Olympus Corporation

Olympus Optical Company, Ltd.

Mamoru Kaneko

Katsuichi Imaizumi

Sakae Takehana

Isami Hirao

Takeshi Ozawa

Hitoshi Ueno

Nobuyuki Doguchi

Akihiro Horii

Kazunari Nakamura

Shunya Akimoto

Tadashi Hirata

Hitoshi Mizuno

Takefumi Uesugi

Koichi Yoshimitsu

Yuichi Morizane

Masaki Terakubo

Hiroshi Ibe

Kazuhiro Gono

Yoshinao Oaki

Kuniaki Kami

Makoto Tomioka

Shuhei Iizuka

Masahiro Kawauchi

Yasukazu Kogen

Yasushige Ishihara

Hiroki Hibino

Akinobu Uchikubo

Kenji Yoshino

Toshimasa Kawai

Kenji Harano

Makoto Tsunakawa

Akihiro Taguchi

Junichi Onishi

Raifu Matsui

Masahiro Ohno

Tsutomu Hirai

Jun Hiroya

Eiji Yasuda

Hiroyuki Sangu

Yasukazu Tatsumi

Hidemichi Aoki

Kenya Inomata

Kyou Imagawa

Susumu Takahashi

Akira Hasegawa

Hironobu Takizawa

Yasuhiro Ueda

Hiromasa Suzuki

Masakazu Gotanda

Hideyuki Adachi

Koichi Shimizu

Naoki Miura

Toshiro Okamura

Katsuya Ono

Hideyuki Takaoka

Junichi Nozawa

Ichiro Nakamura

Atsushi Okawa

Yoshiro Okazaki

Eiichi Fuse

Takashi Takemura

Yasuhiro Kamihara

Tianyu Xie

Hiroshi Takahashi

Kenji Hirooka

Naruto Shinkai

Kouji Tanikawa

Nobuhiko Washizuka

Yoshihiro Kosaka

Katsuya Suzuki

Michihiro Sugahara

Yoshito Ichikawa

Masaya Yoshihara

Yukiko Nagaoka

Katsuyuki Yamamoto

Satoshi Takemoto

Masahiko Iida

Shuichi Takayam

Sakae Takahana

In a pericardioscopic procedure, without providing an endoscope or surgical instrument with special space ensuring means and without unnecessarily dilating the pericardial space, a space necessary for operation of the endoscope or surgical instrument is ensured, so that maneuverability is improved while suppressing complications. Provided is a space ensuring device comprising: a pericardium pressing part for pressing a pericardium from the pericardial space side; a heart pressing part for pressing the surface of a heart from the pericardial space side; and an interconnecting part interconnecting the pericardium pressing part and the heart pressing part, wherein the interconnecting part generates the resilient force enabling expansion against a pressure applied by a pericardium and a heart so as to ensure a space between the pericardium pressing part and the heart pressing part.

Space ensuring device

An endoscope system includes a light source for supplying three narrow wavelength bands including one wavelength band for exciting fluorescence, an excitation light cut filter for transmitting light having a wavelength greater than either 470 nm or 490 nm, and an image capturing unit for capturing the light transmitted by the excitation light cut filter and outputting three wavelength band signals corresponding to the three narrow wavelength bands of the light source. Also included are first, second and third frame memories for inputting and storing the three wavelength band signals, respectively, and first, second and third output ends for outputting first, second and third color signals, respectively, to a monitor for displaying an image. An image processor receives signals from the first, second and third frame memories respectively and selects among the first output end, the second output end and third output end for outputting the received signals to the monitor.

Endoscope system using normal light and fluorescence

An endoscope system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes an endoscope with a monochrome image pickup device for capturing reflected light and fluorescence from the body cavity, an excitation light cut filter which is installed in front of the image pickup device for shielding excitation light, and an endoscope ID which includes information on the type of the endoscope. A light source unit includes a first switching filter that irradiates light including excitation light for a fluorescent image mode and a filter for generating continuous light for a normal-light image mode. The filters switch based between the fluorescent image mode and the normal-light image mode. A second switching filter with a limiting filter that limits certain wavelengths of excitation light of the first switching filter is provided. The limiting filters are switched according to the endoscope ID or observation state in the fluorescence mode. The excitation light cut filter shields excitation light generated by the first and second filters.

An image processing device for an endoscope, wherein a wavelength band filter for shielding at least a part of the blue wavelength band is disposed in front of an image pickup element built into the endoscope, for image processing the signal output by said image pickup element includes means for generating color image signals whilst switching between a normal-light image mode using white light and a fluorescence image mode including fluorescence information and adjusting means for adjusting the gain of a prescribed color signal of said color image signals.

Endoscope device, endoscope and image processing device for endoscope

In the light source unitA, a switching filter sectionwhich can switch the RGB filter for normal-light observation and a filter for fluorescent observation on the optical path, is installed in front of the lamp, where if the fluorescent image mode is selected, the excitation light in a part of the blue wavelength band is supplied to the electronic endoscopeA, and the excitation light reflected by the subject side is shielded by the excitation light cut filterin front of the CCDso as to obtain the fluorescent image, and also the signal of the fluorescent image and the signals of the two reflected light images which are set in a predetermined wavelength band are passed through the image processing circuit, where a matrix circuit for appropriately allocating the color signals of the R, G and B channels is installed, and as a result, the images can be displayed on the monitorin pseudo-colors in hues which allow easy identification of a normal tissue and a pathologically affected tissue.

An optical imaging device includes a reference scanning unit offering a high signal-to-noise ratio and capable of scanning an object rapidly. An interference optical system can be realized inexpensively. In the optical imaging device, low coherent light passed through an optical coupler and another optical coupler, irradiated from an optical scanner probe, reflected from an observed point in a living tissue, returned to the optical coupler, propagated over a fourth SM optical fiber, and routed to another optical coupler shall be referred to as sample light. Light passed through an optical length variation optical system via the optical coupler and routed to the optical coupler shall be referred to as reference light. At this time, a difference between a delay time undergone by the sample light and a delay time undergone by the reference light is proportional to a difference between an optical length for the sample light and an optical length for the reference light. When the optical length difference falls within a coherence length, the sample light and reference light interfere with each other. An interfering signal is acquired into a computer through detectors, a differential amplifier, a demodulator, and an A/D converter.

Rapid depth scanning optical imaging device

On the side at hand of an optical probe, a whole rotation transfer connector rotates while being supported by a ball bearing and a slide bearing and, therefore, rotation is transferred to a flexible shaft. The relative position between the flexible shaft and an optical sheath is changed in accordance with the amount of screwing of a sheath stopping member on the side at hand into an outer cylinder by an external thread portion and an internal thread portion. When the optical sheath is moved furthermore, the flexible shaft is elongated due to elastic deformation because the length of the flexible shaft is regulated by the interval between a locking part of a locking member at the tip and a shaft stopping member. A tip housing is made to contact with the locking member while tension is applied to the flexible shaft by the rear end surface in the direction of the side at hand. During the use of optical probe, even when the optical probe is curved and the inner surface of the flexible shaft is contacted with the inner surface of the optical sheath, moving of the tip housing is canceled by the elongation amount of the flexible shaft elongated in advance and, therefore, the tip housing rotates at a constant position relative to the probe longitudinal direction on all occasions.

Optical probe for producing tomogram of specimen by the use of low-coherence light

In a light source unit, a switchable filter section in which an RGB filter and a fluorescence observation filter can be shifted into the light path is disposed in front of a lamp. When fluorescence image mode is selected, excitation light in a part of the wavelength band of the blue wavelength band is supplied to an electronic endoscope, and the excitation light which is reflected by the subject is shielded by an excitation light shielding filter situated in front of a CCD, whereby a fluorescence image can be obtained. On the other hand, if normal-light image mode is selected, then R, G, B light is supplied sequentially, and even under illumination of B light, the color component image in the wavelength bands which are not shielded by the excitation light shielding filter are captured, thereby yielding a normal-light image also, and hence making it possible to capture both a fluorescence image and a normal-light image by means of a single image pickup element.

Endoscope with a single image pick-up element for fluorescent and normal-light images

A flexible shaft driven to rotate is inserted through a transparent sheath having pliability. By a fiber inserted through the inside thereof, low-coherence light is guided and is made to exit to a living-body tissue side which is an observation target through a lens and a prism forming an exit and entrance portion at the tip portion. Subsequently, the light reflected on the living-body tissue side is guided in order to produce an image. In that case, a positioning member for keeping the exit and entrance portion and the living-body tissue at a proper distance is formed at the tip portion of the sheath or the tip portion of an endoscope through which an optical probe is inserted and, therefore, a stable tomogram image can be produced.

Light scanning probe apparatus using light of low coherence

An optical imaging apparatus includes an optical probe and an apparatus main body which controls and drives the optical probe via a connecting cable. The optical probe includes a low-coherence light source, a half mirror, an XY reflecting mirror scan, an objective optical system, a reflecting mirror, a modulating mirror, and a photo detector. In the optical probe, the modulating mirror and the objective optical system, as optical path length interlockingly adjusting elements, are integrally arranged to an optical path length interlockingly adjusting base, together with a reflecting-side lens. The optical probe has an advancing and regressing driving unit which advances and regresses the optical path length interlockingly adjusting base in the optical axis direction (Z direction).

Optical imaging apparatus

Light scanning probe apparatus using light of low coherence including a positioning mechanism

An imaging system for use with an endoscope, including a light source which emits white light and excitation light which will produce a fluorescence response by an object under inspection, an imaging camera including separate paths for processing images produced by white light and excitation light, a selection device that causes the imaging device to operate in a white light mode or an excitation light mode, and a protective device that prevents damage to high-sensitivity imaging components from exposure to excessive light input. Fluorescent image data are separated into at least red and green color bands which are separately processed to produced a video display in which normal tissue is displayed in predetermined specific color, and abnormal tissue in one or more distinctly different colors. In one embodiment, an image color interpretation guide is provided in the form of multiple color bars which are superimposed on a single video display device with the image display. of different kinds. In another embodiment, color control is provided by adjusting the amplification of the imaging components for each of the color bands while viewing tissue known to be normal using a recursive algorithm until the ratio of the maximum values of the color separation signals fall within a predetermined range. The high-sensitivity imaging components are protected by controlling impingement of light on the imagining components, selectively controlling emission of white and excitation light from the light source, and controlling the power source for the imaging components.

Fluorescent imaging device

A general-light observation light image can be obtained by illuminating the polarized frame sequence light or polarized white light, for example. In addition, a parallel polarized component and a vertical polarized component with respect to a polarizing direction of illuminating light, which is polarized in a specific direction are captured. Then, image data, which is a difference between both of the polarized component is calculated and is displayed in a display device. Thus, a scattered light component in a living-body tissue surface side can be extracted with good S/N, which can improve the diagnosis functionality.

Endoscope apparatus

Using an endoscope system, a surgeon A holds an endoscope with a TV camera (hereinafter, an endoscope) and a therapeutic appliance such as forceps and carries out a surgical procedure while viewing a first monitor. A surgeon B holds a therapeutic appliance such as forceps and carries out the surgical procedure while viewing a second monitor. A video signal sent from the TV camera of the endoscope is fed to and processed by an image processing apparatus, and displayed on each of the first and second monitors. The image processing apparatus transfers the video signal sent from the endoscope to each of an image inverting circuit and a selector switch. The image inverting circuit inverts an image (laterally (to produce a mirror image), vertically, or vertically and laterally (180&deg;)), and supplies a processed video signal to the selector switch. The selector switch selects a video signal to be supplied to each of the first and second monitors, which are display units, in response to a control signal sent from a selector. The contents of processing to be performed by the image inverting circuit and the video signal to be selected by the selector are designated using setting switches on an operation panel.

Image processing apparatus for performing turn or mirror inversion on an input video signal and outputting different images simultaneously

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Hanno, Japan

Mamoru Kaneko