All plastic ultra-small size imaging lens unit fabrication and evaluation for endoscope

Kenta Ishii; Dai Okamoto; Makoto Ushio; Hidetoshi Tai; Atsuhiko Nishihara; Kimio Tokuda; Shinsuke Kawai; Seiichiro Kitagawa

doi:10.1117/12.2250689

20 February 2017 All plastic ultra-small size imaging lens unit fabrication and evaluation for endoscope

Kenta Ishii, Dai Okamoto, Makoto Ushio, Hidetoshi Tai, Atsuhiko Nishihara, Kimio Tokuda, Shinsuke Kawai, Seiichiro Kitagawa

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10110, Photonic Instrumentation Engineering IV; 1011005 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2250689
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2017, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

There is demand for small-size lens units for endoscope and industrial applications. Polished glass lenses with a diameter of 1 - 2mm exist, however plastic lenses similar in size are not commonplace. For low-cost, light-weight, and mass production, plastic lens fabrication is extremely beneficial. Especially, in the medical field, there is strong demand for disposable lens unit for endoscopes which prevent contamination due to reuse of the lens. Therefore, high mass producible and low cost becomes increasingly important. This paper reports our findings on injection-molded ultra-small size plastic lens units with a diameter of 1.3mm and total thickness of 1.4mm. We performed optical design, injection molding, and lens unit assembly for injection moldable, high imaging performance ultra-small sized lens units. We prioritize a robust product design, considering injection molding properties and lens unit assembly, with feedback from molding simulations reflected into the optical design. A mold capable of high precision lens positioning is used to fabricate the lenses and decrease the variability of the assembly. The geometric dimensions of the resulting lenses, are measured and used in the optical simulation to validate the optical performance, and a high agreement is reported. The injection molding of the lens and the assembly of the lens unit is performed with high precision, and results in high optical performance.

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Kenta Ishii, Dai Okamoto, Makoto Ushio, Hidetoshi Tai, Atsuhiko Nishihara, Kimio Tokuda, Shinsuke Kawai, and Seiichiro Kitagawa "All plastic ultra-small size imaging lens unit fabrication and evaluation for endoscope", Proc. SPIE 10110, Photonic Instrumentation Engineering IV, 1011005 (20 February 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2250689

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KEYWORDS

Endoscopes

Modulation transfer functions

Glasses

Lens design

Optical design

Polymers

Photography

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