Processor for electronic endoscope

Abstract

To make it possible to efficiently cool a light source device when an electronic endoscope processor incorporates the light source device.SOLUTION: An electronic endoscope processor according to an aspect of the present invention comprises: a case; an exhaust fan attached to the case, and for exhausting air in an internal space of the case to the outside; a light source part arranged in the case, and for emitting illumination light for illumination of biological tissues; and a blower fan provided near the light source part in the case, and for sending air around the light source part to the exhaust fan. An intake hole for introducing outside air toward the periphery of the light source part is formed in the case.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a processor for an electronic endoscope configured to acquire and process images of biological tissue. [Background technology]

[0002] Electronic endoscope systems are used for observing and treating biological tissues inside the human body. Electronic endoscope systems include an electronic endoscope that captures images of biological tissues with an imaging element and transmits the captured images to a processor, and a processor (electronic endoscope processor) that processes the signals from the captured images to create images for display. Some electronic endoscope processors incorporate a light source device for observing biological tissue. In such cases, measures are required to mitigate the impact on the cooling performance of the light source device caused by the rise in temperature inside the casing due to the heat source inside the processor.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 describes a solid-state illumination system in which a housing is separated into upper and lower spaces by a platform with downwardly extending fins, and in order to reduce the possibility of contaminating optical components due to airflow, a light source and optical system are arranged in the upper space, and a cooling system including a fan is arranged in the lower space (see FIGS. 7A to 7D). In the lower space, a fan draws in air from an aperture on the opposite side of the fan and exhausts it to release heat. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] US Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0188388 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the light source device (above-mentioned solid-state lighting system) described in Patent Document 1, a fan draws in air from an opening on the opposite side of the housing and exhausts it. Therefore, when the light source device described in Patent Document 1 is mounted in the housing of an electronic endoscope processor, air inside the housing is taken in through the opening, but since there are heat sources other than the light source device inside the housing that are higher than room temperature, the light source device is cooled at a temperature higher than room temperature, resulting in poor cooling efficiency.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a processor for an electronic endoscope that can efficiently cool a light source device when the light source device is built in the processor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a display device comprising: a housing; an exhaust fan attached to the housing and configured to exhaust air from the interior space of the housing to the outside; a light source unit disposed within the housing and configured to emit illumination light for illuminating living tissue; a blower fan provided in the housing near the light source unit for sending air around the light source unit to the exhaust fan. The housing has an intake hole formed therein for introducing outside air toward the periphery of the light source unit.

[0008] The electronic endoscope processor may further include a heat transfer structure connected to the light source within the housing, forming an internal space and transferring heat generated by the light source, wherein outside air is introduced directly into the internal space of the heat transfer structure through the air intake.

[0009] The blower fan may be attached to the heat transfer structure so as to send air in the interior space of the heat transfer structure to the exhaust fan.

[0010] It is preferable that the heat transfer structure be disposed on the bottom of the housing, and that the air intake hole be formed on the bottom of the housing.

[0011] The air intake hole is preferably airtight from the interior space other than the heat transfer structure within the housing.

[0012] The heat transfer structure may have a plurality of fins that extend substantially in a direction from the air intake toward the blower fan.

[0013] The electronic endoscope processor includes: a temperature sensor attached to the light source unit or the heat transfer structure unit; The apparatus may further include a control unit that controls the rotation speed of the exhaust fan and / or the blower fan based on the detected value of the temperature sensor.

[0014] The electronic endoscope processor may include a housing that hermetically houses the light source unit. In this case, it is preferable that the heat dissipation structure and the housing are integrated into one structure. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] According to the above-described electronic endoscope processor, when the electronic endoscope processor has a built-in light source device, the light source device can be efficiently cooled. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic endoscope system according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] 1A and 1B are a top view and a side view of an embodiment of a processor for an electronic endoscope; [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the processor for an electronic endoscope according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] 2 is a diagram showing the inside of the electronic endoscope processor of the embodiment as viewed from above. FIG. [Figure 5] 1 is a perspective view of a light source device mounted on an electronic endoscope processor according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the light source device mounted on the electronic endoscope processor according to the embodiment, as viewed from another angle. [Figure 7] 5 is a cross-sectional view of the light source device mounted on the electronic endoscope processor of the embodiment taken along line AA in FIG. 4. FIG. [Figure 8] 6 is a perspective view of a heat exhaust part included in the light source device of FIG. 5. FIG. [Figure 9] 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating an internal cooling operation of the electronic endoscope processor according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a processor for an electronic endoscope equipped with a temperature sensor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] (System Configuration) An electronic endoscope system according to one embodiment will be described below. An electronic endoscope system according to one embodiment includes an electronic endoscope (electronic scope) equipped with an imaging element for capturing images of biological tissue, and an electronic endoscope processor detachably connected to the electronic endoscope. The electronic endoscope processor is an electronic device that processes the captured images of biological tissue to create a display image. Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an electronic endoscope system 100 according to one embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the electronic endoscope system 100 includes an electronic endoscope processor 1, an electronic scope 9, and a monitor 8. The electronic endoscope processor 1 and the electronic scope 9 are connected by a connector CON.

[0018] The electronic endoscope processor 1 includes a system controller 11. The system controller 11 executes various programs stored in a memory 12 and comprehensively controls the entire electronic endoscope system 100. The system controller 11 is also connected to an operation panel 13. The system controller 11 changes each operation of the electronic endoscope system 100 and parameters for each operation in response to instructions input from the operator via the operation panel 13.

[0019] The electronic endoscope processor 1 includes a light source device 5. The light source device 5 emits illumination light L for illuminating a subject such as biological tissue within a body cavity. The light source of the light source device 5 is, for example, a high-intensity lamp (e.g., a xenon lamp, a metal halide lamp, a mercury lamp, or a halogen lamp) that emits white illumination light, a plurality of light-emitting diodes that emit light in a wavelength band of a predetermined color, or a laser light source. The illumination light L emitted from the light source device 5 is condensed by a condenser lens 15 onto an incident end surface of an LCB (Light Carrying Bundle) 91 and enters the LCB 91.

[0020] Illumination light L incident on the LCB 91 propagates within the LCB 91. The illumination light L propagated within the LCB 91 is emitted from the exit end face of the LCB 91 located at the tip of the electronic scope 9 and is irradiated onto the subject via a light distribution lens 92. Return light from the subject illuminated by the illumination light L from the light distribution lens 92 forms an optical image on the light receiving surface of a solid-state image sensor 94 via an objective lens 93.

[0021] The solid-state imaging element 94 is a single-plate color CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor with a Bayer pixel arrangement. The solid-state imaging element 94 accumulates an optical image formed at each pixel on its light-receiving surface as an electric charge according to the amount of light, and generates and outputs R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) image signals. Note that the solid-state imaging element 94 is not limited to a CCD image sensor, and may also be a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor.

[0022] A driver signal processing circuit 95 is provided within the connection section of the electronic endoscope 9. Image signals of the subject are input to the driver signal processing circuit 95 from the solid-state image sensor 94 at a predetermined frame period. The frame period is, for example, 1 / 30 seconds. The driver signal processing circuit 95 performs predetermined processing, including A / D conversion, on the image signals input from the solid-state image sensor 94 and outputs the processed signals to the image processing unit 16 of the electronic endoscope processor 1. The image processing unit 16 performs predetermined image processing to generate a video format signal, and outputs it to the monitor 8 .

[0023] The electronic endoscope processor 1 includes a light source control unit 17 that acquires luminance information of the image signal from the image processing unit 16 and controls the intensity of the illumination light from the light source device 5 based on the luminance information. The light source control unit 17 controls the light source device 5 so that the intensity of the illumination light emitted from the light source device 5 increases when the brightness is low, and decreases when the brightness is high. This controls the brightness of the image signal received from the driver signal processing circuit 95 to be kept constant.

[0024] The system controller 11 performs various calculations based on the unique information of the electronic endoscope 9 and generates control signals. Using the generated control signals, the system controller 11 controls the operation and timing of various circuits within the electronic endoscope processor 1 so that processing appropriate for the electronic endoscope 9 connected to the electronic endoscope processor 1 is performed.

[0025] (Structure of the electronic endoscope processor 1) Next, the structure of the electronic endoscope processor 1 will be described. In the electronic endoscope processor 1, the system controller 11, image processing unit 16, and light source control unit 17 are each configured on a circuit board including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), etc. Therefore, the atmosphere surrounding the light source device 5 within the housing of the electronic endoscope processor 1 is higher than room temperature, and the light source device 5 cannot be efficiently cooled by the air surrounding the light source device 5. Therefore, in one embodiment of the electronic endoscope processor 1, as will be described later, outside air at room temperature is directly introduced into the light source device 5 within the housing.

