ENDOSCOPE IMAGE PICK-UP APPARATUS

• US 20110184237A1
• Filed: 04/08/2011
• Published: 07/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Azuma, Motoo, Kotouda, Kaoru, Homan, Masatoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,303,491 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/109
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00006 of control signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00016 using wireless means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00036 Means for power saving, e.g. sleeping mode
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/041 Capsule endoscopes for imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7232 involving compression of the physiological signal, e.g. to extend the signal recording period

Abstract

An image pick-up unit inserted in the body picks up an image of the body, and transmits by radio the image to an extra-corporeal unit which is arranged outside the body. The image pick-up unit includes an image pick-up portion capturing an image, a data transmitting portion for transmitting the image obtained by the image pick-up portion to the extra-corporeal unit at a plurality of transmitting ratios, a characteristic amount detecting portion for detecting a predetermined amount of characteristics based on the image, and a determining portion for determining a valid image based on an output from the characteristic amount detecting portion. The data transmitting portion controls the data transmitting ratio in accordance with the determining result of the determining portion.

Claims

1. An endoscope image pick-up apparatus comprising:

an image pick-up unit for insertion into the body;

an extra-corporeal unit for receiving an image captured by the image pick-up unit by radio transmission, the extra-corporeal unit being arranged outside the body;

an image pick-up device for picking up an image in the body, the image pick-up device being provided in the image pick-up unit;

a first storing device for storing the image picked up by the image pick-up device, the storing device being provided in the image pick-up unit;

a processing device for reading the image from the first storing device and performing a predetermined processing, the processing device being provided in the image pick-up unit;

a second storing device for storing data performed with the predetermined processing, the storing device being provided in the image pick-up unit; and

a radio transmission device for reading the data from the second storing device and transmitting the data by radio, the radio transmission device being provided in the image pick-up unit.

2. The endoscope image pick-up apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing device performs a processing of compressing the image.

3. The endoscope image pick-up apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing device performs a processing of detecting a characteristic amount based on the image.

4. The endoscope image pick-up apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first storing device, when storing the image therein, operates at a high-speed clock same with that of an image pick-up operation by the image pick-up device, and when the processing device performs a predetermined processing to the image, operates at a low-speed clock same with that of the processing device.

5. The endoscope image pick-up apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endoscope image pick-up apparatus comprises a clock selector serving as a clock switching device for switching between the high-speed clock and the low-speed clock.

6. The endoscope image pick-up apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image pick-up unit operates in a first time period, a second time period, and a third time period differing from one another,

the first time period including operations by the image pick-up device of picking up the image and storing the picked up image into the first storing device,

the second time period including operations by the processing device of reading the image from the first storing device and storing the data performed with the predetermined processing into the second storing device, and

the third time period including operations by the radio transmission device of reading the data from the second storing device and transmitting the data by radio.

7. A method of radio transmission of images picked up by an image pick-up unit inserted into a body to an extra-corporeal unit arranged outside the body, the method comprising:

an image pick-up step for picking up an image in the body by an image pick-up device provided in the image pick-up unit;

a first storage step for storing the image picked up by the image pick-up step into a first storing device;

a processing step for reading the image from the first storing device and performing a predetermined processing;

a second storage step for storing data performed with the processing step into a second storing device; and

a radio transmission step for reading the data from the second storing device and transmitting the data by radio.

8. The method of radio transmission of images according to claim 7, wherein the processing device compresses the image.

9. The method of radio transmission of images according to claim 7, wherein the processing device detects a characteristic amount based on the image.

10. The method of radio transmission of images according to claim 7, wherein the first storing device, when storing the image therein, operates at a high-speed clock matched with that of the image pick-up device, and in the processing step in which the processing device processes the image, operates at a low-speed clock matched with that of the processing device.

11. The method of radio transmission of images according to claim 7, wherein the high-speed clock and the low-speed clock are switched by a clock selector.

12. The method of radio transmission of images according to claim 7, wherein the method operates in a first time period, a second time period, and a third time period differing from one another,

the first time period including operations by the image pick-up device of picking up the image and storing the picked up image into the first storing device,

the second time period including operations by the processing device of reading the image from the first storing device and storing the data performed with the predetermined processing into the second storing device, and

the third time period including operations by the radio transmission device of reading the data from the second storing device and transmitting the data by radio.