JP2012135387A - Endoscope apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope apparatus which can easily and reliably detect optical transmission loss caused by disconnection of optical fiber or the like.SOLUTION: The endoscope apparatus is structured as follows: a plurality of illumination windows for emitting illumination light, and an observation window for observing an object are set up to the tip of an endoscope-inserting part to be inserted into the object. The endoscope apparatus includes: a light sauce; a light-guiding member the light emitting end of which is set up toward the illumination windows and which functions as a light pass through which output light from the light sauce is transmitted to the illumination windows through the endoscope-inserting part; and an illumination light-controlling means for controlling the lighting of the light sauce by switching between a normal lighting pattern for making endoscopic observation, and a loss-confirming lighting pattern for confirming the optical transmission loss of the light-guiding member and different in control from the normal lighting pattern so as to control the lighting of the light sauce.

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus.

  In general, an endoscope apparatus includes an endoscope having an insertion portion that is inserted into a subject, and a light source device that supplies illumination light to the endoscope. The endoscope and the light source device are separated from each other. It is configured. As a light source of the light source device, a white light lamp such as a xenon lamp or a metal halide lamp is widely used. However, there is one that generates illumination light using a laser light source instead of the lamp. For example, in the endoscope apparatus of Patent Document 1, light from a semiconductor laser light source is transmitted to the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion using an optical fiber, and white light is transmitted through a phosphor filter provided at the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion. Is emitted.

JP 2008-73346 A

However, when illuminating light is transmitted using a single optical fiber or a small number of optical fibers, even if a part of the optical fiber is broken, the transmission loss of light increases, and illumination from the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion There is a possibility that the amount of emitted light is greatly reduced. For example, there is an evaluation method using an OTDR (Optical Time Domain Reflectometer) as a detection method for the presence or absence of disconnection of the optical fiber itself, but the equipment is expensive and the measurement procedure is complicated, and the hospital where the endoscope apparatus is used It is not intended for daily use.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope apparatus that can easily and surely detect an optical transmission loss caused by disconnection of an optical fiber.

The present invention has the following configuration.
An endoscope apparatus in which a plurality of illumination windows for emitting illumination light and an observation window for observing a subject are arranged at the distal end of an endoscope insertion portion to be inserted into the subject,
A light source;
A light guide member serving as an optical path for transmitting light from the light source to the illumination window through the endoscope insertion portion, the light exit end being disposed toward the illumination window;
Illumination light control for controlling lighting of the light source by switching between a normal lighting pattern for performing endoscopic observation and a lighting pattern for loss confirmation different from the normal lighting control for confirming light transmission loss of the light guide member Means,
An endoscopic apparatus comprising:

  According to the endoscope apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to easily and surely detect a light transmission loss caused by disconnection of an optical fiber, and thus the endoscope apparatus can be used with a sufficient amount of illumination light. . Thereby, it is possible to always perform stable and accurate endoscopic diagnosis.

It is a figure for describing an embodiment of the present invention, and is a lineblock diagram of an endoscope apparatus showing each apparatus to which an endoscope and an endoscope are connected. It is an external view which shows the specific structural example of an endoscope apparatus. It is a graph which shows the spectral characteristic of emitted light. It is a perspective view of an endoscope front-end | tip part. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure which implements loss confirmation mode with the lighting pattern for loss confirmation. It is a timing chart which shows the light emission timing from each illumination window in loss confirmation mode. It is a timing chart which shows the lighting pattern of each illumination window observed at the time of a disconnection. It is a timing chart which shows the light emission timing from each illumination window in the loss confirmation mode in a modification. It is a timing chart which shows the lighting pattern of each illumination window observed at the time of a disconnection. It is explanatory drawing which shows the observation image projected on a display part. It is a timing chart which shows the lighting pattern by the mountain-shaped waveform of each illumination window. It is a timing chart which shows the lighting pattern with respect to three illumination windows.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus representing an endoscope and each apparatus to which the endoscope is connected. FIG. 2 is a specific example of the endoscope apparatus. It is an external view which shows a structural example.
As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope apparatus 100 includes an endoscope 11, a control device 13, a display unit 15 such as a monitor, and an input unit 17 such as a keyboard and a mouse that input information to the control device 13. It has. The control device 13 includes a light source device 19 and a processor 21 that performs signal processing of a captured image.

