KR20170064244A - System for defogging endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

The endoscopic fog-free prevention system includes an illumination light source part, a light reception part, and a heat transfer part. The illumination light source unit generates light to be irradiated to the subject and the light collecting unit includes an objective lens adjacent to a window and a window at an endoscope end, and the heat transfer unit transfers heat generated from the illumination light source unit to the light source unit. Thus, by increasing the temperature of the light-collecting part including the window and the objective lens by using the heat generated in the illumination light part included in the endoscope system, It is possible to prevent fogging that may occur in the apparatus.

Description

[0001] SYSTEM FOR DEFOGGING ENDOSCOPE [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medical device, and more particularly, to an endoscope device used for inspecting an anomaly in a human body by inserting into a human body for diagnosis, surgery and the like.

During surgery or diagnosis using an endoscope, the end window of the endoscope is exposed to a wet environment and fogging occurs depending on the temperature change of the surroundings. When the endoscope is inserted into the body, the fog (fog) or the fine droplet is fixed to the lens. This is because when the endoscope exposed to the outside air is inserted into the body through the insertion hole of the human body, This is because the vapor is liquefied on the window due to the temperature difference with the body.

If a fogging phenomenon occurs in the endoscope window, it is not easy to observe the internal tissues, and therefore various methods for removing the frosting have been attempted. As a representative example, there is a very simple defogging method in which a practitioner directly draws an endoscope inserted in the body and directly rinses first, then applies a fog-proof coating solution, and inserts the antifogging coating solution into the body again. However, this method has a problem that the procedure time becomes unnecessarily long, the practitioner feels a great inconvenience, and the risk of infection due to contamination of the endoscope increases.

As another example, there are a method of performing various types of coating on the endoscope end window and a method of forming the surface processing (nano-sized scratches, etc.) on the end window surface. A disadvantage of such a surface machining is that the damage resistance to external force is low, and therefore there is always a possibility of surface damage due to mechanical stress. Another disadvantage is that high processing costs are required for such surface machining. In addition, the method of performing various types of coatings has a problem that repeated and periodic coating is required to be used for a long time when applied to an endoscopic lens used in a surgical procedure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems of the related art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscopic apparatus capable of effectively preventing the fogging on the endoscope lens without the need for repetitive cleaning or coating, And an endoscopic fogging prevention system that can prevent the endoscopic fogging.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an endoscope anti-fogging system according to the present invention includes an illumination light source unit, a light source unit, and a heat transfer unit. The illumination light source unit generates light to be irradiated to the subject and the light collecting unit includes an objective lens adjacent to a window and a window at an endoscope end, and the heat transfer unit transfers heat generated from the illumination light source unit to the light source unit. By using the heat generated from the illumination light source included in the endoscope system, the temperature of the light collector including the window and the objective lens is increased to match the temperature of the inner periphery of the human body (37 DEG C) It is possible to effectively prevent fogging on the endoscope lens even without repetitive cleaning or coating.

In this case, the endoscope anti-fogging system may further include a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the light collector, and a controller for controlling the amount of heat transferred to the heat transfer unit according to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor. According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the pain of the endoscope user and the risk of burning by preventing the temperature of the light collector from becoming higher than the set temperature.

The apparatus may further include an illumination light source cooling unit that cools the heat generated by the illumination light source unit. According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent a malfunction of a peripheral device or damage to an endoscope subject, which may occur due to heat exceeding the amount of heat generated by the illumination light source unit and transferred to the heat transfer unit.

Further, the illumination light source cooling unit may transmit the amount set by the heat control unit generated in the illumination light source unit to the heat transfer unit. According to such a configuration, the control unit can perform a more efficient control operation as a whole by linking the fogging prevention function to the light source unit and the cooling function for the illumination light source.

Further, the anti-fogging system may further include an optical detector for converting a signal of light collected by the optical detector to a video signal, and a coupling unit for coupling the optical receiver and the optical detector. The coupling unit may thermally block the optical detector and the optical detector . According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the heat transmitted to the light source unit from being transmitted to the light detecting unit including the image pickup device through the heat transfer unit, thereby preventing deterioration of the quality of the sensed image.

At this time, the fastening portion may include an insulator having a predetermined thermal conductivity or less. According to such a configuration, the fastening portion can effectively block the heat that can be transferred from the light collecting portion to the light detecting portion by a simple structure including an insulator with low thermal conductivity.

