JP2011030640A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope capable of being inserted through a narrow gap to enable an observation with a wider visual field in a space beyond the gap passed through. <P>SOLUTION: The endoscope 1 includes a band-like insertion plate 2 with a bendable structure, and an image pickup part 3 arranged nearly at the end of either surface of the insertion plate 2 in its thickness direction, and having an optical axis A crossing this surface at a right angle. After the end part of the insertion plate 2 is inserted into the narrow gap, the insertion plate 2 is bent in the space beyond the narrow gap, thereby changing the direction of the optical axis A of the image pickup part 3 to further change the observer's visual field. The surface of the band-like insertion plate 2 is made relatively wide, and the image pickup part 3 arranged on this surface also secures a relatively wide area. By such simple arrangements, it is possible to obtain an image with a wider scope of visual field for observation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope.

  Conventionally, a thin endoscope that is inserted into a narrow space and observes the state inside the space is known (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1). This endoscope includes an illuminating unit and a photographing unit on a distal end surface of an insertion portion formed in a band plate shape. These illumination means and imaging means are provided so as to be swingable around an axis extending in the thickness direction of the insertion portion.

ViZaar Industrial imaging AG, Inviz DE Cam 2.4 [4.0], [online], Heat exchanger / steam generator video inspection, Flatest, most versatilesystem, [Search May 20, 2009], Internet <URL: http: // www .vizaar.de / Englisch / Invizb / pdf / de-cam.pdf>

  However, the endoscope of Non-Patent Document 1 has a disadvantage that the visual field range in the thickness direction of the insertion portion is narrow and the degree of observation is low. That is, when the insertion portion itself is inserted in a narrow gap between structures, the insertion portion itself is provided to be slightly curved following the gap, but it is difficult to expand the visual field in the thickness direction of the insertion portion. There is.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an endoscope that can be inserted through a narrow gap and can be observed in a wide visual field range in a space beyond the gap. It is said.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following means.
The present invention includes a band-plate shaped insertion portion configured to be bendable, and an imaging unit that is disposed on any surface in the thickness direction near the tip of the insertion portion and has an optical axis perpendicular to the surface. An endoscope is provided.

  According to the present invention, in the space beyond the gap, the vicinity of the distal end of the insertion portion in which the imaging portion is arranged on any surface in the thickness direction of the insertion portion formed in a strip shape is inserted into a narrow gap. By bending the insertion portion, the field of view can be changed by changing the optical axis direction of the imaging portion. In this case, the surface of the band plate-shaped insertion portion can be configured to be relatively wide, and a relatively large area can be secured for the imaging unit disposed on the surface. Therefore, it is possible to acquire an image having a wide visual field range with a simple configuration.

In addition, the present invention provides a band plate-shaped insertion portion configured to be bendable, an imaging unit disposed in the vicinity of the distal end of the insertion portion, and the insertion portion. The insertion portion is curved in the thickness direction. Provided is an endoscope including an actuator to be operated.
By doing in this way, the arrangement part of an imaging part can be ensured, suppressing thickness dimension small by the insertion part formed in strip | belt-plate shape. Then, by bending the insertion portion in the thickness direction by the actuator, the visual field range can be easily expanded by shaking the optical axis of the imaging unit.

In the said invention, the said actuator may be provided with two or more at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the said insertion part.
In this way, the actuator is arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion to bend the insertion portion at a plurality of locations, thereby inserting the insertion portion corresponding to a more complicated insertion path. And the field of view range by the imaging unit can be further expanded.

In the above invention, the plurality of actuators may bend the insertion portion around axes that are not parallel to each other.
By doing this, when the insertion unit is bent by the operation of the actuator and the optical axis direction of the imaging unit is tilted, the optical axis can be tilted in a different direction by each actuator, and the field of view range by the imaging unit is increased. It can be expanded three-dimensionally.

Moreover, in the said invention, the said actuator may be provided so that it may curve continuously along the longitudinal direction of the said insertion part.
In this way, the insertion portion can be continuously bent in the longitudinal direction by the operation of the actuator, and the insertion portion can be inserted flexibly corresponding to a more complicated insertion path. The visual field range can be expanded.

Moreover, in the said invention, the said actuator is good also as curving the said insertion part in the longitudinal direction.
In this way, when the insertion portion is bent in the longitudinal direction by the operation of the actuator, the optical axis can be inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction while moving the imaging portion in the direction intersecting the longitudinal direction. .

