JPH0819538A - Ultrasonic/endoscopic combination system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the real-time property, picture quality, and visibility of an endoscopic image and ultrasonic image. CONSTITUTION:An ultrasonic/endoscopic combination system comprises an endoscope device. which has a scope 1 fitted at the tip with a CCD2 and acquires endoscopic TV images on the basis of the picture signal obtained by inseting the scope 1 into a subject and driving the CCD 2, and an ultrasonic diagnostic device which has an ultrasonic vibrator 3 at the tip of a scope 2 and acquires ultrasonic images of the inside of the subject by driving the vibrator 3 and transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals to/from the subject. The arrangement further includes a signal transmitter/receiver circuit 14, an image update timing generator circuit 12 which sets the drive timings of the CCD 2 and vibrator 3 individually in accordance with the synchronizing signal for the field of the endoscopic TV image sent from an endoscopic TV synch. signal generator 13, and a driver 3 which drives the CCD 2 and vibrator 3 alternately on the basis of the drive timing set by the update timing generator circuit 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention allows a scope having a solid-state image pickup element and an ultrasonic transducer incorporated at its tip to be inserted into a body cavity to simultaneously perform visual diagnosis of the body cavity and ultrasonic diagnosis of the surrounding organs. The present invention relates to a combined ultrasonic / endoscope system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system is constructed by inserting and arranging a small-diameter ultrasonic probe having an ultrasonic transducer into a forceps hole or the like of a scope having a solid-state image sensor such as a CCD at its tip. The visual diagnosis inside the body cavity and the ultrasonic diagnosis of the surrounding organs can be performed at the same time. In particular, submucosa that cannot be observed with a general endoscope device can be observed with a tomographic image obtained by scanning an ultrasonic signal based on an ultrasonic transducer, and its clinical application is expected to expand. .

The scanning method of the ultrasonic transducer is roughly classified into a mechanical scanning method and an electronic scanning method. In particular, as a mechanical scan method, a radial scan method in which a vibrator or the like is rotated to radiate an ultrasonic beam in a radial shape is mainly used.

FIG. 13 shows a schematic configuration of a radial scan type ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system. This ultrasonic wave
The endoscope combined system has a scope 3 inserted into a body cavity.
0 and CCD 31 provided at the tip of this scope 30
An electronic endoscope for processing the image signal output from the CCD 31 and a probe 33 having a small diameter, which is inserted and arranged in the forceps hole of the scope 30 and has an ultrasonic transducer 32 therein. The mirror device main body 34 and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 35 that processes the ultrasonic echo signal received by the probe 33 are provided. Further, a TV monitor 36 is provided in the endoscope apparatus main body 34, and the TV monitor 36 is provided.
The monitor 36 can display the endoscopic image signal processed by the endoscope apparatus main body 34 and the ultrasonic image signal processed by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 35 as an endoscopic image and an ultrasonic image, respectively. It is like this.

According to this ultrasonic / endoscope composite system, the optical image formed on the image pickup surface of the CCD 31 of the scope 30 by an optical system such as a light source and an objective lens which are not shown,
By driving the CCD 31 by the driver 37, it is read out as an image signal in response to, for example, interlace scanning based on the TV synchronization timing of the endoscope (synchronization timing of the TV monitor 36), and the frame of the simultaneous display circuit 39 is passed through the processing circuit 38. It is stored in a predetermined storage area of the memory (for example, the storage area on the left half of the frame memory).

On the other hand, the oscillator 32 is rotated about the axis of the probe 33 at a required timing based on the rotational driving force of the motor 40, and the rotated oscillator 32 is driven by the transmission / reception circuit 41, whereby a radial pattern is obtained. The ultrasonic signal is scanned. Then, the ultrasonic signal (echo signal) reflected by the organ in the body cavity, the wall of the body cavity, or the like is again received by the transducer 32 of the probe 33 and sent to the transmission / reception circuit 41 via the signal cable. Then, the transmission / reception circuit 41
After being converted into an image signal by, the image signal is sent to the frame memory of the processing circuit 42, and the encoder 4 of this frame memory
3 is stored in a storage area based on the rotation angle information of the motor 40 sent from the motor 3.

In this way, the image signal obtained for each rotation of the transducer 32 becomes an image signal forming one tomographic image and is stored in the frame memory of the processing circuit 42. On the other hand, the image signal stored in the frame memory of the processing circuit 42 is read at the above-described endoscope TV synchronization timing and is read in a predetermined storage area of the frame memory of the simultaneous display circuit 39 (for example, toward the frame memory). It is stored in the right half storage area).

The endoscopic image signal and the ultrasonic image signal stored in the frame memory of the simultaneous display means 39 are
The data is read out to the TV monitor 36 at the TV synchronization timing of the endoscope. As a result, on the screen of the TV monitor 36, an endoscopic image is displayed in the left half and an ultrasonic image is displayed in the right half.

In this way, the CCD 31 is driven, and
By driving the transducer 32 while rotating it, the ultrasonic image and the endoscopic image are sequentially updated to new images.

[0010]

By the way, an ultrasonic wave equipped with a CCD and an ultrasonic transducer at the tip of a conventional scope.
According to the endoscope combined system, since the signal line of the CCD and the signal cable of the oscillator are arranged in parallel in the scope, the clock signal accompanying the driving of the CCD is ultrasonically oscillated from the signal line of the CCD. There was a problem of jumping into the child's signal cable and significantly disturbing the image quality of the ultrasonic image.

