Lighting device for endoscope and endoscope device

Abstract

A lighting device includes first and second light sources, a wavelength converting member and a light quantity ratio changing unit. A first light source uses a semiconductor light emitting device as an emission source. A second light source uses, as an emission source, a semiconductor light emitting device of a different emission wavelength from the first light source. A wavelength converting member is excited for light emission by light emitted from at least one of the first light source and the second light source. The light quantity ratio changing unit changing a light quantity ratio between the light emitted from the first light source and the light emitted from the second light source.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-159962, filed on Jul. 6, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference, the same as if set forth at length, the entire of which are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention relates to a lighting device for an endoscope and an endoscope device.BACKGROUND ART[0003]In a general endoscope device, light emitted from a lamp of a light source system is guided to an endoscope tip portion by a light guide provided inside an endoscope insertion section to be inserted into a subject and is emitted through an illuminating window disposed in the endoscope tip portion, and thus, an observation site of the subject is illuminated. White light is used for observation of general organism tissues, but in recent years, an endoscope device capable of enhancing a state of a mucosal tissue through irradiation with light of a w...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a lighting device for an endoscope that can clear up the tissue information of organism tissue, making it easier to diagnose and observe. This is done by using white light or special light of a specific wavelength band.

Problems solved by technology

Furthermore, since the illumination light is generated through light absorption with the color filter, the quantity of light is unavoidably reduced, which is a factor to increase a noise component of the observation image.

Although it is possible to increase the sensitivity by reducing the frame rate, a resultant image is easily blurred in this case.

In the aforementioned endoscope device using a color filter, however, when tissue information of a surface layer portion of organism tissue in particular, for example, is desired to observe, it is difficult to restrict the transmission wavelength band of the color filter to a specific narrow band, and in addition, the illumination light of the restricted narrow band may not be obtained in a sufficient quantity, and therefore, the image quality of an observation image is disadvantageously degraded.