JP2019000351A - Endoscope control device, endoscope system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an endoscope control device capable of performing curvature operation instruction used for endoscope examination in a seamless manner.SOLUTION: A smartphone 3 as an endoscope control device controls curvature operations of a curvature part 4b of an insertion part 4 of an endoscope device 2. The smartphone 3 detects rotation around a prescribed shaft of a housing 3a gripped by a user and movement in a prescribed direction of the housing 3a, and based on the detected rotation or movement, determines presence of a first operation or presence of a second operation being different from the first operation, and when the first operation is present, sends a first execution instruction of a first curvature operation to the curvature part 4b allocated to the first operation, and when the second operation is present, sends a second execution instruction of a second curvature operation to the curvature part 4b allocated to the second operation, to the endoscope device 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope control device, an endoscope system, and a program.

  Conventionally, endoscopes have been widely used in industrial and medical fields. The endoscope has an elongated insertion portion and an operation portion. The operation unit has knobs, buttons, and the like that are operated by the user to instruct execution of various functions of the endoscope.

  The user inserts the insertion portion into the examination target, performs a bending operation on the bending portion, displays an endoscopic image of the examination site on the monitor, obtains an image of a desired site, and performs endoscopy. The user performs endoscopy while performing many operations such as a bending operation, an imaging instruction, a centering operation of the bending portion, and an imaging instruction.

  Furthermore, among various operations, one operation can be executed in two modes, and the user may perform an inspection while switching modes. For example, with respect to the bending operation, there are two bending operation modes of a coarse operation normal mode and a fine operation fine mode. When the user wants to perform the bending operation delicately, setting the fine mode makes the bending operation fine. be able to.

  The user can also instruct the endoscope apparatus to execute a function using a touch panel device and a remote controller provided in the endoscope apparatus.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-263830 also proposes an endoscope apparatus in which the bending speed is changed in accordance with the depth of operation of a switch provided separately.

JP-A-4-263830

  However, when a user wants to execute a desired function, the user must instruct the execution of the function on a touch panel or the like. For example, when changing the bending operation mode, the user cannot operate the bending operation mode after the change unless the user operates the touch panel or the like to give an operation change instruction for the bending operation mode. .

  That is, in order to perform different bending operations, it is necessary to perform a switching operation such as temporarily interrupting the operation and operating the touch panel, and the user cannot seamlessly change the operation.

  In the endoscope apparatus proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 4-263830, a switch for changing the bending speed must be provided separately, and the user must perform complicated switch operations.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope control device, an endoscope system, and a program that can seamlessly perform a bending operation instruction used for endoscopy.

  An endoscope control device according to an aspect of the present invention is an endoscope control device that controls a bending operation of a bending portion of an insertion portion of an endoscope device, and is provided around a predetermined axis of a casing held by a user. A motion detector that detects the rotation of the casing and the movement of the housing in a predetermined direction, and the presence or absence of the first motion based on the rotation or the movement detected by the motion detector, or the first A motion determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a second motion different from the motion, and a second for the bending portion assigned to the first motion when there is the first motion determined by the motion determination unit. When there is the second action determined by the action determination unit, the first execution instruction of the first bending operation is the second instruction of the second bending operation with respect to the bending part assigned to the second action. An instruction transmission unit that transmits the execution instruction of 2 to the endoscope apparatus; A.

  An endoscope system according to an aspect of the present invention is an endoscope system including an endoscope device and an endoscope control device, and the endoscope control device is provided in an insertion portion of the endoscope device. An endoscope control device that controls a bending operation of a bending portion, and an operation detection unit that detects rotation of a housing held by a user around a predetermined axis and movement of the housing in a predetermined direction; An operation determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a first operation or the presence or absence of a second operation different from the first operation based on the rotation or the movement detected by the operation detection unit; and the operation determination When there is the first action determined by the section, the first execution instruction of the first bending operation for the bending section assigned to the first action is determined by the action determination section. When there is a second action, the assigned to the second action An instruction transmission unit that transmits a second execution instruction of the second bending operation to the bending unit to the endoscope apparatus, and the endoscope apparatus receives the first from the endoscope control apparatus. The first bending operation is executed in response to the execution instruction, and the second bending operation is executed in response to the second execution instruction from the endoscope control apparatus.

  A program according to an aspect of the present invention is a program for an endoscope control device that controls a bending operation of a bending portion of an insertion portion of an endoscope device, and is provided around a predetermined axis of a casing that is gripped by a user. Motion detection function for detecting the rotation and movement of the casing in a predetermined direction, and the presence or absence of the first motion based on the rotation or the movement detected by the motion detection function or the first A motion determining unit that determines the presence or absence of a second motion different from the motion, and a second for the bending portion assigned to the first motion when there is the first motion determined by the motion determination function. When there is the second action determined by the action determination unit, the first execution instruction of the first bending operation is the second instruction of the second bending operation with respect to the bending part assigned to the second action. 2 execution instruction is sent to the endoscope apparatus An instruction transmission function for, causes the computer to execute.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope control device, an endoscope system, and a program that can seamlessly perform a bending operation instruction used for endoscopy.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope system 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the display screen for bending operation concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of a smart phone grasped by a user's hand concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view seen from the slanting lower part of the smart phone 3 which shows the operation | movement which rotates the smart phone 3 around the axis | shaft of the axis | shaft O concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the perspective view seen from diagonally left of the smart phone 3 which shows the operation | movement which rotates the smart phone 3 around the axis | shaft of the axis | shaft PO concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the perspective view seen from the front of the smart phone 3 which shows the operation | movement which moves the smart phone 3 in parallel with the axis | shaft PO concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the perspective view seen from the front of the smart phone 3 which shows the operation | movement which moves the smart phone 3 in parallel with the axis | shaft O concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the flow of operation | movement of the endoscope application in the smart phone 3 concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the flow of operation | movement of the endoscope application in the smart phone 3 concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement for bending operations and the flow of operation | movement of the smart phone 3 and the endoscope apparatus 2 concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the example of the priority control of the mode in case the operation | movement of a normal mode and the operation | movement of a fine mode compete according to the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the switching of the mode of normal mode and fine mode concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the flow of operation | movement of the endoscope application in the smart phone 3 concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the example of the priority control of the mode in case the operation | movement for the normal mode of the left-right direction and the operation | movement for the fine mode in the left-right direction compete according to the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the other example of the priority control in case the operation | movement for the normal mode of the left-right direction and the operation | movement for the fine mode in the left-right direction compete according to the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the example of the movement of the Z-axis direction of the smart phone 3, and the mode switching operation | movement concerning the modification 2 of the 1st and 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a graph for demonstrating switching operation | movement of the normal mode and fine mode for the bending operation of the left-right direction in the modification 3 of the 1st and 2nd embodiment of this invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope system 1 according to the present embodiment. The endoscope system 1 includes an endoscope apparatus 2 and a smartphone 3 as an endoscope control apparatus. The endoscope apparatus 2 includes an elongated insertion portion 4 and a main body device 5 to which a proximal end portion of the insertion portion 4 is connected. An optical adapter 6 can be attached to the distal end portion of the insertion portion 4.

  In the following description, the endoscope control device is the smartphone 3, but in this case, the smartphone 3 is an endoscope control device that controls the endoscope device 2 by installing a predetermined application program. Become. Note that the endoscope control device may be a tablet terminal or the like instead of the smartphone 3.

An imaging element 11 is provided at the distal end portion 4 a of the insertion portion 4. The image sensor 11 is a CCD image sensor, a CMOS image sensor, or the like.
Further, a light guide 12 and four bending wires 13 are inserted through the insertion portion 4. The proximal end surface of the light guide 12 is connected to the light source in the main body device 5, and the distal end surface of the light guide 12 is disposed at the distal end portion of the insertion portion 4.

  The imaging element 11 receives light from the inspection object that has entered the observation window of the optical adapter 6 mounted on the distal end portion 4 a of the insertion portion 4 via the lens 6 a in the optical adapter 6. The image sensor 11 photoelectrically converts an image to be inspected received on the imaging surface and outputs an imaging signal to the control unit 21.

The light emitted from the front end surface of the light guide 12 is emitted as illumination light from the illumination window of the optical adapter 6 through the lens 6b in the optical adapter 6.
A bending portion 4b is provided at the proximal end of the distal end portion 4a. The bending portion 4b has a bending mechanism 14 in which a plurality of bending pieces are continuously provided. The bending mechanism 14 is connected to the tips of four bending wires 13.

