Patent ID: 7833152

Claim:
A video camera system for modifying the orientation of a display of an image received by an endoscope, comprising: a) an image sensor having a sensor optical axis aligned to receive the image to provide image signals representative of said image and having a vertical reference, said sensor being rotatably attached to said video camera system; b) a machine vision system which analyzes the relative position of the endoscope to provide a rotation signal representative of angular orientation of said image sensor around said sensor optical axis, said machine vision system comprising: i) at least one light energy transmitting source located remotely from the endoscope; ii) a plurality of light energy reflecting elements disposed on or in the endoscope; iii) at least one receiver located remotely from the endoscope, the receiver receiving light energy reflected by the plurality of light energy reflecting elements, and the machine vision system analyzing the relative position of the endoscope based at least in part upon the received reflected light energy; c) a processor to receive said rotation signal and provide a compensating rotator driver signal calculated from said rotation signal; and d) a sensor rotator responsive to said compensating rotator driver signal to rotate said image sensor in a direction that maintains a desired orientation of a display of the image.