JP2014018471A - Image processor of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a specific image in a moving image at a time different from a still image photographing time together with an image parameter of the specific image.SOLUTION: An image processor 14 of an endoscope includes imaging means 12, a buffer memory 38 for storing a plurality of images which are photographed by the imaging means 12 and temporally continue, and selection means 40. The imaging means 12 continuously photographs the inside of a body from before a signal, showing that a photographic button 30 is pressed down, is inputted. The selection means 40 selects a specific image from among a plurality of images. A buffer memory 38 stores images from before a prescribed time of a photographing time to the photographing time, and an image processing IC 40 stores an image parameter being a photographing condition to each image.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for an endoscope.

  Conventionally, in an endoscope processor capable of outputting observation image data, a function of selecting a specific image having a feature such as the smallest blur among frames from a still image capturing time to a predetermined time before is known. (Patent Document 1). In this function, on the display screen of the selected specific image, image parameters representing shooting conditions such as brightness and brightness at the shooting time are displayed.

JP 2012-90701 A

  However, in this configuration, the image parameter of the still image shooting time is displayed together with the specific image regardless of whether or not the selected image is of the still image shooting time. That is, when the selected image is not at the still image shooting time, there is a problem that the displayed image parameter does not match the image parameter of the specific image. When the shooting condition is changed immediately before the still image shooting time, the image parameter on the screen display and the image processing condition are deviated.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope image processing apparatus capable of displaying both a specific image in a moving image at a time different from a still image shooting time and an image parameter of the specific image. It is said.

  An image processing apparatus for an endoscope according to the present invention includes an imaging unit that continuously images the inside of a body before a signal indicating that a shooting button has been pressed, and a temporal image that is captured by the imaging unit. An image memory for storing a plurality of consecutive images, a parameter memory for storing image parameters for the plurality of images, and a selection means for selecting a specific image from the plurality of images. One image is stored from a predetermined time before the shooting time to the still image shooting time, and the parameter memory stores an image parameter which is a shooting condition for each image.

  The selecting unit selects a specific image that is an image with less blur from a plurality of images stored in the memory, and selects a specific image parameter that is an image parameter corresponding to the specific image from the parameter memory. . Thereby, it is possible to select an image parameter corresponding to the specific image.

  Image processing means for processing the specific image is further provided, and the image processing means combines the specific image parameter and the specific image. As a result, the specific image and the character information of the parameter can be displayed on the position screen.

  The image processing apparatus further includes a monitor. The specific image is displayed at the upper part of the monitor screen, and the specific image parameter and the related information of the specific image are displayed at the lower part of the monitor screen.

  The image processing apparatus further includes a filing memory, the filing memory stores a specific image, and the image processing means stores the specific image read from the filing memory and the specific image parameter read from the parameter memory. And store it in an external storage device. The specific image and its parameters can be saved in a separate file format.

  The predetermined time corresponds to approximately 45 frames. If too much time is taken, the subject position changes greatly, so it is preferable to save a moving image of about 2 seconds.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image processing apparatus for an endoscope that can display both a specific image in a moving image at a time different from a still image shooting time and an image parameter of the specific image. .

1 is an overall view of an endoscope apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a block diagram of the image processing apparatus of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. It is a processing flow of the image processing apparatus of FIG. It is an example of the image displayed on the monitor of FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, an endoscope apparatus 10 includes a scope (imaging means) 12 that continuously images the inside of the body, an image processing apparatus 14 that processes an image observed by the scope 12, and an image processing apparatus 14 from the outside. And a monitor 18 that displays an image processed by the image processing device 14. The scope 12 is connected to the image processing device 14 by the connection unit 13. The image processing apparatus 14 is provided with a touch panel 20 for inputting photographing conditions.

  The configuration of the image processing apparatus 14 will be described with reference to FIG. The filing CPU 34 transmits image parameters, which are shooting conditions, set on the touch panel 20 or the keyboard 16 (see FIG. 1) to the main CPU 32. The main CPU 32 instructs the scope 12 to shoot the subject as a moving image.

  The moving image photographed by the scope 12 is subjected to image processing by the signal processing circuit 15 and then transmitted to the main CPU 32. The image data transmitted to the main CPU 32 is transmitted to the image output IC 36. The image data transmitted to the image output IC 36 is displayed as a moving image on the main monitor 18 and transferred and stored in the buffer memory 38. The buffer memory 38 stores a moving image for a predetermined time, that is, a plurality of images that are temporally continuous. The plurality of images are updated by being overwritten every predetermined time.

  On the other hand, the image processing IC (parameter memory) 40 stores image parameters for each frame of a moving image. The image parameters include, for example, enhancement, noise reduction, contrast, brightness, and the like, and are input from the touch panel 20 or the keyboard 16 (see FIG. 1). In this way, when the shooting button 30 is pressed while the subject is being shot as a moving image, the subject is shot as a still image.

