Controlling an emitter assembly pulse sequence

A surgical visualization system for visualizing a surgical site, the surgical visualization system comprising a control circuit configured to:

• cause electromagnetic radiation to be pulsed in a predetermined sequence comprising infrared radiation and visible light, wherein the predetermined sequence corresponds to a preselected tissue type;
• extract tissue information from reflected electromagnetic radiation corresponding to the emitted electromagnetic radiation;
• and
• modify the predetermined sequence in which the infrared radiation and the visible light are emitted according to the tissue information;
• wherein causing electromagnetic radiation to be pulsed in a predetermined sequence comprising infrared radiation and visible light comprises emitting the infrared radiation for a first predetermined length of time, emitting the visible light for a second predetermined length of time, and emitting the infrared radiation and the visible light in a predetermined order;
• wherein emitting the infrared radiation and the visible light in the predetermined order comprises emitting the visible light before the infrared radiation, wherein modifying the predetermined sequence comprises modifying the predetermined sequence to a second sequence in which the infrared radiation is emitted before the visible light, and wherein the control circuit is further configured to cause the electromagnetic radiation to be pulsed in the second sequence based on the modification.

A surgical instrument for visualizing a surgical site, the surgical instrument comprising:

• an emitter assembly configured to emit electromagnetic radiation at the surgical site, the electromagnetic radiation comprising more than one wavelength, the more than one wavelength comprising a first wavelength and a second wavelength;
• a receiver assembly configured to receive electromagnetic radiation reflected from the surgical site, wherein the reflected electromagnetic radiation corresponds to the emitted electromagnetic radiation;
• and
• a control circuit coupled to the emitter assembly and the receiver assembly, the control circuit configured to:
• receive a tissue type selection;
• cause the emitter assembly to pulse the electromagnetic radiation in a preselected sequence corresponding to the tissue type selection, the preselected sequence comprising the more than one wavelength;
• detect reflected electromagnetic radiation corresponding to the emitted electromagnetic radiation via the receiver assembly;
• determine tissue information according to the reflected electromagnetic radiation;
• and
• cause the emitter assembly to emit the second wavelength before the first wavelength based on the determined tissue information;
• wherein causing the emitter assembly to pulse the electromagnetic radiation in a preselected sequence corresponding to the tissue type selection comprises emitting each wavelength of the more than one wavelength a predetermined length of time and in a predetermined order, and wherein emitting each wavelength of the more than one wavelength in a predetermined order comprises emitting the first wavelength before the second wavelength.

A surgical system, comprising:

• an emitter assembly configured to emit electromagnetic radiation at a surgical site, the electromagnetic radiation comprising a first wavelength, a second wavelength, and a third wavelength;
• a receiver assembly configured to receive electromagnetic radiation reflected from the surgical site, wherein the reflected electromagnetic radiation corresponds to the emitted electromagnetic radiation;
• and
• a control circuit coupled to the emitter assembly and the receiver assembly, the control circuit configured to:
• cause the emitter assembly to pulse the first wavelength, the second wavelength, and the third wavelength in a first order;
• detect reflected electromagnetic radiation corresponding to the emitted electromagnetic radiation via the receiver assembly;
• determine tissue information according to the reflected electromagnetic radiation;
• and
• cause the emitter assembly to pulse the first wavelength, the second wavelength, and the third wavelength in a second order different than the first order based on the tissue information.