Controlling the integral light energy of a laser pulse

• US 10,670,248 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2017
• Issued: 06/02/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Depuy Synthes Products Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: Depuy Synthes Products Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Talbert, Joshua D., Wichern, Donald M., Blanquart, Laurent
• Primary Examiner(s): Leubecker, John P
• Application Number:
  US15/722,997
• Publication Number:
  US 20180023791A1
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/063 for monochromatic or narrow-band illumination
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0655 Control therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0661 Endoscope light sources
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/0684 using light emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/07 using light-conductive means, e.g. optical fibres
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 23/003 the elements being electronics drivers or controllers for operating the light source, e.g. for a LED array

Abstract

An embodiment of a system for providing illumination for an endoscope device includes a light source comprising laser bundles each having laser light emitters, an electromagnetic sensor embedded within the light source to sense electromagnetic energy emitted from at least one laser light emitter within each of the laser bundles, and a control circuit in electronic communication with the electromagnetic sensor and at least one laser light emitter. The light source sequentially pulses electromagnetic energy in a plurality of individual electromagnetic partitions. The electromagnetic sensor receives electromagnetic energy from at least one laser light emitter and measures an amount of electromagnetic energy generated by at least one laser light emitter.

Claims

1. A system for providing illumination for an endoscopic device, the system comprising:

a light source comprising a plurality of laser bundles, wherein each laser bundle comprises a plurality of laser light emitters, wherein the light source sequentially pulses electromagnetic energy in a plurality of individual electromagnetic partitions;

an electromagnetic sensor embedded within the light source to sense electromagnetic energy emitted from at least one, but less than all, of the plurality of laser light emitters within each of the plurality of laser bundles; and

a control circuit in electronic communication with the electromagnetic sensor and the at least one of the plurality of laser light emitters;

wherein the electromagnetic sensor receives electromagnetic energy from at least one of the plurality of laser light emitters, and wherein the electromagnetic sensor measures an amount of electromagnetic energy generated by the at least one of the plurality of laser light emitters.

2. The illumination system of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic sensor is a photo diode.

3. The illumination system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the light source to pulse electromagnetic energy during a blanking portion of an image sensor'"'"'s operation cycle and controls a duty cycle of the plurality of laser light emitters based on a predetermined, known output and in response to signals generated by the electromagnetic sensor that correspond to the amount of electromagnetic energy generated by the at least one of the plurality of laser light emitters to obtain a desired exposure response for images captured by the image sensor.

4. The illumination system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of laser bundles emits a plurality of wavelengths of electromagnetic energy.

5. The illumination system of claim 4, further comprising a plurality of electromagnetic sensors that each correspond to one of the plurality of wavelengths of electromagnetic energy.

6. The illumination system of claim 5, wherein the electromagnetic sensors can sense each of the plurality of laser light emitters independently.

7. The illumination system of claim 1, further comprising an operation amplifier circuit in electronic communication with the electromagnetic sensor.

8. The illumination system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit controls one or more of a duration and magnitude of the plurality of individual electromagnetic partitions pulsed by the light source to control exposure of the pulses of electromagnetic energy to thereby provide an amount of electromagnetic energy to an image sensor required by the system from one pulse to another pulse.

9. A system for use in a light deficient environment comprising:

an endoscope;

an image sensor to capture images of a scene; and

a light illumination system comprising;

a light source comprising a plurality of light bundles, wherein each light bundle comprises a plurality of light emitters, wherein the light source sequentially pulses electromagnetic energy in a plurality of individual electromagnetic partitions;

an electromagnetic sensor embedded within the light source to sense electromagnetic energy emitted from at least one, but less than all, of the plurality of light emitters within each of the plurality of light bundles; and

a control circuit in electronic communication with the electromagnetic sensor and the at least one of the plurality of light emitters;

wherein the electromagnetic sensor receives electromagnetic energy from at least one of the plurality of light emitters, and wherein the electromagnetic sensor measures an amount of electromagnetic energy generated by the at least one of the plurality of light emitters;

wherein the image sensor and the light illumination system are synchronized with regard to timing during operation.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the electromagnetic sensor is a photo diode.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the light source to pulse electromagnetic energy during a blanking portion of the image sensor'"'"'s operation cycle and controls a duty cycle of the light source in response to signals generated by the electromagnetic sensor that correspond to electromagnetic energy in the fiber optic cable that is generated by the light source to obtain a desired exposure response for images captured by the image sensor.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the image sensor comprises a readout period, which includes an optical black portion, and a blanking period, and the control circuit is configured to cause the light source to start pulsing during the optical black portion of the readout period or end pulsing during the optical black portion of the readout period.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of light bundles emits a plurality of wavelengths of electromagnetic energy.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of electromagnetic sensors each corresponding to one of the plurality of wavelengths of electromagnetic energy.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the electromagnetic sensors sense each of the plurality of light emitters independently.

16. The system of claim 9, further comprising an operation amplifier circuit in electronic communication with the electromagnetic sensor.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuit controls one or more of a duration and magnitude of the plurality of individual electromagnetic partitions pulsed by the light source to control exposure of the pulses of electromagnetic energy to thereby provide an amount of electromagnetic energy to the image sensor required by the system from one pulse to another pulse.

18. An illumination system having a rapid duty cycle comprising:

a light source comprising a plurality of light bundles, wherein each light bundle comprises a plurality of light emitters, wherein the light source sequentially pulses electromagnetic energy in a plurality of individual electromagnetic partitions;

an electromagnetic sensor embedded within the light source to sense electromagnetic energy emitted from at least one, but less than all, of the plurality of light emitters within each of the plurality of light bundles; and

a control circuit in electronic communication with the electromagnetic sensor and the at least one of the plurality of light emitters;

wherein the electromagnetic sensor receives electromagnetic energy from at least one of the plurality of light emitters, such that the electromagnetic sensor measures an amount of electromagnetic energy generated by the at least one of the plurality of light emitters.

19. The illumination system of claim 18, wherein the electromagnetic sensor is a photo diode.

20. The illumination system of claim 18, wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the light source to pulse electromagnetic energy during a blanking portion of an image sensor'"'"'s operation cycle and controls a duty cycle of the plurality of light emitters based on a predetermined, known output and in response to signals generated by the electromagnetic sensor that correspond to the amount of electromagnetic energy generated by the at least one of the plurality of light emitters to obtain a desired exposure response for images captured by the image sensor.

21. The illumination system of claim 18, wherein system further comprises an image sensor having a readout period, which includes an optical black portion, and a blanking period, and the control circuit is configured to cause one or more of the light emitters of the light source to start pulsing during the optical black portion of the readout period or end pulsing during the optical black portion of the readout period.

22. The illumination system of claim 18, wherein the plurality of light bundles emits a plurality of wavelengths of electromagnetic energy.

23. The illumination system of claim 22, further comprising a plurality of electromagnetic sensors each corresponding to one of the plurality of wavelengths of electromagnetic energy.

24. The illumination system of claim 23, wherein the electromagnetic sensors sense each of the plurality of light emitters independently.

25. The illumination system of claim 18, further comprising an operation amplifier circuit in electronic communication with the electromagnetic sensor.

26. The illumination system of claim 18, wherein the control circuit controls one or more of a duration and magnitude of the plurality of individual electromagnetic partitions pulsed by the light source to control exposure of the pulses of electromagnetic energy to thereby provide an amount of electromagnetic energy to an image sensor required by the system from one pulse to another pulse.