JPH06343134A - Fiberscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a fiberscope which can remove a mesh pattern characteristic to an image fiber. CONSTITUTION:Through an endoscope catheter 1, a white board 14 is projected first. The projected reference image 17 is read by a CCD camera and as a reference data the mesh pattern are stored. Then the endoscope catheter 1 is inserted into a blood vessel 15 and atheromas 16 in the blood vessel are projected. The signal image 18 is read by the CCD camera and the signal data are stored. For the signal data, calculation processing 19 is performed on the basis of the reference data to erase the mesh pattern and the resulting image is displayed as a display image 20 on a CRT.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fiberscope such as an image fiber endoscope used for medical purposes or industrial purposes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image fiber is composed of several thousand optical fibers with the incident end and the emitting end aligned with each other in phase. At least at both ends, each optical fiber is adhesive or acid-soluble. It is fixed by glass etc. In addition, since the optical fibers have a circular cross section, it is unavoidable that a gap is formed between the optical fibers. Since the light from the incident end is not transmitted, this gap looks black on the screen at the emitting end and appears as a mesh-like line peculiar to the image fiber. When the image at the exit end is read by a solid-state image sensor using a CCD, the resolution of the surface sensor is higher than that of the image fiber because the number of pixels in the solid-state image sensor is hundreds of thousands. In a conventional fiberscope that displays a complicated image unprocessed, there is a problem that a mesh pattern is reproduced and displayed.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to realize a fiberscope capable of removing a mesh pattern peculiar to an image fiber. Is.

[0004]

According to the present invention, in a fiberscope for reading an image from an image fiber with a surface sensor, a fiberscope having a reference data storage unit and an image processing unit, and image data and reference data read by the surface sensor are provided. The data read out from the storage unit is introduced into the image processing unit to erase the mesh pattern.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in the fiberscope,
Since it has a reference data storage unit, the white plate is read in advance and the mesh pattern is stored in the reference data storage unit as reference data. When the actual image is read, the reference data is used in the image processing unit. By performing the arithmetic processing, it is possible to obtain data with the mesh pattern removed.

[0006]

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an endoscope system using the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an endoscope catheter, 2 is an image fiber, 3 is a light guide fiber, 4 is a lens system, 5 is a solid-state image sensor, 6 is a switching unit, and 7 is a switching unit.
Is a signal data storage unit, 8 is a reference data storage unit, 9 is an arithmetic processing unit, 10 is a display unit, 11 is a magnification signal line, 12 is a light source unit, and 13 is a main body unit. The endoscopic catheter 1 has at least an image fiber 2 and a light guide fiber 3.
have. The image at the exit end of the image fiber 2 is
An image is formed by the lens system 4 on the solid-state image sensor 5 using a CCD. The solid-state imaging device 5 converts the read light amount into digital data by an A / D converter (not shown), and the data for each pixel is transferred to the signal data storage unit 7 or the reference data storage unit 8 via the switching unit 6. Remember. As will be described later, the arithmetic processing unit 9 performs arithmetic processing on the data read from the signal data storage unit 7 based on the data in the reference data storage unit 8. The display unit 10 is composed of a CRT or a liquid crystal display device, and displays the data processed by the arithmetic processing unit 9. A halogen lamp or the like that emits white light is used as the light source unit 12, and is arranged so as to introduce the illumination light into the light guide fiber 3. The lens system 4 is composed of a variable magnification lens, and the magnification of the lens system 4 is the magnification signal line 1
1 is input to the arithmetic processing unit 9.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the operation of the endoscope system described in FIG. In the figure, 1 is an endoscopic catheter, 14 is a whiteboard, 15 is a blood vessel, 16 is an atheroma, 17 is a reference image, 18 is a signal image, 19 is a calculation process, and 20 is a display image. In this example, the state of blood vessels is observed with an endoscope, and will be described with reference to FIG.

