Relay set for an endoscope and an endoscope
09817227 · 2017-11-14
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
International classification
Abstract
The invention relates to a relay set for an endoscope that includes a plurality of relay sets of the same type, having two plano-convex rod lenses which face one another with their planar end surfaces, and an achromat that is arranged between these rod lenses, particularly in a central aperture plane of said relay set. Said achromat takes the form of an arrangement of at least two lenses which have different refractive indices and Abbe numbers, and is located at a distance from the rod lenses. The invention also relates to a corresponding endoscope. The claimed relay set is improved in that one lens of said achromat consists of ED glass that has an Abbe number of at least 75, in particular at least 77.
Claims
1. A relay set for an endoscope with a plurality of relay sets of the same type, the relay set comprising: two plano-convex rod lenses which face one another with their planar end surfaces; and an achromat arranged between the rod lenses, wherein the achromat is configured as an arrangement of at least two lenses which have different refractive indices and Abbe numbers, and is located at a distance from the rod lenses; wherein a lens of the achromat is made of extra-low dispersion glass (ED glass), wherein the ED glass is glass having an Abbe number of at least 75.
2. The relay set according to claim 1, wherein at least one other lens of the achromat has an Abbe number of less than 75.
3. The relay set according to claim 1, wherein the achromat is configured as one of a doublet or triplet of lenses.
4. The relay set according to claim 1, wherein the achromat comprises at least one lens not made of ED glass, the at least one lens having a Z-factor of less than 0.06, wherein the Z-factor is determined by the formula
5. The relay set according to claim 1, wherein a correction of a chromatic aberration achieved by the achromat of the relay set compensates for a chromatic aberration created by the lenses of the relay set.
6. The relay set according to claim 1, wherein the achromat is arranged between the rod lenses such that the achromat crosses a central aperture plane of said relay set.
7. The relay set according to claim 1, wherein the lens of the achromat is made of an ED glass, wherein the ED glass is a glass having a Abbe number of at least 77.
8. An endoscope comprising a plurality of relay sets, wherein each of the plurality of relay sets are identical to the relay set of claim 1.
9. The relay set according to claim 2, wherein the at least one other lens of the achromat simultaneously has a refractive index greater than 1.8 and the Abbe number greater than 45.
10. The relay set according to claim 3, wherein the ED glass lens is biconvex.
11. The relay set according to claim 3, wherein, in the achromat configured as a triplet, a central lens of the triplet is made of ED glass.
12. The relay set according to claim 3, wherein if a ratio of a diameter of the lenses of the relay set to an entire length of the relay set of less than 0.05, the achromat is configured as a doublet, and wherein if a ratio of the diameter of the lenses of the relay set to the entire length of the relay set is greater than 0.05, the achromat is configured as a triplet.
13. The relay set according to claim 4, wherein the Z-factor for the at least one lens of the achromat not made of ED glass is less than 0.04, wherein the Z-factor is determined by the formula
14. The endoscope according to claim 8, wherein at least one additional relay set is configured differently with respect to other of the plurality of relay sets.
15. The endoscope according to claim 8, wherein the endoscope is one of a laparoscope or uroscope.
16. The endoscope according to claim 8, wherein a correction of a chromatic aberration achieved by the achromat of the relay set compensates for a chromatic aberration created by the lenses of the relay set, and the correction also compensates for a part of a chromatic aberration created by objective lenses and/or ocular lenses of the endoscope.
17. The relay set according to claim 11, wherein, in the case of the achromat configured as a triplet, the relay set is configured to be symmetric around a central plane, which runs through the central lens of the achromat.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) The invention is described below, without restricting the general idea of the invention, based on exemplary embodiments in reference to the drawings, whereby we expressly refer to the drawings with regard to the disclosure of all details according to the invention that are not explained in greater detail in the text. The figures show:
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(11) In the drawings, the same or similar types of elements and/or parts are provided with the same reference numbers so that a corresponding re-introduction is omitted.
(12)
(13) After a first gap 16, a plano-convex rod lens 10 connects to the first image plane 1.1, the convex boundary surface 1.1 of which faces the first image plane 1.1, while the planar boundary surface 1.3 faces an achromat 11, from which it is separated by a gap 16′. The achromat 11 consists of a doublet made of a biconvex lens 12 made of ED glass with a high Abbe number with boundary surfaces 1.4 and 1.5, to which a meniscus lens 13 made of optical glass connects, which is designed in its boundary surfaces 1.5 and 1.6 as a concave meniscus. The lenses 12 and 13 are cemented together at the joint boundary surface 1.5. After an additional gap 16″, an additional plano-convex rod lens 14 is connected, the planar boundary surface 1.7 of which faces the achromat 11, while the convex boundary surface 1.8 faces the second image plane 1.9, from which it is separated by a gap 16′.
