Endoscopic Image Processing with Dynamic Lesion Highlighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Surgeons face challenges in consistently identifying lesions during endoscopic procedures due to the need for continuous monitoring of regions of interest, which can lead to overlooking lesions if the detection is intermittent or brief, highlighting a need for enhanced visual cues that differentiate between sustained and transient detections.
Innovation Solution
An endoscopic image processing device that detects regions of interest in real-time, emphasizing them with visual information that changes appearance based on the duration of detection, using a processor-configured system that includes a region of interest detector, a continuous detection judge, and a display controller to differentiate visual markers for sustained and transient detections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If visual information is added to highlight regions of interest continuously, then lesion detection accuracy is improved, but cognitive burden on surgeons increases due to constant monitoring requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The visual information display is made dynamic by adjusting its appearance based on the duration of detection. The system transitions from continuous highlighting to differentiated display modes, where the visual characteristics (such as brightness or pattern) change according to whether the detection duration exceeds a threshold, reducing the need for constant surgeon attention while maintaining detection accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of visual information display based on detection duration. When the detection duration exceeds a predetermined threshold, the appearance of visual information is modified (e.g., increased brightness, different pattern), providing intuitive feedback that reduces cognitive load while maintaining high lesion detection accuracy
2Reliability
If alert images are displayed for all detected regions, then comprehensive lesion monitoring is improved, but important lesions may be overlooked due to information overload
Solution Approach 1:
Different quality levels of visual information are applied to different regions based on their detection duration. Regions with prolonged detection (likely critical lesions) receive enhanced visual treatment such as brighter or more distinctive markers, while transient detections receive standard or reduced visual emphasis, ensuring critical information stands out without overwhelming the surgeon
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies enhanced visual information selectively rather than uniformly. By applying stronger visual emphasis only to regions that meet the detection duration threshold, the system provides sufficient information for comprehensive monitoring while avoiding the dilution effect of uniform highlighting across all detected regions
3Measurement precision
If the detection threshold is lowered to catch all potential lesions, then detection sensitivity is improved, but false positive rate increases leading to unnecessary alerts
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection at a sensitive threshold to capture all potential lesions, then applies a secondary filtering mechanism based on detection duration. Regions that persist beyond the threshold duration are confirmed as true positives, while transient detections are filtered out, effectively separating true lesions from false positives
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses detection duration as feedback to validate initial detections. By monitoring how long a region remains detected, the system provides self-validation that distinguishes true lesions (which persist) from false positives (which are transient), maintaining high sensitivity while improving reliability
Data Source
AI summary
An endoscopic image processing device includes one or more processors. The processors perform: detecting a region of interest for an observation image, the observation image being obtained by picking up an image of an object and being sequentially input to the processors, judging whether detection of the region of interest continues or not to acquire a judgment result, emphasizing with adding visual information for emphasizing a position of the region of interest to the observation image during a period during which the region of interest is detected. The processors cause an appearance of the visual information added to the observation image to differ between a case where the detection of the region of interest continues for a predetermined time period or more and a case where the detection of the region of interest discontinues in a time period shorter than the predetermined time period, based on the judgment result.