According to the present invention, by increasing the temperature of the light-collecting portion including the window and the objective lens by using the heat generated from the illumination light portion included in the endoscope system, it is possible to effectively It is possible to prevent fogging occurring in the endoscope lens.

Further, by preventing the temperature of the light collector from exceeding the set temperature, it is possible to prevent the pain and the image that the endoscope subject can experience.

In addition, it is possible to prevent a malfunction of a peripheral device or damage to an endoscope subject, which may occur due to heat exceeding the amount of heat generated in the illumination light source unit and transferred to the heat transfer unit.

In addition, the control unit can perform a more efficient control operation as a whole by linking the fogging prevention function to the light source unit and the cooling function for the illumination light source.

Further, it is possible to prevent the heat transferred to the light-collecting unit through the heat transfer unit from being transmitted to the light detecting unit including the image sensing device, thereby preventing deterioration in the quality of the sensed image.

Also, the fastening part can effectively block the heat that can be transferred from the light collecting part to the light detecting part by a simple structure including an insulator having a low thermal conductivity.

1 is a schematic block diagram of an endoscopic fogging prevention system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a schematic front view of an endoscope distal tip.
Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of an actual implementation of the endoscopic de-icing system of Figure 1;

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic block diagram of an endoscopic fogging prevention system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1, the endoscope anti-fogging system 100 includes an illumination light source unit 110, a light collector 120, a heat transfer unit 130, a temperature sensor unit 140, a control unit 150, an illumination light source cooling unit 160, A light detection unit 170, and a coupling unit 180.

The illumination light source unit 110 generates light to be irradiated to the subject.

In general, an endoscope used for inspecting the inside of a human body such as abdominal cavity of a patient is provided with one or more illumination means as the illumination light source unit 110, and has a function of illuminating the inside of the human body when the endoscope is inserted into the inside of the human body.

The lighting means can use an electric light emitting means such as a lamp or a light emitting diode (LED), but the case where the high luminance LED is installed at the end portion of the endoscope with the miniaturization thereof is increasing. It is possible to reduce the optical loss generated in the optical transmission and increase the light transmission efficiency when the LED is installed at the end portion of the endoscope as compared with the case where the LED is installed outside and is transmitted to the subject through which the light is transmitted through the optical fiber.

The light collector 120 is a module for collecting the light reflected by the subject in the human body irradiated by the illumination means and includes an objective lens adjacent to the window and the window at the end of the endoscope.

2 is a schematic front view of an endoscope distal tip.

2, an illumination lens of the illumination light source 110, an objective lens of the light collector 120, and a working channel for performing biopsy and suction can confirm. At this time, the window of the optical detector 120 is positioned outside the objective lens at the discrete tip, that is, at the position in the direction from the objective lens to the inspected object.

The heat transfer unit 130 transfers heat generated in the illumination light source unit 110 to the light collector 120. Thus, by increasing the temperature of the light collector 120 including the window and the objective lens by using the heat generated from the illumination light source included in the endoscope system, It is possible to effectively prevent fogging on the endoscope lens.

The structure of the heat transfer part 130 may be a structure in which the illumination light source part 110 and the light reception part 120 are directly connected to each other using a structure having a high thermal conductivity or a tube structure for allowing cooling water to perform heat transfer For example, between the illumination light source 110 and the light receiver 120.

On the other hand, when an LED (Light Emitting Diode) is used as an illumination means, the heat generation is less than that of other illumination means. However, when the LED is used in a closed device such as an endoscope, The means temperature becomes higher than the body temperature.

Particularly, in the case of using a high-brightness LED to be used in recent years, it is possible to efficiently illuminate a light having a higher intensity than its size, but the heat generation rate also sharply increases and heat may be generated to exceed 100 ° C. The heat generation of such a lighting means has a problem that heat-sensitive and weak proteins may cause fatal damage to the tissues or organs of the human body, which is the main constituent.

The controller 150 measures the temperature of the light receiver 120 and the amount of heat transmitted to the heat transfer unit 130 according to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor unit 140, . According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the light collector 120 from becoming higher than the set temperature, thereby preventing the pain and the image that the endoscope user can experience.

