JPS62113122A - Endoscope containing solid-state image pickup element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the electrical connection between a solid-state image pickup element and video circuit and to obtain a good image by mounting all the electronic parts or part of the electric parts of the video circuit to a continuous substrate and housing the into a flexible tube in the section near the solid-state image pickup element in an endoscope. CONSTITUTION:An endoscope body 1 consists of a hard part 3 at the top end, a flexible tube part 2 and a handle part 6. An objective lens 4 and the solid-state image pickup element 5 is contained in the hard part 3 and if necessary, an air and water ejection port, suction port, forceps port, etc. are opened thereto. An optical fiber bundle for light transmission, wire for operating an angle part and others such as air and water conduit tube, forceps introducing tube, suction tube, etc., are contained in the flexible tube part 2 and the continuous substrate 12 is disposed therein. Knobs for various operations and forceps introducing port as well as a guide pipe 14 for the optical fiber bundle for light transmission, air and water conduit tube and suction tube, etc., are extended from the handle part 6. Part of the electronic parts of the video circuit are contained therein according to need. An electric wire 15 in the case of disposing the electronic parts to the outside of the endoscope body 1 or an electric wire 15 to a monitor 16 is lead out of said part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an endoscope having a solid-state imaging device that can be used for industrial and medical applications.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, a solid-state image sensor is built into the internal tip to monitor IJ.
Endoscopes that can perform J g are beginning to be used.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of such an endoscope, in which 1 is the endoscope body, 2 is a flexible tube part, 3 is a rigid tip part, and an objective lens 4 and a solid-state image sensor 5 are provided at the inner tip. is built-in. 6 is the handle.

Furthermore, although not shown in the drawings, the endoscope main body 1 includes a bundle of optical fibers for light transmission, a forceps introduction tube, a water supply tube, an air supply tube, etc. as necessary.

Reference numeral 7 denotes an electric wire passed through the endoscope body 1 and connects the solid-state image sensor 5 and the video circuit 8. 9 is a monitor connected to the video circuit B.

According to such a configuration, images converted into electrical signals by the endoscope main body 1 inserted into an observation device or a body cavity are displayed on a monitor 9 via a video circuit 8, and can be viewed by a large number of people. Images can now be saved on video tapes, optical discs, etc.

[Problem to be solved by the invention 3 Endoscopes based on the above-mentioned technology are expected to be widely used in the future because they operate as described above and have many advantages. The electric wire that connects the solid-state image sensor at the tip of the endoscope and the video circuit passes through a long flexible tube in the endoscope body, and even if it is pulled out from the handle, it is not immediately connected to the video circuit; If this is not maintained, the overall length of the wire will be extremely long and will impede the operability of the endoscope.

However, when the electric wire drawn out from the solid-state image sensor is in such a long state, it is easily affected by surrounding noise.
There is a serious problem in that the quality of the image displayed on the monitor is significantly deteriorated, and in some cases, the image cannot be reproduced.

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, small pieces of a printed circuit board are sequentially connected by wiring or the wiring and connection lines to form a long connecting board, and all electronic parts of a video circuit or electronic parts (or all electronic parts) of a video circuit are mounted on each small piece. The continuous substrate is electrically connected and housed within a flexible tube of the endoscope body.

[Effect]

According to Mizonari mentioned above, solid-state imaging is possible by mounting all or some of the electronic components of the video circuit on a continuous board and storing them in a flexible tube near the solid-state imaging device in the endoscope. The electrical connection between the element and the video circuit can be shortened, and as a result, the deterioration of the S/N ratio can be reduced and a good image can be obtained.

Furthermore, since the continuous board is connected by wiring or the wiring and connection wire, bending in the width direction cannot be handled at this connecting part, and the bending affects the small piece to which the electronic component is attached. As a result, the bending operation of the flexible tube portion can be smoothly performed without adversely affecting the mounted electronic components.

Further, by twisting this continuous substrate at each connecting portion to change the direction of each small piece, it is possible to further improve the adaptability to bending of the flexible tube portion.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view, and FIG. 2 is a partial side view showing a first embodiment of a continuous board.
continuously form a continuous substrate 12.

