JPH119548A - Portable electronic endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the use of an electronic endoscope to dislocated position without impairing the conventional function. SOLUTION: A white LED, a CCD 10 and a signal processing part and the like are arranged and an operating part 14 is provided with a protruding case body 23 protruding in the direction vertical to the axis of a body to house a battery 24 as drive source of each circuit part. A video output terminal 28 is provided at the rear end of the operating part 14 and a liquid crystal monitor 27 is detachably mounted at the video output terminal 28 through a connector terminal 33. This facilitates the use of an electronic endoscope dislocated and allows the removal of a liquid crystal monitor 27 to connect a TV monitor in stead through the video output terminal 28. Moreover, the protruding case body 23 housing the battery 24 can be functioned as grip part of the operating part or a finger hook part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable electronic endoscope apparatus which is driven by a battery power source and is easy to carry and handle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a CCD which is a solid-state imaging device has been used.
(Charge Coupled Device) is used in an electronic endoscope device which is built in a distal end portion of an electronic endoscope and captures an image of a body to be observed such as in a body cavity or a cavity into which the distal end portion is inserted. That is, light from a light source is radiated into a body to be observed using a light guide or the like, and an area irradiated with the light is illuminated by the CCD.
Will be taken at An image signal (video signal) obtained by the CCD in this manner is subjected to T
The image is sent to a V monitor or the like, and an image of the inside of the subject is displayed on the TV monitor.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned electronic endoscope apparatus, a commercial power supply is generally used as a driving source of a light source section, a signal processing section, and the like, and a CRT display is used as a display. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to use an electronic endoscope in a different location. In the electronic endoscope, the photographing / display conditions and the like suitable for each operator can be registered, or the functions may be different in each electronic endoscope. , Operating room, etc.), it is convenient if the same familiar electronic endoscope can be used. In this case, it is desired that the device is easy to carry without losing the conventional functions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to facilitate use of an electronic endoscope in a different location, and to provide a portable electronic endoscope which does not impair the conventional functions. A mirror device is provided.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a portable electronic endoscope apparatus according to the present invention has a light source for outputting illumination light from a distal end portion and a solid-state imaging device. A signal processing unit for processing the obtained image signal, a battery power supply for driving each circuit including the signal processing unit and the light source, and a video for outputting the image signal formed by the signal processing unit to the outside. A display device having an output terminal and a connector terminal connected to the video output terminal, and displaying an image based on an image signal input from the signal processing unit via the connector terminal, which is detachable from the main body. And a liquid crystal monitor attached to the liquid crystal display. The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, as the light source, a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged at the tip. The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that a protruding case body protruding in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the main body is provided in the endoscope operation section, and the battery power source is arranged in the protruding case body.

According to the above arrangement, the light source, the CCD which is a solid-state image pickup device, and the signal processing circuit are driven by the battery power source, and the light output from the light source is irradiated from the front end, and the irradiated portion is irradiated. An image is captured by the CCD. This CC
The output of D is subjected to predetermined processing by a signal processing circuit, and an image signal obtained by the signal processing circuit is supplied to a liquid crystal monitor from a video output terminal. Therefore, the image captured by the CCD is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor, and the endoscope image can be observed with the liquid crystal monitor.

The liquid crystal monitor is detachable. The liquid crystal monitor is detached from the main body while the connector terminal of the liquid crystal monitor is detached from the video output terminal, and the connector terminal of the CRT display is connected to the video output terminal. By connecting, the image captured by the CCD is CR
It is displayed on the T display. Therefore, when a TV monitor or the like using a CRT is provided, the endoscope image can be observed with the TV monitor, and the conventional functions are not impaired.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the light is directly emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements disposed at the distal end, thereby illuminating the body to be observed. Therefore, there is no need for a light guide for guiding the light to the distal end portion, and the transmission loss of the light is reduced, so that there is an advantage that the light required for photographing can be supplied even with a battery power supply.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the battery power supply is arranged in the projecting case body of the operation portion projecting in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the main body, and the battery power supply can be efficiently arranged.

