OmniVision launches super

March 9, 2021 By Nancy Crotti

Omnivision has launched a camera module with a sensor that it says can produce clearer images in the body's farthest recesses.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said its new medical wafer-level camera module offers quadruple the resolution of its predecessor — 400×400 or 160 KPixels. At 0.65mm x 0.65mm, the OVMed OCHTA camera module is the same size as its predecessor, enabling deep access during brain, ophthalmic, ENT, cardiac, spinal, gynecologic and urologic procedures.

Endoscope, catheter and guidewire OEMs can use OCHTA camera modules to develop mass-produced, single-use devices with 1-2mm optical diameters and higher resolution, according to OmniVision. By integrating the image sensor, signal processor and wafer-level optics in a single device, the OCHTA also reduces the complexity of dealing with multiple vendors while increasing supply reliability and speeding development time, the company added.

This technology also allows for the integration of OmniVision's new higher-resolution OH0TA image sensor — smaller than its predecessor, which won the Guinness World Record in 2019.

"We are positioning these as the smallest image sensor and as the smallest wafer-level module in the world," Ehsan Ayar, Omnivision senior product marketing manager, told Medical Design & Outsourcing in an interview. "This has significant benefits in terms of patient outcome in terms of its actual usage and during surgery."

The integrated OH0TA image sensor is built on OmniVision's PureCel Plus-S stacked die technology, which enables this module's increased resolution at 30 frames per second. Additionally, this next-generation pixel technology provides higher color fidelity and low light sensitivity of 3600 mV/lux-sec, along with a high signal-to-noise ratio of 37.5dB for crisper images. It also offers higher full well capacity (FWC), zero blooming and 20% lower power consumption of 20mW for greater patient comfort and longer procedure durations, while reducing noise for crisper images.

Other features include a 120-degree field of view and a focus range of 3mm to 30mm. This module supports a 4-wire interface, as well as raw analog data output, both of which can transmit via cables as long as 4 meters with minimal signal noise.