Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-09-28 Origin: Site
Mechanical Protection: Resists external friction, impact, or extrusion to protect the module’s internal CMOS sensor, lens, and built-in 0402 LED.
Enhanced Sterilization Compatibility: The material of the steel shell withstands repeated high-temperature steam sterilization, ETO (Ethylene Oxide) sterilization, or STERRAD sterilization, reducing the degradation of the module’s IP68 waterproof rating caused by the aging of the module’s base material during sterilization.
Improved Structural Stability: The steel shell secures the assembly precision between the module and external devices (e.g., endoscope probes), preventing deviations in the 86°×86° field of view (FOV) and image blurring caused by vibration—making it particularly suitable for long-term reusable scenarios.
Upgraded Mechanical Protection for Extended Reusable Lifespan: If the endoscopic camera module is used in reusable endoscopes (e.g., gastroscopes or colonoscopes for repeated use in gastroenterology), the steel shell can directly resist mucosal friction in human body cavities and water impact during device cleaning, preventing scratches on the optical coating of the 2mm-diameter lens. In contrast, without a steel shell, the biocompatible plastic housing of the module tends to develop tiny scratches after more than 10 cycles of sterilization and cleaning, which may impair imaging clarity.
Enhanced Sterilization Reliability to Reduce Safety Risks: In medical scenarios, endoscopic camera modules require ETO sterilization, STERRAD sterilization, or 134°C steam sterilization to ensure sterility. The steel shell can isolate the module’s internal circuits from potential corrosion by sterilizing agents (e.g., the aging effect of low-temperature plasma on plastics) while maintaining the long-term stability of the IP68 waterproof rating. Especially for endoscopes reused more than 30 times, the risk of sterilization failure for endoscopic camera modules with steel shells can be reduced by approximately 40%.
Structural Rigidity for Harsh Industrial Environments: If the OCHFA10 is used for industrial pipeline inspection (e.g., cooling holes in aero-engines or narrow-diameter pipelines in chemical engineering), the steel shell can resist impacts from metal burrs in pipelines and high-temperature effects (≤80°C in industrial environments). This prevents blurred dynamic imaging (at 400×400 pixels at 90 fps) caused by module vibration, ensuring real-time detection of micro-cracks and particle defects.
Minor Dimensional Increase, Potentially Limiting Integration in Ultra-Narrow Spaces: The ultra-compact 2.6×1.6mm size of the endoscopic camera module is its core advantage for adapting to ultra-narrow scenarios such as coronary stent navigation and pediatric endoscopes. After adding a steel shell, the outer diameter of the module increases by 0.3–0.5mm (depending on the steel shell thickness), which may prevent the original 2mm-diameter probe from passing through blood vessels with a diameter of <2.5mm, losing the advantage of ultra-minimally invasive procedures.
Slight Increases in Cost and Heat Dissipation Challenges: Precision machining of medical-grade steel shells (e.g., inner wall polishing to avoid lens obstruction) increases the cost of a single module by 15%–20%. Additionally, while the steel shell does not affect the heat dissipation of the OCHFA10’s 82.2 mW low power consumption (the module itself generates minimal heat), during extremely long-term use (>2 hours), the temperature rise is 0.5–1°C higher than that without a steel shell, requiring minor optimizations to the heat dissipation path during design.
Retaining Ultimate Compactness for Ultra-Narrow Spaces: Without a steel shell, the endoscopic camera module maintains its 2.6×1.6mm size and 2mm-diameter lens—this is critical for its use in coronary angioscopes (with blood vessel diameters of 2–3mm) and pediatric bronchoscopes (requiring probes <2.5mm in diameter). In such cases, the "dimensional advantage" of not using a steel shell directly determines whether "minimally invasive, trauma-free" procedures can be achieved, prioritizing this over mechanical protection.
Cost Reduction for Disposable Scenarios: If used in disposable endoscopes (e.g., single-use laryngoscopes during the pandemic or disposable intestinal examination scopes), repeated sterilization and long-term reusability are unnecessary. Omitting the steel shell eliminates steel processing costs and simplifies the assembly process, reducing the cost of a single module by more than 15%—aligning with the "cost control" requirements for disposable medical devices.
More Direct Heat Dissipation for Long-Term Low-Power Scenarios: The 82.2 mW low power consumption generates minimal heat. Without a steel shell, heat can be directly conducted from the module’s housing to external devices, resulting in a 10%–15% higher heat dissipation efficiency compared to modules with steel shells. For surgeries requiring continuous operation for over 1 hour (e.g., laparoscopic surgeries), this avoids potential tissue irritation caused by slight temperature rises.
Weak Mechanical Protection, Limited to Low-Wear Environments: Without a steel shell, if the endoscopic camera module is used in industrial pipeline inspections (where pipelines contain burrs or welding slag), the 2mm-diameter lens is prone to scratches, leading to dark spots in imaging. Even in medical scenarios, when used in gastroscopes (which need to pass through narrow esophageal sections), mucosal friction may wear the module’s housing, compromising its IP68 waterproof rating (e.g., water ingress during cleaning damaging circuits).
Shorter Sterilization Lifespan, Unsuitable for High Reusability: Without a steel shell, the biocompatible plastic housing of the endoscopic camera module may show slight aging after 5–8 cycles of 134°C steam sterilization, leading to a gradual decline in IP68 waterproof performance. Therefore, it is only suitable for scenarios with ≤5 reuse cycles and cannot meet the requirements of conventional medical endoscopes that need to be reused more than 30 times.
