Patent ID: 7883459

Claim:
An endoscope comprising: an endoscope distal end portion for holding a light guide fiber bundle for guiding illumination light from a light source and an observation optical system for observing a subject illuminated with light emitted from the light guide fiber bundle, the endoscope distal end portion comprising: a distal end rigid portion for holding the light guide fiber bundle and the observation optical system, the distal end rigid portion comprising: an observation hole removably holding a distal end portion of the observation optical system, and an illumination hole arranged adjacent to the observation hole, and having a central axis inclining outwardly with respect to a central axis of the observation hole, the illumination hole linearly and removably holding a distal end portion of the light guide fiber bundle along the central axis inclining outwardly; and a concave portion formed on a back surface of the distal end rigid portion, the concave portion encircling the illumination hole with the observation hole as a center, wherein the central axis of the observation hole and the central axis of the illumination hole are arranged with respect to the concave portion such that the light guide fiber bundle is removed into a space in the concave portion along the central axis of the illumination hole, the space being occupied by the obervation optical system before the observation optical system is removed from the observation hole to the back surface side of the distal end rigid portion.