In order to solve this problem, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 0-77731, a means of stopping the acquisition of the other image data during the image data acquisition period of one of the endoscopic image data and the ultrasonic image data is conceivable. There is. That is, the ultrasonic signal is not transmitted / received during the endoscopic image acquisition period by driving the CCD, and the CCD is not driven during the ultrasonic image acquisition period by transmitting / receiving the ultrasonic signal. Is configured. According to this data acquisition means, even if the clock signal accompanying the driving of the CCD jumps into the signal cable of the transducer, since the data is not obtained from the transducer, it does not affect the image quality of the ultrasonic image, A stable image is obtained.

In an ultrasonic / endoscope composite system using this means, since a large amount of time is actually spent on acquiring ultrasonic image data, the endoscopic image data is partially (for example, 1 By reading every scanning line), real-time property of the ultrasonic image is improved.

However, in this case, since the image of the endoscope is updated only partially, the endoscope image is out of frames. Further, it takes a lot of time until the entire image of the endoscope is newly updated. For this reason,
This caused deterioration of real-time property and deterioration of visibility.

Further, in the above-described mechanical / radial scan type ultrasonic / endoscope composite system, the rotation speed and scanning timing of the transducer are independent of the endoscope TV synchronization timing. Therefore, the obtained ultrasonic image always has a region in which only the old image is displayed. That is, the image in the ultrasonic image is updated only partially (that is, the frame is cut off), resulting in deterioration of the image quality of the ultrasonic image and deterioration of visibility.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and by updating the image quality of the endoscopic image and the ultrasonic image uniformly, the real-time property and the image quality of the endoscopic image and the ultrasonic image, It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system that improves visibility.

[0016]

In order to solve the above-mentioned object, in the ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system according to claim 1,
Insert the scope with imaging means at the tip into the subject,
An endoscope apparatus configured to obtain an endoscope TV image based on an image signal obtained by driving the image pickup unit, and an ultrasonic transducer section having an ultrasonic transducer section at the distal end of the scope. An ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system comprising: an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to obtain an ultrasonic image in the subject by transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic signal to and from the subject, Drive timing setting means for individually setting drive timings of the image pickup means and the ultrasonic transducer section according to a synchronization signal related to a field of a mirror TV image, and the drive timing setting means based on the drive timing set by the drive timing setting means. An imaging device and a driving device that alternately drives the ultrasonic transducer unit are provided.

Particularly, in the ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system according to the second aspect, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has an ultrasonic probe which has the ultrasonic transducer portion at a tip and is inserted and arranged in the scope. A rotating unit capable of transmitting the ultrasonic signal in a radial shape by rotating at least a part of the ultrasonic transducer unit about a central axis of the ultrasonic probe; and at least the ultrasonic transducer unit. Rotation cycle control means for controlling a part of the rotation cycle, wherein the rotation cycle control means sets the rotation cycle to n times (n is a natural number of 1 or more) the field display time of the endoscope TV image. are doing.

Further, in particular, in the ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system according to the third aspect, an image signal acquired by inserting a scope having an image pickup means at the tip into a subject and driving the image pickup means. And an array type transducer group having an ultrasonic probe inserted into the scope and provided at the tip of the ultrasonic probe, respectively. An ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system comprising: an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to obtain an ultrasonic image in the subject by transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic signal to and from the subject, Drive timing setting means for setting the drive timing of the image pickup means and the drive timing of the array type transducer group in response to a synchronization signal relating to a field of a mirror TV image, and the drive timing setting means. And a drive means for driving alternately more set the imaging means and the array vibrator based on the drive timing.

In order to achieve the above object, in the ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system according to the fourth aspect, a scope having an image pickup means at its tip is inserted into the subject, and the image pickup means is driven. The endoscope T based on the acquired image signal
An endoscope apparatus adapted to obtain a V image and an ultrasonic transducer section at the distal end of the scope are driven to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals to and from the inside of the subject. In an ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system including an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that obtains an ultrasonic image of the inside of a subject, the ultrasonic transducer unit is driven by driving the ultrasonic transducer unit based on a preset timing. Ultrasonic signal transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an acoustic wave signal, driving means for driving the imaging means according to the ultrasonic signal transmission timing of the ultrasonic signal transmitting / receiving means, and acquisition by the imaging means according to the driving of the driving means Scan conversion means for converting the generated signal into a TV scan type image signal.

[0020]

In the ultrasonic / endoscope composite system of the present invention, in accordance with the sync signal relating to the field of the endoscopic TV image,
The drive timing setting means individually sets the drive timings of the imaging means and the ultrasonic transducer section. Then, the driving unit alternately drives the imaging unit and the ultrasonic transducer unit based on the set driving timing. That is, the acquisition of the endoscopic image by driving the imaging unit and the acquisition of the ultrasonic image by driving the ultrasonic transducer unit are alternately performed according to the synchronization signal regarding the field of the endoscope TV image. .

