Olympus Optical Company, Ltd.

Texas Instruments Corporation

Masao Uehara

Shinji Yamashita

Katsuyuki Saito

Masahiko Sasaki

Akinobu Uchikubo

Jun Hasegawa

Masahide Kanno

Katsuyoshi Sasagawa

Takehiro Nakagawa

Akira Murata

Masahito Goto

Hiroki Hibino

Wataru Ohno

Akihiro Miyashita

Keisuke Saito

Kenji Yoshino

Hitoshi Karasawa

Toyoharu Hanzawa

Susumu Takahashi

Akio Nakada

Takashi Fukaya

Nobuaki Akui

Akihiko Mochida

Toshihiko Hashiguchi

Akihiro Taguchi

Atsushi Kidawara

Iwao Kanamori

Shingo Kato

Akihiko Yajima

Hideki Koyanagi

Jaroslav Hynecek

Kimihiko Nishioka

Yutaka Takahashi

Kenji Kimura

Takao Tsuruoka

Seiji Yamaguchi

Kazunari Nakamura

Tomohisa Sakurai

Tetsuo Nonami

Sakae Takehana

Shinichiro Hattori

Hiromasa Suzuki

Takashi Tsukaya

Masakazu Gotanda

Koichi Matsui

Keiichi Hiyama

Kazunari Kobayashi

Nobuyuki Sakamoto

Kenichi Kikuchi

Koji Koda

Yoshihiro Kosaka

Shunpei Tanaka

Mototsugu Ogawa

Kazuo Sonobe

Akira Kusumoto

Shouichi Ieoka

Kazutada Kobayashi

Masahide Kanoo

Syouichi Ieoka

Akirhiro Miyashita

Koji Tanikawa

Katuyoshi Sasagawa

A stereoscopic endoscope including an objective lens system for forming an image of an object which objective lens system is arranged at the front end of an inserting section and has a single optical axis; an image transmission device coaxially arranged with the objective lens system and adapted to transmit the image formed by the objective lens system; a pupil dividing device for dividing the image transmitted through the objective lens system and the image transmission device so as to obtain left and right images of the object; an image sensing device for picking up the left and right images obtained by the pupil dividing device; a first support structure containing at least the objective lens system; and a second support structure containing at least the pupil dividing device and the image sensing device, wherein the first and second support structures are rotatable relative to each other around an axis extending along the longitudinal dimension of the endoscope.

Stereoscopic endoscope

An image pickup unit provided with an image pickup element is of structure capable of being detachably received in an endoscope body or a TV camera. After having been used in observation, the image pickup unit is dismounted, whereby disinfection processing and sterilization processing of the endoscope body from which the image pickup unit is dismounted, or the TV camera can be executed without inviting deterioration and the like of a characteristic of the image pickup unit by a disinfection unit, a sterilization unit or the like.

Electronic type endoscope in which image pickup unit is dismounted to

A solid-state image sensing device for endoscopes including a color mosaic filter provided on a CCD image pick-up surface and having filters arranged so that the number of G-component pixels.gtoreq.the number of B-component pixels&gt;the number of R-component pixels, the number of CCD pixels being set at a minimum requisite level in accordance with the information-amount characteristics of the endoscopic image to be picked up. A plurality of LPFs are provided in a signal processing section providing image signal resolution in which the G-component bandwidth.gtoreq.B-component bandwidth&gt;R-component bandwidth, thereby obtaining an image-signal resolution which is high enough to allow the endoscopic image to be displayed, with the B-component being equal to or smaller than the G-component and larger than the R-component.

Solid-state image sensing device for endoscope and endoscope imaging

The present invention relates to an endoscopic apparatus which creates image information based on picture signals from an electron endoscope and has a memory device for storing the image information. The endoscopic apparatus is provided with a driver for driving a solid-state image pickup device in the endoscope, a picture signal generation circuit for generating a picture signal based on an image pickup signal which is photoelectrically converted by the solid-state image pickup device, an A/D conversion circuit for converting the picture signal from analog to digital, a process circuit for creating image information to be transferred to a memory capable of storing image information for one frame, based on the picture signal by digital processing, such as interpolation, a small capacity memory capable of storing image information for a plurality of frames and composed of, for example, a semiconductor, a CPU for controlling writing/reading between the memory and the small capacity memory, and a D/A conversion circuit for converting the image information from digital to analog so as to generate a video picture signal.

Endoscopic apparatus capable of storing image information for a

A stereoscopic endoscope including an objective lens system for forming an image of an object which objective lens system is arranged at the front end of an inserting section and has a single optical axis; an image transmission device coaxially arranged with the objective lens system and adapted to transmit the image formed by the objective lens system; a pupil dividing device for dividing the image transmitted through the objective lens system and the image transmission device so as to obtain left and right images of the object; an image sensing device for picking up the left and right images obtained by the pupil dividing device; a first support structure containing-at least the objective lens system; and a second support structure containing at least the pupil dividing device and the image sensing device, wherein the first and second support structures are rotatable relative to each other around an axis extending along the longitudinal dimension of the endoscope.

In an electronic endoscope apparatus each of the signals of a plurality of systems output from at least one solid state imaging device is judged by a signal monitoring device as to whether it is normal or not. On the basis of the judged result, the processing mode corresponding to each of the signals of the plurality of systems is changed and each signal is processed. If an abnormality occurs, an observed image with which the endoscope inspection can continue will be secured to be safe. Further, in the electronic endoscope apparatus, when the output signal from the solid state imaging device is judged to be abnormal, the amount of illuminating light will be attenuated, the danger by the excessive amount of illuminating light will be avoided and the safety of the person being monitored will be secured.

Electronic endoscope apparatus with signal validity monitor

For a buffer amplifier provided near a solid state imaging device for photoelectrically converting an optical image by an image forming optical system and amplifying the signal of the output end, the temperature rise of the solid state imaging device is reduced by reducing the electric power consumption in a non-signal reading out period in which no driving signal is applied against a signal reading out period in which an image signal is output from the output end of this solid state imaging device by applying a driving signal to the solid state imaging device.

Imaging system providing amplified electrical image signal with

A cavity insert device comprising an insert section capable of being inserted into tracts and cavities, a detection circuit for detecting conditions of components making up the device, such as an observation device formed at the distal end side of the insert section, and a fuzzy inference section for synthetically determining a plurality of information signals outputted from the detection circuit and producing control signals to control the components. The fuzzy inference section employs inference rules which are empirically considered to be desirable, and control is made by the control signals obtained with the fuzzy inference. The device is thus operated in a nearly optimum state.

Cavity insert device using fuzzy theory

A movement amount detected by a movement detection circuit on the basis of an image signal corresponding to an object image is input to a minimum value detection circuit. This detection circuit sets an operation time for the detection of the minimum value by using fuzzy inference on the basis of the movement amount and the gradient amount of the movement. An image signal corresponding to the smallest movement amount in this operation time is retained in a freeze memory. In this case, the operation time is set by fuzzy inference by using the movement amount and the gradient amount as factors for fuzzy inference so that the operation time can be set automatically to a time suitable for obtaining static images possessing a small amount of movement.

Static-image signal generation apparatus using fuzzy theory

An object of the present invention is to provide an image freezing signal-processing apparatus capable of eliminating a necessity of using a large number of memories, reducing a time lag and preventing an image deviation. Sequence signals for R, G and B are stored in a first memory via an A/D converter and as well as the same are supplied to a movement detection/control circuit so that an image which displays the minimum about of movement in a predetermined time passed from the freeze signal is read from the first memory so as to be written to a still picture memory. The movement detection/control circuit stops the movement detection operation in a case where the image which displays a small amount of movement is stored in the still picture memory so as to transmit the image stored in the still picture memory as a still picture in a state in which updating is inhibited. In a case where an image which displays a small amount of movement is not stored, an image which displays the minimum amount of movement in a predetermined time is transmitted as a still picture.

