Patent ID: 8301229
Filing Date: 2012-10-30
Classification: A61B,G01J,G01N,G02B,H04N

Abstract:
1. A biological observation apparatus comprising: a color image signal creator that performs signal processing on either a first image pickup signal for which a subject to be examined illuminated by white illumination light is picked up by a first image pickup apparatus provided with a color filter having a transmitting characteristic of a plurality of broadband wavelengths or a second image pickup signal for which a subject to be examined illuminated by a plurality of mutually different frame sequential illumination lights in a broadband wavelength range which covers a visible range is picked up by a second image pickup apparatus, and creates a color image signal for display as a color image on a display device; a spectral image signal creator that creates, based on the first image pickup signal or the second image pickup signal, a spectral image signal corresponding to a narrowband image signal obtained upon picking up an image of a subject to be examined illuminated by an illumination light in a narrowband wavelength range through signal processing of a color signal used to create the color image signal or through signal processing of the color image signal; a display color convertor that performs display color conversion on the spectral image signal when displaying the signal as a spectral image on the display device; at least one of a characteristic changer/setter that changes/sets creating characteristics of the spectral image signal at the spectral image signal creator, a display color changer/setter that changes/sets a display color convertor, and an interface for performing instruction operations for switching and confirming information including images displayed on the display device; a brightness judger that outputs a judgment signal when a brightness in the spectral image signal is equal to or lower than a reference value, wherein the display color changer/setter comprises a coefficient storer that stores a plurality of conversion coefficients for changing characteristics of the display color conversion and a coefficient switch/setter that switches and sets a conversion coefficient to be used for conversion of a conversion coefficient to be used for display color conversion by the display color convertor, wherein the plurality of conversion coefficients stored in the coefficient storer includes a feature value coefficient corresponding to a plurality of feature values having different spectral reflection characteristics of a living body as the subject to be examined, wherein the different spectral reflection characteristics are expressed as a linear sum of three elementary spectral characteristics, the spectral image signal is created by performing approximation to express with a single number value the spectral characteristics of the living body in each wavelength of different narrowband regions of each wavelength, and wherein the brightness judger switches an image displayed on the display device from the spectral image to the color image based on the judgment signal.