Olympus Optical Company, Ltd.

Hisao Ogiu

Hisao Yabe

Takeaki Nakamura

Koji Takamura

Shinichi Kato

Kimihiko Nishioka

Kenji Kimura

Tatsuo Nagasaki

Hiroki Hibino

Koji Yamaya

Akinobu Uchikubo

Toshiaki Noguchi

Atsushi Miyazaki

Masaaki Nakazawa

Hideki Shimonaka

Atsushi Kidawara

Haruhiko Kaiya

Jun Yoshinaga

Akibumi Ishikawa

Tomoaki Sato

Takeji Takagi

Toshiyuki Takara

Toshio Tanaka

Toshiaka Nisikori

A solid-state image pickup device comprises a semiconductor chip, a package with a recess in which said semiconductor chip is fixed, and a transparent protective member for protecting an image pickup surface of the semiconductor chip and guiding a light image onto the image pickup surface. The transparent protective member includes a transparent resin layer for covering the image pickup surface and the upper surface of the package without forming a space therebetween, and an incident surface formed on the resin layer in parallel to the image pickup surface. A method manufactures a solid-state image pickup device having a construction described above by using a mold.

Method of molding a solid state image pickup device

An electronic endoscope using a solid-state image pickup device has a filter arranged in the foreground of the solid-state image pickup device within the body of the endoscope for removing lights having wavelengths not related to observation in order to effectively eliminate those light components which are not required for the observation from among those lights incident to the solid-state image pickup device. As such a filter, either a lens component constituting the objective lens or an illuminating lens can be used.

Electronic endoscope

This solid state imaging apparatus is provided within the tip part of an insertable part of an endoscope and is provided with an image forming optical system for forming images. This image forming optical system forms an optical image on the imaging surface of a solid state imaging chip provided in the rear of this image forming optical system. This solid state imaging chip is affixed to a circuit substrate extending substantially at right angles with the imaging surface and electrically connected with the solid state imaging chip. This circuit substrate is connected with a signal cable transmitting input and output signals of the solid state imaging chip.

Solid state imaging apparatus

This endoscope system comprises a plurality of types kind of endoscope apparatuses, a signal processing apparatus used in common with the plurality of types of endoscope apparatuses and which processes the output signal of the imaging apparatus of each endoscope apparatus to be a video signal and an apparatus for unifying the picture image in the signal output from the plurality of kinds of endoscope apparatus to be a right image or a mirror image and inputs the unified signal into the signal processing apparatus. The plurality of types of endoscope apparatuses have each an elongate insertable part, an image forming optical system provided in the tip part of the insertable part and an imaging apparatus imaging the object image formed by the image forming optical system. At least one endoscope is different from the other endoscopes in whether the image formed by the image forming optical system is a right image or a mirror image. A method of unifying the picture image in the signal output from the signal processing apparatus to be a right image or a mirror image includes unifying the picture image in the signal output from the endoscope apparatus into a right image or a mirror image before it is input into the signal processing apparatus.

Endoscope system and method of unifying picture images in an endoscope

This endoscope light source apparatus can feed illuminating lights to a scope provided with a frame sequential type imaging device, a scope provided with a color mosaic type imaging device and a fiber scope. This endoscope light source apparatus has a frame sequential light source part which can output a plurality of color lights and a white light source part which can output a white light. This frame sequential light source part has a filter which can output a plurality of color lights.

Endoscope light source apparatus

The outer periphery including the peripheral edge of the front end surface of a hard tip member in which an image forming device and illuminating light emitting device are contained and fixed on the tip side of an elongated insertable part is covered with a soft cover member so that the shock of striking the tip part may be absorbed to protect the contents.

Endoscope

An electronic endoscope comprising an endoscope unit and a light source unit. The endoscope includes a light guide and a CCD for imaging the object. The light source unit includes a continuously lighting lamp (e.g., xenon lamp), for use as a light source for observation, and a flashing stroboscope as a light source for still-picture recording. An illumination light from the lamp or the stroboscope is applied alternatively to a light guide. A rotary filter is located in front of the light guide. Every time it makes one revolution, the filter colors the illumination light red, green, and blue, in succession, with shielding periods between coloring periods. The CCD is stored with signal charge corresponding to image information during a coloring period, and outputs an output signal during a shielding period thereafter. The output of the CCD is supplied to the light source unit, and is transmitted through a multiplexer to be stored in any of frame memories. The multiplexer is switched with every imaging of one color-component image by the CCD, and image signals for red, green, and blue color components are stored individually in the frame memories. Output signals for the three color components are read out simultaneously from the frame memories, and are supplied to a CRT color monitor 64 and an image filing unit. In a still-picture recording mode, the stroboscope is flashed in the following manner while the rotary filter makes one revolution. Emission of a first flashlight ends at the end of a coloring period for a first color, and a second flashlight is emitted in the middle of a coloring period for a second color. Emission of a third flashlight is started at the start of a coloring period for a third color. Thereafter, the storage into the frame memories is stopped.

