JPH09299331A - Image input device for ophthalmology - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] Providing a means to change the image capacity of ophthalmic images,
Effectively use the image area without recording unnecessary image information. [Constitution] First, the examiner visually observes the anterior segment of the subject, and when it is recognized that the eye is a cataract, the examiner pushes the cataract switch 17. In response to this, the image capacity change determination unit 1
Reference numeral 8 instructs the thinning-out processing unit 19 on a method of reducing the image capacity according to a predetermined table. The image data of the fundus image captured by the fundus imaging and recorded in the image memory 14 is thinned out by the thinning-out processing unit 19 and stored in the hard disk 11 via the digital interface 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ophthalmic image input device for inputting a fundus image or the like taken by an ophthalmic device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in ophthalmologic equipment for photographing fundus images and the like, a method is used in which a CCD camera is connected to a fundus camera and the captured image is A / D converted and stored as a digital image. It is used for group medical examinations.

FIG. 3 shows a block circuit configuration diagram of a conventional image input device of an ophthalmologic apparatus. The output of the CCD camera 2 provided in the fundus camera 1 is R through the A / D converter 3.
It is connected to the image memory 4 composed of a volatile memory such as AM, and further connected to the television monitor 6 via a D / A converter. The output of the image memory 4 is connected to the hard disk 8 via a digital interface 7 such as SCSI.

In such a structure, when the fundus camera 1 takes a fundus image of an eye to be examined, a fundus image is formed on the CCD camera 2 and photoelectrically converted, and a digital image is obtained via the A / D converter 3. The fundus image is stored in the image memory 4, and at the same time, the analog fundus image is displayed on the television monitor 6 via the D / A converter 5. Then, the fundus image stored in the image memory 4 is stored in the hard disk 8 via the digital interface 7.

[0005]

However, when an eye to be inspected such as a cataract eye or the like having an abnormal intermediate translucent body is photographed, it is difficult to see through the fundus of the eye, so that a clear image with good S / N is obtained. Is impossible to obtain, and inevitably only a blurred image is obtained. Therefore, although it is not necessary to record an image at a high resolution, when recording is performed in the same method as that of the normal eye as in the above-described conventional example, even unnecessary data is recorded.

Also, in the case of fluorescein radiography, a high-definition image recording is required in the case of fluorescein fluorescein radiography for inspecting the state of blood flow in the retina. Since many images are blurred in the case of fluorescence contrast imaging, high resolution is not required, and when recording is performed by the method of the conventional example, unnecessary data is also recorded, and therefore the memory capacity is reduced. There is a problem in that it requires a large amount and is inefficient.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ophthalmic image input device that effectively uses an image area without recording unnecessary image information by providing a means for changing the image capacity of an ophthalmic image.

[0008]

An ophthalmic image input apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is provided with image input means for inputting a fundus image and information relating to characteristics of the image input by the image input means. Image characteristic input means for inputting,
An image capacity change determination means for determining a change in the image capacity of the image input by the image input means based on information from the image characteristic input means, and an input by the image input means from the determination result of the image capacity change determination means Image capacity changing means for changing the image capacity of the captured image.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a block circuit configuration diagram of the first embodiment. The output of a CCD camera 12 provided in a fundus camera 11 is connected to an image memory 14 via an A / D converter 13 and further D It is connected to the television monitor 16 via the / A converter 15. Further, a cataract switch 17 is provided near the fundus camera 11,
The output from the cataract switch 17 is the image capacity change determination unit 1
The output of the image memory 14 is also connected to the thinning-out processing unit 19 via 8, and the output of the thinning-out processing unit 19 is connected to the hard disk 21 via the digital interface 20.

In the image input apparatus of this embodiment, when the thinning processing section 19 executes thinning according to the judgment of the image capacity change judging section 18, it is instructed by a command input apparatus such as a keyboard or a mouse (not shown). , The degree of thinning can be set.

