KR100777518B1 - Endoscope image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

The imaging unit inserted in the body captures the image in the body, and wirelessly transfers the image to the body unit disposed outside the body. The imaging unit includes an imaging section for acquiring an image, a data sending section for sending out the images acquired by the imaging section to the external unit at a plurality of sending rates, a feature amount detecting section for detecting a predetermined feature amount from the image, And a judging section for judging the validity of the image from the output of the feature amount detecting section. The data sending section controls the data sending rate in accordance with the determination result outputted by the determining section.

Imaging unit, pixel, brightness, sending rate

Description

Endoscope imaging device {ENDOSCOPE IMAGE PICKUP DEVICE}

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an endoscope imaging apparatus that performs imaging of a body image by an imaging unit and wirelessly transmits the image to an extracorporeal unit.

As a prior art example of an endoscope imaging apparatus which performs imaging of a body image by an imaging unit and wirelessly transmits an image to an outside body unit, there is, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-508201.

In this conventional example, an acceleration sensor as a motion detector in the axial direction is built in an imaging unit inserted into the body to detect movement in the axial direction, and when the axial acceleration is lower than a preset threshold, the power supply is turned off. By separating and thus preventing the collection of verbose images, the energy consumption of the imaging unit is minimized.

However, in the above conventional example, it is necessary not only to embed the acceleration sensor in the imaging unit, but also to separate the power supply by the acceleration sensor, so that it is difficult to obtain desired information appropriately.

For example, in the part or region of interest to be noticed, the amount of image transmission to be transmitted from the imaging unit to the extracorporeal unit is not reduced. It cannot cope with the need.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described aspects, and an endoscope imaging apparatus has been provided which makes it unnecessary to embed a sensor such as an acceleration sensor in an imaging unit, so that the amount of transfer of an image to the extracorporeal unit can be controlled appropriately. It aims to provide.

<Start of invention>

The endoscope imaging device according to the present invention performs imaging of an image in a body by an imaging unit inserted into a body, and wirelessly transmits the image to an external body unit disposed outside the body.

The unit,

Imaging means for acquiring an image;

Data sending means for sending out the images acquired by the imaging means to the external unit at a plurality of sending rates;

Characteristic amount detecting means for detecting a predetermined characteristic amount from the image;

And determining means for determining the validity of the image from the output of the feature amount detecting means,

The data sending means controls the data sending rate according to the determination result outputted by the determining means, thereby making it unnecessary to install a sensor in the imaging unit, so that the amount of transfer of the image to the extracorporeal unit can be controlled appropriately. have.

1 to 19 (b) relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a system schematic diagram of the first embodiment.

2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an imaging unit.

3 is an operation timing chart of the imaging unit.

4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a processing block in FIG. 2;

5 is a timing chart of a processing block;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image invalid detection block in FIG. 4; FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the luminance range detection block in FIG. 6; FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image change detection block in FIG. 6; FIG.

9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image change detection block of a modification.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the affected part detection block in FIG. 4; FIG.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the structure of a specific color detection block in FIG. 10; FIG.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a specific color change detection block in FIG. 10; FIG.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the color distribution characteristic detection block in FIG. 10; FIG.

14A to 14F are diagrams showing examples of hue and saturation of normal portions and discolored portions.

15 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a color space conversion block.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing the structure of a color histogram calculation block in FIG. 13; FIG.

Fig. 17A is a histogram memory operation diagram at the time of inputting the color value A in Fig. 16;

FIG. 17B is a histogram memory operation diagram at the time of inputting the color value B in FIG. 16; FIG.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a color distribution characteristic detection block in FIG.

19A and 19B are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the color distribution characteristic detection block.

20 to 25 are related to the second embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 20 is a block diagram showing the structure of a processing block in the second embodiment.

21 is a timing chart diagram of a processing block.

Fig. 22 is a block diagram showing the structure of an image size reduction block.

Fig. 23 is an explanatory diagram of image cutting block operation;

24 is an explanatory diagram of image reduction.

25 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a compressed block.

<Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention>

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiment of this invention is described with reference to drawings.

(1st embodiment)

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 19 (b). First, the basic structure of the system used for this embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope imaging apparatus or the endoscope imaging system 1 of the first embodiment of the present invention is inserted into the human body 2 to perform imaging in the human body 2, and wirelessly transmit image data. And an extracorporeal unit 4 that receives image data wirelessly transmitted from the imaging unit 3, and accumulates and displays the image data.

As shown in FIG. 1, the imaging unit 3 incorporates a block such as the imaging block 13 described in FIG. 2 and a battery 21 in a capsule-shaped sealed container 5. Electrical energy from 21 is supplied to the imaging block 13 and the like. And the imaging unit 3 transmits the image picked up by the imaging block 13 to the extracorporeal unit 4 arrange | positioned outside the body wirelessly.

The extracorporeal unit 4 receives and demodulates the image data transmitted by being modulated by the radio from the imaging unit 3 side by the communication block 7. The extracorporeal unit 4 stores the demodulated image data in the image storage block 8, sends it to the monitor 9 side, and displays the image picked up on the display surface of the monitor 9. In addition, the extracorporeal unit 4 may send the image data accumulated in the image accumulation block 8 to the monitor 9 side and display the image.

