Patent ID: 7729751

Claim:
An electronic endoscopic apparatus comprising: a spectral image obtainment module of a plane-simultaneous method including a light receiving unit for receiving reflection light in each of wavelength bands that are different from each other, and into which reflection light of illumination light, reflected by a living body mucous membrane by illumination with the illumination light, is separated, the spectral image obtainment module obtaining spectral image data representing a spectral image of the living body mucous membrane; a spectral image data operation module configured for obtaining spectral operation image data representing a spectral image of the living body mucous membrane at a specific wavelength by performing a spectral image estimation operation based on the spectral operation image data and spectral reflection estimation matrix data that has been input and stored in advance; and a diagnostic spectral image production module configured for producing, based on the spectral operation image data, a spectral image of the living body mucous membrane for diagnosis, wherein the spectral image obtainment module receives the reflection light by causing ratio Hj (Hj=Js/Jp) of light receiving level Js at the light receiving unit that has received reflection light in a short wavelength band on the short wavelength side of a long wavelength band, the long wavelength band being the longest wavelength band of the different wavelength bands, with respect to light receiving level Jp at the light receiving unit that has received reflection light in the long wavelength band to be greater than ratio Hk (Hk=Ks/Kp) of spectral reflectance Ks in the short wavelength band in a reflection area of the reflection light on the living body mucous membrane with respect to spectral reflectance Kp in the long wavelength band in the reflection area of the reflection light on the living body mucous membrane (Hj>Hk), and wherein the spectral image data operation module is configured to perform the spectral image estimation operation by correcting the value of the spectral image data that corresponds to the short wavelength band, and that has been obtained by receiving light at the light receiving unit by causing the ratio of the light receiving level in the short wavelength band with respect to the light receiving level in the long wavelength band to be greater, to the value of spectral image data that corresponds to the short wavelength, and that is obtained by receiving light at the light receiving unit without causing the ratio of the light receiving level in the short wavelength band with respect to the light receiving level in the long wavelength band to increase.