An endoscope system

Abstract

The present invention provides an endoscope system, comprising: an imaging unit, a flushing unit and an image processing unit; the imaging unit is disposed at the head end of the endoscope, the imaging unit includes a plurality of imaging modules, and the plurality of imaging modules are respectively used for collecting image information of a part to be observed; the flushing unit has a flushing port, the flushing port is disposed at the head end of the endoscope and faces the lenses of the respective imaging modules; the image processing unit is used for judging whether there is foreign matter on the lenses of the plurality of imaging modules based on the processing of the image information collected by the plurality of imaging modules, and when there is foreign matter on the lens of at least one of the plurality of imaging modules, controlling the flushing unit to flush the lenses of the respective imaging modules. The present invention can quickly and accurately determine the cleanliness of a plurality of cameras of the endoscope, and when foreign matter appears on the lenses of the respective imaging modules, it can automatically control the flushing of the lenses, reducing the operation burden of the operator.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of endoscopes, and in particular, to an endoscope system. Background Art

[0002] An endoscope is a medical device widely used in medical diagnosis and treatment. It can insert a flexible body insertion part of the endoscope into an organ or body cavity of a patient to observe the affected part, or insert a combined tool into the patient's body through the endoscope body to perform treatments such as mucosal resection.

[0003] For a conventional single-camera endoscope, in order for the operator to accurately understand the anatomical structure of the observed part, it is necessary to maintain the cleanliness of the endoscope lens to provide a clear field of view. When the lens of a traditional endoscope gets dirty, it is easy for the operator to identify the situation of the dirt. At this time, the operator needs to manually control the water supply and air supply buttons to perform water supply and air supply operations to flush the lens and ensure the cleanliness of the lens.

[0004] For a multi-camera endoscope, during its use, it is similar to a single-camera endoscope and also has the problem of maintaining the cleanliness of the lens. Especially when the image captured by one of the multiple cameras is slightly blurred due to dirt, due to the complementary effect of the captured images of the multi-camera and the image compensation based on the human eye, the operator may not easily notice that the lens of a certain camera is dirty. For a multi-camera endoscope, the slight blurring of a single camera also affects the overall user experience of the operator and affects the operation of algorithms such as depth estimation and measurement based on multi-camera images. Therefore, during the use of a multi-camera endoscope, it is necessary to manually flush the lens relatively frequently, increasing the operation burden on the operator. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention provides an endoscope system to solve or improve the problem that it is not easy to quickly and accurately determine the cleanliness of multiple cameras of an endoscope, and the operator needs to frequently perform manual flushing operations on the lens.

[0006] The present invention provides an endoscope system, comprising: an imaging unit, a flushing unit and an image processing unit; the imaging unit is connected to the image processing unit, and the image processing unit is connected to the flushing unit; the imaging unit is disposed at the head end of the endoscope, the imaging unit includes a plurality of imaging modules, and the plurality of imaging modules are respectively used for collecting image information of a part to be observed; the flushing unit has a flushing port, the flushing port is disposed at the head end of the endoscope and faces the lenses of the respective imaging modules; the image processing unit is configured to determine whether there is a foreign object on the lenses of the plurality of imaging modules based on the processing of the image information collected by the plurality of imaging modules, and when it is determined that there is a foreign object on the lens of at least one of the plurality of imaging modules, control the flushing unit to flush the lenses of the respective imaging modules.

[0007] According to an endoscope system provided by the present invention, the image processing unit includes: an image segmentation sub-unit, a foreign object detection sub-unit and a control sub-unit; the image segmentation sub-unit is configured to divide each of the images captured by the plurality of imaging modules into a plurality of regional sub-blocks; the foreign object detection sub-unit is configured to extract the feature quantities of the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions on each image, and determine the blur degree of the lenses of the respective imaging modules based on the comparison and judgment of the respective feature quantities; the control sub-unit executes the start-stop control of the flushing unit according to the determination result output by the foreign object detection sub-unit.

[0008] According to an endoscope system provided by the present invention, the step of extracting the feature quantities of the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions on each image, and determining the blur degree of the lenses of the respective imaging modules based on the comparison and judgment of the respective feature quantities includes: comparing and judging the feature quantities of one set of the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions on each image, if the difference between the respective feature quantities is abnormal, determining that the blur degree of at least one of the respective regional sub-blocks is greater than a preset value; if the difference between the respective feature quantities is not abnormal, then determining whether each of the feature quantities is lower than a threshold value, and marking the regional sub-blocks with feature quantities lower than the threshold value; according to the above steps, comparing and judging the feature quantities of other sets of the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions on each image, obtaining the marked regional sub-blocks, counting the marked regional sub-blocks on each image, and determining the blur degree of the lenses of the respective imaging modules according to the statistical result;

[0009] In the case where it is determined that the lenses of all the imaging modules are blurred, after a preset time, the blur condition of the lenses of all the imaging modules is judged again. If the lenses of all the imaging modules still show a blurred state, it is determined that there are foreign objects on the lenses of all the imaging modules. If the blur condition of the lenses of all the imaging modules changes, it is determined that the lenses of all the imaging modules are out of focus.

[0010] An endoscope system provided according to the present invention, wherein the image processing unit is provided with an image blurriness detection model; the image blurriness detection model is used to receive the input of the image information collected by the plurality of camera modules and output the blurriness corresponding to the image information; wherein, the image processing unit determines whether there is a foreign object on the lenses of the plurality of camera modules according to the blurriness; the image blurriness detection model is trained with the sample images captured by the plurality of camera modules as samples and the blurriness corresponding to the sample images as labels.

[0011] An endoscope system provided according to the present invention, when the image processing unit determines that there is a foreign object on at least one of the lenses of the plurality of camera modules, it gives an information prompt.

[0012] An endoscope system provided according to the present invention, the flushing unit includes: a liquid pump, a gas pump, a liquid supply valve, a gas supply valve and a gas-liquid pipeline; the image processing unit is respectively connected to the liquid pump, the gas pump, the liquid supply valve and the gas supply valve; the liquid supply valve is used to control the liquid pump to selectively supply cleaning liquid to one end of the gas-liquid pipeline, the gas supply valve is used to control the gas pump to selectively supply gas to one end of the gas-liquid pipeline, and the other end of the gas-liquid pipeline is communicated with the flushing port.

[0013] An endoscope system provided according to the present invention, the flushing unit further includes: a first gas-liquid control button; the liquid pump is communicated with the first end of the liquid supply valve, the second end of the liquid supply valve is communicated with one end of the gas-liquid pipeline, and the third end of the liquid supply valve is communicated with the first end of the first gas-liquid control button; the liquid supply valve has a first liquid supply state and a second liquid supply state, in the first liquid supply state, the first end and the second end of the liquid supply valve are communicated, in the second liquid supply state, the first end and the third end of the liquid supply valve are communicated; the gas pump is communicated with the first end of the gas supply valve, the second end of the gas supply valve is communicated with the second end of the first gas-liquid control button, and the third end of the gas supply valve is communicated with one end of the gas-liquid pipeline; the gas supply valve has a first gas supply state and a second gas supply state, in the first gas supply state, the first end and the second end of the gas supply valve are communicated, in the second gas supply state, the first end and the third end of the gas supply valve are communicated; the third end of the first gas-liquid control button is respectively communicated with the air release port and one end of the gas-liquid pipeline; the first gas-liquid control button has a first switch state and a second switch state, in the first switch state, the second end and the third end of the first gas-liquid control button are communicated, in the second switch state, the first end and the third end of the first gas-liquid control button are communicated.

[0014] An endoscope system provided according to the present invention, wherein the first gas-liquid control button is provided on the operation part of the endoscope, and the air release port is provided at the pressing end of the first gas-liquid control button; when the liquid supply valve is in the second liquid supply state and the air supply valve is in the first air supply state, by controlling the first gas-liquid control button to be in the second switch state and blocking the air release port, manual control of delivering cleaning liquid to the flushing port is achieved; by controlling the first gas-liquid control button to be in the first switch state and blocking the air release port, manual control of supplying air to the flushing port is achieved; by controlling the first gas-liquid control button to be in the first switch state and opening the air release port, stopping the delivery of cleaning liquid and air supply to the flushing port is achieved.

[0015] An endoscope system provided according to the present invention, wherein the flushing unit includes: an air source, a liquid storage tank, a first switching valve, a second switching valve, a liquid delivery pipe and an air delivery pipe; the first switching valve is used to control the air source to selectively supply air to the atmosphere or the second switching valve; the second switching valve is used to selectively deliver the gas from the first switching valve to one end of the air delivery pipe or into the liquid storage tank; the liquid storage tank stores cleaning liquid, and the liquid storage tank is communicated with one end of the liquid delivery pipe; the other ends of the liquid delivery pipe and the air delivery pipe are respectively communicated with the flushing port.

[0016] An endoscope system provided according to the present invention, wherein the flushing unit further includes: a second gas-liquid control button, a wireless transmission module, a wireless reception module and a control module; the second gas-liquid control button is electrically connected to the wireless transmission module; the wireless transmission module and the wireless reception module are wirelessly communicatively connected; the wireless reception module is connected to the control module; the control module is respectively connected to the first switching valve and the second switching valve; wherein, the second gas-liquid control button is provided on the operation part of the endoscope; the second gas-liquid control button can be pressed and switched between an empty command state, a liquid delivery command state and an air supply command state.

[0017] An endoscope system provided by the present invention, in practical applications, for an endoscope with multiple camera modules, through the analysis and processing of the image information collected by the multiple camera modules by the image processing unit, it can be judged whether there are foreign objects on the lenses of the multiple camera modules. When it is determined that there are foreign objects on the lenses of at least one of the multiple camera modules, the flushing unit is controlled to spray cleaning liquid and gas onto the lenses of each camera module, realizing automatic flushing control of the lenses of each camera module, reducing the operation burden of the operator, and at the same time avoiding the situation where the operator cannot timely judge the dirt on a single lens due to the complementary effect between the captured images of multiple cameras, which is beneficial to the operation of algorithms such as depth estimation and is adapted to new endoscopes such as 3D dual-camera endoscopes. Description of the Drawings

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0019] Figure 1 It is a control structure block diagram of the endoscope system provided by the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of the head end of the endoscope provided by the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 It is an algorithm flowchart for determining whether each lens of the endoscope is clear by using the image segmentation comparison method provided by the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 It is a comparison schematic diagram for segmenting two images collected by a 3D dual-camera endoscope provided by the present invention;

[0023] Figure 5 It is one of the algorithm flowcharts for determining whether each lens of the endoscope is clear by using artificial intelligence provided by the present invention;

[0024] Figure 6 It is another algorithm flowchart for determining whether each lens of the endoscope is clear by using artificial intelligence provided by the present invention;

[0025] Figure 7 It is one of the schematic structural diagrams of the installation of the flushing unit in the operation part of the endoscope provided by the present invention;

[0026] Figure 8 It is provided by the present invention Figure 7 Partial enlarged schematic diagram of the first air-liquid control button in;

[0027] Figure 9 It is provided by the present invention Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the pipeline connection structure for air supply and liquid supply in;

[0028] Figure 10 It is provided by the present invention based on Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the process for controlling air supply and liquid supply according to the pipeline connection structure;

[0029] Figure 11 It is another schematic structural diagram of the installation of the flushing unit in the operation part of the endoscope provided by the present invention;

[0030] Figure 12 It is provided by the present invention Figure 11Schematic diagram of pipeline connection for air and liquid supply

[0031] Reference numerals:

[0032] 100: Camera unit; 200: Image processing unit; 300: Flushing unit;

[0033] 400: Operation part; 11: Water tank; 12: Gas storage tank;

[0034] 13: Liquid pump; 14: Air pump; 15: Liquid supply valve;

[0035] 16: Air supply valve; 17: First air-liquid control button; 18: Air-liquid pipeline;

[0036] 171: Air release port; 21: Air source; 22: Liquid storage tank;

[0037] 23: First switching valve; 24: Second switching valve; 25: Liquid supply pipe;

[0038] 26: Air supply pipe; 27: Second air-liquid control button; 500: Head end;

[0039] 51: Camera module; 52: Flushing port; 53: Working channel;

[0040] 54: Lighting window. Detailed implementation mode

[0041] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present invention without making creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0042] The following will be combined with Figures 1 - 12 Describe an endoscope system of the present invention.

[0043] As Figure 1As shown, this embodiment provides an endoscope system, including: a camera unit 100, a flushing unit 300 and an image processing unit 200; the camera unit 100 is connected to the image processing unit 200, and the image processing unit 200 is connected to the flushing unit 300; the camera unit 100 is arranged at the head end 500 of the endoscope, and the camera unit 100 includes a plurality of camera modules 51 arranged at the head end 500, and the plurality of camera modules 51 are respectively used to collect image information of the part to be observed; the flushing unit 300 has a flushing port 52, and the flushing port 52 is arranged at the head end 500 of the endoscope and faces the lens of each camera module 51; the image processing unit 200 is used to determine whether there is foreign matter on the lenses of the plurality of camera modules 51 based on processing of the image information collected by the plurality of camera modules 51, and when it is determined that there is foreign matter on the lens of at least one of the plurality of camera modules 51, the flushing unit 300 is controlled to flush the lenses of each camera module 51.

[0044] Specifically, in actual applications, for an endoscope with multiple camera modules 51, the image processing unit 200 analyzes and processes the image information collected by the multiple camera modules 51 to determine whether there are foreign objects on the lenses of the multiple camera modules 51. When it is determined that there are foreign objects on the lens of at least one of the multiple camera modules 51, the flushing unit 300 is controlled to spray cleaning liquid and gas to the lens of each camera module 51, so as to realize automatic flushing control of the lens of each camera module 51, thereby reducing the operating burden of the operator and avoiding the situation where the operator is unable to promptly determine whether a single lens is dirty due to the complementary effect between the images taken by multiple cameras, so as to facilitate the operation of algorithms such as depth estimation, and is suitable for new endoscopes such as 3D dual-camera endoscopes.

[0045] It should be noted that the flushing unit 300 shown in this embodiment can flush the lenses of each camera module 51 by delivering a certain pressure of cleaning liquid and gas to the flushing port 52 of the head end 500 of the endoscope to ensure the cleanliness of each lens. Among them, the cleaning liquid shown in this embodiment can be pure water or physiological saline known in the art, and the gas is preferably carbon dioxide gas. Here, this embodiment can control the flushing unit 300 to deliver cleaning liquid or gas to the flushing port 52 alone, or first deliver cleaning liquid and then deliver gas, which is not specifically limited here.

[0046] like Figure 2 As shown, the head end 500 of the endoscope shown in this embodiment is configured with a working channel 53, a lighting window 54 and a flushing port 52, and a plurality of camera modules 51 are installed at the head end 500, and the outlet end of the flushing port 52 faces the lens of each camera module 51. Among them, the working channel 53 shown in this embodiment is used for the entry and exit of surgical instruments, and the lighting window 54 is used to install a light source.

[0047] Further, when determining whether there is foreign matter on the lenses of multiple camera modules in this embodiment, the discrimination method is specifically reflected in whether there is all or partial blurring in the images captured by one of the multiple camera modules, or all or partial blurring in the images captured by multiple of the multiple camera modules, or all or partial blurring in the images captured by all camera modules.

[0048] In one embodiment, to facilitate the determination of the blurring degree of the lenses of each camera module and implement the flushing control of each lens according to the discrimination result, the image processing unit shown in this embodiment includes: an image segmentation subunit, a foreign matter detection subunit, and a control subunit; the image segmentation subunit is used to divide each image captured by multiple camera modules into multiple regional sub-blocks; the foreign matter detection subunit is used to extract the feature quantities of the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions on each image, and determine the blurring degree of the lenses of each camera module according to the comparison and judgment of each feature quantity; the control subunit executes the start-stop control of the flushing unit according to the determination result output by the foreign matter detection subunit.

[0049] As Figure 3 shown, the endoscope shown in this embodiment has two or more than two camera modules. A set of images captured by each camera module of the endoscope are respectively set as Image 1, Image 2, …, Image n, where n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2, and n is specifically determined by the number of camera modules.

[0050] When this embodiment uses the image segmentation and comparison method to determine whether the lenses of the endoscope are clear, first divide the first image in the above-mentioned set of images into multiple regional sub-blocks, and then, according to the corresponding relationship of the images between the lenses of each camera module, find the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions in each of the other images.

[0051] For example, taking a 3D dual-camera endoscope as an example, this embodiment specifically shows two images captured simultaneously by the two lenses of the 3D dual-camera endoscope in Figure 4 . The image Ⅰ on the left is represented by a grid line with multiple square wireframes, and the image Ⅱ on the right is represented by a grid line with multiple bar-shaped wireframes. Since the images Ⅰ and Ⅱ captured by the 3D dual-camera endoscope have the characteristic of horizontal consistency, therefore, in Figure 4 the small square circled by a thick solid line in the image Ⅰ on the left, its corresponding area is in Figure 4 the same horizontal position in the image Ⅱ on the right, and the specific position can be determined by the matching method.

[0052] After finding the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions on a set of images, feature extraction is performed on the feature quantities of each regional sub-block. The extracted feature quantities can be the gradient, brightness, frequency domain information, saliency, etc. of the image corresponding to the regional sub-block. Then, the feature quantities of the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions are compared to determine the blur degree of the lenses of each camera module. The steps include:

[0053] If the difference between the feature quantities is abnormal, it is determined that the blur degree of at least one of the regional sub-blocks is greater than the preset value. Among them, in this embodiment, the difference between the feature quantities can be determined to be abnormal by calculating the mean, variance, or root mean square of each feature quantity. If the difference between the feature quantities is not abnormal, it is considered that the consistency of the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions is strong. Here, if there is an abnormality, it is considered that the abnormal area is blurred, and it is necessary to control the start of the flushing unit to flush the lenses of each camera module.

[0054] However, the blur determined by the above abnormal determination method only includes that a part of one lens is blurred, or multiple parts of multiple lenses are blurred, and it cannot detect the situation where all the lenses of each camera module are blurred. Therefore, after the above comparison is completed, it is also necessary to determine whether each feature quantity is lower than the threshold value, and mark the regional sub-blocks with feature quantities lower than the threshold value.

[0055] According to the above steps, the feature quantities of other groups of regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding positions on each image are compared and judged to obtain the marked regional sub-blocks. After all parts of each image in a set of images are marked, the marked regional sub-blocks on each image are statistically analyzed according to the characteristics of the feature values, and the blur degree of the lenses of each camera module is judged according to the statistical results, so as to judge whether all the lenses are blurred. Here, no matter which type of blur occurs, the lens needs to be cleaned, and then the blur degree of the next set of images is judged.

[0056] Meanwhile, when it is determined that all the lenses of each camera module are blurred, after a preset time, the images taken by each camera module are sampled to extract several pictures, and the blur conditions of the lenses corresponding to each picture are judged again to realize the judgment of the blur conditions of the lenses of each camera module. If the lenses of each camera module still show a blurred state, it is determined that foreign objects appear on all the lenses of each camera module. If the blur conditions of the lenses of each camera module change, it is determined that the lenses of each camera module are out of focus.

[0057] Here, for the image blurring caused by out-of-focus of the lenses of each camera module, it is not necessary to flush the lenses of each camera module. In another embodiment, in order to facilitate the intelligent determination of the blurring degree of the lenses of each camera module, an image blurring detection model may also be set in the image processing unit in this embodiment; the image blurring detection model is used to receive the input of the image information collected by multiple camera modules and output the blurring degree corresponding to the image information; wherein, the image processing unit determines whether there is foreign matter on the lenses of multiple camera modules according to the blurring degree; the image blurring detection model is trained with the sample images taken by multiple camera modules as samples and the blurring degree corresponding to the sample images as labels.

