{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9782056","patent":{"patent_number":"US-9782056","title":"Image capture unit and method with an extended depth of field","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2014-04-25T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2017-10-10T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["A61B","A61B","A61B","A61B","A61B","A61B","G06T","G06T","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","G06T","G06T","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N","H04N"],"num_claims":5,"abstract":"In a minimally invasive surgical system, an image capture unit includes a prism assembly and sensor assembly. The prism assembly includes a beam splitter, while the sensor assembly includes coplanar image capture sensors. Each of the coplanar image capture sensors has a common front end optical structure, e.g., the optical structure distal to the image capture unit is the same for each of the sensors. A controller enhances images acquired by the coplanar image capture sensors. The enhanced images may include (a) visible images with enhanced feature definition, in which a particular feature in the scene is emphasized to the operator of minimally invasive surgical system; (b) images having increased image apparent resolution; (c) images having increased dynamic range; (d) images displayed in a way based on a pixel color component vector having three or more color components; and (e) images having extended depth of field."},"analysis":{"summary":null,"layman_explanation":null,"technical_analysis":null,"business_analysis":null,"faqs":null,"topics":[],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Image capture unit and method with an extended depth of field","description":"In a minimally invasive surgical system, an image capture unit includes a prism assembly and sensor assembly. The prism assembly includes a beam splitter, while the sensor assembly includes coplanar i","keywords":[]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9782056","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9782056","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Image capture unit and method with an extended depth of field\" (US-9782056). https://patentable.app/patents/US-9782056","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9782056","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-9782056","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-06-06T06:21:33.221Z"}