Otoscope

Abstract

The utility model provides an otoscope. The otoscope comprises a sensing part, the sensing part comprises a shell and a sensing head. The sensing head is arranged in the shell and comprises at least one light source and a sensing element. The light source is arranged on the front end face of the sensing head. The sensing element is arranged on the front end face. The light emitted by the light source can be completely used for irradiating the auditory meatus, so that the energy loss of the otoscope is low. The sensing element can completely receive light reflected and scattered by the auditory meatus, so that the sensing precision of the otoscope is high.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to an optical sensor, in particular to an otoscope. Background Art

[0002] Conventional otoscopes are usually equipped with a light source in the handle, which may be a light emitting diode or an incandescent bulb, and transmit light to the sensing part through an optical fiber. The sensing part is placed in the ear canal to project light to the part to be sensed in the ear canal.

[0003] In some other otoscopes, the housing of the sensing part is conical. The light emitting diode is disposed in the conical housing, and part of the light emitted by the light emitting diode is shielded by the conical housing and cannot illuminate the desired sensing part. The sensing element is also disposed in the conical housing, so that part of the light reflected and / or scattered from the sensing part cannot be transmitted to the sensing element due to shielding by the housing, thereby reducing the sensing accuracy. Utility Model Content

[0004] According to an embodiment of the utility model, an otoscope is provided, which does not need to use optical fiber to guide light and does not have the problem of shielding the illumination light and the light to be measured.

[0005] According to one embodiment of the utility model, an otoscope is provided, comprising a sensing portion. The sensing portion comprises a housing and a sensing head. The sensing head is disposed in the housing and comprises at least one light source and a sensing element. The light source is disposed on the front end surface of the sensing head. The sensing element is disposed on the front end surface.

[0006] According to an embodiment of the utility model, it also includes an air supply device, which includes an air supply pipe and an air bag connected to the air supply pipe. The air supply pipe passes through the cavity of the sensor head, and the outlet of the air supply pipe is located on the front end surface.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the air supply pipe comprises stainless steel.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a lens is further included, which is disposed on the front end surface of the housing, and the lens is suitable for converging the light to be measured onto the sensing element.

[0009] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a main body is further included, the main body includes a circuit substrate, and the sensing part is suitable for being engaged with the main body to connect the at least one light source and the sensing element to the circuit substrate.

[0010] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensing portion is suitable for being detached from the main body portion.

[0011] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one light source is a light emitting diode.

[0012] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one light source has a color temperature of 6500K or 3500K.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the housing of the sensor head is columnar.

[0014] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the diameter of the front end surface is 3.5 mm.

[0015] Based on the above, the otoscope provided by the embodiment of the utility model arranges the light source on the front end surface of the sensor head, thereby avoiding the situation where the light is blocked and improving the lighting efficiency. The sensing element is also arranged on the front end surface, which can avoid the situation where the light to be measured is blocked and greatly improve the sensing accuracy.

[0016] In order to make the above features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, embodiments are given below and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 Showing a front view and a rear view of an otoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2A Show Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the sensing part in FIG. Figure 2B Show Figure 2A A schematic diagram of a sensor head of a sensing portion;

[0019] Figure 3A A schematic diagram showing an otoscope according to another embodiment of the utility model is shown. Figure 3B Show Figure 3A A partial schematic diagram of an otoscope. Figure 3C Show Figure 3A A partial schematic diagram of an otoscope. Figure 3D Show Figure 3B An enlarged view of the front end face of

[0020] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing a sensing portion according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Description of Figure Numbers:

[0022] 1: Otoscope;

[0023] 100, 100A: sensing unit;

[0024] 100M: sensor head;

[0025] 101: front end surface;

[0026] 102: light source;

[0027] 103: sensing element;

[0028] 200: main body;

[0029] 201: display screen;

[0030] 300: air supply device;

[0031] 301: airbag;

[0032] 302: air supply pipe;

[0033] 303: gas supply pipe outlet;

[0034] HS: Shell DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and where possible, the same reference numerals will be used in the drawings and the description herein to refer to the same or similar parts.

