Method for stroboscopically examining repeating processes and arrangement for performing said method

Inventors

Laser, Helmut • Thomas, Bjoern

Assignees

Xion GmbH

Abstract

Apparatus for examining vocal folds and a method for operating said arrangement that avoid the large fluctuations in the image brightness of the camera system and thus the flickering, which is unpleasant for the user, is provided. The apparatus comprises a stroboscopic light source, a camera control unit having a camera head, a microphone, an optical waveguide, and an optical assembly, wherein the stroboscopic light source has a signal-conducting connection to the camera control unit, and the camera head is placed on the optical assembly, wherein the camera head and the microphone have signal-conducting connections to the camera control unit, and the optical assembly is connected to the light source by means of the optical waveguide.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to stroboscopically examining a repeating process with apparatus comprising an arrangement for triggering an illumination unit coupled with a CCD or CMOS video camera system. The arrangement operates a display unit, a trigger unit, an electronic control unit and a driver circuit, and the camera system receives brightness information per single image during a defined period. For each single image, the electronic control generates lightning impulses, varying the pulse width of the lightning impulses so that a sum of duration of single lightning impulses is identical for each single image.

The invention further generates lightning impulses asynchronous to a fundamental frequency of the repeating process when a trigger signal is not applied or is unstable. This coordination between the triggering arrangement and the repeating process is designed so that illumination timing is controlled even when trigger timing is missing or unreliable, while still receiving brightness information during a defined period for each single image.

In refined forms, the camera-system exposure control is matched to the lightning impulses by generating lightning impulses whose total duration is identical to a camera system preset exposure time for each single image among multiple single images. In another refinement, when a shutter signal is not transmitted to the image sensor, an exposure reference is used as an exposure default set by an electronic control unit, to determine the exposure time for each single image.

The invention also covers constructions where the repeating process is movement of the vocal folds, and it includes an apparatus architecture having a stroboscopic light source, a camera control unit with a camera head, and a microphone, together with an optical waveguide and an optical assembly. In these configurations, lightning impulses are generated for each single image while pulse width is varied so that the sum of duration is identical, and asynchronous lightning impulses are generated when the trigger signal is not applied or is unstable.

Claims Coverage

The provided document contains four independent claims (clm-00001, clm-00005, clm-00015, clm-00019) that share a common inventive concept: coordinating stroboscopic lightning impulses with CCD/CMOS camera exposure by varying pulse width while keeping a sum-of-duration relation constant per single image, and generating asynchronous impulses when the trigger signal is missing or unstable.

Across the independent claims, the inventive coverage centers on varying lightning-impulse pulse width while keeping the sum of lightning-impulse duration identical for each single image, and using asynchronous lightning impulses when the trigger signal is not applied or is unstable, in combination with CCD/CMOS brightness acquisition during a defined period and a triggering/control arrangement that couples illumination with the camera system.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications