JP2003038430A - Electronic endoscope and connecting cable - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To make a length of a connection cable for communicating between an electronic endoscope and a video signal processing device expandable and contractable. SOLUTION: An image pickup section formed of a CCD and a light source section formed of an LED are provided at a distal end 11A of an insertion section 11 of an electronic endoscope main body 10B. A signal line for connecting the image pickup unit to the video signal processing circuit in the video signal processing device 20 and a signal line for connecting the light source unit to the LED drive circuit in the video signal processing device 20 in the connection cable 15. And are arranged. A part 15C of the connecting cable 15 is formed into a helical cord that can be extended and contracted.

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 which irradiates illumination light to photograph an observed region with an image pickup device and displays the image on an image display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 4, an electronic endoscope apparatus is provided at the tip 110A of an insertion portion 110 and an electronic endoscope 100 that is inserted directly into the body or the like to photograph or treat an observation site. A video signal processing device 200 for processing a video image captured by the image pickup device 120, and a TV monitor (image) for displaying a video image captured by the electronic endoscope 100 and processed in the video signal processing device 200. Display device) 300. The video signal processing device 200 is provided with a video signal processing circuit 210 for processing a video signal and a light source unit 220 for supplying illumination light. For photographing the observation site, the light from the light source unit 220 provided in the video signal processing device 200 is transmitted to the insertion end 110A of the electronic endoscope main body 100B through the light guide glass fiber bundle (LCB) 170. Then, this light is applied to the inside of the body. Between the video signal processing device 200 and the electronic endoscope body 100B, the signal line 160 for transmitting a video signal from the image sensor 120 and the light guide 170 are flexible tubular connecting cables. Communication is performed through the inside of an LCB tube (light guide cable) 150. LCB tube 1
One end of 50 is the operation unit 13 of the electronic endoscope main body 100B.
0, the other end is attached to the connector portion 140. The connection between the electronic endoscope 100 and the video signal processing device 200 is performed by mounting the connector section 140 on the video signal processing device.

[0003]

The proper length of the LCB tube 150 depends on the distance between the patient and the video signal processor 200. For example, in order to freely operate the electronic endoscope main body 100B regardless of the arrangement of the video signal processing device 200,
A full length LCB tube 150 is required. On the other hand, if the length of the LCB tube 150 is long even though the distance between the video signal processing device 200 and the patient is short, the loose LCB tube lies on the floor and interferes with medical treatment, medical examination, and the like, and contacts the floor surface. The LCB tube that has been used will be contaminated. This is L
Glass fiber bundle (LC
This is because, in order to prevent B) from being broken, the conventional LCB tube has a multilayer resin tube structure and is formed as a mesh tube by laminating flat coil sheaths, and therefore it cannot be bent with a small radius of curvature. Further, the length of the light guide cable 150 is fixed to a fixed length for each electronic endoscope, and the length cannot be adjusted according to the distance between the patient and the video signal processing device 200.

An object of the present invention is to obtain an electronic endoscope in which the length of a connecting cable for connecting the electronic endoscope and the video signal processing device is adjustable.

[0005]

The electronic endoscope of the present invention comprises:
Used in an electronic endoscope device that can be displayed on an image display device after signal processing of a video image captured by an imaging unit provided at the tip of a slender and flexible tubular insertion portion. An electronic endoscope, an electronic endoscope main body having an insertion portion, a connecting cable for connecting the electronic endoscope main body and a video signal processing device, and a light source for illumination provided in the electronic endoscope main body And a signal line that connects the imaging unit and the video signal processing device to the connecting cable,
A signal line that connects the light source unit and the video signal processing device is provided, and a part of the connecting cable is formed into a retractable spiral cord shape.

It is preferable that the light source of the light source section is composed of, for example, a small LED which consumes less power and is provided at the tip of the insertion section. As a result, the illumination light can be directly emitted from the light source to the observation site, and a configuration for transmitting light is not required at all. That is, it is easy to reduce the diameter of the insertion portion of the electronic endoscope, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

The electronic endoscope includes, for example, a connector portion which can be detachably attached to a video signal processing device, the connector portion can process a video signal from the image pickup portion, and controls driving of the image pickup portion. A signal processing circuit capable of outputting the signal is mounted, and the connection cable and the video signal processing device are connected via this connector section. Furthermore, the connector unit may be provided with a drive circuit capable of supplying electric power to the light source unit and controlling the driving thereof.

