A method for providing an insertion cord of an endoscope with graduated flexibility along the length of the insertion cord. The method includes: providing a main tube having a proximal and a distal end, and subjecting the main tube to a conditioning process including application of heat and a temporary mechanical deformation along at least a part of the length of the main tube between said proximal end and said distal end. The magnitude of the temporary mechanical deformation is varied along said part of the length of the main tube.

An endoscope system includes: an endoscope including an insertion portion configured to be inserted into a subject; a distance measurement unit configured to measure a distance between the insertion portion and an object by transmitting and receiving millimeter waves or submillimeter waves; and a flexible waveguide that has one end that is connected to the distance measurement unit and another end that is exposed to outside from a distal end of the insertion portion, the flexible waveguide being configured to propagates the millimeter waves or submillimeter waves transmitted and received by the distance measurement unit.

An endoscope system includes a light source that emits lights with first to n-th wavelengths, a lens that makes the lights with the first to n-th wavelengths parallel lights, a diffractive optical element (DOE) that converges components of the lights with the first to n-th wavelengths, the components being included in the parallel lights, into first to n-th linear lights at mutually different positions, a slit that projects, onto a subject, first to n-th pattern lights based on the first to n-th linear lights, an imager that captures, as one-frame image, an image of the subject onto which the first to n-th pattern lights are projected, and a processor being configured to calculate a distance to the subject or a shape of the subject based on the image captured by the imager.

Embodiments for crossing an occlusion by controlling a guide with the aid of optical coherence tomography (OCT) data are described. Embodiments include transmitting one or more beams of radiation via one or more waveguides on a flexible substrate within a guide wire. One or more beams of scattered or reflected radiation may be received from a sample via one or more waveguides. Depth-resolved optical data of the sample may be generated based on the received beams of scattered or reflected radiation. The depth-resolved data may be used for determining at least one of a distance between the guide wire and a wall of the artery and a distance between the guide wire and an occlusion within the artery. A position of the guide wire within the artery may then be controlled based on the determined distance or distances.

An image processing apparatus includes a processor including hardware, the processor being configured to: estimate, based on image information from a medical device that includes at least an endoscope, a plurality of procedure actions of an operator of the endoscope; perform different supports respectively for procedures by the operator, according to an estimation result of the procedure actions; and output a display for the supports to a display.

An access device for accessing an intervertebral disc having an outer shield comprising an access shield with a larger diameter (˜16-30 mm) that reaches from the skin down to the facet line, with an inner shield having a second smaller diameter (˜5-12 mm) extending past the access shield and reaches down to the disc level. This combines the benefits of the direct visual microsurgical/mini open approaches and the percutaneous, “ultra-MIS” techniques.

An endoscope system sequentially acquires a plurality of endoscopic images by continuously imaging an observation target. A recognition processing unit detects, from the acquired endoscopic images, regions including a lesion portion as regions-of-interest. A recognition result correction unit corrects a position of the region-of-interest of the specific image by using a position of the region-of-interest of a previous image acquired before the specific image and a position of the region-of-interest of a subsequent image acquired after the specific image.

A system for determining characteristics of tissue within a body of a patient may include a medical device. The medical device may include a distal end configured to be advanced within the body of the patient; at least one aperture at the distal end; a laser emitter operable to emit monochromatic light out from the distal end via the at least one aperture and onto target tissue; and at least one photodetector array. The at least one photodetector array may be configured to: receive light incident on the at least one aperture that is one or more of scattered by or reflected from the target tissue; and generate Raman spectroscopy image data based on monochromatic light incident on the at least one aperture, the Raman spectroscopy image data including an array of intensity values.

An endoscope processor allows the user to easily confirm the setting state of functions. The endoscope processor includes: a processor executing program code to perform: displaying, by the processor, on a touch panel a plurality of custom buttons each having a function description section describing a function operable by a user and a state section indicating a state of the function; and accepting, by the processor, an operation performed on the custom buttons displayed. The function description section includes an icon section illustrating the function and a name section indicating a name of the function in text form.

Systems and methods for visualizing ablated tissue are disclosed. In some embodiments, a system for imaging tissue comprising: a catheter having a distal end and a proximal end; an inflatable balloon disposed about the distal end of the catheter; and an optical housing extending from the distal end of the catheter into the balloon, the optical housing being configured to position inside the balloon a light source for illuminating a tissue outside the balloon and a camera for imaging the illuminated tissue.