Bimodal endoscopic probe combining white-light microscopy and optical coherence tomography

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Imaging
• Medical Devices

Background:

• Endoscopic imaging is crucial for minimally invasive surgery.
• Current endoscopic tools often lack multimodal imaging capabilities for comprehensive visualization.
• Integrating advanced optical techniques can enhance diagnostic accuracy and surgical guidance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize a novel bimodal endoscopic imaging probe.
• To enable simultaneous white-light video microscopy and confocal optical coherence tomography (OCT) depth scans.
• To create a compact probe for improved endoscopic procedures.

Main Methods:

• A micro-optical bench system with spectrally separated optical paths was designed and fabricated using silicon micromachining.
• The probe integrates a video microscopy modality with a numerical aperture of 0.061 and an OCT modality optimized for 830 nm.
• A custom diffractive optical element was incorporated to enhance image contrast.

Main Results:

• The bimodal probe achieved a compact size (2 mm x 2.76 mm) with simultaneous full-field video microscopy and confocal OCT depth scans.
• Video modality offered a resolution of 9.3 μm and a field of view of 1240 μm x 1080 μm, with improved contrast.
• OCT modality provided single-point depth probing with a lateral resolution of 20 μm.

Conclusions:

• The developed bimodal endoscopic probe offers a significant advancement in multimodal imaging.
• Its compact design and dual functionality provide depth-resolved guiding capabilities for laparoscopes.
• This represents a key step towards a new generation of advanced endoscopic imaging tools.