Method for capturing and displaying endoscopic maps

1. A method of obtaining endoscopic maps with an endoscope having a longitudinal axis and a view vector with an attendant view that pivots relative to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope, the method comprising:

programming a scan trajectory along which the view vector moves relative to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope to provide a predefined sequence of overlapping views of a surface;

capturing a sequence of overlapping images corresponding to the predefined sequence of overlapping views as the view vector moves along the scan trajectory;

associating a set of configuration coordinates with each of the captured images;

using the captured images and the configuration coordinates associated therewith to create a map of the surface larger than the view that attends the view vector; and

selecting a location on the map and automatically moving the view vector to an orientation of the view vector when an image corresponding to the location was captured.

2. A method of obtaining endoscopic maps with an endoscope having a longitudinal axis and a view vector with an attendant view that pivots relative to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope, the method comprising:

providing a scan trajectory along which the view vector moves relative to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope to provide a predefined sequence of views of a surface;

capturing a sequence of images corresponding to the predefined sequence of views as the view vector moves along the scan trajectory;

associating a set of configuration coordinates with each of the captured images;

using the captured images and the configuration coordinates associated therewith to create a map of the surface larger than the view that attends the view vector; and

in response to a selection of a location on the map, automatically moving the view vector to an orientation of the view vector when an image corresponding to the location was captured.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the view vector has three degrees of freedom and the configuration coordinates associated with each of the captured images represents the orientation of the view vector with respect to the three degrees of freedom.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the view vector moves along the scan trajectory at a speed that is adjustable.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the configuration coordinates are stored in a frame-indexing array that correlates image information with viewing position.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the orientation of the view vector is known relative to the direction of gravity as the view vector moves along the scan trajectory.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein portions of the map fade in brightness as the time elapsing since the capture of the images corresponding to those portions increases.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein, for each of the views for which an image is captured, at least two separate images of the view are captured and combined into a compound image of higher quality than the separate images.

9. A method of obtaining endoscopic maps with an endoscope having a longitudinal axis and a view vector with a field of view that pivots relative to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope, the method comprising:

scanning a surface with the view vector, the view vector moving along a scan trajectory relative to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope;

capturing a sequence of images of the surface as the view vector moves along the scan trajectory;

associating a set of configuration coordinates with a set of the captured images;

using at least a subset of the set of the captured images and the configuration coordinates associated therewith to create a map of the surface larger than the field of view; and

in response to a selection of a location on the map, automatically moving the view vector to an orientation of the view vector when an image corresponding to the location was captured.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the view vector has three degrees of freedom and the configuration coordinates associated with the set of the captured images represents the orientation of the view vector with respect to the three degrees of freedom.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the map comprises a mosaic of the overlapping images.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the view vector moves along the scan trajectory at a speed that is adjustable.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the configuration coordinates are stored in a frame-indexing array that correlates image information with viewing position.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the orientation of the view vector is known relative to the direction of gravity as the view vector moves along the scan trajectory.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the scan trajectory is a spiraling path.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the scan trajectory is circular.

17. The method of claim 9 , wherein the scan trajectory is a first scan trajectory, the method further comprising the steps of:

providing a second scan trajectory along which the view vector moves relative to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope to provide a predefined sequence of overlapping views of the surface;

capturing a sequence of overlapping images corresponding to the predefined sequence of overlapping views as the view vector moves along the second scan trajectory; and

associating a second set of configuration coordinates with a set of the images captured as the view vector moves along the second scan trajectory;

wherein the map of the surface is created using at least a subset of the captured images from the first and second scan trajectories.

18. The method of claim 9 , wherein portions of the map fade in brightness as the time elapsing since the capture of the images corresponding to those portions increases.

19. The method of claim 9 , wherein, for each of a set of views for which an image is captured, at least two separate images of the view are captured and combined into a compound image of higher quality than the separate images.

20. The method of claim 9 , wherein the capturing step comprises capturing a sequence of overlapping images of the surface as the view vector moves along the scan trajectory.

21. A system comprising:

a computer;

an endoscope having a longitudinal axis and a view vector having a field of view that pivots relative to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope, the computer configured to move the view vector along a scan trajectory relative to the longitudinal axis of the endoscope; and

an image capture device configured to capture a plurality of images of a surface as the view vector moves along the scan trajectory, the computer configured to associate a set of the plurality of images with a set of configuration coordinates,

wherein the computer uses at least a subset of the set of images and the configuration coordinates associated therewith to create a map of the surface larger than the field of view, and in response to a selection of a location on the map, the computer automatically moves the view vector to an orientation of the view vector when an image corresponding to the location was captured.