Endoscope imaging direction observation device and method

Abstract

The invention discloses an endoscope imaging direction observation device and method, an endoscope comprises a handle, an insertion part and a tip, one end of the insertion part is fixedly connected with the handle, and the tip is mounted at the other end of the insertion part. The endoscope further comprises a direction sensor arranged on a circuit board in the handle and an image host electrically connected with the circuit board, and the direction sensor is used for acquiring azimuth information of the handle in real time. According to the method, the position of the tip can be marked, and an operator can conveniently judge the position of the target area.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of medical equipment, and in particular to an endoscope imaging azimuth observation device and method. Background Art

[0002] An endoscope is a commonly used medical device used to observe cavities, organs or tissues inside the human body. An endoscope generally includes a handle for the operator, a tip for taking images, and an insertion portion connecting the handle and the tip. During use, the operator inserts the tip and the insertion portion into the human body, and rotates the handle to rotate the tip to obtain images of different areas. When the handle rotates, the image also rotates. Therefore, the operator needs to judge the relative position of the target area based on the rotation of the handle.

[0003] However, when left-right or top-bottom symmetric features appear in the target area, such as the left and right ureteral openings observed in the bladder, the left and right fallopian tube openings in the uterine cavity, etc., it is necessary to strictly and carefully judge whether the specific location of the target area is on the left or right. For inexperienced novices, it is difficult to ensure the accuracy of the direction of the target area, and it is easy to make misjudgments, leading to serious accident consequences. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a method for dynamically and real-timely identifying and marking the observation orientation of an endoscope, which can mark the position of the tip, making it easier for the operator to determine the position of the target area.

[0005] The present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions: An endoscope imaging orientation observation device, the endoscope comprising a handle, an insertion portion and a tip end, the proximal end of the insertion portion being fixedly connected to the handle, the tip end being mounted at the distal end of the insertion portion, the endoscope further comprising a direction sensor arranged inside the handle and an image processing unit connected to the direction sensor signal, the direction sensor being used to obtain the orientation information of the handle in real time and feed it back to the image processing unit for identification and processing so that the direction of the final imaging always remains consistent with the direction of the patient's actual body position.

[0006] Furthermore, the orientation information includes axial rotation position information of the insertion portion.

[0007] Furthermore, the image processing unit includes a circuit board and an image host electrically connected to the circuit board, wherein the circuit board is arranged inside the handle and electrically connected to the direction sensor.

[0008] Furthermore, the endoscope also includes a camera device for capturing images, wherein the camera device is installed in the tip and is electrically connected to the circuit board.

[0009] Furthermore, the endoscope imaging azimuth observation device also includes a display for displaying images, and the display is electrically connected to the image host.

[0010] An endoscopic imaging azimuth observation method based on the endoscopic imaging azimuth observation device described in any one of the above items comprises the following steps: The tip enters the human body to photograph the target area and transmits the photographed image to the image host; The direction sensor obtains the position information of the handle and transmits it to the image host; The image host calculates the position information of the tip according to the orientation information obtained by the direction sensor and the position relationship between the handle and the tip; The image host recognizes and processes the image captured by the tip, adjusts the direction of the image according to the position information of the tip so that the direction of the image always remains the same as the direction of the patient's actual body position, and projects the adjusted image onto a display; The image host converts the position information of the tip into an imaging mark and projects it onto the display. The image mark indicates the position of the tip, and the position change of the tip is indicated by adjusting the position of the imaging mark on the image.

[0011] Furthermore, before the tip enters the human body to shoot the target area, the method includes: The horizontal / vertical reference direction of the direction sensor is set, which is automatically identified and set by a software algorithm according to the data of the direction sensor or is manually set by a user.

[0012] Furthermore, the image mark indicates the 12 o'clock direction of the tip.

[0013] Furthermore, the image logo is projected onto an edge of the display.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are: 1. The processed image always maintains the same direction as the patient's actual body position, that is, the up / down / left / right direction of the actual body position. The image does not rotate with the operator's rotation of the endoscope handle. When the operator rotates the handle, the direction of the image does not rotate with the rotation of the handle, which is convenient for the operator to observe the target area and improve the efficiency and accuracy of judgment.

[0015] 2. The position of the tip is marked by imaging marks. During the rotation of the handle, the operator can quickly and accurately determine the direction of the tip's rotation, making it easier for the operator to determine the location of the target area. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 It is a stereoscopic diagram of an endoscope imaging azimuth observation device; Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of an endoscope imaging azimuth observation device; Figure 3 for Figure 2 AA section view; Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the steps of an endoscopic imaging azimuth observation method; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of circuit board connection in the present invention; Figure 6 It is an image observation process in the present invention; Figure 7 This is another image observation process in the present invention.

[0017] Numbers in the figure: 100 - endoscope, 1 - handle, 11 - circuit board, 12 - direction sensor, 2 - insertion part, 3 - tip, 31 - camera device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The following is a further non-restrictive detailed description of the technical solution of the invention in conjunction with the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings. In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate the orientation or position relationship based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "multiple" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended to be used to explain the present invention, and cannot be understood as limitations on the present invention.

