Endoscope apparatus
US5396366A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 4, 1993 |
| Grant date | Mar 7, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 4, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B1/00195
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An endoscope is disclosed which is designed to transmit light to the area under observation and allows the light to make contact with the image plane, without the need of a fiber optic bundle. The ocular section of the endoscope, in addition to housing the lenses required to magnify the image for viewing, contains a relay lens whose diameter is less than the diameter of the rod lenses in the relay section. Light is then reflected through a beam director surrounding the ocular relay lens and transmitted to the objective through the excess diameter of the larger diameter relay lenses. Additionally, the ocular section is separable from the relay and objective sections, which are considered disposable, so that it can be reused.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.