PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance only the concavity and the convexity on living tissues such as surface microstructures, thickening or the like.SOLUTION: By irradiating a fluorescent material with excitation light EL from an excitation light source, the fluorescent material is excited and emits white light. A subject is irradiated with the white light W and blue narrow band light BN simultaneously. In the light intensity ratio between the blue narrow band light BN and the excitation light EL, the ratio of the blue narrow band light BN is made larger than that of the excitation light EL. Image light of reflected light from the subject is imaged using a color CCD and a surface enhanced image 68 is acquired. The surface enhanced image 58 is subjected to contrast adjustment to increase the brightness of the microstructures 70 and to decrease the brightness of the microscopic vessels 71 and the mucosal membrane 72 other than the microstructures 70. By doing so, a microstructure enhanced image 74 in which only the microstructures 70 are enhanced is acquired.COPYRIGHT: (C)2013,JPO&INPIT【課題】表層微細構造や肥厚などの生体組織上の凹凸のみを明瞭化する。【解決手段】励起光光源からの励起光ELを蛍光体に当てて白色光を励起発光させる。この白色光Wと青色狭帯域光BNを被検体に同時に照射する。青色狭帯域光BNと励起光ELの光量比において、青色狭帯域光BNの比率を励起光ELの比率よりも大きくする。被検体からの反射光の像光をカラーのCCDで撮像することにより、表層強調画像68を得る。表層強調画像58に対して、微細構造70の明るさを上げる一方で、微細構造70以外の微細血管71及び粘膜72の明るさを下げるコントラスト調整を行う。これにより、微細構造70のみが明瞭化した微細構造強調画像74が得られる。【選択図】図8
