Endoscopic device

Abstract

An endoscopic device that irradiates a plurality of illuminating light having different spectrums from each other onto a subject at a front edge of an endoscope inserting module and captures the subject to obtain an observation image The endoscopic device includes an illuminating module, an imaging module, a light intensity ratio control module, and a color tone correcting module. The illuminating module generates the plurality of illuminating light. The imaging module captures the subject and output an image signal of the observation image. The light intensity ratio control module controls the illuminating module to irradiate the plurality of illuminating light onto the subject with a set light intensity ratio by setting the light intensity ratio of the plurality of illuminating light. The color tone correcting module corrects the color tone to obtain the observation image with substantially the same color tone even though the light intensity ratio is changed.

1 . An endoscopic device that irradiates a plurality of illuminating light having different spectrums from each other onto a subject at a front edge of an endoscope inserting module and captures the subject to obtain an observation image, comprising:
 an illuminating module that generates the plurality of illuminating light;   an imaging module that captures the subject and output an image signal of the observation image;   a light intensity ratio control module that controls the illuminating module to irradiate the plurality of illuminating light onto the subject with a set light intensity ratio by setting the light intensity ratio of the plurality of illuminating light for every observation image; and   a color tone correcting module that corrects the color tone of the image signal so as to obtain the observation image with substantially the same color tone even though the light intensity ratio is changed.   
     
     
         2 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 1 , wherein the light intensity ratio control module includes an imaging distance estimating module configured to estimate an imaging distance from the front edge of the endoscope inserting module to the subject and sets the light intensity ratio based on the imaging distance estimated by the imaging distance estimating module. 
     
     
         3 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 2 , wherein the imaging distance estimating module calculates the imaging distance based on an AE value set at the imaging module and the entire light intensity of the plurality of illuminating light that is irradiated on the subject. 
     
     
         4 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 1 , wherein the color tone correcting module includes a correction information storing module in which correction information for correcting the color tone of the image signal corresponding to the light intensity ratio set by the light intensity ratio control module is stored and corrects the color tone corresponding to the light intensity ratio by referring to the correction information stored in the correction information storing module. 
     
     
         5 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 4 , wherein the correction information is a color tone correcting table that corrects R, G, and B values for pixels of the observation image using a matrix. 
     
     
         6 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a featured image region extracting module that extracts a featured image region included in the observation image from the image signal of the observation image,   wherein the light intensity ratio control module sets the light intensity ratio so that the featured image region is suitable for the observation.   
     
     
         7 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 6 , wherein the featured image region has different color tone from the other region in the observation image. 
     
     
         8 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 7 , wherein the featured image region is a blood capillary region of a superficial portion of the mucous membrane of the subject. 
     
     
         9 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 8 , wherein the light intensity ratio control module sets the light intensity ratio by referring to the light intensity ratio for blood emphasis prepared in advance. 
     
     
         10 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 6 , wherein the featured image region includes a high frequency component which is a micro pattern of the superficial portion of the mucous membrane. 
     
     
         11 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 6 , wherein the featured image region extracting module extracts the featured image region based on an R signal value, a G signal value, and a B signal value of the image signal. 
     
     
         12 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 6 , wherein the featured image region extracting module extracts the featured image region based on a ratio of the B signal value and the G signal value of the image signal. 
     
     
         13 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 6 , wherein the featured image region extracting module obtains a high frequency component extracted image obtained by extracting a predetermined high frequency component by performing a mask processing onto the spectrum image obtained by performing the two-dimensional Fourier transformation on the image signal and performing an inverse Fourier transformation on the high frequency component extracted image to extract the featured image region including only the predetermined high frequency component. 
     
     
         14 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of illuminating light include a first illuminating light and a second illuminating light having a wavelength band narrower than the first illuminating light, and
 the illuminating module includes a first light source which is a light source of the first illuminating light, a second light source that is a light source of the second illuminating light, and a wavelength converting member that converts the wavelength of light emitted from the first light source to make the light as first illuminating light.   
     
     
         15 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 14 , wherein the wavelength converting member is provided to simultaneously covert the wavelength of the light emitted from the first light source to use as the first illuminating light and convert the wavelength of the light emitted from the second light source to use as the second illuminating light, and the wavelength conversion efficiency of the wavelength converting member for the light emitted from the second light source is smaller than the wavelength conversion efficiency for the light emitted from the first light source. 
     
     
         16 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 14 , wherein the first light source is a blue light emitting light source, the first illuminating light is white light, and the second light source emits light having a central wavelength in the range between 370 nm and 470 nm. 
     
     
         17 . The endoscopic device according to  claim 15 , wherein the first light source is a blue light emitting light source, the first illuminating light is white light, and the second light source emits light having a central wavelength in the range between 370 nm and 470 nm.