Endoscopy device supporting multiple input devices
First Claim
1. A camera control unit for controlling operation of a sensor head and for processing raw camera data received from the sensor head, the camera control unit comprising:
- an electrically-connected assembly comprising;
an electrical interface detachably connectable to a sensor head, the sensor head comprising an image sensor disposed in a housing;
a reconfigurable controller for timing and control of the sensor head over the electrical interface, wherein the electrical interface receives the raw camera data from the image sensor, wherein the reconfigurable controller comprises;
a sensor clock generator for generating a sensor clock signal used by the sensor;
a data formatter for converting the received camera data into a standard format; and
a sensor timing block for supplying an input pixel clock and image size control signals to the data formatter, said image size control signals are associated with the raw camera data received from the sensor head;
a system controller capable of;
detecting a connection of a sensor head,recognizing identification information about the sensor head on the connection,comparing the identification information with stored sensor-head information for a plurality of sensor-head types, andmatching the identification information with a matching, stored sensor-head information;
wherein the system controller being able to use the matching, stored sensor-head information to reconfigure the reconfigurable controller for timing and control of the image sensor;
wherein the assembly is disposed outside and apart from the housing of the sensor head; and
wherein pixel preprocessing operations include bad pixel correct, black bias, and intensity correct; and
wherein the sensing timing block supplies a pixel counter and a line counter to the bad pixel correct block based on the dimensions of the sensor to identify potentially faulty pixels generated by the sensor and to correct them through the use of median substitution.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a remote-head imaging system with a camera control unit capable of supporting multiple input devices. The camera control unit detects an input device to which it is connected and changes the camera control unit'"'"'s internal functionality accordingly. Such changes includes altering clock timing, changing video output parameters, and changing image processing software. In addition, a user is able to select different sets of software program instructions and hardware configuration information based on the head that is attached. The remote-head imaging system utilizes field-programmable circuitry, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), in order to facilitate the change in configuration.
104 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A camera control unit for controlling operation of a sensor head and for processing raw camera data received from the sensor head, the camera control unit comprising:
an electrically-connected assembly comprising; an electrical interface detachably connectable to a sensor head, the sensor head comprising an image sensor disposed in a housing; a reconfigurable controller for timing and control of the sensor head over the electrical interface, wherein the electrical interface receives the raw camera data from the image sensor, wherein the reconfigurable controller comprises;
a sensor clock generator for generating a sensor clock signal used by the sensor;
a data formatter for converting the received camera data into a standard format; and
a sensor timing block for supplying an input pixel clock and image size control signals to the data formatter, said image size control signals are associated with the raw camera data received from the sensor head;a system controller capable of; detecting a connection of a sensor head, recognizing identification information about the sensor head on the connection, comparing the identification information with stored sensor-head information for a plurality of sensor-head types, and matching the identification information with a matching, stored sensor-head information; wherein the system controller being able to use the matching, stored sensor-head information to reconfigure the reconfigurable controller for timing and control of the image sensor; wherein the assembly is disposed outside and apart from the housing of the sensor head; and wherein pixel preprocessing operations include bad pixel correct, black bias, and intensity correct; and wherein the sensing timing block supplies a pixel counter and a line counter to the bad pixel correct block based on the dimensions of the sensor to identify potentially faulty pixels generated by the sensor and to correct them through the use of median substitution. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
Specification