JP5199634B2 - Measuring endoscope system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a measurement endoscope system that images a subject, samples data at a predetermined pixel interval to obtain an original image, and performs measurement by specifying a feature point on the original image.

  Today, endoscope apparatuses are used in various industries, and for example, measurement endoscope apparatuses that measure scratches or defects of mechanical parts are also used. In such an endoscope apparatus, as a technique that allows a user to easily specify a feature point on an original image, a method of enlarging the original image and specifying a feature point on the enlarged image has been proposed. .

  Patent Document 1 proposes a method for enlarging an original image and designating measurement points on the enlarged image as a technique for designating measurement points on the original image. In this method, a pixel corresponding to a measurement point is selected and designated from among pixels on the enlarged image, and measurement is performed based on the position of the original pixel corresponding to the designated pixel. Furthermore, the position of the designated measurement point on the original image can be calculated in units of reciprocal magnification. Therefore, based on the position calculated in this way, it is possible to measure in units smaller than the pixel interval of the original image.

For example, FIG. 14 shows an original image of a subject. In the original image, two black lines having a white background and a thickness of 2 pixels intersect at right angles. The feature point is the center of the intersection of the two lines, and an area including this point is an enlarged area. FIG. 15 shows an enlarged area. Then, a + mark indicating the designated point is displayed on the enlarged image, and a feature point is designated on the enlarged image as shown in the figure, and the pixel on the original image corresponding to the pixel on the designated enlarged image is displayed. Calculation is performed based on the position.
JP-A-4-332523

  In the conventional method described above, the unit for specifying the position of the feature point can be specified as a pixel interval of the original image or finer. However, although the designated point is moved in response to a moving operation of a pointing device such as a mouse, the designated point is moved by a pixel unit of a device that displays an image. Therefore, because the unit of movement of the specified point depends on the display magnification of the image, detailed movement cannot be performed when displaying at a low magnification, and the moving distance becomes long or the image becomes difficult to see when displayed at a high magnification. There was a problem such as.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a measurement endoscope system that changes the ratio of movement of a designated point with respect to the movement of a pointing device such as a mouse, moves the designated point in detail, and can accurately move to a measurement position. Objective.

According to the present invention, the above-described problem is that, according to the present invention, an image acquisition unit that samples an image signal of an observation target and acquires the image signal as image data, and a display unit that displays an image acquired by the image acquisition unit. A position specifying means for specifying a position on the image, a storage means for storing a pointer position indicating a specified position displayed on the display means, which is moved by the position specifying means, and a designation of the position specifying means Control means for calculating a moving amount and a moving direction of the moving operation based on the position, and calculating a position on the image displayed on the display means in units smaller than the pixel unit, and the storage means It has a first threshold value and a second threshold value for each of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction on the image, and moves before and after each movement operation in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. A first value and a second value that are added and subtracted according to the designated position after the operation are stored, and the control unit stores the value of the designated position in the pixel unit, the first and second values. A measuring endoscope that adds a value in a unit smaller than the pixel unit obtained by dividing the value by the first and second thresholds, and calculates the value of the designated position after the moving operation in the unit smaller than the pixel unit. This can be achieved by providing a system.

  According to the present invention, when a position is designated by a pointing device such as a mouse, the measurement position can be designated at an interval substantially smaller than a pixel unit.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In the description of the present embodiment, an endoscope system capable of stereo measurement is taken as an example of the measurement endoscope system, and the designated point is a measurement point that is a target of stereo measurement.

  1 to 13 relate to this embodiment, FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a measurement endoscope system, FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the measurement endoscope system, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating control of an endoscope system, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a remote controller, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration in which a direct-viewing stereo optical adapter is attached to a distal end portion of a measurement endoscope. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method for obtaining three-dimensional coordinates of measurement points by stereo measurement, and FIG. 8 is a measurement by a measurement endoscope system. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a stereo measurement execution screen of the measurement endoscope system of FIG. 1, FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an enlarged image of a pseudo-sampling image, and FIG. Sampling point moving image FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the sampling points in the original image and the moved sampling points, and FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a modification example of the measurement endoscope system. FIG.

  First, as shown in FIG. 1, the measurement endoscope system 10 houses an endoscope insertion portion 11 configured to be detachably mountable with an optical adapter including a stereo-measurable one, and the endoscope insertion portion 11. Display of the control unit 12, the remote controller 13 that performs operations necessary to execute various operation controls of the entire measurement endoscope system 10, and the display of endoscope images and operation control contents (for example, processing menus). Liquid crystal monitor (display means) (hereinafter referred to as LCD) 14 to be performed, a normal endoscopic image, or a face mount display (hereinafter referred to as FMD) capable of stereoscopically viewing the endoscopic image as a pseudo stereo image. ) 17, an FMD adapter 18 that supplies image data to the FMD 17, and a mouse 27 (measurement position specifying means) connected to the control unit 12 It is configured to include a.

  Next, the system configuration of the measurement endoscope system 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the endoscope insertion portion 11 is connected to an endoscope unit 24. The endoscope unit 24 is mounted, for example, in the control unit 12 shown in FIG. Further, the endoscope unit 24 includes a light source device for obtaining illumination light necessary for photographing, and an electric bending device for bending the endoscope insertion portion 11 electrically freely. ing. An imaging signal from a solid-state imaging device 43 (imaging means) (see FIG. 6) at the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion 11 is input to a camera control unit (hereinafter referred to as CCU) 25.

The CCU 25 converts the supplied imaging signal into a video signal such as an NTSC signal and supplies it to a main processing circuit group in the control unit 12.
As shown in FIG. 2, the main circuit group mounted in the control unit 12 includes a CPU 26a, a ROM 26b, a RAM 26c, and a PC card interface (hereinafter, referred to as a CPU card) that controls various functions based on the main program. PC card I / F) 30, USB interface (hereinafter referred to as USB I / F) 31, RS-232C interface (hereinafter referred to as RS-232C I / F) 29, audio signal processing circuit 32, and video The signal processing circuit 33 (image acquisition means) is included.

  The RS-232C I / F 29 is connected to the CCU 25, the endoscope unit 24, and the remote controller 13 (position specifying means). The remote controller 13 is for controlling the CCU 25 and the endoscope unit 24 and operating instructions, or controlling the position movement of a pointer described later. The RS-232C I / F 29 is configured to perform communication necessary for controlling the operation of the CCU 25 and the endoscope unit 24 based on an operation by the remote controller 13.

  The USB I / F 31 is an interface for electrically connecting the control unit 12 and the mouse 27 (position specifying means). When the control unit 12 and the mouse 27 are connected via the USB I / F 31, an operation signal is sent to the CPU 26a by an operation described later of the mouse 27, and the position movement of the pointer described later is controlled.

  The PC card I / F 30 has a configuration in which a PCMCIA memory card 23 and a compact flash (registered trademark) memory card 22 are freely connected and detached. That is, when any one of the memory cards is inserted, the control unit 12 reproduces data such as control processing information and image information stored in the memory card as a recording medium, and passes through the PC card I / F 30. Thus, data such as control processing information and image information can be supplied to the memory card via the PC card I / F 30 and recorded.

  The video signal processing circuit 33 uses the video signal from the CCU 25 and the operation menu generated by the control of the CPU 26a so as to display a composite image obtained by synthesizing the endoscopic image supplied from the CCU 25 and the graphic operation menu. The display signal based on this is combined, and further necessary processing for displaying on the screen of the LCD 14 is performed and supplied to the LCD 14. As a result, a composite image of the endoscopic image and the operation menu is displayed on the LCD 14.

In the video signal processing circuit 33, it is also possible to simply perform processing for displaying an endoscopic image or an image such as an operation menu alone.
Further, the control unit 12 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with an external video input terminal 70 for inputting video to the video signal processing circuit 33 without going through the CCU 25. When a video signal is input to the external video input terminal 70, the video signal processing circuit 33 outputs the composite image in preference to the endoscopic image from the CCU 25.

  The audio signal processing circuit 32 is collected by the microphone 20 and recorded on a recording medium such as a memory card, or an audio signal obtained by reproducing a recording medium such as a memory card, or a CPU described later. The audio signal generated by is supplied. The audio signal processing circuit 32 performs processing (amplification processing or the like) necessary for reproducing the supplied audio signal and outputs the processed signal to the speaker 19. Thereby, an audio signal is reproduced by the speaker 19.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating processing performed by the CPU 26a according to the program stored in the ROM 26b. Pointer control unit 75, pre-pointer position movement storage unit 76, post-pointer position movement storage unit 77, mouse button state storage unit 78, corrected pointer position storage unit 79, indicator state instruction unit 80, sampling point position storage unit 81, A sampling processing unit 82 (re-sampling processing unit), a sampling point moving image display processing unit 83, and a measurement unit 84 (measurement unit) are included. The measuring unit 84 obtains a distance between two points, a line connecting two points, and one point by obtaining three-dimensional coordinates of some points on the left image and the right image according to the principle of triangulation described later. Various measurements such as distance, area, depth, and surface shape are possible. It also has a function as a matching processing means, and obtains a measurement point on the right image corresponding to a measurement point input by the remote controller 13 or the mouse 27 on the left image by matching processing.

  Here, the pointer control unit 75, the resampling processing unit 82, the sampling point moving image display processing unit 83, and the measuring unit 84 correspond to the processing of the CPU 26a, and the pointer position pre-movement storage unit 76 and the pointer position post-movement storage unit. 77, the mouse button state storage unit 78, and the like correspond to the RAM 26c which is a storage unit, and the CPU 26a controls the movement of the pointer position according to the program in the ROM 26b. Of course, the CPU 26a also executes system control of the measurement endoscope system in accordance with the program stored in the ROM 26b, in addition to the movement control of the pointer position.

