IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND STORAGE MEDIUM

• US 20120194782A1
• Filed: 01/13/2012
• Published: 08/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Imamura, Hiroshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,840,248 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 351/206
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/102 for optical coherence tomography [OCT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/12 for looking at the eye fundus, e.g. ophthalmoscopes A61B3/13 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10101 Optical tomography; Optical coherence tomography [OCT]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30041 Eye; Retina; Ophthalmic
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/41 Medical
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection

Abstract

An image processing apparatus includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire a tomogram of an eye portion of a patient to be examined; an information acquisition unit configured to acquire information of a predetermined portion and position information of a predetermined tissue structure from the tomogram; and a calculation unit configured to calculate an evaluation value based on a relationship between the information of the predetermined portion and a position of the predetermined tissue structure.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a tomogram of an eye portion of a patient to be examined;

an information acquisition unit configured to acquire information of a predetermined portion and position information of a predetermined tissue structure from the tomogram; and

a calculation unit configured to calculate an evaluation value based on a relationship between the information of the predetermined portion and a position of the predetermined tissue structure.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information of the predetermined portion is information of a density distribution of photoreceptor cells in the tomogram, and

said calculation unit calculates the evaluation value based on the density distribution of the photoreceptor cells in the predetermined tissue structure.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined tissue structure is a region of an amotio retinae.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information of the predetermined portion is information of a density distribution of photoreceptor cells in the tomogram, and

said calculation unit calculates the evaluation value based on a thickness distribution of the predetermined tissue structure.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined tissue structure is a region between a boundary between photoreceptor inner and outer segments and a retinal pigment epithelium boundary.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined portion is a portion below a fovea centralis, and said calculation unit calculates the evaluation value based on a positional relationship with the predetermined tissue structure.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined tissue structure is a leukoma.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined portion is a Mariotte blind spot, and said calculation unit calculates the evaluation value based on a positional relationship with the predetermined tissue structure.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined tissue structure is a cribrosa lamina.

10. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said calculation unit calculates, as the evaluation value, a restoration possibility of a visual function of the eye portion from an existence period of the amotio retinae.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said calculation unit calculates the evaluation values in association with two-dimensional coordinates of the tomogram, and

said apparatus further comprises a display control unit configured to display the evaluation values associated with the two-dimensional coordinates of the tomogram as a map on a display unit.

12. An image processing method comprising:

an acquisition step of acquiring a tomogram of an eye portion of a patient to be examined;

an information acquisition step of acquiring information of a predetermined portion and position information of a predetermined tissue structure from the tomogram; and

a calculation step of calculating an evaluation value based on a relationship between the information of the predetermined portion and a position of the predetermined tissue structure.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program for controlling a computer to execute respective steps of an image processing method according to claim 12.