IP Library Granted Patent US 10,560,671
Granted Patent B2
US 10,560,671 · App. 16/291,712 · Granted Feb 11, 2020

Medical camera

Inventors: Yota Hashimoto (Fukuoka, JP); Haruyasu Katahira (Fukuoka, JP); Yuuichi Takenaga (Fukuoka, JP)
Assignee: PANASONIC I-PRO SENSING SOLUTIONS CO., LTD.
H04N9/097A61B1/00096A61B1/00186A61B1/043A61B1/051A61B5/0071A61B5/0086G02B23/04G02B23/2453G02B27/1013G02B27/143G02B27/145G02B27/146H04N5/2254H04N5/332H04N9/045A61B5/0077A61B5/6847A61B2505/05A61B2562/0233A61B2576/00H04N2005/2255H04N2209/048
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,560,671
App. No.
16/291,712
Granted
Feb 11, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

A medical camera includes a camera head having a first a first color separation prism, a second color separation prism, a third color separation prism, and a fourth color separation prism. The four color separation prisms respectively separate light incident from an affected area into a blue, red and green color components, and an infrared (IR) component. A light emission surface of the first color separation prism is disposed opposite to a light emission surface of the second color separation prism. A light emission surface of the third color separation prism is disposed across an incident ray which is incident vertically to an object side incident surface of the first color separation prism.

Claims (41)

1. A medical camera, comprising:

a camera head including:

a first color separation prism, a second color separation prism, a third color separation prism, and a fourth color separation prism which respectively separate light incident from an affected area into a first color component, a second color component, a third color component, and a fourth color component which are any one of a blue color component, a red color component, a green color component, and an infrared (IR) component,

wherein a light emission surface of the first color separation prism is disposed opposite to a light emission surface of the second color separation prism and a light emission surface of the third color separation prism is disposed across an incident ray, which is incident vertically to an object side incident surface of the first color separation prism, and

wherein a first angle formed between the object side incident surface of the first color separation prism and a reflective surface of the first color separation prism is greater than a second angle formed between the object side incident surface of the first color separation prism and a reflective surface of the second color separation prism.

2. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein a boundary between the first color separation prism and the second color separation prism includes the reflective surface of the first color separation prism on a first side of the boundary, and an object side incident surface of the second color separation prism on a second side of the boundary.

3. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein a boundary between the second color separation prism and the third color separation prism includes the reflective surface of the second color separation prism on a first side of the boundary, and an object side incident surface of the third color separation prism on a second side of the boundary.

4. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein a boundary between the third color separation prism and the fourth color separation prism includes a reflective surface of the third color separation prism on a first side of the boundary, and an object side incident surface of the fourth color separation prism on a second side of the boundary.

5. The medical camera of claim 2 , wherein the boundary is at an angle with respect to the object side incident surface of the first color separation prism.

6. The medical camera of claim 3 , wherein the boundary is at an angle with respect to the object side incident surface of the first color separation prism.

7. The medical camera of claim 4 , wherein the boundary is at an angle with respect to the object side incident surface of the first color separation prism.

8. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein the first color separation prism is disposed to be closest to an object side among the first color separation prism, the second color separation prism, the third color separation prism and the fourth color separation prism.

9. The medical camera of claim 8 , wherein the first color separation prism is disposed to transmit more IR light amount than the second color separation prism, the third color separation prism or the fourth color separation prism.

10. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein

the first color separation prism is configured such that the incident ray is transmitted through the object side incident surface of the first color separation prism while a portion of the transmitted incident ray hits the reflective surface of the first color separation prism and is reflected at an angle towards the object side incident surface of the first color separation prism, and

the reflected portion of the incident ray hits the object side incident surface of the first color separation prism and is reflected again at an angle towards an exit of the first color separation prism.

11. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein

the second color separation prism is configured such that a portion of the incident ray is transmitted through an object side incident surface of the second color separation prism while a portion of the transmitted incident ray hits the reflective surface of the second color separation prism and is reflected at an angle towards the object side incident surface of the second color separation prism, and

the reflected portion of the incident ray hits the object side incident surface of the second color separation prism and is reflected again at an angle towards an exit of the second color separation prism.

12. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein

the third color separation prism is configured such that a portion of the incident ray is transmitted through an object side incident surface of the third color separation prism while a portion of the transmitted incident ray hits a reflective surface of the third color separation prism and is reflected at an angle towards the object side incident surface of the third color separation prism, and

the reflected portion of the incident ray hits the object side incident surface of the third color separation prism and is reflected again at an angle towards an exit of the third color separation prism.

13. A medical camera, comprising:

a camera head including:

a first color separation prism, a second color separation prism, a third color separation prism, and a fourth color separation prism which respectively separate light incident from an affected area into a first color component, a second color component, a third color component, and a fourth color component which are any one of a blue color component, a red color component, a green color component, and an infrared (IR) component,

wherein a light emission surface of the first color separation prism is disposed opposite to a light emission surface of the second color separation prism and a light emission surface of the third color separation prism is disposed across an incident ray, which is incident vertically to an object side incident surface of the first color separation prism, and

wherein the camera head is configured to output an image in two modes, the two modes including

a dual output mode that simultaneously outputs a color image and an IR image to be displayed as two separate images, and

a superposed mode that synthesizes the color image and the IR image and outputs a synthesized image.

14. The medical camera of claim 13 , wherein

the color image includes a combination of the blue color component, the red color component, and the green color component.

15. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein

the camera head is connected to a display configured to receive one or more images captured by the camera head.

16. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein

the camera head processes the first color component, the second color component, the third color component, and the fourth color component to generate an RGB signal and an IR signal, and simultaneously outputs, to a display, the RGB signal and the IR signal.

17. The medical camera of claim 1 , wherein

the camera head synthesizes the first color component, the second color component, the third color component, and the fourth color component to generate a synthesized image and outputs, to a display, the synthesized image.

18. An endoscope comprising:

the medical camera of claim 1 .

19. A microscope comprising:

the medical camera of claim 1 .

Assignments (6)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Mar 16, 2023
From: PANASONIC I-PRO SENSING SOLUTIONS CO., LTD.
To: I-PRO CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 063101/0966 →
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Recorded Mar 16, 2023
From: I-PRO CO., LTD.
To: I-PRO CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 063102/0075 →
MERGER Recorded Dec 31, 2020
From: PANASONIC I-PRO SENSING SOLUTIONS CO., LTD.
To: PSP HOLDINGS CO., LTD
Reel/Frame 054883/0201 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 31, 2020
From: PSP HOLDINGS CO., LTD
To: PANASONIC I-PRO SENSING SOLUTIONS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 054883/0234 →
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Recorded Dec 31, 2020
From: PANASONIC I-PRO SENSING SOLUTIONS CO., LTD.
To: PANASONIC I-PRO SENSING SOLUTIONS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 054883/0248 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 13, 2019
From: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
To: PANASONIC I-PRO SENSING SOLUTIONS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 051276/0226 →
Priority Claims (2)
JP 2016-100738 · May 19, 2016 · national
JP 2016-184797 · Sep 21, 2016 · national
Continuity (4)
Continuation 16230002 · Dec 21, 2018
Continuation 16155233 · Oct 9, 2018
Continuation 15480849 · Apr 6, 2017
Related Publication 20190199980A1 · Jun 27, 2019