[0026] Fig. 2 shows a top view and a side view of the electronic endoscope processor 1 according to one embodiment, and Fig. 3 shows a bottom view of the electronic endoscope processor 1 according to one embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the electronic endoscope processor 1 has a front panel 21, a rear panel 22, a top panel 23, a bottom panel 24 (an example of a bottom panel), a left panel 25L, and a right panel 25R, and has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance. A plurality of legs 27 are attached to the bottom panel 24. An operation panel 13 is disposed on the front panel 21. In the following description, when referring to matters common to the left panel 25L and the right panel 25R, they will be referred to as "side panels 25."

[0027] Two exhaust fans 71 and 72 are installed on the rear surface 22 of the housing 2. The exhaust fans 71 and 72 are provided to suck in air introduced into the housing 2 and exhaust it. In each figure referred to in the following explanation, the XYZ coordinate axes are drawn so that the direction from the left side plate 25L to the right side plate 25R is the +X direction, the direction from the rear portion 22 to the front portion 21 is the +Y direction, and the direction from the bottom plate 24 to the top plate 23 is the +Z direction.

[0028] As shown in Fig. 3, an air intake hole 28 is formed in the bottom plate 24 of the electronic endoscope processor 1. As will be described later, the air intake hole 28 is provided to directly introduce room temperature outside air into the light source device 5. As shown in Fig. 2, legs 27 are attached to the bottom plate 24, and a gap is formed between the bottom plate 24 and the mounting surface of the electronic endoscope processor 1, so that outside air can be introduced through the air intake hole 28. In one embodiment, the air intake 28 is composed of a collection of multiple small holes. In the example shown in Fig. 3, the shape of each hole is circular, but this is not limited thereto, and the shape may be set to a shape close to a flattened ellipse, a circle, a polygon, or the like.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the inside of the housing 2 of the electronic endoscope processor 1 of the embodiment as viewed from above. As shown in Fig. 4, the light source device 5 and a plurality of heat-generating components are disposed on the bottom plate 24. The light source device 5 has a light source housed in an independent case, and is provided with three blower fans 61 to 63 that send the high-temperature airflow inside the case toward the exhaust fan 71. In order to efficiently direct the airflow discharged from the three blower fans 61 to 63 toward the exhaust fan 71, it is preferable that no components be disposed between each blower fan and the exhaust fan 71. As shown in FIG. 4, an intake hole 28 (see also FIG. 3) for introducing outside air into the light source device 5 is formed in the bottom plate 24 of the housing 2 in which the light source device 5 is disposed.

[0030] Next, the light source device 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the light source device 5 mounted on the electronic endoscope processor 1 according to one embodiment, seen from a viewpoint where the top surface is visible. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the light source device 5, seen from a viewpoint where the bottom surface is visible. The light source device 5 has a case (housing) built-in with a light source group consisting of multiple light sources and an optical system including multiple lenses. The light source device 5 is installed in the housing 2 so that the light emitting portion 51 faces forward (+Y direction). At the rear of the light source device 5, that is, on the opposite side to the light emitting part 51, blower fans 61 to 63 are provided.

[0031] 6, an opening 53 is formed in the bottom 52 of the light source device 5. When the light source device 5 is placed on the bottom plate 24 of the housing 2, the opening 53 faces the air intake hole 28, and guides the outside air introduced through the air intake hole 28 into the inside of the light source device 5.

[0032] FIG. 7 shows a cross section of the light source device 5 mounted on the electronic endoscope processor 1 according to one embodiment, taken along line AA in FIG. In one embodiment, the internal space of the light source device 5 is divided into a lower space 50L and an upper space 50U by a partition wall 55. A light source unit 80 including a light source group 81 and an optical system 82 is disposed in the upper space 50U. The portion of the light source device 5 that forms the upper space 50U is a housing unit that hermetically houses the light source unit 80. This prevents contamination of the optical system 82 disposed in the upper space 50U. Light generated by the light source unit 80 is emitted from the light emission unit 51. In one embodiment, the light source device 5 includes a heat transfer structure 57. The heat transfer structure 57 includes a partition wall 55 and is connected to the light source unit 80. In other words, the housing unit that houses the light source unit 80 and the heat transfer structure 57 are integrated into one structure.

