Patent ID: 8705818

Claim:
An image processing device comprising: a feature value calculating unit that calculates a color feature value of each pixel or each segment inside at least one of a series of images captured by an image pickup device while moving inside a gastrointestinal tract; a color feature value estimating unit that, based on data distribution of the color feature value of each pixel or each segment, estimates color feature value data representing mucous membrane and color feature value data representing gastrointestinal contents; a discrimination boundary setting unit that, based on the estimated color feature value data, sets a color feature value discrimination boundary between mucous membrane and gastrointestinal contents; a mucosal area identifying unit that identifies a mucosal area in at least one of the series of intra-gastrointestinal-tract images, using the set color feature value discrimination boundary between the mucous membrane and the gastrointestinal contents; and an image selecting unit that selects a plurality of images from the series of images captured by the image pickup device while moving inside the gastrointestinal tract, wherein the feature value calculating unit calculates the color feature value of each pixel or each segment inside the selected plurality of images.