Abstract: The system and methods described herein are directed to a system for detecting deficiencies in surgical instruments that would justify removing them from service. By placing an engineered optical surface with spatially varying optical transmission properties in front of the objective lens of a plenoptic camera, the plenoptic camera can be used to digitally compute a multitude of different optical properties using a single camera and sensor.

Abstract: The system and methods described herein are directed to monitoring and tracking surgical instruments through sterilization processing. Imaging methods described are performed based on a variety of needs such as to monitor damage, wear, and biomass. Also described are how automation, vision augmentation, and data management systems can be incorporated into the system to facilitate monitoring and tracking. The system and methods described here will use specialized optical imaging methods together with automation and image analysis methods to perform inspection and tracking of surgical instruments faster, more accurately, and less expensively than using existing methods. The new imaging methods disclosed include ultraviolet fluorescence, polarization imaging, oblique illumination, and extensive light source in reflection. Further, the methods include using multiple imaging methods and imaging methods in combination with automation and imaging processing for assessing surgical instruments.

Abstract: In general, techniques are described for processing a set of high-resolution images of an integrated circuit, the images captured at different locations with respect to the integrated circuit, to automatically align and “stitch” the set of high-resolution images into a larger composite image. For example, an imaging system as described herein may use sampled feature points distributed across different grid tiles within overlap regions for pairs of images to match feature points to inform the alignments of a pair with respect to each image in the pair. The system may in some cases further apply a bundle adjustment to iteratively align and refine the alignment results for each image in a set of images being processed. In some examples, the bundle adjustment is a best-fit adjustment based on minimizing the net error associated with the alignment of the set of images.

Abstract: In general, techniques are described for processing a set of high-resolution images of an integrated circuit, the images captured at different locations with respect to the integrated circuit, to automatically align and “stitch” the set of high-resolution images into a larger composite image. For example, an imaging system as described herein may use sampled feature points distributed across different grid tiles within overlap regions for pairs of images to match feature points to inform the alignments of a pair with respect to each image in the pair. The system may in some cases further apply a bundle adjustment to iteratively align and refine the alignment results for each image in a set of images being processed. In some examples, the bundle adjustment is a best-fit adjustment based on minimizing the net error associated with the alignment of the set of images.