Grintech Gmbh

Karl Storz Se Co. & Kg

Micro-epsilon Messtechnik Gmbh & Co. Kg

Bernhard Messerschmidt

Werner Goebel

Gregor Matz

Karl Wisspeintner

Torsten Possner

André Ehrhardt

Torsten Stautmeister

Minyi Zhong

Karl Wisspeinter

Christian Ruessel

Marcel Kunze

Sandra Hornschuh

Ulf Possner

Herbert Gross

Christian Prof R Rüssel

An endoscope having an elongate shaft, an objective arranged in a distal end region of the shaft for generating an image of an object field in an image plane. The objective having a beam splitter, and an image recorder for recording the image of the object field and an optical waveguide for forwarding illumination radiation from a proximal region to the distal end region of the shaft. The endoscope being embodied as a contact endoscope, a sensor area of the image recorder arranged in the image plane and an emergence portion of the optical waveguide adapted to forward at least some of the illumination radiation to the beam splitter to illuminate the object field.

Endoscope having an optical waveguide with emergence portion an objective beam splitter

In an embodiment an optical arrangement includes a multicore fiber having at least a first fiber core configured to guide a first illumination light and a second fiber core configured to guide a second illumination light, wherein the multicore fiber comprises a fiber scanner configured to deflect the multicore fiber or the multicore fiber is followed by a mirror scanner; and a wavelength dispersive beam combiner configured to spatially superimpose the first illumination light and the second illumination light in an object space.

Optical arrangement for a spectroscopic imaging method and spectroscopic imaging method

An optical probe () for optically examining an object () is described, said optical probe having a first optical beam path for a scanning imaging method and a second optical beam path for a spectroscopic method. The optical probe comprises a first optical fibre () in the first optical beam path and a scanning apparatus () that is configured to laterally deflect the first optical fibre () or illumination light () emerging from the first optical fibre () for the purposes of scanning the object () during the scanning imaging method. The optical probe comprises a second optical fibre () in the second optical beam path, said second optical fibre being configured to guide excitation light or detected object light for the spectroscopic method, and a beam splitter filter (), wherein the beam path of the scanning imaging method and the beam path of the spectroscopic method are brought into partial overlap in the probe () by means of the beam splitter filter (). The optical probe () has a diameter of no more than 5 mm. Furthermore, a method for operating the optical probe () is specified.

Optical probe and method of operating the optical probe

Endoscope having an optical waveguide with emergence portion and an objective with beam splitter

A device for contactless optical distance measurement includes a polychromatic light source, a light analysis unit and a measurement head. The measurement head has an aperture opening and an optical lens system, which has a chromatic longitudinal aberration. The optical lens system includes a first refractive lens element and a second refractive lens element. At least one of the refractive lens elements has at least one aspherical lens surface, and the first refractive lens element and/or the second refractive lens element has an optical material with an Abbe number 20&#x3c;=Vd&#x3c;=41. The optical lens system has such a chromatic longitudinal aberration that a measurement region, which equals an axial focal shift of the optical lens system between the wavelengths of 450 nm and 700 nm, is between 0.2 mm inclusive and 10 mm inclusive.

Device for contactless optical distance measurement

An illumination arrangement according to the invention, in particular for an endoscope, comprises at least three light sources for generating a respective input light beam, and a beam combination device (), wherein the beam combination device () comprises at least two beam splitters for combining the at least three input light beams to form an output light beam, at least three collimator lenses () embodied as GRIN lenses and serving for collimating and coupling a respective one of the input light beams into one of the beam splitters, and at least one further GRIN lens for coupling the output light beam into an optical waveguide. The invention also relates to a beam combination device and a method for coupling at least three input light beams into an optical waveguide, in particular into an optical waveguide of an endoscope.

Illumination arrangement, beam combination device and method for coupling at least three input light beams into an optical waveguide

An optically corrective microprobe for white light interferometry is disclosed. In white light interferometry which uses different spectral ranges, the dispersion-induced dependency of optical path differences on the wavelength between measurement light bundle and reference light bundle is compensated by an efficient, easily miniaturized arrangement. A reference beamsplitter with partially reflecting filters in at least two different spectral ranges for generating at least two transmitted measurement light bundles and associated reflected reference light bundles of nonoverlapping spectral ranges is arranged between the light output surface of the light-conducting fiber and the focusing optics. An axial distance between two partially reflecting filters is adjusted in such a way that a spectrally induced optical path difference to which the respective measurement light bundles are subjected when passing through dispersive elements in the light path to the object surface and back is present to the same magnitude between the respective reference light bundles.

Corrective fiber-optic microprobe for white light interferometric measurements

The invention relates to a device for measuring surfaces and to a method, which uses, preferably, the device. The device comprises a light source which is used to produce a multi-colored light beam. The light beam can be focused by an imaging optical system on a plurality of points which are arranged at different distances from the imaging optical system, using the chromatic aberration of the optics. The focused light beam can be deviated to a point of the surface. A sensor device is provided in order to detect the reflected light beam. The aim of the invention is to maintain the largest distance possible between the measuring head and the object. The imaging optical system comprises an optical system for the targeted circulation of a chromatic aberration and an additional optical system which is used to form the focused light beam emerging from the imaging optical system.

Device and method for measurement of surfaces

The invention is directed to a miniaturized optically imaging system with high lateral and axial resolution for endomicroscopic applications. To provide a miniaturized optical head which permits an appreciable increase in photon efficiency with high lateral and axial spatial resolution compared to conventional GRIN optics the plane side of a refractive, plano-convex, homogeneous lens defines a plane entrance surface of the optical system, and first and second GRIN lenses are arranged along the optical axis orthogonal to the entrance surface, wherein the first GRIN lens being arranged downstream of the refractive lens for reducing the divergence of the highly divergent light bundle transmitted from the object through the refractive lens, and the second GRIN lens being provided for adapting the light bundle transmitted by the first GRIN lens to the aperture and object field size of the downstream transmission system.

Miniaturized optically imaging system with high lateral and axial resolution

The invention is directed to an aluminoborosilicate glass containing alkali metals for the production of optical components with refractive index gradients which are generated by ion exchange of monovalent metal ions in a base glass comprising at least silicon oxide, boron oxide, aluminum oxide and an alkali metal oxide, particularly for the production of gradient index lenses (GRIN lenses). The object of the invention, to find a novel possibility for producing GRIN lenses based on aluminoborosilicate glasses in which the glass has an appreciably reduced tendency toward crystallization in subsequent thermal treatment processes, is met according to the invention in an alkali-containing aluminoborosilicate glass for the production of optical components with refractive index gradients generated by ion exchange of monovalent, refractive index-changing metal ions in a base glass of SiO, AlO, a metal-(III)-oxide (of B and/or Ga) and at least one metal-(I)-oxide (of Li, Na, K and/or Rb) in that defined molar ratios of metal-(III)-oxides to the metal-(I)-oxides of the base glass are adjusted within a given range in order to appreciably reduce the tendency toward crystallization of the glass for subsequent thermal treatment processes. Point defects caused by crystallites in the GRIN lenses produced in this manner are drastically reduced in this way.

Aluminoborosilicate glass and method for the production of crystallite-free gradient index lenses

A device and method for checking surfaces in the interior of holes, depressions, or the like. The device and method are developed in such a manner that a multicolor light beam can be produced with a light source, wherein a light beam, due to the chromatic aberration of the imaging optics, can be focused onto several points at different distances from the imaging optics, such that the distance to the surface can be determined from the spectrum of the detected light beam.

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Jena, Germany

Bernhard Messerschmidt