Endoscope Interface Adapter for Portable Display Brightness Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing endoscope systems are costly and lack the ability to display images on general-purpose portable information terminals effectively.
Innovation Solution
An interface adapter that connects a scope to a general-purpose portable information terminal, controlling illumination light for consistent brightness and converting imaging signals into displayable data, while integrating image processing within the adapter to reduce manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a disposable endoscope system uses a dedicated display device, then image display quality is ensured, but system cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention enables general-purpose portable information terminals to serve as display devices for endoscopes by providing image data in a format compatible with standard terminal displays. This eliminates the need for dedicated endoscope display devices, allowing any smartphone or tablet to function as the display unit, thereby reducing system cost and complexity while maintaining image display quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an interface adapter as an intermediary component that converts imaging signals from the disposable endoscope into a format suitable for portable information terminals. This adapter handles the compatibility bridge between the endoscope and general-purpose terminals, enabling cost-effective integration without requiring complex built-in processing capabilities in either component.
2Adaptability or versatility
If image processing is integrated into the scope, then display compatibility is improved, but manufacturing cost of disposable scopes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the image processing function from the disposable endoscope and relocates it to the portable information terminal. The endoscope only captures and transmits raw imaging data, while the processing tasks (including format conversion and brightness adjustment) are performed by the terminal's existing capabilities. This separation keeps the disposable scope simple and inexpensive to manufacture while maintaining display compatibility through the interface adapter.
3Measurement precision
If exposure control is performed by the terminal, then image brightness is optimized, but processing time and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The interface adapter performs preliminary brightness adjustment and image data preparation before transmitting to the portable terminal. By pre-processing the image data to optimize brightness and format conversion in advance, the system reduces the processing burden on the terminal during actual display, thereby minimizing additional processing time and energy consumption while still achieving optimized image brightness.
Data Source
AI summary
An interface adapter includes: a first communication interface for communicating with a scope including an imaging sensor and a light source device that generates illumination light for imaging by the imaging sensor; a second communication interface for communicating with a portable information terminal; and a processor, and the processor causes the imaging sensor to perform imaging in a state in which a light amount of the illumination light is controlled to be constant, converts a captured image signal obtained by the imaging sensor into image data that is displayable by the portable information terminal, and transmits the image data to the portable information terminal, derives a brightness of the image data based on the captured image signal, and controls an imaging sensitivity of the imaging sensor and an exposure time of the imaging sensor based on the brightness.