Search Results (4)

This study investigates the potential of a novel sleep endoscope, NasoLens, to eliminate the need for anesthesia in sleep endoscopy. We assess NasoLens’ safety, maneuverability, and ability to allow sleep without sedatives, aiming to improve the overall patient experience and reduce risks associated with anesthesia. Sleep endoscopy is commonly performed under anesthesia, which introduces risks, increases costs, and can limit accessibility. NasoLens’ design aims to address these challenges by improving patient comfort and enhancing maneuverability, eliminating the need for anesthesia. This could provide a safer, more cost-effective alternative for patients, particularly those at higher risk for anesthesia-related complications. NasoLens distinguishes itself with its smaller size, teardrop-shaped head, specialized camera angle for better visualization, and an integrated microphone for real-time auditory monitoring. These features enable NasoLens to offer improved maneuverability and comfort, compared to traditional nasopharyngoscopes, while enhancing diagnostic accuracy. These design innovations could revolutionize clinical practice by minimizing anesthesia-related risks, reducing procedural costs, and improving both procedural efficiency and patient satisfaction. With its ability to allow natural sleep without sedation, NasoLens has the potential to improve patient satisfaction, procedural outcomes, and expand the feasibility of sleep endoscopy into more accessible clinical settings, making it a promising alternative to traditional models. Full article

This paper presents a miniaturized design of a 2× zoom lens for application to a one-megapixel image sensor in a capsule endoscope. The zoom lens is composed of four lenses, including three plastic aspheric lenses and one glass spherical lens, and adopts a three-lens group design. This capsule endoscope is mainly for observation of the small intestine, which has a radius of about 12.5 mm. The height of the object is thus set to 12.5 mm. The object surface is designed to be curved surface with a radius of curvature of 15 mm. The focal length of the zoom lens ranges from 1.064 mm to 2.039 mm, and the full angle of view ranges from 60° to 143°, the f-number is F/2.8–F/3.5, the zoom lens is 11.6 mm in length, and the maximum effective diameter of the zoom lens is 6 mm. The zoom lens design is divided into six segments, corresponding to the different magnifications from Zoom 1 to Zoom 6. The magnification ratios are −0.0845, −0.0984, −0.1150, −0.1317, −0.1482, and −0.1690, respectively. Comparing the positions from Zoom 1 to Zoom 6, the maximum optical distortion is −14.89% for the Zoom 1 and 1.45% for the Zoom 6. The maximum vertical video distortion is 8.19% for Zoom 1 and 1.00% for Zoom 6. At a 1.0 field of view, the minimum relative illuminance is 71.8% at a magnification of M = −0.1317. Finally, we perform the tolerance analysis and lens resolution analysis at different zooming positions. Our design can obtain high-quality images for capsule endoscope. Full article

In the past few decades, video endoscopy has become one of the primary medical devices in diverse clinical fields for examination, treatment, and early disease diagnosis of the gastrointestinal tract. For an accurate diagnosis, an endoscopic camera offering bright and wide field-of-view images is required while maintaining its compact dimensions to enter the long, narrow, and dark tract inside of the body. Recent endoscopic lenses successfully provide wide fields-of-view and have compact sizes for the system; however, their f-numbers still remain at 2.8 or higher. Therefore, further improvement in f-numbers is required to compensate for the restricted illumination system of the endoscopic probe. Here, we present a low f-number endoscopic lens design while providing wide field-of-view and high-resolution imaging. The proposed lens system achieved a low f-number of 2.2 and a field-of-view of 140 deg. The modulation transfer function (MTF) is over 20% at 180 lp/mm, and relative illumination is more than 60% in the full field. Additionally, the proposed lens is designed for a 1/4” 5-megapixel complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor with a pixel size of 1.4 µm. This all-plastic lens design could help develop a high-performance disposable endoscope that prevents the risk of infection or cross-contamination with mass manufacture and low cost. Full article

Minimally invasive medical devices can greatly benefit from Narrow Band Imaging (NBI) diagnostic capabilities, as different wavelengths allow penetration of distinct layers of the gastrointestinal tract mucosa, improving diagnostic accuracy and targeting different pathologies. An important performance parameter is the light intensity at a given power consumption of the medical device. A method to increase the illumination intensity in the NBI diagnostic technique was developed and applied to minimally invasive medical devices (e.g., endoscopic capsules), without increasing the size and power consumption of such instruments. Endoscopic capsules are generally equipped with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) operating in the RGB (red, green, and blue) visible light spectrum. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) µ-lens was designed for a maximum light intensity at the target area of interest when placed on top of the LEDs. The PDMS µ-lens was fabricated using a low-cost hanging droplet method. Experiments reveal an increased illumination intensity by a factor of 1.21 for both the blue and green LEDs and 1.18 for the red LED. These promising results can increase the resolution of NBI in endoscopic capsules, which can contribute to early gastric lesions diagnosis. Full article