Endoscope Color Enhancement via Dynamic Illumination Ratios
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current endoscope systems face challenges in effectively enhancing color differences between normal and abnormal tissue areas, particularly in achieving accurate achromatic representation for improved diagnostic clarity.
Innovation Solution
The system employs a light source with semiconductor light emitting devices emitting light at different center wavelengths, switching between two illumination light ratios to generate enhanced image signals, with the second illumination light adjusted to ensure a reference portion indicates achromatic color within a predetermined error range, allowing for improved color enhancement processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple illumination lights with different light amount ratios are used to enhance color differentiation, then color enhancement is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The light source apparatus dynamically switches between multiple illumination lights with different light amount ratios based on observation needs. The control apparatus selectively activates specific semiconductor light emitting devices to emit light at predetermined ratios, enabling adaptive color enhancement without permanently complexifying the illumination system structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the light amount ratios of multiple illumination lights with different center wavelengths to achieve color enhancement. By adjusting the emission intensity ratios of blue, green, and red light from semiconductor light emitting devices, the system enhances color differentiation while using a single multi-wavelength light source apparatus.
2Measurement precision
If achromatic color representation is enforced for reference portions, then diagnostic clarity is improved, but color reproducibility may be degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different color processing strategies to different regions of the image. Reference portions (normal tissue areas) have their colors adjusted to achromatic representation for accurate baseline comparison, while observation target portions (abnormal tissue areas) maintain enhanced color differentiation. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by applying achromatic enforcement only where needed for diagnostic clarity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control apparatus uses feedback from image pickup signals to determine whether portions of the subject are reference portions or observation target portions. Based on this classification, the system selectively applies achromatic color adjustment to reference portions while preserving color enhancement for observation targets, thereby maintaining both diagnostic clarity and color reproducibility where appropriate.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables enhanced color differentiation and diagnostic clarity by adjusting the light ratios to achieve achromatic representation, thereby improving the visibility of subtle tissue differences without degrading color reproducibility.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of semiconductor light emitting devices configured to emit light with different center wavelengths
Implementation Method 2
an image pickup device configured to pick up an image of return light from a subject irradiated with the illumination light to generate an image pickup signal having a plurality of color components
Data Source
AI summary
An endoscope system includes a light source apparatus configured to cause light of a plurality of colors to be emitted at a first/second light amount ratio to generate first/second illumination light, an endoscope configured to generate an image pickup signal, and a processing apparatus including a processor. The processor causes the light source apparatus to emit light while switching light between the first/second illumination light, generates a first image signal from an image pickup signal related to the first illumination light, generates a second image signal from an image pickup signal related to the second illumination light and generates a corrected image signal in which color is enhanced based on the first and the second image signals. The second illumination light is light obtained by adjusting the second light amount ratio so that the second image signal related to a reference portion substantially indicates achromatic color.