Endoscope for imaging infrared emissions within the range of 2 to 14 microns
First Claim
1. An endoscope system for use in imaging infrared emissions from within the range including 2 to 14 microns, said system comprising:
- a refractive objective lens for forming a real image of a subject of interest in an image plane;
at least one relay section consisting solely of refracting elements for transferring said real image to form an intermediate image in a conjugate plane located near the proximal end of said system, said refractive objective lens and said relay section sharing at least one unitary element in common which performs both objective lens and relay functions;
a refracting coupling lens for forming a final image of said intermediate image in a detector plane located at the proximal end of said system; and
a warm stop located near the proximal end of said system, said warm stop having an aperture therethrough that defines the aperture stop of said system, said warm stop including a selectively shaped surface that is non-imaging with respect to said detector plane and structured to direct stray and a portion of Narcissus radiation away from the system detector with the remaining Narcissus radiation being non-imaging with respect to the detector.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Endodiagnostic apparatus and methods by which infrared emissions of 2 micrometers and above may be visualized in the form of encoded images to permit differential analysis. The endoscopic apparatus comprises a refractive objective lens for forming a real image of interior structure of interest, a relay system consisting solely of refractive elements for transferring the real image to an intermediate plane conjugate to the objective image plane, a refracting coupling lens for forming a final image of the intermediate image in a detector plane in which an IR detector sensitive in the range of 2 micrometers and greater may be placed near the proximal end of the apparatus, and a warm stop for ameliorating the effects of stray IR radiation in the system.
65 Citations
28 Claims
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1. An endoscope system for use in imaging infrared emissions from within the range including 2 to 14 microns, said system comprising:
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a refractive objective lens for forming a real image of a subject of interest in an image plane; at least one relay section consisting solely of refracting elements for transferring said real image to form an intermediate image in a conjugate plane located near the proximal end of said system, said refractive objective lens and said relay section sharing at least one unitary element in common which performs both objective lens and relay functions; a refracting coupling lens for forming a final image of said intermediate image in a detector plane located at the proximal end of said system; and a warm stop located near the proximal end of said system, said warm stop having an aperture therethrough that defines the aperture stop of said system, said warm stop including a selectively shaped surface that is non-imaging with respect to said detector plane and structured to direct stray and a portion of Narcissus radiation away from the system detector with the remaining Narcissus radiation being non-imaging with respect to the detector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An endoscope system for use in imaging infrared emissions from within the range including 2 to 14 microns within a intended field of view, said system comprising:
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a refractive objective lens for forming a real image of a subject of interest in an image plane; least one relay section for transferring said real image to form an intermediate image in a conjugate plane located near the proximal end of system; a refracting coupling lens for forming a final image of said intermediate image in a detector plane located at the proximal end of said system; an infrared imaging detector located in said detector plane to receive said real image; a cold stop located intermediate said detector and said refracting coupling lens; and a warm stop located intermediate said cold stop and said refracting coupling lens, said warm stop having portions defining the aperture stop of said system and low-emissivity reflecting surfaces facing said detector and structured to be non-imaging with respect to any unwanted radiation outside of said system'"'"'s intended field of view. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification