Capsule medical device, medical control device, medical image processing device and program

Abstract

An image pickup unit captures an image of a subject and outputs the image of the subject as an image pickup signal. A control unit determines with respect to similarity among a plurality of images contained in an image group in accordance with the image pickup signals of two or more frames among those output from the image pickup unit based on a predetermined threshold value indicating a magnitude of fluctuation between the images contained in the image group, and controls to output an image signal based on a result of the determination.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a medical image processing system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an exemplary state where an external unit according to the first embodiment is connected to a terminal.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an exemplary inner structure of a capsule medical device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of each structure of the external unit and the terminal according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary process, different from the one shown in FIG. 4, executed by the external unit according to the first embodiment with respect to image signals output from the capsule medical device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of another exemplary process, different from those shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, executed by the external unit according to the first embodiment with respect to image signals output from the capsule medical device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another exemplary process, different from those shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, executed by the external unit according to the first embodiment with respect to image signals output from the capsule medical device.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another exemplary process, different from those shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7, executed by the external unit according to the first embodiment with respect to image signals output from the capsule medical device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of another exemplary process, different from those shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, executed by the external unit according to the first embodiment with respect to image signals output from the capsule medical device.

FIG. 10 is a view showing an exemplary process for detecting the position where an area of the image on a previous frame becomes most adaptable to the image on the current frame.

FIG. 11 is a view graphically showing an angle based on a direction of a motion vector.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an exemplary process executed by a terminal according to a second embodiment with respect to image signals stored in a storage circuit.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an exemplary process executed by a terminal according to a third embodiment with respect to image signals stored in a storage circuit.

FIG. 14 is a view showing an exemplary histogram of angles of the motion vectors.

FIG. 15 is a view showing exemplary images displayed on the monitor where the process shown in FIG. 12 has not been executed.

FIG. 16 is a view graphically showing the process of a group of images with small fluctuation selected among captured images as one image group in the process shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 17 is a view showing exemplary images displayed on the monitor in the case where the process shown in FIG. 12 has been executed.

FIG. 18 is a view showing a state where motion vectors are connected.

FIG. 19 is a view showing exemplary images displayed on the monitor in the case where the process shown in FIG. 13 has not been executed.

FIG. 20 is a view graphically showing the process of a group of images with small fluctuation selected among captured images as one image group in the process shown in FIG. 13.

FIG. 21 is a view showing exemplary images displayed on the monitor where the process shown in FIG. 13 has been executed.

Claims

1. A capsule medical device comprising: an image pickup unit that captures an image of a subject, and outputs the image of the subject as an image pickup signal; anda control unit that determines with respect to similarity among a plurality of images contained in an image group in accordance with the image pickup signals of two or more frames among those output from the image pickup unit based on a predetermined threshold value indicating a magnitude of fluctuation between the images contained in the image group, and controls to output an image signal based on a result of the determination.

2. The capsule medical device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between adjacent images of those contained in the image group based on the predetermined threshold value, and extracts the image pickup signal of one frame from the image pickup signals of the two or more consecutive frames based on the result of the determination so as to be output.

3. The capsule medical device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined threshold value corresponds with an average value of a displacement value that indicates a displacement amount of a portion of the image at a previous time point in a portion of the other image at a subsequent time point among the images contained in the image group.

4. The capsule medical device according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined threshold value corresponds with an average value of a displacement value that indicates a displacement amount of a portion of the image at a previous time point in a portion of the other image at a subsequent time point among the images contained in the image group.

5. The capsule medical device according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup unit includes a selector portion that selectively converts the image pickup signal into an image signal so as to be output.

6. The capsule medical device according to claim 2, wherein the image pickup unit includes a selector portion that selectively converts the image pickup signal into an image signal so as to be output.

7. The capsule medical device according to claim 3, wherein the image pickup unit includes a selector portion that selectively converts the image pickup signal into an image signal so as to be output.

8. The capsule medical device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between the images contained in the image group by making a determination of a threshold value based on a similarity value that indicates the similarity between a portion of the image at the previous time point and a portion of the other image at the subsequent time point in the images contained in the image group.

9. The capsule medical device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between the images contained in the image group by making a determination with a threshold value based on a similarity value that indicates the similarity between a portion of the image at the previous time point and a portion of the other image at the subsequent time point in the images contained in the image group.

10. The capsule medical device according to claim 3, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between the images contained in the image group by making a determination with a threshold value based on a similarity value that indicates the similarity between a portion of the image at the previous time point and a portion of the other image at the subsequent time point in the images contained in the image group.

11. The capsule medical device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit divides the image contained in the image group into a plurality of areas to calculate a motion vector and an angle formed by the motion vector in each of the divided areas, and determines with respect to the similarity between the images contained in the image group by making a determination of the threshold value based on a number of occurrences of the motion vector in a histogram of the angle.

