JPH0247619A - Image device for electronic endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform inspection and diagnosis by using an image pickup means which generates infrared image data by an image sequence system together with color image data of red, green, and blue and composing the device of an image processing method which processes the infrared image data as specified together with the respective color image data. CONSTITUTION:A filter device 20 is interposed between a light source 10 and a light guide 11 the light source part 3 emits light beams in the respective wavelength ranges of red, green, and blue successively in time series. Then a read image signal is sent to the image processor part 4 of a controller 1 and the image processor part 4 performs image processing. Therefore, an image of an observation object part and data regarding a disease affected part, etc., based upon the infrared light are displayed on a display device 5 at the same time. Consequently, the inspection and diagnosis are made more efficient.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides an electronic endoscope capable of displaying an image based on infrared light when displaying an image of an observation target on a display device. This invention relates to an imaging device for an electronic endoscope.

[Prior Art] In recent years, electronic endoscopes having a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD at the distal end of an insertion portion have been used as endoscopes used for medical purposes. Here, since it is necessary to make the insertion section of the endoscope as thin as possible, only one solid-state image sensor can be provided at the tip of the insertion section, and this one element In order to obtain clear images, the information for each color image of red, blue, and green is extracted in a frame-sequential manner. Therefore, in the light source section of an electronic endoscope equipped with this field-sequential solid-state image sensor, red (
Using a rotating color filter that transmits each of the wavelength ranges of R), green (G), and blue (B), the rotating color filter is interposed in the optical path from the light source and by rotating it, each of the wavelengths mentioned above can be transmitted. The area is irradiated with light in sequence.

A display device that displays a color image of the target area of the VI dormitory on a display device by performing image processing based on image signals of each of these R, G, and B colors has been used in the past. Further, in addition to the R, G, and B color image data, infrared light (IR) image data is also formed and displayed on the IR image display device. By displaying both IR images in this manner, information regarding the position and shape of the lesion can be obtained, which is extremely advantageous in performing examinations and diagnosis using an endoscope.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, when displaying an IFt image, both the IR images are displayed, and the color image of the observation target part and the IR image are displayed. Both images cannot be displayed at the same time, and for this reason,
There was a problem in that it was not possible to compare the image of the lesion with the position and shape of the lesion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to enable simultaneous display of both an image of an observation target and an IR image using infrared light on a display device. An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging device for an electronic endoscope.

[Means for Solving the Problem 1] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a feature of the present invention is to provide illumination of each wavelength range of red, green, blue, and infrared light toward the observation target part. Red by a light source means that irradiates light sequentially and in a time-series manner, and by a surface sequential method.

an imaging device that forms infrared image data along with green and blue color image data; a signal processing device that processes the color image data and the infrared image data into two screens; The main feature is that it is constructed from a display device that displays external images in parallel.

In addition, other features of the present invention include a light source means for sequentially irradiating illumination light in each wavelength region of red, green, blue, and infrared light toward the observation target portion in a time-series manner; red,
an imaging means for forming infrared image data together with green and blue color image data; a signal processing means for forming an infrared contour binary image based on the infrared image data; The present invention is comprised of a display device that displays a color image of the target area and a contour binarized image superimposed thereon.

[Operation] By configuring as described above,! It is now possible to simultaneously display an image of the 81 target area and data regarding the lesion based on infrared light on a display device, making inspection and diagnosis more efficient.

[Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

First, FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of the endoscope apparatus.

In the figure, 1 indicates a processor, and 2 indicates an endoscope. The control device 1 has a light source section 3 and an image processing processor section 4, and the image processing processor section 4 has a display consisting of a television monitor or the like. It is connected to device 5.

The light source section 3 of the control device 1 has a built-in light source 10 made of a lamp or the like that emits light at wavelengths in the infrared region as well as the visible region. The illumination light from this light source 10 is transmitted to the distal end of the insertion section 2a of the endoscope 2 via the light guide 11, and illuminates the observation target section.

Here, since a CCD is used in a field-sequential method as described later as an imaging means for the a-object area, the light source section 3 sequentially captures light in the red, green, and blue wavelength regions in chronological order. In addition, since it is necessary to generate an infrared image, it is also possible to generate light in the infrared wavelength range. For this purpose, a filter device 20 is interposed between the light source 10 and the light guide 11, as shown in FIG. This filter device 20
is a rotating color filter 21 formed in the shape of two discs,
22, and each of these rotating color filters 21, 22 is rotatably driven by a motor 23. Here, the rotating color filters 21 and 22 are shown in FIG.
) and (b).

First, as is clear from FIG. 4(a), the filter 21 has four fan shapes 21a to 2]d with a central angle of 90°.
The first partition part 21a is a red filter part equipped with a filter that transmits light in the red (R) wavelength range, and the second partition part 21b is a red filter part equipped with a filter that transmits light in the red (R) wavelength range. The third section 21c is a blue filter section equipped with a filter that transmits light in the blue (B) wavelength region, and the fourth section 21d is equipped with a filter that transmits light in the blue (B) wavelength range. This is a non-filter part that has no function, and is fitted with glass or the like, or is held in a space. Here, as will be described later, when illuminating with infrared light, if far infrared light is used, glass or the like is not attached.

Further, as is clear from FIG. 4(b), the filter 22 includes an infrared light cut filter section 22a that cuts infrared light (IR) and an infrared light filter section 22b that transmits the wavelength range of infrared light. is formed, and this filter 22 is
When divided into four fan shapes having an angle of 0'', the infrared light cut filter section 22a occupies % of the section, and the infrared light filter section 22b becomes the section C.

When rotating the rotating color filters 21 and 22 configured in this way by the motor 23, the filter Z1
The non-filter portion 21d faces the infrared light transmitting filter portion 22b of the filter 22. Furthermore, when the rotation is stopped, the non-filter portion 21d of the filter 21 faces the infrared light cut filter portion 22a, and this portion is maintained in the optical path from the light source 10.

Therefore, both filters 21, 22 are connected to the motor 23 through a mechanism that can be rotated simultaneously and one filter can be rotated by a predetermined angle relative to the other filter.

This mechanism has a configuration in which the rotating color filter 22 on one side is directly connected to the rotating shaft 24 of the motor 23, and the rotating color filter 21 on the other side is connected to the rotating shaft 24 via a connecting/separating mechanism so as to be able to connect to and separate from it. This can be achieved by adopting

That is, the rotating color filter 21 is attached to a driven cylinder 25, and a spring 26 is applied to the driven cylinder 25 so as to press it in the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. In this state, the driven cylinder 25 engages with the rotating shaft 24 and rotates together with it. Further, when the actuator (not shown) such as a solenoid is slid in the direction of arrow B in the figure, the engagement between the driven cylinder 25 and the rotating shaft 24 is released, and the motor 23 is rotated in this state. As a result, even if the rotating color filter 22 is rotated, the driven cylinder 25 and the rotating color filter 21 attached thereto are held in a non-rotating state.

In order to control the rotation of the color filters 21 and 22 for one rotation, the motor 23 is connected to a motor drive control circuit 27, and its drive is controlled based on a signal from the motor drive control circuit z7. It has become. Furthermore, when the rotating color filters 21 and 22 are to be stopped from being rotated at the same time, the non-filter portion 21d of the rotating color filter 21 must first be placed in a position facing the optical path from the light source 10. For this purpose, the one-rotation color filter 22 is provided with a position index 28, and in order to detect the position of the position index 28, a filter rotation position detection sensor 2 is placed so as to face the rotation locus.
9 are arranged.

As a result, when the motor drive control circuit 27 outputs a stop signal to the motor 23 and the position index 28 of the rotating color filter 22 is detected by the detection sensor 29, the rotating color filters 21 and 22 stop. It's like being forced to do something.

In this state, based on the signal from the motor drive control circuit 27, the driven cylinder 25 and the rotating shaft 24 are first disengaged, and then the motor 23 is activated, and only the rotating color filter 22 is activated. can be rotated 90''.

If this filter device 20 is used, the rotating color filter 21
．． While the rotating color filters 21 and 22 are being driven to rotate, it is possible to sequentially generate light in the R, G, B, and IR wavelength ranges in time series, and the rotation of these rotating color filters 21 and 22 is stopped. By doing so, it becomes possible to illuminate with white light excluding infrared light. Under such a light IJ7,
An image of the observation target area is formed on a solid-state image sensor 30 such as a COD provided at the tip of the insertion section 2a of the endoscope 2, photoelectrically converted by the solid-state image sensor 30, and clocked by the solid-state image sensor 30. By inputting a pulse and driving it, an image signal of the observation target part can be read out. The image signal thus read out is transmitted to the image processing processor section 4 in the control device J, and image processing is performed by the image processing processor section 4.

Therefore, a schematic configuration of the image processing processor section 4 is shown in FIG. As is clear from the figure, l! is read out from the solid-state image sensor 30! When the image signal of the target area is transmitted to the image processing processor section 4, the switching means 31 selectively inputs it to either the frame sequential processing section 32 or the non-frame sequential processing section 33. . Here, the switching between the field sequential processing section 32 and the non-field sequential processing section 33 is performed by rotating the 0-rotation color filters 21 and 22, which are automatically switched depending on the illumination method described above. G.
B.

