Capsule type medical device

• US 7,061,523 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2002
• Issued: 06/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Fujita, Manabu, Homan, Masatoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): PHILIPPE, GIMS S
• Application Number:
  US10/215,063
• Publication Number:
  US 20030085994A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,405 Days
• Field of Search: 348/76, 348/77, 604/890.1, 442/111, 351/206, 250/208.1, 600/109, 600/309, 600/300
• US Class Current: 348/77
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00016 using wireless means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00029 externally powered, e.g. wireless
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00032 internally powered
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00036 Means for power saving, e.g. sleeping mode
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/041 Capsule endoscopes for imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0676 at distal tip of an endoscope
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0684 using light emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0209 adapted for power saving
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0219 of externally powered implanted units
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/073 Intestinal transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14539 for measuring pH
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4839 combined with drug delivery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/12 in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters catheters per se A61M25/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4472 Wireless probes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/56 Details of data transmission or power supply
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control

Abstract

Signals are sent by radio waves from a single or multiple antennas provided in an external unit located outside of a living body to a capsule inserted into a living body to obtain living body information. The signals are received by the antenna on the capsule side and the radio wave strength data is obtained. Based on the radio wave strength data, living body information is sent from the capsule side to the external unit by using a transmission power suitable for the transmission. The radio wave strength data is sent to the external unit side, and the external unit side receives living body information by selecting and using an antenna, which can receive data with the highest radio wave strength.

Claims

1. A capsule-type medical device, comprising:

a capsule inserted into a living body, having a living body information detecting device for obtaining living body information;

an external unit located outside of the living body;

a first sending and receiving circuit provided in the external unit for signal sending and receiving;

a first antenna connected to the first sending and receiving circuit;

a second sending and receiving circuit located in the capsule for signal sending and receiving;

a second antenna connected to the second sending and receiving circuit;

a radio wave strength detecting circuit for detecting radio wave strength when a signal sent from the first sending and receiving circuit side via the first antenna is received by the second sending and receiving circuit via the second antenna; and

a transmission power control circuit for controlling a gain of transmission power by the second sending and receiving circuit based on an output detected by the radio wave strength detecting circuit.

2. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 1, wherein the living body information detecting device has an image pickup device including an objective lens and an image pickup element.

3. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 2, wherein the image pickup element is a CMOS image-pickup element or a threshold value modulating type image sensor.

4. The capsule type medical device according to claim 2, wherein the image pickup device is a so-called artificial retina LSI, which is a system LSI having an image processing circuit added to the CMOS image-pickup element on one chip.

5. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 2, further comprising an illumination device using a white light emitting diode generating white illumination light.

6. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 5, further comprising a color correction filter for correcting a color having higher light emitting spectrum from a used white LED on the front surface of the image pickup element or on the front surface of the illumination device.

7. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 1, wherein the living body information detecting device is at least one of a pH sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a light sensor and a blood sensor.

8. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 1, wherein the living body information detecting device is an ultrasonic wave probe.

9. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 1, wherein the capsule has, in addition to the living body information detecting device, a operation control circuit for operating, in response to an instruction from the external unit, body fluids sucking for treatment or examination on a target part.

10. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 1, wherein the first antenna has a plurality of antennas.

11. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 1, wherein a member formed of magnet or ferromagnet is accommodated in the capsule.

12. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 10, further comprising a position information calculating circuit for calculating information on a position of the capsule by using the plurality of antennas.

13. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of antennas have a high orientation for ending and receiving radio waves toward the inside of a subject to be examined by the capsule.

14. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 10, wherein the capsule sends information on the radio wave strength, and the external unit selects an antenna to be actually used among the plurality of antennas based on the received information.

15. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 1, wherein the outer side of the first antenna is electromagnetically shielded.

39. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 2, wherein the image pickup element is a color image sensor having three photo-detector (light-receiving layer) within silicon located in the depth (thickness direction), for obtaining respective color signals of RGB in one pixel.

40. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 39, wherein the color image sensor is a CMOS image sensor.

41. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 39, wherein a method for reading out color signals by the color image sensor is a variable pixel size (VPS) method, whereby several pixels of data is read out once.

16. A capsule-type medical device, comprising:

a capsule inserted into a living body, having a living body information detecting device for obtaining living body information;

an external unit located outside of the living body;

a first sending and receiving circuit provided in the external unit for signal sending and receiving;

a plurality of first antennas connected to the first sending and receiving circuit;

a second sending and receiving circuit located in the capsule for signal sending and receiving;

a second antenna connected to the second sending and receiving circuit;

a radio wave strength detecting circuit for detecting radio wave strength when a signal sent from the first sending and receiving circuit side via the plurality of first antennas is received by the second sending and receiving circuit via the second antenna; and

a transmission power control circuit for controlling a gain of transmission power by the second sending and receiving circuit based on an output detected by the radio wave strength detecting circuit,

wherein the information on radio wave strength detected by the radio wave strength detecting circuit when the plurality of first antennas are used can be sent from the capsule side to the external unit side.

17. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 16, wherein the external unit receives radio wave strength information sent from the capsule side and, then, selects an antenna from the plurality of first antennas for actually receiving information set from the capsule side.

18. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 16, wherein information sent as radio waves from the plurality of first antennas includes ID codes for the first antennas, respectively.

19. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 16, wherein the capsule sends information on radio wave strength detected by the radio wave strength detecting circuit and living body information detected by the living body information detecting device.

20. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 19, wherein frequency for sending the information on radio wave strength, which is sent from the capsule, is less than the frequency for sending the living body information.

21. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 16, wherein the external unit has a correction circuit for correcting gains by the plurality of first antennas, a loss caused by a cable connected thereto, and so on.

22. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 16, wherein a gain of transmission power in the first sending and receiving circuit is controlled based on the information on radio wave strength.

23. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 16, wherein the external unit has a memory medium for storing living body information and so on, and the memory medium stores living body information and information on radio wave strength.

24. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 16, wherein the living body information detecting device has an image pickup device including an objective lens and an image pickup element.

25. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 24, the image pickup element is a CMOS image-pickup element or a threshold value modulating type image sensor.

26. The capsule type medical device according to claim 24, wherein the image pickup device is a so-called artificial retina LSI, which is a system LSI having an image processing circuit added to the CMOS image-pickup element on one chip.

27. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 24, further comprising an illumination device using a white light emitting diode generating white illumination light.

28. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 16, wherein the living body information detecting device is at least one of a pH sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a light sensor and a blood sensor.

29. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 16, wherein the living body information detecting device is an ultrasonic wave probe.

30. A capsule-type medical device, comprising:

a detecting device for detecting living body information; and

a capsule inserted into a living body, for modulating detected living body information and sends it by radio waves;

an external unit for demodulating radio waves sent from at least the capsule and for storing living body information in a memory;

wherein the external unit includes a plurality of first antennas, an antenna switching circuit for sequentially switching the plurality of first antennas, a first sending circuit and a first receiving circuit for sending and receiving signals to the capsule side, a first send/receive switching circuit for selecting either connection of the plurality of first antennas to the first sending circuit or to the first receiving circuit, and an antenna select circuit for selecting one of the plurality of first antennas, which is used for communicating the living body information with the first sending circuit,

wherein the capsule includes a second send/receive switching circuit connected to a second antenna provided in the capsule for selecting connection with either circuit of the second sending circuit or with the second receiving circuit for sending and receiving signals, a radio wave strength detecting circuit for detecting radio wave strength corresponding to respective first antennas, which are sequentially emitted from the plurality of first antennas to output it as radio wave strength data, and a transmission power control circuit for controlling a gain of transmission power by the second sending and receiving circuit based on an output detected by the radio wave strength detecting circuit, and

wherein a radio wave strength data operation for sending modulating the radio wave strength data in the second sending circuit and for sending it by radio waves is performed as upstream processing.

