Widefield lensless endoscopy with a multicore fiber.

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Biomedical Imaging
• Fiber Optics

Background:

• Endoscopic imaging traditionally faces limitations like pixelation and requires complex distal or proximal optical components.
• Wavefront shaping is crucial for high-resolution imaging through scattering media like multicore fibers (MCFs).
• Existing methods often involve slow scanning or extensive post-processing, hindering real-time applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a pixelation-free, real-time widefield endoscopic imaging system.
• To eliminate the need for distal opto-mechanical elements and proximal scanners in MCF imaging.
• To achieve video-rate 3D imaging capabilities for incoherently illuminated objects.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an aperiodic multicore fiber (MCF) for image transmission.
• Exploited the inherent memory effect of MCFs for direct image retrieval.
• Implemented a single-shot static wavefront correction derived from a calibration procedure.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated pixelation-free, real-time widefield endoscopic imaging.
• Achieved direct image acquisition without any post-processing.
• Enabled video-rate 3D imaging, with speed independent of wavefront-shaping device refresh rates.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method offers a simplified and efficient approach to high-quality endoscopic imaging.
• This technique overcomes previous limitations in speed and complexity for MCF-based imaging.
• The system is suitable for real-time 3D imaging applications where speed and resolution are critical.