When sequential IR illumination is being performed, the frame sequential processing unit 2 is selected, rotation of the rotating color filters 21 and 22 is stopped, and R+G+8 illumination that does not include infrared light is performed. In this case, the non-surface sequential processing unit 33 is selected.

The image signals of each wavelength component of R, G, B, and IR are sequentially inputted to the frame sequential processing unit 32 by the solid-state image sensor 3°, and each of these image signals is D
The image signal is input to a converter 34, and the image signal in each of these wavelength components is digitized. and,
This signal is selected by the switching means 35, and the data of each image is individually written into the frame memory. That is, the frame memory is R,G.

It has four memory areas of 36R, 36G, 36B, and 36IR to store the image signals of the B and IR wavelength components, respectively, and the output side of each of these frame memories is used to convert the memory output into analog. D/A for
A converter 37 is connected. Then, R, G, and B for one frame are stored in frame memories 36R, 36G, and 36B.
When writing of the image signals is completed, these image signals of each color are simultaneously read out and inputted to the color composite signal generation encoder 38, and from this color composite signal generation encoder 38 to the display device. 5 can output a color composite image signal. In addition, the R, G, and B image signals are also manually input to the diagonal surface processing circuit 39.

On the other hand, the infrared image data from the frame memory 36IR is displayed on the display device 5 as is, or
It is input to the diagonal surface processing circuit 39 together with the color image signals described above, so that it is possible to perform dual screen processing. If the diagonal surface processing circuit 39 inputs a dual screen processing output signal to the display device 5, it is possible to display two screens of both a color image and an IR image in parallel.

Furthermore, each color image signal of R, G, B, and IR mentioned above is I
It is also input to the R signal amplifier 42.The IR section gate pulse is input to the IR signal amplifier 42, and only the IR image signal is taken out, and the JR contour binarization circuit 43 converts it into the TR. A contour shape signal is obtained. Then, this signal is sent to an encoder 38 for generating a color composite signal.
By inputting the IR contour information into the color composite image signal, it is possible to superimpose the IR contour information on the color composite image signal. Whether or not to superimpose this rR contour information can be selected by a switch 40.

The display device 5 is configured to display a color image of the observation target area, display both IR images, or display parallel images of both a color image and an IR image, through the signal processing described above. It is now possible to select whether to display IR contour information superimposed on the color image. A display mode selection switch 41 is provided between the output terminal of each of these images and the input terminal of the display device 5, and the display mode can be selected by this switch 41. There is.

On the other hand, when the non-sequential processing section 33 is selected by the switching means 31, the display mode selection switch 41 allows the display device 5 to display an image processed by a system different from the image processing described above. It has become. Therefore, this non-field sequential processing unit 33 is provided with a processing circuit suitable for signal processing from another type of image sensor capable of forming a color image signal by illumination with white light, such as a COD with a built-in mosaic filter. If a processing circuit suitable for forming a monochrome image is provided, the CC with a built-in mosaic filter can be installed in the W control device 1 when illuminating with white light.
It also becomes possible to connect an endoscope equipped with D, and to display images of the observation target area on a monochrome screen.

Thus, the non-filter portion of the rotating color filter 21 faces the infrared light transmitting filter portion 22b of the rotating color filter 22, and each of the red, green, and blue filter portions 21a to 21c faces the infrared light cut filter portion 22a. In a situation where you are facing
Based on the signal from the motor drive control circuit 27, the motor 2
Activate 3.

As a result, as shown in FIG.
When 1a is located on the optical path from the light source 10, (C)
As shown in FIG. 2, the light having only the red wavelength component of the illumination light is transmitted and sent into the light guide 12. Next, when the green filter section ztb is located on the optical path, light having only the green wavelength component is transmitted, as shown in (b), and when the blue filter section 21c is located on the optical path, (a ), light having only blue wavelength components is transmitted. Moreover, the filter 21
Since the infrared light cut filter part 22a of the filter 22 faces each of these filter parts 21a to 21c, infrared light is completely blocked, and the wavelength characteristics of the transmitted light are extremely good.

Furthermore, when the non-filter portion 21d of the filter 21 is located on the optical path from the light source 10, the infrared light transmitting filter portion 22b of the filter 22 is located on this optical path, so as shown in (d), Light having only the wavelength component of infrared light is transmitted. As a result, light guide 1 has red (R), green (G), blue (B),
Infrared light (IR) illumination light can be sequentially and periodically irradiated at regular time intervals.

The illumination light having such wavelength characteristics is passed through the light guide 11.
The solid-state imaging device 30 captures red, green, and blue color images and both IR images. Therefore, this solid U & image element 30
By applying a clock pulse to , each of the image signals described above can be input to the image processing processor section 4 of the control device 1. This input signal is sequentially applied to each frame memory 36R13 by the operation of the switching means 35.
Written to 6G, 35B, 361R.

