JPH0373292B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an endoscope equipped with an operation section and an image display device that displays an endoscopic image.

[Technical background of the invention]

Conventionally, some endoscopes capture an image of a subject using an image sensor, such as a CCD (charge-coupled device), and display the captured image, a so-called endoscopic image, on an image display device, such as a CRT (cathode ray tube).

Therefore, when using such an endoscope, it is not necessary to attach the eye to the eyepiece each time, which is convenient for busy users. It is also convenient because multiple people can observe the endoscopic image at the same time.

[Problems with background technology]

However, with such endoscopes,
Only the endoscopic image is displayed on the CRT screen, and it is impossible to display data related to the endoscopic image, such as the name, which is often inconvenient. Note that data can be imprinted by attaching a camera to the CRT screen, taking a photograph of the endoscope image on the screen, and then "scratching" the data onto the photographic film. Imprinting is the recording stage of the endoscopic image, and unlike imprinting at the observation stage where the endoscopic image is displayed on the CRT screen, it requires the extremely troublesome work of "scratching". It had the disadvantage of becoming.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to easily imprint data related to an endoscopic image displayed on an image display device. An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent endoscope that can be used with ease of use.

[Summary of the invention]

According to the present invention, a data input device is removably attached to the operation section, and a means is provided for adding data inputted by the data input device to an endoscopic image displayed on the image display section.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, 1 is an operating section;
An insertion tube 2 is provided at one longitudinal end of the operating section 1 . This insertion tube 2 has a flexible part 2a, a curved part 2
b. The tip part 2c irradiates the object with light from a light source (not shown) connected to the operation part 1, and the reflected light from the object is transmitted to the CCD (not shown) in the tip part 2c. (not shown) and supplies the electrical signal, that is, the image signal, to the operating section 1. Note that the operating section 1 has an insertion tube adjustment dial 1a, and the dial 1
By turning a, the curved portion 2b rotates, allowing the tip portion 2c to face a desired object.

Further, a data input device 3 is attached to the other longitudinal end of the operation section 1 . This data input device 3 is
It has a pair of connection terminals 3a, 3b and a plurality of input keys corresponding to languages and symbols, respectively, and can be attached to and detached from the operation unit 1 via the terminals 3a, 3b, and various data inputted with the input keys. is input to the operation unit 1 via the connection terminals 3a and 3b. Here, a plurality of data input devices 3 are prepared depending on the content of data, and some of them are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. First, the data input device 3 shown in FIG. 3 has input keys R (rectum), S (sigmoid colon), D (duodenum), etc. corresponding to the names of human organs. On the other hand, the data input device 3 shown in FIG. 4 has, for example, an arrow input key X, an arrow position input key Y, etc. in addition to the input keys corresponding to the names of the storage containers.

Image signals and data supplied to the operating section 1 are then supplied to the control unit 5 via line 4. This control unit 5
displays an image based on the supplied image signal, that is, an endoscopic image on the image display device 6, and
Images of languages and symbols based on the supplied data are added to the endoscopic image and displayed on the image display device 6.

FIG. 5 shows the main part of the control circuit. That is, the data input device 3 includes a keyboard 31 and an encoder 32, and encodes and outputs input data obtained by operating various input keys. The control unit 5 includes a decoder 51, a CPU
(central processing control unit) 52, ROM (read only memory) 53, character generation circuit 54, and image processing circuit 55, character data or symbol data corresponding to the code from the data input device 3 is stored in the ROM 5.
3 and the corresponding image signal.
It is processed together with the image signal from the CCD and supplied to the image display device 6.

Next, the operation in the above configuration will be explained. When the insertion tube 2 is inserted into the human body and an endoscopic image is displayed on the image display device 6, if you press any input key on the data input device 3, the language or symbol corresponding to that input key will be displayed. It is displayed on the image display device 6 in a form added to the endoscopic image. Therefore, when a plurality of people are viewing an endoscopic image, it is possible for all of them to easily understand what endoscopic image they are currently viewing. In this case, if the data input device 3 shown in Fig. 3 is installed, the input key R
By pressing , the character “Rectum” will be displayed. Further, when the data input device 3 of FIG. 4 is worn, if the arrow input key X is pressed, for example, at the upper right position, an arrow pointing in the upper right direction is displayed.
Then, if the arrow position input key Y, for example, the upward key, is pressed, the displayed arrow moves upward on the screen of the image display device 6. In other words, by operating the keys X and Y, it is possible to point to a desired portion of the displayed endoscopic image. Furthermore, by taking a photo of the screen of the image display device 6 with data imprinted on it, the endoscopic image can be easily kept as a record along with the data, eliminating the need for the traditional "scribbling" process. , convenient. In particular, the data input device 3 is made detachable,
Since the data input device 3 is configured to have a plurality of types, it is possible to input a wide variety of data.

Moreover, by removing the data input device 3 from the operating section 1, the operating section 1 can be easily cleaned, which is convenient. Further, when data input is not required, the data input device 3 is removed from the operating section 1, thereby making the operating section 1 lightweight and improving operability.

In the above embodiment, a ROM was used for storing character data and symbol data in the control unit 5, but as shown in FIG.
A RAM (random access memory) 56 and a keyboard 57 may be employed so that character data and symbol data can be rewritten as appropriate.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the operating section 1 is shaped to be easy to hold, a small image display device 6 is attached to the end of the operating section 1, and a data input device 3 is mounted on the surface of the operating section 1. may be embedded. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the data input device 3 may be made smaller and may be detachably attached to the surface of the operating section 1. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, a data input device 3 may be provided in parallel to the image display device 6 in the operation section 1.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, data related to the endoscopic image displayed on the image display device can be easily imprinted, thereby providing excellent usability. We can provide endoscopes.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the invention.
The figure is an overall configuration diagram, Figure 2 is a configuration diagram showing the correspondence between the operation section and the data input device, and Figures 3 and 4 are
5 is a block diagram showing an example of a data input device, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of main parts of a control circuit, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a modification of FIG. 5, FIGS. 7, 8,
and FIG. 9 are configuration diagrams showing modified examples of the operating section and its peripheral parts, respectively. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Operating unit, 2... Insertion tube, 3... Data input device, 5... Control unit, 6... Image display device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an endoscope equipped with an operation section and an image display device that displays an endoscopic image, a data input device is detachably provided on the operation section, and data input from the data input device is provided. An endoscope comprising means for adding data to an endoscopic image displayed on the image display device. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the data input device has a plurality of input keys each corresponding to a language or a symbol.