Endoscope system provided with low-pass filter for moire removal

• US 6,025,873 A
• Filed: 08/26/1997
• Issued: 02/15/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Company Ltd. (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Company Ltd. (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Tatsuno, Yutaka, Hasegawa, Naoki, Nishioka, Kimihiko, Ono, Katsuya
• Primary Examiner(s): LIN, BRYAN T
• Application Number:
  US08/917,429
• Time in Patent Office: 903 Days
• Field of Search: 348/72, 348/73, 348/75, 348/71, 348/68, 348/65, 348/342, 348/360, 348/359, 348/340, 600/181, 600/182, 600/109
• US Class Current: 348/72
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00126 optical, e.g. for light supply cables
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00128 mechanical, e.g. for tubes or pipes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00195 with eyepieces
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/042 characterised by a proximal camera, e.g. a CCD camera
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/055 having rod-lens arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/2407 Optical details
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/26 using light guides for illumination G02B23/2469
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/1066 for enhancing image performance, like resolution, pixel numbers, dual magnifications or dynamic range, by tiling, slicing or overlapping fields of view
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/55 Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/555 for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/134 based on three different wavelength filter elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

An endoscope system including a first hard endoscope which uses a relay lens as an image transmission optical system, a second hard endoscope which uses an image guide formed by a fiber bundle, and a TV camera which is mountable respectively on the first and second hard endoscopes and which is rotatable. The TV camera has built therein a CCD. An optical low-pass filter for removing moire even in case of being rotated is provided on an ocular part of the second hard endoscope.

Claims

1. An endoscope system comprising:

a first endoscope body of relay lens type having first illumination-light output means for outputting an illumination light from a distal end of an elongated first insertion part, a first object optical system provided on the distal end of said first insertion part, for focusing an image of an object which is illuminated by said illumination light, and a first image transmission optical system arranged within said first insertion part, and formed by the use of a lens which transmits said image to the rearward side of said first insertion part in a relay manner;

a second endoscope body of a fiberscope type having second illumination-light output means for outputting a second illumination light from a distal end of an elongated second insertion part, a second object optical system provided on the distal end of said second insertion part for focusing the image of the object which is illuminated by said second illumination light, a second image transmission optical system arranged within said second insertion part and formed by image guide fibers for image transmission and which transmits said image to the rearward side of said second insertion part, an ocular optical system for observing the image of the object transmitted by said second image transmission optical system, and low-pass filter means provided on a rearward end of said second image transmission optical system for optically removing moire which is generated by using said image guide fibers for image transmission;

image pickup means detachably mounted on a rearward end of one of said first and second endoscope bodies so as to be rotatable with respect to one of said first and second endoscope bodies, said image pick-up means having an imaging optical system for imaging an image which is transmitted by one of said first and second image transmission optical systems, and an image pickup element for conducting photoelectric conversion;

signal processing means for conducting signal processing with respect to said image pickup element; and

image display means to which an image signal generated by said signal processing means is inputted to thereby display an image which is photoelectrically converted by said image pickup element,

wherein said low-pass filter means is contained only within said second endoscope body and not contained within said first endoscope body,

wherein said low-pass filter means include a multiple slant face prism arranged adjacent a diaphragm stop forming a pupil of said ocular optical system, and

wherein said low-pass filter means removes moire regardless of the rotated position of said image pickup means when said image pick-up means is mounted to said second endoscope body with respect to said second endoscope body.

2. An endoscope system according to claim 1, wherein said multiple slant-fact prism has at least a pair of slant faces which are in a torsional relationship with respect to an optical axis, said multiple slant-face prism forming a multiple image.

3. An endoscope system according to claim 1, wherein said first endoscope body includes an ocular optical system for conducting observation with the naked eye in the rear of said first and second image transmission optical systems.

4. An endoscope system comprising:

a first endoscope body of relay lens type having;

first illumination-light output means for outputting an illumination light from a distal end of an elongated first insertion part, a first object optical system provided on the distal end of said first insertion part, for focusing an image of an object which is illuminated by said illumination light, and a first image transmission optical system arranged within said first insertion part, and formed by the use of a lens which transmits said image to the rearward side of said first insertion part in a relay manner;

a second endoscope body of a fiberscope type having;

second illumination-light output means for outputting an illumination light from a distal end of an elongated second insertion part, a second object optical system provided on the distal end of said second insertion part for focusing the image of the object which is illuminated by said illumination light, a second image transmission optical system arranged within said second insertion part and formed by the use of image guide fibers for image transmission which transmit said image to the rearward side of said second insertion part, an ocular optical system for observing the image of the object transmitted by said second image transmission optical system, and low-pass filter means provided on a rearward end of said second image transmission optical system for optically removing moire which is generated by using said image guide fibers for image transmission;

image pickup means detachably mounted on a rearward end of one of said first and second endoscope bodies so as to be rotatable with respect to one of said first and second endoscope bodies, said image pickup means having an imaging optical system for imaging an image which is transmitted by one of said first and an image pickup element for optical systems, and an image pickup element for conducting photoelectric conversion;

signal processing means for conducting signal processing with respect to said image pickup element; and

image display means to which an image signal generated by said signal processing means is inputted to thereby display an image which is photoelectrically converted by said image pickup element,

wherein said low-pass filter means is contained only within said second endoscope body and not contained within said first endoscope body,

wherein said low-pass filter means includes a multiple slant face prism arranged at a position which is in a vicinity of the position of a pupil of an ocular lens at the exit side of said ocular optical system, which has a diaphragm stop forming said pupil; and

wherein said low-pass filter means removes moire regardless of the rotated position of said image pickup means when said image pickup means is mounted to said second endoscope body with respect to said second endoscope body.

5. An endoscope system according to claim 4, wherein said low-pass filter means has a multiple slant-face prism having at least a pair of slant faces which are in a torsional relationship with respect to the optical axis, and said multiple slant-face prism forms a multiple image.

6. An endoscope system according to claim 4, wherein said first and second endoscope bodies have an ocular optical system for conducting naked eye observation in rear of said first and second image transmission optical systems.