Further, the connection cable of the present invention comprises an electronic endoscope main body having an elongated and flexible tubular insertion portion,
An electronic device including a light source for illumination provided in the main body of the electronic endoscope, and displaying an image captured by an imaging unit provided at the distal end of the insertion unit in the image signal processing device and then displayed in the image display device. In the endoscope, a connection cable for connecting the electronic endoscope main body and the video signal processing device, a signal line for connecting the imaging unit and the video signal processing device,
A signal line for connecting the light source unit and the video signal processing device is provided, and a part of the connection cable is formed into a stretchable spiral cord shape.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, an electronic endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the circuit configuration of the electronic endoscope apparatus according to the first embodiment. The electronic endoscope device generally includes an electronic endoscope 10, a video signal processing device (processor) 20, and a TV monitor 30. The electronic endoscope 10 is composed of an electronic endoscope main body 10B, a stretchable connecting cable 15, and a connector portion 14. The electronic endoscope body 10B includes an elongated and flexible tubular insertion portion 11 and an operation portion 13 for performing various operations of the electronic endoscope. The expansion / contraction mechanism of the connecting cable 15 will be described later with reference to FIG.

The electronic endoscope body 10B and the connector portion 14 are connected via a connecting cable 15. One end of the connecting cable 15 is connected to the operation unit 13 of the electronic endoscope body 10, and the other end is connected to the connector unit 14.
The connector unit 14 is detachably attached to the processor 20.

An image pickup section 12 and a light source section 40 are arranged at the tip of the insertion section 11. For example, a CCD is used as an image pickup device in the image pickup unit, and a plurality of LEDs are provided in the light source unit 40.
Is used as a light emitting element.

A signal processing circuit 18 is provided in the connector section 14.
Is provided, and the signal processing circuit 18 includes the processor 2
0 is connected to the video signal processing circuit 21. Imaging unit 12
The CCD provided in is connected to a signal processing circuit 18 in the connector unit 14 via a signal line 16 that passes through the electronic endoscope body 10B and the connection cable 15. As a result, the imaging unit 12 and the video signal processing circuit 21 of the processor 20 are electrically connected.

The video signal from the image pickup section 12 is sampled and held by the signal processing circuit 18, and after being subjected to processing such as color separation and white balance, it is output to the video signal processing circuit 21 as a luminance / color signal, for example. . The video signal processing circuit 21 performs conventionally known processes such as blanking, clamping, enhancing, white balance, and gamma correction, and then encodes, for example, a composite signal or an RGB component signal, and the TV monitor 30 via a video cable. Is output to. On the other hand, the CCD of the image pickup unit 12 outputs a CCD drive signal or the like from the signal processing circuit 18 to control the drive thereof.

On the other hand, the LED provided in the light source section 40 is
It is connected to the LED drive circuit 22 provided in the processor 20 via the signal line 17 arranged in the electronic endoscope main body 10B, the connection cable 15, and the connector portion 14. Electric power is supplied to the LEDs of the light source unit 40 from the LED drive circuit 22 via the signal line 17.

FIG. 2A shows a state in which the connecting cable 15 is not extended, and FIG. 2B shows the connecting cable 15.
Shows the state when is extended. As shown in FIG. 2, a part (spiral cord portion) 15C of the connecting cable 15 is wound in a spiral shape (a spiral winding shape). That is, a structure similar to a spiral cord, which is conventionally often used in, for example, a telephone, and which stretchably connects a telephone body and a receiver, is applied to a part of a connecting cable. Therefore, when the electronic endoscope main body 10B is pulled in the direction away from the processor 20 from the state of FIG. 2A, the connecting cable 15 has a spirally wound portion 15C of the connecting cable 15.
In, the pitch of the spiral becomes large, and the connecting cable 1
5 is stretched. On the other hand, when the electronic endoscope body 10B is brought closer to the processor 20 side from the state of FIG. 2B,
In the spirally wound portion 15C of the connecting cable 15, the pitch of the spiral becomes smaller, and the state returns to the state of FIG.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, since it is not necessary to dispose the light guide glass fiber bundle in the connecting cable, a part of the connecting cable has a spiral spring shape. The cable can be expanded and contracted. As a result, unlike the conventional LCB pipe, the connecting cable is prevented from lying on the floor and becoming an obstacle for medical treatment, medical examination, and the like, and the connecting cable is prevented from being soiled due to contact with the floor surface.

Next, an electronic endoscope apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The second embodiment is substantially the same as the first embodiment, and is different from the first embodiment only in the arrangement of the LED drive circuit. The first
A new reference number is given only to a portion different from the embodiment of
The same reference numerals are used for the same configurations as in the first embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the LED drive circuit 22 is provided in the processor 20, but in the present embodiment, the LED drive circuit 19 is provided in the connector section 1.
It is installed at 4 '. That is, the electronic endoscope 10 '
Includes an LED drive circuit 19. Connector part 1
The LED drive circuit 19 arranged at 4'is connected to the video signal processing circuit 21 of the processor 20 '. L
The ED drive circuit 19 adjusts the light emission intensity of the LED based on the luminance signal detected by the image pickup unit 12 and controls the exposure automatically, for example. The other points are the same as those in the first embodiment.

As described above, also in the second embodiment,
The same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained.

In this embodiment, the signal line provided in the connecting cable is C provided in the image pickup section.
Although only the signal lines for the CD and the signal lines for the LEDs of the light source unit are illustrated, other signal lines for various operation switches provided in the operation unit may be provided.

Further, in this embodiment, the light source section is provided at the tip of the insertion section of the electronic endoscope main body, but, for example, only the light source section is provided in the operation section of the electronic endoscope main body, and the illumination light is emitted by the light guide or the like. It may be configured to transmit to the tip of the insertion portion.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain the electronic endoscope in which the length of the connecting cable for connecting the electronic endoscope and the video signal processing device is adjustable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an extension / contraction mechanism of a connecting cable.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus which is a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a conventional electronic endoscope apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 electronic endoscope 10B Electronic endoscope body 12 Imaging unit 15 connection cable 15C spiral cord part 16, 17 signal line 20 Video signal processing device 30 TV monitor 40 light source

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An electronic endoscope capable of being displayed on an image display device after signal processing by a video signal processing device of a video image captured by an imaging unit provided at the tip of an elongated and flexible tubular insertion portion. An electronic endoscope used in an endoscope apparatus, comprising: an electronic endoscope main body having the insertion section; a connecting cable connecting the electronic endoscope main body and the video signal processing device; and the electronic endoscope. A light source unit for illumination provided inside the main body, and a signal line that connects the imaging unit and the video signal processing device to the connection cable, and connects the light source unit and the video signal processing device to each other. With the signal line and
An electronic endoscope, wherein a part of the connection cable is formed in a stretchable spiral cord shape. 2. The electronic endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the light source unit is provided at a tip of the insertion unit. 3. The electronic endoscope includes a connector unit detachably attachable to the video signal processing device, the connector unit being capable of processing a video signal from the imaging unit, The signal processing circuit capable of outputting a signal for controlling driving of an image pickup unit is mounted, and the connection between the connection cable and the video signal processing device is performed via the connector unit. Electronic endoscope. 4. The electronic endoscope according to claim 3, wherein the connector section is provided with a drive circuit capable of supplying electric power to the light source section and controlling the driving thereof. 5. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source of the light source unit is an LED. 6. An electronic endoscope main body having an elongated and flexible tubular insertion portion, and a light source portion for illumination provided in the electronic endoscope main body, the tip of the insertion portion being provided. In an electronic endoscope that displays an image captured by an image pickup unit provided on the image display device after being processed by the image signal processing device, a connecting cable that connects the electronic endoscope body and the image signal processing device A signal line for connecting the image pickup unit and the video signal processing device, and a signal line for connecting the light source unit and the video signal processing device, wherein a part of the connection cable Is a spiral cord that is expandable and contractible, and is a connecting cable for an electronic endoscope.