Dual IR and visible channel endodiagnostic apparatus
First Claim
1. An endoscopic imaging system for use in diagnostic and surgical applications, said system comprising:
- an infrared endoscope for imaging infrared emissions from interior body structures of interest within the range including 2 to 14 microns, said infrared endoscope comprisinga refractive objective lens for forming a real image of an interior body structure 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 infrared endoscope; and
a refracting coupling lens for forming a final image of said intermediate image in a detector plane located at the proximal end of said infrared endoscope;
a visible endoscope for forming images from visible light from interior body structures substantially the same as those of interest in said infrared images, said infrared and said visible endoscopes comprising physically separate endoscopes that can be aimed at substantially the same interior body structures of interest from different perspectives; and
means for visually displaying said infrared and visible images so that they may be visually compared for diagnostic and surgical purposes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Dual channel Endodiagnostic apparatus and methods by which infrared emissions within the range including 2 to 14 micrometers may be visualized in the form of encoded images to permit differential analysis. The endoscopic apparatus has an IR channel and a visible channel. The IR channel comprises a refractive objective lens for forming a real image of interior structure of interest, a relay system consisting solely of refracting elements for transferring the real image to an intermediate image plane conjugate to the objective image plane, and 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 including 2 to 14 micrometers may be placed near the proximal end of the apparatus. The IR and visible channels are arranged to visualize substantially the same subject matter.
42 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An endoscopic imaging system for use in diagnostic and surgical applications, said system comprising:
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an infrared endoscope for imaging infrared emissions from interior body structures of interest within the range including 2 to 14 microns, said infrared endoscope comprising a refractive objective lens for forming a real image of an interior body structure 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 infrared endoscope; and a refracting coupling lens for forming a final image of said intermediate image in a detector plane located at the proximal end of said infrared endoscope; a visible endoscope for forming images from visible light from interior body structures substantially the same as those of interest in said infrared images, said infrared and said visible endoscopes comprising physically separate endoscopes that can be aimed at substantially the same interior body structures of interest from different perspectives; and means for visually displaying said infrared and visible images so that they may be visually compared for diagnostic and surgical purposes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification