High-definition true-colour television for use in minimally invasive medical procedures

Article type: Research Article

Authors: von Orelli, A.^a | Lehareinger, Y.^a | Rol, P.^a | Niederer, P.^a | Doswald, D.^b | Felber, N.^b

Affiliations: [a] Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland | [b] Integrated Systems Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland

Abstract: Endoscopes are key elements in the application of minimally invasive medical procedures. Thereby, image quality, ease of application and safety are of decisive importance for the user. This communication is primarily concerned with aspects relating to image quality. Standard television technology is presently used in endoscopes for image presentation purposes. It is however shown, that the inherent optical quality of most endoscopes exceeds the performance of standard TV. Accordingly, a special purpose advanced digital television system exhibiting true colour performance has been developed. Since endoscopic images usually are circular, its aspect ratio is quadratic with a spatial resolution of 1000 × 1000 pixels. It has furthermore a temporal resolution of 1 to 30 Hz noninterlaced and a contrast resolution of 56.6 dB. The design and performance of the system is documented.

DOI: 10.3233/THC-1999-7106

Journal: Technology and Health Care, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 75-84, 1999