[0058] As Figure 5 shown, in this embodiment, after filtering the images collected by each camera module in the convolutional neural network, the calculations of the convolutional layer and the pooling layer are respectively performed, and finally classification is carried out to obtain the probability of the output representing the blurring degree of the image, so as to mark the blurring degree of the image, thereby reflecting to the operator whether there is foreign matter on the lens of the camera module.

[0059] Of course, when detecting the blurring degree of the images collected by each camera module, this embodiment may also adopt Figure 6 the machine learning method shown. In practical applications, the data set D = {(x1, y1),…, (x n , y n )} is used, where x is the picture, y is the label, and n is the number of samples; then, the feature vector is extracted, where k is the number of feature vectors, and finally, separation is performed in the hyperplane.

[0060] Based on the solution shown in the above embodiment, when the image processing unit shown in this embodiment determines that there is foreign matter on the lens of at least one of the multiple camera modules, information prompt is carried out. Among them, this embodiment may specifically carry out information prompt in the way of voice prompt, screen display or sound and light alarm.

[0061] In this way, according to the obtained prompt information, the operator can know that foreign matter adheres to all or part of the lenses of the multiple camera modules. Here, the operator can also, according to the prompt information, manually control the flushing unit to convey a cleaning liquid and gas with a certain pressure to the flushing port at the head end of the endoscope, so as to realize the flushing of the lenses of each camera module to ensure the cleanliness of each lens.

[0062] Based on the solution shown in the above embodiment, in one embodiment, as Figure 1 and Figure 7As shown, the flushing unit 300 shown in this embodiment includes: a liquid pump 13, a gas pump 14, a liquid supply valve 15, a gas supply valve 16, and a gas-liquid pipeline 18; the image processing unit 200 is respectively connected to the liquid pump 13, the gas pump 14, the liquid supply valve 15, and the gas supply valve 16; the liquid supply valve 15 is used to control the liquid pump 13 to selectively transport the cleaning liquid to one end of the gas-liquid pipeline 18, and the gas supply valve 16 is used to control the gas pump 14 to selectively transport the gas to one end of the gas-liquid pipeline 18, and the other end of the gas-liquid pipeline 18 is communicated with the flushing port 52. Among them, the liquid supply valve 15, the gas supply valve 16, and the gas-liquid pipeline 18 shown in this embodiment are all arranged in the operation part 400 of the endoscope.

[0063] In this way, based on the processing of the image information collected by the multiple camera modules 51, when the image processing unit 200 shown in this embodiment determines that there are foreign objects on all or part of the lenses among the multiple camera modules 51, it can sequentially send opening control instructions to the liquid supply valve 15 and the gas supply valve 16 to sequentially control the connection of the liquid pump 13 with one end of the gas-liquid pipeline 18, and the connection of the gas pump 14 with one end of the gas-liquid pipeline 18.

[0064] Among them, when the liquid pump 13 is connected to one end of the gas-liquid pipeline 18, the water pumped out by the liquid pump 13 from the water tank 11 sequentially passes through the liquid supply valve 15 and the gas-liquid pipeline 18, and is ejected from the flushing port 52 under the transportation of the gas-liquid pipeline 18; correspondingly, when the gas pump 14 is connected to one end of the gas-liquid pipeline 18, the air pumped out by the gas pump 14 from the gas storage tank 12 sequentially passes through the gas supply valve 16 and the gas-liquid pipeline 18, and is ejected from the flushing port 52 under the transportation of the gas-liquid pipeline 18.

[0065] It should be noted here that during the operation of the endoscope, this embodiment can control the liquid pump 13 and the gas pump 14 to be always in the on state, or when the image processing unit 200 sends an opening control instruction to the liquid supply valve 15, control the liquid pump 13 to start synchronously, and when the image processing unit 200 sends an opening instruction to the gas supply valve 16, control the gas pump 14 to start synchronously.

[0066] At the same time, when the liquid pump 13 is always in the on state, the water pumped out by the liquid pump 13 can return to the water tank 11 through the liquid supply valve 15. Only when the liquid supply valve 15 receives the opening control instruction, the liquid supply valve 15 will perform a state switch to connect the liquid pump 13 with one end of the gas-liquid pipeline 18. Correspondingly, when the gas pump 14 is always in the on state, the air pumped out by the gas pump 14 can be directly discharged into the atmospheric environment. Only when the gas supply valve 16 receives the opening control instruction, the gas supply valve 16 will perform a state switch to connect the gas pump 14 with one end of the gas-liquid pipeline 18.

[0067] Further, to facilitate manual control of the lens flushing operation, the flushing unit 300 shown in this embodiment further includes: a first air-liquid control button 17, which is installed at the tail end of the housing corresponding to the operation unit 400 shown in the above embodiment for the operator to hold and operate.

