Endoscope system and method for operating endoscope system

An endoscope system comprising:

• an image acquisition section that acquires a captured image that includes an object image, the object image being obtained by applying illumination light emitted from a light source section to an object;
• and
• a control device which comprises a processor and which includes a control section and an image processing section;
• wherein:
• the image processing section performs an attention area setting process that sets an attention area within the captured image based on information from the endoscope system;
• the control section performs a dimming control process that controls an intensity of the illumination light based on the attention area set by the attention area setting process;
• the captured image is an in vivo image;
• the image processing section performs a contact state information acquisition process that acquires contact state information about a contact state between an end of a scope and tissue based on the captured image;
• the contact state information acquisition process detects a specific color area of the captured image that has a color within a specific color range, and determines a contact area based on the specific color area, the contact area being an area in which an optical system provided to the end of the scope comes in contact with the tissue;
• the specific color range is a color range of a portion of the captured image corresponding to the contact area;
• and
• the attention area setting process sets, based on the contact state information, an area other than the contact area to be the attention area.