Medical Image Pickup Device Fluorescent Area Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fluorescent endoscope systems struggle to clearly display specific areas like blood-flow portions and diseased tissues due to low visibility and unnecessary information in synthesized images, as they simply combine visible-light and fluorescent images at a predetermined brightness ratio, leading to the misrepresentation of non-target areas as fluorescent.
Innovation Solution
An image pickup device and method that captures images in multiple wavelength bands, processes the necessary information from the fluorescent image to extract specific features, and synthesizes these images with the normal image at a predetermined ratio to enhance visibility, using a dichroic prism and high-sensitivity image pickup elements to separate and process normal and fluorescent images separately.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If normal image and fluorescent image are simply synthesized at a predetermined brightness ratio, then the synthesis process is simple, but the visibility of specific areas like blood-flow portions and diseased tissues is low and unnecessary information is included
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the fluorescent image into specific area components (blood-flow portions, diseased tissues) and non-specific area components through edge detection and contour extraction. This segmentation allows the system to treat different regions differently during synthesis, enhancing visibility of specific areas while suppressing unnecessary information from non-specific areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts contour components and edge information from the fluorescent image using image processing techniques. By taking out only the essential feature information (edges, contours, specific area boundaries) and excluding redundant information, the synthesis achieves better visibility without requiring complex full-image processing.
2Device complexity
If simple brightness ratio synthesis is used, then the device complexity is low, but the synthesized image contains large amounts of unnecessary information and low visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary information from the fluorescent image through edge detection and contour extraction operations. By removing unnecessary information (non-specific area fluorescence, noise, redundant details) while preserving essential features (boundaries, specific area locations), the system achieves effective information selection without requiring overly complex processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different processing qualities to different parts of the image. Specific areas (blood-flow portions, diseased tissues) receive enhanced processing with contour extraction and edge detection, while non-specific areas undergo different or reduced processing. This local differentiation optimizes information retention while controlling overall processing complexity.
3Device complexity
If fluorescent image is used directly in synthesis, then the processing is simple, but non-target areas are misrepresent ed as fluorescent and visibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts contour components and edge information from the fluorescent image to identify specific areas accurately. By taking out only the boundary and feature information rather than using the raw fluorescent image directly, the system can distinguish true fluorescent areas from non-target areas that merely appear fluorescent due to reflection or other factors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary image processing operations (edge detection, contour extraction, thresholding) on the fluorescent image before synthesis. This preliminary action prepares the fluorescent information in a refined form that accurately represents only the true fluorescent areas, preventing misrepresentation of non-target areas during the subsequent synthesis process.
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 results in a more visible and clear representation of the target area, reducing unnecessary information and improving the visibility of specific features like blood vessels and diseased tissues by extracting and amplifying contour components and converting brightness signals to color signals for enhanced visibility.
Implementation Method 1
a first image pickup system for picking up a fluorescent image by transmitting only special light L2 and reflecting visible light L1; and a second image pickup system for picking up a normal image by reflecting visible light L1
Implementation Method 2
a high-sensitivity image pickup element 24 for picking up the fluorescent image L4
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is an image pickup device capable of facilitating distinction between a normal area and a specific area for a camera for medical or industrial use. The image pickup device for picking up images in a plurality of wavelength bands includes a first image pickup part for picking up an optical image in a near-infrared band, a second image pickup part for picking up an optical image in a visible-light band, an image processing part for performing processing for extracting necessary information from a near-infrared image acquired by the first image pickup part, and a synthesized-image generating part for adding a visible image acquired by the second image pickup part and an image obtained by the image processing part at a predetermined ratio to generate a synthetized image.