Patent ID: 7479106

Claim:
An endoscopic imaging system, comprising: a control unit that is connectable to an endoscope that has an image sensor to be inserted within a patient; a processor configured to analyze images produced by the image sensor of an endoscope; a source of irrigation and aspiration connected to the control unit and configured to be selectively controlled by the processor to deliver an irrigant through the endoscope and to aspirate the irrigant from the endoscope when the processor detects a blockage in a field of view of the image sensor; and a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a method of image analysis and source of irrigation and aspiration control by: determining if the field of view of the endoscope is obstructed based on at least an image signal obtained from the image sensor; and controlling the source of irrigation and aspiration to deliver an irrigant through the endoscope and to aspirate the irrigant from the endoscope to remove the obstruction.