| abstract |
When a fluorescence image is to be displayed, a region of interest in a living body is irradiated with excitation light so that the fluorescence emitted therefrom is detected by a cold CCD camera via image fibers. A color mosaic filter is fixed on the detection surface of the cold CCD camera so that the fluorescence is separated into three fluorescence components corresponding to red, green and blue wavelength ranges before being detected. The signal intensity corresponding to the red wavelength range is divided by the total signal intensity which is the sum of the signal intensities corresponding to the red, green and blue wavelength ranges. A visual image displayed on the monitor is based on thus divided signal intensity. As it is quite rare that the total signal intensity becomes zero, occurrence of an operation error due to division by the value of zero can be restrained. |