CPC A61B 1/00135 (2013.01) [A61B 1/00009 (2013.01); A61B 1/015 (2013.01); A61B 1/018 (2013.01); A61B 1/045 (2013.01); A61B 1/05 (2013.01); A61B 1/0676 (2013.01); A61B 1/0684 (2013.01)] | 17 Claims |
1. An endoscope system comprising:
(a) an endoscope comprising a body, a sheath receiver positioned at a distal end of the body, a shaft extending from the sheath receiver and having a distal tip, and a camera at the distal tip of the shaft, wherein the shaft of the endoscope is rigid;
(b) a control board positioned within the body and communicatively coupled to the camera, via a cable set that runs within the shaft, to receive image data;
(c) a receiving port positioned within the body, communicatively coupled to the control board to provide procedure data to an external device via the receiving port;
(d) a sheath configured to be removably installed on the shaft, the sheath comprising an optical interface at a distal end of the sheath, wherein, when the sheath is installed on the shaft:
(i) a proximal end of the sheath couples to the sheath receiver such that the shaft is fully enclosed; and
(ii) the optical interface is positioned proximate to and substantially perpendicular to an optical axis of the camera,
wherein a processor of the control board is configured to determine that the sheath is installed on the endoscope and usable for a procedure and, in response:
(i) cause the camera to capture a set of image data during a procedure performed with the endoscope; and
(ii) cause the set of image data to display on a display of the external device,
wherein the sheath receiver comprises a first sheath coupling that is communicatively coupled to the control board; and the sheath comprises a sheath memory that is configured to store a feature dataset, and that comprises a second sheath coupling, wherein the sheath memory is positioned such that the first sheath coupling couples with the second sheath coupling when the sheath is installed on the endoscope; wherein the processor is further configured to:
(i) receive the feature dataset from the sheath memory; and
(ii) determine that the sheath is installed on the endoscope and usable for a procedure based on the feature dataset;
(iii) create a set of procedure data during the procedure, wherein the set of procedure data describes results of the procedure, and store the set of procedure data on the sheath memory;
(iv) create a set of troubleshooting data during the procedure, wherein the set of troubleshooting data describes errors and diagnostic data arising from the procedure; and
(v) store at least a portion of the set of image data on the sheath memory.
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