Endoscope system

• US 9,030,541 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2012
• Issued: 05/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Medical Systems Corporation (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Kutsuma, Yuji, Tsutsui, Keisuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Rao, Andy
• Assistant Examiner(s): ELAHI, SHAN E
• Application Number:
  US13/708,260
• Publication Number:
  US 20130229502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 886 Days
• Field of Search: 348/65
• US Class Current: 348/65
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/000094 extracting biological structures
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/000095 for image enhancement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00188 with focusing or zooming features
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/05 characterised by the image sensor, e.g. camera, being in the distal end portion
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/2438 Zoom objectives

Abstract

An endoscope system includes: a photoelectric conversion element; a contour enhancing section that detects an edge component in a picked-up image subjected to the photoelectric conversion, thereby generating a contour enhancement signal; an electronic zoom region determining section that determines an electronic zoom region in the picked-up image based on a strength of the contour enhancement signal; an instruction section that provides an instruction for enlargement/reduction of the image; a parameter setting section that sets a zoom parameter for an electronic zoom section according to the instruction provided by the instruction section; and the electronic zoom section that performs an electronic zoom of the picked-up image for the electronic zoom region determined, according to the parameter set by the parameter setting section.

Claims

1. An endoscope system comprising:

a photoelectric conversion element that subjects an image formed by an optical lens to photoelectric conversion;

a contour enhancing section that detects edge components in a picked-up image subjected to the photoelectric conversion by the photoelectric conversion element, thereby generating a contour enhancement signal;

an electronic zoom region determining section that determines an electronic zoom region in the picked-up image based on a strength of the contour enhancement signal;

an instruction section that provides an instruction for enlargement/reduction of the image;

a parameter setting section that sets a zoom parameter for an electronic zoom section according to the instruction provided by the instruction section; and

the electronic zoom section that upon an input of the instruction provided by the instruction section, performs an electronic zoom of the picked-up image for the electronic zoom region determined by the electronic zoom region determining section, according to the parameter set by the parameter setting section,

wherein the electronic zoom region determining section divides the picked-up image into a predetermined number of regions, detects an amount of the edge components in each of the regions, and sets a region with a highest edge component density of the edge components detected, as the electronic zoom region, and when a plurality of regions with a non-highest edge component density of the edge components detected and with an equal amount of the edge components detected exists, sets a region close to a center of the image among the plurality of existing regions, as the electronic zoom region.

2. An endoscope system comprising:

a photoelectric conversion element that subjects an image formed by an optical lens to photoelectric conversion;

a brightness enhancing section that detects brightness components in a picked-up image subjected to the photoelectric conversion by the photoelectric conversion element, thereby generating a brightness enhancement signal;

an electronic zoom region determining section that determines an electronic zoom region in the picked-up image based on a strength of the brightness enhancement signal;

an instruction section that provides an instruction for enlargement/reduction of the image;

a parameter setting section that sets a zoom parameter for an electronic zoom section according to the instruction provided by the instruction section; and

the electronic zoom section that upon an input of the instruction provided by the instruction section, performs an electronic zoom of the picked-up image for the electronic zoom region determined by the electronic zoom region determining section, according to the parameter set by the parameter setting section,

wherein the electronic zoom region determining section divides the picked-up image into a predetermined number of regions, detects an amount of the brightness components in each of the regions, and sets a region with a highest brightness component density of the brightness components detected, as the electronic zoom region, and when a plurality of regions with a non-highest brightness component density of the brightness components detected and with an equal amount of the brightness components detected exists, sets a region close to a center of the image among the plurality of existing regions, as the electronic zoom region.