2 shows a configuration of an electric system of the imaging unit 3. The imaging unit 3 consists of the objective optical system 11 which forms an optical image, such as an inspection object site | part in the body cavity into which this imaging unit 3 was inserted, and (solid) imaging elements 12, such as CCD and CMOS sensors. In the image memory 14 and the image data accumulated in the image memory 14, which are imaged by the imaging block 13 and the imaging element 12, and once accumulate digital image data through an A / D converter (not shown). On the other hand, there is a processing block 15 which performs various processes, and a data memory 16 which once accumulates the processing data processed by the processing block 15.

In addition, the imaging unit 3 reads processing data from the data memory 16 and sends it to the extracorporeal unit 4, and further receives a command for controlling the imaging unit 3 from the extracorporeal unit 4. Communication block 17, and a division block 18 for generating a clock required in each block.

The imaging unit 3 further includes a control block 9 for outputting a control signal to each block, a clock selector 20 for changing the processing speed of the image data, and each block, imaging element 12, or the like. A battery 21 for supplying power for driving an electric device of an electric device, and an illumination block formed of a white LED and the like not shown for illuminating the inspection target site side imaged by the imaging block 13.

The control block 19 has an imaging control signal for controlling imaging in the imaging element 12, a processing control signal for controlling processing in the processing block 15, and a communication control for controlling communication in the communication block 17. The clock selector 20 outputs a signal to a memory clock control signal for switching the frequency of the image clock for writing and reading the image memory 14, respectively.

In addition, the processing block 15 detects a predetermined feature amount from the picture with respect to the picture from the image memory 14 as described later, and the effective portion of the picture, for example, the affected part, from the output of the feature amount. (Or an image of interest), the affected part detection signal is output to the control block 19, and when it is determined that the image is invalid, the image invalid detection signal is output to the control block 19. FIG. In addition, when the communication block 17 receives a command from the external unit 4, the communication block 17 supplies the command to the control block 19.

In addition, in this embodiment, in order to downsize the imaging unit 3, the clock by the single crystal oscillator 22 is divided in the frequency division block 18, and the communication clock and process which supplies to the communication block 17 are processed. The processing clock supplied to the block 15, the image clock supplied to the imaging device 12, and the image memory 14 are generated.

In addition, as described in the second embodiment, by transmitting a command from the extracorporeal unit 4 to the control block 19 by the user, the user control as a control signal from the control block 19 to the processing block 15 by the user. A signal is sent and the processing operation by the processing block 15 can also be controlled.

3 shows an operation timing chart of the imaging unit 3.

The imaging start pulse is a signal generated from a CPU (not shown) or the like which forms the controller of the control block 19 so as to send an image at a predetermined cycle. The imaging block 13 starts imaging by an imaging start pulse, and the picked-up image data is stored in the image memory 14 (this process is shown by S1 in FIG. 3. Hereinafter, S2 etc. are also the same).

After storing the image data for one screen, the processing block 15 reads the image data from the image memory 14 (S2), performs processing such as compression and feature detection, and the processing of the processing block 15. The result is stored in the data memory 16 (S3). After the end of the processing, the data accumulated in the data memory 16 is sent to the communication block 17, modulated in the communication block 17, and transmitted to the extracorporeal unit 4 (S4).

 As shown in Fig. 3, in the basic system of the present embodiment, each block is in a sequence not operating at the same time, thereby lowering the peak value of power consumption from the battery 21. That is, as shown in the lowermost part of Fig. 3, image processing for storing the captured and picked up image, image processing for reading out the stored image, processing the image and storing the result in the data memory 16, and image processed data. This is a sequence of time division of transmission processing to be read and transmitted and processing them sequentially.

As described above, the image clock is supplied to the image memory 14 or the like.

Here, the image signal needs a high speed clock to some extent due to constraints such as the frame rate.

At the time of imaging, since most blocks (inner blocks) except the imaging block 13 in the imaging unit 3 shown in FIG. 3 hardly operate, power consumption does not become large, but at the time of a process and a transmission, an imaging unit Since most of the internal blocks in (3) operate, the power consumption is reduced by operating the internal blocks at a low speed clock.

In other words, the processing block 15 is operated with a processing clock slower than the image clock, and the communication block 17 is also operated with a communication clock slower than the image clock.

In this case, the power consumption of the image memory 14 is reduced by using the clock selector 20 for switching the high speed and low speed clocks at the time of imaging and processing. That is, the control block 19 controls the clock selector 20 by the memory clock control signal, so that the high speed image clock is supplied to the image memory 14 at the time of imaging and the low processing clock is supplied to the image memory 14. Switching.

4B to 19B, a more detailed configuration and operation of the present embodiment will be described. 4 shows the configuration of the processing block 15 in the present embodiment.

The image data entered into the processing block includes a compression block 24 which compresses the image data, an image invalid detection block constituting a feature amount detecting means for detecting the feature amount by the image data, and a determining means for determining the validity thereof ( 25) and the affected part detection block 26.

The compression block 24 compresses the image data into compressed data having a reduced data amount, and stores the data in the data memory 16.

The image invalidation detection block 25 detects a feature amount relating to invalidity such as white fluttering, black collapse, or unchanged image in the image, and determines whether the image is invalid. Outputs an image invalid detection signal.

