Patent ID: 8825125
Filing Date: 2014-09-02
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. An endoscope system comprising: an illuminating section for projecting illumination light to a portion to be observed, the portion including a blood vessel; an image signal obtaining section having an image sensor, the image signal obtaining section capturing reflection light reflected from the portion using the image sensor to obtain at least first to third image signals, the first image signal being obtained from first reflection light including a wavelength range in which an absorption coefficient varies in accordance with oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in blood, the second image signal being obtained from second reflection light including a wavelength range in which an absorption coefficient varies in accordance with blood volume, the third image signal being obtained from third reflection light including a wavelength range in which an absorption coefficient is unaffected by the oxygen saturation; an oxygen saturation calculator for obtaining oxygen saturation information while accounting for the blood volume on a picture element by picture element basis based on the first to third image signals; a reliability calculator for determining reliability of the oxygen saturation information on the picture element by picture element basis relative to at least one of the first to third image signals; an image processing section for generating an oxygen saturation image based on the oxygen saturation information and the reliability; and a display section for displaying the oxygen saturation image.