  Information on the pointer position before operating the mouse 27 is stored in the storage unit 76 before moving the pointer position, and the pointer position based on the operation of the mouse 27 is stored in the storage unit 77 after moving the pointer position when an event described later occurs. Is done. In addition, the pointer control unit 75 performs the position after the pointer movement based on the pointer position stored in the storage unit 76 before the pointer position movement and the pointer position information stored in the storage unit 77 after the pointer position movement every time an event occurs. And the data divided by a certain value (R value) described later is held in a register (not shown).

  The corrected pointer position storage unit 79 stores the calculation result of the correction value based on the stop of the button operation of the mouse 27, the correction value is calculated based on the data held in the register, and the corrected pointer position information. Is memorized.

  The measurement unit 84 obtains the sampling point of the right image corresponding to this sampling point by matching processing based on the position of the sampling point in the left image set by the above processing.

  The sampling point position storage unit 81 stores the positions of the left image and right image sampling points set by the matching process. The resampling processing unit 82 is a processing unit when resampling the left image and the right image based on the sampling points stored in the sampling point position storage unit 81, and the sampling point moving image display processing unit 83 The left and right images resampled based on the sampling points are displayed on the display. Note that the measurement unit 84 may perform the matching process as needed before the button operation of the mouse 27 is stopped. In the measurement unit 84, the sampling point position storage unit 81 stores the sampling points of the left image before performing the matching processing, and the left image is resampled by the re-sampling processing unit 82 and the sampling point moving image display processing unit 83. The sampling point of the right image may be obtained after being displayed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the remote controller 13 includes a joystick 61, a lever switch 62, a freeze switch 63, a store switch 64, a measurement execution switch 65, an enlarged display switching WIDE switch 66, and a TELE switch 67. ing.

  In the remote controller 13, the joystick 61 is a switch for performing a bending operation of the distal end portion of the endoscope. The bending operation can be finely adjusted by giving an operation instruction freely in any direction of 360 degrees or by pressing down directly below. It is possible to give instructions. The joystick 61 can also be used for specifying a measurement point in stereo measurement described later.

Next, a configuration of a stereo optical adapter that is a kind of optical adapter used in the measurement endoscope apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
5 and 6 show a state in which the stereo optical adapter 37 is attached to the endoscope distal end portion 39. The stereo optical adapter 37 is connected to the male screw 54 of the endoscope distal end portion 39 by the female screw 53 of the fixing ring 38. It is the structure fixed by screwing.

  In addition, a pair of illumination lenses 36 and two objective lens systems 34 and 35 are provided at the tip of the stereo optical adapter 37. The two objective lens systems 34 and 35 form two images on the image sensor 43 provided in the endoscope distal end 39. The image pickup signal obtained by the image pickup element 43 is supplied to the CCU 25 via the electrically connected signal line 43a and the endoscope unit 24 shown in FIG. 2, and converted into a video signal by the CCU 25. It is supplied to the video signal processing circuit 33 later. The video signal includes a luminance value or a luminance value and a color difference value. An image generated by the imaging signal supplied to the CCU 25 is referred to as an original image.

Next, how to obtain the three-dimensional coordinates of the measurement point by stereo measurement will be described with reference to FIG. The coordinates of the measurement points on the original image captured by the left and right optical systems are (XL, YL) and (XR, YR), respectively, and the three-dimensional coordinates of the measurement points are (X, Y, Z). . However, the origins of (XL, YL) and (XR, YR) are the intersections of the optical axis in the left and right optical systems and the image sensor 43, respectively, and the origins of (X, Y, Z) are the left and right sides. Is the midpoint of the optical center. If the distance between the left and right optical centers is D and the focal length is F, the triangulation method
X = t × XR + D / 2
Y = t × YR
Z = t × F
However, t = D / (XL-XR).

  Thus, when the coordinates of the measurement point on the original image are determined, the three-dimensional coordinates of the measurement point are obtained using the known parameters D and F. By obtaining three-dimensional coordinates of several points, various measurements such as the distance between two points, the distance between two points and the distance between one point, area, depth, and surface shape are possible.

  In the measurement endoscope system having the above configuration, the processing operation of this example will be described below with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8G show a flowchart of stereo measurement, and FIG. 9 shows a stereo measurement screen. Moreover, the image of FIG. 9 shows an example in which chipping has occurred in, for example, a turbine blade that is an engine part of an aircraft, and shows a measurement screen when measuring the outermost width of the chipping.

  First, the mouse 27 is operated, and an image sampled and read in units of pixels is acquired as an original image in step S001 of the measurement flow shown in FIG. 8A (image acquisition process), and displayed on the display device in step S002. FIG. 9A shows a measurement screen including two read left and right original images (first image and second image), an icon for instructing a measurement operation, and a pointer whose position is designated by the mouse 27.

  Next, a measurement point is designated on the left image in step S003. This measurement point designation is executed by the measurement point designation flow shown in FIG. 8B. First, in step S101, an enlargement area to be enlarged is set on the original image. The setting of the enlargement area is further executed by the enlargement area setting flow shown in FIG. 8C.

  That is, when the mouse 27 is operated in step S501 to specify a position near the measurement point on the original image and an enlarged image display instruction is issued in step S502, an enlarged area is determined in step S503. In this example, the enlarged area is an area in a predetermined range centered on the position designated by the mouse 27.

  Next, in step S102, an enlarged image (first resampled image) is generated (resampling step). The generation of the enlarged image is executed according to the flow shown in FIG. 8D. First, in step S601, an image is generated based on the position of the sampling point in the enlarged region. The position of the sampling point in the enlarged area is the sampling position at the time of original image acquisition, and is moved in step S107 described later.

  Here, when the position of the sampling point in the enlarged region is moved, the position is shifted from the sampling position at the time of acquiring the original image, and therefore an image is generated by interpolation from the pixels on the original image. The sampling point in this case is set as a pseudo sampling point, and the image generated in step S601 is set as a pseudo sampling image.

  Next, in step S602, by operating the mouse 27, for example, an enlargement magnification is set based on the number of times of pressing, and in step S603, the number of pixels of the pseudo sampled image is increased by interpolation by the enlargement magnification, thereby generating an enlarged image. As the interpolation method, nearest neighbor interpolation, linear interpolation, bicubic interpolation, or the like is used.

  Next, in step S103, the enlarged image is determined in size and position and displayed. Note that the display position can be superimposed on the original image. In this case, the display position of the enlarged image is always at a predetermined distance or more away from the enlarged area of the original image, so that the enlarged area and its vicinity are Prevent it from disappearing.

  Next, in step S104, a pixel to be a designated point on the enlarged image is selected. Then, a cursor indicating the designated point is displayed on the selected pixel. Note that the pixel serving as the designated point may be a predetermined fixed position on the enlarged image.

  FIG. 9B shows a measurement screen when an enlarged image is displayed by pointing near the measurement point. On the measurement screen, an enlarged image and a cursor indicating the designated point are displayed at the center of the screen. Graphs indicating the luminance of the pixels in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction from the designated point are displayed on the right and bottom of the enlarged image, respectively, and the designated point and the surrounding luminance can be confirmed. In addition, “3x” indicating that the enlargement magnification is 3 times is displayed.

  Next, in step S105, it is determined whether a measurement point is designated by the designated point. If the measurement point is not specified, the process proceeds to step S106. If the measurement point is specified, the process proceeds to step S108.

  In step S106, it is determined whether to move the sampling point. If there is a measurement point on the enlarged image and it is not necessary to move the sampling point because the sampling point coincides with the measurement point, the process moves to step S104, and the displayed measurement point is selected as the designated point.

  If there is a measurement point on the enlarged image but the sampling point does not match the measurement point and the sampling point needs to be moved, or if no measurement point exists on the enlarged image, the process proceeds to step S107. In step S107, the sampling point is moved so that the measurement point is designated by the designated point on the enlarged image. This movement of the sampling points is performed according to the flow shown in FIGS.

  That is, when the button of the mouse 27 is pressed in step S701 shown in FIG. 8E, the pointer initial position P0 on the screen is detected. In step S702, the initial position of the pointer P is set to P0, and the register P.P. sx and P.I. sy (first variable, second variable) is set to an initial value 0. Thereafter, the mouse 27 is operated up / down / left / right to correct the position of the pointer that moves in accordance with the operation of the mouse 27 for each event described later, and when the button of the mouse 27 is released, the correction is performed as shown in step S703 of FIG. 8F. The pointer position is taken as the measurement point. The operation state of the mouse button is stored in the mouse button state storage unit 78 described above.

  FIG. 8G is a flowchart (position designation step) specifically explaining the process during this period. In this process, every time a mouse process event occurs, the flow shown in the figure is executed. That is, when the mouse 27 is operated (when a mouse processing event occurs), it is first determined in step S901 whether the button (left button) of the mouse 27 is pressed (step S901). Here, when the button operation of the mouse 27 is not performed (No in Step S901) and the control key is not operated (No in Step S921), the initial position P0 of the pointer described above is set as the current position (on the sample image). Position) P (step S922). sx and P.I. sy is set to an initial value 0 (step S923), and the fine mode is not displayed (step S924).

  On the other hand, when the button of the mouse 27 is pressed (Yes in step S901), the indicator is set to the fine mode in step S902. This process is a process in which the indicator state instruction unit 80 displays the “F” icon on the display based on the control of the pointer control unit 75 (CPU 26a) described above (see FIG. 9C).

  In step S903, the position of the pointer on the screen is set to P1, and the position information of P1 is recorded in the storage unit 77 after moving the pointer position. At this time, the mouse 27 is moved in a state where a button operation is performed. For example, when the mouse 27 moves in the right direction (X-axis direction), the x value (for example, P0) of the initial position P0 of the pointer before the movement. .X) is recorded in the storage unit 76 before the pointer position movement, and the x value (for example, P1.x) of the pointer position P1 after the movement is recorded in the storage unit 77 after the pointer position movement.

  In this case, since the mouse 27 has moved to the right, the x value (P1.x) of P1 is larger than the x value (P0.x) of the pointer position P0 before the movement. Therefore, step S904 becomes YES, and in step S905, the register P.P. The value of sx is incremented by one. In this case, since the mouse 27 has been moved in the right direction and the mouse 27 has not been moved in the left direction or the vertical direction (Y-axis direction), steps S906, S908, and S910 are NO.

  In the above example, the determination in the next step S912 is also NO, and in step S913, the register P.P. It is determined whether the value of sx is equal to R. Here, R is a predetermined value (first threshold value, second threshold value) set in advance, and indicates a ratio for moving the pointer in detail with respect to the original pixel. R may be set in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, respectively, or may be set to the same value. Hereinafter, R is the same value in both the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. Here, for example, if the value of R is set to “10”, the register P. The value of sx is “1”, and the above determination is NO.

  Thereafter, when the next mouse processing event occurs in the rightward movement of the mouse 27, the x value (P1.x) at the pointer position P1 is the x value (P0. x) greater than the value (YES in step S904). The value of sx is incremented by one. In this case as well, since the mouse 27 is not moved leftward or vertically, steps S906, S908, and S910 are NO.

  Next, the determination in step S912 is also NO. Further, in step S913, the register P.S. It is determined whether the value of sx is equal to R. Here, as described above, when the value of R is set to “10”, the above determination is also NO.

  Also, since the mouse 27 has not moved in the Y direction (vertical direction), steps S916 and S918 are also NO, and the pointer position (P0) on the screen remains at the initial position P in step S920. .

  In this state, for example, when the button operation of the mouse 27 is stopped, the register P.P. The value of sx (for example, “2” at this time) is divided by the aforementioned R (10), and a correction value of 0.2 (2/10) is calculated. In this case, since the correction value is less than one pixel (1.0), the pointer position information in the corrected pointer position storage unit 79 remains unchanged. For example, if the initial position P (X, Y) of the pointer is (100, 100), the corrected pointer position is also the same (100, 100). In the above example, the X direction is described, but the Y direction is calculated in the same manner.

  Thereafter, if the process of moving the mouse 27 to the right is continued, the register P.P. The value of sx is sequentially incremented by 1, and in step S913, the register P.P. When the value of sx matches the value of R (eg, “10”) (YES in step S913), in step S915, the X coordinate position (P.x) of the pointer is updated to (P.x + 1) (( P.x) is updated to (P.x + 1)). At this time, the register P.P. The value of sx is reset to “0”.

  In this state, for example, when the button operation of the mouse 27 is stopped, the register P.P. The value of sx (for example, “10” at this time) is divided by the aforementioned R (10), and a correction value of 1.0 (10/10) is calculated. In this case, the pointer position information in the corrected pointer position storage unit 79 is (101, 100) in the above example.

  Thereafter, the above processing is repeated every time a mouse processing event occurs. When the mouse 27 is operated in the right direction, the register P.S. sx is incremented by 1 (step S905), and in the above example, the pointer position can be moved at a rate of 1 / R (“10”) with respect to the movement of the mouse 27.

  The above processing is a case where the mouse 27 is moved horizontally in the right direction (X direction), but the same applies when the mouse 27 is moved horizontally in the left direction, and the mouse 27 is moved in the vertical direction (Y direction). The same applies when moved to ().

  For example, if a mouse processing event occurs while the mouse 27 is moved to the left, step S906 becomes YES and the register P.P. The value of sx is decremented by 1 (step S907). If a mouse processing event occurs while the mouse 27 is being moved upward, step S908 is set to YES, and a register P. (not shown) in the pointer control unit 75 is displayed. If the value of sy is incremented by 1 (step S909) and a mouse processing event occurs while moving the mouse 27 in the same manner, step S910 becomes YES and the register P.P. sy is decremented by -1 (step S911).

  During this time, the value of R and the register P.P. sx value or R value and the register P. A match determination of the value of sy is made, and the register P.P. If the value of sx matches the value of R, the pointer position update process is performed as described above (step S915). If the value of sy matches the value of R, a match determination is made in step S918, and in step S919, the Y coordinate position (P.y) of the pointer is updated to (P.y + 1) ((P0.y)). Is updated to (P0.y + 1)). At this time, the register P.P. The value of sy is reset to “0”.

  In some cases, the mouse 27 is moved in the right direction and then in the left direction. The value of sx is incremented by 1 every time an event occurs, and sequentially increases in the order of 1 → 2 → 3 →... The value of sx is sequentially subtracted (YES in step S906, step S907). In this case, register P.I. When the value of sx is smaller than 0 (YES in step S912), the X coordinate position (P.x) of the pointer is updated to (P.x-1) (step S914).

  Similarly, there is a case where the mouse 27 is moved upward and then moved downward. The value of sy is incremented by 1 every time an event occurs, and sequentially increases in the order of 1 → 2 → 3 →... The value of sy is sequentially subtracted (step S910 is YES, step S911). In this case, register P.I. When the value of sy is smaller than 0 (YES in step S916), the Y coordinate position (P.y) of the pointer is updated to (P.y-1) (step S917).

