Controlling the integral light energy of a laser pulse

A system for use in a light deficient environment comprising:

• an endoscope;
• an image sensor to capture images of an endoscopic scene;
• and
• a light illumination system comprising:
• a light source comprising a plurality of light bundles, wherein each light bundle comprises a plurality of light emitters, wherein the light source sequentially pulses electromagnetic energy in a plurality of individual electromagnetic partitions;
• a fiber optic cable to deliver light to the endoscopic scene;
• an electromagnetic sensor embedded within the light source to sense electromagnetic energy emitted from at least one, but less than all, of the plurality of light emitters within each of the plurality of light bundles;
• and
• a control circuit in electronic communication with the electromagnetic sensor and the at least one of the plurality of light emitters, wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the light source to pulse electromagnetic energy between readout periods of non-optical black pixels of an image sensor;
• wherein the electromagnetic sensor receives electromagnetic energy from at least one of the plurality of light emitters, and wherein the electromagnetic sensor measures an amount of electromagnetic energy generated by the at least one of the plurality of light emitters;
• wherein the control circuit will control a duty cycle of the light source in response to signals generated by the electromagnetic sensor that correspond to electromagnetic energy in the fiber optic cable that is generated by the light source to obtain a desired exposure response for images captured by the image sensor;
• wherein the endoscope and the light illumination system are synchronized with regard to timing during operation.

An illumination system having a rapid duty cycle comprising:

• a light source comprising a plurality of light bundles, wherein each light bundle comprises a plurality of light emitters, wherein the light source sequentially pulses electromagnetic energy in a plurality of individual electromagnetic partitions;
• a fiber optic cable;
• an electromagnetic sensor embedded within the light source to sense electromagnetic energy emitted from at least one, but less than all, of the plurality of light emitters within each of the plurality of light bundles;
• and
• a control circuit in electronic communication with the electromagnetic sensor and the at least one of the plurality of light emitters, wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the laser source to pulse electromagnetic energy between readout periods of non-optical black pixels of an image sensor;
• wherein the electromagnetic sensor receives electromagnetic energy from at least one of the plurality of light emitters, such that the electromagnetic sensor measures an amount of electromagnetic energy generated by the at least one of the plurality of light emitters;
• wherein the control circuit controls a duty cycle of the plurality of light emitters based on a predetermined, known output and in response to signals generated by the electromagnetic sensor that correspond to the amount of electromagnetic energy generated by the at least one of the plurality of light emitters to obtain a desired exposure response for images captured by the image sensor.