Moreover, in the said invention, the said actuator is good also as curving the said insertion part in the width direction.
In this way, when the insertion portion is bent in the width direction by the operation of the actuator, the transverse cross-sectional shape of the band-plate-like insertion portion can be bent, and the rigidity is improved by increasing the section modulus. Can do.

Moreover, in the said invention, the said actuator is good also as curving the said insertion part in the direction which inclines with respect to the longitudinal direction and the width direction.
By doing so, it is possible to rotate the imaging unit around the longitudinal axis of the insertion unit by bending the insertion unit in a direction inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction and the width direction by the operation of the actuator.

In the above invention, a plurality of the imaging units may be provided with an interval in the longitudinal direction of the insertion unit and with the actuator interposed therebetween.
In this way, when the actuator is actuated to bend the insertion portion, the field of view range of the two imaging units arranged with the actuator interposed therebetween can be changed, and a plurality of field of view ranges can be photographed simultaneously. . Thereby, the visual field range which can be observed simultaneously can be expanded greatly.

Moreover, in the said invention, the said insertion part may be comprised with the elastic material formed in strip | belt board shape.
By doing in this way, an insertion part can be integrally comprised with an elastic material, the surface of an insertion part can be comprised smoothly, and the improvement of insertability and the ease of cleaning can be aimed at.

Moreover, in the said invention, the said insertion part is provided with the several flat plate member arranged in the longitudinal direction, and the connection member which connects this adjacent flat plate member so that rocking is relatively possible. Also good.
By doing so, each flat plate member is configured as a relatively high rigidity member, and is connected to one flat plate member arranged near the tip by being relatively pivotably connected by the connecting member. The field of view can be changed by changing the direction of the optical axis of the imaging unit.

Moreover, in the said invention, the 3 or more light source part may be provided around the said imaging part at intervals in the circumferential direction.
By doing in this way, sufficient space for arranging the light source unit can be easily secured around the imaging unit arranged on the surface of the insertion unit formed in a strip shape, and the circumferential direction By disposing three or more light source units at intervals, a substantially uniform illumination light with little unevenness can be irradiated to the subject imaged by the imaging unit.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that it can be inserted through a narrow gap and observation can be performed in a wide visual field range in a space beyond the gap.

1 is a perspective view showing an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a whole block diagram which shows the endoscope apparatus containing the endoscope of FIG. 1, and an endoscope apparatus main body. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the endoscope of FIG. 1, (a) The insertion process to a micro clearance gap, (b) It is a figure which respectively shows the state by which the imaging part was distribute | arranged to other space beyond the clearance gap. It is a perspective view which shows the endoscope which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a whole block diagram which shows the endoscope apparatus containing the endoscope of FIG. 4, and an endoscope apparatus main body. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the endoscope of FIG. 4, (a) The insertion process to a micro clearance gap, (b) The state in which the imaging part was distribute | arranged beyond the clearance gap, and (c) Actuator is operated It is a figure which respectively shows the middle process of the made curvature, (d) the direct view state fully curved. It is a partial perspective view of the front-end | tip part of the insertion part which shows the modification of the endoscope of FIG. 4, (a) Side view state and (b) Direct view state. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the insertion part of the endoscope of FIG. FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view illustrating another example of the insertion portion of the endoscope of FIG. 7. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the further another example of the insertion part of the endoscope of FIG. FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view illustrating another example of the insertion portion of the endoscope of FIG. 7 and including an actuator that bends the insertion portion in the width direction. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a modification of the endoscope of FIG. 7 and showing a case where the insertion portion is bent around an axis inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction thereof. It is a perspective view which shows the state which curved the insertion part of the endoscope of FIG. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a modification of the endoscope of FIG. 12 and a case where the insertion portion is bent by a plurality of actuators. It is a perspective view which shows the state which curved the insertion part of the endoscope of FIG. FIG. 16 is an overall configuration diagram showing an endoscope apparatus including the endoscope of FIGS. 6 to 15 and an endoscope apparatus main body. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a GUI screen, Comprising: (a) Endoscope of FIG. 4, (b) Endoscope of FIG. 7, (c) Endoscope of FIG. It is a figure which shows the GUI screen in the case of having carried out. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a modification of the endoscope of FIG. 4 and having a plurality of imaging units. It is a perspective view which shows the state which act | operated the actuator of the endoscope of FIG. 18 and was deform | transformed helically. 18 is a display example of the GUI screen of the endoscope of FIG. 18, in which (a) side view is selected, (b) an image by the imaging unit at the tip when a spiral is selected, and (c) a spiral is selected It is a figure which shows the example of an image display by the imaging part of the center of each. It is a partial perspective view which shows the other modification of the endoscope of FIG.

