Medical Endoscopy Image Stream Verification via Rotating Test Pattern
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical video endoscopy systems lack continuous monitoring of image streams during operational life, relying on human visual checks for plausibility and completeness, with no automated verification of image stream integrity.
Innovation Solution
A medical apparatus and system that superimposes a rotating test pattern on the image stream, allowing continuous monitoring and verification of image order and content, with conditions checked for pattern identification and rotation, enabling automated error detection and notification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human visual checks are used to verify image stream plausibility, then operational simplicity is maintained, but monitoring reliability and automation are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
A test pattern serves as an intermediary element that is superimposed on the image stream to enable automated verification. The test pattern acts as a mediator between the image processing system and the verification device, allowing automatic detection of image stream integrity without requiring complex human intervention while maintaining operational simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The verification device creates a digital copy or representation of the test pattern from the transmitted image stream and compares it against the original test pattern. This copying approach enables automated verification by detecting discrepancies between the expected and actual test pattern positions, providing reliable monitoring through pattern matching algorithms
2Measurement precision
If automated test environments are used for image stream verification, then monitoring precision is improved, but operational applicability during actual use is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The test pattern verification system serves multiple functions: it operates during both development testing and operational life monitoring, verifies image stream integrity, checks transmission accuracy, and detects synchronization issues. This multi-functional approach allows the same automated verification mechanism to be universally applied across different operational phases, from initial testing to continuous monitoring during actual medical procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The test pattern is superimposed on the image stream in advance during the transmission phase, allowing verification to be performed proactively rather than reactively. The test pattern is embedded into the image data before transmission, enabling continuous automated verification during operational life without interrupting the medical procedure or requiring post-processing analysis
3Reliability
If test patterns are superimposed on image streams, then verification capability is improved, but image quality and information completeness may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The test pattern is superimposed locally on specific regions of the image stream rather than uniformly across the entire image. By placing the test pattern in designated areas, the system maintains high verification capability in those regions while preserving the quality and information completeness of other critical image areas. The test pattern occupies minimal space and does not obscure important diagnostic information
Solution Approach 2:
The verification system uses a partial test pattern approach, where only essential verification elements are superimposed on the image stream. Rather than covering the entire image with test patterns, the system applies minimal necessary test elements that provide sufficient verification capability while maintaining overall image quality and information completeness for diagnostic purposes
Data Source
AI summary
A medical apparatus for monitoring a source image stream with a plurality of successive source images, the apparatus comprising: a processing device designed to receive the source image stream and superimpose a line of a defined test pattern on the source images of the source image stream, with the test pattern rotating continuously according to a defined specification over the temporal progression of the source images, and to transmit the source images, superimposed thus, as transmission images of a transmission image stream; and a verification device designed to receive the transmission image stream, check a plurality of conditions in relation to the transmission images of the transmission image stream, and output a warning signal if at least one condition is not met. A corresponding medical system and a method are also disclosed.