[0010]

1 to 6 show a configuration of a portable electronic endoscope apparatus as an example of an embodiment. FIG. 1 is an overall view of the apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 3, FIG.
FIG. 2 is a view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from the rear side. In the figure, the portable electronic endoscope apparatus includes an insertion section 12 having a CCD 10 at a distal end and an operation section 14, and the operation section 14 is provided with a treatment instrument insertion port 15 for introducing a treatment instrument such as forceps. The operating portion 14 includes an angle knob 16 and a lock lever 1 for bending the distal end of the insertion portion 12.
7 and the like are arranged, and these members have the same configuration as a conventional electronic endoscope.

As shown in FIG. 2, the distal end surface of the distal end of the insertion section 12 has the treatment instrument insertion port (forceps port) 15 as shown in FIG.
Forceps port 18, which communicates with the treatment instrument through a treatment instrument insertion channel,
An objective lens system (covered with a protective glass) 19 optically connected to the CCD 10;
An air supply / water supply nozzle 20 for supplying air / water toward 9 is provided.

On the outer periphery of the front end surface, for example, eight LEDs (light emitting diodes) 21 for outputting white light are arranged at equal intervals as light sources (this LED 21 is provided with a protective glass or an irradiation lens). ). That is, conventionally, light from, for example, a halogen lamp or a xenon lamp arranged in a light source device separate from the electronic endoscope is guided to the distal end portion via a light guide, but in this example, the light source is a light source. The LED 21 is disposed on the distal end surface, and the light of the LED 21 is directly irradiated without passing through the light guide.

Further, in the above-mentioned operation section 14, in the longitudinal direction and the direction perpendicular to the axis of the insertion section 12 (the axis of the main body), on the opposite side of the angle knob 16, a protruding frustoconical case body 23 is provided. Is provided, and a battery 24 is disposed in the case body 23. As the battery 24, a lithium ion battery, a nickel cadmium (NiCd) battery, a nickel hydride (NiMH) battery, or the like, for example, 3.6
V and a capacitor having a capacity of 1300 mAh are used.
Of course, a secondary battery may be used instead of these batteries 24.

The protruding case body 23 is arranged on the opposite side of the angle knob 16 so as to balance the device, and also to endoscope (or the operation unit 14) by hand.
Function as a grip portion for gripping the operation portion or as a finger hook portion when the operation portion (in the body axis direction) 14 is gripped.

Further, signal processing sections 25A and 25B are provided in the operation section 14 and the protruding case body 23, and the signal processing sections 25A and 25B are provided with CCDs.
The video signal obtained in step 10 is subjected to predetermined color image processing such as clamp processing and gamma correction to form a composite signal of, for example, a color difference signal. A liquid crystal monitor 27 is detachably mounted on the upper side of the operation unit 14.

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the mounting portion of the liquid crystal monitor 27. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the signal processing section 25 is provided on the rear end face of the operation section 14.
A video output terminal 28 connected to terminals A and 25B is arranged, and a ball receiving unit 30 is provided above the operation unit 14. The ball 31A of the fixture 31 is rotatably fitted in the ball receiving portion 30, and a conical groove 30A for tilting the fixture 31 by a predetermined angle within a range of 360 degrees is formed. Further, the ball receiving portion 30
, A fixing screw 32 for fixing the position of the ball 31A is attached.

On the other hand, the attachment 31 has a rotary operation part 31B and a male screw part 31C integral with the rotary operation part 31B, and a female screw part 27A screwed to the male screw part 31C is provided. It is provided at the bottom of the liquid crystal monitor 27. A connector terminal 33 connected to the video output terminal 28 on the main body is attached to the liquid crystal monitor 27. The above-mentioned attachment / detachment mechanism may have another configuration.

FIG. 5 shows another example of the above-mentioned projecting case body. The projecting case body 35 shown in FIG. 5 reduces the amount of projection in the direction perpendicular to the main body axis and is formed in an L-shape. It is formed. Similarly to the above case, the battery 24 is housed in the protruding case body 35 and the signal processing unit 2
5A is arranged.