  With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the operation after the subject is photographed as a still image by the scope 12 will be described. In step S01, the photographing button 30 provided on the scope 12 is pressed. At this time, a signal indicating that the shooting button 30 has been pressed is input to the main CPU 32, and the main CPU 32 issues a shooting instruction to the filing CPU (image processing means) 34. Receiving the shooting instruction, the filing CPU 34 uses the scope 12 to shoot the subject as a still image. An electrical signal indicating that shooting has been performed is transmitted from the file CPU 34 to the main CPU 32. Then, the main CPU 32 instructs the image output IC 36 to stop recording the moving image in the buffer memory 38. The image output IC 36 that has received the stop instruction stops the moving image output and recording to the buffer memory 38. In other words, a moving image from a predetermined time before the photographing time when the photographing button 30 is pressed to the photographing time is recorded in the buffer memory 38.

  In step S03, the image processing IC (selection means) 40 selects a plurality of images for each frame that is a moving image stored in the buffer memory 38 from the time when the shooting button 30 is pressed to a predetermined time before. A specific image that is an image with less blur is selected from among them. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, 1.5 seconds, and the plurality of images correspond to approximately 45 frames. An image with small blur is determined by quantifying and measuring a change in data amount between each frame and the immediately preceding frame as a motion amount. The amount of motion is converted into a histogram, and when the value is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the image is small in blur. As described above, when a specific image with small blur is selected, the selected specific image is stored in the image output IC 36. Then, the monitor 18 is switched from the moving image display to the display of the specific image. At this time, only a specific image is displayed on the main monitor 18, and image parameters and patient information are not displayed. In parallel with these operations, the image output IC 36 transmits identification information such as a frame number in the selected specific image to the main CPU 32.

  In step S05, the specific image stored in the image output IC 36 is read by the image output IC 36 and transferred to the file memory 42.

  In step S07, the main CPU 32 reads a specific image parameter corresponding to the specific image stored in the image processing IC 40 based on the identification information of the specific image received in step S03. In step S09, the specific image parameter is transmitted from the image output IC 36 to the main CPU 32.

  In step S <b> 11, the filing CPU 34 reads the specific image stored in the filing memory 42 and the specific image parameter transmitted to the main CPU 32. In step S13, the filing CPU 34 combines the specific image, the character information of the specific image parameter, and the patient information into one image. At this time, the filing CPU 34 converts the captured image into a file while temporarily recording the processing information in the auxiliary storage device 43 that is a work area. The specific image filed is recorded in the external storage device 44 and displayed on the main monitor 18 via the main CPU 32 and the image output IC 36.

  Referring to FIG. 4, the main monitor 18 includes an image display unit A and a parameter display unit B. A specific image with less blur is displayed on the image display unit A. In the parameter display section B at the bottom of the image display section A, image parameters and date / time corresponding to the specific image, the name of the photographer, patient information, and the like are displayed together.

  Thus, the specific image in the moving image at a time different from the still image shooting time and the image parameters of the specific image can be displayed together. Thereby, even when a frame in a moving image at a time different from the still image shooting time by the shooting button 30 is displayed, an image parameter in a specific image can be displayed. The present invention is effective when the state of the subject changes within a very short time before the still image shooting time. For example, there is a case where the parameter is suddenly changed when the brightness changes due to washing of a specific part of the body that is the subject.

  It should be noted that the main CPU 32 and the filing CPU 34 in this embodiment may be a single CPU if the computer processing capability permits. In this embodiment, the moving image storage time is about 2 seconds, but the storage time can be arbitrarily set. However, for example, when a long-time movie of about 30 seconds is stored, a large amount of memory is required, and the subject is likely to change. Therefore, it is desirable that the moving image storage time is about 2 seconds.

12 Scope (Imaging means)
14 Image processing device 18 Main monitor (monitor)
30 Shooting button 34 CPU for filing (image processing means)
36 Image output IC
38 Buffer memory (image memory)
40 Image processing IC (parameter memory) (selection means)
42 Memory for file creation 44 External storage device A Image display (upper part of screen)
B Parameter display (bottom of screen)

Claims (6)

Imaging means for continuously imaging the inside of the body before a signal indicating that the shooting button has been pressed;
An image memory for storing a plurality of temporally continuous images taken by the imaging means;
A parameter memory for storing image parameters for the plurality of images;
Selecting means for selecting a specific image from the plurality of images,
The image memory stores the plurality of images from a predetermined time before shooting time to a still image shooting time, and the parameter memory stores image parameters that are shooting conditions for each image. An image processing apparatus for an endoscope.   The selection unit selects a specific image that is an image with less blur from the plurality of images stored in the memory from the image memory, and selects a specific image parameter that is an image parameter corresponding to the specific image. 2. The endoscope image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection is made from the parameter memory. Image processing means for processing the specific image;
The endoscope image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image processing unit synthesizes the specific image parameter and the specific image.   The image processing apparatus further includes a monitor, the specific image is displayed at an upper part of the monitor screen, and the specific image parameter and the related information of the specific image are displayed at a lower part of the monitor screen. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3.   The image processing apparatus further includes a filing memory, the filing memory stores the specific image, and the image processing means reads the specific image read from the filing memory and the parameter memory. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the specific image parameter is filed and stored in an external storage device.   The endoscope image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined time corresponds to approximately 45 frames.

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