A method for acquiring at least one two-dimensional image of a part of arches of a patient includes steps carried out by the patient or other person who is not a dental health professional, for example, including placing a dental separator in the mouth of the patient in order to separate the lips of the patient and improve the visibility of the teeth during the acquisition of said at least one two-dimensional image, and acquiring, in a mouth closed position and with a personal image acquisition apparatus, said at least one two-dimensional image.

To generate a medical image with high visibility in fluorescence observation. A medical image generation apparatus (100) according to the present application includes an acquisition unit (131), a calculation unit (132), and a generation unit (134). An acquisition unit (131) acquires a first medical image captured with fluorescence of a predetermined wavelength and a second medical image captured with fluorescence of a wavelength different from the predetermined wavelength. A calculation unit (132) calculates a degree of scattering, indicating a degree of blurring of fluorescence of a living body, included in the first medical image and the second medical image acquired by the acquisition unit (131). A generation unit (134) generates an output image on the basis of at least one of the degrees of scattering calculated by the calculation unit (132).

A vessel harvesting system removes a target vessel from a patient for use as a bypass. An elongated harvesting instrument inserts into a body along a path of a target vessel which includes at least one side branch. The harvesting instrument includes a cutter for applying thermal energy to sever and cauterize the side branch. An endoscopic camera captures visible-light images from a distal tip of the instrument within a dissected tunnel around the target vessel. A thermal camera captures thermograms coinciding with the visible-light images to characterize a temperature present at respective surfaces in the tunnel. An image processor (e.g., an electronic controller) renders a video stream including the visible-light images and an overlay depicting the temperatures present on at least some of the respective surfaces when applying the thermal energy. A display presenting the video stream and overlay to a user can be an augmented-reality display.

Video editing software tools platform utilizing a video display to provide access to specific video editing software tools, such as video oriented applications or widgets, that can assist those in a video broadcasting team, such as a camera operator or video editor, with a video broadcast feed. Various video editing software tools can provide features and functions that can add visual context to video data presented in the image stream from the video camera and provide archived information pertaining to the same. Various embodiments relate to systems and methods for simultaneously switching input image streams to output devices, while providing optional image processing functions on the image streams. Certain embodiments may enable multiple users/viewers to collaboratively control such systems and methods.

A method for supporting a user, a corresponding computer program product, a corresponding data medium, and a corresponding imaging system are provided. According to the method, a three-dimensional (3D) data set depicting a target object is provided, and at least one two-dimensional (2D) image of the target object is automatically acquired. The 2D image and the 3D data set are automatically registered with each other by a 2D/3D registration. A spatial direction in which the 2D/3D registration exhibits greatest uncertainty is automatically specified. A signal for aligning an instrument that is provided for the purpose of examining the target object is then automatically generated and output as a function of the specified spatial direction in order to support the user.

A medical imaging system is described that comprises an heating element configured to apply at least one heating pattern element to a material to locally heat the material; a sensor configured to capture the position of the heated material a predetermined time after the application of the heating pattern element; and circuitry configured to determine the change of the heating pattern applied to the material based upon the captured position of the heated material after the predetermined time.

A surgical operation support apparatus 1 for performing effective display with respect to a target site image according to the situation has a detection unit 2 that detects a target site image from an image capturing an inside of a living body, an estimation unit 3 that estimates whether the target site image is being observed, and a display information generation unit 4 that generates a first display for facilitating observation of the target site image, if it is estimated that the target site image is being observed.

An image processing apparatus includes a processor including hardware. The processor is configured to: set a first acquisition condition and a second acquisition condition for a video processor configured to acquire a first image that is based on a display-purpose acquisition condition for acquiring an image for display at a frame rate for viewing and a second image that is based on an analysis-purpose acquisition condition for acquiring an image for image analysis at a frame rate that is lower than the frame rate for viewing, in a mixed manner, the first acquisition condition including the display-purpose acquisition condition, the second acquisition condition including the display-purpose acquisition condition and the analysis-purpose acquisition condition; generate support information based on an image analysis result; and control switching between the first acquisition condition and the second acquisition condition according to the image analysis result.

An image processing unit of a processor for an endoscope includes: an emphasis processing calculation unit performing nonlinear gradation conversion for a pixel value of a pixel of interest, using each pixel of a captured image as the pixel of interest; and a preprocessing unit setting a reference upper limit characteristic line and a reference lower limit characteristic line in order to adjust an output pixel value after the nonlinear gradation conversion and calculating a degree of variation in pixel values in a partial setting region around the pixel of interest. The emphasis processing calculation unit calculates an output ratio of the output pixel value to a maximum pixel value that can be taken by the captured image, an adjustment upper limit value and an adjustment lower limit value, and an emphasis-processed pixel value, using the adjustment upper limit value, the adjustment lower limit value, and the output ratio.

A novel in-vivo image capture device for capsule endoscope and its method of operation are described. The device includes a wafer level camera module design, high sensitivity backside illumination pixel with high definition image output and LED's to provide illumination, which is synchronized with an image sensor strobe signal. A frame rate of the device can be adjusted based on an angular motion detection from a gyroscope sensor, in which a high frame rate mode is maintained during fast motion while a low frame rate is maintained during slow or no motion. The image capture device also includes machine learning based SOC for image processing, enhancement, and compression. The SOC can process and store zone average of images. The image capture device also includes a high density flash storage to store images in the device, thus no RF transmitter is needed, which make the system more convenient to use.