Karl Storz Imaging, Inc.

Jonathan Bormet

Larry W Oslie

Efrain O Morales

William H Meyer

Gaurav Sharma

Martin Steiner

The present invention relates to a method for producing adaptive lighting controls for an endoscope with multiple light emitting elements such as distinct light fibers, or distinct distal light emitting diodes (LEDs), etc. The amount of light delivered to the scene can be locally adjusted on a per-light basis to manage the dynamic range of the scene. For example highly reflective metallic tools many benefit from reduced light, while cavities may benefit from increased light projected into the lumen.

Endoscope system with adaptive lighting control

Provided is a camera head having a capacitive sensing unit disposed along the outer surface of the camera head. The capacitive sensing unit includes a plurality of capacitive sensors. The camera head includes an electronic controller operable to process an actuation of the plurality of capacitive sensors to control a camera control function and determine a medical procedure and/or the identity of the user.

Medical imaging scope with capacitive sensor units

An imaging system includes an imaging scope, a camera, an image processor, and a system controller. The imaging scope is configured to illuminate an object and capture light reflected from the object. The camera has a light sensor with a light-sensitive surface configured to receive the captured light from the imaging scope, and generate a digital image representative of the captured light. The image processor is configured to receive the digital image from the camera, and use at least one of a random sample consensus (RANSAC) technique and a Hough Transform technique to (i) identify a boundary between an active portion and an inactive portion of the digital image and (ii) generate boundary data indicative of a characteristic of the boundary. The system controller is configured to receive the boundary data from the image processor, and use the boundary data to select and/or adjust a setting of the imaging system.

Imaging system for identifying a boundary between active and inactive portions of a digital image

An imaging system includes a light source for emitting visible light and infrared light and a camera head unit configured to capture visible light image data so as to generate a visible light image frame and configured to capture infrared image data so as to generate an infrared image frame. A camera control unit is configured to extract a structural data from the visible light image frame. The camera control unit is further configured to apply the structural data to the infrared image frame so as to enhance the infrared image with structural data.

Imaging system having structural data enhancement for non-visible spectra

Infrared imaging system having structural data enhancement

An enhanced fluorescence imaging system includes a light source for emitting non-visible and visible light and a visible light image sensor and a non-visible light image sensor. Each pixel of the visible light image sensor corresponds to a pixel of the non-visible light image sensor. Data processing hardware performs operations that include, for each pixel in the visible light image sensor, determining an intensity of visible light received by the pixel. The operations also include determining, based on the intensity, an amount of unwanted non-visible light captured by the corresponding pixel of the non-visible light image sensor. The unwanted non-visible light originates from sources other than the non-visible light source. The operations also include reducing an intensity of non-visible light in non-visible image data captured by the corresponding pixel based on the determined amount of unwanted non-visible light.

Unwanted near-infrared signal suppression

Improved exposure control processes, devices, and systems are provided for wide angle lens imaging systems that suffer from image distortion. The exposure control uses a model of the wide angle lens distortion that estimates the weights that respective pixels of the image would have when producing an undistorted version of the image signal, and then scales pixel intensity values by the respective weights to produce weighted pixel values. The weighted pixel values are provided to an exposure control pixel counting process to produce one or more exposure feedback control signals, which control exposure features of the imaging system.

Exposure control method and system for an image capture device

A method and system for real time luminance correction and detail enhancement of a video image including the steps of extracting a luminance component from a video image, separating the luminance component into an illumination layer and a scene reflectivity layer, the illumination layer having a dynamic range, compressing the dynamic range of the illumination layer to generate a corrected illumination layer, filtering the reflectivity layer to generate an enhanced reflectivity layer; and combining the corrected illumination layer with the enhanced scene reflectivity layer to generate an enhanced luminance image, is provided. A system for real time luminance correction and detail enhancement of a video image is also provided.

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Goleta, CA, United States of America

Jonathan Bormet