  Two pulleys 15 a and 15 b are disposed at the proximal end portion of the insertion portion 4. One bending wire for bending in the vertical direction is hung on one pulley 15a and inserted into the insertion portion 4 as two bending wires 13 extending from the pulley 15a. Similarly, one bending wire for bending in the left-right direction is hung on one pulley 15b and inserted into the insertion portion 4 as two bending wires 13 extending from the pulley 15b.

The main unit 5 includes a control unit 21, a memory 22, an imaging drive circuit 23, an illumination circuit 24, a bending drive circuit 25, a bending drive unit 26, and an external interface (hereinafter abbreviated as an external I / F) 27. A liquid crystal display device (hereinafter referred to as LCD) 28, and a touch panel 29.
In the present embodiment, the horizontal and vertical directions in the bending operation of the bending portion 4b refer to the horizontal and vertical directions of the endoscopic image displayed on the LCD 28.

The control unit 21 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 21a, a ROM 21b, and a RAM 21c. When the CPU 21a reads out and executes a program from the ROM 21b or the memory 22 according to the function instructed by the user, the control unit 21 operates each part of the endoscope apparatus 2 to realize the function instructed by the user. .
The control unit 21 includes an image processing unit that processes an imaging signal from the imaging element 11 to generate an endoscopic image.

The memory 22 is a rewritable and nonvolatile storage device such as a flash memory or a hard disk device. The memory 22 stores a program, data, and the like for the operation of the endoscope apparatus 2 and also records an endoscopic image to be examined.
The image data of the endoscopic image may be recorded on a removable memory card (not shown) or the like.

The imaging drive circuit 23 outputs a drive signal to the image sensor 11 under the control of the control unit 21, receives an image signal from the image sensor 11, and outputs it to the control unit 21.
The illumination circuit 24 includes a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode (LED) and a drive circuit that supplies a drive signal to the light emitting element under the control of the control unit 21. The light emitted from the light emitting element is emitted from the illumination circuit 24 and enters the base end face of the light guide 12. The light incident on the light guide 12 is emitted from the distal end surface of the light guide 12, and the light is emitted as illumination light through the lens 6b of the optical adapter 6 to illuminate the inspection object. Reflected light from the inspection object irradiated with illumination light enters the image sensor 11.

The bending drive circuit 25 includes a bending drive circuit 25a for bending in the vertical direction and a bending drive circuit 25b for bending in the left-right direction.
The bending drive unit 26 includes a motor 26a for bending in the vertical direction and a motor 26b for bending in the horizontal direction. The rotation shaft of the motor 26a is connected to the rotation shaft of the pulley 15a via a reduction gear or the like, and the pulley 15a rotates by driving the motor 26a. The rotation shaft of the motor 26b is connected to the rotation shaft of the pulley 15b via a reduction gear or the like, and the pulley 15b rotates by driving the motor 26b.

  The bending drive circuit 25 operates under the control of the control unit 21, the bending drive circuit 25a drives the motor 26a based on the up / down direction bending control signal, and the bending drive circuit 25b based on the left / right direction bending control signal. To drive the motor 26b. As a result, when the pulley 15a rotates and one of the two bending wires 13 is pulled and the other is relaxed, the bending mechanism 14 bends the bending portion 4b in the vertical direction, and the pulley 15b rotates and 2 When one of the bending wires 13 is pulled and the other is relaxed, the bending mechanism 14 bends the bending portion 4b in the left-right direction.

  The external I / F 27 is a circuit that receives a signal from the smartphone 3 that is an endoscope control apparatus. Here, the external I / F 27 is an interface circuit for wireless communication with the smartphone 3, for example, WIFI communication.

  The LCD 28 is a display device, and a touch panel 29 is fixed on the display screen of the LCD 28. The LCD 28 and the touch panel 29 constitute an operation panel device. The user can view the endoscopic image in the examination target displayed on the LCD 28 and input an operation command to the endoscope apparatus 2 by touching an operation button or the like displayed on the display screen. can do.

Although not shown here, the endoscope apparatus 2 is connected to an operation unit such as a remote controller, and the user may operate the remote controller to input an operation command to the endoscope apparatus 2. it can.
Therefore, the control part 21 can receive the command signal for function execution not only from the smart phone 3, but from the touch panel 29 and a remote control.

  The smartphone 3 includes a control unit 31, a memory 32, an LCD 33, a touch panel 34, a sensor unit 35, an external I / F 36, an imaging unit 37, a microphone 38, and operation buttons 39.

  The control unit 31 includes a CPU 31a, a ROM 31b, and a RAM 31c. When the CPU 31a reads out and executes a program from the ROM 31b or the memory 32, the control unit 31 operates each unit of the smartphone 3 and realizes a function instructed by the user.

  The memory 32 is a rewritable and nonvolatile storage device such as a flash memory or a hard disk device. The memory 32 also stores application programs downloaded via a network such as the Internet.

  Here, an endoscope application program (hereinafter referred to as an endoscope application) 32 a for operating the endoscope apparatus 2 is stored in the memory 32. The user can give an operation instruction to the endoscope apparatus 2 using the smartphone 3 by causing the smartphone 3 to execute the endoscope application 32a.

  The endoscope application is a non-temporary storage medium that is stored in a computer-readable memory 32, and is a program that causes a smartphone 3 that is a computer to execute a detection function, a determination function, and an instruction transmission function described later.

  The LCD 33 is a display device, and a touch panel 34 is fixed on the display screen of the LCD 33. The LCD 33 and the touch panel 34 constitute an operation panel device. The user can view an image displayed on the LCD 33 and can input an operation command to the smartphone 3 by touching an operation button or the like displayed on the display screen.

  The sensor unit 35 includes a gyro sensor and a gravitational acceleration sensor in order to detect the posture of the smartphone 3 and a change in the posture. The gyro sensor and the gravitational acceleration sensor detect rotation around the predetermined axis and movement in space of the housing 3a (FIG. 2) of the smartphone 3. The sensor unit 35 outputs three acceleration signals and gravitational acceleration signals in the x, y, and z axis directions orthogonal to each other. As will be described later, a change in the posture of the smartphone 3 is detected based on the output signal of the sensor unit 35.

The external I / F 36 is an interface circuit for wireless communication, for example, for WIFI communication.
The external I / F 36 may be a wired interface. For example, the endoscope apparatus 2 and the smartphone 3 may be connected by a cable so that the smartphone 3 can communicate with the endoscope apparatus 2.

The imaging unit 37 includes two cameras 37a and 37b. The camera 37a is a front camera, and the camera 37b is a rear camera.
The microphone 38 is a call microphone.

The smartphone 3 also has a speaker (not shown) for calling.
Furthermore, the smartphone 3 has a home button 46 and other buttons (not shown).

  Since the smartphone 3 can download and install the application program as described above, the endoscope application 32a can be downloaded from the Internet or the like and stored in the memory 32. The endoscope application 32a is an application program for communicating with the endoscope apparatus 2 and operating the endoscope apparatus 2. When the user installs the endoscope application 32 a and activates the endoscope application, the user can perform various operations such as a bending operation by touching a predetermined button displayed on the LCD 33. That is, the smartphone 3 is an endoscope control device that controls the bending operation of the bending portion 4 b of the insertion portion 4 of the endoscope device 2.

  The endoscope apparatus 2 has many functions. For example, the bending operation is an operation frequently performed during an endoscopic examination, and the endoscope application has a function of the bending operation. Therefore, the user can perform the bending operation of the bending portion 4b using the endoscope application 32a.

Although the endoscope application has other functions, the bending function will be described here. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen for a bending operation.
When the endoscope application is activated, an endoscope image to be inspected obtained by communicating with the endoscope device 2 and picked up by the image sensor 11 is displayed on the display screen 41 of the LCD 33 of the smartphone 3. Obtained from the device 2 and displayed in the live image display area 42. Therefore, the user can view a live endoscope image with the smartphone 3. The endoscopic image displayed in the live image display area 42 is a live moving image generated in the control unit 21 based on an imaging signal obtained by imaging with the imaging element 11.

  Further, on the display screen 41 of the LCD 33, a bending operation button (Bend) 43, a bending lock button (Lock) 44, and a reference position reset button (Reset) 45 relating to the bending operation are also displayed.

  When the user touches the bending operation button 43 on the display screen 41, the endoscope application transmits a bending command as described later in accordance with the turning operation and the moving operation of the smartphone 3 by the user.

