Method and apparatus for endoscope with distance measuring for object scaling
First Claim
1. A method of capturing images of a scene using a capsule device including a camera, the method comprising:
- administering the capsule device to a patient;
projecting non-structured light from a non-structured light source to a scene in a field of view of the camera;
capturing, by the camera, regular images formed on a common image plane of the camera when the capsule device travels through a human gastrointestinal tract;
projecting structured light from a structured light source to the scene in the field of view of the camera;
capturing, by the camera, structured-light images formed on the common image plane of the camera when the capsule device travels through the human gastrointestinal tract, wherein the structured-light images are interleaved with the regular images to derive distances associated with objects in the regular images with respect to the camera; and
outputting the regular images andoutputting the structured-light images for deriving information comprising the distances associated with the objects in the regular images based on the structured-light images or outputting derived information comprising the distances associated with the objects in the regular images, wherein each of the distances corresponds to one derived distance between one object in the regular image and the camera.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for capturing images of a scene using a capsule device including a camera are disclosed. An image sequence is captured using the camera when the capsule device travels through a human gastrointestinal tract. Also, structured-light images are captured using the camera by projecting structured light to one or more objects in a field of view of the camera when the capsule device travels through the human gastrointestinal tract. The structured-light images are interleaved with regular images in the image sequence. The distance information with respect to the capsule camera associated with objects of the selected image is derived. Both the image sequence and the distance information are outputted. A method of determining the size of an object of interest utilizing the distance information is also disclosed. In another method, the distance information is used to scale object or adjust intensities.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of capturing images of a scene using a capsule device including a camera, the method comprising:
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administering the capsule device to a patient; projecting non-structured light from a non-structured light source to a scene in a field of view of the camera; capturing, by the camera, regular images formed on a common image plane of the camera when the capsule device travels through a human gastrointestinal tract; projecting structured light from a structured light source to the scene in the field of view of the camera; capturing, by the camera, structured-light images formed on the common image plane of the camera when the capsule device travels through the human gastrointestinal tract, wherein the structured-light images are interleaved with the regular images to derive distances associated with objects in the regular images with respect to the camera; and outputting the regular images and outputting the structured-light images for deriving information comprising the distances associated with the objects in the regular images based on the structured-light images or outputting derived information comprising the distances associated with the objects in the regular images, wherein each of the distances corresponds to one derived distance between one object in the regular image and the camera. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An endoscope for capturing images of a scene using a capsule device, the capsule device comprising:
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a camera; a non-structured light source; a structured light source; one or more processors coupled to the camera and the structured light source; one or more output interfaces coupled to said one or more processors; and wherein said one or more processors are configured to; capture regular images using the camera by projecting non-structured light from the non-structured light source when the capsule device travels through a human gastrointestinal tract; capture structured-light images using the camera by projecting structured light from the structured light source to a scene in a field of view of the camera when the capsule device travels through the human gastrointestinal tract, wherein the structured-light images are interleaved with the regular images to derive distances associated with objects in the regular images with respect to the camera; output the regular images through said one or more output interfaces; and output the structured-light images for deriving information comprising the distances associated with the objects in the regular images based on the structured-light images or outputting derived information comprising the distances associated with the objects in the regular images, wherein each of the distances corresponds to one derived distance between one object in the regular image and the camera; and a housing adapted to be swallowed, wherein the housing encloses the camera and said one or more processors in a sealed environment. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of processing images captured using a capsule device including a camera, the method comprising:
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receiving regular images captured by the camera when the capsule device traveled through a human gastrointestinal tract; determining information comprising a distance associated with a target object in a selected regular image based on one or more structured-light images captured by the camera when the capsule device traveled through the human gastrointestinal tract, wherein the distance corresponds to one derived distance between the target object in the selected regular image and the camera; determining a physical size of the target object in the selected regular image based on pixel data of the target object and the distance between the target object in the selected regular image and the camera; and outputting size information regarding the physical size of the target object. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of processing images captured using a capsule device including a camera, the method comprising:
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receiving regular images captured by the camera when the capsule device traveled through a human gastrointestinal tract; determining information comprising a distance associated with a target object in a selected regular image based on one or more structured-light images captured by the camera when the capsule device traveled through the human gastrointestinal tract, wherein the distance corresponds to one derived distance between the target object in the selected regular image and the camera; stitching the regular images utilizing the information including the distance to generate a stitched image sequence; and outputting the stitched image sequence. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for processing images captured using a capsule device including a camera, the apparatus comprising one or more electronic circuits or processors arranged to:
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receive regular images captured by the camera when the device traveled through a human gastrointestinal tract; determine information comprising a distance associated with a target object in a selected regular image based on one or more structured-light images captured by the camera when the capsule device traveled through the human gastrointestinal tract, wherein the distance corresponds to one derived distance between the target object in the selected regular image and the camera; stitch the regular images utilizing the information including the distance to generate a stitched image sequence; and output the stitched image sequence. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification