Portable and ergonomic endoscope with disposable cannula

A multi-camera, multi-spectral endoscope comprising:

• a tubular cannula (120) configured for insertion in a patient;
• a first forward-looking camera system located at a distal portion of the cannula and comprising two cameras CamW1 and CamW2 viewing the same target from different angles and responsive primarily to a CamW1 wavelength range and a CamW2 wavelength range respectively;
• a second camera system located at the distal portion of the cannula and comprising a camera CamF that also views said target but is responsive primarily to a CamF wavelength range that is different from at least one of the CamW1 and CamW2 wavelength ranges;
• a processing system configured to receive image data from said first and second camera systems and to process the received image data into a stereo image of the target using image data from CamW1 and Cam W2, a two-dimensional (2D) image of the target using image data from Cam F, and a composite image of the target overlaying said stereo and said 2D images;
• and
• a display configured to display said composite image.

A multi-camera, multi-spectral endoscope comprising:

• a cannula (120) configured for insertion in a patient;
• a first forward-looking camera system at a distal portion of the cannula and comprising a camera CamW1 and a camera CamW2 viewing a target from different angles and responsive primarily to a CamW1 wavelength range and a CamW2 wavelength range respectively;
• a second forward-looking camera system also located at the distal portion of the cannula and comprising a camera CamF1 and a camera CamF2 viewing said target from different angles and responsive primarily to a CamF1 wavelength range and a CamF2 wavelength range respectively that differ from at least one of said CamW1 and CamW wavelengths;
• a processing system receiving image data from said first and second camera systems and processing the received image data into a CamW image of the target based on the image data from said cameras CamW1 and CamW2 and a CamF images of the target based on image data from said cameras CamF1 and CamF2 overlaid in a composite image;
• and
• a display configured to displays said composite image.

An endoscope comprising:

• an L-shaped handle portion comprising a downwardly extending handle and an axially extending housing;
• a hub removably secured to a proximal end of the housing and a cannula extending distally from the hub;
• wherein:
• one of said housing and hub comprises an axially extending slot that faces down and the other comprises an axially extending rail that faces up and is configured to slide into the slot in the proximal direction and thereby removably secure the hub and cannula to the handle portion;
• said hub and said housing comprises respective electrical connectors that mate and make electrical contact when the housing and hub are secured to each other;
• said proximal portion of the handle portion comprises an opening and said hub and cannula comprise a bending mechanism that is configured to bend a distal portion of the cannula and includes a proximally extending thumb lever that passes through said opening and protrudes distally from the handle portion when the hub and handle portion are secured to each other and manual action on said thumb lever controls bending of said distal portion of the cannula;
• a camera module at the distal portion of the cannula;
• and
• a display operatively coupled with the camera module to receive image data therefrom and display images based thereon.