Endoscopic Image Processing for Selective Microvessel Contrast Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing endoscope systems struggle to effectively enhance and suppress microvascular and microsurface patterns in mucosal structures for improved diagnostic accuracy.
Innovation Solution
An endoscope system that irradiates biological tissue with blue-violet narrow band light, extracts local contrast information, and performs enhancement or suppression processing on the image signal to generate a display image, enhancing or suppressing microstructure and microvessel information based on this information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If frequency filtering is applied to extract glandular structure and microvessel using blue-violet narrow band light, then microvascular and microsurface patterns can be individually extracted, but the ability to simultaneously enhance both patterns for improved diagnostic accuracy is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the image processing into separate frequency components: low-pass filtering extracts microsurface patterns (glandular structures), while band-pass or high-pass filtering extracts microvascular patterns. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each pattern's extraction quality, resolving the contradiction between extraction precision and diagnostic efficiency by enabling parallel processing of both patterns without interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the single-image diagnostic approach into a multi-dimensional processing framework by applying different frequency filters to the same blue-violet narrow band light image. This creates separate processing channels for microsurface and microvascular patterns, allowing simultaneous enhancement of both patterns in different frequency dimensions, thereby improving both extraction precision and diagnostic efficiency.
2Loss of information
If independent diagnosis is performed on microvascular image and microsurface image separately, then each pattern can be analyzed individually, but simultaneous enhanced display of both patterns is difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the separately processed microsurface and microvascular pattern images into a single composite display image. After applying different frequency filters to extract each pattern, the processed images are overlaid or combined, allowing simultaneous visualization of both patterns. This merging approach preserves complete tissue feature information while managing processing complexity through systematic filter application and image combination techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses frequency filtering as an intermediary mechanism to bridge between the raw blue-violet narrow band light image and the final enhanced display. Different filters act as intermediaries that selectively extract microsurface or microvascular patterns, which are then combined. This intermediary approach enables simultaneous display of both patterns without requiring completely separate imaging systems, thus reducing overall processing complexity while maintaining information completeness.
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
Enhances diagnostic accuracy by selectively highlighting or dimming specific tissue features, allowing for clearer observation and improved focus on regions of interest.
Implementation Method 1
irradiate a biological tissue including a microstructure and a microvessel with illumination light including blue-violet narrow band light
Implementation Method 2
an image sensor configured to generate an image signal by capturing return light from the biological tissue
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes a processor configured to: irradiate a biological tissue including a microstructure and a microvessel with illumination light including blue-violet narrow band light, and acquire an image signal generated by capturing return light from the biological tissue; extract local contrast information in the image signal; and perform one or more of enhancement processing or suppression processing on the image signal based on the local contrast information so as to generate a display image, the enhancement processing being processing of enhancing at least one of microstructure information related to the microstructure in the biological tissue or microvessel information related to the microvessel in the biological tissue, the suppression processing being processing of suppressing at least one of the microstructure information related to the microstructure in the biological tissue or the microvessel information related to the microvessel in the biological tissue.