Patent ID: 7530948

Claim:
Apparatus for imaging an inner surface of a lumen in a body, comprising: (a) a capsule housing that is sized to readily pass through the lumen, the capsule housing having at least an imaging portion that is optically transparent; (b) a light source; (c) a scanner disposed within the capsule housing and coupled to the light source, the scanner having an actuator that drives the scanner to scan an inner surface of a lumen in a body in a desired scanning pattern with a beam of light from the scanner; (d) at least one light sensor that responds to light that has been reflected from an inner surface of a lumen, producing an electrical signal that is indicative of an intensity of the light; (e) an optical system that focuses the light emitted from the scanner onto a portion of an inner surface of a lumen in a body; and (f) a flexible tether that is connected to the capsule housing and which extends proximally through a lumen to enable a force to be applied to the capsule housing to control a movement of the capsule housing, wherein the flexible tether is of sufficient strength to retract the capsule housing from the lumen but is too flexible to push the capsule housing distally through the lumen.