[0019] Reference Figures 1 to 3As shown, the present invention discloses an endoscope imaging orientation observation device and method. The endoscope 100 includes a handle 1, an insertion portion 2 and a tip 3. The proximal end of the insertion portion 2 is fixedly connected to the handle 1, and the tip 3 is installed at the distal end of the insertion portion 2. Specifically, the proximal end is close to the end of the handle 1, and the distal end is close to the end of the tip 3. The insertion portion 2 extends from the proximal end to the distal end and is slender in shape, which is convenient for inserting into the human body. The endoscope 100 also includes a direction sensor 12 arranged inside the handle 1 and an image processing unit 5 electrically connected to the direction sensor 12. The direction sensor 12 is used to obtain the orientation information of the handle 1 in real time and feed it back to the image processing unit 5 for identification and processing, so that the imaging direction of the image of the movement of the handle 1 obtained always remains consistent with the direction of the patient's actual body position. Specifically, the direction sensor 12 can be a gyroscope, a linear sensor, a positioning sensor, etc., and the installation direction of these sensors determines the direction of the image.

[0020] Furthermore, the image processing unit 5 includes a circuit board 11 and an image host interconnected with the circuit board 11, wherein the circuit board 11 is disposed inside the handle 1 and is electrically connected with the direction sensor 12. Figure 5 FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the connection relationship between the circuit board 11 and the image processing unit 5 .

[0021] The insertion part 2 is a tubular structure, and the tip 3 is installed at the end of the insertion part 2 (this is the prior art and will not be described in detail here). The endoscope 100 also includes a camera device 31 for shooting images, which is installed in the tip 3 and is electrically connected to the circuit board 12. After the insertion part 2 enters the human body, the camera device 12 on the tip 3 shoots the cavity, organ or tissue inside the human body and transmits the captured image to the image host (not shown in the figure) through the circuit board 11, and the image host recognizes and processes the image captured by the tip 3. Preferably, the circuit board 11 is a PCB (printed circuit board). The image host is electrically connected to the direction sensor 12 by connecting the signal communication line, and the signal communication line can be IIC (Inter-Integrated Circuit) communication, single-line communication, SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) communication, etc., which is used to read the orientation information obtained by the direction sensor 12 in the handle 1 and transmit the acquired orientation information to the image host.

[0022] The image host (not shown) compares the data of the tip 3 in the horizontal / vertical reference direction with the data of the direction sensor 12 in the horizontal / vertical reference direction to obtain the positional relationship between the tip 3 and the handle 1. In this embodiment, the horizontal / vertical direction refers to the orientation relationship between the tip 3 and the handle 1.

[0023] The endoscope imaging azimuth observation device also includes a display (not shown in the figure) for displaying images, and the display (not shown in the figure) is electrically connected to the image host.

[0024] The image host obtains the positional relationship between the tip 3 and the handle 1 according to the insertion part 2. Specifically, the insertion part 2 is a fixed connection member connecting the tip 3 and the handle 1 in structure, and the positional relationship between the tip 3 and the handle 1 can be determined by the assembly relationship.

[0025] Reference Figure 4 As shown, an endoscope imaging azimuth observation method comprises the following steps: Step S1: The front end enters the human body to shoot the target area and transmits the shot image to the image host; Step S2: the direction sensor obtains the position information of the handle and transmits it to the image host; Step S3: the image host calculates the position information of the tip according to the orientation information obtained by the direction sensor and the position relationship between the handle and the tip; Step S4: The image host recognizes and processes the image taken by the tip, adjusts the direction of the image according to the position information of the tip so that the direction of the image always remains the same as the direction of the patient's actual position, and projects the adjusted image onto the display; the processed image always maintains a direction consistent with the patient's actual position, and can achieve that after the operator rotates the handle, the direction of the image does not rotate with the rotation of the handle, which is convenient for the operator to observe the target area and improves the efficiency and accuracy of judgment.

[0026] Step S5: The image host converts the position information of the tip into an imaging mark and projects it onto the display. The image mark indicates the position of the tip. The position change of the tip is indicated by adjusting the position of the imaging mark on the image. By marking the position of the tip with the imaging mark, the operator can quickly and accurately determine the direction of the tip when rotating the handle, which facilitates the operator to determine the location of the target area.

[0027] Wherein, step S1: before the tip enters the human body to shoot the target area, comprises: The horizontal / vertical / depth reference direction of the direction sensor is set, specifically, the software algorithm automatically identifies and sets it according to the data of the direction sensor 12 or the user manually sets it. The direction sensor 12 obtains the orientation information of the handle 1 according to the position change of the handle 1 in the reference direction, and the direction sensor 12 transmits the orientation information in real time through the signal communication line.

