SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HIGH-SPEED DATA TRANSMISSION ACROSS AN ELECTRICAL ISOLATION BARRIER

Abstract

An illustrative system may include a radio frequency (“RF”) transmitter electrically coupled to a first electrical circuit and electrically isolated from a second electrical circuit; an RF receiver having a top surface that is parallel with a top surface of the RF transmitter, the RF receiver electrically coupled to the second electrical circuit and electrically isolated from the first electrical circuit; and a waveguide between the RF transmitter and the RF receiver and configured to guide an RF signal representative of data between the RF transmitter and the RF receiver, the data provided by the first electrical circuit, the waveguide comprising an input port that at least partially covers the top surface of the RF transmitter, and an output port that at least partially covers the top surface of the RF receiver.

Description

Claims

1. A system comprising: a radio frequency (“RF”) transmitter electrically coupled to a first electrical circuit and electrically isolated from a second electrical circuit;an RF receiver having a top surface that is parallel with a top surface of the RF transmitter, the RF receiver electrically coupled to the second electrical circuit and electrically isolated from the first electrical circuit; anda waveguide between the RF transmitter and the RF receiver and configured to guide an RF signal representative of data between the RF transmitter and the RF receiver, the data provided by the first electrical circuit, the waveguide comprising an input port that at least partially covers the top surface of the RF transmitter, andan output port that at least partially covers the top surface of the RF receiver.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the RF transmitter is configured to emit RF signals in a direction that is perpendicular to the top surface of the RF transmitter.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the RF receiver is configured to receive RF signals in a direction that is perpendicular to the top surface of the RF receiver.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the waveguide is placed to guide the RF signals between the RF transmitter and the RF receiver by guiding the RF signals to travel initially in a perpendicular direction away from and with respect to the top surface of the RF transmitter, then in a parallel direction with respect to the top surface of the RF transmitter and towards the RF receiver, and then in a perpendicular direction towards and with respect to the top surface of the RF receiver.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the waveguide comprises parallel flanges that run along a length of the waveguide.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the waveguide is made out of at least one of a polyether ether ketone material or a polyetherimide material.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein: the waveguide comprises an inner surface that surrounds a chamber through which the RF signal travels from the RF transmitter to the RF receiver; andthe inner surface is plated with a conductive material.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the RF transmitter and the RF receiver are separated by a physical distance that is equal to or greater than a minimum spacing threshold required to achieve the electrical isolation between the first and second electrical circuits.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein: the RF transmitter is configured to receive the data from the first electrical circuit,modulate the data onto the RF signal, andtransmit the RF signal into the waveguide; andthe RF receiver is configured to detect the RF signal transmitted into the waveguide;demodulate the RF signal back into the data, andtransmit the data to the second electrical circuit.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the first electrical circuit is configured to transmit the data to the second electrical circuit by way of the RF transmitter, the RF receiver, and the waveguide at a data transmission rate of greater than 1 gigabit per second.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the second electrical circuit is configured to transmit, by way of an electrical cable, the data to a computing device.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the first electrical circuit and the second electrical circuit are on a printed circuit board (“PCB”).

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the first electrical circuit is configured to: receive signals received from a surgical component configured to be positioned within a surgical area of a patient; andgenerate the data based on the signals.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein: the PCB is in a camera head of an endoscope; andthe surgical component comprises a shaft that extends from the camera head and that comprises a distal end configured to be positioned within the surgical area.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the electrical isolation of the second electrical circuit from the first electrical circuit prevents electrical current from being capacitively coupled onto the surgical component.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the PCB comprises: a first ground plane for the first electrical circuit; anda second ground plane for the second electrical circuit, the second ground plane separate from the first ground plane;wherein the first and second ground planes electrically isolate the second electrical circuit from the first electrical circuit.

17. An endoscope comprising: a camera head; anda shaft that extends from the camera head and that comprises a distal end configured to be positioned within a surgical area of a patient, andone or more components within the shaft that are configured to provide signals to the camera head;wherein the camera head houses a radio frequency (“RF”) transmitter electrically coupled to a first electrical circuit and electrically isolated from a second electrical circuit, the first electrical circuit configured to receive the signals and generate data based on the signals;an RF receiver having a top surface that is parallel with a top surface of the RF transmitter, the RF receiver electrically coupled to the second electrical circuit and electrically isolated from the first electrical circuit; anda waveguide between the RF transmitter and the RF receiver and configured to guide an RF signal representative of the data between the RF transmitter and the RF receiver, the waveguide comprising an input port that at least partially covers the top surface of the RF transmitter, andan output port that at least partially covers the top surface of the RF receiver.

18. The endoscope of claim 17, wherein the RF transmitter is configured to emit RF signals in a direction that is perpendicular to the top surface of the RF transmitter.

19. The endoscope of claim 17, wherein the RF receiver is configured to receive RF signals in a direction that is perpendicular to the top surface of the RF transmitter.

20. The endoscope of claim 17, wherein the waveguide is placed to guide the RF signals between the RF transmitter and the RF receiver by guiding the RF signals to travel initially in a perpendicular direction away from and with respect to the top surface of the RF transmitter, then in a parallel direction with respect to the top surface of the RF transmitter and towards the RF receiver, and then in a perpendicular direction towards and with respect to the top surface of the RF receiver.