Rotating real-time panoramic otologic endoscope

Abstract

A kind of rotary real-time panoramic otological endoscope, it is characterized that camera and endoscope lens are separated, endoscope lens and light source are separated, endoscope lens is continuously rotated in shell under the drive of motor, so that camera obtains the image of each direction;The endoscope is equipped with rotating position sensor, the rotating direction of endoscope head can be obtained;The endoscope is equipped with image processing module and image display module, wherein the image processing module is integrated with the image of endoscope in different directions to obtain real-time panoramic image by image splicing processing, and the image display module presents panoramic image to user by the way of AR augmented reality display.The endoscope can obtain 360-degree real-time image in circumferential direction, greatly facilitates the use of doctor, avoids the need of frequently rotating endoscope or replacing endoscope head.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of medical devices, and particularly relates to a rotating real-time panoramic ear endoscope. BACKGROUND

[0002] Some ear endoscopes are generally fixed angle, such as a 0-degree, 30-degree, 70-degree end, and each angle of the endoscope has a fixed range of view, and the range is generally small. Therefore, when in use, on the one hand, the endoscope needs to be rotated to obtain images in each direction, and on the other hand, different angle endoscopes often need to be replaced to meet the needs of checking and treating specific parts, which leads to complicated operation of the doctor and prolongs the checking time. In addition, due to the narrow working space of the ear endoscope, the endoscope is required to have a small size. This feature limits some head endoscope systems that can bend to change the angle, because the working principle leads to a small bending radius, so it is not suitable for ear use. SUMMARY

[0003] The present application aims at the problem that the existing ear endoscope has only a fixed angle, needs to be manually rotated when in use, cannot provide continuous rotation support for the endoscope, cannot automatically obtain panoramic images, and cannot frequently replace the lens, and proposes a rotating real-time panoramic ear endoscope. The fixed angle endoscope is rotated by a motor, dynamic panoramic images can be obtained through image splicing technology by continuously collected images, and finally, the real-time images with all directions and super large view angle can be presented to the doctor through AR glasses equipment.

[0004] The present application is realized through the following technical scheme:

[0005] The present application relates to a rotating real-time panoramic ear endoscope, which comprises a shell, an endoscope, a hollow motor, a camera unit and an image processing unit and an AR image display unit connected in sequence in the shell, wherein the rotor of the hollow motor is fixedly connected with the endoscope, the stator is fixedly connected with the shell, and the lens of the camera unit is opposite to the observation port of the endoscope without contact.

[0006] The hollow motor is controlled through a motor driver, and the hollow motor is provided with an encoder connected with the image processing unit. The image processing unit synchronously processes the images output by the camera unit and the readings output by the encoder to obtain dynamic panoramic images and display the dynamic panoramic images through the AR image display unit.

[0007] The shell comprises a front shell and a rear shell which are connected by a quick disassembly structure magnetic interface to facilitate disinfection and cleaning, and the magnetic interface comprises a pair of magnetic rings arranged on the front and rear shells respectively and having opposite polarities, wherein the first and second magnetic rings are respectively provided with a protrusion structure and a groove structure which match each other to provide support force for the front part of the shell.

[0008] The image processing unit comprises an image acquisition module, a feature extraction module, an image stitching module and an image output module, wherein the image acquisition module acquires images at corresponding positions according to rotation position information, the feature extraction module performs local feature extraction processing on the images to obtain feature point information of the current image, the image stitching module performs image stitching processing according to rotation position, current image feature points and feature points of the previous frame image to obtain the relationship between the current image and the previous frame image, and the image output module performs image format adjustment processing according to the data of the image stitching module and image format information supported by the AR image display unit to obtain a result that can be displayed on the AR image display unit.

[0009] The AR image display unit comprises a posture positioning module and a display module, wherein the posture positioning module identifies the posture of the user's head according to the inertial sensor information of the AR image display unit to obtain the head posture information of the user, and the display module performs image transformation and display processing according to the head posture information to make the image seen by the user have better motion following property.

[0010] Technical effects

[0011] The present application realizes continuous and rapid acquisition of multi-directional images by continuous rotation of the rigid endoscope, uses a position sensor, further realizes image stitching by using image acquisition technology, obtains real-time panoramic images, and finally presents the images to the user through AR image display technology. Compared with the prior art, the panoramic field of view of the present application can reach 360° in the circumferential direction, and the user no longer needs to frequently rotate the endoscope or replace the endoscope lens during use, thereby shortening the detection time. The method makes the diameter of the endoscope increase small, and meets the use of otology. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 is a schematic view of the present application;

[0013] Figure 2 is a schematic view of the rotor positioning structure;

[0014] Figure 3 is a schematic view of the shell connection part A;

[0015] Figure 4 is a schematic view of the image processing and image display system of the embodiment;

[0016] In the diagram: 1. Front housing; 2. Transparent part of the outer shell; 3. Endoscope; 4. LED light; 5. Camera unit; 6. Camera unit lens; 7. Rotor; 8. Stator; 9. Encoder; 10. Motor driver; 11. Image processing unit; 12. AR image display unit; 13. Rear housing; 14. Electric mode button; 15. Positioning mode button; 16. Panoramic mode button; 17. Power switch button; 18. Transceiver-type photoelectric encoder sensor; 19. Protruding structure on the rotor; 20. First magnetic ring; 21. Protruding structure; 22. Fixed contact; 23. Second magnetic ring; 24. Telescopic contact; 25. Groove structure; 26. Endoscope images at different positions; 27. Panoramic hemispherical image; 28. Magnetic interface A. Detailed Implementation

[0017] like Figure 1 As shown in the figure, this embodiment relates to a rotating real-time panoramic otoscope, including: a housing and an endoscope 3 disposed within the housing, a hollow motor, a camera unit 5, and an image processing unit 11 and an AR image display unit 12 connected in sequence to the camera unit 5, wherein: the rotor 7 of the hollow motor is fixedly connected to the endoscope 3, the stator 8 is fixedly connected to the housing, and the lens 6 of the camera unit 5 is directly facing the observation port of the endoscope 3 but not in contact with it.

[0018] The hollow motor is controlled by a motor driver 10 and is equipped with an encoder 9 connected to an image processing unit 11. The image processing unit 11 synchronously processes the image output by the camera unit 5 and the reading output by the encoder 9 to obtain a dynamic panoramic image, which is then displayed by the AR image display unit 12.

[0019] The motor driver 10 is preferably located inside the housing.

[0020] The outer casing is equipped with a jog button 14, a positioning button 15, a panoramic button 16 for switching working modes, and a power switch button 17.

[0021] The outer casing includes a front casing 1 and a rear casing 13, which are connected by a magnetic interface A with a quick-release structure for easy disinfection and cleaning.

[0022] The end of the front housing 1 is a transparent structure for the endoscope 3 to acquire images.

[0023] The front housing 1 is provided with LED lights 4 at its end. Preferably, multiple LED lights are evenly installed in the circumferential direction to achieve illumination in various directions. The power supply lines of the LEDs are led out close to the inner wall of the housing and connected to the fixed contact 22.

[0024] like Figure 2As shown, one end of the hollow motor rotor 7 is connected with the endoscope 3, and the other end is provided with a cylindrical protruding structure 19; the stator 8 is connected with the rear shell 13, and the cable thereof is connected with the driver 10.

[0025] The encoder 9, specifically a transceiving photoelectric code disc sensor 18, is arranged in a ring shape above the rotor 7, and the middle gap is used for passing the protruding structure 19 of the rotor 7.

[0026] As shown, Figure 3 The magnetic interface A includes a pair of magnetic rings 20 and 23 arranged on the front and rear shells respectively and having opposite polarities, wherein the first and second magnetic rings 20 and 23 are respectively provided with a protruding structure 21 and a groove structure 25 matched with each other, so as to provide a supporting force for the front part of the shell.

[0027] The left and right parts of the first and second magnetic rings 20 and 23 have opposite polarities, and the corresponding polarities of the two magnetic rings are opposite.

[0028] The first and second magnetic rings 20 and 23 are respectively provided with corresponding extension contacts 24 and fixed contacts 22, which are used for connecting with an external power supply line to supply power to the LED lamp 4.

[0029] The endoscope 3 preferably adopts a 30° endoscope angle. The end of the endoscope 3 is provided with a connecting screw hole of the rotor 7.

[0030] The camera unit 5 preferably adopts a 200Hz frame rate for image acquisition.

[0031] The AR image display unit 12 is preferably realized by using AR glasses supporting HDMI input.