  When the user touches the bending lock button 44 on the display screen 41, the endoscope application outputs and instructs a bending lock command to the control unit 21 so that the bending state of the bending portion 4b at that time is maintained. When the control unit 21 receives the bending lock command, the control unit 21 determines the bending control signal to lock the bending unit 4b, so that the bending unit 4b enters the bending lock state. For example, when the user touches the bending lock button 44, the image of the bending lock button 44 is inverted, so that the user can recognize that the bending lock state is in effect. When the user touches the bend lock button 44 again in the bend lock state, the endoscope application outputs a bend lock release command to the control unit 21 and instructs the control unit 21 so that the control unit 21 returns to the normal bend control and bends. The curved lock state of the portion 4b is released.

  When the user touches the reference position reset button 45 on the display screen 41, the endoscope application executes a reference position reset process using the current posture of the smartphone 3 as a reference position for the bending operation.

  Specifically, the axis O in the longitudinal axis direction passing through the center point (for example, the center of gravity) C of the rectangular parallelepiped smartphone 3 and the inclination of the axis PO orthogonal to the axis O and passing through the center C are output from the sensor unit 35. As the reference posture calculated based on the signal, information on the reference posture is temporarily stored in the RAM of the control unit 31 or the like.

  The smartphone 3 has a home button 46 near the lower side of the display screen of the LCD 33. When the home button 46 is pressed, a route menu screen is displayed on the LCD 33.

  The user can perform the bending operation of the bending portion 4b of the insertion portion 4 by rotating around a predetermined axis or moving in a predetermined direction while holding the smartphone 3 by hand.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the smartphone held by the user's hand. The user can basically perform two movements while holding the smartphone 3 with one hand H.
One is a rotation operation, and the other is a movement operation.

  In the turning operation, as shown by the dotted arrow YC, the smartphone 3 is rotated about the longitudinal axis O passing through the center C of the housing 3a of the smartphone 3, and the dotted arrow TC is shown. There is an operation of rotating the smartphone 3 around the axis PO orthogonal to the axis O in the longitudinal axis direction passing through the center C of the housing 3a of the smartphone 3.

For the movement operation, as indicated by the dotted arrow TD, the movement of the smartphone 3 parallel to the axis O of the smartphone 3 and the axis PO passing through the center C of the smartphone 3 as indicated by the dotted arrow YD. There is an operation of moving the smartphone 3.
For example, the user performs an endoscopic examination while holding the smartphone 3 with the left hand while operating the insertion unit 4 with the right hand.

  The user rotates the smartphone 3 around the axis O as indicated by the dotted arrow YC in FIG. 3 and rotates the smartphone 3 around the axis PO as indicated by the dotted arrow TC in FIG. 3, translating the smartphone 3 parallel to the axis PO as indicated by the dotted arrow YD in FIG. 3, and translating the smartphone 3 parallel to the axis O as indicated by the dotted arrow TD in FIG. 3. These four actions can be assigned to different operations.

This will be described more specifically.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the smartphone 3 viewed from obliquely below, showing the operation of rotating the smartphone 3 about the axis O. This is an operation of rotating the smartphone 3 around the axis O. In FIG. 4, a solid line shows the attitude | position of the smart phone 3 of a reference position, and a dashed-dotted line shows the attitude | position of the smart phone 3 after rotation. The same applies to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the smartphone 3 as viewed from an oblique left side showing an operation of rotating the smartphone 3 about the axis PO. This is an operation of rotating the smartphone 3 around the axis PO.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view seen from the front of the smartphone 3 showing the operation of moving the smartphone 3 parallel to the axis PO. This is an operation of moving the smartphone 3 parallel to the axis PO.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view seen from the front of the smartphone 3 showing the operation of moving the smartphone 3 parallel to the axis O. FIG. This is an operation of moving the smartphone 3 parallel to the axis O.
The above four operations are assigned to various operation instructions for the endoscope apparatus 2.

For example, four operations can be assigned to four bending operation instructions of the bending portion 4b.
The bending operation is an operation that is frequently performed during endoscopy, and generally has two operation modes, a normal mode and a fine mode. The normal mode is an operation mode in which the bending portion 4b is bent with a predetermined bending amount in accordance with an instruction from the user, and the fine mode is a bending portion 4b having an amount smaller than the bending amount in the normal mode in accordance with an instruction from the user. Is an operation mode in which the curve is finely curved. That is, the user can roughly perform the bending operation in the normal mode and can precisely perform the bending operation in the fine mode.

For example, the user normally performs the examination by setting the operation mode of the bending operation to the normal mode, but when the user wants to observe a part in detail at the center of the endoscopic image, the operation of the bending operation is performed. By setting the mode to the fine mode, the bending portion 4b is bent finely, and the part to be observed can be accurately positioned at the center of the screen. Conventionally, the user has to perform a switching operation of the operation mode of the bending operation in this manner by pressing a predetermined operation button.
However, in the present embodiment, the user can issue a bending operation instruction in the normal mode and a bending operation instruction in the fine mode without performing an operation for switching the operation mode of the bending operation.

  For example, the operation of rotating the smartphone 3 shown in FIG. 4 about the axis O corresponds to the left / right bending operation instruction in the normal mode, and the smartphone 3 shown in FIG. 5 is rotated about the axis PO. 6 corresponds to the up / down bending operation instruction in the normal mode, and the operation of moving the smartphone 3 shown in FIG. 6 parallel to the axis PO corresponds to the left / right bending operation instruction in the fine mode. The operation of moving the smartphone 3 shown in FIG. 7 in parallel with the axis O can correspond to the bending operation instruction in the vertical direction in the fine mode.

  Specifically, when the operation of FIG. 4 is assigned to the bending operation in the left-right direction in the normal mode and is rotated clockwise about the axis O shown in FIG. 4, the bending portion 4b is bent rightward, as shown in FIG. When the axis O is rotated counterclockwise, the bending portion 4b is bent leftward. When the operation of FIG. 5 is assigned to the vertical bending operation in the normal mode and rotated clockwise about the axis PO shown in FIG. 5, the bending portion 4b is bent downward, and the counterclockwise direction of the axis PO shown in FIG. When rotating around, the bending portion 4b is bent upward.

  Similarly, when the operation of FIG. 6 is assigned to the left / right bending operation in the fine mode and moved to the right of the axis PO shown in FIG. 6, the bending portion 4b is bent to the right and the axis PO shown in FIG. When moved leftward, the bending portion 4b is bent leftward. When the operation in FIG. 7 is assigned to the bending operation in the vertical direction in the fine mode and is moved downward along the axis O shown in FIG. 7, the bending portion 4b is bent downward, and along the axis O shown in FIG. Then, the bending portion 4b is bent upward.

That is, the operations of FIGS. 4 and 5 are assigned to the first operation for the first mode (normal mode) in which the bending of the bending portion 4b in the vertical and horizontal directions is bent by the first bending amount. 6 and 7 are assigned to the operation for the second mode (fine mode) in which the bending of the bending portion 4b in the vertical and horizontal directions is bent with a second bending amount smaller than the first bending amount. It is done.
Therefore, the first operation includes a first rotation operation about the axis O and a second rotation operation about the axis PO, and the second operation includes a first movement operation in the direction of the axis O, and This includes the second movement operation in the direction of the axis PO.
By properly using these four operations, the user can seamlessly instruct the bending operation in the normal mode and the fine mode of the bending portion 4b.
Note that not all of the four motions are used, and the motion of FIG. 5 is assigned to the first motion for the bending operation of the bending portion 4b in the vertical direction, and the motion of FIG. 6 is shifted to the horizontal direction of the bending portion 4b. You may make it allocate to the 2nd operation | movement for this bending operation.

4 and 5 are assigned to the first operation for the bending operation of the bending portion 4b in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the operation of FIGS. 6 and 7 is performed by an operation for locking the bending of the bending portion 4b or You may make it allocate to 2nd operation | movement for operation which cancels | releases the curve of the bending part 4b.
(Function)
Next, the operation of the endoscope system using the above-described plurality of operations will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation flow of the endoscope application in the smartphone 3. FIG. 8 shows a partial flow of processing of the endoscope application.
Hereinafter, an example in which two of the four operations described above are assigned to two operation instructions will be described.

The control unit 31 performs a reference position reset process when a reference position reset is instructed by the user (step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 1).
When the endoscope application is activated, a button for instructing a reference position reset is displayed on a menu screen (not shown). The user can instruct execution of the reference position reset process by touching the button. The control unit 31 acquires an output signal from the sensor unit 35 and sets reference position information.

  For example, based on the output signal of the sensor unit 35, the control unit 31 sets the axis passing through the center C of the housing 3a of the smartphone 3 and perpendicular to the display screen of the LCD 33 as the Z axis, and in the longitudinal direction of the housing 3a. The axis O is set as the Y axis, and the above-described axis PO is set as the X axis. By the reference position reset process, the posture of the smartphone 3 when the reference position reset button is touched becomes the reference posture, and the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis in the reference posture are determined.

  Here, the reference position setting process is triggered by the operation of the reference position reset button by the user, but the other may be used as a trigger. For example, when the control unit 31 monitors the output signal of the sensor unit 35 and detects that the posture of the smartphone 3 has not changed for a predetermined time or more, the reference position setting process is executed using the detection as a trigger. May be.

  After the reference position reset process, the control unit 31 determines whether the first operation is greater than the second operation based on the output signal of the sensor unit 35 (S2). When the user moves the smartphone 3, even if one of the two actions is attempted, the other action may occur. Judgment.

After the reference position reset process, the control unit 31 periodically executes the processes from S2 to S4. For example, the control part 31 performs the process below S2 every several tens of milliseconds.
Therefore, the first operation and the second operation are determined depending on whether or not the magnitude of the first action is larger than the magnitude of the second action. The process of S2 executed by the control unit 31 constitutes an operation detection unit that detects rotation of the housing 3a held by the user around a predetermined axis and movement of the housing 3a in a predetermined direction, An operation determination unit that determines the presence or absence of the first operation or the presence or absence of the second operation different from the first operation based on the detected rotation or movement is configured.

When the magnitude of the first action is larger than the magnitude of the second action (S2: YES), the control unit 31 outputs an execution instruction for the first bending operation corresponding to the first action (S3). .
When four operations are assigned to four bending operation instructions, the first operation is the normal mode operation and the second operation is the fine mode operation, the larger movement of the operations in FIGS. 4 and 5 is performed. The operation is the first operation, and the larger movement of the operations in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 is the second operation. As a second operation, the magnitude of the first action is compared with the magnitude of the second action in S2. Is done.

  In that case, when the rotation operation of the smartphone 3 of FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 is performed, the control unit 31 obtains the rotation amount, and when the movement operation of the smartphone 3 of FIG. In order to obtain the amount of movement, the amount of rotation and the amount of movement are normalized so that the amount of rotation and the amount of movement can be compared, and the amount of movement of the rotation operation is compared with the amount of movement of the movement operation. .

When the magnitude of the first action is equal to the magnitude of the second action (S2: =), the process does nothing.
When the magnitude of the first action is not larger than the magnitude of the second action (S2: NO), the control unit 31 outputs an execution instruction for the second bending operation corresponding to the second action (S4). ).

In S <b> 3 and S <b> 4, an execution instruction command signal is transmitted from the external I / F 36 to the endoscope apparatus 2.
For example, if the first operation is the operation shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 and the second operation is the operation shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, the user uses these four operations to The bending operation of the endoscope apparatus 2 is seamlessly performed in the normal mode and the vertical bending operation and the horizontal bending operation instruction without instructing an operation to switch between the normal mode and the fine mode. be able to.

Therefore, when the processes in S3 and S4 are the first movement determined in S2, the first execution instruction of the first bending operation assigned to the first movement is given as the second movement. In this case, an instruction transmission unit is configured to transmit a second execution instruction of the second bending operation assigned to the second action to the endoscope apparatus 2.
The command signals of the first execution instruction and the second execution instruction include information on the operation amount corresponding to the rotation amount of the rotation or the operation amount corresponding to the movement amount of the movement.

The endoscope device 2 executes a first bending operation in response to a first execution instruction from the smartphone 3 and executes a second bending operation in response to a second execution instruction from the smartphone 3.
Next, the bending operation in which the four operations described above are assigned to the four bending operations will be described more specifically.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation flow of the endoscope application in the smartphone 3. FIG. 9 shows a partial flow of processing of the endoscope application.

In the following description, two of the four operations described above correspond to the first bending operation instruction, and the other two operations correspond to the second bending operation instruction. The first bending operation is a normal mode bending operation, and the second bending operation is a fine mode bending operation.
First, the user can perform a rotation operation and a movement operation in the endoscope application by performing these operations after executing the reference position reset process.

The user holds the smartphone 3 in an easy-to-operate state during the inspection. In this state, when the user touches the reference position reset button (Reset) 45, the reference position reset process can be executed.
Therefore, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the reference position reset is instructed (S11).

When the endoscope application is activated, a button for instructing a reference position reset is displayed on a menu screen (not shown). The user can instruct execution of the reference position reset process by touching the button.
When the reference position reset button 45 is touched (S11: YES), the control unit 31 acquires an output signal from the sensor unit 35 (S12) and sets reference position information (S13).

  For example, based on the output signal of the sensor unit 35, the control unit 31 sets the axis passing through the center C of the housing of the smartphone 3 and perpendicular to the display screen of the LCD 33 as the Z axis and the axis O in the longitudinal direction as Y An axis is set, and the axis PO is set as the X axis. In general, the Z-axis is in the direction of gravitational acceleration, but the direction is perpendicular to the display screen of the LCD 33 by resetting the reference position.

The X axis and the Y axis can also be set in various directions, but here are the axis PO and the axis O, respectively.
As described above, by the reference position reset process, the posture of the smartphone 3 when the reference position reset button 45 is touched becomes the reference posture, and the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis in the reference posture are determined.

  After S13, the control unit 31 notifies the user that the reference position reset process has been completed (S14). The reset completion notification is made by displaying a message indicating completion on the LCD 33, causing a predetermined lamp or LED element to emit light, or outputting a predetermined sound. After S14, the process returns to S11.

  If the reference position reset button is not touched (S11: NO), the control unit 31 determines whether or not the reference position has been reset (S15). The control unit 31 can determine whether or not the reference position has been reset based on the presence / absence of the execution record of the reference position reset process.

If the reference position has not been reset (S15: NO), the process returns to S11.
If the reference position has been reset (S15: YES), the control unit 31 determines whether or not one of two predetermined operations (the normal mode and the fine mode) has occurred based on the output signal of the sensor unit 35. (S16). That is, the process of S16 constitutes an operation detection unit that detects rotation of the casing 3a held by the user around a predetermined axis and movement of the casing 3a in a predetermined direction.

  When it is determined that one of the two predetermined operations has occurred (S16: YES), the control unit 31 determines whether the operation performed by the user is the first of the two operations. (S17). That is, the process of S17 constitutes an operation determination unit that determines the presence / absence of the first operation and the presence / absence of the second operation based on the rotation or movement detected in S16.

Whether or not the first operation has occurred is determined based on whether or not the magnitude of the first operation is not 0 (zero) but larger than the second operation.
When the operation shown in FIG. 4 or the operation shown in FIG. 5 is detected, it is determined that the first operation has occurred, and the magnitude of the second action is larger than the magnitude of the first action. When the operation shown in FIG. 7 is detected, it is determined that the second operation has been performed.

  If it is determined that there is a first action (S17: YES), the control unit 31 calculates an operation amount corresponding to the magnitude of the first action from the output signal of the sensor unit 35 (S18). The manipulated variable information is output to the external I / F 36 and transmitted to the endoscope apparatus 2 (S19).

  In S18, the rotation angle in the operation shown in FIG. 4 or the operation shown in FIG. 5 is calculated from the output signal of the sensor unit 35, and the bending angle in the vertical or horizontal direction of the bending portion 4b is calculated from the calculated rotation angle. A target value is calculated.

  When the second operation is performed (S17: NO), the control unit 31 calculates the operation amount of the second operation from the output signal of the sensor unit 35 (S20), and uses the information of the calculated operation amount as the external I / F36 to the endoscope apparatus 2 (S21).

  In S20, the movement amount in the operation shown in FIG. 6 or the operation shown in FIG. 7 is calculated from the output signal of the sensor unit 35, and the target value of the bending angle in the vertical or horizontal direction of the bending portion 4b is calculated from the calculated movement amount. Is calculated.

  Therefore, when it is determined in S17 that the process of S19 and S21 has the first action, the first execution instruction of the first bending operation assigned to the first action is given. When it is determined that there is an operation, an instruction transmission unit is configured to transmit a second execution instruction of the second bending operation assigned to the second operation to the endoscope apparatus 2.