The position of the pointer is calculated every time the button operation of the mouse 27 is stopped, and the position information of the pointer subjected to the correction process is recorded in the corrected pointer position storage unit 79.
Note that when the mouse 27 is moved in the diagonally upper right direction, diagonally lower right direction, diagonally upper left direction, or diagonally lower left direction, the corresponding register P.A. sx and P.I. sy is updated at the same time, and the pointer position can be moved in the moving direction of the mouse 27 in the same manner as described above.

Therefore, according to this example, the position of the pointer is moved in more detail with respect to the movement operation of the mouse 27, and the designation of the pointer position can be adjusted in detail.
As described above, when the position of the sampling point is moved (step S107), the enlarged region is moved accordingly. After moving the sampling point, the process returns to step S102, and an enlarged image is generated and displayed again. FIG. 9C shows a measurement screen including an enlarged image when the sampling point is moved. FIG. 4D shows a measurement screen when the enlargement magnification is changed to 6 times. Further, FIG. 9E shows a measurement screen when the unit of the moving amount of the sampling point is set to the pixel interval of the original image and the sampling point is moved from the state of FIG.

  Next, after the designated point moves to the measurement point by the movement of the sampling point, the designated point is determined in step S105, and the position of the measurement point on the original image is calculated from the position of the designated point in step S108. At this time, the unit of the moving amount of the sampling point is set to a predetermined setting.

  Next, in step S004, the enlarged image at the time point designated in step S003 is displayed superimposed on the left image. Further, in step S005, a corresponding point on the right image corresponding to the measurement point designated in step S003 is searched (matching step). As described above, when the corresponding point search on the right image is performed in S003, S004, S005, and S006 are included in S003.

  This search is performed in a unit smaller than the pixel interval of the original image by the template matching method of the existing image. In step S006, the vicinity of the corresponding point on the searched right image is enlarged in the same manner as the enlargement of the left image, and is displayed superimposed on the right image.

  FIG. 9F shows the measurement screen at this time. By displaying the enlarged image on the original image, it is possible to check the previous measurement point correctly and to check the matching result of the corresponding point in the right image while specifying the next measurement point. It becomes possible to prevent.

  Next, in step S007, it is determined whether to correct the position of the measurement point on the left screen. Here, when correcting the position of the measurement point on the left screen, the icon “←” on the measurement screen is selected by operating the mouse 27, the process returns to step S003, and the measurement point is designated again. On the other hand, when not correcting, it progresses to step S008.

  In step S008, it is determined whether to correct the position of the corresponding point on the right screen. In the case of correction, the mouse 27 is operated to select the icon [→] on the measurement screen, the process proceeds to step S010, and it is handled on the right image in the same manner as the measurement point designation on the left image described above. Specify a point. In step S011, the periphery of the corresponding point on the right image is displayed in the same manner as the processing in step S006 described above.

  In the determination at step S007 and step S008, enlarged images around the measurement point of the left image and the corresponding point of the right image are displayed large on the left screen and the right screen, respectively, and the measurement point and the corresponding point are correctly specified. You may make it confirm whether it is.

  If the position is not corrected in step S008, the process proceeds to step S012, and it is determined whether to specify another measurement point. If it is designated, the process returns to step S003, and if not designated, the process proceeds to S013. In this process, measurement is performed based on the position of the measurement point specified above. FIG. 9G shows a measurement screen including a measurement result when a distance between two points is measured.

  In the example of the measurement result shown in FIG. 9G, the measurement unit is mm, but the measurement unit can be switched by switching the selection of “mm” and “inch” in the screen. When the measurement unit is switched, the display of the measurement result is also changed to the set unit. As a result, the measurement unit can be switched at an arbitrary timing while continuing the measurement work. This is useful when the unit you normally use differs from the unit written in the inspection manual, or when the settings are incorrect. It is also possible to change the measurement unit by setting with the menu.

  Next, details of the above-described enlarged image will be described using the original image shown in FIG. 14 as an example. The enlarged region shown in FIG. 14 is first enlarged as shown in FIG. The nearest neighbor interpolation is used to increase the number of pixels for enlargement, and the unit of the sampling point movement amount is set to 0.1 pixel so that the designated point moves to the center of the intersection of the two lines. The sampling point is moved 0.5 pixel to the left and 0.5 pixel downward. By this processing, a pseudo sampled image is generated by linear interpolation, and an enlarged image of this image is generated. FIG. 10 is an enlarged image at this time.

  Next, the principle of generating a pseudo sampling point moving image and its enlarged image will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 11A, the original image is an original image of 6 horizontal pixels × 1 vertical pixel, with the central two pixels being white and the other surrounding pixels being black. FIG. 4B shows the luminance at the sampling point of the original image.

  When this sampling point is moved to the right by 1/3 pixel of the original image, the luminance of the moved sampling point is calculated by interpolation from the pixel of the original image, and the luminance of the sampling point moving image becomes as shown in FIG. . When the number of pixels is increased for enlargement of the moving image at the sampling point, the luminance is as shown in FIG. From this luminance, an enlarged image shown in FIG.

