Endoscope system

• US 9,516,993 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2015
• Issued: 12/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Ito, Mitsuhiro, Akimoto, Syunya, Onishi, Junichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Peng, Bo J
• Application Number:
  US14/736,710
• Publication Number:
  US 20150272423A1
• Time in Patent Office: 551 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0002 provided with data storages
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0005 combining images e.g. side-by-side, superimposed or tiled
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00055 for alerting the user
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00193 adapted for stereoscopic vision
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/2676 Bronchoscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2065 Tracking using image or pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0084 for introduction into the body, e.g. by catheters A61B5/1459 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/065 Determining position of the probe employing exclusively positioning means located on or in the probe, e.g. using position sensors arranged on the probe
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/066 Superposing sensor position on an image of the patient, e.g. obtained by ultrasound or x-ray imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1076 for measuring dimensions inside body cavities, e.g. using catheters A61B3/1005 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1079 using optical or photographic means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7207 of noise induced by motion artifacts
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7246 using correlation, e.g. template matching or determination of similarity
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7282 Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/032 Transmission computed tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/12 Arrangements for detecting or locating foreign bodies
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5223 generating planar views from image data, e.g. extracting a coronal view from a 3D image
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5247 combining images from an ionising-radiation diagnostic technique and a non-ionising radiation diagnostic technique, e.g. X-ray and ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/003 Navigation within 3D models or images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10068 Endoscopic image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/41 : Medical

Abstract

An endoscope system includes an endoscope including an image pickup section that picks up an image of a subject lumen organ, a recording section that records three-dimensional image information of a lumen organ acquired from a medical diagnosis apparatus, a position estimating section that estimates a distal end position of the endoscope, a lumen-diameter acquiring section that acquires a lumen diameter of the organ in the estimated position of the distal end, a condition determining section that determines whether the acquired lumen diameter is smaller than the reference lumen diameter, an image-change-amount detecting section that detects a change amount of a predetermined parameter in an endoscopic image picked up by the image pickup section, a virtual-endoscopic-image generating section that generates a virtual endoscopic image from any visual point position, and an information recording section that records a position of a distal end of an insertion section and the virtual endoscopic image.

Claims

1. An endoscope system comprising:

an endoscope including an image sensor configured to pick up an image of a lumen organ of a subject;

a first memory configured to record three-dimensional image information of a lumen organ of the subject acquired from a medical diagnosis apparatus different from the endoscope; and

a processor comprising hardware, wherein the processor is configured to;

estimate a position of a distal end of the endoscope;

acquire, on the basis of the three-dimensional image information recorded by the first memory, a lumen diameter of the lumen organ of the subject at the position of the distal end of the endoscope estimated;

determine, on the basis of the lumen diameter acquired and a reference lumen diameter set in advance, whether the lumen diameter acquired is smaller than the reference lumen diameter;

detect, when the processor determines that the lumen diameter acquired is smaller than the reference lumen diameter, a change amount of a predetermined parameter concerning an endoscopic image picked up by the image sensor involved in an inserting action of the endoscope, from the endoscope image; and

generate, on the basis of the three-dimensional image information recorded by the first memory, a virtual endoscopic image endoscopically rendered from any visual point position,

wherein the endoscope system further comprises;

a second memory configured to record, when the change amount of the predetermined parameter concerning the endoscopic image detected is larger than a reference set value set in advance, the position of the distal end of the endoscope and the virtual endoscopic image corresponding to the position of the distal end of the endoscope.

2. The endoscope system according to claim 1,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether the change amount of the predetermined parameter detected changes by the reference set value set in advance or more, and

when the processor determines that the change amount of the predetermined parameter changes by the reference set value set in advance or more, the second memory is configured to record the virtual endoscopic image corresponding to the position of the distal end of the endoscope.

3. The endoscope system according to claim 2,

wherein, when it is determined that the change amount of the predetermined parameter changes by the reference set value set in advance or more, the second memory is configured to further record information concerning an axial direction of the distal end of the endoscope.

4. The endoscope system according to claim 1,

wherein the processor is configured to acquire a lumen diameter of the lumen organ on a surface perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the distal end of the endoscope.

5. The endoscope system according to claim 1,

wherein the processor is configured to acquire a lumen diameter of the lumen organ on a surface perpendicular to a core line, which is a center line of a lumen of the predetermined lumen organ.

6. The endoscope system according to claim 1,

wherein the predetermined parameter is a shape in a branch region where a lumen of the lumen organ branches, and

wherein the processor is configured to detect a change amount of the shape in the branch region where the lumen of the lumen organ branches in the endoscopic image.

7. The endoscope system according to claim 6,

wherein the processor is configured to detect whether length of a branch boundary where the lumen branches or a direction in a longitudinal direction of the branch boundary changes by a set value or more as the shape change amount in the branch region where the lumen of the lumen organ branches.

8. The endoscope system according to claim 1,

wherein the predetermined parameter is brightness information in a branch region where a lumen of the lumen organ branches, and

wherein the processor is configured to detect the change amount of the brightness information in the branch region where the lumen of the lumen organ branches.

9. The endoscope system according to claim 1,

wherein the processor is configured to:

compare the endoscopic image picked up by the image sensor and the virtual endoscopic image generated; and

estimate the position of the distal end of the endoscope on the basis of a comparison result of the endoscope image and the virtual endoscopic image.

10. The endoscope system according to claim 9,

wherein the processor is configured to:

generate a lumen shape image of the predetermined lumen organ; and

perform control to, when the processor fails in an estimation of the position of the distal end of the endoscope based on a comparison result of the endoscope image and the virtual endoscopic image or when an instruction signal for presenting at least one information of the position of the distal end of the endoscope and the virtual endoscopic image corresponding to the position of the distal end of the endoscope is generated, display the virtual endoscopic image recorded in the second memory in a corresponding position in the lumen shape image, and

wherein the processor is configured to acquire the position of the distal end of the endoscope by comparing the virtual endoscopic image read out from the second memory and a present endoscopic image picked up by the image sensor.

11. The endoscope system according to claim 1,

wherein, when the change amount detected by the processor continuously changes in a state of exceeding the reference set value, the second memory is configured to record the virtual endoscopic image when the change amount is a maximum.

12. The endoscope system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a third memory configured to record a plurality of pieces of condition information as each of the reference set values set in advance concerning the reference lumen diameter and the predetermined parameter; and

an input device configured to selectively designate, from the third memory, condition information respectively used as the reference set values set in advance concerning the reference lumen diameter and the predetermined parameter.

13. The endoscope system according to claim 1,

wherein the processor is configured to estimate a posture of the distal end of the endoscope in addition to the position of the distal end of the endoscope, and

wherein when the change amount of the predetermined parameter concerning the endoscopic image detected is larger than the reference set value set in advance, the second memory is configured to record the position and the posture of the distal end of the endoscope.