  When it is determined that there is no one of the two predetermined operations (S16: NO), and after S19 and S21, the control unit 31 determines whether or not a bending lock instruction is issued (S22). The user touches the bending lock button (Lock) 44 with a finger (S22: YES), thereby giving an instruction for bending locking to the endoscope apparatus 2, that is, transmitting (S23).

  When receiving the instruction to lock the bending, the endoscope apparatus 2 stops the operation of the bending mechanism 14 and holds the bending portion 4b in the bending state at that time. That is, the control unit 21 does not output a bending control signal to the bending drive circuit 25.

  After transmitting the instruction for bending lock, the control unit 31 determines whether or not there is an instruction to release the bending lock (S24). For example, when the user touches the bend lock button 44 in the bend lock state (S24: YES), the control unit 31 transmits a bend lock release instruction (S25).

If the bending lock button 44 is not touched (S24: NO), the processing is not performed. After S25, the process returns to S11.
Note that after S25, the process may return to S16 as indicated by a dotted line.

The control unit 31 periodically executes the processes from S16 to S25. For example, the control part 31 performs the process below S2 every several tens of milliseconds.
Furthermore, there is a case where a bending centering instruction for the bending portion 4b is given. The bending centering is an operation to make the bending portion 4b not bent, that is, straight. The user can give a bending centering instruction by operating a button (not shown). When the bending centering instruction is issued, the smartphone 3 transmits a command signal for the bending centering operation instruction to the endoscope apparatus 2.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a flow of operations for the bending operation and operations of the smartphone 3 and the endoscope apparatus 2.
In FIG. 10, the state change detection unit and the bending amount calculation unit are included in the smartphone 3, and the bending control unit and the bending drive unit are included in the endoscope apparatus 2. The processes of S16 and S17 in FIG. 9 constitute a state change detection unit of the smartphone 3. The processes of S19 and S21 constitute a bending amount calculation unit of the smartphone 3. The control unit 21 in FIG. 1 constitutes a bending control unit, and the bending drive circuit 25 constitutes a bending drive unit.

  The user holds the smartphone 3 in an easy-to-operate state during the inspection. As described above, when the user touches the reference position reset button (Reset) 45 in this state, the smartphone 3 executes a reference position reset process for bending the posture at that time from the output signal of the sensor unit 35. (A1). In A1, the processes of S12 to S14 in FIG. 9 are executed.

  Thereafter, the state change detection unit of the control unit 31 acquires the output signal of the sensor unit 35 at a predetermined cycle, and determines whether or not there is a predetermined operation. For example, when the state change detection unit of the control unit 31 detects a turning operation (CS1) around the axis O as shown in FIG. 4 as a bending operation, it outputs a detection signal to the bending amount calculation unit (P1). The bending amount calculation unit calculates a bending target value according to the magnitude of the motion detected by the state change detection unit (P2).

  When the smartphone 3 is rotated to the right around the axis O, a predetermined bending amount, that is, a bending angle is calculated according to the inclination angle. For example, when the smartphone rotates 45 degrees to the right, the front visual field direction of the distal end portion 4a is directed to a predetermined right angle of 45 degrees with respect to the central axis direction of the insertion section 4 (that is, the insertion direction). A curvature target value is calculated.

The smartphone 3 transmits the calculated curvature target value to the endoscope 2 wirelessly via the external I / F 36.
The control unit 21 calculates a bending control value to the bending target value received from the smartphone 3 so that the bending unit 4b is bent, and outputs the calculated bending control value to the bending drive circuit 25 (EP1).

  Since the control unit 21 monitors the rotation amounts of the pulleys 15a and 15b, the bending control is performed so that the bending portion 4b has the bending angle of the bending target value from the received bending target value and the rotation amounts of the pulleys 15a and 15b. Calculate the value.

  The bending drive circuit 25 outputs a bending control signal corresponding to the received bending control value to the bending driving unit 26, and the corresponding motors 26a and 26b of the bending driving unit 26 are driven, so that the bending unit 4b has the bending target. Curve to the value's curve angle.

After that, the control unit 31 periodically acquires the output signal of the sensor unit 35 and detects which operation of FIGS. 4 to 7 has been performed.
Therefore, after performing the rotation operation in the left-right direction in the normal mode of FIG. 4 described above, when the user performs an operation of moving the smartphone 3 as shown in FIG. 6 in parallel with the axis PO, the predetermined operation CS2 is performed. Detected (P3). The control unit 31 calculates a bending target value according to the operation CS2 (P4) and transmits it to the endoscope apparatus 2. The endoscope apparatus 2 calculates a bending control amount corresponding to the received bending target value (EP2), and outputs it to the bending drive unit.

Therefore, the user can seamlessly issue the fine mode operation instruction after the normal mode operation instruction.
Similarly, after that, when a predetermined motion CS3 is detected (P5), the control unit 31 calculates a curvature target value corresponding to the motion CS3 (P5) and transmits it to the endoscope apparatus 2. The endoscope apparatus 2 calculates a bending control amount according to the received bending target value (EP3), and outputs it to the bending drive unit. If the operation CS3 is the operation shown in FIG. 5, the user can seamlessly issue the normal mode operation instruction in the vertical direction after the fine mode operation instruction in the horizontal direction.

  In the above-described example, the smartphone 3 calculates the bending target value, and the bending control value is obtained by calculation in the endoscope apparatus 2, but in the endoscope apparatus 2, the bending target value is calculated. The bending control value may be calculated. That is, the smartphone 3 determines whether or not there is an operation, transmits the operation amount (rotation angle, movement amount) to the endoscope device 2, and the control unit 21 of the endoscope device 2 calculates the curvature target value. Then, the bending control value may be calculated.

  Furthermore, in the above-described example, the bending control value is obtained by calculation in the endoscope apparatus 2, but the bending control value is calculated in addition to the bending target value in the smartphone 3, and the endoscope apparatus 2 is calculated. You may make it transmit to.

In that case, the smartphone 3 periodically acquires information on the rotation angles of the pulleys 15a and 15b from the endoscope apparatus 2, and calculates a bending control value based on the acquired information on the rotation angles of the pulleys 15a and 15b. And transmitted to the endoscope apparatus 2.
Further, when there are two or more operations, control for adjusting the competition may be performed.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating an example of mode priority control when the normal mode operation and the fine mode operation compete.
In FIG. 11, the circled graph is the operation (M1) of FIG. 4, and shows the movement amount (rotation angle) AP in the normal mode. The vertical axis represents the amount of movement, and the horizontal axis represents time (seconds). The star graph is the operation (M3) of FIG. 6 and shows the movement amount (movement amount) AP in the fine mode.

  As shown in FIG. 11, since the operation (M1) shown in FIG. 4 is larger than the second operation (M3) shown in FIG. 6 from time 0 to time tc, the operation (normal mode) shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows priority over the operation (fine mode) shown in FIG. At time 0, the reference position reset process is executed.

  After time tc, since the operation (fine mode) (M3) shown in FIG. 6 is larger than the first operation, the operation (fine mode) shown in FIG. 6 has priority over the operation (normal mode) shown in FIG. It is shown that.

  Therefore, the control unit 31 switches the mode between the normal mode and the fine mode in the left-right direction by giving priority to an operation with a large amount of motion.

Similarly, when switching between the normal mode and the fine mode in the vertical direction, the rotation amount of the normal mode operation in the vertical direction (M2: the vertical bending operation in the normal mode) and the fine mode operation in the vertical direction (M4: When the amount of movement of the fine mode (vertical bending operation) competes, priority control of the mode is performed as shown in FIG.
Therefore, in S2 of FIG. 8 and S17 of FIG. 9, the first rotation operation of FIG. 4 and the second rotation operation of FIG. 5, the first movement operation of FIG. 6, and the second movement of FIG. By comparing with the operation, it is determined whether or not there is an operation for the normal mode or an operation for the fine mode.

  In addition, since the vertical bending operation and the horizontal bending operation may be different from each other, the vertical bending operation and the horizontal bending operation are simultaneously changed from the normal mode to the fine mode, or from the fine mode. The control unit 31 performs mode switching so as to switch to the normal mode.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating switching between the normal mode and the fine mode.

  From time t0 to time t1, the two bending operations in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction operate in the normal mode. The movement operation amount in the left-right direction becomes larger than the rotation operation amount at the time t1, but the control operation is performed by the control unit 31 because the vertical rotation operation amount is equal to or greater than the movement operation amount. Keep the mode in normal mode.

  At time t2, when the movement operation amount in the vertical direction is larger than the rotation operation amount, the movement operation amount in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction becomes larger than the rotation operation amount. The bending mode of the direction bending operation is switched from the normal mode to the fine mode.

  Thereafter, at time t3, the amount of vertical rotation operation is equal to or greater than the amount of movement operation, but since the amount of horizontal movement operation is greater than the amount of rotation operation, the control unit 31 performs the bending operation in the vertical direction. Keep the bending mode in fine mode.

  At time t4, when the amount of movement operation in the left-right direction becomes greater than or equal to the amount of rotation operation, the amount of rotation operation in the up-down direction and the left-right direction becomes larger than the amount of movement operation. The bending mode of the bending operation is switched from the fine mode to the normal mode.

As described above, in S2 of FIG. 8 and S17 of FIG. 9, the magnitude of the rotational movement in FIG. 4 is equal to or larger than the magnitude of the movement movement in FIG. 6, and the magnitude of the rotational movement in FIG. When it is equal to or larger than the magnitude of the movement operation of FIG. 7, it is determined that there is an operation for the normal mode, the magnitude of the movement operation of FIG. 6 is larger than the magnitude of the rotation operation of FIG. When the magnitude of the movement operation is larger than the magnitude of the rotation operation in FIG. 5, it is determined that there has been an operation for the fine mode.
That is, the normal mode is set when the rotation operation amount is greater than or equal to the movement operation amount both in the left-right direction and the up-down direction, and the fine mode is set when the movement operation amount is both the left-right direction and the up-down direction. The control unit 31 controls the switching between the two modes so that it is set when the value is greater than.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, the control unit 31 is configured so that the bending mode of the vertical bending operation and the horizontal bending operation is simultaneously switched from the normal mode to the fine mode or from the fine mode to the normal mode. Therefore, the user can easily perform the bending operation.

  As described above, when the four operations correspond to the four operation instructions of the bending operation and the control unit 31 detects that any of the operations in FIGS. 4 to 7 is performed, the bending corresponding to the operation is performed. A target value is calculated and transmitted to the endoscope apparatus 2. Therefore, the user can seamlessly perform a desired bending operation instruction only by performing a turning operation or a movement operation corresponding to a desired operation mode on the smartphone 3 without performing a bending mode switching operation. .

  Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to provide an endoscope control apparatus, an endoscope system, and a program that can seamlessly perform a bending operation instruction used for endoscopy.

Accordingly, the switching operation for changing the operation as in the conventional case is not necessary, and the operability of the endoscope control apparatus is improved.
(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the operation determination is performed based on the presence / absence of the operation of the endoscope control apparatus. In the second embodiment, the operation determination is performed using a threshold in the determination of the presence / absence of the operation. Is called.

  In addition, since the endoscope apparatus 2 and the smart phone 3 of this Embodiment have the structure similar to the endoscope apparatus 2 and the smart phone 3 of 1st Embodiment, it uses the same code | symbol about the same component. Therefore, only the different components will be described.

In the endoscope system 1 of the present embodiment, the presence / absence of an operation is determined using a predetermined threshold.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation flow of the endoscope application in the smartphone 3. FIG. 13 shows a partial flow of processing of the endoscope application.
Hereinafter, an example in which two of the four operations described above are assigned to two operation instructions will be described.

In FIG. 13, the same processes as those in FIG.
After the reference position reset process (S1), the control unit 31 determines whether the first operation is larger than the second operation based on the output signal of the sensor unit 35 (S2). . After the reference position reset process, the control unit 31 periodically executes the processes after S2. For example, the control part 31 performs the process below S2 every several tens of milliseconds.
When the magnitude of the first action is larger than the magnitude of the second action (S2: YES), the control unit 31 determines whether or not the magnitude of the first action is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value TH1. (S31). The determination as to whether the magnitude of the first action is equal to or greater than the threshold value TH1 is to prevent an erroneous first bending operation instruction from being output. When the magnitude of the first motion is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold TH1 (S31: YES), the control unit 31 outputs an execution instruction for the first bending operation corresponding to the first motion (S3).

  For example, when the user performs the operation of FIG. 4 or 5 for the bending operation of the bending portion 4b of the endoscope apparatus 2, if the magnitude of the operation is less than a predetermined threshold, the control unit 31 is The execution instruction of the first bending operation is not performed on the assumption that the user has not clearly performed the first operation. However, when the magnitude of the motion is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value TH1, the control unit 31 outputs the execution instruction of the first bending operation on the assumption that the user has clearly performed the first motion (S3).

  When the magnitude of the first action is not larger than the magnitude of the second action (S2: NO), the control unit 31 determines whether or not the magnitude of the second action is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value TH2. (S32). The determination of whether the magnitude of the second action is equal to or greater than the threshold value TH2 is to prevent an erroneous second bending operation instruction from being output. When the magnitude of the second motion is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold TH2 (S32: YES), the control unit 31 outputs an execution instruction for the second bending operation corresponding to the second motion (S4).

As described above, in S31, it is determined that the first operation has occurred when the rotation amount of the rotation is equal to or greater than the first threshold value TH1, and in S32, the movement amount of the movement is determined to be the second threshold value TH2. When it is above, it is determined that the second operation has been performed.
Therefore, the processing of S2, S31, and S32 executed by the control unit 31 detects the movement of the casing 3a that is gripped by the user around the predetermined axis and the movement of the casing 3a in a predetermined direction. And an operation determining unit that determines the presence or absence of the first operation or the presence or absence of the second operation different from the first operation based on the detected rotation or movement.
In S2, S31, and S32, when the magnitude of the first action is greater than or equal to the first threshold TH1, it is determined that the first action has occurred, and the magnitude of the second action is the second magnitude. When the threshold value TH2 is greater than or equal to the threshold value TH2, it is determined that the second operation has occurred.

In S <b> 3 and S <b> 4, an execution instruction command signal is transmitted from the external I / F 36 to the endoscope apparatus 2.
For example, if the first operation is the operation shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and the second operation is the operation shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the user uses these two operations to The bending operation of the endoscope apparatus 2 can be seamlessly performed in two bending modes, that is, an operation instruction for switching operation between the normal mode and the fine mode, and a vertical bending operation and a horizontal bending operation instruction in the normal mode. it can.

  Therefore, when the process of S4 and S6 has the first action determined by S2, S3 and S5, the first execution instruction of the first bending operation assigned to the first action is changed to the second. When there is an operation, an instruction transmission unit is configured to transmit the second execution instruction of the second bending operation assigned to the second operation to the endoscope apparatus 2.

The command signals of the first execution instruction and the second execution instruction include information on the operation amount corresponding to the rotation amount of the rotation, and the second execution instruction includes the operation amount corresponding to the movement amount of the movement. Contains information.
The endoscope device 2 executes a first bending operation in response to a first execution instruction from the smartphone 3 and executes a second bending operation in response to a second execution instruction from the smartphone 3.

  The flow of the operation of the endoscope application in the smartphone 3 for the bending operation using the four operations described above is the same as the flowchart shown in FIG. Although description is omitted, in the process of S16, the above-described thresholds TH1 and TH2 are used to determine whether the operation is the first operation or the second operation.

  FIG. 14 shows a competition between the operation for the normal mode in the left-right direction (M1: the bending operation in the left-right direction in the normal mode) and the operation for the fine mode in the left-right direction (M3: the bending operation in the left-right direction in the fine mode). It is a graph which shows the example of the priority control of the mode in the case of doing.

  In FIG. 14, the circled graph is the operation (M1) of FIG. 4, and shows the movement amount (rotation angle) AP in the normal mode. The vertical axis represents the amount of movement, and the horizontal axis represents time (seconds). The star graph is the operation (M3) of FIG. 6 and shows the movement amount (movement amount) AP in the fine mode.

14 shows that when the operation (M1) shown in FIG. 4 is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value TH1, even if the operation (M3) shown in FIG. 6 is higher than the predetermined threshold value TH2, the operation (normal mode) shown in FIG. ) Has priority over the operation (fine mode) shown in FIG.
That is, in S2 of FIG. 8 and S17 of FIG. 9, when the magnitude of the operation for the normal mode in the left-right direction is equal to or greater than the first threshold value TH1, the magnitude of the operation for the fine mode in the left-right direction. Regardless, it is determined that there was an operation for the normal mode.

  Therefore, the control unit 31 determines that the first operation has occurred between time tc1 and time tc2 in FIG. 14 because the rotation amount of the rotation is equal to or greater than the first threshold value TH1, and the second operation is performed. The bending control is performed so that the first operation (normal mode) is prioritized over the second operation without determining that it has occurred.

