New Microcamera for Disposable Endoscopes

An inexpensive microcamera, the size of a large grain of salt, has been developed for use in medical devices such as disposable endoscopes.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM; Berlin, Germany) were able to minimize the image sensor's size to 0.7 mm x 0.7 mm x 1 mm by reworking the electrical wiring to the individual parts of the sensor, so that they run through the back of the wafer chip, rather than through the side. In this way, the contacts of each individual image sensor are simultaneously accessed via their reverse side, while they are still connected as a wafer. The reduction in sensor size means it can now be mounted at the tip of the endoscope, rather than the usual location at the base of the endoscope.


This modification has also resulted in a reduction in production costs, as there is no longer a need to mount the individual lenses. Instead, the image sensor wafers are manufactured directly as lens wafers, and only then sliced apart into individual microcameras. Another upside is the fact that razor-sharp pictures are seen, even with very thin endoscopes. Camera systems built into current endoscopes were bulkier, since they had to be divided into a lens at the tip of the endoscope and a sensor at the other end, connected by a glass fiber strand. Despite the fact that the new microcamera is small enough for the tip of an endoscope, it has a resolution of 25,000 pixels.

The microcamera was developed together with Awaiba GmbH (Nuremberg, Germany), a manufacturer of complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) sensors, and with the support of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (IOF; Jena, Germany). The researchers have a prototype disposable endoscope ready and expect, optimistically, to be able to manufacture them for only a few Euros by 2012.

Related Links:

Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration

Awaiba GmbH

Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering