Ophthalmic diagnosis support apparatus and ophthalmic diagnosis support method

Abstract

Provided is an ophthalmic diagnosis support apparatus which enables an operator to easily acquire a tomographic image suitable for detailed observation of a candidate lesion without spending time and effort to search for the candidate lesion. The ophthalmic diagnosis support apparatus includes an acquiring unit for acquiring a wide-range image of a fundus, a candidate lesion detection unit for detecting the candidate lesion on the fundus by analyzing the wide-range image, a calculating unit for determining a degree of abnormality of the candidate lesion based on a result of the detection of the candidate lesion, and an acquiring position setting unit for setting an acquiring position of the tomographic image of the fundus based on the degree of abnormality of the candidate lesion.

1 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . An ophthalmic apparatus comprising:
 an acquiring unit configured to acquire a volume image of a fundus;   a candidate detecting unit configured to detect a candidate lesion in a retina by analyzing the volume image;   a calculating unit configured to calculate a degree of abnormality of the candidate lesion based on a detection result for the candidate lesion;   a first determining unit configured to determine coordinates of a first point corresponding to the detected candidate lesion in accordance with the calculated degree of abnormality;   a characteristic region detecting unit configured to detect a characteristic region in the fundus by analyzing the volume image, the characteristic region including a macula lutea;   a second determining unit configured to determine coordinates of a second point corresponding to the characteristic region detected by the characteristic region detecting unit and   a setting unit configured to set a straight line corresponding to an imaging position to be used for acquiring a tomographic image based on the coordinates of the first point corresponding to the candidate lesion and the coordinates of the second point corresponding to the characteristic region,   wherein the setting unit sets the straight line so that the straight line passes through the candidate lesion and the characteristic region.   
     
     
         18 . The ophthalmic apparatus according to  claim 17 , wherein the setting unit sets (a) a position of a first straight line that would pass through a lesion region, and (b) a position of a second straight line that would be in parallel with the first straight line and would pass through the characteristic region. 
     
     
         19 . The ophthalmic apparatus according to  claim 18 , wherein the setting unit (1) sets, in a case where the candidate lesion includes the characteristic region in the fundus, the imaging position to pass through the candidate lesion and the characteristic region based on (a) the coordinates of the first point and (b) the coordinates of the second point, and (2) determines, in a case where the candidate lesion does not include the characteristic region in the fundus, the position of the first straight line and the position of the second straight line. 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The ophthalmic apparatus according to  claim 17 , wherein the first determining unit determines the coordinates of the first point corresponding to the candidate lesion in accordance with a maximum of the degree of abnormality of the candidate lesion, and
 wherein the straight line passes through (a) the candidate lesion having the maximum of the degree of abnormality of the candidate lesion and (b) the characteristic region.   
     
     
         22 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as the ophthalmic apparatus according to  claim 17 . 
     
     
         23 . A control method for an ophthalmic apparatus, the method comprising steps of:
 acquiring a volume image of a fundus;   detecting a candidate lesion in a retina by analyzing the volume image;   calculating a degree of abnormality of the candidate lesion based on a detection result for the candidate lesion;   determining coordinates of a first point corresponding to the detected candidate lesion in accordance with the calculated degree of abnormality;   detecting a characteristic region in the fundus by analyzing the volume image, the characteristic region including a macula lutea; and   determining coordinates of a second point corresponding to the characteristic region detected by the characteristic region detecting unit   setting a straight line corresponding to an imaging position to be used for acquiring a tomographic image based on the coordinates of the first point corresponding to the candidate lesion and the coordinates of the second point corresponding to the characteristic region,   wherein the setting sets the straight line so that the straight line passes through the candidate lesion and the characteristic region.   
     
     
         24 . The method according to  claim 23 , wherein the setting sets a position in a fundus image of a first straight line that would pass through a lesion region, and a position in the fundus image of a second straight line that is parallel with the first straight line and that would pass through the characteristic region. 
     
     
         25 . The method according to  claim 24 , wherein, in the setting, in a case where the candidate lesion includes the characteristic region in the fundus, the straight line is set to pass through the candidate lesion and the characteristic region based on (a) the coordinates of the first point and (b) the coordinates of the second point, and
 wherein, in the setting, in a case where the candidate lesion does not include the characteristic region in the fundus, the position of the first straight line and the position of the second straight line are set.   
     
     
         26 - 27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         28 . The ophthalmic apparatus according to  claim 17 , wherein the straight line coincides with a B-scan plane defining the imaging position to be used for acquiring the tomographic image.