JPH06114002A - Endoscope apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an endoscope apparatus which enables the following of the control of a drive means even at any operation speed of a bending direction input device. CONSTITUTION:An endoscope apparatus 1 which has a bending part 5 provided at an inserting part 7, a motor 21 to drive and bend the bending part 5 and a joystick 25 which inputs the direction of bending the bending part 5 to control the motor 21 is equipped with a strain gauge 38 stuck on a low rigid section 37 provided on a stick to perform an initial detection of the direction of operating the stick of the joystick 25, a judging device 29 to judge a signal from the strain gauge 38 and an MCU27 which performs an initial control of the motor 21 based on the judgment of the judging device 29 before the driving of the motor 21 by an input of the same joystick 25.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus for bending a bending portion by controlling a driving means by an input from a bending direction input device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a bending mechanism of an endoscope, various means for bending a bending portion by using an electric motor have been proposed, and one example thereof is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-59329. . According to the means disclosed in this publication, the bending can be performed by operating the bending switch, so that there is an advantage that the operability such as lighter operation is improved.

Further, as means for further improving operability, Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-59329 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-133301 proposes a joystick as a bending switch. In the means disclosed in these publications, the operator can operate one stick of the joystick with his / her finger or the like to freely control the bending portion in four directions of up, down, left and right, and the tilt angle of the stick. By controlling the bending angle of the bending portion to change in accordance with the above, there is an advantage that the operator can estimate the bending angle of the bending portion from the tilt angle of the stick, and can safely operate the endoscope.

[0004]

However, in the bending direction input device such as the joystick as described above,
Because the surgeon can freely move and operate the stick,
In some cases, the motor control could not keep up with the operating speed of the stick. In such a case, the bending of the bending portion cannot follow the operation speed, and the bending portion cannot be operated where the operator thinks, so that there is a problem that the operability is rather deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an endoscope apparatus in which the followability of the control of the drive means to the operating speed of the bending direction input device is improved.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an endoscope apparatus according to the present invention has a bending portion provided in an insertion portion, a driving means for driving the bending portion to bend, and the bending portion. In an endoscope apparatus having a bending direction input device for controlling a driving means by inputting a bending direction of a bending portion, a detecting means provided in the bending direction input device for detecting an operation direction of the bending direction input device, Before the drive means is driven by the input of the bending direction input device, an initial motion control device for initially controlling the drive means according to a signal from the detection means is provided.

[0007]

Before the driving means is driven by the input of the bending direction input device, the detecting means detects the operating direction of the bending direction input device, and the initial control device operates the driving means in response to a signal from the detecting means. Initial control.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an endoscope apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a joystick, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the joystick.

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope apparatus 1 comprises the endoscope 2, the external control device 3, and the monitor 16 as a main part thereof.

The endoscope 2 is provided with an elongated insertion portion 7, and the insertion portion 7 has a distal end constituting portion 4, a bendable bending portion 5, and a flexible tube portion 6 having flexibility connected from the distal end. It is installed and configured. An operating portion 8 is provided at the proximal end of the insertion portion 7, and a universal cord 9 having a light guide and a signal cable (not shown) inserted to the distal end of the insertion portion 7 extends from the side of the operation portion 8. It is set up. A connector 11 is provided at the tip of the universal cord 9, and the endoscope 2 is detachably connected to the external control device 3 via the connector 11.

An objective optical system (not shown) such as an objective lens is provided at the tip of the insertion section 7, and a solid-state image pickup device such as a CCD for photoelectrically converting a subject image is arranged on the focal plane of the objective optical system. The video signal captured by the solid-state image sensor is connected to the camera control unit (hereinafter referred to as CCU) 15 provided in the external control device 3 via a signal cable, and the signal processing is performed by the CCU 15. ,
The observation image signal is output to the monitor 16 or the like.

Further, in the operation portion 8, as a bending motor 21 which is a driving means, a UD bending motor (up-down bending motor) for driving a bending wire for up and down directions and a bending for left and right directions. An RL curving motor (right-left curving motor) that drives the wire is provided, and an unillustrated encoder is fixed to each of the curving motors 21 coaxially with the motor shaft, and a potentiometer is also provided. . On the other hand, a pulley 23 is fixed to the output shaft of each bending motor 21, and a bending wire 22 that bends the bending portion 5 by rotating and pulling the pulley 23 is wound around the pulley 23. Has been done.

There are two sets of the bending wire 22, the pulley 23, the motor 21 and the like for the UD and the RL as described above, but here, for simplification, only the UD is shown.
Omitted.

Further, the operation portion 8 is provided with a joystick 25 which is a bending direction input device for operating the bending of the bending portion 5, and the joystick 25 is connected to the external control device 3 via a signal cable. It is connected to a motor control unit (hereinafter referred to as MCU) 27 which will be described later. With such a configuration, the MCU 27 controls the bending motor 21 based on the input from the joystick 25.

