An endoscope apparatus includes: an endoscope connector; a first optical connector extended from a plug section; first insertion openings of a receptacle section into which the first optical connector is inserted; second insertion openings of the receptacle section into which a second optical connector is inserted; a wrong insertion preventing member that is partially located in the second insertion openings, and is moved, in conjunction with insertion of the first optical connector into the first insertion openings, to a retracted position at which the second optical connector is insertable into the second insertion openings; and a contact member that comes into contact with the wrong insertion preventing member when the first optical connector is inserted into the second insertion openings.

Maximum hardness of a flexible tube section of an endoscope is set such that substantial maximum hardness at a time when an over-tube is attached is equal to or lower than maximum hardness of a flexible tube section of an endoscope. That is, the maximum hardness of the flexible tube section of the endoscope is set substantially equal to hardness obtained by subtracting hardness of the over-tube itself from the maximum hardness of the flexible tube section of the endoscope. In the endoscopes including a hardness changing function, maximum hardness of the endoscope, to which the over-tube is not attached, and maximum hardness of the endoscope, to which the over-tube is attached, are set substantially equal.

An apparatus for video endoscopy, in particular for industrial video endoscopy, has a device part which has a housing and an electronics component arrangement which is arranged in the housing. The electronics component arrangement is arranged within a sealed-off region in the housing. A heat sink is arranged in the housing, the said heat sink being thermally coupled to the electronics component arrangement in order to absorb heat from the electronics component arrangement. A fan for generating an air flow of ambient air is arranged in the housing, the said air flow flowing out of the housing along the heat sink in order to discharge the heat from the heat sink, wherein the air flow does not come into contact with the electronics component arrangement.

Exemplary apparatus for method for forming at least one spectral encoding endoscopy configuration. For example, it is possible to modify a spacer configuration and an lens optics configuration to have respective predetermined lengths, and also to modify a dispersive optics configuration to have a further predetermined length. Further, the modified spacer and modified lens optics configurations can be attached to one another to form a combined spacer-lens optics configuration. The modified dispersive optics configuration can be attached to a substrate to form to form a grating substrate configuration. Additionally, the combined spacer-lens optics configuration can be connected to an optical fiber, and the modified attached dispersed optics configuration can be connected to the modified attached lens optics configuration to form the spectral encoding endoscopy configuration(s) which can extends along a particular axis. The dispersive optics configuration can be modified to be at a predetermined angle with respect to the particular axis.

Embodiments of the invention include an apparatus including at least one illumination source configured to emit illumination energy and an illumination control system to receive the illumination energy. The illumination control system is configured to control the illumination energy to output a sequence of different illumination wavelengths using the illumination energy. The apparatus also includes a plurality of optical fibers connected to the illumination control system and configured to sequentially output the different illumination wavelengths. Each optical fiber is configured to transmit a different illumination wavelength of the sequence to output the sequence of different illumination wavelengths from the optical fibers toward an object. The apparatus further includes an image capture device including a plurality of pixels, and each pixel of the image capture device is configured to detect the illumination energy associated with each of the plurality of different illumination wavelengths reflected from the object.

According to one aspect, the invention concerns a device for transporting and controlling light pulses for lensless endo-microscopic imaging and comprises: a bundle of N monomode optical fibers (F.sub.1) arranged in a given pattern, each monomode optical fiber being characterized by a relative group delay value (Ax) defined relative to the travel time of a pulse propagating in a reference monomode optical fiber (F.sub.0) of the bundle of fibers (40), an optical device for controlling group velocity (50) comprising a given number M of waveplates (P.sub.j) characterized by a given delay (8t.sub.j); a first spatial light modulator (51) suitable for forming from an incident light beam a number N of elementary light beams (B.sub.i) each of which is intended to enter into one of said optical fibers, each elementary beam being intended to pass into a given waveplate such that the sum of the delay introduced by said waveplate and the relative group delay of the optical fiber intended to receive said elementary light beam is minimal in absolute value; a second spatial light modulator (52) suitable for deviating each of the N elementary light beams such that each elementary light beam penetrates into the corresponding optical fiber perpendicularly to the entrance face of the optical fiber.

An optical transmission module is configured such that: a first optical device is provided on an upper surface of an optical waveguide substrate; a second optical device is provided on a lower surface of the optical waveguide substrate; a V-groove is formed on an end face of the optical waveguide substrate, the V-groove including a first reflective face and a second reflective face as wall faces; the first optical device is optically coupled with an optical waveguide via the first reflective face; and the second optical device is optically coupled with the optical waveguide via the second reflective face.

An endoscope power supply system includes an endoscope including an imaging unit that images an object, a housing apparatus to which the endoscope is detachably connected, a plurality of power source units that are provided in the housing apparatus and configured to output electric power different from one another, switches each provided in an output stage of each of the power source units of the housing apparatus and formed of two FETs that are back-to-back connected, and a controller that is provided in the housing apparatus, selects a power source unit necessary to operate the endoscope from the power source units, and controls the switches to output electric power generated by the selected power source unit to the endoscope

An endoscope includes at least one lens having a circular exterior shape in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis, an image sensor that has a square exterior shape in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis, and has one side whose length is same as length of a diameter of the lens, a sensor cover that has a square exterior shape in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis, and has one side whose length is same as one side length of the image sensor, a bonding resin portion that fixes the sensor cover to the lens, the optical axis of the lens coinciding with a center of the imaging area.

An optical system for a stereo video endoscope, a stereo video endoscope and a method for operating an optical system. The optical system includes a distal optical assembly and a proximal optical assembly with a left lens system channel and a right lens system channel. The distal optical assembly couples light incident from an object space into the left lens system channel and into the right lens system channel of the proximal optical assembly. The distal optical assembly is an optical assembly with an adjustable focal length, wherein a change in the focal length causes a displacement of an axis intersection point in the object space.