Hermetically sealed endoscope with optical component attached to inner protective window

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9565997-B2
Application number	US-201615018867-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 9, 2016
Priority date	Dec 21, 2006
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

In one embodiment, an endoscopic camera for a robotic surgical system includes a stereo camera module mounted to a robotic arm of a patient side cart. The optical and electro-optic components of the camera module are hermetically sealed within a first housing. Signals from an electro-optic component travel through traces in a ceramic substrate forming one side of the hermetically sealed first housing. A second housing surrounds the first housing and optical fibers are dispersed between the housings to provide lighting in a body cavity. The camera module may be sterilized by an autoclave.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An endoscope comprising:
a housing;
an image sensor sensitive to a set of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation;
an inner protective window over the image sensor, and
a first optical component including a first lens;
wherein the first optical component is positioned at least partially within the housing,
wherein the inner protective window is positioned between the image sensor and the first optical component, and
wherein the first optical component is attached to the inner protective window.

2. The endoscope of claim 1 , wherein
the first optical component is attached to the inner protective window by at least one of glue, epoxy, and cement.

3. The endoscope of claim 1 , wherein
the first optical component is attached to the inner protective window by a heat-resistant glue.

4. The endoscope of claim 1 , wherein
the first optical component is hermetically sealed within the housing.

5. The endoscope of claim 1 , wherein
the image sensor comprises a first pixel array having a first axis perpendicular to the first pixel array, and wherein the first optical component is off-axis from the first axis.

6. A stereo endoscope camera module comprising:
an inner subassembly including
an inner rectangular stainless steel housing having an open bottom and a front side opening;
a window hermetically sealed into the front side opening;
a substrate hermetically sealed to the inner rectangular stainless steel housing to close the open bottom, the substrate including metal traces;
a stereo image sensor mounted to the substrate behind the window within the inner rectangular stainless steel housing, the stereo image sensor having a pair of image sensors with optical axes to generate left and right images;
a pair of lens barrels mounted to the substrate, the pair of lens barrels each having an objective lens with an optical axis through the window;
a mirrored prism mounted to the substrate, the prism having a first face and a second face perpendicular to the first face, the optical axes of the pair of lens barrels aligned into the first face, wherein the mirrored prism redirects light at a right angle from the optical axes of the pair of lens barrels and onto the pair of sensors of the stereo image sensor parallel to the optical axis of the pair of image sensors;

an array of optical fibers around the inner subassembly;
and
an outer rectangular housing around the array of optical fibers and the inner subassembly, the outer rectangular housing having a front side opening to receive the front side opening of the inner rectangular stainless steel housing.

7. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , wherein
the stereo image sensor is a pair of charged-couple device (CCD) sensors for left and right images.

8. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , wherein
the stereo image sensor is a pair of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensors for left and right images.

9. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , wherein
the stereo image sensor is a pair of intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) sensors for left and right images.

10. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , further comprising
a processor mounted to the substrate, the processor coupled to one or more of the metal traces of the substrate in communication with the pair of image sensors of the stereo image sensor; and
wherein the stereo image sensor is a high definition stereo image sensor with increased pixel density.

11. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 10 , wherein
the processor includes
a digital signal processor to process digital images, and
a pair of analog to digital converters respectively coupled between the digital signal processor and the pair of image sensors, the pair of analog to digital converters to receive a pair of analog image signals from the pair of image sensors and convert the pair of analog image signals into a pair of digital image signals for processing by the digital signal processor.

12. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 10 , further comprising
passive circuits mounted to the substrate and coupled to one or more of the metal traces of the substrate.

13. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 12 , wherein
the substrate is a ceramic substrate.

14. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , wherein light launched out of the array of optical fibers around the inner subassembly form a halo of light around the front side of the inner rectangular stainless steel housing.

15. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , wherein
the window is formed of a scratch, heat, moisture, and solvent resistant material that is transparent to a range of wavelengths detected by the stereo image sensor.

16. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , wherein
the window is a sapphire window brazed to the rectangular stainless steel housing in the front side opening.

17. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , wherein
the window is a sapphire window soldered to the rectangular stainless steel housing in the front side opening with gold solder.

18. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , wherein
the substrate further includes one or more cable bond pads; and
one or more traces in the substrate pass under the seal to the inner rectangular stainless steel housing to couple to the cable bond pads.

19. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 18 , further comprising
at least one sheathed cable coupled to the one or more cable bond pads to transmit data from the processor and receive control signals into the processor.

20. The stereo endoscope camera of claim 6 , wherein
the substrate further includes one or more cable bond pads;
one or more traces in the substrate pass under the seal to the inner rectangular stainless steel housing to couple to the cable bond pads; and
the camera further comprises at least one sheathed cable coupled to the one or more cable bond pads to supply power to the stereo image sensor.

Assignees

• Intuitive Surgical Operations

Inventors

• Scott David D
• Shafer David C
• Brichard Dominique
• Herzlinger Peter M

Classifications

• H04N23/555

  for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes · CPC title

• H04N23/55

  Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof · CPC title

• A61B1/06

  with illuminating arrangements · CPC title

• A61B1/00009

  of image signals during a use of endoscope · CPC title

• H04N13/20 Primary

  Image signal generators · CPC title