Endoscope device and navigation method for endoscope device
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An endoscope device comprising:
- three-dimensional image constructing means for constructing a three-dimensional image of an intracorporeal lumen of a subject on the basis of image data acquired from a three-dimensional field of the subject;
an endoscope for imaging the intracorporeal lumen of the subject;
a degree-of-insertion calculating means for calculating a degree-of-insertion to which the endoscope is inserted;
a route determination means that determines a route, which starts with a point at which the endoscope is inserted and ends with a point at which the endoscope reaches a target region of the subject based upon physical structure depicted in the three-dimensional image and that links the start and end points, so that the course of the endoscope to be steered in order to insert the endoscope can be presented;
andnavigation image constructing means for constructing a navigation image, which includes an endoscopic image that is produced by the endoscope and that represents the intracorporeal lumen of the subject, a plurality of reduced thumbnail images, each of the plurality of reduced thumbnail images is of the three-dimensional image constructed by the three-dimensional image constructing means and representing a branch point at which the intracorporeal lumen of the subject branches out, the plurality of reduced thumbnail images are displayed in series in an order from a point at which the endoscope is inserted to a point at which the endoscope reach a target region of the subject and the three-dimensional image, said three-dimensional image is adapted for being rotatably displayed, so that while presenting the course of the endoscope to be steered in order to insert the endoscope into the intracorporeal lumen of the subject, the endoscope device can help observe or treat the interior of the subject, wherein;
the navigation image constructing means displays the plurality of reduced thumbnail images in a manner that allows identification of which of the plurality of reduced thumbnail images corresponds to a branch point near a distal section of the endoscope based on the degree-of-insertion calculated by the degree-of-insertion calculating means, and which rotates and displays the three-dimensional image so that the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image are matched with each other if a degree of similarity in images between a still image of the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image corresponding to the identifiably displayed reduced thumbnail image is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value.
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Abstract
In an endoscope device 1 in accordance with the present invention, a navigation screen 51 is displayed. The navigation screen 51 includes: an endoscopic live image display area 52 in which a live image produced by a bronchoscope 2 is displayed; a VBS image display area 53 in which a VBS image is displayed; and a thumbnail VBS image area 54 in which images constructed by reducing VBS images that represent all branch points on a route are displayed as thumbnail VBS images representing branch points. Consequently, an endoscope can be reliably navigated to reach a target region using guide images that represent actual branch positions.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. An endoscope device comprising:
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three-dimensional image constructing means for constructing a three-dimensional image of an intracorporeal lumen of a subject on the basis of image data acquired from a three-dimensional field of the subject; an endoscope for imaging the intracorporeal lumen of the subject; a degree-of-insertion calculating means for calculating a degree-of-insertion to which the endoscope is inserted; a route determination means that determines a route, which starts with a point at which the endoscope is inserted and ends with a point at which the endoscope reaches a target region of the subject based upon physical structure depicted in the three-dimensional image and that links the start and end points, so that the course of the endoscope to be steered in order to insert the endoscope can be presented; and navigation image constructing means for constructing a navigation image, which includes an endoscopic image that is produced by the endoscope and that represents the intracorporeal lumen of the subject, a plurality of reduced thumbnail images, each of the plurality of reduced thumbnail images is of the three-dimensional image constructed by the three-dimensional image constructing means and representing a branch point at which the intracorporeal lumen of the subject branches out, the plurality of reduced thumbnail images are displayed in series in an order from a point at which the endoscope is inserted to a point at which the endoscope reach a target region of the subject and the three-dimensional image, said three-dimensional image is adapted for being rotatably displayed, so that while presenting the course of the endoscope to be steered in order to insert the endoscope into the intracorporeal lumen of the subject, the endoscope device can help observe or treat the interior of the subject, wherein; the navigation image constructing means displays the plurality of reduced thumbnail images in a manner that allows identification of which of the plurality of reduced thumbnail images corresponds to a branch point near a distal section of the endoscope based on the degree-of-insertion calculated by the degree-of-insertion calculating means, and which rotates and displays the three-dimensional image so that the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image are matched with each other if a degree of similarity in images between a still image of the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image corresponding to the identifiably displayed reduced thumbnail image is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An endoscope device, comprising:
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three-dimensional image constructing means for constructing a three-dimensional image of an intracorporeal lumen of a subject on the basis of image data acquired from a three-dimensional field of the subject; an endoscope that images the intracorporeal lumen of the subject; a degree-of-insertion calculating means for calculating a degree-of-insertion to which the endoscope is inserted; first navigation image constructing means for constructing a navigation image that includes an endoscopic image, which is produced by the endoscope and represents the intracorporeal lumen of the subject, and the three-dimensional image, which is rotated and displayed so that the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image are matched with each other based if a degree of similarity in images between a still image of the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value; route determining means for determining a route that starts with a point at which the endoscope is inserted and ends with a point at which the endoscope reaches a target region of the subject based upon physical structure depicted in the three-dimensional image and that links the start and end points, and that is used to present the course of the endoscope to be steered in order to insert the endoscope; second navigation image constructing means for constructing a plurality of reduced thumbnail images, each of said plurality of reduced thumbnail images is of the three-dimensional image constructed by the three-dimensional image constructing means and representing a branch point on the determined route at which the lumen branches out, according to the result of calculation performed by the route determining means, and displaying the plurality of reduced thumbnail images on the navigation image in series in an order of the determined route from the start point to the end point in a manner allowing the identification of which one of said plurality of reduced thumbnail images corresponds to the displayed three-dimensional image where said three-dimensional image is an image of a branch point near a distal section of the endoscope, based upon the degree-to-insertion calculated by the degree-of-insertion calculating means; and image display control means for displaying the navigation image, which is constructed by the second navigation image constructing means, on a monitor.
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14. A navigation method implemented in an endoscope device, comprising:
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a three-dimensional image constructing procedure for constructing a three-dimensional image of an intracorporeal lumen of a subject on the basis of image data acquired from a three-dimensional field of the subject; a degree-of-insertion calculating procedure for calculating a degree-of insertion to which the endoscope device is inserted; a first navigation image constructing procedure for constructing a navigation image that includes an endoscopic image, which represents the intracorporeal lumen of the subject and is produced by an endoscope that picks up images of an intracorporeal lumen of a subject, and the three-dimensional image, which is rotated and displayed so that the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image are matched with each other based if a degree of similarity in images between a still image of the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value; a route determining procedure for determining a route that starts with a point at which the endoscope is inserted and ends with a point at which the endoscope reaches a target region of the subject based upon physical structure depicted in the three-dimensional image and that links the start and end points, and that is used to present the course of the endoscope to be steered in order to insert the endoscope; a second navigation image constructing procedure for constructing a plurality of reduced thumbnail images, each of said plurality of reduced thumbnail images is of the three-dimensional image constructed by the three-dimensional image constructing means and representing a branch point on the determined route at which the lumen branches out, according to the result of calculation performed according to the route determining procedure, and displaying the plurality of reduced thumbnail images on the navigation image in series in an order of the determined route from the start point to the end point in a manner allowing the identification of which one of said plurality of reduced thumbnail images corresponds to the displayed three-dimensional image, where said three-dimensional image is an image of a branch point near a distal section of the endoscope, based upon the degree-to-insertion; an image display control procedure for displaying the navigation image, which is constructed according to the second navigation image constructing procedure, on a monitor. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification