Patent attributes
An electronic endoscope comprises a housing and a flexible tube. A light-transmitting optic fiber and a light-receiving optic fiber are provided in the flexible tube. A light source and an imaging device are provided in the housing. The light source outputs a pulsed distance-measuring light beam, which is transmitted along the light-transmitting optic fiber, and irradiated to a subject. A reflected light beam generated by the subject due to the distance-measuring light beam is transmitted along the light-receiving optic fiber, to enter the imaging device, in which an electric charge corresponding to the subject image (i.e., an image signal of a three-dimensional image) is accumulated. A timing of the accumulating operation of the imaging device is delayed depending on the lengths of the fibers.
