Abstract:
The invention is a medical platform system that overcomes many of the shortcomings of current systems. The novel platform provides simultaneous image display and capture, network based wireless control, preferably by way of a web browser, and the capacity to acquire surgeon specific setting by way of removable storage devices.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
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     SEQUENCE LISTING 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to medical cameras and in particular to a novel camera platform which provides enhanced usability to the operating room environment. 
     One of the advances in recent years in surgical procedures is the availability of specialized imaging devices. These devices provide a surgeon with a view of the area of the body being worked on without the necessity of fully opening up the area, thereby allowing for less invasive surgical procedures. Generally, these devices consist of a hand-held video camera and illuminator module. This camera unit interfaces to an optical cable, which can be inserted into the body and provide an optical path without opening up the entire area. 
     Because of the requirements to be compatible with the operating room environment and the specific needs as to illumination and handling by the surgeon, these imaging devices are highly customized devices. Both the camera units and the electronic interface units are purpose-specific designs. As such, to date, particularly the interface units provide very rudimentary functionality. Set-up, control, image display, and image capture capabilities in existing medical camera platforms are generally inconvenient at best. The usability of these imaging devices could be significantly improved, leading to more efficient use of medical personnel and better surgical results. Thus it is the object of this invention to provide a medical camera platform with improved functionality in the areas of, integrated video over IP, remote access, image display, image capture, camera set-up and camera operation. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is A medical camera system, comprising; A medical camera and a programmable control platform. The control platform includes at least one camera interface, at least one programmable controller, a live surgical video monitor interface, at least one wired or wireless network connection, at least one external mass storage interface, and a program application running on the controller, adapted to accept configuration and operational control from the network and mass storage interfaces. 
     In some versions, the mass storage interface is USB, In a preferred embodiment, the wired and wireless network interfaces are Ethernet or some other connection to the Internet, and the program application supports a browser interface for live surgical video over Ethernet/Internet, control and configuration. 
     Also in the preferred embodiment, the platform includes a program application that supports both a live image display and image capture path. Both image display and overlaid platform data may be displayed on an image monitor. 
     In another version, the platform supports an external keyboard or remote control. These devices may interface to the platform wired, wireless electronically, or through an IR port. 
     In another version, the Camera and image camera architecture is designed as two separate subsystems that can operate independently to reduce risk of “loss of image” during system start-up, upgrades, or other software issues. 
     In another embodiment, a bridge is provided between the 2 subsystems to provide data and control during normal operation. This bridge can be “shutdown” and the critical “make a picture” subsystem can operate in a “safe” mode until the image capture subsystem is online. 
     In one embodiment the surgeon settings are preset in the device for all camera and image capture functions. The surgeon settings are then saved to both internal flash memory and to the surgeon storage USB stick. When the stick is reinserted into the system (or any other system supporting the setting retrieval) the surgeon is recognized and the device is configured per their personal settings. 
     In another version, the surgeon settings can include camera preferences for image quality, printing, storage location, network settings, video and still image capture settings, head button controls, surgical procedure presets and other parameters. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be better understood by referring to the following figures. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the novel system. 
         FIG. 2  is a detailed block diagram of an exemplary control platform according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the preferred embodiments of the invention will be described. Camera  1  (which may include camera head button controls, NTSC/PAL single chip, three chip standard definition, high definition CCDs and CMOS devices) connects to platform controller  2 . Controller  2  is preferably a programmable unit containing sufficient processing capacity to accommodate a wide range of control, user interface and image acquisition/processing functions. 
     The controller runs program applications providing for a variety of capabilities. For instance an image capture and display capability allows for both display if the live feed of the image through a video monitor interface  3 , as well as image capture. Also, various other data, such as controller set-up information as well as patient and doctor specific data can be overlaid on the video monitor while the camera feed is displayed. 
     The controller preferably contains an external mass storage device  6 . A USB port is an example of a suitable device. In a preferred embodiment, a program application supports that set-up and other data relevant to a particular patient or surgeon may be recorded on the USB interface to a jump drive type storage unit. Then this removable device may be used to quickly configure the platform for future sessions requiring the same set-up. 
     The controller also preferably has at least one network interface which may be a wired interface such as Ethernet, but is preferably a wireless network connection which connects the controller to the Internet  5 . A program application supports set-up and control of the platform controller using a browser interface. Thus the controller can be accessed anywhere within a local network, or if allowed, from anywhere on the internet, and both programmed and monitored. Thus the program application also supports streaming video of the camera feed, so that the surgical procedure may be conveniently observed in real-time anywhere in the world. 
     The platform controller also supports local set-up and control devices such as a keyboard or handheld remote control  4 . These could connect with a wire interface of a suitable type, or conveniently through an IR port. 
     The controller preferably contains internal mass storage device. A flash storage memory is an example of a suitable device. In a preferred embodiment, a program application supports that set-up and other data relevant to a particular patient or surgeon may be recorded to the internal flash storage. Then this device may be used to quickly configure the platform for future sessions requiring the same set-up by retrieving the surgeon settings using the preferred user interface such as the IR keyboard or the network interface. 
     The device embodiment can also include access to previous patient sessions (still and video files) on the internal memory system, USB storage devices or the network if connected. In one embodiment these can be industry standard DICOM type files with “metadata” on the patient and surgical session. 
     An actual existing embodiment of the platform-controller  2  is shown in  FIG. 2 . The live video is input by progressive RGB CCD inputs CDS and digitize  7   r . The LVDS signals are sent to signal processing Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs)  8  and then to the DVI and NTSC/PAL outputs  9  via output driver devices. Video captures, recordings, overlays atop the outputted live video and user input are accomplished by software on a host system based on MIPS processor  13  running in an embedded controller and hardware video encoding device. The host runs a Linux kernel, API and drivers to support the various functions required in the system. The host will provide the following functionality:
         Interface to camera processing system over a dedicated communication and control channel   Support USB Storage devices  10     Support USB Printers and other human interface devices  10     Hard drive controller if required   Ethernet support for browser based setup and live vide streaming  11     PCI interface for wireless Ethernet card and other peripherals   Real time Video encoding (MPEG 1,2/4) for recording and Video over IP (Streaming)   Provide display and overlay data to the FPGAs when required during still capture, video recording and print screen etc. on the main monitor   Set up registers for I 2 C registers in peripheral devices at start-up or during operation   Support external memory interfaces (EMI/Flash and DDR)   Support UART (RS-232) interfaces for external control and alternatively the IR interface. (Keyboard or remote control)  12     Provide web-server for user interface web pages and software updates over the network or Internet   Provide hardware/software support for three chip products   Store and retrieve surgeon and user settings for future recall on to the system and USB storage devices       

     FPGAs are used to process the live vide and display, overlay and capture functions. System level controls ensure that the live image is protected with “safe modes”, watchdogs and other system design elements. This partitioning basically provides separate subsystems for the “make a picture” and “capture” functions in one device with one user interface for setup and control. 
     Thus a concept and a detailed embodiment have been shown which provide for greatly improved medical camera control and usability.