In particular, when the ultrasonic signal can be transmitted in a radial manner by rotating at least a part of the ultrasonic transducer section by the rotating means with the central axis of the ultrasonic probe as the rotation axis, the rotation cycle control means Since the rotation cycle of at least part of the ultrasonic transducer part is set to, for example, twice the field display time of the endoscope TV image, at least part of the rotation direction of the ultrasonic transducer part, that is, the scanning direction of the ultrasonic signal. The (scan range) is uniformly determined.

Further, according to the ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system of the fourth aspect, the ultrasonic signal transmitting / receiving means drives the ultrasonic transducer portion based on a preset timing, and the ultrasonic signal is transmitted. Are sent and received. At this time, the driving means drives the imaging means in accordance with the ultrasonic signal transmission timing of the ultrasonic signal transmitting / receiving means. Then, the image obtained by the image pickup means in response to the driving of the driving means is converted into a TV scanning type image signal by the operation converting means. That is,
An endoscope image is acquired by driving an imaging unit without stopping transmission / reception of an ultrasonic signal, that is, without stopping acquisition of an ultrasonic image.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the ultrasonic / endoscope composite system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First Embodiment) An ultrasonic / endoscope composite system in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

The ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system shown in FIG. 1 is a mechanical / radial scan type ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system. That is, the ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system includes a scope 1 to be inserted into a body cavity and a solid-state image sensor (hereinafter, C) provided at the tip of the scope 1.
2), and an ultrasonic transducer 3 inside, and a probe 4 having a small diameter inserted and arranged in, for example, a forceps hole of the scope 1. Further, the ultrasonic / endoscope combined system includes an electronic endoscope device main body 5 that processes an image signal output from the CCD 2, and an ultrasonic diagnostic device main body 6 that processes an ultrasonic echo signal received by the probe 4. Is equipped with. Further, the endoscope apparatus body 5 includes a light source (not shown) and an optical system configured to form the light incident on the scope 1 on the image pickup surface of the CCD 2.

The endoscope apparatus main body 5 includes a driver 7 connected to the CCD 2. The output side of the driver 7 has a processing circuit 8, a simultaneous display circuit 9, and a TV monitor 10.
Is connected.

In addition, the ultrasonic / endoscope composite system includes a motor control circuit 1 for controlling a rotation angle of a motor, which will be described later.
1, an image update timing generation circuit 12 for controlling the update timing of an endoscopic image and an ultrasonic image, and an endoscope TV sync signal generator 1 for generating a sync signal for the TV monitor 10.
3 is provided. The output of the image update timing generation circuit 12 is connected to the driver 7, the motor control circuit 11, and the transmission / reception circuit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body 6 which will be described later. The output of the endoscope TV synchronization signal generator 13 is the simultaneous display circuit 9 and the image update timing generation circuit 1.
2 and the processing circuit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 6 described later, respectively. Image update timing generation circuit 1
An input device 12a capable of inputting various diagnostic information and the like by operation of an operator or the like is connected to 2.

The driver 7 drives the CCD 2 in accordance with the update timing of the endoscopic image generated from the image update timing generation circuit 12 to interlace-scan the optical image formed on the CCD 2 to perform an electrical signal. (Video signal) is read out, and this video signal is sent to the processing circuit 8. The processing circuit 8 has an A / D converter, an image processing circuit, and the like, converts the sent video signal into digital video data, and performs image processing such as γ correction and color correction processing on the video data. After processing, it has a function of sending to the simultaneous display circuit 9.

The simultaneous display circuit 9 includes a frame memory having a storage area corresponding to the display screen of the TV monitor 10, a read / write control circuit for controlling the reading / writing of data to / from the frame memory, a D / A converter, and the like. Is equipped with. The read / write control circuit receives the video data sequentially sent from the processing circuit 8 based on the sync signal sent from the endoscope TV sync signal generator 13, and outputs the video data to a predetermined storage area of the frame memory (for example, in the frame memory). Writing is made to the left half of the storage area).

On the other hand, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 6 is provided with a transmission / reception circuit 14 for driving the ultrasonic transducer 3 and receiving and processing the ultrasonic echo signal received by the transducer 3. The transmission / reception circuit 14 is connected to the processing circuit 15. The processing circuit 15 is an A / D converter that converts the echo signal received and processed by the transmission / reception circuit 14 into digital image data, a frame memory having a storage area corresponding to the display screen of the TV monitor 10, and writing / reading. It has a control circuit and the like. The write / read control circuit writes the image data output from the A / D converter in the frame memory.

Further, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 6 includes a vibrator 3
A flexible shaft 16 connected to the motor 17, a motor 17 that transmits a rotational driving force to the vibrator 3 via the flexible shaft 16 based on a control signal from the motor control circuit 11, and a rotation angle of the motor 17 is detected. And an encoder 18 that operates. The oscillator 3 is a motor 17
Based on the rotational driving force supplied from the probe 4, the probe 4 is rotated about the central axis of the probe 4 (see arrow s in FIG. 1). Therefore, by driving the transducer 3 while rotating the transducer 3, the ultrasonic signal can be scanned radially (radially).

The output of the encoder 18 is connected to the write / read control circuit of the processing circuit 15. That is, the writing / reading control circuit uses the image data output from the A / D converter as the rotation angle information of the vibrator 3 obtained from the encoder 18 (the rotation direction of the vibrator 3, that is, the basis of the image data). Based on the scanning direction of the ultrasonic signal), it is stored in the corresponding storage area of the frame memory. Therefore, when the ultrasonic signal is scanned once, the image data corresponding to the scanning is stored in the storage area corresponding to one screen of the frame memory.

