JPH04332526A - Image processor for eye to be examined - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the image processor for eyes to be examined which can easily superpose the information on the other eye to be examined on the one eye to be examined and can display these images without impairing the original images of the eyes to be examined as best as possible. CONSTITUTION:A position corresponding means 23 is inputted with one density data group building the image of the one eye to be examined and the other density data group which can correspond the respective positions to the respective positions of the image of the one eye to be examined and builds the image of the other eye to be examined relating to the image of the one eye to be examined and corresponds the position of the image of the other eye to be examined based on the image of the one eye to be examined. A density adding means 25 outputs the added density data group by adding the density of each picture element of the image of the one eye to be examined and the density of each picture element of the image of the other eye to be examined subjected to the correspondence processing by the position corresponding means 23 for each of the respective picture elements. An image processing means 9 executes the processing for building the images of the eyes to be examined by the added density data group. An image display means displays the images of the eyes to be examined in accordance with the added density data.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an eye image processing apparatus suitable for superimposing and displaying a plurality of eye images.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Fundus diseases may have an affected area (also referred to as a lesion) in the choroid, which is deeper inside the retina. Ophthalmic treatment for this type of ocular fundus disease, such as photocoagulation treatment,
Before treatment, a retinal image is taken as an image of one eye to be examined using visible fluorescence photography, and a choroidal image is taken as an image of the other eye using infrared fluorescence photography, and the two images are displayed on the same screen of a TV monitor. A retinal image and a choroidal image are projected in parallel as images of the subject's eye, and the position of the affected part of the choroid, which is invisible to the naked eye, is identified by the retinal and choroidal images projected side by side, and the position on the identified retina is Laser light is aimed at a specific target to perform photocoagulation treatment on the affected area of the choroid.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, using position matching means (position matching means) such as affine transformation,
Each position of the choroid image is related to each position value of the retinal image, and a marker line or the like is drawn on the retinal image using graphic means to clearly indicate the position of the affected part of the choroid image, and the ocular lens is It is possible to identify the location of the affected part of the choroid that cannot be seen with the naked eye through the laser beam, and to perform photocoagulation treatment on the affected part of the choroid by irradiating laser light to the location on the retina identified by the marker line etc. Conceivable.

However, if a marker line or the like is drawn on the retinal image to specify the location of the affected part of the choroid,
There is an inconvenience that the retinal image in the line width portion where the marker line exists is hidden by the marker line and becomes invisible. Another disadvantage is that it is troublesome to specify the position of the affected part of the choroid on the retina by drawing marker lines on the retinal image one by one.

[0005] Therefore, by subtraction method, the density is subtracted for each pixel of one eye image to be examined and each pixel of another eye image to be examined, and the lesion of the choroid is displayed on the screen as a retinal image. However, even if the choroidal image and the retinal image are in a corresponding relationship, the image of the subject's eye obtained by the subtraction method has approximately the same density, and the density pattern of that part is Because of the cancellation, the pattern of the affected area in the image of the patient's eye becomes clear, but information on other parts is missing, and the eye image obtained by the subtraction method is used for ophthalmic treatment. is difficult to do.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and allows information on other eye images to be easily superimposed and displayed on one image of the eye to be examined without damaging the image of the eye image as much as possible. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ophthalmological image processing device.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an ophthalmological image processing apparatus according to the present invention provides one density data group for constructing one eye image to be examined, and each image of the eye image to be examined. A group of other density data that can be associated with each position and that constructs another eye image related to the one eye image is input, and the other density data group is input based on the one image of the eye eye to be examined. a positional mapping means for associating the positions of the eye images to be examined, and a density of each pixel of the one eye image to be examined and a density of each pixel of the other eye image that has been correlated by the position mapping means; an image processing means that performs processing to construct an eye image to be examined based on the group of added density data; An image display means for displaying an image.

[0008]

[Function] According to the ophthalmological image processing apparatus according to the present invention, the position correlating means associates each position with one group of density data that constructs one eye image to be examined and each position of one eye image to be examined. The positions of other eye images to be examined are associated with one eye image to be examined as a reference based on other density data groups that can be correlated and construct other eye images to be examined that are related to this one eye image to be examined. The density adding means adds the density of each pixel of the first eye image to the density of each pixel of the other eye image that has been correlated by the position mapping means for each corresponding pixel to obtain added density data. Output the group. The image processing means performs processing for constructing an eye image to be examined using the group of added density data. The image display means displays an image of the eye to be examined based on the group of added density data.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of an ophthalmological image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an image memory in which a group of density data for constructing a retinal image as an image of one eye to be examined is stored, and 2 represents an image memory for constructing a choroidal image as an image of another eye to be examined. This is another image memory in which other density data groups are stored. This image memory may be in different areas of the same magnetic disk or optical disk. The retinal image is taken, for example, by a known visible fluorescence photography method. The choroidal image is taken, for example, by known infrared fluorescence photography. The retinal image and the choroidal image are read by the reading means 4 via the changeover switch 3. The changeover switch 3
is switched by a switching execution command. This changeover switch 3 is described for convenience of explanation like each switch described later, and corresponds to a reading step when each density data is read from different areas of a floppy disk using a magnetic head.

A group of density data constituting the retinal image is temporarily stored in a random memory 6 via a changeover switch 5. A group of density data constituting a choroidal image is temporarily stored in a random memory 7 via a changeover switch 5. The density data group stored in the random memory 6 is input to the image processing means 9 via the switch 8. The density data group stored in the random memory 7 is input to the image processing means 9 via the switch 10. The image processing means 9 constructs a video signal based on the concentration data group for constructing the retinal image and the concentration data group for constructing the choroidal image. The video signal is input to a TV monitor 11 as an image display means. The TV monitor 11 is divided into four display areas (1) to (4). TV monitor 1
1, the retinal images 12 shown in FIG. 2 are displayed in parallel in the area (1). Furthermore, the choroid image 13 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed in the area (2). Retinal image 12 shown in FIG.
The choroidal image 13 shown in FIG. 3 is schematically drawn to explain the present invention for convenience, and does not necessarily match the image actually obtained.

In FIG. 2, 14 indicates the macular area, 15 indicates the optic disc, 16 indicates large blood vessels, and 17 indicates small blood vessels. Since the choroid is located deeper within the retina, the macular area 14 and optic disc 15 are blurred in the image, and their shape is different from that when the retina is photographed. In addition, large blood vessels 16
The image will be blurred, and blood vessels 18 and choroidal lesions 19, which were not visible in the retinal image, will also be visible.

The concentration data group stored in the random memory 6 and the concentration data group stored in the random memory 7 are input to a positional correspondence means 23, for example, an affine transformation means, and the operator displays the data on the TV monitor 11 in parallel. While visually recognizing the retinal image 12 and the choroidal image 13 displayed on the screen, an operation is performed to associate each position of the choroidal image 13 with each position using the retinal image 12 as a reference. This association operation is performed, for example, by vascular branching portions 20, 21,
This is done using 22. By associating each position of the retinal image 12 with each position of the choroidal image 13 for at least four points, it is possible to accurately correspond each position.

When the correspondence execution command is issued, the position correspondence means 23 creates the choroid image 1 for each position of the retinal image 12.
3 are associated with each other, and the associated choroidal image 13 is output to the random memory 7. The random memory 7 temporarily stores the density data group subjected to the association processing. For the correspondence, the size and distortion of the images are corrected and the positions are aligned using, for example, a known affine transformation. The positional association means 23 also performs image enhancement processing as needed.

The concentration data group in the random memory 6 is inputted to the concentration adding means 25 via the switch 24. The density data in the random memory 7 is input to the density adding means 25 via the switch 26. The density adding means 25 collects the density data group of each pixel constructing the retinal image 12 and the choroidal image 13.
for each pixel.

For example, if the density data has an 8-bit configuration, there are 256 density levels, where "0" is black and "2" is black.
56'' corresponds to white. Since the result of addition may exceed the maximum value of the density display, the density addition means 25 subjects the addition result to, for example, an arithmetic average, a weighted average, or a compression. The density adding means 25 outputs the added density data group to the random memory 6. The random memory 6 temporarily stores the added density data group. This added density data group constitutes a test eye image, which will be described later, in which the retinal image 12 and the choroidal image 13 are superimposed, and this added density data group and the density data group in the random memory 7 are input to the image processing means 9. be done. The image processing means 9 constructs a video signal that forms an image of the subject's eye using the group of added density data, and also constructs a video signal that forms a choroidal image 13 from the group of density data in the random memory 7.
) displays the eye image 27 shown in FIG. region(
In 2), the choroid images 13 that have been subjected to the matching process are displayed in parallel. According to the subtraction method, as shown in FIG. 5, if the density data of a part of the obtained eye image 28 to be examined, for example, the optic disc 15, is the same, that part, and if the density data of the small blood vessels 17 are the same, However, according to the present invention, the concentration data group of the original eye images 12 and 13 is converted into a corresponding image. Since the images are added for each pixel, even if there are pixels with the same density in the images 12 and 13 of the eye to be examined, the same part will not disappear, so the image of the eye image 12 to be examined is as much as possible. One eye image 12 is converted to another eye image 13 without damaging it.
It can be displayed superimposed on the .

[0017]

[Effects] Since the ophthalmological image processing device according to the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to easily convert information from other eye images into a single eye image without damaging the image of the eye image as much as possible. This has the effect of being able to be displayed in an overlapping manner.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of an eye image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a retinal image.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a choroidal image.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a subject's eye image constructed by superimposing a choroidal image density data group and a retinal image density data group.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a subject's eye image obtained by the subtraction method.

[Explanation of symbols]

9 Image processing means 11 TV monitor (image display means) 12 Retinal image (image of one eye to be examined) 13 Choroidal image (image of other eye to be examined) 23 Position correlating means 25 Concentration addition means

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: One concentration data group that constructs one eye to be examined image, and each position of one eye to be examined, which can be associated with each position in the eye image to be examined, and another eye to be examined related to the one eye to be examined image. another density data group constituting an image is input, and a position matching means for associating the position of the other eye image with reference to the one eye image to be examined; density adding means for adding the density and the density of each pixel of the other eye image subjected to the matching processing by the position matching means for each corresponding pixel and outputting a group of added density data; and added density data. An image processing device for an eye to be examined, comprising: an image processing unit that performs processing to construct an image of the eye to be examined based on the group; and an image display unit that displays an image of the eye to be examined based on the group of added density data. .