FUNDUS INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND FUNDUS INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD
First Claim
1. A fundus information processing apparatus for processing a first fundus image and a second fundus image acquired with a fundus imaging device and acquiring at least one of a panoramic fundus image and fundus blood vessel information, the apparatus comprising:
- a blood vessel extraction unit that extracts blood vessel shapes from the first and second fundus images, the unit extracting branching points of the blood vessel of the blood vessel shape through image processing;
a line segment information acquisition unit that acquires, in each of the first and second fundus images, information of a plurality of line segments obtained by interconnecting two predetermined branching points by using the plurality of branching points extracted by the blood vessel extraction unit;
a line segment identification unit that identifies at least two of the line segments common to the first and second fundus images by using the line segment information obtained by the line segment information acquisition unit;
a branching point information calculation unit that calculates, in each of the first and second fundus images, branching point information that indicates a relative positional relationship between the branching points constituting at least two of the line segments identified by the line segment identification unit;
a comparison operation unit that performs comparison operation on first branching point information of the first fundus image and second branching point information of the second fundus image which are calculated by the branching point information calculation unit; and
an alignment processing unit that performs alignment processing on the first and second fundus images based on a result of comparison by the comparison operation unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present inventions relates to a fundus imaging device integrated with a computer processing to comprise a fundus information processing apparatus and method for executing the same in order to produce a panoramic fundus image and to obtain blood vessel information of the fundus. The apparatus and method processes a first fundus image and a second fundus image acquired with a fundus imaging device. The fundus information processing apparatus and method extracts blood vessel shapes from the first and second fundus images, and identifies branching points of the blood vessel of the blood vessel shape through image processing. Further, a plurality of line segments are obtained by interconnecting two predetermined branching points and thereafter identification of two common line segments of the first and second fundus images. The apparatus and method determines relative positional relationship between the branching points constituting at least two of the line segments and thereafter performs comparison operation followed by an alignment operation. By the alignment a panoramic image of the plurality of fundus images is produced along with blood vessel information of the fundus.
132 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A fundus information processing apparatus for processing a first fundus image and a second fundus image acquired with a fundus imaging device and acquiring at least one of a panoramic fundus image and fundus blood vessel information, the apparatus comprising:
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a blood vessel extraction unit that extracts blood vessel shapes from the first and second fundus images, the unit extracting branching points of the blood vessel of the blood vessel shape through image processing; a line segment information acquisition unit that acquires, in each of the first and second fundus images, information of a plurality of line segments obtained by interconnecting two predetermined branching points by using the plurality of branching points extracted by the blood vessel extraction unit; a line segment identification unit that identifies at least two of the line segments common to the first and second fundus images by using the line segment information obtained by the line segment information acquisition unit; a branching point information calculation unit that calculates, in each of the first and second fundus images, branching point information that indicates a relative positional relationship between the branching points constituting at least two of the line segments identified by the line segment identification unit; a comparison operation unit that performs comparison operation on first branching point information of the first fundus image and second branching point information of the second fundus image which are calculated by the branching point information calculation unit; and an alignment processing unit that performs alignment processing on the first and second fundus images based on a result of comparison by the comparison operation unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A fundus information processing method to process a first fundus image and a second fundus image acquired with a fundus imaging device to generate a panoramic fundus image and fundus blood vessel information comprising the following steps:
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a blood vessel extraction step of extracting blood vessel shapes from the first and second fundus images, the step extracting branching points of the blood vessel of the blood vessel shape through image processing; a line segment information acquisition step of acquiring, in each of the first and second fundus images, information of a plurality of line segments obtained by interconnecting two predetermined branching points by using the plurality of branching points extracted at the blood vessel extraction step; a line segment identification step of identifying at least two of the line segments common to the first and second fundus images by using the line segment information obtained at the line segment information acquisition step; a branching point information calculation step of calculating, in each of the first and second fundus images, branching point information that indicates a relative positional relationship between the branching points constituting at least two of the line segments identified at the line segment identification step; a comparison operation step of performing comparison operation on first branching point information of the first fundus image and second branching point information of the second fundus image which are calculated at the branching point information calculation step; and an alignment processing step of performing alignment processing on the first and second fundus images based on a result of the comparison operation at the comparison operation step.
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11. A method of generating an image of biological tissue comprising:
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generating a first image of a first region of tissue; generating a second image a second region of tissue, wherein said second region includes at least a portion of the first region of tissue; identifying blood vessels visible within the first and second images; identifying the branch points of the identified blood vessels; generating at least two line segments in said first and second images, said line segments representing an interconnection between branch points of identified blood vessels; comparing line segments of said first and second images to identify at least two common line segments of said first and second images; aligning the first and second images using the common line segments; and generating a combined image. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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- 21. The method of generating an image of biological tissue of 11 further comprising the step of overlaying said first and second images with a grid to identify seed points of the image where blood vessels intersect the grid.
Specification