Patent ID: 7835074

Claim:
A mini-scope for multi-directional imaging, comprising: an elongated mini-scope body having a distal end and a proximal end; an emissions aperture, disposed at the distal end of the elongated mini-scope body and configured to emit a beam of optical energy for illuminating an object; a selective mirror, disposed at the distal end of the elongated mini-scope body and along an optical path of the beam, and configured to selectively and differentially pass and reflect the beam of optical energy based on optical characteristics of the beam of optical energy; and a solid state imaging device, disposed at the distal end of the elongated mini-scope body, for imaging illumination reflected by an external object in response to the beam of optical energy, the reflected illumination having passed through and reflected from the selective mirror to the solid state imaging device based on the optical characteristics of the reflected illumination.