Endoscope system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016227992-A1
Application number	US-201615132319-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 19, 2016
Priority date	Jun 9, 2014
Publication date	Aug 11, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An endoscope system includes an optical transmission section that is provided in an endoscope inserted into an interior of a subject and transmits illuminating light to a distal end, a light source section that generates light, a first lens section that receives the light, from the light source section and emits the light with characteristics of different spatial intensity distributions, a second lens section that causes the light emitted from the first lens section to enter the proximal end of the optical transmission section, a distance adjusting section that can adjust a distance, and a control section that controls the distance adjusting section that adjusts the distance between the first lens section and the second lens section so that amounts of the light of a first and second wavelength bands have a predetermined ratio of amount of light.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An endoscope system comprising:
an optical transmission section that is provided in an endoscope inserted into an interior of a subject, transmits illuminating light incident on a proximal end to a distal end and emits the illuminating light from the distal end to illuminate the interior of the subject; a light source section that generates light of a first wavelength band and light of a second wavelength band which is different from the light of the first wavelength band as the illuminating light for illuminating the interior of the subject; a first lens section that receives, as incident light, the light of the first wavelength band and the light of the second wavelength band generated by the light source section and emits the light with characteristics of different spatial intensity distributions in accordance with wavelengths; a second lens section that is provided opposite to the first lens section, receives, as incident light, at least part of the light emitted from the first lens section and causes the received light to enter the proximal end of the optical transmission section; a distance adjusting section that can adjust a distance between the first lens section and the second lens section; and a control section that controls the distance adjusting section that adjusts the distance between the first lens section and the second lens section so that an amount of the light of the first wavelength band and an amount of the light of the second wavelength band emitted into the interior of the non-pipe body have a predetermined ratio of amount of light.

2 . The endoscope system according to claim 1 , further comprising a table storage section configured to store a table showing a relationship between connection efficiency which is a ratio of an amount of light emitted from the distal end of the optical transmission section to an amount of light emitted from the first lens section regarding the light of the first wavelength band and the light of the second wavelength band, and the distance between the first lens section and the second lens section,
wherein the control section adjusts the distance between the first lens section and the second lens section via the distance adjusting section based on the table stored in the table storage section.

3 . The endoscope system according to claim 1 , wherein the control section adjusts the distance between the first lens section and the second lens section via the distance adjusting section so that the light of the one wavelength band has the predetermined value of amount of light and further controls an amount of light emitted by the light source that generates the light of another wavelength band so that the light of the other wavelength band satisfies the predetermined ratio of amount of light.

4 . The endoscope system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the light source section generates light with the connection efficiency higher than that of the light of the second wavelength band as the light of the first wavelength band, and the control section adjusts the distance between the first lens section and the second lens section via the distance adjusting section so that the light of the first wavelength band emitted from the distal end of the optical transmission section becomes the predetermined value of amount of light, and controls the amount of the light emitted by the light source that generates the light of the second wavelength band so that the light of the second wavelength band satisfies the predetermined ratio of amount of light.

5 . The endoscope system according to claim 4 , further comprising:
a light amount adjusting section configured to adjust amounts of light emitted of the light of the first wavelength band and the light of the second wavelength band; and a target value setting section configured to make a setting so as to emit the light of the first wavelength band and the light of the second wavelength band from the distal end of the optical transmission section with a target value under a condition that satisfies the predetermined ratio of amount of light, wherein when the predetermined ratio of amount of the light of the first wavelength band and the light of the second wavelength band emitted from the distal end of the optical transmission section is set to 1:1 and the target value corresponding to the predetermined value of amount of light emitted from the distal end of the optical transmission section with respect to the light of the first wavelength band is set to be less than the minimum output value of the amount of the light emitted of the first wavelength band, the light amount adjusting section sets the amount of the light emitted of the first wavelength band to a minimum output value, the control section adjusts the distance between the first lens section and the second lens section via the distance adjusting section so that the light of the first wavelength band set to the minimum output value by the light amount adjusting section becomes the predetermined value of amount of light, and further, with the distance adjusted by the control section via the distance adjusting section, the light amount adjusting section adjusts the amount of the light emitted of the second wavelength band to a predetermined value of amount of light while keeping a state in which the light of the second wavelength band emitted from the optical transmission section satisfies the predetermined ratio of amount of light.

6 . The endoscope system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the optical transmission section is made of a single-mode fiber, and the light source section generates laser light as the light of the first wavelength band and the light of the second wavelength band.

7 . The endoscope system according to claim 4 , further comprising:
a scanner that two-dimensionally vibrates the distal end of the optical transmission section to two-dimensionally scan the illuminating light including the light of the first wavelength band and the light of the second wavelength band radiated onto the subject; an image processing section configured to receive the illuminating light reflected by the subject and generate an image signal of the subject from a photoelectrically converted electric signal; and a brightness calculation section provided in the image processing section and configured to calculate brightness of an image from the image signal of the subject, wherein while controlling an amount of light emitted from a first light source that generates the light of the first wavelength band and an amount of light emitted from a second light source that generates the light of the second wavelength band in the light source section so that the amount of the light of the first wavelength band and the amount of the light of the second wavelength band emitted from the distal end of the optical transmission section have a predetermined ratio of amount of light, the control section controls light adjustment including adjustment of the distance between the first lens section and the second lens section via the distance adjusting section and adjustment of the amount of light emitted of the second light source so that the brightness of the image matches the target brightness while maintaining the predetermined ratio of amount of light.

8 . The endoscope system according to claim 7 ,
wherein in a case where the control section controls the light adjustment, even in a state in which the amount of the light emitted of the first wavelength band generated by the first light source is set to a minimum output value which is a minimum amount of light emitted, if the brightness of the image calculated by the brightness calculation section is greater than the target brightness, the contro

Assignees

• Olympus Corp

Inventors

• Yoshino Masahiro

Classifications

• A61B1/07

  using light-conductive means, e.g. optical fibres · CPC title

• A61B1/063

  for monochromatic or narrow-band illumination · CPC title

• A61B1/0638 Primary

  providing two or more wavelengths · CPC title

• A61B1/00188

  with focusing or zooming features · CPC title

• A61B1/00006

  of control signals · CPC title