JPH1039437A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor capable of always reproducing an image inverted in gradation based on multiplevel image data. SOLUTION: This processor is provided with an image processing means 86 which inverts gradation based on the image data temporarily stored in an image data memory means 66. When a picture is displayed on a CRT 50 by inverting gradation, the image processing means 86 assigns a value obtained by subtracting the picture element value (x) of each picture element of the image data stored in the means 66 from the length (y) of data used to express gradation as the picture element value of each picture element based on image control data stored in an image control data storage means 88.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus capable of always reproducing an image whose density is inverted based on multivalued image data. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a system for reproducing an image having shading based on multi-valued image data has been widely used.
For example, when irradiated with radiation, the energy of the radiation is absorbed, stored, recorded, and then excited using electromagnetic waves in a specific wavelength range, the amount of light corresponding to the amount of energy of the irradiated radiation is increased. The photostimulable phosphor having the property of emitting photostimulable light is used as a radiation detecting material, and the energy of the radiation transmitted through the subject is converted into the photostimulable phosphor layer provided in the storage phosphor sheet. To the depleted phosphor,
Accumulation, recording, then, by electromagnetic waves, scan the stimulable phosphor layer to excite the stimulable phosphor, photoelectrically detect the stimulable light emitted from the stimulable phosphor, A radiation medical diagnostic system configured to generate a digital image signal, perform image processing, and reproduce a radiation image on a display means such as a CRT or a recording material such as a photographic film (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 12429, JP-A-55-116340, JP-A-55-163472
JP-A-56-11395, JP-A-56-11395
No. 104645, and the like. ), A similar stimulable phosphor,
After administering a radioactively labeled substance used as a radiation detection material to an organism, the organism or a part of the tissue of the organism is used as a sample, and this sample is provided with a stimulable phosphor layer. The radiation energy is accumulated and recorded on the stimulable phosphor by superimposing the stimulable phosphor sheet on the stimulable phosphor for a certain period of time. The phosphor is excited, the photostimulable light emitted from the photostimulable phosphor is photoelectrically detected, a digital image signal is generated, image processing is performed, and the image is processed on a display means such as a CRT or a photographic film. An autoradiography system configured to reproduce an autoradiographic image on a recording material (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-60784, Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-60782,
Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-3952), when light is irradiated,
Absorb, store and record that energy, and then
When excited using electromagnetic waves in a specific wavelength range, a stimulable phosphor having a characteristic of emitting a stimulable amount of light in accordance with the amount of energy of irradiated light is used as a light detection material, and proteins, nucleic acids, An immobilized macromolecule such as an array is brought into contact with a chemiluminescent substance to generate a chemiluminescence by a labeling substance.
By selectively contacting a polymer selectively labeled with a labeling substance and a chemiluminescent substance, the chemiluminescence in the visible light wavelength region caused by the contact between the chemiluminescent substance and the labeling substance is accumulated. The stimulable phosphor layer is provided on the phosphor sheet, and is accumulated and recorded. Thereafter, the stimulable phosphor layer is scanned by an electromagnetic wave to excite the stimulable phosphor, and the stimulable phosphor is stimulated. The photostimulated emission emitted from the body is photoelectrically detected, a digital image signal is generated, image processing is performed, and a chemiluminescence image is reproduced on display means such as a CRT or a recording material such as a photographic film. A chemiluminescence system (for example, US Pat. No. 5,028,7) for obtaining information on macromolecules such as genetic information.
No. 93, GB 2,246,197A
Such. ), When irradiated with an electron beam or radiation, absorbs the energy of the electron beam or radiation, accumulates and records, and then, when excited using electromagnetic waves in a specific wavelength range, the irradiated electron beam or radiation Using a stimulable phosphor having the property of emitting a quantity of stimulating light in accordance with the amount of energy of an electron beam or radiation as a material for detecting an electron beam or radiation, irradiating a metal or non-metallic sample with an electron beam and diffracting the sample Detects images or transmitted images to perform elemental analysis, sample composition analysis, sample structure analysis, etc., or to irradiate biological tissue with an electron beam and detect images of biological tissue using an electron microscope A radiation diffraction image detection system that irradiates a sample with radiation, detects an obtained radiation diffraction image, and performs a structural analysis of the sample (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-51738). JP, JP-A-61-93
538 and JP-A-59-15843), a stimulable phosphor layer containing a stimulable phosphor that stores and records the energy of radiation, light energy, or energy of an electron beam is irradiated with an electromagnetic wave. Scanning excites the stimulable phosphor and, as a result, photoelectrically detects emitted light, thereby generating multi-valued image data and reproducing an image having shading.

[0003]

In such a system, there is a case where it is necessary to reproduce an image in which the grayscale is inverted. Conventionally, a bit inversion is performed for each pixel of the image data to obtain a grayscale. Was playing an inverted image. However, such a method may not be able to reproduce an image whose density is inverted as desired. Since the computer is configured to handle data every byte, that is, every 8 bits, for example, when the image data uses 12-bit density data to change the gradation, Means that the multi-valued image data is composed of 16-bit data, but the bit length of the data used to change the density of the reproduced image depends on the cost of the image generation system and the necessity of the density change. For example, shorter than 16 bits, for example, only 12 bits may be used to represent gradation. In such a case, simply performing bit inversion on each pixel of the image data will cause the pixel that should originally be inverted to white to be inverted to gray, and invert the grayscale image as desired. There was a problem that can not be.

In other words, when the image data shown in FIG. 1A is inverted, if the bit inversion is performed for each pixel of the image data as in the prior art, as shown in FIG. When the pixel value is 4095, the pixel value of the pixel to be displayed in black is converted to 61440, and when reproduced, it is not inverted to white but inverted to gray. This is not limited to systems using a stimulable phosphor sheet, and radiographic images, autoradiographic images, chemiluminescent images, electron microscope images, radiation diffraction images, etc. are temporarily recorded on a photographic film. When the recorded image is read photoelectrically, converted into a digital signal, and the obtained image signal is subjected to a desired signal processing to be reproduced as a visible image on a display means such as a CRT screen or on a photographic film. To express the density of each pixel,
A problem always arises when data with a smaller number of bits than the number of bits of the multi-valued image data is used. Therefore, the present invention is based on multi-valued image data,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus capable of reproducing an image whose density is inverted.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is as follows.
Image data storage means for storing image data consisting of binary data and text data, and at least a part of the image data in the binary data stored in the image data storage means, two-dimensionally expanded to temporarily store Image data memory means for storing image management data in the text data stored in the image data storage means, and image data temporarily stored in the image data memory means. Based on the above, in an image processing apparatus provided with an image processing means for inverting the shade, when inverting the shade and displaying an image on the display means, the image processing means is stored in the image management data storage means. The pixel value x of each pixel of the image data stored in the image data memory means is calculated based on the obtained image management data. The value obtained by subtracting the data length y of the data used to represent, is attained by means of the image processing apparatus to assign a pixel value of each pixel. According to the present invention, when the image is displayed on the display by inverting the shading of the image, the image processing means uses the pixel value x of each pixel of the image data to represent the gradation. Since the value subtracted from the data length y is assigned as the pixel value of each pixel, even when the data length of the data used to change the gradation is shorter than the data length of the image data, Thus, it is possible to reproduce an image whose shade is inverted as desired.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
The image data is generated using the stimulable phosphor sheet.
ing. In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention,
The image data is autoradiography image data,
Radiation diffraction image data, electron microscope image data and conversion
Image data selected from the group consisting of
It is composed of Further preferred embodiments of the present invention
, The autoradiography image data, radiation
If the diffraction image data or electron microscope image data
The emitted radiation or electron beam is stored in the stimulable phosphor.
Accumulation, absorption, and then, the stimulable phosphor is
By irradiating the light with the light emitted from the stimulable phosphor,
It is obtained by conversion. More preferred of the present invention
In a preferred embodiment, the chemiluminescent image is generated from the sample.
The visible light is accumulated and absorbed by the stimulable phosphor.
Thereafter, the stimulable phosphor is irradiated with an electromagnetic wave,
By photoelectrically converting the light emitted from the stimulable phosphor
Have been obtained. In the present invention, the autoradiograph
Image, radiation diffraction image or electron microscope image
The stimulable phosphor that can be used for
Capable of storing radiation or electron beam energy,
Of the radiation or electron beam
Anything that can release energy in the form of light can be used.
Although not particularly limited, light in the visible wavelength range
Are preferably excitable. Specifically,
For example, an algorithm disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-12145 is disclosed.
Potassium earth metal fluoride halide-based phosphor (Ba_1-x,M²⁺
_x) FX: yA (where M²⁺Is Mg, Ca, Sr, Z
at least one selected from the group consisting of n and Cd
X is an alkaline earth metal element consisting of Cl, Br and I.
At least one halogen selected from the group consisting of
u, Tb, Ce, Tm, Dy, Pr, He, Nd, Yb
At least one member selected from the group consisting of
A valent metal element, x is 0 ≦ x ≦ 0.6, y is 0 ≦ y ≦ 0.2
It is. ), Disclosed in JP-A-2-276997.
Alkaline earth metal fluoride halide phosphor SrF
X: Z (where X is a group consisting of Cl, Br and I)
At least one selected halogen, Z is Eu or
Ce. ), Disclosed in JP-A-59-56479.
-Activated europium-activated composite halide-based phosphor BaF
X xNaX ': aEu²⁺(Where X and X 'are yes
The deviation is also small, selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br and I.
Is a kind of halogen, x is 0 <x ≦ 2, a is
0 <a ≦ 0.2. ), JP-A-58-69281
-Activated trivalent metal oxyhalogen disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication
MOX: xCe (where M is Pr,
Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, T
at least one selected from the group consisting of m, Yb and Bi
A trivalent metal element, X is one of Br and I
Or both, x is 0 <x <0.1. ), JP
Nos. 60-101179 and 60-90288
-Activated rare earth oxyhalides disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication
LnOX: xCe (where Ln is Y,
At least selected from the group consisting of La, Gd and Lu
Is also a kind of rare earth element, X consists of Cl, Br and I
At least one halogen selected from the group, x is 0 <
x ≦ 0.1. ) And JP-A-59-75200.
-Activated composite halide-based firefly disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication
Light body M^IIFX ・ aM^IX'bM^'IIX^'' _Two・ CM^III
X^''' _ThreeXA: yEu²⁺(Where M^IIIs Ba, Sr
At least one member selected from the group consisting of
Lucari earth metal element, M^IAre Li, Na, K, Rb and
At least one kind of arc selected from the group consisting of
Li metal element, M '^IIIs selected from the group consisting of Be and Mg
At least one divalent metal element, M^IIIIs Al,
At least one selected from the group consisting of Ga, In and Tl
Is also a kind of trivalent metal element, A is at least one kind of metal oxidation
And X is a member selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br and I.
At least a kind of halogen, X ', X^''And X^'''Is
At least one selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br and I
Are a kind of halogen, a is 0 ≦ a ≦ 2, b is
0 ≦ b ≦ 10^-2, C is 0 ≦ c ≦ 10^-2And a +
b + c ≧ 10^-2Where x is 0 <x ≦ 0.5 and y is
Is 0 <y ≦ 0.2. ) Can be preferably used
You.

In the present invention, stimulable phosphors that can be used to generate a chemiluminescent image include:
Any energy capable of accumulating light energy in the visible light wavelength range, excited by electromagnetic waves, and capable of emitting the accumulated light energy in the visible light wavelength range in the form of light may be used, and is not particularly limited. Absent. Specifically, for example, metal halophosphate-based phosphors, rare earth element-activated sulfide-based phosphors, aluminate-based phosphors, silicate-based phosphors, and fluorine-based phosphors disclosed in JP-A-4-232864. Fluoride-based phosphors and the like. Of these, rare earth element-activated sulfide-based phosphors are preferred, and in particular, US Pat. No. 5,029,
No. 253, No. 4,983,834, rare earth element-activated alkaline earth metal sulfide-based phosphors disclosed in the specifications of the same can be preferably used.

[0008]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of an image reading device that generates image data to be processed by the autoradiography image processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, positional information of a radioactive labeling substance contained in a sample (not shown) is stored in the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 in the form of radiation energy. Here, the position information of the radiolabeled substance refers to various kinds of information centered on the position of the radiolabeled substance or the aggregate thereof in the sample, for example, the position and shape of the aggregate of the radiolabeled substance present in the sample. , Means various types of information obtained as one or any combination of information including the concentration and distribution of the radioactive labeling substance at the position. In the present embodiment, the positional information of the radiolabeled substance in the brain slice of the experimental mouse is accumulated and recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheet 1.

Here, the positional information means various kinds of information centering on the position of the radioactively labeled substance or its aggregate in the sample, for example, the location and shape of the radioactively labeled substance present in the sample, It means various types of information obtained as one or any combination of information including the concentration, distribution, and the like of the radiolabeled substance at that position. The stimulable phosphor sheet 1 on which the position information of the radioactive labeling substance in the sample is accumulated and recorded in this manner is
Scans, excites, and generates photostimulated light. The laser light 2 is generated by a laser light source 3 and passes through a filter 4 so that a portion of a wavelength region corresponding to the wavelength region of stimulating light generated from the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 by excitation by the laser light 2 is cut. Is done. Next, the beam diameter of the laser beam 2 is accurately adjusted by the beam expander 5 and is incident on an optical deflector 6 such as a galvanomirror. The laser beam 2 deflected by the optical deflector 6 is
reflected by the plane reflecting mirror 8 via the fθ lens 7,
The light is one-dimensionally incident on the stimulable phosphor sheet 1. fθ
The lens 7 ensures that scanning is always performed at a uniform beam speed when scanning the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 with the laser beam 2.

In synchronism with the scanning by the laser beam 2, the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 is moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4, and the entire surface thereof is scanned by the laser beam 2. I have. When the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 is irradiated with the laser beam 2, the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 emits a stimulating light having a quantity of light proportional to the radiation energy stored and recorded, and the emitted stimulating light enters the light guide sheet 9. I do. The light-guiding sheet 9 has a light-receiving end formed in a straight line, and is disposed in proximity to a scanning line on the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 so as to face the scanning line. , A photomultiplier or the like, and is connected to a light receiving surface of a photoelectric conversion type photodetector 10. The light guide sheet 9 is made by processing a transparent thermoplastic resin sheet such as an acrylic synthetic resin. Light incident from the light receiving end portion is repeatedly reflected on the inner surface of the light receiving end portion while repeating the total reflection. The shape is determined so that the light is transmitted to the light receiving surface of the photodetector 10 through the section. Therefore, the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 is changed according to the irradiation of the laser beam 2.
The photostimulated light emitted from the light source enters the light-guiding sheet 9 and is received by the photodetector 10 via the emission end while repeating total internal reflection.

On the light receiving surface of the photodetector 10, a filter that transmits only light in the wavelength region of stimulating light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 and cuts light in the wavelength region of the laser beam 2 is attached. The photodetector 10 is configured to photoelectrically detect only the stimulating light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet 1. The photostimulated photoluminescence detected by the photodetector 10 is converted into an electric signal, and is amplified to an electric signal of a predetermined level by an amplifier 11 having a predetermined amplification factor. Is input to The amplified electric signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 12 with a scale factor suitable for the signal fluctuation width, and binary data is generated. In this embodiment,
A 12-bit pixel value is assigned, text data including image management data such as the number of vertical and horizontal pixels and a bit length for representing a gradation is generated, and image data including binary data and text data is generated. Input to the line buffer 13. In the present embodiment, the image data is composed of 16-bit data. The line buffer 13 temporarily stores image data for one row of the scanning line.
When the image data for the column is stored, the data is output to the transmission buffer 14 having a larger capacity than the capacity of the line buffer 13, and the transmission buffer 14 stores the image data having a predetermined capacity. , Image data to an autoradiography image processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an autoradiography image processing apparatus and an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the autoradiography image processing device 30 stores the position information of the radioactive labeling substance contained in the sample, which is stored and recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheet 1, read by the image reading device 20, and converted into a digital signal. A data processing unit 60 for performing data processing so as to reproduce a visible image having an appropriate density, color tone, contrast and the like and excellent observation analysis characteristics, and a data processing unit 60 from the image reading device 20. And a CRT 50 for reproducing image data containing positional information of a radioactively-labeled substance contained in a sample as an image. The image data temporarily stored in the transmission buffer 14 of the image reading device 20 is stored in the autoradiography image processing device 30.
When a predetermined amount of image data is stored in the reception buffer 62 and is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 62 of the data processing unit 60, the stored image data is stored in the image data storage unit 40. Image data temporary storage unit 4
1 and stored. In this manner, the image data sent from the transmission buffer 14 of the image reading device 20 to the reception buffer 62 of the data processing unit 60 and temporarily stored therein is further transferred from the reception buffer 62 to the image data storage unit 40. The image data is sent to and temporarily stored in the image data temporary storage unit 41. Thus, the image data obtained by scanning the entire surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 with the laser beam 2 is stored in the image data temporary storage unit 4 of the image data storage unit 40.
1, the data processing unit 64 of the data processing unit 60 reads out the image data from the image data temporary storage unit 41, stores the image data in the temporary memory 66 of the data processing unit 60, and performs necessary data processing. Thereafter, only such image data is stored in the image data storage unit 42 of the image data storage unit 40. Thereafter, the data processing unit 64 deletes the image data stored in the image data temporary storage unit 41.