[0036] Reference Figure 1 , Figure 2A as well as Figure 2B , Figure 1 Showing the front view and the rear view of the otoscope according to the embodiment of the utility model, Figure 2A Show Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the sensing part in FIG. Figure 2B Show Figure 2A Schematic diagram of a sensor head of a sensing portion.

[0037] According to this embodiment, the otoscope 1 includes a sensing portion 100 and a main body 200. The sensing portion 100 includes a shell HS and a sensing head 100M. The sensing head 100M is disposed in the shell HS. The sensing head 100M has a front end face 101, and includes a plurality of light sources 102 and a sensing element 103 disposed on the front end face 101. There is a distance of approximately 500 microns between each light source 102 and the sensing element 103 to avoid short circuits. The diameter of the front end face 101 can be, for example, 3.5 mm, but is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the diameter of the front end face 101 can fall within the range of 4 mm to 5 mm.

[0038] The light sources 102 may be, for example, light emitting diodes. The sensing element 103 may be, for example, a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), and is disposed at the center of the front face 101. The cavity of the sensing head 100M may be made of a biocompatible metal material so that it is not easily deformed by external forces. The outer shell thickness of the cavity of the sensing head 100M may be approximately within a range of 300 microns to 800 microns.

[0039] A circuit substrate and a processor are disposed in the main body 200 , and the light sources 102 and the sensing elements 103 can be connected to the circuit substrate and the processor in the main body 200 through power lines and signal lines accommodated in the cavity of the sensing head 100M.

[0040] In some embodiments, the sensing unit 100 can be removed from the main body 200, and can be assembled and disassembled with the main body 200 by snapping together, wherein a line connector can be configured on one side of the sensing unit 100 close to the main body 200 to connect the light sources 102 and the sensing elements 103 to the circuit substrate and the processor.

[0041] It should be noted that, compared to the prior art in which one or more light sources 102 are disposed in the housing HS, which results in part of the light emitted by the light source 102 being shielded by the housing HS and unable to illuminate the desired sensing area, the present embodiment of the utility model configures the light sources 102 on the front end surface 101 of the sensing head 100M, thereby avoiding the light being shielded and improving the lighting efficiency. Figure 2B In this embodiment, a plurality of light sources 102 are disposed on the front end surface 101 , and the light sources 102 are symmetrically arranged on the front end surface 101 , thereby being able to provide uniform illumination in all directions.

[0042] In addition, in the prior art, the sensing element 103 is also disposed in the housing HS, which causes part of the light reflected and / or scattered from the sensed part to be unable to be transmitted to the sensing element 103 due to the shielding of the housing HS, thereby reducing the sensing accuracy. In contrast, the embodiment of the utility model configures the sensing element 103 on the front end surface 101 of the sensing head 100M, which can avoid the situation where the light to be measured is shielded, greatly improve the sensing accuracy, and reduce energy loss to achieve energy saving effect.

[0043] In some embodiments, the light sources 102 and the sensing elements 103 may be packaged by packaging materials. In some embodiments, a lens may be arranged at the front end of the package to focus the light to be measured reflected and / or scattered from the sensed part on the sensing element 103, thereby improving the sensing accuracy of the optical otoscope 1.

[0044] In some embodiments, the light sources 102 have a color temperature of 6500K, and the light emission wavelength is approximately 400nm to 750nm, with local peaks at 460nm and 575nm. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and in some embodiments, the light sources 102 have a color temperature of 3500K.

[0045] In order to fully illustrate the various implementations of the utility model, other embodiments of the utility model will be described below. It must be noted that the following embodiments use the component numbers and some contents of the previous embodiments, wherein the same numbers are used to represent the same or similar components, and the description of the same technical contents is omitted. For the description of the omitted parts, please refer to the previous embodiments, and the following embodiments will not be repeated.

[0046] Reference FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D , Figure 3A A schematic diagram showing an otoscope according to another embodiment of the utility model is shown. Figure 3B Show Figure 3A A partial schematic diagram of an otoscope. Figure 3C Show Figure 3A A partial schematic diagram of an otoscope. Figure 3D Show Figure 3B Magnified view of the front end of the .

