Image processing apparatus

An image processing apparatus for forming a composite image of an object which is too large to be captured in its entirety by an imaging device at one time, such that a plurality of images of parts of the object, which parts are each sufficiently small to be captured by the imaging device, are processed, each of the images having at least one overlapping common area at end portions thereof overlapping with another of said images, and the plurality of images are combined to form the composite image, comprising:

• image storing means for storing the plurality of images necessary to form the composite image;
• interpolation means for sequentially reading the plurality of images from the image storing means, for detecting, on a basis of two pairs of corresponding points in each said overlapping common area in which a reference one of said images is overlapped by one of said images adjacent to the reference one image, a displacement vector which is necessary to move pixel arrays of the reference one image and the overlapped image relative to each other such that the pixel arrays of the reference one image and the overlapped image are aligned with each other, and for interpolating all pixel arrays of the overlapped images on the basis of the displacement vector such that all pixel arrays of the overlapped images are arranged in a direction in which the pixel arrays of the reference one image extends, thereby forming interpolation data for all interpolated pixel arrays;
• and
• image forming means for forming the composite image, said image forming means including means for sequentially reading the plurality of images stored in the image storing means and for interpolating each of the images by use of the interpolation data so as to form the composite image.