Medical inspection apparatus, such as a microscope or endoscope using pseudocolors

Abstract

The invention relates to a medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ), such as a microscope or endoscope, and to a medical inspection method such as microscopy or endoscopy. Visible image data ( 11 ) representing a visible-light image ( 49 ) and fluorescence image data ( 12 ) representing a fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) and a pseudocolor ( 70, 71 ) are merged to give an improved visual rendition of an object ( 2 ) which comprises at least one fluorophore ( 6 ) to mark special features of the object ( 2 ). This is accomplished in that an image processing unit ( 18 ) of the microscope ( 1 ) or endoscope is configured to compute a color (r o , g o , b o ) of an output pixel ( 54 ) in the pseudocolor image ( 53 ) from at least one pseudocolor (r p , g p , b p ), a color (r i , g i , b i ) of a first input pixel ( 50 ) in the visible-light image ( 49 ) and an intensity (f) of a second input pixel ( 52 ) in the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ). In particular, the color (r o , g o , b o ) may result from a linear interpolation in a color space (RGB) between the pseudocolor and the color of the first input pixel ( 50 ) of the visible-light image ( 49 ) depending on the intensity (f) of the second input pixel ( 52 ) in the fluorescent-light image.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) comprising an image processing unit ( 18 ), the image processing unit ( 18 ) comprising a first input section ( 31 ) configured to receive visible image data ( 11 ) representing a visible-light image ( 49 ) of an object ( 2 ), a second input section ( 32 ) configured to receive fluorescence image data ( 12 ) representing a fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) of the object ( 2 ), and an output section ( 33 ) configured to output pseudocolor image data ( 34 ) representing a pseudocolor image ( 53 ) of the object ( 2 ), wherein the image processing unit ( 18 ) is adapted to compute a color (r o , g o , b o ) of an output pixel ( 54 ) in the pseudocolor image ( 53 ) from at least one pseudocolor (r p , g p , b p ), a color (r i , g i , b o ) of a first input pixel ( 50 ) in the visible-light image ( 49 ) and an intensity (f) of a second input pixel ( 52 ) in the fluorescence-light image ( 51 ). 
     
     
         2 . The medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) contains at least two different fluorescent emission colors ( 72 ,  73 ) and wherein the processing unit ( 18 ) is configured to assign a different pseudocolor ( 70 ,  71 ) to each of the different fluorescent emission colors. 
     
     
         3 . The medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the color (r o , g o , b o ) of the output pixel ( 54 ), in a color space (RGB), is located linearly between the color (r i , g i , b i ) of the first input pixel ( 50 ) and the at least one pseudocolor (r p , g p , b p ), the distance between the color of the output pixel ( 54 ) and the color of the first input pixel ( 50 ) being proportionate to the intensity (f) of the second input pixel ( 52 ) of the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ). 
     
     
         4 . The medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the image processing unit ( 18 ) comprises a homogenization module ( 41 ), the homogenization module being configured to compensate at least one of vignetting and inhomogeneous illumination in at least one of the visible-light image ( 49 ) and the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ). 
     
     
         5 . The medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) according to  claim 4 , wherein the homogenization module ( 41 ) comprises different homogenization filters ( 42 ) for the visible-light image ( 49 ) and data and for the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ). 
     
     
         6 . The medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the image processing unit ( 18 ) comprises a threshold adjustment module ( 47 ) configured to blank the second input pixel ( 52 ) in the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) if the second input pixel ( 52 ) has an intensity (f) below a threshold value (f min ). 
     
     
         7 . The medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the processing unit ( 18 ) comprises a spatial adjustment module ( 45 ), the spatial adjustment module being adapted to bring the visible-light image ( 49 ) and the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) into congruence to each other. 
     
     
         8 . The medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) according to  claim 7 , wherein the spatial adjustment module ( 45 ) is adapted to at least one of crop, rotate, shift and stretch at least one of the visible-light image ( 49 ) and the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ). 
     
     
         9 . The medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the medical inspection apparatus is a microscope. 
     
     
         10 . The medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the medical inspection apparatus is an endoscope. 
     
     
         11 . A medical inspection method, comprising the steps of:
 acquiring visible image data ( 11 ) representing a visible-light image ( 49 ) of an object ( 2 );   acquiring fluorescence image data ( 12 ) representing a fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) of the object;   combining the visible image data ( 11 ), the fluorescent light data ( 12 ) and at least one pseudocolor (r p , g p , b p ) to obtain pseudocolor image data ( 34 ) representing a pseudocolor image ( 53 ), wherein a color (r o , g o , b o ) of an output pixel ( 54 ) in the pseudocolor image ( 53 ) depends on the at least one pseudocolor (r p , g p , b p ), a color (r i , g i , b i ) of a first input pixel ( 50 ) in the visible-light image ( 49 ), and an intensity (f) of a second input pixel ( 52 ) in the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ).   
     
     
         12 . The medical inspection method according to  claim 11 , further comprising the step of assigning different pseudocolors ( 70 ,  71 ) to different fluorescent colors ( 72 ,  73 ) in the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ). 
     
     
         13 . The medical inspection method according to  claim 11 , further comprising the step of bringing the visible-light image ( 49 ) and the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) into congruence with each other before combining the visible-light image ( 49 ) and the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) to obtain the pseudocolor image ( 53 ). 
     
     
         14 . The medical inspection method according to  claim 13 , wherein at least one of the visible-light image ( 49 ) and the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) is at least one of cropped, shifted, stretched and rotated for bringing the visible-light image ( 49 ) and the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) into congruence with each other. 
     
     
         15 . The medical inspection method according to  claim 11 , wherein the second input pixel ( 52 ) is blanked in the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) if the intensity of the second input pixel ( 52 ) is below a threshold (f min ). 
     
     
         16 . The medical inspection method according to  claim 11 , wherein the color (r o , g o , b o ) of the output pixel ( 54 ) is linearly interpolated between the pseudocolor (r p , g p , b p ) and the color (r i , g i , b i ) of the first input pixel ( 50 ) in a color space (RGB). 
     
     
         17 . The medical inspection method according to  claim 11 , wherein the medical inspection method is a microscopy method. 
     
     
         18 . The medical inspection method according to  claim 11 , wherein the medical inspection method is an endoscopy method. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a medical inspection apparatus ( 1 ) to execute a medical inspection method comprising the steps of:
 acquiring visible image data ( 11 ) representing a visible-light image ( 49 ) of an object ( 2 );   acquiring fluorescence image data ( 12 ) representing a fluorescent-light image ( 51 ) of the object;   combining the visible image data ( 11 ), the fluorescent light data ( 12 ) and at least one pseudocolor (rp, gp, bp) to obtain pseudocolor image data ( 34 ) representing a pseudocolor image ( 53 ), wherein a color (ro, go, bo) of an output pixel ( 54 ) in the pseudocolor image ( 53 ) depends on the at least one pseudocolor (rp, gp, bp), a color (ri, gi, bi) of a first input pixel ( 50 ) in the visible-light image ( 49 ), and an intensity (f) of a second input pixel ( 52 ) in the fluorescent-light image ( 51 ).