  The endoscope 11 includes a main body operation unit 23 and an insertion unit 25 that is connected to the main body operation unit 23 and is inserted into a subject (body cavity). A universal cable 27 is connected to the main body operation unit 23, and the tip of the universal cable 27 is connected to the light source device 19 via a light guide (LG) connector 29A, and to the processor 21 via a video connector 29B. It is connected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the main body operation unit 23 of the endoscope 11 has buttons for performing suction, air supply, and water supply on the distal end side of the insertion unit 25, a shutter button during imaging, and details will be described later. Various operation buttons 31 such as a lighting confirmation button 30 are provided, and a pair of angle knobs 33 are provided.

  The insertion portion 25 is composed of a flexible portion 35, a bending portion 37, and a distal end portion (endoscope distal end portion) 39 in order from the main body operation portion 23 side. The bending portion 37 is remotely bent by turning the angle knob 33 of the main body operation portion 23, and thereby the tip portion 39 can be directed in a desired direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an observation window 41 of an imaging optical system and illumination windows 43A and 43B of an illumination optical system are arranged at the endoscope distal end portion 39. Reflected light from the subject due to illumination light emitted from each of the illumination windows 43 </ b> A and 43 </ b> B is captured by the image sensor 45 through the observation window 41. The captured observation image is displayed on the display unit 15 connected to the processor 21.

  Here, the imaging optical system includes optical elements such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) type image sensor and a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) type image sensor, and a lens that forms an observation image on the imaging element 45. Member 47. The observation image formed and captured on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 45 is converted into an electric signal and input to the image signal processing unit 53 of the processor 21 through the signal cable 51, and is converted into a video signal by the image signal processing unit 53. Is done.

  On the other hand, the illumination optical system includes a light source device 19, a pair of optical fibers 55A and 55B connected to the light source device 19, and wavelength converters 57A and 57B disposed at the light emitting ends of the optical fibers 55A and 55B, respectively. . The light source device 19 includes laser light sources LD1, LD2, LD3, and LD4 that are semiconductor light emitting elements, a light source control unit 59 that drives and controls the laser light sources LD1, LD2, LD3, and LD4, and light emitted from the laser light sources LD1 and LD2. Are combined and introduced into the optical fiber 55A, and a combiner 61B that combines the light emitted from the laser light sources LD3 and LD4 and introduces the combined light into the optical fiber 55B.

  The laser light sources LD1 and LD3 are blue-emitting semiconductor lasers having a central wavelength of 445 nm, and the laser light sources LD2 and LD4 are violet-emitting semiconductor lasers having a central wavelength of 405 nm. As these laser light sources, for example, a broad area type InGaN laser diode can be used.

  The light source control unit 59 controls the light amount of the laser light sources LD1 and LD2 to emit laser light. The emitted light is guided to the endoscope distal end portion 39 through the optical fiber 55A, and is irradiated to the wavelength converting portion 57A. Similarly, the light amounts of the laser light sources LD3 and LD4 are controlled by the light source control unit 59 and irradiated to the wavelength conversion unit 57B of the endoscope distal end portion 39 through the optical fiber 55B. In other words, light can be emitted from the illumination windows 43A and 43B at an arbitrary timing by controlling the emitted light of the laser light sources LD1 and LD2 and the laser light sources LD3 and LD4 by the light source controller 59.

The wavelength converters 57A and 57B absorb a part of the blue laser light emitted from the laser light sources LD1 and LD3 and emit a plurality of types of phosphors (for example, YAG phosphors or BAM (BaMgAl ₁₀ O ₃₇ ) etc. are included. With these wavelength converters 57A and 57B, the blue laser light from the laser light sources LD1 and LD3, and the green to yellow excitation light obtained by wavelength-converting the blue laser light, as shown in FIG. Are combined to generate white light indicated by the profile S1.

