# US 11,896,195 B2 · Distributed image processing system in operating theater

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- Number: US 11,896,195 B2
- Document ID: US11896195B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/260,550
- Filed: 2019-07-24
- Published: 2021-09-09
- Granted: 2024-02-13
- Earliest claimed: 2018-07-24
- Assignees: Sony Corporation
- Applicants: Sony Corporation
- Inventors: Alexander Thomas; Sander Brandenburg; Joris Guisson; Erik Cumps; Robert Koninckx
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11896195B2

## CPC

- A61B 1/00004: {characterised by electronic signal processing}
- A61B 1/000095: {for image enhancement}
- A61B 1/00011: {characterised by signal transmission}
- A61B 1/00013: {using optical means}
- A61B 1/0005: {combining images e.g. side-by-side, superimposed or tiled}
- A61B 1/045: Control thereof
- A61B 90/37: {Surgical systems with images on a monitor during operation}
- G16H 30/20: for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
- H04N 23/555: {for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes}
- G16H 30/40: for processing medical images, e.g. editing
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

## Abstract

A processing system (100, 200) for processing surgical images. The system includes at least one image pickup unit (115) for obtaining surgical image frames and data, at least one image receptor (113) for receiving surgical image frames to be displayed, and a processing unit (153) connected with a network (103, 106, 107) to the image pickup unit (115) for receiving surgical image frames, the processing unit (153) being configured for processing the surgical image frames and for extracting at least one processing information thereof. The processing unit further is being connected to the at least one image receptor (113) for providing the at least one correction parameter to the at least one image receptor. The system further comprises a connection (102) between the at least one image pickup unit (115) and the image receptor (113), for sending the surgical image frames directly to the image receptor (113).

## Claims

### Claim 1

A processing system for processing surgical images, the system including:
at least one image pickup unit for obtaining surgical image frames and data,
at least one image receptor for receiving surgical image frames to be displayed,
a processing unit connected with a network to the image pickup unit for receiving surgical image frames, the processing unit being configured for processing the surgical image frames and for extracting at least one processing information thereof,
wherein the processing unit further is being connected to the at least one image receptor for providing the at least one correction parameter to the at least one image receptor,
and wherein the system further comprises a connection between the at least one image pickup unit and the image receptor, for sending the surgical image frames directly to the image receptor.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The processing system of claim 1 wherein the processing unit is an external processing unit positioned outside an operation theater separated from the at least one image pickup unit and the at least one image receptor positioned inside the operation theater.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The processing system of claim 2 wherein the processing unit is adapted to provide a correction parameter from surgical image frames and further image data, the processing unit further including input for receiving further image data.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The processing system of claim 1 wherein the at least one image receptor includes means for applying at least one correction parameter to image frames.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The processing system of claim 1 wherein the at least one image pickup unit comprises a surgical video input and the image frames comprise a surgical video stream.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The processing system of claim 1 wherein the image receptor includes a display for displaying surgical image frames.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The processing system of claim 1 wherein the at least one image pickup unit comprises an endoscope.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The processing system according to claim 1, wherein the system is connected via Gigabit Ethernet.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The processing system according to claim 1, wherein image data transmitted in the system is transmitted in a slice based transmission mode.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The processing system according to claim 1, wherein image data transmitted in the system is compressed prior to transmission.

### Claim 11

A method for processing images comprising
obtaining surgical image frames,
sending at least one surgical image frame to an image receptor,
separately processing the at least one surgical image frame thereby extracting at least one correction parameter,
subsequently correcting any further surgical image frames sent to the image receptor by applying the at least one correction parameter to the any further surgical image frames.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11 further comprising displaying the surgical image frames received in the image receptor.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11 further comprising obtaining image data, and wherein processing the surgical image frames and extracting at least one processing information comprises processing the surgical image frames and image data related to the conditions of obtaining surgical image frames.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11 wherein obtaining surgical image frames comprises obtaining a surgical video stream.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11 wherein extracting at least one processing information includes extracting any or all of color correction, contrast correction, illumination information, displacement and image rotation.

### Claim 16

A processing unit for processing surgical images, the processing unit being configured for
receiving surgical image frames and data from at least one image pickup unit for obtaining surgical image frames and data,
processing the surgical image frames and for extracting at least one processing information thereof, and
providing the at least one processing information to at least one image receptor for applying said at least one processing information to surgical image frames received by the at least one image receptor directly from the at least one image pickup unit.

### Claim 17

An image receptor for receiving surgical image frames to be displayed, the image receptor being configured for receiving surgical image frames directly from at least one image pickup unit and for receiving an at least one processing information determined by a processor based on surgical image frames received from said at least one image pickup unit, the image receptor being configured for applying the at least one processing information to the surgical image frames received directly from the at least one image pickup unit.