Pixelate removal in an image fiber probe endoscope incorporating comb structure removal methods

Abstract

Flexible and thin endoscopy procedures have become an indispensible tool in medical diagnostics in the recent past. However, the demands for reduced probe diameter as well as enhanced spatial resolution have not yet met the forecasted target by the clinical practitioners. There has been renewed interest in using image fiber bundle as it can offer variable resolution by exciting the chosen fiberlet groups using spatial modulator in the analog or digital form. However, the image-guiding media accompany the degradation in spatial resolution due to the fiberlet boundaries. This paper overviews different image processing protocols that can be integrated with such an image fiber based probe endoscopic system for removing the pixelate appearance from the image. Comb structure removal approaches such as spatial averaging filters, spectral filters and interpolation methods are integrated with the imaging protocol and a comparative analysis is presented in this paper. As a proof-of-concept analysis, we have eliminated the pixelation artifacts and illustrated by imaging United States Air Force (USAF) resolution test chart and neuroblastoma cells as test samples.