[0033] A lower space 50L is formed in the heat transfer structure 57, and has the function of transferring heat generated by the light source unit 80. The heat transfer structure 57 is preferably made of, for example, a metal with high thermal conductivity (for example, aluminum, iron, or copper). Outside air at room temperature is introduced into the lower space 50L through the air intake holes 28 (see FIG. 2) and the opening 53 of the housing 2. Therefore, the heat from the light source unit 80 transmitted through the heat transfer structure 57 can be efficiently cooled by the outside air at room temperature.

[0034] The heat transfer structure 57 is provided with blower fans 61-63 that are provided near the light source unit 80 and send the air in the lower space 50L (air around the light source unit 80) to the exhaust fan 71. These blower fans exhaust air that has been warmed by the heat from the light source unit 80 from the lower space 50L of the light source device 5 and send it to the exhaust fan 71. Therefore, the heat generated by the light source unit 80 can be efficiently exhausted from the light source device 5 and can also be exhausted from the housing 2 by the exhaust fan 71.

[0035] In one embodiment, in order to further improve the heat transfer performance of the heat transfer structure 57, a heat exhaust section 56 is provided in the lower space 50L formed by the heat transfer structure 57. An example configuration of the heat dissipation unit 56 is shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an exemplary heat dissipation unit 56 included in the light source device 5. The heat dissipation unit 56 has a heat sink 561 made up of a plurality of fins that extend substantially in a direction from the air intake hole 28 and the opening 53 toward the blower fans 61 to 63. In one embodiment, the heat dissipation unit 56 may have a heat pipe 562 as shown in Fig. 8. The heat sink 561 is connected to the partition wall 55 to improve the performance of dissipating heat from the light source unit 80.

[0036] 8, the arrows indicate the flow of air introduced from opening 53 toward blower fans 61 to 63. The fins of heat sink 561 are attached in a direction that does not interfere with this air flow. In other words, it is preferable that the air flow toward blower fans 61 to 63 and the surface of each plate-like fin are roughly parallel. By providing the heat exhaust section 56, the efficiency of exhausting the heat generated by the light source section 80 can be further improved.

[0037] 3 and 7, the heat transfer structure 57 of the light source device 5 is disposed on the bottom plate 24 of the housing 2, and the air intake holes 28 are formed in the bottom plate 24 of the housing 2, thereby introducing outside air into the heat transfer structure 57 from the bottom of the housing 2. This configuration is advantageous in that it is convenient for introducing outside air into the heat transfer structure 57 located below the light source device 5 and is easy to implement. However, this is not limiting, and the air intake holes of the housing 2 may be provided in the side plate 25, and an opening of the light source device 5 may be provided in a position corresponding to the air intake holes, thereby introducing outside air into the heat transfer structure 57 from the side of the housing 2.

[0038] In one embodiment, the air intake hole 28 and the opening 53 are airtight from other internal spaces within the housing 2 other than the heat transfer structure 57. By airtightly sealing the air intake hole 28 and the opening 53 with packing or the like, air in other internal spaces within the housing 2 other than the heat transfer structure 57 is prevented from being introduced into the heat transfer structure 57. Because other internal spaces within the housing 2 other than the heat transfer structure 57 contain heat-generating components other than the light source device 5, the air in these internal spaces is warmer than room temperature. By airtightly sealing the air intake hole 28 and the opening 53, this warmer air is prevented from entering the heat transfer structure 57, and a decrease in cooling efficiency is avoided. Furthermore, if the air intake hole 28 and the opening 53 are not airtight, the wind speed of outside air introduced through the air intake hole 28 may decrease, potentially reducing cooling efficiency.

[0039] Next, the cooling operation of the electronic endoscope processor 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the cooling operation inside the electronic endoscope processor 1 according to one embodiment. In FIG. 9, arrows indicate the flow of air introduced into the housing 2 of the electronic endoscope processor 1 and then discharged.

[0040] The light source unit 80 is disposed in the upper space 50U of the light source device 5. The light source device 5 includes a heat transfer structure 57 in which the lower space 50L is formed. Therefore, heat generated by the operation of the light source unit 80 is transferred to the heat transfer structure 57 and is dissipated into the lower space 50L. Preferably, a heat dissipation unit 56 (see FIG. 8) is disposed in the lower space 50L to dissipate heat more efficiently.

