JP2828112B2 - Endoscope image data compression device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope image data compression device that compresses video data from an endoscope device and records the image.

[Problems to be solved by conventional technology and invention] In recent years, by inserting an elongated insertion portion into a body cavity,
An endoscope (also referred to as a scope or a fiber scope) capable of observing organs in a body cavity or performing various treatments using a treatment tool inserted into a treatment tool channel as necessary.
Is widely used.

In addition, various electronic scopes using a solid-state imaging device such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) as an imaging unit have been used. This electronic scope has a higher resolution than a fiber scope, and it is easy to record and play back images.
There are advantages such as easy image processing such as enlargement of an image and comparison of two screens.

The endoscope image visualized by the electronic scope is recorded in an image recording device. In particular, recently, there has been a strong demand to increase the number of images that can be recorded by compressing images recorded in the image recording device. I have.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope image data compression apparatus capable of reducing the amount of data without deteriorating image quality and increasing the number of images that can be recorded. Aim.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the invention described in claim 1 of the present application, endoscope image data including a plurality of color components obtained by imaging an object by an imaging unit provided in the endoscope is provided. An endoscope image data compression device having an input image data input end and capable of compressing image data input from the image data input end and recording the compressed image data in recording means, The first corresponding to one color component
Is input, and based on the correlation between the image data at different positions in the first endoscope image generated by the first endoscope image data, the first color component First predictive encoding means for generating a first predictive error signal, and second endoscope image data corresponding to a second color component of the plurality of color components are input; Based on the correlation between the image data at different positions in the second endoscope image generated by the endoscope image data, the second
A second prediction encoding unit that generates a second prediction error signal for the color component of the second color component; and a first prediction error signal for the first color component and a second prediction error signal for the second color component. The first prediction error signal and the second
Calculation means for generating a difference prediction error signal based on the difference between the prediction error signals, and a first prediction error signal generated by the first prediction encoding means and a difference prediction generated by the difference calculation means. And an image data recording means for storing the error signal as compressed image data. The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is characterized in that An image data input end to which endoscopic image data including a plurality of color components obtained by imaging the subject is input, and the image data input from the image data input end is compressed and recorded in the recording means. A possible endoscope image data compression apparatus, comprising: a first color component corresponding to a first color component of the plurality of color components;
Endoscope image data and a second color component corresponding to the second color component.
And a difference calculating means for generating a difference prediction error signal based on a difference between the first endoscope image data and the second endoscope image data; First endoscopic image data corresponding to the component is input;
Generating a first prediction error signal for the first color component based on a correlation between image data at different positions in the first endoscopic image generated by the first endoscopic image data; 1 prediction encoding means, and a difference prediction error signal generated by the difference calculation means are input, and based on a correlation between image data at different positions in an image for which the difference prediction error signal is to be generated, A second prediction encoding unit for generating a second prediction error signal in the differential prediction error signal; a first prediction error signal generated by the first prediction encoding unit; and the second prediction encoding unit The second generated by
And an image data recording means for storing the data as compressed image data.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope image data compression device, and FIG. 2 is a configuration of an entire endoscope image file device. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the endoscope apparatus.

2, the endoscope image file device 1 includes an endoscope device 2 and an endoscope image data compression device 3.

The endoscope device 2 is formed to be flexible and slender, and has an insertion portion 7 inserted into the observation site 6, an operation portion 8 connected to the rear end of the insertion portion 7, and an operation portion 8. The electronic scope 10 has a universal cable 9 extending from the side of the electronic scope 10.

A connector 11 is provided at the rear end of the universal cable 9.
The connector 11 is connected to a light source device 12 that supplies illumination light to the electronic scope 10. A signal cable 13 extends from a side of the connector 11, and a connector 14 provided at a rear end of the signal cable 13 is connected to an image input device 16. The image input device 16 performs signal processing on an image signal obtained by the electronic scope 10 to generate a video signal such as, for example, an RGB primary color signal, so that an endoscope image can be observed on a TV monitor 18 via a cable 17. ing.

The video signal generated by the image input device 16 is also transmitted to the image data compression device 3 via a cable 19.

 In FIG. 3, the endoscope device 2 will be described.

A light source device is provided at the tip of the insertion portion 7 of the electronic scope 10.
An emission end face of a light guide 22 formed by a fiber bundle for emitting the illumination light supplied from 12 to the observation site 6 is provided. The light guide 22 is connected to the connector via the insertion section 7, the operation section 8, and the inside of the universal cable 9.
Illumination light is supplied at the same time that 11 is connected to the light source device 12.

