1991 Volume 33 Issue 7 Pages 1363-1368_1
The gastric mucosal hemodynamic changes in ulcer healing were analyzed by elec-tronic endoscope and image analyzing system. The green image which covers the main absorption peaks of hemoglobin was used as a sample image and the red image which has little absorption of hemoglobin was used as a reference. Using a special algorythm (32×log Vg/Vr, Vg : intensity of green image, Vr : intensity of red image), the intensity at each pixel was calculated automatically by personal computer. This parameter had a good correlation with the mucosal hemoglobin content measured with reflectance spectro-photometry. The ratio of ulcer area to the increased area of mucosal hemoglobin content around ulcer was used as an index of ulcer healing. When this index was plotted against the period after gastric ulceration, this index decreased exponentially with time after ulceration. Therefore, when it was plotted in semilogarythmic paper, the regression line was obtained as y=-0.218 X+0.988, r=0.72, (p<0.0002). The calculated t1/2 was 1 week. In conclusion, using electronic endoscope and image analyzing system, the speed of ulcer healing was estimated quantitatively. This method makes us possible to predict ulcer healing in human.
