Head-mounted visual recognition device

Abstract

To propose a head-mounted visual recognition device that makes it possible to view images captured by a near-infrared camera without the sense of discomfort, and efficiently perform the work of observing an object that is invisible to the naked eyes.SOLUTION: A head-mounted visual recognition device comprises: first and second prisms 33, 43 that make left and right sight lines S1, S2 of a wearer to pass forward; a near-infrared camera 34 that is placed adjacent to the first prism 33 of one of the right and left; and a monitor 51 that is placed adjacent to the second prism 43 of the other of the right and left. A near-infrared image captured by the near-infrared camera 34 is displayed on the monitor 51. The first prism 33 of the one of the right and left refracts an optical axis P1 of the near-infrared camera 34 to align it with the sight line S1 of the one of the right and left, and the second prism 43 of the other of the right and left allows the near-infrared image displayed on the monitor 51 to be visible through the sight line S2 of the other of the right and left.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a head-mounted visual device that visualizes things that cannot be seen with visible light using light in the near-infrared wavelength range, allowing the wearer to visually confirm them. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, in the medical field, when a medical worker collects blood or administers an intravenous drip, it may be difficult to see the blood vessel into which the needle is to be inserted. In such cases, a method is used to confirm the position of the blood vessel by touching the finger. However, since this method requires experience, inexperienced medical workers may fail to insert the needle into the blood vessel and have to reinsert it, which places a burden on the patient. In order to solve this problem, for example, a device described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. This conventional device includes an imaging means for capturing near-infrared images and a monitor means for displaying the image captured by the imaging means, and is arranged in front of one of the lenses when attached to glasses, so that the near-infrared image can be viewed on the monitor means. By using this conventional configuration, a medical worker can capture blood vessels with the imaging means, and by viewing the near-infrared image displayed on the monitor means with one eye, the position of blood vessels that cannot be seen with the naked eye can be confirmed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-58221 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the conventional configuration of Patent Document 1, the imaging means for capturing near-infrared images is disposed on the glasses so as to be located between the left and right lenses, so that an image can be captured in a line of sight direction similar to that observed by the eyes of both the left and right eyes. However, since the optical axis of the imaging means does not coincide with either the left or right line of sight, when an image captured by the imaging means is displayed on a monitor means disposed in front of one of the left and right eyes, it is easy for the left and right eyes to feel uncomfortable. In particular, when one eye looks at the monitor means while the other eye looks at an object, the images seen by each eye do not coincide and appear blurred. For these reasons, it may be difficult to accurately identify the position of blood vessels that cannot be seen with the naked eye, and there has been a limit to the efficiency of the work of accurately identifying the position of the blood vessels. The conventional configuration can observe things that cannot be seen with the naked eye, so it can be applied not only to blood collection and infusion sites, but also to other medical sites, construction sites and research and development sites that require non-destructive observation, but there is a risk of the same problems as described above occurring.

[0005] The present invention proposes a head-mounted visual device that allows an image captured by an imaging means to be viewed without any sense of incongruity, in the same way as if viewed with the naked eye, and that can efficiently perform the task of observing objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention is a head-mounted visual device comprising a head mounting part to be mounted on the head of a wearer, left and right line-of-sight passing members attached to the head mounting part and passing the left and right lines of sight of the wearer forward, respectively, an imaging means disposed adjacent to one of the left and right line-of-sight passing members and receiving invisible light through the line-of-sight passing member to acquire image data, and an image display means disposed adjacent to the other of the left and right line-of-sight passing members for displaying an image based on the image data acquired by the imaging means, wherein the left and right line-of-sight passing member passes the left and right lines of sight of the wearer forward and includes a prism that refracts the optical axis of the imaging means forward, and the other of the left and right line-of-sight passing members passes the other of the left and right lines of sight of the wearer forward and includes a prism that makes the image displayed by the image display means visible with the line of sight. Here, invisible light refers to light in a wavelength range excluding the wavelength range of visible light visible to the naked eye.

[0007] In this configuration, the optical axis of the imaging means can be aligned with the line of sight of either the left or right eye by the prism, and this alignment allows the imaging means to capture an image at the line of sight of the wearer. By displaying an image captured by such an imaging means (hereinafter referred to as an invisible light image) on the image display means, the wearer can view an object through the prism with one of the left and right eyes and view the invisible light image with the other of the left and right eyes, so that the object viewed with visible light and the invisible light image (the image captured by the imaging means) can be viewed superimposed. Here, in this configuration, the optical axis of the imaging means can be aligned with the line of sight, so that the invisible light image displayed on the image display means matches the object viewed with visible light, and the wearer can view both without feeling uncomfortable. This allows objects that cannot be viewed with the naked eye (visible light) to be accurately and easily viewed.

[0008] According to the configuration of the present invention, the accuracy and efficiency of work can be improved by being used in the above-mentioned medical sites, construction sites, and research and development sites. For example, even in the medical sites such as blood sampling, where the position of a blood vessel cannot be confirmed with the naked eye, the configuration of the present invention allows the position of the blood vessel to be identified accurately and easily. Furthermore, according to the configuration of the present invention, cancers that cannot be seen with the naked eye can be found accurately and easily, which can greatly contribute to early detection and early treatment. Furthermore, by using the configuration of the present invention, cancer can be seen in real time, and therefore treatment (surgery, etc.) can be performed.

[0009] In the head-mounted visual device of the present invention described above, the prism of the line-of-sight passing member is formed by overlapping the inclined faces of two right-angled prisms to form an integrated cube, and the inclined faces are provided with a transmission / reflection means for dividing light incident from the front side into transmitted light that is transmitted to the back side and reflected light that is reflected.The proposed configuration is that one of the left and right line-of-sight passing members is arranged so that the prism refracts the optical axis of the imaging means forward by the inclined face having the transmission / reflection means, and the other left and right line-of-sight passing member is arranged so that the prism refracts the image displayed on the image display means by the inclined face having the transmission / reflection means to make it visible in the line of sight of the other left or right.

[0010] In this configuration, the wearer receives the transmitted light that has passed through the prism of one of the left and right line-of-sight passing members, and the imaging means receives the reflected light reflected by the prism, so that the imaging means can stably capture an image at the wearer's line of sight. In addition, the other left or right line-of-sight passing member reflects the image displayed on the image display means by its prism, so that the wearer can stably view the image. Therefore, with this configuration, the effects of the present invention described above can be stably achieved. Effect of the Invention

[0011] As described above, in the head-mounted visual device of the present invention, the optical axis of the imaging means can be aligned with the line of sight of the wearer, and this alignment allows the imaging means to capture an image at the line of sight of the wearer, so that the captured invisible light image can be superimposed on the object being viewed through the prism. This allows the wearer to view the invisible light image captured by the imaging means together with the object without feeling unnatural, allowing the desired work (treatment) on an object that cannot be viewed with the naked eye to be performed accurately and easily, and the accuracy and efficiency of the work can be improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a head-mounted visual device 1 according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a front view of a head-mounted visual device 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the head-mounted visual device 1 when worn. [Figure 4] 1A is a plan view of the right-side line-of-sight imaging main body 22 with the right-side housing 31 cut away, and FIG. 1B is a front view of the right-side housing 31 cut away. [Diagram 5] 1A is a plan view showing a cutaway left housing 41, FIG. 1B is a cutaway front view showing the left housing 41, and FIG. 1C is a front view of the left line of sight imaging main body 23. [Figure 6] (A) is an oblique view showing the first prism 33 of the right-side line-of-sight imaging body 22, (B) is an exploded oblique view of the first prism 33, (C) is an oblique view showing the second prisms 43, 43 of the left-side line-of-sight imaging body 23, and (D) is an exploded oblique view of the second prisms 43, 43. [Figure 7] 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the lines of sight S1, S2 of a wearer and the optical axis P1 of a near-infrared camera 34 in the head-mounted visual recognition device 1. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a visual image display system 61. [Figure 9] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of display on an image display device 64 of a visual image display system 61. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the embodiment, the front-rear direction indicates the front-rear direction of a wearer wearing the head-mounted visual device 1 of the embodiment, and left-right similarly indicates the left-right direction of the wearer. The left-right direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction and the up-down direction (vertical direction) is called the left-right lateral direction. In the left-right direction, the direction from the outside of the left and right toward the center of the wearer is called the inward direction. Furthermore, in the embodiment, the front side and the front side are used interchangeably.

[0014] 1 to 3, a head-mounted visual device 1 of the embodiment includes protective glasses 2 that are integrally provided with a transparent shield part 4 that is disposed in front of and covers both eyes of a wearer 101, and a frame part 3 that is attached to the wearer's head by hanging it over both ears of the wearer. The head-mounted visual device 1 includes a gaze imaging unit 6 and a lighting device 7 that are attached to the center of the frame part 3 via a connecting member 5, and the gaze imaging unit 6 and the lighting device 7 are integrally provided.

[0015] The connecting member 5 includes a base 11 fixed to the frame 3 of the protective glasses 2, a support rod 12 provided on the base 11 so as to be tiltable in the vertical direction, and a sliding part 13 provided with a vertical long hole through which the support rod 12 is inserted. A positioning part 15 is rotatably screwed to the tip of the support rod 12, and by fastening the positioning part 15, the vertical position of the sliding part 13 relative to the support rod 12 can be fixed, while by releasing the fastening of the positioning part 15, the sliding part 13 can be moved in the vertical direction relative to the support rod 12. The lighting device 7 is attached to the sliding part 13 so as to be tiltable in the vertical direction, and the line of sight imaging unit 6 is attached integrally to the lighting device 7. Such a connecting member 5 can tilt the support rod part 12, the sliding part 13, the lighting device 7, and the gaze imaging unit 6 in the front-rear direction together by tilting the support rod part 12 relative to the base part 11. This tilting of the gaze imaging unit 6 can change the distance to both eyes of the wearer 101. In addition, by sliding the sliding part 13 in the vertical direction relative to the support rod part 12, the sliding part 13, the lighting device 7, and the gaze imaging unit 6 can be slid in the vertical direction together. Furthermore, by tilting the lighting device 7 in the vertical direction relative to the sliding part 13, the lighting device 7 and the gaze imaging unit 6 can be tilted in the vertical direction together, and they can be inclined at a desired angle relative to the wearer.

[0016] The illumination device 7 includes an illumination support part 17 tiltably attached to the sliding part 13, a visible light 18 that irradiates visible light, and a near-infrared light 19 that irradiates near-infrared light (light in the near-infrared wavelength range), and the visible light 18 and the near-infrared light 19 are supported by the illumination support part 17. The visible light 18 and the near-infrared light 19 are arranged to irradiate light to an object (the viewpoint T of the wearer) seen through the first and second prisms 33 and 43 of the line-of-sight imaging unit 6. The visible light 18 irradiates visible light to improve the visibility of the object, while the near-infrared light 19 irradiates near-infrared light to enable a near-infrared camera 34 (described later) to capture a near-infrared image. Note that an ON / OFF switch and a power source (not shown) are connected to these lights 18 and 19 via cables.

[0017] Next, the line of sight imaging unit 6 according to the main part of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the visual axis imaging unit 6 includes a guide support member 21 attached to the illumination support portion 17 of the illumination device 7, and left and right visual axis imaging main bodies 22 and 23 supported by the guide support member 21, respectively.

[0018] The guide support member 21 is formed in an elongated shape in the left-right direction, and the left-right central portion is fixed to the illumination support portion 17. The guide support member 21 is formed symmetrically with respect to the central portion, and a first guide elongated hole portion 25 and a second guide elongated hole portion 26 are provided on both the left and right sides. The first guide elongated hole portion 25 is a long hole that opens linearly in the left-right lateral direction and penetrates the guide support member 21 in the up-down direction. The left and right first guide elongated hole portions 25 are provided in front of the left and right eyes of the wearer when the guide support member 21 is worn by the wearer. The second guide elongated hole portion 26 is a long hole that is inclined linearly forward with respect to the first guide elongated hole portion 25 on the outer side of the first guide elongated hole portion 25 and penetrates the guide support member 21 in the up-down direction.

[0019] The right line-of-sight imaging body 22 includes a right housing 31 supported on the guide support member 21 so as to be slidable in the left-right direction, a magnifying glass section 32 attached to the front of the right housing 31, and a first prism 33 (see FIG. 4) disposed inside the right housing 31. Furthermore, a near-infrared camera 34 is disposed inside the right housing 31 (see FIG. 4). The right housing 31 includes a first housing section 31a disposed on the inside (closer to the lighting device 7) and a second housing section 31b connected to the outside of the second housing section 31b via a connecting tube section 31c, and the inside of the first housing section 31a and the inside of the second housing section 31b are in communication with each other via the inside of the connecting tube section 31c.

[0020] Here, the first prism 33 disposed in the first housing part 31a is a cube in which two right-angle prisms 38, 38 are joined by overlapping their inclined faces 38a, 38a, as shown in Figs. 6(A) and (B), and is a so-called cube-type beam splitter. The inclined face 38a of the first prism 33 is coated with a mirror coating with a transmittance (transparency) of 0 to 50%. As shown in Figs. 4 and 7, the first prism 33 is disposed inside the first housing part 31a so that the inclined face 38a is inclined inward and forward in front of the wearer's eyes. The front face of the first prism 33 is disposed opposite the magnifying glass part 32 attached to the front part of the first housing part 31a. The front, rear and right side of the first prism 33 are coated with an anti-reflection coating, and the other three faces are coated with a black coating that suppresses the input and output of light.

[0021] 4, openings (not shown) that face the first prism 33 inside are formed in the front and rear parts of the first housing part 31a, and the magnifying glass part 32 is disposed in the front part. The magnifying glass part 32 is configured to include a lens barrel having a substantially truncated cone shape and two lenses arranged side by side at the front and rear ends of the lens barrel, and is attached integrally to the first housing part 31a so that the lens at the rear end faces the opening in the front part of the first housing part 31a.

[0022] 1 to 4, the first housing portion 31a is provided with a support rod portion 35 that protrudes upward from the upper surface and has a rod portion that is inserted into the first guide elongated hole portion 25 of the guide support member 21 and a fixing portion that is screwed to an upper portion of the rod portion on the first guide elongated hole portion 25 and cannot be inserted into the first guide elongated hole portion 25. By fastening the fixing portion of the support rod portion 35, the first housing portion 31a can be positioned and fixed to the guide support member 21, while by releasing the fastening of the fixing portion, the first housing portion 31a can be relatively moved along the first guide elongated hole portion 25. Similarly, the second housing portion 31b is provided with a support rod portion 36 that protrudes upward from the upper surface and has a rod portion that is inserted into the second guide elongated hole portion 26 of the guide support member 21 and a fixing portion that is screwed to an upper portion of the rod portion on the second guide elongated hole portion 26 and cannot be inserted into the second guide elongated hole portion 26. By tightening the fixing portion of this support rod portion 36, the second housing portion 31b can be positioned and fixed to the guide support member 21, while by releasing the tightening of the fixing portion, the second housing portion 31b can be moved relatively along the second guide long hole portion 26.

[0023] The right-side gaze imaging main body 22 is suspended by the support rods 35, 36 inserted into the first and second guide long hole portions 25, 26 of the guide support member 21. The gaze imaging main body 22 is movable in the left and right lateral directions when the fixing portions of the support rods 35, 36 are not fastened, and is positioned by fastening the fixing portion of at least one of the support rods 35, 36. When the gaze imaging main body 22 is moved left and right in this untightened state, the gaze imaging main body 22 moves left and right lateral directions while tilting in the front and rear directions around the support rods 35 inserted into the first guide long hole portions 25.

[0024] On the other hand, the left line of sight imaging body 23 comprises a left housing 41 supported on the guide support member 21 so as to be slidable in the left-right direction, a magnifying glass part 32 attached to the front part near the inside of the left housing 41, and second prisms 43, 43 (see FIG. 5) disposed inside the left housing 41. Furthermore, an eye camera 44 is disposed inside the left housing 41, and a monitor 51 and a lens 52 are disposed side by side in the front-rear direction (see FIG. 5).

[0025] Here, as shown in Fig. 5, two second prisms 43, 43 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction inside the left housing 41, one second prism 43 is arranged facing the rear of the magnifying glass part 32, and the other second prism 43 is arranged to the left (outside) of the one second prism 43. As shown in Figs. 6(C) and (D), these second prisms 43, 43 are cubes formed of two right-angle prisms 38, 38 like the first prism 33 of the first housing part 31a, and a mirror coating with a transmittance (transparency) of 0 to 50% is applied to the inclined surface 38a. The two second prisms 43, 43 are arranged inside the left housing 41 so that the inclined surface 38a is inclined inward and backward in front of the wearer's eyes, as shown in Fig. 4. The second prism 43 on one side (immediately behind the loupe portion 32) has an anti-reflective coating applied to the front, rear, and left sides, and the other three sides have a black coating applied to suppress light input and output. The other second prism 43 has an anti-reflective coating applied to the front, right, and left sides, and the other three sides have a black coating applied to suppress light input and output.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 5, the left housing 41 has openings (not shown) on the front and rear sides thereof facing the second prism 43 on one side (the inner side), and the magnifying glass part 32 is disposed on the front side. The magnifying glass part 32 has the same configuration as that disposed on the right-side line-of-sight imaging main body 22, and is attached integrally to the left-side housing 41 so that the lens at the rear end faces the opening on the front side of the left-side housing 41. Furthermore, the left housing 41 is provided with a support rod part 35 protruding upward from the upper surface near the inner side, and a support rod part 36 protruding upward from the upper surface near the outer side. These support rod parts 35, 36 have the same configuration as the support rod parts 35, 36 disposed on the right-side line-of-sight imaging main body 22.

