3D-printed common-view-point panoramic colonoscopy with freeform optics (Conference Presentation)

Colonoscopy is the most widespread and effective method for detecting and removing precancerous polyps. However, studies have shown that up to 31% of adenomas are missed on a standard forward-view colonoscopy especially when the polyps are hidden behind colon folds and flexures, or the image contrast is too low to distinguish the polyps from the surrounding mucosa. To reduce the detection missing rate on conventional colonoscopy, we developed a common-viewpoint panoramic endoscopic imaging system that can be attached on a standard forward-view colonoscopy to provide extra 360° side-and-rear fields besides the original forward view. The miniature optics were designed with freeform surfaces to realize common-viewpoint mechanism and fabricated by 3D printing with up-to micrometer scale resolution. The common-viewpoint feature effectively avoids the parallax between the neighboring sensors and greatly simplifies post image stitching algorithms.