Image pick-up apparatus with curvature-of-field correction

An image transmission device for use in an image pick-up apparatus that includes an object lens and an image-sensing device, the object lens projecting an image of an object to be picked-up, said image transmission device being adapted to be disposed between the object lens and the image-sensing device and being adapted to correct aberrations introduced by the object lens as a result of curvature-of-field characteristics of the object lens into the image projected by the object lens, the image-sensing device sensing a corrected image of the object to be picked-up from said image transmission device,

• said image transmission device comprising:
• a bundle of light guide components, each of which is an optical fiber, and has opposite first and second ends and a wall section that extends between said first and second ends;
• said first ends of said light guide components being contoured such that said first ends of said light guide components cooperate to form an image-receiving side of said image transmission device;
• said second ends of said light guide components cooperating to form an image output side of said image transmission device;
• said wall sections of said light guide components cooperating to form an image-transmitting portion of said image transmission device;
• said image-receiving side being adapted for receiving the image projected by the object lens, and having a curvature corresponding to the curvature-of-field characteristics of the object lens so as to enable correction of the aberrations introduced by the object lens into the image projected by the object lens;
• said image output side being adapted for coupling optically with the image-sensing device and for providing the corrected image to the image-sensing device;
• said image-transmitting portion being coupled optically with said image-receiving side and said image output side.