Wide dynamic range using a monochrome image sensor for hyperspectral imaging

1. A system for endoscopic visualization in a light-deficient environment, the system comprising:

an endoscope;

an emitter comprising a plurality of electromagnetic sources, wherein the emitter cycles the plurality of electromagnetic sources to emit a plurality of pulses of electromagnetic radiation;

a waveguide that transmits the plurality of pulses of electromagnetic radiation to a distal end of the endoscope to illuminate the light-deficient environment;

an image sensor comprising a pixel array that detects electromagnetic radiation, wherein the pixel array comprises a plurality of pixels each configurable as a short exposure pixel or a long exposure pixel;

a controller comprising a processor in electrical communication with the image sensor and the emitter, wherein the controller synchronizes operations of the emitter and the image sensor such that the pixel array reads out data for generating a plurality of frames in response to the emitter pulsing the plurality of pulses of electromagnetic radiation;

wherein at least a portion of the plurality of electromagnetic sources cycled by the emitter comprises a plurality of spectral sources tuned to emit different wavebands of electromagnetic radiation selected for eliciting a spectral response from a tissue structure within the light-deficient environment, wherein the plurality of spectral sources comprises:

a first spectral source tuned to emit electromagnetic radiation within a near-infrared waveband of the electromagnetic spectrum; and

a second spectral source tuned to emit electromagnetic radiation within a visible waveband of the electromagnetic spectrum; and

wherein the plurality of frames comprises a spectral frame that comprises spectral imaging data for identifying the tissue structure within the light-deficient environment based on the spectral response associated with the tissue structure.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pixel array comprises a plurality of short exposure pixels and a plurality of long exposure pixels arranged in a checkerboard pattern such that a short exposure pixel is located adjacent to a long exposure pixel.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

each of the plurality of pixels of the pixel array comprises a transfer gate transistor;

each transfer gate transistor is in electrical communication with a TX signal; and

the TX signal provides a global operation for the transfer gate transistors of the plurality of pixels of the pixel array.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein:

the TX signal comprises a TX1 signal and a TX2 signal;

at least two pixels of the plurality of pixels of the pixel array share a floating diffusion in a horizontal direction in a two-way pixel share;

the TX1 signal communicates with transfer gate transistors of pixels located on a first side of the two-way pixel share on odd rows and with transfer gate transistors of pixels located on a second side of the two-way pixel share on even rows; and

the TX2 signal communicates with transfer gate transistors of pixels located on the second side of the two-way pixel share on odd rows and with transfer gate transistors of pixels located on the first side of the two-way pixel share on even rows.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor performs horizontal binning during a charge period of the pixel array.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein a pixel grouping of the pixel array shares a floating diffusion, wherein the pixel grouping comprises two pixels or four pixels.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pixel array is disposed on a first substrate of the image sensor and supporting circuitry for the pixel array is disposed remotely on a second substrate of the image sensor.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of frames corresponds to one or more pulses of the plurality of pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the pixel array reads out the data during a readout period of the pixel array, wherein the readout period is a duration of time when active pixels in the pixel array are read.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of frames comprises a color frame sensed by the pixel array in response to the emitter pulsing a white light emissions and further comprises two or more spectral frame sensed in response to the emitter pulsing different spectral wavebands of electromagnetic radiation.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the color frame is merged with information extracted from the two or more spectral frames to generate an overlay multispectral frame.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the emitter is configured to emit, during a pulse duration, a plurality of sub-pulses of electromagnetic radiation having a sub-duration shorter than the pulse duration.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the plurality of pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter comprise electromagnetic radiation emitted at two or more wavelengths simultaneously as a single pulse or a single sub-pulse.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one pulse of the plurality of pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter results in the pixel array reading out data for generating a frame, and wherein the system further comprises a display for displaying information from two or more frames simultaneously as an overlay frame.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter comprises a spectral emission that elicits the spectral response associated with the tissue structure, and wherein the spectral emission comprises one or more of:

electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 900 nm to about 1000 nm;

electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 513 nm to about 545 nm; or

electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 565 nm to about 585 nm.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:

provide the spectral frame to a corresponding system that determines a location of the tissue structure within the scene based on the spectral imaging data;

receive the location of the tissue structure from the corresponding system;

generate an overlay frame comprising the location of the tissue structure; and

combine the overlay frame with a color image frame depicting the scene to indicate the location of the tissue structure within the scene.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to synchronize timing of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation during a blanking period of the image sensor, wherein the blanking period corresponds to a time between a readout of a last row of active pixels in the pixel array and a beginning of a next subsequent readout of active pixels in the pixel array.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to adjust a sequence of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter based on a threshold, wherein the threshold determines proper illumination of a scene in a light deficient environment.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein two or more pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter result in two or more instances of reflected electromagnetic radiation that are sensed by the pixel array to generate two or more exposure frames that are combined to form an image frame.

20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to provide the spectral frame to a corresponding system that identifies one or more tissue structures in a body based on the spectral imaging data.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the one or more tissue structures in the body comprise one or more of a nerve, a ureter, a blood vessel, an artery, a blood flow, or a tumor.

22. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor comprises a first image sensor and a second image sensor such that the image sensor can generate a three-dimensional image.

23. The system of claim 1 , wherein the emitter is configured to emit a sequence of pulses of electromagnetic radiation repeatedly sufficient for generating a video stream comprising a plurality of image frames, and wherein each image frame in the video stream comprises data from two or more of the plurality of frames.

24. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pulses of electromagnetic radiation are emitted in a pattern of varying wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, and wherein the emitter repeats the pattern of varying wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.

25. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of pulses of electromagnetic radiation comprises a white light emission and a spectral emission that elicits the spectral response associated with the tissue structure such that reflected electromagnetic radiation detected by the pixel array corresponding to each of the white light emission and the spectral emission is processed to generate a Red-Green-Blue (RGB) image comprising an overlay of the spectral imaging data, and wherein the spectral emission comprises:

the electromagnetic radiation within the waveband from about 513 nm to about 545 nm and the electromagnetic radiation within the waveband from about 900 nm to about 1000 nm; or

the electromagnetic radiation within the waveband from about 565 nm to about 585 nm and the electromagnetic radiation within the waveband from about 900 nm to about 1000 nm.