JPH0641147Y2 - Infrared imaging device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of an infrared imaging device for detecting infrared rays emitted from an object and observing a thermal image corresponding to the surface temperature distribution thereof, and more specifically for medical diagnosis. The present invention relates to a new thermographic device which is advantageous for observing the surface temperature distribution of the human body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Infrared imagers which use infrared rays to observe the surface temperature distribution of an object are well known and are already widely used for medical and industrial purposes. However, the conventional apparatus mainly displays the surface temperature distribution of the observation object as it is, which is inconvenient because it is difficult to obtain various observation data. Further, as seen in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 53-120480, a thermal image at a certain time and a thermal image after a certain period of time are compared and a first-order differential image corresponding to the difference is displayed. There are thermography devices that can observe the amount of change in the temperature of the observation object inside, but in the case of performing advanced medical diagnosis, the amount of data displayed on the screen is insufficient with these conventional devices. It was

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The main object of the present invention is to provide an improved infrared imager capable of obtaining various data corresponding to the surface temperature change of an observation object from the above conventional situations. More specifically, the present invention provides an infrared imaging device capable of simultaneously displaying a primary differential image and a secondary differential image based on the temporal change of the surface temperature of an object, and thus represents the body surface temperature of the human body. It aims to provide abundant observation data for medical diagnosis that depends on changes in blood flow.

[0004]

The principle configuration of an infrared imager according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Direct image memory units VM1 and VM2 for storing infrared images of an observation object imaged at fixed time intervals. , VM3, a plurality of first-order differential image storage units DM1 and DM2 that store first-order differential images obtained from differences between infrared images at different imaging times, and a second-order obtained from differences between these first-order differential images. A secondary differential image storage unit DM3 for storing differential images is provided so that the respective images from the direct image storage unit, the primary differential image storage unit and the secondary differential image storage unit can be simultaneously displayed on a single display screen DSP. I am doing it.

[0005]

In the structure shown in FIG. 1, the thermal image data of the observed object imaged at time t1 is stored in the first image storage unit VM1, and the thermal image data imaged at t2 and t3 after a predetermined time is the second image data. And the third image storage units VM2 and VM3
Memorized in. Then, the video signal information stored in these storage units are subtracted from each other by subtraction circuits 0P1 and OP2,
It is stored in the primary differential storage units DM1 and DM2 in the form of primary differential data. Further, the data of this first-order differential image is used for the subtraction circuit 0.
It is subtracted by P3 and is stored in the second differential image storage unit DM3. Then, the contents of each video storage unit are read out simultaneously or at any time and are displayed on a single display screen.

Thus, according to the infrared imaging device of the present invention, the change amount of the surface temperature of the observed object can be known from the comparative observation between the plurality of primary differential images displayed on the same display screen, and the simultaneous display The change rate data of the surface temperature can be obtained from the obtained second differential image.

When the infrared imaging device of the present invention is used for medical purposes, the degree of excitement of the sympathetic nervous system and the degree of blood flow-increasing hormone can be determined from the rate of change of blood flow by the first differential image of the human body surface temperature, The rate of change in blood flow due to differentiation allows the degree of excitement of sympathetic nerves and the distribution and function state of blood flow-increasing hormones to be known, making it possible to obtain extremely useful diagnostic data for diagnosis.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG.
Will be described in more detail with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

In FIG. 2, the same parts as in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the infrared image signal obtained by the image pickup section 3 including the scanning optical system 1 and the infrared detector 2 is A / D.
After being converted into a digital signal by the converter 4, one screen is stored in the image memories VM1, VM2, and VM3 as the direct image storage unit. The acquisition timing of the video signal stored in each image memory can be arbitrarily changed by adjusting the timer 6 connected to the control unit 5 with the time setting item 7, and the image pickup unit can be changed at a constant time interval set by the timer. 3 is driven, and the data of the thermal image pattern of the object OJ is sequentially stored in each image memory at regular time intervals. Further, in this case, an environment temperature control device TC including a heater and a cooler is provided around the installation location of the object OJ, and the temperature of the object or the temperature of the object is controlled in conjunction with the timer 6 controlled by the time interval setting device 7. The background temperature can be forcibly changed.

On the other hand, subtraction circuits OP1 and OP2 are connected between the read lines of the image memories for direct image storage, and in the first subtraction circuit OP1, the image memories VM1 and VM1 are connected.
The temperature information of each pixel corresponding to M2 is subtracted, and the difference data is stored in one of the primary differential image storage memories DM1. In the second subtraction circuit OP2, the difference in temperature information between the image memories VM2 and VM3 is calculated and stored in the other primary differential image storage memory DM2 for each pixel. Further, a third subtraction circuit OP3 for calculating a difference between the primary differential images is connected between the read lines of the two primary differential image storage memories, and a second differential image corresponding to the subtraction result of each pixel is generated. The pattern data is stored in the secondary differential image storage memory DM3. A screen memory 9 is connected through an image selection circuit 8 to each of the image memories storing the peculiar temperature information patterns as described above, and the contents of the screen memory are D /
It is adapted to be added to a display device 12 such as a CRT through an A conversion circuit 10 and a display control circuit 11.