An objective lens 23 is further provided at the tip of the insertion section 7, and an imaging surface of a CCD 24 as a solid-state imaging device is located at an image forming position of the objective lens 23. The CCD 24 is connected to an electric signal obtained as a result of photoelectrically converting a subject image formed on an imaging surface and a signal line 26 (shown as a single line) through which a drive clock for driving the CCD 24 is transmitted. . The signal line 26 reaches the connector 11 via the insertion section 7, the operation section 8, and the universal cable 9, and further extends from the connector 11 to the connector 14 via the signal cable 13.

The light source device 12 is provided with a light source lamp 31,
On the optical path connecting the light source lamp 31 and the incident end face of the light guide 22, a collimator lens 32 and a rotary filter 33 that make the illumination light of the light source lamp 31 parallel from the light source lamp 31 side.
And a condenser lens 34 for condensing the illumination light and irradiating the incident end face of the light guide 22 with the light.

The rotary filter 33 has a disk shape and is provided with color transmission filters 34R, 34G, and 34B that transmit, for example, red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light in the circumferential direction. Illumination light made parallel by 34R, 34G, and 34B by the collimator lens 32 enters.
The rotary filter 33 is driven to rotate by a motor 35, and supplies red, green, and blue light to the light guide 22 in time series.

By connecting the connector 14 to the image input device 16, the signal line 26 is connected to an image processing unit 36 provided in the image input device 16. The image processing unit 36 drives the CCD 24 by applying a driving clock, and
The electrical signal sent from the 24 is converted to an RGB video signal and output. Also, the image signal levels R, B
Control such as signal balance is performed. Further, patient data, an error message, and the like sent from the control unit 37 described later are superimposed on the RGB video signal. The output of the image processing unit 36 is sent to the image memory 38. The image memory 38 allows the input RGB video signal to pass as it is in accordance with the control signal from the control unit 37 or temporarily stores the RGB video signal and repeatedly outputs it as a still image. The output of the image memory 38 is branched, and one is output to the TV monitor 18 to display an image of the observation site 6 on the screen. The other is sent to the image data compression device 3.

The control unit 37 includes a data input unit 39 such as a keyboard.
And the communication interface 30. From the data input unit 39, a patient name to be superimposed on the RGB video signal, a patient data such as a patient's date of birth, and a control signal such as image recording (release) are input by a user operation. The signal is sent to the processing unit 36 and superimposed on the RGB video signal. The control signal is sent to the image memory 38 and the communication interface 30 as described above. The communication interface 30 is, for example, an interface unit for serial transmission according to the RS-232C standard, and inputs and outputs data and control signals to and from the outside under the control of the control unit 37. The communication interface 30 is an image data compression device 3
The input and output of data and control signals are performed between them.

The RGB signals, data and control signals are
Is transmitted to the image data compression device 3.

Referring to FIG. 1, the image data compression device 3 will be described.

The image memory 38 is connected to each of the A / D converters 40, 41 and 42 of the image data compression device 3, and the G signal is supplied to the A / D converter 4
At 0, the R signal is input to the A / D converter 41, and the B signal is input to the A / D converter 42. RGB video signal is A
Digital conversion is performed by the / D converters 40, 41, and 42. Each A / D converter 40, 41, 42 is connected to an image memory 43, 44, 45, respectively, and each image memory 43, 44, 45 is connected to a predictive encoder 46, 47, 48 of the first compression means. Each is connected. Predictive encoder
The output terminal of 46 is connected to the data recording device 51 and one input terminal of difference calculators 49 and 50 as second compression means, respectively. The output terminal of the prediction encoder 47 is connected to the other input terminal of the difference calculator 49, and the output terminal of the prediction encoder 48 is connected to the other input terminal of the difference calculator 50.

The output terminals of the difference calculators 49 and 50 are connected to the data recording device.
Connected to 51.

Further, the recording control unit 52 is connected to the control unit 37 via the communication interface 30, and each of the A / D converters 40, 41, 42,
Each image memory 43, 44, 45, each predictive encoder 46, 47, 48,
The difference calculators 49 and 50 and the data recording device 51 are controlled.

Endoscope image data compression device 3 configured as described above
The operation of will be described.

In the endoscope apparatus 2, the user selects an ID input mode from the data input unit 39 before recording an image, and inputs patient data such as a patient name and a patient's date of birth. When the ID input mode is selected, the control unit 37 superimposes the patient data on the RGB video signal and sends a signal for confirming whether communication is possible to the recording control unit 52 of the image data compression device 3 via the communication interface 30. The recording control unit 52 outputs the signal, which is communicable therewith, to the communication interface 30. A signal indicating that communication is possible is transmitted from the communication interface 30 to the control unit 37, and the control unit 37 displays the image on the TV monitor 18, for example. The user sees this and inputs a release signal from the data input unit 39. Upon receiving the release signal, the control unit 37 prohibits the writing of new image data to the image memory 38 and causes the same image data to be repeatedly output in order to freeze the image in the image memory 38. Furthermore,
The control unit 37 transmits a release signal from the communication interface 30 to the recording control unit 52. When the recording control unit 52 detects the transmitted release signal, the A / D converter 40 and the image memory 4
3 and a control signal is sent to the A / D converter 41 and the image memory 44 to cause the image memory 43 to hold the R signal for one frame. A control signal is sent to the / D converter 42 and the image memory 45, and the image memory 45 holds one frame.

