Surgical Video Overlay Placement for Non-Obstructive Composite Streams

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Solution Overview

Problem

Surgical procedures often rely on separate displays for primary video feeds and overlay information, which can be inefficient and obstructive, hindering the swift recognition of important features and relevant information.

Innovation Solution

A computer system combines two data sets for presentation in a single location, overlaying content on the primary video at specific regions to highlight or augment important features without obstructing the primary video stream, using redundant processing paths and a surgical hub to manage multiple input feeds.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If overlay content is displayed on a separate location from the primary video feed, then information completeness is improved, but user efficiency and swift recognition of important features deteriorate due to requiring multiple viewing locations

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation completenessVSAvoiduser efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines the primary video feed and overlay content into a single composite video stream displayed at one location. The processing module merges these data sets spatially and temporally, allowing users to view both the surgical procedure and relevant information simultaneously without switching between displays, thus improving efficiency while maintaining information completeness

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If overlay content is placed at specific regions on the primary video, then important features are highlighted and recognition is enhanced, but device complexity increases due to region determination processing

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefeature recognitionVSAvoidprocessing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by placing overlay content at specifically determined regions on the primary video feed rather than uniformly across the display. The processing module analyzes the video stream to identify optimal placement locations that highlight important surgical features without uniformly complicating the entire system, thus enhancing feature recognition while managing complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Loss of information

If overlay content is overlaid on the primary video stream, then information integration is improved, but obstruction of important image features may occur

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation integrationVSAvoidobstruction of image features
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The processing module determines specific regions for overlay placement by analyzing the primary video stream to identify areas where overlay content will not obstruct important surgical features. This selective regional placement ensures information integration while avoiding harmful obstruction of critical image areas

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

4Productivity

If multiple data sets are processed and combined in real-time, then surgical efficiency is improved through enhanced information delivery, but processing requirements and system complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesurgical efficiencyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The processing module performs multiple functions: it receives the primary video feed, generates overlay content, determines optimal placement regions, and combines these data sets into a composite stream. This multi-functional approach consolidates processing requirements into a single module, improving surgical efficiency through enhanced information delivery while managing system complexity through functional integration

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP4189701B1Cooperative composite video streams layered onto the surgical site and instruments
Publication Date: 2026.01.21 CILAG GMBH INTERNATIONAL
  • EP4189701B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP4189701B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP4189701B1 patent drawingFigure 1C

AI summary

A computing system may generate a composite video stream from multiple input feeds. The computing system may obtain a surgical video stream and overlay content associated with a surgical procedure. The computing system may determine the overlay region location for overlaying the overlay content by analyzing the content of surgical video stream. For example, based on the content of a frame of the surgical video stream, the computing system may determine an overlay region location in the frame for overlaying the overlay content; based on the content of a subsequent frame of the surgical video stream, the computing system may determine another overlay region location in the subsequent frame for overlaying the overlay content. The composite video stream may be generated based on the overlay region locations determined for different frames of the surgical video stream.