Design of a handheld optical coherence microscopy endoscope

Abstract

Abstract. Optical coherence microscopy (OCM) combines coherence gating, high numerical aperture optics, and a fiber-core pinhole to provide high axial and lateral resolution with relatively large depth of imaging. We present a handheld rigid OCM endoscope designed for small animal surgical imaging, with a 6-mm diam tip, 1-mm scan width, and 1-mm imaging depth. X-Y scanning is performed distally with mirrors mounted to micro galvonometer scanners incorporated into the endoscope handle. The endoscope optical design consists of scanning doublets, an afocal Hopkins relay lens system, a 0.4 numerical aperture water immersion objective, and a cover glass. This endoscope can resolve laterally a 1.4-μm line pair feature and has an axial resolution (full width half maximum) of 5.4 μm. Images taken with this endoscope of fresh ex-vivo mouse ovaries show structural features, such as corpus luteum, primary follicles, growing follicles, and fallopian tubes. This rigid handheld OCM endoscope can be useful for a variety of minimally invasive and surgical imaging applications. C 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

Ex vivo investigations on the potential of optical coherence tomography (OCT) as a diagnostic tool for reproductive medicine in a bovine model

“…Therefore the optical features of the microscopic OCT systems have to be combined with a probe‐based endoscopic system to achieve a translational technique for clinical purposes. An adequate OCT system with a handheld probe designed for small animal surgical imaging has already been shown . The demonstrated axial resolution of 5.4 µm and lateral resolution of 1.4 µm are comparable to the OCT microscopes used in our study.…”