When an image is held in each of the image memories 43, 44, and 45, the recording control unit 52 sends an operation start signal to each of the prediction encoders 46, 47, and 48 and predicts the held G image data from the image memory 43. The control signal is sent to the image memory so as to be sent to the encoder 46.
Send to 43. Simultaneously held R image data is stored in an image memory
A control signal is sent to the image memory 44 so as to be sent from the 44 to the predictive encoder 47, and a control signal is sent to the image memory 45 so that the held B image data is sent from the image memory 45 to the predictive encoder 48. send.

As shown in Table 1, the prediction encoder 46 subtracts the original image data of the previous pixel from the original image data Og of the current pixel of the G image to obtain a prediction error Pg.
For example, the original image data Og of the previous pixel is subtracted from the original image data of the current pixel, and the prediction error Pg = −3.
May be required. The original image data Og of the previous pixel is sequentially subtracted from the current pixel to obtain a prediction error Pg for one frame, and is output to the data recording device 51 and the difference calculators 49 and 50. Hereinafter, similarly, the prediction encoder 47 obtains a prediction error Pr from the original image data Or of the R image, the prediction encoder 48 obtains a prediction error Pb from the original image data Ob of the B image, and calculates the prediction error Pr. Is The prediction error Pb is output to the difference calculator 49 and to the difference calculator 50.

In Table 1, each represents a pixel of each image.

The difference calculator 49 subtracts the prediction error Pr of the R image from the prediction error Pg of the G image to obtain a difference prediction error Pg-r. For example, for a pixel, the prediction error 12 of the G image
13 is subtracted to obtain a difference prediction error -1. The calculation is sequentially performed, and the difference prediction error Pg-r for one frame is output to the data recording device 51.

Similarly, in the difference calculator 50, the prediction error Pb of the B image is subtracted from the prediction error Pg of the G image, and the difference prediction error Pg-b for one frame is sequentially obtained.
Output to 51.

The data recording device 51 records the input prediction error Pg and difference prediction errors Pg-r and Pg-b. Data recording device
When the recording to 51 is completed, a recording end signal is sent to the control unit 37 via the recording control unit 52 and the communication interface 30, and
The control unit 37 displays the end of recording on the screen of the TV monitor 18, for example.

When data recorded in the data recording device 51 is reproduced, an image can be reproduced by performing the above operations in reverse order.

In this embodiment, a prediction error is obtained for each of the RGB images,
Further, since the difference prediction error is obtained based on the prediction error of the G image, the data amount of the R image and the B image can be reduced.

Further, since the data amounts of the R image and the B image can be reduced, the amount of images that can be recorded on the data recording device 51 can be increased.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image data compression device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, the difference is obtained after predictive encoding in the first embodiment, whereas the difference is obtained before predictive encoding.

The output terminal of the G image image memory 43 of the image data compression device 3 of this embodiment is connected to the predictive encoder 46 and one of the input terminals of the difference calculators 49 and 50. The output terminal of the R image image memory 44 is connected to the other input terminal of the difference calculator 49, and the output terminal of the B image image memory 45 is connected to the other input terminal of the difference calculator 50.

The output terminal of the difference calculator 49 is connected to the input terminal of the prediction encoder 47.
The output terminals of the difference calculator 50 are connected to the input terminals of the predictive encoder 48, respectively.

The output terminals of the predictive encoders 46, 47, 48 are connected to the data recording device 51, respectively.

 Other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment.

 Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

When an image is held in each of the image memories 43, 44, and 45, the recording control unit 52 sends a control signal to send the held G image data from the image memory 43 to the predictive encoder 46 and the difference calculators 49 and 50. To the image memory 43. Similarly, a control signal is sent to the image memory 44 so that the held R image data is sent from the image memory 44 to the difference calculator 49, and the held B image data is sent from the image memory 45 to the difference calculator 50. Control signal to the image memory 45 as described above.

As shown in Table 2, the G image data input to the predictive encoder 46 is the original image data Og of the current pixel of the G image.
Is subtracted from the original image data Og of the previous pixel to obtain a prediction error Pg. For example, the original image data 12 of the previous pixel is subtracted from the original image data 9 of the current pixel, and a prediction error Pg = −3 can be obtained. The original image data Og of the previous pixel is sequentially subtracted from the current pixel, a prediction error Pg for one frame is obtained, and output to the data recording device 51.

In Table 2, each represents a pixel of each image.

The difference calculator 49 converts the G image data Og to the R image data Or
Is subtracted to obtain difference data Mg-r. For example, in the pixel, the R image data 13 is subtracted from the G image data 12 to obtain difference data -1. Calculated difference data
Mg-r is sequentially output to the predictive encoder 47.

Similarly, in the difference calculator 50, the G image data Og
Is subtracted from the B image data Ob to obtain difference data Mg-b, which is sequentially output to the predictive encoder 48.

The prediction encoder 47 subtracts the difference data Mg-r of the previous pixel from the difference data Mg-r of the current pixel to obtain a difference prediction error Pg-
r is required. For example, the difference data -1 of the previous pixel is subtracted from the difference data -1 of the current pixel to obtain a difference prediction error O. The difference prediction errors Pg-r for one frame are sequentially output to the data recording device 51.

Similarly, the prediction encoder 48 similarly calculates the difference data Mg of the current pixel.
The difference prediction error Pg-b is obtained by subtracting the difference data Mg-b of the previous pixel from -b. The calculated difference prediction error Pg
−b is sequentially obtained for one frame and output to the data recording device 51.

The data recording device 51 records the input prediction error Pg and difference prediction errors Pg-r and Pg-b.

 Other operations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

 This embodiment has the same effects as the first embodiment.

In each of the embodiments described above, the difference is obtained based on the G image, but the reference image may be an R image or a B image.

Further, the difference between images is obtained digitally, but the difference may be obtained analogously.

In each of the above embodiments, the prediction encoding in the image and the correlation between the colors are combined, so that the data amount can be further reduced as compared with the individual image data.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, since the predictive encoding in an image and the correlation between each color are combined, the data amount is reduced without deteriorating the image quality, and the number of images that can be recorded is reduced. You can do much.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image file device, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the entire configuration of the endoscope image data compression device, FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the internal configuration of the endoscope device, FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image data compression device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 3. Endoscope image data compression device 40, 41, 42 A / D converter 43, 44, 45 Image memory 46, 47, 48 Predictive encoder 49, 50 Difference calculator

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor: Yu Konomura 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O Within Rinpas Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazunari Nakamura 2-43-2, Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo e (72) Inventor Shinichiro Hattori 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo O-limpus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-61-123280 (JP, A) JP-A Sho 63-290091 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A61B 1/04 G02B 23/24 H04N 7/18

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An image data input terminal to which endoscope image data including a plurality of color components obtained by imaging a subject by an imaging means provided in an endoscope is inputted. An endoscope image data compression device capable of compressing image data input from an end and recording the compressed image data in a recording unit, comprising: first endoscopic image data corresponding to a first color component of the plurality of color components And a first prediction error signal in the first color component based on a correlation between image data at different positions in the first endoscope image generated by the first endoscope image data First predictive encoding means for generating a second endoscope image data corresponding to a second color component of the plurality of color components, and Image data at different positions in the generated second endoscope image A second prediction encoding unit that generates a second prediction error signal for the second color component based on the correlation of: a first prediction error signal for the first color component and the second color A second prediction error signal for the component, a difference calculation means for generating a difference prediction error signal based on a difference between the first prediction error signal and the second prediction error signal; and the first prediction encoding Image data recording means for storing, as compressed image data, the first prediction error signal generated by the means and the difference prediction error signal generated by the difference calculating means. Data compression device. 2. An image data input terminal for inputting endoscope image data including a plurality of color components obtained by imaging an object by an image pickup means provided in the endoscope. An endoscope image data compression device capable of compressing image data input from an end and recording the compressed image data in a recording unit, comprising: first endoscopic image data corresponding to a first color component of the plurality of color components And second endoscope image data corresponding to the second color component are input, and a difference prediction error signal based on a difference between the first endoscope image data and the second endoscope image data is generated. The first endoscope image data corresponding to the first color component is input, and the first endoscope image data generated by the first endoscope image data is different from the first endoscope image data. The first color component based on the correlation of the image data at the position; First prediction encoding means for generating a first prediction error signal, and a difference prediction error signal generated by the difference calculation means, which are different from each other in an image for which the difference prediction error signal is generated. A second prediction encoding unit that generates a second prediction error signal in the difference prediction error signal based on the correlation between the image data at the position; and a first prediction generated by the first prediction encoding unit. An image data recording unit for storing an error signal and a second prediction error signal generated by the second prediction encoding unit as compressed image data; .