JP3378026B2 - Multi-type magnifying observation device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is applied to beauty, medical, academic,
The present invention relates to a video system type magnifying observation apparatus suitable for easily magnifying and observing various observation objects in various fields such as industry.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A video system type magnifying observation apparatus is
For example, the solid-state image sensor includes a solid-state image sensor using a solid-state image sensor such as a CCD element and a monitor display for reproducing and observing an image of an observation object captured by the image sensor. And a set of imaging system units formed by an optical system for forming an image of an observation object on the light-receiving surface of the solid-state imaging device, and an illumination system for illuminating the observation object is incorporated. It is designed to capture the image of the observation object while illuminating it with the illumination system. For this reason, the magnifying observation apparatus of the video system method has an advantage that it can observe an object to be observed without any processing, and can easily perform magnifying observation at a magnification of, for example, 20 to 1000 times. Have as.

By the way, in such a video system type magnifying observation apparatus, illumination is performed under different conditions, images captured under different conditions can be simultaneously observed in parallel, and images under different conditions can be displayed. If it is possible to observe images by combining them, it is possible to observe at various angles and analytical observation, and it is possible to make more effective use of its merits. , Japanese Patent Application No. 2-201384, Japanese Patent Application No. 2
Although there are various techniques such as Japanese Patent Application No. 409719 and Japanese Patent Application No. 3-64608, simultaneous observation of different images in parallel, that is, contrast observation of heterogeneous images and synthesis of images under different conditions, that is, synthesis of heterogeneous images, are still suitable. There was no technology.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-type magnifying observation apparatus which enables contrast observation of foreign images and observation of composite images of foreign images.

[0005]

To this end, according to the present invention, there is provided an imaging system unit comprising a solid-state imaging device and an optical system for forming an image of an observation object on a light-receiving surface of the solid-state imaging device. Regarding a magnifying observation apparatus including a built-in image pickup tool including an illumination system for illuminating an observation object, and a display for displaying an image captured by the image pickup tool, the image pickup tool includes a plurality of image pickup system units, Images of different conditions can be captured simultaneously or selectively by each imaging system unit.

Such a magnifying observation apparatus gives a plurality of characteristics having characteristics according to the given conditions by giving different conditions to each image pickup system unit, for example, magnification, presence / absence of use of polarized light, focusing state and the like. The images can be captured simultaneously or instantaneously.

As for the relationship between the image pickup system units, if simultaneous image pickup is performed, adjacent imaged regions are simultaneously imaged by the image pickup system units, or the same imaged region is imaged using, for example, optical path division by a half mirror. It is formed so that images can be simultaneously taken by the system units and reproduced in parallel on the display for observation, or that each image obtained by this can be stored in memory once and then combined to be observed as a combined image. It In the case of instantaneous switching imaging, the same observation site is selectively imaged by each imaging system unit, each image obtained by this is temporarily stored in memory, and then simultaneously reproduced in parallel on the display for observation. Is formed as. Which of these is to be appropriately designed according to the purpose of observation.

Different images used for comparison or composition can be obtained by setting differentiating conditions, and the following are preferable. Different magnifications are given to the respective imaging system units so that comparison observation can be performed at different magnifications.

Further, while forming an illumination system so that illumination by polarized light is possible, a polarization filter is provided in one of the image pickup system units provided in two systems, and the image light in which the polarization component by the illumination system is still included. And the image light from which the polarization component is removed by the polarization filter can be compared and observed.

This utilizes the phenomenon that the light directly reflected on the surface of the object to be observed maintains its polarization property as it is, but the light which is not directly reflected becomes natural light.
A normal image including direct reflection is rich in stereoscopic effect but poor in hue separation, and halation easily occurs. On the contrary, a non-reflective image is excellent in hue separation and halation but has a stereoscopic effect. By observing each image having merits and demerits, such as poor, simultaneously in parallel, the merits of each image are to be utilized.

When the image pickup system unit is provided in two systems, the image lights of the optical systems provided in the two systems are brought into a state of being closely adjacent to each other, and the solid-state image pickup device is relatively opposed to both image lights in the adjacent state. By moving it, it is possible to form both image lights in parallel on the light-receiving surface of the solid-state image sensor, or to allow only one of the image lights to enter. With such a configuration, parallel reproduction and selective reproduction of contrast observation images can be performed with a relatively simple structure.

As one form of synthesizing different images, different object distances are given to the optical systems of the image pickup system units, and a plurality of images having different focusing states with respect to an observation object are picked up by the image pickup system units. For each image in each image, the difference in the brightness value with each pixel in each pixel is calculated for each pixel, and the difference is compared for the corresponding pixels in each image. Pixels having a difference can be selectively taken out, and an output image can be formed by the selected pixels.

