Capacitive Sensing for 2-D Electrostatic MEMS Scanner in a Clinical Endomicroscope.

A flexible fiber-coupled confocal laser endomicroscope has been developed using an electrostatic micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) scanner located in at distal optics to collect in vivo images in human subjects. Long transmission lines are required that deliver drive and sense signals with limited bandwidth. Phase shifts have been observed between orthogonal X and Y scanner axes from environmental perturbations, which impede image reconstruction.

Confocal laser endomicroscope with distal MEMS scanner for real-time histopathology.

Confocal laser endomicroscopy is an emerging methodology to perform real time optical biopsy. Fluorescence images with histology-like quality can be collected instantaneously from the epithelium of hollow organs. Currently, scanning is performed at the proximal end of probe-based instruments used routinely in the clinic, and flexibility to control the focus is limited.

Motion Estimation for a Compact Electrostatic Microscanner via Shared Driving and Sensing Electrodes in Endomicroscopy.

We present a method to estimate high frequency rotary motion of a highly compact electrostatic micro-scanner using the same electrodes for both actuation and sensing. The accuracy of estimated rotary motion is critical for reducing blur and distortion in image reconstruction applications with the micro-scanner given its changing dynamics due to perturbations such as temperature. To overcome the limitation that no dedicated sensing electrodes are available in the proposed applications due to size constraints, the method adopts electromechanical amplitude modulation (EAM) to separate motion signal from parasitic capacitance feedthrough, and a novel non-linear measurement model is derived to characterize the relationship between large out-of-plane angular motion and circuit output.