Color-image sensing apparatus

An electronic endoscope apparatus having an endoscope with a distal portion containing a solid-state image sensor. The endoscope has a connector section. A frequency divider is provided within this connector section. A video processor is coupled to the endoscope. The video processor outputs a constant-frequency signal, which is supplied to the frequency divider. The frequency divider divides this signal with a frequency division rate corresponding to the number of pixels which the image sensor has.

Electronic endscope apparatus

An endoscope includes an operation section and an insertion section extending from the operation section. An image-pickup unit is disposed in the extended end portion of the insertion section. The unit has an objective optical system, a solid-state image-pickup device, and a case accommodating the optical system and image-pickup device. The interior of the case communicates with the interior of the endoscope.

Endoscope having internal pressure communication means

An endoscope includes a view window and a washing nozzle which are provided at the distal end of an insertion section extending from an operation section. Universal cord extends from the operation section, and a connector is fitted to the extended end of the cord. Air and liquid supply channels extend through the endoscope, each having one end connected to the nozzle and the other end opening to the connector. A selector valve is provided at the operation section and connected to the middle portions of the supply channels. An air-liquid supply device is connected to the connector. The device includes an air pump for supplying compressed air to the air supply channel, tank stored with water and a liquid pump for pressurizing the water in the tank to supply the water to the liquid supply channel.

Endoscope apparatus

A laser endoscope has a distal end portion detachably fitted with a holder which can cover the distal end of a channel extending through the laser endoscope body in a liquid-tight state and whose distal end holds a glass cover. The detachable attachment of the holder to the distal end portion of the laser endoscope enables a single channel to be concurrently used not only as a laser guide channel but also as a forceps channel.

Laser endoscope

An endoscope embodying this invention comprises a control section, an elongate flexible insertion section having one end connected to the control section and the other constituting a distal end part, a transparent glass cover member mounted in the front end face of the distal end part, a channel extending through both the control section and insertion section, an elongate laser guide which extends through the channel and has one end pressed against the rear face of the glass cover member and the other end is connected to a laser oscillator disposed outside of the endoscope, an urging member holder mounted on the control section, and an elastic urging member received in the holder and urging the laser guide toward the glass cover member. Application of the elastic urging member enables the distal end face of the laser guide to be always pressed against the rear face of the glass cover member, no matter how much the bend portion of the endoscope may be flexed. Therefore, the endoscope has the advantages that it is possible to prevent the burning damage of the channel and the emission of laser beams on the inner wall of the channel due to the Fresnel reflection resulting from the fall-off of the distal end face of the laser guide from the glass cover member, and the distal end face of the laser guide is rigidly pressed against the glass cover member, thereby preventing the breakage of the distal end face of the laser guide and glass cover member or the fall-off of the glass cover member from the distal end part of the endoscope.

Endoscope provided with an elongate medical treating instrument

A coeliac tissue-suturing apparatus comprising a flexible tubular member having a passage extending therethrough and inserted into a channel of an endoscope, a needle having one end concentrically fixed to that end of the tubular member which is inserted into the endoscope and having the other end made into a sharp tip, said needle having substantially the same outer diameter as the tubular member and adapted to protrude from a distal end of the endoscope, a first-stop receiving chamber communicating with the atmosphere and the passage of the tubular member, a first stop for setting suturing thread on tissues around a coeliac bleeding spot at the commencement of a suturing operation, said first stop being adapted to fix one end of the suturing thread extended along the tubular member, and normally received in the first-stop receiving chamber, and a pushing member inserted into the tubular member for pushing the first stop out of the first stop-receiving chamber.

Apparatus for suturing coeliac tissues

A high frequency electrosurgical instrument for cutting human body cavity structures comprises a sheath made of an electrically insulating material and a metal wire. The metal wire consists of an operating wire portion reciprocating through the sheath and a cutting wire portion folded back toward the sheath at the end of the operating wire portion extended from the distal end of the sheath. The end of the cutting wire portion which is remote from the end of the operating wire portion is held by the sheath and at least the part of the operating wire portion extensible from the distal end is covered with an electrically insulating wrapping member. After the distal end portion of the sheath of the instrument is conducted through the channel in an endoscope at human body cavity structures, the operating wire portion is extended from the distal end of the sheath and its extended portion is pulled by the cutting wire and curved so that the extended end portion of the wrapping member abuts against the inner wall of the human cavity and prevents other structures than those to be cut from being damaged by the cutting wire portion.

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Oume, Japan

Hisao Ogiu