App Expert Setting
This page is for distributors only, not for doctors or other end users. We show here, how to set up the application from scratch.
Once you launch the application, you can display the Settings popup menu by right-clicking on the live image.
The first thing you need to do is define how many tools there are and which ones the doctor is going to use in his daily routine.
You can select which camera will be bound to which tool, how it will behave (normal, fiberscope, no-flash-strobo, etc.), the camera resolution, FPS, and the icon and text that will be shown in the icon.
After defining the tools, you need to restart the application. Every single tool has its own camera settings, i.e., white balance, sharpness, maximum exposure time, etc.
After defining the tools, you need to restart the application. Every
single tool has its own camera settings, i.e., white balance, sharpness,
maximum exposure time, etc.
Invoke the Settings popup menu and select Advanced Settings (for experts only). The settings will appear on the right toolbar. If you want to change something, please press the “Edit” button.
If you switch between predefined tools, you can see how the values change accordingly. Tool-specific values start at the top of the toolbar and end with the denoising setting. The rest (starting from folder definition) is shared by all tools.
Let’s think about the settings for a single tool. If we are talking about the “Normal” tool, not the fiberscope, we are able to invoke a function called “ExView” – something like a blue filter applied to the whole image. Therefore, we have two different modes for this single tool: White Light and ExView. These two modes have different settings for RGB gains, gamma, saturation, and sharpness.
The best option for setting up the correct parameters for Exview is to first find all the correct parameters for white light, and then copy these parameters to the Exview settings using the button located to the left of the Auto White Balance button, which is labeled “0 ->”. Once you do this, you can fine-tune sharpness, gamma, and RGB gain.
This option is only for KX-02 and KX-Kymo, and it is not therefore valid for KX-01.
Once you launch “Tools Definition” from the Settings popup menu, you can press the “KX-02 Setting” button. A large dialog will appear, where you can define which functions will be bound to the footswitch (first, second, and third pedal), which is equivalent to deciding which icons will appear in the top toolbar.
Moreover, you can select which functions will be invoked by the buttons on the camera. You can still ignore the far-right column regarding the virtual serial port connection with the KX-02.
Once you open the Expert Settings, press the “Edit” button to change the settings. Let’s start with “Expert Setting” at the very top. It is almost mandatory to have auto exposure switched on. You can turn it on or off by pressing the “Auto” button in the top row.
If auto exposure is switched off, you can change gain and exposure manually. The other two values, Autorefer and AutoMax, have no function.
If auto exposure is switched on, Autorefer determines the required medium brightness of the image. If you set it too low, the image will always be dark; if you set it too high, the image will be over-saturated. The AutoMax function defines the maximum acceptable value for exposure time.
You can set up white balance manually or by using the “Auto White Balance” button. Setting gamma and saturation is also possible. Please ignore the “SetDef” and “ColorCalibration” buttons.
You can flip images vertically or horizontally and set the image offset.
What does “Offset” mean? The camera has a fixed resolution, and if you have selected a different resolution in “Tools Definition” (smaller than the maximum resolution), you can tell the application which ROI (Region of Interest) of the full sensor you want. The app will then display the image at your chosen resolution, starting from the Offset X and Offset Y points on the sensor.
The app can enhance the image to give the impression of more detail. You can achieve the best results by adjusting the sharpness and tuning the parameters. Press the “Sharpness” button in the dialog.
A dialog with three buttons will appear. “None” means no sharpening will be applied. There are two different methods for sharpening: UNS and GD. You can adjust the level of detail and the sharpening power, but generally, we recommend UNS with LoD around 3 and GD with LoD around 1.5. The power depends on the doctor’s scope and preference. Too high a power may cause an artificial appearance.
Setting up and testing the USB Command camera, which is used for gaze-driven autofocus.
Hot pixel correction. If you are in the Expert Settings, you can zoom in or out of the image using the mouse wheel or hand gestures. You can indicate to the app where the hot pixels are in the camera (this demo camera has none), and the app will perform hot pixel compensation.
This feature is set per Tool.
The app can optionally capture sound from the microphone while saving video. It can also optionally produce sounds when the user performs certain actions, such as capturing an image or video, or ending an examination. You can select the folder where the patient data are saved when the app is running in standalone mode.
The application does not need to run in standalone mode. It can cooperate with a DICOM server (including DICOM Worklist) and with the patient information system via GDT.
If the application is running in standalone mode, it can store not only the patient ID, but also other metadata (name, surname, date of birth, etc.), and it can encrypt all metadata to comply with GDPR requirements.
This option is available for KX-02 and KX-Kymo only. You can set the sound source for no-flash stroboscopy. You can select which algorithm will be used to detect pitch and the delta for displaying vocal fold movement. You can also choose the type of signal preprocessing that will be used for pitch detection.