My Future Predictions for Medical Vision Systems

I am a tech enthusiast, idealist, and sometimes an optimist! Having worked in precision optics for biomedical applications for over 20 years, I haven’t been more excited about the future potential of the medical vision systems market. The intersection of advanced optical manufacturing, CMOS image sensors, and machine vision/ machine learning presents a unique opportunity for technological advancement in the coming years.?

I have noticed that the adoption of new technology into medical vision products is slower than one would expect or hope. Despite the demonstration of new imaging technologies, their application to improve medical devices and enhance the effectiveness of medical professionals is impeded. Perhaps the issue is regulatory approval? However, medical vision systems do not generally pose the same safety risk to patients as therapeutic interventions or pharmaceuticals would. I have observed that the capabilities of on-market medical vision systems generally lag many years behind what is found in adjacent fields, such as consumer cameras and industrial vision systems.?

An easy prediction for what technologies will be found in future medical vision systems comes from evaluating consumer, industrial, or IoT products and selecting what solves important problems in the medical market. For instance, the introduction of chip-on-tip endoscope technology is a good example of leveraging the miniaturization of CMOS image sensors for the consumer market, to enable smaller and higher-resolution camera systems for laparoscopic and endoscopic devices. In this article, I list some of the technological “low-hanging fruit” for the medical vision system market, as well as my wild predictions for what may come in the next decades.?

In this article, I am referring to medical vision systems as devices used for optical imaging inside or outside of the body, imaging excised tissue, microscopic cellular imaging, and general biomedical imaging using light. Some examples of applicable devices include endoscopes, laparoscopes, exoscopes, in vivo microscopes, dermatoscopes, ophthalmoscopes, point-of-care microscopes, laboratory microscopes, and so on.

Quick Wins:?

Lately, advancements in vision systems aim to replicate human-eye functionality or display information beyond what the eye can see in the visible spectrum. Many of the features listed below have been in regular use in camera applications outside the medical market, and some are already implemented in higher-end systems, like research microscopes. Over the next 5 years, I expect we will see more of these features implemented in more compact, everyday medical vision systems.?

The following are somewhat basic camera enhancements that I find surprising haven’t been more broadly implemented in most medical vision systems.?

• “Good” image defect correction that looks natural and works in real-time for things likeDeblurring, sharpening, noise removal
• Auto-focus, especially minimally invasive cameras?
• Image stabilization?
• High Dynamic Range (HDR)
• Low noise, low light sensitive image sensors??
• Auto-adjusting camera apertures?
• Ultra-low latency video

Beyond basic camera and lens features, the list below includes features and functions above what a standard RGB camera can do. These enhanced visualization techniques and capabilities are becoming more common, and all have applications in the medical world.??

• Multi-camera fusion, wide-angle + macro within the same camera package
• Panoramic image mapping
• Hyperspectral imaging
• Spectral sensing data fusion with RGB images
• Multi-channel fluorescence imaging?
• Thermal imaging
• UV Imaging
• Polarimetric Imaging
• Super-resolution (pixel shifting or sub-diffraction limited imaging)?
• 3D sensing and surface mapping?
• On-chip data compression and object recognition?
• Low-power image sensors?

Beyond capabilities, I expect the following manufacturing trends and advancements to become widespread:?

• 3D-printed high-resolution optical systems?
• Flat meta lenses?
• Optics applied to CMOS sensors at the waver level?

User-Focused Functionality and Enhancements

When optical technology is combined with machine vision and AI, it's all about enhancing vision beyond what our eyes can see. This is possible because of advancements in machine vision, machine learning, and computational optics approaches, collectively known as "AI". These "AI" tools can be applied to various fields, making things easier in medical procedures and diagnostics:

• Self Calibrating vision systems
• No focus or extended depth of field cameras
• Per pixel HDR, fluorescence, auto HDR?
• Event-based vision systems , or neuromorphic vision systems and enhancements through edge computing like self-trained vision systems?
• Gesture/Voice command/ eye motion command to camera systems
• Spatial 3D imagery and video and room localization sensing - the camera knows where it is and what it’s looking at, and the user sees what they want to see
• Multi-layered, enhanced image displays can show 2D, 3D, and spectral data fusion overlays in a natural and seamless way, all in real-time

The Future of Medical Vision Systems - as I see it…

The future of medical vision systems will be focused on providing significant improvements in patient outcomes and making step-change improvements in the quality of wellness care and healthcare. My wild future predictions are aligned with the accelerated pace of machine learning advancements in machine cognition. I think the quality of the optics and cameras will be augmented and corrected through AI and computational methods. Computational imaging and machine vision will constitute a significant portion of the vision system's capabilities. Moreover, vision systems will be flexible, self-adapting, and self-reconfigurable while in use and adapt to the context of the procedure or application.

The Future of Vision System Technology:

• Vision systems will work and function closely to how the human eye works, where the perception of vision is more due to cognitive processing than the optical and pixel level imagery??
• Innovation will be at the data processing and cognition level, and almost any type of camera or optical system can be correct to work for the given application
• Forms of computational imaging and machine vision will constitute 80% or more of the capability of the vision system - meaning the quality of the optics and camera can be augmented and corrected through processing power
• Vision systems will be flexible, self-adapting, and self-reconfigurable while in use and adapt to the context of the procedure or application
• Medical cameras will be integrated into most devices,
• For minimally invasive or non-invasive products, cameras will be part of regular surgical tools, rather than being an independent device?

Optics and cameras will continue to become more of a commodity?

The future is bright for patients, healthcare professionals, and the device development and manufacturing industry.? While images and videos from vision systems can be displayed to humans, in the future, I think professionals will not routinely look at them. Machine minds and cognitive assistants will receive and interpret the data from the vision system and present context and outcomes to the professionals to drive better health decision-making. Along with the advancements in general Artificial Intelligence, the wellness and clinical care experience for patients will feel much more personal and have deterministic outcomes. AI assistants will cross-check human professionals, eliminating errors, and guiding professionals to make the best decisions and recommendations. Healthcare will be omnipresent, whether at home, traveling, at work, in emergency response, or in a clinic, through persistent telehealth technology solutions.?

Wrapping it up

The field of medical vision systems is overdue for rapid advancement and the potential for future growth is immense. While the pace of new technology adoption is slow, I’m optimistic about the overall opportunity in the market. The intersection of advanced optical manufacturing, CMOS image sensors, and machine vision/machine learning presents a unique opportunity for technological advancement in the coming years. With the introduction of new and enhanced visualization techniques, as well as the combination of optical technology, machine vision, and AI, the future potential to improve the quality and effectiveness of healthcare is massive.??