JPH08229000A - Electronic endoscopic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an electronic endoscopic device with which arithmetic processing to obtain a functional information image is executed in accordance with the output signal from an image pickup element when the irradiation light quantity of a monochromatic light irradiation source is the light quantity suitable for obtaining the functional information image. CONSTITUTION: The functional information image relating to a hemoglobin quantity or the degree of oxygen saturation of hemoglobin or the ordinary observation image is selectively displayed by a switching section 5 on a display 13. Whether the luminance signal level in the output signal of the image pickup element is within a regulated range or not is judged by a light quantity judging circuit 15. The functional information image is displayed in different display forms while judgment is made that the signal level is off the regulated level range on the display 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope apparatus having a processing function for converting functional information into an image, and more particularly to improving a control system for the above processing function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, in order to obtain a functional information image such as a hemoglobin distribution image, this type of electronic endoscope apparatus places each interference filter having a different central transmission wavelength on the light source optical path. C inside the body cavity under each illumination that was inserted sequentially
Photographed by an image pickup device such as a CD, sequentially obtain different monochromatic light images based on the output signal from the image pickup device, then obtain the difference in absorbance between the two monochromatic light images by calculation, and the function information indicated by the calculation result The image is displayed on a monitor, for example.

When the above monochromatic light image is taken,
The amount of irradiation light is adjusted so that the luminance signal level in the output signal of the image sensor is controlled to fall within the specified level range.

[0004]

However, even if the control for adjusting the illumination light amount is carried out as described above, the luminance signal level in the output signal of the image pickup device becomes higher than the saturation level or becomes lower than the noise level. May be. On the other hand, in the conventional system configuration of the electronic endoscope apparatus of this type, the arithmetic processing for obtaining the functional information is continuously executed regardless of the change of the output signal of the image sensor.

Therefore, in the conventional case, there is a problem that the function information image displayed on the monitor may include error information.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an image pickup device in which the irradiation light amount of a monochromatic light irradiation light source is a light amount suitable for obtaining a functional information image. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic endoscope apparatus in which a calculation process for obtaining a functional information image is performed based on the output signal of.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is based on a light source, an image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject under illumination by the light source, and the object based on an output signal from the image pickup means. Based on an arithmetic processing means for performing an arithmetic processing to obtain a functional information image regarding the hemoglobin amount or the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin, and the functional information image as the arithmetic result of the arithmetic processing means, or an output signal of the image pickup device. Display means for displaying an observation image, switching means for displaying either the function information image or the normal observation image on the display means, and an instruction to obtain the function information image, the imaging means A light amount judging means for judging whether or not the luminance signal level in the output signal is within a specified range, and this light amount judging means judges that it is out of the specified level range. And that the period is one and a control means for displaying said function information image on the display means in different display forms.

As described above, according to the present invention, the functional information image relating to the hemoglobin amount or the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin or the normal observation image is switched and displayed on the display means by the switching means, and the light quantity judging means outputs the image pickup means. It is determined whether the luminance signal level of the signal is within the specified range, and during the period when it is determined to be outside the specified level range, the functional information image is displayed on the display unit in a different display form, so that the normal observation image is desired. The function information image can be observed after confirming the site, and the operator can be informed before the diagnosis that the function information image contains incorrect information, so the reliability of the function information image is significantly improved. be able to.

[0009]

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

The electronic endoscope apparatus of this embodiment is provided with a CPU 1 as a control center of the entire system, and by this CPU 1, a light quantity controller 2, a camera controller unit (hereinafter referred to as CCU) 3, and an A / D converter 4 are provided. ,
Switch 5, normal optical frame memory 6, λ ₁ frame memory 7, λ ₂ frame memory 8, λ ₃ frame memory 9,
The λ ₄ frame memory 10, the arithmetic circuit 11, the functional image frame memory 12, the display memory 13, the D / A converter 14, the light quantity determination circuit 15, the motor controller 16 and the like are controlled by a microprocessor.

When the middle part of the endoscope scope 17 is introduced into the body cavity of the subject and the body cavity is imaged, the light amount controller 2 drives and controls the xenon (Xe) lamp 18 and the aperture controller 19. The motor controller 16 drives and controls the motor unit 20.

A filter disc 22 is detachably attached to the rotary shaft 21 of the motor unit 20, and the filter disc 22 has functional information corresponding to the hemoglobin amount and the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin. In order to obtain the above, the filter disk is formed by arranging the interference filters of λ ₁ , λ ₂ , λ ₃ , and λ ₄ and the light amount attenuation filter indicated by ND as shown in FIG.

