# US 2020/0404144 A1 · Speckle removal in a pulsed hyperspectral, fluorescence, and laser mapping imaging system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0404144 A1 - Document ID: US20200404144A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/799,212 - Filed: 2020-02-24 - 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/US20200404144A1 ## CPC - A61B 1/063: {for monochromatic or narrow-band illumination} - H04N 23/72: Combination of two or more compensation controls - A61B 1/00006: {of control signals} - A61B 1/000095: {for image enhancement} - A61B 1/00126: {optical, e.g. for light supply cables} - A61B 1/043: {for fluorescence imaging} - A61B 1/045: Control thereof - A61B 1/0638: {providing two or more wavelengths} - A61B 1/0655: {Control therefor} - A61B 1/07: using light-conductive means, e.g. optical fibres - A61B 5/0066: {Optical coherence imaging} - A61B 5/0075: {by spectroscopy, i.e. measuring spectra, e.g. Raman spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy (A61B5/0071 takes precedence)} - A61B 5/0084: {for introduction into the body, e.g. by catheters (A61B5/1459 takes precedence)} - A61B 5/7207: {of noise induced by motion artifacts} - H04N 13/239: using two two-dimensional [2D] image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance (H04N13/243 takes precedence) - H04N 13/254: in combination with electromagnetic radiation sources for illuminating objects - H04N 23/56: provided with illuminating means - H04N 23/74: by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means - A61B 1/042: {characterised by a proximal camera, e.g. a CCD camera} - A61B 1/05: characterised by the image sensor, e.g. camera, being in the distal end portion - H04N 23/555: {for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes} - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract Speckle removal in a pulsed hyperspectral, fluorescence, and laser mapping imaging system is described. A system includes a coherent light source for emitting pulses of coherent light, a fiber optic bundle connected to the coherent light source, and a vibrating mechanism attached to the fiber optic bundle. The system includes and an image sensor comprising a pixel array for sensing reflected electromagnetic radiation. The system is such that at least a portion of the pulses of coherent light emitted by the coherent light source comprises one or more of a hyperspectral emission, a fluorescence emission, or a laser mapping pattern. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: a coherent light source for emitting pulses of coherent light; a fiber optic bundle connected to the coherent light source; an image sensor comprising a pixel array for sensing reflected electromagnetic radiation; a vibrating mechanism attached to the fiber optic bundle; and a controller in electronic communication with the coherent light source and the image sensor and configured to synchronize timing of the coherent light source and the image sensor; wherein at least a portion of the pulses of coherent light emitted by the coherent light source comprises one or more of: electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength from about 513 nm to about 545 nm; electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength from about 565 nm to about 585 nm; electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength from about 900 nm to about 1000 nm; a fluorescence excitation wavelength of electromagnetic radiation that causes a reagent to fluoresce; or a laser mapping pattern. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the vibrating mechanism comprises one or more of a mechanical motor, a piezoelectric crystal, an oscillator, or a resonator component. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further in electronic communication with the vibrating mechanism and is further configured to control operation of the vibrating mechanism such that the coherency of the pulses of coherent light is reduced. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, wherein the controller is further configured to control the operation of the vibrating mechanism such that speckle caused at least in part by the coherency of the pulses of coherent light is not visible to a user in an exposure frame generated by the image sensor. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising: a sleeve for coupling a first fiber optic portion of the fiber optic bundle to a second fiber optic portion of the fiber optic bundle; and a housing of the vibrating mechanism configured to house a vibrating device, wherein the vibrating device comprises one or more of a mechanical motor, a piezoelectric crystal, an oscillator, or a resonator component; wherein the housing of the vibrating mechanism is attached to the sleeve. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein the vibrating mechanism is the only vibrating mechanism attached to the fiber optic bundle, and wherein the vibrating mechanism vibrates each of the first fiber optic portion and the second fiber optic portion. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the vibrating mechanism is configured to vibrate the fiber optic bundle such that at least one pulse of coherent light of the pulses of coherent light transmitted on the fiber optic bundle loses coherency momentarily as the geometry of the path travelled by the pulse of coherent light is changed by vibration of the vibrating mechanism. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the coherent light source comprises a plurality of laser bundles and each of the plurality of laser bundles comprises a plurality of laser units, wherein the plurality of laser bundles comprises one or more of: a red laser bundle for emitting a red wavelength of electromagnetic radiation; a green laser bundle for emitting a green wavelength of electromagnetic radiation; a blue laser bundle for emitting a blue wavelength of electromagnetic radiation; a hyperspectral laser bundle for emitting a hyperspectral wavelength of electromagnetic radiation for eliciting a spectral response; a fluorescence laser bundle for emitting a fluorescence excitation wavelength for fluorescing a reagent; or a laser mapping bundle for emitting the laser mapping pattern. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the hyperspectral laser bundle comprises one or more of: a first hyperspectral bundle for emitting the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 513 nm to about 545 nm; a second hyperspectral bundle for emitting the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 565 nm to about 585 nm; or a third hyperspectral bundle for emitting the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 900 nm to about 1000 nm. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the fluorescence bundle for emitting the fluorescence excitation wavelength of electromagnetic radiation comprises one or more of: a first fluorescence bundle for emitting the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 770 nm to about 790 nm; or a second fluorescence bundle for emitting the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 795 nm to about 815 nm. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the laser mapping bundle is configured to emit the laser mapping pattern such that one or more of a distance, dimension, or three-dimensional topographical map can be calculated based on reflected electromagnetic radiation sensed by the image sensor in response to emission of the laser mapping pattern. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein: the vibrating mechanism introduces a vibration stimulus to the fiber optic bundle to cause a series of changes to the path geometry of the fiber optic bundle; and wherein the series of changes to the path geometry are performed at a high frequency such that an observable speckle pattern in an exposure frame generated by the image sensor is substantially removed. ### Claim 13 (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 coherent light emitted by the coherent light source. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the pixel array of the image sensor senses reflected electromagnetic radiation to generate the plurality of exposure frames during a readout period of the pixel array, wherein the readout period is a duration of time when active pixels in the pixel array are read. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the coherent light source is configured to emit, during a pulse duration, a plurality of sub-pulses of coherent light having a sub-duration shorter than the pulse duration. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the pulses of coherent light emitted by the coherent light source comprises electromagnetic radiation emitted at two or more wavelengths simultaneously as a single pulse or a single sub-pulse. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the pulses of coherent light emitted by the coherent light source is a fluorescence excitation emission that results in a fluorescence exposure frame created by the image sensor, and wherein the controller is configured to provide the fluorescence exposure frame to a corresponding fluorescence system that determines a location of a critical tissue structure within a scene based on the fluorescence exposure frame. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The system of claim 17, wherein the fluorescence excitation emission comprises one or more of: electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength from about 770 nm to about 790 nm; or the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 795 nm to about 815 nm. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The system of claim 18, wherein the controller is further configured to: receive the location of the critical tissue structure from the corresponding fluorescence system; generate an overlay frame comprising the location of the critical tissue structure; and combine the overlay frame with a color image frame depicting the scene to indicate the location of the critical tissue structure within the scene. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The system of claim 19, wherein sensing the reflected electromagnetic radiation by the pixel array comprises generating a laser mapping exposure frame by sensing reflected electromagnetic radiation resulting from the coherent light source pulsing the laser mapping pattern, and wherein the controller is further configured to: provide the laser mapping exposure frame to a corresponding laser mapping system that determines a topology of the scene and/or dimensions of one or more objects within the scene; provide the location of the critical tissue structure to the corresponding laser mapping system; and receive a topology and/or dimension of the critical tissue structure from the corresponding laser mapping system. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The system of claim 20, wherein the critical structure comprises one or more of a nerve, a ureter, a blood vessel, an artery, a blood flow, or a tumor. ### Claim 22 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to synchronize timing of the pulses of coherent light during a blanking period of the image sensor, wherein the blanking period corresponds to a time between a readout of a last row of active pixels in the pixel array and a beginning of a next subsequent readout of active pixels in the pixel array. ### Claim 23 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein two or more pulses of coherent light emitted by the coherent light source result in two or more instances of reflected electromagnetic radiation that are sensed by the pixel array to generate two or more exposure frames that are combined to form an image frame. ### Claim 24 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the image sensor comprises a first image sensor and a second image sensor such that the image sensor can generate a three-dimensional image. ### Claim 25 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the coherent light source is configured to emit a sequence of pulses of coherent light 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, and wherein each of the exposure frames corresponds to a pulse of coherent light. ### Claim 26 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the pulses of coherent light are emitted in a pattern of varying wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, and wherein the coherent light source repeats the pattern of varying wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. ### Claim 27 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein sensing reflected electromagnetic radiation by the pixel array comprises generating a laser mapping exposure frame by sensing reflected electromagnetic radiation resulting from the coherent light source pulsing the laser mapping pattern, wherein the laser mapping exposure frame comprises information for determining real time measurements comprising one or more of: a distance from an endoscope to an object; an angle between an endoscope and the object; or surface topology information about the object. ### Claim 28 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the pulses of coherent light emitted by the coherent light source comprises a plurality of tool-specific laser mapping patterns for each of a plurality of tools within a scene. ### Claim 29 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the laser mapping pattern emitted by the coherent light source comprises a first output and a second output that are independent from one another, wherein the first output is for light illumination and the second output is for tool tracking. ### Claim 30 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the pulses of coherent light emitted by the coherent light source is a hyperspectral emission that results in a hyperspectral exposure frame created by the image sensor, and wherein the controller is configured to provide the hyperspectral exposure frame to a corresponding hyperspectral system that determines a location of a critical tissue structure within a scene based on the hyperspectral exposure frame. ### Claim 31 (depends on 30) The system of claim 30, wherein the hyperspectral emission comprises one or more of: the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 513 nm to about 545 nm; the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 565 nm to about 585 nm; or the electromagnetic radiation having the wavelength from about 900 nm to about 1000 nm. ### Claim 32 (depends on 31) The system of claim 31, wherein the controller is further configured to: receive the location of the critical tissue structure from the corresponding hyperspectral system; generate an overlay frame comprising the location of the critical tissue structure; and combine the overlay frame with a color image frame depicting the scene to indicate the location of the critical tissue structure within the scene. ### Claim 33 (depends on 32) The system of claim 32, wherein sensing the reflected electromagnetic radiation by the pixel array comprises generating a laser mapping exposure frame by sensing reflected electromagnetic radiation resulting from the coherent light source pulsing the laser mapping pattern, and wherein the controller is further configured to: provide the laser mapping exposure frame to a corresponding laser mapping system that determines a topology of the scene and/or dimensions of one or more objects within the scene; provide the location of the critical tissue structure to the corresponding laser mapping system; and receive a topology and/or dimension of the critical tissue structure from the corresponding laser mapping system. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33, wherein the critical structure comprises one or more of a nerve, a ureter, a blood vessel, an artery, a blood flow, or a tumor.