JPH0417834A - Shape measuring endoscope apparatus and measurement of shape using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To measure a shape at a high accuracy by arranging an irradiation means for a pattern projection light to be projected to an object within a tube cylinder operable freely at a manipulation end to always maintain a fixed angle of irradiation of a laser light pattern. CONSTITUTION:A torque cable 15 is a tubular cable and when a rotating force is applied from one end thereof to turn it by a specified angle, the other end thereof turns by the same angle. When a pattern projection member 18 is turned by a specified angle from the manipulation side of an endoscope 17, the tip thereof turns by the same angle by the action of the torque cable 15. As a result, an outgoing angle theta1 of a laser light pattern emitted from the pattern projection member 18 can be fixed at a fixed value. The pattern projection member 18 is inserted and the insertion thereof is stopped at a position where the tip of the member enters an assigned area of a monitor screen. Thus, an outgoing position of the laser light pattern can be fixed thereby enabling highly accurate measurement of a shape with a higher reliability in the results of computation.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides a shape measuring endoscope device that accurately measures the shape of a subject, and a shape measuring method using this endoscope device. Regarding.

(Prior Art) Generally, in a shape measuring endoscope, the shape of the subject is measured by emitting a laser light pattern onto the subject from the tip of the endoscope and detecting the reflected light with an image sensor.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional example of a shape measuring endoscope device, in which when a laser beam pattern 2 is emitted from a position slightly away from the center of the distal end surface 1 of an endoscope 17, it Pattern light 4 is projected onto object 3.

This patterned light 4 is detected by an imaging unit 5, and the shape of the object 3 is measured by an image processing device (not shown).

Next, the principle of measurement at this time will be explained based on FIG. 5.

In the figure, the emission direction of the laser beam pattern 2 is set to θ1.
If the detection direction of the patterned light 4 in the imaging section 5 is θp, and the distance between the emission position of the laser beam pattern 2 and the center position of the imaging section 5 is the parallax Pa, then the distance Zp from the tip surface 1 to the patterned light projection point is as follows. It is expressed by equation (1).

Zp = P, / (tanθ, +tanθp)
=lI) Also, if this distance Zp is two coordinates and the plane perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. It can be obtained using the following equations (2) and (3) using the reference position as the reference position.

X, -Z, ・tan θ,
・= (2) Y, -Z, ・tan
θv − (3) However, θ
2. θY is the angle in the X-axis direction and the y-axis direction at which the pattern light 4 is detected, respectively.

In this way, the positional coordinates (Xp, Yp, Zp) of the pattern light projection point are determined by equations (1) to (3), and the shape of the object 3 is measured.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional device, in order to emit the laser light pattern 2, a laser light guide fiber for transmitting the laser light is disposed within the endoscope scope 17. This has the disadvantage that the diameter of the scope becomes thicker.

In addition, in order to solve this problem, a method of inserting a laser light guide fiber into a forceps channel provided in the endoscope 17 can be considered, but in this method, a pattern is formed at the tip of the endoscope 17. Since the light projection member cannot be fixed, the emission direction θ of the laser light pattern 2
, can only be fixed.

Therefore, when measuring the shape, the emission direction θ of the laser beam pattern 2 shown in FIG. There was a problem that the shape fluctuated and the accurate shape could not be measured.

Furthermore, when a laser beam guiding fiber is inserted into the forceps channel, the protrusion distance d of the pattern projection member 6 attached to the fiber tip varies depending on the bending direction of the scope tip, as shown in FIG. There was a problem that errors occurred.

This invention was made in order to solve such conventional problems, and its purpose is to provide an electronic endoscope device that can measure shapes with high precision, and to provide an electronic endoscope that can use this electronic endoscope. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for measuring the shape of the object.

[Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems)] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for projecting pattern projection light onto a subject from the tip of an endoscope scope, and In a shape measuring endoscope device that measures the shape of a subject by detecting it with an image sensor, a tube tube that can be rotated freely from an operating end is provided in the endoscope scope, and the pattern projection light is projected inside the tube tube. It is characterized by the provision of an irradiation means for irradiating.

A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the tube tube is inserted into a forceps channel of an endoscope.

Furthermore, a third aspect of the present invention provides a shape meter that projects pattern projection light onto a subject from a pattern projection member attached to the distal end of an endoscope scope, and measures the shape of the subject by detecting the reflected light with an image sensor. The feature of method j is that the pattern projection member is gradually protruded from the distal end of the scope, and the shape of the object is measured when the pattern projection member enters a predetermined position within the field of view of the image sensor.

(Function) In the above configuration, claim 1. And 2, since the irradiation means for projecting the pattern projection light onto the subject is provided in a tube that can be rotated freely from the operating end, the irradiation angle of the laser light pattern can always be fixed at a constant value.

