Surgical Console Overlay Transparency via Color Lookup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Surgical robotic systems face challenges in overlaying additional images or data onto a video feed of a surgical site without occluding the underlying video, typically requiring an extra input channel for alpha channel processing.
Innovation Solution
A surgical robotic system that includes a control tower, mobile cart, and surgical console with a controller capable of generating an overlay based on stored data, determining transparency for each pixel or bounding box, and superimposing it onto a real-time image of the target tissue, using a color lookup table to determine transparency levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If an extra input channel is added to generate a separate alpha channel for overlay processing, then the transparency control of overlays is improved, but the device complexity and hardware requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the alpha channel generation function from dedicated hardware and relocates it to software processing. The controller generates the alpha channel by analyzing color information from existing video frames, removing the need for separate hardware input channels while maintaining transparency control functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/hardware-based alpha channel input system with a software-based solution. Instead of requiring physical input channels and dedicated hardware processing, the system uses software algorithms to compute transparency values from color data in existing video streams, substituting hardware complexity with software intelligence.
2Loss of information
If overlay data is superimposed on the video feed, then the information display capability is improved, but the visibility of the underlying video feed worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making different regions of the overlay have different transparency characteristics. The alpha channel is computed locally for each pixel or region based on its color properties, allowing critical areas to maintain higher visibility while less critical areas can have more aggressive overlay blending.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes color changes as the basis for determining transparency. By analyzing the color information of pixels in the video feed and overlay data, the system dynamically adjusts transparency levels, allowing the overlay to blend seamlessly with the underlying video while preserving visibility where needed.
3Speed
If a color lookup table is used to determine transparency percentages, then the processing speed is improved, but the memory requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-computing and storing transparency mappings in a lookup table during system initialization or offline processing. This allows the runtime system to quickly determine transparency percentages through simple table lookups rather than performing complex calculations in real-time, trading upfront computational work for faster execution.
Data Source
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AI summary
A surgical robotic system includes a mobile cart and a surgical console. The mobile cart includes a surgical robotic arm with an image capture device configured to capture a real-time image of the target tissue including a plurality of first pixels. The surgical console incudes a display, a memory storing overlay data, a user input device, and a controller. The controller is configured to: generate an overlay based on the stored overlay data, the overlay including a plurality of second pixels, wherein each second pixel of the plurality of second pixels include a predetermined color information; determine a percentage of transparency of each second pixel of the plurality of second pixels based on the predetermined color information; generate an augmented image based on the overlay data, the real-time image, and the determined percentage of transparency; and output the augmented image on the display.