JP6097590B2 - Medical imaging system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical imaging system that images a situation of a treatment target part during medical treatment.

  It is known that precision work such as medical treatment (including surgery) is performed by attaching a light source device to a body such as a head of an operator such as a doctor.

  By the way, if you take a picture of the treatment site that the operator is treating in medical treatment and display this image on the monitor, the operator's assistant and the family of the treatment subject can check the treatment status. If this video is recorded on an information recording device, it can be used as a material for explaining to the treatment subject and family after the operation, and as a material for academic or medical education. .

  From such a demand, a medical imaging device in which an imaging device is incorporated in a headband or binocular loupe to which a binocular loupe worn by an operator during operation and a spotlight for illuminating the treatment site is attached is known. (For example, see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

JP 2003-204972 A JP 2009-98570 A

  However, when performing image adjustment such as zooming of the imaging device or clearing of the image, in a medical imaging device in which the imaging device is attached to the body of an operator who performs a procedure using a headband or a binocular loupe, An operator who is working and cannot see the image being projected at that time must adjust according to instructions from the assistant. However, this operation is very troublesome for the operator who is performing the operation, and the operator's concentration on the operation is hindered and the operation is adversely affected.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a medical imaging system capable of adjusting the image condition of the image of the treatment target portion by remote control. And it aims at provision of the medical imaging | photography system which can image | photograph the mode of work with high resolution according to the actual condition of medical treatment work.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a medical imaging system including a portable device side that is worn on an operator's body during medical treatment, and a management device side that displays an image captured on the portable device side. The portable device side processes a signal from the imaging unit, a lens unit that images a target part of medical treatment, an image sensor that photoelectrically converts an image of the target part through the lens unit into a digital signal, and the like. A digital signal processor (DSP) that generates a video signal to be transmitted to the management device, an illumination unit configured by an LED element that irradiates light to the target unit, and a drive current to the LED element and a control device for controlling the supply amount, the management apparatus includes a monitor for displaying an image from the video signal transmitted from the portable device side, recording the video signal That an information recording apparatus, and an input device for instructing the adjustment of light quantity of the illumination unit in order to correct the exposure of the image displayed on the monitor, the control device, from the input device of the light amount When there is an instruction for correction, a medical imaging system that adjusts the supply amount of the drive current is provided.

  In the memory, as the image condition, the reference value relating to at least one of image contrast, luminance, and white balance is set.

  In addition, the lens unit is a zoom lens, and an imaging control unit that adjusts an imaging magnification of the lens unit when the voice recognition device recognizes that it is an instruction by the specific input voice regarding enlargement or reduction of an image. In addition.

  On the other hand, when a specific area is specified from the image displayed on the monitor, the DSP cuts out the specific area and enlarges the cut-out area to the size of the image. Is generated. Accordingly, it is possible to eliminate the deviation between the position of the operator's line of sight during the treatment and the image captured by the imaging apparatus.

  The portable device side further includes an audio input device, the DSP processes the signal from the audio input device together with the video signal to generate an audio signal, and the monitor generates the video signal and the audio signal. Play. At the same time, the video signal and the audio signal may be recorded in an information recording device.

  In addition, the portable device side further includes an illumination unit configured by an LED element that irradiates light to the target unit, and the illumination unit is worn on the operator's body the same as or separately from the lens unit and the imaging device. Is done. At this time, the control device can turn on / off the light and adjust the light without performing a switch operation by controlling the current supplied to the illumination unit in accordance with the instruction of the specific input voice. . At this time, the illumination unit and the lens unit may be held by a binocular loupe worn by an operator on the face, or a hat or headband worn on the head.

  Then, the video signal and the audio signal from the DSP are wirelessly transmitted to the management control device that controls the operation of the monitor and the information recording device, so that the operator can transmit the transmission signal. There is no need to connect with a line, and the operation by the operator is not restricted.

  In addition, by distributing the video signal and the audio signal from the DSP over the Internet via a wireless LAN, it is possible to confirm the state of the treatment in real time even from outside the treatment site.

The portable device further includes an acceleration sensor, and when the acceleration sensor detects acceleration, the control device corrects the supply amount of the drive current, and the imaging control unit adjusts the shutter speed. Control. Therefore, "the hand when the influence of" shake "in the image is moving the imaging device occurs, together with the control device increases the supply amount of the drive current, the imaging control unit may increase the said shutter speed Blur "is prevented.

  According to the medical imaging system of the present invention, the assistant can instruct in real time to change the image condition while checking the display image displayed on the monitor on behalf of the operator who cannot confirm the captured image during medical treatment. it can. Therefore, the medical treatment system effective for the medical treatment can be provided because it can be stored as a record while confirming the treatment status with the optimized image by the person concerned with the treatment.