[0028] The image host calculates the position information of the tip 3 according to the orientation information of the handle 1 transmitted by the direction sensor 12 and the positional relationship between the tip 3 and the handle 1, and adjusts the direction of the image in real time according to the position information of the tip 3. The direction of the adjusted image always remains the same as the direction of the patient's actual body position, and the image does not change its direction following the rotation of the tip 3. Preferably, the image always maintains a vertical upward direction. The adjusted image is projected onto the display through the image host, and then the position information of the tip 3 is converted into an image mark by the image host and projected onto the display. Through the real-time displayed image mark, the operator can intuitively and clearly obtain the movement of the tip 3, which helps the operator to perform the next step of the operation.

[0029] A more specific implementation is given below: the tip 3 and the handle 1 are rigidly connected to achieve the design goal of synchronous rotation of the two. The operator needs to frequently rotate the handle 1 to rotate the tip 3 fixedly connected to it to obtain images with different rotation angles. Figure 6 As shown in FIG. 1 , this is the image flow observed by the user when the handle 1 is not rotated. Figure 7 As shown, it is the image flow of the handle 1 rotating 45° clockwise: after the operator rotates the handle 1, the image processing unit 5 first obtains the operator's rotation angle signal data through the direction sensor 12 on the circuit board 11 mounted in the handle 1. The image processing unit 5 uses the image secondary processing algorithm to rotate the image screen in the opposite direction according to the obtained image and rotation angle, so that the processed observation content is the visual content obtained by the front end 3 in real time, and the displayed direction is always the vertical upward direction, and the angle position mark of the handle 1 is displayed at the same time. Among them, C is the observation object, C1 is the image screen collected by the front end 3 after rotating 45°, and C2 is the image screen processed by the image processing unit 5.

[0030] The image mark indicates the 12 o'clock direction of the tip 3. In the present embodiment, the 12 o'clock direction is manually calibrated. When the tip 3 and the handle 1 are in a coaxial position and the handle 1 is facing the user, the direction at this time is calibrated as the 12 o'clock direction. The image mark is preferably a triangular indicator or a convex dot symbol, which is convenient for the operator to identify the position of the tip 3, thereby helping the operator to quickly determine the location and orientation of the target feature, and improving the efficiency and accuracy of the operator's judgment. In order not to affect the operator's observation of the image on the display, the image mark is projected to the edge of the display. Preferably, the image mark is set in the upper right corner of the display.

[0031] The above-mentioned embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present invention, and the description thereof is relatively specific and detailed, but it cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the patent of the present invention. It should be pointed out that, for ordinary technicians in this field, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present invention, which all belong to the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present invention shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. An endoscope imaging azimuth observation device, the endoscope (100) comprising a handle (1), an insertion portion (2) and a tip (3), the proximal end of the insertion portion (2) being fixedly connected to the handle (1), the tip (3) being mounted at the distal end of the insertion portion (2), characterized in that: The endoscope (100) further comprises a direction sensor (12) arranged inside the handle (1) and an image processing unit (5) connected to the direction sensor (12) by signal, wherein the direction sensor (12) is used to obtain the orientation information of the handle (1) in real time and feed it back to the image processing unit (5) for identification and processing so that the direction of the final imaging always remains consistent with the direction of the patient's actual body position.

2. The endoscopic imaging azimuth observation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The orientation information includes axial rotation position information of the insertion portion (2).

3. The endoscopic imaging azimuth observation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The image processing unit (5) comprises a circuit board (11) and an image host electrically connected to the circuit board (11), wherein the circuit board (11) is arranged inside the handle (1) and electrically connected to the direction sensor (12).

4. The endoscopic imaging azimuth observation device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The endoscope (100) further comprises a camera device (31) for capturing images, wherein the camera device (31) is installed in the tip (3) and is electrically connected to the circuit board (11).

5. The endoscopic imaging azimuth observation device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The endoscope imaging azimuth observation device also includes a display for displaying images, and the display is electrically connected to the image host.

6. An endoscopic imaging azimuth observation method based on the endoscopic imaging azimuth observation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The steps include: The tip (3) enters the human body to photograph the target area and transmits the photographed image to the image host; The direction sensor (12) acquires the orientation information of the handle (1) and transmits it to the image host; The image host calculates the position information of the tip (3) according to the orientation information acquired by the direction sensor (12) and the position relationship between the handle (1) and the tip (3); The image host recognizes and processes the image captured by the tip (3), adjusts the direction of the image according to the position information of the tip (3) so that the direction of the image always remains the same as the direction of the patient's actual body position, and projects the adjusted image onto a display; The image host converts the position information of the tip into an imaging mark and projects it onto a display, the image mark indicating the position of the tip, and the position change of the tip (3) is indicated by adjusting the position of the imaging mark on the image.

7. The endoscopic imaging azimuth observation method according to claim 6, characterized in that: Before the tip (3) enters the human body to shoot the target area, it includes: The horizontal / vertical reference direction of the direction sensor is set, which is automatically identified and set by a software algorithm based on data from the direction sensor (12) or is manually set by a user.

8. The endoscopic imaging azimuth observation method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The image mark indicates the 12 o'clock direction of the tip (3).

9. The endoscopic imaging azimuth observation method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The graphical logo is projected onto an edge of the display.

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