JPS6250146B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an endoscope display device, and particularly to an endoscope display device capable of displaying endoscopic observation images and thermography images.

Recently, with the development of microwave thermography devices, research and development has been carried out to apply this microwave thermography technology to endoscope systems. Microwave thermography devices are used to detect microwaves emitted from a living body, measure the temperature distribution of the living body from the microwaves, and diagnose abnormalities in the tissue of the living body. When such a microwave thermography device is used together with an endoscope, more accurate diagnosis can be made. However, in the past, it was not possible to view the thermographic image and the observation image at the same time, so if you tried to look at the thermographic image while looking at the observation image, you had to move your eyes away from the endoscope eyepiece, which was troublesome during the examination. occurs. Also,
There is no correspondence between the thermographic image and the endoscopic image, which makes diagnosis difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope display device that allows a thermographic image and an endoscopically observed image to be viewed simultaneously.

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

In FIG. 1, a microwave receiver, ie, a microwave probe 12, is provided at the tip of an endoscope 11. The output end of the microwave probe 12 is guided to the endoscope operation unit 14 via a microwave transmission member provided in the flexible tube of the endoscope, such as a coaxial cable 13, and is connected to the signal processing device 15 from there. Ru. Endoscope operation section 14 and endoscope eyepiece section 1
A beam splitter 17 is provided between the beam splitter 6 and the beam splitter 17, and an imaging device, for example, a black and white television camera 18 using an imaging tube such as a vidicon or a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD, is attached to the beam splitter 17.

An output end of the signal processing device 15 is connected to an input end of a two-dimensional display device 19 and a signal converter 20. Signal converter 20 is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the input end is connected to the input end of a frame memory 24 that stores thermographic signals from the signal processing device 15 and reads them out at high speed. This frame memory 24 can be composed of, for example, a storage tube or a semiconductor memory. The output terminal of the frame memory 24 is connected to the non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 25.
The inverting input terminal of this operational amplifier 25 is connected to a reference signal generator 26 . The output terminal of the operational amplifier is connected to the A output terminal and the base of transistor 27. The collector of the transistor 27 is connected to the power supply Vcc via a resistor 28, and the emitter is grounded via a resistor 29. Further, the collector of the transistor 27 is connected to the B output terminal and the cathode of the diode 30. The output end of the operational amplifier 25 is connected to the cathode of the diode 31. diode 30
and 31 anodes are grounded. Signal converter 2
The A and B output terminals of 0 are the R of the color encoder 21.
-Y input terminal and G-Y input terminal, respectively.
The Y input terminal of this color encoder 21 is connected to the amplifier 2.
2 to the output end of the television camera 18. The output end of the color encoder 21 is connected to a color monitor television 23.

In the above-mentioned endoscope display device, when the distal end of the endoscope 11 is inserted into a body cavity, the microwave probe 12 detects microwaves emitted from tissues within the body cavity. The microwave detected by the probe 12 is transmitted to the signal processing device 15 via the microwave transmission member 13. The microwave information is processed by a signal processing device and sent as a thermographic signal to a signal converter 20 and a two-dimensional display device 1.
9. A microwave image is displayed on the two-dimensional display device 19. In order to obtain two-dimensional microwave information, that is, a thermographic signal, it takes 0.1 seconds to several tens of seconds, which is slower than the scanning speed of a standard television signal. The A signal is stored in the frame memory 24 of the signal converter 20 shown in FIG. A signal read out from the frame memory 24 at high speed is supplied to a non-inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier 25. In this operational amplifier 25 the signal is compared with a reference signal from a reference signal generator 26.
FIG. 3 shows the signals from the frame memory 24, namely the thermography signal S and the reference signal Ref. The output terminal of the operational amplifier 25 outputs positive and negative signals corresponding to the level of the thermography signal S with respect to the reference signal Ref. The positive part of the output signal of the operational amplifier 24 is output as a signal A from the A output terminal, and the negative part is inverted by the transistor 27 and output as a signal B from the output terminal B. These signals A and B are supplied to the RY and GY input ends of a color encoder 21 shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the endoscopic observation image is projected onto the eyepiece section 16 and the television camera 18 by the beam splitter 17. The television camera 18 converts the observed image into a black and white video signal, that is, a luminance signal, and supplies this luminance signal to the amplifier 22. The luminance signal amplified by the amplifier 22 is supplied to the luminance signal input terminal of the color encoder 21, that is, the Y input terminal. The color encoder 21 converts the signals A and B into color signals, superimposes them on the luminance signal from the amplifier 22, that is, the monochrome video signal, and supplies the signal to the color monitor television 23 as an NTSC signal. A black and white observed image and a color thermographic image are combined and displayed on the color monitor television 23 based on the NTSC signal. In this case, a signal with a higher level than the reference signal, ie, signal A, is expressed as red, whereas a signal with a lower level, ie, signal B, is expressed as blue. The saturation of these colors is proportional to the difference from the reference signal.

As explained above, by superimposing a color thermographic image on a black-and-white observation image, both images can be viewed simultaneously, allowing accurate and easy diagnosis.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG. According to this embodiment, a color television camera 32 is attached to the endoscope 11. The three primary color video signals R, G and B from the color television camera 32 are supplied to a matrix circuit 36 via amplifiers 33, 34 and 35, respectively. The matrix circuit 36 converts the video signals R, G and B into a luminance signal Y and color difference signals RY and G-Y.
The luminance signal Y is supplied to the Y input terminal of the color encoder 21, and the color difference signals R-Y and G-Y are supplied to the R-Y and G-Y inputs of the color encoder 21 via the first terminals 1a and 1b of the changeover switch 37, respectively. Supplied at the end. In this case, the endoscopic observation image is displayed on the monitor television 23 in color. On the other hand, when the switch 37 is switched to the second terminals 2a and 2b, the signals A and B from the signal converter 20 are supplied to the R-Y and G-Y input terminals of the color encoder 21, respectively, and the signals are output from the matrix circuit 36. Only the luminance signal Y is supplied. In this case, the observed image is displayed as a black and white image on the monitor television 23, and the color thermography image is superimposed on the black and white observed image.

As described above, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a composite image of a monochrome observation image, a thermography image, and a color observation image can be selectively switched and displayed, so that an appropriate image can be obtained depending on the diagnostic purpose. be able to.

As is clear from the embodiments described above, in the present invention, the observation image and the thermography image are displayed in a superimposed manner, so that the correspondence relationship between the two images becomes clear and accurate diagnosis can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of an endoscope display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the display converter shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a waveform of a thermography signal. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an endoscope display device according to another embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Endoscope, 12... Microwave probe, 13... Microwave transmission member, 15... Signal processing device, 16... Eyepiece, 17... Beam splitter, 18... Television camera, 20 ... Signal converter, 21 ... Color encoder, 23 ... Color monitor television.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A microwave thermography device that has a microwave receiver installed at the tip of an endoscope and generates thermography information, and a microwave thermography device that captures an endoscope observation image and generates a video signal. and a means for converting the thermographic information into a color video signal and combining the color video signal with a video signal of the imaging device, and converting the thermographic image into a color image to the endoscope. An endoscope display device comprising a color monitor device that simultaneously displays a mirror observation image as a black and white image. 2. The imaging device is constituted by a color television camera that outputs a color video signal corresponding to an observation image, and the monochrome observation image obtained by the luminance signal of the color video signal of the color television camera and the color thermography image are combined. 2. The endoscope display device according to claim 1, further comprising means for selectively switching between the composite image and the color observation image obtained from the color signal.