# US 2020/0404129 A1 · Fluorescence imaging in a light deficient environment > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0404129 A1 - Document ID: US20200404129A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/663,263 - Filed: 2019-10-24 - Published: 2020-12-24 - Earliest claimed: 2019-06-20 - Assignees: Ethicon, Inc. - Applicants: Ethicon LLC - Inventors: Joshua D. Talbert; Donald M. Wichern - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200404129A1 ## CPC - H04N 23/56: provided with illuminating means - A61B 1/0005: {combining images e.g. side-by-side, superimposed or tiled} - A61B 1/043: {for fluorescence imaging} - A61B 1/045: Control thereof - A61B 1/0638: {providing two or more wavelengths} - A61B 1/07: using light-conductive means, e.g. optical fibres - A61B 5/0071: {by measuring fluorescence emission} - A61B 5/0275: using tracers, e.g. dye dilution - A61B 5/4887: {Locating particular structures in or on the body} - A61B 5/489: {Blood vessels} - A61B 5/4893: {Nerves} - G06T 5/50: using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction - G06T 2207/10024: Color image - G06T 2207/10064: Fluorescence image - G06T 2207/10068: Endoscopic image - G06T 2207/10152: Varying illumination - H04N 23/555: {for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes} - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL ## Abstract Systems, methods, and devices for fluorescence imaging in a light deficient environment are disclosed. A system includes an emitter for emitting pulses of electromagnetic radiation and an image sensor comprising a pixel array for sensing reflected electromagnetic radiation. The system includes a controller comprising a processor in electrical communication with the image sensor and the emitter. The system is such that the controller synchronizes timing of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation during a blanking period of the image sensor. The system is such that at least a portion of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter comprises one or more of electromagnetic radiation between 770 nm and 790 nm and/or electromagnetic radiation between 795 nm and 815 nm. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: an emitter for emitting pulses of electromagnetic radiation; an image sensor comprising a pixel array for sensing reflected electromagnetic radiation; and a controller comprising a processor in electrical communication with the image sensor and the emitter; wherein the controller synchronizes timing of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation during a blanking period of the image sensor; and wherein at least a portion of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter comprises electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength from about 795 nm to about 815 nm. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 795 nm to about 815 nm is an excitation wavelength that causes one or more reagents to fluoresce at a wavelength that is different from the excitation wavelength. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the image sensor is configured to generate a plurality of exposure frames, wherein each of the plurality of exposure frames corresponds to a pulse of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter and produces a dataset corresponding in time with each pulse of electromagnetic radiation to generate a plurality of datasets corresponding to the plurality of exposure frames. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, wherein the plurality of exposure frames and the plurality of datasets are combined to form an image frame. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the pixel array of the image sensor is a dual sensitivity pixel array comprising a plurality of pixels sensitive to long exposure and a plurality of pixels sensitive to short exposure. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter comprises a green partition of electromagnetic radiation, a red partition of electromagnetic radiation, and a blue partition of electromagnetic radiation. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the emitter is configured to emit, during a pulse duration, a plurality of sub-pulses of electromagnetic radiation having a sub-duration shorter than the pulse duration. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter comprise electromagnetic radiation emitted at two or more wavelengths simultaneously as a single pulse or a single sub-pulse. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least one pulse of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter results in an exposure frame created by the image sensor, wherein the system further comprises a display for displaying two or more exposure frames as an overlay image. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter is an excitation wavelength for fluorescing a reagent, and wherein pulsing the excitation wavelength results in the image sensor generating a fluorescence exposure frame indicating a location of the reagent within a scene. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the controller is further configured to provide the fluorescence exposure frame to a corresponding system that determines a location of a critical tissue structure based on the fluorescence exposure frame. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to: receive the location of the critical tissue structure from the corresponding system; generate an overlay frame comprising the location of the critical tissue structure within the scene; and combine the overlay frame with a color image frame depicting the scene to indicate the location of the reagent within the scene. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the blanking period of the image sensor corresponds to a time between a readout of a last row of the pixel array and a beginning of a next readout cycle of the pixel array. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to adjust a sequence of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter based on a threshold, wherein the threshold determines proper illumination of a scene in a light deficient environment. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein two or more pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter result in two or more instances of reflected electromagnetic radiation that are sensed by the pixel array to generate an image frame. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter is an excitation wavelength for fluorescing a reagent, and wherein at least a portion of the reflected electromagnetic radiation sensed by the image sensor is a relaxation wavelength of the reagent. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The system of claim 16, wherein the image sensor is configured to sense the relaxation wavelength of the reagent to generate a fluorescence exposure frame, and wherein the controller is further configured to provide the fluorescence exposure frame to a corresponding system that identifies one or more critical structures in a body based on the fluorescence exposure frame. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more critical structures in the body comprise one or more of a nerve, a ureter, a blood vessel, an artery, a blood flow, cancerous tissue, or a tumor. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter comprises electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from about 600 nm to about 670 nm. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising a filter that filters electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength from about 795 nm to about 815 nm. ### Claim 21 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising a display for displaying a video stream captured by the image sensor, wherein the video stream is assigned a visible color for use on the display that is 8-bit or 16-bit or n-bit. ### Claim 22 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more filters that allow electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength from about 790 nm to about 800 nm and above 815 nm to pass through the filter to the image sensor. ### Claim 23 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising a polarization filter located in a path of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter. ### Claim 24 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the emitter is configured to emit a sequence of pulses of electromagnetic radiation repeatedly sufficient for generating a video stream comprising a plurality of image frames, wherein each image frame in the video stream comprises data from a plurality of exposure frames each corresponding to a pulse of electromagnetic radiation. ### Claim 25 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the emitter emits the pulses of electromagnetic radiation during the blanking period of the image sensor such that the pixel array is charged and ready to be read during a readout period of the image sensor.