In each of these units, the light amount controller 2 controls the current flowing through the Xe lamp 18 in accordance with the judgment state of the light amount judgment circuit 15, while controlling the aperture of the diaphragm 23 to control the amount of light emitted from the light source unit 24. Is automatically adjusted. In the light source section 24, 25 is a condenser lens and 26 is a reflector.

The motor controller 16 removes the filter disc 22 from the optical path of the Xe lamp 18 during normal light photography, and when the operation for obtaining the functional information image is performed by the keyboard 27, the motor controller 16 is placed on the optical path of the Xe lamp 18. The filter disc 22 is arranged, the ND filter is first switched, and then the interference filters λ _{1 to} λ ₄ are sequentially switched to the Xe lamp 18.
Since the optical disc is repeatedly inserted into the optical path, the motor unit 20 is driven and the filter disc 22 is rotated. When the filter disc 22 is rotated by the motor controller 16 as described above, the light source 24 functions as a monochromatic light irradiation light source.

The light quantity determination circuit 15 is controlled by the CPU 1 when a selection operation for obtaining a functional information image is being performed.
In each insertion period in which the interference filters λ _{1 to} λ ₄ are sequentially inserted into the optical path of the Xe lamp 18, it changes depending on the light receiving state of a solid-state image sensor (not shown) mounted at the tip of the endoscope scope 17 in the middle of the path. When it is determined whether most of the luminance signal levels in the output signal of the CCU 3 are within the prescribed level range, and when it is determined that most of the luminance signal levels are outside the prescribed level range, this determination output is used as the light amount controller. 2. Send to arithmetic circuit 11 and CPU 1. It should be noted that during normal image capturing, a signal indicating a change in the luminance signal level in the output signal of the CCU 3 is sent to the light amount controller 2.

The CPU 1 itself sets the period in which the light amount determination circuit 1 determines that the luminance signal level of the CCU 1 is out of the specified level range as the period in which the arithmetic circuit 11 stops functioning, and also stops the functioning of the arithmetic circuit 11. Control is performed to restart the light amount controller 2 during the period. Then, when a control signal that the luminance signal level of the CCU 1 is within the specified level range is received from the light amount determination circuit 15 by this control, control is performed to permit the arithmetic processing of the arithmetic circuit 11. Further, in synchronization with the function stop period of the arithmetic circuit 15, the display 2
The message area 28 as shown in FIG.
In order to display a message indicating that the process of obtaining the functional information image has been interrupted in a, read control of the message memory 29 is performed, and the process display L of the keyboard 27 is displayed as shown in FIG.
Control is performed to cause the ED 27b to display that the process of obtaining the function information is interrupted. In addition, in FIG.
27a indicates that images are being collected in the memories 7 to 10 of λ ₁ to λ ₄ . 27c is a functional image switch.

The operation of the configuration as described above will be described. During normal observation, the filter disc 22 is removed from the optical path of the Xe lamp 18 by the motor unit 20, and in this case, the luminance signal in the output signal of the CCU 3 is used. Since the signal indicating the level is applied from the light quantity determination circuit 15 to the light quantity controller 2, the light quantity controller 2 is kept in the ON state. Then, the electric signal obtained by imaging the inside of the body cavity with the endoscope 17 is converted into analog image data by the CCU 3, digitized by the A / D converter 4, and passed through the switching device 5 to the normal optical frame memory 6 Are sequentially stored in. The image data sequentially stored in the normal optical frame memory 6 is sent to the display memory 13 under the read control of the CPU 1, and the image data once stored in the display memory 13 is D /
It is converted into analog image data by the A converter 14 and sent to the display 28. Therefore, display 2
An image of the normal shooting content is displayed on the screen 8.

During normal photographing as described above, it becomes necessary to measure the amount of hemoglobin and the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin, and when an input operation to that effect is made with the keyboard 27, the filter disk 22 shifts. It is arranged on the optical path of the Xe lamp 18, the ND filter is inserted first, and thereafter λ ₁ → λ ₂ according to the rotational drive of the motor unit 20.
→ λ ₃ → λ ₄ → ND → λ ₁ ... are sequentially inserted.

In synchronism with this, the switching unit 5 is controlled by the CPU 1 so that the switching unit 5 has a λ ₁ frame memory 7, a λ ₂ frame memory 8,
Since the λ ₃ frame memory 9, the λ ₄ frame memory 10 and the normal light image memory 6 are sequentially selected, each of the monochromatic light images of λ ₁ to λ ₄ is photographed, and each of the monochromatic light images of λ ₁ to λ _{4 is} taken.
It is stored in each of the _four frame memories 7 to 10.

