The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 17, 1994
Filed:
Jun. 01, 1993
Daniel P Kuban, Oak Ridge, TN (US);
H Lee Martin, Knoxville, TN (US);
Steven D Zimmermann, Knoxville, TN (US);
TeleRobotics International, Inc., Knoxville, TN (US);
Abstract
A endoscopic-type device for omnidirectional image viewing providing electronic pan-and-tilt orientation, rotation, and magnification within a selected field-of-view for use in applications in various environments such as in internal medicine inspection, monitoring, and surgery. The imaging device (using optical or infrared images) is based on the effect that the image from a wide angle lens, which produces a circular image of an entire field-of-view, can be mathematically corrected using high speed electronic circuitry. More specifically, an incoming image from a endoscope image acquisition source, including a wide angle lens, is transmitted through an image conduit and captured by a camera that produces output signals according to that image. A transformation of these output signals is performed for the viewing region of interest and viewing direction, and a corrected image is output as a video image signal for viewing, recording, or analysis. Multiple simultaneous images can be output from a single input image.