The external control unit 3 controls the motor 21 in the operating unit 8 and the joystick 25.
An amplifier (indicated as Amp in the figure) that amplifies the signal from the strain gauge provided in the low-rigidity portion of the stick, which will be described later.
8 and a judging device 29 which inputs the signal of the strain gauge amplified by the amplifier 28 and judges the operation direction of the stick.

By connecting the connector 11 provided at the tip of the universal cord 9 to the external control device 3, the potentiometers provided on the motor 21 and the joystick 25 are connected to the MC in the external control device 3.
The strain gauge in the joystick 25 is electrically connected to U27 and to the amplifier 28, respectively.

Next, details of the joystick 25 will be described with reference to FIG. The joystick 25 includes a stick 31 having a substantially thin cylindrical shape, a rotary plate 32 pivotally supported at both ends and having a slit-shaped long hole 32a for inserting the stick 31, and a slit-shaped member for inserting the stick 31. An arcuate rotary plate 33, which is provided with long holes 33a and is pivotally supported at both ends thereof and arranged in a direction orthogonal to the rotary plate 32, and is fixed to one end of each of the rotary plates 32, 33. It has potentiometers 34 and 35 which rotate by the rotation of the rotary plates 32 and 33, respectively.

The stick 31 has a cylindrical stick head 31a operated by a finger and the like, and an elongated bar member 31b extending downward from the stick head 31a. The stick head 31
A node portion 31c having a diameter slightly larger than that of the rod member 31b is provided relatively close to a.

Further, the stick head 3 of the stick 31
A low-rigidity portion 37 made of, for example, a soft plastic material is provided between the la and the joint 31c. On the peripheral surface of the low-rigidity portion 37, as shown in FIG. 3, four strain gauges 38 are provided for up, down, light, and
The strain gauges 3 are attached to the circumferential surface in four equal positions by an adhesive so as to correspond to the left direction.
Signal lines are respectively connected to 8.

Returning to FIG. 2, the rotary plate 32 has an elongated hole 32a through which the rod member 31b of the stick 31 is inserted.
Has a long and narrow rectangular shaft 32b, and rod-shaped projections 32c protruding from both ends of the rectangular shaft 32b,
It is rotatably supported by 32d. On the other hand, a support shaft 32e that rotatably supports the stick 31 in the long hole 32a after the stick 31 is inserted is provided at substantially the center of the rectangular shaft 32b.

The rotary plate 33 has an arc-shaped thin plate member 33b in which an elongated slot 33a which is inserted near the tip of the rod member 31b is formed, and the thin plate member 33b.
Rod protrusions 33c and 33d are also projected from both ends of the rotary plate 32 in a direction orthogonal to the rod protrusions 32c and 32d, and the rod protrusions 33c and 33d are pivotally supported by the rod protrusions 33c and 33d.

Further, potentiometers 34 and 35 for detecting the rotation angle of the rotary plates 32 and 33 are provided on the rod-shaped projections 32c and 33c of the rotary plates 32 and 33, respectively. A signal line is connected to each of the potentiometers 34 and 35.

In the first embodiment, three strain gauges may be attached along the peripheral surface at 120 degree intervals, and the direction may be calculated from the output balance of the three strain gauges. In addition to the strain gauge, it is needless to say that it can be widely used as long as it can measure the flexure of the shaft, such as a piezoelectric body such as PUDF. The output of the strain gauge may be output by the strain gauge when it exceeds a certain threshold. Furthermore, it is even better if this threshold can be adjusted externally.

The operation of the first embodiment thus constructed will be described. Insert the insertion portion 7 of the endoscope 2 into the subject or the like,
When the bending portion 5 is bent in the direction desired by the operator, the operator operates the joystick 25 provided on the operation portion 8 by pushing the stick head 31a of the stick 31 with a finger or the like. For example, when it is desired to bend the bending portion 5 in the up direction, the stick head 31a is pushed to tilt the stick 31 in the up direction.

Then, before the stick 31 is tilted, the low-rigidity portion 37 of the stick 31 is bent, and the strain gauge 38 attached thereto is deformed. Due to this deformation, the strain gauge 38
Generates a signal, and this signal is output as a voltage according to the deformation amount through the amplifier 28 in the external control device 3.
Based on this output, the position of the strain gauge (which strain gauge was output) is judged by the judging device 29, and this judging device 2
By the output from 9, the MCU 27 supplies electric power to the motor 21 so as to rotate in the up direction.

