title: Micromachined array tip for multifocus fiber-based optical coherence tomography.
abstract: High-resolution optical coherence tomography demands a large detector bandwidth and a high numerical aperture for real-time imaging, which is difficult to achieve over a large imaging depth. To resolve these conflicting requirements we propose a novel multifocus fiber-based optical coherence tomography system with a micromachined array tip. We demonstrate the fabrication of a prototype four-channel tip that maintains a 9-14-microm spot diameter with more than 500 microm of imaging depth. Images of a resolution target and a human tooth were obtained with this tip by use of a four-channel cascaded Michelson fiber-optic interferometer, scanned simultaneously at 8 kHz with geometric power distribution across the four channels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9, Canada. victor.yang@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Victor X D
authors.initials: VX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Munce
authors.forename: Julius
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pekar
authors.forename: Maggie L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Stewart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Norman E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Marcon
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: I Alex
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Vitkin
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D006801:Humans; D008857:Microscopy, Interference; D055100:Optical Fibers; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology