JP6997408B2 - Image capture device and image capture control program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an image photographing device that captures an image of a subject by processing an OCT signal, and an image capturing control program executed in the image capturing device.

Conventionally, an image photographing apparatus is known in which a subject is scanned with measurement light and an image of the subject (for example, a tomographic image) is captured by the reflected light of the measurement light and the reference light. For example, the optical coherence tomography apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 captures a tomographic image of the fundus in various modes such as macular line imaging, macular map imaging, and papillary map imaging by changing the scanning position of the measurement light. get.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-13210

The scanning position of the measurement light needs to be appropriately set according to various conditions such as the medical condition of the patient. In the conventional image capturing device, the scanning position of the measurement light is set by the user operating the operation unit (for example, a mouse or the like) while the subject is observed by the image capturing device. Therefore, it has been difficult to shorten the time required from the start of observation of the subject to the end of image capture.

It is a typical object of the present disclosure to provide an image photographing apparatus and an image capturing control program for easily shortening the time from the start of observation of a subject to the end of image capturing.

A first aspect of the imaging apparatus provided by a typical embodiment in the present disclosure is to process an OCT signal by a reference light and a reflected light of a measurement light applied to the subject to obtain an image of the subject. A scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject, a front image acquisition means for acquiring the front image of the subject, and a control for controlling the operation of the image capturing device. The control unit is data generated in advance before the imaging operation is started, and the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is input from the user. Preliminary data, which is the data specified based on the given instructions or the data specified based on the analysis result of the subject, is acquired, and the front image and the front of the subject acquired by the front image acquisition means. By controlling the scanning means based on the collation result with the pre-article data, the measurement light is scanned at the scanning position of the subject specified by the pre-data, and the pre-data is the pre-data. It is the data in which the scanning position is defined on the model in which the arrangement of the tissue of the subject is schematically represented .
A second aspect of the imaging apparatus provided by a typical embodiment in the present disclosure is to process an OCT signal by a reference light and a reflected light of a measurement light applied to the subject to obtain an image of the subject. A scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject, a front image acquisition means for acquiring a front image of the subject, and a control for controlling the operation of the image capturing device. The control unit is data generated in advance before the start of the imaging operation, and the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is input from the user. Preliminary data, which is the data specified based on the given instructions or the data specified based on the analysis result of the subject, is acquired, and the front image and the front of the subject acquired by the front image acquisition means. By controlling the scanning means based on the collation result with the pre-article data, the measurement light is scanned at the scanning position of the subject specified by the prior data, and the prior data is the image. It is generated in advance by a device different from the photographing device.
A third aspect of the imaging apparatus provided by a typical embodiment in the present disclosure is to process an OCT signal by a reference light and reflected light of measurement light applied to the subject to obtain an image of the subject. A scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject, a front image acquisition means for acquiring the front image of the subject, and a control for controlling the operation of the image capturing device. The control unit is data generated in advance before the start of the imaging operation, and the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is input by the user. Preliminary data, which is the data specified based on the given instructions or the data specified based on the analysis result of the subject, is acquired, and the front image and the front of the subject acquired by the front image acquisition means. By controlling the scanning means based on the collation result with the pre-article data, the measurement light is scanned at the scanning position of the subject specified by the pre-data, and the pre-data is used for the imaging. It is data generated in advance before the observation, alignment, and image taking of the subject, which is an operation, are started.

A first aspect of the imaging control program provided by a exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure is to process an OCT signal from the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject. An image capture control program executed in an image capture device for capturing an image, wherein the image capture device includes scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject and a front surface for acquiring a front image of the subject. The image acquisition means and the control unit for controlling the operation of the image capturing device are provided, and the image capturing control program is executed by the control unit, so that the imaging operation by the image capturing device is started. The data is previously generated in advance, and the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is determined based on the instruction input from the user, or the analysis result of the subject. The scanning means is used based on the pre-data acquisition step of acquiring the pre-data which is the data defined based on the above, and the collation result between the front image of the subject and the pre-data acquired by the front image acquisition means. By controlling, the imaging apparatus is made to execute a scanning control step of scanning the measurement light at a scanning position defined by the prior data among the subjects, and the prior data is the subject. It is the data in which the scanning position is defined on the model in which the arrangement of the tissue of the sample is schematically represented .
A second aspect of the imaging control program provided by a exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure is to process an OCT signal from the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject. An image capture control program executed in an image capture device for capturing an image, wherein the image capture device includes scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject and a front surface for acquiring a front image of the subject. The image acquisition means and the control unit for controlling the operation of the image capturing device are provided, and the image capturing control program is executed by the control unit, so that the imaging operation by the image capturing device is started. The data is previously generated in advance, and the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is determined based on the instruction input from the user, or the analysis result of the subject. The scanning means is used based on the pre-data acquisition step of acquiring the pre-data which is the data defined based on the above, and the collation result between the front image of the subject and the pre-data acquired by the front image acquisition means. By controlling the subject, the imaging apparatus is made to execute a scanning control step of scanning the measurement light at a scanning position defined by the prior data, and the prior data is used for the imaging. Pre-generated by a device different from the device.
A third aspect of the imaging control program provided by a exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure is to process an OCT signal from the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject, thereby processing the subject. An image capture control program executed in an image capture device for capturing an image, wherein the image capture device includes scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject and a front surface for acquiring a front image of the subject. The image acquisition means and the control unit for controlling the operation of the image capturing device are provided, and the image capturing control program is executed by the control unit, so that the imaging operation by the image capturing device is started. The data is previously generated in advance, and the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is determined based on the instruction input from the user, or the analysis result of the subject. The scanning means is used based on the pre-data acquisition step of acquiring the pre-data which is the data defined based on the above, and the collation result between the front image of the subject and the pre-data acquired by the front image acquisition means. By controlling the subject, the imaging apparatus is made to execute a scanning control step of scanning the measurement light at a scanning position defined by the prior data, and the prior data is used for the imaging operation. This is data generated in advance before the observation, alignment, and image taking of the subject are started.

According to the image capturing apparatus and the image capturing control program according to the present disclosure, the time from the start of observation of the subject to the end of image capturing can be easily shortened.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the image capturing apparatus 1 and PC40. It is a flowchart of the advance data generation process. It is a figure which shows an example of the state which the scanning position is defined on the advance front image 50. It is a flowchart of a custom pattern generation process. It is a figure which shows an example of the custom pattern defined on the fundus model 60. It is a flowchart of a shooting process. It is a flowchart of the pre-plan shooting preparation process executed during the shooting process. It is a flowchart of the follow-up shooting preparation process executed during the shooting process.

<Overview>
The image capturing apparatus exemplified in the present disclosure captures an image of a subject by processing an OCT signal generated by the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject. The image capturing apparatus includes a scanning means, a front image acquisition unit, and a control unit. The scanning means scans the measurement light on the subject. The front image acquisition means acquires a front image of the subject. The control unit acquires prior data which is data generated in advance before irradiating the measurement light and which defines the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light. The control unit controls the scanning means based on the collation result between the front image of the subject acquired by the front image acquisition means and the prior data, so that the measurement light is measured at the scanning position of the subject specified by the prior data. Is scanned. In this case, even if the user (operator) does not perform the work of setting the scanning position of the measurement light in detail while observing the subject, the scanning position is set based on the collation result between the front image of the subject and the prior data. Set. Therefore, it is easy to shorten the time from the start of observation of the subject to the end of image capture.

The prior data may be generated in advance by an image capturing device, or may be generated in advance by a device different from the image capturing device (for example, a personal computer or the like). When the pre-data is generated by a device different from the image-taking device, the image-taking device may acquire the pre-data via wired communication, wireless communication, detachable memory, or the like.

The prior data may be data in which the scanning position of the measurement light is defined on the front image of the subject taken in advance. In this case, the scanning position is more accurately defined in the prior data for the subject on which the image is actually taken.

In addition, various front images can be adopted as the front image (hereinafter referred to as "pre-shooting image") used for generating the advance data. The pre-photographed image may be a front image acquired in advance by the front image acquisition means of the image photographing apparatus (OCT apparatus), or an imaging device different from the imaging apparatus (for example, the subject is the fundus of the patient's eye). If this is the case, it may be a front image taken by a fundus camera, a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO), an infrared camera, etc.).

Further, the prior data does not have to be the data in which the scanning position is defined on the front image of the subject. For example, the prior data may be data in which the scanning position is defined on a model in which the arrangement of the tissue of the subject is schematically represented instead of the front image. Further, a specific site on the subject may be used as a reference position, and data in which the relationship between the reference position and the scanning position may be defined may be used as prior data. Further, the expression "defines the relationship between the tissue arrangement and the scanning position" in the present disclosure does not mean that the scanning position is strictly defined with respect to the tissue arrangement. That is, some parameters for determining the scan position with respect to the arrangement of the tissue may be defined by the prior data. For example, when the subject is the fundus of the patient's eye, even if prior data such as "the macula is used as the reference position and a raster scan is performed on the area of a quadrangle having a width of x mm centered on the reference position" is generated. good. Further, the center of the line or range in which the measurement light is scanned, the shooting angle of view, the number of scanning points, and the like may be defined by prior data. Even in this case, the measurement light is scanned at an appropriate position according to the prior data.

Various methods can be adopted as the collation method between the front image and the prior data. For example, when the pre-data in which the scanning position is defined on the front image is used, the control unit uses the front image (pre-front image) used in the pre-data and the front image acquisition means of the image capturing device immediately before shooting. By aligning the two front images so that the correlation value with the acquired front image (observation front image) is the highest, the scanning position specified in the prior data is set on the observation front image. You may.

Further, the control unit may acquire the arrangement of the tissue of the subject reflected in the observation front image by performing image processing on the observation front image acquired by the front image acquisition means. The control unit may scan the measurement light at the scanning position defined by the prior data by collating the acquired tissue arrangement with the tissue arrangement in the prior data. In this case, the front image and the prior data are collated more appropriately. The specific method for acquiring the arrangement of the tissue of the subject shown in the front image can be appropriately selected. For example, the control unit may acquire the arrangement of the tissue by performing image processing on the front image and acquiring the position of the characteristic portion of the tissue reflected in the front image. Further, a mark or the like may be attached to a specific position of the subject. In this case, the control unit may acquire the position of the mark reflected in the front image and acquire the arrangement of the tissue based on the relationship between the position of the mark and the arrangement of the tissue.

Further, the control unit may input an instruction from the user for designating the position of a specific part of the tissue on the front image. The control unit may collate the front image with the prior data based on the position of the specific portion on the front image specified by the user. Even in this case, the user can easily scan the measurement light at the position defined by the prior data by designating the position of the specific portion. The method of inputting the user's instruction to specify the position of a specific part is, for example, a method of inputting an operation signal of an operation unit (for example, a mouse or a touch panel), or a voice for a voice generated by the user. A method of inputting an instruction by performing recognition processing can be adopted.

In the prior data, the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is defined based on the data specified based on the instruction input from the user or the analysis result of the subject. May be good. When the preliminary data is generated based on the instruction input from the user, the user predetermines the position where the measurement light is scanned in the subject to the desired position before actually taking the image. Can be left. Therefore, the measurement light is scanned more appropriately. Further, when the preliminary data is generated based on the analysis result of the subject, the measurement light is scanned at an appropriate position according to the analysis result.