  The light emitted from the laser light sources LD2 and LD4 is slightly converted by the wavelength converters 57A and 57B as compared with the light emitted from the laser light sources LD1 and LD3. As shown by profile S2 in FIG. 3, the center wavelength is 405 nm. Are emitted as narrowband light.

  That is, the laser light output from each laser light source is guided to the endoscope distal end portion 39 by the optical fibers 55A and 55B, and white light and purple narrow light are emitted from the illumination windows 43A and 43B of the endoscope distal end portion 39. Band light can be selectively emitted at an arbitrary mixing ratio. For the light intensity of the emitted light and the color of the emitted light, the endoscope control unit 69 outputs a desired control signal to the light source control unit 59, and based on this control signal, the light source control unit 59 outputs each laser light source LD1, LD2. , LD3, and LD4 are output, and the laser light sources LD1, LD2, LD3, and LD4 emit light with a light amount based on the input drive signals.

  The processor 21 includes an endoscope control unit 69, an imaging signal processing unit 53 that generates a video signal, a memory 71 as a storage unit that stores the imaging signal and various information, and an image processing unit 73. The endoscope control unit 69 subjects the image data of the observation image output from the imaging signal processing unit 53 to appropriate image processing by the image processing unit 73 and displays it on the display unit 15. In addition, a control signal is output to the light source control unit 59 of the light source device 19 to emit illumination light having a desired light amount with a desired spectrum from each of the illumination windows 43A and 43B. The endoscope control unit 69 is connected to a network such as a LAN (not shown) and controls the entire endoscope apparatus 100 such as distributing information including image data.

  FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the endoscope distal end portion 39. An endoscope window 39 for observing the subject and illumination windows 43A and 43B for emitting illumination light are disposed at the endoscope distal end 39, and the illumination windows 43A and 43B are located on both sides of the observation window 41. Is arranged.

  The endoscope apparatus 100 having the above configuration includes a normal lighting pattern for performing endoscope observation of illumination light emitted from the illumination windows 43A and 43B of the endoscope distal end portion 39 by the endoscope control unit 69, and It is possible to switch to a loss confirmation lighting pattern for confirming optical transmission loss caused by disconnection of the optical fibers 55A and 55B. Here, the normal lighting pattern selectively irradiates the white illumination light by the blue laser light from the laser light sources LD1 and LD3 and the narrow band light by the violet laser light from the laser light sources LD2 and LD4 with a predetermined light amount. It is a lighting pattern to do. The loss confirmation lighting pattern refers to the optical fibers 55A and 55B, the connector 29A, and the light source device 19 as light guide members between the laser light sources LD1, LD2, LD3, and LD4 shown in FIG. 1 and the illumination windows 43A and 43B. It is a lighting pattern for detecting the optical path and the light loss of the combiners 61A and 61B.

Hereinafter, lighting control of the illumination light will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for executing the loss confirmation mode for performing the lighting control for loss confirmation.
First, when the power switch of the endoscope apparatus 100 is turned on (S11), the endoscope control unit 69 operates the endoscope apparatus 100 in the loss confirmation mode (S12). In the loss confirmation mode, the endoscope control unit 69 outputs a predetermined loss confirmation control signal to the light source control unit 59 to control lighting of each laser light source LD1, LD2, LD3, LD4 with a predetermined lighting pattern. (S13).

  FIG. 6 shows light emission timings from the illumination windows 43A and 43B in the loss confirmation mode. The illumination windows 43A and 43B are alternately lit at predetermined periods T1 and T2, respectively, and the total light quantity from both illumination windows 43A and 43B per unit time is constant. That is, each of the illumination windows 43A and 43B is driven to turn on with an exclusive lighting pattern such that when one of the lighting windows turns on, the other turns off.

  Light emitted from the laser light sources LD1 and LD2 is introduced into the illumination window 43A, and light emitted from the laser light sources LD3 and LD4 is introduced into the illumination window 43B. Therefore, the lighting timing of each of the illumination windows 43A and 43B represents the lighting timing of the connected laser light source, and the illumination windows 43A and 43B are supplied from the laser light source that is turned on based on the control signal from the light source control unit 59. Illuminated by the emitted light.