The electric circuit of the medical imaging system which concerns on embodiment of this invention is shown with a block. An example of an image correction process screen is shown. The specific circuit block diagram which shows an example of the current drive circuit which controls lighting of an illumination part. Explanatory drawing of a binocular loupe provided with an imaging device and an illumination unit. Explanatory drawing of the headband provided with the imaging device and the illumination part. Explanatory drawing which shows the example which the operator wears the portable side apparatus in the medical imaging device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows typically the image process for eliminating the shift | offset | difference of the image which the position of an operator's eyes | visual_axis and the imaging device catches. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which selects the appropriate exposure at the time of imaging medical treatment in an imaging device.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a medical imaging system according to the present invention, which is composed of a portable device side 100 and a management device side 200, both of which are a portable device side I / F 14 and a management device side. Signals are exchanged between the I / F 15.

  A configuration of the mobile device side 100 will be described. The imaging device 1 is a digital still camera or a digital video camera, and includes a lens unit 2, a CCD or CMOS imaging device 3 that photoelectrically converts an image of a subject to be photographed through the lens unit 2 into a digital signal, A memory 4 that stores reference values of image quality conditions such as white balance and contrast set in advance, a digital signal processor (DSP) 5 that generates a video signal from an output signal from the image sensor 3, An imaging control unit 6 that controls the diaphragm of the lens unit 2 and an acceleration sensor 19 are provided. The acceleration sensor 19 will be described in detail later.

  In the imaging device 1, the DSP 5 processes the output signal from the imaging device 3 based on the reference value stored in the memory 4, and satisfies preset image quality conditions such as white balance, contrast, and luminance. A video signal of a still image or a video image for reproducing the image to be played is generated.

  The voice input device 7 includes a microphone for voice input by an operator, and the DSP 5 generates a voice signal from the voice uttered by the microphone together with the video signal described above. The voice input device 7 is used by an operator to explain the treatment by voice. The DSP 5 transmits the generated video signal and audio signal from the I / F 14 to the I / F 15 via the transmission path L. In this embodiment, this transmission is performed by RF-connected wireless communication, and the video signal and audio signal from the DSP 5 are RF-modulated and transmitted by the I / F 14, and the I / F 15 receives the received video signal and audio signal. Demodulate.

  The illumination part 9 is comprised by the LED element, and an operator is mounted | worn with an operator's body in order to irradiate a treatment object part during medical treatment. The illumination unit 9 emits light when current is supplied from the battery power supply 11 to the LED element through the current driving circuit 10. The current drive circuit 10 can perform light control by adjusting the amount of light emission by controlling the amount of current that is energized when the LED element is turned on and off.

  In the present embodiment, using the microphone of the voice input device 7 that collects the voice of the operator at the time of treatment, the on / off of the illumination unit 9 and the light emission amount can be adjusted by voice. Therefore, the voice recognition apparatus 8 has registered therein several types of voice patterns of input voices related to illumination by the illumination unit 9 uttered mainly by an operator, and a specific description thereof will be described later.

  Next, the management apparatus side 200 will be described. The management apparatus side 200 is constituted by a personal computer including a management control apparatus 13, a monitor 16, an information recording apparatus 17 such as a disk recording apparatus, and an input apparatus 18. The management-side control device 13 reproduces the video signal and audio signal transmitted to the I / F 15 and demodulated on the monitor 16. Therefore, the monitor 16 reproduces a still image or a video image depending on whether the video apparatus 1 is a digital still camera or a digital video camera. At the same time, the management-side control device 13 controls the information recording device 17 to record this video signal and audio signal sent.

  As described above, the image conditions such as the white balance, contrast, and brightness of the image are set in advance by the DSP 5 based on the reference values stored in the memory 4. The reference image can be modified and optimized by an assistant who has confirmed in In the present embodiment, by using a zoom lens for the imaging lens unit 2, the imaging magnification of the image can be adjusted in addition to white balance, contrast, and luminance as correction of the image condition. Specifically, the management-side control device 13 displays the image correction processing screen shown in FIG. 2 on the monitor 16 under the execution of the image correction software, and the assistant performs the correction processing based on this screen.

  In the image correction processing screen of FIG. 2, the video area P displays an image based on the video signal from the DSP 5, and the assistant checks the image of the video area P while the switch display units S <b> 1 to S <b> 11 are input devices. 18 is instructed to correct while operating.