Then, at the first image pickup timing t1, the data CS1 from the control circuit 5 causes the data of the thermal image corresponding to the infrared rays from the observation object OJ to be stored in the first memory VM1. . Then, the second imaging timing t after the predetermined time set by the time setting device 7 has elapsed
In 2, the thermal image data at that time becomes valid and the thermal image data at that time is stored in the second memory VM2, and the thermal image data detected at the third image pickup timing t3 is also the data capture signal CS3 from the control circuit. To the third memory VM3. In this case, the environmental temperature control device TC may be activated to image the temperature change of the object OJ by forcibly accelerating or decelerating between the image pickup timings.

After the three pieces of thermal image data are stored in the respective memories in this way, the pixel data at the corresponding addresses of the respective memories are sequentially read in parallel by the read signal from the control circuit 5, and the subtraction circuit is then read. The difference data is calculated in parallel between 0P1 and OP2. Then, the difference data are respectively stored in the memories DM1 and DM2 for storing the primary differential image data as primary differential data representing the amount of change in the surface temperature of the observed object within a predetermined time interval. Also these 2
The contents of one primary differential image storage memory are read out for each corresponding pixel, and the subtraction circuit OP3 sequentially performs a differential operation, and the result is stored in the memory DM3 as secondary differential image data.

Thus, the five image memories store different thermal image data depending on the surface temperature of the observation object OJ. Therefore, the thermal image data is selected or edited by the selection circuit 8 and written in the screen memory 9 as a single screen image, read out and D / A converted and then added to the CRT display device through the display control circuit 11. Thus, a plurality of videos can be displayed on the display screen 12 at the same time. For example, the screen memory 9 is divided into four areas, and the latest thermal image data stored in the image memory VM3 is directly put in the I area, and the first differential image memories DM1 and DM2 are respectively put in the II area and the IV area. Data corresponding to the contents is entered, and the secondary differential image memory D is added to the area III.
When the screen is edited so that the data corresponding to the contents of M3 is entered, the thermal image pattern of each area is multi-screened in the corresponding areas I ', II', III 'and IV' on the single display screen 12. It can be displayed side by side in the form of. Of course, in this case, the screen can be arbitrarily edited by controlling the mode of the selection circuit 8, and one or two different thermal image patterns selected from the five image memories are appropriately combined or enlarged and displayed. It is also possible to do so.

Further, as indicated by the broken line in FIG. 2, a circuit 13 for sequentially reading the data of the first image memory VM1 and extracting the contour of the image from the comparison of its adjacent pixels is additionally provided, and the contour image data is secondary. If it is stored so as to be superimposed on the differential image data, the display of the secondary differential image will be easier to see and will be easier to compare with other images.

[0015]

[Effect] As is apparent from the above description, in short, the present invention captures infrared images of an object to be observed at regular time intervals, and first-order differential images based on difference data between infrared images at different imaging times, The essence is that the secondary differential images based on the difference data between the primary differential images are simultaneously displayed on a single display screen. Therefore, when such an infrared imaging device is used for medical purposes, the temperature data of the human body surface can be directly displayed as a thermal imaging pattern, and the amount of change in surface temperature and the distribution of change rate data depending on the change in blood flow distribution can be displayed. Since it can be viewed as an image, extremely accurate and useful data can be obtained in diagnosing the distribution of excitatory states of the sympathetic nerve and the distribution of hormones that increase blood flow.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic block diagram for explaining the basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an infrared imager according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

VM1, VM2, VM3 Image memories DM1 and DM2 for storing thermal image data at different image capturing times Image memories DM1 and DM2 for storing different primary differential images DM3 Image memories for storing secondary differential images OP1, OP2, OP3 Subtraction circuit for calculating difference data OJ Observation target TC Environmental temperature control device 1 Scanning optical system 2 Infrared detector 3 Imaging unit 4 A / D converter 5 Control unit 6 Timer 7 Time setter 8 Selection circuit 9 Screen memory 10 D / A converter 11 Display control circuit 12 Display screen 13 Contour extraction circuit

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A direct image storage unit (VM1, VM2, VM) for storing infrared images of an observation object taken at fixed time intervals.
3), a plurality of first-order differential image storage units (DM1 and DM2) for storing first-order differential images obtained from the differences between the infrared images having different imaging times, and further obtained from the differences between the plurality of first-order differential images. A secondary differential image storage unit (DM3) for storing the secondary differential image is provided, and a plurality of images from the direct image storage unit, the primary differential image storage unit and the secondary differential image storage unit are displayed on a single display screen DSP. An infrared image device characterized in that it can be simultaneously displayed on the screen.