Endoscope apparatus

• US 6,840,901 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2003
• Issued: 01/11/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Ushifusa, Hiroyuki, Onishi, Junichi, Kawai, Tomoyasu, Gono, Kazuhiro, Miura, Keisuke, Miyazawa, Taro, Nakamura, Takeaki, Yamauchi, Koji, Banju, Kazuo, Sasaki, Katsumi
• Primary Examiner(s): HOANG, TU BA
• Application Number:
  US10/600,093
• Publication Number:
  US 20040085441A1
• Time in Patent Office: 571 Days
• Field of Search: 600101-104, 600109-118, 600/122, 600/139, 600/146, 600/153, 600/166, 128/903, 128/908, 607/5, 606/1, 606/130, 348/65, 348/69, 348/269, 348/303, 396/17, 396/180
• US Class Current: 600/118
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Endoscopes comprise image pickup elements for picking up images and transmission circuits and the like for transmitting the picked up images with radio waves of different frequencies. In addition, bar codes to code the frequencies used for transmission are provided to the respective endoscopes, the bar code provided to the endoscope used in endoscope inspection is read on a receiver side, and a reception frequency of a station selection unit is set to the read frequency, so that a signal obtained by a desired endoscope can be easily received and imaged even in case a plurality of endoscopes are used.

Claims

1. An endoscope apparatus comprising:

an insertion unit inserted into a body cavity;

an endoscope having an image pickup element, provided to the insertion unit, for picking up an image of a portion to be observed;

a wireless transmitter, provided in an image information signal transmission path in the endoscope, for transmitting the image information signal by wireless;

a reception circuit, provided in the endoscope, for receiving a designation signal from a wireless receiver for receiving the image information signal;

a reception frequency setting unit for tuning a reception frequency of the wireless receiver to a transmission frequency of the image information signal transmitted by the wireless transmitter;

a transmission circuit, provided in the wireless receiver, for transmitting a designation signal to the wireless transmitter; and

an image display device for processing the image information signal received by the wireless receiver to display an image.

2. An endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wireless transmitter performs signal amplification of the image information signal by the designation signal from the wireless receiver.