The image data stored in the frame memory of the processing circuit 15 is based on the reading control of the writing / reading control circuit according to the synchronizing signal sent from the endoscope TV synchronizing signal generator 13 and the endoscope apparatus main body. 5 are simultaneously stored in a predetermined storage area of the simultaneous display circuit 9 (for example, the storage area on the right half of the storage area of the frame memory).

Further, the read / write control circuit of the simultaneous display circuit 9 is based on the synchronization signal sent from the endoscope TV synchronization signal generator 13 and stores all the image data (endoscope image) stored in the frame memory. Data and ultrasonic image data), and the TV monitor 1 via the D / A converter
It is supposed to be sent to 0. As a result, the TV monitor 10
Is configured to display an endoscopic image on the right half and an ultrasonic image on the left half.

On the other hand, the image update timing generation circuit 12 has a computer, and the image data acquisition timing is
A sync signal sent from the endoscope TV sync signal generator 13,
The determination is made based on the input information sent from the input device 12a and the program stored in the internal memory. That is, the image update timing generation circuit 12 in the present embodiment switches between acquisition of an endoscopic image and acquisition of an ultrasonic image for each frame (2 TV fields) of the TV monitor 10, as shown in FIG. 2 described later. It is like this. That is, the driver 7 and the transmission / reception circuit 14 are alternately driven according to the vertical sync signal of the odd field sent from the endoscope TV sync signal generator 13.

Further, the image update timing generation circuit 12
Controls the rotation cycle of the motor 17 via the motor control circuit 11. In the present embodiment, the motor 17 is rotated one half (180 °) (one frame (2 TV fields) in one TV field scanning time of the TV monitor 10 based on the control of the image update timing generation circuit 12 and the motor control circuit 11. It is designed to rotate continuously in a cycle of one rotation (360 °) in scanning time.

FIG. 3 is a diagram (image format of ultrasonic radial scan) schematically showing a region in which an ultrasonic image can be acquired (displayed) (scannable) corresponding to the rotation of the ultrasonic transducer 3. . Assuming that the endoscope TV synchronization signal generator 13
Is sent from the vertical sync signal (n is a natural number of 1 or more) of the n-th odd field, the direction in which the radiation surface of the transducer 3 faces is u (the image in the u direction can be acquired). Then, the oscillator 3 makes a half rotation about the axis of the probe 4 during the time when one TV field of the TV monitor 10 is scanned, that is, before the vertical synchronization signal of the n-th even field is sent. 1 image can be acquired). Further, the transducer 3 makes a half rotation about the axis of the probe 4 (the image of the region 2 can be acquired) until the next vertical synchronization signal of the (n + 1) th odd field is sent, Facing u. Then, the rotation of such a cycle is continuously performed.

That is, the scanning area (image format) due to the rotation of the transducer 3 is a half-round scanning area (area 1) in the odd field and the remaining area in the even field, considering two fields of the endoscope TV. This means that it is divided from the scanning area (area 2) for half the circumference.

The CCD 2 in this embodiment forms the image pickup means described in claims 1 to 4, and the image update timing generation circuit 12, the input device 12a, and the endoscope TV synchronization signal generator 13 are described in claim 1. Drive timing setting means. Further, the driver 7 and the transmission / reception circuit 14 form the driving means described in claims 1, 2 and 4.

Further, the flexible shaft 16 and the motor 17 in the present embodiment form the rotating means described in claim 2, and the motor control circuit 11 and the image update timing generating circuit 12 form the rotation cycle controlling means described in claim 2. To do.

Next, the overall operation will be described.

FIG. 2 shows the image update timing generation circuit 12
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an endoscopic image acquisition timing and an ultrasonic image acquisition timing controlled by the above. The endoscope TV field index shown in FIG. 2 indicates the scanning timing of two fields (one frame) obtained based on the synchronization signal sent from the endoscope TV synchronization signal generator 13. .

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the image update timing generation circuit 12 acquires an endoscopic image and an ultrasonic image for every two fields (one frame) of the TV monitor 10 of the endoscopic device 6. Switching.

For example, referring to FIG. 2, the field index a. The period of is the endoscopic image acquisition period. Therefore, the image update timing generation circuit 12 sends a drive signal to the driver 7, and the light receiving elements of the even field of the CCD 2 are scanned. The image signal obtained as a result is sent to the simultaneous display circuit 9 via the processing circuit 8. Then, it is read to the TV monitor 10 based on the synchronization signal from the endoscope TV synchronization generator 13. As a result, the even-field endoscopic image is newly updated and displayed on the TV monitor 10. The ultrasonic image remains displayed as the original image and is not updated.

On the other hand, this field index a. During the period of, the vibrator 3 rotates in the region 1. Therefore, its radiating surface, which was initially oriented toward u, has a period of a.
Is facing v at the end of.

Field index a. When the period of time is finished, the vertical sync signal for updating the image of the odd field of the new frame is sent from the endoscope TV sync signal generator 13 to the image update timing generating circuit 12 (field index b.). . At this time, the image update timing generation circuit 12 does not send a drive signal to the driver 7 and sends an image update command (that is,
Drive signal corresponding to the ultrasonic signal transmission / reception command). On the other hand, the oscillator 3 has its radiation surface rotating from v to u. As a result, the field index b. In the period of, the region 2 is scanned by the ultrasonic signal. The image signal obtained by this scanning is read by the synchronizing signal of the endoscope TV via the processing circuit 15 and displayed on the TV monitor 10 via the simultaneous display circuit 9. As a result,
Among the ultrasonic images displayed on the TV monitor 10, the image of the area 2 is newly updated (see FIG. 3). In this case, the endoscopic image is not updated.

Similarly, the field index c. In the period of, the ultrasonic image of the region 1 is newly updated (see FIG. 3).
reference). Furthermore, the field index d. , The image of the odd field of the endoscopic image is newly updated, and the field index e. In the period of, the image of the even field of the endoscopic image is newly updated. Less than,
The endoscope and the ultrasonic image are sequentially updated every two fields (one frame).

In this way, the vibrator 3 is connected to the TV monitor 10
2 fields (1 frame) are rotated as a cycle, and the update of the image displayed on the TV monitor 10 is switched between the ultrasonic image and the endoscopic image every 2 fields (1 frame). It is possible to eliminate the interference of the ultrasonic image due to the clock signal due to the driving of (1), and to uniformly update the endoscopic image for each field without causing frame breaks.

Therefore, the visibility, image quality and real-time property of the endoscopic image can be improved.

Further, in the ultrasonic image, since the scanning direction (rotational direction of the transducer) is uniformly set, the image is updated uniformly for each predetermined area (area 1, area 2). In other words, because the ultrasonic image does not run out of frames,
Image quality and visibility can be improved.

Since the speed of the ultrasonic signal in the subject is limited, the method of rotating the transducer 3 with two fields (one frame) of the TV monitor 10 as a cycle is clinically necessary. The diagnostic depth may not be obtained. In this case, as shown in FIG.
The period is 3 TV fields of the monitor 10 (eg, odd field, even field, odd field), and is 1
By controlling the motor control circuit 11 and the motor 17 so as to rotate, the same effect can be obtained while sufficiently satisfying the clinically required diagnostic depth.

Further, the image update timing generation circuit 12
Based on the control of 1., the distribution of the update timing of the ultrasonic wave and the image of the endoscope is arbitrarily set (for example, the endoscope is updated by 3 fields image → the ultrasonic wave is updated by 4 fields image), and at the same time, By appropriately setting the number of fields that determine the rotation cycle, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the real-time property of either the endoscopic image or the ultrasonic image is emphasized.

Further, in this embodiment, the vibrator 3 is set to 360 °.
Although the radial scan is performed by rotating the present invention, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a convex scan in which the rotation angle of the vibrator 3 is reduced may be performed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the vibrator 3 itself is rotated by the motor 17 to perform the radial scan, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a mirror is arranged at the tip of the probe 4 so as to be rotatable around the axis of the probe 4. Then, the ultrasonic signal generated by driving the transducer 3 may be radiated in a radial manner by applying the ultrasonic signal to the mirror while rotating the mirror and reflecting the ultrasonic signal. With this configuration, by controlling the rotation of the mirror by the motor, it is possible to obtain the same operation and effect as the configuration of rotating the vibrator 3 described above.

(Second Embodiment) An ultrasonic / endoscope composite system according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system shown in FIG. 5 is an electronic convex scan type ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system. This ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system has substantially the same configuration as that of the first embodiment except that scanning of ultrasonic signals in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is different from that of the first embodiment. Is omitted or simplified.

The image update timing generation circuit 19 in the present embodiment has a computer, and the image data acquisition timing is determined by the synchronization signal sent from the endoscope TV sync signal generator 13 and the input information sent from the input device 12a. And a program stored in the internal memory. This image update timing generation circuit 19
The output of is connected to the driver 7, a transmission / reception circuit described later, and an electronic scan control circuit described later.

That is, the image update timing generating circuit 19 in the present embodiment has a T value as shown in FIG.
The acquisition of the endoscopic image and the acquisition of the ultrasonic image are switched for each frame (2 TV fields) of the V monitor 10. That is, the endoscope TV synchronization signal generator 13
The driver 7 and a transmission / reception circuit to be described later are alternately driven in response to an odd-numbered field vertical synchronizing signal sent from.

Further, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a probe 4 having a small diameter inserted and arranged in a forceps hole of the scope 1, and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 6 for processing an ultrasonic echo signal received by the probe 4. It has and. At the tip of the ultrasonic probe 1, the ultrasonic transducer 20 is divided into a plurality of parts.
Are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the ultrasonic probe 1, for example.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 6 drives the divided ultrasonic transducers 20 while delaying the ultrasonic transducers 20 at required timings for convex scanning of ultrasonic signals, and in response to the convex scanning, from within the living body. A transmission / reception circuit 21 for receiving and processing the reflected ultrasonic echo signal, and an electronic scan control circuit 22 for controlling delay timing and the like in the transmission / reception circuit 21 are provided.
The other constituent elements of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body 6 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The input device 12a, the endoscope TV synchronization signal generator 13, and the image update timing generation circuit 19 in this embodiment form the drive timing setting means according to claim 3, and the driver 7, the transmission / reception circuit 21, And the electronic scan control circuit 22 forms the driving means according to claim 3.

Next, the overall operation will be described.

