Patent ID: 8659646

Claim:
An endoscope comprising: a) a camera head located at a distal tip of the endoscope, the camera head comprising: i. memory storing camera parameters that define a type of camera head; ii. sealed switches; and iii. a sensor; b) a camera control unit for controlling the camera head and for processing camera data received from the camera head, the camera control unit comprising: 1) a reconfigurable controller for: i. reconfiguring an electrical interface for the camera head, ii reconfiguring timing and control of the camera head, iii. receiving the camera data from the camera head, and iv. directing the camera data along a data path; wherein the reconfigurable controller includes: a. a pixel preprocessing unit that adjusts a pixel value indicated by the camera data obtained from the memory of the camera head; b. a memory that acts as a controller for writing data to a memory external to the reconfigurable controller; and c. a host processor interface for packaging the camera data into a 32 bit format; 2) a digital signal processor for performing an image processing operation on the received camera data, the digital signal processor being in communication with the host processor interface; 3) a persistent re-writeable memory for: i. storing multiple sets of configuration information for reconfiguring the electrical interface, the pixel preprocessing unit, and the camera control unit; ii. storing multiple sets of configuration information for configuring the reconfigurable controller to perform the timing and control of the camera head; and iii. storing multiple sets of program instructions executable by the digital signal processor to perform the timing and control operation on the camera head; 4) an input device: i. wherein the input device is configured so that the input device receives from a user the set of program instructions and ii. wherein the input device is in communication with the digital signal processor and the reconfigurable controller so that configuration information selected by a user is used by the digital signal processor and the reconfigurable controller; and 5) a system controller: i. wherein the system controller is in communication with the digital signal processor so that the system controller loads the selected program instructions into the digital signal processor, and ii. wherein the system controller is in communication with the reconfigurable controller so that the reconfigurable controller is configured in accordance with the configuration information selected by the user.