How a Surgical Display Shows Important Information During an Operation
This patent describes a system that helps surgeons by showing important information directly on a live video of the surgery, prioritizing what's most critical.
Original patent title: “Utilization of surgical data values and situational awareness to control the overlay in surgical field view”
This patent describes a system that helps surgeons by showing important information directly on a live video of the surgery, prioritizing what's most critical. Granted in 2026.
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent describes a surgical visualization system designed to improve a surgeon's awareness during an operation. The system includes an imaging device that captures a live video feed, or "livestream," of the surgical area. A display shows this livestream. A control module within the system detects various pieces of "surgical data," such as a patient's vital signs or instrument positions. It then assigns a "display priority value" to each piece of data, deciding how important it is. Based on these priorities, the module figures out the best way to arrange this data and presents it as an overlay directly on the livestream shown on the display. For example, during a complex abdominal surgery, the system could overlay the patient's real-time heart rate and blood oxygen levels directly onto the video feed of the surgical site, making critical alerts appear larger or in a more prominent position.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover systems that display surgical data without dynamically assigning specific priority values to each piece of information.
- Does not cover systems where surgical data is displayed on a separate monitor, rather than as an overlay on the live video stream of the surgical field.
- Does not cover systems that only provide audio alerts or haptic feedback without a visual overlay of surgical data on the display.
- Does not cover systems that display surgical data in a fixed, pre-set arrangement without dynamically determining it based on priority values.
- Does not cover systems that only record surgical data for later review, without real-time display on the surgical field view.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
Key facts
What made this novel
The clever part is the system's ability to dynamically assign priority values to different surgical data points and then intelligently arrange that information as an overlay on a live video feed, ensuring the most critical details are always prominent.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Surgical navigation systems
Augmented reality surgical platforms
Robotic surgery displays
Minimally invasive surgery visualization systems
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This technology aims to enhance a surgeon's "situational awareness" by integrating critical information directly into their field of view. By dynamically prioritizing and displaying data, it could help reduce errors and improve patient outcomes, especially in complex or minimally invasive procedures. It is relevant to the ongoing advancements in surgical robotics and augmented reality applications in medicine.
Filed
March 7, 2022
Granted
September 15, 2026
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Major medical device companies like Medtronic, Intuitive Surgical, Stryker, and Johnson & Johnson (Ethicon) are actively developing advanced surgical visualization and navigation systems. A wave of well-funded startups in the surgical augmented reality and virtual reality space are also exploring similar concepts to enhance surgical precision and safety.
Market impact
Once granted, this patent could influence how future surgical visualization systems are designed, potentially setting a standard for dynamic, context-aware data overlays. It could encourage more integration of real-time patient data directly into the surgical field view, enhancing safety and efficiency. This could also block competitors from implementing similar dynamic overlay features without licensing the technology.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent describes a surgical visualization system designed to improve a surgeon's awareness during an operation. The system includes an imaging device that captures a live video feed, or "livestream," of the surgical area. A display shows this livestream. A control module within the system detects various pieces of "surgical data," such as a patient's vital signs or instrument positions. It then assigns a "display priority value" to each piece of data, deciding how important it is. Based on these priorities, the module figures out the best way to arrange this data and presents it as an overlay directly on the livestream shown on the display. For example, during a complex abdominal surgery, the system could overlay the patient's real-time heart rate and blood oxygen levels directly onto the video feed of the surgical site, making critical alerts appear larger or in a more prominent position.
The clever bit
The clever part is the system's ability to dynamically assign priority values to different surgical data points and then intelligently arrange that information as an overlay on a live video feed, ensuring the most critical details are always prominent.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover systems that display surgical data without dynamically assigning specific priority values to each piece of information.
- Does not cover systems where surgical data is displayed on a separate monitor, rather than as an overlay on the live video stream of the surgical field.
- Does not cover systems that only provide audio alerts or haptic feedback without a visual overlay of surgical data on the display.
- Does not cover systems that display surgical data in a fixed, pre-set arrangement without dynamically determining it based on priority values.
- Does not cover systems that only record surgical data for later review, without real-time display on the surgical field view.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Early stage
Citation count
0/40
No citations yet
Claim breadth
0/20
Narrow claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →
Recency
20/20
Granted within 5 years
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$26K – $84K
Midpoint $53K · 15.4 yr remaining · industry ×2.2
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
Claim text not yet imported for this patent
Concepts involved
Cite this patent
(2026). How a Surgical Display Shows Important Information During an Operation (U.S. Patent No. 12,737,991). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12737991/utilization-of-surgical-data-values-and-situational-awareness-to-control-the
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How a Surgical Display Shows Important Information During an Operation cover?
This patent describes a system that helps surgeons by showing important information directly on a live video of the surgery, prioritizing what's most critical.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on September 15, 2046, when the invention enters the public domain.
What problem does this patent solve?
This technology aims to enhance a surgeon's "situational awareness" by integrating critical information directly into their field of view. By dynamically prioritizing and displaying data, it could help reduce errors and improve patient outcomes, especially in complex or minimally invasive procedures. It is relevant to the ongoing advancements in surgical robotics and augmented reality applications in medicine.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover systems that display surgical data without dynamically assigning specific priority values to each piece of information.
Patent monitoring