[0068] As Figures 7 - 9 shown, the liquid inlet end of the liquid pump 13 shown in this embodiment is communicated with the water tank 11, the liquid outlet end of the liquid pump 13 is communicated with the first end of the liquid delivery valve 15, the second end of the liquid delivery valve 15 is communicated with one end of the air-liquid pipeline 18, and the third end of the liquid delivery valve 15 is communicated with the first end of the first air-liquid control button 17; the liquid delivery valve 15 has a first liquid delivery state and a second liquid delivery state. In the first liquid delivery state, the first end of the liquid delivery valve 15 is communicated with the second end, and in the second liquid delivery state, the first end of the liquid delivery valve 15 is communicated with the third end.

[0069] Meanwhile, the air outlet end of the air pump 14 shown in this embodiment is communicated with the first end of the air delivery valve 16, the second end of the air delivery valve 16 is communicated with the second end of the first air-liquid control button 17, and the third end of the air delivery valve 16 is communicated with one end of the air-liquid pipeline 18; the air delivery valve 16 has a first air delivery state and a second air delivery state. In the first air delivery state, the first end of the air delivery valve 16 is communicated with the second end, and in the second air delivery state, the first end of the air delivery valve 16 is communicated with the third end.

[0070] In addition, the third end of the first air-liquid control button 17 shown in this embodiment is respectively communicated with the air release port 171 and one end of the air-liquid pipeline 18; the first air-liquid control button 17 has a first switch state and a second switch state. In the first switch state, the second end of the first air-liquid control button 17 is communicated with the third end, and in the second switch state, the first end of the first air-liquid control button 17 is communicated with the third end.

[0071] Specifically, under normal conditions, the liquid delivery valve 15 shown in this embodiment is in the second liquid delivery state, and the air delivery valve 16 is in the first air delivery state, so that the operator can manually operate the switch state of the first air-liquid control button 17 at any time to perform manual liquid delivery and air delivery control.

[0072] Since the third end of the first liquid-gas control button 17 is connected to the air release port 171, whether the liquid pump 13 conveys cleaning liquid to the first liquid-gas control button 17 through the liquid delivery valve 15 or the air pump 14 conveys air to the first liquid-gas control button 17 through the air delivery valve 16, based on the pressure relief function of the air release port 171, without the operator performing a blocking operation on the air release port 171 of the first liquid-gas control button 17, neither the cleaning liquid pumped by the liquid pump 13 nor the gas conveyed by the air pump 14 can reach the flushing port 52 at the head end 500 of the endoscope through the first liquid-gas control button 17. Thus, in this embodiment, when flushing the lenses of the respective camera modules 51, automatic control and manual control can be better realized without interference with each other.

[0073] As Figure 10 shown, when automatically controlling the flushing of the lenses of the respective camera modules 51, in this embodiment, it is only necessary to control the liquid delivery valve 15 to switch from the second liquid delivery state to the first liquid delivery state so that the liquid pump 13 is connected to one end of the liquid-gas pipeline 18, and then control the air delivery valve 16 to switch from the first air delivery state to the second air delivery state so that the air pump 14 is connected to one end of the liquid-gas pipeline 18. Among them, after completing the flushing of the lenses of the respective camera modules 51, this embodiment should control the liquid delivery valve 15 to switch back from the first liquid delivery state to the second liquid delivery state, and control the air delivery valve 16 to switch back from the second air delivery state to the first air delivery state to prepare for the next flushing operation.

[0074] Furthermore, when manually controlling the flushing of the lenses of the respective camera modules 51, since the air release port 171 is provided at the pressing end of the first liquid-gas control button 17, when the liquid delivery valve 15 is in the second liquid delivery state and the air delivery valve 16 is in the first air delivery state, in this embodiment, by manually pressing, controlling the first liquid-gas control button 17 to be in the second switch state and blocking the air release port 171, manual control can be realized to convey cleaning liquid to the flushing port 52; correspondingly, in this embodiment, by manually pressing, controlling the first liquid-gas control button 17 to be in the first switch state and blocking the air release port 171, manual control can be realized to convey air to the flushing port 52; correspondingly, when completing the flushing of the lenses of the respective camera modules 51, by controlling the first liquid-gas control button 17 to be in the first switch state and opening the air release port 171, manual control can be realized to stop conveying cleaning liquid and air to the flushing port 52.

[0075] It should be noted here that the liquid delivery valve 15 and the air delivery valve 16 shown in this embodiment can both be two-position three-way solenoid valves, and the first liquid-gas control button 17 is a two-position three-way manual valve.

[0076] Based on the solution shown in the above embodiment, as Figure 11 and Figure 12As shown in the figure, the flushing unit 300 shown in this embodiment includes: a gas source 21, a liquid storage tank 22, a first switching valve 23, a second switching valve 24, a liquid delivery pipe 25 and a gas delivery pipe 26; the first switching valve 23 is used to control the gas source 21 to selectively supply gas to the atmospheric environment or the second switching valve 24; the second switching valve 24 is used to selectively deliver the gas from the first switching valve 23 to one end of the gas delivery pipe 26 or into the liquid storage tank 22; a cleaning liquid is stored in the liquid storage tank 22, and the liquid storage tank 22 is communicated with one end of the liquid delivery pipe 25; the other ends of the liquid delivery pipe 25 and the gas delivery pipe 26 are respectively communicated with the flushing port 52. Among them, the gas source 21, the liquid storage tank 22, the first switching valve 23 and the second switching valve 24 shown in this embodiment are all arranged outside the operation part 400 of the endoscope, the liquid delivery pipe 25 and the gas delivery pipe 26 are arranged in the corresponding shell of the operation part 400, and both the first switching valve 23 and the second switching valve 24 can be two-position three-way solenoid valves.

