Abstract:
The invention relates to industrial physics, in particular to the class of devices used for investigating the internal structure of objects, and can be used in medicine for diagnosis of the state of individual organs and systems in a human subject, in particular for optical coherence tomography, and in industrial diagnostics, e.g. for monitoring industrial processes. The aim of the invention is to create an optical fibre interferometer which, when used as part of an optical coherence tomography system, will permit investigation of mediums with low characteristic times for changes in characteristics or position relative to the optical probe, for example in in vivo investigation of tissues. Another aim of the present invention is to produce an optical fibre piezo-electric transducer suitable for use in an optical fibre interferometer to ensure that the mediums in question are scanned to the requisite depth. In the optical fibre interferometer as developed, the piezo-electric transducer in the form of an optical fibre controlled delay line serves as the optical fibre part of the interferometer leg which allows the virtual inertia-free adjustment of the length of the interferometer leg and therefore adjustment of the difference in optical lengths of the legs by a factor of at least several tens of times the working wavelengths of the interferometer. The optical fibre piezo-electric transducer as designed takes the form of an optical fibre piezo-electric controlled delay line and comprises a piezo-ceramic wafer on the opposing surfaces of which are provided electrodes and an optical fibre. It is expedient to make the wafer in the form of a disc and to lay the fibre in a spiral, which ensures that the length of the optical fibre can be altered within broad limits without inertia and with a transducer of small dimensions.
Abstract:
The invention relates to industrial physics, in particular to the class of devices used for investigating the internal structure of objects, and can be used in medicine for diagnosis of the state of individual organs and systems in a human subject, in particular for optical coherence tomography, and in industrial diagnostics, e.g. for monitoring industrial processes. The aim of the invention is to create an optical fibre interferometer which, when used as part of an optical coherence tomography system, will permit investigation of mediums with low characteristic times for changes in characteristics or position relative to the optical probe, for example in in vivo investigation of tissues. Another aim of the present invention is to produce an optical fibre piezo-electric transducer suitable for use in an optical fibre interferometer to ensure that the mediums in question are scanned to the requisite depth. In the optical fibre interferometer as developed, the piezo-electric transducer in the form of an optical fibre controlled delay line serves as the optical fibre part of the interferometer leg which allows the virtual inertia-free adjustment of the length of the interferometer leg and therefore adjustment of the difference in optical lengths of the legs by a factor of at least several tens of times the working wavelengths of the interferometer. The optical fibre piezo-electric transducer as designed takes the form of an optical fibre piezo-electric controlled delay line and comprises a piezo-ceramic wafer on the opposing surfaces of which are provided electrodes and an optical fibre. It is expedient to make the wafer in the form of a disc and to lay the fibre in a spiral, which ensures that the length of the optical fibre can be altered within broad limits without inertia and with a transducer of small dimensions.
Abstract:
The invention is related to technical physics, in particular to devices for investigating the internal structure of objects and can be used for investigating the internal structure of objects and can be used in medicine for diagnostics of human organs and systems, in particular for optical coherence tomography and in technical diagnostics, for example technological process control. The invention relates to the creation of an optical-fiber interferometer, which, being used in a device for optical coherence tomography, allows one to investigate media with short time of changing of optical characteristics or its position relative to the optical probe, for example biotissues in vivo. The invention also relates to the creation of a piezoelectric, suitable for use in the interferometer and for providing the necessary scanning depth in the mentioned media. In the described optical fiber interferometer the piezoelectric modulator, constructed as a fiber optic piezoelectric controllable delay line, performs a function of the fiber part of the interferometer arm which allows one to change practically inertialess the optical path in the interferometer arm and consequently an optical path difference at least to several tens of the working wavelengths. The described modulator is constructed as a fiber optic piezoelectric controllable delay line and contains a piezoelectric plate with electrodes and an optical fiber situated on its opposite sides. It is expedient to make the plate in a disk form and to put the fiber as a spiral which allows one to change the optical path in a wide range while keeping the modulator inertialess and compact.