Image processing system and microscope system including the same

Abstract

An image processing system includes an image acquisition unit, a candidate value estimation unit, a band characteristics evaluation unit, an effective frequency determination unit and a candidate value modification unit. The acquisition unit acquires images. The estimation unit estimates, for each pixel of the images, a candidate value of a 3D shape. The evaluation unit calculates, for each pixel, a band evaluation value of a band included in the images. The determination unit determines an effective frequency of the pixel based on statistical information of the band evaluation value. The modification unit performs data correction or data interpolation for the candidate value based on the effective frequency and calculates a modified candidate value representing the 3D shape.

1 . An image processing system comprising:
 an image acquisition unit configured to acquire a plurality of images obtained by capturing a single object at different focus positions;   a band characteristics evaluation unit configured to calculate, for each of regions of the plurality of images, a band evaluation value of a band included in the images for each of a plurality of frequency bands;   a statistical information calculation unit configured to calculate, for each of the plurality of the frequency bands, statistical information using the band evaluation values of at least two focus positions;   a weighting factor calculation unit configured to calculate, for each of the plurality of the frequency bands, weighting factors corresponding to the band evaluation values based on the statistical information;   a contrast evaluation unit configured to calculate contrast evaluation values for each of the regions in the plurality of images based on the band evaluation values and the weighting factors; and   an in-focus evaluation unit configured to select an in-focus region out of the regions of the plurality of images based on the contrast evaluation values.   
     
     
         2 . The image processing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the band evaluation values are amounts corresponding to amplitude in each of the frequency bands. 
     
     
         3 . The image processing system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the statistical information calculation unit further calculates the statistical information for each of the regions,   the weighting factor calculation unit calculates the weighting factors for each of the regions, and   the contrast evaluation unit calculates the contrast evaluation values based on the band evaluation values of each of the regions and the weighting factors of each of the regions.   
     
     
         4 . The image processing system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the statistical information is an average of the band evaluation values corresponding to the plurality of images at the different focus positions.   
     
     
         5 . The image processing system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the statistical information is a relative value obtained by dividing an average of the band evaluation values corresponding to the plurality of images at the different focus positions by a sum of the averages for at least one of the frequency bands.   
     
     
         6 . The image processing system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the statistical information is a relative value obtained by dividing an average of the band evaluation values corresponding to the plurality of images at the different focus positions by a sum of the averages for all of the frequency bands.   
     
     
         7 . The image processing system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the statistical information is a variation of the band evaluation values corresponding to the plurality of images at the different focus positions.   
     
     
         8 . The image processing system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the statistical information is a relative value obtained by dividing a variation of the band evaluation values corresponding to the plurality of images at the different focus positions by a sum of the variations for at least one of the frequency bands.   
     
     
         9 . The image processing system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the statistical information is a relative value obtained by dividing a variation of the band evaluation values corresponding to the plurality of images at the different focus positions by a sum of the variations for all of the frequency bands.   
     
     
         10 . A microscope system comprising:
 a microscope optical system;   an imaging unit configured to acquire an image of a sample via the microscope optical system as a sample image; and   the image processing system of  claim 1  which is configured to acquire the sample image as the image.   
     
     
         11 . A microscope system according to  claim 10 ,
 wherein the optical system includes a variable magnification optical system.