Capsule endoscope apparatus
First Claim
1. A capsule endoscope apparatus comprising an image capturing unit for capturing an image in a body to transmit the image by radio and a receiving unit for receiving the image transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit to record the image, the apparatus further comprising:
- an estimating unit for receiving a signal transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit through each of a plurality of antennas arranged at different positions outside the body to estimate at least one of the position and orientation of the image capturing unit on the basis of the signals received through the antennas; and
a control unit for controlling image capture by the image capturing unit using information regarding at least one of the position and orientation estimated by the estimating unit.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A signal processing circuit of an external device includes a CPU and a memory which are not shown. A program for estimating at least one of the position and orientation of a capsule endoscope on the basis of strength signals received through respective antennas is installed in the signal processing circuit. A single-core coil to generate a magnetic field is arranged in the capsule endoscope. The generated magnetic field is detected by a plurality of coils arranged outside a body, whereby a distance that the capsule endoscope has traveled can be obtained with accuracy. This arrangement controls image-capture timing to reliably capture images necessary for a diagnosis and prevent unnecessary image capture.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A capsule endoscope apparatus comprising an image capturing unit for capturing an image in a body to transmit the image by radio and a receiving unit for receiving the image transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit to record the image, the apparatus further comprising:
-
an estimating unit for receiving a signal transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit through each of a plurality of antennas arranged at different positions outside the body to estimate at least one of the position and orientation of the image capturing unit on the basis of the signals received through the antennas; and
a control unit for controlling image capture by the image capturing unit using information regarding at least one of the position and orientation estimated by the estimating unit. - View Dependent Claims (7, 13, 19, 25)
-
-
2. A capsule endoscope apparatus comprising an image capturing unit for capturing an image in a body to transmit the image by radio and a receiving unit for receiving the image transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit to record the image, the apparatus further comprising:
-
a transmitting unit having a plurality of first antennas arranged at different positions outside the body to transmit a signal having a specific magnitude through each antenna;
an estimating unit for receiving the signals generated from the antennas through a second antenna disposed in the image capturing unit to estimate at least one of the position and orientation of the image capturing unit on the basis of the received signals; and
a control unit for controlling image capture by the image capturing unit using information regarding at least one of the position and orientation obtained by the estimating unit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 14, 20, 26)
-
-
3. A capsule endoscope apparatus comprising an image capturing unit for capturing an image in a body to transmit the image by radio and a receiving unit for receiving the image transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit to record the image, the apparatus further comprising:
-
an estimating unit for receiving a signal transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit through each of a plurality of antennas arranged at different positions outside the body to estimate at least one of the position and orientation of the image capturing unit on the basis of the signals received through the antennas; and
a control unit for controlling recording by the receiving unit using information regarding at least one of the position and orientation obtained by the estimating unit. - View Dependent Claims (9, 15, 21, 27)
-
-
4. A capsule endoscope apparatus comprising an image capturing unit for capturing an image in a body to transmit the image by radio and a receiving unit for receiving the image transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit to record the image, the apparatus further comprising:
-
a transmitting unit having a plurality of first antennas arranged at different positions outside the body to transmit a signal having a specific magnitude through each antenna;
an estimating unit for receiving the signals generated from the plurality of first antennas through a second antenna disposed in the image capturing unit to estimate at least one of the position and orientation of the image capturing unit on the basis of the received signals; and
a control unit for controlling recording by the receiving unit using information regarding at least one of the position and orientation obtained by the estimating unit. - View Dependent Claims (10, 16, 22, 28)
-
-
5. A capsule endoscope apparatus comprising:
-
an image capturing unit for capturing an image in a body to transmit the image by radio;
a receiving unit for receiving the image and a strength signal transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit to record the image;
an estimating unit for receiving the signal transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit through each of a plurality of antennas arranged at different positions outside the body to estimate at least one of the position and orientation of the image capturing unit on the basis of the signals received through the antennas;
a control unit for controlling display of the images recorded by the receiving unit using information regarding at least one of the position and orientation obtained by the estimating unit; and
a display unit for displaying the images under the control of the control unit. - View Dependent Claims (11, 17, 23, 29)
-
-
6. A capsule endoscope apparatus comprising an image capturing unit for capturing an image in a body to transmit the image by radio and a receiving unit for receiving the image transmitted by radio from the image capturing unit to record the image, the apparatus further comprising:
-
a transmitting unit having a plurality of first antennas arranged at different positions outside the body to transmit a signal having a specific magnitude through each antenna;
an estimating unit for receiving the signals generated from the plurality of first antennas through a second antenna disposed in the image capturing unit to estimate at least one of the position and orientation of the image capturing unit on the basis of the received signals;
a control unit for controlling display of the images recorded by the receiving unit using information regarding at least one of the position and orientation obtained by the estimating unit; and
a display unit for displaying the images under the control of the control unit. - View Dependent Claims (12, 18, 24, 30)
-
Specification