  Specifically, for the illumination window 43A, either or both of the laser light sources LD1 and LD2 are driven to blink at a period T1, thereby turning on the illumination window 43A. In addition, for the illumination window 43B, either or both of the laser light sources LD3 and LD4 are driven to blink at a period T2, thereby turning on the illumination window 43B.

  In the lighting pattern, the illumination windows 43A and 43B of the endoscope distal end portion 39 shown in FIG. And the synthetic | combination emitted light which overlap | superposed the emitted light from each illumination window 43A, 43B comes to be observed by the operator as a continuous lighting state. However, if a malfunction occurs, such as a break in one of the optical fibers 55A and 55B, the illumination window connected to the light guide member that causes this malfunction does not light up. For example, when the optical fiber 55B is disconnected, light emission from the illumination window 43B stops or light emission with a very low light amount occurs.

The lighting patterns of the illumination windows 43A and 43B observed at that time are shown in FIG. The light emitted from the illumination window 43A is turned on at the period T1, but the illumination window 43B remains turned off, and as a whole, blinks by repeating the lighting period T _ON and the turning-off period T _OFF .

  When the endoscope operator observes this state, only the illumination window 43A of the illumination windows 43A and 43B of the endoscope distal end portion 39 shown in FIG. As a result, the degree of irritation (disturbance) for the endoscope operator is greater than when the lighting windows 43A and 43B are alternately lit and have a lighting pattern with no extinguishing period or a short extinguishing period.

  Here, it is desirable to set the frequency of the lighting periods T1 and T2 of each lighting window to a frequency lower than the critical fusion frequency, which is human visual characteristics. When both the illumination windows 43A and 43B are alternately lit, the combined emission light obtained by superimposing them is observed as a continuous lighting state, or blinks inconspicuously in the visual characteristics at a frequency equal to or higher than the critical fusion frequency. To come. However, when light emission from one of the illumination windows stops due to disconnection of the optical fiber or the like, light emission from either of the other illumination windows blinks below the critical fusion frequency. As a result, it becomes easier for the surgeon to notice that the illumination window on one side is extinguished, so that the occurrence of disconnection can be easily and reliably confirmed visually (S14).

  When the surgeon can confirm that both of the illumination windows 43A and 43B of the endoscope distal end portion 39 are lit and the combined emission light is in a continuously lit state, the main body operation unit 23 of the endoscope 11 is operated. The lighting confirmation button 30 as the confirmation input means arranged in (see FIGS. 1 and 2) is pressed. The endoscope control unit 69 detects whether or not the lighting confirmation button 30 has been pressed from the timing when the loss confirmation mode is started (S15), and if there is a depression, ends the loss confirmation mode (S16). An endoscopy is performed (S17).

  On the other hand, when the pressing of the lighting confirmation button 30 cannot be detected within a predetermined time, it is considered that the surgeon has not pressed the light emission from the illumination windows 43A and 43B, and the endoscopy is stopped. (S18).

  The operator is required to press the lighting confirmation button 30 when an optical transmission loss such as disconnection of the optical fibers 55A and 55B occurs, and an endoscopy is performed without noticing that the loss has occurred. The accuracy of endoscopic diagnosis by the endoscopic device 100 can be improved.

  The request for pressing the lighting confirmation button 30 may be made not only when the lighting can be confirmed but also when the light emission from the illumination windows 43A and 43B is abnormal. In that case, another switch function for notifying the occurrence of abnormality to the endoscope control unit 69 may be provided, and when the operator confirms the occurrence of abnormality, the endoscope control unit 69 is immediately notified. It is possible to wait for a predetermined time.

  In the lighting pattern shown in FIG. 6, the lengths of the periods T1 and T2 are set to be equal, and the lighting period and the extinguishing period are also set to be equal, but by varying the lengths of the lighting period and the extinguishing period, A lighting pattern for lighting one of the lighting windows longer than the other lighting window, or the lengths of the periods T1 and T2 may be different.

