Omnifocus laparoscope.

The depth of focus of the latest-model "Chip-on-the-Tip" laparoscopes is limited to 10 cm. The proposed omnifocus laparoscope stretches this depth of focus to 160 cm. The proposed laparoscope is omnifocus, which means that all spots in the picture are in focus, not just certain designated spots as in autofocus devices. This is important because the entire scene needs to be focused during surgery. The omnifocus laparoscope is equipped with an array of color video cameras, each focused at a different distance. The distance information from the laparoscopic profilometer is used to generate a single omnifocused image.