  First, the assistant presses the switch display unit S1 by operating the mouse of the input device 18, and the items of “white balance”, “contrast”, “brightness”, and “magnification” are displayed on the switch display units S4 to S7. Can be selected and instructed to be corrected. The switch display portions S8 to S11 can be adjusted by moving the indicator I in the “+” direction or the “−” direction when each corresponding item is selected.

  In the switch display sections S8 to S10, “0” in which the indicator I is located in the initial state indicates the white balance, contrast, and luminance states based on the reference values that are preset and stored in the memory 4. Show. Further, “0” in the switch display unit S11 indicates the magnification in the initial state of the lens unit 2 controlled by the imaging control unit 6.

  The assistant confirming the image of the video area P on the image correction processing screen of the monitor 16 switches the switch display section as necessary for each of “white balance”, “contrast”, “brightness”, and “magnification”. S4 to S7 are selected by the mouse operation of the input device 18, and the indicator I of the corresponding switch display unit S8 to S10 is moved by the mouse operation in the “+” direction or the “−” direction, thereby achieving the desired image condition. Direct the change.

  When the change of the image condition is instructed by the movement of the indicator I, the management control device 13 modulates the data signal corresponding to the change amount of the image condition by the I / F 15 and transmits it to the I / F 14. The amount of change in this case indicates a positive or negative change amount from the reference value stored in advance in the memory 4 in the case of “white balance”, “contrast”, and “brightness”. In this case, a positive or negative change amount from the magnification in the initial state set by the imaging control unit 6 is shown.

  When the control device 12 receives the demodulated data signal received by the I / F 14 on the portable device side 100, if the image change is related to “white balance”, “contrast”, and “brightness”, the change data is transmitted. Output to DSP5. Then, the DSP 5 corrects the image condition for which correction has been instructed from the reference value stored in the memory 4 to the plus or minus by the indicated change amount, and the object that the lens unit 2 is shooting in real time. A video signal corrected based on a reference value obtained by correcting the image of the image is generated. In addition, if the image change is related to “magnification”, the control device 12 outputs the change data to the image pickup control unit 6, and the image pickup control unit 6 forms an image on the image pickup device 3 with the changed magnification of the lens unit 2. Control. Therefore, the DSP 5 generates a video signal at the changed magnification.

  The video signal corrected by the DSP 5 is introduced into the management side control device 13 through the I / F 14 and I / F 15, and the corrected image is reproduced in the video area P of the image correction processing screen of the monitor 16, and the assistant corrects it. The result can be confirmed. In this way, each time the image condition is selected by the switch display units S4 to S7 and the correction instruction is made by operating the indicator I of the switch display units S8 to S11, the video signal corrected accordingly is transmitted to the portable device side. 100, and a corrected image based on this video signal is displayed in the video area P. When the assistant confirms that the image has been optimized, the switch display unit S3 is operated to complete the image correction, and the current state of the treatment site is switched to display on the entire screen of the monitor 16.

  The on / off of the illumination unit 9 and the adjustment of the light emission amount will be described. Examples of input voices related to illumination recognized by the voice recognition device 8 include the words “lit”, “off”, “bright”, “maximum bright”, and instruction voices that are mainly uttered by the operator to the voice input device 7. Is recognized by the voice recognition device 8, the control device 12 controls the energization current to the LED element of the illumination unit 9 via the current driving circuit 10 accordingly. In this case, the current driving circuit 10 controls the current flowing to the LED illumination unit 1 by controlling the duty ratio using, for example, a transistor, a MOSFET, or the like.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the current driving circuit 10. In this example, the current supplied to the LED element is controlled by a pulse driving method. In the figure, the switch device 41 uses, for example, a MOSFET and is connected to the gate side so that a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal from the pulse generator 42 is input, and a pulse is generated by a control signal from the control device 12. When the device 42 sets the PWM signal to a high level, the switch device 41 is turned on, the voltage Vcc of the battery power supply 11 is applied, and a current flows from the input side to the load side.

  The LED device 43 of the illuminating unit 9 and the protective resistor R4 are connected to the load side of the switch device 41 and grounded, and a smoothing circuit including a coil, L, and a capacitor C is provided in the preceding stage to provide a pulse by switching operation. Output is averaged. In front of the coil L, a diode 44 is provided to keep supplying current to the coil L even when the switch device 41 is turned off. Thereby, if the ON time (OFF time) of the switch device 41 is controlled, the current flowing to the illumination unit 9 can be adjusted. Therefore, when the voice recognition device 8 recognizes the instruction voice related to illumination, the control device 12 changes the duty ratio of the pulse generator 42 according to the content of the instruction, and adjusts the ON time (OFF time) of the switch device 41. Thus, the lighting / extinction of the LED element 43 of the illumination unit 9 and the amount of light can be adjusted.

