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US 6,099,466 AGranted
Fluorescence diagnosis endoscope system
AssigneeAsahi Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsHiroshi Sano, Rensuke Adachi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fluorescence diagnosis endoscope system used to observe human tissue is provided. The system has a light source for illuminating the human tissue with normal light and excitation light having a certain wavelength range. The human tissue fluoresces in response to illumination with the excitation light. The system further has a pair of image receiving elements for outputting image signals corresponding to received optical images. A filter which transmits only light produced by the fluoresced human tissue is provided in front of one image receiving element. The image signals output by the image receiving elements are selectively processed and transmitted to a display.
Claims14
A fluorescence diagnosis endoscope system for observing living tissue, said system comprising:
- a single light source for illuminating the living tissue, said single light source emitting light having a plurality of wavelength ranges, said light comprising visible light and an excitation light;
- a filter unit, arranged between said single light source and the living tissue, that periodically filters said light from said single light source, said filter unit comprising at least one blue, at least one red, and at least one green filters, said blue filters blocking light that does not have a wavelength between 400-500 nm, such that said at least one blue filter is the sole source of light that causes the living tissue to fluoresce and emit fluorescent light;
- a first optical unit at the tip of an electronic endoscope, said first optical unit comprising a first optical system and a first imaging element for receiving light reflected from the living tissue by light passing through said green, blue, and red filters to illuminate the living tissue and generating first image signals;
- a second optical unit provided at the tip of the electronic endoscope for receiving said fluorescent light and generating second image signals, said second optical unit comprising a second imaging element, a second optical system, and a fluorescence filter provided in front of said second imaging element, the fluorescence filter preventing transmission of light having the same wavelength as the excitation light;
- an image processor for processing said first image signals and said second image signals, in accordance with the periodical filtering of light by said filter unit, to form a color image of the living tissue and a fluorescence image of the living tissue, respectively;
- and
- an output device for outputting said color image and said fluorescence image.
4 more elements
A florescence diagnosis endoscope system for observing living tissue comprising:
- a single light source for illuminating the living tissue with at least an excitation light that causes the living tissue to fluoresce and emit fluorescent light, said single light source emitting light having a plurality of wavelength ranges, said light comprising visible light and said excitation light;
- a filter unit, arranged between said single light source and the living tissue, that periodically filters said light from said single light source, said filter unit comprising at least one red, at least one blue, and at least one green filters that pass light that illuminates the living tissue to obtain an optical image, and said blue filter preventing transmission of light not between 400-500 nm such that said at least one blue filter is the sole source of light that causes the living tissue to fluoresce and emit fluorescent light;
- an image receiving element provided at the tip of an electronic endoscope for generating amplified image signals based on a received image of the living tissue;
- an optical system for forming said image of the living tissue on said image receiving element;
- a fluorescence filter, provided at the tip of the electronic endoscope, and between said optical system and said image receiving element, that transmits said fluorescent light to said image receiving element only when said blue filter is inserted between said single light source and the living tissue, the fluorescence filter preventing transmission of light having the same wavelength as the excitation light;
- and
- a control circuit for controlling and driving said image receiving element to output said amplified image signals in accordance with the periodical filtering of light by said filter unit.
4 more elements
A fluorescence diagnosis endoscope system for observing living tissue comprising:
- a single light source;
- a light transmitting member, which transmits said light emitted by said single light source toward the living tissue;
- a plurality of filters sequentially inserted in an optical path between said single light source and said light transmitting member to filter said light emitted by said single light source, said plurality of filters comprising at least one red, at least one blue, and at least one green filter, said red filters preventing transmission of light not having a wavelength between 580-650 nm, said blue filter preventing transmission of light not having a wavelength between 400-500 nm, and said green filter preventing transmission of light not having a wavelength between 500-580 nm;
- said at least one blue filter being the sole source of light that causes the living tissue to fluoresce and emit fluorescent light;
- a fluorescent filter;
- a first imaging element that receives light reflected from said living tissue;
- and
- a second imaging element receiving fluorescent light emitted from said living tissue and passing through said fluorescent filter.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.