The disclosure relates to an endoscopic light source that includes a first emitter. The first emitter may emit light of a first wavelength at a dichroic mirror which reflects the light of the first wavelength to a plurality of optical fibers. The endoscopic light source further comprises a second emitter. The second emitter may emit light of a second wavelength at a second dichroic mirror which reflects the light of the second wavelength to the plurality of optical fibers. In one embodiment, the first dichroic mirror may be transparent to the light of the second wavelength, allowing the light of the second wavelength to pass through the first dichroic mirror.

Endoscope apparatuses for generating at least one image of a portion of an object are described herein. The endoscope apparatus includes an ultrafine needle adapted for insertion into the object; a fiber probe that is slidably disposed in the ultrafine needle, the fiber probe including a plurality of optical fibers or cores that act as illumination optical fibers and collection optical fibers; an optical assembly that is coupled to the fiber probe, the optical assembly including: at least one transmission optical pathway to provide at least one excitation light signal to the portion of the object to be imaged during use; and at least one return optical pathway that is adapted to transmit reflected light signals from the portion of the object when it is illuminated during use with at least one sensor for generating at least one image via at least one set of optical elements.

An exemplary embodiment relates to a measuring method (50) and to a measuring device (10) in order to determine a length or an area within a scene (32) which are characterized at least partially by a real start point (40-2) and a real end point (42-2), wherein the measurement takes place using at least two images (18, 20) and it is thereby not necessary for the real start point (40-2) and the real end point (42-2) to be imaged in one of the images (18, 20).

An endoscope body of an endoscope can include a handle, a shaft extending distally from the handle, and a distal portion at a distal end of the shaft. The handle can include a light guide that can receive illumination from a light source that is separate from the endoscope body. The light guide can include an illumination splitter that can split the received illumination into a target illumination and a handle illumination. The light guide can propagate the target illumination to the distal portion to illuminate a target. The distal portion can optionally include a camera that can capture an image of the illuminated target. The illumination splitter can propagate the handle illumination to illuminate at least a portion of the handle, such as an instrument port that can provide access to a proximal end of an instrument sheath that extends to the distal portion.

A light-guiding structure according to the invention is used in an endoscope for guiding light along a lengthwise direction and includes a first portion and a second portion. The first portion extends in a single cross section along the lengthwise direction. The second portion extends in a varying cross section along the lengthwise direction and is connected to an end of the first portion in the lengthwise direction. An endoscope tip includes a circuit board, an image-capturing component, a light-emitting component, and the light-guiding structure. The light-guiding structure can fit the contours of the circuit board and the image-capturing component to increase space usage for obtaining more cross-sectional area. For the production of the light-guiding structure, the second portion is formed by shaping a portion directly extending form the end of the first portion or by an additional material directly bonded to the end of the first portion by molding.

In one aspect, a light module is disclosed, which includes a housing providing a hollow chamber extending from a proximal end to a distal end, and a lens positioned in the hollow chamber, where the lens has a lens body comprising an input surface for receiving light from a light source and an output surface through which light exits the lens body, said lens further comprising a collar at least partially encircling said lens body. The light module further includes at least one shoulder on which the lens collar can be seated for positioning the lens within the housing. A light source, e.g., an LED, is coupled to the hollow chamber, e.g., at its proximal end, for providing light to the lens. In some embodiments, an optical window is disposed in the hollow chamber and is optically coupled to the output surface of the lens such that the light exiting the lens passes through the optical window before exiting the light module. In some embodiments, the shoulder can be formed as part of the housing. In other embodiments, the shoulder can be provided by a sleeve disposed in the module's housing.

Methods, endoscopic systems, and non-transitory, machine-readable storage media for adjusting an exposure of an endoscopic system are described. In an embodiment, the methods include emitting light with a light source into a proximal end of an endoscope light pipe; generating received light signals with a photodetector based on light received through the endoscope light pipe by the photodetector; displaying, with a display module, images based on the received light signals having a current image brightness; monitoring the received light signals for changes to the current image brightness; and adjusting a light source illuminance level, and in some embodiments a photodetector gain and exposure time, based on the current image brightness to maintain a target image brightness of the display module. In an embodiment, a brightness adjustment step size is less than a just-noticeable difference in brightness of an eye and is directly proportional to the current image brightness.

An imaging system (100) comprises a multimode waveguide (Wm) configured to receive input light (Li) from a light source (20) into its proximal side (13p) and output a corresponding speckle pattern (Pn) based on the input light (Li) out of its distal side (13d) for illuminating a sample (S) to be imaged. A single-mode waveguide (Ws) is connected to the multimode waveguide (Wm) for coupling the input light (Li) from the light source (20) to the multimode waveguide (Wm). The multimode waveguide (Wm) has a relatively short length (Zm) and relatively high flexural rigidity (R) for maintaining a unique relation between the input characteristic (λ,A) of the input light (Li) into the multimode waveguide (Wm) and a spatial distribution (Ixy) of the speckle pattern (Pn). The single-mode waveguide (Ws) may be relatively long and flexible (F) for allowing movement of the short rigid multimode waveguide (Wm).

An endoscope image-capturing device includes: a first case inside of which is sealed; an image sensor arranged inside the first case; an electro-optic conversion element arranged outside the first case and configured to convert an image signal output from the image sensor into an optical signal; and a sealing member sealing the electro-optic conversion element.

An electronic endoscope processor for processing an image signal of a subject imaged using an imaging element in an electronic endoscope system includes: an illuminating light switch that alternatingly switches the illuminating light to be emitted to the subject, between a first illuminating light and a second illuminating light; and an imaging element control circuit that controls an exposure time of the imaging element and a charge readout timing. The imaging element control circuit controls the exposure time T1 of the imaging element when the first illuminating light is being emitted to the subject and the exposure time T2 of the imaging element when the second illuminating light is being emitted to the subject, based on a time-integrated amount of luminous flux per unit time of the first illuminating light and a time-integrated amount of luminous flux per unit time of the second illuminating light.