Patent ID: 8545396

Claim:
A wireless endoscopic camera system, comprising: a surgical endoscope for viewing tissue within the body of a patient; a camera head for processing digital image data representative of an endoscopic image viewed by the endoscope, the camera head having a proximal end and a distal end, with the distal end detachably connected to the endoscope; a compression unit contained within the camera head for reducing the amount of digital image data required to represent the endoscopic image; a transmitter contained within the camera head for conveying the compressed digital image data to a remote receiver; and a plurality of antennas located on a body of the camera head and in communication with the transmitter for receiving the compressed digital image data from the transmitter and wirelessly relaying the compressed digital image data to the remote receiver, wherein at least one of the plurality of camera head antennas is disposed near the distal end of the camera head and projects outwardly beyond the distal end of the body of the camera head.