PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscopic system in which the inside and outside of an insertion portion of an endoscope can be unfailingly detected.SOLUTION: The endoscopic system, which inserts an insertion part 10 into the insertion opening I of an object O to observe the interior of the object, includes: an illumination unit 14 which is equipped with a modulation unit 12 for controlling a visible light source so that the intensity of the visible light from the visible light source is modulated in a prescribed pattern and emits the modulated visible light as illumination light a detection unit 16 for detecting the modulated visible light and an assessment unit 18 for assessing whether or not the insertion part 10 is inside the object on the basis of the detection results of the detection unit 16. The illumination unit 14 is disposed outside the object and the detection unit 16 is disposed on the insertion part 10.COPYRIGHT: (C)2012,JPO&INPIT【課題】内視鏡装置の挿入部の物体内、物体外を確実に検出可能とすること。【解決手段】挿入部10を物体Oの挿入口Iから挿入し、物体内面を観察する内視鏡システムは、可視光源からの可視光が所定のパターンで強度変調されるように該可視光源を制御する変調部12を備え、変調された可視光を照明光として発する照明ユニット14と、前記変調された可視光を検出する検出部16と、前記検出部16の検出結果に基づいて、前記挿入部10が物体内にあるかどうかを判断する判断部18と、を備え、前記照明ユニット14を物体外部に配置し、前記検出部16を前記挿入部10に配置する。【選択図】図1