In addition, the illumination light source cooling unit 160 cools the heat generated in the illumination light source unit 110. According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent a malfunction of a peripheral device or damage to an endoscope subject due to heat exceeding the amount of heat generated by the illumination light source unit 110 and transmitted to the heat transfer unit 130.

At this time, the illumination light source cooling unit 160 can transmit the amount of heat generated by the illumination light source unit 110 to the heat transfer unit 130 by the control unit 150. According to such a configuration, the control unit can perform a more efficient control operation as a whole by linking the fogging prevention function to the light source unit and the cooling function for the illumination light source.

In other words, in cooling the heat generated from the illumination means provided at the distal end portion of the endoscope by the endoscope irradiation light source, a part of the heat is heated by the objective lens (including the window or the optical pickup lens) located at the distal end portion of the endoscope, Thereby preventing fogging of the collecting lens by reducing the temperature difference between the inner periphery of the human body.

In order to prevent fogging on the endoscope, a method of reducing the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the endoscope dis- till tip may be considered. In this case, however, a method of heating the light collector 120 by using external energy such as electricity may be considered. The structure of the discrete tip can be further complicated and the capacity of the cooling system for cooling the irradiation light source must be further increased.

However, in the case where the cooling of the irradiation light source and the heating of the light receiver 120 are combined with each other as in the present invention, the thermal cooling in the endoscope irradiation light source can be performed more efficiently, and the structure of the discrete tip It can be simplified.

The optical detector 170 converts the optical signal collected by the optical receiver 120 into a video signal and the coupling unit 180 couples the optical receiver 120 and the optical detector 170 together. At this time, the coupling unit 180 can thermally block the photodetector unit 120 and the photodetector unit 170. According to this configuration, the heat transmitted to the light receiver 120 through the heat transfer part 130 is prevented from being transmitted to the light detecting part 170 including the image pickup device, thereby preventing deterioration of the quality of the sensed image .

At this time, the fastening portion 180 may include an insulator having a predetermined thermal conductivity or less. According to such a configuration, the coupling unit 180 can effectively block the heat that can be transferred from the photodetector unit 120 to the photodetector unit 170 with a simple configuration including an insulator having low thermal conductivity.

Since the electric charges that act when the temperature is high are increased in the light detecting unit 170 including the image pickup device, the temperature increase of the light detecting unit 170 may cause image noise. Therefore, the heat transmitted from the irradiation light source is separated from the light detecting unit 170 so that the fastening unit 180 is formed of an insulator so that heat is not transmitted to the light detecting unit 170.

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of an actual implementation of the endoscopic de-icing system of Figure 1; 3, the illumination light source unit 110 includes an illumination light source 112 and an illumination lens 114, and the light reception unit 120 is represented by an objective lens.

The coupling unit 180 couples the objective lens 120 and the optical detection unit 170 between the objective lens 120 and the optical detection unit 170. The controller 150 controls the temperature sensor 140 and the cooling unit 170. [ The controller 160 controls the cooling unit 160 using the temperature information measured by the temperature sensor 140,

Although the present invention has been described in terms of some preferred embodiments, the scope of the present invention should not be limited thereby but should be modified and improved in accordance with the above-described embodiments.

100: Endoscope anti-fogging system
110: illumination light source
120:
130: heat transfer part
140: Temperature sensor unit
150:
160: illumination light source cooling unit
170:
180:

Claims (6)

An illumination light source unit for generating light to be irradiated to a subject;
A light source including an endoscope end window and an objective lens adjacent to the endoscope; And
And a heat transfer unit for transferring heat generated in the illumination light source unit to the light collecting unit.
The method according to claim 1,
A temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the light collector; And
Further comprising a control unit for controlling an amount of heat transferred to the heat transfer unit according to a temperature measured by the temperature sensor unit.
3. The method of claim 2,
And an illumination light source cooling unit for cooling the heat generated by the illumination light source unit.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the illumination light source cooling unit transfers the amount of heat generated by the illumination light source unit to the heat transfer unit by the control unit.
The method according to claim 1,
An optical detector for converting the optical signal collected by the optical receiver into a video signal; And
Further comprising a fastening part for fastening the photodetector to the photodetector,
Wherein the fastening part thermally blocks the photodetecting part and the photodetecting part.
6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the fastening portion includes an insulator having a predetermined thermal conductivity or less.

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