WO2017150836A1

WO2017150836A1 - Image generation system and method for real-time laryngeal videostroboscopy, high speed videolaryngoscopy, and plane scan digital kymography

Info

Publication number: WO2017150836A1
Application number: PCT/KR2017/001876
Authority: WO
Inventors: 왕용진; 강덕훈
Original assignee: 왕용진; 강덕훈
Priority date: 2016-03-02
Filing date: 2017-02-21
Publication date: 2017-09-08

Abstract

The present invention relates to an image generation system for real-time laryngeal videostroboscopy, high speed laryngoscopy, and plane scan digital kymography, comprising: a light source device for emitting a continuous light source for illuminating the vocal cords; a camera including an external trigger function and photographing the vocal cords; and an image observation server for generating, according to whether the external trigger is operated, a laryngeal videostroboscopy image or a plane scan digital kymography image on the basis of the image captured by the camera.

Description

Image generation system and method for real-time laryngeal stroboscopy, high-speed laryngeal endoscopy, and planar scan digital chymography

The present invention relates to an image generating technique for vocal cord examination, which accurately observes the movement of the vocal cords using a high-speed camera with an external trigger function, and simultaneously observes images of real-time laryngeal stroboscopy, high-speed laryngoscope, and planar scan digital chymography. It also relates to a possible image generation system and method.

Human vocal cords vibrate quickly, approximately 100 to 300 times per second, so visual evaluation is impossible. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to see the movement of the fast vocal cords at a slow speed. Vocal vocal vibration evaluation, which directly observes the larynx, can be divided into morphological and functional tests. Morphological modality includes laryngeal videostroboscopy (LVS) and high speed videolaryngoscopy (HSV), and functional methods include laryngeal videostrobokymography, Line scanning videokymography (VKG), two dimensional scanning videokymography (2DVKG), and digital kymography (DKG). The most commonly used imaging modality in clinical practice is laryngeal stroboscopy.

Laryngeal stroboscopy not only helps diagnose voice disorders, but also plays an important role in determining voice and surgical treatment. However, it is impossible to test itself if it is not a real image and there is no periodicity or if there is no continuous speech for 3-5 seconds due to lung disease.

As such, laryngeal stroboscopy has limitations in the use of patients without periodicity, and the limitation of sampling rate that can be recorded does not show all cycles of the vocal cords, such as ultrafast laryngoscope findings. Many features of the vocal cords, which cannot be observed by examination, can be observed and are of better image quality than ultrafast laryngoscopy. In addition, ease of use, cost effectiveness, and the advantage of obtaining synchronized voice feedback have been widely used in clinical practice to date.

However, HSV is capable of recording at high frame rates of more than 2,000 frames per second and color images are the ideal test for morphological diagnosis such as laryngeal inflammation and laryngeal vitiligo evaluation, but recordable time is a few seconds and file size is very large. Because of its size, it takes more than 30 minutes to play after recording, and evaluation of the played video is not easy. There is also a lack of quantitative variables to assess the type and degree of irregularity of vocal cord movement.

To overcome this drawback, methods of converting the recorded image into functional images are introduced. These include glottal width waveforms, glottal domain waveforms, phonovibrography, rulingogography, and digital kymography (DKG). Amongst these techniques, DKG analysis is widely used as the best way to assess the temporal characteristics of HSV data, but because of the high cost of the instrument and its low resolution compared to large data files and laryngeal stroboscopy images, actual clinical trials Limited use in.

[Preceding technical literature]

[Patent Documents]

(Patent Document 1) Korean Patent Publication No. 2003-0046787

[Non-Patent Documents]

(Non-Patent Document 1) Svec J, Schutte H. Videokymography: high-speed line scanning of vocal fold vibration. J Voice. 1996; 10: 201-205.

(Non-Patent Document 2) Hirose H. High-speed digital imaging of vocal fold vibration. Acta Otolaryngol Suppl. 1988; 458: 151-153.

An object of the present invention is to observe the rapid movement of the vocal cords using the external trigger function of the high speed camera, to obtain information about one cycle of the vocal cords, and at the same time both the images of laryngeal stroboscopy and planar scan digital chimography in real time. The present invention provides an image generation system that enables morphological and functional evaluation of vocal cords.

By using a high-speed laryngoscope camera and an external trigger function of 600-1550 frames per second, which is an object of the present invention, it is possible to observe, photograph, store, and reproduce in near real time, and one cycle from multiple cycles of images An object of the present invention is to provide an image generating system configured to be substantially equal to the fundamental frequency.

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides an image generating system for real-time laryngeal sproboscopy, high-speed laryngoscope, and planar scan digital chymography, comprising: a light source device for emitting a continuous light source for illuminating the vocal cords; A camera having a function of an external trigger and photographing the vocal cords; And an image observation server configured to generate a laryngeal stroboscopic image or a planar scan digital chymograph image based on the image photographed from the camera according to whether the external trigger operates.

Preferably, the light source device can emit light of a continuous light source corresponding to the xenon light source.

Preferably, the camera may correspond to a high speed camera that acquires an image of 600 frames per second.

Preferably, the image observation server, laryngeal stroboscopic image generation unit for generating a laryngeal stroboscopic image for the vocal cords when the function of the external trigger of the camera operates; And when the function of the external trigger of the camera does not operate, it may include a planar scan digital chymography image generating unit for generating a planar scan digital chymography image for the vocal cords.

Preferably, the laryngeal stroboscopic image generating unit includes a voice signal receiving module for receiving a voice signal of a subject; A trigger frequency setting module for setting a trigger frequency based on a fundamental frequency of the voice signal; A trigger signal providing module for providing a trigger signal to the camera according to the trigger frequency; An image receiving module which receives an image photographed by the camera according to the trigger signal; And an image generation module for generating the laryngeal stroboscopic image by combining the received images.

Preferably, the voice signal receiving module may receive the voice signal from a voice detector or a microphone attached to the center of the neck under the annular cartilage of the subject.

Preferably, the trigger frequency setting module sets a value obtained by adding or subtracting a specific frequency to the basic frequency as the trigger frequency, and the specific frequency may correspond to 1 Hz to 0.5 Hz.

Preferably, the image receiving module receives a still image of one frame corresponding to a specific part in an image of a continuous period according to the movement of the vocal cords, which is captured by the camera according to the trigger signal, and receives the received image. Still images may be sequentially stored, but the still images may be sampled within a specific frequency in the image of the continuous period.

Preferably, the image generating module may generate the virtual image of one cycle of the movement of the vocal cords by combining the stored still images.

Preferably, the planar scan digital chymography image generating unit comprises: an image receiving module configured to receive an image photographed by the camera; A pixel information extraction module configured to set a target area and a unit pixel from the image, and extract pixel information of each frame according to the target area and the unit pixel; A frame generation module configured to combine the pixel information of each extracted frame to generate a frame for constructing the planar scan digital chymograph image; And an image generation module that generates the planar scan digital chymograph image by combining the frames.

Preferably, whether the external trigger of the camera is operated may be switched in real time.

A second aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is performed in an image generating system for real-time laryngeal sproboscopy, high-speed laryngoscopy, and planar scan digital chymography, comprising a light source device, a camera, and an image observation server. A method of generating an image comprising: (a) checking whether an external trigger function of the camera is operated; And (b) generating a laryngeal stroboscopic image or a planar scan digital chymograph image based on the image photographed from the camera according to whether the external trigger operates.

Preferably, the step (b) comprises: (b-1) generating a laryngeal stroboscopic image of the vocal cords when the function of the external trigger of the camera is operated; And (b-2) generating a planar scan digital chymograph image of the vocal cords when the function of the external trigger of the camera does not operate.

Preferably, step (b-1) comprises: receiving a voice signal of a subject; Setting a trigger frequency based on a fundamental frequency of the voice signal; Providing a trigger signal to the camera according to the trigger frequency; Receiving an image photographed by the camera according to the trigger signal; And combining the received images to generate the laryngeal stroboscopy image.

Preferably, step (b-2) comprises: receiving an image photographed by the camera; Setting a target region and a unit pixel from the image, and extracting pixel information of each frame according to the target region and unit pixel; Generating a frame to compose the planar scan digital chymograph image by combining pixel information of each extracted frame; And combining the frames to generate a planar scan digital chymograph image.

As described above, according to the present invention, a system incorporating laryngeal stroboscopy, high-speed laryngoscopy, and planar-scan digital chymography, as well as laryngeal stroboscopy and high-speed laryngoscopy, is a functional image form of planar-scan digital chemography It combines the advantages of laryngeal scaffolding, which can acquire planar scan digital chymography while feeding back voice and video using the high-speed laryngoscope function, and the laryngeal stroboscopy function. Since the recording of the roboscopic image is possible, it is effective to provide the clinician with useful and specific information in a short time.

In addition, the use of real-time high-speed laryngoscopy and planar scan digital chymography has the effect of providing specific information to the clinician with a short talk time.

In addition, multiple function tests using images of laryngeal stroboscopy, high-speed laryngoscopes, and planar-scan digital chymography can save time in terms of time, and at the same time evaluate the patient's vocal cord vibration. Therefore, compared with each test, it is possible to increase the accuracy of the diagnosis of vocal cord disease.

1 is a block diagram of an image generation system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image observing server of FIG. 1.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an image generating method of laryngeal stroboscopic image performed in the image generating system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an image generating method of a planar scan digital chymography image performed in the image generating system of FIG. 1.

5 is an exemplary diagram for describing a still image captured by a camera according to a trigger signal.

6 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a fast laryngeal endoscope image and a multi-frame laryngeal stroboscopy image.

7 is another exemplary diagram illustrating a fast laryngeal endoscope image and a laryngeal stroboscopic image generated by the present invention.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and a method of achieving them will be apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various forms, and only the present embodiments are intended to complete the disclosure of the present invention, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. “And / or” includes each and all combinations of one or more of the items mentioned.

Although the first, second, etc. are used to describe various elements, components and / or sections, these elements, components and / or sections are of course not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component or section from another element, component or section. Therefore, the first device, the first component, or the first section mentioned below may be a second device, a second component, or a second section within the technical spirit of the present invention.

In addition, in each step, an identification code (eg, a, b, c, etc.) is used for convenience of description, and the identification code does not describe the order of the steps, and each step is clearly specified in context. Unless stated in order, it may occur differently from the stated order. That is, each step may occur in the same order as specified, may be performed substantially simultaneously, or may be performed in the reverse order.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In this specification, the singular also includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise in the phrase. As used herein, “comprises” and / or “comprising” refers to the presence of one or more other components, steps, operations and / or elements. Or does not exclude additions.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the present specification may be used in a sense that can be commonly understood by those skilled in the art. In addition, the terms defined in the commonly used dictionaries are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless they are specifically defined clearly.

In describing the embodiments of the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, terms to be described below are terms defined in consideration of functions in the embodiments of the present invention, which may vary according to intentions or customs of users and operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

Referring to FIG. 1, the image generating system 100 includes a light source device 110, a laryngoscope 120, a camera 130, and an image observing server 150.

The light source device 110 is a device for illuminating the vocal cords, and the laryngoscope 120 is a mechanism for observing the vocal cords, and an image of the vocal cords is observed by the light source device 110 and the laryngoscope 120. Preferably, the light source device 110 may emit a continuous light source for illuminating the vocal cords, for example, may emit a continuous light source corresponding to a Xenon light source. In addition, the laryngoscope 120 may be implemented integrally with the camera 130 to be described below.

The camera 130 is connected to the light source device 110 and the laryngoscope 120 to photograph, record, and store images of the larynx including the vocal cords and the gates. Preferably, the camera 130 may correspond to a high speed camera that acquires an image of 600 frames per second, and may be, for example, a high speed CCD camera or a global shutter type CMOS camera. In addition, the camera 130 may have a function of an external trigger, wherein the external trigger function is for directly determining the moment of acquiring the image. For example, a camera without an external trigger function acquires images at the same interval of 1/30 seconds when acquiring a still image of 30 frames per second, but not 1/30 seconds using a camera with an external trigger function. Still images may be acquired at different time intervals. Preferably, the external trigger function may be implemented in a hardware method and a software method. In the hardware method, the trigger device 140 is connected to the camera 130, and the camera device 130 is a still image in the trigger device 140. It is possible to determine when to obtain. When the external trigger function is implemented in a software manner, a time point for acquiring a still image may be determined by a program controlling the camera 130. For example, the external trigger function may control the camera 130 in the image observation server 150. A time point for acquiring a still image may be determined by a program.

The image observation server 150 is an apparatus for receiving images captured by the camera 130 and generating images for real-time laryngeal stroboscopy, high-speed laryngoscope, and planar scan digital chymography. Preferably, the image observing server 150 may generate a laryngeal stroboscopic image or a planar scan digital chymograph image based on the image captured by the camera 130 according to whether the external trigger of the camera 130 operates. In addition, the image observation server 150 is an image generated in connection with the display device, that is, a high-speed laryngeal endoscope image 161, a multi-frame laryngeal stroboscopy image 162, a planar scan digital chimography image 163, and a high speed The image 164 combined with the laryngoscope image and the planar scan digital chymograph image may be output, and the images may be stored in an internal storage device of the image observation server 150 or an external storage device connected to the image observation server 150. And manage.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image observing server of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the image observing server 150 includes a laryngeal stroboscopic image generator 210, a planar scan digital chymography image generator 220, and a controller 230, and the controller 230 is a laryngeal larynx. The operation of the stroboscope image generator 210 and the planar scan digital chymograph image generator 220 controls the flow of data.

Preferably, the image observation server 150 may basically generate a high-speed laryngoscopy image, and the method for generating a high-speed laryngoscope image is based on conventional techniques, and thus, the present invention will not be described in detail.

Preferably, the laryngeal stroboscopic image generation unit 210 generates a laryngeal stroboscopic image of the vocal cords when the external trigger function of the camera 130 operates, and receives a voice signal receiving module 211 and a trigger frequency setting module. 212, a trigger signal providing module 213, an image receiving module 214, and an image generating module 215.

In addition, when the function of the external trigger of the camera 130 does not operate, the planar scan digital chymography image generator 220 generates a plane scan digital chymography image for the vocal cords, and receives the image receiving module 221 and the pixel. An information extraction module 222, a frame generation module 223, and an image generation module 224.

Hereinafter, a method of generating an image of a laryngeal stroboscopic image performed by the laryngeal stroboscopic image generator 210 of the image observation server 150 will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

First, the function of the external trigger of the camera 130 is operated (step S310). Preferably, whether to operate the function of the external trigger may be set by the user.

The voice and vibration signal receiving module 211 receives a voice and vibration signal of the examinee (step S320). Preferably, the subject may be provided with a vibration detector in the center of the neck under the cartilaginous cartilage or may be provided with a microphone connected to the image observation server 150, and the voice signal receiving module 211 may be connected to the vibration detector or microphone when the subject speaks. The voice signal of the input subject may be received.

The trigger frequency setting module 212 sets the trigger frequency based on the fundamental frequency of the voice signal (step S330). Preferably, the trigger frequency setting module 212 sets a threshold frequency plus a specific frequency as the trigger frequency. In this case, the specific frequency may correspond to 0.5 Hz to 1 Hz. For example, if an image is captured for one second during the speech of the subject, the frequency of the subject's speech, that is, the same number of stops as the fundamental frequency, may be used. Since an image may be acquired and a laryngeal stroboscopic image containing one cycle of vocal cord movement for one second may be generated by 1 Hz added to the fundamental frequency, the trigger frequency setting module 212 may add a specific frequency to the fundamental frequency. Is to set the value to the trigger frequency.

The trigger signal providing module 213 provides a trigger signal to the camera 130 according to the trigger frequency (step S340). That is, the trigger signal providing module 213 provides a trigger signal to the camera 130 when the still image is captured so that the camera 130 can capture a still image according to the trigger frequency. Preferably, the shutter speed of the camera 130 may be adjusted to a 1 / 1,000 second or 1 / 2,000 second duration.

The image receiving module 214 receives an image captured by the camera according to the trigger signal (step S350). Preferably, the image receiving module 214 receives a still image of one frame corresponding to a specific portion in the image of the continuous period according to the movement of the vocal cords, which is captured by the camera 130 according to the trigger signal, and here However, still images can be sampled within a certain frequency in a series of images. In addition, the received still images may be sequentially stored. For example, the image captured by the camera 130 may be stored in a PC connected to a USB 3.0 high-speed digital camera or a medical image storage transmission device (MediView SDHD, U-medical, Korea). have.

The image generating module 215 combines the images received by the image receiving module 214 to generate a laryngeal stroboscopic image (S360). Preferably, the image generation module 215 may combine the stored still images to generate a laryngeal stroboscopic image corresponding to a virtual image of one cycle of the movement of the vocal cords. In addition, the image generation module 215 may store the generated laryngeal stroboscopic image in an internal storage device or an external storage device, or output it to a display device connected to the image observation server 150.

For example, referring to FIG. 5, when the continuous and periodic movement of the vocal cords according to the voice of a subject is the same as the sine wave shown in FIG. 5, the camera 130 may provide a trigger signal provided by the trigger signal providing module 213. As a result, a still image of one frame corresponding to the specific portions 511 to 513 may be captured in continuous and periodic movement of the vocal cords. The image receiving module 214 sequentially receives and stores still images of each frame corresponding to 511 to 513 photographed by the camera 130, and the image generating module 215 corresponds to the stored 511 to 513. One cycle of the image 520 may be generated by combining the still images of each frame.

That is, the laryngeal stroboscopic image generation unit 210 of the image observation server 150 according to the present invention sets the trigger frequency based on the fundamental frequency corresponding to the speech frequency of the subject's vocal cords through steps S320 to S360, By adjusting the image sampling rate of the camera 130 using an external trigger according to the trigger frequency, a high-speed video image captured by a high-speed camera of 2,000 frames or more per second by configuring the number of images per cycle of the vocal cord vibration close to the fundamental frequency A laryngeal straw conservative nosebleed image can be generated that exhibits the same effect.

For example, if the subject utters at a fundamental frequency of 150 Hz, the vocal cords of the subject move 150 times per second, and the trigger frequency is set to 151 Hz with a delay of 1 Hz from the fundamental frequency, thereby moving the vocal cords of the subject for 1 second. By using the external trigger function, 75 still images can be obtained. As another example, when the trigger frequency is set to 150.5 Hz, which is delayed by 0.5 Hz from the fundamental frequency, and the motion of the subject's vocal cords is acquired using an external trigger function for 150 seconds, 150 still images may be obtained. That is, when a still image is acquired using the setting of the trigger frequency and the external trigger function, more frames can be obtained than conventional cameras (usually 25 to 30 FPS), so that the motion of the vocal cords is increased by more frames, that is, Multi-frame laryngeal videostroboscopy (MF LVS) allows the movement of the vocal cords to be observed, allowing for the identification of finer vocal motions.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 4, a method of generating an image of a planar scan digital chymograph image performed by the planar scan digital chymograph image generator 220 of the image observing server 150 will be described.

First, the function of the external trigger of the camera 130 is not operated (step S410). Preferably, whether to operate the function of the external trigger may be set by the user.

The image receiving module 221 receives an image photographed by the camera 130 (step S420). Preferably, the image receiving module 221 may convert the laryngoscope analog image photographed in real time from the camera 130 into high-speed laryngoscope digital image data to obtain in real time. Alternatively, the image receiving module 221 may load a laryngoscope image pre-stored in an internal storage device or an external storage device of the image observation server 150.

The pixel information extraction module 222 sets a target area and a unit pixel from the received image, and extracts pixel information of each frame according to the target area and the unit pixel (step S430). Here, the target area is an area of which part of the high-speed laryngoscopy image is to be generated as a planar scan digital chymography image, and the unit pixel corresponds to at least one predetermined pixel constituting a predetermined pixel line or a pixel line of the target area. In this case, it is a unit serving as a reference for extracting pixel information for each frame of the fast laryngeal endoscope image. In addition, the pixel information extraction module 222 may set format information, for example, a frame rate, of a planar scan digital chymography image to be generated.

Preferably, the pixel information extraction module 222 may extract pixel information every frame by the set unit pixel from the first frame of the high-speed laryngoscope image. In addition, the pixel information extraction module 222 extracts pixel information of a specific frame from among frames of the high-speed laryngeal endoscope image, and extracts pixel information to extract pixel information from the next position of the location from which the pixel information is extracted. Can be determined by location. That is, the pixel information extraction position is determined as the next position of the pixel position extracted in the previous frame, and the movement of the pixel information extraction position is determined as one of the top to bottom, top to bottom, top to bottom, and bottom to be constant in every frame. Is moved in the direction.

The frame generation module 223 combines the extracted pixel information of each frame to generate a frame for constructing a planar scan digital chymography image (step S440). Preferably, the frame generation module 223 uses the pixel information of each extracted frame of the high-speed laryngeal endoscope image according to the pixel information extraction position from which the pixel information is extracted, and the pixel at the pixel position corresponding to the frame of the planar scan digital chymography image. The pixel information extraction process may be performed on all frames of the high-speed laryngeal endoscope image to generate frames of the planar scan digital chymograph image.

In one embodiment, the frame generation module 223 may correct brightness, saturation, blurring, sharpness, or rotation of a frame of the generated planar scan digital chymograph image.

The image generation module 224 combines the frames to generate a planar scan digital chymography image (step S450). Preferably, the image generation module 224 may store the generated planar scan digital chymography image in an internal storage device or an external storage device, or output the generated flat scan digital chymography image to a display device connected to the image observation server 150.

Preferably, whether the external trigger of the camera 130 is operated may be switched in real time by the user. That is, since the function of the external trigger of the camera 130 can be switched in real time during the image acquisition, the planar scan digital chymography by the planar scan digital chymography image generator 220 performed in a state where the trigger function is not operated. Switching of the laryngeal stroboscopic image generation method by the laryngeal stroboscopic image generation unit 210 which is performed while the image generation method and the trigger function are operated is possible in real time without a large delay time.

Referring to FIG. 6, 160 still images obtained by photographing the vocal cords of a subject whose basic frequency corresponds to 160 Hz, that is, 160 Hz, are captured by the camera 130.

Referring to (a) of FIG. 6, a high-speed laryngeal endoscope image captured by the 1,350 FPS camera 130 generates 160 still images for about 0.12 seconds, and the movement of the vocal cords in one cycle is about 9 still images. Appears. In addition, while the high-speed laryngoscope image corresponding to (a) of FIG. 6 is photographed, the corresponding image may be confirmed through a display device in real time.

In addition, in (a) of FIG. 6, the frame indicated by the solid red line is photographed by a conventional laryngeal stroboscopic imaging apparatus photographing at about 30 frames per second. The conventional laryngeal stroboscopy imaging apparatus captures only one frame indicated by a solid red line while being photographed.

Referring to FIG. 6 (b), 160 still images are generated for one second from a multi-frame laryngeal stroboscopic image obtained by the laryngeal stroboscopic image generator 210 of the image observation server 150. The movement of the vocal cords of the cycle is represented by 160 still images. That is, in the multi-frame laryngeal stroboscopy image according to the present invention, the movement of one vocal cord is composed of the number of frames which is almost equal to the phonation frequency. Preferably, while the laryngeal stroboscopic image corresponding to (b) of FIG. 6 is photographed, the image may be confirmed in real time through the display device, and thus, the shape of the vocal cords is visually confirmed while the vocal cord is moved through the display device. Can be. On the other hand, the laryngeal stroboscopy image generated by the conventional laryngeal stroboscopy image capturing apparatus is composed of about 35 frames of movement of one vocal cord.

Referring to FIG. 7, the still images obtained by capturing the vocal cords of a test subject having a basic frequency of 100 Hz, that is, 100 Hz, by the camera 130 are arranged in chronological order, and the function of the external trigger does not operate. Corresponding to the fast laryngeal endoscope image 710 obtained in the case, and the multi-frame laryngeal stroboscopic images 720 and 730 obtained when the function of the external trigger operates.

Referring to the high-speed laryngoscope image 710, the movement of the vocal cords of one cycle is represented by both four still images, and as described with reference to FIG. The shape of is hard to see clearly.

Referring to the multi-frame laryngeal stroboscopic image 720, the image is obtained according to the time obtained from the first frame to the 10th frame, and the multi-frame laryngeal stroboscopic image 730 is the time obtained from the first frame to the 101st frame. It shows the image according to. Here, although the acquired image is omitted between the first frame and the 100th frame of the multi-frame laryngeal stroboscopic image 730, the image from the first frame to the 10th frame of the multi-frame laryngeal stroboscopic image 720 is obtained. do.

In other words, when a laryngoscope of a patient speaking at a high frequency using an existing high speed camera is photographed, only a few still images are acquired during one cycle of opening and closing the vocal cords, and about 2-6 frames per cycle of the vocal cord oscillation. Since only the flagging images were observed in the distance, almost no function as a high-speed laryngoscopy camera was observed, but according to the present invention, since the still image is captured by the camera 130 using an external trigger based on the basic frequency of the examinee. In other words, a higher number of still images may be acquired by a person speaking at a higher frequency.

For example, in the case of a high-speed camera developed for capturing laryngoscope images without the function of an external trigger, the maximum number of frames acquired is about 8,000 frames per second (8,000 FPS), and most of the still images of about 3,000 frames can be obtained. The resolution of the image is also very small. When laryngoscope images are taken with the corresponding 8,000 FPS camera with comfortable vocalization (male: approx. 125 Hz, female: approx. 200 Hz) in adult men and women, 64 men and 40 women Still images could be obtained.

On the other hand, when the camera 130 according to the present invention, that is, laryngoscope images of the same target using a 600 ~ 1,550 FPS camera of VGA resolution supporting laryngeal stroboscopy technology, 125 men and 200 women Still images can be acquired. In addition, the resolution of the still image is also VGA-class, resulting in a better image quality than the 8,000 FPS camera. As another example, when the camera 130 according to the present invention is used, 600 still images may be acquired with respect to voice utterance of a subject corresponding to a maximum of 600 Hz. As another example, when the resolution of the camera 130 is set to QVGA instead of VGA, still images may be acquired at a maximum of 1,550 FPS, and in this environment, 1,550 for a voice of a subject corresponding to a maximum of 1,550 Hz may be obtained. Intestinal still images may be obtained.

On the other hand, the image generating method according to an embodiment of the present invention can also be implemented as computer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored.

For example, a computer-readable recording medium may be a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a hard disk, a floppy disk, a removable storage device, a nonvolatile memory (Flash memory). Optical data storage.

The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over computer systems connected through a computer communication network and stored and executed as readable code in a distributed fashion.

Although a preferred embodiment of the image generating system according to the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. This also belongs to the present invention.

[Description of the code]

100: image generation system

110: light source device 120: laryngoscope

130: camera 140: external trigger

150: video observation server 161 to 164: video

210: laryngeal stroboscopic image generation unit

211: voice and vibration signal receiving module 212: trigger frequency setting module

213: trigger signal providing module 214: video receiving module

215: image generation module

220: planar scan digital chymography image generating unit

221: image receiving module 222: pixel information extraction module

223: frame generation module 224: image generation module

230: control

Claims

In an image generation system for real-time laryngeal sproboscopy, high-speed laryngoscopy, and planar scan digital chymography,

A light source device for emitting a continuous light source for illuminating the vocal cords;

A camera having a function of an external trigger and photographing the vocal cords; And

And an image observation server configured to generate a laryngeal stroboscopic image or a planar scan digital chymography image based on the image taken from the camera according to whether the external trigger is operated.
The method of claim 1, wherein the light source device,

And a continuous light source corresponding to the xenon light source.
The method of claim 1, wherein the camera,

An image generating system, characterized in that it corresponds to a high-speed camera that acquires an image of 600 ~ 1,550 frames per second.
According to claim 1, The video observation server,

A laryngeal stroboscopic image generation unit configured to generate a laryngeal stroboscopic image of the vocal cords when a function of an external trigger of the camera is operated; And

And a planar scan digital chymography image generator for generating a planar scan digital chymography image for the vocal cords when the function of the external trigger of the camera does not operate.
The laryngeal stroboscopy image generation unit of claim 4.

A voice and vibration signal receiving module for receiving a voice and vibration signal of the examinee;

A trigger frequency setting module for setting a trigger frequency based on a fundamental frequency of the voice and vibration signals;

A trigger signal providing module for providing a trigger signal to the camera according to the trigger frequency;

An image receiving module which receives an image photographed by the camera according to the trigger signal; And

And an image generation module for combining the received images to generate the laryngeal stroboscopic image.
The method of claim 5, wherein the voice and vibration signal receiving module,

And receiving the voice and vibration signals from a vibration detector or a microphone attached to the center of the neck under the annular cartilage of the subject.
The method of claim 5, wherein the trigger frequency setting module,

And a value obtained by adding or subtracting a specific frequency to the basic frequency as the trigger frequency, wherein the specific frequency corresponds to 1 Hz to 0.5 Hz.
The method of claim 5, wherein the image receiving module,

Receiving a still image of one frame corresponding to a specific part of the image of the continuous cycle according to the movement of the vocal cords taken by the camera according to the trigger signal, and sequentially stores the received still image,

And the still image is sampled within a specific frequency in the image of the continuous period.
The method of claim 8, wherein the image generation module,

And combining the stored still images to generate a virtual image of one cycle of the movement of the vocal cords.
The method of claim 4, wherein the planar scan digital chymography image generating unit,

An image receiving module which receives an image photographed by the camera;

A pixel information extraction module configured to set a target area and a unit pixel from the image, and extract pixel information of each frame according to the target area and the unit pixel;

A frame generation module configured to combine the pixel information of each extracted frame to generate a frame for constructing the planar scan digital chymograph image; And

And an image generation module for combining the frames to generate a planar scan digital chymography image.
The method of claim 1,

Image generation system, characterized in that the operation of the external trigger of the camera is switched in real time.
An image generating method performed in an image generating system for real-time laryngeal sproboscopy, high-speed laryngoscope, and planar scan digital chymography, comprising a light source device, a camera, and an image observation server,

(a) checking whether an external trigger function provided in the camera is operated; And

and (b) generating a laryngeal stroboscopic image or a planar scan digital chymograph image based on the image taken from the camera according to whether the external trigger is operated.
The method of claim 12, wherein step (b) comprises:

(b-1) generating a laryngeal stroboscopic image of the vocal cords when a function of an external trigger of the camera is operated; And

(b-2) generating a planar scan digital chymography image of the vocal cords when the function of the external trigger of the camera does not operate.
The method of claim 13, wherein step (b-1) comprises:

Receiving a voice and a vibration signal of the examinee;

Setting a trigger frequency based on a fundamental frequency of the voice and vibration signals;

Providing a trigger signal to the camera according to the trigger frequency;

Receiving an image photographed by the camera according to the trigger signal; And

And combining the received images to generate the laryngeal stroboscopy image.
The method of claim 13, wherein step (b-2) comprises:

Receiving an image photographed by the camera;

Setting a target region and a unit pixel from the image, and extracting pixel information of each frame according to the target region and unit pixel;

Generating a frame to compose the planar scan digital chymograph image by combining pixel information of each extracted frame; And

Combining the frames to generate a planar scan digital chymograph image.