EP-4736736-A1 - MEDICAL CONTROL DEVICE AND MEDICAL OBSERVATION SYSTEM

EP4736736A1EP 4736736 A1EP4736736 A1EP 4736736A1EP-4736736-A1

Abstract

A medical control device 9 includes: a light source controller 941 that executes each of controls, namely, a first control of emitting first light from a light source device 3 and a second control of emitting excitation light from the light source device 3; an imaging controller 942 configured to control individual operations of a first image sensor 531 configured to image light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band among second light being return light of the first light and the excitation light from an observation target OB and operations of a second image sensor 532 configured to image light including at least a part of a wavelength band of observation target fluorescence emitted from the observation target OB by irradiation with the excitation light among the second light. The light source controller 941 executes at least one of the first control or the second control such that the signal value based on the observation target fluorescence becomes larger than the signal value based on unnecessary light imaged by the second image sensor 532 and generated at least due to the first light.

Inventors

KOJIMA, KOJI

Assignees

Sony Olympus Medical Solutions Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20240626

Claims (20)

A medical control device comprising: a light source controller configured to perform each of: a first control of emitting first light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band from a light source device; and a second control of emitting excitation light that excites a substance contained in an observation target from the light source device; and an imaging controller configured to control operations of: a first image sensor configured to image light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band among second light being return light of the first light and the excitation light from the observation target; and a second image sensor configured to image light including at least a part of a wavelength band of observation target fluorescence emitted from the observation target by irradiation with the excitation light among the second light, wherein the light source controller is configured to execute at least one of the first control or the second control such that a signal value based on the observation target fluorescence becomes larger than a signal value based on unnecessary light imaged by the second image sensor and generated at least due to the first light.
The medical control device according to claim 1, wherein the light source controller is configured to: execute the first control so as to suppress the signal value of the unnecessary light imaged by the second image sensor; and execute the second control for a period that overlaps with at least a part of a period during which the first control is executed and is longer than the period during which the first control is executed.
The medical control device according to claim 1, wherein the light source controller is configured to: execute the first control in a period that overlaps with at least a part of a period during which the second control is executed and is shorter than the period during which the second control is executed; and execute the second control such that the signal value of the unnecessary light imaged by the second image sensor becomes smaller than the signal value of the observation target fluorescence.
The medical control device according to claim 1, wherein the light source controller is configured to adjust at least one of a control value in the first control or a control value in the second control based on a predetermined value.
The medical control device according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined value is a fixed value set in advance.
The medical control device according to claim 4, wherein the light source controller is configured to set the predetermined value based on a signal value of a pixel signal output from the first image sensor.
The medical control device according to claim 4, wherein the light source controller is configured to set the predetermined value based on a signal value of a pixel signal output from the second image sensor.
The medical control device according to claim 4, further comprising an operation receiving unit configured to receive a user operation, wherein the light source controller is configured to set the predetermined value in accordance with the user operation.
The medical control device according to claim 4, wherein the light source controller is configured to set the predetermined value based on a type of a substance contained in the observation target to be excited by the excitation light.
The medical control device according to claim 4, wherein the light source controller is configured to set the predetermined value based on a device connected to the medical control device.
The medical control device according to claim 10, wherein the light source controller is configured to set the predetermined value based on a type of an optical viewing tube connected to the medical control device.
The medical control device according to claim 10, wherein the light source controller is configured to set the predetermined value based on an open field observation device or an endoscope observation device connected to the medical control device.
The medical control device according to claim 4, wherein, where the pixel signal obtained by imaging by the second image sensor before undergoing execution of image processing is defined as a pre-processing pixel signal, the predetermined value is a value in which an S/N ratio of the signal value based on the observation target fluorescence in the pre-processing pixel signal is larger than 1.
The medical control device according to claim 4, wherein, where the pixel signal obtained by imaging by the second image sensor after undergoing execution of image processing is defined as a post-processing pixel signal, the predetermined value is a value in which an S/N ratio of the signal value based on the observation target fluorescence in the post-processing pixel signal is 4 or more.
The medical control device according to claim 1, wherein the light source controller is configured to set a period during which the first control is executed to a period equal to or less than a full line exposure period in the first image sensor.
A medical control device comprising: a light source controller configured to perform each of: a first control of emitting first light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band from a light source device; and a second control of emitting excitation light that excites a substance contained in an observation target from the light source device; and an imaging controller configured to control operation of each of: a first image sensor configured to image light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band among second light being return light of the first light and the excitation light from the observation target; and a second image sensor configured to image light including at least a part of a wavelength band of observation target fluorescence emitted from the observation target by irradiation with the excitation light among the second light, wherein the light source controller is configured to execute at least one of the first control or the second control so as to increase a difference between a signal value based on unnecessary light imaged by the second image sensor and generated at least due to the first light and a signal value based on the observation target fluorescence.
A medical observation system comprising: a light source device configured to emit each light of first light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band and excitation light that excites a substance contained in an observation target; an imaging device including a first image sensor and a second image sensor, the first image sensor being configured to image light including at least a part of the visible light wavelength band among second light being return light of the first light and the excitation light from the observation target, the second image sensor being configured to image light including at least a part of a wavelength band of observation target fluorescence emitted from the observation target by irradiation with the excitation light among the return light of the visible light and the excitation light; and a medical control device configured to control individual operations of the light source device and the imaging device, wherein the medical control device includes: a light source controller configured to execute each of: a first control of emitting the first light from the light source device; and a second control of emitting the excitation light from the light source device; and an imaging controller configured to control operation of the imaging device, and the light source controller is configured to execute at least one of the first control or the second control such that a signal value based on the observation target fluorescence becomes larger than a signal value based on unnecessary light imaged by the second image sensor and generated at least due to the first light.
The medical observation system according to claim 17, wherein the first light is broadband light or narrowband light.
The medical observation system according to claim 17, wherein the light source device includes a first light source configured to emit the first light, and the first light source is provided as one light source or a plurality of light sources.
The medical observation system according to claim 17, wherein the light source device includes a first light source configured to emit the first light, and the first light source includes an LED or a semiconductor laser.

Description

Field The present disclosure relates to a medical control device and a medical observation system. Background Conventionally, there has been known a medical observation system (refer to Patent Literature 1, for example) that irradiates an observation target (subject such as a person) with first light including visible light such as excitation light being narrowband light or white light being broadband light emitted from a light source device, and observes, by the application of the excitation light, fluorescence emitted from a substance contained in the observation target (hereinafter, denoted as observation target fluorescence). With such fluorescence observation, tissue conditions that are difficult to recognize can be grasped through observation target fluorescence. Therefore, fluorescence observation can be utilized for various purposes and applications such as identification of a lesion. Citation List Patent Literature Patent Literature 1: JP 2021-132695 A Summary Technical Problem Meanwhile, the medical observation system has an observation optical path including: a first optical path used for propagation of first light from the light source device to the observation target; and a second optical path used for propagation of second light being return light (including observation target fluorescence) of the first light, returned from the observation target irradiated with the first light. When the first and second light propagate through the observation optical path, optical elements constituting the observation optical path are irradiated with the first and second light, thereby generating autofluorescence from the optical elements. Such autofluorescence has a wavelength band including a wavelength band of observation target fluorescence (which is a target of fluorescence observation), and will be noise in performing the fluorescence observation. This leads to a demand for a technique capable of satisfactorily performing fluorescence observation. The present disclosure has been made in view of the above, and aims to provide a medical control device and a medical observation system capable of performing fluorescence observation satisfactorily. Solution to Problem To solve the above-described problem and achieve the object, a medical control device according to the present disclosure includes: a light source controller configured to perform each of: a first control of emitting first light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band from a light source device; and a second control of emitting excitation light that excites a substance contained in an observation target from the light source device; and an imaging controller configured to control operations of: a first image sensor configured to image light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band among second light being return light of the first light and the excitation light from the observation target; and a second image sensor configured to image light including at least a part of a wavelength band of observation target fluorescence emitted from the observation target by irradiation with the excitation light among the second light, wherein the light source controller is configured to execute at least one of the first control or the second control such that a signal value based on the observation target fluorescence becomes larger than a signal value based on unnecessary light imaged by the second image sensor and generated at least due to the first light. Moreover, a medical control device according to the present disclosure includes: a light source controller configured to perform each of: a first control of emitting first light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band from a light source device; and a second control of emitting excitation light that excites a substance contained in an observation target from the light source device; and an imaging controller configured to control operation of each of: a first image sensor configured to image light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band among second light being return light of the first light and the excitation light from the observation target; and a second image sensor configured to image light including at least a part of a wavelength band of observation target fluorescence emitted from the observation target by irradiation with the excitation light among the second light, wherein the light source controller is configured to execute at least one of the first control or the second control so as to increase a difference between a signal value based on unnecessary light imaged by the second image sensor and generated at least due to the first light and a signal value based on the observation target fluorescence. Moreover, a medical observation system according to the present disclosure includes: a light source device configured to emit each light of first light including at least a part of a visible light wavelength band an