[0032] As shown, Figure 4 The embodiment relates to an imaging process of the above device, specifically: the front shell 1 is placed into the ear canal, the power switch 17 is connected, the LED lamp 4 is lighted, the motor driver 10 is started, the motor starts to rotate continuously, the rotor 7 drives the endoscope 3 to rotate at a constant speed, the light in the ear canal transmits through the transparent part 2 of the shell, passes through the endoscope 3, and is output to the rear end of the endoscope, is imaged on the camera unit 5 through the camera unit lens 6 aligned therewith, the camera unit 5 outputs the image to the image processing unit 11, meanwhile, the encoder 9 obtains the rotating direction of the endoscope lens in real time and outputs to the image processing unit 11, the image processing unit 11 adopts an image stitching algorithm to synthesize panoramic images, and outputs to the AR image display unit 12 to complete the display of real-time panoramic images.

[0033] Compared with the prior art, the device realizes the output of 360-degree panoramic image in the circumferential direction through continuous rotation type endoscope panoramic image acquisition, and manual rotation or replacement of the endoscope lens is not needed in the use process. The separated front and rear shell design and the fool-proof design of the device facilitate sterilization and cleaning, and ensure the power supply of the front end LED. The device uses a motor to drive the endoscope to rotate, continuously obtains images in each direction, and combines them into a complete dynamic real-time panoramic image through an image processing unit, greatly increases the field of view, avoids frequent replacement and rotation of the endoscope lens during the operation of the doctor, and improves the detection efficiency. Although there is a certain increase in the outer diameter, it can be controlled within a very small range and will not affect the use.

[0034] The above specific embodiments can be adjusted in different ways by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles and purposes of the present application, the protection scope of the present application is subject to the claims and is not limited by the above specific embodiments, and each implementation scheme within the scope is subject to the present application.

Claims

1. A rotating real-time panoramic otoscope, characterized in that, include: The housing includes an endoscope, a hollow motor, a camera unit, an image processing unit, and an AR image display unit connected in sequence to the camera unit. The rotor of the hollow motor is fixedly connected to the endoscope, the stator is fixedly connected to the housing, and the lens of the camera unit faces the observation port of the endoscope but does not contact it. The hollow motor is controlled by a motor driver and is equipped with an encoder connected to the image processing unit. The image processing unit synchronously processes the image output by the camera unit and the reading output by the encoder to obtain a dynamic panoramic image, which is then displayed by the AR image display unit. One end of the rotor of the hollow motor is connected to the endoscope, and the other end is provided with a cylindrical protrusion structure; the stator is connected to the rear housing, and its cable is connected to the driver. The encoder is specifically a transceiver type photoelectric code disk sensor, which is arranged in a ring above the rotor, with a gap in the middle for the passage of the rotor's protruding structure. The image processing unit includes an image acquisition module, a feature extraction module, an image stitching module, and an image output module. Specifically: the image acquisition module acquires images based on rotation position information to obtain images at the corresponding positions; the feature extraction module performs local feature extraction processing to obtain feature point information of the current image; the image stitching module performs image stitching processing based on rotation position, feature points of the current image, and feature points of the previous frame image to obtain the relationship between the current image and the previous frame image; and the image output module performs image format adjustment processing based on the data from the image stitching module and the image format information supported by the AR image display unit to obtain a result that can be displayed on the AR image display unit. The AR image display unit includes an attitude positioning module and a display module. The attitude positioning module performs its own attitude recognition processing based on its own inertial navigation sensor information to obtain the current user's head position attitude information. The display module performs image transformation and display processing based on the user's head position attitude information, so that the image seen by the user has good motion tracking.

2. The rotating real-time panoramic otoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that, The outer casing includes a front casing and a rear casing, which are connected by a magnetic interface A with a quick-release structure to facilitate disinfection and cleaning; The magnetic interface A includes: a pair of magnetic rings with opposite polarities respectively disposed on the front and rear shells, wherein: the first and second magnetic rings are respectively provided with mutually cooperating protrusion structures and groove structures to provide support for the front part of the shell.

3. The rotating real-time panoramic otoscope according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first and second magnetic rings are respectively provided with corresponding telescopic contacts and fixed contacts, which are used to connect to external power supply lines to supply power to the LED lights.

4. The rotating real-time panoramic otoscope according to claim 3, characterized in that, The front housing is equipped with LED lights at its end, and multiple LED lights are evenly installed in the circumferential direction to achieve illumination in various directions. The power supply lines of the LEDs are led out close to the inner wall of the housing and connected to fixed contacts.

5. The rotating real-time panoramic otoscope according to claim 2, characterized in that, The left and right portions of the first and second magnetic rings have opposite magnetic poles, and the corresponding portions of the two magnetic rings have opposite magnetic polarities.

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