IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGING SYSTEM, AND IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM

• US 20130016885A1
• Filed: 07/02/2012
• Published: 01/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Tsujimoto, Takuya
• Granted Patent: US 9,224,193 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10056 Microscopic image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20221 Image fusion; Image merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30024 Cell structures in vitro; Tissue sections in vitro
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/50 using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/73 Deblurring; Sharpening

Abstract

An image processing apparatus comprises: an image acquisition unit for acquiring a plurality of original images acquired by imaging a specimen including a structure in various focal positions using a microscope apparatus; an image generation unit for generating, on the basis of the plurality of original images, a first image on which blurring of an image of the structure has been reduced in comparison with the original images; and an analysis unit for obtaining information relating to the structure included in the first image by applying image analysis processing to the first image. The image generation unit selects a part of the original images having focal positions included within a smaller depth range than a thickness of the specimen from the plurality of original images obtained from the specimen, and generates the first image using the selected original images.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

an image acquisition unit for acquiring a plurality of original images acquired by imaging a specimen including a structure in various focal positions using a microscope apparatus;

an image generation unit for generating, on the basis of the plurality of original images, a first image on which blurring of an image of the structure has been reduced in comparison with the original images; and

an analysis unit for obtaining information relating to the structure included in the first image by applying image analysis processing to the first image,

wherein the image generation unit selects a part of the original images having focal positions included within a smaller depth range than a thickness of the specimen from the plurality of original images obtained from the specimen, and generates the first image using the selected original images.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image generation unit determines a size of the depth range, in which the original images used to generate the first image are selected, in accordance with a size of the structure to be analyzed in the image analysis processing.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image generation unit varies the size of the depth range, in which the original images used to generate the first image are selected, between a case in which the specimen is to be used in a tissue diagnosis and a case in which the specimen is to be used in a cytological diagnosis.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when the specimen is to be used in a tissue diagnosis, the image generation unit sets the size of the depth range, in which the original images used to generate the first image are selected, at not less than 3 μ

m and not more than 10 μ

m.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the depth range, in which the original images used to generate the first image are selected, is designated by a user.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image generation unit generates the first image by performing focus stacking processing using the selected original images.

7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image generation unit generates the first image by dividing the original images into a plurality of regions, selecting an image having a highest contrast value from among the selected original images in each divided region, and merging the images selected in each divided region with each other.

8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image generation unit generates the first image by dividing the original images into a plurality of regions and adding the selected original images together in a spatial frequency region in each divided region.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the structure is a cell.

10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein information relating to the structure obtained by the analysis unit is at least any of a cell contour, a nucleus contour, a cell count, a cell shape, a cytoplasm surface area, a nucleus surface area, and an area ratio between the cytoplasm and the nucleus.

11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the structure is a nucleus.

12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image generation unit generates a second image, on which blur has been reduced to a smaller extent than the first image, together with the first image on the basis of the plurality of original images.

13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the second image is an image to be used for visual observation by a user.

14. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a unit for outputting the information relating to the structure obtained by the analysis unit together with the second image to a display device.

15. An imaging system comprising:

a microscope apparatus for obtaining a plurality of original images by imaging a specimen including a structure in various focal positions; and

the image processing apparatus according to claim 1, which obtains the plurality of original images from the microscope apparatus.

16. The imaging system according to claim 15, wherein the microscope apparatus includes a measurement unit for measuring a thickness of the specimen.

17. The imaging system according to claim 16, wherein the microscope apparatus determines an imaging start position, from which the plurality of original images are obtained, on the basis of a measurement result from the measurement unit.

18. The imaging system according to claim 15, wherein the microscope apparatus varies an imaging interval, at which the plurality of original images are obtained, between a case in which the specimen is to be used in a tissue diagnosis and a case in which the specimen is to be used in a cytological diagnosis.

19. An image processing system comprising:

an image server for storing a plurality of original images obtained by imaging a specimen including a structure in various focal positions; and

the image processing apparatus according to claim 1, which obtains the plurality of original images from the image server.

20. A computer program stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the program causing a computer to perform a method comprising the steps of:

acquiring a plurality of original images acquired by imaging a specimen including a structure in various focal positions using a microscope apparatus;

generating, on the basis of the plurality of original images, a first image on which blurring of an image of the structure has been reduced in comparison with the original images; and

acquiring information relating to the structure included in the first image by applying image analysis processing to the first image,

wherein, in the image generation step, a part of the original images having focal positions included within a smaller depth range than a thickness of the specimen is selected from the plurality of original images obtained from the specimen, and the first image is generated using the selected original images.