Granted Patent B2

US 12,267,573 · App. 18/419,309 · Granted Apr 1, 2025

Inventors: Joshua D. Talbert (Cottonwood Heights, UT); Donald M. Wichern (Ogden, UT)

Assignee: Cilag GmbH International

H04N23/56A61B1/00006A61B1/00009A61B1/00045A61B1/0005A61B1/00057A61B1/043A61B1/045A61B1/0638A61B1/0646A61B1/0655A61B1/07A61B1/307G01N21/6456G01S17/89G06T7/0012G06T7/521H04N13/296H04N23/72H04N23/84H04N25/131H04N25/135G01S7/483G06T2207/10064G06T2207/10068G06T2207/30024H04N23/555H04N2209/047

Abstract

Claims (48)

1. A system comprising:

an emitter comprising a plurality of sources of electromagnetic radiation, wherein the emitter cycles the plurality of sources on and off according to a pulse cycle pattern, and wherein the plurality of sources comprises:

a visible source that pulses visible electromagnetic radiation within a first visible waveband that is 40 nm wide or less; and

an infrared source that pulses infrared electromagnetic radiation within a first infrared waveband that is 40 nm wide or less;

an intensity sensor that measures an intensity of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter;

an image sensor; and

a controller in electronic communication with the emitter, the image sensor, and the intensity sensor, wherein the controller comprises one or more processors executing instructions comprising:

receiving an intensity value from the intensity sensor indicating an amount of energy emitted by the emitter;

determining whether the intensity value is within a tolerance threshold with respect to a desired energy output for a corresponding pulse in the pulse cycle pattern; and

in response to the intensity value not being within the tolerance threshold, adjusting one or more of a pulse intensity or a pulse duration for at least one future pulse in the pulse cycle pattern;

wherein the controller synchronizes timing of the pulse cycle pattern of the emitter with a corresponding sensor cycle of the image sensor to generate a plurality of exposure frames;

wherein the plurality of exposure frames comprises a color exposure frame and one or more of a spectral exposure frame, a mapping exposure frame, or a fluorescence exposure frame.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the visible source is a first visible spectral source, and wherein the first visible waveband is selected to elicit a spectral response from a tissue;

wherein the plurality of sources of the emitter further comprises a second visible spectral source that pulses electromagnetic radiation within a second visible waveband that is 40 nm wide or less and is selected to elicit a spectral response from a tissue; and

wherein at least a portion of the first visible waveband is different from the second visible waveband.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the infrared source is an infrared spectral source, wherein the first infrared waveband is selected to elicit a spectral response from a tissue, and wherein the first infrared waveband comprises from about 900 nm to about 1000 nm.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the infrared source is an infrared fluorescence source, wherein the first infrared waveband is selected to excite a fluorescence reagent or a fluorescent tissue, and wherein the first infrared waveband comprises from about 770 nm to about 815 nm.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the intensity sensor comprises a plurality of intensity sensors, and wherein the plurality of intensity sensors comprises:

a first intensity sensor dedicated to sensing energy emitted by the visible source; and

a second intensity sensor dedicated to sensing energy emitted by the infrared source.

6. The system of claim 1 ,

wherein the color exposure frame is a plurality of color exposure frames comprising color visualization data;

wherein the spectral exposure frame is a plurality of spectral exposure frames comprising spectral response visualization data;

wherein the fluorescence exposure frame is a plurality of fluorescence exposure frames comprising fluorescence response visualization data.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of color exposure frames is generated based on pixel integration data that is accumulated by a pixel array of the image sensor during a blanking period when the emitter cycles on only a white light source.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of spectral exposure frames is generated based on pixel integration data that is accumulated by a pixel array of the image sensor during a blanking period when the emitter cycles on only a spectral source, and wherein the spectral source pulses only electromagnetic radiation within a spectral waveband that is selected to elicit a spectral response from a tissue.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of spectral exposure frames is processed by a computer-executed program configured to identify a presence of the tissue based on the pixel integration data, wherein the computer-executed program identifies the presence of the tissue by determining whether pixel values exceed or fall below a threshold.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the tissue comprises one or more of a nerve, a ureter, a blood vessel, an artery, or a tumor.

11. The system of claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of fluorescence exposure frames comprises pixel integration data that is accumulated by a pixel array of the image sensor during a blanking period when the emitter cycles on only a fluorescence excitation source, and wherein the fluorescence excitation source pulses only electromagnetic radiation within a fluorescence waveband that is selected to fluoresce a tissue or reagent.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of fluorescence exposure frames is processed by a computer-executed program configured to identify a presence of the tissue or the reagent based on the pixel integration data, wherein the computer-executed program identifies the presence of the tissue or the reagent by determining whether pixel values exceed or fall below a threshold.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the fluorescence excitation source comprises one or more of:

a first excitation source that pulses only electromagnetic radiation within a first fluorescence waveband, wherein the first fluorescence waveband comprises from about 770 nm to about 795 nm; or

a second excitation source that pulses only electromagnetic radiation within a second fluorescence waveband, wherein the second fluorescence waveband comprises from about 790 nm to about 815 nm.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the intensity sensor is a photo diode.

15. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

an endoscope tube;

the image sensor disposed within the endoscope tube at a distal end of the endoscope tube; and

a waveguide comprising one or more optical fibers configured to transmit electromagnetic radiation from the emitter to the distal end of the endoscope tube to illuminate a light deficient environment.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sources of the emitter further comprises a mapping source, wherein the mapping source emits electromagnetic radiation in a mapping pattern that comprises one or more of a raster grid of discrete points, an occupancy grid map, vertical hashing, horizontal hashing, or a dot array, and wherein the image sensor generates the mapping exposure frame in response to an emission by the mapping source.

17. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

an endoscope; and

two or more image sensors, wherein each of the two or more image sensors comprises a pixel array that accumulates electromagnetic radiation responsive to the emitter cycling the plurality of sources on and off according to the pulse cycle pattern;

wherein pixel integration data simultaneously accumulated by the two or more image sensors is processed to generate three-dimensional visualization data.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor comprises a monochromatic pixel array.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor comprises a color filter pixel array.

20. The system of claim 1 ,

wherein each of plurality of exposure frames corresponds in time with at least one pulse of electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by the emitter according to the pulse cycle pattern; and

wherein the controller adjusts the one or more of the pulse intensity or the pulse duration to control light exposure of the image sensor.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (307)

Cited By (1)

US 12,471,768