. 3 etc., it is not limited to this and may have a two-dimensional spread such as a square lattice shape. It may be formed in Further, when the measurement light spots are formed two-dimensionally, the distance between the measurement light spots can be calculated and the uneven shape of the subject surface can be displayed three-dimensionally. In this case, if necessary, it is possible to interpolate to obtain the uneven shape other than the measurement points. The wavelength of the measurement light may be in the visible light range or may be outside the visible light range. Further, different embodiments may be formed by partially combining the respective embodiments described above.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the connector of the measuring light projection optical system and the connector of the illumination optical system are integrated or shared, it is possible to connect to the light source device with one-touch operation. The work of connecting the connector of the medical endoscope becomes easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a three-dimensional measurement endoscope apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a tip surface of a measuring electronic scope.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a light spot observed by a CCD when measuring light is scanned.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing that the uneven shape of the target portion is displayed on the monitor screen.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus for three-dimensional measurement according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus for three-dimensional measurement according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a part of a rotary disc in the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus for three-dimensional measurement according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the projection lens is set to a focus state when the operation lever is operated.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus for three-dimensional measurement according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where the projection lens is set to a focus state by the piezoelectric element.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus for three-dimensional measurement according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscopic device for three-dimensional measurement 2 ... Electronic scope 3 ... Light source means 4 ... Signal processing means 5 ... Light source / processing device 6 ... Monitor 7 ... Insertion part 8 ... Operation part 11 ... General connector 16 ... Light guide 16a ... Light guide connector 17 ... Image guide 17a ... Image guide connector 21 ... Lamp 23 ... Semiconductor laser 25 ... Illumination lens 27 ... Projection lens 28 ... Piezoelectric element 30 ... Measuring light scanning control means 31 ... Objective lens 32 ... CCD 37 ... Signal processing circuit 38 ... Distance calculation circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G02B 23/26 D 7132-2K B 7132-2K

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A measurement light projection optical system for projecting measurement light for three-dimensional measurement, an illumination optical system for emitting illumination light over a wide area, and a measurement for transmitting the measurement light to the measurement light projection optical system. A measuring endoscope having a light transmission member and an illumination light transmission member that transmits normal illumination light to the illumination optical system, a connector for the measurement light transmission member, and a connector for the illumination light transmission member with the measurement light and the illumination. In a measuring endoscope apparatus including a light source device having a function of supplying light, each connector is integrated or shared and connectable to the light source device. Mirror device.