An endoscope 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment includes an insertion portion 2 formed in a band plate shape, an imaging portion 3 disposed near the distal end of the insertion portion 2, and the imaging portion. 3 is provided with an LED light source 4 disposed around 3 and a connector 6 disposed on the proximal end side of the insertion portion 2 and connected to an endoscope apparatus main body (see FIG. 2) 5.

The insertion part 2 is constituted by a flat flexible substrate having flexibility. The flexible substrate is made of an elastic material having insulating properties such as a polyimide resin film. Therefore, the insertion portion 2 can be easily deformed in the thickness direction by an external force, and the optical axis A direction of the imaging portion 3 disposed in the vicinity of the distal end can be freely set in a direction along the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion 2. It can be changed.
By configuring the insertion portion 2 with a flexible substrate, the length of the insertion portion 2 can be arbitrarily determined at the manufacturing stage of the endoscope 1. Therefore, the endoscope 1 having a length desired by the user can be easily manufactured.
In addition, by configuring the insertion portion 2 with a flexible substrate, the endoscope 1 can be stacked and stored in a space-saving manner during manufacturing, and the user can use a plurality of insertion portions 2 when using the endoscope 1. Workability when transporting is increased.
Furthermore, if the insertion part 2 is comprised with a flexible substrate, it can be easily manufactured with a semiconductor process and it can be set as the endoscope 1 in which the insertion part 2 can be disposable.

  Inside the insertion unit 2, there are a power wiring 2 a (see FIG. 2) for supplying power to the LED light source 4, and an image signal acquired by the imaging unit 3 by supplying power to the imaging unit 3. A signal wiring 2b (see FIG. 2) for sending to the endoscope apparatus main body 5 is built in along the longitudinal direction.

  The imaging unit 3 includes a two-dimensional image sensor (not shown) such as a CCD or a CMOS, and a condensing optical system (not shown) that condenses light from a subject on the two-dimensional image sensor. The imaging unit 3 has an outer diameter dimension of approximately 5 to 6 mm and a thickness dimension of approximately 2 to 3 mm.

  The imaging unit 3 is fixed to one surface in the thickness direction near the distal end of the insertion unit 2. Thereby, the optical axis A direction of the imaging unit 3 extends in the thickness direction of the insertion unit 2. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, when the insertion portion 2 extends in a linear form, the endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment is in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction (insertion direction) of the insertion portion. This is a so-called side-view type endoscope 1 having a visual field range.

  Four LED light sources 4 are arranged around the imaging unit 3 at regular intervals in the circumferential direction. By supplying electric power to these LED light sources 4, illumination light having a uniform light amount distribution in the circumferential direction is emitted around the imaging unit 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the endoscope apparatus body 5 drives a receptacle connector 7 that connects a connector 6 provided in the insertion portion 2, a drive portion 8 that drives an LED light source 4, and an imaging portion 3. And a control unit 10 that controls these and generates an image based on the image signal acquired by the CCU. The control unit 10 is connected to a monitor 11 that displays an image generated by the control unit.

The operation of the endoscope 1 according to this embodiment configured as described above will be described below.
The endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, from a space S ₁ on one side separated by a door or a wall surface B, through a minute gap C provided on the door or the wall surface B. it is suitable to perform observation in the space S ₂ of the other side Te.

In the example shown in FIG. 3A, the endoscope 1 is inserted from the space S ₁ on one side into a minute gap C provided on the door and the upper surface of the wall surface B from the distal end side of the insertion portion 2. At this time, the insertion portion 2 is inserted so that the surface of the insertion portion 2 on the side where the imaging portion 3 disposed near the tip of the insertion portion 2 is attached faces upward.

Since the insertion portion 2 is made of an elastic material having flexibility, the insertion portion 2 is released from restraint by the minute gap C when its distal end portion is exposed to the space S ₂ on the other side. 3), the insertion portion 2 is bent in the thickness direction as shown in FIG.

Since the imaging unit 3 is provided on one surface of the insertion unit 2, the optical axis A direction of the imaging unit 3 is changed as the insertion unit 2 is curved. Therefore, in the state of FIG. 3 the tip of the insertion portion 2 is inserted portion 2 is disposed in the space S ₂ of the other side was a curved (b), will direct the optical axis A direction substantially horizontally forward.

Thus, according to the endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment, it can be inserted through a narrow small gap C, and the space S ₂ of the other side beyond the gap C, and a wide field of view directed substantially horizontally forwardly There is an advantage that observation can be performed. Since the image pickup unit 3 is disposed on one surface of the band-plate-like insertion unit 2, the image pickup unit 3 having a wide image pickup surface is adopted while suppressing the thickness dimension and enabling insertion into a narrow gap C. A wide field of view can be secured.

Then, in the state of FIG. 3B in which the imaging unit 3 is disposed in the space S ₂ on the other side, by supplying power to the LED light source 4 and generating illumination light, the space S ₂ on the other side is dark. Even in this case, a bright image can be acquired.
In this case, since the four LED light sources 4 are arranged around the imaging unit 3 at intervals in the circumferential direction, the light quantity distribution of the emitted illumination light can be made substantially uniform and bright without unevenness. Images can be acquired.

  Moreover, since the insertion part 2 is formed in strip | belt plate shape, the deformation | transformation is restrict | limited to the thickness direction substantially. That is, when gravity acts on the insertion portion 2, the cross-sectional shape restricts the curvature in directions other than the thickness direction and prevents the optical axis A direction of the imaging portion 3 from being directed in an unexpected direction. be able to.

In the present embodiment, the case where the LED light source 4 is arranged around the imaging unit 3 is illustrated, but the LED light source 4 is not necessarily required when a bright subject is observed. Moreover, when it has the LED light source 4, the number may be two or more, Preferably arbitrary numbers of three or more may be sufficient.
In addition, the endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment is less likely to be limited in length in the width direction as compared with a cylindrical endoscope. Therefore, the endoscope 1 can have more types of image pickup devices that can be mounted than a cylindrical endoscope.

Next, an endoscope 20 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the description of the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to portions having the same configuration as the endoscope 1 according to the first embodiment described above, and the description thereof is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 4, the endoscope 20 according to the present embodiment is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion 2 on the proximal side with respect to the imaging portion 3 of the endoscope 1 according to the first embodiment. An actuator 21 that curves around the axis D is provided.

For example, the actuator 21 has a flat shape such as a shape memory alloy or a shape memory resin that generates heat and curves when supplied with electric power, or a bimorph or bimetal that deforms when supplied with electric power. You can adopt what you want. In the figure, reference numeral 2 c is a power supply wiring to the actuator 21.
As shown in FIG. 5, a current control unit 23 that supplies power to the actuator 21 when the operation button 22 is operated from the outside is provided in the control unit 10 of the endoscope apparatus body 5. ing.

The operation of the endoscope 20 according to this embodiment configured as described above will be described below.
The endoscope 20 according to this embodiment also, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, from the space S ₁ of one side separated by a door or wall B, through the small gap C provided on the door or wall B it is suitable to perform observation in the space S ₂ of the other side Te.

In the example shown in FIG. 6A, the endoscope 1 is inserted from the space S ₁ on one side into the minute gap C provided at the lower part of the door and the wall surface B from the distal end side of the insertion portion 2. At this time, the insertion portion 2 is inserted so that the surface of the insertion portion 2 on the side where the imaging portion 3 disposed near the tip of the insertion portion 2 is attached faces upward.

The insertion portion 2, which is configured by an elastic material having flexibility, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), where the tip comes into the space S ₂ of the other side, FIG. 6 (c) As shown in FIG. 5, electric power is supplied to the actuator 21 to bend around an axis D perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. As a result, the proximal end portion of the insertion unit 2 with respect to the imaging unit 3 is curved with the bending of the actuator 21, and the optical axis A direction of the imaging unit 3 is changed.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6D, by sufficiently bending the actuator 21, the optical axis A direction of the imaging unit 3 can be directed forward in the insertion direction.
Thus, according to the endoscope 20 according to this embodiment, it can be inserted through a narrow small gap C, and the space S ₂ of the other side beyond the gap C, and a wide field of view directed substantially horizontally forwardly There is an advantage that observation can be performed. Since the imaging unit 3 is disposed on one surface of the band-plate-like insertion unit 2, the imaging unit 3 having a wide imaging surface can be employed while suppressing the thickness dimension and enabling insertion into the narrow gap C. A wide field of view can be secured.

