Composite Image Generation for Endoscope Blind Spot Elimination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional minimally invasive surgical systems, such as laparoscopic surgery, face limitations in obtaining a wide range of images, particularly difficulty in capturing images behind the camera due to the restricted field of view of a single laparoscope, leading to blind spots and inadequate visualization of the surgical site and its periphery.
Innovation Solution
The use of three or more endoscopes with imaging devices on their distal ends, each obtaining images and a controller processing these images to generate a composite image by aligning them based on position information and feature points, providing a wider visual field and eliminating blind spots through real-time image processing and rotation of the endoscope's distal portion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a single laparoscope is used for minimally invasive surgery, then the device complexity is low and ease of operation is maintained, but the visual field is limited and blind spots occur behind the camera
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple endoscopes (three or more) are combined into a single surgical system, with their images processed and merged by a controller to create a comprehensive composite view of the surgical site, eliminating blind spots while maintaining minimally invasive access
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a single-point 2D view to a multi-point 3D spatial arrangement of imaging devices, utilizing different positions and angles to capture the entire surgical cavity including areas behind the camera
2Loss of information
If three or more endoscopes are used to expand the visual field, then the coverage area increases and blind spots are eliminated, but the device complexity and image processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
A controller acts as an intermediary that receives images from multiple endoscopes, performs automated feature point detection and alignment, and generates a composite image, thereby managing the complexity of processing multiple image sources
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a comprehensive composite copy of the surgical site by integrating images from multiple endoscopes, providing a complete visual representation that includes all areas visible to individual endoscopes
Data Source
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AI summary
This disclosure discloses a surgical system that includes, for example, a patient-side cart (also referred to as a surgical robot) and a console apparatus. The patient-side cart includes an endoscope apparatus that includes three or more endoscope arms. The console apparatus manipulates the patient-side cart. In the endoscope apparatus, for example, feature points of respective images obtained by respective imaging devices of the three or more endoscopes are used to join the respective images together to generate a composite image, and the composite image is displayed on a display screen. The composite image generated from the images in three visual fields to be provided to an operator ensures providing an image in a wide range, and allows the operator to confirm various sites by a visual check during surgery (ensuring an endoscopic surgery while having a large visual field as in a laparotomy)