[0027] The left-side line of sight imaging main body 23, like the right-side line of sight imaging main body 22 described above, is suspended by the support rods 35, 36 inserted into the first and second guide long hole portions 25, 26 of the guide support member 21. The line of sight imaging main body 23 is positioned by fastening at least one of the fixing portions of the support rods 35, 36. When the line of sight imaging main body 23 is moved left and right in a state where the support rods 35, 36 are not fastened, the line of sight imaging main body 23 moves left and right in the lateral direction and tilts in the front and rear direction around the support rod 35.

[0028] Furthermore, the positions, dimensions, shapes, etc. of the support rod portions 35, 36 of the line-of-sight imaging main bodies 22, 23 and the first and second guide long hole portions 25, 26 of the guide support member 21 are set so that the position T (hereinafter referred to as the viewpoint) at which the lines of sight S1, S2 passing through the first and second prisms 33, 43 intersect, as described below, does not change substantially when the line-of-sight imaging main bodies 22, 23 move.

[0029] In addition, in the right line-of-sight imaging body 22, as shown in FIG. 4, a near-infrared camera 34 is disposed in the second housing part 31b and the connecting tube part 31c. The near-infrared camera 34 can receive light in the near-infrared wavelength range and capture an image. It has a main body part with an imaging element and a lens-equipped mirror part, and can adjust the focus by changing the relative distance between the imaging element and the lens. In the near-infrared camera 34, the lens of the mirror part is disposed so as to face the right side surface of the first prism 33. In this embodiment, a disk-shaped operation plate part 37 for adjusting the focus is provided in the connecting tube part 31c. The focal length and F-number (aperture) of the near-infrared camera 34 are determined so that the focus can be adjusted at the wearer's viewpoint T through the magnifying glass part 32.

[0030] A cable 40 is connected to the near-infrared camera 34, and the near-infrared camera 34 is connected to the communication control device 39 via the cable 40. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the cable 40 is inserted from the second housing 31b, connected to the frame 3 of the protective glasses 2, and connected to the communication control device 39 held by the wearer. A signal instructing the near-infrared camera 34 to capture an image and image data captured by the near-infrared camera 34 are transmitted and received between the near-infrared camera 34 and the communication control device 39 via the cable 40, and power is supplied from the communication control device 39 to the near-infrared camera 34. The communication control device 39 includes a switch for causing the near-infrared camera 34 to capture an image, a power source, and a wireless communication function, and the wireless communication function allows the image data input from the near-infrared camera 34 to be communicated via a network.

[0031] 5, eye camera 44 is disposed outside the other (outer) second prism 43 in left housing 41 of left line-of-sight imaging body 23. Eye camera 44 can receive visible light (light in the visible light wavelength range) and capture an image, and includes a main body portion having an imaging element and a mirror tube portion having a lens, with the lens of the mirror tube portion being disposed to face the left side surface of the outer second prism 43. Here, the focal length, F-number (aperture), etc. of eye camera 44 are determined so that the focus can be adjusted by the wearer's eyeball via second prisms 43,43.

[0032] Furthermore, inside the left housing 41, a monitor 51 is disposed immediately before the outer second prism 43, and a lens 52 is disposed between the second prism 43 and the monitor 51. Here, the lens 52 is disposed opposite to the front surface of the outer second prism 43, and the monitor 51 is disposed opposite to the front surface of the second prism 43 via the lens 52. Here, the monitor 51 is an extremely small monitor on which an image captured by the near-infrared camera 34 is displayed, as will be described later, and the lens 52 is used to enlarge and display the image displayed on the monitor 51.

