# US 11,304,611 B2 · Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and computer readable recording medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,304,611 B2 - Document ID: US11304611B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/724,016 - Filed: 2019-12-20 - Published: 2020-04-23 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2017-06-26 - Assignees: Olympus Corporation; National University Corporation Chiba University - Applicants: Olympus Corporation; National University Corporation Chiba University - Inventors: Munenori Fukunishi; Norimichi Tsumura; Koki Kurita - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11304611B2 ## CPC - A61B 5/021: Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels - G06T 5/50: using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction - A61B 1/045: Control thereof - A61B 5/489: {Blood vessels} - G06T 5/70: Denoising; Smoothing - G06T 5/94: based on local image properties, e.g. for local contrast enhancement - G06T 7/0012: {Biomedical image inspection} - G06T 2207/10016: Video; Image sequence - G06T 2207/10024: Color image - G06T 2207/10068: Endoscopic image - G06T 2207/20182: Noise reduction or smoothing in the temporal domain; Spatio-temporal filtering - G06T 2207/30101: Blood vessel; Artery; Vein; Vascular - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL ## Abstract An image processing apparatus includes a processor including hardware. The processor is configured to: acquire video data; estimate a spatial distribution of a predetermined biological component for which a component spectrum temporally varies with respect to image data of a predetermined frame among a plurality of frames included in the video data; generate biological component video data in which the biological component is extracted from the video data based on the estimated spatial distribution of the biological component in the image data of the predetermined frame; and generate periodic variation video data of the biological component by applying, to the biological component video data, a filter for extracting a predetermined frequency component. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An image processing apparatus comprising: a processor comprising hardware, the processor being configured to: acquire video data; estimate a spatial distribution of a predetermined biological component for which a component spectrum temporally varies with respect to image data of multiple frames of a plurality of frames included in the video data; generate biological component video data in which the biological component is extracted from the video data based on the estimated spatial distribution of the biological component for which the component spectrum temporally varies in the image data of the multiple frames; and generate temporal periodic variation video data of the biological component by applying, to the biological component video data, a filter for extracting a periodic variation component including a predetermined frequency. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to generate emphasized video data in which subtle variation of the biological component is emphasized, by synthesizing the temporal periodic variation video data and the video data in a weighted manner. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: perform frequency analysis of temporal variation at a predetermined position in the image data of the multiple frames with respect to the temporal periodic variation video data; generate display image data in which at least one of a luminance value and a color is set based on at least one of an amplitude of the periodic variation component and a magnitude of a power spectrum of the periodic variation component; and output the display image data. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the biological component is at least one of hemoglobin, oxygenated hemoglobin, reduced hemoglobin, and bilirubin. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the biological component is a biological component other than melanin, cytochrome, and myoglobin. ### Claim 6 An image processing method comprising: acquiring video data; estimating a spatial distribution of a predetermined biological component for which a component spectrum temporally varies with respect to image data of multiple frames of a plurality of frames included in the video data; generating biological component video data in which the biological component is extracted from the video data based on the estimated spatial distribution of the biological component for which the component spectrum temporally varies in the image data of the multiple frames; and generating temporal periodic variation video data of the biological component by applying, to the biological component video data, a filter for extracting a periodic variation component including a predetermined frequency. ### Claim 7 A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium with an executable program stored thereon, the program causing a processor to execute processes comprising: acquiring video data; estimating a spatial distribution of a predetermined biological component for which a component spectrum temporally varies with respect to image data of multiple frames of a plurality of frames included in the video data; generating biological component video data in which the biological component is extracted from the video data based on the estimated spatial distribution of the biological component for which the component spectrum temporally varies in the image data of the multiple frames; and generating temporal periodic variation video data of the biological component by applying, to the biological component video data, a filter for extracting a periodic variation component including a predetermined frequency. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined frequency is a frequency component representing a cyclical variation in a living subject from which the video data is acquired.