Forward and angle view endoscope

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018214008-A1
Application number	US-201615750326-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 4, 2016
Priority date	Aug 5, 2015
Publication date	Aug 2, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Exemplary apparatus and optical systems for forward and side view apparatus are described. These apparatus include a light focusing element, a grating element inclined with respect to the optical axis of the apparatus, and a transparent element. The transparent element has a proximal surface in contact with the grating element and an inclined distal surface. Such apparatus can be sued as spectrally encoded endoscopy (SEE) probes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus comprising:
a light focusing element configured to focus a light along the optical axis of the apparatus, a grating element that is inclined with respect to the optical axis of the apparatus, and a transparent element with a refractive index of η 2 and having a proximal surface in contact with the grating element and a distal surface that is angled with respect to the optical axis of the apparatus, wherein a light passing through the light focusing element is incident on the grating and wherein a light diffracting from the grating is refracted by the distal surface of the transparent element.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the grating and the transparent element form a single molded component.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a spacer element with a refractive index of η 1 located between the light focusing element and the grating element, wherein η 1 is less than η 2 .

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the spacer element is an air gap.

5 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the spacer element is an epoxy spacer.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transparent element is a prism.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a sheath element covering at least a portion of the apparatus wherein the grating is not exposed outside the apparatus.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the grating pitch is more 600 nm.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the distal surface is angled at between 40° and 80° from the optical axis of the apparatus.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light focusing element is a gradient index (GRIN) lens.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light focusing element is a ball lens.

12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the grating element and the transparent element are made of plastic or glass and are formed through stamping, injection molding or precision molding.

13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a waveguide configured to guide a light into the light focusing element.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the waveguide is attached to the light focusing element where the location of attachments is off-center from the light focusing element.

15 . The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a data generation element configured to receive and process light received from the apparatus.

16 . A side-view endoscope comprising:
a waveguide configured to guide light through the side-view endoscope, a light focusing element configured to focus light from the waveguide along the optical axis of the endoscope, a grating element that is inclined at an angle of between 40° and 80° from the optical axis of the endoscope, and a transparent element with a refractive index of η 2 and having a proximal surface in contact with the grating element and a distal surface inclined at an angle, β, from 75° to 120°, from the optical axis of the endoscope wherein a light passing through the light focusing element is incident on the grating and wherein a light diffracting from the grating is refracted by the distal surface of the transparent element and directed at a range of angles, the lowest angle being larger than 20° with respect to the optical axis of the endoscope.

17 . A forward-view endoscope comprising
a waveguide configured to guide light through the forward-view endoscope, a light focusing element configured to focus light from the waveguide along the optical axis of the apparatus, a grating element that is inclined an angle of between 40° and 80° from the optical axis of the endoscope, and a transparent element with a refractive index of η 2 and having a proximal surface in contact with the grating element and a distal surface inclined at an angle, β, from 40° to 75°, with respect to the optical axis of the endoscope, wherein a light passing through the light focusing element is incident on the grating and wherein a light diffracting from the grating is refracted by the distal surface of the transparent element and directed at a range of angles, the lowest angle being −10° and 5° with respect to the optical axis of the endoscope.

Assignees

• Yamazoe Kenji
• Mach Anderson
• Wang Zhuo
• Canon Usa Inc

Inventors

• Yamazoe Kenji
• Mach Anderson
• Wang Zhuo

Classifications

• A61B1/00177

  for 90 degrees side-viewing · CPC title

• A61B1/00188

  with focusing or zooming features · CPC title

• A61B1/00165

  with light-conductive means, e.g. fibre optics (A61B1/07 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B1/00181 Primary

  for multiple fixed viewing angles (A61B1/00193 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B1/00096

  Optical elements · CPC title