It should be noted that various methods can be adopted as the method of generating the advance data based on the instruction from the user. For example, the control unit of the device that generates the prior data determines the relationship between the tissue arrangement and the scanning position of the measurement light based on the operation signal input from the operation unit (for example, mouse or touch panel, etc.) or the voice recognition result. It may be specified.

The device that generates the advance data may be a device that creates an electronic medical record. In this case, the doctor can have the device generate advance data while creating an electronic medical record. Therefore, the work efficiency is further improved.

Further, various methods can be adopted as a method of generating prior data based on the analysis result of the subject. For example, the control unit of a photographing device (for example, a fundus camera, etc.) for photographing a subject sets an area or the like where an abnormality is likely to occur as a scanning position by analyzing the photographed image of the subject by image processing. Pre-data may be generated. Further, a control unit such as a PC may generate advance data based on analysis results such as a layer thickness map and a blood flow map.

Even if the prior data is data showing the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the position where the measurement light was actually scanned when the image of the same subject was taken in the past by the imaging apparatus. good. In this case, the image capturing apparatus can scan the measurement light at the same position where the measurement light was scanned in the past by collating the front image with the prior data. Therefore, when the image of the same position of the subject is repeatedly taken and the doctor is made to follow up, the image is taken more appropriately.

A device that generates advance data according to a user's instruction can also be expressed as follows. It is a data generation device that generates data used by an image capturing device that captures an image of the subject by processing an OCT signal by the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject. The control unit of the data generation device inputs an instruction for designating the scanning position of the measurement light with respect to the arrangement of the tissue of the subject, and based on the input instruction, arranges the tissue of the subject and the measurement light. A data generation device characterized in that it generates advance data, which is data in which the relationship between the scanning positions of the data is defined.

<Embodiment>
Hereinafter, one of the typical embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described. As an example, the image capturing apparatus (optical coherence entomography apparatus) 1 of the present embodiment can capture a tomographic image and a motion contrast image of the fundus tissue using the fundus of the patient's eye E as a subject. However, at least a part of the technique exemplified in the present disclosure is also applied to an imaging device that captures an image of a subject other than the fundus (for example, the anterior eye portion of the patient's eye E or a biological tissue other than the patient's eye E). can.

<Outline configuration>
A schematic configuration of the image capturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The image capturing device 1 includes an OCT unit 10 and a control unit 30.

The OCT unit 10 will be described. The OCT unit 10 acquires an OCT signal using the principle of optical coherence tomography (OCT). The OCT unit 10 includes an OCT light source 11, a coupler (optical divider) 12, a measurement optical system 13, a reference optical system 20, a detector 22, and a front observation optical system 23.

The OCT light source 11 emits light (OCT light) for acquiring an OCT signal. The coupler 12 divides the light emitted from the OCT light source 11 into measurement light and reference light. Further, the coupler 12 of the present embodiment synthesizes the measurement light reflected by the subject (the fundus of the patient's eye E in the present embodiment) and the reference light generated by the reference optical system 20, and synthesizes the interference. The light is received by the detector 22.

The measurement optical system 13 guides the measurement light divided by the coupler 12 to the subject, and returns the measurement light reflected by the subject to the coupler 12. The measurement optical system 13 includes an optical scanner 14, a projection optical system 16, and a focus adjusting unit 17. The optical scanner 14 can scan (deflect) the measurement light in the two-dimensional direction by being driven by the drive unit 15. In the present embodiment, two galvano mirrors capable of deflecting the measurement light in different directions are used as the optical scanner 14. However, another device that deflects light (eg, at least one of a polygon mirror, a resonant scanner, an acoustic optical element, and the like) may be used as the optical scanner 14. The projection optical system 16 is provided on the downstream side (that is, the subject side) of the optical path from the optical scanner 14, and projects the measurement light toward the subject. The focus adjusting unit 17 adjusts the focus of the measurement light by moving an optical member (for example, a lens) included in the projection optical system 16 in a direction along the optical axis of the measurement light.

The reference optical system 20 generates reference light and returns it to the coupler 12. The reference optical system 20 of the present embodiment generates reference light by reflecting the reference light divided by the coupler 12 by a reflected optical system (for example, a reference mirror). However, the configuration of the reference optical system 20 can also be changed. For example, the reference optical system 20 may transmit the light incident from the coupler 12 without reflecting it and return it to the coupler 12. The reference optical system 20 includes an optical path length difference adjusting unit 21 that changes the optical path length difference between the measurement light and the reference light. In the present embodiment, the optical path length difference is changed by moving the reference mirror in the optical axis direction. The configuration for changing the optical path length difference may be provided in the optical path of the measurement optical system 13.

The detector 22 detects the interference signal between the measurement light and the reference light. In this embodiment, the principle of Fourier domain OCT is adopted. In the Fourier domain OCT, the spectral intensity (spectral interference signal) of the interference light is detected by the detector 22, and the complex OCT signal is acquired by the Fourier transform on the spectral intensity data. As an example of the Fourier domain OCT, Spectral-domain-OCT (SD-OCT), Swept-source-OCT (SS-OCT) and the like can be adopted. Further, for example, Time-domine-OCT (TD-OCT) or the like can be adopted. In this embodiment, SD-OCT is adopted. In the case of SD-OCT, for example, a low coherent light source (broadband light source) is used as the OCT light source 11, and the interference light is dispersed into each frequency component (each wavelength component) in the vicinity of the detector 22 in the optical path of the interference light. A spectroscopic optical system (spectrometer) is provided. In the case of SS-OCT, for example, as the OCT light source 11, a wavelength scanning type light source (wavelength variable light source) that changes the emission wavelength at high speed in time is used. In this case, the OCT light source 11 may include a light source, a fiber ring resonator, and a wavelength selection filter. Examples of the wavelength selection filter include a filter that combines a diffraction grating and a polygon mirror, a filter that uses a Fabry-Perot Etalon, and the like.

The frontal observation optical system 23 is provided to acquire a frontal image of a subject (in the present embodiment, the fundus of the patient's eye E). The configuration of the front observation optical system 23 includes, for example, at least one of a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) and an infrared camera that collectively irradiates a two-dimensional imaging range with infrared light to capture a front image. The configuration of can be adopted. Further, the image capturing apparatus 1 acquires the three-dimensional tomographic image data by scanning the measurement light on the subject in the two-dimensional direction, and from the three-dimensional tomographic image data, the direction along the optical axis of the measurement light (front direction). You may acquire an OCT front image (Enface) image when you want to see the subject from. The data of the OCT front image is, for example, integrated image data in which brightness values are integrated in the depth direction (Z direction) at each position in the XY direction, integrated values of spectral data at each position in the XY direction, and a certain depth. It may be brightness data at each position in the XY direction in the vertical direction, brightness data at each position in the XY direction in any layer of the retina (for example, the surface layer of the retina), and the like. When the OCT front image is acquired, the front observation optical system 23 may be omitted. That is, the OCT unit 10 and the control unit 30 that acquire the OCT front image can also function as the front image acquisition means.

The control unit 30 will be described. The control unit 30 controls various controls of the image capturing device 1. The control unit 30 includes a CPU 31, a RAM 32, a ROM 33, and a non-volatile memory (NVM) 34. The CPU 31 is a controller that performs various controls. The RAM 32 temporarily stores various types of information. The ROM 33 stores a program executed by the CPU 31, various initial values, and the like. The NVM 34 is a non-transient storage medium capable of retaining the storage contents even when the power supply is cut off. The image capturing control program for executing the custom pattern generation process (see FIG. 4) and the photographing process (see FIG. 6) described later may be stored in the NVM 34.

A microphone 36, a monitor 37, and an operation unit 38 are connected to the control unit 30. The microphone 36 inputs sound. The microphone 36 may be attached to the head of the user who operates the image capturing device 1. In this case, among the various sounds, only the remarks of the user who operates the image capturing device 1 are likely to be input to the control unit 30. Therefore, the occurrence of malfunction is suppressed. The monitor 37 displays various images. The operation unit 38 is operated by the user in order for the user to input various operation instructions to the image capturing device 1. For the operation unit 38, for example, various devices such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, and a foot switch can be used.

In the present embodiment, the integrated image capturing device 1 in which the OCT unit 10 and the control unit 30 are built in one housing is exemplified. However, it goes without saying that the image capturing device 1 may include a plurality of devices having different housings. For example, the image capturing device 1 may include an optical device having an OCT unit 10 and a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as “PC”) connected to the optical device by wire or wirelessly. In this case, the control unit included in the optical device and the control unit of the PC may both function as the control unit 30 of the image capturing device 1.

A schematic configuration of the pre-data generation device 40 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The image capturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can scan the measurement light at a scanning position predetermined by prior data. The prior data is data generated in advance before the imaging operation (observation of the subject, alignment, imaging of a tomographic image, etc.) is started. The prior data defines the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light. The pre-data generation device 40 can pre-generate the pre-data 40 before the shooting operation is performed.

As an example, in the present embodiment, the electronic medical record PC in which the electronic medical record is installed is used as the pre-data generation device 40. Therefore, the doctor can generate the preliminary data while electronically creating the medical record using the electronic medical record. However, a device other than the electronic medical record PC may be used as the pre-data generation device 40. For example, the image capturing device 1 may function as a pre-data generation device. Further, a medical device for observing or photographing a subject (for example, a fundus camera, an SLO, an infrared camera, etc.) may function as a pre-data generation device. In this case, the control unit of the medical device automatically generates advance data based on the analysis result of the subject (for example, the analysis result of the photographed image of the subject or the analysis result of the blood flow map or the like). May be good.

The control unit of the pre-data generation device 40 includes a CPU 41, a RAM 42, a ROM 43, and an NVM 44, similarly to the image capturing device 1. The NVM 44 stores a pre-data generation processing program and the like for executing the pre-data generation processing (see FIG. 2) described later. Further, a microphone 46, a monitor 47, and an operation unit 48 are connected to the advance data generation device 40.

<Preliminary data generation process>
The pre-data generation process will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. As described above, in the present embodiment, the user creates shooting data in advance before executing the shooting operation, so that the measurement light is scanned at the scanning position specified in advance (hereinafter, “Shooting”. "Pre-plan shooting") can be executed by the image shooting device 1. The CPU 41 of the pre-data generation device 40 executes the pre-data generation processing shown in FIG. 2 according to the pre-data generation processing program stored in the NVM 44.

First, the CPU 41 displays the electronic medical record screen on the monitor 47 (S1). A user (for example, a doctor) can electronically create a medical record by inputting various instructions to the pre-data generation device 40 while the electronic medical record screen is displayed on the monitor 47.

Next, the CPU 41 acquires a frontal image of the patient's tissue and displays it on the monitor 47 (S2). As an example, in this embodiment, a frontal image of the fundus of the patient's eye E is used. The frontal image of the fundus may be taken by an imaging device such as a fundus camera, an SLO, or an infrared camera. The CPU 41 acquires front image data from the photographing device via wired communication, wireless communication, a detachable memory, or the like, and displays the data on the monitor 47. In the following, the front image acquired in S2 may be referred to as a pre-front image.

The CPU 41 generates advance data by defining a scanning position on the advance front image in response to an instruction input by the user (S3). The CPU 41 associates the generated prior data with the patient ID and the electronic medical record information, and stores the generated prior data in the NVM 44 (S4).

An example of the process (S3) for generating the prior data will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which the scanning position is defined on the preliminary front image 50. The pre-frontal image 50 shown in FIG. 3 shows the tissues of the fundus (for example, the optic disc 51, the macula 52, and the fundus blood vessel 53). When an instruction defining the position of the scanning line is input, the CPU 41 causes the scanning line 55 to be displayed on the monitor 47. When the movement instruction of the scanning line 55 is input, the CPU 41 moves the scanning line 55 on the preliminary front image 50 according to the instruction. The position of the moved scan line 55 is defined as the scan position of the measurement light with respect to the tissue. Further, when an instruction defining the position of the scanning range is input, the CPU 41 causes the monitor 47 to display the scanning range 56. When the movement instruction of the scanning range 56 is input, the CPU 41 moves the scanning range 56 on the pre-front image 50 according to the instruction. At the time of photographing by the image capturing apparatus 1, the measurement light is scanned a plurality of times within the scanning range 56.

The user is instructed to change the shape of the scanning line 55 to a shape other than a linear shape (for example, a circular shape), an instruction to change the length of the scanning line 55, an instruction to change the shape of the scanning range 56, and scanning. It is also possible to input an instruction or the like to change the size of the range 56. In this case, the CPU 41 changes the scanning line 55 or the scanning range 56 according to the input instruction. Further, the CPU 41 may input an instruction from the user by an operation signal input from the operation unit 48. The CPU 41 may input an instruction from the user by performing a sound recognition process on the sound input to the microphone 46.

Needless to say, it is possible to change a specific method for allowing the user to specify the scanning position. For example, the user may be able to specify the position of a pattern scan (for example, cross scan, radial scan, etc.) in which a plurality of scan lines are combined. Further, the CPU 41 may specify the scanning position of combination shooting (hereinafter, may be referred to as “combo shooting”) in which a plurality of shooting operations are continuously executed, according to an instruction to the user.

Further, in the examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the scanning position is defined on the preliminary front image 50. However, the prior data does not have to be the data in which the scanning position is defined on the prior front image 50. For example, instead of the preliminary front image 50, the scanning position may be defined on a model in which the arrangement of the tissue of the subject is schematically represented (for example, the fundus model 60 (see FIG. 5) described later). In addition, a specific site on the subject (for example, at least one of the optic disc 51, macula 52, fundus blood vessel 53, etc.) is set as a reference position, and data defining the relationship between the reference position and the scanning position is generated as prior data. May be done.

<Custom pattern generation process>
The custom pattern generation process will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In the image photographing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the user can freely create a shooting pattern for combo shooting. The shooting pattern of the combo shooting created by the user is called a custom pattern. In the custom pattern generation process, a custom pattern is generated according to the user's instruction. In the present embodiment, the image capturing device 1 executes the custom pattern generation process, but another device (for example, a PC or the like) may execute the custom pattern generation process.

First, the CPU 31 displays a model of the tissue of the subject (fundus model 60 in this embodiment) on the monitor 37 (S11). As an example, in the fundus model 60 shown in FIG. 5, the optic disc 61, the macula 62, and the fundus blood vessel 63, which are fundus tissues, are schematically represented. Instead of the fundus model 60, a general frontal image of the subject may be used.

Next, the CPU 31 generates a custom pattern by defining a plurality of shooting patterns on the fundus model 60 in response to an instruction input by the user (S12). For example, when an instruction to select a type of shooting pattern is input, the CPU 31 displays the selected shooting pattern on the fundus model 60. The shooting pattern may be provided with, for example, a line shooting pattern for scanning the measurement light linearly, a cross shooting pattern for scanning a plurality of measurement lights so as to intersect each other, a map shooting pattern for performing raster scan, and the like. .. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the map shooting pattern 65 and the line shooting pattern 66 are displayed. The CPU 31 moves the photographing pattern on the fundus model 60 in response to an instruction from the user. Further, the CPU 31 defines the shooting order of a plurality of shooting patterns in response to an instruction from the user. In the example shown in FIG. 5, it is specified that the map shooting pattern 65 is executed for the first time and the line shooting pattern is executed for the second time. When the combo imaging is executed with the custom pattern shown in FIG. 5, the map imaging is performed in the vicinity of the macula, and then the line imaging is continuously performed in the vicinity of the intermediate position between the macula and the optic disc. As with the pre-data creation process described above, the instruction from the user may be input via the operation unit 37 or may be input via the microphone 46.

Next, the CPU 31 associates the custom pattern generated in S12 with a specific keyword for specifying the custom pattern, and stores it in the NVM 34 (S13). The specific keyword may be set according to an instruction by the user.

<Shooting process>
The photographing process executed by the image photographing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. The image capturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can scan the measurement light at a predetermined position based on the collation result of the prior data and the observation front image. Further, the image capturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can generate parameters and signals for determining the imaging operation based on the recognition result by the sound recognition process. The CPU 31 of the image photographing apparatus 1 executes the photographing process shown in FIG. 6 according to the image photographing control program stored in the NVM 34.

First, the CPU 31 starts the sound recognition process (S21). In the sound recognition process executed in the present embodiment, the sound input to the microphone 36 is processed as information that can be processed by the computer.

Next, the CPU 31 starts acquiring an observation front image by the front observation optical system 23 (see FIG. 1) (S22). Specifically, the user instructs the patient to gaze at the fixation target, and then the device is aligned with the patient's eye to start acquiring an observation front image of the fundus.

The CPU 31 determines whether or not at least one of the optical path length difference and the focus adjustment instruction is input by sound (S24). The optical path length difference is the difference between the optical path lengths of the measured light and the reference light in the OCT unit 10. The focus is the focus of the optical system in the OCT unit 10. When the adjustment instruction is input (S24: YES), the CPU 31 adjusts at least one of the optical path length difference and the focus according to the instruction from the user (S25). The process shifts to S42.

For example, "Optimize" or the like can be adopted as a keyword for instructing the user to adjust the optical path length difference and the focus. When the recognition result by the sound recognition process is "Optimize", the CPU 31 automatically adjusts the optical path length difference by driving the optical path length difference adjusting unit 21 based on the position where the tissue is captured in the captured tomographic image. Further, when the recognition result by the sound recognition process is "Optimize", the CPU 31 automatically adjusts the focus by driving the focus adjusting unit 17 based on the contrast of the captured tomographic image. The CPU 31 may adjust only one of the optical path length difference and the focus based on the result of sound recognition. Further, instead of automatically adjusting the optical path length difference and the focus, the CPU 31 may adjust at least one of the optical path length difference and the focus by the amount indicated by the sound.

The CPU 31 determines whether or not the execution instruction for the pre-plan shooting is input by sound (S27). As described above, the pre-plan shooting is a shooting in which the measurement light is scanned at a scanning position predetermined by the user. Various keywords such as "planning photography" can be adopted as the keywords indicating the execution instruction of the advance plan photography. When the execution instruction for the pre-plan shooting is input (S27: YES), the CPU 31 executes the pre-plan shooting preparation process (S28). After that, the process shifts to S42.

The pre-plan shooting preparation process will be described with reference to FIG. 7. First, the CPU 31 identifies a patient to be imaged by the image photographing apparatus 1 (S51). The patient may be specified, for example, by inputting a patient ID or the like. The CPU 31 acquires prior data of the patient to be imaged (that is, the patient specified in S51) (S52). As described above, in the present embodiment, the advance data is generated by the advance data generation device 40, which is a device different from the image capturing apparatus 1. In S52, pre-data is acquired from the pre-data generation device 40 via at least one of wired communication, wireless communication, detachable memory, and the like.

Next, the CPU 31 collates the currently captured observation front image with the prior data acquired in S52 (S53). As an example, in the CPU 31 of the present embodiment, the positions of the two images so that the correlation value between the prior front image 50 (see FIG. 3) used in the prior data and the currently captured observation front image is the highest. By matching, the observation front image and the prior data are collated.

The CPU 31 sets the scanning position of the measurement light based on the result of the collation performed in S53 (S54). As an example, in the present embodiment, the scanning position defined on the pre-front image 50 is set as the scanning position for actually scanning the measurement light in a state where the pre-front image 50 and the observation front image are aligned. Will be done. The CPU 31 generates and stores a parameter for scanning the measurement light at the scanning position set in S54 (that is, a parameter for controlling the drive of the optical scanner 14 in the photographing operation) (S55). As a result, in S44 described later, the measurement light is scanned at the scanning position specified in the prior data.

Returning to the description of FIG. The CPU 31 determines whether or not the execution instruction for follow-up shooting is input by sound (S30). Follow-up imaging is imaging performed under the same imaging conditions as the imaging conditions of the imaging operation performed in the past for the same patient's eye. Therefore, follow-up imaging is useful when a doctor performs follow-up observations on the same patient. The “photographing condition” in the present embodiment indicates the scanning position of the measured light with respect to the tissue. However, in the follow-up photography, the imaging conditions other than the scanning position (for example, the optical path length difference) may be the same as the past conditions. Various keywords such as "follow-up" can be adopted as the keyword indicating the execution instruction of the follow-up shooting. When the execution instruction for follow-up shooting is input (S30: YES), the CPU 31 executes the follow-up shooting preparation process (S31). After that, the process shifts to S42.

The follow-up shooting preparation process will be described with reference to FIG. For the processing of S51, S53 to S55 in the follow-up shooting preparation process, the same processing as in the above-mentioned advance plan shooting preparation processing S51, S53 to S55 can be adopted. Therefore, the description of the processes of S51 and S53 to S55 will be simplified. First, the CPU 31 identifies a patient to be imaged by the image photographing apparatus 1 (S51). Next, the CPU 31 acquires the past imaging condition data of the patient (identified patient) to be imaged as prior data (S152). The past imaging condition data is data on the imaging status in the past imaging operation for the same patient. Details will be described later with reference to S48 (see FIG. 6), but in the present embodiment, when the imaging operation is performed, the imaging conditions are stored in the NVM 34 in association with the patient. In S152, the past shooting conditions stored in the NVM 34 are acquired as prior data.

The CPU 31 collates the currently captured observation front image with the prior data acquired in S152 (S54). The CPU 54 sets the scanning position of the measurement light based on the collation result (S54). As a result, the same position as the position where the measurement light is scanned in the past shooting operation is set as the scanning position of the measurement light in the current shooting operation (S44 described later). The CPU 31 generates a parameter for scanning the measurement light at the scanning position set in S54 and stores it in the NVM 34 (S55).

Returning to the description of FIG. The CPU 31 determines whether or not the instruction for designating the combo shooting pattern is input by sound (S33). In the present embodiment, a plurality of shooting patterns for combo shooting are predetermined. As an example, in the present embodiment, a pattern in which macular map photography and macular line photography are continuously performed (so-called “macular combo”) and a pattern in which nipple map photography and nipple line photography are continuously performed (so-called “nipple”). Multiple combo shooting patterns including "combo") are defined. Further, in the present embodiment, the user can freely create a shooting pattern for combo shooting in the custom pattern generation process (see FIG. 4) described above. When an instruction to specify a shooting pattern for combo shooting is input (S33: YES), the CPU 31 shoots with a shooting pattern corresponding to the recognition result by sound recognition processing among a plurality of shooting patterns for combo shooting including a custom pattern. Generate a parameter for executing the operation (S37). After that, the process shifts to S42. As the keyword indicating the instruction for designating the photographing pattern, for example, various keywords such as "macular combo", "nipple combo", and "custom A" can be adopted.