According to this, an image with a large depth of focus is obtained as a result, which is based on the following principle. That is, each image in a state where the focusing is different for a specific portion of the surface of the imaged object has a high or low change in the surface of the imaged object, and if the height of the imaged object surface varies depending on each focus state, The image selectively focuses on the height portion.

On the other hand, the more focused the image, the clearer the brightness gradation between adjacent pixels in the image. The clarity of the brightness gradation can be grasped as the magnitude of the difference in brightness value with the surrounding pixels. That is, this means that the pixel in the image having the largest difference is the pixel in the most focused state with respect to the corresponding portion of the imaging target.

Therefore, if the pixel having the maximum difference is selectively taken out from each image and the output image is formed by the selected pixel, the partial height change of the surface of the object to be imaged is eventually determined. An optimally focused image according to each height portion can be obtained in a so-called tense state, and as a result, an image with a large depth of focus can be obtained.

[0016]

EXAMPLE As shown in FIG. 6, a magnifying observation apparatus according to the present invention comprises an image pickup tool 1, a control unit 2 and a display 3, and an image of an observation object M captured by the image pickup tool 1 is controlled by the control unit 2. The image pickup tool 1 is characterized in that the image is reproduced on the screen of the display 3 via the. That is, the image pickup tool of the magnifying observation apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by including a plurality of image pickup system units, and various configurations can be made for such a plurality of image pickup system units. Hereinafter, some typical examples will be described.

First Embodiment (FIG. 1) As shown in FIG. 1, the image pickup tool 1 of this example incorporates two sets of image pickup system units 10a and 10b, and an illumination system 11 also illuminates the same. The same observation site of the observation object M to be observed can be simultaneously imaged. Imaging system unit 1
0a and 10b are imaging means 13a and 13b using the CCD elements 12a and 12b and the CCD element 12a.
Optical system 1 for enlarging and forming an image of an observation object on the light receiving surface of 12b
4a and 14b, and in this example, the respective optical systems 14a and 14b have different magnifications.

In each of the image pickup system units 10a and 10b to which different magnification conditions are given in this way, the image light split by the half mirror 15 provided in the middle of the optical path enters one as it is and the other one enters the optical path. Change mirror 16
After the light path is changed in, it is allowed to enter.

In this way, the images simultaneously captured at different magnifications for the same observation site are displayed on the display 3
By dividing the screen of (1) as appropriate, it is reproduced in a simultaneous parallel state.

Second Embodiment (FIG. 2) In the image pickup device 20 of this embodiment, the magnifications of the optical systems 21a and 21b are the same, and an image containing the surface reflected light (normal image) and an image not containing it (non-reflection) are used. It is configured so that images can be selectively observed by instantaneous switching. That is, while the polarizer 23 is provided in the illumination system 22 to perform illumination with polarized light, the polarization filter 25 is provided in one of the imaging system units 24a.
Is provided to prevent polarized light from entering the imaging system unit 24a. In addition, each CCD element 25a, 25b
The image signal processing unit 26 is commonly used, and signals from the respective units are switched by the switch 27 so that the signals can be selectively input to the image signal processing unit 26. The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

This is because the light directly reflected on the surface of the observation object M maintains its polarization property as it is, but the light which is not the direct reflection is converted into natural light. The normal image that contains is rich in three-dimensional effect but poor in hue separation, and halation is likely to occur. Conversely, the non-reflective image is excellent in hue separation and halation but poor in three-dimensional effect. As described above, the advantages of each image are to be utilized by observing each image having advantages and disadvantages in parallel at the same time.

Third Embodiment (FIG. 3) This embodiment is an example in which the normal image and the non-reflective image can be selectively captured as in the second embodiment.
The structure for selecting each image is different from that of the second embodiment. That is, in the image pickup tool 30 of this example, the image light from each of the optical systems 31a and 31b can be selectively or simultaneously captured in parallel by moving one CCD element 32. Therefore, two optical path changing mirrors 33
Optical path combining mirror 34 in which a and 33b are combined in a mountain shape
I am trying to use.

That is, the image light beams of both optical systems 31a and 31b are brought into close contact with each other by the respective optical path changing mirrors 33a and 33b of the optical path synthesizing mirror 34, and the CCD elements for both image light beams thus formed. By moving 32 as shown by the arrow X, both image lights are incident on the CCD element 32 in parallel, or only one of them is incident on the CCD element 32. Incidentally, reference numeral 35 in the figure denotes an optical system for adjusting the image light from the optical path combining mirror 34. Further, other components which are common to those of the second embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

Fourth Embodiment (FIGS. 4 and 5) In this embodiment, each optical system in the configuration of FIG. 1 is formed to have the same magnification but a slightly different object distance, and the object distance is different. This is an example in which the images obtained by the two image pickup system units are combined to obtain an output image.

