Medical Company Increases Signal Integrity in Ultra-High Definition Endoscopy Systems

Introduction

The medical landscape has dramatically transformed, with endoscopy emerging as a pivotal diagnostic tool that has revolutionized patient care. Endoscopy employs a flexible or rigid scope with a light source and camera. This diagnostic tool provides access to multiple internal organ systems, equipping healthcare providers with insight into internal anatomic structures of a person’s body for diagnostic evaluation and minimally invasive procedures such as laparoscopic surgery. This versatile procedure has expanded its reach across various organ systems, empowering healthcare providers with a comprehensive view of internal anatomic structures.

The current gold standard in endoscopic diagnostics and therapeutics is digital imaging. Endoscopes can now integrate seamlessly with digital imaging systems, enabling real-time visualization on monitors and photo or video documentation capability. The heart of these systems lies in the camera sensor, which has evolved from high-definition (HD) resolution to 4K ultra-HD (UHD). This four-fold increase in resolution provides more details during diagnostic testing.

Endoscopes, which serve as visual aids for surgical robots, play a vital role by offering surgeons detailed images of human anatomy. They play a crucial role in remote-assisted robotic surgery. The Imaging Management Hub is the central nervous system of the endoscopic imaging ecosystem. This area is where all digital processing takes place, transforming raw data into actionable insights.

As technology advances, the demand for higher processing speeds is becoming increasingly critical. High-speed data (HSD) capabilities are essential to ensure that the hub can manage the vast amounts of data generated by high-resolution imaging systems without compromising the quality or integrity of the images.

A leading medical technology company specializing in endoscopy continuously produces an endoscope that delivers high-quality images for early diagnosis and minimally invasive surgery. With the advent of 4K and the impending shift to 8K imaging, the demand for high-definition video images is paramount for accurate medical procedures. The company’s R&D team had to ensure that the data transfer rate for these images exceeded 10 Gbps, a major technical hurdle.

Challenges: Maintaining High-Quality Image Transfer and Signal Integrity

High-resolution images are crucial for doctors to make precise diagnoses and perform surgeries with minimal patient discomfort, thereby fostering faster recovery. Medical professionals need access to these images to observe the affected areas accurately. This medical technology company relies on high-speed digital buses with Gbps data rates to interface and internally transmit the vast amounts of image data generated during procedures.

Solution: High-Speed Digital Designs Solutions

The R&D engineer contacted Keysight for a solution to help them with these measurement challenges. Keysight’s engineering experts recommended the high-speed digital design solutions, which comprise the Keysight Infiniium Z-Series oscilloscopes, Keysight bit error ratio testers (BERTs), Keysight vector network analyzers with time domain reflectometry (VNA-TDR), and Keysight PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) software. These solutions will help the engineer simulate and measure signal integrity. PathWave ADS has reduced the number of prototype boards needed, demonstrating its critical role in the process.