Abstract:
The invention concerns a miniature confocal optical head (4) for a confocal imaging system, in particular endoscopic, said head comprising a point source (2a) for producing a light beam (13); a ball lens (12) arranged at the tip of the optical head, partly outside, to cause said light beam to converge in an excitation point (19) located in a subsurface field under observation (14) of a sample (15), the digital aperture of said lens and the dimension of the point source being adapted to ensure confocality of the assembly; and scanning means (10, 211, 22) for rotating the point source so that the excitation point (19) scans said field under observation. The inventive system produces a real-time confocal image (about 10 images/sec.) of very high quality and homogeneous in the entire field (the optical aberrations are constant in the entire field due to the spherical symmetry of the ball lens), and this is achieved through a miniature head.
Abstract:
Il comporte un guide d'image (1) constitué de fibres optiques souples avec : du côté de l'extrémité proximale : une source (2), des moyens de balayage angulaire (3), des moyens d'injection (4) dans l'une des fibres, des moyens de séparation (5) du faisceau d'illumination et du signal rétroémis, des moyens de filtrage spatial (6), des moyens de détection (7) dudit signal, des moyens électroniques (8) de commande, d'analyse et de traitement numérique du signal détecté et de visualisation ; et du côté de l'extrémité distale : une tête optique (9) adaptée à focaliser le faisceau d'illumination sortant de la fibre illuminée. Selon l'invention, les moyens (3) comprennent un miroir ligne résonnant (Ml) et un miroir trame (M2) galvanométrique avec une fréquence variable et deux systèmes optiques d'afocaux adaptés à conjuguer les deux miroirs (Ml, M2) dams un premier temps puis le miroir trame (M2) et le moyen d'injection (4) dans le guide d'image dans un deuxième temps.
Abstract:
Equipment includes an image guide ( 1 ) consisting of flexible optical fibers with: on the proximal end side: a source ( 2 ), angular scanning elements ( 3 ), injection elements ( 4 ) in one of the fibers, elements for splitting ( 5 ) the illuminating beam and the backscattered signal, elements for spatial filtering ( 6 ), elements for detecting ( 7 ) the signal, electronic elements ( 8 ) for controlling, analyzing and digital processing of the detected signal and display; and on the distal end side: an optical head ( 9 ) for focusing the illuminating beam exiting from the illuminated fiber. The scanning elements include a resonant line mirror (M 1 ) and a galvanometric field mirror (M 2 ) with a variable frequency and two afocal optical systems adapted to conjugate the two mirrors (M 1 , M 2 ) firstly in the field mirror (M 2 ) and the injection elements ( 4 ) in the image guide in a second step.
Abstract:
An optical head for equipping the distal end of a flexible optical fiber bundle, designed to be urged into contact with an analyzing surface and including optical elements for focusing an excitation signal into a so-called excitation focal point located at a specific depth beneath the analyzing surface and for sampling a signal backscattered by the excitation focal point which is carried back by the fiber bundle. The head includes an optics-holder tube wherein are inserted on one side the distal end portion of the fiber bundle and on the other optical elements, the latter including a plate placed in contact with the end of the fiber bundle whereof the index is close to that of the fiber core and a focusing optical block, an output window being further provided adapted to provide index adaptation so as to eliminate parasitic reflection occurring on the analyzing surface.
Abstract:
The head has a laser source to produce a light beam (13), and a ball lens (12), with a large numerical aperture, disposed at the end of the head to converge the beam at an excitation point (19). The point is located in an observed sub-surface field (14) of a sample (15). A scanning unit (10) displaces the source in rotation such that the point scans the field. An independent claim is also included for a confocal imaging system.
Abstract:
The method consists in deflecting the excitation signal at a speed corresponding to acquisition of a number of images per second sufficient for real time use and in detecting the fluorescence signal at a detecting frequency corresponding to a minimum frequency for sampling the fibers one by one. The method uses an image guide consisting of several thousands of optical fibers, an excitation signal being emitted by a source, deflected and injected by turns into the optical fibers of the guide, each excitation point of the tissue in the fiber output emitting in return a fluorescence signal collected by the fiber, then detected and digitized to form an image element. The method also provides for the focussing of the beam in the fiber output to excite a subsurface plane to produce a confocal image. The method also provides for the production of a divergent beam in the fiber output capable of exciting a micro-volume of the tissue from the surface.
Abstract:
Equipment includes an image guide ( 1 ) consisting of flexible optical fibers with: on the proximal end side: a source ( 2 ), angular scanning elements ( 3 ), injection elements ( 4 ) in one of the fibers, elements for splitting ( 5 ) the illuminating beam and the backscattered signal, elements for spatial filtering ( 6 ), elements for detecting ( 7 ) the signal, electronic elements ( 8 ) for controlling, analyzing and digital processing of the detected signal and display; and on the distal end side: an optical head ( 9 ) for focusing the illuminating beam exiting from the illuminated fiber. The scanning elements include a resonant line mirror (M 1 ) and a galvanometric field mirror (M 2 ) with a variable frequency and two afocal optical systems adapted to conjugate the two mirrors (M 1 , M 2 ) firstly in the field mirror (M 2 ) and the injection elements ( 4 ) in the image guide in a second step.
Abstract:
An optical head for equipping the distal end of a flexible optical fiber bundle, designed to be urged into contact with an analyzing surface and including optical elements for focusing an excitation signal into a so-called excitation focal point located at a specific depth beneath the analyzing surface and for sampling a signal backscattered by the excitation focal point which is carried back by the fiber bundle. The head includes an optics-holder tube wherein are inserted on one side the distal end portion of the fiber bundle and on the other optical elements, the latter including a plate placed in contact with the end of the fiber bundle whereof the index is close to that of the fiber core and a focusing optical block, an output window being further provided adapted to provide index adaptation so as to eliminate parasitic reflection occurring on the analyzing surface.
Abstract:
Procedimiento para realizar una imagen confocal de fluorescencia in vivo in situ, el procedimiento utiliza una guía de imagen hecha de varios millares de fibras ópticas y consiste en barrer punto por punto un tejido en un plano subsuperficial, cada punto correspondiente a una señal de excitación emitida por una fuente continua, desviada e inyectada en una de las fibras ópticas de dicho haz luego enfocada a la salida de dicha fibra en dicho plano, cada punto emitiendo de vuelta una señal de fluorescencia recogida por dicha fibra óptica, luego detectada y digital izada para formar un elemento de imagen, el procedimiento comporta las siguientes etapas: - se desvía la señal de excitación a una velocidad que corresponde a la adquisición de un mínimo de 12 imágenes por segundo en el caso de un modo de visualización máxima de 640 x 640 píxeles, - se detecta la señal de fluorescencia a una frecuencia de detección superior o igual a una frecuencia mínima de preparación de muestreo de las fibras una por una que es sensiblemente igual a 1,5 MHz para dicho mínimo de 12 imágenes por segundo en el caso de un modo de visualización de 640 x 640 píxeles.