FIG. 6 shows the image update timing generation circuit 12
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an endoscopic image acquisition timing and an ultrasonic image acquisition timing controlled by the above. The endoscope TV field index shown in FIG. 6 indicates the scanning timing of two fields (one frame) obtained based on the synchronization signal sent from the endoscope TV synchronization signal generator 13. . Further, FIG. 7 shows an image format of ultrasonic convex scan. In other words, scan area (image format) by convex scan
Considering 1 field of endoscope TV as a reference,
One field is 1/6 of the entire scanning area.

As can be seen from FIG. 6, the image update timing generation circuit 12 switches between acquisition of an endoscopic image and acquisition of an ultrasonic image for every two fields (one frame) of the endoscope TV.

For example, referring to FIG. 6, the field index a. The period of is the endoscopic image acquisition period. Therefore, the image update timing generation circuit 12 sends a drive signal to the driver 7, and the light receiving elements of the even field of the CCD 2 are scanned. The image signal obtained as a result is sent to the simultaneous display circuit 9 via the processing circuit 8. Then, it is read to the TV monitor 10 based on the synchronization signal from the endoscope TV synchronization generator 13. As a result, the even-field endoscopic image is newly updated and displayed on the TV monitor 10. The ultrasonic image remains displayed as the original image and is not updated.

Field Index a. When the period of time is finished, the vertical sync signal for updating the image of the odd field of the new frame is sent from the endoscope TV sync signal generator 13 to the image update timing generating circuit 12 (field index b.). . At this time, the image update timing generation circuit 12 does not send a drive signal to the driver 7, but sends an image update command (that is, an ultrasonic signal transmission / reception command) to the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the electronic scan control circuit 22. Each transducer 20 is driven at a required delay timing under the control of the transmission / reception circuit 21 and the electronic scan control circuit 22 according to this transmission / reception command, and the region 1 is electronically scanned by the ultrasonic signal. The image signal obtained by this scanning is read out by the endoscope TV synchronizing signal via the processing circuit 15, and the TV monitor 1 via the simultaneous display circuit 9.
Displayed at 0. As a result, of the ultrasonic images displayed on the TV monitor 10, the image of the region 1 is newly updated (see FIG. 7). In this case, the endoscopic image is not updated.

Similarly, the field index c. In the period of, the ultrasonic image of the region 2 is newly updated (Fig. 7).
reference). Furthermore, the field index d. , The image of the odd field of the endoscopic image is newly updated, and the field index e. In the period of, the image of the even field of the endoscopic image is newly updated. Less than,
The endoscope and the ultrasonic image are sequentially updated every two fields (one frame).

As described above, since the update of the image displayed on the TV monitor 10 is switched to the ultrasonic image and the endoscopic image every two fields (one frame), the CCD is updated.
It is possible to eliminate the interference of the ultrasonic image due to the clock signal due to the driving of No. 2 and to uniformly update the endoscopic image for each field without causing frame breaks.

Therefore, the visibility, image quality and real-time property of the endoscopic image can be improved.

Further, since the electronic scan is not performed during the endoscopic image acquisition period, the ultrasonic image does not run out of frames, so that the image quality and the visibility of the ultrasonic image can be improved.

It is to be noted that, based on the control of the image update timing generation circuit 12, the distribution of the update timing of the ultrasonic wave and the image of the endoscope is arbitrarily set (for example, the endoscope is updated by 3 fields, and the ultrasonic wave is updated by 4 fields). By updating the image), it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the real-time property of either the endoscopic image or the ultrasonic image is emphasized.

Further, in the present embodiment, the image format of the ultrasonic convex scan is divided into six, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, an arbitrary number of divisions may be selected according to the frame rate of the ultrasonic waves. Can be selected. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the convex scan is used as the electronic scanning method, but the same operation and effect can be obtained by using other electronic scanning methods such as linear and sector.

(Third Embodiment) An ultrasonic / endoscope composite system according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system shown in FIG. 8 is a mechanical / radial scan combined ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system similar to that of the first embodiment.

The electronic endoscope apparatus main body 5 of this ultrasonic / endoscope combined system is provided with a driver 7 connected to the CCD 2. A scan conversion circuit 23, a processing circuit 8, a simultaneous display circuit 9, and a TV monitor 10 are connected to the output side of the driver 7.

Further, the ultrasonic / endoscope combined system includes the image update timing generation circuit 24 for controlling the update timing of the endoscopic image and the ultrasonic image, and the endoscope TV for generating the synchronizing signal of the TV monitor 10. The synchronization signal generator 13 is provided. The output of the image update timing generation circuit 24 is
It is connected to the driver 7. The output of the endoscope TV sync signal generator 13 is connected to the scan conversion circuit 23, the simultaneous display circuit 9, and the processing circuit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body 6 described later.

The driver 7 drives the CCD 2 in accordance with the update timing of the endoscopic image generated by the image update timing generation circuit 24, thereby performing interlaced scanning of the optical image formed on the CCD 2 to perform an electrical signal. (Video signal) is read out, and this video signal is sent to the scan conversion circuit 23.

