Patent ID: 6456769
Filing Date: 2002-09-24
Classification: A61B,G02B

Abstract:
An endoscope apparatus comprising:a fiber bundle for image transmission which has a plurality of first optical fibers and a plurality of second optical fibers, both said optical fibers being tied at their distal ends to form a composite bundle portion, said first optical fibers being tied at their proximal ends to form a first branched bundle portion , said second optical fibers being tied at their proximal ends to form a second branched bundle portion; third optical fibers as many as said first optical fibers in said fiber bundle; an optical coupler which optically couples each of said first optical fibers to corresponding one of said third optical fibers; a low-coherent light source arranged on the proximal ends of either said first optical fibers or said third optical fibers, so as to emit low-coherent light to be incident on said optical fibers; an objective optical system opposed to the distal end of said composite bundle portion of said fiber bundle, said objective optical system individually converging low-coherent light beams emitted from the respective distal ends of said first optical fibers in said composite bundle portion and converging the respective low-coherent light beams reflected by an object to be incident on said first optical fibers as measurement light beams; a reflecting member opposed to the respective distal ends of said third optical fibers, said reflecting member reflecting low-coherent light beams emitted from the respective distal ends to be incident on said third optical fibers as reference light beams; an optical path length adjusting mechanism which makes a relative change between optical path length from said optical coupler to said object through said respective first optical fibers and optical path length from said optical coupler to said reflecting member through said respective third optical fibers; a photodetector arranged on a proximal ends of the other of said first optical fibers and said third optical fibers, said photodetector detecting individual interfered light beams caused by interference between said measurement light beams and said reference light beams; and a control section which forms a tomographic image of said object on the basis of a signal detected by said photodetector while said optical path length adjusting mechanism makes the relative change.