  In the loss confirmation mode, the lighting windows 43A and 43B are turned on when only the laser light source LD1 (LD3) is turned on, the wavelength of the blue laser light is converted by the wavelength conversion unit 57A (57B), and the lighting window 43A (43B) is turned on. From which white light is emitted. When white light is emitted, the amount of light can be easily obtained, and the visibility to the operator can be improved. Alternatively, only the laser light source LD2 (LD4) may be driven to turn on, and the lighting drive for mainly emitting violet laser light from the illumination window 43A (43B) or the lighting drive for turning on all the laser light sources may be used.

  Further, when an abnormality is detected in the loss confirmation mode, the occurrence location of this abnormality is from the light emitting ends of the optical fibers 55A and 55B facing the wavelength conversion portions 57A and 57B of the endoscope distal end portion 39 shown in FIG. Examples include a section (a) to the connector 29A, an inside of the connector 29A (b), and a section (c) from the connector 29A to the laser light sources LD1, LD2, LD3, and LD4 in the light source device 19. In section (a), the optical fibers 55A and 55B are disconnected, in (b) foreign matter adheres and gets dirty, and in section (c), the optical fiber is disconnected and the optical members such as the combiners 61A and 61B fail. Cause.

  It is possible to determine whether or not the abnormality occurs in the section (a) by replacing the endoscope 11 with another one and confirming again in the loss confirmation mode, and each laser light source LD1, LD2, LD3, LD4 can be individually determined. It is possible to determine where an abnormality has occurred in the section (c). Further, the inside (b) of the connector 29A is determined by determining whether or not the connector 29A is improved by cleaning or checking the connector 29A, or by identifying the abnormality in the other sections (a) and (c) by an erasing method. it can.

  Further, the loss confirmation mode is performed at an arbitrary timing designated from the endoscope 11, the control device 13, or the input unit 17 (see FIG. 1) in addition to being performed when the endoscope apparatus 100 is powered on. May be. If disconnection can be confirmed at an arbitrary timing, even after a long time has passed since the endoscope apparatus 100 was turned on, disconnection confirmation can be performed at any time according to the operator's request, and the endoscopic diagnosis accuracy is always high. Can be maintained.

  As described above, the endoscope control unit 69 and the light source control unit 59, which are illumination light control means, control the laser light sources LD1, LD2, LD3, and LD4 so that the normal lighting pattern and the loss confirmation lighting pattern can be switched. To do. That is, the endoscope control unit 69 controls the light source control unit 59 to arbitrarily switch between a normal lighting pattern for performing endoscopic observation and a loss confirmation lighting pattern different from the normal lighting pattern. Thereby, the optical transmission loss such as the disconnection of the optical fiber can be confirmed at an arbitrary timing, and the optical transmission loss caused by the disconnection of the optical fiber can be easily and reliably detected. Therefore, the endoscope apparatus can always be used with illumination light having a necessary and sufficient amount of light, and a stable and accurate endoscopic diagnosis can always be performed.

  In addition, the lighting control of each of the illumination windows 43A and 43B in the loss confirmation mode is performed by alternately lighting the both illumination windows 43A and 43B with a light amount lower than the illumination light amount at the time of normal endoscope diagnosis. The presence or absence of light emission may be confirmed by

  In the normal endoscope diagnosis, the amount of illumination light is too strong for direct observation of the endoscope tip. Therefore, the illumination windows 43A and 43B are lit with weak light to facilitate observation of the illumination windows 43A and 43B as a light amount suitable for visual confirmation.

Next, a modified example of the loss confirmation mode will be described.
In the loss confirmation mode of the present modification, the illumination windows 43A and 43B are alternately turned on in synchronization with the imaging frame of the imaging device, and the surgeon sees an observation image displayed on the display unit 15 (see FIG. 1). Determine if it occurred.
FIG. 8 shows light emission timings from the illumination windows 43A and 43B in the loss confirmation mode of the present modification. The lighting control of the illumination windows 43A and 43B is the same as that shown in FIG. 6, but in this modification, the lighting switching timing is made coincident with the imaging frame switching timing of the image sensor.