In this method, a plurality of images having different focus states with respect to an observation object are picked up, and a difference in luminance value between each pixel in each image and a plurality of pixels around the pixel is calculated. At the same time, the difference is compared for corresponding pixels of each image, the pixel having the maximum difference is selectively extracted based on the comparison result, and the output image is formed by the selected pixel, resulting in This is to obtain an image with a large depth of focus.

The processing means for performing such processing is shown in FIG.
And the control unit 2 of FIG.
It is provided inside. The processing means includes a switching operation section, a luminance signal processing section, and a color signal processing section,
Each will be described below.

The switching operation section is provided with a focus switching signal generator 102 which is a focusing state selecting means, and based on a signal generated by the focus switching signal generator 102 based on a synchronizing signal separated from a luminance signal. , The images obtained by the respective imaging system units of the imaging tool 101 are taken in as the focus I and the focus II. It should be noted that this is premised on the processing in the case where the respective imaging system units are instantaneously switched and used, and in the case of simultaneously capturing images in different focusing states with the configuration as shown in FIG. The switching operation unit is not always necessary.

The brightness signal processing section is provided with a focus I frame memory 103a and a focus II frame memory 103b which are pixel information storage means, and difference calculation circuits 104a and 104b which are difference calculation means in each memory 1.
03a and 103b, a difference comparator 105 as a difference comparison unit, and a brightness signal selector 106 as a pixel selection unit for brightness signals.

Then, the focus switching signal generator 1
Each pixel of the image captured by the focus I is stored in the frame memory 103 for the focus I by the memory switch 107 that switches the storage in synchronization with the signal from the signal 02.
a, and each pixel of the image captured by the focus II is selectively and temporarily stored in the focus II frame memory 103b, and each pixel stored in each memory is surrounded by the difference calculation circuits 104a and 4b. The difference in the brightness value with the pixel is calculated.

This difference calculation is performed on the pixel e as shown in FIG.
For example, taking the relationship between the adjacent pixels a, b, ... Surrounding it with, for example, the difference element (b−e) of the pixel e and the pixel b, and
It is calculated by taking the difference element (d−e) of the pixel e and the pixel d, and adding the absolute values of both the difference elements.

The difference comparators 105 compare the calculation results of the difference calculation circuits 104a and 104b between corresponding pixels of the focus I image and the focus II image,
Based on the comparison result, the pixel having the larger difference is selected by the luminance signal selector 106 and output.

Similar to the luminance signal processing unit, the color signal processing unit includes a memory switching unit 108 for separately storing each pixel of an image having a different focus, and also has a focus I frame memory 109a and a focus II frame memory. A frame memory 109b is provided, and a color signal selector 110 that performs pixel selection using the signal from the luminance signal processing unit is further provided as pixel selection means.

[0033]

As described above, the magnifying observation apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of image pickup system units built in the image pickup tool so that the respective image pickup system units can be selectively used. It is possible to observe images in parallel at the same time, and it is possible to realize magnified observation by further utilizing the advantages of the video system type observation device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an imaging tool according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an imaging tool according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an imaging tool according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of processing means in a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an adjacency relationship of pixels.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a magnifying observation apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

14a, 14b, 21a, 21b, 31a, 31b Optical system 10a, 10b, 24a, 24b Imaging system unit 11, 22 Illumination system 12a, 12b, 25a, 25b CCD element 14a, 14b, 21a, 21b, 31a, 31b Optical system

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Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An imaging system including an imaging system unit including a solid-state imaging device and an optical system for forming an image of an observation object on a light receiving surface of the solid-state imaging device, and an imaging system including an illumination system for illuminating the observation object. In a magnifying observation apparatus including a tool and a display for displaying an image captured by the imaging tool, the imaging tool includes a plurality of imaging system units, and each imaging system unit displays images of the same observation site under different conditions. formed by the can be grasped simultaneously or selectively
Together, while forming the illumination system as illumination is possible by polarization, a polarizing filter provided on one imaging system unit provided with two systems, video simultaneously or selectively to not including the image including polarization it is to be able to catch comprising, magnifying observation apparatus. Wherein the respective image light optical system provided in the two systems in close contact with adjacent with each other, the light receiving surface of the solid-state imaging device by relatively moving the solid-state imaging device with respect to both images light of the adjacent state to, claim and whether to enter by parallel both images light, or either only one of the image light to be incident 1
The magnifying observation device described.