Patent ID: 11871902
Assignee: BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC A  G  H | IPC A  G  H

Claim 9:
10. A computer-assisted system, comprising:
an imaging device having an imaging element through which image information of an anatomical structure within a body cavity is acquired during a surgical procedure;
a cleaning device attached to the imaging device, wherein the cleaning device is adapted to clean a surface of the imaging element in response to activation thereof; and
one or more processors coupled to the imaging device and the cleaning device, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
process a portion of the image information to determine cleanliness of the imaging element; and
after a determination of the imaging element exhibiting unacceptable cleanliness is made, cause the cleaning device to perform one or more instances of an imaging element cleaning operation, wherein:
the computer-assisted system further comprises a visual display device; and
the one or more processors being configured to cause the cleaning device to perform one or more instances of an imaging element cleaning operation includes the one or more processors being configured to:
issue a request for approval from a user of the computer-assisted system to initiate cleaning of the imaging element by the cleaning device; and
receiving approval from the user of the computer-assisted system in response to receiving approval to the request, actuate the cleaning device; and wherein:
the portion of the image information includes an image of the anatomical structure within the body cavity;
the one or more processors being configured to process the portion of the image information includes the one or more processors being configured to correlate the image to one or more visual clarity scored reference images each having a respective visual clarity determined to be visually equivalent to the image; and
each of said scored reference images has a score one of rating cleanliness of an imaging element used for acquiring a respective one of said reference images and ranking cleanliness of an imaging element used for acquiring a respective one of said reference images.