In the lighting control described above, for example, when the optical fiber 55B is disconnected, light emission from the illumination window 43B is stopped, or light emission with a very low light amount is performed. An example of the lighting pattern of each of the illumination windows 43A and 43B observed at that time is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the light emitted from the illumination window 43A is turned on at a period T1, but the illumination window 43B remains turned off, and as a whole, each frame is repeated by repeating the turn-on period T _ON and the turn-off period T _OFF. Will start flashing.

  In this case, the observation image displayed on the display unit 15 is as shown in FIG. That is, since the emitted light from the illumination window 43A is turned off in the first frame, the observation image is “dark”, and in the second frame, the observation image is “light”. By displaying these first and second frames alternately and alternately, “dark” and “bright” frame images having greatly different screen luminances are alternately displayed on the display unit 15.

  The operator of the endoscope looks at the observation image displayed on the display unit 15 and repeatedly displays “dark” and “bright” images for each frame, so that the occurrence of abnormality can be easily determined. That is, if the monitor display on the display unit 15 is the NTSC system, the frame is switched every 1/60 s, so that a “bright” screen is displayed at a cycle of 1/30 s that is twice that. Since blinking in this cycle is a frequency band equal to or lower than the critical fusion frequency in human visual characteristics, it is easily recognized as flicker, and the occurrence of an abnormality can be reliably detected.

  The loss confirmation mode of this modification can be performed not only when the endoscope apparatus is turned on, but also after the endoscope insertion portion is inserted into the body cavity of the patient, and abnormality detection can be performed at any time. .

Next, another modification of the loss confirmation mode will be described.
In the loss confirmation mode of the present modification, the illumination windows 43A and 43B are alternately turned on in synchronization with the imaging timing of each imaging frame by the imaging device 45 shown in FIG. That is, the endoscope control unit 69 outputs a predetermined drive signal synchronized with the imaging timing to the light source control unit 59, and the light source control unit 59 synchronizes the laser light sources LD1, LD2, LD3, and LD4. Lighting control is selectively performed at the timing.

  By alternately lighting the illumination windows 43A and 43B in synchronization with the imaging timing, as shown in FIG. 8 described above, the imaging frame from the imaging device 45 is illuminated with the first frame when the illumination window 43B is irradiated, The second frame at the time of irradiation of the window 43A is alternately output.

  Then, the endoscope control unit 69 obtains a time-series luminance change of each frame image output from the image sensor 45. Specifically, when one of the first and second frames that are alternately output has a luminance value that is always equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the endoscope control unit 69 breaks the optical fibers 55A and 55B. It is determined that an optical transmission loss or the like has occurred, and an error message is displayed on the display unit 15 or an alarm is sounded. As described above, the endoscope control unit 69 functions as a loss detection unit, and after detecting and notifying the light transmission loss, the endoscope observation is stopped.

  As described above, whether or not an abnormality has occurred is determined by detecting whether or not a low-luminance frame appears for each frame image, as well as a relative luminance difference between the preceding and subsequent imaging frames. It can also be performed by detecting whether or not is always above a predetermined level. That is, the image information of the imaging frame output from the imaging element 45 is stored in the memory 71 shown in FIG. 1, and the endoscope control unit 69 determines the luminance of the imaging frame at a certain timing, The luminance of the subsequent imaging frame is compared to determine whether there is a luminance difference of a predetermined level or more between the luminances of both imaging frames.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to automatically detect the occurrence of optical transmission loss due to the occurrence of disconnection of the optical fiber, etc., and to accurately detect the optical transmission loss without bias of judgment without relying on the visual inspection by the operator. Can be implemented.

  As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications and applications by those skilled in the art based on the description of the specification and well-known techniques are also within the scope of the present invention. It is included in the range to calculate. For example, the amount of light from each illumination window that alternately turns on each illumination window is not limited to a rectangular wave shape, but as shown in FIG. 11, as shown in FIG. 11, as a mountain waveform (or waveform waveform) that repeats alternate illumination by gradually increasing or decreasing emission intensity. Also good. In the above description, the two illumination windows have been described. However, a configuration in which three or more illumination windows are provided may be used. In this case, as shown in FIG. 12, the illumination windows A, B, and C are alternately arranged. It is sufficient to use a lighting pattern for confirming loss that is lit at 1.

