US Patent 8203709 Image obtaining method and image obtaining apparatus

Emitting illumination light and auxiliary light having a wavelength range different from that of the illumination light onto an observation target simultaneously, obtaining an image formed of reflection light of the illumination light and reflection light of the auxiliary light reflected from the observation target, calculating, with respect to each pixel of the obtained image signal, estimated spectroscopic data in the wavelength range of the auxiliary light using a value of the image signal and estimated matrix data in the wavelength range of the auxiliary light stored in advance, obtaining quasi reflectivity information reflecting a reflectivity of the observation target in the wavelength range of the auxiliary light based on the estimated spectroscopic data in the wavelength range of the auxiliary light, and generating a special image based on the quasi reflectivity information.