Surgical lighting system with integrated digital video camera

A surgical video system for capturing an image of a surgical procedure and displaying the image on a video monitor remote from the surgical procedure, the video system comprising:

• at least one surgical lighthead adapted to generate a light beam and direct the light beam towards a region of interest;
• a video camera integrated into the at least one surgical lighthead for generating an image of a view of the region or interest, the video camera being adapted to physically rotate an unlimited number of revolutions relative to the at least one surgical lighthead, to rotate the image in response to a first command signal to generate a rotated image representative of a rotated view of the region of interest;
• a video monitor adapted to receive the input image and the rotated input image and selectively display at least one of the image of the region of interest and the rotated image of the region of interest in response to the input image signal and the rotated image signal, respectively;
• a control unit operatively connected to the video camera for generating said first command signal in response to an input signal from an operatively associated external source;
• a rotatable frame supported within said at least one surgical lighthead, the rotatable frame carrying the video camera on the at least one surgical lighthead;
• an electric drive motor disposed within the at least one surgical lighthead and operatively drivingly connected with the rotatable frame, the electric drive motor being adapted to selectively rotate the rotatable frame and the video camera carried thereon in response to said first command signal;
• an electric slip ring connector for electromechanically connecting video signal lines from said video camera to second video signal lines extending through said at least one surgical lighthead to said control unit;
• a first plug connector for connecting first power lines extending from said electric drive motor to second electric power lines extending from the at least one surgical lighthead to the control unit;
• and,
• a second plug connector for connecting first electric video lines extending from the slip ring connector to second electric video lines extending from the at least one surgical lighthead to the control unit.

A surgical video system for use with surgical lighting equipment to capture an image of a surgical procedure performed in a region of interest, the video system comprising:

• at least one surgical lighthead adapted to generate a light beam and direct the light beam towards the region of interest, the lighthead including a handle with a housing for manually manipulating the lighthead;
• a video camera within the handle housing of the surgical lighthead for generating an image of a view of the region of interest, the video camera being adapted to selectively rotate the image relative to the at least one surgical lighthead by selective rotation of the camera through at least one full revolution relative to the handle housing in response to a first command signal to generate a modified image representative of a modified view of the region of interest;
• a control unit operatively connected to the video camera for generating said command signal in response to an input signal from an operatively associated external source;
• and
• means for carrying control, power and video signals to and from the camera, thereby allowing the video camera to rotate at least one full revolution relative to the at least one surgical lighthead, the means including:
• a commutator for connecting first electrical lines from the video camera to second electrical lines;
• and
• a connector for connecting the second electrical lines extending from the commutator to third electrical lines extending through the at least one surgical lighthead to the control unit.

A surgical video system for use with surgical lighting equipment to capture an image of a surgical procedure performed in a region of interest, the video system comprising:

• at least one surgical lighthead adapted to generate a light beam and direct the light beam towards the region of interest;
• a video camera integrated into the at least one surgical lighthead for generating an image representative of a view of the region of interest, the video camera being adapted to selectively modify the image in response to a first command signal by physically rotating relative to at least one surgical lighthead at least 360° in response to said first command signal to rotate said digital image representative of the region of interest;
• a control unit operatively connected to the video camera for generating said command signal in response to an input signal from an operatively associated external source;
• an electric drive motor operatively connected with the control unit and the video camera and disposed within the at least one surgical lighthead;
• and
• means operative to carry control and video signals to and from the camera, respectively, thereby allowing the video camera to rotate an unlimited number of turns relative to said at least one surgical lighthead, the means including:
• a slip ring commutator for connecting first video and control lines from the video camera to second video and control lines;
• and
• a first connector adapted to mate with a second connector disposed in the at least one surgical lighthead, wherein the first and second connectors connect first power lines extending from the electric drive motor to second power lines extending through the at least one surgical lighthead to the control
• unit, and the second video and control lines extending from the slip ring commutator to third video and control lines extending through the at least one surgical lighthead to the control unit.

A surgical video system for use with surgical lighting equipment to capture an image of a surgical procedure performed in a region of interest, the video system comprising:

• at least one surgical lighthead adapted to generate a light beam and direct the light beam towards the region of interest;
• a video camera adapted to generate an image representative of a view of the region of interest, the video camera being adapted to selectively modify the image in response to a first command signal, through motor driven rotation up to 360° in order to rotate said image representative of the view of the region of interest, in response to a second command signal, by altering the magnification of said image representative of the view of the region of interest, and, in response to a third command signal, by altering the focus of said image representative of the view of the region of interest;
• a control unit operatively connected to the video camera for generating said command signal in response to an input signal from an operatively associated external source;
• and
• an electromechanical apparatus to allow rotating the video camera beyond a single revolution in relation to the at least one lighthead by electromechanically engaging power and video lines extending from the video camera through the at least one lighthead to the control unit by a use of slip ring commutators, wherein the video camera, the motor and the electromechanical apparatus form a removable replaceable modular video camera unit integrated into the at least one surgical lighthead.

In combination:

• a surgical lighthead;
• and
• a modular video system integrated into the surgical lighthead, the modular video system including:
• a motor
• a drive mechanism
• a video camera, the video camera being connected to the motor through the drive mechanism so as to be rotatable relative to the surgical lighthead through at least one full rotation, about an axis perpendicular to a lens of the camera, in response to an electronic signal received by the motor, from an operatively associated source;
• and
• means for carrying control, power and video signals to and from the camera and allowing the video camera to rotate through at least one full rotation, the means including:
• a slip ring commutator for connecting first video/control/power lines from the video camera to second video/control/power lines;
• and
• a connector disposed about the video camera for connecting first power lines extending from the motor to second power lines extending through the at least one surgical lighthead to the control unit, and
• the second video/control/power lines extending from the slip ring commutator to third video/control/power lines extending through the at least one surgical lighthead to the control unit.

A removable modular surgical video system integrated into a surgical lighthead to record an image of a surgical procedure in response to a signal from a control unit and display the image on a video monitor, the video system including:

• a video camera adapted to generate an image of a view of a region of interest, the video camera being physically rotatable at least 360° relative to the surgical lighthead;
• a drive system including a motor operatively connected with the video camera to rotate the camera relative to the surgical lighthead a selective number of revolutions;
• and
• an electromechanical device to allow the physical rotation of the camera of at least 360° relative to the surgical lighthead.