Image transmission method and miniature movable medical equipment

Abstract

The invention provides an image transmission method and miniature movable medical equipment, and the method comprises the steps that an image collection module sends a collected image to an image processing module, and then enters a dormant state; the image processing module enters a working state when receiving the image, performs subpackage processing on the image to obtain a plurality of data packets, and enters a dormant state after sending the plurality of data packets to the image transmission module; the image transmission module enters a working state when receiving a data packet, carries out fragmentation processing on the data packet to obtain a plurality of fragments corresponding to the data packet according to the data packet to be transmitted currently in the working state, determines the fragment to be transmitted currently in the fragments, transmits the fragment to external main control equipment, and enters a dormant state; and after a feedback signal of the external main control equipment is received, entering a working state, and continuously executing the determination of the current fragment to be transmitted in the fragments and the subsequent steps. Through the method, the power consumption of the miniature movable medical equipment is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of image transmission technology, and in particular to an image transmission method and a micro-mobile medical device. Background Art

[0002] For micro-mobile medical devices such as capsule endoscopes, image acquisition is usually required and the acquired images need to be transmitted to an external main control device. In traditional image acquisition and transmission methods, the micro-mobile medical device is continuously in operation, resulting in high power consumption. However, due to the extremely small size of micro-mobile medical devices and extremely limited battery capacity, the micro-mobile medical device can only operate for a short time at a time. Therefore, for micro-mobile medical devices to continue to operate for a long time, there is an urgent need for a low-power image acquisition and transmission method. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of this, the purpose of this application is to provide an image transmission method and a micro-mobile medical device, so as to reduce the power consumption of the micro-mobile medical device and extend the continuous working time of the micro-mobile medical device through intermittent sleep.

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an image transmission method, which is applied to a micro-mobile medical device, wherein the micro-mobile medical device includes an image acquisition module, an image processing module, and an image transmission module; the method includes: After the image acquisition module sends the acquired image to the image processing module, the image acquisition module enters a dormant state; When receiving the image, the image processing module enters a working state from a dormant state, performs packet processing on the image in the working state to obtain a plurality of data packets, and after sending the plurality of data packets to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a dormant state; When receiving the data packet, the image transmission module enters the working state from the sleep state, and in the working state, for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet, performs fragmentation processing on the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, and determines the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments, transmits the fragment to the external main control device, and enters the sleep state, and after receiving the feedback signal from the external main control device, enters the working state from the sleep state, continues to execute the determination of the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments and subsequent steps, and after transmitting all the multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet to the external main control device, continues to execute the fragmentation processing and subsequent steps for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet, so as to transmit all the data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device.

[0005] In combination with the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, wherein the resolution of the original image captured by the image acquisition module is a first resolution, the external main control device includes a display module, the resolution of the display module is a second resolution, and the first resolution is greater than the second resolution; After the image acquisition module sends the acquired image to the image processing module and before the image acquisition module enters a dormant state, the method further includes: The image acquisition module crops the edges of the currently acquired original image in real time based on the second resolution to obtain an image with the edges of the original image removed and the resolution of the second resolution, and sends the image to the image processing module in real time.

[0006] In combination with the first possible implementation of the first aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a second possible implementation of the first aspect, wherein, during a detection process of the micro-mobile medical device, the image acquisition module continuously captures multiple original images of different positions on the surface of the object to be detected as the micro-mobile medical device moves on the surface of the object to be detected; When receiving the image, the image processing module enters the working state from the dormant state, and performs packet processing on the image in the working state to obtain multiple data packets, including: For the original image currently captured by the image capture module, the image processing module enters a working state from a dormant state when receiving the image corresponding to the original image, and in the working state, determines the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process; If the difference is greater than a preset threshold, performing complexity evaluation on the currently received image to determine the complexity of the image, and determining a compression rate of the image according to the complexity; The image is compressed using the determined compression ratio, and the compressed image is packetized to obtain a plurality of data packets.

[0007] In combination with the second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, wherein, after the image processing module determines the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during this detection process, further includes: If the difference is less than or equal to the preset threshold, the frame image is discarded, a first wake-up message is sent to the image acquisition module, and the system enters the dormant state from the working state; After receiving the first wake-up information, the image acquisition module enters the working state from the sleep state, starts to collect images of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object to be measured, and continues to execute the image acquisition module to send the collected image to the image processing module. After that, the image acquisition module enters the sleep state and subsequent steps.

[0008] In combination with the second possible implementation of the first aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a fourth possible implementation of the first aspect, wherein the method further includes: After sending all the data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device, the image transmission module sends a second wake-up message to the image acquisition module through the image processing module in real time, and enters a dormant state from a working state; After receiving the second wake-up information, the image acquisition module enters the working state from the sleep state, starts to collect images of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object to be measured, and continues to execute the image acquisition module to send the collected image to the image processing module. After that, the image acquisition module enters the sleep state and subsequent steps.

