Distal planar rotary scanner for endoscopic optical coherence tomography

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Imaging
• Medical Devices

Background:

• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) offers high-resolution imaging for disease detection and treatment.
• Conventional OCT methods struggle with 3D imaging of small lumens.
• Integrating scanners at the distal end of endoscopic probes is a promising approach for advanced OCT imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and prototype a hollow, planar micro rotary actuator for use as an endoscopic distal scanner in OCT.
• To develop a miniaturized, ferrofluid-assisted electromagnetic actuator for 360° optical scanning.
• To evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the prototyped scanner for real-time endoscopic OCT.

Main Methods:

• Designed and prototyped a hollow and planar micro rotary actuator.
• Integrated the actuator with a fiber-optic probe and gradient-index lens for OCT.
• Tested the scanner's dynamic performance, thermal limits, and imaging capabilities on human tissue samples.

Main Results:

• The scanner achieved a maximum speed of 6500 rpm, a 325% improvement over previous designs.
• The device operated below safe thermal limits for in-vivo use.
• Real-time OCT imaging demonstrated clear differentiation of skin layers and sweat glands without image shadows.

Conclusions:

• The prototyped hollow micro scanner is effective for high-quality, real-time endoscopic OCT.
• The scanner's design overcomes limitations of conventional methods for small lumen imaging.
• This technology holds significant potential for advancing disease detection and treatment using OCT.