[0033] As shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the eye camera 44 and the monitor 51 are connected to the communication control device 39 via cables 48 and 49, respectively. Similarly to the near-infrared camera 34, the eye camera 44 and the monitor 51 transmit and receive signals and data between them via the cables 48 and 49, and are supplied with power from the communication control device 39. Here, the image displayed by the near-infrared camera 34 is displayed on the monitor 51 by the communication control device 39. That is, the communication control device 39 is provided with a display control means for displaying an image on the monitor 51 based on image data transmitted from the near-infrared camera 34. This allows the monitor 51 to display an image captured by the near-infrared camera 34 (hereinafter referred to as a near-infrared image) in real time.

[0034] As described above, the left and right line-of-sight imaging bodies 22, 23 are configured with the first and second prisms 33, 43, so that an object located in front of the wearer's line of sight S1, S2 can be viewed in a magnified manner using the magnifying glass portions 32, 32, and can be imaged using the near-infrared camera 34 and the eye camera 44, and the wearer can view the near-infrared image displayed on the monitor 51.

[0035] More specifically, in the right-side line-of-sight imaging body 22, incident light entering from the front through the loupe portion 32 is split by the first prism 33 into transmitted light that passes through the inclined surface 38a of the first prism 33 and reflected light that is reflected outward (to the right) by the inclined surface 38a. As a result, as shown in Fig. 7, the line of sight S1 of the right eye passes through the first prism 33, and the optical axis P1 of the near-infrared camera 34 can coincide with the line of sight S1 of the right eye passing through the first prism 33, so that the near-infrared camera 34 can capture an image at the line of sight of the wearer.

[0036] In the left line-of-sight imaging body 23, the incident light incident from the front through the loupe portion 32 passes through the inner second prism 43, and the light emitted by the monitor 51 is reflected by the inclined surface 38a of the outer second prism 43, refracted inward (to the right), and reflected by the inclined surface 38a of the inner second prism 43, refracted backward. As a result, the line of sight S2 of the left eye passes through the inner second prism 43 and can see the near-infrared image displayed on the monitor 51, so that the left eye can see the object and the near-infrared image superimposed. Here, as described above, the monitor 51 displays the near-infrared image captured by the near-infrared camera 34 in real time, so the wearer sees the images viewed with the left and right lines of sight S1 and S2 (images viewed with visible light) and the image captured by the near-infrared camera 34 (images viewed with light in the near-infrared wavelength range) superimposed. The lens 52 disposed immediately behind the monitor 51 is used to adjust the size of the near-infrared image displayed on the monitor 51 to a size that can be viewed through the magnifying glass portion 32.

[0037] Furthermore, as described above, the outer second prism 43 reflects the light from the monitor 51 at the inclined surface 38a and transmits the light in the left and right directions at the inclined surface 38a. As a result, the optical axis P2 of the eye camera 44 passes through the outer second prism 43 and is refracted backward at the inner second prism 43, so that the left eye of the wearer can be imaged from approximately the front. The eye camera 44 focuses on the left eye, captures a moving image of the left eye, and transmits image data of the moving image to the communication control device 39.

[0038] The head-mounted visual confirmation device 1 of this embodiment is used by a wearer by putting the protective glasses 2 on the wearer's head and positioning the line-of-sight imaging unit 6 in front of the wearer's eyes (see FIG. 3). Then, the wearer operates the connecting member 5 to move the line-of-sight imaging unit 6 up and down or tilt it in the forward and backward directions, thereby placing the line-of-sight imaging unit 6 and the lighting device 7 at a desired position. Furthermore, the left and right line-of-sight imaging main bodies 22, 23 are operated to place the first and second prisms 33, 43 (and the magnifying glass parts 32, 32) of each line-of-sight imaging main body 22, 23 in front of the left and right eyes, respectively. By positioning the left and right line-of-sight imaging main bodies 22, 23 in this way to match both eyes of the wearer, as shown in FIG. 7, the lines of sight S1, S2 pass through the first and second prisms 33, 43 and the magnifying glass parts 32, 32, and the object can be viewed in a magnified view at a viewpoint T where the lines of sight S1, S2 intersect.

[0039] By aligning the line-of-sight imaging bodies 22 and 23 in this way, when the wearer's line of sight S1 passes through the center or approximately the center of the first prism 33, the line of sight S1 and the optical axis P1 of the near-infrared camera 34 coincide with each other. This allows the near-infrared camera 34 to image the object at the line of sight of the wearer. That is, by imaging the object (point of view T) with the near-infrared light (light in the near-infrared wavelength range) irradiated by the near-infrared light light 19, image data of the near-infrared image of the object can be generated. Then, when the communication control device 39 receives the image data captured by the near-infrared camera 34, it performs control to display the near-infrared image based on the image data on the monitor 51. This allows the monitor 51 to display the near-infrared image captured by the near-infrared camera 34 in real time. When the wearer views the near-infrared image displayed on monitor 51 with his / her left eye, the near-infrared image captured by near-infrared camera 34 (an image that is not visible with visible light but is visible with light in the near-infrared wavelength range) is superimposed on the object viewed with the left and right eyes through the first and second prisms 33, 43 and the magnifying glass portions 32, 32, and can be viewed in real time.

[0040] Next, a visual image display system 61 having the head-mounted visual device 1 described above will be described. 8, a visual image display system 61 includes a head-mounted visual device 1, a computer 62 that receives image data transmitted from the communication control device 39 of the head-mounted visual device 1, a storage device 63 that stores the image data via the computer 62, and an image display device 64 that displays moving images and still images based on the image data. Note that the image data transmitted from the communication control device 39 includes image data captured by the near-infrared camera 34 and image data captured by the eye camera 44.

[0041] The computer 62 includes a central control device, a means for transmitting and receiving data, and an image control means for displaying a moving image or a still image on the image display device 64. When the computer 62 receives image data captured by the near-infrared camera 34, the image control means performs processing for displaying a near-infrared image 72 (see FIG. 9) on the image display device 64 in real time based on the image data. Furthermore, when the image control means receives image data captured by the eye camera 44, the image control means obtains the gaze position of the eye on the near-infrared image by a predetermined calculation based on the image data and the image data captured by the near-infrared camera 34, and generates a gaze image 73 (see FIG. 9) indicating the gaze position. Then, the image control means performs processing for displaying the gaze image 73 on the image display device 64 by superimposing it on the near-infrared image 72.

[0042] The predetermined calculation for obtaining the gaze position by the image control means is set in advance based on the magnification of the loupe units 32, 32, the position of the eyeball (pupil) displayed in the image data captured by the eyeball camera 44, etc., and it is possible to obtain the gaze position in the near-infrared image 72 displayed from the image data captured by the near-infrared camera 34. Here, as described above, the eyeball camera 44 can capture a moving image of the eyeball from approximately in front of the left eye, so that the image control means can accurately obtain the movement of the eyeball by analyzing the image data of the moving image, and can obtain the gaze position accurately and stably.

[0043] Furthermore, computer 62 performs a process of storing the image data received from near-infrared camera 34 and the image data received from ocular camera 44 in chronological correspondence in the storage device 63. Then, by being operated by an administrator or the like, the image data stored in storage device 63 is selectively read, and the near-infrared image and the line-of-sight image are superimposed and displayed on image display device 64 as described above.

[0044] 9, such a visual recognition image display system 61 can display a near-infrared image 72 on an image display device 64 based on image data captured by the near-infrared camera 34 of the head-mounted visual recognition device 1, and can also display a gaze image 73 acquired from image data captured by the ocular camera 44 superimposed on the near-infrared image 72 on the image display device 64. This allows a person viewing the image display device 64 to see an object 71 including an object visible with light in the near-infrared wavelength range, just like the wearer, and can visually recognize the gaze position of the wearer.

[0045] As described above, the head-mounted visual device 1 of this embodiment allows the wearer to superimpose a near-infrared image seen with light in the near-infrared wavelength range on an object seen with the naked eye (visible light), and therefore the wearer can accurately view the near-infrared image. Here, the optical axis P1 of the near-infrared camera 34 is refracted by the first prism 33 and coincides with the line of sight S1 of the wearer, so that the wearer can view the near-infrared image superimposed on the object seen with the naked eye without feeling uncomfortable. Furthermore, the visual image display system 61 of this embodiment superimposes a viewpoint image obtained from image data captured by the eyeball camera 44 on the near-infrared image captured by the near-infrared camera 34 of the head-mounted visual device 1 and displays it on the image display device 64, so that a person viewing the image display device 64 can view the near-infrared image at the same line of sight as the wearer, and can visually recognize the gaze point of the wearer by the viewpoint image. The configuration of this embodiment can be applied in the medical field. For example, by wearing the head-mounted visual confirmation device 1 by a medical worker who takes blood samples or administers intravenous drips, the position of the blood vessels can be accurately and easily confirmed even by a patient who has difficulty in visually confirming blood vessels with the naked eye. In addition, by wearing the head-mounted visual confirmation device 1 by a surgeon performing surgery, cancers and the like that cannot be visually confirmed with the naked eye can be accurately and easily visually confirmed. Then, by displaying the near-infrared image captured by the near-infrared camera 34 and the viewpoint image based on the image captured by the ocular camera 44 during such surgery on the image display device 64, assistants and visitors can see the status of the surgery from the same perspective as the surgeon and can know the surgeon's gaze point. As a result, if the images are displayed in real time during surgery, the assistants and visitors can accurately know the status of the surgery, and therefore appropriate advice can be given according to the status of the surgery. Alternatively, the flow of the surgery and the gaze point by the surgeon can be accurately conveyed to visitors. Similarly, after surgery, the image data stored in the storage device 63 can be read and displayed on the image display device 64, which helps to disseminate knowledge about various surgical situations to students and other medical personnel.