[0077] Specifically, when there is no flushing requirement for the lenses of the respective camera modules 51 of the endoscope, this embodiment can control the upper position of the first switching valve 23 to conduct, so that the gas from the gas source 21 is directly discharged to the atmosphere. When it is necessary to flush the lenses of the respective camera modules 51 of the endoscope, this embodiment can first control the lower position of the first switching valve 23 to conduct, and the right position of the second switching valve 24 to conduct, so as to control the gas from the gas source 21 to first enter the liquid storage tank 22, so that the cleaning liquid in the liquid storage tank 22 is under the action of air pressure and is transported along the liquid delivery pipe 25 to the flushing port 52; then, this embodiment controls the first switching valve 23 to remain in the lower position and the second switching valve 24 to switch to the left position to conduct, so as to control the gas from the gas source 21 to be transported along the gas delivery pipe 26 to the flushing port 52 after passing through the first switching valve 23 and the second switching valve 24 in sequence.

[0078] Furthermore, in order to facilitate manual giving of control instructions to control the switching of the on-off states of the first switching valve 23 and the second switching valve 24, the flushing unit 300 shown in this embodiment is further provided with a second gas-liquid control button 27, a wireless transmission module, a wireless reception module and a control module; the second gas-liquid control button 27 is electrically connected to the wireless transmission module; the wireless transmission module and the wireless reception module are wirelessly communicatively connected; the wireless reception module is connected to the control module; the control module is respectively connected to the first switching valve 23 and the second switching valve 24.

[0079] Among them, the second gas-liquid control button 27 is arranged on the operation part 400 of the endoscope; both the wireless transmission module and the wireless reception module can be well-known Bluetooth modules, WIFI modules, zigbee modules, etc. in the art, and are not specifically limited here; the control module can be a well-known single-chip microcomputer or PLC controller in the art.

[0080] Here, the second gas-liquid control button 27 shown in this embodiment can receive the pressing operation of the operator, so that the second gas-liquid control button 27 can be pressed and switched between the empty instruction state, the liquid delivery instruction state, and the gas delivery instruction state.

[0081] When the second gas-liquid control button 27 is in the empty instruction state, the second gas-liquid control button 27 does not output a switching quantity instruction signal to the wireless transmission module, and the control module can control the first switching valve 23 to be in the upper conduction state based on this; when the second gas-liquid control button 27 is in the liquid delivery instruction state, the second gas-liquid control button 27 can output a first switching quantity instruction signal to the wireless transmission module. Based on the wireless transmission of the signal between the wireless transmission module and the wireless reception module, the control module respectively controls the first switching valve 23 to be in the lower conduction state, and controls the second switching valve 24 to be in the right conduction state; when the second gas-liquid control button 27 is in the gas delivery instruction state, the second gas-liquid control button 27 can output a second switching quantity instruction signal to the wireless transmission module. Based on the wireless transmission of the signal between the wireless transmission module and the wireless reception module, the control module respectively controls the first switching valve 23 to be in the lower conduction state, and controls the second switching valve 24 to be in the left conduction state.

[0082] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements for some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An endoscope system, characterized in that, Including: An imaging unit, a flushing unit and an image processing unit; The imaging unit is connected to the image processing unit, and the image processing unit is connected to the flushing unit; The imaging unit is provided at the head end of the endoscope. The imaging unit includes a plurality of imaging modules, and the plurality of imaging modules are respectively used to collect image information of the part to be observed; The flushing unit has a flushing port, and the flushing port is provided at the head end of the endoscope and faces the lenses of the respective imaging modules; The image processing unit is used to judge whether there is foreign matter on the lenses of the plurality of imaging modules based on the processing of the image information collected by the plurality of imaging modules. When it is determined that there is foreign matter on the lens of at least one of the plurality of imaging modules, control the flushing unit to flush the lenses of the respective imaging modules; The image processing unit includes: an image segmentation subunit, a foreign matter detection subunit and a control subunit; the image segmentation subunit is used to divide each image captured by the plurality of imaging modules into a plurality of regional sub-blocks; the foreign matter detection subunit is used to extract the feature quantities of the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding position on each image, and judge the blurriness of the lenses of the respective imaging modules according to the comparison and judgment of the respective feature quantities; the control subunit executes the start-stop control of the flushing unit according to the judgment result output by the foreign matter detection subunit; The step of extracting the feature quantities of the regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding position on each image, and judging the blurriness of the lenses of the respective imaging modules according to the comparison and judgment of the respective feature quantities includes: comparing and judging the feature quantities of one group of regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding position on each image. If there is an abnormality in the difference between the respective feature quantities, it is determined that the blurriness of at least one of the respective regional sub-blocks is greater than a preset value; if there is no abnormality in the difference between the respective feature quantities, then judge whether each feature quantity is lower than a threshold value, and mark the regional sub-blocks with feature quantities lower than the threshold value; according to the above steps, compare and judge the feature quantities of other groups of regional sub-blocks at the same corresponding position on each image to obtain the marked regional sub-blocks, count the marked regional sub-blocks on each image, and judge the blurriness of the lenses of the respective imaging modules according to the statistical result; In the case where it is determined that the lenses of all the imaging modules are blurred, after a preset time, judge the blurriness of the lenses of all the imaging modules again. If the lenses of all the imaging modules still show a blurred state, it is determined that there is foreign matter on the lenses of all the imaging modules. If the blurriness of the lenses of all the imaging modules changes, it is determined that the lenses of all the imaging modules are out of focus.

