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US-12616362-B2 - Medical endoscope with serializer/deserializer

US12616362B2US 12616362 B2US12616362 B2US 12616362B2US-12616362-B2

Abstract

An apparatus of serializer/deserializer is provided. The apparatus comprises an ISP and capture device at a back end with a disposable image-capture module, a synthetic-image module, and a MIPI serializer at a front end; and, after use, only the disposable image-capture module is discarded, which extends into human body at the front end, but keep the other parts reusable, where cost is thus effectively reduced to solve the shortcoming of high cost of the use of modern disposable endoscope.

Inventors

  • Shih-Huai Yang

Assignees

  • YUAN HIGH-TECH DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20240508
Priority Date
20201218

Claims (8)

  1. 1 . A medical endoscope comprising: a holding unit comprising: a multiple-use guide tube configured for extending into a body; a single-use image-capture module arranged at a first end of the guide tube, wherein the single-use image-capture module comprises a left image sensor and a right image sensor, wherein said left image sensor and said right image sensor capture a set of left-image signals and a set of right-image signals, respectively, wherein said set of left-image signals and said set of right-image signals are each a single-channel signal; a multiple-use synthetic-image module disposed in said holding unit, detachably connected to the single-use image-capture module, and receiving said single-channel sets of left-image signals and right-image signals to synthesize a set of dual-channel image signals containing all of said left-image signals and said right-image signals, the dual-channel image signals including differential signal PCLK and differential signal Data; and a multiple-use differential signal serializer disposed in said holding unit and connected to said synthetic-image module, wherein said differential signal serializer includes: a Format Convertor and scramble electrically connected to the synthetic-image module; a parallel to serial electrically connected to the Format Convertor and scramble; a CD (Cable Driver) electrically connected to the parallel to serial; a Low Pass filter electrically connected to the CD; a I2C GPIO Decoder electrically connected to the Low Pass filter; and a PLL and CLK_DIV electrically connected to the synthetic-image module, the Format Convertor and scramble and the parallel to serial; the synthetic image signal (differential signal PCLK and differential signal Data) entering the differential signal serializer, the PLL and CLK_DIV assisting the Format Convertor and scramble and the parallel to serial in locking a frequency to be processed, the Convertor and scramble converting a format of the synthetic image signal (differential signal PCLK and differential signal Data) and performing encryption thereon through scrambling, serializing the synthetic image signal by the parallel to serial, converting parallel transmission to serial transmission, controlling a transmission channel of the coaxial cable by the CD, allowing the flow of differential signal-serialized image data outputted by the parallel to serial to be transmitted, wherein the flow of differential signal-serialized image data is also inputted to the Low Pass filter to filter out internal high-frequency video signals, allowing internal low-frequency I2C and GPIO to enter the I2C GPIO Decoder for decoding and then sending out low-frequency I2C and GPIO control signal; a multiple-use capture unit comprising: a differential signal deserializer disposed in said capture unit and connected to said differential signal serializer to receive and deserialize said flow of serialized image data to be restored and conformed to said dual-channel signal to output said set of synthesized image signals; and a differential signal capture card disposed in said capture unit and connected to said differential signal deserializer, the differential signal capture card comprising an L/R splitter configured to receive the set of synthesized image signals to be split into two sets of image signals conformed to the single-channel signal, wherein the two sets of image signals conformed to the single-channel signal are outputted to an image signal processor (ISP) and converted into two sets of image signals conformed to the dual-channel signal, wherein the two sets of image signals conformed to the dual-channel signal are processed through a parallel data conversion to obtain parallel signals; a multiple-use coaxial cable connecting the differential signal serializer of the holding unit and the differential signal deserializer of the capture unit; and a multiple-use power-over-cable (PoC) module comprising: a PoC sending circuit disposed between the coaxial cable and the differential signal deserializer and configured to send power over the coaxial cable; and a PoC receiving circuit disposed between the differential signal serializer and the coaxial cable and configured to receive power from the coaxial cable to supply power to the single-use image-capture module at the first end of the holding unit.
  2. 2 . The medical endoscope of claim 1 , wherein said coaxial cable has a length of 2˜10 meters.
  3. 3 . The medical endoscope of claim 1 , wherein said differential signal includes MIPI, LVDS, CML.
  4. 4 . The medical endoscope of claim 1 , wherein said differential signal serializer and said differential signal deserializer are constructed in an FPGA.
  5. 5 . A medical endoscope comprising: a holding unit comprising: a multiple-use guide tube configured for extending into a body; a single-use image-capture module arranged at a first end of the guide tube, wherein the single-use image-capture module comprises a left image sensor and a right image sensor, wherein said left image sensor and said right image sensor capture a set of left-image signals and a set of right-image signals, respectively, wherein said set of left-image signals and said set of right-image signals are each a single-channel signal; a multiple-use synthetic-image module disposed in said holding unit, detachably connected to the single-use image-capture module, and receiving said single-channel sets of left-image signals and right-image signals to synthesize a set of dual-channel image signals containing all of said left-image signals and said right-image signals, the dual-channel image signals including differential signal PCLK and differential signal Data; and a multiple-use serializer disposed in said holding unit and connected to said synthetic-image module, wherein said serializer serializes said set of dual-channel synthesized image signals to output a flow of serialized image data; a multiple-use capture unit comprising: a differential signal deserializer disposed in said capture unit and connected to said differential signal serializer, wherein said differential signal deserializer includes: an EQ (Equalizer) electrically connected to the differential signal serializer through the coaxial cable; a CDR (Clock Data Recovery) electrically connected to the EQ; a serial to parallel electrically connected to the CDR; a Descramble and Format Convertor electrically connected to the serial to parallel; a Low Pass filter electrically connected to the EQ; a I2C GPIO Encoder electrically connected to the Low Pass filter; and a PLL and CLK_DIV electrically connected to the CDR, the serial to parallel, and the Descramble and Format Convertor; the PLL and CLK_DIV assisting the serial to parallel and the Descramble and Format Convertor in locking a frequency to be processed; I2C and GPIO signal entering the I2C GPIO Encoder for decoding, and then the Low Pass filter filtering out high-frequency signals, allowing low-frequency I2C and GPIO control signal and the flow of differential signal-serialized image data to pass through the EQ and then enter the CDR to separate Clock and Data, the serial to parallel converting serial transmission to parallel transmission, then the Descramble and Format Convertor performing descrambling and format conversion, reducing to a dual-channel interface of differential signal Data and differential signal PCLK, finally outputting the synthetic image signal; a differential signal capture card disposed in said capture unit and connected to said differential signal deserializer, the differential signal capture card comprising an L/R splitter configured to receive the set of synthesized image signals to be split into two sets of image signals conformed to the single-channel signal, wherein the two sets of image signals conformed to the single-channel signal are outputted to an image signal processor (ISP) and converted into two sets of image signals conformed to the dual-channel signal, wherein the two sets of image signals conformed to the dual-channel signal are processed through a parallel data conversion to obtain parallel signals; a multiple-use coaxial cable connecting the differential signal serializer of the holding unit and the differential signal deserializer of the capture unit; and a multiple-use power-over-cable (PoC) module comprising: a PoC sending circuit disposed between the coaxial cable and the differential signal deserializer and configured to send power over the coaxial cable; and a PoC receiving circuit disposed between the differential signal serializer and the coaxial cable and configured to receive power from the coaxial cable to supply power to the single-use image-capture module at the first end of the holding unit.
  6. 6 . The medical endoscope of claim 5 , wherein said coaxial cable has a length of 2˜10 meters.
  7. 7 . The medical endoscope of claim 5 , wherein said differential signal includes MIPI, LVDS, CML.
