Patent ID: 8454497

Claim:
An endoscope apparatus comprising: an insertion portion including a bendable bending portion provided on a distal end side thereof; a bending drive section that drives bending of the bending portion; an insertion shape detection section that detects an insertion shape of the insertion portion as insertion shape information; a curved position calculation section that calculates a curved position at which the insertion portion inserted in a curved tubular body cavity is curved in a curved region of the tubular body cavity, as curved position information, based on the insertion shape information; a curved state calculation section that calculates a curved attitude of the insertion portion, with the curved position as reference, as curved state information, based on the curved position information and the insertion shape information; a bending drive plane calculation section that calculates a bending drive plane on which the bending portion is driven such that the curved region of the tubular body cavity is brought into a straightened state, as bending drive plane information, based on the curved state information; a curve direction calculation section that calculates a curve direction of the insertion portion on the bending drive plane, as curve direction information, based on the curved state information and the bending drive plane information; and a control section that outputs to the bending drive section a control signal for driving the bending portion on the bending drive plane, with a direction opposite to the curve direction as a bending drive direction, based on the curved state information.