The CPU 31 determines whether or not the instruction for designating the shooting position is input by sound (S36). In the present embodiment, when the user designates a shooting position (that is, a scanning position of the measurement light) by sound, the measurement light is automatically scanned at the designated position. As an example, in the present embodiment, "nipple" and "macula" are provided as keywords for designating the imaging position. When the instruction to specify the shooting position is input (S36: YES), the designated position shooting preparation process is executed (S37), and the process shifts to S42. In the designated position shooting preparation process, the CPU 31 performs image processing on the observation front image to acquire the arrangement of the tissue of the patient's eye reflected in the observation front image. Then, the CPU 31 generates a parameter for scanning the measurement light at a designated position based on the acquired tissue arrangement. For example, when "papillary" is specified, the CPU 31 identifies the position of the optic nerve papilla in the observation front image and generates a parameter for scanning the measurement light at the specified position. The user can also instruct the scanning pattern of the measurement light set in S37 (for example, line scan, cross scan, raster scan, etc.) by sound.

The CPU 31 determines whether or not an instruction to change at least one of the position, shape, and length of the scanning line and the position, shape, and size of the scanning range is input by sound (S39). When a change instruction is input (S39: YES), the CPU 31 changes the currently set scanning line or scanning range according to the input instruction, and newly generates a parameter for scanning the measurement light. (S40). For example, when a sound indicating a direction is input, the CPU 31 moves the position of the currently set scanning line or scanning range in the indicated direction. Similarly, when a sound indicating the shape, length, and size is input, the CPU 31 changes the shape, length, and size of the currently set scanning line or scanning range according to the instruction. do.

The CPU 31 determines whether or not a sound instructing the start of the shooting operation (for example, “shooting start” or the like) has been input (S42). If it is not input, the process returns to S24, and the processes of S24 to S42 are repeated. When a sound instructing the start of the shooting operation is input (S42: YES), the CPU 31 controls the drive of the optical scanner 14 and the like according to the parameters generated by the processes of S28, S31, S34, S37, S40 and the like. Then, the tomographic image is taken (S44).

The CPU 31 displays the tomographic image taken by S44 on the monitor 37 (S45), and determines whether or not the re-shooting execution instruction is input by sound (S46). The user can input to the image capturing apparatus 1 by sound an instruction as to whether or not to allow the image displayed on the monitor 37. For example, "OK" or the like can be adopted as a keyword indicating an instruction for allowing an image. For example, "NG" and "re-shooting" can be adopted as keywords for instructing the execution of re-shooting without allowing the image. When the re-shooting execution instruction is input (S46: YES), the process returns to S44, and the re-shooting is performed again according to the same parameters as the previous time. When the instruction to allow the image is input (S46: NO), the captured image and the imaging condition when the imaging operation in S44 is performed are stored in the NVM 34 in association with the patient.

The techniques disclosed in the above embodiments are merely examples. Therefore, it is possible to modify the techniques exemplified in the above embodiments. For example, the image capturing apparatus 1 does not need to execute all of the plurality of processes exemplified in the above embodiment, and may execute only a part of the plurality of processes. A part of the instruction input by sound in the above embodiment may be input via the operation unit 38.

The CPU 31 may generate a signal for determining whether or not to execute tracking based on the recognition result by the sound recognition process. Note that tracking is a process of tracking the scanning position of the measurement light according to the movement of the tissue of the subject. Further, the CPU 31 may generate a parameter for determining the number of tomographic images used in the averaging process based on the recognition result by the sound recognition process. The additive averaging process is a process of reducing noise by taking the average value of the pixel values of a plurality of images taken at the same position. Further, the CPU 31 may generate a signal for switching between taking a motion contrast image and taking a tomographic image based on the recognition result by the sound recognition process. The motion contrast image is an image showing movement in a tissue (for example, blood flow through a blood vessel of the tissue, flow of lymph in the tissue, etc.). The image capturing device 1 can also acquire a motion contrast image by acquiring a plurality of OCT signals from the same position of the tissue at different timings and processing the acquired plurality of OCT signals. By switching between shooting a motion contrast image and shooting a tomographic image by sound, the work efficiency of the user is further improved.

In the above embodiment, the user's speech is extracted by the voice recognition process from the sounds input to the microphone 37, and various parameters and signals are generated according to the extracted speech. However, the CPU 31 may set various parameters and the like when it recognizes a specific sound other than the remark (for example, the sound of clapping a hand).

Further, the CPU 31 detects at least one of the direction of the sound source with respect to the sound input means (microphone 36 in the present embodiment) and the distance between the sound input means and the sound source, and is based on the detection result. May generate at least one of the parameters and signals. As an example, the CPU 31 may move the housing of the device in the direction of the sound source. Further, the CPU 31 may control the stop of the device, the volume adjustment of the sound generated from the speaker, or the like according to the distance from the sound source. Various methods can be adopted for detecting the direction and distance of the sound source. For example, there is a method of using a plurality of sound input means and detecting the direction of the source based on the difference in the arrival time of the sound to each sound input means and the distance between the plurality of sound input means. There is also a method of detecting the distance to the source based on the phase interference of the sound.

The CPU 31 may identify the person who made the speech by sound recognition processing (for example, voiceprint authentication processing or the like), and generate at least one of a parameter and a signal according to the identified result. For example, when the CPU 31 operates an apparatus to identify an inspector (for example, a doctor or an assistant) who inspects a patient by sound recognition processing, the CPU 31 determines at least one of various imaging conditions of the imaging apparatus 1. , The imaging conditions predetermined by the specified inspector, or the imaging conditions selected in the past by the identified inspector may be set. Further, when the patient is specified by the sound recognition process, the CPU 31 may acquire the past imaging condition data of the identified patient as prior data and perform follow-up imaging.

The CPU 31 is at least one of a plurality of images continuously captured when the recognition result by the sound recognition process is a result instructing the storage of the captured image in a state where the images are continuously captured. May be captured and saved as a captured image. In this case, the user can easily store the images taken at a desired timing among the continuously shot images in the image shooting device 1.

