Patent ID: 7641609
Filing Date: 2010-01-05
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. An endoscope device comprising: three-dimensional image constructing means for constructing a three-dimensional image of an intracorporeal lumen of a subject on the basis of image data acquired from a three-dimensional field of the subject; an endoscope for imaging the intracorporeal lumen of the subject; a degree-of-insertion calculating means for calculating a degree-of-insertion to which the endoscope is inserted; a route determination means that determines a route, which starts with a point at which the endoscope is inserted and ends with a point at which the endoscope reaches a target region of the subject based upon physical structure depicted in the three-dimensional image and that links the start and end points, so that the course of the endoscope to be steered in order to insert the endoscope can be presented; and navigation image constructing means for constructing a navigation image, which includes an endoscopic image that is produced by the endoscope and that represents the intracorporeal lumen of the subject, a plurality of reduced thumbnail images, each of the plurality of reduced thumbnail images is of the three-dimensional image constructed by the three-dimensional image constructing means and representing a branch point at which the intracorporeal lumen of the subject branches out, the plurality of reduced thumbnail images are displayed in series in an order from a point at which the endoscope is inserted to a point at which the endoscope reach a target region of the subject and the three-dimensional image, said three-dimensional image is adapted for being rotatably displayed, so that while presenting the course of the endoscope to be steered in order to insert the endoscope into the intracorporeal lumen of the subject, the endoscope device can help observe or treat the interior of the subject, wherein: the navigation image constructing means displays the plurality of reduced thumbnail images in a manner that allows identification of which of the plurality of reduced thumbnail images corresponds to a branch point near a distal section of the endoscope based on the degree-of-insertion calculated by the degree-of-insertion calculating means, and which rotates and displays the three-dimensional image so that the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image are matched with each other if a degree of similarity in images between a still image of the endoscopic image and the three-dimensional image corresponding to the identifiably displayed reduced thumbnail image is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value.