Development of a multimodal foveated endomicroscope for the detection of oral cancer.

A multimodal endomicroscope was developed for cancer detection that combines hyperspectral and confocal imaging through a single foveated objective and a vibrating optical fiber bundle. Standard clinical examination has a limited ability to identify early stage oral cancer. Optical detection methods are typically restricted by either achievable resolution or a small field-of-view.

Kagome fiber based ultrafast laser microsurgery probe delivering micro-Joule pulse energies.

We present the development of a 5 mm, piezo-actuated, ultrafast laser scalpel for fast tissue microsurgery. Delivery of micro-Joules level energies to the tissue was made possible by a large, 31 μm, air-cored inhibited-coupling Kagome fiber. We overcome the fiber's low NA by using lenses made of high refractive index ZnS, which produced an optimal focusing condition with 0.

Design and fabrication of a miniature objective consisting of high refractive index zinc sulfide lenses for laser surgery.

A miniature laser ablation probe relying on an optical fiber to deliver light requires a high coupling efficiency objective with sufficient magnification in order to provide adequate power and field for surgery. A diffraction-limited optical design is presented that utilizes high refractive index zinc sulfide to meet specifications while reducing the miniature objective down to two lenses. The design has a hypercentric conjugate plane on the fiber side and is telecentric on the tissue end.

Development of tunable miniature piezoelectric-based scanners validated by the combination of two scanners in a direct image relay technique.

Miniature piezoelectric actuators are commonly used as a compact means to relay images for numerous endoscopic applications. These scanners normally consist of an electrically driven lead zirconate titanate (PZT) tube that oscillates an optical fiber at its resonant frequency. The diameter and length of the PZT and fiber, the attachment of the fiber to the PZT, as well as the driving signal determine the main characteristics of the scan-frequency and amplitude of vibration.

Confocal foveated endomicroscope for the detection of esophageal carcinoma.

By mimicking the variable resolution of the human eye, a newly designed foveated endomicroscopic objective shows the potential to improve current endoscopic based techniques of identifying abnormal tissue in the esophagus and colon. The prototype miniature foveated objective is imaged with a confocal microscope to provide large field of view images combined with a high resolution central region to rapidly observe morphological structures associated with cancer development in a mouse model.