Video endoscope with light intensity regulation
First Claim
1. A video endoscope for viewing an object comprising:
- means for illuminating said object with a light sequence of partial colors in a beam path including said object, the illumination of said object forming a light image of said object;
means for converting, at an image repetition frequency, said light image into video signal components corresponding to partial color separations of said light image, said video signal components having respective actual amplitudes;
means for generating a real-time image of said object from said video signal components;
means for pulsing said means for illuminating for generating light pulses of variable amplitude as a function of the amplitudes of said video signal components, and at an even numbered multiple of said image repetition frequency;
control means connected to said means for generating said means for pulsing for varying said amplitude of said light pulses for maintaining deviations between said actual amplitude and said variable amplitude within a selected regulation range; and
optical means in said beam path connected to said control means for optically regulating said variable amplitudes if said deviations exceed said selected regulation range.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A video endoscope having a semiconductor image converter which is incorporated in the endoscope and which receives the image of the object illuminated periodically by an illumination device with a sequence of partial colors, for example by using a filter wheel, and converts same into video signal components which correspond to partial color separations of the image and which are read successively and selectively separated according to partial colors into an intermediate store and are then read out simultaneously for the formation of an individual image and are processed for the representation of the image into television-compatible video signals, in which the lamp of the illumination device is pulsed with variable pulse amplitudes. The pulsed operation of the lamp is a function of the number of partial colors to be generated with an even-numbered multiple of the image repetition frequency, in which respect the light flux of the light pulses emitted by the lamp is variable as a function of the actual value of the respective amplitudes of the video signals, in order, in a predetermined range of regulations, to bring the actual value to a desired value. Arranged in the beam path of the lamp is an optical regulating element which undertakes a further regulation of the light intensity outside of the range of regulation.
94 Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A video endoscope for viewing an object comprising:
-
means for illuminating said object with a light sequence of partial colors in a beam path including said object, the illumination of said object forming a light image of said object; means for converting, at an image repetition frequency, said light image into video signal components corresponding to partial color separations of said light image, said video signal components having respective actual amplitudes; means for generating a real-time image of said object from said video signal components; means for pulsing said means for illuminating for generating light pulses of variable amplitude as a function of the amplitudes of said video signal components, and at an even numbered multiple of said image repetition frequency; control means connected to said means for generating said means for pulsing for varying said amplitude of said light pulses for maintaining deviations between said actual amplitude and said variable amplitude within a selected regulation range; and optical means in said beam path connected to said control means for optically regulating said variable amplitudes if said deviations exceed said selected regulation range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A video endoscope for viewing an object comprising:
-
means for illuminating said object with a pulsed sequence of partial colors, the pulses in said sequence having variable amplitudes and forming a light image of said object; means for converting said light image into video signal components corresponding to partial color separations of said light image, said video signal components having respective actual amplitudes; means for comparing said actual amplitudes of said video signal components with said variable amplitudes of said partial color pulses and measuring the difference therebetween to generate a first control signal as long as said difference is within a selected regulation range, and to generate a second control signal if said difference exceeds said regulation range; means for controlling said means for illuminating to adjust said variable amplitudes of said partial colors based on said first signal to maintain said actual amplitudes of said video signal components at a selected level; and optical means in said beam path connected to said means for comparing to optically regulate said amplitudes of said partial color pulses in response to said second control signal. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
-
-
15. A method for operating a video endoscope for viewing an object comprising the steps of:
-
illuminating said object with a pulsed light sequence of partial colors, the partial color pulses having variable amplitudes and forming a light image of said object; converting said light image of said object into video signal components corresponding to partial color separations of said light image, said video signal components having respective actual amplitudes; comparing the amplitudes of said partial color pulses with the actual amplitudes of said video signal components and generating a first control signal if the difference between said partial color amplitudes and said video signal component amplitudes are within a predetermined regulation range and generating a second control signal if said deviations exceed said regulation range; controlling the intensity of the illumination of said object using said first control signal to electrically vary the amplitudes of said partial color pulses; and controlling the illumination of said object using said second control signal to optically vary the amplitudes of said partial color pulses.
-
Specification