Endoscope processor, endoscope system

Abstract

To increase pressure resistance of a circuit board for processing an image of a biological tissue in an endoscope system as compared to the conventional pressure resistance.SOLUTION: There is provided a processor for an endoscope inserted into a body cavity, whose image pickup device for imaging a biological tissue is disposed at the tip, which is connected to an endoscope having a conductive sheath. The processor for an endoscope includes a circuit board for processing an image acquired by the image pickup device, a connector for electrically connecting the image pickup device and the circuit board, a first surge absorber connected between the sheath and a grounding part, and a second surge absorber connected between the circuit board and the grounding part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an endoscope processor connected to an endoscope that is inserted into a body cavity to image biological tissue, and an endoscope system including the endoscope processor.

Background Art

[0002] In the field of medical devices, it is possible to generate an image suitable for diagnosing a lesion hidden in a body cavity by illuminating biological tissue in the body cavity and imaging the illuminated biological tissue in the body cavity as a subject. An electronic endoscope system is known. Since an electronic endoscope is operated (touched) by an operator, ESD (electrostatic discharge) countermeasures are taken in the same manner as general electrical equipment. For example, Patent Document 1 describes an endoscope system configured such that when an electrostatic discharge occurs in a metal member on the outer wall of the endoscope, a first surge absorber becomes conductive and discharges current to the ground through a capacitor.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, in order to ensure further safety, an endoscope system is required to satisfy the standard of a withstand voltage test of 1.5 kV between the exterior of the endoscope and the ground (specifically, Article 8.8 of IEC60601-1:2012), and it is recommended to perform a withstand voltage test in the endoscope shipment inspection. However, in the conventional configuration described in Patent Document 1, when a voltage of 1.5 kV is applied between the exterior of the endoscope and the ground (protective grounding), the surge absorber disposed therebetween conducts, and the exterior and the ground become at the same potential. In that case, since a potential difference is generated between the patient circuit and the exterior, an arc discharge may occur when the distance between the patient circuit and the exterior is short, and the patient circuit may be damaged.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enhance the withstand voltage of a circuit board that processes an image of a living tissue in an endoscope system as compared with the prior art.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is an endoscope processor connected to an endoscope that is inserted into a body cavity and has an imaging element for imaging a living tissue disposed at a distal end portion and has a conductive exterior. This endoscope processor A circuit board that processes an image acquired by the imaging element; A connector that electrically connects the imaging element and the circuit board; A first surge absorber connected between the exterior and the grounding portion; A second surge absorber connected between the circuit board and the grounding portion, and includes.

[0007] It is preferable to include a second circuit board on which the second surge absorber is disposed and which is separated from the circuit board.

[0008] The second circuit board preferably has a capacitor connected in parallel with the second surge absorber.

[0009] Another aspect of the present invention is an endoscope that is inserted into a body cavity and has an imaging element for imaging a living tissue disposed at a distal end portion and has a conductive exterior, and An endoscope processor having a circuit board connected to the endoscope and processing an image acquired by the imaging element, and a connector electrically connecting the imaging element and the circuit board. An endoscope system including the above. Here, the endoscope processor A first surge absorber connected between the exterior and a grounding portion provided on the endoscope processor, A second surge absorber connected between the circuit board and the grounding portion, and is provided with.

Effect of the Invention

[0010] In an endoscope system, the withstand voltage of a circuit board that processes an image of a living tissue can be increased more than before.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, an electronic endoscope system will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. An electronic endoscope system according to an embodiment includes an endoscope having an imaging element inserted into a body cavity and disposed at a distal end for imaging a living tissue, and having a conductive exterior, and an endoscope processor connected to the endoscope and having a patient circuit for processing an image acquired by the imaging element of the endoscope.

[0013] In one embodiment, an endoscope processor includes a connector that electrically connects an imaging device and a patient circuit. The endoscope processor also includes two surge absorbers: a first surge absorber connected between the exterior of the endoscope and a grounding portion, and a second surge absorber connected between the patient circuit and the grounding portion. By providing these two surge absorbers, it is possible to appropriately protect the patient circuit when a high voltage is applied between the exterior of the endoscope and the grounding portion.

[0014] That is, since the exterior of the endoscope (metal member) is operated by the operator, there is a possibility that a high voltage due to electrostatic discharge is applied. In a conventional endoscope processor, a capacitor and a surge absorber are connected in parallel between the exterior of the endoscope and the protective ground. When an electrostatic discharge occurs on the exterior of the endoscope, the surge absorber is configured to be in a conductive state. However, in this configuration, when the surge absorber conducts and the exterior of the endoscope and the grounding portion become the same potential, a potential difference occurs between the patient circuit and the exterior of the endoscope. Therefore, when the distance between the patient circuit and the exterior is short, an arc discharge may occur and the patient circuit may be damaged.

