US-20260123824-A1 - MEDICAL SYSTEM WITH A MEDICAL SCOPE INCLUDING SERIALIZED AND DESERIALIZED DATA TRANSMISSION

US20260123824A1US 20260123824 A1US20260123824 A1US 20260123824A1US-20260123824-A1

Abstract

A medical scope ( 10 ) comprises an objective ( 42 ) forming an image of an object; an image sensor ( 44 ) capturing the image formed by the objective ( 42 ) and providing an image signal representing the captured image; a serializer ( 50 ) comprising a two-conductor first interface ( 52 ) and a multi-conductor second interface ( 54 ) connected to the image sensor a first sliding contact ( 71 ) and a second sliding contact ( 72 ) connected to the two-conductor first interface ( 52 ) of the serializer ( 50 ); a third sliding contact ( 73 ) in electrically conductive contact to the first sliding contact ( 71 ) and a fourth sliding contact ( 74 ) in electrically conductive contact to the second sliding contact ( 72 ). The at least two of the first sliding contact ( 71 ), the second sliding contact ( 72 ), the third sliding contact ( 73 ) and the fourth sliding contact ( 74 ) are coaxial.

Inventors

Peter Schwarz

Assignees

KARL STORZ SE & CO. KG

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251230
Priority Date: 20211222

Claims (10)

1 . A medical system comprising a medical scope, the medical scope comprising: an objective producing an image of an object; an image sensor capturing the image produced by the objective and providing an image signal representing the captured image; and a serializer comprising a two-conductor first interface and a multi-conductor second interface connected to the image sensor; and the medical system further comprising a deserializer comprising a two-conductor first interface coupled to the two-conductor first interface of the serializer by a pair of conductors.
2 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the deserializer comprises a multi-conductor second interface connected to a connector.
3 . The medical system of claim 1 , further comprising a camera control unit.
4 . The medical system of claim 3 , wherein the connector is configured to be coupled to a camera control unit.
5 . The medical system of claim 3 , wherein the deserializer comprises a multi-connector second interface and is an element of the camera control unit.
6 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein serializer and the deserializer comply with the CSI Camera Serial Interface specification of the MIPI Mobile Industry Processor Interface Alliance as of the date of filing of this patent application.
7 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein medical scope further comprises a first sliding contact and a second sliding contact connected to the two-conductor first interface of the serializer; and a third sliding contact and a fourth sliding contact coupled to the two-conductor first interface of the deserializer, wherein the first sliding contact is in electrically conductive contact to the third sliding contact and the second sliding contact is in electrically conductive contact to the fourth sliding contact, and wherein at least two of the first sliding contact, the second sliding contact, the third sliding contact and the fourth sliding contact are coaxial.
8 . The medical system of claim 5 , wherein medical scope further comprises a first sliding contact and a second sliding contact connected to the two-conductor first interface of the serializer; and a third sliding contact and a fourth sliding contact coupled to the two-conductor first interface of the deserializer, wherein the first sliding contact is in electrically conductive contact to the third sliding contact and the second sliding contact is in electrically conductive contact to the fourth sliding contact, and wherein at least two of the first sliding contact, the second sliding contact, the third sliding contact and the fourth sliding contact are coaxial.
9 . The medical system of claim 8 , wherein the medical scope further comprises: an image sensor unit including the image sensor, the serializer, the first sliding contact and the second sliding contact; a shaft with a distal end region including the third sliding contact and the fourth sliding contact.
10 . The medical system of claim 9 , wherein the first sliding contact and the second sliding contact are part of a first coaxial plug connector, and the third sliding contact and the fourth sliding contact are part of a second coaxial plug connector complementary to the first coaxial plug connector.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/066,097 filed Dec. 14, 2022, and entitled, “Data Transmission via Rotating Interfaces in Endoscopic Applications,” which in turn claims priority to German Patent Application No. 102021134433.6, filed Dec. 22, 2021, and entitled, “Medical Scope,” All of the forgoing applications are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention refers to a medical scope, more particularly a medical endoscope or exoscope or a surgical microscope. In particular, the present invention refers to the transfer of power and a control signal to an image sensor and the transfer of an image signal from the image sensor to a camera control unit, primarily when the image sensor is located at the distal end of the shaft of the medical scope. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An image sensor capturing images requires electrical power, and usually additionally requires a control signal to control the clock, the electronic shutter, the sensitivity and/or other parameters that the control signal provides to the image sensor. An image signal representing images captured by the image sensor is provided by the image sensor and is transferred to a camera control unit or another device processing, analyzing, storing and/or forwarding the image signal to a display. The transfer of power, a control signal, and an image signal can be challenging, in particular when the image sensor is located in a small volume distal end of a medical scope and the transfer needs to be along a long and thin shaft. Pivotability or rotatability of the image sensor further increases the technical challenge. An object of the present invention is to provide an improved medical scope. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A medical scope comprises an objective producing an image of an object, an image sensor capturing the image produced by the objective and providing an image signal representing the captured image, a serializer comprising a two-conductor first interface and a multi-conductor second interface connected to the image sensor, a first sliding contact and a second sliding contact connected to the two-conductor first interface of the serializer, a third sliding contact in electrically conductive contact to the first sliding contact and a fourth sliding contact in electrically conductive contact to the second sliding contact, wherein at least two of the first sliding contact, the second sliding contact, the third sliding contact and the fourth sliding contact are coaxial. A medical scope comprises an objective producing an image of an object, an image sensor capturing the image produced by the objective and providing an image signal representing the captured image, a serializer comprising a two-conductor first interface and a multi-conductor second interface connected to the image sensor, a deserializer comprising a two-conductor first interface coupled to the two-conductor first interface of the serializer by a pair of conductors and a multi-conductor second interface coupled to a camera control unit or to a connector which can be connected to a camera control unit. The medical scope may be an endoscope or an exoscope or a surgical microscope. The objective comprises one or more lenses. The objective can provide a fixed focal length or a variable focal length. The objective and the image sensor can be in a fixed-focus configuration. As an alternative, the objective can be controllable to produce sharp images of objects within a range of distances. The serializer is configured to receive electrical power and optionally also a control signal via its two-conductor (or two-wire or two-core) first interface and provide the power and optionally the control signal at two or more conductors of the multi-conductor (or multi-wire or multi-core) second interface and to receive the image signal provided by the image sensor via two or more conductors of the multi-conductor second interface and transmit the image signal via the two-conductor first interface. The deserializer is configured to receive electrical power and optionally also a control signal from a camera control unit or any other device via two or more conductors of its multi-conductor second interface and to transmit the power and optionally also the control signal via its two-conductor first interface to the two-conductor first interface of the serializer. Furthermore, the deserializer is configured to receive via its two-conductor first interface the image signal and to transmit the image signal via its multi-conductor second interface to a camera control unit. According to the invention, both power and optionally the control signal and an image signal are transferred (in opposite directions) via the same two-conductor connection. This two-conductor connection requires less space than a multi-conductor connection and facilitates new technical solutions to challenges like pivotab