  Note that priority is given to the mode when the normal mode operation in the vertical direction (M2: vertical bending operation in the normal mode) competes with the fine mode operation in the vertical direction (M4: vertical bending operation in the fine mode). The control is also the same as in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing another example of priority control when the normal mode operation (M1) in the left-right direction competes with the fine mode operation (M3) in the left-right direction.
In FIG. 15, the circled graph is the operation (M1) of FIG. 4, and shows the movement amount (rotation angle) AP in the normal mode. The vertical axis represents the amount of movement, and the horizontal axis represents time (seconds). The star graph is the operation (M3) of FIG. 6 and shows the movement amount (movement amount) AP in the fine mode.

15 shows that when the operation (M3) shown in FIG. 6 is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold TH2, even if the operation (M1) shown in FIG. 4 is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold TH1, the operation (fine mode) shown in FIG. ) Has priority over the operation (normal mode) shown in FIG.
That is, in S2 of FIG. 8 and S17 of FIG. 9, when the magnitude of the operation for the fine mode in the left-right direction is equal to or greater than the second threshold value TH2, the magnitude of the operation for the normal mode in the left-right direction. Regardless, it is determined that there was an operation for the fine mode.
Therefore, the control unit 31 determines that the second operation has occurred between time tc3 and time tc4 in FIG. 15 because the movement amount is greater than or equal to the second threshold value TH2, and the first operation is performed. The bending control is performed so that the second operation (fine mode) is prioritized over the first operation.

  Note that priority is given to the mode when the normal mode operation in the vertical direction (M2: vertical bending operation in the normal mode) competes with the fine mode operation in the vertical direction (M4: vertical bending operation in the fine mode). The control is also the same as in FIG.

By using the priority control as shown in FIG. 14 or FIG. 15 for the determination of the operation, it is possible to switch the operation more smoothly.
Further, when the vertical bending operation and the horizontal bending operation are in different modes, the vertical bending operation and the horizontal bending operation as described in FIG. 12 of the first embodiment are performed. At the same time, the control unit 31 switches the mode so that the normal mode is switched to the fine mode or the fine mode is switched to the normal mode.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to provide an endoscope control apparatus, an endoscope system, and a program that can seamlessly perform a bending operation instruction used for endoscopy.
Accordingly, the switching operation for changing the operation as in the conventional case is not necessary, and the operability of the endoscope control apparatus is improved.

As a modification of the above-described second embodiment, a threshold is used for both the first operation and the second operation, but either the first operation or the second operation is determined. A threshold may be used for only one side.
In the above-described two embodiments, the example in which the smartphone 3 is used as the endoscope control device has been described. However, the above-described sensor unit 35 is provided on the remote controller connected to the endoscope device 2, and the control unit 21 may perform detection and determination of the first operation and the second operation.

Next, modifications of the above-described two embodiments will be described.
(Modification 1)
In each of the above-described embodiments, all of the four operations in FIGS. 4 to 7 are assigned to the bending operation, but all of the four operations may not be assigned to the bending operation.

  For example, the two operations in FIGS. 4 and 5 may be defined by the rotation of the smartphone 3, and the two operations in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be performed by operating the touch panel 29 of the main body device 5. With this setting, the user can perform the operations in FIGS. 4 and 5 for the bending operation in the normal mode using the smartphone 3, and the bending operation in the fine mode can be performed using the touch panel 29. . That is, the user instructs the bending operation by dragging the touch panel 29 with the finger in the left-right direction, and instructs the bending operation by dragging the touch panel 29 in the up-down direction.

In the endoscope apparatus 2, a bending operation is performed based on either an operation instruction from the touch panel 29 or an operation instruction from the smartphone 3.
Further, the bending operation in the fine mode may be performed by operating the touch panel 34 of the smartphone 3. In that case, in S2 of FIG. 8 and S16 of FIG. 9, it is determined whether the bending instruction is any one of the rotation operation (or movement operation) of the smartphone 3 and the instruction from the touch panel 34.
Note that the bending operation in the fine mode may be performed with a smartphone, and the bending operation in the normal mode may be performed with a touch panel.
That is, in addition to the rotation of the casing 3a of the smartphone 3 around a predetermined axis and the movement in the predetermined axial direction, the bending operation can be performed by using other operating devices such as another operating device, the touch panel 29, and a remote controller. Some may be performed.

In addition, when the bending instruction | indication by the smart phone 3 and the bending instruction | indication by the touch panel 29 compete, which instruction | command of the smart phone 3 or the touch panel 29 has priority is set beforehand at the time of a competition.
(Modification 2)
In the two embodiments described above, two of the four operations of FIGS. 4 to 7 are assigned to the normal mode, and the other two operations are assigned to the fine mode, and between the normal mode and the fine mode. Switching is performed automatically, but the switching instruction between the normal mode and the fine mode may be performed by another operation.

For example, the movement in the Z-axis direction when the reference position is set by the reference position reset process is not used in the above-described up / down / left / right bending instructions. May be switched.
That is, the first operation for the normal mode includes a first rotation operation about the axis O and a second rotation operation about the axis PO, and the second operation for the fine mode is an axis The normal mode and the fine mode are switched based on the movement operation in the axis Z direction perpendicular to the axis O and the axis PO, including the first movement operation in the O direction and the second movement operation in the axis PO direction. .

  When the user wants to switch the mode, if the smartphone 3 is moved in the Z-axis direction, the control unit 31 can detect that there is a movement in the Z-axis direction based on the output signal from the sensor unit 35. .

  For example, based on the presence or absence of movement in the Z-axis direction, the control unit 31 switches the mode to the fine mode if the current mode is the normal mode, and switches the mode to the normal mode if the current mode is the fine mode. You may make it switch.

In addition, when the amount of movement in the + direction of the Z axis (for example, the direction toward the top of the screen) is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold + THZ, it is assumed that there is an instruction to switch to the normal mode, and the − direction of the Z axis (for example, the screen When the amount of movement in the downward direction) is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value -THZ, mode switching may be performed so that a fine mode switching instruction is given.
In these cases, the current operation mode may be displayed on the LCD 33.

FIG. 16 is a graph illustrating an example of the movement of the smartphone 3 in the Z-axis direction and the mode switching operation.
In the upper graph gz in FIG. 16, the x mark indicates the movement amount ZAP in the Z-axis direction per unit time of the smartphone 3. In the lower graph of FIG. 16, a circle indicates the rotation operation amount AP in FIG. 4 or 5, and a triangle indicates the movement operation amount AP in FIG. 6 or 7.

  Until time t11, since the rotation operation amount is larger than the movement operation amount, the bending mode is the normal mode. However, at time t11, the smartphone 3 moves in the negative direction in the Z-axis direction (for example, the direction toward the lower side of the screen). ) Exceeds the threshold value -THZ. As a result, at time t11, the control unit 31 switches the bending mode to the fine mode.

  Thereafter, an operation in the fine mode is performed. At time t12, the movement amount of the smartphone 3 in the plus direction of the Z-axis direction (for example, the direction toward the upper side of the screen) exceeds the threshold value THZ. As a result, at time t12, the control unit 31 switches the bending mode to the normal mode.

By time t11, the control unit 31 performs a bending operation according to the operation amount AP indicated by a thick circle. The controller 31 performs a bending operation according to the operation amount AP indicated by a thick triangle from time t11 to time t12. After time t12, the control unit 31 performs a bending operation according to the operation amount AP indicated by a thick circle.
(Modification 3)
In each of the above-described embodiments, the bending operation is determined according to the amount of movement of rotation and movement. However, in order to improve the accuracy of motion detection, the magnitude of movement is calculated using a moving average. You may be made to do.

  In S2 of FIG. 8 described above, it is periodically determined from the output signal of the sensor unit 35 whether the first operation or the second operation has occurred. In the third modification, the amount of movement is calculated for each calculation. At the timing, it is calculated by the moving average within the past fixed time. That is, detection of rotation and movement is performed based on a moving average value of detection values of rotation and movement.

Then, even when there is a competition between the rotation amount of FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 and the movement amount of FIG. 6 or FIG.
FIG. 17 is a graph for explaining the switching operation between the normal mode and the fine mode for the bending operation in the left-right direction in the third modification.

  A thin line circle graph shows a change in the rotation amount per unit time, and a thick line circle graph shows a change in the moving average value of a plurality of rotation amounts in the past predetermined time. A thin line triangle mark graph indicates a change in movement amount per unit time, and a thick line triangle mark graph indicates a change in moving average value of a plurality of movement amounts within a predetermined period in the past.