2. The endoscope system according to claim 1, wherein The image processing unit is provided with an image blurriness detection model; The image blurriness detection model is used to receive the input of the image information collected by the plurality of imaging modules and output the blurriness corresponding to the image information. Wherein, the image processing unit determines whether there is foreign matter on the lenses of the multiple camera modules according to the blur degree; the image blur degree detection model is trained by using sample images captured by the multiple camera modules as samples and the corresponding blur degrees as labels.

3. The endoscope system according to claim 1, wherein when the image processing unit determines that there is foreign matter on the lens of at least one of the multiple camera modules, an information prompt is given.

4. The endoscope system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the flushing unit includes: a liquid pump, a gas pump, a liquid supply valve, a gas supply valve, and a gas-liquid pipeline; the image processing unit is respectively connected to the liquid pump, the gas pump, the liquid supply valve, and the gas supply valve; the liquid supply valve is used to control the liquid pump to selectively supply cleaning liquid to one end of the gas-liquid pipeline, the gas supply valve is used to control the gas pump to selectively supply gas to one end of the gas-liquid pipeline, and the other end of the gas-liquid pipeline is communicated with the flushing port.

5. The endoscope system according to claim 4, wherein the flushing unit further includes: a first gas-liquid control button; the liquid pump is communicated with the first end of the liquid supply valve, the second end of the liquid supply valve is communicated with one end of the gas-liquid pipeline, and the third end of the liquid supply valve is communicated with the first end of the first gas-liquid control button; the liquid supply valve has a first liquid supply state and a second liquid supply state. In the first liquid supply state, the first end and the second end of the liquid supply valve are communicated. In the second liquid supply state, the first end and the third end of the liquid supply valve are communicated; the gas pump is communicated with the first end of the gas supply valve, the second end of the gas supply valve is communicated with the second end of the first gas-liquid control button, and the third end of the gas supply valve is communicated with one end of the gas-liquid pipeline; the gas supply valve has a first gas supply state and a second gas supply state. In the first gas supply state, the first end and the second end of the gas supply valve are communicated. In the second gas supply state, the first end and the third end of the gas supply valve are communicated; the third end of the first gas-liquid control button is respectively communicated with a gas release port and one end of the gas-liquid pipeline; the first gas-liquid control button has a first switch state and a second switch state. In the first switch state, the second end and the third end of the first gas-liquid control button are communicated. In the second switch state, the first end and the third end of the first gas-liquid control button are communicated.

6. The endoscope system according to claim 5, wherein the first gas-liquid control button is arranged on the operation part of the endoscope, and the gas release port is arranged at the pressing end of the first gas-liquid control button. When the liquid delivery valve is in the second liquid delivery state and the air supply valve is in the first air supply state, by controlling the first air-liquid control button to be in the second switch state and blocking the air release port, manual control of delivering cleaning liquid to the flushing port is achieved; by controlling the first air-liquid control button to be in the first switch state and blocking the air release port, manual control of supplying air to the flushing port is achieved; by controlling the first air-liquid control button to be in the first switch state and opening the air release port, stopping the delivery of cleaning liquid and air supply to the flushing port is achieved.

7. The endoscope system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the flushing unit includes: an air source, a liquid storage tank, a first switching valve, a second switching valve, a liquid delivery pipe and an air supply pipe; the first switching valve is used to control the air source to selectively supply air to the atmosphere or the second switching valve; the second switching valve is used to selectively deliver the gas from the first switching valve to one end of the air supply pipe or into the liquid storage tank; the liquid storage tank stores cleaning liquid, and the liquid storage tank is communicated with one end of the liquid delivery pipe; the other end of the liquid delivery pipe and the other end of the air supply pipe are respectively communicated with the flushing port.

8. The endoscope system according to claim 7, characterized in that the flushing unit further includes: a second air-liquid control button, a wireless transmission module, a wireless reception module and a control module; the second air-liquid control button is electrically connected to the wireless transmission module; the wireless transmission module is wirelessly communicatively connected to the wireless reception module; the wireless reception module is connected to the control module; the control module is respectively connected to the first switching valve and the second switching valve; wherein, the second air-liquid control button is arranged on the operation part of the endoscope; the second air-liquid control button can be pressed and switched between an empty command state, a liquid delivery command state and an air supply command state.

Images