31. A capsule-type medical device, comprising a capsule inserted into a living body, having a detecting device for detecting living body information;

an external unit located outside of the living body for receiving living body information sent from the capsule by radio waves;

wherein the external unit has a first antenna, a first sending circuit and a first receiving circuit for sending and receiving signals, and a first send/receive switching circuit for selecting the first sending circuit or the first receiving circuit to be connected to the first antenna,

wherein the capsule has a second antenna, a second sending circuit and a second receiving circuit or sending and receiving signals, a second send/receive switching circuit for selecting the second sending circuit or the second receiving circuit to be connected to the second antenna, and a radio wave strength detecting circuit for detecting the strength of radio waves emitted from the first antenna and output it as radio wave strength data; and

wherein an operation by the second sending circuit is controlled based on the radio wave strength data.

32. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 31, wherein a gain of a signal sent from the second sending circuit is variably controlled based on the radio wave strength data.

33. A capsule-type medical device, comprising a capsule inserted into a living body, having a living body information detecting device for detecting living body information;

an external unit located outside of the living body for receiving living body information sent from the capsule by radio waves;

wherein the external unit has a plurality of first antennas, a first sending and a first receiving circuit for sending and receiving signals, an antenna switching circuit for sequentially switching the plurality of first antennas, and a first send/receive switching circuit for selecting the first sending circuit or the first receiving circuit to be connected to an antenna selected by the antenna switching circuit,

wherein the capsule includes a second antenna, a second sending circuit and a second receiving circuit for sending and receiving signals and a second send/receive switching circuit for selecting the second sending circuit or the second receiving circuit to be connected to the second antenna, a radio wave strength detecting circuit for detecting the strengths of radio waves, which is sequentially emitted from the plurality of first antennas, corresponding to the respective first antennas and for outputting it as radio wave strength data, and a transmission power control circuit for controlling a gain of transmission power by the second sending and receiving circuit based on an output detected by the radio wave strength detecting circuit, and

wherein the radio wave strength data is modulated in the second sending circuit and is sent by radio waves.

34. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 33, further comprising a position information converting circuit for converting the radio wave strength data to position information.

35. The capsule type medical device according to claim 34, wherein information sent as radio waves from the plurality of first antennas includes ID codes to be used for identifying the respective first antennas.

36. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 33, wherein the living body information detecting device is at least one of a pH sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a light sensor and a blood sensor.

37. A capsule-type medical device, comprising:

a capsule inserted into a living body, having a detecting device for detecting living body information and a first sending circuit for modulating the detected living body information and for sending it by radio waves;

an external unit having a first receiving circuit for demodulating radio waves sent from the capsule to obtain living body information and a memory for storing the living body information; and

a determination device for determining whether or not a subject wears a cloth made from electromagnetic shield fibers including the external unit during examination.

38. A capsule-type medical device, comprising;

a capsule inserted into a living body, having a detecting device for detecting living body information and a sending circuit for modulating the detected living body information and for sending it by radio waves; and

an external unit having a receiving circuit for demodulating radio waves sent from the capsule to obtain living body information and a memory for storing the demodulating living body information,

wherein the external unit is located such that a plurality of antennas having single direction orientation directs toward the inside of the body.

42. A capsule-type medical device, comprising:

a capsule inserted into a living body, having a living body detecting device for obtaining living body information;

an external unit located outside of the living body; and

radio communication devices provided in the capsule and the external units, which uses communication means through pulses, the communication device provided in the capsule being configured to transmit the living body information to the external units, the transmission power of the communication device provided in the capsule being variable dependant on signal strength data determined from signals received from the communication device provided in the external units.

43. The capsule-type medical device according to claim 42, wherein the communication means is an ultra wideband (UWB) method.