Olympus Optical Company, Ltd.

Shinichiro Hattori

Masahide Kanno

Kazunari Nakamura

Keiichi Hiyama

Seiichi Hosoda

Takao Tsuruoka

Yutaka Konomura

Takashi Tsukaya

Atsushi Amano

Masao Izawa

Akira Kusumoto

Shinichi Kato

Akira Hasegawa

Kimihiko Nishioka

Yutaka Takahashi

Nagahiro Gocho

Yoshio Nakajima

Iwao Kanamori

Shinroku Sogi

Ken Sato

Susumu Takahashi

Jun Hasegawa

Takeaki Nakamura

Shinji Yamashita

Akira Watanabe

Akira Suzuki

Katsuyuki Saito

Hiroki Hibino

Masahiko Sasaki

Akinobu Uchikubo

Takehiro Nakagawa

Tsutomu Yamamoto

Masao Uehara

Katsuyoshi Sasagawa

Nobuo Yamashita

Koichi Matsui

Tatsuya Yamaguchi

Akira Yokota

Makoto Yoshinaga

Yasushi Namii

Atsuo Goto

Toshio Shinohara

Yasuo Inoue

Nobuyuki Matsuura

Masanao Murata

Kazunari Kobayashi

Yuji Ikuno

Minoru Okabe

Ikuo Tawara

Kenji Hirooka

Yoshihito Shimizu

Kenichi Kikuchi

Yoshikazu Tojo

Tomoaki Sato

Nobuo Yamasita

Masaru Shiraiwa

Ichiro Sawamura

Shinichi Kamachi

Katsuyuki Kanehira

Hideyuki Shoji

Koji Kanbara

Takeshi Takamatsu

Shin-ichi Kamachi

Masayoshi Naito

Daizo Shinohara

Sachiko Tachikawa

An electronic endoscope apparatus serving as a frame sequential type imaging apparatus comprises an electronic endoscope for picking up an object, a CCU for driving and controlling the electronic endoscope and processing imaging signals originated from the electronic endoscope, and a high resolution monitor displaying video signals processed by the CCU. An imaging optical system is provided at the tip of the electronic endoscope to receive reflected light irradiated on an object. The imaging optical system is provided with specific wavelength optical path changing apparatus for shifting an optical path of reflected light of a predetermined wavelength range between an objective lens system and a CCD. The specific wavelength optical path changing apparatus is a plate glass which transmits frame sequential light reflected from an object through the objective lens system. A surface of the plate glass facing CCD is bisected in two and coated with a first transmission filter and second transmission filter having different transmission characteristics. From among R, G1, G2, and B regions, the first transmission filter transmits the light of R, G1, and B regions and the second transmission filter transmits the light of R and G2 regions. The second transmission filter shifts an optical axis of the transmitted light.

Frame sequential type imaging apparatus for obtaining high resolution

N lines of line-shaped light are projected onto the object by means of a measuring light projecting lens. The light carrying the image of the object is passed through the eyepiece lens 17 in an endoscope 6 and the auxiliary lens 30 in a measuring head 11 and split into two beamlets by a beam splitter 31, with one beamlet being focused at a position coinciding with the entrance end faces of measuring light's position detecting fibers 33(l) to 33(m). The line-shaped light images of the object thus formed in positions coinciding with the entrance end faces of measuring light's position detecting fibers 33(l) to 33(m) are scanned linearly by those linearly aligned fibers as they are oscillated and driven by a fiber scanner 36. The scanned line-shaped light images are then subjected to the necessary signal processing in a signal processor circuit 35 such as to measure the three-dimensional configuration of the object.

Apparatus for measuring three-dimensional configurations

Arranged within a measuring-light generating unit of an endoscope apparatus for three dimensional measurement, according to the invention, are measuring means, a lamp for outgoing a normal illuminating light, and a laser for outgoing a measuring light. Connected to the measuring means is a signal line which is connected to a CCD. Further, an illuminating light outgone from the lamp is condensed by a condenser lens, and is incident upon an incident end surface of a light guide. Furthermore, the measuring light outgone from the laser is condensed by the condensing lens, and is incident upon the incident end surface of the image guide. Moreover, the incident end of the image guide is connected to scanning means formed by a piezo-electric element, a speaker (voice coil) or the like through a connecting element. The scanning means is operated whereby the incident end of the image guide is reciprocally moved in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis of the measuring light. The measuring light is a light having extension or spreading. However, a flux of light of the measuring light is extremely thin, and a spot light having minimum resolution that is a single glass fiber forming the image guide is projected onto the subject.

Endoscope apparatus for three dimensional measurement for scanning spot

An endoscope image data compressing apparatus comprises a plurality of image compressing apparatus not equivalent to each other for compressing input endoscope image data and outputting the compressed data and a selecting apparatus for selecting the compressed data output from at least one of the image compressing apparatus. The selecting apparatus selects the compressing method in response to the kind of the endoscope, characteristic of the image, picture quality of the compressed image, recording time intervals and others. A method for compressing endoscope image data is realized by an image compressing apparatus capable of compressing image data at different compressing rates. The endoscope image data is determined to be either ordinary image data or dyed image data and, based on this determination, is compressed at different rates. The compressing rate for dyed image data is lowered below the rate for ordinary image data.

Method of compressing endoscope image data based on image characteristics

An endoscope image signal photoelectrically converted by an image sensing device in an endoscope is compressed by an image compressing apparatus and then recorded in a recording apparatus, whereby the number of image frames recordable in the recording apparatus can be increased. Also, the image compression is effectively performed, for example, by changing a compression ratio dependent on a quantity of respective image information contained in plural components of the endoscope image signal, whereby a quantity of information actually recorded can be reduced.

Endoscope image recording system for compressing and recording endoscope

An optical image is formed on one end surface of an image guide formed Of a fiber bundle by an objective optical system provided in a tip section at the tip of an elongate insertable section, is transmitted to the other end surface and is photoelectrically converted by an imaging device together with the pattern of the fiber bundle on the other end surface to be an image signal. This image signal is separated by a region separating circuit into a fiber bundle light transmitting region and another non-representative region. The image data of the non-representative region are processed to be replaced with other image data by an image replacing circuit to produce an image having had the network pattern of the fiber bundle reduced.

Apparatus for reducing network patterns from the image of a fiber scope

This endoscope image data compressing apparatus comprises a plurality of image compressing apparatus not equivalent to each other for compressing input endoscope image data and outputting the compressed data and a selecting apparatus for selecting the compressed data output from at least one of the image compressing apparatus. The selecting apparatus selects in response to the kind of the endoscope, characteristic of the image, picture quality of the compressed image, recording time intervals and others.

Endoscope image data compressing apparatus

An object being frame-sequentially illuminated by beams of illumination light in different wavelength ranges is imaged by an imaging element of an electronic endoscope. A time-serial image signal is subjected to signal processing to display a color picture on a monitor screen. A relative movement between the object and the imaging element is detected by a movement detecting circuit to reduce color smear produced by the relative movement in a motion picture of the object displayed on the monitor screen.

Electronic endoscope system equipped with color smear reducing means

There is provided a frozen picture memorizing memory holding as a frozen picture image a picture image signal imaged by an electronic endoscope. By the operation of a frozen picture directing switch, whether the frozen picture is adapted to the memorizing condition or not is judged through a picture image movement detecting circuit. In case it is judged to be adapted to the memorizing condition, the picture image signal is memorized actually as a frozen picture image to obtain a clear frozen picture having little color smear and fogging.

Electronic endoscope system provided with a means of imaging frozen

An endoscope apparatus for inspecting an object including an insertion section insertable into the object and having a distal end and a proximal end, an image guide arranged within the insertion section and having entrance and exit ends arranged at the distal and proximal ends of insertion section, respectively, an objective lens system arranged at the distal end of insertion section for forming an optical image of the object onto the entrance end of image guide, an eyepiece lens system arranged at the proximal end of insertion section for projecting the optical image transmitted through the image guide onto an observating position, a first piezo-electric bimorph arranged at the distal end of insertion section for vibrating the entrance end of image guide in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the insertion section over a given distance, a second piezo-electric element arranged at the proximal end of insertion section for vibrating the exit end of image guide in the same direction and over the same distance as those of the entrance end of image guide, so that annoying black mesh and Moire fringe are removed.

Endoscope apparatus

An endoscope provided with a stop comprising an annular electrochromic element arranged in an objective lens unit so that the transmittance of the stop is varied in accordance with the amount of light from an object to be observed which has been measured, in order to prevent brightness in a field of view from being rapidly changed when the distance from the distal end portion of the endoscope to the object to be observed is varied.

Endoscope

Disclosed is a light source device for an endoscope including a lamp to flash or to normally emit light according to current fed thereto, a shutter for photographing, and a diaphragm for photographing/observing. In the light source device, the amount of light emitted is variable. In response to a supplied check start command signal, except when the endoscope body is used, the light source device successively checks at least two of the following items; the operation of the shutter, the operation of the diaphragm, normal light emission of the lamp and the flashing of the lamp. Then, the light source device automatically checks, according to the amount of light detected by a photosensitive element, whether the above functions are operating normally or not, and displays the result of the check.

Light source device for an endoscope

An endoscopic photographing apparatus has a TV camera with a CCD image sensor which is mounted on an eyepiece section of an endoscope, a light flash source for supplying a light flash as photographing light to the endoscope, and an observation light source for supplying observation light. The light flash source is turned on in synchronism with a release signal and a transfer gate pulse for the video signal, at the time of still image photographing. The photographic field of view of the TV camera is darkened for at least one-field scanning period, before the light flash source is turned on.

Endoscopic photographing apparatus

A control system with a microprocessor controls an output pressure of a water/air pump and a light amount of a light source lamp in an endoscope. Under control of a program, the microprocessor periodically accesses a decoder to periodically generate a pulse signal. The generated pulse signal is applied to a watch dog type detector for detecting an abnormal operation of the microprocessor. When the microprocessor operates abnormally and is detected, the microprocessor is reset, and an output pressure of a water/air pump and a light amount of a light source lamp are respectively set at the maximum levels independently of the control by the microprocessor.

Control system with a microprocessor

A light supply apparatus for an endoscope comprises a discharge lamp for supplying light to an endoscope, and a microprocessor for controlling various devices such as a display unit for displaying data. The discharge lamp is ignited by an ignition signal. The microprocessor is reset by the ignition signal. The display unit is held in the same state as before the ignition of the lamp even when the microprocessor is reset.

Light supply apparatus for an endoscope

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Tokyo, Japan

Shinichiro Hattori