Image freezing signal-processing apparatus

An endoscope apparatus is disclosed in which the horizontal transfer of the charge of a solid imaging device such as a CCD and the resetting for the detection of the charge are conducted by a common drive signal. The signal transmitted from the solid imaging device is caused to contain a feed-through period by making the drive signal to be served by a multi-valued level horizontal transfer signal exceeding a trinary value. Therefore, reset noise or the like can be eliminated by processing the output signal by using a correlated double sampling circuit or the like so that a video signal exhibiting a good S/N ratio can be obtained.

Electronic endoscope apparatus outputting ternary drive signal

An endoscope apparatus is arranged to convert the image signal output from an imaging device into a standard video signal, effect image processing, such as outline emphasis, of the image signal, and display a reproduced image on a display. The endoscope apparatus has the function of stopping input to a memory circuit in accordance with the on action of a freezing switch, switching from a moving image to a still image, and providing a display of the still image. Accordingly, it is possible to select appropriate image processing characteristics in accordance with whether a moving image or a still image is to be displayed.

Electronic endoscope apparatus having different image processing

A charge detection circuit is capable of converting electrostatic charge quantities on a solid-state imaging chip into voltage signals of negative polarity. The voltage signals of the negative polarity are suppled to a DC-coupled polarity inversion circuit which inverts the polarity of the signals and amplifies the signals. In consequence, the generation of heat in the transistor of the outpout stage is reduced so as to suppress undesirable temperature rise of the solid-state imaging chip.

Electronic endoscope apparatus with CCD output circuit of positive

An endoscope automatic light control apparatus comprises an automatic light control apparatus for controlling the quantity of light incident to an imaging apparatus for imaging an endoscopic image so as to maintain a signal from the imaging apparatus substantially at a constant level. An automatic gaim control apparatus inputs a signal from the imaging apparatus and controls its output level so as to maintain the signal substantially at a constant level. The automatic light control apparatus and the automatic gain control apparatus respectively having a plurality of brightness information generating apparatuses generating brightness information based on the signal from the imaging apparatus. The plurality of brightness information generating apparatuses are different from each other in a method of generating brightness information and one of the plurality of brightness information generating apparatuses able to be selected. A selecting apparatus selects the brightness generating apparatus of the same method as the automatic light control apparatus and as the automatic gain control apparatus. The automatic light control apparatus controls the quantity of light based on the brightness information and the automatic gain control apparatus controls its output level based on the brightness information. The endoscope apparatus further comprises an endoscope unit having an insert section with an observation window and an image forming optical system, an imaging apparatus, a signal processing apparatus and an illuminating system.

Endoscope automatic light control apparatus and endoscope apparatus

An electronic endoscope apparatus whereby the position of the tip part of an insertable part inserted into a body cavity is confirmed from outside the body with the transmission out of the body from within the body cavity of a light emitted from an illuminating window provided in the tip part. It comprises an imaging apparatus for creating an image of an inspected part obtained from an observing window provided in the tip part of the insertable part and for converting this image to an electric signal and outputting it, an illuminating apparatus for feeding an illuminating light to the imaging apparatus and for adjusting the brightness of the illuminating light when a confirming signal directing to confirm the position of the tip part of the insertable part is input, a signal processing apparatus for processing the electric signal obtained from the imaging apparatus, outputting a video signal which is a normal observing picture image signal of a moving picture in case the confirming signal is not input and outputting a video signal which is a picture image signal different from the ordinary observing picture image signal in case the confirming signal is input, and a displaying apparatus for receiving the video signal output by the signal processing apparatus and displaying the picture image of the inspected part.

Electronic endoscope whereby the position of the insertable part can be

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Hachioji, Japan

Masao Uehara