As described above, the following items are disclosed in this specification.
(1) An endoscope apparatus in which a plurality of illumination windows for emitting illumination light and an observation window for observing a subject are arranged at the distal end of an endoscope insertion portion to be inserted into the subject,
A light source;
A light guide member that is disposed toward each of the plurality of illumination windows and serves as an optical path for transmitting output light from the light source to the illumination window through the endoscope insertion portion;
Illumination light control for controlling lighting of the light source by switching between a normal lighting pattern for performing endoscopic observation and a lighting pattern for loss confirmation different from the normal lighting control for confirming light transmission loss of the light guide member Means,
An endoscopic apparatus comprising:
According to this endoscope apparatus, when an abnormality occurs in a light guide member that guides output light from a light source to a plurality of illumination windows and an optical transmission loss occurs, the optical transmission loss is used for loss confirmation. By performing lighting control of each illumination window with the lighting pattern, it is possible to detect it easily and reliably. Thereby, the endoscope apparatus can be used with illumination light having a necessary and sufficient amount of light, and a stable and accurate endoscopic diagnosis can always be performed.

(2) The endoscope apparatus according to (1),
An endoscope apparatus in which the light source is a laser light source and the light guide member is a single optical fiber.
According to this endoscope apparatus, when an abnormality such as disconnection occurs in a single optical fiber, the image quality of the observation image is deteriorated due to a decrease in the amount of illumination light. be able to. For this reason, it is possible to prevent endoscopic diagnosis from being performed on an observation image captured with illumination light having insufficient light quantity.

(3) The endoscope apparatus according to (2),
The endoscope apparatus, wherein the loss confirmation lighting pattern is a pattern in which lighting of the plurality of illumination windows is controlled with a blinking pattern, and illumination light is sequentially emitted from each of the plurality of illumination windows.
According to this endoscope apparatus, when the light emitted from any one of the illumination windows is stopped by controlling the lighting with a blinking pattern in which the plurality of illumination windows are alternately turned on sequentially, the distal end portion of the endoscope Since the illumination light from the flashes, the operator can easily notice that an abnormality has occurred.

(4) The endoscope apparatus according to (3),
When the lighting frequency of the combined emission light obtained by superimposing the emission lights from the plurality of illumination windows is a critical fusion frequency or more, and light emission from at least one of the plurality of illumination windows is stopped An endoscope apparatus in which a lighting frequency of the synthesized outgoing light is less than a critical fusion frequency.
According to this endoscope apparatus, when no optical transmission loss occurs, the combined emission light obtained by superimposing the emission lights from the plurality of illumination windows is continuously lit, and the illumination light that is continuously lit is emitted. On the other hand, when an optical transmission loss occurs, the combined emitted light is not continuously lit and illumination light with a conspicuous blinking cycle less than the critical fusion frequency is emitted. For this reason, the surgeon can easily confirm the presence or absence of blinking of the composite outgoing light, and easily recognize that an abnormality has occurred.

(5) The endoscope apparatus according to (3) or (4),
An imaging means having an imaging element for outputting image information of an observation image obtained by imaging the subject through the observation window;
Display means for displaying image information output from the imaging means,
An endoscope apparatus in which the illumination light control means sequentially emits illumination light alternately from the illumination window for each imaging frame of the imaging element.
According to this endoscope apparatus, the image information output from the imaging unit is displayed on the display unit, so that the surgeon can observe the blinking state of the illumination light together with the endoscopic observation image. Therefore, the occurrence of abnormality can be inspected and confirmed even after the endoscope insertion portion is inserted into the subject, and even when an abnormality occurs after the endoscope is used, it can be dealt with at any time.

(6) The endoscope apparatus according to (3),
An imaging means having an imaging element for outputting image information of an observation image obtained by imaging the subject through the observation window;
Based on luminance information for a plurality of imaging frames obtained by the illumination light control means sequentially emitting illumination light alternately from the illumination window for each imaging frame of the imaging element, the light transmission loss of the light guide member is reduced. Loss detecting means for detecting;
An endoscopic apparatus comprising:
According to this endoscope apparatus, luminance information for a plurality of imaging frames obtained by emitting illumination light from each illumination window in turn alternately for each imaging frame, for example, the imaging frame at the time of illumination from the same illumination window When the brightness becomes lower than a predetermined value or the brightness difference between the imaging frames corresponding to different illumination windows is higher than the predetermined value, it can be automatically determined that an abnormality has occurred. In this case, it is possible to determine whether or not an abnormality has occurred based on a certain evaluation criterion without relying on visual inspection.

(7) The endoscope apparatus according to any one of (1) to (6),
A confirmation input means for performing an input operation after detecting a light transmission loss of the light guide member;
An endoscope apparatus in which the illumination light control means prohibits switching to the normal lighting pattern until there is an input operation to the confirmation input means.
According to this endoscope apparatus, since the lighting control of the normal lighting pattern is performed after performing the input operation to the confirmation input means, it is possible to prevent the start of the endoscopy without detecting an abnormality. This can improve the accuracy of endoscopic diagnosis.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Endoscope 13 Control apparatus 15 Display part 17 Input part 19 Light source device 21 Processor 23 Main body operation part 25 Insertion part 27 Universal cable 29A Connector 30 Illumination confirmation button 31 Various operation buttons 39 Tip part 41 Observation window 43A, 43B Illumination window 45 Image sensor 53 Image signal processor 55A, 55B Optical fiber 57A, 57B Wavelength converter 59 Light source controller 61A, 61B Combiner 69 Endoscope controller 71 Memory 73 Image processor 100 Endoscope devices LD1, LD2, LD3, LD4 Laser light source

Claims (7)

An endoscope apparatus in which a plurality of illumination windows for emitting illumination light and an observation window for observing a subject are arranged at the distal end of an endoscope insertion portion to be inserted into the subject,
A light source;
A light guide member serving as an optical path for transmitting light from the light source to the illumination window through the endoscope insertion portion, the light exit end being disposed toward the illumination window;
Illumination light control for controlling lighting of the light source by switching between a normal lighting pattern for performing endoscopic observation and a lighting pattern for loss confirmation different from the normal lighting control for confirming light transmission loss of the light guide member Means,
An endoscopic apparatus comprising: The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1,
An endoscope apparatus in which the light source is a laser light source and the light guide member is a single optical fiber. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
The endoscope apparatus, wherein the loss confirmation lighting pattern is a pattern in which lighting of the plurality of illumination windows is controlled with a blinking pattern, and illumination light is sequentially emitted from each of the plurality of illumination windows. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
When the lighting frequency of the combined emission light obtained by superimposing the emission lights from the plurality of illumination windows is a critical fusion frequency or more, and light emission from at least one of the plurality of illumination windows is stopped An endoscope apparatus in which a lighting frequency of the synthesized outgoing light is less than a critical fusion frequency. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein
An imaging means having an imaging element for outputting image information of an observation image obtained by imaging the subject through the observation window;
Display means for displaying image information output from the imaging means,
An endoscope apparatus in which the illumination light control means sequentially emits illumination light alternately from the illumination window for each imaging frame of the imaging element. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
An imaging means having an imaging element for outputting image information of an observation image obtained by imaging the subject through the observation window;
Based on luminance information for a plurality of imaging frames obtained by the illumination light control means sequentially emitting illumination light alternately from the illumination window for each imaging frame of the imaging element, the light transmission loss of the light guide member is reduced. Loss detecting means for detecting;
An endoscopic apparatus comprising: The endoscope apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A confirmation input means for performing an input operation after detecting a light transmission loss of the light guide member;
An endoscope apparatus in which the illumination light control means prohibits switching to the normal lighting pattern until there is an input operation to the confirmation input means.

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