The scan conversion circuit 23 is an A / D converter, a TV
A frame memory having a storage area corresponding to the display screen of the monitor 10, a read / write control circuit for controlling data read / write to the frame memory, and the like are provided. This read / write control circuit
The video data sequentially sent from the driver 7 via the A / D converter is written into a predetermined storage area of the frame memory, and the video data is sent to the frame memory based on the sync signal sent from the endoscope TV sync signal. The stored video data is read out and sent to the processing circuit 8a. The processing circuit 8a includes an image processing circuit and the like, and has a function of performing image processing such as γ correction and color correction processing on the sent video data and then sending the image data to the simultaneous display circuit 9.

On the other hand, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 6 is provided with a transmission / reception circuit 25 for driving the ultrasonic transducer 3 and receiving and processing the ultrasonic echo signal received by the transducer 3. The signal output of the transmission / reception circuit 25 is connected to the processing circuit 15, while the control output is connected to the image update timing generation circuit 24.

The transmission / reception circuit 25 transmits the ultrasonic signal by driving the ultrasonic transducer 3 at a predetermined timing, and further receives the echo signal reflected from the inside of the subject. The transmission / reception timing of this ultrasonic signal is as shown in the time chart of FIG. Then, the transmission / reception circuit 25 sends the trigger signals t _s and t _e that determine the start and end of transmission of the ultrasonic signal to the image update timing generation circuit 24 as control outputs.

The image update timing generation circuit 24 has a computer, and determines the image data acquisition timing based on the trigger signals t _s and t _e sent from the transmission / reception circuit 25 and a predetermined program. There is. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the image update timing generation circuit 25 in the present embodiment is CC when the trigger signal t _s that determines the transmission start timing of the ultrasonic signal is sent.
The drive signal is sent to D2, and when the trigger signal t _e that determines the reception timing of the ultrasonic signal is sent, the transmission of the drive signal to the CCD 2 is stopped. That is, the CCD 2 is set to be driven only when the ultrasonic signal is transmitted.

The other configurations in this embodiment are as follows.
The description is omitted or simplified because it is almost the same as the first embodiment.

The transmitting / receiving circuit 25 in this embodiment forms the ultrasonic signal transmitting / receiving means, and the driver 7 and the image update timing generating circuit 24 form the driving means. Also,
The endoscope TV sync signal generator 13 and the scan conversion circuit 23 form a scan conversion means.

Next, the overall operation will be described.

In this embodiment, transmission / reception of ultrasonic signals is performed at a predetermined timing as shown in FIG. At this time, the acquisition of the endoscopic image, that is, the CCD 2
9 is driven at the time of transmitting the ultrasonic signal, as shown in FIG. That is, the CCD 2 is driven not in synchronization with the TV monitor 10 but in synchronization with the ultrasonic signal transmission timing. The endoscope image signal read by driving the CCD 2 is once written in the frame memory of the scan conversion circuit 23, and then the endoscope T is read.
Depending on the sync signal sent from the V sync signal generator 13,
That is, it is read at the synchronization timing of the TV monitor 10 and then read by the simultaneous display circuit 9 via the processing circuit 8a.

On the other hand, the ultrasonic echo signal received by the transmission / reception circuit 25 is processed by the TV monitor 1 via the processing circuit 15.
The data is read by the simultaneous display circuit 9 at the synchronization timing of 0.
In this way, the image data (endoscopic image data and ultrasonic image data) stored in the frame memory of the simultaneous display circuit 9 is read at the synchronization timing of the TV monitor 10 and sent to the TV monitor 10 as an image signal. As a result, both the endoscopic image and the ultrasonic image are displayed on the TV monitor 10.

That is, according to the present embodiment, by providing a circuit (scan conversion circuit 23) for scan conversion (synchronous conversion) on the output side of the CCD 2, the acquisition timing of the endoscopic image, that is, the driving of the CCD 2. The timing can be synchronized with the transmission timing of the ultrasonic signal. Therefore, the clock signal associated with the driving of the CCD 2 does not jump into the ultrasonic echo signal (reception signal), so that the interference of the ultrasonic image can be eliminated and the real-time property of the endoscopic image and the ultrasonic image can be improved. It can be improved compared to the conventional method (in the past, the driving of the CCD was stopped until the ultrasonic signal was transmitted and received).

Although the configuration of the present embodiment has been described by using the mechanical radial type ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the present invention is not limited to this, and other mechanical scanning type, electronic convex, or electronic sector. The same operation and effect can be obtained by using an electronic scanning method such as the above.

On the other hand, in the ultrasonic / endoscope composite system according to the first to third embodiments, the endoscopic image and the ultrasonic image are displayed on the common TV monitor by using the simultaneous display circuit. The present invention is not limited to this, and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body may be provided with a separate TV monitor.

That is, FIG. 10 (corresponding to FIG. 1) and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5 (corresponding to FIG. 5) and FIG. 12 (corresponding to FIG. 8), in the endoscope apparatus body 5, the simultaneous display circuit is omitted and the processing circuit 8 (8 a) is directly connected to the TV monitor 10. Further, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 6 is configured such that a separate TV monitor 26 is connected to the processing circuit 15. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body 6 is provided with an ultrasonic TV sync signal generator 27 that generates a sync signal for the TV monitor 26. Even in these configurations, similar actions and effects can be obtained.

