sources illuminating a small area with fall off in illumination toward the edges of the illuminated area a camera 120 is installed within the wall of the cannula 100 two cameras 120 channels are shown to allow for the camera connection to be changed as the need for a different view presents itself or provides for the need for multiple views of the target area this does away with the need for a special cannula for the camera and also allows for a direct view option from the perception of the tools used optionally a single light or a single camera can be used as an alternative embodiment the present invention also allows for more than two cameras as needed fig1 a also shows the distal end of the cannula with use of multiple camera channels 120 of the present invention the number and type of image capture sensors are determined by the optical geometry required by the viewing system for example two camera channels 120 can be placed 180 degrees apart around the circumference of the cannula i e located at opposite ends of the geometric chord of the circumference of a circular cannula corresponding to the diameter of the cannula this geometry would be desirable where maximal field of view would be provided by the joint outputs of both sensors fig1 b shows a camera 130 itself within the cannula miniaturization and cost improvements may allow this embodiment to be preferred for minimizing connections and.