  Next, an embodiment in which the imaging device 1 and the illumination unit 9 are mounted on the operator's body will be described. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the imaging apparatus 1 and the illumination unit 9 are both attached to the binocular loupe 20 that the operator puts on the face at the time of treatment, and is attached to the operator. In addition to such a binocular loupe 20, a hat or a headband may be used. In FIG. 5, the imaging device 1 and the illumination unit 9 are attached to the headband 21. The headband 21 is made of a resin member, and is held and fixed to the operator's head by its elasticity. The headband 21 is not limited to such a configuration, and there are various forms of materials such as cloth and rubber. In addition, the imaging device 1 and the illumination unit 9 may be separately used, for example, when the imaging device 1 is attached to the headband 21 and the illumination unit 9 is attached to the binocular loupe 20 and an operator wears them to perform medical treatment. .

  Further, the operator may wind the battery holding belt 22 around the waist as shown in FIG. 6 and hold the battery power supply 11 by the battery holding belt 22. In the figure, a battery power source 11 includes a plurality of rechargeable batteries 23 connected to each other, and a battery holding belt 22 is mounted with a control unit 24 together with these batteries 23. The control unit 24 stores the voice input device 7, the voice recognition device 8, the current drive circuit 10, the control device 12, and the I / F 14. In the example of FIG. 5, the voice input device 7 is not stored in the control unit 24 but is attached to the headband 21 so as to be positioned in the mouth of the operator.

  In FIG. 6, the battery 23 of the battery power supply 11 is connected to the control unit 24, and the control unit 24 supplies a drive current to the imaging device 1 and the illumination unit 9 through a power cord included in the cable harness 25. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the imaging device 1 is arranged on the operator's shoulder and fixed by the wearing belt 29. In this case, although not shown, a part of the power cord to the imaging device 1 is separated from the cable harness 25 and connected to the imaging device 1. The cable harness 25 includes a control signal line output from the control device 12 to the imaging control unit 5, a signal line for image condition change data output to the DSP 5, and a signal line from which the audio input device 7 outputs audio to the DSP 5. And an input signal line from an acceleration sensor 9 described later.

  In this way, each device including the imaging device 1 constituting the portable device side 100 is mounted on the operator's body. At this time, the control unit 24 may connect the charger 26 with the plug inserted into the outlet 27 and perform the photographing operation by the imaging apparatus 1 and the illumination operation by the illumination unit 9 while charging the battery 23. As a result, photographing and illumination are sufficiently ensured even during long-term treatment.

  Regarding the mounting position of the imaging device 1, when the operator wears the binocular loupe 20 or the headband 21 shown in FIG. 4 or 5, the imaging device 1 is on the center line in the vertical direction of the operator's face and above the position of the eyes. Is located. Therefore, since the position of the line of sight that the operator gazes during surgery and the center position of the image captured by the imaging device 1 are misaligned, the image of the treatment target portion and the situation that the operator is viewing are not necessarily the same. In some cases, some or all of the important treatment sites are not captured in the image, or even if they are captured, they are displayed only in the corners.

  In particular, in the case of FIG. 4, since there is a dimensional difference in design between the attachment position of the loupe body 28 and the attachment position of the imaging device 1, when the operator stares at the target portion of the medical treatment through the loupe body 28, There is a clear deviation between the position of the line of sight and the center position of the image. Therefore, by performing the process described below on the image photographed by the imaging device 1, this deviation that occurs when the operator wears the body can be eliminated by the control process.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating processing performed by the management-side control device 13 under execution of the above-described image correction software in order to eliminate this shift. In FIG. 7A, an image 30 is an image in which a video signal generated by the DSP 5 after the monitor 16 is photographed by the imaging device 1 is reproduced in the video area P of the image correction processing screen of FIG. In this image 30, due to the vertical displacement between the mounting position of the imaging device 1 and the position of the operator's line of sight, the target portion 31 that the operator is staring is located below the center frame 32 of the image 30. Some of them are not displayed.

  In order to correct such a shift of the target portion 31 in the image 30, the assistant presses the switch display portion S <b> 2 by operating the mouse of the input device 18, so that the management-side control device 13 starts a shift correction process. To do.

  In the shift correction process, the assistant operates the switch display unit S7 so that the entire target unit 31 that is not partially displayed is displayed on the screen, and then sets the indicator I of the switch display unit S11 to “−”. The image 30 is moved in the direction to reduce the magnification. With this operation, on the portable device side 100, the control device 12 controls the imaging control unit 6 to adjust the lens unit 2 according to the amount of movement of the indicator I of the switch display unit S11. Therefore, the DSP 5 generates a video signal with the adjusted magnification, and the image with the changed magnification is displayed in the video area P of the image correction processing screen of the monitor 16 of the management-side apparatus 200.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the image 33 displayed on the entire video area P is displayed as shown in FIG. 7B, the assistant operates the mouse on the input device 18 to center the target part 31. The rectangular area A is arbitrarily designated on the image of the video area P.

