Stereoscopic endoscope system
First Claim
1. A medical video endoscope system comprising:
- (a) a stereoscopic endoscope comprising a handle portion (68), a tubular barrel portion (66), and a light-sensing system, said tubular barrel portion containing an objective lens system (36) for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system, and said light-sensing svstem including means for alternately sensing said left and right optical images and converting said sensed left and right optical images to left and right video image signals respectively; and
(b) a tubular sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said tubular sheath assembly (i) being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, (ii) including a distal tip portion (310) having a front face (304) that extends at an acute angle to said longitudinal axis, and (iii) containing optical means (320, 322, 324,
326) for directing optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip portion is pointed to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion causes changes in the direction in which said front face of said distal tip portion is pointed and thus allows viewing direction changes in the stereoscopic endoscope viewing of said object in response to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A medical video endoscope system for allowing high-resolution three-dimensional images to be viewed has a stereoscopic endoscope for converting optical images of an object to left and right video image signals. An electronic processor module controls the stereoscopic endoscope and processes the left and right video image signals into time-multiplexed signals representative of high-resolution three-dimensional images having stereoscopic depth. The time-multiplexed signals are provided to a monitor which displays high-resolution video images based on the signals. A viewing device is provided which allows a viewer to see high-resolution three-dimensional video images having stereoscopic depth on the monitor. A rigid sheath assembly with an angled distal tip can be placed over a barrel of the endoscope and rotated with respect thereto in order to change the viewing direction of the stereoscopic endoscope. A conventional two-dimensional endoscope can be coupled to the three-dimensional medical video system by using a camera head designed to convert the two-dimensional optical images generated by the conventional endoscope into left and right signals which are then processed by the system as if they were received from a stereoscopic endoscope to create a two-dimensional video image.
285 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A medical video endoscope system comprising:
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(a) a stereoscopic endoscope comprising a handle portion (68), a tubular barrel portion (66), and a light-sensing system, said tubular barrel portion containing an objective lens system (36) for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system, and said light-sensing svstem including means for alternately sensing said left and right optical images and converting said sensed left and right optical images to left and right video image signals respectively; and (b) a tubular sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said tubular sheath assembly (i) being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, (ii) including a distal tip portion (310) having a front face (304) that extends at an acute angle to said longitudinal axis, and (iii) containing optical means (320, 322, 324,
326) for directing optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip portion is pointed to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion causes changes in the direction in which said front face of said distal tip portion is pointed and thus allows viewing direction changes in the stereoscopic endoscope viewing of said object in response to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A medical video endoscope system comprising:
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(a) a stereoscopic endoscope having a handle portion (68), a barrel portion (66), said barrel portion having a distal end and a proximate end, and an objective lens system (36) mounted in said distal end of said barrel portion for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system, said endoscope also including a light-sensing system for alternately sensing said left optical images and right optical images, and converting said sensed left and right optical images to left and right video image signals respectively; and (b) a sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said sheath assembly being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, and said sheath assembly including an angled front face and optics for receiving optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip is pointed and transmitting said optical images to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly causes changes in the direction in which said angled front face is pointed and thus allows angular endoscope viewing of said object according to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A medical video endoscope system comprising:
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(a) an endoscope having a handle portion (68) and a tubular barrel portion (66), said tubular barrel portion including an objective lens system (36) for generating optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system, said endoscope also including a light-sensing system for sensing said optical images and converting said sensed optical images to video image signals; and (b) a tubular sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said tubular sheath assembly (i) being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, (ii) including a distal tip portion (310) having a front face (304) that extends at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said sheath assembly, and (iii) optical means (320, 322, 324,
326) for directing optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip portion is pointed to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion causes changes in the direction in which said front face of said distal tip portion is pointed and thus allows viewing direction changes in the endoscope viewing of said object in response to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A medical video endoscope system comprising:
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(a) an endoscope having a handle portion (68) and a tubular barrel portion (66), said tubular barrel portion including an objective lens system (36) for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system; (b) a tubular sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said tubular sheath assembly (i) being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, (ii) including a distal tip portion (310) having a front face (304) that extends at an acute angle to said longitudinal axis, and (iii) containing optical means (320, 322, 324,
326) for directing optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip portion is pointed to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion causes changes in the direction in which said front face of said distal tip portion is pointed and thus allows viewing direction changes in the stereoscopic endoscope viewing of said object in response to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion;(c) a light-sensing module comprising image-sensing means for sensing said left and right optical images and for producing left and right electrical signals in response to said sensed left and right optical images respectively; (d) processing electronics for creating left and right video image signals in response to said left and right electrical signals respectively; (e) means for controlling said image-sensing means; (f) means for receiving said left and right video image signals and for processing each of said left and right video image signals at a first rate to generate time-multiplexed left and right video image signals, each time-multiplexed video image signal being representative of an image frame having a predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines, and said time-multiplexed video image signals being suitable for transmission at a second rate which is approximately twice said first rate; and (g) a viewing system (31) including a video monitor (32) for receiving said time-multiplexed video image signals at said second rate and displaying left and right video images based on said time-multiplexed video image signals, each video image having said predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines.
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31. A medical video endoscope system comprising:
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(a) a stereoscopic endoscope having a handle portion (68), a barrel portion (66), said barrel portion having a distal end and a proximate end, and an objective lens system (36) mounted in said distal end of said barrel portion for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system; (b) a sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said sheath assembly being rotatable relative to said barrel portion and including an angled front face and optics for receiving optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip is pointed and transmitting said optical images to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly causes changes in the direction in which said angled front face is pointed and thus allows angular endoscope viewing of said object according to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion; (c) a light-sensing module comprising image-sensing means for alternately sensing said left and right optical images and for producing left and right electrical signals in response to said sensed left and right optical images respectively; (d) processing electronics for creating left and right video image signals in response to said left and right electrical signals respectively; (e) means for controlling said image-sensing means; (f) means for receiving said left and right video image signals and for processing each of said left and right video image signals at a first rate to generate time-multiplexed left and right video image signals, each time-multiplexed video image signal being representative of an image frame having a predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines, and said time-multiplexed video image signals being suitable for transmission at a second rate which is approximately twice said first rate; and (g) a viewing system (31) including a video monitor (32) for receiving said time-multiplexed video image signals at said second rate and displaying left and right video images based on said time-multiplexed video image signals, each video image having said predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines.
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Specification