(14) An exemplary dimensioning of the lenses according to the invention as well as the selection of the glasses to be used for this arrangement is shown in Table 1 for the example of an endoscope with an outer diameter of 4.0 mm. The half diameter or respectively the radius of the lenses, not be confused with the radius of curvature of the boundary surfaces, is 1.329 mm, which still leaves room for optical fibers to illuminate the operative field. The length of the relay set is a total of 61.801 mm from image plane 1.1 to image plane 1.9. The ratio of the half diameter to the length of the relay set is approximately 0.043.
(15) The glasses used in this design can all be obtained from Ohara GmbH. Types include S-BAL35 (refractive index 1.591, Abbe number 60.88), S-FPL51 (refractive index 1.498, Abbe number 81.14) as ED glass and S-LAH55 (refractive index 1.839, Abbe number 42.47) as additional glass of the achromat. Other manufacturers also offer corresponding glasses.
(16) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Relay set endoscope 4.0 mm Radius of Abbe Area curvature Thickness Refractive number Radius no. (mm) (mm) index n V (mm) 1.1 ∞ 4.397 1.000 Air 1.000 1.2 10.4304 22.209 1.591 60.88 1.329 1.3 ∞ 1.564 1.000 Air 1.329 1.4 11.0593 3.763 1.498 81.14 1.329 1.5 −3.8006 0.767 1.839 42.47 1.329 1.6 −6.3169 2.495 1.000 Air 1.329 1.7 ∞ 22.209 1.591 60.88 1.329 1.8 −10.4304 4.397 1.000 Air 1.329 1.9 ∞ N/A 1.000 Air 1.000
(17) The Z-factor according to formula (2) for the non-ED lens 13 with the boundary surfaces 1.5 and 1.6 is approx. 0.04.
(18)
(19) The achromat 21 is designed symmetrically around a central plane 2.6. The two symmetrical convex-concave lenses 22, 24 consist of an optical glass; the central biconvex lens 23 consists of an ED glass. The central symmetry plane 2.6 does not form a boundary surface.
(20) Both the achromat 11 according to
(21) The achromat 21 from
(22) An exemplary dimensioning of the lenses according to the invention as well as the selection of the glasses to be used for the arrangement according to
(23) The glasses used in this design can also all be obtained amongst others from Ohara GmbH. Types again include S-BAL35 (refractive index 1.591, Abbe number 60.88), S-FPL51 (refractive index 1.498, Abbe number 81.14) as ED glass. The additional glass of the achromat is indeed of type S-LAH59 (refractive index 1.820, Abbe number 46.37).
(24) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Relay set laparoscope 5.4 mm Radius of Abbe Area curvature Thickness Refractive number Radius no. (mm) (mm) index n V (mm) 2.1 ∞ 3.094 1.000 Air 1.000 2.2 7.9827 16.050 1.591 60.88 1.277 2.3 ∞ 0.820 1.000 Air 1.277 2.4 4.6352 1.899 1.820 46.37 1.277 2.5 2.5914 1.173 1.498 81.14 1.277 2.6 ∞ 1.173 1.498 81.14 1.277 2.7 −2.5914 1.899 1.820 46.37 1.277 2.8 −4.6352 0.820 1.000 Air 1.277 2.9 ∞ 16.050 1.591 60.88 1.277 2.10 −7.9827 3.094 1.000 Air 1.277 2.11 ∞ N/A 1.000 Air 1.000
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(26) The lens 13 shown in
(27) In the following
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(29) The spherical aberration of this type of lens is expressed in that in the area near the optical axis the corresponding light beams are bundled in an image point 38 in the case of a certain distance from the lens 35. Light beams 37″, which pass through the collective lens 35 further outside, i.e. in the case of a larger aperture height, are bent more strongly and cross the optical axis in a point in front of the image point 38. It is hereby assumed in
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(31) On the X-axis of the spherochromatism shown in
(32) In the following, the individual curve 39 is singled out briefly for an individual wavelength, on which this progression is shown as an example. For this wavelength, the image point at aperture height 0 is approximately 0.06 mm from the paraxial image point. In the case of an increasing aperture height, this distance decreases and reverses itself to a negative above approximately 0.5 in order to switch in turn to a positive above approximately 0.9. Overall, the spherical aberration is thus fairly well corrected for this wavelength. The two long or respectively short dashed lines on the right side for positive values on the X-axis correspond to wavelengths that are in the blue or respectively red area and have correspondingly greater deviations of the image point from the paraxial image point for the optimized wavelength.