Further, in claim 3, the pattern projection member is gradually projected from the distal end of the endoscope, and the shape of the object is measured when the distal end enters a predetermined position within the field of view of the imaging device. . Therefore, it becomes possible to always irradiate the laser light pattern from the same position.

(Example) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a laser beam guiding fiber and a pattern projection member, which are the main parts of an electronic endoscope device to which the present invention is applied.

The pattern projection member 18 shown in the figure includes a focusing lens 9 that focuses the laser beam 8 propagated by the laser beam guide fiber 19, an aperture 10 that adjusts the light intensity of the laser beam 8, and a laser beam whose light intensity has been adjusted. 8, and a diffraction grating 13 that creates a line-shaped pattern of light 12 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper.

Further, the laser beam guiding fiber 19 has the single-core optical fiber 7 in the center, and the periphery thereof is covered with a cover 114 such as a silicon tube. Furthermore, this coating 14
is covered by a torque cable 15.

The torque cable 15 has a diameter of 2.0 to 2.5 [mm].
It is a cylindrical cable with a structure in which if a rotational force is applied to one end and the cable is rotated by a predetermined angle, the other end will also be rotated by the same angle.

FIG. 2 shows the details of the distal end of the endoscope 17, in which a forceps channel 16 is provided at a position slightly away from the center of the distal end 1 of the scope.

The forceps channel 16 is provided for inserting various members for performing operations such as spraying washing water onto the object 3 or cutting the object 3. In this embodiment, the forceps channel 16 is The pattern projection member shown in FIG. 1 is inserted into the hole.

In such a configuration, when the pattern projection member is rotated by a predetermined angle from the operating side of the endoscope 17, the distal end portion is rotated by the same angle due to the action of the torque cable shown in FIG. .

Therefore, the emission angle θ of the laser beam pattern emitted from the pattern projection member can be fixed to a constant value.

In addition, when measuring the shape with such a configuration, depending on the bending direction of the distal end of the endoscope 17,
As shown in FIG. 3, the protruding length d of the tip of the pattern projection member 18 changes, so the operator gradually inserts the pattern projection member while watching the monitor screen (not shown). The insertion is stopped at the position where the tip 20 enters the designated area 21 of the monitor screen 23. Measurement is then performed at this position.

This makes it possible to fix the emission position of the laser beam pattern.

In this way, in this embodiment, the laser beam guiding fiber 19 is configured using the torque cable 15, so that
Emission angle θ of laser light pattern.

can be fixed. Furthermore, since the protruding length d of the tip of the pattern projection member 18 can be fixed at a constant value during shape measurement, the reliability of calculation results based on equations (1) to (3) shown in the conventional example is significantly improved. , it becomes possible to measure shapes with high precision.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the present invention, since the irradiation means for pattern projection light is provided in a tube tube such as a torque cable that can be freely rotated from the operation end, the emission angle of the laser light pattern can be kept constant. can be fixed to.

When measuring the shape, the pattern projection member is gradually projected from the distal end of the scope, and the measurement is performed when the projection member enters a predetermined position within the field of view of the image pickup device. Therefore, the protrusion length of the pattern projection member can be fixed at all times.

As a result, the effect that highly accurate shape measurement becomes possible can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a pattern projection member and a laser beam guiding fiber, which are the main parts of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a detailed view of the tip of the endoscope, and Fig. 3 is a pattern projection member displayed on the screen. An explanatory diagram when Fig. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional example, Fig. 5 is a diagram explaining the principle of shape measurement, and Fig. 6 is an explanation showing the protrusion length of the pattern projection member due to the difference in the bending direction of the tip of the endoscope. It is a diagram. 5... Imaging unit 6... Pattern projection member 15...
Torque cable 16...forceps channel 17...
Endoscope scope 18... pattern projection member 19...
・Laser light guide fiber 21...Designated area agent Patent attorney Noriyuki Chika Agent Patent attorney Takeshi Kondo Figure 3 Kon 5 Figure 1 WJ2 Figure

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a shape measuring endoscope device that projects pattern projection light onto a subject from the tip of an endoscope and detects this reflected light with an image sensor to measure the shape of the subject, the endoscope includes: 1. A shape measuring endoscope apparatus, characterized in that a tube tube is provided that can be rotated freely from an operating end, and an irradiation means for irradiating the pattern projection light is provided inside the tube tube. (2) The shape measuring endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tube tube is inserted into a forceps channel of an endoscope. (3) A shape measurement method in which pattern projection light is projected onto a subject from a pattern projection member attached to the tip of an endoscope scope, and the reflected light is detected by an image sensor to measure the shape of the subject, the pattern projection being A shape measuring method using a shape measuring endoscope, characterized in that a member is gradually protruded from a distal end of a scope, and the shape of a subject is measured when the pattern projection member enters a predetermined position within the field of view of the image sensor.