Stereoscopic endoscope system

Claim 2

A medical video endoscope system comprising: (a) a stereoscopic endoscope comprising a handle portion (68), a tubular barrel portion (66), and a light-sensing system, said tubular barrel portion containing an objective lens system (36) for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system, and said light-sensing svstem including means for alternately sensing said left and right optical images and converting said sensed left and right optical images to left and right video image signals respectively; and (b) a tubular sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said tubular sheath assembly (i) being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, (ii) including a distal tip portion (310) having a front face (304) that extends at an acute angle to said longitudinal axis, and (iii) containing optical means (320, 322, 324, 326) for directing optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip portion is pointed to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion causes changes in the direction in which said front face of said distal tip portion is pointed and thus allows viewing direction changes in the stereoscopic endoscope viewing of said object in response to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion.

Claim 3

An endoscope system according to claim 1 wherein said optical means includes a plurality of lenses that are disposed to transmit images to said objective lens system.

Claim 4

An endoscope system according to claim 1 wherein said optical means includes at least a negative lens and a prism that are disposed to transmit images to said objective lens system.

Claim 5

An endoscope system according to claim 3 wherein said optical means includes a front negative lens (320), a prism (322), and a rear positive lens (324).

Claim 6

An endoscope system according to claim 4 wherein said front negative lens (320), said prism (322), and said rear positive lens (324) are disposed at said tip portion (310) of said sheath assembly.

Claim 7

An endoscope system according to claim 1 wherein said handle portion (68) includes a nose cone (84), and said barrel portion (66) is attached to said nose cone.

Claim 8

An endoscope system according to claim 6 wherein said sheath assembly includes a nose cone extension (306) that is coupled to said nose cone (84).

Claim 9

An endoscope system according to claim 7 further including a latch means (312) for releasably and mechanically coupling said nose cone extension to said nose cone.

Claim 10

An endoscope system according to claim 1 further including a latch means (312) for releasably coupling said sheath assembly to said handle portion.

Claim 11

An endoscope system according to claim 1 wherein said sheath assembly includes an inner tube (302) and an outer tube (318) that is fixed with respect to said inner tube, and means (316) interposed between said inner and outer tubes for conducting light to illuminate said object.

Claim 12

An endoscope system according to claim 10 wherein said optical means includes a plurality of lenses that are disposed to transmit images to said objective lens system, and at least one of said plurality of lenses is disposed in said outer tube in front of said inner tube and at least another of said plurality of lenses is disposed in said inner tube.

Claim 13

An endoscope system according to claim 11 wherein said optical means includes a prism, and said prism is disposed in said outer tube in front of said inner tube.

Claim 14

An endoscope according to claim 10 wherein said means (316) for conducting light to illuminate said object comprises optical fibers.

Claim 15

An endoscope according to claim 1 wherein said sheath assembly includes optical illumination fibers (316) for transmitting light to the said distal tip portion of said sheath assembly.

Claim 16

An endoscope system according to claim 1 wherein said barrel portion and said handle portion are detachable coupled to one another so as to allow removal and cleaning of said barrel portion.

Claim 17

A medical video endoscope system comprising: (a) a stereoscopic endoscope having a handle portion (68), a barrel portion (66), said barrel portion having a distal end and a proximate end, and an objective lens system (36) mounted in said distal end of said barrel portion for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system, said endoscope also including a light-sensing system for alternately sensing said left optical images and right optical images, and converting said sensed left and right optical images to left and right video image signals respectively; and (b) a sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said sheath assembly being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, and said sheath assembly including an angled front face and optics for receiving optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip is pointed and transmitting said optical images to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly causes changes in the direction in which said angled front face is pointed and thus allows angular endoscope viewing of said object according to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion.

Claim 18

A medical video endoscope system comprising: (a) a stereoscopic endoscope having a handle portion (68), a barrel portion (66), said barrel portion having a distal end and a proximate end, and an objective lens system (36) mounted in said distal end of said barrel portion for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system, said endoscope also including a light-sensing system for alternately sensing said left optical images and right optical images, and converting said sensed left and right optical images to left and right video image signals respectively; and (b) a sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said sheath assembly being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, and said sheath assembly including an angled front face and optics for receiving optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip is pointed and transmitting said optical images to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly causes changes in the direction in which said angled front face is pointed and thus allows angular endoscope viewing of said object according to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion.