In addition, the affected part detection block 26 detects a feature amount relating to the presence or absence of the affected part or the like in the image data, and judges whether or not it is the image of interest from the detected result, and if detected, outputs the affected part detection signal. do.

The image invalid detection signal and the return detection signal are input to the control block 19, respectively. The control block 19 controls the next imaging timing and image data transmission based on these signals.

5 shows a timing chart of the processing block 15.

First, when the image invalid detection signal is active (H level), the processing block 15 does not send image data and extends the next imaging cycle. Thereby, processing and delivery of the wasteful image determined to be invalid are not performed (in this case, the status of the imaging unit 3 is referred to as image invalidation (status)).

 When the image invalid detection signal is not active and the affected part detection signal is not active (H level), the imaging block 13 performs imaging at a predetermined cycle, and the processing block 15 is an extracorporeal image as a normal site. Transmission is performed to the unit 4 (in this case, the status of the imaging unit 3 is called a normal site image (status)).

In addition, when the affected part detection signal is active, the image to be noted is considered to be imaged. Therefore, the processing block 15 shortens the imaging / sending cycle in order to increase the diagnostic ability, acquires a large number of images around the affected part, 4) (in this case, the status of the imaging unit 3 is referred to as an affected part image (status)).

Thus, in this embodiment, the processing block 15 detects the feature amount of the image with respect to the picked-up image, determines the validity of the image whether the feature amount includes an invalid part or an effective part, According to the determination result, the sending rate of the image data sent from the communication block 17 to the extracorporeal unit 4 is controlled.

In other words, when it is determined that the image contains an invalid part, when the sending rate is stopped and when it is determined that the image is a normal image, it is determined that it is the normal sending rate, and when it is determined that the effective part such as a return part is included. Control to increase the delivery rate.

By controlling in this way, while the power of the battery 21 is consumed for sending image data having a large amount of information, the sending rate of the effective image required by the user is increased, the sending rate of other images is reduced, and the battery 21 The power consumption by) is automatically adjusted to an appropriate state.

Apart from the above operation, the control block 19 controls the imaging / sending cycle by receiving a command from the external unit 4, and further, by receiving a separate command. The control of the imaging and sending cycle is invalidated, or the control by the command from the extracorporeal unit 4 is prioritized so that the imaging and sending cycle can be controlled.

As a result, when a higher determination is made on the external unit 4 side, the determination result is transmitted to the imaging unit 3 by a command, and the imaging / transmission rate by the imaging unit 3 is controlled by the command. It becomes possible.

Next, the detailed structure and operation | movement of each block are demonstrated.

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the image invalid detection block 25 in FIG.

The image invalid detection block 25 is comprised of the luminance range detection block 27, the image change detection block 28, the image compression size comparison block 29, and the OR circuit 30 to which these output signals are input. do.

The luminance range detection block 27 detects an average value of luminance values, and outputs an out of luminance range detection signal to the OR circuit 30 when it is too bright and too dark. The image change detection block 28 detects, from the image data, the average luminance value, and the (image) compression size, whether there is no change in the image, that is, whether the imaging unit 3 does not move in the body, The image unchanged detection signal is output to the OR circuit 30.

The image compression size comparison block 29 compares whether or not the compression size of the image is equal to or smaller than the threshold (Th_size), and if it is smaller than or equal to this value, for example, in the case of a blurry image with an inadequate focus, the image compression size comparison block 29 The detection signal is output to the OR circuit 30. When any one of the above is detected, the image invalid detection signal is output to the control block 19 via the OR circuit 30.

In Fig. 6, the operation of comparing whether or not the compression size is equal to or smaller than the threshold Th_size by the image compression size comparison block 29 is shown below (). This comparison operation is similarly useful in other drawings.

FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the luminance range detection block 27 in FIG.

The luminance range detection block 27 includes a luminance value integration block 31 that integrates the luminance values of all the pixels of the input image signal, and the luminance value integration value accumulated by the luminance value integration block 31. Multiplication block 32 to multiply by a division or 1 / pixel number to calculate an average luminance value Yav of the image signal.

In addition, the luminance range detection block 27 determines whether the average luminance value Yav output from the multiplication block 32 is smaller than the threshold Thr_Black of the black level or larger than the threshold Thr_White of the back level. OR, to which the output signals of the black level threshold comparison block 33 and the back level threshold comparison block 34 which respectively perform the comparison or not, and the black level threshold comparison block 33 and the back level threshold comparison block 34 are inputted; Has a circuit 35.

And this luminance range detection block 27 outputs the signal out of the luminance range which judged from the OR circuit 35 whether an image is too dark or too bright.

8 is an example of the image change detection block 28 in FIG. The image change detection block 28 of this example detects a change in the image from the above-described average luminance value Yav and the compression size output from the compression block 24.

For this reason, the average luminance value Yav and the compression size are held in the previous frame average luminance value holding block 36 and the previous frame compressed size holding block 37 each holding the one before the frame.

The average luminance value Yav of one frame before and the average luminance value of the current frame are input to the average luminance value comparison block 38, and the compression size comparison block 39 of the compression size and the current frame's compression size before one frame is used. Is entered.

The average luminance value comparison block 38 and the compression size comparison block 39 calculate the difference between the previous frame and the current frame of each value, and determine that there is no change in the image when the absolute value is within a certain range. And an unchanged detection signal having an average luminance value and a compression size, respectively, is output to the AND circuit 40.

The AND circuit 40 outputs an image unchanged detection signal by a logical product of two unchanged detection signals with an average luminance value and a compressed size.

9 shows a modification of the image change detection block 28. In the image change detection block 28 of this modification, the image of the current frame and the image of the previous frame are read from the image memory 14 of FIG. 2, and both images are input to the image difference calculating block 41. .

In this image difference calculating block 41, the difference between the current frame and the previous frame is calculated for each pixel, and the resultant difference image is input to the difference integration block 42, and the integrated value is calculated. The integrated value is input to the difference integrated value comparison block 43.

The difference integration value comparison block 43 compares the integration value for one frame with a predetermined threshold value (for example, Th), determines that the image is not changed when it does not reach the threshold value, and performs an image unchanged detection signal. Output

As described above, when the image is not visible, is too bright or too dark, or is determined to be equivalent to a previously sent image, it is desirable to reduce the power consumption of the battery 2l so as not to transmit image data. It is possible.

The structure of the affected part detection block 26 in FIG. 4 is shown in FIG.

The affected part detection block 26 of this embodiment detects the affected part (ulcer, tumor, bleeding, etc.) discolored from a normal site | part, and the specific color detection block 46 into which image data R, G, B is inputted. And a color distribution characteristic detection block 47, a specific color change detection block 48 for detecting a specific color change from the number of specific color pixels from the specific color detection block 46, and output signals from these three blocks. It consists of an OR circuit 49 which is input.

The specific color detection block 46 into which the image data R, G, and B are inputted detects the affected part by whether or not the number of pixels in the predetermined or specified color space of the affected part is a certain amount or more. The color detection signal is output to the OR circuit 49.

Further, the specific color change detection block 48 detects the affected part when there is a change in the number of pixels of the predetermined color space, that is, the number of specific color pixels of the affected part, and in this case, the specific color change detection signal is detected. Output to OR circuit 49.

The color distribution characteristic detection block 47 calculates the hue and saturation from the input image data, and detects the affected part from the characteristic. In this case, the color distribution characteristic detection signal is output to the OR circuit 49. . By detecting these in parallel, it becomes possible to reliably detect even if there is a certain individual difference with respect to the discoloration of an affected part.

In the case of FIG. 10, when any one of a specific color detection signal, a specific color change detection signal, and a color distribution characteristic detection signal is detected, the affected part detection signal is output to the control block 19 via the OR circuit 49. .

The configuration and operation of each block in FIG. 10 will be described below. 11 shows the configuration of the specific color detection block 46.

The specific color detection block 46 compares each value of the image signal (R, G, B in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10) with a threshold value, respectively, in a predetermined range or not. The comparison block 51 performs the operation.

Specifically, as shown in Fig. 11, in the image data comparison block 51, a comparison determination is made as to whether the values of R, G, and B are Th_Min <R <Th_Max, Th_Min <G <Th_Max, Th_Min <B <Th_Max, respectively. And the result is output to the AND circuit, and the result of their AND is obtained by the AND circuit.

When all of R, G, and B are within a predetermined range, they are output as the specific color pixels to the next specific color pixel count block 52, and the specific color pixel count block 52 counts the number of pixels. Do it.

Thereby, the value (number of specific color pixels) which the specific color pixel in an image occupies is detected. This specific color pixel number is input to the specific color change detection block 48 shown in FIG. 10 and input to the specific color pixel number comparison block 53 shown in FIG.

In the specific color pixel number comparison block 53, the specific color pixel number is compared with a predetermined threshold Th_Num, and if it is equal to or larger than the threshold Th_Num, it is determined that the specific color of the affected part is detected. The number of specific color pixels (value) described above is output to the specific color change detection block 46.

12 shows the configuration of the specific color change detection block 48 in FIG.

The number of specific color pixels is input from the specific color detection block 46 into the all-frame specific color pixel number maintaining block 56 and the specific color pixel number difference calculation block 57 constituting the specific color change detection block 48, In the previous frame specific color pixel count holding block 56, the value of the specific color pixel count of the previous frame is maintained.

The specific color pixel number difference calculating block 57 calculates a difference between the number of specific color pixels in the previous frame and the current frame, and the result of the calculation is input to the specific color pixel number difference comparing block 58. In this specific color pixel number difference comparison block 58, whether or not the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value is compared with the threshold value Th-Dif. If the threshold value is equal to or greater than the threshold value Th_Dif, the specific color change is detected and specified. Output the color change detection signal.

FIG. 13 shows the configuration of the color distribution characteristic detection block 47 in FIG.

The color space conversion block 47 converts the input RGB image into color and saturation by the color space conversion block 61. Next, for each value, each histogram (frequency distribution) of hue and saturation is detected by the color histogram calculation block 62 and the chroma histogram calculation block 63, respectively.

The color histogram and the chroma histogram (data) are input to the color distribution characteristic detection block 64 and the chroma distribution characteristic detection block 65, respectively. The color distribution characteristic detection block 64 and the saturation distribution characteristic detection block 65 detect whether each histogram has a predetermined characteristic described later, and when detected, the color distribution characteristic detection signal and the saturation distribution, respectively. The characteristic detection signal is output to the OR circuit 66.