[0015] Therefore, in the endoscope processor according to one embodiment, in addition to the first surge absorber connected between the exterior of the endoscope and the grounding portion, a second surge absorber connected between the patient circuit and the grounding portion is provided. In this configuration, when an electrostatic discharge occurs on the exterior of the endoscope, the first surge absorber conducts and the exterior of the endoscope and the grounding portion become the same potential, and the second surge absorber also conducts and the patient circuit and the grounding portion become the same potential. Therefore, since the exterior of the endoscope and the patient circuit are substantially at the same potential, an arc discharge does not occur even when the distance between the patient circuit and the exterior is short, and the patient circuit is protected.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an electronic endoscope system 1 according to one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic endoscope system 1 includes an electronic endoscope 100, an endoscope processor 200, a monitor 300, and peripheral devices 400. The electronic endoscope 100 is an endoscope having a conductive exterior. At its distal end, an image sensor 14 that is inserted into the body cavity and captures images of biological tissues is disposed. The electronic endoscope processor 200 is connected to the electronic endoscope 100 and includes a circuit board (for example, the patient circuit 26 described later) that processes the images acquired by the image sensor 14. The electronic endoscope processor 200 is connected to the electronic endoscope 100 via an endoscope connector 201. Note that FIG. 1 shows the connection relationships of the power lines and the ground line GL of each part in the system, and the transmission lines for signal transmission and reception in the system are omitted.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic endoscope processor 200 is connected to and powered by, for example, an AC power supply 5 which is a commercial AC power source. Also, the ground line GL of the electronic endoscope processor 200 is connected to the protective ground via the conductive exterior of the electronic endoscope processor 200 or the like.

[0018] The electronic endoscope processor 200 includes a line filter 21, a primary circuit 22, a lamp power supply 23, a secondary circuit 24, a patient power supply 25, and a patient circuit 26 (an example of a circuit board). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, an example where the monitor 300 is built into the housing of the electronic endoscope processor 200 is shown, but the monitor 300 may be provided outside the electronic endoscope processor 200.

[0019] The line filter 21 is a filter for removing noise from the power line connected to the AC power supply 5. The line filter 21 is not limited to the illustrated configuration and may further include an inductor. The primary circuit 22 includes a transformer TR1 and a rectifying circuit (not shown), and converts the AC voltage supplied from the AC power supply 5 into a DC power supply suitable for the operation of the secondary circuit 24 and the monitor 300.

[0020] The lamp power supply 23 is connected in parallel with the primary circuit 22 to the line filter 21. The lamp power supply 23 includes a transformer TR2 and a rectifier circuit (not shown), and converts the AC voltage supplied from the AC power supply 5 into a DC power supply suitable for the operation of the lamp power supply 23. The DC power supply generated by the lamp power supply 23 is provided to the lamp 28.

[0021] The lamp 28 includes a light source composed of a plurality of LEDs that emit light in a wavelength band of a predetermined color. A laser diode can also be used as the light source instead of the LED. Since LEDs and laser diodes have characteristics such as low power consumption and low heat generation compared to other light sources, there is an advantage that a bright image can be obtained while suppressing power consumption and heat generation. By being able to obtain a bright image, the accuracy of the evaluation regarding the degree of the lesion in the lesion part can be improved. The illumination light from the lamp 28 is condensed by a condenser lens (not shown), and then enters the incident end of the LCB (Light Carrying Bundle) 11, which is a bundle of optical fiber strands of the electronic endoscope 100, through a dimming device (not shown). The illumination light incident into the LCB 11 from the incident end propagates through the LCB 11 and is emitted from the emission end of the LCB 11 disposed inside the tip of the electronic endoscope 100, and is irradiated onto the subject through a light distribution lens (not shown). The reflected light from the subject forms an optical image on the light receiving surface of the imaging element 14 through an objective lens (not shown). Note that the lamp 28 may be built into the electronic endoscope processor 200, or may be provided at the tip of the electronic endoscope 100. In the latter case, the LCB 11 for guiding the illumination light is unnecessary.

[0022] The DC power supply generated by the primary circuit 22 is also supplied to the patient power supply 25. The patient power supply 25 generates a power supply for driving the scope circuit 12 and the imaging element 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the patient power supply 25 includes a transformer TR3, and converts the DC voltage generated by the primary circuit 22 into a DC voltage suitable for the operation of the scope circuit 12 and the imaging element 14.

