Endoscope system and method of operating the same

The method of operating an endoscope system comprising:

• a light source control step of causing a light source controller, which controls a plurality of semiconductor light sources emitting light having wavelength ranges different from each other, to perform control to emit a plurality of kinds of illumination light, which include first illumination light having a first light emission ratio and second illumination light having a second light emission ratio different from the first light emission ratio, while switching the plurality of kinds of illumination light according to a specific light emission pattern;
• an image acquisition step of causing a processor to acquire a plurality of observation images obtained from image pickup of an object to be observed illuminated with each illumination light, in which the plurality of observation images include a first observation image corresponding to the first illumination light and a second observation image corresponding to the second illumination light;
• and
• a display control step of causing the processor to perform control to display the plurality of observation images on a display while switching the plurality of observation images according to a specific display pattern,
• wherein gain processing for first illumination light or structure emphasis processing for first illumination light applied to the first observation image and gain processing for second illumination light or structure emphasis processing for second illumination light applied to the second observation image are switched with the switching between the first illumination light and the second illumination light, and
• wherein the specific light emission pattern is fixed and the specific display pattern is changeable.

An endoscope system comprising:

• a plurality of semiconductor light sources that emit light having wavelength ranges different from each other;
• a light source controller that controls the plurality of semiconductor light sources, and performs control to emit a plurality of kinds of illumination light, which include first illumination light having a first light emission ratio and second illumination light having a second light emission ratio different from the first light emission ratio, while switching the plurality of kinds of illumination light according to a specific light emission pattern;
• a processor configured to function as:
• an image acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of observation images obtained from image pickup of an object to be observed illuminated with each illumination light, in which the plurality of observation images include a first observation image corresponding to the first illumination light and a second observation image corresponding to the second illumination light;
• and
• a display control unit that performs control to display the plurality of observation images on a display while switching the plurality of observation images according to a specific display pattern,
• wherein the plurality of kinds of illumination light includes specific illumination light which can emphasize both superficial blood vessels and medium-deep blood vessels, and
• wherein the specific display pattern is determined on the basis of the result of comparison between a first difference image between a specific observation image obtained by illuminating the object to be observed with the specific illumination light and the first observation image and a second difference image between the specific observation image and the second observation image.