ENDOSCOPE WITH MINIATURE IMAGING ARRANGEMENT

摘要

A miniature endoscope with an imaging arrangement associated with its distal tip portion includes an image sensor chip with a two-dimensional array of light-sensitive pixels and a lens arrangement deployed for focusing light from a field of view onto the image sensor chip so as to generate an image of a scene viewed from the distal tip portion. The lens arrangement is preferably directly affixed to the image sensor chip by a quantity of transparent adhesive. Use of bi-directional communication along data lines to the image sensor chip allows use of only four wires connecting to the chip. These and other features allow miniaturization of the endoscope to a diameter of about 2 millimeters while still generating color images of high dynamic range.