[Object] To make it possible to more stably perform communication. [Solution] There is provided an observation device including: an image shooting unit composed of a first housing and configured to capture an image of a surgical site of a patient; and a communication unit composed of a second housing disposed away from the first housing, and configured to wirelessly transmit, to an external device, image information on the surgical site the image of which is captured by the image shooting unit.

A ureteroscope system including a handpiece, a catheter, and a cable. The handpiece has a catheter end, a control end opposite to the catheter end, a working channel port positioned proximate to the catheter end and distal to the control end, and a cable port positioned proximate to the catheter end and distal to the control end. The catheter extends from the catheter end of the handpiece, and includes a working channel in fluid communication with the working channel port, a distal end, and an image sensor positioned at the distal end of the catheter. The cable is connected to the handpiece at the cable port and configured to provide power to the image sensor and communicate with one or more electronic devices.

An endoscope system includes: a CMOS image pickup device configured to output digital signals of a plurality of systems; E/O converters configured to convert the digital signals of the plurality of systems to optical signals respectively; optical fibers configured to transmit the optical signals of the plurality of systems respectively; a transmission amount changer configured to convert a data amount of the digital signal of at least one system; and a metal wire configured to transmit the digital signal, the data amount of which is converted by the transmission amount changer.

A video endoscope including: an elongated shaft having an inner shaft tube and an outer shaft tube; and an electrical connecting element extending in a longitudinal direction of the shaft between the inner shaft tube and the outer shaft tube. Wherein the electrical connecting element is configured as a flexible printed circuit board with at least one conducting path which is routed substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the shaft, and the electrical connecting element is routed at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shaft at at least one location of the shaft.

A monitor apparatus includes: a display panel that displays a medical image; an as-viewed output terminal capable of outputting a video signal reflecting a same color set value as a color set value reflected in the medical image displayed on the display panel; a communication unit that detects device information regarding an external device connected to the as-viewed output terminal; and a second color setting reflection unit capable of controlling to further change the color set value reflected in the video signal outputted from the as-viewed output terminal based on a detection result of the communication unit.

The disclosure extends to systems and methods for reducing the area of an image sensor by employing bi-directional pads used for both image data issuance and configuration command reception and internal supply voltage generation, for reducing the number of conductors in an endoscope system.

A pressure monitoring device is provided for use with a tool such as a medical endoscope. The device includes a housing which is fluidically coupled with an internal volume of the endoscope. A pump is used to change the pressure inside the device housing and endoscope, thereby establishing a pressure differential from the ambient environment. During an endoscopy procedure, the pressure inside the device housing is monitored, and a change in pressure exceeding a predefined limit causes an alarm signal indicating a leak has occurred in the endoscope. The device housing may be directly mounted to the endoscope, located remotely and connected with a coupling tube, or integrated with an accessory device connected to the endoscope. The pump may be integrated internally to the device housing, or it may be a separate external pump which is connected to the housing. The pressure differential may be positive or negative relative to ambient.

There are provided an apparatus and method for photographing an object. An apparatus for photographing an object using top and bottom buttons includes: a head part including a camera; a connection part coupled to the head part and extended in a length direction thereof, and having a first button for manipulating the camera on an extension line in the length direction from a formation position of the head part and a second button for manipulating the camera formed on a surface opposite to the first button; and a body part including a power source means coupled to the connection part and supplying power to the camera, and a display means displaying a state of the camera or a power state.

A disposable endoscope (200) and system, the disposable endoscope (200) comprising: a tubular component (201), a linear drive piece (202) controlling the tubular component (201) to bend, an image pickup unit (203) installed at the front end of the tubular component (201) and a wiring harness connected thereto, a cladding layer (204) wrapping around the integral structure, and a connector head (205) and a disposable fixing piece (206) both disposed at one end of the linear drive piece (202) away from the tubular component (201). A first connector (2021) is fixed at a connector head (205) at one end of the linear drive piece (202) and is detachably engaged with a corresponding second connector (301) of an external control base (300); the first connector (2021) is fixed by the disposable fixing piece (206) with respect to the connector head (205), and can be moved in a length direction within a through hole (2051) of the connector head (205) after the disposable fixing piece (206) is removed. The disposable endoscope system separates the control base (300) used to control a drive from the disposable endoscope (200) inserted into a cavity of a human body and used to capture images, realizing disposability of an endoscope, and thereby omitting existing complicated cleaning and sterilization processes.

Medical endoscope imaging systems and methods of using the same are disclosed. The imaging systems can have an endoscope having an image sensor, a display housing having an image display, a communication link configured to couple the image sensor to the image display, and a camera housing having a camera-sensor. The display housing can be configured to be detachably coupled to the camera housing. The camera-sensor can be configured to receive signals from the image display.