JPH0467851B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an endoscopic imaging device that captures an image inside a body cavity using an endoscope.

[Conventional technology]

As an example of such a device, Japanese Patent Application No. 59-74295 describes an endoscope imaging device that takes images of the inside of a body cavity by attaching a television camera to the eyepiece of an endoscope. Generally, the color balance of television cameras is adjusted with white as the standard. That is, white and colors close to white are photographed faithfully, but colors far from white, such as orange and red, are not faithfully photographed.

However, inside the body cavity, which is the subject of endoscopic imaging,
The inner walls of the gastrointestinal tract and the inner walls of the bronchi are pink, orange-pink, reddish orange, or reddish orange. Therefore, what is required when photographing inside a body cavity is that orange colors look like oranges, that is, the stomach wall is photographed as if it were a stomach wall, and it is almost not necessary that whites be photographed as white. Therefore, conventional television cameras do not faithfully capture the colors inside the body cavity. Furthermore, this reference color (orange) differs slightly depending on the target region and the person taking the image, but in the past, it had to be adjusted each time, which was troublesome.

Further, color adjustment of conventional imaging devices is performed using a white chart or a color stripe chart. However, since doctors who use endoscopic imaging devices are not professional television technicians, it is difficult to adjust colors using white charts or color stripe charts to achieve the desired color characteristics. It was difficult. Furthermore, endoscopic diagnosis is an image diagnosis, and the diagnostic algorithm differs slightly depending on the operator. And in that algorithm,
The color tone is a major factor, and the optimal color tone varies depending on the operator, making it difficult to change the adjustment for each operator. Furthermore, depending on the lesion, different hue enhancement may be required, and it is desired to instantly change the hue during diagnosis. Furthermore, since the endoscopes have different lengths depending on the model, for example, those for the large intestine and those for the stomach, the color of the illumination light that passes through the light guide differs. In order to compensate for this effect, it is necessary to be able to easily change color reproducibility.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

This invention was made to address the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an endoscopic imaging device that allows easy color adjustment under various conditions and has color reproducibility suitable for endoscopic images. It is to be.

[Means for solving problems]

This purpose is to use multiple color balance setting means 3.
4, 36, and 38, and the color balance is adjusted using any one of the color balance setting means.

[Effect]

According to this invention, since color balances under various conditions are stored in a plurality of color balance setting means, color balances can be easily switched.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an endoscopic imaging device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, it consists of an endoscope main body 10, a light guide 12, an objective lens 14, and a solid-state image sensor 16. The light guide 12 is connected to a light source unit 18, and the illumination light from the light source unit 18 is directed into the body cavity. lead The objective lens 14 and the solid-state image sensor 16 are provided at the objective end of the endoscope body 10. The solid-state image sensor 16 is composed of, for example, a CCD having a mosaic filter of the three primary colors R, G, and B, and outputs an image signal of one of the color components for each pixel. A video processor 20 is connected to the endoscope body 10, and a solid-state image sensor 16
The output image signal is input to a pre-stage signal processing circuit 22 in the video processor 20. The output of video processor 20 is displayed on monitor device 24. The video processor 20 also includes a frame memory 26 in which a standard image of a normal region within a body cavity in a standard color is stored, and this standard image is also displayed on the monitor device 24. Here, the frame memory 26 includes an esophagus image, a stomach image, a duodenum image,
A colon image is stored for each component signal of the three primary colors R, G, and B. Which image is read from frame memory 26 is determined by control signals from keyboard 28. Output R, G, and B image signals from the pre-stage signal processing circuit 22 and the frame memory 26 are supplied to a line switching circuit 30. Line switching circuit 30
selects one of the image signals in response to a control signal from the keyboard 28 and supplies it to gain controllers 32-1, 32-2, and 32-3 for each color component. Gain controller 32-1, 32-
Reference numerals 2 and 32-3 are composed of amplifiers, and the gain, that is, the amplification factor thereof, is controlled by the data in the reference gain memory 34 or the manual gain memory 36. The output data of the reference gain memory 34 and manual gain memory 36 is sent to the gain controller 32 via the reference/manual switch 38.
-1, 32-2, 32-3. Data representing gains for each of the R, G, and B color components is input from the keyboard 28 to the reference gain memory 34 and manual gain memory 36. The standard/manual changeover switch 38 can also be changed using the keyboard 2.
This is done by control signals from 8. The outputs of the gain controllers 32-1, 32-2, and 32-3 are supplied to the matrix circuit 40, and the output of the matrix circuit 40 is supplied to the monitor device 24. A detachment detection switch 42 is provided at the connection point between the endoscope body 10 and the video processor 20 to detect attachment/detachment of the endoscope body 10 and the video processor 20, and an output signal of the attachment/detachment detection switch 42 is supplied to the keyboard 28. be done.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. Normally, before the product is shipped, the video processor 20 is subjected to the following standard gain adjustment and color balance is adjusted. First, reading of image signals from the frame memory 26 is prohibited by a control signal from the keyboard 28. The line switching circuit 30 switches the output of the previous stage signal processing circuit 22 to the gain controllers 32-1 and 32 in response to a control signal from the keyboard 28.
-2, 32-3. Further, the reference/manual changeover switch 38 transfers the data stored in the reference gain memory 34 to the gain controller 32-1 and the control signal from the keyboard 28.
32-2, 32-3. In this state, an orange (or red) piece of paper is placed in front of the objective lens 14 to take an image, and half of the monitor device 24 is covered with the same orange piece of paper. Then, the data in the reference gain memory 34 is adjusted by operating the keyboard 28, so that the color of the image displayed on half of the monitor device 24 is the same as the color (orange) of the paper covering the half of the monitor device 24. The gain of each color component signal of R, G, and B so that
That is, the gain controllers 32-1, 32-
The gain of 2,32-3 is adjusted. In this way, as the standard for color balance, we use orange, which is close to the color inside the body cavity, rather than white as in the past. The color reproduction of images is good. At this time, the determined gain is defined as a reference gain in the sense that the color of the image inside the body cavity is faithfully reproduced, and the reference gain memory 34
is stored in

Next, during actual photography, the photographer can adjust the color balance using either the standard gain or the manual gain by switching the standard/manual changeover switch 38. For adjustment using the reference gain, use the reference/manual selector switch 3.
8 to the reference gain memory 34 side, and supplying the reference gain in the reference gain memory 34 to the gain controllers 32-1, 32-2, and 32-3. That is, when selecting the reference gain, the color balance is adjusted using orange as the reference, as described above.

When the reference/manual changeover switch 38 is switched to the manual gain memory 36 side, adjustment using the manual gain is executed. At this time, the photographer operates the keyboard 28 to switch the line switching circuit 30 to the frame memory 26 side, and instead of using the captured image of the solid-state image sensor 16, the photographer uses the standard image stored in the frame memory 26 (for example, the image of the esophagus). image). This standard image is gain-adjusted by gain controllers 32-1, 32-2, and 32-3 based on data in the manual gain memory 36, and displayed on the monitor device 24. here,
Operate the keyboard 28 to adjust the data in the manual gain memory 36 so that the image of the esophagus displayed on the monitor device 24 becomes the color that you believe a normal esophagus should be. Adjust the gain of each R, G, and B component as follows. Thereby, the imaging color characteristics can be adjusted to the color characteristics desired by each doctor. Since the gain determined in this way is determined for each doctor, it is defined as a manual gain, and is stored in the manual gain memory 3.
6.

Thereafter, when the line switching circuit 30 is switched to the front-stage signal processing circuit 22 side, the image inside the body cavity captured by the solid-state image sensor 16 is displayed with manual gain applied, that is, with color characteristics according to the doctor's preference. Is displayed. In this way, the standard image of the normal body part as a reference for color adjustment is stored in the frame memory 2.
6, so color adjustment can be done easily.

Also, the line switching circuit 30 allows the frame memory 2
By selecting the output No. 6 and switching the reference/manual changeover switch 38 to the manual gain memory 36 side, the standard image can be displayed with manual gain applied. When the endoscope main body 10 and video processor 20 are not connected,
One standard image is read out from the frame memory 26 in accordance with the detection output of the attachment/detachment detection switch 42,
The reference gain is applied and displayed on the monitor device 24.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified in various ways. For example, the solid-state image sensor 16 may not be built into the distal end of the endoscope, but may be attached to the eyepiece. Further, the video processor 20 may be built into the light source unit 18.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since a plurality of gain memories are provided as color balance setting means, colors under various conditions such as the reference color balance and the photographer's favorite color balance can be adjusted. Balance can be easily changed. Also, once the color balance (gain controller gain) is set, it is stored in memory, so when switching the color balance from the first color balance to the second color balance, or from the second color balance to the first color balance, All you have to do is flip a switch, and the inspection can be completed in a short time. If there is only one color balance setting means, it is necessary to manually adjust the color balance each time the color balance is changed, which takes time and makes it difficult to reproduce the same color balance. Furthermore, in the electronic endoscope device, the color balance can be set arbitrarily, so diagnosis can be made easier by setting a specific color balance for a specific disease.

This allows the operator to easily set the appropriate color tone for endoscopic diagnosis, which is an image diagnosis.
The diagnostic algorithm, in which color tone is a major factor, can be optimally changed for each surgeon. Further, depending on the lesion, the diagnostic ability can be improved by emphasizing a specific hue. For example, by lowering the red component and increasing the green and blue components, surface irregularities are emphasized, and the ability to diagnose erosion is improved. Such one-touch switching of hue emphasis for each lesion is possible. Furthermore, differences in color reproducibility between models (large intestine, stomach, etc.) due to differences in the color of illumination light transmitted through the light guide depending on the length of the endoscope can be corrected with a single touch.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an endoscope imaging apparatus according to the present invention. 10... Endoscope main body, 18... Light source unit,
24... Monitor device, 26... Frame memory,
28...Keyboard, 30...Line switching circuit,
32-1, 23-2, 32-3...Gain controller, 34...Reference gain memory, 36...Manual gain memory, 38...Reference/manual changeover switch, 40...Matrix circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an endoscopic imaging device that captures an image inside a body cavity and displays the image signal on a monitor via a color balance adjustment circuit, an orange or red color corresponding to the color of a normal region inside the body cavity is used. first color balance setting means for storing a first color balance adjustment amount as a reference; means for varying the value of the first color balance adjustment amount; and a first color balance setting means for storing a first color balance adjustment amount as a reference; second color balance setting means for storing the second color balance adjustment amount; means for varying the value of the second color balance adjustment amount to a desired value; and the first and second color balance setting means. and means for adjusting the color balance according to the color balance adjustment amount stored in the first or second color balance setting means selected by the selection means. Features of the endoscopic imaging device.