Each small piece 10 of the continuous substrate 12 thus constructed is shown in FIG.
As shown in Figure I), all the electronic components 13 of the video circuit are installed, or as shown in Figure 3 (6), depending on the circuits that are easily affected by noise and the length of the wires, the time of signals such as clock pulses can be adjusted. In order to shorten the wires of circuits where delays are a problem, or to amplify the signal level to a sufficiently high level against noise, some electronic components of the video circuit are installed, and the remaining electronic components are installed. The electronic components may be housed in the handle, which will be described later, or may be connected to the outside of the endoscope body using electric wires, as shown in FIG. 3 (III). Furthermore, it is also logical to arrange electronic components within the rigid tip portion 3.

9 is a monitor, which is connected to the video circuit described above.

Reference numeral 1 includes an endoscope main body, a rigid distal end portion 3, a flexible tube portion 2, and a handle portion 6.

The rigid tip portion 3 has an objective lens 4 and a solid-state image sensor 5 built-in, and is also equipped with air/water spouts, etc. as necessary.
The suction port, forceps port, etc. are open.

The flexible tube section 2 has a built-in optical fiber bundle for light transmission, an angle section operation wire, an air/water groove passage tube, a forceps introduction tube, a suction tube, etc., and furthermore, the continuous substrate 12 is disposed 3
The handle part 6 has various operation knobs, a forceps introduction port, and extensions of guide pipes 14 such as the optical fiber bundle for light transmission, an air/water groove passage pipe, and a suction pipe. Furthermore, as mentioned above, some electronic components of the video circuit may be built-in in some cases, and the electric wires 15 may be installed outside the endoscope body 1.
Alternatively, an electric wire to the monitor 16 is led out.

In the above embodiment, the wires 11 connecting the small pieces 10 are parallel, but the wires 11 are not limited to this, and the wires may be twisted as shown in FIG. 4(I).
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11(2), if the wiring 11 is lengthened little by little toward both sides so that there is some extra length, it is convenient to prevent the wire from being tangled when twisted.

Further, in the above description, the small pieces 10 are connected only by wiring, but connection wires may be used in addition to the wiring 11.

Furthermore, it is also possible to divide and arrange some of the electronic components described above within the rigid distal end portion within a range that does not interfere with the outer diameter and length of the circular portion.

According to the above configuration, all or some of the electronic components of the video circuit are built into the endoscope body to shorten the electrical distance from the solid-state image sensor, which reduces the influence of noise. However, due to the length of the electric wire, time delays in signals such as clock pulses are less likely to be a problem.
9. It is possible to prevent deterioration of the SN ratio and obtain a high quality image on the monitor.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention described in detail above, all or part of the electronic components of the video circuit are divided into small pieces of a continuous substrate, and the continuous substrate is housed in the flexible tube of the endoscope. , it is not necessary to connect the solid-state image sensor and the video circuit with long wires, and as a result, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the signal-to-noise ratio caused by the conventional long wire connection, and it is possible to obtain high-quality images on the monitor. It has the effect of leaving a high-quality image record.

Further, there is an effect that the oil wetting property of the flexible tube portion on which the continuous substrate is arranged is not hindered, and furthermore, the video circuit is not damaged due to bending.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial plan view showing the first embodiment of the continuous board, FIG. 3 is a partial plan view showing the mounting state of electronic components, and FIG. The figure is a partial plan view showing another embodiment of the continuous substrate, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional example. 1... Endoscope main body 2... Flexible tube part 3... Rigid tip part 5... Solid-state image sensor 6... Handle part 9...
・Monitor 10...Small piece 11...Wiring 12...
Continuous board 13...Electronic parts 2 [11ii] -3ro

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an endoscope that has a solid-state image sensor built into the rigid part of the endoscope's tip and displays electronic images obtained by this solid-state image sensor on a monitor, a small piece of printed circuit board is wired or connected to wires and connection lines. A solid-state image pickup device is characterized in that a continuous board is formed by connecting the two pieces, all or part of the electronic components of an image circuit are mounted on each of these small pieces, and this continuous board is placed in an endoscope. Built-in endoscope.