Here, when color image display is selected by the display mode selection switch 41 as the display mode in the display device 5, the frame memory:]5R
, 36G, and 36B, each of these image data is simultaneously read out, converted into an analog signal by the D/A converter 37, and then converted into an analog signal by the color composite signal generation encoder 38. , these image signals of each color are combined and displayed on the display device 5.

Further, when the IR dual image display mode is selected, the image data written in the frame memory 36IR is read out, converted to an analog signal by the D/A converter 37, and displayed on the display device 5. be done.

Furthermore, when the aforementioned mode of displaying both the color image and the IR image in parallel is selected, the output signals from each of the frame memories 36R, 36G, 36B, and 36IR are input to the diagonal surface processing circuit 39. The color image and the IR image of the observation target area are displayed in parallel on the left and right sides of the monitor screen of the display device 5.

Furthermore, the switch 40 causes the IR image data to be input to the IR contour binarization circuit 43 via the IR signal amplifier 42, and this circuit 43 forms information regarding the IR contour. If the above-mentioned color image display mode is selected by the display mode selection switch 41 while the color composite signal is input to the encoder 38 for generating a color composite signal, a [R contour line] will be displayed on the monitor screen of the display device 5 in the image of the observation target. Display will be performed in a super-imposed state. As a result, on the monitor screen of the display device 5, the outline shape of the lesion is superimposed on the color image E of the observation target area and is dimmed, so that examinations and diagnosis can be performed more efficiently. become.

First, a rotating color filter 21 in the filter device 20;
When the rotation of the filter 22 is stopped, the non-filter portion 21d and the position filters 21 and 22 facing the optical path from the light source 10 are also stopped. In this state, by rotating only the rotating color filter 22 by 90 degrees, the filter 2
When the infrared light cut filter part 22a of the filter 22 is made to face the non-filter part 21d of the light guide 11, the light guide 11 receives white light that does not contain infrared light (as shown in FIG. 3(e)). R+G+B) lighting can be performed. Therefore, image processing using a CCD using a mosaic filter or image processing for displaying on a monochrome screen becomes possible. Furthermore, since the intensity of this illumination light is large, when the insertion section 2a of the endoscope 2 is inserted into the body, the position of its tip can be confirmed from outside the body by the light leaking through the body skin. become able to.

[Effect of the Invention 1] As explained above, according to the present invention, a light source means for sequentially and time-sequentially irradiating illumination light in each wavelength region of red, green, blue, and infrared light toward an observation target part. and an image processing means that performs predetermined image processing on each color image data such as the infrared image data, using the image pickup means that forms infrared image data together with each color image data of red, green, and blue in a frame sequential manner. This makes it possible to display an image based on infrared light, which displays information such as the location and shape of a lesion, on a display device at the same time as a color image of the area to be observed, making it easier for inspection and diagnosis. can be done more efficiently.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an imaging device, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an endoscope device, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a light source device, and FIG. Figures (a) and (b)
5 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of different rotating color filters, and FIG. 5 is a wavelength characteristic diagram of transmitted light from the filter device. 1: processor, 2: endoscope, 3: light source section, 4: image processing processor section, 5: display device, 10: light source,
11 Nilight guide, 20: Filter device, 21゜22
Two-rotation color filter, 21a: red filter section, 21b two-green filter section, 2] c: blue filter section, 21d: non-filter section, 22a: infrared light cut filter section, 22b: infrared light filter section, 23: Motor, 27: Motor drive control circuit, 30 solid-state image sensors. 32: Field sequential processing section, 33: Non-field sequential processing section, 35 Niswitching means, 36R, 36G, 36B, 36I
R: Frame memory, 38 encoder for generating bipolar composite signals, 39: Bilateral surface processing circuit, 41: Display mode selection switch, 42: IR signal amplifier, 43: IR contour binarization circuit. Figure 3

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A light source means that sequentially irradiates illumination light in each wavelength region of red, green, blue, and infrared light toward the observation target part in time series, and images of each color of red, green, and blue using a field sequential method. an imaging means that forms infrared image data together with the data; a signal processing means that processes the respective color image data and the infrared image data into two screens; and a color image and the infrared image of the observation target area in parallel. 1. An image device for an electronic endoscope, comprising: a display device for displaying images. (2) A light source means that sequentially irradiates illumination light in each wavelength region of red, green, blue, and infrared light toward the observation target part in a time-series manner, and images of each color of red, green, and blue using a field sequential method. an imaging means for forming infrared image data together with the data; a signal processing means for forming an infrared contour binary image based on the infrared image data; An image device for an electronic endoscope, comprising a display device that displays binarized images in a superimposed manner.