The image data stored in the image data storage section 42 of the image data storage means 40 is read out by the data processing section 64 for the operator to observe and analyze the image, and is read on the screen of the CRT 50. It is displayed. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the data processing means 60. In FIG. 4, a data processing unit 60 temporarily stores, from the transmission buffer 14 of the image reading device 20, a reception buffer 62 that receives image data, a data processing unit 64 that executes data processing, and image data in binary data. A temporary memory 66 is provided. The temporary memory 66 expands the image data two-dimensionally,
It is configured to store temporarily. The data processing means 60 further includes an image data selecting unit 68 for selecting a part of the image data from the image data temporarily stored in the temporary memory 66, and an image data selected by the image data selecting unit 68. Image data enlargement / reduction unit 70 for enlarging or reducing image data, and enlarged / reduced image data storage for temporarily storing image data enlarged or reduced by the image data enlargement / reduction unit 70 in two dimensions. A predetermined graphic data is selected from the graphic data storage unit 74 for storing various graphic data to be displayed on the screen of the CRT 50 and graphic data stored in the graphic data storage unit 74, and is enlarged. / A graphic data that is two-dimensionally expanded in the reduced image data storage unit 72 and specifies a position and a size in order to superimpose the image data temporarily stored. A setting unit 76, enlargement / reduction image data storage unit 72
A data synthesizing unit 78 for synthesizing the image data temporarily stored in the image data and the graphic data selected by the graphic data setting unit 76 and to be displayed on the screen of the CRT 50, and the image data synthesized by the data synthesizing unit 78. And a composite data storage unit 80 for two-dimensionally expanding and temporarily storing graphic data and a predetermined data area from image data and graphic data temporarily stored in the composite data storage unit 80. A window memory 84 for two-dimensionally expanding and temporarily storing data in the data areas of the image data and the graphic data selected by the data area selecting section 82, An image display unit 86 is provided for displaying the image data and the graphic data stored in the window memory 84 on the screen of the CRT 50. Further, the data processing means 60 includes an image management data storage unit 88 for storing image management data in the text data stored in the image data storage unit 42. The image management data stored in the image management data storage unit 88 is input to the image display unit 86.

The image data selection unit 68 receives an image data selection signal from the selected image data determination unit 100, and the image data enlargement / reduction unit 70 receives an enlargement / reduction signal from the image data magnification determination unit 102. Is entered. The graphic data setting unit 76 includes a graphic data display means 10.
4 is input to the data synthesizing unit 78 from the data synthesizing instructing means 106 to select which graphic data, how to synthesize the image data and the graphic data, Is input. Further, a data region designation signal from the data region designation means 108 is input to the data region selection unit 82, and an image display instruction signal or an image inversion display instruction signal from the image display instruction unit 110 is inputted to the image display unit 86. You. Here, in this embodiment, the selected image data determining means 100, the image data magnification determining means 102, the graphic data displaying means 104, the data synthesizing instructing means 106, the data area specifying means 108, and the image displaying instructing means 110 are a mouse ( (Not shown). The image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above has the following configuration.
Based on the image data stored in the image data storage means 40 and the graphic data stored in the graphic data storage means 74, a desired graphic is displayed on the screen of the CRT 50 together with the image.

