The endoscope device includes an optical seeker (2) for at least partially inserting into the body or cavity to observe or image an object or part that is difficult to see by the naked eye. The optical seeker of the endoscope device is formed by an optical rod with a refractive index gradient.

用于特别是医疗用途的内窥镜设备

Endoscopic equipment for medical purposes in particular

本发明的领域是用于对肉眼难以看到的器官、管道或腔体的内部进行探测和观察的内窥镜仪器的领域。

The field of the invention is the field of endoscopic instruments for detecting and observing the interior of organs, pipes or cavities that are difficult to be seen by the naked eye.

更具体地，本发明涉及一种包括光学导引头的内窥镜设备，该光学导引头被设计成插入到身体或腔体中以使得人眼难以看到的物体或部位可视化或将之放大。

More specifically, the invention relates to an endoscope device including an optical seeker designed to be inserted into a body or cavity to visualize or enlarge an object or part that is difficult for the human eye to see.

本发明具有多种应用，尤其是在针对用于诊断和/或治疗目的的人体的器官的内部检查的医疗成像领域(操作的内窥镜)或在用于对空心体和机械部件的内部结构进行观察和检查的工业领域中具有多种应用。

The invention has a variety of applications, especially in the field of medical imaging (operating endoscope) for internal inspection of human organs for diagnostic and / or therapeutic purposes, or in the industrial field for observing and inspecting the internal structure of hollow bodies and mechanical components.

在此文献的以下部分中将力求更具体地描述医学成像领域中以及更特别地是在本专利申请的

The following parts of this document will strive to describe more specifically in the field of medical imaging and more particularly in the present patent application

所面临的眼部成像领域(对眼睛的内部结构的观察)中存在的问题和困难。当然，本发明并不限于这种特别的应用领域，而是还关注用于处理类似或近似问题和困难的任何内窥镜设备(或内窥镜)。

Problems and difficulties in the field of eye imaging (observation of the internal structure of the eye). Of course, the present invention is not limited to this particular field of application, but also focuses on any endoscopic device (or endoscope) for dealing with similar or approximate problems and difficulties.

目前用于检查人眼的结构的内窥镜设备包括用来穿过患者的器官的被称为光学导引头的刚性侵入性部件。这个光学导引头通常由具有几毫米的外径的金属管(例如具有

Endoscopic devices currently used to examine the structure of the human eye include rigid invasive components called optical guides used to pass through the patient's organs. This optical seeker usually consists of a metal tube with an outer diameter of a few millimeters (e.g. with

0.9毫米的外径的不锈钢管)形成，该金属管容纳有由一系列光学透镜形成的或由用粘接剂粘合的光纤束形成的光学系统。

A stainless steel tube with an outer diameter of 0.9 mm, which accommodates an optical system formed by a series of optical lenses or an optical fiber bundle bonded with an adhesive.

通常地，光纤束通过适配器连接至图像传感器(如视频摄像机)，图像传感器本身连接至显示屏。光纤束能够将被观测物体的图像输送至图像传感器，在这些图像成形之后，将图像再实时地传输至显示屏。

Typically, the optical fiber bundle is connected to an image sensor (such as a video camera) through an adapter, and the image sensor itself is connected to the display screen. The optical fiber bundle can transmit the images of the observed object to the image sensor. After these images are formed, the images are transmitted to the display screen in real time.

金属管还设置有通过光纤照明的系统，该光纤用于将光从设置有光源的外部封装件一直输送至观察区域。

The metal tube is also provided with a system for lighting through an optical fiber, which is used to transport the light from the external package provided with the light source to the observation area.

夹持装置固定地接合至金属管以利于对内窥镜和空间定位的操作。

The clamping device is fixedly engaged to the metal tube to facilitate the operation of the endoscope and spatial positioning.

然而，这种类型的内窥镜有许多缺点。

However, this type of endoscope has many disadvantages.