  Even in an environment where no external force is applied to the insertion portion 2, the insertion portion 2 is bent by the operation of the actuator 21 to change the direction of the optical axis A of the imaging portion 3, thereby changing the visual field range. There is an advantage that observation over a wide visual field range can be performed.

  In the present embodiment, the actuator 21 for bending the insertion portion 2 that extends linearly and flatly into a substantially S-shape is employed, but instead, it is folded as shown in FIG. In this state, as shown in FIG. 7B, an actuator 24 that erects only the distal end portion having the imaging unit 3 may be employed.

  In this case, it is preferable that the insertion portion 2 excluding the portion where the actuator 24 is provided has a certain degree of rigidity. That is, if the insertion section 2 is not rigid, it is difficult to maintain the posture of the imaging section 3 by deforming other parts even if the actuator 24 is bent.

  As a means for giving rigidity to the insertion portion 2, as shown in FIG. 8, the thickness dimension of the insertion portion 2 may be increased from the distal end portion toward the proximal end portion. As shown, the cross-sectional shape of the insertion portion 2 may be a cross-sectional shape having ribs 2d extending along the longitudinal direction.

Further, as a method of increasing the thickness dimension, the number of laminated polyimide resin films having a predetermined thickness may be increased from the distal end portion toward the proximal end portion.
Further, as the cross-sectional shape having the ribs 2d, in addition to the shape shown in FIG. 9, a corrugated cross-sectional shape extending in the width direction of the insertion portion 2 may be adopted as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the rigidity of the insertion portion 2 is increased by bending the insertion portion 2 in the width direction around the axis E along the longitudinal direction by another actuator 25 provided in the insertion portion 2. You may deform | transform into a cross-sectional shape. By doing in this way, there exists an advantage that the rigidity of the insertion part 2 can be raised when rigidity is required.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the insertion portion 2 is curved around an axis F inclined with respect to both the longitudinal direction and the width direction by another actuator 26 provided in the insertion portion 2. Also good. By doing in this way, as shown in Drawing 12 and Drawing 13, image pick-up part 3 can be rotated around the optical axis A, and the image obtained can be rotated.

In this case, by providing the actuator 26 over a relatively long range in the longitudinal direction of the insertion section 2, the imaging section 3 when the axis F for bending the insertion section 2 is brought close to the longitudinal axis of the insertion section 2 and curved. The fluctuation of the optical axis A position can be suppressed.
In each state of FIGS. 12 and 13, by operating the actuator 24, the direction of the optical axis A of the imaging unit 3 can be swung in different directions, and the visual field range can be further expanded three-dimensionally. There is an advantage.

In FIGS. 12 and 13, the imaging unit 3 is rotated around the optical axis A by an actuator disposed over a relatively long range in the longitudinal direction. Instead, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the plurality of actuators 27, 28, and 29 that are arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction respectively insert the insertion portion 2 with respect to the width direction or the width direction. The imaging unit 3 may be rotated about the optical axis A by curving around the tilted axes G ₁ , G ₂ , G ₃ .

  These various types of endoscopes 20 can be easily attached to and detached from the endoscope apparatus body 5 by attaching and detaching the connectors 6 and 7. Thus, an appropriate endoscope 20 can be selected and used in accordance with the usage pattern.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 16, an IC chip 30 storing the identification information of the insertion section 2 is provided in the insertion section 2 of each endoscope 20, and the endoscope apparatus body 5 In the control unit 10, it is preferable to provide an ID table 31 in which identification information and an operation GUI screen are stored in association with each other. In addition, when the connector 6 is connected to the receptacle connector 7 in the control unit 10 of the endoscope apparatus body 5, the ID information stored in the IC chip 30 is read to search the ID table 31. A determination unit 32 for selecting a corresponding GUI screen is provided.