First, the image data stored in the image data storage section 42 is two-dimensionally expanded and stored in the temporary memory 66. Next, the selected image data determining means 90
Is operated, two-dimensionally expanded in the temporary memory 66 and a part of the stored image data is selected, and two-dimensionally expanded and stored in the image data selection unit 68.
After that, the image data that has been two-dimensionally expanded and stored in the image data selecting unit 68 is expanded and stored in the enlarged / reduced image data storage unit 72 without being enlarged or reduced. Then, the graphic data is two-dimensionally expanded and stored in the synthesized data storage unit 82 without being synthesized. The image data that is two-dimensionally expanded and stored in the synthetic data storage unit 82 is two-dimensionally expanded and stored in the window memory 84, and when the image display instruction unit 100 is operated, the image display is performed. By the part 86,
The image is displayed on the screen of the CRT 50 as an image. The operator observes the image displayed on the screen of the CRT 50, and operates the image data magnification determining means 92 as necessary,
The image data expansion / reduction unit 70 expands or reduces the stored image data in the image data selection unit 68 two-dimensionally, and stores the image data in the enlarged / reduced image data storage unit 72 in the two-dimensional manner. Developed and memorized.
Next, the image data that has been two-dimensionally expanded and stored in the enlarged / reduced image data storage unit 72 is
8 and is developed and stored in the combined data storage unit 82 in a two-dimensional manner. Thereafter, the operator operates the data area designating unit 98 to operate the combined data storage unit 82.
When a partial area of the stored image data is designated two-dimensionally, the designated image data is sent to a window memory 84, two-dimensionally developed, stored, and When the display instruction unit 100 is operated, the image is displayed as an image on the screen of the CRT 50 by the image display unit 86.

When an image is displayed on the screen of the CRT 50 based on image data, it may be desirable to display the image in a shaded manner.
To display the image on the screen 50, the operator operates the image display instruction unit 100 to input an image inversion display instruction signal to the image display unit 86. When an image inversion display instruction signal is input from the image display instruction means 100, the image display unit 86
Performs inversion processing on image data. In the present embodiment, since 12-bit data is allocated to represent the gradation, the bit length is 4095, and the pixel having the pixel value of 0 is white, as shown in FIG. The pixel having a pixel value of 4095 is configured to be black and displayed on the screen of the CRT 50. However, since the image data is composed of 16-bit data, when the pixel value of each pixel is simply subjected to bit conversion, FIG.
, The pixel value of the pixel having the pixel value 0 is 655.
35 is displayed in black on the screen of the CRT 50, but the pixel value of the pixel having the pixel value of 4095 is converted to 61441, and is displayed in gray on the screen of the CRT 50 instead of being displayed in white. Become. Therefore, when the image inversion display instruction signal is input, the image display unit 86 is used to represent the pixel value x and the gradation of each pixel in the image management data input from the image management data storage unit 88. The bit length y of the stored data is read out, the difference y−x between the pixel value x and the bit length y of the data used to represent the gradation is determined, and assigned as the pixel value of each pixel after inversion. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the pixel value of the pixel having the pixel value of 0 is converted to 4095, the pixel value is displayed in black on the screen of the CRT 50, and the pixel value of the pixel having the pixel value of 4095 is converted to 0. , Is displayed white on the screen of the CRT 50, and the image whose density is inverted as desired is displayed on the CRT 5.
0 can be displayed on the screen.

According to this embodiment, even when the bit length of the data used to represent the gradation is smaller than the bit length of the data constituting the image data, the shading is inverted as desired. Image processing is performed on the image data so that the displayed image is displayed on the screen of the CRT 50. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims, which are also included in the scope of the present invention. Needless to say. For example, in the above embodiment, the position information of the radiolabeled substance in the brain slice of the experimental mouse is accumulated and recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheet 1, and this is read out photoelectrically and subjected to predetermined data processing. When displayed on the screen of CRT 50,
As described, the present invention is not limited to such autoradiography. For example, an autoradiographic image of a radiolabeled substance in a gene using Southern blot hybridization, Autoradiographic images generated by layer chromatography (TLC), autoradiographic images for separation and identification of proteins by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, or evaluation of molecular weight and properties, administration to experimental animals such as mice Autoradiographic images such as autoradiographic images for studying the metabolism, absorption and excretion pathways and conditions of substances, chemiluminescent images of genes using Southern blot hybridization, and thin-layer chromatography of proteins Chemistry generated The optical image, by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the proteins separated, identified, or,
Chemiluminescence images using chemiluminescence methods, such as chemiluminescence images for evaluating molecular weight and properties, electron transmission images and electron diffraction images of metal or nonmetal samples generated using an electron microscope, In addition to electron microscope images of body tissues and radiation diffraction images of metal and non-metal samples, data with a bit length shorter than the bit length of multi-valued image data is used to represent the density of each pixel, that is, gradation. It can be widely applied to images that may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the CRT
Although a visible image is displayed on the screen 50, the image data may be output to a file. In the above embodiment, the image data obtained by converting the position information of the radioactively labeled substance in the sample into an electric signal using the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 is displayed as a visible image on the screen of the CRT 50. However, a visible image is formed once using a photographic film instead of the stimulable phosphor sheet 1, and the visible image is read photoelectrically, and the image data converted into an electric signal is similarly processed. Can also be performed. Furthermore, in the present invention, the means does not necessarily mean physical means, but also includes a case where the function of each means is realized by software. Further, the function of one unit may be realized by two or more physical units, or the function of two or more units may be realized by one physical unit.

[0019]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image processing apparatus capable of always reproducing an image whose density is inverted based on multi-valued image data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of image data.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of an image reading apparatus that generates image data to be processed by an autoradiography image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an autoradiography image processing apparatus and an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a data processing means.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of image data after inversion of shading;

[Explanation of Symbols] 1 stimulable phosphor sheet 2 laser light 3 laser light source 4 filter 5 beam expander 6 optical deflector 7 fθ lens 8 plane reflecting mirror 9 light guide sheet 10 photodetector 11 amplifier 12 A / D Converter 13 Line buffer 14 Transmission buffer 20 Image reading device 30 Autoradiography image processing device 40 Image data storage unit 41 Image data temporary storage unit 42 Image data storage unit 50 CRT 60 Data processing unit 62 Reception buffer 64 Data processing unit 66 Temporary Memory 68 Image data selection unit 70 Image data enlargement / reduction unit 72 Enlarged / reduced image data storage unit 74 Graphic data storage unit 78 Data synthesis unit 80 Synthetic image data storage unit 82 Data area selection unit 84 Window memory 86 Image display unit 88 Image Management data storage unit 10 Selected image data determining section 102 image data magnification determining means 104 graphic data selecting means 106 data synthesis instructing means 108 data area selecting means 110 image display instruction unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Agency reference number FI Technical indication location H01J 37/22 501 H04N 1/387 H04N 1/387 7/18 L 7/18 G01N 23/20 / / G01N 23/20 G06F 15/68 310J

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image data storage means for storing image data consisting of binary data and text data,
At least a part of the image data in the binary data stored in the image data storage means is two-dimensionally expanded and temporarily stored in the image data memory means, and stored in the image data storage means. An image processing apparatus comprising: an image management data storage unit that stores image management data in the text data; and an image processing unit that inverts shading based on image data temporarily stored in the image data memory unit. When the image is displayed on the display unit by inverting the shading, the image processing unit stores the image in the image data memory unit based on the image management data stored in the image management data storage unit. The value obtained by subtracting the pixel value x of each pixel of the image data from the data length y of the data used to represent the gradation is divided as the pixel value of each pixel. The image processing apparatus characterized by being configured to direct. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data is generated using a stimulable phosphor sheet. 3. The image data according to claim 1, wherein said image data is constituted by image data selected from the group consisting of autoradiography image data, radiation diffraction image data, electron microscope image data, and chemiluminescence image data. Or the image processing device according to 2. 4. The autoradiographic image data,
The radiation diffraction image data or the electron microscope image data, radiation or an electron beam emitted from the sample is accumulated and absorbed in the stimulable phosphor, and then, the stimulable phosphor is irradiated with an electromagnetic wave. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image processing apparatus is generated by photoelectrically converting light emitted from the stimulable phosphor. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the chemiluminescence image is obtained by accumulating and absorbing visible light emitted from a sample in a stimulable phosphor, and thereafter irradiating the stimulable phosphor with an electromagnetic wave. The image processing device according to claim 3, wherein the image processing device is generated by photoelectrically converting light emitted from the luminescent phosphor.