First, the examiner visually observes the anterior segment of the subject, and when the crystalline lens of the subject's eye is opaque and the eye is a cataract eye, the examiner pushes the cataract switch 17. next,
When a fundus photographing of the eye to be inspected is performed by pressing a photographing switch (not shown) on the fundus camera 11, the image photographed by the fundus camera 11 is A / A after being photoelectrically converted by the CCD camera 12.
It is converted into digital data by the D converter 13 and stored in the image memory 14. At the same time, this image is displayed on the television monitor 16 via the D / A converter 15 and can be confirmed by the examiner.

On the other hand, when the image capacity change judging section 18 judges that the cataract switch 17 has been pressed, the thinning-out processing is carried out according to the table as shown in FIG. Instructed by the section 19. As a result, the image data in the image memory 14 is thinned out by the thinning-out processing unit 19 and stored in the hard disk 11 via the digital interface 20.

When the cataract switch 17 is not pressed, the thinning processing section 19 does not perform the thinning processing, and the image data is directly stored in the hard disk 21 via the digital interface 20.

In this embodiment, whether the thinning process is performed or not is determined by pressing the cataract switch 17. For example, transillumination image data obtained by an external device such as an anterior segment image analysis device is used as an image (not shown). It may be input to the processing unit, the cataract may be determined from the density value at each coordinate position in the transillumination image, and whether to perform the thinning process may be determined based on the determination result.

It is also possible to input data on the presence or absence of a cataract from an external device, and based on this data, the image capacity change determination unit 18 may determine whether or not to perform thinning processing. Furthermore,
In this embodiment, the image input to the image memory 14 is thinned, but the output data of the A / D converter 13 may be thinned.

As a second embodiment, a data compression processing unit such as JPEG or LZW for compressing data may be provided in place of the thinning processing unit 19 and the data compression processing may be performed instead of the thinning processing. . The compression ratio in this case can also be changed in the same manner as in the thinning-out process, and the image data of the cataract patient is subjected to the image compression process and stored in the hard disk 21 to efficiently save the memory. Can be used.

As a third embodiment, the thinning processing section 19
Instead of the above, a peripheral image addition / averaging processing unit is provided by a method of thinning out the whole by using the arithmetic mean value of two adjacent pixels or a method of thinning out the whole by using the arithmetic mean value of surrounding 4 pixels or 8 pixels, The peripheral image addition and averaging process may be performed instead of the thinning process. Also in this case, the image data is thinned out and stored in the hard disk 21 by performing the addition and averaging process, so that the memory can be effectively used.

[0018]

As described above, the ophthalmic image input device according to the present invention sets the setting condition for changing the image capacity on the basis of the information from the image characteristic information inputting means, and inputs according to this setting condition. By changing the capacity of the image
The memory area can be efficiently used for an image such as a cataract eye where it is difficult to see through the fundus. Further, when performing fluorescence contrast imaging, the image capacity can be changed according to the imaging method of fluorescein fluorescence contrast imaging and ICG fluorescence contrast imaging, which require different amounts of image information, and similarly, the memory can be efficiently used. Like

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit configuration diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a table corresponding to image characteristics and processing content.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional block circuit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 fundus camera 12 CCD camera 14 image memory 16 TV monitor 17 cataract switch 18 image capacity change determination unit 19 thinning processing unit 20 digital interface 21 hard disk

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image inputting means for inputting a fundus image, an image characteristic inputting means for inputting information about characteristics of an image inputted by the image inputting means, and the image inputting based on the information from the image characteristic inputting means. Image capacity change determination means for determining a change in the image capacity of the image input by the means,
An image input device for ophthalmology, comprising: an image volume changing unit that changes an image volume of an image input by the image input unit based on a determination result of the image volume change determining unit. 2. The ophthalmic image input device according to claim 1, wherein the image capacity changing means is image data thinning processing means. 3. The ophthalmic image input device according to claim 1, wherein the image capacity changing means is image data compression processing means. 4. The ophthalmic image input device according to claim 1, wherein the image capacity changing unit is a peripheral image addition and averaging processing unit.