  Next, the principle of generating the enlarged image shown in FIG. 10 will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing sampling points and moved sampling points in the original image. In the original image shown in FIG. 14, the black line extends over two sampling points. For example, on the enlarged image, the line of thickness 2 on the original image is simply enlarged. On the other hand, when the sampling position is moved, black is obtained at a position across two pixels in the black line, and gray is obtained at the boundary position between white and black by interpolation. Therefore, in the enlarged image, the position of the designated point is black, but the surrounding area is gray.

  As described above, in the enlarged image of the pseudo-sampled image, the color of the position of the designated point is clear, but a color separated from the designated point by one pixel in the original image is displayed around the designated point. , It becomes easy to distinguish the color of the designated point and the other points. Therefore, it is easy to specify a desired point in a unit smaller than the pixel interval of the original image.

As described above, in this example, the position of the pointer can be moved in detail by operating the mouse 27 and can be accurately moved to the position of the desired measurement point on the screen.
In this example, the resampling process is executed using the mouse 27. However, a part of the process of this example may be performed using the joystick 61. In this case, the lever switch 62 is used as a switch for performing various menu operations displayed graphically and determining the selection items by moving the pointer and pressing down right below the measurement, and the freeze switch 63 is related to the LCD 14 display. Used as a switch.

  The store switch 64 is used to record a still image on the PCMCIA memory card 23 (see FIG. 2) when a still image is displayed by pressing the freeze switch 63. The measurement execution switch 65 is used when executing measurement software, and the enlarged display switching WIDE switch 66 and the TELE switch 67 are used for enlarging and reducing the endoscope image.

  In the above-described embodiment, the control unit that performs the process shown in FIG. 3 is provided in the control unit 12 of the measurement endoscope system. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, a configuration using a personal computer (PC) is used. It is good.

  In this case, an image captured by a CCD camera (endoscopic camera) 90 is output to the video signal processing circuit 92 via the endoscope unit 91, and the imaging signal is converted into a video signal such as an NTSC signal by the video signal processing circuit 92. The data is converted and supplied to a personal computer (PC).

  A keyboard 93 and a mouse 94 are connected to a personal computer (PC), an external storage device 95 is also connected, and a sampling image is displayed on a display 98. A media driver 97 for mounting a recording medium 96 such as a CD-ROM is also provided.

A personal computer (PC) controls the system by an internal CPU, ROM, and RAM, and performs, for example, the processing shown in FIG.
That is, as shown above, the CPU, ROM, and RAM perform the processing shown in the figure. Specifically, the pointer control unit 99, the pointer position pre-movement storage unit 100, the pointer position post-movement storage unit 101, and the mouse button state storage unit. 102, a corrected pointer position storage unit 103, an indicator state instruction unit 104, a sampling point position storage unit 105, a resampling processing unit 106, a measurement unit 109, a sampling point moving image display processing unit 107, and an original image memory 108. Execute the function. Also in this case, the pointer control unit 99, the re-sampling processing unit 106, the sampling point moving image display processing unit 107, and the measurement unit 109 correspond to the processing of the CPU, and the storage unit 100 before moving the pointer position or the storage after moving the pointer position. The unit 101, the mouse button state storage unit 102, the original image memory 108, and the like correspond to a RAM serving as a storage unit, and the CPU controls the movement of the pointer position in accordance with a ROM program. In this case as well, the CPU executes the system control of the measurement endoscope system in accordance with the program stored in the ROM, in addition to the movement control of the pointer position.

  As described above, an image captured by the CCD camera (endoscopic camera) 90 is input to the video signal processing circuit 92 via the endoscope unit 91, and the imaging signal is a video signal such as an NTSC signal as described above. And supplied to a personal computer (PC). The personal computer (PC) records the input data in the original image memory 108. Then, the same processing as described above is performed.

  For example, the measurement flow shown in FIG. 8A is performed by operating the mouse 94. First, a measurement point is specified on the left image, an enlargement area to be enlarged is set on the original image, and the display 98 is displayed. Display (processing of FIGS. 8B to 8D). When the pointer movement process is performed in order to make the sampling point coincide with the measurement point, the process shown in FIGS. 8E to 8G is executed.

  That is, as described above, the mouse 94 is moved in the horizontal direction, the vertical direction, or the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. sx or register P.P. While adding the value of sy, the value is compared with a preset R value, and the corrected pointer position storage means 79 stores the correction value of the pointer position.

By processing in this way, the position of the pointer can be moved in more detail with respect to the movement operation of the mouse 94, and the pointer can be accurately moved to the measurement point.
In the description of the above embodiment, the example in which the mouse 27 or the mouse 94 is used as the pointing device has been described. However, another pointing device may be used.

