Olympus Corporation

Masanori Ogata

Hiroshi Miyajima

Yoshiro Nishimura

Yukihiro Aoki

Hiroshi Tosaka

Noriyuki Fujimori

Mamoru Hasegawa

Akihiro Kitahara

Yoshitaka Kamiya

Hiroyoshi Yajima

Kenji Miyata

Satoshi Inui

An endoscope having an optical fiber scanning apparatus that includes an optical fiber a fixed end of which is fixed and a free end for emitting illumination light of which vibrates in a first direction and a second direction, a ferrule which includes a through hole including an opening on a distal end surface and fixes the optical fiber inserted through the through hole, a pair of first fixing members which sandwich and fix the optical fiber in the first direction, a pair of second fixing members which sandwich and fix the optical fiber in the second direction, and piezoelectric elements or a magnet configured to vibrate the optical fiber, in which a Young's modulus of the pair of first fixing members is smaller than a Young's modulus of the pair of second fixing members.

Endoscope having optical fiber scanning apparatus

An optical fiber scanning device includes a housing, an optical fiber configured to emit light, a magnet disposed on the optical fiber, four drive coils configured to drive the optical fiber by applying to the magnet a magnetic field generated by a received drive power signal, and four detection coils configured to output an induced electromotive force signal corresponding to variation of a magnetic field, wherein the drive power signal is controlled based on the induced electromotive force signal, and four coil assemblies each including any one of the drive coils and any one of the detection coils are disposed at rotationally symmetrical positions so as to interpose the optical fiber among the four coil assemblies.

Optical fiber scanning device, optical scanning type endoscope and endoscope system

An optical fiber scanning system includes: an optical fiber with a magnet; four drive coils configured to apply a drive magnetic field generated using a drive power signal to the magnet; four detection coils configured to output a detection signal in response to variation of a magnetic field; a controller configured to perform feedback control of the drive power signal; a signal output circuit configured to output a drive signal; a voltage-current conversion circuit configured to convert the drive signal to the drive power signal; and a correction circuit configured to output a magnet magnetic field signal by removing the drive magnetic field signal from the detection signal, and the controller controls the signal output circuit based on the magnet magnetic field signal.

Optical fiber scanning system and endoscope system

An optical fiber scanning apparatus includes an optical fiber whose fixed end is fixed and a free end for emitting illumination light of which vibrates in a first direction (X-axis direction) and a second direction (Y-axis direction), a ferrule including a through hole through which the optical fiber is inserted and including a pair of first fixing sections and a pair of second fixing sections which respectively fix the fixed end of the optical fiber, and piezoelectric elements or a magnet configured to vibrate the optical fiber, in which the optical fiber is sandwiched between the pair of first fixing sections and fixed in the first direction, and is sandwiched between the pair of second fixing sections and fixed in the second direction, and the pair of first fixing sections and the pair of second fixing sections differ in a shape of an abutment portion abutting on the optical fiber.

Optical fiber scanning apparatus and endoscope

An optical fiber scanning apparatus includes an optical fiber a fixed end of which is fixed and a free end for emitting illumination light of which vibrates in a first direction and a second direction, a ferrule which includes a through hole including an opening on a distal end surface and fixes the optical fiber inserted through the through hole, a pair of first fixing members which sandwich and fix the optical fiber in the first direction, a pair of second fixing members which sandwich and fix the optical fiber in the second direction, and piezoelectric elements or a magnet configured to vibrate the optical fiber, in which a Young's modulus of the pair of first fixing members is smaller than a Young's modulus of the pair of second fixing members.

An optical fiber scanning apparatus is the optical fiber scanning apparatus for which an optical fiber to which a permanent magnet is disposed and which is configured to emit illumination light from a distal end portion is arranged in a hollow portion of a magnetic field generation unit, the magnetic field generation unit is provided with four coil units each including a flexible substrate where a planar coil, a lead-out wiring layer of the planar coil and an external connection electrode pad are disposed, and an inside of the four coil units arranged in a square prism shape configures the hollow portion.

Optical fiber scanning apparatus and optical scanning type endoscope

According to the present invention, a capsular endoscope having at least an image pickup optical system, an illumination unit, an image pickup portion, and a circuit board comprises a marker shooting unit that indwells a marker member in a body cavity. Consequently, a predetermined marker is indwelled in a desired region such as a lesion discovered using the capsular endoscope so that the region can be readily rediscovered during reexamination.

Capsular endoscope

An actuator includes a movable plate, at least one elastic member supporting the movable plate to allow the movable plate to rock, a support holding the elastic member, a wiring layer extending on the elastic member, and a protective film covering the wiring layer. The protective film is of a resin.

Actuator

A two-dimensional optical deflector includes a first deflector, which deflects a light beam about a first axis at a high speed, a second deflector, which deflects a light beam about a second axis perpendicular to the first axis at a low speed, and a fixing mechanism, which fixes the first deflector to the second deflector. The second deflector includes a rotation shaft capable of rocking about the second axis. The fixing mechanism includes a fixing member having a rotation shaft fixing hole, which engages with the rotation shaft with almost no space, and a fastener, which decreases the diameter of the rotation shaft fixing hole of the fixing member. The fixing member includes a first deflector mount surface. The first deflector is fixed to the fixing member so that a reflecting surface of the first deflector in a non-actuation state is almost parallel to the first deflector mount surface.

Two-dimensional optical deflector

There is disclosed an optical deflector comprising a mirror structure having a first and second surfaces in a front/back relation, single plate base for holding the mirror structure, and a driver for driving the mirror structure. The mirror structure comprises a pair of supports, a movable plate, and a pair of elastic members for connecting the movable plate and the supports, such that the movable plate is able to rock with respect to the supports. The movable plate has a mirror surface on the second surface. The base has an opening for exposing the mirror surface. The supports of the mirror structure are fixed to the base with the second surfaces of the supports in contact therewith. The driver includes a conductive element formed on the first surface of the movable plate, and magnetic field generating elements fixed on the base.

Optical deflector

A vibrator comprises a vibrating member and a fixing member. The vibrating member has a pair of support members, a movable plate capable of vibrating with respect to the support members, and a pair of elastic members connecting the support members to the movable plate. The fixing member holds the support members of the vibrating member. A material mainly constituting the fixing member has a larger coefficient of thermal expansion than that of a material mainly constituting the elastic members of the vibrating member.

Growing community of inventors

Matsumoto, Japan

Masanori Ogata