ENDOSCOPE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR OPERATING ENDOSCOPE APPARATUS

• US 20140371527A1
• Filed: 06/11/2014
• Published: 12/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: SATO, Takayuki
• Application Number:
  US14/301,651
• Publication Number:
  US 20140371527A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/106
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00006 of control signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/000094 extracting biological structures
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00055 for alerting the user
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/1492 having a flexible, catheter-like structure, e.g. for heart ablation A61B18/1477 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/320082 for incising tissue
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00404 Blood vessels other than those in or around the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00434 Neural system
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00607 Coagulation and cutting with the same instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00642 with feedback, i.e. closed loop control
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2065 Tracking using image or pattern recognition

Abstract

An endoscope apparatus includes a distance information acquisition section that detects the position of a treatment tool and the position of a specific part, and acquires distance information about a distance between the specific part and the treatment tool based on the detected position of the treatment tool and the detected position of the specific part, a degree-of-closeness acquisition section that acquires the degree of closeness between the specific part and the treatment tool based on the distance information, and a treatment tool control section that controls at least one of an incision-related setting and a bleeding arrest-related setting of the treatment tool based on the degree of closeness.

Claims

1. An endoscope apparatus comprising:

a distance information acquisition section that detects a position of a treatment tool and a position of a specific part, and acquires distance information about a distance between the specific part and the treatment tool based on the detected position of the treatment tool and the detected position of the specific part;

a degree-of-closeness acquisition section that acquires a degree of closeness between the specific part and the treatment tool based on the distance information; and

a treatment tool control section that controls at least one of an incision-related setting and a bleeding arrest-related setting of the treatment tool based on the degree of closeness.

2. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

a specific part information acquisition section that acquires specific part information, the specific part information being attribute information about the specific part,

the treatment tool control section controlling at least one of the incision-related setting and the bleeding arrest-related setting of the treatment tool based on the degree of closeness and the specific part information.

3. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 2,

the specific part information being thickness information about the specific part, and

the treatment tool control section reducing an incision capability of the treatment tool when the degree of closeness is larger than a threshold value, and increasing a degree of reduction in the incision capability as a thickness of the specific part increases.

4. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 3,

the specific part being a blood vessel, and

the thickness information being a diameter of the blood vessel.

5. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 2,

the specific part information being information that indicates a type of the specific part, and

the treatment tool control section reducing an incision capability of the treatment tool as the degree of closeness increases when the degree of closeness is larger than a threshold value provided that the specific part is a blood vessel, and setting the incision capability to be equal to or less than a given level when the degree of closeness is larger than the threshold value provided that the specific part is a nerve.

6. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

a treatment tool information acquisition section that acquires treatment tool information, the treatment tool information being attribute information about the treatment tool,

the treatment tool control section controlling at least one of the incision-related setting and the bleeding arrest-related setting of the treatment tool based on the degree of closeness and the treatment tool information.

7. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 6,

the treatment tool control section reducing an incision capability of the treatment tool when the degree of closeness is larger than a threshold value, and changing the threshold value corresponding to the treatment tool information.

8. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 7,

the specific part being a blood vessel,

the treatment tool information being a bleeding arrest capability of the treatment tool, and

the treatment tool control section decreasing the threshold value as the bleeding arrest capability decreases.

9. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 7,

the treatment tool information being information that indicates a type of the treatment tool, and

the treatment tool control section setting the threshold value to a first threshold value when the treatment tool is an electrosurgical knife, and setting the threshold value to a second threshold value when the treatment tool is an ultrasonic surgical knife, the second threshold value being smaller than the first threshold value.

10. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 1,

the treatment tool control section reducing an incision capability of the treatment tool when the degree of closeness is larger than a threshold value.

11. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

a control cancellation section that cancels a control process performed by the treatment tool control section based on at least one of an input from a user and an elapsed time.

12. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 11,

the treatment tool control section performing a control process that reduces an incision capability of the treatment tool when the degree of closeness is larger than a threshold value, and

the control cancellation section canceling the control process that reduces the incision capability when the user has performed an input, or when the degree of closeness has not changed by a given amount within a given time, or when the user has performed an input, and the degree of closeness has not changed by the given amount within the given time.

13. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

a notification processing section that notifies a user of a control state implemented by the treatment tool control section.

14. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 13,

the treatment tool control section reducing an incision capability of the treatment tool when the degree of closeness is larger than a threshold value, and

the notification processing section notifying the user that the incision capability is reduced.

15. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

an image acquisition section that acquires a captured image captured by an imaging section, the captured image including an image of the specific part and the treatment tool,

the distance information acquisition section detecting the position of the treatment tool and the position of the specific part from the captured image, and acquiring the distance information about the distance from the treatment tool to the specific part based on the detected position of the treatment tool and the detected position of the specific part.

16. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 1,

the specific part being a linear or tubular part.

17. The endoscope apparatus as defined in claim 16,

the linear or tubular part being a blood vessel, a nerve, or a urinary duct.

18. A method for operating an endoscope apparatus comprising:

detecting a position of a treatment tool and a position of a specific part, and acquiring distance information about a distance between the specific part and the treatment tool based on the detected position of the treatment tool and the detected position of the specific part;

acquiring a degree of closeness between the specific part and the treatment tool based on the distance information; and

controlling at least one of an incision-related setting and a bleeding arrest-related setting of the treatment tool based on the degree of closeness.