Claim 19

An endoscope system according to claim 16 further including a sheath latch means for releasably and mechanically coupling said sheath assembly to said endoscope.

Claim 20

An endoscope system according to claim 16 wherein said sheath assembly includes a light guide adapter fitting (314) for receiving light from a light source, and optical illumination fibers (316) for transmitting light from said light guide adapter to the said distal end of said sheath assembly.

Claim 21

An endoscope system according to claim 16 wherein said sheath assembly comprises first and second concentric tubes, and means disposed between said first and second tubes for transmitting light to the distal end of said sheath assembly so as to illuminate said object.

Claim 22

An endoscope system according to claim 16 wherein said barrel portion contains an objective lens and a relay lens.

Claim 23

An endoscope system according to claim 16 wherein said handle portion contains said light-sensing system.

Claim 24

An endoscope system according to claim 16 wherein said barrel portion contains said light-sensing system.

Claim 25

A medical video endoscope system comprising: (a) an endoscope having a handle portion (68) and a tubular barrel portion (66), said tubular barrel portion including an objective lens system (36) for generating optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system, said endoscope also including a light-sensing system for sensing said optical images and converting said sensed optical images to video image signals; and (b) a tubular sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said tubular sheath assembly (i) being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, (ii) including a distal tip portion (310) having a front face (304) that extends at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said sheath assembly, and (iii) optical means (320, 322, 324, 326) for directing optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip portion is pointed to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion causes changes in the direction in which said front face of said distal tip portion is pointed and thus allows viewing direction changes in the endoscope viewing of said object in response to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion.

Claim 26

A medical video endoscope system comprising: (a) an endoscope having a handle portion (68) and a tubular barrel portion (66), said tubular barrel portion including an objective lens system (36) for generating optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system, said endoscope also including a light-sensing system for sensing said optical images and converting said sensed optical images to video image signals; and (b) a tubular sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said tubular sheath assembly (i) being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, (ii) including a distal tip portion (310) having a front face (304) that extends at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said sheath assembly, and (iii) optical means (320, 322, 324, 326) for directing optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip portion is pointed to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion causes changes in the direction in which said front face of said distal tip portion is pointed and thus allows viewing direction changes in the endoscope viewing of said object in response to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion.

Claim 27

An endoscope system according to claim 23 wherein said optical means includes lenses that are disposed to transmit images to said objective lens system.

Claim 28

An endoscope system according to claim 23 wherein sheath includes a front negative lens and a prism for directing images to said objective lens system.

Claim 29

An endoscope system according to claim 23 wherein sheath includes a front negative lens (320), a prism (322), and a rear positive lens (324).

Claim 30

An endoscope system according to claim 26 wherein said front negative lens (320), prism (322), and rear positive lens (324) are disposed at said tip portion of said sheath assembly.

Claim 31

An endoscope system according to claim 26 wherein said negative lens is located in front of said prism.

Claim 32

An endoscope system according to claim 23 wherein said barrel portion is separable from said handle portion, so that a different barrel portion may be attached to said handle portion.

Claim 33

A medical video endoscope system comprising: (a) an endoscope having a handle portion (68) and a tubular barrel portion (66), said tubular barrel portion including an objective lens system (36) for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system; (b) a tubular sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said tubular sheath assembly (i) being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, (ii) including a distal tip portion (310) having a front face (304) that extends at an acute angle to said longitudinal axis, and (iii) containing optical means (320, 322, 324, 326) for directing optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip portion is pointed to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion causes changes in the direction in which said front face of said distal tip portion is pointed and thus allows viewing direction changes in the stereoscopic endoscope viewing of said object in response to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion; (c) a light-sensing module comprising image-sensing means for sensing said left and right optical images and for producing left and right electrical signals in response to said sensed left and right optical images respectively; (d) processing electronics for creating left and right video image signals in response to said left and right electrical signals respectively; (e) means for controlling said image-sensing means; (f) means for receiving said left and right video image signals and for processing each of said left and right video image signals at a first rate to generate time-multiplexed left and right video image signals, each time-multiplexed video image signal being representative of an image frame having a predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines, and said time-multiplexed video image signals being suitable for transmission at a second rate which is approximately twice said first rate; and (g) a viewing system (31) including a video monitor (32) for receiving said time-multiplexed video image signals at said second rate and displaying left and right video images based on said time-multiplexed video image signals, each video image having said predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines.

