Forward-viewing resonant fiber-optic scanning endoscope of appropriate scanning speed for 3D OCT imaging

Opt Express. 2010 Jul 5;18(14):14375-84. doi: 10.1364/OE.18.014375.

Abstract

A forward-viewing resonant fiber-optic endoscope of a scanning speed appropriate for a high-speed Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) system was developed to enable real-time, three-dimensional endoscopic OCT imaging. A new method was explored to conveniently tune the scanning frequency of a resonant fiber-optic scanner, by properly selecting the fiber-optic cantilever length, partially changing the mechanical property of the cantilever, and adding a weight to the cantilever tip. Systematic analyses indicated the resonant scanning frequency can be tuned over two orders of magnitude spanning from approximately 10Hz to approximately kHz. Such a flexible scanning frequency range makes it possible to set an appropriate scanning speed of the endoscope to match the different A-scan rates of a variety of FD-OCT systems. A 2.4-mm diameter, 62.5-Hz scanning endoscope appropriate to work with a 40-kHz swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) system was developed and demonstrated for 3D OCT imaging of biological tissues.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Cuspid / anatomy & histology
  • Endoscopes*
  • Fiber Optic Technology / instrumentation*
  • Fingers / anatomy & histology
  • Humans
  • Mouth / anatomy & histology
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Tomography, Optical Coherence / instrumentation*