Patent ID: 8016754

Claim:
An endoscope apparatus comprising: a front end section, which is rigid, including an optical mechanism having a movable section; and a flexible tube which has a bent portion, wherein one end of a tube member which can be bent, is fixed to a lens barrel which holds the optical mechanism and the tube member is extended in a longitudinal direction of the flexible tube which is included in the endoscope apparatus, and at least a part of a shape memory element is accommodated inside the tube member, and one end of the shape memory element is fixed to an end of the tube member which is not fixed to the lens barrel, and the other end of the shape memory element is mechanically connected to the movable section of the optical mechanism and relative positions of the movable section of the optical mechanism and the end of the tube member which is fixed to the lens barrel, are changed by expansion and contraction of the shape memory element.