Design of a handheld optical coherence microscopy endoscope

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Imaging
• Microscopy

Background:

• Optical coherence microscopy (OCM) provides high resolution and imaging depth.
• Existing OCM systems may lack portability for surgical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a handheld rigid Optical Coherence Microscopy (OCM) endoscope for small animal surgical imaging.
• To evaluate the imaging performance and capabilities of the developed OCM endoscope.

Main Methods:

• Designed a 6-mm diameter handheld rigid OCM endoscope with distal X-Y scanning.
• Incorporated scanning doublets, an afocal Hopkins relay, and a 0.4 numerical aperture water immersion objective.
• Utilized micro galvonometer scanners for precise image acquisition.

Main Results:

• Achieved lateral resolution of 1.4-μm line pair and axial resolution of 5.4 μm.
• Successfully imaged ex-vivo mouse ovaries, visualizing structures like corpus luteum and follicles.
• Demonstrated the device's capability for detailed structural analysis.

Conclusions:

• The developed rigid handheld OCM endoscope is suitable for high-resolution surgical imaging in small animals.
• This technology can be valuable for various minimally invasive and surgical procedures.
• Enables detailed in-situ visualization of biological tissues.