12. The capsule medical device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit divides the image contained in the image group into a plurality of areas to calculate a motion vector and an angle formed by the motion vector in each of the divided areas, and determines with respect to the similarity between the images contained in the image group by making a determination of the threshold value based on a number of occurrence of the motion vector in a histogram of the angle.

13. The capsule medical device according to claim 3, wherein the control unit divides the image contained in the image group into a plurality of areas to calculate a motion vector and an angle formed by the motion vector in each of the divided areas, and determines with respect to the similarity between the images contained in the image group by making a determination of the threshold value based on a number of occurrence of the motion vector in a histogram of the angle.

14. The capsule medical device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between the images contained in the image group by making a determination of a threshold value based on an average value of magnitudes of the motion vectors of the respective images contained in the image group.

15. The capsule medical device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between the images contained in the image group by making a determination of a threshold value based on an average value of magnitudes of the motion vectors of the respective images contained in the image group.

16. The capsule medical device according to claim 3, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between the images contained in the image group by making a determination of a threshold value based on an average value of magnitudes of the motion vectors of the respective images contained in the image group.

17. A medical control device comprising: a selector unit for selectively outputting an image signal output from a medical device equipped with an image pickup unit that outputs a captured subject image as the image signal; anda control unit for determining with respect to a similarity between images among a plurality of images contained in an image group in accordance with the image signals of two or more frames among image signals output from the medical device based on a predetermined threshold value indicating fluctuation between the images contained in the image group, and controls to allow the selector unit to output the image signal based on a result of the determination.

18. The medical control device according to claim 17, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between adjacent images of the images contained in the image group based on the predetermined threshold value, and controls to extract the image signal of one frame from the image signals of the two or more consecutive frames based on the result of the determination so as to allow the selector unit to output the extracted image signal.

19. The medical control device according to claim 17, wherein the predetermined threshold value corresponds with an average value of a displacement value that indicates a displacement amount of a portion of the image at a previous time point in a portion of the other image at a subsequent time point among the images contained in the image group.

20. The medical control device according to claim 18, wherein the predetermined threshold value corresponds with an average value of a displacement value that indicates a displacement amount of a portion of the image at a previous time point in a portion of the other image at a subsequent time point among the images contained in the image group.

21. The medical control device according to claim 17, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the image pickup unit, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.

22. The medical control device according to claim 18, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the image pickup unit, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.

23. The medical control device according to claim 19, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the image pickup unit, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.

24. The medical control device according to claim 20, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the image pickup unit, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.

25. A medical image processing device comprising: a selector unit for selectively outputting an image signal output from a medical control device for controlling a medical device equipped with an image pickup unit that outputs a captured subject image as the image signal; anda control unit for determining with respect to similarity between images among a plurality of images contained in an image group in accordance with the image pickup signal of two or more frames among image signals output from the medical control device based on a predetermined threshold value indicating a fluctuation between the images contained in the image group, and executes a predetermined control to allow the selector unit to output the image signal based on a result of the determination.

26. The medical image processing device according to claim 25, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between adjacent images of the images contained in the image group based on the predetermined threshold value, and controls to extract the image signal of one frame from the image signals of the two or more consecutive frames based on the result of the determination so as to allow the selector unit to output the extracted image signal.

27. The medical image processing device according to claim 25, wherein the control unit determines with respect to the similarity between adjacent images of the images contained in the image group based on the predetermined threshold value; andwhen a level of the similarity between one image of the adjacent images and the other consecutive image at a subsequent time point is low, the control unit controls to extract the one image, and to insert a predetermined number of sheets of the one image between the one image and the subsequent image to be output from the selector unit.

28. The medical image processing device according to claim 25, wherein the predetermined threshold value corresponds with an average value of a displacement value that indicates a displacement amount of a portion of the image at a previous time point in a portion of the other image at a subsequent time point among the images contained in the image group.

29. The medical image processing device according to claim 26, wherein the predetermined threshold value corresponds with an average value of a displacement value that indicates a displacement amount of a portion of the image at a previous time point in a portion of the other image at a subsequent time point among those contained in the image group.

30. The medical image processing device according to claim 27, wherein the predetermined threshold value corresponds with an average value of a displacement value that indicates a displacement amount of a portion of the image at a previous time point in a portion of the other image at a subsequent time point among those contained in the image group.

31. The medical image processing device according to claim 25, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the medical control device, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.

32. The medical image processing device according to claim 26, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the medical control device, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.

33. The medical image processing device according to claim 27, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the medical control device, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.

34. The medical image processing device according to claim 28, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the medical control device, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.

35. The medical image processing device according to claim 29, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the medical control device, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.

36. The medical image processing device according to claim 30, further comprising a storage unit for storing the image signal output from the medical control device, wherein the control unit executes the predetermined control with respect to the image signal stored in the storage unit.