Wide FOV Wedge Prism Endoscope

We have developed a novel robotic endoscope system. It can be used to observe a wide field of view without moving or bending the whole endoscope system. It consists of a rigid endoscope and two wedge prisms at the distal tip. Rotating each wedge prism respectively, we can change the direction of view. Accordingly it becomes possible to observe a wide field of view even in a small space, and suited to clinical uses because it does not damage body tissues or internal organs. Wedge prisms are designed to avoid vignetting which is caused by the refraction or the reflection at prisms. The endoscope has 10 mm in diameter, and the drive unit is simply separable for the sterilization. In addition, since it has a simple and small drive unit, it does not obstruct surgeon or other surgery robots. The maximum movement of local field of view is 19deg, and global field of view is 93deg. In the evaluation experiment, we conformed that both of the image quality and the performance are acceptable