为了确保当光学导引头被插入到患者的器官中时光学导引头的刚性，金属管必须具有一定的厚度。这就限制了到达图像传感器的光的量。因为由图像传感器捕捉的细节的量因此而受到限制，所以相对地降低了呈现在屏上的图像的质量。

In order to ensure the rigidity of the optical seeker when the optical seeker is inserted into the patient's organ, the metal tube must have a certain thickness. This limits the amount of light reaching the image sensor. Because the amount of detail captured by the image sensor is limited, the quality of the image presented on the screen is relatively reduced.

另外，不论光学导引头是由光学透镜形成的还是由光纤形成的，光学导引头在技术上是复杂的并且制造成本闻。

In addition, whether the optical seeker is formed by an optical lens or an optical fiber, the optical seeker is technically complex and has low manufacturing cost.

当然，使用光学透镜的导引头需要在由于小型化要求而具有有限尺寸的金属管(管的内径有时可能小至几百微米)中的非常精确的一组多个光学透镜，以形成内窥镜的光学物镜。透镜是特别易损的光学部件。

Of course, a seeker using an optical lens requires a very accurate set of multiple optical lenses in a metal tube with limited size due to miniaturization requirements (the inner diameter of the tube may sometimes be as small as hundreds of microns) to form an optical objective of the endoscope. Lenses are particularly vulnerable optical components.

另外，导引头的线缆通常包括较长(可达数米)的光纤束，这会导致不可忽略的光损耗。光纤线缆的尺寸较大并且使内窥镜不容易被操作。

In addition, the cable of the seeker usually includes a long (up to several meters) optical fiber bundle, which will lead to non negligible optical loss. The size of the optical fiber cable is large and makes the endoscope difficult to operate.

最后，为了避免患者的任何感染风险，需要使用可用的无菌的内窥镜设备。为此，内窥镜在每次被使用之前要消毒(例如，通过高压灭菌器而消毒)，这常常导致内窥镜过早老化。这不仅包括与患者直接接触的光学导引头和夹持装置，而且包括光纤线缆。这些特征使得高压灭菌器的操作困难并且是系统损坏和劣化的源头。

Finally, in order to avoid any risk of infection for patients, it is necessary to use available sterile endoscopic equipment. For this reason, the endoscope should be disinfected before each use (e.g. by autoclave), which often leads to premature aging of the endoscope. This includes not only the optical seeker and clamping device in direct contact with the patient, but also the optical fiber cable. These characteristics make the operation of autoclave difficult and are the source of system damage and deterioration.

因此，需要一种使用简单、在健康安全方面提供保证并且能够呈现高品质图像的低成本的内窥镜设备。

Therefore, there is a need for a low-cost endoscope device that is simple to use, provides assurance in terms of health and safety, and can present high-quality images.

本发明的目的

Object of the invention

在至少一个实施方式中，本发明的目的尤其是为了克服现有技术的这些不同的缺点。

In at least one embodiment, the object of the invention is particularly to overcome these different disadvantages of the prior art.

更特别地，本发明的至少一个实施方式的目的是提供一种可以用来获得易于制造和组装的低成本的内窥镜设备的技术。

More particularly, it is an object of at least one embodiment of the present invention to provide a technology that can be used to obtain a low-cost endoscopic device that is easy to manufacture and assemble.

本发明的至少一个实施方式的目的还在于提供一种由内窥镜设备所呈现的与由现有技术的内窥镜设备所呈现的图像质量相比而言提高图像质量的类型的技术。

It is also an object of at least one embodiment of the present invention to provide a type of technology that improves the image quality presented by the endoscope device compared with the image quality presented by the endoscope device of the prior art.

换言之，在至少一个实施方式中，本技术的目的之一是在例如医学成像的情况下使内窥镜设备的使用更容易。

In other words, in at least one embodiment, one of the purposes of the present technology is to make the use of the endoscope device easier in the case of medical imaging, for example.

本发明的至少一个实施方式的另一目的是提供一种克服由于消毒操作而引起的与部件的过早老化有关的限制的类型的技术。

Another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a type of technology to overcome limitations related to premature aging of components due to disinfection operations.