Image sensor and an endoscope using the same
First Claim
1. A pixilated image sensor for insertion within a restricted space, the sensor comprising a plurality of pixels arranged in a selected image distortion pattern, said image distortion pattern being selected to project an image larger than said restricted space to within said restricted space substantially with retention of an image resolution level.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An endoscope having restricted dimensions and comprising at least one image gatherer, at least one image distorter and at least one image sensor shaped to fit within said limited dimensions, and wherein said image distorter is operable to distort an image received from said image gatherer so that the image is sensible at said shaped image sensor.
110 Citations
97 Claims
- 1. A pixilated image sensor for insertion within a restricted space, the sensor comprising a plurality of pixels arranged in a selected image distortion pattern, said image distortion pattern being selected to project an image larger than said restricted space to within said restricted space substantially with retention of an image resolution level.
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9. A pixilated image sensor according to claim I controllable to co-operate with alternating image illumination sources to produce corresponding illuminated images for each illumination source.
- 10. An endoscope having restricted dimensions and comprising at least one image gatherer, at least one image distorter and at least one image sensor shaped to fit within said restricted dimensions, and wherein said image distorter is operable to distort an image received from said image gatherer so that the image is sensible at said shaped image sensor substantially with an original image resolution level.
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40. An endoscope system comprising an endoscope and a controller, said endoscope comprising:
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at least one image gatherer, at least one image distorter and at least one image sensor shaped to fit within restricted dimensions of said endoscope, said image distorter being operable to distort an image received from said image gatherer so that the image is sensible at said shaped image sensor with retention of image resolution, said controller comprising a dedicated image processor for processing image output of said endoscope. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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71. An endoscope for internally producing an image of a field of view, said image occupying an area larger than a cross-sectional area of said endoscope, the endoscope comprising:
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an image distorter for distorting light received from said field of view into a compact shape, and an image sensor arranged in said compact shape to receive said distorted light to form an image thereon. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 94, 95)
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90. A compact endoscope for producing 3D images of a field of view, comprising a first image sensor for receiving a view of said field through a first optical path and a second image sensor for receiving a view of said field through a second optical path, and wherein said first and said second image sensors are placed back to back along a longitudinal axis of said endoscope.
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91. A compact endoscope for producing 3D images of a field of view, comprising a first image sensor for receiving a view of said field through a first optical path and a second image sensor for receiving a view of said field through a second optical path, and wherein said first and said second image sensors are placed end to end along a longitudinal wall of said endoscope.
- 92. A compact endoscope for producing 3D images of a field of view, comprising two illumination sources for illuminating said field of view, an image sensor for receiving a view of said field illuminated via each of said illumination sources, and a view differentiator for differentiating between each view.
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96. A method of manufacturing a compact endoscope, comprising:
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providing an illumination source, providing an image distorter, providing an image ray diverter, providing an image sensor whose shape has been altered to correspond to a distortion built into said image distorter, said distortion being selected to reduce at least one dimension of said image sensor to less than that of an undistorted version being sensed, assembling said image distorter, said image ray diverter and said image sensor to form an optical path within an endoscope
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97. A method of obtaining an endoscopic image comprising:
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illuminating a field of view, distorting light reflected from said field of view such as to form a distorted image of said field of view having at least one dimension reduced in comparison to an equivalent dimension of said undistorted image, and sensing said light within said endoscope using at least one image sensor correspondingly distorted.
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Specification