[0046] In this embodiment, the protective glasses 2 correspond to the head-mounted part according to the present invention. The first prism 33 arranged in the right-side line-of-sight imaging body 22 and the inner second prism 43 (located immediately behind the loupe part 32) arranged in the left-side line-of-sight imaging body 23 correspond to the prism according to the present invention, and constitute the line-of-sight passing member according to the present invention. The inclined surface 38a of the first prism 33 inclined toward the front and the inclined surface 38a of the second prism 43 inclined toward the rear correspond to the transmission and reflection means according to the present invention. The near-infrared camera 34 corresponds to the imaging means according to the present invention, and the near-infrared light (light in the near-infrared wavelength range) corresponds to the invisible light according to the present invention. The monitor 51 corresponds to the image display means according to the present invention.

[0047] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the dimensions and shapes of the components in the above-described embodiment can be modified as appropriate.

[0048] In the above embodiment, the left line of sight imaging body is provided with an eye camera, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the eye camera may be omitted. In this case, the visual recognition image display system does not display the viewpoint position on the image display device.

[0049] The above-described embodiment is configured to include a near-infrared camera, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be configured to include a camera (imaging means) that receives and captures invisible light in other wavelength ranges.

[0050] In the above-mentioned embodiment, the left line-of-sight imaging body is configured with a lens between the monitor and the prism, but this is not limited to this and may be configured without a lens. This lens is for adjusting the scale of the image displayed on the monitor to the object seen by the wearer through the magnifying glass, so if the size of the monitor or the display size of the image is adjusted, there is no need to install a lens.

[0051] In the above-described embodiment, the left and right visual axis imaging bodies are each provided with a magnifying glass portion, but the configuration may be such that no magnifying glass portion is provided. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1 Head-mounted Vision Device 2 Protective glasses (head-mounted part) 33 First Prism 43 Second Prism 34 Near-infrared camera 38 Right Angle Prism 51 Monitor (image display means) P1 optical axis S1,S2 line of sight

Claims

1. A head-mounted part to be mounted on the head of a wearer; Left and right line of sight passage members attached to the head mounting portion and allowing the wearer's left and right lines of sight to pass forward, respectively; an imaging means disposed adjacent to one of the left and right line-of-sight passing members and configured to receive invisible light through the line-of-sight passing member to acquire image data; an image display means arranged adjacent to the other of the left and right line-of-sight passing members for displaying an image based on the image data acquired by the imaging means; Equipped with The left or right line of sight member is a prism that passes one of the left and right lines of sight of the wearer forward and refracts the optical axis of the imaging means forward, The other left and right line of sight passage members are A head-mounted visual device characterized in that it is provided with a prism that passes the wearer's left or right line of sight forward and makes the image displayed by the image display means visible with that line of sight.

2. The prism of the line of sight is Two rectangular prisms are formed into an integrated cube by overlapping their inclined surfaces, and a transmission / reflection means is provided on the inclined surfaces to separate light incident from the front side into a transmitted light that is transmitted to the back side and a reflected light that is reflected, The left or right line of sight passage member is the prism is disposed so as to refract the optical axis of the imaging means forward by an inclined surface having the transmission and reflection means, The other left and right line of sight passage members are The head-mounted visual device according to claim 1, characterized in that the prism is arranged so as to reflect the image displayed on the image display means by an inclined surface having the transmitting and reflecting means, thereby making it visible in the other of the left and right lines of sight.

Images