An insertion apparatus includes an insertion section, a rotational housing, a motor, and a controller. The motor rotates the rotational housing. The controller designates a rotational direction of the motor. The controller limits the rotational direction of the motor to allow the insertion section to move only in a removal direction when inspection control for inspecting an operation relative to an insertion direction of the insertion section is initiated.

An endoscope system includes an image pickup device that picks up an image of an inside of a subject, and outputs two or more digital signals, an electro-optical conversion section that converts the two or more digital signals outputted from the image pickup device into optical signals, and outputs the optical signals, an optical transmitting section that includes two or more optical transmitting members, and is adapted to transmit, in parallel, by the two or more optical transmitting members, two or more optical signals outputted from the electro-optical conversion section, and an output selection section provided between the image pickup device and the electro-optical conversion section, and being capable of combining, and outputting to one optical transmitting member, the two or more digital signals that are supplied to the two or more optical transmitting members, based on a transmission state of data optically transmitted by the optical transmitting section.

An image processing apparatus according to the present disclosure includes an illuminating section which sequentially irradiates an object with first and second illuminating light beams polarized in first and second directions. First and second polarization images are generated based on signals representing light transmitted through polarizers having the polarization transmission axis in respective directions that are parallel to, and intersect with, the first direction while the object is being irradiated with the first illuminating light beam, and third and fourth polarization images are generated based on signals representing light transmitted through polarizers having the polarization transmission axis in respective directions that are parallel to, and intersect with, the second direction while the object is being irradiated with the second illuminating light beam. A depressed object surface region is detected based on the first and second polarization images and/or the third and fourth polarization images.

An optics tube for an endoscope including a magnet arrangement which extends parallel to a longitudinal axis of the optics tube. A rod lens including a rod-shaped lens unit made of a rod-shaped lens element or a plurality of lens elements cemented to one another, wherein, on one side on the circumferential face thereof, the lens unit includes a magnet arrangement. The invention also relates to a combination of an optics tube and a rod lens, and to an endoscope.

A lens alignment system and method is disclosed. The disclosed system/method integrates one or more lens retaining members/tubes (LRM/LRT) and focal length spacers (FLS) each comprising a metallic material product (MMP) specifically manufactured to have a thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) in a predetermined range via selection of the individual MMP materials and an associated MMP manufacturing process providing for controlled TEC. This controlled LRM/LRT TEC enables a plurality of optical lenses (POL) fixed along a common optical axis (COA) by the LRM/LRT to maintain precise interspatial alignment characteristics that ensure consistent and/or controlled series focal length (SFL) within the POL to generate a thermally neutral optical system (TNOS). Integration of the POL using this LRM/LRT/FLS lens alignment system reduces the overall TNOS implementation cost, reduces the overall TNOS mass, reduces TNOS parts component count, and increases the reliability of the overall optical system.

An optical system for rigid endoscope includes an objective optical system, an eyepiece optical system, and a relay optical system which is disposed between the objective optical system and the eyepiece optical system. The objective optical system includes in order from an object side, a first lens having a negative refractive power, a second lens having a positive refractive power, a third lens having a positive refractive power, and a fourth lens having a negative refractive power. The following conditional expressions (1) and (2) are satisfied:
−3<(RL1i+RL1o)/(RL1i−RL1o)<−1.3  (1)
30<νdL1  (2) where, RL1o denotes a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the first lens, RL1i denotes a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the first lens, and νdL1 denotes Abbe number for the first lens.

In an endoscope system, a first actuator is configured to move a first optical member when a control signal is applied to the first actuator. A second actuator is configured to move a second optical member only when the control signal having a signal value greater than or equal to a predetermined value is applied to the second actuator. A signal source is configured to apply the control signal having the signal value greater than or equal to the predetermined value or the control signal having a signal value less than the predetermined value to the first actuator and is configured to apply the control signal having the signal value greater than or equal to the predetermined value to the second actuator.

A solid-state image sensor according to the present disclosure includes a first semiconductor substrate having a photoelectric conversion element and a second semiconductor substrate facing the first semiconductor substrate with an insulating film interposed therebetween, in which the second semiconductor substrate has an amplification transistor that amplifies an electrical signal output from the photoelectric conversion element on a first main surface (MSa), has a region having a resistance lower than a resistance of the second semiconductor substrate on a second main surface (MSb) opposite to the first main surface (MSa), and is grounded via the region.

An endoscope system having: a transmission cable electrically connecting an actuator that moves an optical element along an optical axis direction and a driving signal generator for generating and supplying a driving signal for driving the actuator; a detector configured to detect magnitude of the driving signal output from the driving signal generator to be supplied to the actuator through the transmission cable; and a processor configured to supply the driving signal with an initial driving voltage value to the actuator for a predetermined time, calculate a combined resistance value including a resistance value of the transmission cable and a resistance value of the actuator, based on at least the detected magnitude of the driving signal, calculate a driving voltage of the actuator, based on the calculated combined resistance value and a preset rated current value of the actuator, and cause a storage to record the calculated driving voltage.

In a method of manufacturing an achromatic lens according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the achromatic lens in which a first lens and a second lens are integrally molded is manufactured by using mold processing, so that chromatic aberration correction ability may be improved without using an adhesive or a separate instrument to fix the first lens and the second lens to each other.