When either the rotation amount or the movement amount is equal to or less than the threshold value THC after the reference position is reset, the control unit 31 determines that the bending mode is neither the normal mode nor the fine mode, and the neutral state in which the bending drive is not performed. That is, in the neutral state, the bending operation instruction is not output.
When either the rotation amount or the movement amount exceeds the threshold value THC, the control unit 31 sets a bending mode corresponding to the operation exceeding the threshold value THC.

In FIG. 17, at time tc11, since the rotation amount of the operation of FIG. 4 exceeds the threshold value THC, the control unit 31 determines and sets the bending mode to the normal mode.
After time tc11, at time tc12, the movement amount of the operation in FIG. 6 exceeds the threshold value THC. However, since the moving average of the rotation amount exceeds the threshold value THC, the normal mode is prioritized.

At time tc13, the rotation amount of the operation in FIG. 4 is equal to or less than the threshold value THC, but since the moving average of the rotation amount exceeds the threshold value THC, the normal mode is prioritized.
At time tc14, since the moving average of the rotation amount becomes equal to or less than the threshold value THC and the moving average value of the movement amount in FIG. 6 exceeds the threshold value THC, the control unit 31 switches the bending mode from the normal mode to the fine mode.

  At time tc15, the moving average of the moving amount in FIG. 6 becomes equal to or lower than the threshold value THC, and the moving average of the rotating amount is also equal to or lower than the threshold value THC. It is determined that it is in a state.

The switching control between the normal mode and the fine mode for the left and right bending operation has been described above, but the switching control between the normal mode and the fine mode for the vertical bending operation is the same.
Also in this modification, priority control is performed as described with reference to FIG. 12 so that the horizontal bending operation and the vertical bending operation are operated in the same mode.
Therefore, according to each embodiment and each modification described above, it is possible to provide an endoscope control apparatus, an endoscope system, and a program capable of seamlessly performing a bending operation instruction used for endoscopy. it can.

  The program for executing the operations described above is recorded or stored as a computer program product in its entirety or in part on a portable medium such as a flexible disk or CD-ROM or a storage medium such as a hard disk. Yes. The program is read by a computer, and all or part of the operation is executed. Alternatively, all or part of the program can be distributed or provided via a communication network. The user downloads the program via the communication network and installs it on the computer or installs it from the recording medium to the computer, thereby easily realizing the endoscope control apparatus and endoscope system of the present invention. be able to.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Endoscope system, 2 Endoscope apparatus, 3 Smart phone, 3a housing | casing, 4 Insertion part, 4a Tip part, 4b Bending part, 5 Main body apparatus, 6 Optical adapter, 6a, 6b Lens, 11 Imaging element, 12 Light Guide, 13 Bending wire, 14 Bending mechanism, 15a, 15b Pulley, 21 Control unit, 22 Memory, 23 Imaging drive circuit, 24 Illumination circuit, 25, 25a, 25b Bending drive circuit, 26 Bending drive unit, 26a, 26b Motor, 27 External interface, 28 Liquid crystal display device, 29 Touch panel, 31 Control unit, 32 Memory, 32a Endoscope application, 34 Touch panel, 35 Sensor unit, 36 External interface, 37 Imaging unit, 37a, 37b Camera, 38 Microphone, 39 Operation Button, 41 display screen, 42 live image display Frequency, 43 bending operation button 44 curved lock button 45 reference position reset button 46 home button.

Claims (15)

An endoscope control device that controls a bending operation of a bending portion of an insertion portion of an endoscope device,
An operation detection unit for detecting rotation of a casing held by a user around a predetermined axis and movement of the casing in a predetermined direction;
An operation determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a first operation or the presence or absence of a second operation different from the first operation based on the rotation or the movement detected by the operation detection unit;
When there is the first motion determined by the motion determination unit, the motion determination unit determines a first execution instruction of the first bending operation for the bending unit assigned to the first motion. An instruction transmission unit that transmits a second execution instruction of a second bending operation to the bending unit assigned to the second operation to the endoscope device when the second operation is performed;
An endoscope control apparatus having The first operation is an operation for a bending operation in the left-right direction of the bending portion,
The endoscope control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second operation is an operation for a bending operation in the vertical direction of the bending portion. The first operation is an operation for a bending operation in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction of the bending portion,
The endoscope control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second operation is an operation for locking the bending of the bending portion or an operation for unlocking the bending of the bending portion. The first operation is an operation for a first mode in which the bending of the bending portion in the vertical and horizontal directions is bent with a first bending amount,
2. The second operation is an operation for a second mode in which the bending of the bending portion in the vertical and horizontal directions is bent with a second bending amount smaller than the first bending amount. The endoscope control apparatus described in 1. The predetermined axis has a first axis and a second axis orthogonal to the first axis;
The first operation includes a first rotation operation around the first axis and a second rotation operation around the second axis,
The endoscope control apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second operation includes a first moving operation in the first axial direction and a second moving operation in the second axial direction.   The operation determination unit compares the first movement operation and the second movement operation with the first movement operation and the second movement operation, and compares the first movement operation and the second movement operation with each other. The endoscope control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the presence / absence of operation 2 is determined.   The operation determining unit is configured such that the magnitude of the first rotation operation is greater than or equal to the magnitude of the first movement operation, and the magnitude of the second rotation operation is the magnitude of the second movement operation. When it is equal to or larger than the above, it is determined that the first movement has occurred, the magnitude of the first movement movement is larger than the magnitude of the first rotation movement, and the magnitude of the second movement movement. The endoscope control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when the length is larger than a magnitude of the second rotation operation, it is determined that the second operation has occurred.   The motion determination unit determines that the first motion has occurred when the magnitude of the first motion is equal to or greater than a first threshold, and the magnitude of the second motion is equal to the second The endoscope control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is equal to or greater than a threshold value, it is determined that the second operation has occurred.   The operation determination unit determines that the first operation has occurred regardless of the size of the second operation when the size of the first operation is equal to or greater than a first threshold. Item 15. The endoscope control device according to Item 8.   The operation determining unit determines that the second operation has occurred regardless of the size of the first operation when the size of the second operation is equal to or greater than a first threshold. Item 15. The endoscope control device according to Item 8. The predetermined axis has a first axis and a second axis orthogonal to the first axis;
The first operation includes a first rotation operation around the first axis and a second rotation operation around the second axis,
The second operation includes a first movement operation in the first axial direction and a second movement operation in the second axial direction,
The switching between the first mode and the second mode is performed based on a third movement operation in a third axial direction orthogonal to the first axis and the second axis. Endoscope control device.   The endoscope control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the motion detection unit detects the rotation and the movement based on a moving average value of the detection values of the rotation and the movement.   The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the first and second execution instructions include information on an operation amount of the first bending operation according to a rotation amount of the rotation or a movement amount of the movement. Control device. An endoscope system including an endoscope device and an endoscope control device,
The endoscope control device
An endoscope control device that controls a bending operation of a bending portion of an insertion portion of the endoscope device,
An operation detection unit for detecting rotation of a casing held by a user around a predetermined axis and movement of the casing in a predetermined direction;
An operation determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a first operation or the presence or absence of a second operation different from the first operation based on the rotation or the movement detected by the operation detection unit;
When there is the first motion determined by the motion determination unit, the motion determination unit determines a first execution instruction of the first bending operation for the bending unit assigned to the first motion. An instruction transmission unit that transmits a second execution instruction of a second bending operation to the bending unit assigned to the second operation to the endoscope device when the second operation is performed;
Have
The endoscope apparatus executes the first bending operation according to the first execution instruction from the endoscope control apparatus, and according to the second execution instruction from the endoscope control apparatus. An endoscope system that executes the second bending operation. A program for an endoscope control device that controls a bending operation of a bending portion of an insertion portion of an endoscope device,
An operation detection function for detecting rotation of a casing held by a user around a predetermined axis and movement of the casing in a predetermined direction;
An operation determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a first operation or the presence or absence of a second operation different from the first operation based on the rotation or the movement detected by the operation detection function;
When there is the first motion determined by the motion determination function, the motion determination unit determines a first execution instruction of the first bending operation for the bending portion assigned to the first motion. An instruction transmission function for transmitting a second execution instruction of a second bending operation to the bending portion assigned to the second operation to the endoscope apparatus when the second operation is performed;
A program that causes a computer to execute.

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