Bird-View Camera System for Laparoscopic Surgery

Abstract

A disadvantage of laparoscopic surgery is the narrow operative field provided by the endoscope camera. This paper proposes the Bird-View Camera System, which is capable of providing a wider view of the internal organs during laparoscopic surgery. This system consists of a camera unit for capturing the image of the inside of the body and a monitor for indicating the capture image to surgeon. With the use of this system, the invasiveness of the procedure is not increased and the specification of current laparoscopic surgery is maintained. Furthermore, it can function as a second camera (in addition to the one attached to the endoscope) and can help assess the overall state of the target area. In this paper, we discuss a newly developed camera unit, which is intended for use along with the proposed system. The camera unit is composed of a miniature color CMOS camera (height: 9 mm) . an indwelling needle, and an extra-thin connector (outer diameter: 1.1 mm) . The specific design of the camera unit and the method for positioning it are shown. The performance of the camera unit has been confirmed through basic and animal experiments.