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(35) The chromatic aberration shown in
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(37) Accordingly, the lateral chromatic aberration (“CC”) is plotted in
(38) The Y-axis, which is horizontal in
(39) The chromatic aberrations shown in
(40) In
(41) It is clear that the graph bundle in the respective left system, which describes the spherochromatism, is bundled in a considerably stronger manner in the case of
(42) The respective legends for the wavelengths of the Fraunhofer lines, which are shown in the graphs, are specified below the coordinate systems. These wavelengths are specified in nanometers.
(43) The system shown in
(44) In
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(47) The diagrams shown in
(48) The modulation transfer function, which specifies the resolution of the optical system in the radial and tangential direction depending on the image height in the unit for 80 line pairs/mm (lp/mm), is as follows for the optical systems shown in
(49) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 MTF (80 lp/mm) for doublet achromats with a different Z-factor Image height 0.0 0.5 0.8 0.9 1.0 FIG. 8a) 57.2/57.2 54.6/50.0 56.1/39.6 57.0/35.2 57.9/28.7 FIG. 8b) 60.0/60.0 57.8/57.7 59.7/56.2 59.1/54.9 58.2/51.9
(50) The improvement in the MTF in the case of a small Z-factor is obvious in Table 3 in particular for tangential structures in the border area.
(51) In the case of a change in the design of a relay set for an endoscope, on which the comparisons in
(52) A first preliminary optimization is performed afterwards, with which the parameters like enlargement and image position, spherical aberration, astigmatism etc. are brought into acceptable ranges. Since the different image errors behave for the most part in opposite manners, it is then attempted to find a good compromise. For example, it is first attempted to reduce the spherical aberration. If it is then determined that for example the lateral chromatic error thereby increases in an unacceptable manner, it is weighted again more heavily in the optimization function. If for example the axial chromatic aberration then increases, this in turn is weighted more heavily. Between these steps, the optics designer continues to influence the optimization in that he selects or blocks for example the variable parameters or changes manually determined values in order to move the system in a certain direction.
(53) In a closing process, the optics designer also manually changes if applicable radii or thicknesses in order to work out the last improvements.
(54) Until an optimal compromise is found, dozens to hundreds of iterative steps and several weeks of development work are needed depending on the complexity, qualitative requirement and problem of producibility.
(55) In order to clarify this task,
(56) The comparison with the same system with the one different material shows that all image properties, including the chromatic aberration, spherical aberration and other properties like coma or image field curvature, run out of control due to this one change. This shows that the selection of the glass types must be made very carefully and must also involve a readjustment of the relay set.
(57) All named characteristics, including those taken from the drawings alone, and individual characteristics, which are disclosed in combination with other characteristics, are considered individually and in combination as essential to the invention. Embodiments according to the invention can be realized by the individual features, or a combination of several features.
LIST OF REFERENCES
(58) 1, 2 Relay set 1.1-1.9 Image and boundary areas of the relay set 1 2.1-2.11 Image and boundary areas of the relay set 2 10 Plano-convex rod lens 11 Doublet achromat 12 Lens made of ED glass 13 Lens made of optical glass 14 Plano-convex rod lens 15 Image plane 16-16′ Gap 17 Image plane 18 Central beam of rays 19 Peripheral beam of rays 20 Plano-convex rod lens 21 Triplet achromat 22 Lens made of optical glass 23 Lens made of ED glass 24 Lens made of optical glass 25 Plano-convex rod lens 26 Image plane 27-27′ Gap 28 Image plane 29 Aperture plane 30 Central beam of rays 31 Peripheral beam of rays 35 Collective lens 36 Aperture 37-37″ Light beam 38 Image point 39 Graph of the aberration for a wavelength 41, 42 Polychromatic light beam 43 Red light 43′ Green light 43″ Blue light 44 Red light 44′ Blue light 45 Distribution of the wave- and aperture-position-dependent focus points 46-46″″ Graph of the aberration for a wavelength 51 Diagonally incoming light beam 52 Bundled red light 52′ Focus point of the red light 53 Bundled green light 53′ Focus point of the green light 54 Bundled blue light 54′ Focus point of the blue light 55 Image plane 56 Deviation for illustration of the reference wavelength for central light beams 57 Deviation for illustration of the reference wavelength for light beams with half the image height 58 Deviation for illustration of the reference wavelength for light beams with full image height D Outer diameter D1 Diameter on the first side D2 Diameter on the second side R1 Radius of curvature on the first side R2 Radius of curvature on the second side T Thickness of the lens SA Spherical aberration CA Chromatic aberration MTF Modulation transfer function