Fiber-coupled, high-speed, angled-dual-axis optical coherence scanning ...

(21) Appl. No.: 10/189,297

(22) Filed: Jul. 1, 2002

(65) Prior Publication Data

US 2003/0001071 Al Jan. 2, 2003

Related U.S. Application Data

(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 09/628,119, filed on Jul. 28, 2000, now Pat. No. 6,441,356.

(51) Int. CI. G02B 7/04

(52) U.S. CI 250/201.3; 250/235; 359/215

(58) Field of Search 250/201.3, 234,

250/235, 216; 359/203, 205, 206, 210, 212, 214, 215, 223, 368, 372, 373, 385,

389

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OTHER PUBLICATIONS

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Primary Examiner—David V. Bruce

Assistant Examiner—Chih-Cheng Glen Kao

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Lumen Intellectual

Property Services, Inc.

(57) ABSTRACT

This invention provides an angled-dual-axis optical coherence scanning microscope comprising a fiber-coupled, highspeed angled-dual-axis confocal scanning head and a vertical scanning unit. The angled-dual-axis confocal scanning head is configured such that an illumination beam and an observation beam intersect optimally at an angle 9 within an object and the scanning is achieved by pivoting the illumination and observation beams jointly using a high-speed scanning element. The vertical scanning unit causes the angled-dual-axis confocal scanning head to move towards or away from the object, thereby yielding a vertical crosssection scan of the object, while keeping the optical path lengths of the illumination and observation beams unchanged. By incorporating MEMS scanning mirrors and fiber-optic components, the angled-dual-axis optical coherence scanning microscope of the present invention can be miniaturized to provide a particularly powerful tool for in vivo medical imaging applications.

65 Claims, 12 Drawing Sheets

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* cited by examiner