[0041] Outside air at room temperature is introduced into the lower space 50L through the intake holes 28 of the housing 2 and the opening 53 of the light source device 5, and is sent to the exhaust fan 71 by the blower fans 61-63. Therefore, the outside air warmed by the heat discharged by the heat transfer structure 57 is sent from the blower fans 61-63 to the exhaust fan 71 and exhausted to the outside of the housing 2. The blower fans 61-63 and the exhaust fan 71 are arranged in series along the air flow, thereby increasing suction power, and therefore a large amount of outside air is taken in through the intake holes 28 of the housing 2. Therefore, the volume and speed of the airflow from the intake holes 28 to the exhaust fan 71 increase, improving cooling performance. The increased volume and speed of the airflow can also suppress the accumulation and adhesion of dust inside the light source device 5 and inside the housing 2 outside the light source device 5. The type of the blower fan and the exhaust fan does not matter, and they may be either an axial fan or a blower fan.

[0042] In one embodiment, the electronic endoscope processor 1 may include a temperature sensor 58 attached to the light source unit 80 or the heat transfer structure 57. Fig. 10 shows an example of the arrangement of the temperature sensor 58. In this example, the temperature sensor 58 is attached to the light source unit 80. The system controller 11 (see FIG. 1; an example of a control unit) of the electronic endoscope processor 1 controls the rotation speed of the exhaust fan 71 and / or the blower fans 61 to 63 based on the value detected by the temperature sensor 58. If the value detected by the temperature sensor 58 is higher than a predetermined value, it is considered that the cooling efficiency of the airflow passing through the heat transfer structure 57 is low. In this case, the system controller 11 can improve the cooling efficiency by increasing the rotation speed of the exhaust fan 71 and / or the blower fans 61 to 63.

[0043] The above describes in detail the processor for an electronic endoscope of the present invention, but the processor for an electronic endoscope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various improvements and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 1...Electron endoscope processor 11...System controller 12...Memory 13...Operation panel 14...Light source device 15...Condenser lens 16...Image processing unit 17...Light source control unit 2. Housing 21...Front part 22...Rear section 23...Tabletop 24…Bottom plate 25...Side panel 25L…Left side plate 25R…Right side plate 27...legs 28...Air intake 5...Light source device 50U…upper space 50L…Lower space 51...light emitting part 52...bottom 53…Aperture 55...Bulkhead 56...Heat exhaust section 561...heat sink 562...Heat pipe 57...Heat transfer structure 58...Temperature sensor 61~63...Ventilation fan 80...Light source section 81...Light source group 82…Optical system 71,72...Exhaust fan 8...Monitor 9...Electron scope 91...LCB 92...Light distribution lens 93...Objective lens 94...Solid-state image sensor 95...Driver signal processing circuit 100...Electronic endoscope system

Claims

1. The housing and an exhaust fan attached to the housing and configured to exhaust air from the interior space of the housing to the outside; a light source unit disposed within the housing and configured to emit illumination light for illuminating living tissue; a blower fan provided in the housing near the light source unit and configured to send air around the light source unit to the exhaust fan; a heat transfer structure connected to the light source unit within the housing, forming an internal space, and transferring heat generated by the light source unit; an intake hole for introducing outside air toward the periphery of the light source unit is formed in the housing; Outside air is introduced directly into the internal space of the heat transfer structure through the air intake hole, The heat transfer structure is disposed on the bottom of the housing, and the air intake hole is formed on the bottom of the housing. Processor for electronic endoscopes.

2. the blower fan is attached to the heat transfer structure so as to send air in the internal space of the heat transfer structure to the exhaust fan; 2. The processor for an electronic endoscope according to claim 1.

3. the air intake hole is airtightly sealed from the other internal space in the housing other than the heat transfer structure; 3. A processor for an electronic endoscope according to claim 1 or 2.

4. the heat transfer structure has a plurality of fins extending substantially along a direction from the air intake hole toward the blower fan; 3. A processor for an electronic endoscope according to claim 1 or 2.

5. a temperature sensor attached to the light source unit or the heat transfer structure unit; a control unit that controls the rotation speed of the exhaust fan and / or the blower fan based on the detection value of the temperature sensor, 3. A processor for an electronic endoscope according to claim 1 or 2.

6. a housing section that hermetically houses the light source section, The heat transfer structure and the storage unit are integrated into one structure.

3. A processor for an electronic endoscope according to claim 1 or 2.

Images