The portable electronic endoscope apparatus according to the present embodiment has the above-described configuration. The portable electronic endoscope apparatus performs all operations for image capturing only by the power of the battery 24, and displays an image of the inside of the body to be observed on the liquid crystal monitor 27. be able to. That is, at the time of imaging,
A plurality of LEDs 21 at the outer peripheral portion of the distal end surface shown in FIG. 2 emit light, and the light from the LEDs 21 illuminates the inside of the object to be observed. Then, the object to be observed is captured by the CCD 10 via the objective lens system 19, and the CCD 1
The output signal of 0 is output from the video output terminal 28 as a video signal after being subjected to predetermined color image processing in the signal processing units 25A and 25B.

The above-mentioned video signal is supplied to the liquid crystal monitor 27 via the connector terminal 33, and an image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 27. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the position of the liquid crystal monitor 27 can be tilted back and forth and left and right, and can be set to a position that is easy to see. Further, in this electronic endoscope apparatus, various treatments are inserted into the observation body through the treatment instrument insertion port 15 arranged in the operation unit 14 while observing the above-described image, thereby performing various treatments. It can be carried out.

When the endoscope is used, the protruding case members 23 and 35 function as a grip portion or a finger hook portion of the endoscope operation portion 14 and an angle for bending the distal end portion. This serves to balance with the knob 16, which has the advantage that the endoscope can be easily operated.

FIG. 6 shows a case where a conventional TV monitor is used in the portable electronic endoscope apparatus. In this example, as described above, the liquid crystal monitor 27 can be detached from the operation unit 14 by rotating the rotation operation unit 31B of the fixture 31 shown in FIG. Accordingly, a TV monitor 39 is connected to a signal line 38 having a connector terminal 37 at the video output terminal 28 of the operation unit 14.
Can be displayed on the TV monitor 39, the in-vivo image captured by the CCD 10 can be displayed, and one of the liquid crystal monitor 27 and the TV monitor 39 can be selected according to the situation.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A battery power supply for driving each circuit, a video output terminal for outputting image signals to the outside, and a liquid crystal monitor that is connected to this video output terminal and that is detachable from the main unit are provided. The endoscope can be easily used, and the conventional function of displaying the in-vivo image on the TV monitor is not impaired, so that a portable electronic endoscope apparatus which is easy to use can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the illumination light is directly emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements disposed at the tip end, a light guide for guiding the light to the tip end becomes unnecessary, and the light guide is not required. Transmission loss can be reduced, and light necessary for photographing can be supplied even with a battery power supply.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the battery power supply is disposed in the projecting case projecting in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the main body, the battery power supply can be efficiently arranged. It becomes possible to function as a grip part or a finger hook part of the operation part.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing a configuration of a portable electronic endoscope apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a distal end face of an insertion portion of the electronic endoscope apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of the operation unit of the electronic endoscope apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from a rear end side.

FIG. 4 shows an attachment / detachment mechanism of the liquid crystal monitor according to the embodiment;
Figure (A) is a view as seen from the rear side, and Figure (B) is a view as seen from the side.

FIG. 5 is a view showing another example of the projecting case body of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the liquid crystal monitor is removed in the embodiment,
It is a figure showing the state at the time of using a V monitor.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 CCD, 12 Insertion part, 14 Operation part, 21 LED, 23, 35 Projecting case body, 24 Battery, 25A, 25B Signal processing part, 27 Liquid crystal monitor, 28 Video output terminal, 33 , 37 ... connector terminal, 39 ... TV monitor.

Claims (3)

[Claims] A light source for outputting illumination light from a front end; a signal processing unit for processing an image signal obtained by a solid-state imaging device; and a circuit for driving each circuit including the signal processing unit and the light source. A battery power supply, a video output terminal for outputting an image signal formed by the signal processing unit to the outside, and a connector terminal connected to the video output terminal, and the signal processing unit is connected via the connector terminal. A portable electronic endoscope device, comprising: a display device for displaying an image based on an image signal input from the device; and a liquid crystal monitor detachably attached to a main body. 2. The portable electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of light-emitting elements are arranged at a distal end as the light source. 3. The endoscope operation unit according to claim 1, wherein a projecting case body projecting in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the main body is provided, and the battery power source is disposed in the projecting case body. 3. The portable electronic endoscope device according to 2.