Steerable endoscope with motion alignment

Abstract

A steerable endoscope is provided with active steering control. An endoscope includes a flexible tubular body with first and second articulating segments, and a camera. In an embodiment, the endoscope includes an orientation sensor. A controller for the endoscope performs an automated analysis of an alignment between the motion axis of the endoscope and the viewing axis of the camera, and actively steers the endoscope to improve the alignment.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-controlled endoscope system, comprising:
 an endoscope comprising:
 a flexible tubular body comprising a first articulating segment at a distal end of the body, and a second articulating segment coupled to a proximal end of the first articulating segment, wherein the first articulating segment comprises a camera having a field of view along a camera axis and an orientation sensor sensitive to movement along a motion axis; and 
   a controller in communication with the endoscope and comprising a hardware memory storing instructions for:
 analyzing an alignment between the motion axis and the camera axis; and 
 steering the first and second articulating segments of the endoscope during motion of the endoscope to improve the alignment. 
   
     
     
         2 . The endoscope system of  claim 1 , wherein the endoscope is removable from the controller and disposable, and wherein the controller is reusable. 
     
     
         3 . The endoscope system of  claim 1 , further comprising a graphical user interface responsive to a user command to move the camera axis. 
     
     
         4 . The endoscope system of  claim 1 , wherein improving the alignment comprises reducing a difference between the motion axis and the camera axis. 
     
     
         5 . The endoscope system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions for analyzing the alignment comprise analyzing an optical flow of pixels from the camera during motion of the endoscope. 
     
     
         6 . The endoscope system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions for analyzing the alignment comprise generating an alignment metric. 
     
     
         7 . The endoscope system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a graphical user input comprising a touch screen display, and the controller further comprises instructions for steering the first articulating segment in response to an input on the touch screen display. 
     
     
         8 . The endoscope system of  claim 1 , wherein the camera is located at a distal tip of the first articulating segment, and the orientation sensor is located proximally of the camera. 
     
     
         9 . The endoscope system of  claim 1 , wherein communication between the endoscope and the controller is through a direct wired connection. 
     
     
         10 . A computer-controlled endoscope system, comprising:
 an endoscope comprising:
 a flexible tubular body comprising a first articulating segment at a distal end of the body and a second articulating segment proximal of the first articulating segment, wherein the first articulating segment comprises a camera and an orientation sensor; and 
   a controller in communication with the endoscope that receives a user steering input and a motion signal from the orientation sensor and comprising:
 a steering controller that controls independent articulation of the first articulating segment and the second articulating segment to articulate the first articulating segment to assume an orientation of a camera axis of the camera according to the user steering input and to maintain the camera axis in the orientation during forward motion of the endoscope by articulating the first articulating segment and second articulating segment. 
   
     
     
         11 . The endoscope system of  claim 10 , wherein the steering controller maintains an absolute orientation of the camera relative to gravity. 
     
     
         12 . The endoscope system of  claim 10 , wherein the steering controller maintains the camera axis by articulating the first articulating segment and/or second articulating segment to align the camera axis with a motion axis of the forward motion. 
     
     
         13 . The endoscope system of  claim 10 , wherein the steering controller articulates the first articulating segment and second articulating segment simultaneously. 
     
     
         14 . A computer-controlled endoscope system, comprising:
 an endoscope comprising a flexible tubular body comprising:
 a first articulating segment, at a distal end of the body, comprising:
 a camera having a field of view along a camera axis; and 
 an orientation sensor sensitive to movement along a motion axis; 
 
 a second articulating segment coupled to a proximal end of the first articulating segment; and 
   a controller in communication with the endoscope and comprising a hardware memory storing instructions for:
 analyzing an alignment between the motion axis and the camera axis; and 
 steering the first and second articulating segments of the endoscope, during motion of the endoscope, to reduce a difference between the motion axis and the camera axis. 
   
     
     
         15 . The endoscope system of  claim 14 , wherein the controller is a video laryngoscope. 
     
     
         16 . The endoscope system of  claim 15 , wherein the video laryngoscope further comprises a graphical user interface responsive to a user command to move the camera axis. 
     
     
         17 . The endoscope system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions for analyzing the alignment comprise analyzing an optical flow of pixels from the camera during motion of the endoscope. 
     
     
         18 . The endoscope system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions for analyzing the alignment comprise generating an alignment metric. 
     
     
         19 . The endoscope system of  claim 14 , wherein the camera is located at a distal tip of the first articulating segment, and the orientation sensor is located proximally of the camera. 
     
     
         20 . The endoscope system of  claim 14 , wherein communication between the endoscope and the controller is through a direct wired connection.