# US 9,518,924 B2 · Fluoroscopy apparatus and fluoroscopy apparatus operating method

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- Number: US 9,518,924 B2
- Document ID: US9518924B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/499,813
- Filed: 2014-09-29
- Published: 2015-01-15
- Granted: 2016-12-13
- Earliest claimed: 2012-04-04
- Assignees: Olympus Corporation
- Applicants: Olympus Corporation
- Inventors: Kei Kubo; Yasushige Ishihara; Hiromi Shida; Satoshi Takekoshi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9518924B2

## CPC

- A61B 1/000094: {extracting biological structures}
- A61B 1/0005: {combining images e.g. side-by-side, superimposed or tiled}
- A61B 1/00055: {for alerting the user}
- A61B 1/043: {for fluorescence imaging}
- A61B 1/045: Control thereof
- G01N 21/6456: {Spatial resolved fluorescence measurements; Imaging}
- G06T 7/0012: {Biomedical image inspection}
- F04C 2270/041: Controlled or regulated
- G01N 2201/124: Sensitivity
- G06T 2207/30004: Biomedical image processing
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- F04C: ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS (engines F03C); ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS

## Abstract

The invention provides a fluoroscopy apparatus including an image-capturing device that acquires a fluorescence image of a subject; a sensitivity adjusting portion that sets a sensitivity of the image-capturing device to fluorescence on the basis of a gradation value of the fluorescence image; a notifying portion that extracts a lesion part from the fluorescence image acquired by the image-capturing device with the sensitivity set by the sensitivity adjusting portion and presents it to an operator; and a display switching portion that displays the fluorescence image on a display unit when the sensitivity in the image-capturing device is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and that presents information showing the existence of the lesion part on the notifying portion when the sensitivity is greater than the predetermined threshold.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A fluoroscopy apparatus comprising:
an excitation light source configured to radiate excitation light onto a subject;
a fluorescence-image acquisition sensor configured to acquire a fluorescence image by capturing fluorescence generated in the subject by irradiating the subject with the excitation light from the excitation light source; and
a processor configured to:
calculate a gradation value of the fluorescence image acquired by the fluorescence-image acquisition sensor;
set a sensitivity of the fluorescence-image acquisition sensor to the fluorescence on the basis of the gradation value;
extract a region having a gradation value higher than a predetermined gradation threshold value from the fluorescence image acquired by the fluorescence-image acquisition sensor with the set sensitivity;
generate a marker showing the existence of the region;
control a display to display the marker when the set sensitivity is greater than a predetermined sensitivity threshold; and
control the display to display the fluorescence image acquired by the fluorescence-image acquisition sensor instead of the marker when the set sensitivity is equal to or less than the predetermined sensitivity threshold.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The fluoroscopy apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
an illumination light source configured to radiate illumination light onto the subject; and
a reference-image acquisition sensor configured to acquire a reference image by capturing reflected light reflected from the subject when the illumination light from the illumination light source is radiated onto the subject,
wherein the marker shows the position of the region, and
wherein the processor is configured to:
control the display to display the fluorescence image in a superimposed manner on the reference image acquired by the reference-image acquisition sensor when the set sensitivity is equal to or less than the predetermined sensitivity threshold; and
control the display to display the marker in a superimposed manner on the reference image when the set sensitivity is greater than the predetermined sensitivity threshold.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The fluoroscopy apparatus according to claim 2,
wherein the processor is further configured to:
generate a corrected fluorescence image in which the fluorescence image is corrected by dividing the fluorescence image using the reference image; and
extract the region from the corrected fluorescence image.

### Claim 4

A fluoroscopy apparatus operating method comprising:
calculating a gradation value of a fluorescence image of a subject acquired by a fluorescence-image acquisition sensor;
setting a sensitivity of the fluorescence-image acquisition sensor to the fluorescence on the basis of the gradation value;
extracting a region having a gradation value higher than a predetermined gradation threshold value from the fluorescence image acquired by the fluorescence-image acquisition sensor with the set sensitivity;
generating a marker showing the existence of the region;
controlling a display to display the marker when the sensitivity is greater than a predetermined sensitivity threshold; and
controlling the display to display the fluorescence image acquired by the fluorescence-image acquisition sensor instead of the marker when the set sensitivity of the fluorescence-image acquisition sensor is equal to or less than the predetermined sensitivity threshold.