When the shooting operation is determined based on the recognition result of the sound recognition processing, the CPU 31 may display the recognition result of the sound recognition processing that triggered the determination of the shooting operation on the display means. Further, when the photographing operation is determined a plurality of times based on the recognition result by the sound recognition process, the CPU 31 may display the recognition result of the sound recognition process that triggers the determination of each of the plurality of photographing operations. In this case, the user can easily confirm whether or not the shooting operation instructed by the sound is properly executed by the display content of the display means.

1 Imaging device 10 OCT unit 11 OCT light source 12 Coupler 13 Measurement optical system 14 Optical scanner 20 Reference optical system 23 Front observation optical system 30 Control unit 31 CPU
34 NVM
36 Microphone 37 Monitor 40 Pre-data generator 41 CPU

Claims (6)

An image capturing device that captures an image of the subject by processing an OCT signal generated by the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject.
A scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject,
A frontal image acquisition means for acquiring the frontal image of the subject,
A control unit that controls the operation of the image capturing device, and
Equipped with
The control unit
Data generated in advance before the start of the imaging operation, in which the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is defined based on the instruction input from the user. Alternatively, obtain prior data, which is the data specified based on the analysis result of the subject, and
By controlling the scanning means based on the collation result between the front image of the subject and the prior data acquired by the front image acquisition means, the scanning of the subject specified by the prior data is performed. The measurement light is scanned at the position,
The prior data is an image photographing apparatus characterized in that the scanning position is defined on a model in which the arrangement of the tissue of the subject is schematically represented . An image capturing device that captures an image of the subject by processing an OCT signal generated by the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject.
A scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject,
A frontal image acquisition means for acquiring the frontal image of the subject,
A control unit that controls the operation of the image capturing device, and
Equipped with
The control unit
Data generated in advance before the start of the imaging operation, in which the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is defined based on the instruction input from the user. Alternatively, obtain prior data, which is the data specified based on the analysis result of the subject,
By controlling the scanning means based on the collation result between the front image of the subject and the prior data acquired by the front image acquisition means, the scanning of the subject specified by the prior data is performed. The measurement light is scanned at the position,
The image capturing apparatus, characterized in that the prior data is generated in advance by an apparatus different from the imaging apparatus. An image capturing device that captures an image of the subject by processing an OCT signal generated by the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject.
A scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject,
A frontal image acquisition means for acquiring the frontal image of the subject,
A control unit that controls the operation of the image capturing device, and
Equipped with
The control unit
Data generated in advance before the start of the imaging operation, in which the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is defined based on the instruction input from the user. Alternatively, obtain prior data, which is the data specified based on the analysis result of the subject, and
By controlling the scanning means based on the collation result between the front image of the subject and the prior data acquired by the front image acquisition means, the scanning of the subject specified by the prior data is performed. The measurement light is scanned at the position,
The image photographing apparatus, characterized in that the prior data is data generated in advance before the observation, alignment, and image photographing of the subject, which is the photographing operation, are started . An image capture control program executed in an image capture device that captures an image of a subject by processing an OCT signal generated by the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject.
The image capturing device is
A scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject,
A frontal image acquisition means for acquiring the frontal image of the subject,
A control unit that controls the operation of the image capturing device, and
Equipped with
By executing the image capture control program by the control unit,
The data is generated in advance before the imaging operation by the imaging apparatus is started, and the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is based on the instruction input from the user. The pre-data acquisition step to acquire the pre-data, which is the pre-specified data or the pre-specified data based on the analysis result of the subject,
By controlling the scanning means based on the collation result between the front image of the subject and the prior data acquired by the front image acquisition means, the scanning of the subject specified by the prior data is performed. A scanning control step for scanning the measurement light at a position, and
Is executed by the image capturing device,
The prior data is an image capture control program characterized in that the scanning position is defined on a model in which the arrangement of the tissue of the subject is schematically represented . An image capture control program executed in an image capture device that captures an image of a subject by processing an OCT signal generated by the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject.
The image capturing device is
A scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject,
A frontal image acquisition means for acquiring the frontal image of the subject,
A control unit that controls the operation of the image capturing device, and
Equipped with
By executing the image capture control program by the control unit,
The data is generated in advance before the imaging operation by the imaging apparatus is started, and the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is based on the instruction input from the user. The pre-data acquisition step to acquire the pre-data, which is the pre-specified data or the pre-specified data based on the analysis result of the subject,
By controlling the scanning means based on the collation result between the front image of the subject and the prior data acquired by the front image acquisition means, the scanning of the subject specified by the prior data is performed. A scanning control step for scanning the measurement light at a position, and
Is executed by the image capturing device,
The image capturing control program, characterized in that the prior data is generated in advance by an apparatus different from the imaging apparatus . An image capture control program executed in an image capture device that captures an image of a subject by processing an OCT signal generated by the reference light and the reflected light of the measurement light applied to the subject.
The image capturing device is
A scanning means for scanning the measurement light on the subject,
A frontal image acquisition means for acquiring the frontal image of the subject,
A control unit that controls the operation of the image capturing device, and
Equipped with
By executing the image capture control program by the control unit,
The data is generated in advance before the imaging operation by the imaging apparatus is started, and the relationship between the arrangement of the tissue of the subject and the scanning position of the measurement light is based on the instruction input from the user. The pre-data acquisition step to acquire the pre-data, which is the pre-specified data or the pre-specified data based on the analysis result of the subject,
By controlling the scanning means based on the collation result between the front image of the subject and the prior data acquired by the front image acquisition means, the scanning of the subject specified by the prior data is performed. A scanning control step for scanning the measurement light at a position, and
Is executed by the image capturing device,
The image capturing control program is characterized in that the prior data is data generated in advance before the observation, alignment, and image imaging of the subject, which is the imaging operation, are started .

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