Abstract
This paper describes a fabrication scheme for integrating an optical fiber-delivered catheter for ultrasound (US) imaging. In this catheter, pulsed laser is focused and guided into a tapered optical fiber. The laser passes through the fiber and is refocused to generate laser-induced breakdown (LIB), which emits spherical pulsed US wave. The reflected US waves are received with a hydrophone array to reconstruct 3D images with synthetic aperture method. We examined the probability of LIB generation relative to pulsed energy level for stably producing US pulses and clarified a suitable specification for a laser delivering fiber. Proto-type catheter demonstrated real-time 3D imaging, in which LIB is continuously generated on the tip of the catheter and frontal situation is captured in 3D images in realtime process.
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