Fluorescent endoscope apparatus
First Claim
1. A fluorescent endoscope apparatus comprisinga projecting means for emitting stimulating light and illuminating light, an endoscope insertion portion for insertion into the body of a patient, a light guiding means provided within said endoscope insertion portion for guiding the stimulating light and illuminating light emitted from the projecting means to the section of which a measurement is to be taken, and a detecting means for detecting a fluorescent image formed of the fluorescent light emitted from the section of which a measurement is to be taken upon irradiation thereof by stimulating light guided through the guiding means and a normal image of the light reflected from the section of which a measurement is to be taken upon irradiation thereof by the illuminating light guided through the guiding means, further comprising a stimulating light emission preventing means for preventing the emission of the stimulating light, a detecting means for detecting that a forward end portion of the insertion portion is outside of the body of the patient, and a stimulating light emission prevention controlling means for preventing, via the stimulating light emission preventing means, the emission of stimulating light, based on a signal detected by the detecting means.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
According to a fluorescent endoscope apparatus for detecting an autofluorescent-light image emitted from a living body upon irradiation thereof by stimulating light, when the endoscope insertion portion is inserted into or removed from a patients body, stimulating light is prevented from entering the eyes of the patient or the operator, ensuring for their safety. When the endoscope insertion portion is outside the body of a patient, the flicker occurring due to the fluorescent or other light illuminating the diagnosis room, which would be detected together with the autofluorescent-light image by a fluorescent-image use camera or with the normal image by a normal-image use camera, is detected by a flicker detector. The flicker detector outputs a detection signal to the stimulating light emission prevention controller, which turns off the power source to the stimulating light laser source by use of a controller computer and thereby prevents the emission of stimulating light.
-
Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A fluorescent endoscope apparatus comprising
a projecting means for emitting stimulating light and illuminating light, an endoscope insertion portion for insertion into the body of a patient, a light guiding means provided within said endoscope insertion portion for guiding the stimulating light and illuminating light emitted from the projecting means to the section of which a measurement is to be taken, and a detecting means for detecting a fluorescent image formed of the fluorescent light emitted from the section of which a measurement is to be taken upon irradiation thereof by stimulating light guided through the guiding means and a normal image of the light reflected from the section of which a measurement is to be taken upon irradiation thereof by the illuminating light guided through the guiding means, further comprising a stimulating light emission preventing means for preventing the emission of the stimulating light, a detecting means for detecting that a forward end portion of the insertion portion is outside of the body of the patient, and a stimulating light emission prevention controlling means for preventing, via the stimulating light emission preventing means, the emission of stimulating light, based on a signal detected by the detecting means.
-
17. A fluorescent endoscope apparatus comprising
a stimulating light emitting means for emitting stimulating light, and a stimulating light guiding means for guiding stimulating light from the projecting means to the section of which a measurement is to be taken, and an illuminating light emitting means for emitting illuminating light, and an illuminating light guiding means for guiding illuminating light from the projecting means to the section of which a measurement is to be taken, and a detecting means for detecting a fluorescent image of the fluorescent light emitted from the section of which a measurement is to be taken upon irradiation thereof by stimulating light guided through the guiding means and a normal image of the light reflected from the section of which a measurement is to be taken upon irradiation thereof by the illuminating light, and a stimulating light controlling means for controlling the emission of stimulating light from the stimulating light projecting means, further comprising a power-source state detecting means for detecting that the power source of the fluorescent endoscope apparatus has been switched from the OFF to the ON state, and a stimulating light emission preventing means for putting the stimulated light in an emission-prohibited state in which emission of stimulating light is prevented, and an unlocking operation detecting means for detecting that a predetermined operation for unlocking the emission-prohibited state has been performed, and a stimulating light emission prevention controlling means for controlling the stimulating light emission preventing means so that the stimulating light is put in the emission-prohibited state when the power-source has been detected by the power-source state detecting means to have been switched from the OFF to the ON state and the emission-prohibited state is unlocked when said predetermined operation for unlocking the emission-prohibited state of the stimulating light has been detected by the unlocking operation detecting means as having been performed.
Specification