Microscope color image pickup apparatus, microscope color image pickup program product, and microscope color image pickup method

1. A microscope color image pickup apparatus for use in a microscope, comprising:

an image pickup unit capturing a color image observed by the microscope;

a camera characteristic information storage unit storing camera characteristic information about a characteristic of the microscope color image pickup apparatus;

a color correction parameter calculation unit calculating a color correction parameter for a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit according to the color image captured by the image pickup unit and the camera characteristic information stored in the camera characteristic information storage unit;

a color correcting unit performing a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit according to the color correction parameter calculated by the color correction parameter calculation unit;

an optical element detection unit detecting an optical element inserted into an optical path in which the illumination light travels from the illumination light source of the microscope to the image pickup unit on a basis of the color image captured by the image pickup unit and the camera characteristic information stored in the camera characteristic information storage unit; and

a color correction parameter storage unit storing a plurality of color correction parameters calculated by the color correction parameter calculation unit, wherein

the color correcting unit acquires, from the color correction parameter storage unit, the color correction parameter corresponding to the optical element detected by the optical element detection unit, and performs the color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit using the acquired color correction parameter.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

an illumination light source estimation unit estimating a type of an illumination light source of the microscope on a basis of a color image captured by the image pickup unit and the camera characteristic information stored in the camera characteristic information storage unit, wherein

the color correcting unit acquires a color correction parameter corresponding to the illumination light source estimated by the illumination light source estimation unit from the color correction parameter storage unit, and performs a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit on a basis of the acquired color correction parameter.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the color correcting unit acquires a color correction parameter corresponding to no detecting an optical element from the color correction parameter storage unit when no optical element is detected by the optical element detection unit, and performs a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit using the acquired color correction parameter.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the optical element is an optical filter.

5. A microscope color image pickup apparatus for use in a microscope, comprising:

an image pickup unit capturing a color image observed by the microscope;

a camera characteristic information storage unit storing camera characteristic information about a characteristic of the microscope color image pickup apparatus;

a color correction parameter calculation unit calculating a color correction parameter for a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit according to the color image captured by the image pickup unit and the camera characteristic information stored in the camera characteristic information storage unit;

a color correcting unit performing a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit according to the color correction parameter calculated by the color correction parameter calculation unit;

a change-with-time detection unit detecting a change with time of the camera characteristic information on a basis of the color image captured by the image pickup unit and the camera characteristic information stored in the camera characteristic information storage unit; and

a color correction parameter storage unit storing the plurality of color correction parameters calculated by the color correction parameter calculation unit, wherein

the color correcting unit acquires the color correction parameter corresponding to the change with time detected by the change-with-time detection unit from the color correction parameter storage unit, and performs a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit using the acquired color correction parameter.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the camera characteristic information indicates a spectral sensitivity characteristic of the microscope color image pickup apparatus or an integral value of the spectral sensitivity characteristic.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for storing a microscope color image pickup program used to direct a computer of a microscope color image pickup apparatus for use in a microscope to perform the function, comprising:

an image pickup procedure for capturing a color image observed by the microscope;

a camera characteristic information storage procedure storing camera characteristic information about a characteristic of the microscope color image pickup apparatus;

a color correction parameter calculation procedure for calculating a color correction parameter for a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup procedure according to the color image captured by the image pickup procedure and the camera characteristic information stored in the camera characteristic information storage procedure;

a color correcting procedure for performing a color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup procedure according to the color correction parameter calculated by the color correction parameter calculation procedure;

an optical element detection procedure for detecting an optical element inserted into an optical path in which the illumination light travels from the illumination light source of the microscope to the image pickup procedure on a basis of the color image captured by the image pickup procedure and the camera characteristic information stored in the camera characteristic information storage procedure; and

a color correction parameter storage procedure for storing the plurality of color correction parameters calculated by the color correction parameter calculation procedure, wherein

the color correcting procedure acquires the color correction parameter corresponding to the optical element detected by the optical element detection procedure, and performs the color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup procedure using the acquired color correction parameter.

8. A microscope color image pickup method used with a microscope color image pickup apparatus for use in a microscope, comprising:

capturing by an image pickup unit a color image observed by the microscope;

calculating by a color correction parameter calculation unit a color correction parameter for use in a color correcting process on the captured color image on a basis of the captured color image and camera characteristic information about a characteristic of the microscope color image pickup apparatus stored in the camera characteristic information storage unit;

performing by a color correcting unit a color correcting process on the captured color image on a basis of the calculated color correction parameter;

detecting by an optical element detection unit an optical element inserted into an optical path in which the illumination light travels from the illumination light source of the microscope to the image pickup unit on a basis of the color image captured by the image pickup unit and the camera characteristic information stored in the camera characteristic information storage unit; and

storing by a color correction parameter storage unit the plurality of color correction parameters calculated by the color correction parameter calculation unit, wherein

the color correcting unit acquires the color correction parameter corresponding to the optical element detected by the optical element detection unit, and performs the color correcting process on the color image captured by the image pickup unit using the acquired color correction parameter.