  In this way, as shown in FIGS. 17A to 17C, when the insertion unit 2 of the various endoscopes 20 is connected to the endoscope apparatus body 5, it is selected by the determination unit 32. The GUI screen can be automatically displayed. FIG. 17A shows a GUI screen displayed when the endoscope 20 shown in FIG. 4 is selected. FIG. 17B shows a GUI screen displayed when the endoscope 20 shown in FIG. 7 is selected. FIG. 17C shows a GUI screen displayed when the endoscope 20 shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 is selected.

  In FIGS. 17A and 17B, the side view or the direct view is switched depending on whether or not the actuators 21 and 24 are curved. Further, in FIG. 17C, when the actuator 24 is switched to the direct view after switching the side view or the direct view depending on whether or not the actuator 24 is curved, the image of the image is determined depending on whether or not the actuator 26 is curved. The direction (direct view X or direct view Y) can be switched.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the image pickup unit 3 provided at one location in the vicinity of the distal end of the insertion unit 2 has been described as an example, but instead, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the insertion unit 2 having a plurality of image pickup units 3 at intervals in the longitudinal direction. In this endoscope 20, actuators 33 are arranged between adjacent imaging units 3, and by the operation of the actuator 33, the flat form shown in FIG. 18 is changed to the spiral form shown in FIG. 19. The insertion portion 2 can be curved.

By doing in this way, the optical axis A direction of each imaging part 3 can be turned to various directions, and a plurality of directions can be observed simultaneously.
In this case, as an image acquired by each imaging unit 3, when “side view” is selected as shown in FIG. 20A, an image aligned in the same direction is acquired. However, as shown in FIG. 20B, when “spiral” is selected, the direction of the optical axis of each imaging unit 3 is directed in various directions, and the directions thereof vary.

Therefore, the orientation of the image acquired by each imaging unit 3 by the bending of the actuator 33 is stored in advance, and the image is aligned so that the orientation is aligned when displayed on the monitor as shown in FIG. It is good also as rotating and displaying.
In FIG. 20, images H _{1 to} H ₃ are images themselves acquired by the respective imaging units 3, and the image H is an enlargement of any image selected from among the images H _{1 to} H ₃ . Is.

In FIG. 20 (a), (b) , the image H ₁ acquired by the imaging unit 3 disposed at the cutting edge of the insert portion 2 as shown in the black triangles are selected in the drawing, in FIG. 20 (c), the image H ₂ obtained by the imaging unit 3 disposed in the center is selected. By rotating the image H _2, it can be displayed aligned orientation with respect to the image H _1.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the case where the insertion part was comprised with the elastic material was demonstrated, instead of this, as FIG. 21 shows, the several flat plate member 34 with comparatively high rigidity, and these The connecting member 35 that connects the flat plate member 34 may be configured as a strip plate as a whole. In this case, the above-described actuator may be employed as the connecting member 35.

A Optical axes D, E, F, G _{1 to} G ₃ axes 1, 20 Endoscope 2 Insertion section 3 Imaging section 4 LED light source (light source section)
21, 24 to 29, 33 Actuator 34 Flat plate member 35 Connecting member

Claims (12)

A strip-shaped insertion portion configured to be bendable;
An endoscope comprising: an imaging unit disposed on any surface in the thickness direction near the distal end of the insertion unit and having an optical axis perpendicular to the surface. A strip-shaped insertion portion configured to be bendable;
An imaging unit disposed near the distal end of the insertion unit;
An endoscope provided with the actuator which is provided in the insertion part and curves the insertion part in the thickness direction.   The endoscope according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the actuators are provided at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion.   The endoscope according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of actuators bend the insertion portion around axes that are not parallel to each other.   The endoscope according to claim 2, wherein the actuator is provided so as to bend continuously along a longitudinal direction of the insertion portion.   The endoscope according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the actuator bends the insertion portion in a longitudinal direction thereof.   The endoscope according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the actuator bends the insertion portion in a width direction thereof.   The endoscope according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the actuator curves the insertion portion in a direction inclined with respect to a longitudinal direction and a width direction thereof.   The endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a plurality of the imaging units are provided with a space in the longitudinal direction of the insertion unit and the actuator interposed therebetween.   The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the insertion portion is made of an elastic material formed in a band plate shape.   The said insertion part is equipped with the several flat plate member arranged in the longitudinal direction, and the connection member which connects this adjacent flat plate member so that a relative rocking | fluctuation is possible. Endoscope.   The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein three or more light source units are provided around the imaging unit at intervals in the circumferential direction.

Images