[0009] In combination with the second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, wherein determining the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process includes: Determining a first grayscale gradient change of the currently received image, and determining a second grayscale gradient change of the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process; A difference between the first grayscale gradient change and the second grayscale gradient change is compared.

[0010] In combination with the second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, wherein the performing complexity evaluation on the currently received image, determining the complexity of the image, and determining the compression rate of the image based on the complexity includes: Calculating the grayscale value variance of the currently received image, and using the grayscale value variance as the complexity of the image; The compression rate of the image is determined according to the complexity; wherein the complexity is negatively correlated with the compression rate.

[0011] In combination with the second possible implementation of the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a seventh possible implementation of the first aspect, wherein the compressed image is packetized to obtain multiple data packets, including: According to a preset data packet length, the compressed image is packetized to obtain a plurality of data packets of the preset data packet length; wherein the header of each data packet includes a start identifier, image acquisition module information, flash gear position, data packet length, current packet number, and remaining packet numbers; After sending the multiple data packets to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a dormant state, including: sending the data packets to the image transmission module in ascending order of the current packet number contained in the header of each data packet, and after all the data packets corresponding to the image are sent to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a dormant state; When receiving the data packet, the image transmission module enters a working state from a dormant state. In the working state, for a data packet currently to be transmitted among the data packets, the image transmission module performs fragmentation processing on the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, and determines the fragment currently to be transmitted among the fragments, including: When the image transmission module receives the first data packet corresponding to the image, it enters the working state from the dormant state, and in the working state, caches each data packet according to the order in which each data packet is received; Determining a transmission order of each of the data packets according to a receiving order of each of the data packets, and fragmenting a data packet currently to be transmitted among the data packets according to a transmission restriction of the image transmission module using an air interface protocol to obtain a plurality of fragments corresponding to the data packet; The transmission order of each fragment is determined according to the sequence of the multiple fragments in the data packet, and the fragment to be currently transmitted is determined from the fragments that are not currently transmitted according to the transmission order of each fragment.

[0012] In combination with the seventh possible implementation of the first aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides an eighth possible implementation of the first aspect, wherein the external main control device is used to: After receiving each fragment, according to the data packet to which each fragment belongs and the transmission order of each fragment, the fragments belonging to the same data packet are merged to obtain a corresponding data packet; Determining the total number of the data packets according to the current packet number and the remaining packet numbers contained in the packet header of any one of the data packets; After merging to obtain the total number of data packets, combining the total number of data packets according to the current packet number included in the packet header of each data packet to obtain a compressed image; The compressed image is decompressed according to the compression rate carried in the compressed image to obtain the image, and the image is displayed on the display module in real time.

[0013] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a micro-mobile medical device, wherein the micro-mobile medical device includes an image acquisition module, an image processing module, and an image transmission module; The image acquisition module is configured to enter a dormant state after sending the acquired image to the image processing module; The image processing module is configured to enter a working state from a dormant state upon receiving the image, perform packet processing on the image in the working state to obtain a plurality of data packets, and enter a dormant state after sending the plurality of data packets to the image transmission module; The image transmission module is configured to enter a working state from a dormant state upon receiving the data packet, and in the working state, fragment the data packet for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, determine the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments, transmit the fragment to the external main control device, and enter a dormant state, and after receiving a feedback signal from the external main control device, enter a working state from the dormant state, continue to determine the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments and subsequent steps, and after transmitting multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet to the external main control device, continue to fragment the data packet for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet and subsequent steps, so as to transmit all the data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device.

[0014] An embodiment of the present application provides an image transmission method and a micro-mobile medical device, wherein, during the image acquisition and transmission process of the micro-mobile medical device, after the image acquisition module sends the acquired image to the image processing module, the image acquisition module enters a sleep state, thereby reducing the power consumption of the image acquisition module; when the image processing module receives the image, it enters a working state from the sleep state, and in the working state, it performs packet processing on the image to obtain multiple data packets, and after sending the multiple data packets to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a sleep state, thereby reducing the power consumption of the image processing module; when the image transmission module receives the data packet, it enters a working state from the sleep state, and in the working state, it performs packet processing on the image to obtain multiple data packets, and after sending the multiple data packets to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a sleep state, thereby reducing the power consumption of the image processing module; , for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet, the data packet is fragmented to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, and the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments is determined, and the fragment is transmitted to the external main control device, and then the device enters a dormant state. After receiving a feedback signal from the external main control device, the device enters a working state from the dormant state and continues to determine the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments and subsequent steps. After transmitting all the multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet to the external main control device, the device continues to fragment the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet and subsequent steps to transmit all the data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device, thereby reducing the power consumption of the image transmission module. It can be seen that in this embodiment, the image acquisition module, image processing module, and image transmission module in the micro-mobile medical device are intermittently dormant, thereby reducing the power consumption of the image acquisition module, image processing module, and image transmission module respectively, thereby reducing the power consumption of the entire micro-mobile medical device and extending the continuous working time of the micro-mobile medical device.

[0015] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, preferred embodiments are given below and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other relevant drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0017] Figure 1 A flowchart of an image transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown; Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing a timeline provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown; Figure 3A flowchart of another image transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown; Figure 4 A schematic structural diagram of a micro-mobile medical device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present application generally described and shown in the drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present application provided in the drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the application for protection, but merely represents the selected embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0019] Considering the extremely small size and extremely limited battery capacity of micro-mobile medical devices, the micro-mobile medical devices have a relatively short operating time each time. Therefore, for micro-mobile medical devices, if they are to be operated continuously for a long time, a low-power image acquisition and transmission method is urgently needed. Based on this, the embodiments of the present application provide an image transmission method and a micro-mobile medical device, which reduce the power consumption of the micro-mobile medical device and extend the continuous operating time of the micro-mobile medical device through intermittent sleep mode. The embodiments are described below.

[0020] To facilitate understanding of this embodiment, an image transmission method disclosed in the embodiment of this application is first introduced in detail. Figure 1 As shown, the image transmission method is applied to a micro-mobile medical device, which includes an image acquisition module, an image processing module, and an image transmission module; the image transmission method includes the following steps S101-S103: S101: After the image acquisition module sends the acquired image to the image processing module, the image acquisition module enters a dormant state.

[0021] S102: When receiving an image, the image processing module enters a working state from a dormant state, performs packet processing on the image in the working state to obtain multiple data packets, and sends the multiple data packets to the image transmission module, and then the image processing module enters a dormant state.

[0022] S103: When receiving a data packet, the image transmission module enters a working state from a dormant state, and in the working state, for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet, performs fragmentation processing on the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, and determines the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments, transmits the fragment to the external main control device, and enters a dormant state, and after receiving a feedback signal from the external main control device, enters a working state from the dormant state, continues to execute the steps of determining the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments and subsequent steps, and after transmitting multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet to the external main control device, continues to execute the steps of fragmentation processing and subsequent steps for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet, so as to transmit all data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device.

[0023] In this embodiment, the micro-mobile medical device refers to a device that is relatively small and can autonomously move on the surface of a patient's object to be tested during the examination process, wherein the patient's object to be tested may be the patient's internal intestine. For example, the micro-mobile medical device may be a capsule endoscope, and the surface of the object to be tested may be the surface of the digestive tract. During the examination of the patient's digestive tract surface using the capsule endoscope, the patient swallows the capsule endoscope, allowing it to enter the digestive tract and autonomously move on the surface of the digestive tract. During the movement, images of the digestive tract surface are collected in real time and transmitted to an external main control device in real time.

[0024] In this embodiment, the micro-mobile medical device is wirelessly connected to an external master control device. The external master control device is typically located in a clinic and does not enter the human body along with the micro-mobile medical device. The external master control device is operated by medical personnel, who can use it to control the movement of the micro-mobile medical device across the surface of the object being measured.

[0025] like Figure 1 As shown, the miniature mobile medical device includes an image acquisition module (sensor chip), an image processing module (control chip), and an image transmission module (radio frequency chip). The image acquisition module is communicatively connected to the image processing module, which in turn is communicatively connected to the image transmission module. In this embodiment, the miniature mobile medical device also includes a power supply battery, which is used to power the image acquisition module, the image processing module, and the image transmission module. Because the miniature mobile medical device is relatively small, the power supply battery is also relatively small, resulting in a relatively small amount of power stored in the power supply battery.

[0026] In step S101, as the micro-mobile medical device moves across the surface of the object being measured, the image acquisition module captures an image of the micro-mobile medical device's current location on the surface of the object being measured and transmits the captured image to the image processing module in real time. After transmitting the captured image to the image processing module, the image acquisition module enters a dormant state. For the image acquisition module, image processing module, and image transmission module, power consumption in the dormant state is significantly lower than in the active state.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the resolution of the original image captured by the image acquisition module is a first resolution, the external main control device includes a display module, and the resolution of the display module is a second resolution, wherein the first resolution is greater than the second resolution. Before executing step S101, the following steps S100 may be specifically executed: S100: The image acquisition module crops the edges of the currently acquired original image in real time based on the second resolution to obtain an image with the edges of the original image removed and the resolution of the second resolution, and sends the image to the image processing module in real time.

[0028] In step S100, as the micro-mobile medical device moves on the surface of the object being measured, the image acquisition module captures an original image of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object being measured at the current moment. The resolution of the original image is a first resolution. For example, the first resolution is 640*480 and the second resolution is 480*480.

[0029] Considering that the original image has weaker brightness at the edges and higher brightness in the center, the center area of ​​the original image is used as the ROI. That is, the image acquisition module performs real-time cropping of the edges of the currently acquired original image based on the second resolution to obtain an image with the second resolution and the edges of the original image removed. The image with the second resolution is then sent to the image processing module in real time.

[0030] In step S102, the image processing module is in a dormant state when not in operation. Upon receiving an image from the image acquisition module, the image processing module uses the image acquisition module's transmission as a wake-up signal, causing the image processing module to enter an operational state. In the operational state, the image processing module packetizes the received image into multiple data packets, sequentially sending each data packet to the image transmission module. Once the image processing module has sent all data packets corresponding to the image to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a dormant state.

[0031] In one possible embodiment, during a single inspection process, the image acquisition module continuously captures multiple original images of different locations on the surface of the object being inspected as the micro-mobile medical device moves across the surface of the object being inspected. The image acquisition module performs real-time cropping of the edges of the currently captured original image based on the second resolution to obtain an image with the edges of the original image removed and at the second resolution. The image at the second resolution is then sent to the image processing module in real time.

[0032] At this time, when executing step S102, the following steps S1021-S1023 may be specifically performed: S1021: For the original image currently captured by the image acquisition module, the image processing module enters the working state from the sleep state when receiving the image corresponding to the original image. In the working state, the image processing module determines the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during this detection process.

[0033] S1022: If the difference is greater than a preset threshold, a complexity evaluation is performed on the currently received image to determine the complexity of the image, and a compression ratio of the image is determined according to the complexity.

[0034] S1023: compressing the image using the determined compression ratio, and performing packet processing on the compressed image to obtain multiple data packets.

[0035] In this embodiment, considering that during the surface inspection of the object being tested, the images captured at different locations on the surface of the object being tested contain substantially the same content, for example, images captured at different locations on the surface of the digestive tract are substantially the same, uploading each captured frame of image to an external master control device would significantly increase the power consumption of the micro-mobile medical device. Based on this, in this embodiment, after receiving the image currently captured by the image acquisition module, the image processing module determines the difference between the image currently captured by the image processing module and the image last transmitted to the external master control device. Images with significantly greater differences are uploaded, thereby reducing the power consumption of the image processing module and the image transmission module.

[0036] Specifically, in step S1021, illustratively, assuming that the micro-mobile medical device is performing this detection process on the surface of the object being tested, the image acquisition module has continuously acquired three original images of different positions on the surface of the object being tested as the micro-mobile medical device moves on the surface of the object being tested, namely, the original image acquired at the first historical moment, the original image acquired at the second historical moment, and the original image acquired at the current moment. The time sequence of the first historical moment, the second historical moment, and the current moment is as follows: Figure 2 The timeline is shown.

[0037] Then, in this detection process, for the original image collected at the current moment, the image processing module enters the working state from the sleep state when it receives the current frame image (that is, the image corresponding to the original image collected by the image acquisition module at the current moment). In the working state, if the image sent by the image processing module to the image transmission module last time is the image corresponding to the original image collected at the second historical moment, then it is necessary to determine the difference between the current frame image and the image corresponding to the original image collected at the second historical moment.

[0038] If the image sent by the image processing module to the image transmission module last time is the image corresponding to the original image collected at the first historical moment, then it is necessary to determine the difference between the current frame image and the image corresponding to the original image collected at the first historical moment.

[0039] In step S1022, if the difference is greater than the preset threshold, it means that there is a large difference between the current frame image and the image last transmitted to the external main control device. At this time, the current frame image needs to be sent to the image transmission module so that the image transmission module uploads the current frame image to the external main control device.

[0040] In this embodiment, when the image processing module sends the current frame image to the image transmission module, Figure 3 As shown, it is necessary to first perform complexity evaluation on the current frame image to determine the complexity of the current frame image, and then determine the compression rate of the current frame image according to the complexity.

[0041] In step S1023, if Figure 3 As shown, the current frame image is compressed using the determined compression rate, and the compressed image is packetized to obtain multiple data packets.

[0042] In one possible implementation, Figure 3 As shown, after executing step S1021, the following steps S1024-S1025 may be performed: S1024: If the difference is less than or equal to the preset threshold, discard the frame image, send a first wake-up message to the image acquisition module, and enter the sleep state from the working state; S1025: After receiving the first wake-up information, the image acquisition module enters the working state from the sleep state, starts to collect images of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object to be measured, and continues to execute the image acquisition module to send the collected image to the image processing module. After that, the image acquisition module enters the sleep state and subsequent steps.

[0043] In step S1024, if the difference between the current frame image (i.e., the image currently received by the image processing module, which is also the image corresponding to the original image currently captured by the image acquisition module) and the image last sent to the image transmission module during this detection process (i.e., the image last uploaded to the external main control device during this detection process) is less than or equal to the preset threshold, it means that the difference between the current frame image and the image last uploaded to the external main control device is small. At this time, there is no need to continue uploading the current frame image to the external main control device. Then, the image processing module directly discards the frame image, sends the first wake-up information to the image acquisition module, and enters the sleep state from the working state.

[0044] In step S1025, after receiving the first wake-up information, the image acquisition module enters the working state from the sleep state, and takes the current moment as the new current acquisition moment, starts to acquire the original image of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object under test, and continues to execute steps S100-S103.

[0045] In this embodiment, the power consumption of the image transmission module is reduced by filtering out repeated images.

[0046] In one possible implementation, Figure 3 As shown, after executing step S103, the following steps S1041-S1042 may be performed: S1041: After sending all data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device, the image transmission module sends a second wake-up message to the image acquisition module through the image processing module in real time, and enters the sleep state from the working state.

[0047] S1042: After receiving the second wake-up information, the image acquisition module enters the working state from the sleep state, starts to collect images of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object to be measured, and continues to execute the image acquisition module to send the collected image to the image processing module. After that, the image acquisition module enters the sleep state and subsequent steps.

[0048] In step S1041, after sending all data packets corresponding to the current frame image to the external main control device, the image transmission module sends a second wake-up message to the image acquisition module through the image processing module in real time, and enters the sleep state from the working state.

[0049] In step S1042, after receiving the second wake-up information, the image acquisition module enters the working state from the sleep state, takes the current moment as the new current acquisition moment, starts to acquire the original image of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object under test, and continues to execute steps S100-S103.

[0050] In a possible implementation, when performing step S1021 to determine the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process, the following steps may be specifically performed: S10211: Determine a first grayscale gradient change of the currently received image, and determine a second grayscale gradient change of the image last sent to the image transmission module during this detection process; S10212: Compare the difference between the first grayscale gradient change and the second grayscale gradient change.

[0051] In this embodiment, considering the small size and limited processing power of the image processing module, a grayscale gradient comparison method is used to calculate the difference with lower power consumption. If a more complex difference calculation method is used, for the application scenario of this solution, it will not only consume more power of the image processing module, but also lead to a reduction in the image acquisition frame rate of the entire micro-mobile medical device due to the overly complex processing process.

[0052] In a possible implementation, when executing step S1022 to perform complexity evaluation on the currently received image, determine the complexity of the image, and determine the compression rate of the image based on the complexity, the following steps S10221-S10222 may be specifically performed: S10221: Calculate the grayscale value variance of the currently received image, and use the grayscale value variance as the complexity of the image.

[0053] S10222: Determine a compression ratio of the image according to the complexity; wherein the complexity and the compression ratio are negatively correlated.

[0054] In step S10221, the grayscale value variance of the currently received image is calculated using the following formula:

[0055] in, is the gray value variance; N is the total number of pixels of the image; is the gray value of the i-th pixel; is the average gray value of the image.

[0056] In step S10222, the image processing module dynamically adjusts the compression rate of the image according to the complexity of the image, wherein a lower compression rate is used for an image with high complexity to ensure quality, and a higher compression rate is used for an image with low complexity to reduce the amount of data.

[0057] In this embodiment, the image processing module is small and has limited processing power. Therefore, to ensure low power consumption, this embodiment evaluates image complexity by calculating the variance of grayscale values. Using a more complex complexity calculation method would not only increase power consumption in the image processing module for this application scenario, but would also reduce the image acquisition frame rate of the entire micro-mobile medical device due to the overly complex processing process.

[0058] In a possible implementation, when performing step S1023 to packetize the compressed image to obtain multiple data packets, the following steps S10231 may be specifically performed: S10231: According to the preset data packet length, the compressed image is packetized to obtain multiple data packets of the preset data packet length; wherein the packet header of each data packet contains a start identifier, image acquisition module information, flash gear, data packet length, current packet number, and remaining packet numbers.

[0059] Exemplarily, the preset data packet length is 7k.

[0060] Since the working environment of the micro-mobile medical device is inside the patient's body (such as the digestive tract), the image acquisition module needs to use a flash to fill in the light when acquiring images. The flash gear refers to the gear of the flash used by the image acquisition module when acquiring images.

[0061] The packet length refers to the packet size. The sum of the current packet number and the remaining packet numbers is the total number of packets corresponding to the image.

[0062] After executing step S102 and sending the multiple data packets to the image transmission module, when the image processing module enters the dormant state, the following steps S1026 may be specifically executed: S1026: Send each data packet to the image transmission module in ascending order of the current packet number contained in the packet header of each data packet. After all data packets corresponding to the image are sent to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a dormant state.

[0063] In this embodiment, the image processing module sends each data packet to the image transmission module one by one.

[0064] When the image transmission module receives the data packet in step S103, it enters the working state from the dormant state. In the working state, the image transmission module fragments the data packet to be transmitted in the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet and determines the fragment to be transmitted in the fragments. Specifically, the following steps S1031-S1033 can be performed: S1031: When the image transmission module receives the first data packet corresponding to the image, it enters the working state from the dormant state. In the working state, each data packet is cached according to the order in which each data packet is received; S1032: Determine the transmission order of each data packet according to the order in which each data packet is received, and fragment the data packet currently to be transmitted using the air interface protocol according to the transmission restrictions of the image transmission module to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet; S1033: Determine the transmission order of each fragment according to the sequence of the multiple fragments in the data packet, and determine the fragment to be currently transmitted from the fragments that are not currently transmitted according to the transmission order of each fragment.

[0065] In step S1031, when the image transmission module receives the first data packet corresponding to the image, the image processing module may be synchronously transmitting the remaining data packets to the image transmission module. At this time, the image transmission module needs to receive and cache the data packets continuously transmitted by the image processing module, and at the same time, transmit each data packet to the external main control device through the air interface in the order in which each data packet is received.

[0066] In step S1032, the transmission limit of the image transmission module (i.e., the RF chip) refers to the RF length (i.e., the length of a single packet), which limits the length of data transmitted at each time. Therefore, in this embodiment, each data packet needs to be fragmented into multiple fragments that meet the RF length.

[0067] In step S1033 , the image transmission module transmits each of the multiple fragments to be transmitted to the external main control device in sequence through the air interface according to the order of each of the multiple fragments in the data packet.

[0068] In one possible implementation, the external master control device is used to: After receiving each fragment, the fragments belonging to the same data packet are merged according to the data packet to which each fragment belongs and the transmission order of each fragment to obtain the corresponding data packet; Determine the total number of data packets based on the current packet number and the remaining packet numbers contained in the packet header of any data packet; After merging to obtain a total number of data packets, the total number of data packets are combined according to the current packet number contained in the packet header of each data packet to obtain a compressed image; The compressed image is decompressed according to the compression rate carried in the compressed image to obtain an image, and the image is displayed on the display module in real time.

[0069] In this embodiment, medical staff can understand the surface condition of the patient's object under test through the image displayed in the display module.

[0070] Based on the same technical concept, the present application also provides a micro-mobile medical device, such as Figure 4 As shown, the micro mobile medical device includes an image acquisition module 401, an image processing module and an image transmission module; The image acquisition module 401 is configured to send the acquired image to the image processing module and then enter a dormant state; The image processing module 402 is configured to enter a working state from a dormant state upon receiving the image, perform packet processing on the image in the working state to obtain multiple data packets, and then enter a dormant state after sending the multiple data packets to the image transmission module; The image transmission module 403 is used to enter the working state from the sleep state when receiving the data packet, and in the working state, for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet, perform fragmentation processing on the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, and determine the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments, transmit the fragment to the external main control device, and enter the sleep state, and after receiving the feedback signal from the external main control device, enter the working state from the sleep state, continue to execute the determination of the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments and subsequent steps, and after transmitting all the multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet to the external main control device, continue to execute the fragmentation processing and subsequent steps for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet, so as to transmit all the data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device.

[0071] Optionally, the resolution of the original image captured by the image acquisition module is a first resolution, the external main control device includes a display module, and the resolution of the display module is a second resolution, wherein the first resolution is greater than the second resolution; The image acquisition module 401 is further configured to perform real-time cropping of the edges of the currently acquired original image based on the second resolution to obtain an image with the edges of the original image removed and the resolution of the second resolution, and to send the image to the image processing module in real time.

[0072] Optionally, during a detection process of the micro-mobile medical device, the image acquisition module continuously acquires a plurality of original images of different positions on the surface of the object to be detected as the micro-mobile medical device moves on the surface of the object to be detected; When the image processing module 402 receives the image, it enters the working state from the dormant state, and performs packet processing on the image in the working state to obtain multiple data packets, specifically for: For the original image currently captured by the image capture module, the image processing module enters a working state from a dormant state when receiving the image corresponding to the original image, and in the working state, determines the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process; If the difference is greater than a preset threshold, performing complexity evaluation on the currently received image to determine the complexity of the image, and determining a compression rate of the image according to the complexity; The image is compressed using the determined compression ratio, and the compressed image is packetized to obtain a plurality of data packets.

[0073] Optionally, after determining the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during this detection process, the image processing module 402 is further configured to: If the difference is less than or equal to the preset threshold, the frame image is discarded, a first wake-up message is sent to the image acquisition module, and the system enters the dormant state from the working state; The image acquisition module 401 is also used to enter the working state from the sleep state after receiving the first wake-up information, start to collect the image of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object under test, and continue to execute the image acquisition module to send the collected image to the image processing module. After that, the image acquisition module enters the sleep state and subsequent steps.

[0074] Optionally, the image transmission module 403 is further configured to, after sending all the data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device, send a second wake-up message to the image acquisition module in real time through the image processing module, and enter a dormant state from a working state; The image acquisition module 401 is also used to enter the working state from the sleep state after receiving the second wake-up information, start to collect the image of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object under test, and continue to execute the image acquisition module to send the collected image to the image processing module. After that, the image acquisition module enters the sleep state and subsequent steps.

[0075] Optionally, when used to determine the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during this detection process, the image processing module 402 is specifically configured to: Determining a first grayscale gradient change of the currently received image, and determining a second grayscale gradient change of the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process; A difference between the first grayscale gradient change and the second grayscale gradient change is compared.

[0076] Optionally, when the image processing module 402 is used to perform complexity evaluation on the currently received image, determine the complexity of the image, and determine the compression rate of the image according to the complexity, it is specifically used to: Calculating the grayscale value variance of the currently received image, and using the grayscale value variance as the complexity of the image; The compression rate of the image is determined according to the complexity; wherein the complexity is negatively correlated with the compression rate.

[0077] Optionally, when the image processing module 402 is used to perform packet processing on the compressed image to obtain multiple data packets, it is specifically used to: According to a preset data packet length, the compressed image is packetized to obtain a plurality of data packets of the preset data packet length; wherein the header of each data packet includes a start identifier, image acquisition module information, flash gear position, data packet length, current packet number, and remaining packet numbers; After the image processing module 402 is used to send the multiple data packets to the image transmission module, when the image processing module enters a dormant state, the image processing module is specifically used to: sending the data packets to the image transmission module in ascending order of the current packet number contained in the header of each data packet, and after all the data packets corresponding to the image are sent to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a dormant state; The image transmission module 403 is configured to enter a working state from a dormant state upon receiving the data packet. In the working state, for a data packet currently to be transmitted among the data packets, fragment the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, and determine the fragment currently to be transmitted among the fragments. Specifically, the image transmission module 403 is configured to: When the first data packet corresponding to the image is received, the system enters a working state from a dormant state, and in the working state, caches each data packet according to the order in which the data packets are received; Determining a transmission order of each of the data packets according to a receiving order of each of the data packets, and fragmenting a data packet currently to be transmitted among the data packets according to a transmission restriction of the image transmission module using an air interface protocol to obtain a plurality of fragments corresponding to the data packet; The transmission order of each fragment is determined according to the sequence of the multiple fragments in the data packet, and the fragment to be currently transmitted is determined from the fragments that are not currently transmitted according to the transmission order of each fragment.

[0078] Optionally, the external main control device is used to: After receiving each fragment, according to the data packet to which each fragment belongs and the transmission order of each fragment, the fragments belonging to the same data packet are merged to obtain a corresponding data packet; Determining the total number of the data packets according to the current packet number and the remaining packet numbers contained in the packet header of any one of the data packets; After merging to obtain the total number of data packets, combining the total number of data packets according to the current packet number included in the packet header of each data packet to obtain a compressed image; The compressed image is decompressed according to the compression rate carried in the compressed image to obtain the image, and the image is displayed on the display module in real time.

[0079] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the micro-mobile medical device described above can refer to the corresponding process in the aforementioned image transmission method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0080] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed image transmission method and micro-mobile medical device can be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the modules is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some communication interface, device or unit, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0081] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0082] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0083] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium that is executable by a processor. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0084] Finally, it should be noted that the above-described embodiments are only specific implementation methods of the present application, which are used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. The scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above-described embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that any person skilled in the art can modify or easily conceive of changes to the technical solutions described in the above-described embodiments within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, or perform equivalent replacements for some of the technical features thereof. Such modifications, changes, or replacements do not deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. An image transmission method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a micro-mobile medical device, which includes an image acquisition module, an image processing module, and an image transmission module; the method includes: After the image acquisition module sends the acquired image to the image processing module, the image acquisition module enters a dormant state; When receiving the image, the image processing module enters a working state from a dormant state, performs packet processing on the image in the working state to obtain multiple data packets, and after sending the multiple data packets to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a dormant state; When receiving the data packet, the image transmission module enters the working state from the sleep state, and in the working state, for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet, performs fragmentation processing on the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, and determines the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments, transmits the fragment to the external main control device, and enters the sleep state, and after receiving the feedback signal from the external main control device, enters the working state from the sleep state, continues to execute the determination of the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments and subsequent steps, and after transmitting all the multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet to the external main control device, continues to execute the fragmentation processing and subsequent steps for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet, so as to transmit all the data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The resolution of the original image captured by the image acquisition module is a first resolution, the external main control device includes a display module, and the resolution of the display module is a second resolution, wherein the first resolution is greater than the second resolution; After the image acquisition module sends the acquired image to the image processing module and before the image acquisition module enters a dormant state, the method further includes: The image acquisition module crops the edges of the currently acquired original image in real time based on the second resolution to obtain an image with the edges of the original image removed and the resolution of the second resolution, and sends the image to the image processing module in real time.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that During a detection process of the micro-mobile medical device, the image acquisition module continuously acquires a plurality of original images of different positions on the surface of the object to be detected as the micro-mobile medical device moves on the surface of the object to be detected; When receiving the image, the image processing module enters the working state from the dormant state, and performs packet processing on the image in the working state to obtain multiple data packets, including: For the original image currently captured by the image capture module, the image processing module enters a working state from a dormant state when receiving the image corresponding to the original image, and in the working state, determines the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process; If the difference is greater than a preset threshold, performing complexity evaluation on the currently received image to determine the complexity of the image, and determining a compression rate of the image according to the complexity; The image is compressed using the determined compression ratio, and the compressed image is packetized to obtain a plurality of data packets.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that After determining the difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process, the image processing module further includes: If the difference is less than or equal to the preset threshold, the frame image is discarded, a first wake-up message is sent to the image acquisition module, and the system enters the dormant state from the working state; After receiving the first wake-up information, the image acquisition module enters the working state from the sleep state, starts to collect images of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object to be measured, and continues to execute the image acquisition module to send the collected image to the image processing module. After that, the image acquisition module enters the sleep state and subsequent steps.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: After sending all the data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device, the image transmission module sends a second wake-up message to the image acquisition module through the image processing module in real time, and enters a dormant state from a working state; After receiving the second wake-up information, the image acquisition module enters the working state from the sleep state, starts to collect images of the current position of the micro-mobile medical device on the surface of the object to be measured, and continues to execute the image acquisition module to send the collected image to the image processing module. After that, the image acquisition module enters the sleep state and subsequent steps.

6. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Determining a difference between the currently received image and the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process includes: Determining a first grayscale gradient change of the currently received image, and determining a second grayscale gradient change of the image last sent to the image transmission module during the current detection process; A difference between the first grayscale gradient change and the second grayscale gradient change is compared.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The performing complexity evaluation on the currently received image to determine the complexity of the image, and determining the compression rate of the image according to the complexity includes: Calculating the grayscale value variance of the currently received image, and using the grayscale value variance as the complexity of the image; The compression rate of the image is determined according to the complexity; wherein the complexity is negatively correlated with the compression rate.

8. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The compressed image is subjected to packet processing to obtain multiple data packets, including: According to a preset data packet length, the compressed image is packetized to obtain a plurality of data packets of the preset data packet length; wherein the header of each data packet includes a start identifier, image acquisition module information, flash gear position, data packet length, current packet number, and remaining packet numbers; After sending the multiple data packets to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a dormant state, including: sending the data packets to the image transmission module in ascending order of the current packet number contained in the header of each data packet, and after all the data packets corresponding to the image are sent to the image transmission module, the image processing module enters a dormant state; When receiving the data packet, the image transmission module enters a working state from a dormant state. In the working state, for a data packet currently to be transmitted among the data packets, the image transmission module performs fragmentation processing on the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, and determines the fragment currently to be transmitted among the fragments, including: When the image transmission module receives the first data packet corresponding to the image, it enters the working state from the dormant state, and in the working state, caches each data packet according to the order in which each data packet is received; Determining a transmission order of each of the data packets according to a receiving order of each of the data packets, and fragmenting a data packet currently to be transmitted among the data packets according to a transmission restriction of the image transmission module using an air interface protocol to obtain a plurality of fragments corresponding to the data packet; The transmission order of each fragment is determined according to the sequence of the multiple fragments in the data packet, and the fragment to be currently transmitted is determined from the fragments that are not currently transmitted according to the transmission order of each fragment.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The external main control device is used for: After receiving each fragment, according to the data packet to which each fragment belongs and the transmission order of each fragment, the fragments belonging to the same data packet are merged to obtain a corresponding data packet; Determining the total number of the data packets according to the current packet number and the remaining packet numbers contained in the packet header of any one of the data packets; After merging to obtain the total number of data packets, combining the total number of data packets according to the current packet number included in the packet header of each data packet to obtain a compressed image; The compressed image is decompressed according to the compression rate carried in the compressed image to obtain the image, and the image is displayed on the display module in real time.

10. A micro-mobile medical device, characterized in that: The micro-mobile medical device includes an image acquisition module, an image processing module and an image transmission module; The image acquisition module is configured to enter a dormant state after sending the acquired image to the image processing module; The image processing module is configured to enter a working state from a dormant state upon receiving the image, perform packet processing on the image in the working state to obtain a plurality of data packets, and enter a dormant state after sending the plurality of data packets to the image transmission module; The image transmission module is configured to enter a working state from a dormant state upon receiving the data packet, and in the working state, fragment the data packet for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet to obtain multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet, determine the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments, transmit the fragment to the external main control device, and enter a dormant state, and after receiving a feedback signal from the external main control device, enter a working state from the dormant state, continue to determine the fragment currently to be transmitted in the fragments and subsequent steps, and after transmitting multiple fragments corresponding to the data packet to the external main control device, continue to fragment the data packet for the data packet currently to be transmitted in the data packet and subsequent steps, so as to transmit all the data packets corresponding to the image to the external main control device.

Images