Claim 34

A medical video endoscope system comprising: (a) an endoscope having a handle portion (68) and a tubular barrel portion (66), said tubular barrel portion including an objective lens system (36) for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system; (b) a tubular sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said tubular sheath assembly (i) being rotatable relative to said barrel portion, (ii) including a distal tip portion (310) having a front face (304) that extends at an acute angle to said longitudinal axis, and (iii) containing optical means (320, 322, 324, 326) for directing optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip portion is pointed to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion causes changes in the direction in which said front face of said distal tip portion is pointed and thus allows viewing direction changes in the stereoscopic endoscope viewing of said object in response to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion; (c) a light-sensing module comprising image-sensing means for sensing said left and right optical images and for producing left and right electrical signals in response to said sensed left and right optical images respectively; (d) processing electronics for creating left and right video image signals in response to said left and right electrical signals respectively; (e) means for controlling said image-sensing means; (f) means for receiving said left and right video image signals and for processing each of said left and right video image signals at a first rate to generate time-multiplexed left and right video image signals, each time-multiplexed video image signal being representative of an image frame having a predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines, and said time-multiplexed video image signals being suitable for transmission at a second rate which is approximately twice said first rate; and (g) a viewing system (31) including a video monitor (32) for receiving said time-multiplexed video image signals at said second rate and displaying left and right video images based on said time-multiplexed video image signals, each video image having said predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines.

Claim 35

A medical video endoscope system comprising: (a) a stereoscopic endoscope having a handle portion (68), a barrel portion (66), said barrel portion having a distal end and a proximate end, and an objective lens system (36) mounted in said distal end of said barrel portion for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system; (b) a sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said sheath assembly being rotatable relative to said barrel portion and including an angled front face and optics for receiving optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip is pointed and transmitting said optical images to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly causes changes in the direction in which said angled front face is pointed and thus allows angular endoscope viewing of said object according to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion; (c) a light-sensing module comprising image-sensing means for alternately sensing said left and right optical images and for producing left and right electrical signals in response to said sensed left and right optical images respectively; (d) processing electronics for creating left and right video image signals in response to said left and right electrical signals respectively; (e) means for controlling said image-sensing means; (f) means for receiving said left and right video image signals and for processing each of said left and right video image signals at a first rate to generate time-multiplexed left and right video image signals, each time-multiplexed video image signal being representative of an image frame having a predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines, and said time-multiplexed video image signals being suitable for transmission at a second rate which is approximately twice said first rate; and (g) a viewing system (31) including a video monitor (32) for receiving said time-multiplexed video image signals at said second rate and displaying left and right video images based on said time-multiplexed video image signals, each video image having said predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines.

Claim 36

A medical video endoscope system comprising: (a) a stereoscopic endoscope having a handle portion (68), a barrel portion (66), said barrel portion having a distal end and a proximate end, and an objective lens system (36) mounted in said distal end of said barrel portion for generating left and right optical images of an object viewed by said medical video endoscope system; (b) a sheath assembly (300) having a longitudinal axis and surrounding and extending lengthwise of and parallel to said barrel portion of said endoscope, said sheath assembly being rotatable relative to said barrel portion and including an angled front face and optics for receiving optical images from the direction in which said front face of the angled distal tip is pointed and transmitting said optical images to said objective lens system, whereby rotation of said sheath assembly causes changes in the direction in which said angled front face is pointed and thus allows angular endoscope viewing of said object according to rotation of said sheath assembly relative to said barrel portion; (c) a light-sensing module comprising image-sensing means for alternately sensing said left and right optical images and for producing left and right electrical signals in response to said sensed left and right optical images respectively; (d) processing electronics for creating left and right video image signals in response to said left and right electrical signals respectively; (e) means for controlling said image-sensing means; (f) means for receiving said left and right video image signals and for processing each of said left and right video image signals at a first rate to generate time-multiplexed left and right video image signals, each time-multiplexed video image signal being representative of an image frame having a predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines, and said time-multiplexed video image signals being suitable for transmission at a second rate which is approximately twice said first rate; and (g) a viewing system (31) including a video monitor (32) for receiving said time-multiplexed video image signals at said second rate and displaying left and right video images based on said time-multiplexed video image signals, each video image having said predetermined number of unique horizontal video lines.