Quantification of Mucosa oxygenation using three discrete spectral bands of visible light

Quantification of the mucosa oxygenation levels during Endoscopic imaging provides useful physiological/diagnostic information. In this work a method for non‐contact quantification of the oxygen saturation index during Endoscopic imaging using three discrete spectral‐band in the blue, the green, and the red parts of the spectrum (RGB bands) has been investigated. The oxygen saturation index ( TOI_rgb ) was calculated from the three discrete RGB spectral bands using diffusion approximation modeling and least‐square analysis. A parametric study performed to identify the optimum band width for each of the three spectral bands. The quantification algorithm was applied to in vivo images of the endobronchial mucosa to calculate (TOI_rgb) from selected areas within the image view. The results were compared to that obtained from the full visible spectral (470–700 nm, 10 nm) measurements. The analysis showed that a band width of at least 20 nm in the blue and the green is required to obtain best results. The results showed that the method provides accurate estimation of the oxygenation levels with about 90% accuracy compared to that obtained using the full spectra. The results suggest the potential of quantifying the oxygen saturation levels from the three narrow RGB spectral bands/images. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)