  When the area A is designated, the management-side control device 13 transmits image range data indicating this range to the portable device side 100 through the I / F 15 and the I / F 14. Then, the control device 12 that has received the range data of the area A from the I / F 14 outputs this range data to the DSP 5. The DSP 5 cuts out a portion corresponding to the region A from the image currently formed on the image sensor 3 by the lens unit 2, and enlarged the cut-out image to the size of the original image by electronic zoom. A video signal of an image is generated. When the video signal generated by the DSP 5 is transmitted to the management apparatus side 200 through the I / F 14 and I / F 15, the management side control apparatus 13 corrects the target unit 31 stored in the center frame 32 as shown in FIG. The image 34 is displayed in the video area P of the image correction processing screen of the monitor 16.

  Then, when the assistant confirms the correction of the image and operates the switch display unit S3 to complete the correction of the shift of the image, the corrected image 34 is switched to the display on the entire screen of the monitor 16. Thereby, the state of the treatment can be confirmed on the monitor 16 from the same viewpoint as the operator is viewing.

  If such a correction processing function is set, the imaging apparatus 1 can be applied to a body part that is far from the eyes, such as a shoulder (shown in FIG. 6) or a chest, if it is a body part that faces the treatment site. Even if a large deviation occurs due to wearing, the correction process can be performed on the screen by the assistant. In order to process this shift optically, for example, the light beam guided from the objective optical system of the binocular loupe through the extension optical system is divided into two by the optical branching means, one for the operator's eye and the other for the imaging device. There is a method as disclosed in the above-mentioned patent document 2 in which the image of the treatment target part and the situation visually recognized by the operator are matched by being guided to 1. However, the optically processed configuration requires a separate optical system for taking light to the optical branching means and the imaging device, which increases the size of the device, and is too heavy to be worn on the operator's body. is there. However, the correction on the screen of the monitor 16 is corrected by the management apparatus side 200, thereby correcting the shift without increasing the size of the imaging measure 1.

  As a modification example in which the change of the image condition is instructed, a voice instruction may be performed using the voice input device 7. In this case, it is preferable to provide two microphones of the voice input device 7 and one is arranged on the management device side 200. Regarding the white balance adjustment, the speech patterns of the words “white balance plus” and “white balance minus” are registered in advance in the speech recognition device 8, and the control device 12 When 8 recognizes that the instruction voice related to “white balance” is uttered to the voice input device 7, the reference value of the white balance stored in the memory 4 is increased by a predetermined numerical value according to the instruction. A control signal is output to the DSP 5 so as to generate a video signal by subtracting it. Therefore, the assistant adjusts the white balance by repeating the voice instruction of “white balance plus” or “white balance minus” until the desired white balance is obtained.

  Similarly, with respect to the contrast of the image, for example, the control device 12 registers the speech patterns of the phrases “high contrast” and “low contrast” in the speech recognition device 8, so that the control device 12 can recognize the speech recognition device 8. When it is recognized that these instruction voices are uttered from the assistant to the voice input device 7, the reference value relating to the contrast stored in the memory 4 is increased or decreased by a predetermined numerical value according to the instructions, and the contrast is increased. A control signal is output to the DSP 5 to correct the error. Therefore, the assistant adjusts the contrast by repeating the utterance of the voice instruction of “high contrast” or “low contrast” until a desired contrast is obtained.

  With regard to the luminance of the image, for example, by registering the voice patterns of the phrases “higher luminance” and “lower luminance” in the voice recognition device 8, the control device 12 can control the voice recognition device 8. When recognizing that these instruction voices are uttered by the assistant to the voice input device 7, the reference value relating to the reference value relating to the brightness stored in the memory 4 is increased or decreased by a predetermined numerical value in accordance with the instruction. A control signal is output to the DSP 5 so as to correct the brightness. Therefore, the assistant adjusts the luminance by repeating the voice instruction of “increasing luminance” or “decreasing luminance” until a desired luminance is obtained.

  Furthermore, regarding the adjustment of the imaging magnification of the image, for example, by previously registering the voice patterns of the phrases “enlargement” and “reduction” in the speech recognition device 8 in advance, the control device 12 causes the speech recognition device 8 to When it is recognized that these instruction voices are uttered by the voice input device 7, the operation of the imaging control unit 6 is controlled based on the contents of the voice instructions. In this case, the control device 12 is configured to control the imaging control unit 6 to change the focal length of the lens unit 2 by a predetermined step each time an instruction sound of “enlargement” or “reduction” is input. Yes. Therefore, the assistant enlarges the imaging magnification step by step by repeating the “magnification” utterance, and reduces the imaging magnification step by step by repeating the utterance of “reduction”.

