PRECISION ENDOSCOPIC IMAGING SYSTEM

An imaging system is disclosed for use in low-light environments or environments where low-levels of such radiation is desirable. Examples of such environments are endoscopy, laparoscopy, mammography and night photography. In the case of radiation that is other than visible light, a radiation converter and method for fabricating same is disclosed. The radiation converter comprises a film of heavy scintillator (e.g. CdWO4) coated on a fiber optical window to efficiently convert the radiation into visible light. The visible light is passed into a signal amplifier employing a focussing electron-bombarded charge-couple device (FEBCCD) or a focussing electron-bombarded complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (FEBCMOS) to amplify the signal. Novel methods of performing three-dimension imaging using this system as well as removing the effects of high-speed movement are also disclosed.