# Imaging lens for a 4K otoscope

Canonical: https://www.formlightoptics.com/portfolio/4k-otoscope-imaging-lens
Markdown: https://www.formlightoptics.com/portfolio/4k-otoscope-imaging-lens.md

Designed an otoscope imaging lens for a 4K sensor and fit a prototype version to catalog lenses.

Medical imaging device developer. 2025.

Capabilities: Imaging, Lens design, Stray light.

### Challenge

A 4K sensor with small pixels needed a lens that would not waste its resolution, in a package that fits inside a standard ear speculum with peripheral illumination. Distortion had to stay low for accurate anatomy. The client also wanted a low-cost path to first prototypes.

### Approach

We ran a first-order analysis to set realistic resolution targets, then compared front-stop, center-stop, and reimaging concepts. With the client we set 10% modulation at 100 lp/mm as the target and optimized a custom center-stop design to it, with a stray light check. We then worked the design down to off-the-shelf catalog lenses for prototyping.

### Result

A five-element prototype built from catalog lenses held average MTF above 10% at 100 lp/mm. The prototype was built and performed as intended, and a custom design is ready for production quoting.

### Key figures

- 5: catalog lenses in the prototype design
- >10%: average modulation at 100 lp/mm
- <0.1%: stray light relative to incident light

Tools: Zemax OpticStudio.

Related services: [Imaging lens design](https://www.formlightoptics.com/services/imaging-lens-design), [Zemax OpticStudio consulting](https://www.formlightoptics.com/services/zemax-opticstudio-consulting), [Stray light and non-sequential simulation](https://www.formlightoptics.com/services/stray-light-and-non-sequential-simulation).