[0091]

As described above, the ultrasonic wave of the present invention
According to the endoscope composite system, the imaging unit and the ultrasonic transducer unit are alternately driven based on the drive timing set according to the synchronization signal regarding the field of the endoscope TV image, and the endoscope image and the ultrasonic image are detected. Since the ultrasonic image is acquired, the interference of the ultrasonic image due to the clock signal accompanying the driving of the image sensor is eliminated, and the ultrasonic TV image and the endoscopic image are not cut into frames, and the endoscopic TV image is displayed. Can be uniformly updated for each field.

Therefore, the visibility, image quality and real-time property of the ultrasonic image and the endoscopic image can be improved.

Further, according to the ultrasonic endoscope apparatus of the present invention, the image pickup device is driven in accordance with the transmission timing of the ultrasonic transducer to acquire an image signal, and this image signal is a TV scanning type image signal. It is designed to be scanned and converted for display. In other words, since the endoscopic image acquisition is performed intermittently without stopping the ultrasonic image acquisition, the clock signal accompanying the driving of the image sensor does not jump into the ultrasonic echo signal (reception signal). It is possible to eliminate the disturbance of the sound wave image and improve the real-time property of the ultrasonic wave image and the endoscopic image as compared with the related art.
In particular, since the ultrasonic image can be updated uniformly without breaking frames, the visibility and the image quality can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic / endoscope combined system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an endoscope field index and image acquisition timing based on this field index in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing an image format of ultrasonic radial scan.

FIG. 4 is a diagram conceptually showing an image format of ultrasonic radial scan.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an endoscope field index and image acquisition timing based on this field index in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram conceptually showing an image format of an ultrasonic electronic convex scan.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic / endoscope composite system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an ultrasonic signal transmission / reception timing and a driver operation timing in the third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration in which a separate TV monitor is provided in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration in which a separate TV monitor is provided in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration in which a separate TV monitor is provided in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus body in the third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic / endoscope composite system according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Scope 2 CCD 3 Transducer 4 Ultrasonic Probe 5 Electronic Endoscope Device Main Body 6 Ultrasonic Diagnostic Device Main Body 7 Driver 8 Processing Circuit 9 Simultaneous Display Circuit 10 TV Monitor 11 Motor Control Circuit 12 Image Update Timing Generation Circuit 12a Input Device 13 Endoscope TV synchronization signal generator 14 Transmission / reception circuit 15 Processing circuit 16 Flexible shaft 17 Motor 18 Encoder 19 Image update timing generation circuit 20 Ultrasonic transducer 21 Transmission / reception circuit 22 Electronic scan control circuit 23 Scan conversion circuit 24 Image update timing generation circuit 25 Transmitter / receiver circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope apparatus in which a scope having an image pickup means at its tip is inserted into a subject and an endoscope TV image is obtained based on an image signal obtained by driving the image pickup means. And having an ultrasonic transducer portion at the tip of the scope to drive the ultrasonic transducer portion to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals to and from the subject to obtain an ultrasonic image in the subject. In an ultrasonic / endoscope composite system including an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, drive timings of the imaging unit and the ultrasonic transducer unit are individually set according to a synchronization signal regarding a field of the endoscope TV image. A drive timing setting means, and a drive means for alternately driving the imaging means and the ultrasonic transducer section based on the drive timing set by the drive timing setting means. Ultrasonic / endoscope combined system. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprises: an ultrasonic probe having the ultrasonic transducer portion at a tip thereof and inserted and arranged in the scope; and at least a part of the ultrasonic transducer portion, The probe includes a rotating unit capable of radially transmitting the ultrasonic signal by rotating the probe about a central axis of the probe, and a rotating period controlling unit controlling a rotating period of at least a part of the ultrasonic transducer unit. 2. The ultrasonic / endoscope composite system according to claim 1, wherein the rotation cycle control means sets the rotation cycle to n times the field display time of the endoscope TV image (n is a natural number of 1 or more). 3. An endoscope apparatus in which a scope having an imaging means at its tip is inserted into a subject and an endoscope TV image is obtained based on an image signal acquired by driving the imaging means. And, by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals to and from the subject by driving the array transducer group provided at the tip of the ultrasonic probe having an ultrasonic probe inserted in the scope In an ultrasonic / endoscope composite system including an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for obtaining an ultrasonic image of a subject, the imaging means is driven in response to a synchronization signal relating to a field of the endoscope TV image. Timing and drive timing setting means for setting the drive timing of the array type transducer group, and the image pickup means and the front side based on the drive timing set by the drive timing setting means. An ultrasonic / endoscopic combined system, comprising: a driving unit that alternately drives the array type transducer. 4. An endoscope apparatus in which a scope having an image pickup means at its tip is inserted into a subject and an endoscope TV image is obtained based on an image signal obtained by driving the image pickup means. And having an ultrasonic transducer section at the tip of the scope to drive the ultrasonic transducer section to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals to and from the subject so as to obtain an ultrasonic image in the subject. In an ultrasonic / endoscope composite system including the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an ultrasonic signal transmitting / receiving unit that transmits / receives an ultrasonic signal by driving the ultrasonic transducer unit based on a preset timing. Driving means for driving the image pickup means in accordance with the ultrasonic signal transmission timing of the ultrasonic signal transmission / reception means, and image signals acquired by the image pickup means in response to the driving of the drive means for TV scanning type images. An ultrasonic / endoscope composite system, comprising: a scan conversion means for converting into an image signal.