[0047] According to this embodiment, the otoscope 1 includes a sensing portion 100, a main body 200, and an air supply device 300. The components and structures of the sensing portion 100 and the main body 200 are substantially the same as those of the above-mentioned embodiment, and are not described in detail herein.

[0048] The air supply device 300 of this embodiment is used to provide gas to the ear cavity of the user to test the balance reaction of the user. Specifically, the air supply device 300 includes an air supply pipe 302 and an air bag 301 connected to the air supply pipe 302. The air supply pipe 302 also passes through the cavity of the sensing head 100M, and the air supply pipe outlet 303 of the air supply pipe 302 is located on the front end face 101. In some embodiments, the air supply pipe 302 may include stainless steel. When the front end face 101 of the sensing head 100M is placed in the ear cavity of the user, the gas can be pushed into the air supply pipe 302 by pressing the air bag 301, and the gas is ejected from the air supply pipe outlet 303.

[0049] It should be particularly noted that in the prior art, the light source 102 and the sensing element 103 are disposed in the housing HS. If the air supply pipe 302 is also disposed in the housing HS, the air supply pipe 302 may block the light emitted by the light source 102 or block the light to be measured traveling toward the sensing element 103. In contrast, the present invention can dispose the light source 102 and the sensing element 103 on the front end face 101, so that the air supply pipe 302 can be disposed in the housing HS without the above-mentioned situation of the air supply pipe 302 blocking the light.

[0050] Reference Figure 3D Since the air supply pipe outlet 303 is disposed on the front end surface 101, the sensing element 103 of this embodiment is not disposed at the center of the front end surface 101. Figure 3DAs shown, four light sources 102 are arranged on the front face 101, and the four light sources 102 are symmetrically arranged on the front face 101. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. In one embodiment, only two light sources 102 may be arranged on the front face 101, and the two light sources 102 are symmetrically arranged on the front face 101 relative to the center of the front face 101. In one embodiment, only one light source 102 may be arranged on the front face 101.

[0051] Reference Figure 4 , which shows a schematic diagram of a sensing unit according to an embodiment of the present utility model. In this embodiment, the housing HS of the sensing unit 100A is cylindrical, which is different from the conical housing HS shown in the previous embodiment (such as Figure 1 as well as Figure 3B Specifically, compared with the prior art, since the present invention can dispose the light source 102 and the sensing element 103 on the front end surface 101, the housing HS of the sensing part 100A does not need to have a space for accommodating the light source 102 and the sensing element 103, and therefore the housing HS of the sensing part 100A does not need to be limited to the conical shape shown in the aforementioned embodiment.

[0052] In summary, the otoscope provided by the embodiment of the utility model arranges the light source on the front end surface of the sensor head, thereby avoiding the situation where the light is blocked and improving the lighting efficiency. Also, the sensing element is arranged on the front end surface, which can avoid the situation where the light to be measured is blocked and greatly improve the sensing accuracy.

[0053] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure covers modifications and variations that fall within the scope of the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An otoscope, characterized in that: The invention comprises a sensing unit, wherein the sensing unit comprises: a housing; and The sensor head is disposed in the housing and includes: At least one light source is disposed on the front end surface of the sensor head; and The sensing element is disposed on the front end surface.

2. The otoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that It also includes an air supply device, which includes an air supply pipe and an air bag connected to the air supply pipe. The air supply pipe passes through the cavity of the sensor head, and the outlet of the air supply pipe is located on the front end surface.

3. The otoscope according to claim 2, characterized in that: The gas supply pipe comprises stainless steel.

4. The otoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a lens, which is arranged on the front end surface of the housing, and the lens is suitable for converging the light to be measured onto the sensing element.

5. The otoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that The device further comprises a main body, wherein the main body comprises a circuit substrate, and the sensing part is adapted to be engaged with the main body so as to connect the at least one light source and the sensing element to the circuit substrate.

6. The otoscope according to claim 5, characterized in that The sensing portion is suitable for being detached from the main body portion.

7. The otoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that The at least one light source is a light emitting diode.

8. The otoscope according to claim 7, characterized in that The at least one light source has a color temperature of 6500K or 3500K.

9. The otoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that: The housing of the sensor head is columnar.

10. The otoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that The diameter of the front end face is 3.5 mm.

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