Abstract
Spectrally-encoded endoscopy (SEE) is a technique for ultraminiature endoscopy that encodes each spatial location on the sample with a different wavelength. One limitation of previous incarnations of SEE is that it inherently creates monochromatic images, since the spectral bandwidth is expended in the spatial encoding process. Here we present a spectrally-encoded imaging system that has color imaging capability. The new imaging system utilizes three distinct red, green, and blue spectral bands that are configured to illuminate the grating at different incident angles. By careful selection of the incident angles, the three spectral bands can be made to overlap on the sample. To demonstrate the method, a bench-top system was built, comprising a 2400-lpmm grating illuminated by three 525-microm-diameter beams with three different spectral bands. Each spectral band had a bandwidth of 75 nm, producing 189 resolvable points. A resolution target, color phantoms, and excised swine small intestine were imaged to validate the system's performance. The color SEE system showed qualitatively and quantitatively similar color imaging performance to that of a conventional digital camera.
Highlights
Ultraminiature endoscopy, opens up new possibilities for obtaining diagnostic information in anatomic locations that have previously been inaccessible, converting inpatient techniques to outpatient procedures, and performing safer interventions
At the distal end of the endoscope, a diffraction grating-lens pair images the spectrum on the sample such that each spatial location along one dimension is illuminated by light with a different wavelength
Spectrally-encoded endoscopy (SEE) devices have several advantages over conventional endoscopes, including potential for a high degree of miniaturization, mechanical flexibility, absence of image pixilation artifacts sometimes seen in fiber-bundle devices, and threedimensional/Doppler imaging capabilities [8,9]
Summary
Ultraminiature endoscopy (scopes with diameters less than 1 mm), opens up new possibilities for obtaining diagnostic information in anatomic locations that have previously been inaccessible, converting inpatient techniques to outpatient procedures, and performing safer interventions. Fiber-bundle-based miniature endoscopes are available clinically and have been shown to be beneficial for several medial applications [1,2,3,4], including laparoscopy, breast ductoscopy and fetoscopy. At the distal end of the endoscope, a diffraction grating-lens pair images the spectrum on the sample such that each spatial location along one dimension is illuminated by light with a different wavelength. One line of the image is decoded by measuring the spectrum of the light that returns back through the probe. SEE devices have several advantages over conventional endoscopes, including potential for a high degree of miniaturization, mechanical flexibility, absence of image pixilation artifacts sometimes seen in fiber-bundle devices, and threedimensional/Doppler imaging capabilities [8,9]. Due to its small size, the SEE probe was capable of being used for laparoscopic animal imaging in vivo [10]
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