Method and device for examining or imaging an interior surface of a cavity

• US 10,354,382 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2017
• Issued: 07/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PSIP, LLC
• Original Assignee: Avantis Medical Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Bayer, Lex
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Utpal D
• Application Number:
  US15/467,759
• Publication Number:
  US 20180040126A1
• Time in Patent Office: 845 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0005 combining images e.g. side-by-side, superimposed or tiled
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/042 characterised by a proximal camera, e.g. a CCD camera
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/05 characterised by the image sensor, e.g. camera, being in the distal end portion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/31 for the rectum, e.g. proctoscopes, sigmoidoscopes , colonoscopes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10068 Endoscopic image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20212 Image combination
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20221 Image fusion; Image merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30028 Colon; Small intestine
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0014 using an image reference approach
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/30 Determination of transform parameters for the alignment of images, i.e. image registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/265 Mixing

Abstract

A method for examining an interior surface of a cavity includes the steps of capturing partial images of an interior surface of a cavity; joining the captured partial images to form a complete image of said interior surface of the cavity; and providing an warning if the joined partial images does not form a complete image of said interior surface of the cavity.

Claims

1. A method for scanning an interior surface of a colon comprising:

acquiring an image of a colon using an imaging device positioned on a side wall of a colonoscope;

calculating a scanning speed of the imaging device by recognizing a colon segment in the acquired image and measuring an amount of time spent in the colon segment; and

generating an alert indicating whether the scanning speed exceeds a scanning speed threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein recognizing a colon segment comprises identifying, in the acquired image, areas of shading and/or contrast and a location of the colon lumen.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein recognizing a colon segment comprises identifying a geometric shape of the colon.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein recognizing a colon segment comprises comparing the geometric shape of the colon to a stored image in a database of colon geometric shapes.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein recognizing a colon segment comprises identifying a hepatic flexure, a splenic flexure, a transverse colon segment, an ascending portion of the colon, a transverse portion of the colon, and/or a haustral fold.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether to acquire additional images of a previously-scanned colon segment.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether to acquire additional images comprises determining whether previously-acquired images are unsuitable for image reconstruction.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising a light source positioned on the sidewall of the colonoscope.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the imaging device comprises a lens and a chip sensor.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising a video processor in communication with the imaging device.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a flattened rectangular view of an interior surface of the colon from the acquired image.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a ring-shaped image of the colon from the acquired image.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein generating a ring-shaped image comprises:

outlining a colon lumen in the acquired image;

excising the colon lumen from the acquired image; and

excising an outer edge of the acquired image to produce the ring-shaped image.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the acquired image is a first image and calculating the scanning speed comprises determining a travel distance by which corresponding areas in the first image and a subsequently acquired second image have moved, and dividing the travel distance by a time interval that has lapsed between the first and second images.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the travel distance comprises a number of image pixels, where each pixel corresponds to a measurement of actual distance.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein determining the travel distance comprises measuring a size change of a geometric feature in both the first and second images.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert is an audio and/or visual alert and generating the alert uses a processor.

2. The method of 1, wherein recognizing a colon segment comprises comparing the acquired image of the colon segment to a stored image in a database of distinctive colon segment features.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein distinctive colon segment features comprise colon flexures, colon geometric shapes, and folds.

20. A method for scanning an interior surface of a colon comprising:

acquiring first and second images of a colon using an imaging device positioned on a side wall of a colonoscope;

calculating a scanning speed of the imaging device by determining a distance traveled between the first and second images, and measuring an amount of time that has lapsed between the first and second images; and

generating an alert using a processor, the alert indicating whether the scanning speed exceeds a scanning speed threshold.