[0023] The electronic endoscope 100 is provided with a scope circuit 12 and an imaging device 14, and is configured to image a living tissue in a body cavity using the imaging device 14. The imaging device 14 is, for example, a single-plate color CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) image sensor in which various filters such as an IR (Infra Red) cut filter and a Bayer array color filter are arranged on a light receiving surface, and generates R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) primary color signals corresponding to an optical image formed on the light receiving surface. Instead of the single-plate color CCD image sensor, a single-plate color CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor can also be used. The scope circuit 12 generates a drive signal (such as a clock signal) for driving the imaging device 14 and sends it to the imaging device 14. The scope circuit 12 also performs predetermined signal processing such as color interpolation and matrix operation on the primary color signals input from the imaging device 14 to generate an image signal, and sends the generated image signal to the patient circuit 26.

[0024] The patient circuit 26 has a post-processing circuit that acquires the image signal transmitted from the scope circuit 12 and performs signal processing for image quality correction on the image signal. Examples of the signal processing performed by the post-processing circuit include white balance adjustment, gamma correction, and gain correction. The image signal subjected to signal processing by this post-processing circuit is sent to the secondary circuit 24.

[0025] The secondary circuit 24 has a display control circuit that generates and outputs a video signal for display on the monitor 300 based on the image signal transmitted from the patient circuit 26. As a result, an image of a subject in a body cavity imaged by the imaging unit is displayed on the monitor 300. In addition, the secondary circuit 24 also has a circuit that generates an operation guide image or the like to be displayed on the monitor 300, and a processing circuit that gives a control signal for giving various instructions to the patient circuit 26 based on an operation signal or the like from an input device (not shown) connected to the secondary circuit 24. The secondary circuit 24 also performs a process of sending the generated video signal or the like to the peripheral device 400 as necessary.

[0026] Note that the above description of the processing contents performed in the scope circuit 12, the patient circuit 26, and the secondary circuit 24 is merely an example. Those skilled in the art can appropriately change, modify, aggregate, etc. the processing contents performed by each circuit.

[0027] Referring further to FIG. 1, the endoscope exterior H100 of the electronic endoscope 100 is preferably shielded by a conductive material and is connected to the ground line GL of the electronic endoscope processor 200 via the capacitor C11. That is, the endoscope exterior H100 is grounded via the capacitor C11. Note that the line from the endoscope exterior H100 to the ground line GL of the electronic endoscope processor 200 does not pass through the endoscope connector 201 in FIG. 1, but this is not the limit, and it may be connected to the ground line GL through the endoscope connector 201.

[0028] A surge absorber SU1 (an example of a first surge absorber) is connected in parallel with the capacitor C11 between the endoscope exterior H100 of the electronic endoscope 100 and the ground line GL. The surge absorber SU1 is provided to conduct when a high voltage is applied to the endoscope exterior H100 and discharge the voltage of the endoscope exterior H100 to the ground line GL.

[0029] In the electronic endoscope processor 200, the low-voltage side signal line L26 of the patient circuit 26 is connected to the ground line GL via the capacitor C10. That is, the patient circuit 26 is grounded via the capacitor C10. Similarly, the low-voltage side signal line L25 of the patient power supply 25 is connected to the ground line GL via the capacitor C12. That is, the patient power supply 25 is grounded via the capacitor C12. The capacitor C11 and the capacitor C10 are provided to alternately ground the endoscope exterior H100 and the patient circuit 26 to remove high-frequency noise.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 1, between the signal line L26 on the low-voltage side of the patient circuit 26 and the ground line GL, a surge absorber SU2 (an example of a second surge absorber) and a capacitor C13 are connected in parallel. The surge absorber SU2 is provided to conduct when a high voltage is applied to the patient circuit 26 and discharge the voltage of the patient circuit 26 to the ground line GL.

[0030] In one embodiment, the surge absorber SU2 and the capacitor C13 are mounted on a substrate 27 separate from the patient circuit 26.

[0031] Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the operation of the electronic endoscope system 1 according to one embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 shows an equivalent circuit related to performing a withstand voltage test between the exterior of the endoscope and the ground in the electronic endoscope system, that is, the connection relationship between the signal lines L25 and L26 of the endoscope exterior H100, the patient power supply 25, and the patient circuit 26, and the ground line GL (that is, protective grounding). In FIG. 2, (a) is a comparative example (conventional circuit configuration), and (b) is an example (the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 1).

