Endoscope

• US 4,593,313 A
• Filed: 09/04/1984
• Issued: 06/03/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/1983
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Nagasaki, Tatsuo, Fujimori, Hiroyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Britton, Howard W.
• Application Number:
  US06/647,200
• Time in Patent Office: 637 Days
• Field of Search: 358/98, 358/1, 358/11, 358/21 R, 358/28, 358/29, 358/30, 358/42, 358/81, 358/82, 128/3, 128/4, 128/5, 128/6, 128/7, 128/8, 356/241
• US Class Current: 348/70
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0005 combining images e.g. side-by-side, superimposed or tiled
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/05 characterised by the image sensor, e.g. camera, being in the distal end portion
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/555 for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/76 by influencing the image signals

Abstract

The endoscope equipment of this invention is to display on the monitor screen pictures of different wavelength regions with particular color signals and the synthesized picture and spectral analysis waveforms at particular points by sequentially irradiating the light of a specified wavelength region to a subject, receiving the image of the reflected light with the image pickup element, converting it into electrical signals, conducting spectral characteristic correction on the obtained signals, and then by processing the signals for each wavelength region.

Claims

1. Endoscope equipment consisting of an illuminating means to irradiate in time series the light separated into multiple wavelength regions to illuminate a subject, image pickup element to receive the light reflected from the subject and convert it into electrical signals, light receiving element having the same characteristics as the image pickup element to receive the light separated into multiple wavelength regions and convert it into electrical signals, correcting means to control the electrical signals from the aforementioned image pickup element on basis of the electrical signals obtained at the light receiving element and correct the spectral characteristics, signal processing means to process the electrical signals corrected by the correcting means for each wavelength regions and produce the signals for screen display, and display means to display the picture in each wavelength region using the signals from the signal processing means and by means of a particular color signal and display are spectral waveform.

2. The equipment described in claim 1 and characterized in that the said correcting means consists of a correction signal forming circuit to produce spectral characteristic correcting signals on basis of the electrical signals obtained at the light receiving element and a variable gain amplifier circuit to amplify the electrical signals from the aforementioned image pickup element and also to automatically control the gain using the correction signal from the aforementioned correction signal forming circuit.

3. The endoscope equipment described in claim 2 and characterized in that the said correction signal forming circuit consists of a sample holding circuit to sample-hold the electrical signals obtained at the aforementioned light receiving element, A/D converter circuit to convert the sample-held signals into digital signals, memory circuit to input the said digital signals and select and output the spectrum correction data corresponding to the value, and D/A converter circuit to convert the said spectrum correction data output from the circuit into analog signals and supply them to the aforementioned variable gain amplifier circuit.

4. The endoscope equipment described in claim 1 and characterized in that the said signal processing means consists of a switching circuit to switch and output the electrical signals corrected through the aforementioned correcting means in accordance with the aforementioned wavelength region, multiple signal holding circuits to sequentially accumulate the electrical signals from the switching circuit for each wavelength region, and signal processing circuit to read the accumulated electrical signals as required from the multiple signal holding circuits and produce the signals for screen display.

5. Endoscope equipment described in claim 4 and characterized in that the said signal processing circuit consists of a control circuit to control the reading of signals from the aforementioned multiple signal holding circuits, mutiple digital/analog converter circuits to the signals for each wavelength region read from the multiple signal holding circuits into analog signals, multiple color signal converter circuit to convert the converted analog signals for each wavelength region into red, green and blue signals of the ratio corresponding to the expressing colors for each wavelength region, 3 addition circuits to synthesize the color signals of the particular colors converted for each wavelength region per red, green or blue signal, and switching circuit to switch the red, green and blue signals obtained from the 3 adder circuits and the red, green and blue signals for each wavelength region obtained from the multiple color signal converter circuits and supply them to the aforementioned display means.

6. The endoscope equipment described in claim 1 or 4 and characterized in that the said illuminating means consists of a rotary filter with multiple spectral filters with different transmission wavelength regions against irradiation from the light source arranged in a circular form on the same circumference to produce the switching signals for the aforementioned signal holding circuit by detecting the position of the rotary filter corresponding to each spectral filter.