When it is detected that either one has a predetermined characteristic, the color distribution characteristic detection signal is output through the OR circuit 66.

Fig. 14 shows an example of the color distribution characteristics of the hue and saturation of the affected part.

14A and 14B are characteristic examples of hue and saturation of normal portions, respectively. In the normal region, the picked-in viscera are almost uniform, so peaks occur at one place in both hue and saturation.

14C and 14D are characteristic examples of hue and saturation in the case where the discoloration site | part which discolored by ulceration and tumor was image | photographed. Since the colors of some of the images are different from each other, one peak is generated which is different from the peak value of the normal region.

14E and 14F are examples of characteristics of color and saturation when photographing a part where discoloration has occurred due to bleeding or the like. In this case, the color is not changed, but since the saturation is different at the normal part and the bleeding part, There is one peak different from the peak occurring at the normal site.

Thus, when there is a discoloration part in an image, several peaks generate | occur | produce a predetermined distance in the histogram of hue and saturation.

Next, the detailed operation of each block is demonstrated.

FIG. 15 shows an example of the configuration of the color space conversion block 61 in FIG. This converts the input image data in the RGB space into hue (H) and saturation (S).

For this reason, the image data is input to the Max value detection block 71 and the Min value detection block 72. With respect to the input image data, the Max value detection block 71 and the Min value detection block 72 compare the respective values of R, G, and B of each pixel, select the maximum value and the minimum value, and respectively, the Max value. , Min values are output to the chroma calculation block 73 and the color calculation block 74. In addition, the Max value detection block 71 outputs a Max-RGB signal indicating which of the Max values RGB is to the color calculation block 74. In addition, image data is also input to the color calculation block 74.

Saturation calculation block 73,

Saturation S = (Max-Min) / (Max)

The saturation is calculated from the Max and Min values described above.

Further, the color calculation block 74 calculates the color value by the following calculation from the Max-RGB signal indicating which of the values of Max is RGB.

In other words, if R is Max,

Color H = (G-B) / (Max-Min)

If G is Max,

Color H = 2 + (B-R) / (Max-Min)

If B is Max,

Color H = 4 + (R-G) / (Max-Min)

Calculate the color as.

FIG. 16 shows the configuration of the color histogram calculation block 62 in FIG. This color histogram calculation block 62 is composed of a histogram memory 76 and an adder 77 that adds +1.

The color value is input to the address of the histogram memory 76, and when the color value is input, the value stored at the address is added by one. 17A and 17B show the operation of the histogram memory 76.

17A illustrates a case where a color value is input. One is added to the data N stored at the address A, and N + 1 is stored. 17B is a case where the color value is continuously input, 1 is added to M stored at the address B, and M + 1 is added. By repeating the above operation for all the pixels, the frequency distribution of each color value is stored in the histogram memory 76.

In addition, since the chroma histogram calculation block 63 in FIG. 13 also becomes the same structure, description of the structure and operation is abbreviate | omitted.

FIG. 18 shows the configuration of the color distribution characteristic detection block 64 in FIG. The color distribution characteristic detection block 64 is a histogram value comparison block 81 for comparing the histogram value Hist with a predetermined threshold Th_Hist, and a corresponding color when the comparison result exceeds the threshold Th_Hist. Latch circuits 82a and 82b for latching a value, a color value difference calculation block 83 for calculating a difference between latched color values, and a color value difference comparison block 84 for comparing whether the difference is within a predetermined range or not; It is composed by.

Next, the operation of the color distribution characteristic detection block 64 will be described using Figs. 19A and 19B.

FIG. 19A illustrates an input color value histogram, and FIG. 19B illustrates an operation of detecting a distance between color values by comparing a color value histogram value and a threshold value.

Thus, the histogram value comparison block 81 outputs a pulse in the vicinity of the position of the peak value of the histogram by comparing with the threshold value. The latch circuits 82a and 82b of Fig. 18 latch corresponding color values by this pulse, respectively. Each latched color value is used, and the next color value difference calculating block 83 calculates the distance between the color values.

That is, the distance between peak color values is obtained as described above with reference to Fig. 19B. When this distance is within a predetermined range (in FIG. 18, this range is represented by Th_DIF1 <difference <Th_DIF2), the color value difference comparison block 84 assumes that there are portions having a different color from the normal image. Outputs a color distribution characteristic detection signal.

In addition, the chroma distribution characteristic detection block 65 of FIG. 13 is also implemented by the same structure.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a predetermined feature amount such as the number of pixels having a specific color in the image is detected from the captured image, and the validity of the detected result is determined to determine the image of the captured image. Since the delivery rate to the extracorporeal unit 4 side is controlled, the power consumption by the image transmission with a heavy load by the battery 21 can be set to an appropriate state.

 In addition, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to efficiently obtain the necessary image from the extracorporeal unit 4 side, and the effect of unnecessary or greatly reducing the laborious work of extracting the necessary image from the useless image as in the conventional example is provided. have.

In other words, in the case of capturing an invalid image, useless power consumption due to the image transmission can be reduced, and in the case of an effective image, the extracorporeal unit 4 can display a detailed image for diagnosis without suppressing the image transmission rate. Can be used to effectively transmit the electrical energy of the battery 21, and can efficiently collect diagnostic images.

In addition, even when the color of the affected part is different from each other due to individual differences or the like, the affected part such as discoloration and bleeding can be reliably detected, the detailed image for diagnosis is sent out, and the image diagnosis by the operator is performed. It is possible to improve the environment.

(2nd embodiment)

20-25, the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is described.

20 shows the configuration of the processing block 15 in the second embodiment. The image data entered into the processing block 15 is input to the image size reduction block 85, the image invalid detection block 25, and the affected part detection block 26, respectively.

The image size reduction block 85 is a block that controls the reduction of the image size by the control from the image invalidity detection block 25 and the affected part detection block 26.

That is, the image size reduction block 85 reduces the image size by the image invalid detection signal from the image invalid detection block 25, and when the affected part detection signal from the affected area detection block 26 is input, the image is reduced. Suppresses the reduction in size.

The output image of this image size reduction block 85 is input to the compression block 86. The compression block 86 changes the compression ratio in accordance with the control signal from the affected part detection block 26, and outputs the compressed image to the communication block 17 in FIG. 2.

In other words, when the affected part detection signal from the affected part detection block 26 is input, the compressed block 86 lowers the compression rate of the image data and sends the compressed data compressed at the low compression rate to the communication block 17. do.

The communication block 17 transmits this compressed data to the extracorporeal unit 4.

The image invalidation detection block 25 detects that an image is invalid (white flickering, black collapse, unaccepted acquisition image, etc.). In addition, the affected part detection block 26 detects the presence or absence of the affected part or the like by image data.

In addition, by the command received from the extracorporeal unit 4, the control rate of the image size is also controlled by the user control signal output from the control block 19, and the control by the image invalid signal or the lesion detection signal is performed. The on / off control is performed. As described above, the compression rate and the like of the image size can be controlled by the command input from the user.

21 shows a timing chart of the processing block 15.

In the case of image invalidation detection, the image size is minimized and the compression ratio is also the highest. As a result, the amount of outgoing data is minimized. This is mainly for sending out the minimum information for monitoring the state of the imaging unit 3.

Next, in the case where the detection is not invalid and the lesion is not detected, that is, in the case of a normal portion, the image size and the compression ratio are made medium. This is for sending out to the extracorporeal unit 4 with reference to the image of a normal site | part. When the affected part detection is active, the image size is not reduced in order to increase the amount of information of the affected image, and the compression rate is also lowered to output to the outside at the highest image quality.

In addition, since the affected part detection block 26 and the image invalidity detection block 25 of FIG. 20 are the same structures as 1st Embodiment, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

22A shows the configuration of the image size reduction block 85 in the present embodiment.

The image size reduction block 85 is composed of an image clipping block 87, a bit length reduction block 88, an image reduction block 89 and selectors 90a, 90b, 90c for selecting an image from each block. Then, control such as size reduction is performed from the original image by the affected part detection signal, the image invalid signal, and the user control signal.

As shown in FIG. 22B, as a result of determination by the image invalid signal and the lesion detection signal, specifically, an image reduced in size from the original image according to the image invalidity, the normal site image pickup, the lesion detection, etc. Output is made via selectors 90a to 90c.

For example, the image cropping block 87 reduces the number of pixels by reducing the screen angle (pixel size of the image) by cropping the image.

23 shows an example of image cropping by the image cropping block 87. In this example, only the central portion of the image having 640x480 pixels as the original image is cut out and output as the image of the central portion, specifically, the 160x120 pixel. For example, when the image invalid signal detects the image invalid, the cut out image is output to the rear end side. If the image invalid signal does not detect image invalid, the original image which does not perform image cropping is output to the rear end side.

The bit length reduction block 88 in Fig. 22A reduces the image size by reducing the bit length of the image.

In this embodiment, the bit length of an image is reduced by, for example, reducing the gradation of 8 bits to 4 bits.

The image reduction block 89 performs thinning of the pixel, and the example is illustrated in FIG. 24. In this example, the 640x480 image shown on the upper side is reduced to 160x120 pixels by thinning as shown on the lower side. In general, since thinning of a simple pixel causes a problem in image quality, processing is performed along with interpolation by algorithms such as bilinear and bicubic.

In this embodiment, when it is judged that an image is invalid, the image of the level which can judge whether the state of the imaging unit 3, namely, white fly, black collapse, and stop, has occurred, is sent out. At this time, the image cropping section is used to make only a part of the screen angle, and bit length is reduced to 4 bits by reducing the bit length, and the image is reduced.

Next, when both the image invalidation and the affected part are not detected, since the image of the normal part is sent for reference, image cutting and bit length reduction are stopped, and only the image is reduced and the image is output.

In addition, at the time of detecting a lesion, no image size reduction is performed in order to obtain the best image quality for diagnosis.

In addition, as described above, the control of each block can also be performed by the user control signal by the command received from the external unit 4.

As described above, the image data whose image size is reduced is compressed by the compression block 86. In the present embodiment, JPEG is used to compress the image. However, in the case of JPEG-based compression, the compression ratio can be arbitrarily changed by the table of the compression parameters.