[0032] First, referring to FIG. 2(a), in the endoscope processor of the comparative example, a capacitor C11 and a surge absorber SU1 are connected in parallel between the endoscope exterior H100 and the protective grounding. When electrostatic discharge occurs to the endoscope exterior H100, the surge absorber SU1 becomes conductive, and current flows from the endoscope exterior H100 toward the protective grounding. However, as a result of the surge absorber SU1 becoming conductive and the endoscope exterior H100 and the grounding portion being at the same potential, a potential difference will occur between the signal line L26 of the patient circuit 26 and the endoscope exterior H100. Therefore, when the distance between the signal line L26 of the patient circuit 26 and the endoscope exterior H100 is short, arc discharge may occur and the patient circuit 26 may be damaged.

[0033] On the other hand, in the processor 200 for an electronic endoscope according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2(b), in addition to the surge absorber SU1 connected between the endoscope exterior H100 and the grounding portion, a surge absorber SU2 is provided between the signal line L26 of the patient circuit 26 and the grounding portion. As a result, when an electrostatic discharge occurs to the endoscope exterior H100, the surge absorber SU1 conducts and the endoscope exterior H100 and the grounding portion become at the same potential. However, the surge absorber SU2 also conducts and current flows from the patient circuit 26 toward the protective ground, and the signal line L26 of the patient circuit 26 and the grounding portion become at the same potential. As a result, since the endoscope exterior H100 and the signal line L26 of the patient circuit 26 are substantially at the same potential, even when the distance between the signal line L26 of the patient circuit 26 and the endoscope exterior H100 is short, an arc discharge does not occur and the patient circuit 26 is protected.

[0034] As described above, according to the electronic endoscope system 1 of the embodiment, the processor 200 for an electronic endoscope includes two surge absorbers, namely, the surge absorber SU1 connected between the endoscope exterior H100 and the grounding portion, and the surge absorber SU2 connected between the patient circuit 26 and the grounding portion. By providing these two surge absorbers, the patient circuit 26 can be appropriately protected when a high voltage is applied between the endoscope exterior H100 and the grounding portion.

[0035] In FIG. 1, the case where the surge absorber SU2 is mounted on a substrate 27 (an example of a second circuit board) separate from the patient circuit 26 and close to the protective ground is shown, but it is not limited thereto. That is, the surge absorber SU2 can also be incorporated into the same substrate as the patient circuit 26. However, by separating the substrate 27 from the patient circuit 26, the patient circuit 26 can be made less susceptible to the influence of external high-frequency signals and electrostatic discharges.

[0036] In FIGS. 1 and 2, the case where the capacitor C13 is connected in parallel with the surge absorber SU2 is shown, but it is not limited thereto. However, by connecting the capacitor C13 in parallel with the surge absorber SU2, the noise at the time of conduction of the surge absorber SU2 can be effectively removed.

[0037] As described above, the electronic endoscope system of the present invention has been described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various improvements and modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Signs

[0038] 1... Electronic endoscope system 5... AC power supply 100... Electronic endoscope 200... Processor for electronic endoscope 11... LCB 12... Scope circuit 14... Image pickup element 21... Line filter 22... Primary circuit 23... Lamp power supply 24... Secondary circuit 25... Patient power supply 26... Patient circuit 27... Substrate 28... Lamp 201... Endoscope connector 300... Monitor 400... Peripheral device C10, C11, C12, C13... Capacitor H100... Endoscope exterior L25, L26... Signal line SU1, SU2... Surge absorber TR1, TR2, TR3... Transformer GL... Ground line

Claims

1. An endoscope processor connected to an endoscope having an electrically conductive exterior, with an imaging element for insertion into a body cavity and performing imaging of biological tissue disposed at a distal end, comprising: A circuit board for processing an image acquired by the imaging element; A connector for electrically connecting the imaging element and the circuit board; A first surge absorber connected between the exterior and a ground portion; A second surge absorber connected between the circuit board and the ground portion; An endoscope processor comprising the above.

2. The endoscope processor according to Claim 1, further comprising a second circuit board on which the second surge absorber is disposed and which is spaced apart from the circuit board.

3. The endoscope processor according to Claim 2, wherein the second circuit board has a capacitor connected in parallel with the second surge absorber.

4. An endoscope system comprising: an endoscope having an electrically conductive exterior, with an imaging element for insertion into a body cavity and performing imaging of biological tissue disposed at a distal end; and an endoscope processor connected to the endoscope, the endoscope processor having a circuit board for processing an image acquired by the imaging element and a connector for electrically connecting the imaging element and the circuit board, wherein the endoscope processor further comprises: A first surge absorber connected between the exterior and a ground portion provided in the endoscope processor; A second surge absorber connected between the circuit board and the ground portion. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

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