Flashing LED Illumination for Endoscope Motion Blur Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Endoscopes experience blurred images during movement due to continuous illumination, leading to reduced image quality and increased miss rates of pathological objects, such as cancer, during endoscopic procedures.
Innovation Solution
The use of flashing illuminators, like LEDs, which are flashed at high intensity for a short duration to minimize motion blur and interlacing artifacts, allowing for clearer images even during fast endoscope movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If continuous illumination is used, then the image capture area is adequately lit, but motion blur and image fuzziness increase during endoscope movement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action by using pulsed illumination instead of continuous illumination. The illumination source emits light in periodic pulses synchronized with the interlaced video field rate, illuminating only during the active display period. This periodic illumination freezes motion blur while maintaining adequate lighting for image capture, resolving the contradiction between continuous illumination and image sharpness during endoscope movement.
2Illumination intensity
If continuous illumination is used, then adequate lighting is provided for image capture, but interlacing artifacts and horizontal line artifacts appear during scope movement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses periodic illumination synchronized with the interlaced video field rate to eliminate interlacing artifacts. By illuminating only during the active display period and not during vertical retrace intervals, the system ensures both fields are captured under identical lighting conditions, preventing the horizontal line artifacts and information loss that occur with continuous illumination during movement.
3Productivity
If the endoscope moves quickly through the lumen, then procedural efficiency increases, but image quality deteriorates due to motion blur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables fast endoscope movement while maintaining image clarity by using periodic illumination synchronized with the video field rate. The pulsed lighting freezes motion during the brief illumination window, allowing the endoscope to move quickly through the lumen without sacrificing image quality, thus resolving the contradiction between procedural efficiency and image clarity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces image fuzziness and interlacing artifacts, enhancing the detection of medical conditions by providing high-quality images and improving the accuracy of pathological object identification.
Implementation Method 1
LED illuminators are flashed at high intensity and for a very short duration
Data Source
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AI summary
In a multiple viewing elements endoscope, fuzziness and blur in the images due to movement of the endoscope is reduced by using flashing illuminators instead of continuous illumination. In one embodiment, LED illuminators are flashed at high intensity and for a very short duration. To address interlacing artifacts, LEDs are flashed once at the end of a field and again at the beginning of the following field to minimize the time difference between the capture of the two fields. In another embodiment, the LEDs are flashed once wherein the single flash overlaps the end of a field and the beginning of the following field. In some embodiments, still images may be captured with fine detail by pressing a button on the endoscope handle which activates the LEDs to flash along with the capture of an image. In one embodiment, pressing a button for still image capture results in the capture of two fields, each accompanied by a flash, which are interlaced to form a single still image frame.