ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM, ENDOSCOPE, AND DRIVING METHOD
First Claim
1. An endoscope system comprising:
- an objective lens system, disposed in an elongated tube of an endoscope, for passing image light from an object;
a fiber optic image guide, including plural optical fibers bundled together, having a distal tip, inserted through said elongated tube, for transmitting said image light focused on said distal tip by said objective lens system in a proximal direction;
an image sensor for detecting said image light from said fiber optic image guide;
a displacing device for displacing said distal tip laterally and periodically upon receiving entry of said image light being focused;
a sync control unit for driving said image sensor for detecting said image light for plural times in synchronism with displacement of said displacing device, and controlling said image sensor and said displacing device to create plural images in plural set positions of said distal tip relative to said image light being focused;
an image synthesizing unit for combining said plural images according to information of a relative position of said image light transmitted respectively by said optical fibers to pixels of said image sensor on an image pickup surface thereof, and according to a shift amount of said displacement of said distal tip with said displacing device, to form one synthesized image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An endoscope includes an elongated tube. An objective lens system is disposed in the elongated tube, for passing image light from an object. A fiber optic image guide includes plural optical fibers bundled together, has a distal tip, is inserted through the elongated tube, for transmitting the image light focused on the distal tip by the objective lens system in a proximal direction. A displacing device displaces the distal tip laterally and periodically upon receiving entry of the image light being focused by use of a piezoelectric actuator positioned outside the distal tip. Plural shifted images are created by the fine displacement, and registered together by image registration, and combined as a synthesized image of up-sampling. Preferably, an evaluator retrieves information of relative position, which is used for error correction of the shifted images.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An endoscope system comprising:
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an objective lens system, disposed in an elongated tube of an endoscope, for passing image light from an object; a fiber optic image guide, including plural optical fibers bundled together, having a distal tip, inserted through said elongated tube, for transmitting said image light focused on said distal tip by said objective lens system in a proximal direction; an image sensor for detecting said image light from said fiber optic image guide; a displacing device for displacing said distal tip laterally and periodically upon receiving entry of said image light being focused; a sync control unit for driving said image sensor for detecting said image light for plural times in synchronism with displacement of said displacing device, and controlling said image sensor and said displacing device to create plural images in plural set positions of said distal tip relative to said image light being focused; an image synthesizing unit for combining said plural images according to information of a relative position of said image light transmitted respectively by said optical fibers to pixels of said image sensor on an image pickup surface thereof, and according to a shift amount of said displacement of said distal tip with said displacing device, to form one synthesized image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated tube; an objective lens system, disposed in said elongated tube, for passing image light from an object; a fiber optic image guide, including plural optical fibers bundled together, having a distal tip, inserted through said elongated tube, for transmitting said image light focused on said distal tip by said objective lens system in a proximal direction; a displacing device for displacing said distal tip laterally and periodically upon receiving entry of said image light being focused by use of a piezoelectric actuator positioned outside said distal tip; wherein said fiber optic image guide transmits said image light to an image sensor for detecting said image light for plural times in synchronism with displacement of said displacing device, said image sensor and said displacing device are controlled to create plural images in plural set positions of said distal tip relative to said image light being focused; wherein said plural images are combined according to information of a relative position of said image light transmitted respectively by said optical fibers to pixels of said image sensor on an image pickup surface thereof, and according to a shift amount of said displacement of said distal tip with said displacing device, to form one synthesized image.
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21. A driving method of driving an endoscope including an elongated tube, an objective lens system, disposed in said elongated tube, for passing image light from an object, and a fiber optic image guide, including plural optical fibers bundled together, having a distal tip, inserted through said elongated tube, for transmitting said image light focused on said distal tip by said objective lens system in a proximal direction, said driving method comprising steps of:
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displacing said distal tip laterally and periodically upon receiving entry of said image light being focused by use of a piezoelectric actuator positioned outside said distal tip; driving an image sensor for detecting said image light for plural times in synchronism with displacement; and creating plural images with said image sensor in plural set positions of said distal tip relative to said image light being focused, to combine said plural images according to information of a relative position of said image light transmitted respectively by said optical fibers to pixels of said image sensor on an image pickup surface thereof, and according to a shift amount of said displacement of said distal tip, to form one synthesized image.
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Specification