Electronic endoscope apparatus

• US 8,125,514 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2007
• Issued: 02/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujinon Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Sekiguchi, Tadashi
• Primary Examiner(s): WON, MICHAEL YOUNG
• Application Number:
  US11/862,247
• Publication Number:
  US 20080079803A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,615 Days
• Field of Search: 348/45, 348/60
• US Class Current: 348/45
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0005 combining images e.g. side-by-side, superimposed or tiled
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0638 providing two or more wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0646 with illumination filters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0075 by spectroscopy, i.e. measuring spectra, e.g. Raman spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy A61B5/0071 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0086 using infrared radiation

Abstract

An electronic endoscope apparatus is provided and includes: a light source that illuminates a subject with white light; a color imaging device that takes an image of the subject illuminated with white light; and a spectral-image forming circuit that operates RGB three color image signals based on an output from the color imaging device and a matrix data to generate an spectral image signal representative of a spectral image in a color at a designated wavelength. The spectral-image forming circuit is adapted to generate spectral image signals representative of spectral images in respective colors at least three wavelengths different from one another.

Claims

1. An electronic endoscope apparatus comprising:

a light source that illuminates a subject with white light;

a color imaging device that takes an image of the subject illuminated with white light; and

a spectral-image forming circuit that operates RGB three color image signals based on an output from the color imaging device and a matrix data to generate a spectral image signal representative of a spectral image in a color at a designated wavelength, wherein the spectral-image forming circuit is adapted to generate spectral image signals representative of spectral images in respective colors of at least three wavelengths different from one another;

wherein the spectral-image forming circuit is adapted to be capable of generating another spectral-image signal representative of another spectral image in a fixed color so as to selectively output either (i) the spectral image signal representative of the spectral image in the fixed color or (ii) the spectral image signal representative of the spectral image in the color of the designated wavelength.

2. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage section that stores the matrix data.

3. The electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least three wavelengths includes wavelengths at red, green and blue portions of light.