At this time, in the light quantity judgment circuit 15, CC
It is judged whether most of the luminance signal levels in the output signal of U3 are within the specified level range. Then, if the majority of the luminance signal level is within the level range of provisions, when the monochromatic light image stored in the frame memory 7-10 of _{λ 1 ~λ 4, λ 1,} λ 2, λ 3 calculation of the oxygen saturation for each pixel of each single-color light image stored in the frame memory 7, 8 and 9 are executed, followed by lambda _3, lambda
_The calculation for obtaining the hemoglobin amount is executed for each pixel of each monochromatic light image stored in the _four frame memories 9 and 10.

The results of each of these calculations are sent to the display memory 13 via the functional image frame memory 12. Therefore, the functional information image showing the oxygen saturation and the amount of hemoglobin is displayed on the display memory 27.

However, when most of the luminance signal levels in the output signal of the CCU 3 are outside the specified level range,
That is, when most of the luminance signal levels are above the saturation level or below the noise level, the function of the CPU 1 as the processing condition setting means
The arithmetic circuit 11 is deactivated. At the same time, the light amount controller 2 is restarted to adjust the light amount of the light source unit 24,
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, an interruption display of the process for obtaining the functional information image is displayed in the message area 28a of the display 28, and an interruption display using the keyboard 27 is displayed as shown in FIG.
Each of these operations is performed until the luminance signal level in the output signal of the CCU 3 falls within the specified level range and the function stop of the arithmetic circuit 11 is released accordingly.

In this way, when most of the luminance signal levels in the output signal of the CCU 3 fall within the specified level range, the arithmetic processing of the arithmetic circuit 11 is restarted, and the oxygen saturation level and the oxygen saturation level are displayed on the display 27 as described above. A functional information image showing the amount of hemoglobin is displayed.

As described above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, when most of the luminance signal levels in the output signal of the CCU 3 are out of the specified level range, the monochromatic light image has λ _1- .
Although written in each frame memory 10 of λ ₄ , the arithmetic circuit 1
Since the function 1 is disabled, the function information image displayed on the display 28 does not include error information.

[0025]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the normal observation image and the function information image can be switched, so that the function information image is observed after the desired portion is confirmed by the normal observation image. By displaying the function information image containing incorrect information in a different display form, it is possible to notify the operator before the diagnosis that the function information image contains incorrect information. The reliability of the image is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope apparatus according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a detailed explanatory view of a filter disc.

FIG. 3 is a state diagram showing a display mode on a display according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a detailed explanatory diagram of a keyboard.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 Light intensity controller 3 CPU 4 A / D converter 5 Switching device 6 Light transmission frame memory 7 λ ₁ frame memory 8 λ ₂ frame memory 9 λ ₃ frame memory 10 λ ₄ frame memory 11 Arithmetic circuit 12 Functional image frame memory 13 Display memory 14 D / A converter 15 Light intensity determination circuit 16 Motor controller 17 Endoscope scope 18 Xe lamp 19 Aperture controller 20 Motor unit 21 Rotation shaft 22 Filter disc 23 Aperture 24 Light source 25 Condenser lens 26 Reflector 27 Keyboard 28 display

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A light source, an image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject under illumination by the light source, and a functional information image regarding the hemoglobin amount of the subject or the oxygen saturation level of hemoglobin based on an output signal from the image pickup means. Arithmetic processing means for executing arithmetic processing, display means for displaying a normal observation image based on the functional information image as the arithmetic result of the arithmetic processing means, or the output signal of the image pickup device, and the display means for displaying the function. If there is a switching unit for displaying either the information image or the normal observation image, and an instruction to obtain the functional information image, whether the luminance signal level in the output signal of the imaging unit is within a specified range The light amount determining means for determining and the function information image on the display means during the period when the light amount determining means determines that the light amount is outside the specified level range. And an electronic endoscope device including a control unit for displaying the different display forms. 2. The control means sets a period during which the light quantity determination means determines that the light level is out of a prescribed level range as a function stop period of the arithmetic processing means. 1. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to 1. 3. The control means controls to restart the light quantity adjusting means of the light source during a function stop period of the arithmetic processing means, and by this control, the light quantity judging means judges that the light quantity is within a prescribed level range. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the arithmetic processing of the arithmetic processing means is permitted after the operation. 4. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source illuminates monochromatic light. 5. The light amount judgment means judges a change in a luminance signal level in an output signal from the image pickup means when an instruction to obtain the normal observation image is given. The described electronic endoscope apparatus. 6. The electronic endoscope according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the display unit to display that the process of obtaining the functional information image is stopped. Mirror device.