When the endoscope catheter 1 is newly attached to the main body portion 13, the whiteboard 14 is first photographed.
At this time, the whiteboard 14 is illuminated by the illumination light from the light guide fiber 3 that transmits the white light from the light source unit 12. The image transmitted by the image fiber 2 is formed on the solid-state image sensor 5 by the lens system 4. Reference image 17 read by the solid-state image sensor 5
Has a mesh pattern of an image fiber, and the mesh pattern data is addressed and stored in the reference data storage unit 8 by the switching unit 6.

Next, while inserting the endoscope catheter 1 into the blood vessel 15, the inside of the blood vessel is observed, and for example, the atheroma 16 in the blood vessel is photographed. The observed signal image 18 is similarly read by the solid-state imaging device 5, and is addressed and stored in the signal data storage unit 7 by the switching unit 6.

In the display unit 10, the arithmetic processing unit 9 performs arithmetic processing on the signal data from the signal data storage unit 7 based on the reference data from the reference data storage unit 8.
Will be displayed.

The signal data from the signal data storage unit has a mesh pattern of the image fiber as shown in the signal image 18, and the pattern of the mesh pattern is the same pattern as the reference data.

Therefore, as the simplest arithmetic processing, the processing of replacing the data of the address of the signal data corresponding to the address where the mesh data in the reference data exists with the white data is performed. The processing result is displayed on the display unit 1.
Displayed at 0. In the display image 20, the portion where the mesh pattern is present becomes white, and the mesh pattern becomes an inconspicuous image, which facilitates observation.

The arithmetic processing is not limited to the replacement with white data as described above. Replace the data of the address of the signal data corresponding to the address where the mesh data in the reference data exists with the data of the adjacent one address, or based on the surrounding data,
Well-known image processing may be performed, such as performing data replacement by majority voting or replacing with interpolation data. A display image that is easier to observe can be obtained.
In the case of a color image, image processing may be performed for each color component.

The mesh pattern does not change unless the endoscope catheter 1 is detached from the main body.
Therefore, even if the observation is continued, it is not necessary to take the procedure of reading the reference data each time. However, when observation is performed by changing the lens system to change the magnification, the addresses of the mesh pattern in the signal data and the reference data do not match.

When the magnification of the lens can be set in stages, when the endoscope catheter 1 is attached to the main body 13,
The whiteboard 14 is copied at each magnification, reference data is stored for each magnification, and the magnification of the lens system 4 is introduced into the arithmetic processing unit 9 by the magnification signal line 11. The arithmetic processing unit 9 may select the reference data according to the magnification and perform the image processing.

When a zoom lens system whose lens system is capable of continuously changing the magnification is used, the magnification is set before the insertion into a blood vessel or the like, and when the magnification is not changed after the insertion, before the insertion. It is sufficient to read the reference data on the whiteboard, but in reality, in many cases, there is a demand for changing the magnification after inserting the reference data into an observed organ such as a blood vessel. In such a case, reference data at a magnification of several points, for example, about 3 points is read in, and after being inserted into an organ to be observed, the reference data read based on the read reference data as the magnification is changed. The reference data at the magnification at that time may be calculated, and the data may be used as the reference data.

[0017]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the mesh pattern peculiar to the image fiber can be removed in the fiberscope, the observation image can be easily seen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an endoscope system using the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an operation of the endoscope system described in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Endoscopic catheter 2 Image fiber 3 Light guide fiber 4 Lens system 5 Solid-state imaging device 6 Switching part 7 Signal data storage part 8 Reference data storage part 9 Calculation processing part 10 Display part 11 Magnification signal line 12 Light source part 13 Main body part 14 Whiteboard 15 Blood vessels 16 Atheromas 17 Reference image 18 Signal image 19 Arithmetic processing 20 Display image

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fiberscope for reading an image from an image fiber with a surface sensor, comprising a reference data storage unit and an image processing unit, and image data read by a solid-state imaging device and data read from the reference data storage unit. Is introduced into the image processing section so that the mesh pattern is erased.