It is a figure explaining the measurement endoscope system of this embodiment. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of a measurement endoscope system. It is a functional block diagram explaining the control processing of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining a remote controller. It is a perspective view which shows the structure which attached the direct-viewing type stereo optical adapter to the endoscope end part for measurement. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a figure which shows the method of calculating | requiring the three-dimensional coordinate of a measurement point by stereo measurement. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of measurement by a measurement endoscope system. It is a flowchart explaining a measurement point designation | designated process. It is a flowchart explaining the setting process of an expansion area. It is a flowchart explaining the production | generation process of an enlarged image. It is a flowchart explaining a process when the left button of a mouse is pressed. It is a flowchart explaining a process when the left button of a mouse | mouth is returned. It is a flowchart explaining the position movement process of a pointer. (A) is a figure which shows two right-and-left original images read, (b) is a figure which shows the measurement screen at the time of pointing near a measurement point and displaying an enlarged image, (c) These are figures which show the measurement screen containing the enlarged image at the time of moving a sampling point, (d) is a figure which shows the measurement screen when changing magnification to 6 times, (e) FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a measurement screen when the unit of the moving amount of the sampling point is set to the pixel interval of the original image and the enlargement magnification is changed to 6.times., (F) is a diagram showing the measurement screen; g) is a diagram showing a measurement screen including a measurement result when a distance between two points is measured. It is a figure which shows the enlarged image produced | generated by linear interpolation. (A) is a figure which shows the original image of 6 horizontal pixels x 1 vertical pixel, (b) is a figure which shows the brightness | luminance in the sampling point of an original image, (c) is the brightness | luminance of a sampling point moving image. (D) is a figure which shows the brightness | luminance in the sampling point of the original image at the time of increasing the number of pixels for expansion, (e) is an enlarged image from the brightness | luminance information of (d). FIG. It is a figure which shows the sampling point in the original image, and the moved sampling point. It is a system configuration figure showing a modification of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the original image of a measuring object. It is a figure which shows the simple expansion image of the expansion area | region of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Measuring endoscope apparatus 11 ... Endoscope insertion part 12 ... Control unit 13 ... Remote controller 14 ... Liquid crystal monitor (LCD)
17 ... Face Mount Display (FMD)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... FMD adapter 19 ... Speaker 20 ... Microphone 21 ... Personal computer 22 ... Compact flash (registered trademark) memory card 23 ... PCMCIA memory card (PMCIA memory card)
24 ... Endoscope unit 25 ... Camera control unit (CCU)
26a ... CPU
26b ROM
26c RAM
27 ... Mouse 29 ... RS-232c interface (RS-232C I / F)
30 ... PC card interface (PC card I / F)
31 ... USB interface (USB I / F)
32 ... Audio signal processing circuit 33 ... Video signal processing circuit 34, 35 ... Objective lens system 36 ... Illumination lens 37 ... Stereo optical adapter 38 ... Fixing ring 39 ... Internal view Mirror tip 43 ... Individual imaging device 43a ... Signal line 53 ... Female screw 54 ... Male screw 61 ... Joystick 62 ... Lever switch 63 ... Freeze switch 64 ... Store switch 65 ... Measurement execution switch 66 ... WIDE switch for enlarged display switching 67 ... TELE switch 70 ... External video input terminal 75 ... Point control unit 76 ... Storage unit before point position movement 77 ... -Point position storage unit 78 ... Mouse button state storage unit 79 ... Correction point position storage unit 80 ... Indicator Instruction unit 81 ... sampling point position storage unit 82 ... re-sampling processing section 84 ... measurement unit 90 ··· CCD camera (endoscope camera)
91 ... Endoscope unit 92 ... Video signal processing circuit 93 ... Keyboard 94 ... Mouse 95 ... External storage device 98 ... Display 99 ... Pointer controller 100 ... Pointer position Storage unit before movement 101... Storage unit after moving pointer position 102... Mouse button state storage unit 103... Pointer storage unit after correction 104.. Indicator state instruction unit 105 .. Sampling point position storage unit 106. Processing unit 107 .. Sampling point moving image display processing unit 108 .. Original image memory 109 .. Measurement unit

Claims (4)

An image acquisition means for acquiring an image signal obtained by sampling an image of an observation target in a pixel unit, and acquiring it as image data;
Display means for displaying the image acquired by the image acquisition means;
Position specifying means for specifying a position on the image;
Storage means for storing a pointer position indicating a designated position which is moved by the position designation means and displayed on the display means;
It calculates the moving direction and the moving amount of the moving operation based on the specified position of the position specifying means, and control means for calculating a position on the displayed the image on the display unit in units finer than the pixel unit ,
The storage means has a first threshold value and a second threshold value for each of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction on the image, and before and after each movement operation in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. Storing a first value and a second value to be added or subtracted according to the designated position of
The control unit adds the value in the pixel unit at the designated position and the value in a unit smaller than the pixel unit obtained by dividing the first and second values by the first and second threshold values, and moves. A measurement endoscope system , wherein the value of the designated position after operation is calculated in the unit smaller than the pixel unit . The control unit corrects the designated position on the image designated by the position designation unit based on a value of the designated position calculated in the unit smaller than the pixel unit. The measurement endoscope system according to 1. The position specifying means includes a mouse controller, and the control means performs the calculation when the pointer is moved with any button of the mouse controller being pressed. Item 3. The measurement endoscope system according to Item 1 or 2. When the state where any button of the mouse controller is pressed is released, the control unit is configured to measure the designated position calculated in units smaller than the pixel unit as measurement points for measurement. The measurement endoscope system according to claim 3, wherein