JPH04327831A - Ophthalmological image processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an ophthalmological image processing unit by which the positions of plural images relative to one another can be clearly grasped at a glance together with those portions of the images of an eye to be examined which are changed with time, the images being taken as time elapses. CONSTITUTION:Image data are read by a reading means 1 and image signals output from the reading means 1 are stored in a storage means 2 and the resolution signals of plural images among the stored image signals are positioned by a positioning means 6 and then the images are colored with different colors by a coloring means 3 and synthesized by a synthesizing means 4 and displayed in a display means 5.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ophthalmological image processing apparatus, and more particularly to an ophthalmological image processing apparatus suitable for superimposing and displaying images of a subject's eye.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of ophthalmology, for example, during photocoagulation surgery, there are cases where it is desired to perform treatment while simultaneously observing an image of the choroid taken with infrared fluorescence and an image of the retina taken with visible fluorescence. In such cases, in conventional ophthalmological image processing apparatuses, two images are displayed side by side on the same screen of a display means such as a TV monitor and compared.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, when positions are specified using markers etc. in order to clarify mutual positional relationships, the lesions located at the positions specified by the markers are hidden by the markers and become difficult to see. In some cases, it may be difficult to judge whether or not the location specified by the marker is accurate.

[0004] The present invention has been made in order to eliminate these drawbacks of conventional ophthalmological image processing devices, and it is possible to clearly grasp the mutual positional relationship of multiple images at a glance, and to It is an object of the present invention to provide an ophthalmological image processing device that can clearly grasp temporal changes in an image of a subject's eye photographed.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The ophthalmological image processing apparatus of the present invention includes an image reading means for reading image data and outputting it as a video signal, and a storage means for storing the video signal output from the image reading means. , a positioning means for reading out video signals for a plurality of images from among the video signals stored in the storage means, adjusting the mutual positional relationship for each image, and reading out the read video signals from the storage means. A coloring device that applies different coloring processing to each image on a video signal, a compositing device that synthesizes images colored by the coloring device, and a display device that displays the image synthesized by the compositing device. shall be.

Furthermore, the ophthalmological image processing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the images synthesized by the synthesizing means are a visible fluorescent fundus image and an infrared fluorescent fundus image.

Furthermore, the ophthalmological image processing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the images synthesized by the synthesizing means are fundus images taken over time of the same subject.

[0008]

[Operation] In the ophthalmological image processing apparatus of the present invention, the video signals of multiple images are subjected to different coloring processing for each video signal, and the colored images are synthesized and displayed. Relationships can be understood at a glance, and at the same time, it is also possible to clearly determine in which image a specific portion of the composite image was included before composition. Furthermore, when images taken over time are combined, changed parts included only in some images before being combined are displayed in a different color from other parts, so that the changed parts can be understood at a glance.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the ophthalmological image processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ophthalmological image processing apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the reading means 1 is a still video or the like that reads image data of the eye to be examined from a recording medium such as a hard disk or an optical disk and outputs it as a video signal, and the video signal output from the reading means 1 is a frame memory or the like. is temporarily stored in the storage means 2 of. The reading means 1 may be a TV camera that reads an image of the subject's eye stored on a cine film or the like or an image of the subject's eyelid of an actual subject.

Among the video signals stored in the storage means 2, the video signals constituting a plurality of images to be synthesized on the same display screen are read out to the alignment means 6, and are affixed with respect to the reference image. Well-known alignment processes such as transformations are performed. The video signal subjected to this alignment processing is stored again in the storage means 2.

The video signals of the plurality of aligned images stored again in the storage means 2 are read out to the coloring means 3, and each image is colored in a different color. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a fundus image 1 of the retina using visible fluorescence is colored cyan, and a fundus image 2 of the choroid using infrared fluorescence is colored red. Furthermore, when coloring images of the same subject's eye taken over time, as shown in Figure 3,
For example, the first image 21 with the oldest photographing date and time is colored blue, the second image 22 with the second oldest photographing date and time is colored red, and the third image 23 with the latest photographing date and time is colored green. The video signal subjected to such coloring processing is returned to the storage means 2 and stored again after the coloring processing.

The video signals of the plurality of images that have undergone the coloring process and are stored again in the storage means 2 are read out to the composition means 4, and are composited and displayed on the display means 5, such as a monitor TV, as a single image. be done. For example, in the case of a composite image of the retina and choroid, the display means 5 displays a screen in which the retina image and the choroid image, which are displayed superimposed on the same screen, are displayed in different colors, as shown in the split screen 3 of FIG. The positional relationship between lesions in the retina and choroid can be clearly understood, and the retina is displayed in cyan and the choroid in red, indicating whether the lesion is in the retina or choroid. Can be identified at a glance. Note that FIG. 2 shows a case where divided images 1 and 2 are displayed with different color combinations. When coloring the divided images, if each divided image is colored so that the colors are complementary to each other, the composite image becomes extremely easy to see.

As shown in FIG. 3, when displaying changes over time as a composite image, each divided image 21, 22, 23
As described above, when the three primary colors are arranged, in the composite image 24, the parts that appear on all the divided images have a color close to white, and the parts that appear only in a particular divided image are colored in that divided image. The selected color will be displayed in color. For example, pathological blood vessel 2 that appears only in segmented image 22 taken on August 10th.
2a is displayed as a red diseased blood vessel 24a on the composite image 24. From this, when divided images taken over time are combined and displayed as a single image, if a lesion is present only in a particular divided image, the lesion will be displayed in color, so you can easily see when it is. It is possible to determine whether a lesion has occurred at that point. Of course, a lesion that is not present in all divided images but only in a plurality of divided images is colored in a color that is a composite of the color scheme of the lesion, and it is possible to easily determine when or until when the lesion existed.

[0015] As shown in Fig. 3, data such as the shooting date and time may be displayed at the bottom of each divided image, or the relevant information when there is a lesion in two or more screens is displayed at the bottom of the composite image. Color relationship of lesion area, for example, cyan (Cy) = blue (B
) + green (G), magenta (M) = red (R) + blue (B),
A relationship such as yellow (Y) = green (G) + red (R) may be displayed.

Furthermore, the number of divided images need not be limited to three, and a composite image may be constructed using a plurality of divided images. In this case, a color that is obtained by subtracting the color scheme of the divided image in which the lesion does not exist appears in the lesion from the composite color of all the divided images.

[0017]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the ophthalmological image processing device of the present invention is configured as described above, the mutual positional relationship of a plurality of images can be clearly grasped at a glance, and special parts of a composite image can be It is possible to easily understand which images are included in the image, and it is also possible to clearly understand the portions that change over time in images of the subject's eye photographed over time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ophthalmological image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the ophthalmological image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen of the ophthalmological image processing device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Reading means 2. Storage means 3 Coloring means 4. Synthesis means 5 Display means 6 Positioning means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Image reading means for reading image data and outputting it as a video signal, storage means for storing the video signal output from the image reading means, and a plurality of video signals stored in the storage means. positioning means for reading out video signals for the images and adjusting the mutual positional relationship of the read out video signals for each image; and coloring means for applying different coloring processing to the video signals read from the storage means for each image. 1. An ophthalmological image processing apparatus comprising: a combination of images colored by the coloring means; and a display means for displaying the image combined by the combination means. 2. The ophthalmological image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the images synthesized by the synthesizing means are a visible fluorescence fundus image and an infrared fluorescence fundus image. 3. The ophthalmological image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the images synthesized by the synthesizing means are fundus images taken over time of the same subject.