Image rotation using software for endoscopic applications

An endoscopic system comprising:

• an endoscope unit comprising:
• a hand-piece;
• an endoscope tube comprising a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the proximal end of the endoscope tube is rotatably connected to the hand-piece such that the proximal end and the distal end of the endoscope tube are rotatable about an axis of the endoscope tube and with respect to the hand-piece;
• an image sensor disposed within the endoscope tube for providing visualization of an area, wherein the image sensor is located near the distal end of the endoscope tube and the image sensor incorporates a two dimensional array of pixels capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation;
• a sensor for detecting rotation of the proximal end of the endoscope tube relative to the hand piece;
• and
• an image signal processing pipeline performs rotation transformations upon images captured by the image sensor, wherein the image signal processing pipeline is configured to rotate the images counter to a direction of rotation of the proximal end of the endoscope tube relative to the hand piece to maintain a constant image horizon for a user on a display.

A method of rotating an image in an endoscopic application comprising:

• providing an endoscope unit comprising:
• a hand-piece;
• an endoscope tube comprising a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the proximal end of the endoscope tube is rotatably connected to the hand-piece such that the proximal end and the distal end of the endoscope tube are rotatable about an axis of the endoscope tube and with respect to the hand-piece;
• an image sensor disposed within the endoscope tube for providing visualization of an area, wherein the image sensor is located near the distal end of the endoscope tube and incorporates a two dimensional array of pixels capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation;
• and
• a sensor for detecting rotation of the proximal end of endoscope tube relative to the hand piece;
• detecting an angle of rotation of the hand-piece relative to the proximal end of the endoscope tube using the sensor;
• and
• performing image rotation transformations upon images captured by the image sensor using an image signal processing pipeline that is configured to rotate the images counter to a direction of rotation of the proximal end of the endoscope tube relative to the hand piece to maintain a constant image horizon for a user on a display.