After that, the stick 31 starts to tilt in the up direction, the potentiometer rotates to change the resistance value, and the MCU 27 further supplies drive power to the motor 21 in accordance with the changed resistance value. Then, drive control is performed so that the bending portion 5 is bent to a position corresponding to the resistance value of the potentiometer on the motor 21 side by one to one.

According to the first embodiment constructed as described above, the motor starts to be driven based on the signal output from the strain gauge before the potentiometer provided on the stick operates, so that the bending response is fast. It is possible to provide an endoscopic device in which the curvature easily follows the stick operation.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a joystick according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the first embodiment described above, except that a limit switch is used instead of the strain gauge. The description of the other parts that are almost the same as those in the first embodiment will be omitted.

An upper end portion of the rod member 31b of the stick 31 of the joystick 25 is a small diameter portion 41, and a spherical portion 42 is inserted and fixed to the small diameter portion 41. A cylindrical switch lever 43 having an opening at the lower side is provided slidably with respect to the spherical portion 42 so as to cover the spherical portion 42 from above.

The switch lever 43 is made of a cylindrical member whose upper end is closed, and the upper part of the inner surface of the switch lever 43 is formed into a spherical shape in conformity with the shape of the spherical portion. Further, a thick portion 43a extends downward from the inner spherical surface portion to a portion substantially corresponding to the lower end of the small diameter portion 41 of the rod member 31b, and the lower portion of the thick portion 43a is a thin portion 43b. Has become. Then, from the lower end of the thin portion 43b, the flange portion 43c is directed inward.
Are formed.

On the other hand, on the peripheral surface of the rod-shaped member 31b of the stick 31 at a position substantially corresponding to the flange portion 43c, limit switches 45 are fixed at directional positions corresponding to four directions of up, down, right and left. And
The limit switch 45 is always the flange portion 43c.
It is designed to be pressed with (see FIG. 4 (B)).

When the operating finger is released from the switch lever 43, the switch lever 43 is returned to the neutral position by the restoring force of the limit switch 45, and the limit switch 4
5 is turned off (see FIG. 4 (A)).

The operation of the second embodiment thus constructed will be described. When the surgeon pushes the stick 31 to apply a bend, first, the switch lever 43 swings around the spherical portion 42, and as shown in FIG.
The flange portion 43c presses the limit switch 45 to turn it on.

The ON signal is input to the MCU 27 provided in the external control device 3, and the bending portion 5 is moved in the operating direction corresponding to the limit switch 45 to which the ON signal is output.
The driving power is supplied to the motor 21 so that the curve is curved.

After that, the potentiometers 34 and 35 of the joystick 25 rotate. Other functions are similar to those of the first embodiment described above. The second embodiment as described above has substantially the same effect as that of the first embodiment.

By the way, as the bending direction input device, there are various devices such as a joypad other than the joystick. In the conventional endoscope device, whether the bending state of the bending portion is straight or not. It was difficult to judge. In view of such a point, a method for solving the above problem will be described below. The same parts as those in the first embodiment described above are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, a solid-state image pickup device 51 such as a CCD for picking up a subject image is provided at the tip of the insertion portion 7 of the endoscope 2, and an external control device is provided via a signal cable. 3 is connected to a CCU 15 provided inside the CCU 15, and a video signal picked up by the solid-state image pickup device 51 is subjected to signal processing by the CCU 15 and output to the monitor 16 as an observation image signal.

Further, in the operation portion 8, there are provided a UD bending motor 21a for driving the vertical bending wire 22a and an RL bending motor 21b for driving the horizontal bending wire 22b. , These bending motors 2
The encoders 1a and 21b are coaxial with the motor shaft.
a and 53b are fixed. Further, the output shafts of the bending motors 21a and 21b have pulleys 55a,
55b are fixed, and the bending wires 22a and 22b for bending the bending portion are wound by being pushed and pulled.

Further, a joy pad 25a, which is a bending direction input device, is provided on the operation unit 8 instead of the joystick 25, and is connected to the MCU 27 provided in the external control device 3 via a signal cable. The bending motor 2 based on the output from the joypad 25a.
Control of 1a and 21b is performed.

The encoders 53a and 53b are
It is adapted to be connected via a signal cable to a bending angle detecting circuit 57 as a bending state detecting means provided in the external control device 3, and a signal of a rotation amount of the encoders 53a and 53b is inputted to the bending angle detecting circuit. 57 is input. The encoders 53a and 53b are electrically connected to the bending angle detection circuit 57 by connecting the connector 11 to the external control device 3.

The bending angle detecting circuit 57 is arranged so that the bending motor 21 receives the output signals of the encoders 53a and 53b.
The amount of rotation of a and 21b is detected, a bending angle detection signal is generated from the detected amount of rotation, and the signal is output to the MCU 27 and the image generation device 58 that generates an image signal of bending information.

The MCU 27 is provided with a joypad 2
By inputting the instruction signal from 5a, the bending motor 21
Driving power is supplied to a and 21b. On the other hand, a bending angle detection signal from the bending angle detection circuit 57 is also input to the MCU 27, and when the bending angle exceeds a predetermined angle, the driving power supply to the bending motors 21a and 21b is stopped. It has become. Further, while the driving electric power is being supplied to the bending motors 21a and 21b, the bending angle detection signal from the bending angle detection circuit 57 is also input to the image generating device 58.

The image generator 58 receives the bending angle detection signal from the bending angle detection circuit 57, generates an image signal of bending information, and outputs it to one input end of the adder 59. The other input terminal of the adder 59 has a CCU1
The output signal from 5 is input. The adder 59 synthesizes the output video signal from the CCU 15 and the image signal of the curvature information from the image generator 58 and outputs the synthesized image signal to the monitor 16.

The image signal of the bending information is used to straighten the bending operation in the up, down, right or left direction in order to return the bending portion 5 of the endoscope 2 to the straight state. This is an image signal of the operation direction, and as shown in FIG. 6, an operation direction for straightening the bending portion 5 is indicated by an arrow 61 or the like, for example, in the upper right portion around the observation image on the monitor 16.

The arrow 61 can also be displayed together with the bending angle amount. That is, when the bending angle is maximized, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7A, when the inside of the arrow frame is filled up and the bending angle is reduced, the painted area in the arrow frame is also reduced as shown in FIG. 7B.

The display method of the amount of bending angle may be represented by a bar graph or a number on a part of the monitor screen in addition to the arrow filling, and other display methods showing quantitative changes are generally adopted. can do.

Next, the operation of the structure shown in FIG. 5 will be described. The insertion part 7 of the endoscope 2 is inserted into a body cavity or the like, and the bending part 5 is bent to a desired position to observe a test site. Here, for example, when bending in the up direction, the joypad 25a is turned on in the up direction. Then, the up signal from the joypad 25a in the up direction is input to the MCU 27 in the external control device 3.

Based on this input, the MCU 27 determines the UD
The driving power is supplied to the bending motor 21a, and the motor 21a
Is driven in the direction corresponding to the up direction. This allows
Pulley 5 fixed to the output shaft of UD bending motor 21a
5a rotates, the bending wire 22a wound around the pulley 55a is pulled, and the bending portion 5 bends in the up direction.

At this time, a signal indicating the amount of rotation is output from the encoder 53a connected to the UD bending motor 21a, and this signal is input to the bending angle detection circuit 57 in the external control device 3. . This bending angle detection circuit 5
In step 7, the input rotation amount signal is processed to calculate the bending amount and bending direction of the bending portion 5.

The series of operations described above is the same when the bending portion 5 is bent in the left-right direction (RL direction).

The bending amounts and the bending direction information in the UD direction and the RL direction are combined to calculate a two-dimensional bending direction in the bending angle detection circuit 57. The calculated bending direction information is input to the image generating device 58, and as shown in FIG. 6, a direction information image indicating which direction is the straight state of the bending portion 5 is displayed around the observation image. It is generated by the generator 58.

Then, this directional information image is transferred to the CCU 15
It is displayed on the monitor 16 after being combined with the observation image output from the monitor. At the time of this display, the information regarding the bending angle amount (filling amount of the arrow) is also displayed at the same time. It should be noted that the curved information image is not displayed on the monitor 16 when the curved portion 5 is in the straight state.

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to determine at a glance whether or not the bending state of the bending portion is the straight state. If not, in what direction and how much the bending portion is bent. It is easy to see if you can bend it back to a straight state. Thereby, the bending operability of the endoscope is improved, and the operator can grasp the bending state, so that the endoscope with higher safety can be obtained.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the followability of the control of the drive means to the operating speed of the bending direction input device of the endoscope apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an endoscope apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a joystick.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a joystick.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a joystick showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an endoscope apparatus having a unit for determining a bending state of a bending portion.

6 is a front view showing the monitor screen of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an arrow on the monitor screen of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope device 2 ... Endoscope 5 ... Bending part 7 ... Inserting part 21 ... Motor 25 ... Joystick 27 ... Motor control unit (MCU) 29 ... Judgment device 38 ... Strain gauge

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An internal view having a bending portion provided in the insertion portion, a driving means for bending and driving the bending portion, and a bending direction input device for inputting a bending direction of the bending portion to control the driving means. In the mirror device, a detecting means provided in the bending direction input device for detecting an operating direction of the bending direction input device, and a signal from the detecting means before the driving means is driven by an input of the bending direction input device. In accordance with the above, an initial movement control device for initially controlling the drive means is provided.