Panoramic view attachment for colonoscopy systems

Abstract

Single viewpoint panoramic imaging attachments for a colonoscope are disclosed that are compact in size and provide 360-degree side and rear-views in a single image. One panoramic attachment assembly includes a plurality of micro-imaging subsystems that are positioned around a central opening. Each micro-imaging subsystem includes a reflector to receive light that is reflected from a surrounding tissue, an imaging lens, and a detector to generate signals corresponding to one section of a panoramic image of the surrounding tissue. The micro-imaging subsystems are arranged to all have a common view point, and are configured to collectively form a full 360-degree image of the surrounding tissue.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.