FIG. 25 shows a schematic configuration of the compression block 86 in FIG. 20. The compression block 86 includes a high compression table 91, a medium compression table 92, a low compression table 93, which compresses at high, medium, and low compression rates, respectively, and a selector 94 for selecting one from them. ) And a JPEG block 95 that performs JPEG compression on the selected compression table.

When the image invalid detection signal is input in this manner, the compression table is switched to a high compression ratio, when the affected part detection signal is input, the compression ratio is switched to a low compression ratio, and when neither is detected, a medium table is used. do.

In addition, similar to the image size reduction block, the table can be controlled by the user control signal by the command received from the external unit 4.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image size and the compressed data size are switched according to the determination result of the importance (validity) of the image, thereby reducing the power consumption by shortening the compression and communication time, and at the time of diagnosis. It is possible to transmit the required high quality image.

Moreover, by controlling in this way, the power consumption of the battery 21 in the case of an unnecessary image can be suppressed, and long time use is attained.

Various modifications are possible as well as the present invention, and in the above-described embodiments, the control of the transmission interval of the image data and the control of the transmission data size are separately performed, but it is also possible to use them in combination.

Further, in the detection of lesions, applications such as detecting whether an area having a desired color has a predetermined size and using it in combination with the above-described method can be considered, and these cases also belong to the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is unnecessary to provide a sensor in the imaging unit, and the amount of transmission of the image to the extracorporeal unit side can be controlled to an appropriate value.

As mentioned above, the endoscope imaging apparatus of this invention inserts an imaging unit in a body, image | captures each part of a body by this imaging unit, and transmits the image picked up to the external unit arrange | positioned outside the body wirelessly. By appropriately controlling the transfer amount of the image transmitted to the extracorporeal unit side, an image suitable for endoscopy can be obtained.

Claims (30)

In an endoscope imaging apparatus for imaging an image in the body by an imaging unit inserted in the body, and wirelessly transmitting the image to an extracorporeal unit disposed outside the body, The imaging unit, Imaging means for acquiring an image; Data sending means for sending out the images acquired by the imaging means to the external unit at a plurality of sending rates; Feature amount detecting means for detecting a feature amount from the image, And determining means for determining the validity of the image from the output of the feature amount detecting means, And the data sending means controls the data sending rate according to the determination result outputted by the determining means. The method of claim 1, The determination means has invalidity determination means for determining whether the image is invalid or valid, and attention image determination means for determining whether the image is the attention image, And if the image is invalid, outputting the result, and if the image is not invalid, determining whether the image is of interest and outputting the result. The method of claim 1, The feature amount detecting means has pixel number detecting means for detecting the quantity of pixels having a specific color in the image as the feature amount, The determining means validates the image when the quantity of the specific color pixels is equal to or greater than a threshold value. In an endoscope imaging apparatus for imaging an image in a body by an imaging unit and wirelessly transmitting the image to an extracorporeal unit, The imaging unit includes imaging means for acquiring an image; Compression means for compressing the image acquired by the imaging means, Data sending means for sending the data compressed by the compression means to the extracorporeal unit at a plurality of sending rates; And determining means for determining the validity of the image by comparing the data size compressed by the compression means with a threshold value, And the data sending means controls the data sending rate according to the determination result outputted by the determining means. The method of claim 4, wherein The determination means has invalidity determination means for determining whether the image is invalid or valid, and attention image determination means for determining whether the image is the attention image, And if the image is invalid, outputting the result, and if the image is not invalid, determining whether the image is of interest and outputting the result. The method of claim 4, wherein The feature amount detecting means has pixel number detecting means for detecting the quantity of pixels having a specific color in the image as the feature amount, And the determining means validates the image when the quantity of the specific color pixels is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The method of claim 1, The feature amount detecting means includes pixel number detecting means for detecting a quantity of pixels having a specific color in an image, pixel number accumulating means for accumulating the detected pixel number, and past pixels accumulated in the pixel number accumulating means. Has a pixel number comparison calculating means for comparing the number of pixels with the current number of pixels and outputting the amount of change in the number of pixels as a feature; And the determining means validates the image when the amount of change in the number of pixels is equal to or larger than a threshold value. The method of claim 1, The feature amount detecting means compares the color distribution detecting means for detecting the characteristic of the color distribution in the image with the detected color distribution and the predetermined color distribution, and performs a color distribution comparison operation for outputting an error of the color distribution as the feature amount. With the means, And the determining means validates the image when the error of the color distribution is equal to or less than a threshold value. The method of claim 1, The feature amount detecting means has a brightness mean value calculating means for detecting an average value of the brightness values in the image as the feature amount, And the determining means validates the image when the luminance average value is within a predetermined range. The method of claim 1, The feature variable detecting means includes luminance average value calculating means for detecting an average value of luminance values in an image, luminance average value accumulating means for accumulating the luminance average value, past luminance average value and current luminance average value accumulated in the luminance average value accumulating means. Has a luminance average value comparison calculating means for comparing and calculating and outputting the amount of change in the luminance average value as the feature amount, The determination means validates the image when the amount of change in the luminance average value is greater than or equal to the threshold value. The method of claim 1, The feature amount detecting means calculates a difference between the image storing means for accumulating the captured image and the past image data accumulated in the image storing means and the current image data, and outputs the image data difference calculated as the feature amount. With the means, The determination means determines the image as valid when the difference becomes equal to or greater than a threshold. The method of claim 1, The imaging unit, Having command receiving means for receiving a plurality of types of commands from an extracorporeal unit, The data sending means controls the data sending rate by the command received by the command receiving means, and invalidates the control of the data sending rate by the determining means by another command received by the command receiving means. An endoscope imaging device, characterized in that. In an endoscope imaging apparatus for imaging an image in a body by an imaging unit and wirelessly transmitting the image to an extracorporeal unit, The imaging unit, Imaging means for acquiring an image, data processing means for performing a process of reducing the data amount at a plurality of ratios with respect to the image acquired by the imaging means, and sending out data processed by the data processing means to an extracorporeal unit. Data sending means, feature amount detecting means for detecting a feature amount from the image, and determining means for determining the validity of the image from the feature amount, The data processing means controls the data amount reduction rate in accordance with a determination result outputted by the determination means. The method of claim 13, The determination means has invalidity determination means for determining whether the image is invalid or valid, and attention image determination means for determining whether the image is the attention image, And if the image is invalid, outputting the result, and if the image is not invalid, determining whether the image is of interest and outputting the result. The method of claim 13, The feature amount detecting means has pixel number detecting means for detecting the quantity of pixels having a specific color in the image as the feature amount, And the determining means validates the image when the quantity of the specific color pixels is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The method of claim 13, The feature amount detecting means includes pixel number detecting means for detecting a quantity of pixels having a specific color in an image, pixel number accumulating means for accumulating the detected pixel number, and past pixels accumulated in the pixel number accumulating means. Has a pixel number comparison calculating means for comparing the number of pixels with the current number of pixels and outputting the amount of change in the number of pixels as a feature; And the determining means validates the image when the amount of change in the number of pixels is equal to or larger than a threshold value. The method of claim 13, The feature amount detecting means compares the color distribution detecting means for detecting the characteristic of the color distribution in the image with the detected color distribution and the predetermined color distribution, and performs a color distribution comparison operation for outputting an error of the color distribution as the feature amount. With the means, And the determining means validates the image when the error of the color distribution is equal to or less than a threshold value. The method of claim 13, The feature amount detecting means has a brightness mean value calculating means for detecting an average value of the brightness values in the image as the feature amount, And the determining means validates the image when the luminance average value is within a predetermined range. The method of claim 13, The feature variable detecting means includes luminance average value calculating means for detecting an average value of luminance values in an image, luminance average value accumulating means for accumulating the luminance average value, past luminance average value and current luminance average value accumulated in the luminance average value accumulating means. Has a luminance average value comparison calculating means for comparing and calculating and outputting the amount of change in the luminance average value as the feature amount, The determination means validates the image when the amount of change in the luminance average value is greater than or equal to the threshold value. The method of claim 13, The feature amount detecting means calculates a difference between the image storing means for accumulating the captured image and the past image data accumulated in the image storing means and the current image data, and outputs the image data difference calculated as the feature amount. With the means, The determination means determines the image as valid when the difference becomes equal to or greater than a threshold. The method of claim 13, The data processing means has an image reduction means for reducing the image data at a plurality of reduction ratios. The method of claim 13, The data processing means has bit length adjusting means for switching the bit length of the image data into a plurality of lengths. The method of claim 13, The said data processing means has image cutting means which cuts out a part of image data, and outputs it. The method of claim 13, The data processing means has compression means for compressing image data at a plurality of compression ratios. The method of claim 13, The imaging unit, And a command receiving means for receiving a plurality of types of commands from an extracorporeal unit, wherein the data processing means controls the data amount reduction rate by the command received by the command receiving means, and further receives the command received means. An endoscope imaging device, characterized in that to invalidate the control of the data amount reduction rate by said determining means by another command. delete The method of claim 4, wherein The imaging unit, A command receiving means for receiving a plurality of types of commands from an extracorporeal unit, wherein the data sending means controls a data sending rate by a command received by the command receiving means, and a separate command received by the command receiving means. An endoscope imaging device, characterized in that to invalidate the control of a data sending rate by said determining means by a command of. In an endoscope imaging apparatus for imaging an image in a body by an imaging unit and wirelessly transmitting the image to an extracorporeal unit, The imaging unit, Image pickup means for acquiring an image, compression means for compressing the image acquired by the image pickup means, data sending means for sending out data compressed by the compression means to the external unit at a plurality of delivery rates, and the compression means. Compressed data size accumulating means for accumulating the compressed data size by means of; compressed data size difference calculating means for calculating the difference between the past compressed data size accumulated in the compressed data size accumulating means and the current compressed data size; And a judging means for judging the validity of the image by comparing the difference of the compressed data size and a threshold value, And the data sending means controls the data sending rate according to the determination result outputted by the determining means. The method of claim 28, The imaging unit has command receiving means for receiving a plurality of types of commands from an extracorporeal unit, and the data sending means controls the data sending rate by the command received by the command receiving means and further receives the command. An endoscope imaging device, characterized in that the control of the data sending rate by the determining means is invalidated by a separate command received by the means. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 25 or 27 to 29, The imaging unit, Further comprising storage means for storing the image acquired by the imaging means, When storing the image, the storage means operates at the same high speed clock as the image pickup means, and when processing the image, the storage means operates at the same low speed clock as the processing means that performs the processing. .

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