Patent ID: 7976462

Claim:
An endoscope having proximal and distal end portions for viewing features inside a cavity of a body into which said distal end portion of said endoscope is inserted, said endoscope comprising: a longitudinal member extending from said distal end portion to said proximal end portion, said longitudinal member having an inner cavity region; an optical path through said inner cavity region of said longitudinal member for propagating light from said distal end portion to said proximal end portion of said endoscope; a first specularly reflective metalized non-glass surface disposed along said optical path at said distal end portion of said longitudinal member, said first specularly reflective metalized surface angled such that light can be collected at said distal end portion from an oblique direction with respect to said longitudinal member; a second specularly reflective metalized, non-glass surface disposed along said optical path at said distal end portion of said longitudinal member, said second metalized surface oriented to receive light from said first specularly reflective metalized surface and reflect said light longitudinally through said inner cavity region of said longitudinal member; and one or more solid state emitters having an electrical input and an optical output, said one or more emitters radiating light when activated so as to illuminate at least a portion of said cavity, wherein each of the first and second specularly reflective metalized non-glass surfaces comprises a reflective interior sidewall of the longitudinal member.