  Further, if a network camera based on Wi-Fi is used for the imaging device 1, video can be distributed to the management-side control device 13 through the Internet and monitored by the monitor 16. In this case, the management-side control device 13 can capture the image taken by the network camera in real time through the Internet by designating the URL of the network camera using a WEB browser. Using the wireless LAN in this way has an advantage that the treatment can be monitored in real time even in a terminal device other than the site where the treatment is performed.

  Next, an appropriate exposure condition set in the imaging apparatus 1 according to the actual situation of the medical treatment operation will be described. In the medical imaging system, it is necessary to display the image of the target portion of the medical treatment as a high-resolution image in focus on the entire screen, and to record and save it in the information recording device 17. For this reason, in order to increase the resolution of an image, there are three elements: (1) aperture value (F value), (2) shutter speed, and (3) ISO sensitivity. First, regarding the relationship between the aperture value (F value) and the shutter speed, increasing the F value increases the depth of field and increases the in-focus area, thereby increasing the resolution. However, when the F value is increased to reduce the aperture, the amount of light passing through the lens unit 2 is reduced and the image displayed on the image sensor 3 becomes darker. This can be solved by reducing the shutter speed, but there is a so-called “camera shake” problem. The term “hand shake” as used herein means that the image pickup apparatus 1 is shaken by the movement of the operator's body or head and the image is shaken. In other words, since precise operations such as medical procedures involve small movements by fine hand movements, the image pickup device 1 attached to the operator's body is blurred when it is moved while the shutter is open. This is ineligible as a recorded video of medical treatment.

  Here, the shutter speed in the present embodiment will be described. The lens unit 2 is not provided with a mechanical shutter, and light is always incident on the image pickup device 3 and the received light is stored as an electric signal, and the amount of electricity stored from the image pickup device 3 after a certain time is stored. The electronic shutter method of taking out is adopted. Therefore, when the image sensor 3 receives light from the lens unit 2 after discharging electricity, the image sensor 3 converts and stores the charges in proportion to the brightness for each pixel, and takes out the amount of electricity accumulated by the DSP 5 after a certain time. The generation time of the video signal is used, and the time during which light is accumulated is used as the shutter speed.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, if the imaging device 1 is moved during the time when light is accumulated, the image is blurred. For this reason, the image pickup apparatus 1 uses a digital still camera or a digital video camera that slows down the shutter speed (the time during which light is accumulated) even if the F value is increased. Either case is not preferable. Further, in the case of a general digital video camera, the frame rate, which is the number of frames taken per second, is set to 30, and the shutter speed in this case is set to 1/60 seconds. . Therefore, in a digital video camera, the degree of freedom for adjusting the shutter speed is lower than that in a digital still camera, and it is preferable to fix the shutter speed.

  In addition, it is conceivable to increase the response speed of the image pickup device 3 that converts the light captured by the lens unit 2 into an electrical signal by increasing the ISO sensitivity. Tissue color reproducibility deteriorates. Therefore, the ISO sensitivity is preferably fixed at 100.

  From the above points, in the medical imaging system of the present invention, the F value of the imaging device 1 is increased and the amount of light from the illuminating unit 9 is increased to select an illuminance of 100,000 lux or more that is optimal for the imaging location, for example. At this time, the lens unit 2 is also preferably a bright lens having F2.8 or less. FIG. 8 shows a procedure for selecting an appropriate exposure for the imaging apparatus 1 under the above conditions in order to obtain a high-resolution image in focus on the entire screen.

  In the figure, first, in step ST1, the illuminance of the illuminating unit 9 is determined. As described above, an illuminating device having an illuminance of 100,000 lux or more optimum for the imaging location is selected. In step ST2, the light passing through the lens unit 2 is measured by the image sensor 3, and in the next step ST3, the exposure based on the combination of the F value and the shutter speed is determined. In this example, the F value and the shutter speed are automatically set so that exposure according to the brightness of the subject at this time is obtained by a function (AE: Automatic Exposure) of automatically performing exposure of the imaging apparatus 1. For example, assuming that the ISO sensitivity is 100, the F value is 8 and the shutter speed is 1/60 seconds.

  In step ST4, an image captured by the imaging apparatus 1 under this exposure condition is stored. Subsequently, in step ST5, an exposure condition is selected according to the captured image. As a selection method, for example, in Table 1, the ISO sensitivity is fixed to 100, the optimal combination is selected while changing both the maximum F value and the fastest shutter speed, and the ISO sensitivity is set to 100 and the maximum. This shows a method (ii) of selecting the optimum combination while changing the fastest shutter speed with the F value fixed at F11.

  In the above selection method, with regard to the combination of the maximum F value and the fastest shutter speed, in the method (i), F8 (depth of field 4 cm), F11 (depth of field 6 cm), F16 (depth of field 8 cm) And the maximum shutter speed of 1/60 seconds, 1/125 seconds, and 1/250 seconds, and the maximum F value is fixed to F11 in the method (ii). Thus, the fastest shutter speed is selected from 1/60 seconds, 1/125 seconds, and 1/250 seconds. As described above, when the imaging apparatus 1 is a digital video camera, it is preferable to fix the shutter speed at 1/60 seconds. Therefore, when the shutter speed is fixed at 1/60 seconds, Only the method i) is adopted to select the F value.

  When the exposure condition is selected in this way, when the photometry is performed again in step ST6 and the resolution of the image is appropriate, the exposure condition is set in the imaging control unit 6 in step ST7, and the process ends. However, when the image resolution is unsuitable due to insufficient exposure, the process proceeds from the next step ST6 to step ST8, the image captured by the imaging apparatus 1 is stored under this exposure condition, and the illumination unit 9 is moved further in the next step ST9. It changes to the illumination device of bright illumination intensity, and repeats the process from step ST1.

  As described above, in the medical imaging system of the present invention, the operator sets the amount of light from the illumination unit 9 that irradiates the target part of the medical treatment brightly, thereby increasing the depth of field of the imaging device 1 and The resolution is increased. However, the resolution of the captured image may be insufficient depending on the ambient conditions in which the imaging device 1 is used. In this case, the illuminance of the illumination unit 9 irradiated from the operator on the management device side 200 is adjusted in a direction to make it brighter. Can increase the resolution.

  Specifically, on the image correction processing screen of the monitor 16 shown in FIG. 2, when the assistant determines that the resolution is insufficient from the imaging screen displayed in the video area P, the switch display unit S <b> 1 is moved to the mouse of the input device 18. When the switch display unit S12 is operated next, the image correction software of the management-side control device 13 executes a program for correcting “resolution”. Then, by moving the indicator I of the switch display unit S13 in the “+” direction, an illuminance change amount data signal is generated so that the illuminance of the illumination unit 9 becomes bright according to the amount of movement of the indicator I. At this time, the position “0” of the switch display unit S13 is the current illuminance set by the operator, and the illuminance is increased according to the amount of movement from this position.

  The data signal for changing the illuminance is modulated by the I / F 15, transmitted to the I / F 14, demodulated, and transmitted to the control device 12 of the portable device 100, the control device 12 responds to the data signal value. The current drive circuit 10 is controlled to increase the supply current to the illumination unit 9. Thereby, the brightness of the treatment target portion is corrected, and a video signal based on the corrected exposure is transmitted from the DSP 5 to the management side device 200 and displayed on the video area P of the image correction processing screen of the monitor 16. Then, the assistant can check this screen and adjust the resolution by further increasing the illuminance as necessary. When the desired resolution is obtained, the switch display unit S3 is operated to complete the image correction. . As a result, the current state of the treatment site is switched to display on the entire screen of the monitor 16.

  In the medical imaging system according to the present invention, the motion of the operator is detected by the acceleration sensor 19, and the illuminance of the illumination unit 9 is increased only while the operator frequently moves the body, and the shutter speed is increased accordingly. This prevents camera shake. The acceleration sensor 19 built in the imaging apparatus 1 detects the vertical and front / rear / left / right acceleration of the imaging apparatus 1 due to the movement of the operator during the treatment. Based on the data measured by the acceleration sensor 19, the control device 12 controls the current driving circuit 10 to increase the supply current to the illumination unit 9 while the imaging device 1 is moving, and the imaging control. The shutter speed is increased by controlling the unit 6. When the acceleration sensor 19 detects that the movement of the operator's body stops, the control device 12 controls the current drive circuit 10 to return to the original illuminance even if the amount of current supplied to the illumination unit 9 is reduced. Control to slow down the shutter speed.

  As a result, the shutter interval is shortened, and an image that is not affected by “camera shake” can be created. The acceleration sensor 19 is not limited to being built in the imaging apparatus 1 but may be separately attached to the operator's body. However, it is preferable to attach it at a position close to the imaging device 1, and the binocular lens 20 shown in FIG. 4 and the headband 21 shown in FIG.

  However, even in this case, when the imaging apparatus 1 is a digital video camera, the degree of freedom in adjusting the shutter speed is low as described above, and it is preferable that the shutter speed be about twice the frame rate.

  In this way, by attaching the acceleration sensor 19 to the operator's body, it is not necessary to always cause the illumination unit 9 to emit light exceeding the amount of light necessary for the operator to work, assuming “camera shake”. This is also effective in terms of capacity maintenance of the battery power supply 11 and prevention of thermal deterioration of the LED element.

  By using the acceleration sensor 19 in this way, the illuminance is increased and the shutter speed is increased to eliminate “camera shake”. However, in the case of a still image, if the motion of the operator's body is detected by the acceleration sensor 19, the motion is reduced. This can also be dealt with by performing continuous shooting by exposure and calculating the movement between the images due to “hand shake” from the continuously shot images to generate a single bright image. On the other hand, in the case of a video image, when the movement of the operator's body is detected by the acceleration sensor 19, the amount of “hand shake” is detected from the “front frame” and the “current frame”, and is corrected. "And output in real time.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible based on the meaning of this invention, and these are not excluded from the scope of the present invention. Further, even when a mechanical shutter is employed in the lens unit without using the electronic shutter described above, it does not depart from the present invention.

  The present invention relates to a medical imaging system capable of displaying the state of a treatment target part during a medical treatment on a monitor with a best image by a correction instruction from the management device side, and has industrial applicability.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging device 2 Lens part 3 Imaging device 4 Memory 5 Digital signal processor (DSP)
6 Imaging control unit 7 Voice input device 8 Voice recognition device 9 Illumination unit 10 Current drive circuit 11 Battery power supply 12 Control device 16 Monitor 17 Information recording device 20 Binocular loupe 21 Headband 29 Wear belt

Claims (11)

A medical imaging system comprising a portable device side to be worn on an operator's body at the time of medical treatment, and a management device side that displays an image captured on the portable device side,
The portable device side
A lens part for photographing the target part of medical treatment;
An image sensor that photoelectrically converts an image of the target portion through the lens portion into a digital signal;
A digital signal processor (DSP) that processes a signal from the image sensor and generates a video signal to be transmitted to the management device;
An illumination unit configured by an LED element that irradiates light to the target unit;
A control device for controlling the amount of drive current supplied to the LED element ,
The management device side
A monitor for displaying an image from the video signal transmitted from the portable device side;
An information recording device for recording the video signal;
An input device for instructing adjustment of the amount of light of the illumination unit in order to correct the exposure of the image displayed on the monitor,
The medical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the control device adjusts a supply amount of the drive current when an instruction to correct the light amount is received from the input device . The portable device side, when the DSP processes a signal from the image sensor, image contrast, brightness, a memory storing at least one the standard values concerning among image condition White Balance In addition,
When the change of the image condition is instructed to the input device, the DSP corrects the reference value according to the change, corrects and generates the video signal based on the corrected reference value, The medical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein an image displayed on the monitor is corrected .   The lens unit is configured by a zoom lens, and the mobile device side controls imaging control for adjusting the imaging magnification of the zoom lens when an instruction to change the image condition relating to image enlargement or reduction is input to the input device The medical imaging system according to claim 1, further comprising a unit.   When a specific area is designated from the image displayed on the monitor, the DSP cuts out the specific area and generates the video signal of an image obtained by enlarging the cut-out area to the size of the image The medical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the medical imaging system is a medical imaging system.   The portable device side further includes an audio input device, the DSP processes the signal from the audio input device together with the video signal to generate an audio signal, and the monitor generates the video signal and the audio signal. The medical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the medical imaging system is reproduced.   The medical imaging system according to claim 5, wherein the portable device side wirelessly transmits the video signal and the audio signal to the management device side. The portable device side
A voice input device;
A speech recognition device for identifying input speech to the speech input device;
A current drive control circuit for controlling a supply current to the illumination unit according to the instruction content of the specific voice when the voice recognition apparatus recognizes the input of the specific voice to the voice input device;
The medical imaging system according to claim 1 , further comprising:   6. The medical imaging system according to claim 5, wherein the mobile device side distributes the video signal and the audio signal over the Internet by a wireless LAN. The medical imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the lens unit and the illumination unit are held by a binocular loupe worn by the operator on the face. The medical imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the lens unit and the illumination unit are held by a hat or a headband worn by the operator on a head. The portable device side further includes an imaging control unit that controls the shutter speed of the lens unit, and an acceleration sensor,
When the acceleration sensor detects an acceleration, the control device together to fix the supply amount of the drive current, the imaging control unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the control for adjusting the shutter speed Medical imaging system.

Images