	US 12,262,123 B2
	Apparatuses, systems, and methods for managing auto-exposure of image frames depicting color-biased content
Zhen He, Cupertino, CA (US); and Jeffrey M. DiCarlo, Austin, TX (US)
Assigned to Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US)
Appl. No. 18/014,464
Filed by Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US)
PCT Filed Jul. 7, 2021, PCT No. PCT/US2021/040708 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 4, 2023, PCT Pub. No. WO2022/011027, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 13, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/050,583, filed on Jul. 10, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0262347 A1, Aug. 17, 2023
Int. Cl. H04N 23/74 (2023.01); A61B 1/00 (2006.01); A61B 1/045 (2006.01); A61B 1/06 (2006.01); H04N 9/78 (2006.01); H04N 23/50 (2023.01); H04N 23/71 (2023.01); H04N 23/72 (2023.01); H04N 23/73 (2023.01); H04N 23/76 (2023.01); H04N 23/86 (2023.01)

CPC H04N 23/74 (2023.01) [A61B 1/000095 (2022.02); A61B 1/045 (2013.01); A61B 1/0655 (2022.02); H04N 9/78 (2013.01); H04N 23/555 (2023.01); H04N 23/71 (2023.01); H04N 23/72 (2023.01); H04N 23/73 (2023.01); H04N 23/76 (2023.01); H04N 23/86 (2023.01)]

20 Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

one or more hardware processors; and

memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:

determine a color-skew metric for an image frame captured by an image capture system, the color-skew metric quantifying how much the image frame is skewed to a particular color;

determine, based on the color-skew metric and an adaptive target control function, a frame auto-exposure target; and

update, based on the frame auto-exposure target, one or more of an exposure time parameter, a shutter aperture parameter, or an illumination intensity parameter for use by the image capture system to capture an additional image frame,

wherein the determining the color-skew metric for the image frame includes:

determining pixel color-skew metrics for a plurality of pixels included in the image frame, the pixel color-skew metrics indicative of an extent to which the plurality of pixels skew to the particular color; and

determining, based on the pixel color-skew metrics and weight values associated with the plurality of pixels, the color-skew metric for the image frame.