  8. 8 . The medical endoscope of claim 5 , wherein said differential signal serializer and said differential signal deserializer are constructed in an FPGA.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus of medical endoscope using Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) serializer/deserializer and, more particularly, to discarding a disposable image-capture module only with remaining parts reused, where cost is effectively reduced and the shortcoming of high cost of the use of modern disposable endoscope is solved. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ARTS With the advancement of image display technology, medical practices involving the use of endoscopes are becoming more and more widespread. A current medical endoscope device mostly comprises a lens, a light-emitting device, and a hollow tube. After connecting to an external monitor, the image inside a target can be seen. The medical endoscope is in principle reusable. The host of endoscope along with its mirrors is very expensive. Therefore, after each use, manpower and time must be consumed for cleaning and disinfecting to ensure no infection for next use. However, medical personnel have faced a shortage in recent years. If the post-processing after using the endoscope could be simplified, more convenience would be brought to medical behaviors. In the existing technical field of medical equipment for solving the problems of insufficient manpower and insufficient cleaning and disinfection, technical concept of discarding is accepted for endoscope. This kind of endoscope has a long tube for inserting into an opening of a body. The inserting tube of the endoscope usually comprises a system of optical fiber and lens for carrying the assembled visual information out of a patient's body; and a light source for illuminating the area to be seen. In the design of this disposable endoscope, the following parts are combined into a single integrated entity: a detector (including a lighting, a photographer, etc.), an image signal processor (ISP), an interface of universal serial bus (USB), etc., where all expensive parts of the disposable endoscope are designed at the front end of the tube and the entire tube with the inserted parts is discarded after use. Yet, this method is expensive due to the high cost of imaging optics. The throwing away after use is not only very wasteful but also inconsistent with economic benefits. Hence, the prior arts do not fulfill all users' requests on actual use. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The main purpose of the present invention is to set the most expensive ISP and capture device at a back end with a disposable image-capture module, a synthetic-image module, and a MIPI serializer at a front end; and, after use, only discard the disposable image-capture module, which extends into human body at the front end, but keep the other parts reusable, where cost is thus effectively reduced to solve the shortcoming of high cost of the use of modern disposable endoscope. To achieve the above purposes, the present invention is an apparatus of medical endoscope using MIPI serializer/deserializer, comprising a holding unit and a capture unit, where the holding unit and the capture unit are connected through a coaxial cable, and comprises a disposable image-capture module, a synthetic-image module, a MIPI serializer, a MIPI deserializer, a MIPI capture card, and a capture device; the disposable image-capture module is set at a first end of the holding unit; the disposable image-capture module comprises a left image sensor and a right image sensor; the left image sensor and the right image sensor capture a set of left-image signals and a set of right-image signals, respectively; the set of left-image signals and the set of right-image signals are converted for conforming to a MIPI single-channel (MIPI-1-lane) interface; the synthetic-image module is set in the holding unit and connects to the disposable image-capture module; the synthetic-image module receives the set of left-image signals and the set of right-image signals to form a set of synthesized image signals containing all of the left-image signals and the right-image signals; the set of synthesized image signals are converted for conforming to a MIPI dual-channel (MIPI-2-lane) interface; the MIPI serializer is set in the holding unit and connects to the synthetic-image module; the MIPI serializer MIPI-serializes the set of synthesized image signals for outputting a flow of MIPI-serialized image data to the coaxial cable; the MIPI deserializer is set in the capture unit and connects to the MIPI serializer through the coaxial cable to MIPI-deserialize the flow of MIPI-serialized image data to be restored and conformed to the MIPI-2-lane interface for outputting the set of synthesized image signals; the MIPI capture card is set in the capture unit and connects to the MIPI deserializer for receiving the set of synthesized image signals to be converted into a set of parallel signals; and the capture device is set in the capture unit and connects to the MIPI serializer to receive the set of parallel signals for being converted in