US 12,078,795 B2
Rod lens relay system with reduced chromatic aberration
George E. Duckett, III, Castaic, CA (US)
Assigned to KARL STORZ Imaging, Inc., Goleta, CA (US)
Filed by KARL STORZ Imaging, Inc., Goleta, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 30, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/128,750.
Application 18/128,750 is a continuation of application No. 17/129,391, filed on Dec. 21, 2020, granted, now 11,656,450.
Prior Publication US 2023/0236411 A1, Jul. 27, 2023
Int. Cl. G02B 23/24 (2006.01); A61B 1/04 (2006.01); G02B 27/00 (2006.01); H04N 23/50 (2023.01); H04N 23/51 (2023.01)
CPC G02B 23/243 (2013.01) [A61B 1/043 (2013.01); G02B 27/005 (2013.01); H04N 23/51 (2023.01); H04N 23/555 (2023.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A relay system for an endoscope comprising:
an opposing pair of rod lens assemblies positioned symmetrically with respect to a central airspace, wherein each rod lens assembly includes optical elements consisting essentially of:
a meniscus lens positioned immediately adjacent to a central airspace and with the convex surface facing the airspace;
a first lens having positive power with a convex face positioned adjacent to the inner face of the meniscus lens, the first lens formed of a material having anomalous partial dispersion;
a rod lens, adjacent to the first lens having positive power, having a first face and a second face, both first and second faces being beam passing faces; and
an outer optical manipulating structure selected from the group consisting of:
(i) the second face of the rod lens, being plano, positioned adjacent to a plano-convex lens, the convex surface thereof being aspheric;
(ii) the second face of the rod lens, being plano, positioned adjacent to a positive powered lens having a convex face facing the second plano face of the rod lens with a separation gap; and
(iii) the second face of the rod lens, being plano, positioned adjacent to a second plano convex lens;
wherein the meniscus lens, the first lens having positive power, the rod lens, and the outer optical manipulating structure together provide chromatic aberration correction by manipulating light from across an entire spectrum, from the blue region through the near infrared (NIR) region, to follow the same sequence of optical surfaces and come to a common focus in a common image plane.