Patent ID: 7774048
Filing Date: 2010-08-10
Classification: A61B,H04N

Abstract:
1. An endoscope device comprising: a light source unit that creates multiple excitation lights having different peak wavelengths said multiple excitation lights include a first excitation light having wavelength components that excite one or more naturally occurring substances within a living organism, and a second excitation light having wavelength components that excite two or more fluorescent substances that have been administered to a living organism; an illumination unit that optically transmits the multiple excitation lights to a distal end of the endoscope device, and the multiple excitation lights are then directed so as to illuminate a living organism; and an imaging unit that includes an objective optical system, a variable transmittance optical element, and an image pickup device; wherein the variable transmittance optical element has a transmittance of 50% or greater for wavelengths less than 600 nm, and for wavelengths 600 nm or greater, the wavelength transmission range may be varied so that said two or more fluorescent substances that have been administered to a living organism may be separately detected; the imaging unit is capable of acquiring images of fluorescent light having different peak wavelengths, and the following condition is satisfied: where n is the number of excitation lights having different peak wavelengths created by the light source unit and an integer greater than 1; and m is the number of fluorescent images having different peak wavelengths that are acquired by the imaging unit.