Laser video endoscope

Claim 1

In a surgical endoscope having a hand piece and a connecting cable attached to the proximal end of the hand piece, the improvement in a small diameter probe comprising: a rigid tubular sidewall having a circular cross-section, an illumination guide comprising a first set of optical fibers extending longitudinally within said sidewall, an image guide comprising a second set of optical fibers extending longitudinally within said sidewall, an optical laser guide comprising a third set of optical fibers extending longitudinally within said sidewall, said illumination guide, said image guide and said laser guide constituting substantially the only functional components within said tubular sidewall of said probe, said first, second and third sets of optical fibers constituting a combined set of optical fibers having a circular outer diameter, said circular outer diameter being substantially equal to the inner diameter of said tubular sidewall, said image guide and said optical laser guide terminating in substantially the same plane at the distal end of said rigid probe, whereby light applied through said illumination zone will generate an image at the distal end of said rigid probe which can be viewed through said image guide simultaneous with application of laser energy through said laser guide.