JP5555095B2 - Endoscope device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus and, more particularly, to an endoscope apparatus that displays a three-dimensional direction of gravity and the opposite direction to gravity.

  Conventionally, an endoscope apparatus that includes an endoscope that obtains an observation image by inserting an insertion portion into an observation target and a display unit that displays the observation image is generally used.

  In this type of endoscope apparatus, an examination is performed while observing an observation image displayed on a display means such as a monitor, that is, an endoscope image, at the same time as inserting an insertion portion of the endoscope into an observation site. Therefore, for the inspector, the inspection can be performed without a sense of incongruity, and a desired observation image can be reliably displayed and recognized on the monitor or the like.

  In recent years, in order to easily inspect the inside of an observation target such as a pipe, an endoscope apparatus having a long insertion portion of, for example, 30 meters has been used.

  However, in an endoscope apparatus having a long insertion portion, when the examiner inserts the long insertion portion into an observation target such as a pipe, the distal end portion of the insertion portion rotates and is placed on the monitor. There is a problem that the direction of the displayed endoscopic image is rotated and the vertical direction, that is, the direction of gravity is not known.

  In order to solve such a problem, for example, an endoscope image forming method for generating an indicator that gives an accurate vertical direction of an image viewed from an endoscope has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-275257 A

  However, the vertical direction indicator generated by the endoscope image forming method proposed in Patent Document 1 is a directional arrow and cannot obtain a three-dimensional gravity direction.

  Moreover, in the said patent document 1, the three-dimensional arrow indicator which shows whether it points out that the endoscope has left | separated from the user, or is going to a user is disclosed. However, this three-dimensional arrow indicator points out whether the endoscope is away from or toward the user, and cannot obtain a three-dimensional gravity direction.

The present invention aims at providing an endoscope apparatus among that can be displayed good visibility three-dimensional direction of gravity and the opposite direction to gravity.

According to one aspect of the present invention, an image processing unit that performs image processing on an imaging signal captured by an imaging device provided at a distal end portion of an endoscope insertion unit and generates an endoscopic image; and the distal end portion Is a gravitational direction display unit in which a gravity direction mark indicating a gravity direction and a celestial direction mark indicating a direction opposite to the gravity direction are arranged at opposing positions on the circumference, and and a control unit for performing an instruction to generate the gravity direction display unit according to the posture, an image synthesizing unit for synthesizing the gravity direction display section in a predetermined position of the endoscopic image, and wherein, wherein when the attitude of the distal end portion is changed, is displayed by moving the gravity direction marks or the upward mark at a predetermined position inside on the circumference of the gravity direction display unit according to the amount of the change, the Based on the type of tip optical system that is detachable to the tip, It is possible to provide an endoscope apparatus which is characterized that you correct the serial gravity direction marks and the coordinate system of the stage direction mark.
According to another aspect of the present invention , an image processing unit that performs image processing on an imaging signal imaged by an imaging device provided at a distal end portion of the endoscope insertion unit, and generates an endoscopic image; When the tip is in a normal posture, a gravity direction mark indicating a gravity direction and a celestial direction mark indicating a direction opposite to the gravity direction are arranged at opposite positions on the circumference, A control unit that gives an instruction to generate the gravity direction display unit according to the posture of the distal end portion, an image composition unit that synthesizes the gravity direction display unit at a predetermined position of the endoscopic image, and an attachment / detachment to the distal end portion A tip optical system that includes a discriminating unit; and an optical system discriminating unit that discriminates the type of the tip optical system based on the discriminating unit; and the control unit changes a posture of the tip unit. When the gravity direction mark or the celestial direction mark is changed, The gravity direction display unit moves to a predetermined position on the inner circumference of the gravity direction display unit according to the amount of the gravity direction display unit, and displays the gravity direction mark and the ceiling based on the type of the tip optical system identified by the identification unit. An endoscope apparatus characterized by correcting the coordinate system of the direction mark can be provided .

According to the endoscope apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to display good visibility three-dimensional direction of gravity and the opposite direction to gravity.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the endoscope apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the optical adapter characteristic memorize | stored in the optical adapter characteristic memory | storage part. It is a figure for demonstrating the rotation angle which used the axis | shaft of the longitudinal direction of the insertion part as the rotating shaft. It is a figure for demonstrating the rotation angle which made the rotating shaft the axis | shaft perpendicular | vertical to the longitudinal direction of an insertion part and parallel to the ground. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of a display of the indicator at the time of correct | amending a visual field direction. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of a display of the indicator at the time of correcting vertical rotation. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of a display of the indicator at the time of correcting right-and-left inversion. It is a figure for demonstrating the correspondence of the attitude | position of the insertion part at the time of a test | inspection, and the display of an indicator. It is a figure which shows the other example of a display of an indicator. It is a figure which shows the correspondence of the attitude | position of the front-end | tip of an insertion part in a direct view type optical adapter, and an indicator display. It is a figure which shows the correspondence of the attitude | position of the front-end | tip of an insertion part in a side view type optical adapter, and an indicator display. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the example of the screen display process of a gravity direction. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the example of the correction process of the coordinate system in step S5.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, based on FIG. 1, the structure of the endoscope apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a long insertion portion 2 having a distal end portion 2a and a replaceable optical adapter (hereinafter simply referred to as an optical adapter) that is detachable from the distal end portion 2a. ) 3, a main body portion 4, a display device 5 having a display portion 5 a, and an operation portion 6 for performing a bending operation for bending the distal end portion 2 a in a desired direction.

  The optical adapter 3 as the leading optical system includes an objective lens 11 for imaging a subject, an optical adapter identification resistor 12 for identifying the type of the optical adapter 3, and a gravity direction detection unit 13 for detecting the gravity direction of the optical adapter 3. And is configured.

  The gravity direction detection unit 13 is, for example, a gravity sensor, and outputs a signal corresponding to the detected information about the gravity direction of the optical adapter 3, that is, an information signal about the gravity direction of the optical adapter 3 to the main body unit 4.

  The distal end portion 2a of the insertion unit 2 includes an imaging element 14 such as a CCD that is disposed at the imaging position of the objective lens 11 and photoelectrically converts a subject image captured by the objective lens 11 to generate an imaging signal. This insertion part 2 constitutes an endoscope insertion part.

  The main body unit 4 includes an image processing unit 15, an optical adapter identification unit 16, a gravity signal processing unit 17, an optical adapter characteristic storage unit 18, a control unit 19, a graphic generation unit 20, and an image composition unit 21. It is configured.

  The image processing unit 15 receives an image pickup signal output from the image pickup device 14 built in the distal end portion 2 a of the insertion unit 2. The image processing unit 15 performs an image process such as a gamma correction process, an edge enhancement process, and a digital zoom process on the image pickup signal to generate an endoscopic image (subject image). The image processing unit 15 supplies the generated endoscopic image to the image composition unit 21.

  The optical adapter identification unit 16 as an optical system identification unit detects the resistance value of the optical adapter identification resistor 12 provided in the optical adapter 3 and identifies the type of the optical adapter 3 attached to the distal end portion 2a. The optical adapter identification unit 16 outputs the identified type of the optical adapter 3 to the control unit 19.

  The gravity signal processing unit 17 receives an information signal regarding the gravity direction of the optical adapter 3 output from the gravity direction detection unit 13. The gravity signal processing unit 17 converts the information signal into gravity information such as an inclination angle from the vertically downward direction, and supplies the converted gravity information to the control unit 19.

  The optical adapter characteristic storage unit 18 stores optical adapter characteristics corresponding to the type of the optical adapter 3. The optical adapter characteristics include a field direction flag and an image inversion flag corresponding to the type of the optical adapter 3, as shown in FIG.

  The control unit 19 detects the direction of gravity based on the tip posture of the insertion unit 2 from the gravity information supplied from the gravity signal processing unit 17. The control unit 19 rotates as a gravity direction based on the distal end posture of the insertion unit 2 with a rotation angle about the longitudinal axis of the insertion unit 2 and a rotation axis about an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground. Detect the angle.

  Further, the control unit 19 reads out the corresponding optical adapter characteristic from the optical adapter characteristic storage unit 18 in accordance with the type of the optical adapter 3 supplied from the optical adapter identification unit 16. Then, the control unit 19 corrects the coordinate system of the detected gravity direction according to the read optical adapter characteristic, and supplies the corrected gravity direction information to the graphic generation unit 20. Accordingly, the control unit 19 instructs the graphic generation unit 20 to generate an indicator described later.

  Although the optical adapter identification unit 16 identifies the type of the optical adapter 3 according to the resistance value of the optical adapter identification resistor 12, the user can select the type of the optical adapter 3 using the operation unit 6. May be. The control unit 19 reads the corresponding optical adapter characteristic from the optical adapter characteristic storage unit 18 in accordance with the type of the optical adapter 3 selected by the operation unit 6. According to such a configuration, the optical adapter identification resistor 12 and the optical adapter identification unit 16 can be deleted from the endoscope apparatus 1, and the endoscope apparatus 1 can be reduced in size.

  Based on the gravity direction information supplied from the control unit 19, the graphic generation unit 20 generates an indicator indicating a three-dimensional gravity direction and an antigravity direction (hereinafter referred to as a celestial direction), which will be described later, and the generated indicator The image is supplied to the image composition unit 21.

  The image synthesis unit 21 synthesizes the endoscopic image supplied from the image processing unit 15 and the indicator indicating the three-dimensional gravity direction and the celestial direction supplied from the graphic generation unit 20 as one piece of video data. The synthesized composite image is output to the display device 5. As a result, the composite image is displayed on the display unit 5 a of the display device 5.

  In addition, the image composition unit 21 can also perform processing for independently displaying an endoscopic image on the display unit 5 a of the display device 5 under the control of the control unit 19. Therefore, an endoscopic image or a composite image of an endoscopic image and an indicator is displayed on the display unit 5a of the display device 5.

  Here, the optical adapter characteristics stored in the optical adapter characteristic storage unit will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the optical adapter characteristics stored in the optical adapter characteristic storage unit.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the optical adapter characteristic storage unit 18, a visual field direction flag and an image inversion flag are associated as optical adapter characteristics according to the type of the optical adapter. The visual field direction flag indicates the visual field direction of the corresponding optical adapter, and the image inversion flag indicates the imaging characteristic of the corresponding optical adapter.

  For example, the visual field direction flag of the optical adapter C is a side view, and the image inversion flag is a vertical rotation. Therefore, when it is determined that the optical adapter 3 attached to the distal end portion 2a is the optical adapter C, the optical adapter 3 is a side-view type optical adapter, and indicates that the subject image is picked up by rotating up and down.

  Next, the rotation angle detected by the control unit 19 with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis will be described.

  FIG. 3A is a diagram for explaining a rotation angle with the longitudinal axis of the insertion portion as a rotation axis, and FIG. 3B is a rotation with an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion and parallel to the ground as a rotation axis. It is a figure for demonstrating an angle.

  3A, the near side shows the base end side of the insertion part 2 with respect to FIG. 3A, and the back side shows the front end side of the insertion part 2 with respect to FIG. 3A.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the control unit 19 sets the rotation angle about the longitudinal axis of the insertion unit 2 as a rotation axis, 0 degrees, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees, 180 degrees, 225 degrees, 270 degrees, and Eight angles of 315 degrees are detected. In particular, the control unit 19 detects one of these eight angles from the rotation range with the longitudinal axis of the insertion unit 2 as the rotation axis.

  For example, when the upward direction of the distal end of the insertion unit 2 exists in a rotation range of 22.5 degrees or more and less than 67.5 degrees, the control unit 19 uses the longitudinal axis of the insertion unit 2 as a rotation axis. 2 is detected to have rotated 45 degrees.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the control unit 19 has -90 degrees, -45 degrees, 0 degrees, 45 degrees as rotation angles with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion section 2 and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis. And five angles of 90 degrees are detected. In particular, the control unit 19 detects one of these five angles from a rotation range having an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion unit 2 and parallel to the ground as a rotation axis.

  For example, when the distal end of the insertion unit 2 exists in a rotation range of 22.5 degrees or more and less than 67.5 degrees, the control unit 19 uses an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion unit 2 and parallel to the ground as a rotation axis. It is detected that the insertion section 2 has rotated 45 degrees.

  The rotation angle with the longitudinal axis of the insertion portion 2 as the rotation axis and the rotation angle with the rotation axis as the rotation axis that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion portion 2 and parallel to the ground is not limited to 45 ° intervals. For example, the interval may be 30 degrees.

  Here, the correction of the coordinate system in the direction of gravity according to the optical adapter characteristics will be described.

  First, a display example of an indicator when the visual field direction is corrected will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a display example of an indicator when the visual field direction is corrected.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, when the optical adapter 3 is a direct-view optical adapter and the upward direction of the distal end of the insertion portion 2 is opposite to the direction of gravity, the graphic generation unit 20 generates the indicator 31a. . In FIG. 4, an upward mark 3 a indicating the upward direction of the distal end of the insertion portion 2 is shown on the optical adapter 3.

  The indicator 31 a includes a square 32, a circle 33 as a gravity direction display portion provided inside the square 32, a celestial mark 34 indicating a direction opposite to the gravity direction provided inside the circle 33, and a circle 33. And a gravitational direction mark 35 indicating the gravitational direction provided on the inner side. The circle 33 as the gravity direction display unit is configured to have the top direction mark 34 and the gravity direction mark 35, but may be configured to have at least one of the top direction mark 34 or the gravity direction mark 35.

  When the optical adapter 3 is a direct-view optical adapter and the upward direction of the distal end of the insertion portion 2 is opposite to the direction of gravity, a sky direction mark 34 is displayed at the upper end of the circle 33 and the gravity direction mark is displayed at the lower end of the circle 33. 35 is displayed. The ceiling direction mark 34 and the gravity direction mark 35 are colored differently so that the user can easily recognize the sky direction and the gravity direction. The indicator 31a may be transparent. Thereby, since the area | region of the endoscopic image hidden by the indicator 31a can be displayed, oversight, such as a damage | wound etc. of an endoscopic image, can be prevented.

  The indicator 31 a is synthesized at the lower right of the endoscopic image by the image synthesis unit 21 and displayed on the display unit 5 a of the display device 5.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the optical adapter 3 is a side-view type optical adapter and the upward direction of the distal end of the insertion portion 2 is opposite to the direction of gravity, the graphic generation unit 20 causes the indicator 31b. Is generated. In this indicator 31 b, the gravity direction mark 35 is not displayed on the circle 33, and the sky direction mark 34 is displayed at the center of the circle 33.

  Next, a display example of the indicator when the vertical rotation is corrected will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a display example of the indicator when the vertical rotation is corrected. In FIG. 5, the endoscopic image is indicated by the letter “F”.

  FIG. 5A shows an endoscopic image captured by an optical adapter having a normal image capturing characteristic. 5A, in the indicator 31c, the sky direction mark 34 is displayed at the upper end of the circle 33, and the gravity direction mark 35 is displayed at the lower end of the circle 33.

  On the other hand, FIG. 5B shows a vertically rotated image obtained by capturing the same subject as that in FIG. 5A with an optical adapter whose imaging characteristics are vertically rotated. In the indicator 31 d in FIG. 5B, the gravity direction mark 35 is displayed at the upper end of the circle 33, and the sky direction mark 34 is displayed at the lower end of the circle 33.

  Next, a display example of the indicator when the left / right reversal correction is performed will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a display example of the indicator when the left / right reversal correction is performed.

  FIG. 6A shows an endoscopic image captured by an optical adapter having a normal image capturing characteristic. 6A, in the indicator 31e, the sky direction mark 34 is displayed at the right end of the circle 33, and the gravity direction mark 35 is displayed at the left end of the circle 33. FIG.

  On the other hand, FIG. 6B shows a horizontally reversed image obtained by capturing the same subject as that in FIG. 6A with an optical adapter whose imaging characteristics are horizontally reversed (mirror). In the indicator 31 f of FIG. 6B, the sky direction mark 34 is displayed at the left end of the circle 33, and the gravity direction mark 35 is displayed at the right end of the circle 33.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a correspondence relationship between the posture of the insertion portion at the time of inspection and the display of the indicator.

  The user inserts the insertion part 2 from the inlet 42 of the pipe 41 when inserting and inserting the insertion part 2 into the pipe 41 of the plant as the subject. When the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis of the insertion portion 2 as the rotation axis and the rotation angle with the rotation axis as the rotation axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground are 0 degrees, the indicator 31g has a ceiling at the upper end of the circle 33. A direction mark 34 is displayed, and a gravity direction mark 35 is displayed at the lower end of the circle 33.

  When the long insertion portion 2 is further inserted into the pipe 41 and rotated 45 degrees about the longitudinal axis (z axis in FIG. 7) of the insertion portion 2, the indicator 31 h shows the upper right end of the circle 33. Is displayed at the top and the gravity direction mark 35 is displayed at the lower left corner of the circle 33.

  When the long insertion part 2 is further inserted into the pipe 41, the pipe 41 is bent, so that the insertion part 2 faces directly above the gravitational direction, that is, an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground. When the rotation angle with respect to the rotation axis is 90 degrees, the indicator 31 i displays the sky mark 34 at the center of the circle 33.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another display example of the indicator.

  The indicator 31j in FIG. 8A deletes the square 32 of the indicator 31a in FIG. As a result, the observation area of the endoscopic image becomes large, and oversight of scratches and the like can be prevented.

  The indicator 31k of FIG. 8B is provided with a sky mark 34 and a gravity direction mark 35 at opposite positions on the circumference of the circle 33. In addition, the indicator 31k is provided with a sky direction area 36 and a gravity direction area 37 inside a circle 33. The celestial direction region 36 and the gravity direction region 37 are color-divided with different colors. The sky direction area 36 is, for example, blue indicating sky, and the gravity direction area 37 is, for example, brown indicating the ground. The display area of each of the top direction area 36 and the gravity direction area 37 is changed according to the posture of the distal end of the insertion portion 2. Thereby, the user can easily distinguish the sky direction and the gravity direction.

  Note that the circle 33 as the gravity direction display unit in FIG. 8 is not limited to a circle, and may be, for example, a quadrangle or an octagon.

  Here, the correspondence between the posture of the distal end of the insertion portion 2 and the indicator display will be described.

  First, the correspondence relationship between the posture of the distal end of the insertion portion and the indicator display in the direct-view optical adapter will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between the posture of the distal end of the insertion portion and the indicator display in the direct-view optical adapter. The indicator in FIG. 9 will be described using the indicator 31k shown in FIG. 8B as an example. Further, for the sake of simplicity, the reference numeral is attached only when the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis is 0 degree.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the indicator 31k generated by the graphic generation unit 20 includes a rotation angle with a longitudinal axis as a rotation axis, and a rotation angle with an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as a rotation axis. 40 types depending on the situation. However, when the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis is −90 degrees and 90 degrees, the type of the indicator 31k is respectively independent of the rotation angle with the axis in the longitudinal direction as the rotation axis. One type. For this reason, there are 26 types of indicators 31k.

  When the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis and the rotation angle with the rotation axis as the rotation axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground are 0 degrees, the celestial mark 34 and the gravity direction mark 35 are the circle 33. It is arranged on the circumference of. Then, the top direction area 36 is displayed approximately half of the upper side of the circle 33, and the gravity direction area 37 is displayed approximately half of the lower side of the circle 33.

  When the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis is 0 degree and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis is 45 degrees, the celestial mark 34 is a circle of the circle 33. It moves inward from the circumference and is arranged approximately in the middle between the upper end and the center of the circle 33. The top direction area 36 is displayed in approximately 2/3 on the upper side of the circle 33, and the gravity direction area 37 is displayed in approximately 1/3 on the lower side of the circle 33.

  Further, when the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis is 0 degree and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis is 90 degrees, the celestial mark 34 becomes the center of the circle 33. Placed in. Then, the top area 36 is displayed on the entire circle 33.

  Similarly, when the rotation angle with the axis in the longitudinal direction as the rotation axis is 0 degree and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis becomes −45 degrees, the gravity direction mark 35 becomes the circle 33. Is moved inward from the circumference of the circle 33 and is arranged approximately in the middle between the lower end and the center of the circle 33. Then, the top direction area 36 is displayed in approximately 1/3 on the upper side of the circle 33, and the gravity direction area 37 is displayed in approximately 2/3 on the lower side of the circle 33.

  Furthermore, when the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis is 0 degree and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis is -90 degrees, the gravitational direction mark 35 is Placed in the center. The gravity direction area 37 is displayed on the entire circle 33.

  Next, a correspondence relationship between the posture of the distal end of the insertion portion and the indicator display in the side-view type optical adapter will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between the posture of the distal end of the insertion portion and the indicator display in the side-view type optical adapter.

  When the rotation angle with the axis in the longitudinal direction as the rotation axis and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis are 0 degrees, the ceiling mark 34 is arranged at the center of the circle 33. The Then, the top area 36 is displayed on the entire circle 33.

  When the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis is 0 degree and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis is 45 degrees, the top mark 34 is the lower end of the circle 33. And approximately in the middle of the center. The top direction area 36 is displayed at approximately 2/3 of the lower side of the circle 33, and the gravity direction area 37 is displayed at approximately 1/3 of the upper side of the circle 33.

  Further, when the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis is 0 degree and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis is 90 degrees, the celestial mark 34 is a circle of the circle 33. The gravity direction mark 35 is arranged at the upper end on the circumference of the circle 33. Then, the top direction area 36 is displayed on approximately 1/2 of the lower side of the circle 33, and the gravity direction area 37 is displayed on approximately 1/2 of the upper side of the circle 33.

  Similarly, when the rotation angle with the axis in the longitudinal direction as the rotation axis is 0 degree and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis becomes −45 degrees, the top direction mark 34 becomes the circle 33. It is arrange | positioned in the approximate middle of the upper end and center. The top direction area 36 is displayed in approximately 2/3 on the upper side of the circle 33, and the gravity direction area 37 is displayed in approximately 1/3 on the lower side of the circle 33.

  Furthermore, when the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis is 0 degree and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and parallel to the ground as the rotation axis is -90 degrees, the gravitational direction mark 35 is Placed in the center. The top direction mark 34 is arranged at the upper end on the circumference of the circle 33, and the gravity direction mark 35 is arranged at the lower end on the circumference of the circle 33. Then, the top direction area 36 is displayed approximately half of the upper side of the circle 33, and the gravity direction area 37 is displayed approximately half of the lower side of the circle 33.

  The indicators shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 may be stored in a storage unit (not shown). Then, the control unit 19 reads an indicator corresponding to the type of the optical adapter 3 and the direction of gravity based on the distal end posture of the insertion unit 2 from a storage unit (not shown), and outputs it to the image composition unit 21. 9 and 10 is generated by the graphic generation unit 20 based on an instruction to the control unit 19, but the indicator is stored in a storage unit (not shown) and read by the control unit 19. The graphic generation unit 20 can be deleted from the endoscope apparatus 1, and the endoscope apparatus 1 can be downsized.

  Here, the screen display process in the direction of gravity of the endoscope apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a screen display process in the direction of gravity.

  First, the type of the optical adapter is identified (step S1). Then, it is detected whether or not the optical adapter has been replaced (step S2). If it is detected that the optical adapter has not been replaced, the determination is NO and the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, when it is detected that the optical adapter has been replaced, the optical adapter characteristic corresponding to the replaced optical adapter is read from the optical adapter characteristic storage unit and updated (step S3). A gravity direction based on the distal end posture of the insertion portion is calculated (step S4). Next, the coordinate system is corrected according to the optical adapter (step S5). Finally, the screen display in the direction of gravity is changed (step S6). When the process of step S6 ends, the process returns to step S1 and the same process is repeated.

  Next, the coordinate system correction processing in step S5 will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the coordinate system correction processing in step S5.

  First, it is detected whether or not the visual field direction flag has been changed (step S11). If there is no change in the viewing direction flag, the determination is NO and the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, if there is a change in the viewing direction flag, the answer is YES and the viewing direction correction process is performed (step S12). Next, it is detected whether or not the image reversal flag has been changed (step S13). If there is no change in the image reversal flag, the determination is NO and the process ends. On the other hand, if there is a change in the image reversal flag, the determination is YES, image reversal correction processing is performed (step S14), and the processing ends.

  As described above, in the endoscope apparatus 1, the distal end of the insertion portion 2 has a normal posture, and here, the rotational angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotational axis and the axis perpendicular to and parallel to the longitudinal direction as the rotational axis. When the rotation angles are 0 degrees, the top direction mark 34 and the gravity direction mark 35 are arranged at the upper end and the lower end on the circumference of the circle 33, respectively. When the posture of the distal end of the insertion portion 2 is changed, the endoscope apparatus 1 sets a rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis and a rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to and parallel to the longitudinal direction as the rotation axis. The top direction mark 34 or the gravity direction mark 35 is moved to a predetermined position on the circumference of the circle 33 according to the rotation angle and displayed, or the top direction mark 34 or the gravity direction mark 35 is displayed on the circle 33. The display is moved to a predetermined position corresponding to the inner rotation angle. As a result, for example, when the rotation angle with the longitudinal axis as the rotation axis is 0 degree and the rotation angle with the axis perpendicular to and parallel to the longitudinal direction is 90, the rotation angle inside the circle 33 of the indicator 31k A celestial direction mark 34 is displayed at the center position corresponding to.

  Therefore, according to the indicator generated by the endoscope apparatus of the present embodiment, the three-dimensional gravity direction and the antigravity direction (the celestial direction) can be displayed with high visibility.

  It should be noted that the steps in the flowcharts in this specification may be executed in a different order for each execution by changing the execution order and performing a plurality of steps at the same time, as long as the steps are not contrary to the nature.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope apparatus, 2 ... Insertion part, 2a ... Tip part, 3 ... Interchangeable optical adapter, 4 ... Main-body part, 5 ... Display apparatus, 5a ... Display part, 6 ... Operation part, 11 ... Objective lens, 12 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Optical adapter identification resistance, 13 ... Gravity direction detection part, 14 ... Imaging device, 15 ... Optical adapter identification part, 16 ... Gravity signal processing part, 17 ... Control part, 18 ... Optical adapter characteristic memory | storage part, 19 ... Image processing part , 20 ... Graphic generation unit, 21 ... Image composition unit, 31a to 31k ... Indicator, 32 ... Square, 33 ... Circle, 34 ... Sky direction mark, 35 ... Gravity direction mark, 36 ... Sky direction area, 37 ... Gravity direction area 41 ... piping.

Claims (3)

An image processing unit that performs image processing on an imaging signal imaged by an imaging device provided at a distal end portion of the endoscope insertion unit, and generates an endoscope image;
When the tip is in a normal posture, a gravitational direction display section in which a gravitational direction mark indicating a gravitational direction and a celestial direction mark indicating a direction opposite to the gravitational direction are disposed at opposite positions on the circumference,
A control unit that issues an instruction to generate the gravity direction display unit according to the posture of the tip part;
An image synthesizing unit that synthesizes the gravity direction display unit at a predetermined position of the endoscopic image ;
With
The control unit moves the gravity direction mark or the celestial direction mark to a predetermined position on the inner side of the circumference of the gravity direction display unit according to the amount of the change when the posture of the tip portion changes. It is displayed Te, the tip detachable, based on the type of the tip optical system, an endoscope apparatus which is characterized that you correct the gravity direction marks and the coordinate system of the stage direction mark. An image processing unit that performs image processing on an imaging signal imaged by an imaging device provided at a distal end portion of the endoscope insertion unit, and generates an endoscope image;
When the tip is in a normal posture, a gravitational direction display section in which a gravitational direction mark indicating a gravitational direction and a celestial direction mark indicating a direction opposite to the gravitational direction are disposed at opposite positions on the circumference,
A control unit that issues an instruction to generate the gravity direction display unit according to the posture of the tip part;
An image synthesizing unit that synthesizes the gravity direction display unit at a predetermined position of the endoscopic image;
A tip optical system that is detachably attached to the tip and includes an identification unit;
An optical system identifying unit for identifying the type of the tip optical system based on the identifying unit;
With
The control unit moves the gravity direction mark or the celestial direction mark to a predetermined position on the inner side of the circumference of the gravity direction display unit according to the amount of the change when the posture of the tip portion changes. is displayed Te, based on said type of the tip optical system identified by the identification unit, the endoscope apparatus you and corrects the gravity direction marks and the coordinate system of the stage direction mark. The tip optical system includes an identification resistor as the identification unit,
The endoscope apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the optical system identification unit identifies the type of the tip optical system based on the resistance of the identification resistor .